Bartoli, Daniello

1. Dates

Born: Ferrara, 12 Feb. 1608

Died: Rome, 12 Jan. 1685

Dateinfo: Dates Certain

Lifespan: 77

2. Father

Occupation: Scientist

Tiburzio Bartoli, a man known as learned in the chemical and "spargical" art. I guess I'll list him as a scientist, but I am uneasy. Daniello was the last of three sons.

No information on financial status.

3. Nationality

Birth: Ferrara, Italy

Career: Italy

Death: Rome, Italy

4. Education

Schooling: Parma, Milan, Bologna, D.D.

Entered the Society at age of 15 and studied rhetoric with the Jesuits at Piacenza and Parma. At Parma he completed the course in philosophy, which I take to be the B.A. or at least its equivalent.

1634, Univ. of Brera in Milan (I don't know what this means; I list it as Univ. of Milan). Then to Univ. of Bologna where he studied theology under G.B. Riccioli. He completed the course in theology, which I take to be an advanced degree (doctorate) in theology. As a full Jesuit he would have had a doctorate in theology.

5. Religion

Affiliation: Catholic.

He was a Jesuit.

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Primary: Physics

Subordinate: Bartoli Was The Historian Of The Jesuit Order Who Left An immense corpus of historical and religious writing. His importance lies in religion, not in science. However, late in life he returned to interests that Riccioli had stimulated, and he expounded and popularized the works of contemporary physicists, particularly barometric experiments and the concept of atmospheric pressure. He also wrote on sound and on freezing.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Church Life

Initially he taught rhetoric at Parma for a time (1629-33). He took final vows in 1643. Bartoli wanted to be sent abroad as a missionary. Because of his learning, his superiors kept him at home to teach. Beyond the college in Parma, he taught in Jesuit colleges in Piacenza, Mantua, Modena, and Bologna.

For a time the Jesuits intended him to preach, an activity at which he had extraordinary success.

However he was made historian of the order in 1646 and stationed in Rome.

He was rector of the Collegio Romano from 1671 to 1673.

8. Patronage

Types:

Bartoli was obviously valued by the authorities of his order for his merits, and perhaps it is difficult to distinguish this from patronage. However, Bartoli sought no career for himself. He would have preferred the foreign mission and perhaps martyrdom. He accepted a different role imposed upon him by his superiors and fulfilled it with vigorous endeavor for a lifetime. I cannot bring myself to call the order's utilization of him patronage.

It is significant that the Grand Master of Malta invited Bartoli to write the history of the knights. This would surely have been patronage. However, Bartoli refused to give up the tasks the Jesuits had set for him and he turned the offer down.

9. Technological Involvement

Types: None

10. Scientific Societies

Memberships: None

Sources

1. A. Asor-Rosa, "Daniello Bartoli" in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, VI, Rome, 1964.
2. G. Boero, ed., Letter edite ed inedite del P. Daniello Bartoli, (Bologna, 1865)--with a life of Bartoli as preface. Let me remark that most of the letters from the latter part of Bartoli's life concern scientific questions. I only skimmed them, but it appears to me that they might contain interesting materials for understanding the scientific mentality of the second half of the century.
3. G.M. Mazzuchelli, Gli scrittori d'Italia, (Brescia, 1753- ).

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.