La famiglia di Benedetto Castelli : note dalle polizze d'estimo bresciane (1517-1627) / Luca Piccinali.
Abstract:
Benedetto Castelli, born in the province of Brescia and benedictine monk, has been widely described in relation with Galileo Galilei and the so-called Copernican Letter, which Galileo sent him on 21 December 1613. The original letter has recently been found by Salvatore Ricciardo, researcher of the University of Bergamo, in the library of the Royal Society. Although deep studies have been made concerning his relation with Galileo Galilei, little is still known about his previous period of life. In fact, many documents got destroyed by accident or they have not been found yet. The aim of this work is to compensate the lack of historical sources, inquiring the Castelli's genealogy from 1517 to 1627. The so called polizze d'estimo, a particular kind of fiscal sources, have been widely used for this purpose, following the studies of Paolo Guerrini in his Per la biografia dell'abate Benedetto Castelli discepolo di Galileo Galilei and the biography by Antonio Favaro. The social and economic sphere of the Castelli's family and the context in which Benedetto grew up are clearly described in these documents as well as the reasons of his decision to enter the Monastery of S. Faustino in Brescia and to start with the mathematical studies.
Galilaeana 773 0 A. 16 (2019), p. 133-146