Galeotto Marzio

Galeotto Marzio ( – 1497) was an Italian humanist, poet, philosopher and astrologer who was active in Bohemia and Hungary.

Life Galeotto was born in Narni around 1424. He studied the classics from his early youth. After serving as a soldier for a short period, in 1447 he became a pupil of Guarino Veronese in Ferrara. Here he became an intimate friend of Janus Pannonius, who was a Hungarian student there. From Pannonius, Galeotto learned the Greek language. After a pilgrimage to Rome, Galeotto gave lectures in 1450 at the University of Padua about classical authors, and there he studied medicine as well. In Padua he married a Venetian (or, according to some sources, Lombard) girl. She was a daughter of Bartolomeo di Montagna. They had a son, Giovanni, and several daughters. After the death of his Italian wife he married a Hungarian noblewoman whose family name was Szepessy.

In March 1461, Galeotto was in Hungary (probably in Buda) together with his family, in the company of Janus Pannonius. After a short-term stay in Padua, in 1462 he spent a longer time travelling in Spain, France and England, practising medicine. During his journey he made friends and earned a considerable amount of money. In 1464, he was professor of Latin at the University of Bologna. Here Galeotto had an intensive polemical exchange with Francesco Filelfo.

In 1471, Galeotto wrote a book in Buda of the title De homine libri duo about physiology and medicine, a description of the parts of the body. This book was dedicated to Archbishop John Vitéz, who was the uncle of Janus Pannonius.