MURATORI, Louis Antony, a learned Italian scholar and antiquary, was born at Vignola, in the duchy of Modena, on the 21st of October 1672. He received his elementary education at the college of Modena, where he signalized himself by his application, and the rapidity of his progress in the ancient languages and in literature. He then entered the university, where he passed through the ordinary curriculum, applying himself with equal ardour to the study of philosophy, jurisprudence, and theology. Father Bacchini, the learned librarian of the Duke of Modena, inspired him with a taste for historical researches, and taught him to read manuscripts; and so much did he profit by his advantages, that, at the age of twenty, he was considered as a prodigy of talent and erudition. In 1694 he was called to Milan by Count Carlo Borromeo, who had appointed him a keeper of the Ambrosian Library. But before quitting Modena, he wished to take his degree of doctor in utroquxjure ; and the theses which he maintained on this occasion were universally applauded. Having established himself at Milan, and taken sacred orders, Muratori entered upon a course of study and research calculated to justify the hopes which his talents had inspired; and having made a selection from the numerous manuscripts intrusted to his care, he published them with dissertations, intended to throw light upon various disputed points in archaeology. The reputation he thus acquired was great, and the Duke of Modena, regretting that he had parted with a man who seemed destined to attain such distinction, offered him, as an inducement to return, the situation of conservator of the public archives of the duchy, together with that of keeper of his library, vacant by the resignation of Father Bacchini. Muratori returned in 1700 to Modena, which he never quitted, except to visit the public collections of the principal cities of Italy. In 1734 Apostolo Zeno offered him the chair of belles-lettres in the university of Padua; but Muratori declined accepting a situation which would have withdrawn him from his favourite pursuits. The publication of a number of valuable tracts on the history of Italy during the middle ages, besides various learned dissertations, added every year to his growing reputation; and this indefatigable writer also found leisure to cultivate polite literature, nay, even to take part in the theological discussions which then occupied so much of the public attention. Indeed all the journals and all the literary collections of the time were enriched with some of his productions, the constant aim of which was utility. The complaisance with which he communicated the result of his researches had put him in communication with the most distinguished scholars of Italy, France, and Germany, who had recourse to him on all subjects of difficulty; literary societies vied with one another in sending him diplomas of admission; and many who had attained eminence in different departments of literature paid him the homage of inscribing to him their works. But, amidst all these flattering distinctions, he was sometimes the object of injurious criticisms, and on one occasion found himself called upon to repel unjust accusations. A rumour having been circulated that Benedict XIV. had discovered, in the works of Muratori, propositions contrary to the truths of religion, and that the supreme pontiff had specified these in a brief directed to the inquisitor-general of Spain, the learned librarian, confident of his innocence, addressed a letter to the pope full of respect and submission, in which he at once explained his disquietude, and repudiated the imputation cast upon his writings. The sovereign pontiff lost no time in setting his mind at ease, by explaining to him the cause of the rumour which had been circulated. His holiness declared that he had seen nothing reprehensible in his works, except certain passages concerning temporal jurisdiction; but that he had never had the intention of causing them to be formally censured, persuaded that a man of honour should not be annoyed on the pretext that he had erred in matters which have no relation either to doctrine or to discipline. The health of Muratori, enfeebled by excessive labour, at length declined, and having by the advice of his physicians discontinued his occupations, he went to breathe the air of the country. On his return he hastened to complete some writings which he proposed to publish; but the unfavourable symptoms which had previously excited the apprehensions of his friends soon reappeared in a more dangerous form, and, after languishing for some months, he died on the 23d of January 1750, at the age of seventy-seven. He was buried with much pomp in the church of Santa Maria di Pomposa, whence his remains were, in the year 1774, transported to that of Saint Augustin. Muratori never possessed any other benefice than that of Santa Maria, which, though exceedingly small, appears to have satisfied all his wishes.

Of the works of Muratori, sixty-four in number, a detailed list will be found in the Eiblioteca Modenese of Tiraboschi (tom. iii. pp. 326-346). The principal are, 1. Anecdota ex Ambrosianae Bibliothecae codicibus nunc primum cruta, notis et dissertationibus illustrata, Milan, 1697, 1698, Padua, 1713, in two vols. 4to; 2. Vita e Rime di Maggi, Milan, 1700; 3. Della Perfetta Poesia Italiana, Modena, 1706, in two vols. 4to; 4. Anecdota Graeca ex manuscriptis codicibus cruta, Latine donata, notis et disquisitionibus aucta, Padua, 1709, in 4to; 5. De Ingeniorum Moderatione in Religionis negotio, Paris, 1714, in 4to;6. Delle Antichità Estensi ed Italiane, Modena, 1717, in two vols. folio; 7. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores praecipui ab anno 500 ad 1500, quorum potissima pars nunc prodiit, Milan, 1723-1751, in twenty-nine vols. folio; 8. Delle forze dell’ Intendimento Umano, Venice, 1735 and 1745, in 8vo; 9. De Paradiso Regnique Coelestis gloria liber, Verona, 1738, in 4to; 10. Antiquitates Italicae medii cevi, sive Dissertationes de moribus Italici Populi ab inclinatione Romani imperii usque ad annum 1500, Milan, 1738-1743, in six vols. folio; 11. Novus Thesaurus Veterum Inscriptionum in praecipuis earundem Collectionibus hactenus praetermissarum, Milan, 1739-1742, in six vols. folio; 12. De Superstitiône vitanda adversus Votum Sanguinarium pro immaculata Deiparae conceptione, Venice, 1740 and 1742, in 4to; 13. Cristianesimo felice nelle missioni del Paraguai, Venice, 1743, in 4to; 14. Annali d’Italia dall’era volgare sino ali’ anno 1749, Venice, 1744-1749, in twelve vols. 4to; 15. Liturgia Romana Vetus tria Sacramentaria complectens, Venice, 1748, in two vols. folio; 16. Delia Publica Félicita oggetto de’ buoni principi, Lucca, 1749; 17. Lives of Segnen, Ligonius, Orsi, Tassoni, and others; 18. Dissertations, in various collections; 19. Letters, Venice, 1783, in two vols., preceded by a life of Muratori from the pen of Lazzari, professor of eloquence in the Academy [7:15:597] of Pesaro. The Works of Muratori have been published at Arezzo, 1769-]780, in thirty-six vols. 4to; and at Venice, 1790-1810, in forty-eight vols. 8vo. (a.)