Dalla schola alla cattedra: Giorgio Valagussa allievo e maestro tra lo studium guariniano di Ferrara e la corte sforzesca di Milano

Giorgio Valagussa (1428-1464) has been considered a “lesser” humanist. He was active between Ferrara and Milan in the central decades of the fifteenth century. Born from a humble family in Brescia he managed to study with Guarino Veronese in Ferrara. Since he had to pay for his studies he started teaching to élite pupils while he was still a student himself. He continued this career in Milan, where he reached its peak when he become teacher of the Duke’s offspring. The article aims to show Giorgio Valagussa’s experience as pupil and élite teacher using his published epistolary (Epistolarum familiarium libri xii) as well as non-narrative sources from the Milanese State Archive and the product of his teaching the Ducal children: letters and orations.