The son of the humanist
Uberto Decembrio, Piero Candido Decembrio was born in
Pavia, and named after his father's employer
Peter of Candia. He was a pupil of his father's friend and teacher
Manuel Chrysoloras in Florence. In 1419 he became secretary to
Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and served in this post for nearly thirty years, continuing as secretary of the
Ambrosian Republic after the Duke's death. When
Francesco Sforza came to power in the city, Decembrio lost his position. He then found work in the chancery of
Pope Nicholas V, but with several other humanists, he left after the accession of
Pope Callixtus III and travelled instead to the Neapolitan court of
Alfonso the Great of Aragon. After Alfonso's death in 1458 he returned to Rome as secretary to
Pius II and then to Milan in 1460. In 1466 he was granted a pension by the
Duke of Ferarra. In 1477 he died in Milan and is buried in the
Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio. He produced a Latin version of Plato's
Republic and attempted a continuation of Virgil's
Aeneid. His grave lists 127 works. ==See also==