AMBROSE THE CAMALDULIAN, the name by which Ambrogio Traversari (1386-1439), Italian humanist and ecclesi astic, is commonly known. Ambrogio was born at Portico, near Florence, and studied Greek under Emmanuel Chrysoloras. He entered the Camaldulian Order at 14, and became general of the order in 1431. His great work was the introduction of the Greek theologians' works to the church of the Renaissance by a series of translations to which he devoted his life. Those writings of the fathers which were available were often rendered into obscure and barbarous Latin, and many had not been translated at all. He produced a new version of the homilies of St. Chrysostom and of others of his works, and translations of Dionysius the Areopagite and other authors. Many of his mss. are preserved in the library of St. Mark's, Venice. He was a friend of Cosmo de Medici, at whose desire he reluctantly turned aside from the Greek fathers for a moment to make a Latin version of Diogenes Laertius. He died on Oct. 20 1439.
See G. Voigt, Die Wiederbelebung des klass. Altertums, 3rd ed. (1893) ; his Epistolae were published by Cannato (Florence, with a life by Mehus; Bollandist Bibl. hag. lat. 0898), 63 ; A. Masius, Ober die Stellung des Kamaldulensers Ambrogio Traversari zum Papst Eugen IV. and zum Basler Konzil (Dobeln, 1888) ; Savigny, Geschich te rom. Rechts im Mittel. (1850), vi.