Alamanni, Luigi

Alamanni or Alemanni, Luigi (lē`jē älämän`nē, älā–), 1495–1556, Italian poet and patriot. He was a friend of Macchiavelli, who may have encouraged his conspiracy (1522) against Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII). Its failure forced him to flee to the French court. He returned (1527) to Florence to fight the Medici, but after their restoration (1532) he was declared a rebel. Alamanni was versatile and prolific. He wrote plays (La Flora, a comedy and Antigone, a tragedy) and lively letters to his friends and introduced the epigram into modern Italian poetry.