Editing Coluccio Salutati (section)

==Early career==
Salutati was born in Stignano, a tiny commune near [[Buggiano]] (today's [[province of Pistoia]], [[Tuscany]]). After studies in [[Bologna]], where his father lived in exile after a [[Ghibelline]] coup in Buggiano, the family returned to Buggiano, which had become more securely part of the [[Republic of Florence]]. There he worked as notary and pursued his literary studies, coming into contact with the Florentine humanists [[Boccaccio]] and [[Francesco Nelli]]. The refined and masterful classical [[Latin language|Latin]] of his letters to Florentine scholars earned him the admiring nickname of "Ape of [[Cicero]]",<ref>Italian "Scimmia di Cicerone", with implied praise.{{cite journal|title=Il cancelliere letterato|journal=Medioevo|issue=145/146|publisher=De Agostini|first=Lorenzo|last=Tanzini|page=100}}</ref> In 1367 Coluccio was  appointed chancellor of [[Todi, Italy|Todi]] in the Papal States. Papal secretary Francesco Bruni took Salutati with him to Rome from 1368 to 1370, as assistant in the [[Papal curia]] of [[Pope Urban V]] recently returned from [[Avignon]].<ref>The [[Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy|Avignonese papacy]] lasted from 1305 to 1367.</ref> In 1370, through his connections in the curia he was made chancellor of the powerful Tuscan city of [[Lucca]], a post he quickly lost in internecine struggles there.<ref>Witt, 2000:2.</ref>