TASSO, TORQUATO

born March 11, 1544, Sorrento, Kingdom of Naples died April 25, 1595, Rome greatest Italian poet of the late Renaissance, celebrated for his heroic epic poem Gerusalemme liberata (1581; Jerusalem Liberated), dealing with the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. Additional reading C.P. Brand, Torquato Tasso: A Study of the Poet and of His Contribution to English Literature (1965), includes a revaluation of the Gerusalemme conquistata and an original study of the poet's fortunes in England.