Serafino Aquilano (Serafino de' Ciminelli dall' Aquila) was the most celebrated singer-poet of his time, and his short life (1466-1500) and meteoric career are unusually well documented in contemporary sources. In life his artistry was sought in the leading Italian courts and academies of the time, and in death he was celebrated by leading humanist scholars and poets with multiple editions of his poetry, an immense memorial collection of poems, and tributes that were unprecedented for a vernacular poet from three leading humanists who were his chief apologists: a biography by Vincenzo Calmeta, a defense of his poetry by Angelo Colocci, and Paolo Cortesi's De cardinalatu in which Serafino is declared the "originator of the renewal of vernacular song" in their age.