I had judged correctly, and that he had come to see the great humanists.'" Vespasiano then took him to the Villa Careggi, the home of the first Renaissance Platonic academy; also to Cosimo de' Medici, who was completely fascinated by the brilliant and learned youth; then to Argiropolis, whom Pannonius heard lecturing; and to Poggio, at whose house he recited some of his poems with remarkable success. Vespasiano writes of him: "Every one felt the charm of his personality, even those who knew him only by sight. Every day added to his reputation. We looked upon him as the delight of the world (le delizie del mondo)." The chief work of Pannonius is a long Latin epic poem, wholly classical in its conception, praising the achievements of his friend Marcello, the Venetian leader.
Another remarkable figure at the Court of Matthias was Regiomontanus (1436-1476), the greatest astronomer of his century, and the inventor of modern trigonometry. He was the friend and pupil of the great Greek cardinal Bessarion. Matthias placed him in charge of his library and astronomical observatory, at a salary of two hundred golden florins. The observations of Regiomontanus constitute the beginning of real scientific astronomy. His work, the Ephemerides, was dedicated to King Matthias, who rewarded him with twelve hundred golden florins. The book is a kind of nautical almanack, enabling an observer to find his geographical situation by means of the stars. Columbus used the book during his first voyage, so that it played an important part in geographical discovery.
Near the King we cannot fail to see his literary familiar, the ingenious Galeotto, who has a hand in everything going on in the new classical society.
