Salvadore in Camaldoli, and were afterwards transferred to a religious retreat belonging to his order, situated in the district of Casentino. The writings of more than one of his contemporaries make mention of a common report, that lilies grew upon his grave in the depth of winter, and that when these miraculous flowers were with pious wonder gathered by his surviving brethren, their place was immediately supplied by the production of successive harvests.[319] Though the testimony of these witnesses may, in an age of scepticism, be deemed insufficient to establish the belief of this marvellous tale, the circulation of such a report evinces the celebrity of Ambrogio’s fame, and the opinion which was generally entertained of the extraordinary sanctity of his life. Ambrogio Traversari is justly regarded as one of the literary luminaries of his age. His knowledge was various and profound. He was well versed in the Hebrew scriptures. It has been before observed, that the conferences which took place between the deputies of the Latin and Greek churches in the council of Ferrara, gave him an opportunity of displaying the uncommon proficiency which he had made in the Grecian language. Rendering his literary acquirements subservient to the duties of his profession, he dedicated a considerable portion of his time to the translation of the Greek fathers. Diogenes Laertius is the only profane author whose works he illustrated by a Latin version. His style is flowing, but so unpolished, that he seems to have fallen into the erroneous opinion, that an attention to the elegancies of composition is unbecoming those who are dedicated to sacred offices. His manners appear to have been simple, and his dispositions benevolent. With his learned contemporaries he maintained an extensive correspondence. A large collection of his letters was published by P. Martene in the third volume of his Ancient Monuments. This collection was afterwards republished, with several additions, by P. Canetti; and lastly, the Abate Mehus, in two splendid folio volumes, printed at Florence in the year 1759, has favoured the public with a very correct impression of Ambrogio’s epistles and orations, to which he has prefixed a most elaborate history of his life, and of the revival of literature in Florence. These epistles, and the Hodœporicon, or journal kept by Traversari of the observations which he made in the course of several journeys which he took to various parts of Italy, after his elevation to the generalship of his order, afford much curious information concerning the manners and customs of the times in which he lived.