Its author, Theophilus Folengo, who was also a monk, was born in 1491, and died only a short time before Rabelais, in 1544.

But his burlesque poem was published in 1517.

It was in Latin verse, written in an elaborately fabricated style.

It is not dog Latin, but Latin ingeniously italianized, or rather Italian, even Mantuan, latinized.

The contrast between the modern form of the word and its Roman garb produces the most amusing effect.