Che parton poi tra lor le peccatrici,
Tal per l’arena giù sen giva quello.”
Pits for the steeping of hemp and flax still exist. A document has been
found in the communal archives which shows that, as late as 1469, a
portion of the spring went to the Bagni delle Meretrici.
[103] Madonna della Quercia, between Orte and Viterbo. It is one of
the finest Renaissance churches in Italy. It was built from Bramante’s
design, and contains some beautiful Della Robbia work.
[104] Paul III.
[105] Now the Villa Lante.
[106] The famous palace built by Vignola for Cardinal Alessandro
Farnese, which was begun in 1547 and finished in 1559.
[107] There is a full description of Caprarola and all the works
therein in Vasari, vol. vii. p. 107 (ed. 1881).
[108] In the _Essais_, i. 48, he alludes to a similar performance:
“J’ay veu un homme donner carrière à deux pieds sur sa selle, demonter
sa selle, et au retour la relever, r’accommoder, et s’y r’asseoir,
fuyant tousiours à bride avallée. Ayant passé par dessus un bonnet, y
tirer par derrière de bons coups de son arc: Amasser ce qu’il vouloit,
se jettant d’un pied à terre, tenant l’autre en l’estrier et autres
pareilles singeries de quoi il vivoit.”
[109] Fulvio Orsini, made a cardinal in 1565. He had been entrusted by
Gregory XIII. with a special mission to France. He died at Naples aged
fifty-one.
[110] It appears that Montaigne only stayed a week in Rome this visit.
[111] It was during this sojourn probably that Mattecoulon was engaged
in the duel referred to in _Essais_, ii. 27.
[112] Ponte a Elsa (?).
[113] These works were begun in 1577 under the direction of a Fleming
named Raet, but were subsequently abandoned.
[114] Dante, _Par._, xvi., alludes to its overthrow.
[115] Sarzana.
[116] This would be the Empress Maria, widow of Maximilian II. and
sister of Philip II., who was returning to Spain to enter a convent.
Don Giovanni dei Medici was the son of Cosimo I. by Eleanora degli
Albizzi.
[117] Fynes Moryson, writing about ten years later, gives quite as bad
a report of the inns in these parts. _Itinerary_, p. 164.
[118] Montaigne’s omission of all notice of the French victory at
Fornovo in 1495 is an instance of his freedom from swagger.
[119] Borgo San Donino.
[120] A sort of fruit salad.
[121] “The name of a march or point of warre, sounded by trumpeters to
their general or captain in a morning at their uprising” (Florio).
[122] Ottavio Farnese.
[123] Built from Vignola’s design.
[124] It is difficult to gather the meaning of this sentence. At
Innsbruck Montaigne had seen Andreas and Charles, the sons of the
Archduke and Philipina Welser, but there was never any question that
either of these would attain such a dignity as is here alluded to.
[125] Montaigne is here speaking of the Church of S. Pietro in Cielo
d’Oro, which at the time of his visit was called S. Agostino. The tomb
was subsequently moved into the cathedral, where it remained till 1900,
when it was restored to its old site.
[126] A slip for Marcus Aurelius. This statue was known as the
Regisole. There is a legend that it was brought from Ravenna by
Charlemagne. It was destroyed at the end of the eighteenth century in a
popular tumult. Fynes Moryson gives a further legend that it was made
by magic arts by the Emperor Anastatius for his own image.
[127] This building was begun in 1564.
[128] Sesia.
[129] “Such men as upon the Alps convey over passengers in sledges or
hurdles” (Florio).
[130] Lans le Bourg.
[131] Louis de Bourbon, who died in 1582.
[132] A coin struck in the reign of Charles VIII., and called after him.
[133] Escus-sol. “The best kind of crown that is now made hath a little
star on one side” (Cotgrave).
[134] Montaigne is in the arrondissement of Bergerac in Périgord. In
1860 the castle was bought by M. Magne, a minister of Napoleon III.,
and rebuilt. In 1885 it was destroyed by fire.
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented by _italic_.