Soon after the execution of Jerome of Prague, Poggio received from
Guarino Veronese,[83] a copy of a treatise, _De Re Uxoriâ_, i. e. on the
duties of a wife, which had been lately published by Francesco Barbaro,
a Venetian scholar, who was now beginning to attain a considerable
degree of celebrity. His opinion of this composition he expressed in the
following terms. “I thank you, my dear Guarino, for the little volume
which you have been so kind as to communicate to me. My obligation
to you would be immense, had I any thoughts of matrimony; but I must
acknowledge, that the perusal of this treatise has done away the little
inclination which I previously felt to enter into the married state; for
how can I expect to find a help-mate who concentrates in her character
all the good qualities, the union of which, in the opinion of wise
judges, constitutes a good wife. But to be serious. As soon as I received
the book, I began to peruse it; and found the subject so novel, the
style so excellent, and the method so clear, that I hastily ran over
the whole in one day. I afterwards read it again more deliberately. The
subject is indeed a pleasant one; and he has illustrated it by numerous
and well arranged examples. I am however most of all captivated by the
gravity of his diction. This dissertation on the duty of a wife, is, in
my opinion, worthy to be classed with Tully’s Offices. You know that I
am no flatterer, but that I always speak from the impulse of the heart.
Barbaro unites with the greatest eloquence a dignity of sentiment, worthy
of a man of consummate gravity. Earnestly exhort him to cultivate those
talents, the first fruits of which are so admirable.”[84]
The warm approbation which Poggio expressed of this treatise _De Re
Uxoriâ_, led the way to an intercourse of mutual good offices between
him and its author, in whose character were united the dignity of the
patrician, and the accomplishments of the scholar.
Francesco Barbaro was descended from a noble Venetian family, which
formerly bore the name of Magadesi, but exchanged that appellation for
the honourable title of Barbaro, or de’ Barbari, which was conferred upon
it in the twelfth century, in consequence of the valorous exertions of
Marco Magadesi, in a battle fought against the Saracens, near Ascalon.
Francesco was born at Venice, in the year 1398. At an early age he
was placed under the tuition of John of Ravenna, and was afterwards
entrusted to the care of Gasperino Barziza.[85] Under the auspices of
these instructors he made a surprisingly rapid progress in the study
of the Latin tongue. In the acquisition of the rudiments of the Greek
language he was assisted by Guarino Veronese, and not, as some have
erroneously supposed, by Manuel Crysoloras. So suddenly did the talents
of Francesco come to maturity, that he made a public exhibition of his
acquirements in the eighteenth year of his age, at which early period
he pronounced the funeral eulogium of Giovanni Corrodino, a physician
of Padua; and also, at the command of the directors of the Paduan
university, delivered an oration on the occasion of the conferring the
degree of doctor of civil and canon law on Alberto Guidalotti, a noble
Perugian. But a more singular instance of the precocity of his mind was
displayed in the course of the same year, in the publication of his
treatise _De Re Uxoriâ_, which was received by the learned with universal
applause.[86] The vacancy of the pontifical throne still affording to
the officers of the Roman chancery a considerable degree of leisure,
Poggio about this time undertook an expedition of no small importance
to the interests of literature. Having received information that
many ancient manuscripts of classic authors were scattered in various
monasteries, and other repositories in the neighbourhood of Constance,
where they were suffered to perish in neglected obscurity, he determined
to rescue these precious relics from the hands of barbarians, who were
so little sensible of their value. He was not deterred from this laudable
design by the inclemency of the season, or by the ruinous state of the
roads; but with an industry and perseverance, which cannot be too highly
applauded, he made several excursions to the places which were said to
contain the objects of his research. These excursions he even extended
to the city of Paris. For the fatigue and trouble which he encountered
in these inquiries he was requited by the most signal success. A great
number of manuscripts, some of which contained portions of classic
authors, which the admirers of ancient learning had hitherto sought for
in vain, were the reward of his literary zeal. The scholars of Italy took
a lively interest in these investigations of their learned countryman.
The noble art of printing has in modern times rendered books so easily
accessible to all ranks of men, that we cannot enter into the feelings
of those whose libraries were scantily furnished with volumes, which
were slowly multiplied by the tedious process of transcription. But
the epistolary correspondence of the studious of the fifteenth century
contains frequent and striking intimations of the value which was then
set upon good modern copies of the works of classic writers. It may
therefore be easily presumed, that the discovery of an ancient manuscript
was a common subject of exultation to all the lovers of the polite arts.
In the following letter from Leonardo Aretino to Poggio, congratulating
him on the success of his expedition, and particularly on his acquisition
of a perfect copy of Quintilian’s treatise on Oratory, the writer speaks
the sentiments of the literary characters of the age.
“I have seen the letter which you wrote to our friend Niccolo, on the
subject of your last journey, and the discovery of some manuscripts. In
my opinion the republic of letters has reason to rejoice, not only on
account of the acquisition of the works which you have already recovered,
but also on account of the hope which I see you entertain of the recovery
of others. It will be your glory to restore to the present age, by your
labour and diligence, the writings of excellent authors, which have
hitherto escaped the researches of the learned. The accomplishment of
your undertaking will confer an obligation, not on us alone, but on the
successors to our studies. The memory of your services will never be
obliterated. It will be recorded to distant ages, that these works, the
loss of which had been for so long a period a subject of lamentation
to the friends of literature, have been recovered by your industry. As
Camillus, on account of his having rebuilt the city of Rome, was stiled
its second founder, so you may be justly denominated the second author
of all those pieces which are restored to the world by your meritorious
exertions. I therefore most earnestly exhort you not to relax in your
endeavours to prosecute this laudable design. Let not the expense which
you are likely to incur discourage you from proceeding. I will take
care to provide the necessary funds. I have the pleasure of informing
you, that from this discovery of yours, we have already derived more
advantage than you seem to be aware of; for by your exertions we are at
length in possession of a perfect copy of Quintilian. I have inspected
the titles of the books. We have now the entire treatise, of which,
before this happy discovery, we had only one half, and that in a very
mutilated state. Oh! what a valuable acquisition! What an unexpected
pleasure! Shall I then behold Quintilian whole and entire, who, even in
his imperfect state, was so rich a source of delight? I entreat you,
my dear Poggio, send me the manuscript as soon as possible, that I may
see it before I die. As to Asconius and Flaccus, I am glad that you
have recovered them, though neither of these authors have conferred any
additional grace on Latin literature. But Quintilian is so consummate
a master of rhetoric and oratory, that when, after having delivered
him from his long imprisonment in the dungeons of the barbarians,
you transmit him to this country, all the nations of Italy ought to
assemble to bid him welcome. I cannot but wonder that you and your
friends did not eagerly take him in hand, and that, employing yourselves
in the transcription of inferior writers, you should have neglected
Quintilian—an author, whose works I will not hesitate to affirm, are
more an object of desire to the learned than any others, excepting only
Cicero’s dissertation _De Republicâ_. I must next admonish you not to
waste your time on the works which we already possess, but to search for
those which we have not, especially the works of Cicero and Varro.”[87]
Poggio was far from being unconscious of the good service which he
had done to the cause of letters, by the successful assiduity of his
researches after the lost writers of antiquity. [A. D. 1416.] On the
sixteenth of December of this year, he wrote to Guarino Veronese an
epistle, in which, after duly extolling the importance and agreeable
nature of the intelligence which he was about to announce, he gave him a
particular account of the treasure which he had lately brought to light.
From this letter it appears,[88] that in consequence of information which
Poggio had received, that a considerable number of books were deposited
in the monastery of St. Gall, he took a journey to that town, accompanied
by some of his friends. There they found a large number of manuscripts,
and among the rest a complete copy of Quintilian, buried in rubbish and
dust. For the books in question were not arranged in a library, but were
thrown into the lowest apartment or dungeon of a tower, “Which,” says
Poggio, “was not even a fit residence for a condemned criminal.” Besides
Quintilian they found in this obscure recess the three first, and one
half of the fourth books of the Argonautics of Valerius Flaccus, and
Asconius Pedianus’s comment on eight of Cicero’s orations. The two latter
manuscripts Poggio himself transcribed, with an intention of sending them
to Leonardo Aretino, who, as appears by his letters quoted above, was so
much elated by the revival of Quintilian, that he speaks of the discovery
of Asconius and Flaccus as a matter of comparatively trifling moment.[89]
Poggio zealously concurred in the wish of his friend Leonardo, to rescue
from obscurity the lost works of Cicero. Nor were his endeavours to
accomplish this valuable object entirely unsuccessful. In a monastery
of the monks of Clugny, in the town of Langres, he found a copy of
Cicero’s Oration for Cæcina, of which he made a transcript for the use
of his Italian friends. In the course of various journeys, which the
vicissitudes of fortune obliged him to take at different periods of his
life, he had the satisfaction to discover the following orations of the
same author, the loss of which had been long deplored by the learned—De
lege Agrariâ contra Rullum liber primus—Ejusdem liber secundus—Contra
legem Agrariam ad populum—In L. Pisonem. A copy of these orations is
preserved in the Abbey of Santa Maria, at Florence, to which is affixed
a memorandum, which records the fact of their having been discovered by
Poggio. This memorandum indeed makes mention of seven orations as having
been found by him in France and Germany; and the catalogue prefixed to
the manuscript, besides the works above mentioned, enumerates the Oration
pro C. Rabirio Pisone—Pro C. Rabirio perduellionis reo—and pro Roscio
Comœdo—but these orations have been torn from the volume in question.[90]
With the assistance of Bartolomeo di Montepulciano, Poggio also restored
to light the poem of Silius Italicus—Lactantius’s treatise de irâ Dei
et opificio hominis—Vegetius de re Militari—Nonius Marcellus—Ammianus
Marcellinus[91]—Lucretius[92]—Columella and Tertullian.[93]
Before the time of Poggio, eight only of the comedies of Plautus were
known to the classical student. But by the industry or good fortune
of one Nicolas of Treves, whom Poggio employed in continuing the
researches in the monasteries of Germany, which he was unable to conduct
in person, twelve more were brought to light. When Poggio had notice
of this discovery, he was highly elated, and strenuously exhorted the
cardinal Ursini to dispatch a trusty messenger to bring these valuable
treasures to Rome. “I was not only solicitous, but importunate with his
eminence,” says Poggio in a letter to Niccolo Niccoli, “to send somebody
for the books.” The cardinal did not however second the impatience of the
Italian literati, who waited nearly two years before the manuscripts in
question arrived in Rome, whither they were brought by Nicolas of Treves
himself.[94]
Besides Plautus’s comedies, Nicolas of Treves brought to Rome a fragment
of Aulus Gellius.
Poggio also found a copy of Julius Frontinus de Aquæductis, and eight
books of Firmicus’s treatise on the mathematics, lying neglected and
forgotten in the archives of the monastery of Monte Cassino; and at the
instance of Niccolo Niccoli he prevailed upon the governors of that
religious house, to allow him to convey these manuscripts to his own
residence, for the purpose of decyphering and copying them. After he
had transcribed Frontinus with his own hand, he returned the original
manuscript to the library where it had been discovered.[95] He also
procured at Cologne a copy of Petronius Arbiter, a small fragment of
which author he had before discovered in Britain. By his exertions
also the entire work of Columella was brought to light, of which only
fragments had been known to the earlier scholars. For the preservation
of Calpurnius’s Bucolic also, the republic of letters is indebted to the
sagacious diligence of Poggio.[96]
In a long and elaborate letter which Poggio received from Francesco
Barbaro, and which bears the date of June 7th, 1417, this learned
patrician congratulates his correspondent on the glory which he had
acquired by his labours in the cause of learning, and ascribes to the
unremitted diligence of his investigations, the recovery of the works
of the following authors, in addition to others which have been already
enumerated; Manilius, Lucius Septimius, Caper, Eutychius, and Probus.
From this letter of Barbaro, it appears, that the republic of letters had
expected that Poggio would have been materially assisted in his inquiries
after the relics of ancient literature by Bartolomeo di Montepulciano,
but that in consequence of the ill state of his associate’s health, he
was under the necessity of taking upon himself almost the entire conduct
and trouble of the research.
The expense occasioned by these literary excursions was a heavy
incumbrance upon Poggio, whose property could by no means bear any
extraordinary diminution: and the fatigue and inconvenience which he
experienced in the course of his travels in quest of manuscripts, induced
him at one time to declare to Niccolo Niccoli that he could not possibly
spend more time in this pursuit.[97] This declaration was however
nothing more than the result of a temporary dejection of spirits. During
the remainder of his life he eagerly took advantage of every opportunity
of recovering the lost works of the writers of antiquity, many of which
he transcribed with his own hand. In several of his letters the zeal
with which he endeavoured to procure good copies of the Latin classics
is strikingly conspicuous. His inquiries were incessantly and anxiously
directed after the ancient compositions which had not yet been rescued
from beneath the ruins of ages. In the course of his investigations, he
once entertained hopes of recovering the lost Decads of Livy. A Swede,
of the name of Nicolaus, had solemnly assured him, that he had seen a
perfect copy of Livy’s Roman history in a monastery of Cistercian monks
in Hungary. On the receipt of this intelligence, he immediately applied
by letter to Niccolo Niccoli, not doubting but that he could persuade
Cosmo de’ Medici to dispatch one Gherardo de’ Buris to the monastery
where the manuscript was said to be deposited. He was also in hopes that
cardinal Ursini would send a confidential agent to procure this valuable
work; but in these expectations he was disappointed.[98] The testimony
of Nicolaus the Swede being a few years afterwards corroborated by
another traveller, Poggio wrote a letter to Leonello d’Este, Marquis of
Ferrara, giving him an account of the information which he had received,
and intimating, that though the authority upon which it rested was
not of the highest nature, still it was worthy of attention. Whether
Leonello was induced by Poggio’s letter to institute any inquiry after
the manuscript in question, cannot perhaps now be ascertained. Certain it
is, that the learned still lament the imperfect state of the history of
Livy.[99]
Poggio had also at one time conceived hopes of obtaining from a German
monk a copy of the works of Tacitus, containing many portions of that
historian’s writings, which had till then lain neglected beneath the
accumulated dust of ages. These hopes were likewise frustrated. By the
course of events, however, it was afterwards proved that they were not
void of foundation: for during the pontificate of Leo. X. an ancient
manuscript containing five books of the history of Tacitus, which had
been long regarded as irrecoverably lost, was found in Germany, and
presented to that pontiff, according to whose directions it was deposited
in the Laurentian library at Florence.[100]
Amongst the literary characters whose applause animated Poggio to
persevere in his researches after the lost writers of antiquity, a
place of distinguished honour is due to Ambrogio Traversari. This
learned ecclesiastic was the son of Bencivenni dei Traversari, and was
born on the 16th of September, 1386, in Portico, a town of Romagna.
His biographers are not agreed whether his family was poor or rich,
plebeian or noble.[101] It appears however from incontestible evidence,
that soon after he had completed his fourteenth year, he was admitted
into the Camaldolese convent _Degli Angioli_, at Florence, and that he
there took the monastic vows, on the sixth day of November, 1401. At
the time of his entrance into this religious seminary, it was governed
by Matteo di Guido, a Florentine, who, happily for the welfare of the
ecclesiastical fraternity committed to his care, tempered the severity,
and beguiled the wearisomeness of the cloistered life, by the study of
polite letters. Kindly desirous of communicating to others the pleasure
which he himself experienced in literary pursuits, he personally
superintended the education of the youths whom puerile enthusiasm, or
parental authority, had secluded from the world within the walls of
his monastery. Under the care of this enlightened superior, Ambrogio
continued his Latin studies, which he had commenced under the guidance
of John of Ravenna. In the Greek language he was instructed by Demetrius
Scaranus, an eminent scholar, whom the alarming inroads of the Turks had
caused to fly from Constantinople, and who was induced by the liberality
of Matteo to read lectures on the Grecian classics, in the cloisters of
this convent.[102] As Ambrogio was actuated by the genuine enthusiasm of
literary zeal, he made a rapid progress in knowledge. In the prosecution
of his studies, indeed, he enjoyed peculiar advantage. The retirement
of the monastic life afforded him considerable leisure. The library of
his convent was well furnished with books, and he had moreover the free
use of the copious collection of Niccolo Niccoli, who regarded him with
parental affection, and assiduously fostered his ripening talents by the
most liberal patronage. Inspired by a profound veneration of the models
of just taste, which are to be found in the writings of antiquity, he
assiduously employed a considerable portion of his time in multiplying
the copies of the classic authors: and his elegant transcripts of the
works which Poggio had rescued from obscurity, at once testified his love
of literature, and the high estimation in which he held the labours of
his friend.[103]
After the deposition of John XXII. Poggio still remained at Constance,
anxiously hoping that the appointment of a successor to that ill-fated
pontiff would enable him once more to establish himself in the Roman
chancery. In the prosecution of his interests, he had great dependance
upon the support and patronage of Zabarella, cardinal of Florence. But
his expectations of preferment from this quarter were unfortunately
destroyed by the death of that illustrious ecclesiastic. [A. D. 1417.]
This event, which occurred on the twenty-sixth of September, 1417,
deprived the council of one of its ablest members, and Poggio of a kind
and zealous friend. The obsequies of Zabarella were celebrated with
extraordinary pomp; and on this occasion, Poggio fulfilled the last
duties of friendship, by commemorating his virtues in a funeral oration.
Impressed by the solemnity of the subject, and the dignity of his
audience, he exerted in the composition of this oration the full powers
of his eloquence and learning. After a modest exordium, he proceeded to
give a brief account of his departed friend—he then entered into the
detail of his good qualities, and concluded by an impassioned burst of
sorrow for the loss which the lovers of union and peace had sustained;
and by an exhortation to the assembled dignitaries to pay to their
deceased brother the honours due to his virtues, and to imitate the moral
graces which they had so much admired in his conduct.
Francesco Zabarella was a native of Padua. His parents, who moved in
the superior circles of society, readily indulged his early love of
literature, and procured him the best instructions which their city
could afford. Having finished his preparatory education, Francesco
applied himself to the study of the civil law, tempering the severity of
this pursuit by the cultivation of polite letters. When he was arrived
at years of maturity, he delivered public lectures on the science of
jurisprudence. In discharging the duty of instruction, he gained the
respect and love of his pupils, by the variety of his knowledge and the
benevolence of his disposition. The celebrity which he acquired by the
ability with which he filled the professor’s chair, attracted the notice
of John XXII., who, without any solicitation on his part, nominated him
to the bishopric of Florence, and afterwards raised him to the dignity of
cardinal. Stimulated by an earnest desire to put an end to the schism,
he successfully exerted his influence with the pontiff to induce him to
assent to the wishes of the emperor of Germany, by summoning a general
council; and being deputed on the part of the pope, to confer with the
representatives of Sigismund, concerning the place where the council
should assemble, he concurred with them in fixing, for that purpose, upon
the city of Constance. He entered with great zeal into the discussion
of the various subjects which engaged the attention of that renowned
synod. The ardour of his mind indeed hastened his end. Engaging with
uncommon warmth in a tumultuous debate, at a time when he was languid
with sickness, he found himself so much exhausted, that making a last
effort, he declared, that the speech which he had just concluded was his
testamentary oration, and that he felt himself dying in defence of the
church. He did not long survive this exertion. After a short residence
at the baths of Baden, which seemed to be of service in recruiting his
constitution, he returned to renew his labours at Constance, where he
soon died, a victim to the ardour of his zeal, and to the unremitting
toil of his exertions.[104]
In the funeral eulogium which Poggio pronounced over the remains of
Zabarella, he asserts, that had the life of his friend been prolonged, he
would in all probability have been invested with the pontifical purple.
All orders of men now began impatiently to demand the election of a
sovereign pontiff. [A. D. 1417.] In compliance with their wishes, the
cardinals assembled in conclave on the tenth of November, and after the
usual vehemence of dissention, they at length agreed in the nomination of
Otto Colonna, who immediately after his election assumed the appellation
of Martin V.[105]
Thus was terminated the famous schism of the west. Gregory XII. had
died on the 18th of October preceding the election of Martin:[106] and
though Benedict XIII., confident in the strength of the fortifications
of Paniscola, refused to submit to the decrees of the council, and
still assumed the style, and pretended to exercise the functions of the
pontificate, his adherents were so few, and the tide of general opinion
ran so strongly in favour of Martin V., that he was henceforth regarded
rather as an object of contempt than of fear.
The council had given an awful admonition to heretics. It had also, by
an extraordinary exertion of authority, effected an union of the true
believers under a legitimate head. But a most important and difficult
matter remained unaccomplished, namely, the reformation of the church.
The newly elected pontiff listened with apparent complacence to the
petitions which were from time to time preferred to him, by the various
subdivisions of the council, beseeching him to prosecute this good work
by all the means in his power; but he contrived by studied delays so to
protract the consideration of the particular heads of reform, that the
members of the assembly, weary of their long residence in Constance, were
eager to embrace the first opportunity of returning to their respective
homes. This opportunity was afforded them on the twenty-second day of
April, 1418, on which day the pope formally dismissed the council.[107]
On the sixteenth of May he left Constance, and passing through
Schaffausen, he proceeded by easy stages to Geneva, where he arrived
on the eleventh of June.[108] At this city he kept his court for some
months. Quitting Germany on the twelfth day of September, he proceeded
to Milan, and afterwards to Mantua. Here he fixed his residence during
the remainder of the year, being prevented from visiting his capital by
the anarchy which the long absence of legitimate authority had occasioned
in the states of the church. As a grateful return for the hospitality
with which he was received by the duke of Milan, he mediated a peace
between that prince and Pandolfo Malatesta, who, after having taken
Bergamo, had directed his march to Brescia, and by the vigour of his
operations had caused the duke to tremble for the safety of the rest of
his dominions.[109]
Though it does not appear that Poggio held any office under the new
pontiff, he travelled in the suite of Martin V. to Mantua. At this city
he suddenly quitted the Roman court with a determination to spend some
time in England, to which country he had been invited by Beaufort, bishop
of Winchester. This prelate, who is well known to all the admirers
of Shakspeare by the title of cardinal Beaufort, was the son of the
celebrated John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and uncle to the reigning
English monarch Henry V. whose studies he had superintended during his
residence at Oxford. In the year 1397 he was elected bishop of Lincoln.
After having enjoyed this promotion for the space of eight years, he
succeeded William of Wickham in the see of Winchester. He was a man of
boundless ambition, well versed in the crooked policy of court intrigue,
and enormously rich. In the course of a pilgrimage which he undertook to
make to Jerusalem, he visited the council of Constance,[110] where it is
probable he first became acquainted with the merits of Poggio.
Nothing but some suddenly conceived dissatisfaction with his actual
situation, or the prospect of considerable emolument, could have
induced Poggio to fix his residence in Britain, a country regarded by
the Italians as the remotest corner of the globe, and as the abode
of ignorance and barbarity. He was in fact led to entertain great
expectations by the magnificent promises of the bishop of Winchester.
But when he arrived in London, he found himself doomed to the common lot
of those who depend upon the patronage of the great. Beaufort wanted
either leisure or inclination to minister to the wants and wishes of his
guest; and Poggio began to feel all the inconveniences of straightened
circumstances, aggravated by the reflection that he was situated at so
serious a distance from his native land. His communication with his early
friends, and the companions of his youthful years, was interrupted. He
experienced the embarrassments necessarily incident to those who are
thrown into a new circle of society, to the habits of which they are
entirely unaccustomed; and his mind became the prey of discontent and
anxiety. He was also much chagrined on observing the uncultivated state
of the public mind in Britain, when compared with the enthusiastic love
of elegant literature which polished and adorned his native country.[111]
The period of his arrival in England has been justly pronounced by one
of our most accurate historians, to be in a literary point of view one
of the darkest which occur in the whole series of British annals.[112]
Leland indeed and other writers enumerate long lists of scholars, whom
they indiscriminately grace with the title of most learned. These
champions of literature were however nothing more than monks and
astrologers, who were regarded with superstitious admiration by an
ignorant age, but whose works are now deservedly buried in oblivion.
The occult sciences, scholastic philosophy, and the mysteries of
theology, absorbed the attention of the contemptible few who advanced
any pretensions to the cultivation of learning. Of the principles of
composition and the graces of style they were totally ignorant—nay so
imperfect was their knowledge of the Latin tongue, that almost every
sentence of their writings is deformed by the barbarous introduction of
English words, miserably metamorphosed by a Latin termination.[113]
The respectable author, whose opinion of the state of British literature
in the fifteenth century has been quoted above, ascribes the neglect of
learning which disgraces this portion of our history to the following
causes.—The wars in which the English had been so long engaged against
France—The schism of the west—The little encouragement afforded to
learned men—and the scarcity of books.
With respect to the first of these causes, it may be observed, that
a state of warfare by no means in itself precludes the extension of
science, and the cultivation of letters. The most renowned luminaries of
Greece flourished during the devastation of the Peloponnesian war. Julius
Cæsar and Cicero were not diverted from their literary pursuits by the
tumult of faction, and the din of arms. And at the time when literature
was revived in Italy, the provinces of that country were frequently laid
waste by hostile invasions, and its cities were agitated by the discord
of contending parties. As to the second cause, namely, the distraction
occasioned by the schism, it may be remarked, that though this
distraction was felt to a superior degree in Italy, it did not in that
country operate as the slightest check to the progress of learning.—The
want of encouragement to learned men, is rather a consequence than a
cause of the forlorn state of literature. Some degree of knowledge and
taste is requisite to form the character of a patron of the studious.
The neglect of the liberal arts which spread the gloom of barbarism
over our ancestors of the fifteenth century, may perhaps be more justly
ascribed to the operation of the feudal system. This primary cause
prevented that excitation of the public mind, which is necessary to the
successful cultivation of literature. The feudal system was a system of
strict subordination, which prescribed to every member of the political
community his particular rank and place, and surrounded him by a circle,
beyond which he was forbidden to pass. In the spirit of this system, till
the reign of Henry IV., no farmer or mechanic was permitted to send his
children to school; and long after that period, a license from his lord
was necessary to enable a man of this description to educate a son for
the church. Whilst the majority of the people were thus impeded in their
approach to the fountains of knowledge, it was impossible for learning to
raise her drooping head. The feudal superiors, exalted by the accident of
their birth to the enjoyment of power and plenty, had no motive to induce
them to submit to the labour of study. The younger branches of noble
families were early taught to depend upon their swords for subsistence;
and the acquisition of learning was an object far beyond the scope of the
oppressed and humble vassal.
The influence of the feudal system in checking the progress of intellect
will be more plainly visible, if we consider the circumstances of
Italy during the period in question. In that country, the ambition of
adventurers, and the extension of commerce, had broken the fetters of
feudalism; and had enabled the bold and daring in every species of
exertion to rise to the pitch of consequence which their talents could
vindicate. Hence the dormant powers of the human mind were roused,
and the expansion of learning and the liberal arts was promoted. The
equalizing tyranny of the petty princes who usurped the sovereignty
of various cities of Lombardy, whilst it repressed the power of the
aristocracy, called into life the abilities of all the orders of society.
The precarious title by which these chieftains held their exalted
stations induced them to court popularity, by freeing the mass of the
people from invidious restraints. During the residence of the popes
at Avignon, and during the continuance of the schism, the feeble rule
exercised by the pontifical deputies over the ecclesiastical cities
enabled the inhabitants of those cities to defy the authority which
endeavoured to confine their exertions within the limits of slavish
subordination. The factions which disturbed the peace of the Italian
republics tended also in an eminent degree to call forth the full energy
of abilities, which in other circumstances would have been buried in
obscurity. Great talents are too frequently united with turbulence of
spirit. In times when the order of society is inverted by the tumults
of civil broils, while men of peaceful souls retire trembling from the
conflict, he who is endued with the energy of genius, comes forth,
conscious of his strength, and despising every danger, exults in the hope
of vindicating his claim to promotion.
It is evident, that these various stimulants of intellect which occurred
in Italy did not occur in Britain. On this account, whilst the liberal
arts were cultivated and respected in the former country, they were
neglected and despised in the latter.
Another cause of incitement to the study of letters, which operated in
Italy, and was wanting in Britain, arose from the subdivision of the
former country into a variety of petty states. These states maintained
a constant intercourse with each other, by the medium of ambassadors,
who were usually selected from among the most distinguished candidates
for literary fame. Thus one of the most honourable offices in the civil
department of the state was presented to inflame the ambition of the
studious, and the diplomatic profession became the nurse of learning.
When the wish of acquiring knowledge was excited, the numerous copies
of the works of the ancients, which were scattered throughout Italy,
afforded ample means of instruction; while the penury of Britain in this
respect repressed the exertions of inquiry, and excluded the nascent
scholar from the cultivated regions of classic taste.[114]
The vexation which Poggio experienced, when he contemplated the gloomy
contrast which Britain exhibited, when compared with his native land,
was encreased by the receipt of letters from Italy, informing him, that
whilst he was wasting his days in the unprofitable pursuit of preferment,
his late associates were enjoying, with scholastic rapture, the perusal
of some valuable manuscripts, which had been discovered at Lodi by
Gerardo Landriani, bishop of that city. This prelate had rescued from a
heap of rubbish a very ancient copy of various works of Cicero, written
in a character so antique, that few were able to decypher it. The
manuscript in question contained, besides Cicero’s treatise on Rhetoric,
which was already in the hands of collectors of books, the following
works of the same elegant writer, which had till this period escaped
the researches of the learned—The three books De Oratore, entire—Brutus
de claris Oratoribus—and the Orator ad Brutum. Nobody could be found at
Milan who was able to read the character in which these treatises were
written. But Cosmo of Cremona, a scholar of excellent accomplishments,
decyphered and copied the treatise De Oratore; and the celebrated Flavio
Biondo[115] undertook and soon accomplished the task of transcribing
Brutus de claris Oratoribus. From these transcripts copies were speedily
multiplied, and dispersed all over Italy, while Poggio was waiting with
the utmost impatience, till Leonardo Aretino could convey one of these
copies to the distant region in which his friend then resided.[116]
At this inauspicious period, Poggio was filled with anxiety on account of
the destitute condition of his mother, and also by the dissolute conduct
of one of his brothers.[117] In these circumstances his uneasiness and
vexation were greatly aggravated by the receipt of a letter from Niccolo
Niccoli, containing grievous complaints against Leonardo Aretino, and
informing him, that the bond of friendship, by which his correspondent
and Leonardo had for so long a space of time been united, was for ever
sundered.
The quarrel which took place between Leonardo Aretino and Niccolo
Niccoli, originated in a cause, which has, in every age, been productive
of the fiercest and most fatal contentions, namely, the uncontrolled
gratification of the passion, or rather of the appetite, of love. The
following are the principal circumstances which gave rise to this
unfortunate disagreement. Giovanni, the younger brother of Niccolo, kept
a mistress of the name of Benvenuta. As the two brothers resided in the
same house, Niccolo had frequent opportunities of seeing this syren,
whose charms and allurements gained such an ascendancy over his better
principles, that after having for some time carried on an intrigue with
her in private, he at length, in defiance of all decency, openly robbed
his brother of his fair companion, and established Benvenuta in his
own apartments.[118] It may easily be imagined, that Giovanni did not
tamely submit to such an injury. In consequence of his resentment, the
neighbourhood was daily disturbed by the outrages of fraternal discord.
One of the worst effects produced by such disgraceful connections as that
which Niccolo had formed with Benvenuta, is the absolute ascendancy which
artful and wicked women thereby gain over men of weak minds; and which
they uniformly exercise, in setting their lovers at variance with their
relations and friends. The history of Niccolo confirms the truth of this
observation. By the crafty insinuations of his mistress his affections
were alienated from those with whom he had formerly been united by the
bonds of consanguinity and friendship. Influenced by her suggestions,
he dropped all intercourse with his five brothers, and quarrelled with
Lorenzo de’ Medici, whom he had till this unfortunate transaction been
proud to enumerate amongst his dearest associates. In the height of her
insolence, Benvenuta had the audacity to defame the character of the
wife of Jacopo, one of the brothers of Niccolo. Jacopo, for some time,
endured her insolence with patient contempt; but at length exasperated by
her petulance, he asked the advice, and demanded the assistance of his
brothers. They sympathized with him in his resentment, and readily gave
him the aid which he required. Proceeding to the house of Niccolo, they
seized the termagant beauty, and exalting her on the back of one of their
attendants, to the great amusement of the by-standers, they inflicted on
her a species of chastisement, in the administration of which convenience
and severity are consulted much more than modesty. Niccolo was a helpless
witness of the pain and disgrace suffered by Benvenuta. This spectacle
had such an effect on his feelings, that, vowing vengeance against his
brothers, he retired to his house, and delivered himself up to the most
immoderate transports of grief. Hearing that he was thus afflicted,
several of his acquaintance paid him visits of condolence, from which
they returned, ridiculing his folly, and fully persuaded that his
anger had impaired his reason. In this conjuncture, Leonardo Aretino,
being aware that Niccolo was not in a mood to listen with patience to
the remonstrances which he thought it his duty to make to him on the
extravagance of his conduct, cautiously avoided going to his house. This
circumstance did not escape the observation of the mourner, who sent word
to Leonardo, that he was surprised that he had not received from him the
common offices of friendly consolation. To this message Leonardo replied,
that he was surprised that Niccolo should expect consolation from his
friends on so trifling a subject of sorrow as the chastisement of his
cook-maid; and that he thought it was time for him to put an end to his
folly. This message added fuel to the flame of Niccolo’s wrath. He now
kept no measures with Leonardo; but abjured his friendship, and eagerly
embraced every opportunity of inveighing against him with the utmost
bitterness.[119] Leonardo did not submit with patience to the angry
maledictions of his former associate. In a bitter invective which he
published against Niccolo, under the designation of _Nebulo Maleficus_,
he returned railing for railing; and, notwithstanding the mediation of
their common acquaintance, and, amongst the rest of Poggio, the breach of
friendship which had been thus unhappily occasioned by the intemperate
passions of Niccolo, daily became wider.[120]
Whilst the feelings of Poggio were thus wounded by the dissension of his
dearest friends, he earnestly solicited from his patron some recompense
for the long journey which he had undertaken, at his invitation, and in
reliance on his promises of preferment and support. His solicitations
were for a long time entirely fruitless. He found, by mortifying
experience, that men of exalted rank are much more ready to make
promises than to fulfil their engagements. “At length,” to adopt his own
expression, “the mountain laboured, and produced a mouse.” The wealthy
and powerful Bishop of Winchester presented his client with a benefice,
the annual income of which was nominally one hundred and twenty florins;
but in consequence of various deductions, its revenues did not in fact
amount even to that inconsiderable sum. Poggio had always entertained
great objections to the clerical life. His objections were not founded
upon a contempt of the institutions of religion. On the contrary, they
proceeded from the exalted idea which he entertained of the duties of
the clerical office. Sensible, as he himself says in a letter to Niccolo
Niccoli, of the serious charge which they impose upon themselves, who
undertake the cure of souls, he was diffident of his qualifications to
execute the duties of an office, the faithful discharge of which demanded
the most indefatigable industry, and the most scrupulous correctness of
moral conduct.[121] Influenced by these considerations, which certainly
bear very satisfactory testimony to the purity of his principles, though
he was soon promoted to a much richer living, he wished to exchange
it for a benefice without cure of souls. To meet his wishes in this
respect a canonicate was offered him; but it is uncertain whether this
arrangement was perfected.[122] However this may be, he was weary of his
residence in England, and impatiently longed to return to his native
land. At this juncture, he received from Italy two proposals, the one
on the part of Alamano Adimaro, Archbishop of Pisa and Cardinal of St.
Eusebius, who invited him to accept the office of Secretary to the Roman
pontiff; the other from Piero Lamberteschi, who offered him a situation,
the nature of which is not precisely known, but which was probably
that of public professor in one of the Italian universities. Poggio
seems to have received the proposal of Lamberteschi with considerable
satisfaction. On this subject he thus expresses himself in a letter to
Niccolo Niccoli.
“The day before yesterday, I received two letters from you, and one from
Piero Lamberteschi. These letters I have read with great attention. I
am pleased with Piero’s plan, and I think I shall follow your advice.
He says, that he will do his endeavour to procure me five hundred gold
florins for three years’ services. Make them six hundred, and I will
agree to the proposal. He lays before me flattering hopes of future
profitable contingencies, and I am inclined to believe, that these hopes
may probably be realized: yet I think it more prudent to covenant for
something, than to depend upon hope alone. I like the employment to which
he invites me, and I hope I shall produce something worth reading; but
for this purpose, as I have informed him, I must be indulged with leisure
and retirement.”
The invitation of the cardinal of St. Eusebius was not so satisfactory
to the wishes of Poggio. In the letter from which the foregoing extracts
have been made, he thus expresses himself.
“I observe what the cardinal writes on the subject of the secretaryship.
If I had valued that office as highly as some do, I should long ago have
returned to Rome. I have less esteem for the pontificate and its members,
than they imagine; for I wish to be a free man, and not a public slave.
Ratify the offers of Piero, and you shall see that I shall avoid the
Roman court with more diligence than many people would be apt to believe.
I must earnestly request that you will not communicate my plans to any
one, since we are ignorant of what may happen—for man proposes, but God
directs the issues of things.”[123]
The event of these negociations demonstrated the prudence of Poggio, in
not precipitately rejecting the invitation of Adimaro. Some obstacle
intervened to prevent the execution of the plan proposed by Lamberteschi;
and we may estimate the impatience with which Poggio endured his exile
from Italy, by the undoubted fact, that notwithstanding the above
confession of his dislike of the pontifical court, he accepted the
office of Secretary to Martin V. He accordingly quitted England, where
his hopes had been so severely disappointed, and after a journey, of the
incidents of which no record appears in his works, he once more took up
his residence at Rome.
It is very probable, that Poggio communicated to his Italian
correspondents an account of the remarkable circumstances which he
observed in the course of his journey to England, and of his return to
his native land. It is also reasonable to suppose, that some of the
letters which he wrote from this country would contain his opinion of
the manners and customs of our ancestors. If this was the case, we have
reason to lament that these interesting documents are not yet made
public. Though incidental mention is frequently made in the works of
Poggio, of his residence in Britain, he never dwells upon this topic.
A trait of the manners of the English in the fifteenth century occurs
in his dialogue on Nobility, in which he thus notices the English
aristocracy.—“The nobles of England deem it disgraceful to reside in
cities, and prefer living in retirement in the country. They estimate the
degree of a man’s nobility by the extent of his estates. Their time is
occupied in agricultural pursuits, and they trade in wool and sheep, not
thinking it at all derogatory to their dignity to be engaged in the sale
of the produce of their lands. I have known a wealthy merchant, who had
closed his mercantile concerns, vested his money in land, and retired
into the country, become the founder of a noble race; and I have seen
him freely admitted into the society of the most illustrious families.
Many persons also of ignoble blood have been advanced to the honours of
nobility by the favour of their sovereign, which they have merited by
their warlike achievements.”[124]
In his _Historia Disceptativa Convivialis_, he relates another trait
of the manners of our forefathers, which he records as an instance of
their politeness. A splenetic traveller would probably have quoted it as
a proof of their love of good living. “The English,” says he, “if they
meet with any one at whose table they have dined, even if the rencounter
should take place ten days after the feast, thank him for his good
entertainment; and they never omit this ceremony, lest they should be
thought insensible of his kindness.”[125]
From the following story, which Poggio has chronicled in his _Facetiæ_,
we learn, that at this early period the English were addicted to the
practice of diverting themselves at the expense of their brethren on
the other side of St. George’s channel, and that when he visited this
country, an Irishman was already become the common hero of an English
tale of absurdity.
“When I was in England, I heard a curious anecdote of an Irish captain
of a ship. In the midst of a violent storm, when all hands had given
themselves over for lost, he made a vow, that if his ship should be saved
from the imminent danger which threatened to overwhelm her, he would make
an offering at the church of the Virgin Mary of a waxen taper, as large
as the main-mast. One of the crew observing that it would be impossible
to discharge this vow, since all the wax in England would not be
sufficient to make such a taper,—hold your tongue, said the captain, and
do not trouble yourself with calculating whether I can perform my promise
or not, provided we can escape the present peril.”[126]