[1] _Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1._ _Recanati Osservazioni, p. 34._
[2] _Elogi degli Uomini Illustri Toscani, tom. i. p. 270._ MS. in the
Riccardi Library referred to by the Cavaliere Tonelli, _tom. i. p. 3._ of
his translation of the Life of Poggio, which will be hereafter designated
by the abridgment _Ton. Tr._
[3] _Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1._
[4] Recanati indeed, on the authority of a letter addressed by an
unknown antiquary to Benedetto de’ Bondelmonti, asserts, that the office
of notary had been for some generations hereditary in the family of
Poggio.—_Recanati ut supr._
[5] See a fragment of a letter from Colucio Salutati to Pietro Turco.
_Apud Mehi Vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, fo. ccclxxix. ccclxxx._
[6] Giovanni, the son of Jacopo Malpaghino, was born at Ravenna. In
his early youth he left his native city, and went to Venice, where he
attended the lectures of Donato Albasano, a celebrated grammarian.
From the instructions of Donato he derived considerable advantage; but
his connexion with that scholar was more eminently fortunate, as it
introduced him to the acquaintance, and procured him the friendship of
Petrarca, who took him into his family, and superintended the prosecution
of his studies. In return for the kindness of his accomplished patron,
Giovanni undertook the improving employment of transcribing his
compositions—a task for which he was well qualified, as he had added to
his other acquirements that of a beautiful hand writing. Petrarca in
a letter to Giovanni Certaldo, which is preserved in Mehus’s life of
Ambrogio Traversari, mentions, with distinguished applause, the industry,
temperance and prudence of his young scribe; and particularly commends
the tenaciousness of his memory, in proof of which, he informs his
correspondent, that Giovanni had, in eleven successive days, qualified
himself to repeat his twelve Bucolic poems. Perhaps the highest eulogium
that can be pronounced upon Giovanni is this, that he continued to reside
in the family of Petrarca for the space of fifteen years, at the end of
which time, by the death of that elegant enthusiast, he was deprived
of an enlightened master and a zealous friend. On this event he went
to Padua, where he for some time gained an honourable livelihood, by
instructing youth in the principles of eloquence. In the year 1397, he
received an invitation to undertake the office of public instructor, in
the city of Florence. This invitation he accepted, and discharged the
duties of his station with great applause, during the course of at least
fifteen years. The time of his death is uncertain. _Mehi Vita Ambrosii
Traversarii, p. cccxlviii.-cccliii._—_Ejusdem præfatio ad Colucii
Salutati Epistolas, p. xli._
[7] _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 7._
[8] _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 10._
[9] _Platina Vite de’ Pontefici, tom. i. p. 368._
[10] _Platina, tom. i. p. 369._
[11] The conclave gave a name to the new pontiff, because he was absent
from Rome at the time of his election.
[12] _Platina, tom. i. p. 370._
[13] _Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations, chap. 69._
The Cavaliere Tonelli is of opinion, that Joanna was innocent of this
crime, which is not imputed to her by the best Neapolitan historians,
Costanzo and Giannone. See _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 16._
[14] _Platina, tom. i. p. 372._
[15] _Poggius de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 56._ _Ammirato Istorie Fiorentine,
P. I. T. II. p. 752._
[16] _Platina, tom. i. p. 373, 374. Giannone, lib. xxiv. cap. i._
[17] _Vide Poggii Epistolas lvii, a Johanne Oliva Rhodigino vulgatas ad
calcem librorum de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 199._
[18] Alter Urbanum olim summum pontificem leviter perstrinxit. Nam cum
ille nescio quid acrius a pontifice contenderet, “malo capite es” inquit
Urbanus. Tum ille “hoc idem” inquit “et de te vulgi dicunt homines pater
sancte.” _Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 428._
[19] _Platina, tom. i. p. 376._
[20] _Platina, tom. i. p. 376, 377._ _Poggii Historia Florentina, lib.
iii._ _Ammirato Istor. lib. xv._
[21] _Platina, tom. i. p. 378._
[22] The English reader will probably be surprised to recognize in
Giovanni Auguto, his countryman John Hawkewood. John was a soldier of
fortune, and had been engaged in the war which Edward III. king of
England, carried on with so much glory against France. On the conclusion
of peace between those two countries, he led into Italy a band of 3000
adventurers, of restless spirits, and approved courage, who had engaged
to fight under his banners, on behalf of any state which would give
them a suitable remuneration for their services. In the year 1363, this
army of desperadoes was hired by the republic of Pisa, and spread ruin
and devastation through the territories of Florence, with which state
the Pisans were then at war. They afterwards entered into the service
of Bernabò Visconti, lord of Milan, and being again opposed to the
Florentines, they defeated the Tuscan army, and made predatory incursions
to the very gates of Florence. Being defrauded by Bernabò of the
remuneration which his services merited, Hawkewood readily acceded to the
terms proposed to him by the cardinal of Berry, legate of pope Gregory
XI. and heartily engaged on the side of the pontiff in hostilities
against the lord of Milan. Having assisted in the capture of nearly a
hundred towns belonging to that prince, he had the satisfaction of seeing
him reduced to the necessity of suing for peace. In the year 1375 he
entered into the service of the Florentines. In the course of a little
time he was promoted to the chief command of the Tuscan forces, in which
capacity he merited and acquired the confidence of his employers, by the
courage and skill with which he conducted the military operations of
the Republic. He retained the office of Generalissimo of the Florentine
army till the time of his death, which event took place in the latter
end of the year 1393. The gratitude of the Florentines honoured him with
a magnificent funeral, and his fame was perpetuated by an equestrian
statue, erected to his memory at the public expense.
_Poggii Historia Florentina, p. 29, 41, 46, 122, 123. See particularly
note (x) p. 29, which settles the English appellation of Auguto._
In a volume of portraits of illustrious men, engraven on wood, entitled
Musæi Joviani Imagines, and printed at Basil, An. 1577, there is a
portrait of Auguto, who is there denominated IOANNES AVCVTHVS. BRITAN.
Underneath this portrait is printed the following inscription.
“Anglorum egressus patriis Aucuthus ab oris,
Italiæ primum climata lætus adit,
Militiæ fuerat quascunque edoctus et artes,
Ausoniæ exeruit non semel ipse plagæ,
Ut donaretur statuâ defunctus equestri,
Debita nam virtus præmia semper habet.”
Paulus Jovius, in his _Elogia Virorum illustrium_, _p. 105, 106_, gives
a long account of Auguto, who, he asserts, came into Italy in the suite
of the duke of Clarence, when that prince visited Milan, where he married
the daughter of Galeazzo Visconti.
Holingshed, in his Chronicle, has recorded the actions of Hawkewood
in the following terms. “And that valiant knight, Sir John Hawkewood,
whose fame in the parts of Italie shall remain for ever, where, as their
histories make mention, he grew to such estimation for his valiant
achieved enterprises, that happie might that prince or commonwealth
accompt themselves that might have his service; and so living there in
such reputation, sometimes he served the Pope, sometimes the Lords of
Millane, now this prince or commonwealth, now that, and otherwhiles none
at all, but taking one towne or other, would keep the same till some
liking entertainment were offered, and then would he sell such a towne,
where he had thus remained, to them that would give him for it according
to his mind. Barnabe, Lord of Millane, gave unto him one of his base
daughters in marriage, with an honourable portion for her dower.
“This man was born in Essex, (as some write) who at the first became a
tailor in London, and afterwards going to the warres in France, served
in the roome of an archer; but at length he became a Capteine and leader
of men of war, highlie commended, and liked of amongst the souldiers,
insomuch that when by the peace concluded at Bretignie, in the yeare
1360, great numbers of soldiers were discharged out of wages, they got
themselves together in companies, and without commandment of any prince,
by whose authoritie they might make warre, they fell to of themselves,
and sore harried and spoiled diverse countries in the realm of France,
as partlie yee have heard, amongst whome this Sir John Hawkewood was one
of the principall capteines, and at length went into Italie to serve the
Marquis of Montserrato, against the Duke of Millane, although I remember
that some write how he came into that countrie with the Duke of Clarence,
but I thinke the former report to be true; but it may well be that he was
readie to attend the said Duke at his coming into Italie.”—_Holingshed’s
Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 413._
[23] _Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 311._
[24] _Platina, tom. i. p. 378._
[25] _Platina, tom. i. p. 379._
[26] Marignano was a castle, or country residence, to which Galeazzo had
retired to avoid the plague, which had made its appearance in Milan.
Poggio informs us in his history of Florence, that the day and hour of
his departure from his capital was fixed by his astrologers, whom he
was accustomed to consult in all cases of consequence. According to the
observations of these soothsayers, so evidently had the stars determined
the proper season for his journey, and so auspicious was the appearance
of the heavens, that they boldly predicted that their illustrious patron
would return, graced with the title of King of Italy. Poggio also
asserts, that it was generally believed, that the death of Galeazzo was
portended by a comet, which appeared in the month of March preceding
that event. It should seem that the astrologers of the lord of Milan had
forgotten to take this comet into their calculations.
Poggio’s partiality to his native country did not render him blind to the
merits of Galeazzo, on whom he bestows the praise due to his liberality,
magnanimity, and noble manners. He also highly commends him for his
patronage of literature and of learned men. The following anecdote
however, which is recorded in Poggio’s Facetiæ, proves that the lustre of
Galeazzo’s good qualities was tarnished by his excessive indulgence in
the pleasures of the table.
“Pope Martin V. had employed Antonio Lusco in the composition of some
letters, which, after he had perused them, the pontiff ordered him to
submit to the examination of a friend of mine, in whose judgment he
had great confidence. This person, who was a little disordered with
wine at the time when the letters were communicated to him, totally
disapproved of them, and ordered Lusco to re-write them. Then Antonio
said to Bartolomeo de’ Bardi, who happened to be present, I will do
with my letters as the tailor did with Giovanni Galeazzo’s waistcoat.
Upon Bartolomeo’s asking what that was, he replied, Giovanni Galeazzo
was a very corpulent man, and was in the habit of eating and drinking
immoderately at supper. As he was retiring to rest after one of these
copious repasts, he sent for his tailor, and sharply reproved him for
making his waistcoat too tight, and ordered him to widen it. I will take
care said the tailor to execute your highness’s orders, and I trust that
to-morrow it will fit you to your satisfaction. He then took the garment
in question, and without making the least alteration in it, hung it on
a nail. Being asked why he did not make the waistcoat wider, according
to the orders which he had received, he said, to-morrow when the prince
has digested his supper, it will be found large enough. He accordingly
carried it back in the morning, when Galeazzo having put it on, said,
Aye, now it will do—it fits perfectly easy.”
_Platina, tom. i. p. 379, 380. Poggii Historia Florentina, p. 153._
[27] During the state of anarchy into which the Milanese territories
fell, in consequence of the folly and wickedness of the successor of
Galeazzo, Como and Piacenza became the prey of the soldiers, Vercelli and
Novara were seized by the marquis of Montferat. Pandolfo Malatesta made
himself master of Brescia; Ottobuono III. took possession of Piacenza,
Parma, and Reggio. Pavia, Alessandria, Tortona, and several other towns,
submitted to the authority of Facino Cane. This last chieftain was the
captain of one of those bands of adventurers, who at this time subsisted
upon the wages which they received for their military services, and
upon the plunder of the rich towns and fertile provinces of Italy.
The following anecdote may serve to give the reader an idea of the
insolent rapacity with which these disciplined robbers carried on their
depredations.
“A person once complained to Facino Cane that he had been robbed of his
cloak by one of that captain’s soldiers. Facino, observing that the
complainant was clad in a good waistcoat, asked him whether he wore that
at the time when he was robbed. Being answered in the affirmative, Go,
says he—the man who robbed you cannot be one of my soldiers, for none
of my followers would have left you so good a waistcoat.”—_Poggii Hist.
Flor. p. 159, 160._—_Opera, p. 427._
[28] “Mallem tamen dici adversus avaritiam, cum verear no sit necesse nos
fieri avaros, ob tenuitatem lucri quo vix possumus tueri officii nostri
dignitatem.”—_Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 5._
[29] “Ego sane quò me ex eorum vulgo eximerem de quorum ocio parum
constat, nonnulla hac tenus conscripsi, quæ jam inter multos diffusa
longiorem paulo, mihi, post obitum, vitam allatura videantur. Idque eò
feci libentius, quo facilius fugerem eas molestias, quibus hæc fragilis
atque imbecilla ætas plena est. Hæc enim scribendi exercitatio, multum
mihi contulit ad temporum injurias perferendas. Non enim non potui angi
animo et dolere aliquando, cum viderem me natu majorem, ita adhuc tenui
esse censu, ut cogerer quæstui potius operam quam ingenio dare.”—_Poggii
Opera, p. 32._
[30] _Platina, tom. i. p. 380, 381._ The following anecdote, inserted
by Poggio in his Facetiæ, is at once a record of this partiality, and a
curious specimen of the Italian wit of the fourteenth century.
“Bonifacius pontifex nonus, natione fuit Neapolitanus ex familiâ
Tomacellorum. Appellantur autem vulgari sermone Tomacelli cibus factus
ex jecore suillo admodum contrito atque in modum pili involtuto
interiore pinguedine porci. Contulit Bonifacius se Perusiam secundo sui
pontificatûs anno. Aderant autem secum fratres et affines ex eâ domo
permulti, qui ad eum (ut fit) confluxerant, bonorum ac lucri cupiditate.
Ingresso Bonifacio urbem sequebatur turba primorum, inter quos fratres
erant et cæteri ex eâ familiâ. Quidam cupidiores noscendorum hominum
quærebant quinam essent qui sequerentur. Dicebat unus item alter, hic
est Andreas Tomacellos deinde hic Johannes Tomacellus, tum plures deinde
Tomacellos nominatim recensendo. Tum quidam facetus, Hohe! permagnum
nempe fuit jecur istud, inquit, ex quo tot Tomacelli prodierunt et tam
ingentes.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 431._
[31] _Mehi Vita Leonardi Bruni, p. xxiii. xxv._
[32] _Janotii Manetti, Oratio Funebris apud Mehi, edit. Epist. Leonardi
Aretini, tom. i. p. xcii. xciii._
[33] _Mehi Vita Leon. Aret. p. xxxi._
[34] Coluccio Salutati was born in the obscure town of Stignano, about
the year 1330. It appears from a letter which he wrote to Bernardo di
Moglo, that he was destitute of the advantages of early education, and
that he did not apply himself to the cultivation of polite literature,
till he was arrived at man’s estate, and that he then began his
grammatical studies without the aid of a master. When he deemed himself
properly prepared to extend his literary career, he went to Bologna,
where he attended the public lectures of Giovanni di Moglo, the father
of the above-mentioned Bernardo. In compliance with the advice of his
relations and friends, he qualified himself for the profession of
a notary; but when he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of legal
practice, he devoted himself to the Muses, and composed several poems. In
the forty-fifth year of his age, he was elected chancellor of the city of
Florence, which office he held during the remainder of his life. He died
on the fourth of May, 1406, and his remains, after having been decorated
with a crown of laurel, were interred with extraordinary pomp, in the
church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It was a subject of great regret to
Leonardo Aretino, that soon after his arrival in Rome, some unfortunate
misunderstanding deprived him of the affectionate regard of Coluccio,
and that the death of his veteran friend prevented him from effecting a
reconciliation, which he appears to have desired with all the earnestness
of an ingenuous mind.
Coluccio was the author of the following works, MS. copies of most of
which are preserved in the Laurentian library. 1 De Fato et Fortunâ. 2
De sæculo et religione. 3 De nobilitate legum et medicinæ. 4 Tractatus
de Tyranno. 5 Tractatus quod medici eloquentiæ studeant et de Verecundiâ
an sit virtus aut vitium. 6 De laboribus Herculis. 7 Historia de casu
Hominis. 8 De arte dictandi. 9 Certamen Fortunæ. 10 Declamationes. 11
Invectiva in Antonium Luscum. 12 Phyllidis querimoniæ. 13 Eclogæ viii.
14 Carmina ad Jacobum Allegrettum. 15 Sonnetti, and lastly, various
Epistles, a collection of which was published by Mehus in one volume,
small quarto, printed at Florence, A. D. 1741.
We may judge of the zeal which Coluccio manifested for the promotion
of literature by the extent of his library, which consisted of eight
hundred volumes—a magnificent collection in those early times, when good
MSS. were very scarce, and consequently very costly.—_Colluccii Vita à
Philippo Villani, apud Mehi editionem Epistolarum Lini Colucii Pierii
Salutati_—_Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, lib. i. ep. x. xii._
[35] _Leonardi Aretini Epist. l. i. ep. i._
[36] By gaining the victory in this contest, Leonardo considerably
encreased his reputation, as his competitor was a man of very respectable
talents. Jacopo d’Angelo was a native of Scarparia, and studied the
Latin tongue under the auspices of John of Ravenna. Understanding
that Demetrius Cydonius and Manuel Crysoloras had undertaken to give
public lectures on the Grecian classics in the city of Venice, he
immediately repaired thither for the purpose of availing himself of
their instructions. So great was his zeal in the cause of literature,
that he accompanied Crysoloras to Constantinople, with a view of
collecting manuscripts, and attaining a more accurate and extensive
acquaintance with the Greek language. He translated into Latin Ptolomey’s
Cosmographia, and also Plutarch’s lives of Brutus and Pompey. His
version of the Cosmographia he dedicated to Alexander V. Contemporary
scholars have given ample testimonies to his literary abilities, but
his studies were abruptly terminated by an early death. _Mehi Vita
Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xvi. ccclvi._—_Ejusdem Vita Leonardi Bruni, p.
xxxii._—_Facius de viris illustribus, p. 9._
[37] See an old diary of Gentile d’Urbino, _apud Muratorii Rer. Italic
Scriptor. tom. vi. p. 844._
[38] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. i. ep. v._
[39] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. i. ep. x._
[40] _Platina, tom. i. p. 383, 384._
[41] _Platina, tom. i. p. 385, 386._
[42] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. ii. ep. iii._
[43] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. ii. ep. xxi._ The cardinal of
Bourdeaux, conversing with Poggio on the tardiness of Gregory in
fulfilling his engagement, observed, that the conduct of his holiness
reminded him of the wicked wit of the humourist, who imposed upon the
credulity of the populace of Bologna. On Poggio’s asking him to what
circumstance he alluded, he related the following anecdote, which may
bear a comparison with the story of the famous bottle-conjurer. “There
was lately at Bologna,” said the cardinal, “a wag, who proclaimed by
public advertisement, that on a certain day he would fly from the top
of a tower, situated about a mile from the city, near St. Raphael’s
bridge. On the day appointed, almost all the Bolognese assembled
together; and the man kept them waiting during the heat of the day, and
until the evening, all gazing at the tower, and expecting every moment
that he would begin his flight. At length he appeared on the top of the
tower, and waved a pair of wings, on which the multitude gave a shout
of applause. The wag however protracted the expected expedition till
after sunset, when resolving that the good people should not go home
without seeing a sight, he deliberately drew aside the skirts of his
garment, and turned his posteriors to the multitude, who immediately
returned home, exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and chagrined at their
disappointment.” In my opinion, said the cardinal, Gregory has practised
upon the sacred college as complete a delusion, as the wag practised upon
the people of Bologna.—_Poggii Opera, p. 435._
[44] _Platina, tom. i. p. 386, 388._
[45] _Leon. Aret. Epistolæ, l. iii. ep. iii._
[46] _Ibid, ep. iv. vii._
[47] Leonardo Aretino, in his oration against Niccolo Niccoli, asserts,
that Niccolo’s grandfather was a tavern-keeper at Pistoia. “Avi autem
tui caupona Pistorii primum floruit non dignitate aliquà, sed fronde
illâ festivâ quâ ad vinum et popinas meretrices et ganeos invitabat.
Inde nocturnâ ebriorum cæde conterritus Pistorio demigravit, cauponam
et serta Florentiam transtulit. Hic tandem pater tuus cauponâ egressus
vino abstinuit, oleo se ac lanificio perunxit, sedens ad scamnum a
matutino tempore quasi vile mancipium, sordido ac prope miserabili
exercitio defamatus. Profer igitur insignia nobilitatis tuæ, qui alios
tam insolenter contemnis. Habes enim præclarissima: ab avo quidem
frondes et cyathos; a patre vero lanam et pectines.”—_Mehi Vita Ambrosii
Traversarii, p. xxx._
So little regard did the learned men of the fifteenth century pay to
truth in their invectives, that the assertion of Leonardo Aretino is not
sufficient evidence of the history of Niccolo’s progenitors. But this
is indisputably certain, that by endeavouring to throw ridicule upon
his former friend, by a reference to the occupation of his ancestors,
he only disgraces himself. The _frons festiva_, to which he alludes in
the passage quoted above, is the laurel, which it was then customary to
hang by way of a sign over the doors of taverns. From a similar custom is
derived our English proverb, “Good wine needs no bush.”
[48] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. lxxvi._ Lodovico Marsilio was
an ecclesiastic of the Augustine order, of which fraternity he became
the superior in the province of Pisa. His literary reputation caused him
to be employed in the chancery of the republic of Florence, and in the
year 1382 he was appointed of the number of the ambassadors sent by that
state, to negociate a peace between Carlo, the Hungarian prince, and the
duke of Anjou. In so great estimation was he held by the Florentines,
that the administrators of their government applied to Boniface IX.,
requesting his holiness to promote him to the dignity of bishop of their
city. The letter which was written on this occasion, and which details
his various merits in very flattering terms, is preserved by Mehus in
his life of Ambrogio Traversari. Lodovico carried on a correspondence
with Coluccio Salutati; and also with Petrarca, on a few of whose sonnets
he wrote a commentary. Several of his letters occur, but in a mutilated
state, in a collection of the epistles of the Tuscan Saints, published at
Florence, in 4to. A. D. 1736. He died on the 21st of August, 1394.—_Mehi
Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxx. cclxxxv. ccxxxix. cclxi._
[49] Gregory was accompanied to Rimini by Leonardo Aretino, who sent
to Niccolo Niccoli an interesting and elegant account of the remains
of antiquity which then existed in that city. Towards the close of his
letter on this subject, Leonardo dilates with great eloquence upon the
praises of Carlo Malatesta. After enlarging upon his merits as a soldier
and a statesman, he thus proceeds.—“So liberal has nature been in her
gifts to him, that he seems to possess an universal genius. He reads with
the utmost grace—he writes verses—he dictates the most elegant prose, and
his hand-writing is so neat, that it is superior to that of professed
scribes. I should not have mentioned this fact, had I not found the
same circumstance recorded with respect to Augustus, and Titus son of
Vespasian.”—_Leonardi Aretini Ep., l. iii. ep. ix._
[50] _Platina ut supra._
[51] _Platina, p. 389._
[52] A manuscript, containing an account of the lives of several of the
pontiffs, which is printed by Muratori, in his magnificent collection
of the writers of Italian history, contains the following encomium on
Alexander V.
“This pontiff, who truly deserved the name of Alexander, would have
surpassed in liberality all his predecessors, to the extent of a distant
period, had he not been embarrassed by the insufficiency of his revenues.
But so great was his poverty, after his accession to the papal chair,
that he was accustomed to say, that when he was a bishop he was rich,
when he became a cardinal he was poor, and when he was elected pontiff he
was a beggar.”
A little while before his death he summoned the cardinals, who were then
attendant on his court, to his bed-side, and after earnestly exhorting
them to adopt such measures after his decease as were likely to secure
the tranquillity of the church, he took leave of them, by repeating the
words of our Saviour, “Peace I give you, my peace I leave unto you.”
In a manuscript volume, which formerly belonged to the house of Este,
there occurs the following epitaph on this pontiff, the two concluding
lines of which are so uncouth and obscure, that we may reasonably suspect
some error on the part of the transcriber.
Divus Alexander, Cretensi oriundus ab orâ
Clauditur hoc saxo, summo venerandus honore.
Antea Petrus erat, sed celsâ sede potitus
Quintus Alexander fit, ceu sol orbe coruscans,
Relligione minor, post ad sublime vocatus.
_Muratori Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, tom. vi. p. 842._
[53] _Platina, tom. i. p. 389, 390._
[54] _Mehi Vita Leonardi Aretini, p. xxxix. xl._ _Leonardi Aretini
Epistolæ, lib. iii. ep. xvii._ Leonardo Aretino was esteemed by his
contemporaries too attentive to the minutiæ of œconomy. From the perusal
of the following letter from Ermolao Barbaro to Pietro Cara, however,
it should seem, that in the fifteenth century, complaints of the
expensiveness of matrimony were by no means destitute of foundation.
“Duxit uxorem, clarus bello et pace vir Trivulcius, Neapolitanam,
prænobili familiâ. Invitatus sum ad convivium, immo ad pontificiam,
et adipalem cænam. At ego ad epulas primas satur, spectator potius
quam conviva fui. Credo gratum fore vel tibi, vel posteris, si fercula
quam brevissime descripsero, non ut Macrobius apud nostros, nec ut
apud Græcos Athenæus justis voluminibus, sed ut occupatus homo, et ad
epistolæ mensuram. Primum aqua manibus data, non ut apud nos, stantibus,
sed accumbentibus, utique rosacea. Tum illati pugillares ex nucleis
pineis, et saccaro pastilli. Item placentæ nucleis amygdalis, et saccaro
confectæ, quos vulgo martios paneis vocamus. Secundum fertum altiles
asparagi. Tertium pulpulæ, ita enim popinæ appellant et jecuscula.
Quartum caro dorcadis tosta. Quintum capitula junicum vitulorumve una
cum pellibus elixa. Sextum capi, gallinarum, columborumque pulli,
bubuleis comitati linguis, et petasonibus, ac sumine omnibus elixis
addito Lymonyacæ pultario, sic enim Cupediarii Mediolanenses vocant,
quam nostri sermiacam. Septimum hedus integer tostus, in singulas
singuli capidas, cum jure quod ex amaris Cerasis sive ut quidam malunt
appellare laurocerasis, condimenti vico fungitur. Octavum turtures,
perdices, phasiani, coturnices, turdi, ficedulæ, et omnino plurimi
generis avitia, molliter et studiose tosta. Colymbades olivæ condimenti
loco appositæ. Nonum gallus gallinaceus saccaro incoctus, et aspergine
rosaceâ madefactus, singulis convivis, singuli patinis argenteis, ut
et cætera quoque vascula. Decimum porcellus integer tostus, in singula
singuli crateria jusculento quodam liquore perfusi. Undecimum pavi
tosti, pro condimento leucopheon jus, immo ferugineum e jocinoribus
pistis, et aromate pretiosi generis, ad portionem et Symmetriam additum;
hyspani ... appellant. Duodecimum tostus orbis ex ovo, lacte, salvia,
polline saccareo, Salviatum vocamus. Tertium decimum Struthea cotonea
ex saccaro. Quartum decimum, Carduus, pinea, Icolymon sive Cynaram
potius appellare convenit. Quintum decimum a lotis manibus, bellaria et
tragemata omnis generis saccarea. Inducti mox histriones, pantomimi,
petauristæ, aretalogi, funambuli, choraulæ, citharædi. Singulis porro
ferculis præibant faces, atque tubæ; sub facibus inclusa caveis altilia,
quadrupedes, aviculæ, omnia viventia generis ejus videlicet, cujus ea quæ
magistri et structores cocta mensis inferebant; mensaæ per atrium abacis
singulæ singulis dispositæ, sed et privi privis ministri. Ante omnia
silentium quale ne pythagorici quidem servare potuissent. Vale Mediolani,
Idibus Maiis, 1488.”—_Politiani Epistolæ, lib. xii._
[55] _Platina, tom. i. p. 390, 391._
[56] _Platina, vol. i. p. 391._
[57] The correct title of Zabarella, was that of cardinal of St. Cosmo
and St. Damien; but he is now generally known by the designation of
cardinal of Florence.
[58] _Poggii Opera, p. 255._
[59] _Poggii Histor. Florent., p. 76._
[60] _Leon. Aret. Epist., lib. iv. ep. iii._
[61] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, book i. sect.
xxxix._
[62] _Hodius de Græcis illustribus, p. 14._
[63] _Hodius, p. 15._
[64] _Hodius, p. 15._
[65] _Ibid._
[66] Pietro Paulo Vegerio was a native of Capo d’Istria, a town situated
at the extremity of the Adriatic gulf, not far from Trieste. He was
eminent for his knowledge of the civil law, and made considerable
proficiency in the study of philosophy and the mathematics. Under
the instruction of Manuel Crysoloras, he also attained a respectable
knowledge of the Grecian language. He composed a treatise, _De moribus
ingenuis_, which was received by the literary characters of his time with
considerable applause; and at the request of the emperor Sigismund, he
translated into Latin Arrian’s history of the expedition of Alexander the
Great. In the execution of this translation, he purposely avoided the
cultivation of elegance of style, through an apprehension, as he himself
said, lest his royal reader should stand in need of the assistance of an
interpreter. He testified his zeal for the honour of classical learning,
by publishing an invective against Carlo Malatesta, who, in detestation
of heathens and heathenism, had removed from the market place of Mantua,
a statue of Virgil. In the latter period of his life he lost his reason,
which however returned at intervals before his death, the date of which
event is uncertain.—_Facius de Viris illustribus, p. 8._
[67] _Hodius, p. 23._
[68] _Hodius, p. 23._
[69] _Poggii Opera, p. 297._
[70] _Leonardo Aretini Epist., lib. iv. ep. iv._ This letter is
erroneously dated January 10, 1415. Aretino wrote from Constance a
description of his journey to that city, on the 29th of December, 1414.
It is therefore evidently impossible that he could have returned to
Italy, and have there received letters from Poggio within twelve days
from that date. For 1415, we should certainly read 1416.
[71] Leonardo Aretino, who does not appear to have possessed the
slightest knowledge of Hebrew, in a very curious letter to Giovanni
Cirignano, entered into a long train of argument, to prove the inutility
of the study of that language. Nothing is more disgusting, than the
propensity of men of narrow minds to undervalue those acquisitions in
knowledge, to which they have not themselves attained; and which they
consequently have not the means of appreciating. Excellent indeed is the
precept of the Apulian bard,
“Neu tua plus laudes studia, aut aliena reprendas.”
This letter of Leonardo also shews the unhappy influence of religious
bigotry and sacerdotal tyranny, in checking the progress of science. The
most cogent argument which he advances, to prove the folly of spending
time in the perusal of the Hebrew scriptures, is this, that St. Jerome
having translated the Old Testament into Latin, whosoever presumes to
study that book in the original, manifests a distrust of the fidelity of
Jerome’s version.—_Leonardi Aretini Epist., lib. ix. ep. xii._
[72] In the letter which Poggio wrote from Baden to Niccolo Niccoli, he
says, that he wrote to him from Constance on the 19th of February, 1416;
and in another letter, addressed to Leonardo Aretino, he says, that the
trial of Jerome of Prague took place a few days after his return to the
council. As Jerome’s last hearing, to which Poggio evidently alludes,
took place May 30th, 1416, the date of Poggio’s journey to Baden is fixed
between the above mentioned periods, that is, in the spring of 1416.
[73] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. i. p. 167._
[74] _Ibid, p. 188._
[75] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. i. p. 204._
[76] _Ibid, p. 512._
[77] _Ibid, p. 584._
[78] In the _Fasciculus Rer. expet. et fugiend._ it is erroneously
asserted that the following letter was addressed to Niccolo Niccoli.
[79] _Poggii Opera, p. 301-305._
[80] See a letter from Poggio to Alberto di Sarteano, which is preserved
in the collection of Ambrogio Traversari’s epistles, edited by Mehus,
(_lib. xxv. ep. xxii._) in which he defends his strictures on the
immoralities of the clergy; his dialogue on Hypocrisy, printed in the
second volume of the _Fasciculus Rerum expetend. et fugiend._; his
treatise on Avarice; and many of his epistles.
[81] The sentence passed by the council upon Jerome concluded with
the following declaration. “Propter quæ eadem sancta synodus eundem
Hieronymum palmitem putridum et aridum, in vite non manentem, foras
mittendum decernit: ipsumque hæreticum, et in hæresim relapsum,
excommunicatum, anathematizatum pronunciat et declarat atque
damnat.”—_Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et Fug., tom. i. p. 303._
[82] _Leon. Aret. Epist., lib. iv. ep. x._
[83] Guarino Veronese, as his surname imports, was a native of Verona,
in which city he was born A. D. 1370. Dedicating himself to study from
his early years, he became a pupil of John of Ravenna. Not contented with
acquiring, under the instructions of this able tutor, a knowledge of the
Latin language, he undertook a voyage to Constantinople for the express
purpose of reading the Greek classics in the school of Manuel Crysoloras.
Ponticio Virunio, who flourished in the beginning of the 16th century,
affirms, that when Guarino had finished his Greek studies, he returned to
Italy with two large chests full of books, which he had collected during
his residence in Constantinople; and that he was so much affected by the
loss of one of these valuable packages, which perished in a shipwreck,
that his hair became grey in the space of a single night. But this story
is generally considered as fabulous. On his return to his native country,
he adopted the profession of a public lecturer on Rhetoric, in which
capacity he visited various cities of Italy. The names of these cities
are thus enumerated by Janus Pannonius, who testified his gratitude
for the benefit which he had derived from Guarino’s instructions, by
composing a poem to his praise.
“Tu mare frænantes Venetōs, tu Antenoris alti
Instituis cives, tua te Verona legentem,
Finis et Italiæ stupuit sublime Tridentum;
Nec jam flumineum referens Florentia nomen,
Ac Phæbo quondam, nunc sacra Bononia Marti;
Tandem mansurum placidâ statione recepit
Pacis et aligeri Ferraria mater amoris.”
Ferrara was the last abode of Guarino. After having resided many years in
that city under the protection of the Marquis d’Este, he there terminated
a life of literary labour, in the year 1460, at the advanced age of
ninety. Bartolomeo Facio, who had been of the number of his pupils, made
mention of him during his lifetime in the following flattering terms.
“Artem Rhetoricam profitetur, quâ in re supra quinque et triginta annos
se exercuit. Ab hoc uno plures docti et eloquentes viri facti sunt quam
a ceteris omnibus hujus ordinis, ut non immerito quidam de eo dixerit
quod de Isocrate dictum ferunt, plures ex ejus scholâ viros eruditos,
quam ex equo Trojano milites prodiisse—Ejus quoque præstantiæ singulare
testimonium est Epigramma hoc nobile Antonii Panormitæ editum ab illo
quum vitâ functum audivisset.”
“Quantum Romulidæ sanctum videre Catonem,
Quantum Cepheni volitantem Persea cœlo,
Alciden Thebe pacantem viribus orbem,
Tantum læta suum vidit Verona Guarinum.”
_Tiraboschi Storia della Letter. Ital., tom. vi. p. 255 & seq._—_Facius
de Viris Illustr., p. 18._
[84] _Poggii Opera, p. 305._
[85] Gasperino Barziza was a native of Bergamo, and was one of that
numerous assemblage of scholars, who were indebted for their knowledge of
the Latin tongue to John of Ravenna. He read lectures on Rhetoric, first
at Padua, and afterwards at Milan. His writings are not numerous: they
consist of a treatise on Orthography; another on Elegance of Composition;
various Orations and Letters; and a commentary on the Epistles of Seneca.
In undertaking to supply the deficiencies which occurred in Cicero’s
treatise de Oratore, in consequence of the mutilated condition of the
ancient copies of that elegant and useful work, he evinced a temerity
of spirit which nothing but the most able execution of his task could
have justified. Happily however for the admirers of ancient eloquence,
the labours of Gasperino were rendered useless, by the discovery of a
complete copy of the work in question, made by the Bishop of Lodi. It
appears however that he had actually enlarged, by supplementary chapters,
the imperfect copies of _Quintilian’s Institutes_. These were also
superseded by the labours of Poggio in search of ancient manuscripts.
Several of Gasperino’s letters were edited by Josepho Alessandro
Furietti, and published at Rome, in 4to. A. D. 1733.—_Mehi Vita Ambros.
Travers., p. xl. xlvi._—_Agostini Scrittori Viniz., tom. i. p. 20, tom.
xi. p. 8. Facius de Viris illus., p. 28._
[86] On the subject of matrimony, Francesco did not confine himself to
theoretical speculations. Trusting that in Maria, daughter of Piero
Loredano, procurator of St. Mark, he had found the union of good
qualities which he had represented in his dissertation, as requisite to
the formation of the character of a good wife, he married that lady in
the year 1419.
So great was the reputation of his eloquence and prudence, that he
had scarcely attained the age of twenty-one, when notwithstanding the
prohibition of the Venetian law, he was admitted by the Concilio Maggiore
into the number of the senators. Three years after his exaltation to
this honour, he was appointed to the government of Como, which office,
however, he did not think proper to accept. It does not appear what were
the motives which induced him to decline this honour. His biographer
Agostini attributes his conduct in this instance to his modesty. If this
amiable virtue, a quality of such rare occurrence in the history of
statesmen, prevented him from undertaking the chief magistracy of the
city of Como, it should seem that it did not long continue to obstruct
him in his way to preferment, since in the same year in which he is
supposed to have been thus diffident of his abilities, he suffered
himself to be invested with the government of Trivigi, in which city
he presided for the space of twelve months. The inhabitants of Trivigi
lamented his departure, and long entertained a respectful remembrance of
the wisdom of his administration. At the expiration of twenty-four years
after the termination of his government, they applied for his advice
in the choice of a public preceptor; and on this occasion, Francesco
assured them, that he should always regard their welfare as an object of
his particular attention. Immediately after his return to the Venetian
capital, he was appointed, in conjunction with Leonardo Giustiniano, to
compliment the eastern emperor Palæologus on his arrival in Venice. In
the execution of this commission, he pronounced a Greek oration with
such elegance and purity of style and diction, that, as a contemporary
writer affirms, “He seemed to have been educated in the school of Homer.”
Early in the year 1424 he was nominated to the præfecture of Vicenza.
On his accession to this office, he found the laws of that city in
such a state of confusion, that he deemed it absolutely necessary to
reduce them to order and consistency. With the assistance of a committee
of Vicentians, appointed for that purpose, and of Antonio Lusco, a
celebrated civilian, he happily accomplished this difficult and delicate
undertaking. Francesco was also the means of conferring upon the citizens
of Vicenza another public benefit, in inducing George of Trebisond,
whom he had invited from his native island Candia, to Italy, to settle
amongst them, in quality of professor of the Greek language. In the year
1426 he was sent by the Venetian seignory to Rome, invested with the
office of embassador extraordinary at the pontifical court. The object
of his mission was to persuade Martin V. to enter into an alliance with
his countrymen against the duke of Milan, with whom the Venetians were
then at war. The pontiff, as became the common father of the faithful,
interposed his good offices between the contending powers; and after
encountering a variety of difficulties, he at length had the satisfaction
of assembling a congress at Ferrara, which terminated April 18th, 1428,
in the signing of a definite treaty of peace between the Venetians and
their adversary. At this congress Francesco assisted as one of the
deputies of his republic.
In the course of the war, the Venetians had taken the city of Bergamo.
Of this newly acquired possession, Francesco Barbaro administered the
government in 1430. On the expiration of this office, he was raised to
the dignity of counsellor, and in the year 1433 he was elected by the
Venetian government as a member of the embassy of honour, which they
deputed to attend the emperor Sigismund, who purposed to travel through
the states of the republic, on his way to the city of Basil, where the
general council was then assembled. On this occasion, the Venetian envoys
received from the emperor the honour of knighthood. So great was the
esteem which Sigismund had conceived of the good qualities of Barbaro,
that, with the permission of the seignory, he dispatched him into Bohemia
upon the difficult errand of soothing the irritation, and abating the
zeal of the confederated heretics. Nor was this the only instance of
the trust reposed in the fidelity of Francesco by foreign princes. On
his return from Germany he was employed by Eugenius IV. in conducting a
negociation with the emperor. His reputation being increased by these
striking testimonies to his merits, in the year 1434 he was appointed
to the important and honourable government of Verona. In this station
he conducted himself with his wonted wisdom, and consequently gained
the esteem and affection of his subjects. Soon after the expiration of
the term of his new government, he was dispatched to Florence, on an
embassy to Eugenius IV. who then held his court in that city. During
this visit to Florence, the following circumstance took place, which
is related by Maffei as a proof of the patience and forbearance of his
temper. The steward of his household having been reproved by his nephew
Daniello Barbaro, was so much irritated, that he drew his sword, and
attacked the youth with an intention of killing him. Daniello complained
of this outrage to his uncle. Francesco sent for the offender, who
vented his rage in the most violent and indecent reproaches against his
master. The by-standers trembled for the life of the steward, when, to
their astonishment, Francesco thus addressed him. “Begone! and act more
prudently in future; I would not wish that your faults should make me
lose that patience, of which, luckily for you, I am now possessed.”
In the year 1437 Francesco was appointed governor of Brescia. In the
discharge of the duties of this office, he was obliged to call into
exercise the full vigour of his abilities. At the time of his appointment
the Venetians were at war with the duke of Milan, whose general,
Piccinino, menaced their western borders with a powerful army; and in
the month of September encamped before Brescia. On Francesco’s arrival
in that city he had found it torn by faction, and scantily supplied with
provisions. But by his prudent exertions he reconciled the contending
families, and used the most strenuous exertions to provide the place
with the necessary supplies. Encouraged by his example, the inhabitants
repelled the attacks of the enemy with great valour, and patiently
endured the evils of famine and pestilence, consequent upon their being
for the space of three months closely confined within the walls of the
town. At length, in the month of December, they had the satisfaction of
seeing the Milanese forces retire. In gratitude for Francesco’s strenuous
exertions in their defence, the inhabitants of Brescia presented him with
a banner ornamented with the armorial bearings of their city; and when
he returned to Venice, to give the seignory an account of the events of
his administration, the Brescian deputies detailed his services to that
august assembly in the most flattering terms.
He was afterwards called to the discharge of various other public
offices, in which he acquitted himself in such a manner as to obtain
universal commendation. A most unequivocal testimony to his honour
and intelligence occurred, A. D. 1444, when he was chosen by the
inhabitants of Verona and Vicenza as umpire to settle a dispute which had
arisen between those communities about the limits of their respective
territories. Having passed through all the inferior offices of the state,
on the 5th of January, 1452, he received what he regarded as an ample
reward of his labours, in being elected procurator of St. Mark. Two years
after his exaltation to this distinguished honour, his earthly career of
glory was terminated by his death, which event took place towards the end
of January, 1454.
His remains were interred in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa, and the
following inscription marks the spot where his body is deposited.
“Si quis honos, si fas lacrymis decorare sepultos,
Flete super tumulum, mœstisque replete querelis.
Franciscus, cui prisca parem vix secla tulerunt,
Barbarus hic situs est; linguæ decus omne Latinæ.
Fortia facta viri pro libertate Senatûs
Brixia, quam magno tenuit sudore, fatetur.
Hic summi ingenii, scriptis, monumenta reliquit;
Græcaque præterea fecit Romana. Tenet nunc
Spiritus astra; sacros tumulus complectitur artus.”
The life of this illustrious scholar was so much occupied by active
pursuits, that the catalogue of his writings is necessarily short. The
following productions of his pen are still extant.
1. _Francisci Barbari Veneti pro insigni Viro Joannino Conradino Veneto
Physico Epitaphios Logos._ Manuscript copies of this oration were
preserved in the Dominican monastery of S. Nicolò, in Trivigi, and in the
library of Apostolo Zeno.
2. _Francisci Barbari Veneti Laudatio in Albertum Guidalotum cum eum in
Academâ Patavinâ J. V. laureâ decoraret._ This oration was published
by Bernardo Pez, in a collection entitled _Thesarurus novissimus
Anecdotorum_.
3. _Francisci Barbari Veneti ad insignem Laurentium de Medicis
Florentinum de Re Uxoriâ Liber._ The autograph of this treatise is
preserved in the Medicean library at Florence; an early edition of it, of
uncertain date, was printed at Antwerp. In the year 1513 it was printed
at Paris, in 4to. _in œdibus Ascensianis_. In 1533 it was printed at
Hagenau, in 8vo. A duodecimo edition of it was published at Strasbourg,
in 1612; and another in the same form at Amsterdam, by John Janson, in
1639. This treatise was twice translated into the French language, first
by Martin du Pin, and afterwards by Claude Joly. A beautiful MS. copy of
the original Latin is preserved in the Cheetham library, in Manchester.
4. _Eloquentissimi ac Patricii viri Francisci Barbari Veneti Vitæ
Aristidis et Majoris Catonis a Plutarcho conscriptæ, a Græco in Latinum
versæ._ This translation was printed in an edition of Plutarch’s lives,
published at Venice, by Nicolas Jenson, A. D. 1478, in folio; and in the
Basil folio edition of the same work, printed by Bebelius in 1535. In
Jenson’s edition, the version of the life of Aristides is erroneously
ascribed to Leonardo Aretino.
5. _Oratio Clariss. Viri Francisci Barbari ad Sigismundum Cæsarem pro
Republicâ Venetá acta Ferrariæ._ Agostini has printed this oration in his
_Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani_, after a MS. copy belonging to Marco
Foscarini.
6. _Oratio Francisci Barbari Patricii Veneti, habita, anno 1438, in
templo Sanctorum Faustini et Jovitæ cum civitatis Brixiensis Magistratum
iniret._ This oration is to be found in Pez’s Thesaurus.
7. _Francisci Barbari P. V. Apologia ad Mediolanenses pro populo
Brixiensi, anno 1439._ A MS. copy of this work is preserved in the
Vatican library.
8. _Oratio Francisci Barbari P. V. ad Populum Brixiensem in renunciatione
illius Civitatis._ This is in fact a report of an extempore speech of
Francesco’s, composed from memory by Manelli, in whose Commentaries it is
printed.
9. _Francisci Barbari, et aliorum ad ipsum Epistolæ ab anno Christi 1425,
ad annum 1453, nunc primum editæ ex duplici MS. Cod. Brixiano et Vaticano
uno, &c. Brixiæ excudebat Joannes Maria Rizzardi, 1743, in Quarto magno._
This collection of Francesco’s epistles, which was edited by Cardinal
Quirini, contains 284 of his letters, besides 94 addressed to him by
various correspondents. In the learned dissertation prefixed to this
publication, the cardinal has quoted at length fourteen other epistles of
Barbaro.
10. _Francisci Barbari viri illustris. pro Flavio Forliviensi pro Proemio
descriptionis Italiæ illustratæ. Ad Alphonsum Serenissimum Arragonum
Regem._ Cardinal Quirini, in the above mentioned dissertation, has
printed this præfatory essay, which was written by Barbaro, in the name
of Flavio Biondo.
11. _Epitaphium clarissimi viri Francisci Barbari Veneti in laudem
Gathamelatæ Imperatoris Gentis Venetorum._ This epitaph Agostini has
published in his _Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani_, from a MS.
preserved in the Guarnerian library in Friuli.
_Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 28-134._
[87] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. iv. ep. v._
[88] This letter from Poggio to Guarino Veronese is printed by L’Enfant,
in the supplement to the second volume of his _Poggiana_, from a MS. in
the Wolfenbuttle library. _See Poggiana, tom. ii. p. 309._
[89] Mehus is of opinion that the copy of Quintilian, thus found by
Poggio, is preserved in the Laurentian library.—_Præfatio ad vitam
Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxiv._
[90] _Mehi Præfatio ad vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxv. xxxvi._
[91] The manuscript of this author was sent by Poggio to Martin V. who
permitted Niccolo Niccoli to transcribe it. Niccolo’s transcript is
preserved in the Marcian library at Florence.—_Mehi Præfat. p. xxxvii.
xxxviii._
[92] Poggio transmitted his newly recovered copy of Lucretius to Niccolo
Niccoli, who, with his usual diligence, made with his own hand a
transcript of it, which is yet extant in the Laurentian library.—_Mehi
Præfat. p. xxxviii._
[93] Poggio found this copy of Tertullian in a monastery of the monks
of Clugny at Rome. By some means the cardinal Ursini got possession of
it, and morosely locked it up from the inspection of the learned. At
the instance of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, he suffered the manuscript
to be transported to Florence, where it was copied, first by Ambrogio
Traversari, and afterwards by Niccolo Niccoli. The transcript of Niccoli
is lodged in the library of St. Mark.—_Mehi Præfatio, p. xxxix._
[94] The volume which Nicolas of Treves thus conveyed from Germany,
contained, besides four comedies which had been already recovered,
the following twelve, which had been till then unknown, Bacchides,
Mostellaria, Menæchmi, Miles gloriosus, Mercator, Pseudolus Pœnulus,
Persa, Rudens, Stichus, Trinummus, Truculentus—This volume was seized
by cardinal Ursini, who would not permit Poggio to take a copy of it.
Poggio highly resented the illiberality of the cardinal’s conduct. “I
have not been able,” says he, addressing himself to Niccolo Niccoli, “to
get possession of Plautus. Before the cardinal’s departure, I begged him
to send you the book, but he refused to comply with my request. I do
not understand what the man means. He seems to think that he has done
something great, though in fact he has not had the least participation in
the discovery of the book. It was found by another, but it is hidden by
him. I told both him and his people, that I would never again ask him for
the book, and I shall be as good as my word. I had rather unlearn what
I have learnt, than acquire any knowledge by the means of his books.”
By the interposition of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, the cardinal was
induced to intrust the volume to Niccolo Niccoli, who copied it, and
returned it to the Cardinal. Niccolo’s copy is deposited in the Marcian
library.—_Mehi Præfatio, p. xi-xliii._
[95] Joannes Polenus, who published an elegant edition of Frontinus de
Aquæductis at Padua in the year 1722, procured a transcript of this
manuscript, which was still preserved in the monastery of Monte Cassino,
and which he found to be much more correct than any printed editions of
Frontinus’s treatise. It is in the form of a quarto volume, written on
parchment, and, as appears from a fac simile of the first ten or twelve
lines, in a very legible character. From the form of the letters, Polenus
conjectures that it was written at the end of the thirteenth, or the
beginning of the fourteenth century.—_Prolegomena ad Poleni editionem
Frontini de Aquæductis, p. 19, 20._
Mention is made of this manuscript by Mabillon, in his _Museum Italicum,
tom. i. p. 123._
[96] _Mehi Præfatio, p. xlviii. xlix._
[97] _Ambrosii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 285._ To the decline of
life Poggio retained a considerable degree of indignation, which was at
this time excited in his mind, by the indifference with which his labours
to recover the lost writers of antiquity were regarded by the great. In
the introduction to his dialogue, _De Infelicitate Principum_, he puts
the following strictures on their conduct into the mouth of Niccolo
Niccoli.—“When many of the ancient classics had been brought to light
by our friend Poggio, and there was a most flattering prospect of the
recovery of others of still greater consequence, no sovereign prince
or pontiff contributed in the least degree to the liberation of those
most excellent authors from the prisons of the barbarians. These exalted
personages spend their days and their money in pleasures, in unworthy
pursuits, in pestiferous and destructive wars. So great is their mental
torpidity, that nothing can rouse them to search after the works of
excellent writers, by whose wisdom and learning mankind are taught the
way to true felicity.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 394._
[98] _Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvi. xlvii._
[99] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxx._
[100] _Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvii._
[101] Mehus, on the authority of one Vespasiano di Filippo, says, that
he was born of poor parents. The author of his life, in the _Elogi degli
Illustri uomini Toscani_, maintains, on the contrary, that his family
was graced with the honours of nobility; and he supports his position by
very cogent arguments. These different statements may be reconciled by an
hypothesis by no means devoid of probability, namely, that the father of
Ambrogio was descended of noble blood, but that the fortunes of his house
were fallen to decay.
[102] Demetrius was so much pleased with the respectful attention which
he received from his Camaldolese pupils, that he became a member of their
fraternity in the year 1416.—_Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxv._
[103] _Elogi degli uomini illus. Toscani, tom. i. p. cccxl. Mehi Vita
Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxiv. & seq. Ejusdem Præfatio ad Colucii Salutati
Epistolas, p. xli._
[104] _Poggii Opera, p. 252-261._
[105] _Muratori Annali d’Italia, tom. ix. p. 84._
[106] _Ibid._
[107] From a MS. which is preserved at Vienna, L’Enfant has given
the following list of the persons who attended this wonderfully
numerous assembly—Knights, 2300—Prelates, Priests, and Presbyters,
18,000—Laymen 80,000. In a more detailed catalogue, the Laymen are thus
enumerated—Goldsmiths, 45—Shopkeepers, 330—Bankers, 242—Shoemakers,
70—Furriers, 48,—Apothecaries, 44—Smiths, 92—Confectioners, 75—Bakers
belonging to the pope, &c. 250—Vintners of Italian wines, 83—Victuallers
for the poorer sort, 43—Florentine Money-changers, 48—Tailors,
228—Heralds at Arms, 65—Jugglers, or Merry Andrews, 346—Barbers,
306—Courtezans, whose habitations were known to the author of the list,
700. It should seem, however, that this industrious chronicler had not
visited all these professional ladies, as the Vienna list estimates their
number at 1500! From a memorandum subjoined to this list, it appears,
that during the sitting of the council, one of these frail fair ones
earned the sum of 800 Florins.—_L’Enfant’s History of the Council of
Constance, vol. ii. p. 415-416._
[108] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 89._
[109] _Ibid._ p. 96.
[110] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 143._
[111] See _Tonelli’s Epistolarium Poggii, lib. i. epist. xi._
[112] See _Henry’s History of Great Britain, vol. x. p. 109-128._
[113] Thus William of Wyrcester tells us, that the duke of York returned
from Ireland, “et arrivavit apud Redbank prope Cestriam.”—_Henry’s
History ut supra._
[114] Though Poggio carefully examined the libraries of many of the
English monasteries, he discovered in them only one manuscript which he
esteemed of any value, namely the Chronicle of Sigebert, a monk who lived
in the tenth century. See _Ton.-Tr. vol. i. p. 116._
[115] Flavio Biondo, who was born at Forli, in the year 1388, was a
descendant of the illustrious family of Ravaldini. He has himself
recorded the fact, that he studied Grammar, Rhetoric, and Poetry, under
the instructions of Giovanni Ballistario, of Cremona. At an early age
he was commissioned by his countrymen to conduct some negociations at
the court of Milan; and it was during his visit to that city, that he
executed the task of copying the newly-discovered manuscript of Cicero’s
treatise, _De Claris Oratoribus_. In the year 1430, he was making
preparations for a journey to Rome; but Francesco Barbaro, who held him
in the highest esteem, and who had procured for him the privileges of a
Venetian citizen, having been lately appointed governor of the Bergamese
district, induced him to give up this design, and to accompany him to
Bergamo, invested with the confidential office of chancellor of that
city. He afterwards entered into the Roman chancery, under the patronage
of Eugenius IV., by whom he was employed in the year 1434, in conjunction
with the bishop of Recanati, to solicit, on his behalf, the assistance
of the Florentines and Venetians. He continued to hold the office of
apostolic secretary during the pontificate of Nicholas V., Calixtus III.,
and Pius II. In the year 1459 he attended the last mentioned pontiff
to the council of Mantua. From that city he returned to Rome, where he
died on the 4th of June, 1463, leaving five sons, all well instructed in
literature.
Of his numerous publications the following are the most considerable.
1. _Roma Instaurata_—A work of great erudition, in which he gave a most
exact description of the buildings, gates, temples, and other monuments
of ancient Rome, which still resisted the destructive hand of time.
2. _Roma Triumphans_—This is also a most elaborate treatise, which
contains an account of the laws, constitution, religion, and sacred
ceremonies of the Roman republic, collected from the incidental notices
of these subjects, which are scattered through the wide extent of Latin
literature.
3. Of a similar description is his _Italia Illustrata_, in which he
describes Italy, according to its ancient division into fourteen regions,
and details the origin and history of each province and city. This work
he composed at the request of Alphonso, king of Naples.