che se la cognoscessero, essi chiederebbero l'adiutorio divino;
ricognoscerebbero le colpe loro, e non sarebbero ostinati come dimonia,
che drittamente pajono dimonj, e preso hanno l'ufficio loro. L'ufficio
delle dimonia è di pervertire l'anime da Cristo crocifisso, sottrarle
dalla via della verità, e inducierle alla bugia e recarle a sè, che è
padre delle bugie per pena e per supplicio, dando a loro, quello che
egli ha per sè. Così questi vanno sovvertendo la verità, la quel verità
essi medesimi ci hanno data, e riducendo alla bugia, hanno messo tutto
il mondo in divisione; e di quel male che essi hanno in loro, di quello
porgono a noi. Voliamo noi ben conoscere questa verità? Or ragguardiamo
e consideriamo la vita e costumi loro, e che sèquito essi hanno pure
di loro medesimi, che seguitano le vestigie delle iniquità, perocchè
l'uno dimonio non è contrario all'altro, anco s'accordano insieme. E
perdonatemi, carissimo padre: padre vi terrò in quanto io vi vegga
amatore della verità e confonditore della bugia: perchè io dico così,
perochè 'l dolore della dannazione loro e d'altrui me n'è cagione, e
l'amore ch'io porto alla salute loro. Questo non dico in dispregio
loro in quanto creature, ma in dispregio del vizio e dell'eresia che
esci hanno seminata per tutto il mondo, e della crudeltà che essi
usano a loro e all'anime tapinelle che per loro periscono; delle quali
li converrà render ragione dinanzi al sommo giudice: che se fussero
stati uomini che avessero temuto Dio o la vergogna del mondo, se Dio
non volevano temere: se papa Urbano gli avessi fatto il peggio, che
egli l'avesse potuto fare, e maggiore vituperio averebbe pazientemente
portato ed eletto innanzi mille morti, che fare quello che hanno
fatto, che a maggior vergogna e danno non possono venire, che apparire
agli occhi delle creature scismatici ed eretici contaminatori della
santa fede. Se io veggi il danno dell'anima e del corpo, si mostrano
per l'eresia privati di Dio per grazia, e corporalmente privati
della dignità loro di ragione, ed essi medesimi l'hanno fatto. Se io
ragguardo il divino giudizio, elli si vede presso a loro, se non si
levano di questa tenebre, perocchè ogni colpa è punita e ogni bene
è rimunerato. Duro li sarà a ricalcitrare a Dio, se tutto lo sforzo
umano avessero. Dio è somma fortezza che fortifica i debili che ci
confidano e sperano in lui. Ed è verità. E la verità è quella cosa
che ci delibera. Noi vediamo, che solo la verità de' servi di Dio
seguitano e tengono questa verità di papa Urbano VI., confessandolo
veramente papa, come egli è; non trovarete un servo di Dio che tenga
il contrario, che sia servo di Dio; non dico di quelli che portono
di fuore il vestimento della pecora, e dentro sono lupi rapaci. E
credete voi, che se questa non fusse verità che Dio sostenesse, che
i servi suoi andassero in tanta tenebre? Non il sosterrebbe. Se egli
il sostiene all'iniqui uomini del mondo, non sostiene a loro, e però
l'ha dato lume di questa verità, perchè non è spregiatore de' santi
desiderj, anco ne è accettatore come padre benigno e pietoso che
gli è. Questi vorrei che voi chiamaste a voi, a farvi dichiarare di
questa verità, e non voliate andare sì ignorantemente. Non vi muova
la passione propria che ella sarà peggio a voi che a persona. Abbiate
compassione a tante anime, quante mettete nelle mani delle dimonia. Se
non volete fare il bene, almeno non fate male, ch'el male spessi volte
torna più sopra colui che'l fa, che sopra colui a chi vuole essere
fatto; tanto male n'esce, che ne perdiamo Dio per grazia, consumansi
e beni temporali, e seguitane la morte degli uomini. Doimè! e non par
che noi vediamo lume, che la nuvola dell'amor propio ci ha tolto il
lume, e non ci lassa vedere; per questo siamo atti a recevere ogni male
informazione che ci fusse data contra la verità dagli amatori di loro
medesimi: ma se averemo il lume non sarà così ma con grande prudenzia
e timore santo di Dio, vorrete cognoscere ed investigare questa verità
per uomini di conscienzia e di scienzia. Se voi vorrete, in voi non
cadrà ignoranzia, perchè avete costà la fontana della scienzia, la
quale temo che non perdiate, se voi terrete questi modi, e sapete bene
come ne starà il reame vostro, se saranno uomini di buona coscienzia,
che non vogliono seguitare il piacere umano con timore servile, ma la
verità; essi vi dichiareranno e porranno in pace la mente e l'anima
vostra. Or non più così, carissimo padre, recatevi la mente al petto,
pensate che voi dovete morire e non sapete quando; ponetevi dinanzi
all'occhio dell'intelletto Dio e la verità sua, e non la passione nè
l'amore della patria, che quanto a Dio non doviamo fare differenzia
più d'uno che d'un altro, perchè tutti siamo esciti dalla sua santa
mente, creati all'imagine e similitudine sua, e ricomprati nel prezioza
sangue dell'unigenito suo Figliuolo. So' certa, che se averete il lume
voi il farete, e non aspetterete il tempo, perchè il tempo non aspetta
voi, ed invitarete loro a tornare alla santa e vera obbedienzia, ma
altrimenti no. E però dissi che io desideraro di vedere in voi un
vero e perfettissimo lume, acciocchè col lume cognosciate, amiate e
temiate la verità. Sarà allora beata l'anima mia per la salute vostra,
di vedervi escire di tanto errore. Altro non vi dico. Permanete nella
santa e dolce dilezioni di Dio. Perdonatemi, se troppo v' ho gravato di
parole. L'amore della vostra salute mi costrigne a più tosto dirvele
a bocca con la presenzia che per scritta. Dio vi riempia della sua
dolcissima grazia. Jesù dolce, Jesù amore.
NOTES.
NOTE TO LIFE OF CATHERINE OF SIENA.
Note 1.—Page 5.
Although I have, since writing the passage in the text, been convinced
by the letter of Dr. H. C. Barlow in the _Athenæum_ of July the 3rd,
1858, that the Fontebranda at Siena was not alluded to by Dante in the
well-known passage referred to, yet as the error, in which I shared,
is so general, that every "Dantescan pilgrim" _does_, as stated in
the text, hurry to visit the Sienese fountain, solely for the sake of
that one line of the great poet, I have not thought it necessary to
alter the passage; contenting myself with providing against further
propagation of the mistake by this note. I have again visited Romena
in the Casentino, since reading Dr. Barlow's convincing letter; and
have no doubt whatever, that Adam the coiner, was thinking of the
well-remembered waters of the Casentino, the scene of his crime,—a
locality with which the poet also was, as we know, familiar,—and not
of the distant and _nihil-ad-rem_ Siena fountain; which will henceforth
be deposed from its Dantescan honours by the verdict of all save
Sienese students of the Inferno. These Dr. Barlow must not expect to
convince.
NOTES TO LIFE OF CATERINA SFORZA.
1.—Page 100.
MS. _Priorista_ of Buoudelmonte. This important chronicle, forming a
very large folio volume, is the property of Signore Pietro Bigazzi,
Secretary of the Academia della Crusca; a gentleman, whose accurate
and extensive knowledge of Italian history is as remarkable as the
liberality with which he is ever ready to put the stores of his
erudition at the service of students.
2.—Page 106.
The diarist Stefano Infessura, in his valuable chronicle of the events
which occurred at Rome from A.D. 1294 to A.D. 1494, the latter years of
which period are recorded with great and most amusing detail, says that
the viands on the occasion of this memorable festival were gilt! He
especially notes that sugar was lavishly used: a special indication of
reckless extravagance.
In recording another equally magnificent festival given by the Cardinal
to Leonora, daughter of King Ferrante, who passed through Rome on her
way northwards to be married to the Duke of Ferrara, Infessura tells us
that this Franciscan mendicant turned Cardinal caused the bedchamber of
the princess and those of all the ladies of her court to be furnished
with certain implements of a kind generally deemed more useful than
ornamental, made of gold! "Oh! guarda," cries the historian, as he well
might, "in quale cosa bisogna che si adoperi lo tesauro della Chiesa!"
_Rer. Ital. Script._ Tom III. Pars. II. p. 1144.
3.—Page 108.
Some discrepancies in the accounts of these transactions and the dates
of them in the contemporary historians have led Burriel into supposing
that the Cardinal Riario made two journeys to Milan, the first in
1472, and the second in 1473, and that on both occasions he arrived
there on the 12th of September. The first journey however is, as far
as I can find from a careful examination of the authorities, wholly
imaginary. The difficulty seems to have been, that Corio represents
Girolamo Riario, the proposed bridegroom, to have been invested with
the County of Imola on the 6th of November, 1472. And it is difficult
to suppose that this could have been done before all the conditions
of the marriage were finally arranged, which they certainly were
not till after the Cardinal's journey to Milan. But Corio is a very
untrustworthy guide as far as dates are concerned. Another blunder of
his in the very passage, in which he tells of Imola having been given
to Girolamo Riario as Catherine's dower, might have put Burriel on his
guard. When the marriage was determined on, he says, the Duke "gave her
Imola for her dower.... After that—_dipoi_—on the 20th of August,
Borso of Este, Marquis of Ferrara, died." Now that prince died on the
27th of May, 1471.
Muratori (ad ann. 1473), quoting Platina assigns the true date of 1473
to Girolamo's investiture of the County of Imola; but supposed that
that principality was purchased by the Cardinal of the Manfredi family
for forty thousand ducats, and given by him to his brother. But as to
this point of the story Burriel must be considered to be correct. For
he says, that the conditions of the marriage, including the giving
Imola as the bride's dower, "are proved by Catherine's last Will and
Testament, which we have before us, and by Filippo of Bergamo in his
life of the Count, and by Andrea Bernardi in his chronicle, both
of whom were contemporary writers." The notion of the sum of forty
thousand ducats having been paid by the Riarios for Imola seems to
have arisen from the fact, that that sum was by the marriage contract
stipulated to be paid down by the Pope.[215]
It is remarkable that the two most notable historians of Milan in
recent times, Verri and Rosmini, are both wholly silent as to the
marriage of Catherine, the negociations with the Cardinal Riario on
that subject, and the acquisition of Imola.
Count Pietro Verri died in 1797, leaving his History of Milan
incomplete. It has been often reprinted, and has been always highly
esteemed by his fellow countrymen.
The four bulky and handsome 4to. volumes of the Cavaliere Carlo de'
Rosmini on the History of Milan were printed in 1820; and have taken
the rank of a standard work.
Bernardino Corio, "gentleman of Milan," was one of Duke Maria
Galeazzo's pages and chamberlains; and in that part of his history,
therefore, which touches our subject, is an eye-witness of what he
relates. Should any reader have the curiosity to refer to the amusing
pages of this old writer, he must take care to look at the edition
printed at Padua, in one vol. 4to, 1646. That printed at Venice in
the same form about half a century earlier is grossly incomplete.
For instance, the whole of the interesting description of the Duke's
gorgeous cavalcade, from which the text is taken, is omitted in the
Venice edition.
4.—Page 115.
The original text of this Roman lampoon is given here from Corio, that
the classical reader may see more specifically what were the vices
attributed to this pillar of the Church, than an English page can
venture to catalogue them.
"Omne scelus fugiat Latia modo procul aburbe,
Et virtus, probitas, imperet atque pudor.
Fur, scortum, leno, mechus, pedica, cynedus,
Et scurra, et phidicen cedat ab Italia.
Namque illa Ausonii pestis scelerata Senatus
Petrus ad infernas est modo raptus aquas."
The original of the eulogistic epitaph given by Burriel, which has at
least the merit of brevity, runs thus:—
"Ante annos scivisse nocet; nam maxima virtus
Persuasit morti, ut crederit esse senem."
5.—Page 120.
A curious example of the audacious cynicism of this Milanese
despot—and, to be just, we must add, to a great degree, of the time
in which he lived—is to be found in certain documents of that period
printed by Rossini in the appendices to his history. The following
condition, which we must be permitted to leave in its original Latin,
is found in a deed of gift to a lady named Lucia Marliana, wife of
Ambrogio dei Reverti. It was duly and formally executed before a notary
public, and then preserved among the other state papers and archives of
the Duchy.
"Quamquidem donationem," it runs: "Valere volumus ut supra dummodo
prædicta Lucia cum marito suo per carnalem copulam se non commisceat
_sine nostra speciali licenciâ in scriptis_, nec cum alio viro rem
habeat, exceptâ personâ nostrâ, si forte cum eâ coire aliquando
libuerit. * * * * Speramus tamen ipsam ita victuram et sese habituram
in devotione et hac monitione nostra promerito ab omni suspicione de
concubitu mariti sine nostrâ licenciâ."
Rosmini intimates that it appears that these conditions were duly
observed. Perhaps he means only that we may conclude them to have been
so from the fact that the deed of gift was not disturbed. It was indeed
followed by many others of the most preposterous prodigality, to such
an extent that the Lady Lucia Marliana became one of the wealthiest
individuals in all Lombardy.
6.—Page 124.
The particulars of female costume mentioned in the text are taken from
a very valuable and curious chronicle, printed by Muratori in the 16th
vol. of his collection. See _Rer. Ital. Scrip. T. 16. p. 50 et seq._
It is the Chronicon Placentinum by Johannes de Mussis, citizen of
Placentia. He is a vehement _laudator temporis acti_; and laments the
degeneracy and increasing luxury of his day in the well known tone of
the moralists of any age. The passage is so curious that I am tempted
to translate a considerable portion for the amusement of those who are
not likely to seek the original in the vast treasure-house of Muratori.
"In the good old time," says John de Mussis, "man and wife at supper
eat out of one dish. The use of carved wooden utensils at table was
unknown. One or two cups for drinking served the whole family. Those
who supped at night lighted the table with torches held in the hand
of a boy or servant; for candles of tallow or of wax were not in use.
The men wore cloaks of skin, or of wool, or of hemp. Women at their
marriage wore tunics of hemp. Coarse were then the fashions both for
men and women. Of gold or silver little or none was seen in the dress.
There was no luxury in food. Men of the people eat fresh meat thrice
a-week. Then for dinner they eat herbs and garden produce, which had
been boiled with the meat; and made their supper of the meat put by
for that purpose. The use of wine in the summer was not general.
Men deemed themselves rich with a small amount of money. Small were
the cellars in those days; and the larders no bigger. Women were
content to marry with a small dower, because their mode of life was
excessively frugal. Virgins before their marriage were content with a
hempen tunic, which was called a 'sotana,' (the modern Italian word
for a petticoat) and a linen[216] garment called a 'socca.' Virgins
wore no costly head-dresses. Matrons bound their temples, cheeks, and
chin with broad fillets. * * * * Now the old customs are superseded by
many indecorous usages. But especially for the destruction of souls
has parsimony been changed for luxury. Clothes are seen of exquisite
material and workmanship, and ornamented to excess. We have silver
and gold and pearls in cunning devices; fringes of wonderful breadth,
linings of silk varied with foreign and costly skins. Incitements to
gluttony are not wanting. Foreign wines are drunk. Drinking is almost
universal. Sumptuous dishes are publicly used. Cooks are held in high
honour. Every sort of provocative to gluttony and greed is in request.
And avarice is called into play for the purpose of supplying the means
for all this. Hence come usury, frauds, rapaciousness, robbery, exiles,
domestic broils, unlawful profits, oppression of the innocent, the
extermination of families, and banishment of the rich. We say 'our
God is our belly,' We return to the pomps which we have renounced in
our baptism, and are deserters from God to the devil. And were it not
that the clergy edify us by their pure examples, there would soon be
no limit to our luxury and ambition. * * * * Our ladies wear long
and large robes of crimson silk velvet, or of cloth of silk, brocaded
with gold, or of cloth of gold, or of simple cloth of silk, of cloth
of scarlet or crimson wool, or other costly cloths. And these cloths
of purple stuff, or of velvet, or of cloth of gold or brocade cost for
a mantle or gown from 25 up to 40 golden florins or ducats. * * * *
And on some of these dresses there are large and deep fringes of gold
around the collar, which encircles the throat, for all the world like
the spiked collar round the neck of a dog. On others there are put from
three to five ounces of pearls, worth ten golden florins an ounce. And
they wear small hoods with large golden fringes, or with rows of pearls
around the said hoods. And they go girt about the waist with handsome
girdles of gilt silver, or of pearls, worth about 25 golden florins the
girdle. Sometimes no girdle is worn. And every lady has trinkets of
gold and precious stones to the value of from 30 to 50 golden florins.
"Some, however, of these dresses are decorous, because they do not
expose the bosom. But they have other indecent dresses, which are
called Ciprians; these are made extremely large towards the feet, and
close-fitting from the waist upwards, with long and large sleeves, like
those described above. They are of similar cost also, and are adorned
with jewels of equal value. And they are ornamented in front, from the
neck to the feet, with bosses of silver-gilt or of pearls. And these
Ciprians have the opening around the neck so large that they show the
bosom, et videtur, quod dictæ mamillæ velint exire de sinu earum. Which
dresses would be magnificent, if they did not expose the bosom, and if
the collar was so decently close that at least the breast should not
be visible to every body. These ladies also wear in their head-dresses
jewels of great price. For instance, some wear coronets of silver-gilt,
or of pure gold, adorned with pearls and precious stones, to the value
of from 70 to 100 golden florins. And others wear '_terzollas_' of
large pearls, worth from 100 to 125 golden florins. Which '_terzollas_'
are so called, because they are made of 300 great pearls, and because
they are made and ranged in three tiers. These ladies, too, in the
place of the chaplets of gold or of silk, which they used to wear
twined in the hair of their head, now wear supports for the hair,
'bugulos,' as they are called, which they cover with their hair tied
over the said 'bugulos,' with braiding of silk or of gold, or with
silver braiding covered with pearls."
The chronicler then describes the dress of grave matrons and that of
widows. The fashions of the young men give as much, or more, offence to
the writer as those of the ladies, for reasons, which the curious must
seek in the very plain speaking and exceedingly barbarous Latin of John
de Mussis' own pages.
One or two other particulars, however, are worth noting. All persons
of both sexes, both in summer and in winter, wear shoes, and sometimes
hose with soles, or shoes having points three inches long beyond the
feet. Ladies and young men wear chains of silver-gilt, or pearls
or coral, around their necks. The said youths—these exquisites of
Placentia, who have been dust these four hundred years—used to shave
their beard, and their hair below the ears, wearing it above that line
frizzed and puffed out to as large a circumference as possible. "And
some keep one horse, and some two, and some five, et aliqui nullum
tenent,"—which naïf-ly lame conclusion puts one in mind of the French
bard's description of Marlborough's funeral cortège:
"L'un portait se cuirasse;—L'autre son bouclier;
L'un portait son grand sabre;—L'autre ne portait rien!"
The Placentian youths, who kept horses, our author goes on to tell
us, kept grooms also, whose wages were twelve golden florins a-year.
Maid-servants had seven golden florins and their food, but not their
clothes.
The citizens, too, we are told, make very good cheer. At festivals,
especially at marriage feasts, they drink good wine, both white and
red. The beginning of the banquet always consists of confections of
sugar. The first course is generally formed of one or two capons, and
"on each trencher a large piece of meat stewed with almonds and sugar,
and spices and other good things." Then boiled meat is served "in magnâ
quantitate;" capons, chickens, pheasants, partridges, hares, wild
boars, kids, and other meat, according to the time of year. After that,
tarts and cakes, with spun sugar on them, are set forth. A copious
description of supper, as distinguished from dinner, follows, in which
the principal peculiarity seems to be the prevalence of various meats
in the form of "gelatine." Supper always ends with fruit,—written
always "fluges," indicating a mode of pronunciation still common among
the Italian peasantry, who, to the present day, rhyme "molta" to
"porta." After the "fluges" comes the following conclusion, several
times repeated by the methodical old chronicler, in the same words: "Et
post lotis manibus, antequam tabulæ levantur, dant bibere, et confectum
zuchari, et post bibere." In Lent they begin with the same formulary,
minus the hand-washing; then come figs and peeled almonds; then large
fishes, "à la poivrade,"—"_ad piperatum_;" then rice soup with milk
of almonds, and sugar and spices, and salted eels. After these, boiled
pike are served with vinegar sauce, or mustard sauce, or cooked with
wine and spices. Then nuts and other fruit; to end with "Et post lotis
manibus," &c., _da capo_.
It will be observed, that these luxurious citizens of Placenza had no
sea fish to help out their Lenten diet. Communications were too slow
and difficult.
A curious description of household furniture follows, which I am
deterred from giving only by the fear of increasing this already long
note to a wholly unconscionable bulk. The curious will do well to refer
to it. The construction of fire-places in the houses is noted as an
especial sign of increasing luxury. They have linen curtains, too,
around their beds. Many even are so luxuriously magnificent, that they
"faciunt duas ignes, unum in caminata, et alium in coquina. Et multi
tenent bonas confectiones in domibus eorum de zucharo et de melle. Quæ
omnia sunt magnarum expensarum."
These are the causes, concludes this admirer of the good old times,
why dowers must needs be given to daughters of four or five hundred
golden florins and more; which are then all expended by the bridegroom
in dressing the bride, and in nuptial festivities. "And he, who married
the said bride, spends, besides the dower, some hundred of golden
florins in renovating some of the bride's clothes."
And to meet all these expenses, he says, it must needs be that men seek
to make money by unlawful means. Thus are reduced to poverty many, who
strive to do what is incompatible with their means.
All very bad certainly; and though the author does not tell us whether
any of these extravagant fifteenth-century gentry were directors of
Placenza banks, it is probable enough that they were something of the
sort. But then all this was four hundred years ago: and the world must
have grown wiser since then!
7.—Page 132.
I find this characteristic fact stated in a curious and rare volume
on "the History of the Pontificial golden Rose." "La Rosa d'oro
Pontificia. Raconto Storico. 1 Vol. 4to. In Roma, 1681." There is
a chronological index of all the personages and churches to whom
the Rose has been presented, from which I gather that this mark of
Apostolic favour has fallen to the lot of England five times in the
course of ages. The first was given to Henry IV., by Eugenius IV. The
second to Henry VIII., by Leo X. The third to Henry VIII., by Clement
VII. The fourth to Queen Mary, by Julius III. The fifth was sent to
Queen Henrietta, by Urban VIII., with a message to the effect, that
"since that kingdom had fallen from the faith by means of a woman[217]
meretriciously adorned with roses incarnadined by the polluted blood
of Venus, it might now be recalled and restored to the faith by a
royal lady of infinite piety, holily ornamented with this rose grown in
the odoriferous gardens of Holy Church, and watered by dews and streams
of the fructifying blood of martyrs!!"
It is strange that the only individual to whom the golden rose was ever
given a second time, was the most fatal enemy of the Church, Henry VIII.
8.—Page 133.
Crimson, scarlet, and purple were the favorite colours. Any fabric dyed
with these cost in the proportion of eighteen to twelve for stuffs
of other colours. Ducange ad voc. "Granum;" where he cites Rymer for
the above fact. Granum is the French "cramoisi;" Angl. "crimson;" but
Ducange seems uncertain whether the dye in question were cochineal, or
a vegetable product.
9.—Page 151.
Among the smaller punishments incurred by some of those more or
less implicated in these conspiracies, it is worth noting that one
well-to-do citizen was fined ninety lire, and all his household
furniture, estimated at fifty lire more. This sum may be probably
considered as equivalent to about £20 sterling at the present day, and
does not give a very favourable idea of the amount of domestic comfort
existing among the citizens. Another conspirator was fined an hundred
lire, and "all his rich and precious furniture was confiscated." In
this case the estimated value is not mentioned. But as the amount of
the fine is nearly the same, it is probable that the culprit belonged
to about the same sphere of society.
10.—Page 159.
The classical reader may, if curious in such matters, turn to
Muratori's columns for the strangely cynical, and wholly unreproducible
language, in which Infessura relates the incident. I have written
"classical," which is generally understood to mean Latin or Greek
readers. And a large portion of Infessura's chronicle is written in
very barbarous Latin. But portions, without any apparent reason for the
change, are written in Italian. And the passage in question occurs in
one of those portions.
11.—Page 190.
The narrative in the text follows the statement of Bonoli and Burriel,
which has also all the probabilities of the case to support it.
Other historians represent Catherine herself to have come out on the
ramparts, and to have turned a deaf ear to the piteous entreaties of
her children, that she would give up the fortress, and so save their
lives. Some of these writers also recount a tale, which suited as it
is to the taste of the vulgar for what is striking, coarsely coloured,
and gross, has become the most popularly known incident of Catherine's
career. When threatened with the immediate destruction of her children
before her eyes, she is said to have replied, in terms more coarse than
can be repeated here, that others might come whence those had come, and
to have accompanied the assertion by gestures yet more undescribable on
an English page.
There is every reason to believe that the whole of this story is an
invention. But it is an invention nearly contemporaneous with the
events; and, given as it is by its inventors by no means as a blameable
trait in the heroine's character, but rather as a proof of commendable
energy and vigorous courage, it is curious as an indication of the
prevailing manners and feelings of the period.
12.—Page 223.
"Pantaloons does not probably properly express the meaning of 'calze.'"
The chronicler means those elastic-knitted garments of silk or wool for
the lower half of the person, trowsers and stockings in one, which sat
tight to the limb, and the appearance of which is familiar to the eyes
of those acquainted with the pictures of the time, especially the great
festival paintings of the Venetian school.
13.—Page 264.
This very curious and interesting volume is the property of Signore
Pietro Bigazzi, mentioned in a previous note. It was written by
Lucantonio Cuppano, secretary to Catherine's son, Giovanni delle
Bandenere, who assures us that he copied it from the MS. in Catherine's
own hand.
NOTES TO THE LIFE OF VITTORIA COLONNA.
1.—Page 293.
Guiliano Passeri, the author of the diary quoted in the text, was an
honest weaver, living by his art at Naples, in the time of Ferdinand of
Spain and Charles V. His work appears to have been composed wholly for
his own satisfaction and amusement. The entire work is written in the
form of a diary. But as the first entry records the coming of Alphonso
I. to Naples, on "this day the 26th February, 1443;" and the last
describes the funeral of the Marchese di Pescara, Vittoria's husband,
on the 12th May, 1526, it is difficult to suppose that these could have
been the daily jottings of one and the same individual, extending over
a period of 83 years, although it is _possible_ that they may have been
so. As the work ends quite abruptly, it seems reasonable to suppose
that it was carried on till the death of the writer. The probability
is, that the memorials of the earlier years are due to another pen. The
work is written in Neapolitan dialect, and concerns itself very little
with aught that passed out of Naples. It has all the marks of being
written by an eye-witness of the circumstances recorded. The accounts
especially of all public ceremonies, gala-doings, etc., are given in
great detail, and with all the gusto of a regular sight-seer. And the
book is interesting as a rare specimen of the writing and ideas of an
artisan of the 16th century.
It was printed in a 4to volume at Naples in 1785, and is rather rare.
2.—Page 319.
These false ducats gave rise, we are told, to the king's saying, that
his wife had brought him three gifts:—
Faciem pictam,
Monetam fictam,
to which the ungallant and brutal royal husband added another, the
statement of which ending in "strictam," is so grossly coarse, that
it cannot be repeated here, even with the partial veil of its Latin
clothing.
3.—Page 332.
The translations of the sonnets in the text have been given solely with
the view of enabling those, who do not read Italian, to form some
idea of the subject-matter and mode of thought of the author, and
not with any hope or pretension of presenting anything that might be
accepted as a tolerable English sonnet. In many instances the required
continuation of the rhyme has not even been attempted. If it be asked,
why then were the translations not given in simple prose, which would
have admitted a yet greater accuracy of literal rendering?—it is
answered, that a translation so made would be so intolerably bald,
flat, and silly-sounding, that a still more unfavourable conception
of the original would remain in the English reader's mind than that,
which it is hoped may be produced by the more or less poetically cast
translations given. The originals, printed in every instance, will do
justice (if not more) to our poetess in the eyes of those acquainted
with her language, for the specimens chosen may be relied on as being
not unfavourable specimens. And many readers, probably, who might
not take the trouble to understand the original in a language they
imperfectly understand, may yet, by the help of the translation, if
they think it worth while, obtain a tolerable accurate notion of
Vittoria's poetical style.
4.—Page 379.
When Mr. Harford heard these letters read, the exceedingly valuable
and interesting museum of papers, pictures, drawings, etc. of Michael
Angelo, was the property of his lineal descendant, the late minister
of public instruction in Tuscany. When dying, he bequeathed this
exceedingly important collection to the "Communità," or corporation of
Florence. The Tuscan law requires that the notary who draws a will,
should do so _in the presence of the testator_. Unfortunately, on the
sick man complaining of the heat of the room, the notary employed to
draw this important instrument, retired, it seems, into the next room,
which, as a door was open between the two chambers, he conceived was
equivalent to being in presence of the testator, as required by law.
It has been decided, however, by the tribunals of Florence, that the
will was thus vitiated, and that the property must pass to the heirs at
law. An appeal still pending (September 1858) lies to a higher court;
but there is every reason to believe that the original judgment must be
confirmed. In the mean time, the papers, etc., are under the inviolable
seal of the law.
5.—Page 383.
The MS. of François de Holland, containing the notices of Vittoria
Colonna, given in the text, is to be found translated into French, and
printed in a volume entitled, "Les Arts en Portugal, par le Comte A.
Raczynski. Paris, 1846."
My attention was directed to the notices of Vittoria to be found in
this volume, by a review of M. Deumier's book on our poetess, by Signor
A. Reumont, inserted in the fifth volume of the new series of the
"Archivio Storico Italiano, Firenze, 1857," p. 138.
6.—Page 390.
The prayer written by Vittoria Colonna is as follows:—
"Da, precor, Domine, ut eâ animi depressione, quæ humilitati meæ
convenit, eâque mentis elatione, quam tua postulat celsitudo, te semper
adorem; ac in timore, quem tua incutit justitia, et in spe, quam tua
clementia permittit, vivam continue, meque tibi uti potentissimo
subjiciam, tanquam sapientissimo disponam, et ad te ut perfectissimum
et optimum convertar. Obsecro, Pater Pientissime, ut me ignis tuus
vivacissimus depuret, lux tua clarissima illustret, et amor tuus ille
sincerissimus ita proficiat ut ad te nullo mortalium rerum obice
detenta, felix redeam et secura."
INDEX.
A.
Ages of Faith,85
Alexander VI., election of, 214
receives Catherine as a prisoner courteously, 256
accuses her of conspiring to poison him, 257
his death, 262
Alphonso of Naples abdicates,273
Ammirato, the historian, his mention of Catherine, 27
his account of Sforza's visit to Florence, 99
Antonio, the painter, anecdote of, 159
Apennines, travelling in, in the fifteenth century, 98
Auditor of Forlì, his doubts, 224
Avignon, restoration of the papacy from, 25
B.
Balatrone, C., servant of the Riarii, 257
Bargello of Imola, 232
his bargain with Catherine, _ib._
Barlow, Dr. H. C., his letter on Fontebranda, 398
Bassi Antonio, scene at his death–bed, 129
Beatification, 9
Benincasa Giacomo, 6
Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna, threatens the Forlivesi, 192
Bigazzi, Signor Pietro, 398–407
Biographer's duty, 269
Bona, Duchess of Milan, 92
Bona Sforza, Duchess, her trousseau, 317
Bonaventura, Catherine of Siena's sister, miraculously punished, 36
Borghese family refuse to admit the relationship to them of St.
Catherine, 88
Burlamacchi, father F., 18
C.
Calza, Compagnia della, at Venice, 113
Candles, blessed by the Pope, as a safeguard in travelling, 134
Cardona, Don Raymond di, reviews his army, 307
Carnesecchi, the martyr, 361
Carpi, Tommaso, Pope Alexander's chamberlain, 258
"Carte de tendre," in the sixteenth century, 340
Castellano, duties of, 208
Cataleptic nature of Catherine's ecstasies, 23
Catherine of Siena, her story puzzling, specially so from the
recentness of its date, 2;
her home described, 7;
her bedchamber, 8;
her family, 19;
not well–looking, 20;
her travels, 24
her letters to Pope Urban, 27
her brothers made citizens of Florence, 29
did really restore the papacy to Rome, 30
legendary nature of her biography, 32
at five years old, 33
her early austerities, 34
her confessions, _ib._
her fasting, 37
her communications with our Saviour, 38
earns to read by miracle, _ib._
her marriage, 39
her renewed heart, _ib._
her visions, 40
she is joked with by our Saviour, _ib._
her charity to Christ in the disguise of a beggarman, 41
she converts sinners, 43
receives the stigmata, 47
ministers to the sick, 49
literary phase of her character, 51
her Dialogue of Divine Doctrine, _ib._
her prayers, 54
her letters, 55
miraculously taught to write, 58
prayer by her in Tuscan verse, 62
writes reproof to the Pope, 65
her letter to Charles V. of France, 67
how far was she sincere, 77
her moral standard, 80
her great value to the Dominicans, 82
her influence still operative, 83
her strength of character, 85
her ambition, 86
Cervino, Cardinal, Vittoria Colonna's letter to, 389
Cesare Borgia, 241
appears before Imola, 247
makes triumphal entry into Forlì, 250
parleys with Catherine, 251
visits Catherine his prisoner, 254
Cesena, troops brought from, against Forlì, 192
Charles VIII. of France invades Italy, 217
abandons Naples, 274
death, 276
Charles V. visits Vittoria Colonna, 351
short–sighted in the matter of the Interim, 136
anecdote of his reception by the Fuggers, 143
in winter quarters at Innspruck, 169
escapes to Villach, 170
Chattel property, importance of, in fifteenth century, 140
Christ appears to St. Catherine as a beggarman, 41
Clan, solidarity in medieval Italy, 227
Clare St., convent fire at, 297
Cobelli Leon, the chronicler,144
Codronchi Innocenzio; the seneschal seizes the fort Ravaldino, 177
his strange conduct, 178
Colonna, protonotary, persecution of, 161
his tortures and death, 162
Colonna, Cardinal, plundered, 161
Colonna family, power, and wealth of, 279
persecuted by Alexander VI., 285
grants of land to them, 292
at war with Pope Clement, 330
Fabrizio, his political conduct, 290
his death, 319
Colonna Vittoria; her parents, 277
eldest child, and not youngest, as the biographers say, 278
betrothed to Pescara, 283
educated by Duchessa di Francavilla, _ib._
her beauty, 288
presents received from, and made to her husband, 299
her marriage, 300
her honeymoon in Ischia, 301
her epistle to her husband, 304
continues childless, 306
educates the Marchese del Vasto, _ib._
her life in Ischia, 312
sees her husband for the last time, 319
Varchi's character of her, 323
no trace of patriotic sentiment in her writings, 325
her widowhood, 328
retires to the convent of San Silvestro in Capite, 329
returns to Ischia, 330
character of her sonnets, 331
specimens of them, 332
her desire to die, 337
her idea of her husband's goodness, 338
what was the real nature of her sentiments towards her husband's
memory, 339
her purity of character, 340
in Rome in 1530, 346
her rambles in Rome, _ib._
her intimacies, 350
her religious poetry, 351
visited by Charles V., _ib._
visits Lucca and Ferrara, _ib._
her protestant tendencies, 352
welcomed to Ferrara by Ercole d'Este, _ib._
thinks of visiting the Holy Land, 354
returns to Rome, _ib._
submissive to the church, 361
her devotional sonnets, 369, _et seq._
no moral sentiments in her poetry, 372
absence of all patriotic feeling in her sonnets, 376
arrives in Rome from Ferrara, 377
opinions of her poetry by contemporary critics, _ib._
her influence with Paul III., 378
her friendship with Michael Angelo, _ib._
goes to Orvieto, and returns to Rome, 382
question of her orthodoxy, 383
conversation with Michael Angelo, 387
at Viterbo, 388
her letter to Cervino, 389
returns for the last time to Rome, 390
Fracastoro consulted on her health, _ib._
sorrows in her last days, 391
her death, _ib._
Colours, favourite, in fifteenth century, 406
Confessional, Vittoria Colonna on, 365
Contarini, his mission, and hopes of reconciliation, 354
dedicates his work on Free Will to Vittoria Colonna, 378
Contile, Luca, his visit to Vittoria Colonna, 382
Convent–building, investment in, 172
Conversation in the fifteenth century, 384
Conversions operated by St. Catherine, 43
Corio, his history of Milan, 400
Corsi, Rinaldo, his commentary on Vittoria Colonna's poetry, 348
Costume, female, in fifteenth century, 401
Costume at Venice in the end of fifteenth century, 113
Crucifixion, sonnet on, by Vittoria Colonna, 374
Cuppani, L., copyist of Catherine's book of secrets, 264
Cynicism of Catherine, 267
Cynicism, singular instance of, 401
Cyprian dresses, 124
D.
Della Crusca, Academy of, approves of St. Catherine's style, 64
Despotism in Italy, its results, 239
Divine doctrine, book of, by St. Catherine, 51
specimen of, 53
Dominican Order, St. Catherine devoted to, 80
of important value to, 82, 87
Dominican monks, Catherine of Siena's special reverence for, 34
E.
Ecstasies of St. Catherine, 21
Ercolani Ludovico, Riano's butler, his faithful services after his
master's murder, 182, _et seq._
Ercole d'Este welcomes Vitt. Colonna to Ferrara, 352
Ernest of Saxony arrives in Rome, 131
honours shown him, 132
Executions in Forlì, 201
F.
Faith, justification by, doctrine of, why obnoxious to the Catholic
Church, 359
Falsehood, St. Catherine guilty of, 79
Famine at Rome, A.D. 1482, 155
Felony in ermine, 147
Feo, Tommaso, made Castellano of Ravaldino, 179
his speech to the insurgents, 190
turned out of his place, 209
Feo, Giacomo, 207
his marriage with Catherine, 210
made Castellano, _ib._
honours heaped on him, 211
made Baron by the French King, 220
his assassination, 221
Ferdinand of Naples, death, 273
Ferdinand II. of Naples, 274
his death, 293
Ferdinand of Spain, 275
his entry into Naples, 295
Ferrara, Court of, 351
under its old Dukes, 33, _et seq._
increase of, 35
noted for its learned men, 37
famine and pestilence in, 49
Calvin at, 72
Paul III's. visit to, 94
curious alteration in the level of the soil, 97
Finance difficulties of Catherine, 213
Fleet, Roman, blessing of the, 139
Florence employs Catherine as a negotiator, 26
Galeazzo Sforza'sjourney to, 97
at war with Pisa,240
Fontebranda fountain, 5
Forlì, city of, 127
gala on the arrival of the new sovereigns, 143
situated between two armies, 217
importance of the belligerents, 219
Forlivesi, maltreated by Borgia's soldiers, 251
Fortresses in Italian mediæval cities, their importance, 196
Fracastoro, his letter on Vittoria Colonna's health, 390
Francavilla, Duchessa di, 283
Franciscans claim monopoly of the miracle of the stigmata, 48
Frederick of Aragon in Ischia, 294
Funeral of Giacomo Feo, 229
Furniture, household, value of, in fifteenth century, 406
G.
Gambara, Veronica, her estimate of Vittoria Colonna, 377
Gianantonio di Parma, anecdote of, 157
Giberto, Cardinal, invites Vitt. Colonna to Verona, 353
his letter to Cardinal Bembo, _ib._
Giovanna d'Aragona, 346
Giovanni de' Medici, 235
his death, 237
Guicciardini, on the state of Italy in 1494, 90
his estimate of good times in Italy, 216
H.
Harford, Mr., his account of Vitt. Colonna's letter to Michael Angelo,
379
Haters, the Italians great, 238
Heart, Catherine of Siena's change of, 39
Hunting party near Rome, 133
I.
Imola, city of, 95
Influence, the secret, of St. Catherine, 83
Infessura Stefano, his chronicle, 399
Innocent VIII., will have nothing to do with the Forlì insurgents,
195
simoniacal election of, 170
Ischia, Isle of, early home of Vitt. Colonna, 286
Vitt. Colonna's life in, 312
knot of poets there, _ib._
J.
Jesting, between our Saviour and St. Catherine, 40
Jew invited to settle in Forlì, 214
Journey, day for, indicated by the planets, 139
in the fifteenth century, 140
Jubilee at Forlì, 215
proceeds of, 216
Jubilee year, 1500, 293
Jurisprudence, mediæval, specimen of, 259
K.
Knighthood inimical to patriotism, 291
L.
Lampugnani, G. A., assassin of the Duke, 117
Landriano, John Peter, 91
Lapa, St. Catherine's mother, her death, 45
Leon Cobelli, his fault and imprisonment, 207
his lamentations over the body of G. Feo, 223
Letters of St. Catherine, 55
no originals of them extant, 56
written during trance, 62
high reputation of these letters, 63
to Charles V. of France, 67
subject of that letter, 75
Literature, safe, for the millions, 17
Litta, his opinion of Catherine, 225
Litters for crossing the Apennines, 97
Lord of misrule in Forlì, 252
Lorenzo de' Medici, his reply to the insurgent Forlivesi, 193
Louis XII. of France, his proposal to Ferdinand of Spain, 276
Love–poetry of the sixteenth century, 344
Love, woman's, should not survive esteem, 342
Lucca, Protestant tendencies of, 352
Ludovico il Moro, 272
Luxury, increase of, 229
M.
Macchiavelli in Forlì, 244
Magnani, Bishop, his rule at Forlì, 154
Maimbourg's testimony to Catherine's influence in restoring the papacy
to Rome, 29
Malatesta, Robert, death of, 155
suspicions respecting it, 156
Manfredi, Tadeo, lord of Imola, 95
Guidazzo, his son,96
Mansion family, an Italian noble's feeling about, 202
Mantellate of St. Domenico, 19
Mantua, Marchioness of, visits the Spanish army, 308
Manual for confessors, 49
Marino, description of, 280
Medals of Vitt. Colonna, 328
the last struck in her lifetime, 381
Michael Angelo, his friendship with Vitt. Colonna, 378
his disposition and temperament, _ib._
influenced by Vitt. Colonna, 379
in the church of San Silvestro, 386
with Vitt. Colonna in her last moments, 391
present fate of papers and memorials left by, 409
Milan, wealth of, 90
Ministry to the sick, St. Catherine's, 49
Miracles recorded of St. Catherine, specimens only can be given, 33
miraculous conversions wrought by her, 45
of the stigmata, 47
many may be explained, 79
Molza, the poet, 346
Montano Cola and his pupils, 99
Morality of some of St. Catherine's actions, 49
low, in Vitt. Colonna's poetry, 373
Morone, minister of the Duke of Milan, 321
entrapped by Pescara, 324
Murate convent, 263
Muratori's testimony to her influence in restoring the papacy to Rome,
29
Mussis de Johannes, his curious chronicle of ancient Placentian manners,
401
N.
Naldi, Dionigi; Castellano at Imola, 247
Naples, cause of quarrel with Milan, 273
rapid changes of government, 275
finally falls under power of Spain, 277
New year's eve festival, 252
Nitre, bought for Florence in Pesaro, 246
O.
Ochino, Bernardino, 316
Olanda di Francesco, his record of conversations with Vitt. Colonna,
383, _et seq._
Olgiato, G., assassin of the Duke, 117
his execution, 118
Oratory of divine love, 356
Ordelaffi, family of the, 127
conspiracies in favour of, 151
favoured by the Forlivesi, 152
Orsi, Ludovico, accomplice in Riario's murder, 183
Orsi, the father of the above, his experience of revolutions, 191
his palace razed, 201
he is put to death, 202
Orsi, Checco, his quarrel with Riario, 180
he murders Riario, 181
his reply to the Duke of Milan, 195
determines to murder Catherine's children, 198
fails, and quits Forlì, _ib._
Orthodoxy of Vitt. Colonna, 375
Ottaviano Riario, general in the service of Florence, 244
Oudin, Father Casimir, his doubts as to St. Catherine's authorship, 52
P.
Pace, Pietro de, his adventure, 296
Pansecco, L., assassin of Riario, 182
Papal infallibility, doctrine of, dear to Italian minds, 367
Papire Masson, his high estimate of St. Catherine's letters, 65
Paradise, Catherine Sforza's, 231
difficulty of paying for it, _ib._
Pasquinades on Cardinal Riario, 400
Passeri, the weaver, Neapolitan diarist, 408
Patriotism has no place in Vitt. Colonna's poetry, 376
Paul II., Pope, 102
Paul III. Pope, 349
creates several good cardinals, 350
makes war on the Colonnas, 381
his conduct respecting his son, ii. 42
his character, 79
waits in vain near Canossa for Charles V., 93
visits Ferrara, 94
his death, 114
Pazzi conspiracy,135
Pescara, Ferdinand, Marquis of, 287
joins the army, 301
made prisoner, 303
complimented by Isabella of Aragon, _ib._
his Dialogo d'amore, 304
his character, 309
anecdote of his cruelty, 310
last interview with his wife, 319
his cruelty, 320
his treachery and infamy, 321
his Spanish predilections, 325
rewarded for his infamy, 327
his death, _ib._
Petrarchism in the sixteenth century, 343
Phœnix burning in Italy, 271
Piccolomini, Don Alfonso, his marriage, 315
Pio Nono, anecdote of, 89
Platonism of the sixteenth century, 339
Poland, King of, marriage festivities of, in Naples, 313
Pole, Cardinal, his influence on Vitt. Colonna, 388
Political intrigues in Italy, 1481, 146
Politics, Italian, in the fifteenth century, 93
Popes, good and bad, succeed in sets, 103
Pozzuoli, caverns of, 296
Prayers by St. Catherine, 54
Protestant tendencies of Vitt. Colonna, 352
Pyramus and Thisbe medal, 348
R.
Ravaldino, fortress of, at Forlì, 172
Ravenna, rout of, 303
Raymond of Capua, 9
becomes General of the Dominicans, 10
his Life of St. Catherine, 11
specimens of that work, 14
his proof of Catherine's miraculous powers, 22
his assertion of a miracle, 31
bequeathes two volumes of Catherine's letters, 57
his insincerity, 81
Reading, learned by Catherine of Siena, by miracle, 38
Reformers in Italy, 357
Renaissance, women of the, vi
little available as models for imitation, vii
wars of the, in Italy, ignoble in their nature, 291
Revolution, striking proneness to, in mediæval Italian cities, 226
Riario, Girolamo, 106
made citizen of Rome, 127
invested with lordship of Forlì, _ib._
made general of the Roman forces, 128
contriver of the Pazzi conspiracy, 136
his wealth, 141
his reasons for quitting Rome, 142
remits tax on corn, 144
his extensive architectural undertakings, 145, 172
his visit to Venice, 146
is dissatisfied with the results of it, 150
returns to Imola, 150
returns to Rome, 152
marches against the Neapolitans, 153
his savage conduct to the Protonotary Colonna, 161
in difficulty after the Pope's death, 167
returns to Forlì, 169
confirmed in his possessions and offices by Innocent VIII., 170
his difficult position, 171
finds himself a poor man, 172
has a hard life, 174
his dangerous illness, 176
his death, 181
Riario, Peter, Cardinal, his preferments, 105
his pomp, 107
his rivalry with Galeazzo Sforza, 107
his visit to Milan, 108
his visit to Venice, 112
his death, 114
his epitaph, 115
Riario family is founded, 166
present family, ancestor of, 173
Rohan, Cardinal de, anecdote of his death and burial, 156
Roman history, dangerous reading, 99, 117
Rome, life in, A.D. 1480–90, 128, 130
hunting party near, 133
life in, A.D. 1482, 155
riots in, 160
anarchy in, at the death of Pope Sixtus, 168
Rome's feudal dues, 241
Ronchi, G., assassin of Riario, 182
threatens Catherine, 187
Rose, Golden, to what English sovereigns sent, 405
Rosmini, his history of Milan, 400
S.
Sadoleto obtains a bull to prevent Vitt. Colonna from taking the veil,
329
St. Angelo, castle of, anecdote of an escape from, 157
Salt–tax occasions war between the Colonna and Paul III., 381
Salviati, Archbishop, hung at Florence, 135
Santi, Gismondo, murder of, 322
Santo Spirito, church of, burned down, 101
Savelli, Cardinal, invited to Forlì by the insurgents, 185
his interview with Catherine, 186
is duped by Catherine, 190
his reply to the Lord of Bologna, 192
finds himself in difficulty, 194
forges a bull, _ib._
Schismatic Pope, important consequences of, 75
Secrets, Catherine's volume of wonderful, 264
Sforza, Galeazzo Maria, 91
his journey to Florence, 97
his pleasures, 109
his death, 117
his character, 119
Sforza, Catherine, born 91
legitimation of her, 95
projects of marriage, 95
accompanies her father to Florence, 97
negotiations for her marriage with Girolamo Sforza, 111
her marriage in danger, 116
her marriage, 121
her entry into Rome, 123
her personal appearance, _ib._
her residence in Rome, 125
her influence with Sixtus IV., 126
whether guilty of the Pazzi conspiracy, 137
her three elder children, 138
her entry into Forlì, 142
her questionable happiness, 154
her energetic conduct after the Pope's death, 167
her younger children, 173
a helpful wife to her husband, 175
her character, 176
visits Milan, _ib._
nurses her husband in his illness, 177
her night–ride to Forlì, 178
recovers possession of Ravaldino, 179
birth of her sixth child, 180
her first steps on learning the murder of her husband, 185
is imprisoned by the Orsi, 186
is threatened by the insurgents, 187
succeeds in obtaining permission to enter the castle, 189
her clemency, 199
her graciousness in the hour of triumph, 200
her virile energy, 204
marriage projected for her, 205
her anger thereat, 206
lures the Castellano out of Ravaldino, 209
orders a man to the rack for speaking of her marriage with Feo, 210
conduct to her children, 211
decides on allying herself with Naples, 219
breaks that alliance, _ib._
conduct after the murder of Feo, 224
doubts as to her innocence of Feo's murder, 225
what she thanked God for, 226
her vengeance, 227
builds a new palace and gardens, 230
how she finds the money to pay for them, 232
her third marriage, 234
her posterity by this marriage, 236
her trade in soldiers, 240
deposed by Alexander VI., 241
her recruiting, 242
negotiations with Macchiavelli, 245
her conference with her subjects, 248
batters Forlì, 249
is taken prisoner, 253
taken to Rome, 255
accused of conspiracy to poison the Pope, 257
confined in St. Angelo, 260
released by interference of French king, 262
goes to Florence, _ib._
retires to the Murate, _ib._
her volume of wonderful secrets, 264
her moral and intellectual condition, 268
her death, 270
apocryphal story of, 407
Siena, description of, 3
Silvestro San, in Capite, Vitt. Colonna retires thither,329
church of, party in, 385
Sixtus IV., Pope, 102
his lineage, 103
his character, 104
whether guilty of the Pazzi conspiracy, 136
his designs on Ferrara, 153
his fraudulent granaries, 155
his violence to the court of the Rota, 158
condemns a painter to death, 159
implacability towards the Colonna, 161
his despair at the conclusion of peace, 164
and death, 165
Sleep, St. Catherine's abstinence from, 78
Soldiers, trade in, by little princes of Italy, 240
Sonnets, theological, of Vitt. Colonna, 362, _et seq._
character of, 332
specimen of Vitt. Colonna's, 333, _et seq._
Stella, Catherine's sister, her marriage, 193
Stigmata, miracle of the, 47
T.
Tapestry belonging to Ferdinand I., 297
Tasso, Bernardo, his sonnet on the society in Ischia, 313
Taxation, unequal, 231
applied to give alms to ruined taxpayers, 233
Tiraboschi, his opinion of Vittoria's orthodoxy, 361
Tolentino, Francesco, governor of Forlì, 151
Toll–bars, Catherine's, 212
failure of them, 213
Torelli, Onorato, 95
Trissino, Giangiorgio, letter to him from Vitt. Colonna, 353
Tyrants, occasional impotence of, 158
U.
Ughelli, Abate, his testimony to Catherine's influence, 29
V.
Valdez, Juan, reformer, 357
Varchi, Bened., his character of Vitt. Colonna, 323
Vasto, Marchese del, educated by Vitt. Colonna, 306
death of, 391
Venice, festivities at, 148
Verri, his history of Milan, 400
his sentiments on the assassination of Duke Sforza, 119
Vigne, delle, Pietro, 10
Virgin, sonnet to, by Vitt. Colonna, 375
Virgin della Bruna, carried from Naples to Rome, 294
Visconti, extinction of, in Milan, 91
Visconti, C., assassin of the Duke, 117
Visconti, Pietro, recent editor of Vitt. Colonna's works, 278
W.
Woman, her social position a test of civilisation, v
woman's love should not outlive esteem, 342
Works, good; what sort the church requires, 360
Writing, art of, miraculously acquired by St. Catherine, 58
Z.
Zocchejo, Melchior, Castellano of Ravaldino, his character, 177
his death, _ib._
END OF VOLUME I.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See Note.
[2] Quetif et Echard, Script. Ord. Præd., tom. i. p. 679.
[3] "Eique cœlitus datus est a confessionibus et
divinorum secretorum conscius."—Quetif et Echard, Script.
Ord. Præd., tom. i. p. 679.
[4] Among others, the writer refers to a life of St.
Catherine, by Pietro Aretino. That most versatile of
literary scamps did, indeed, write such a work; but it is
the life of an altogether different St. Catherine!
[5] Vita di Cat., vol. i. p. 19.
[6] It may be noted for the unlearned reader, that, though
_catholic_ signifies _universal_, _catha_ has no such sense.
[7] Vita di Cat., vol. i. p. 46.
[8] "Vi contentiate di farmi una grazia si grande."
[9] It may be just mentioned, for the benefit of the
English reader, that the name Catherine, as may be seen
from any dictionary, is derived from the Greek adjective
signifying "pure."
[10] Vita di Cat., vol. i. p. 81.
[11] Vita di Cat., vol. i. p. 114.
[12] _Ibid._, vol. i. p. 153.
[13] That is, by the hand of her secretary; of which more
anon.
[14] There is a letter from her to the war commissioners
in Florence, written from Avignon, 28th of June, 1376, ten
days after her arrival there, in which she speaks of an
interview she had had with the Pope on this subject. It is
the 197th letter of the collection.
[15] Ammirato, Istorie Fiorentine, vol. v. p. 130. Edit.
Florence, 1824.
[16] The "otto della guerra;" a committee of eight,
appointed to carry on the war.
[17] Ammirato, vol. v. p. 133.
[18] Muratori, Annali, ad ann. 1376.
[19] Hist. du grand Schis. d'Occid., lib. i. p. 11.
[20] Ughelli, Ital. Sacra, vol. i. col. 45.
[21] Burlamacchi, Epis., vol. i. p. 92.
[22] That is, not only of such things as have occurred
since the last confession, but of all the sins of a
lifetime.
[23] Supplement. di Script. Eccl., p. 649. Paris, 1686.
[24] Dialogo, etc. Op. di Son Cat., vol. iv. p. 30.
[25] The report of the investigation, which took place on
occasion of her canonization, in 1411. This Caffarini was
one of her disciples.
[26] This was the Beato Stefano Maconi, one of the
amanuenses of the Saint.
[27] The Dialogue, of which an account has been given.
[28] The original is also printed at the end of the volume,
for the examination of those who might think that the
translation unfairly represented its merits.
[29] This phrase, "with the desire to see in you," occurs
in the same position and construction in nearly every
letter.
[30] I translate literally. The sense would seem to be, "or
if it does so, it does so only," &c.
[31] It is curious to observe the mind perverted by the
church doctrine of self-abnegation to such a point as to
become incapable of seeing that human nature cannot be more
Godlike than when it does justice "for its own natural
pleasure."
[32] This phrase, "open the eye of your mind," occurs with
wearisome repetition in Catherine's writings.
[33] The expression in the original is, "lie over their
heads."
[34] That is to say, whom they pretended to have elected,
in order to quiet the populace, who insisted on having a
Roman Pope. They _did_ elect the Archbishop of Bari; but
gave out that they had elected the Cardinal of St. Peter,
intending that to be believed only till they could leave
the Conclave and get into safety.
[35] The favours, that is to say, begged of Urban, who of
course could grant none such, if he were not Pope. It is
in truth clear enough, that the excuses of those Cardinals
who deserted the party of Urban, were mere afterthoughts.
They deemed him truly enough elected, till they found that
they had given themselves a severer master than they had
reckoned on.
[36] The construction of this sentence is defective in the
original; "truth" in the singular being the nominative case
to the two verbs, which are in the plural, as if governed
by "servants of God."
[37] The Saint is wrong here, in matter of fact. More
than one recognised saint was of the party of Clement,
afterwards definitively judged by the Church to have been
an anti-Pope. Burlamacchi is sadly gravelled by this
awkward fact, and labours hard in his note on the passage
to show that the saints of Clement's party were not warm
partisans in his favour; but if _our_ saint is right, they
must have been damned.
[38] The context would seem to require "ye" in place of
"we" here. I translate the phrase as I find it. Burlamacchi
has no remark on the passage.
[39] She alludes to the Sorbonne.
[40] That is, the French cardinals, who took part against
Urban. It should seem as if some such phrase as "tolerate
them" were left out after the words "otherwise not."
[41] Burlamacchi remarks, that this passage seems to
indicate that Catherine had an intention of going to Paris.
[42] This last phrase forms the conclusion of every one of
the Saint's letters.
[43] Lib. i. cap. i.
[44] Vita di Caterina Sforza, dall'Abate Antonio Burriel,
3 vols. 4to. Bologna, 1795. Burriel was a Spanish priest;
and his work, which I shall frequently have occasion to
quote, is not deficient in research and painstaking, though
it is the production of a thorough-going partisan, and one
perfectly imbued with the opinion, that not only kings, but
all royal and noble persons, whether mitred or coroneted,
can do no wrong.
[45] Guicciardini, lib. i. cap. i.
[46] Burriel, lib. i. cap. i.
[47] Corio, Historia di Milano, ad ann. 1471.
[48] Verri, Storia di Milano, cap. xviii. Corio, all'anno
1471. Rosmini, Istoria di Milano, vol. iii. p. 19. This
learned, accurate, and trustworthy History of Milan, was
printed in that city in four vols. 4to, 1820.
[49] Burriel, vol. i. p. 27.
[50] Ammirato, Istorie Fiorentine, lib. xxiii., Gonf. 1079.
[51] Ammirato, lib. xxiii., Gonf. 1006.
[52] Note 1.
[53] Du Plessis Mornai, Mystère d'Iniquité, p. 555, _et
seq._
[54] Article sixte iv.
[55] Corio, the contemporary annalist of Milan, writes:
"_Hebbe due che egli chiamava Nipoti._"—Istor. Mil.
p. 974. "Secundo che ciascuno credeva, erano suoi
figliúoli."—Machiavelli, St. lib. vii.
[56] Papiensis Cardinalis Epis., 548. Diario di Ste.
Infissura, p. 1144.
[57] See Note 2.
[58] Note 3.
[59] Gioviano Pontano, in the first chapter of his book,
"De Splendore."
[60] Burriel, lib. i. cap. iii. p. 21.
[61] Vitæ Pontif. et Card. in vita Petri, "sublimes
spiritus et imperio idoneos induit."
[62] Ferrario, Costumiere, vol. viii. p. 314.
[63] Infessura says, without intimating any doubt, "fu
atossicato,"—"he was poisoned," but he does not say by
whom. Rer. Ital. Script., tom. iii. par. 2, p. 1144.
[64] Ist. Mil., p. 976.
[65] See note 4.
[66] Rosmini, vol. iii. p. 34.
[67] Verri, Ist. Mil., chap. xviii.
[68] Note 5.
[69] "Questo mondo è dei solleciti."
[70] Filippo da Bergamo: "Est quippe hæc Catarina inter
mulieres nostri sæculi formosissima, et eleganti aspectu,
ac per omnes corporis artus mirificè ornata est." Bernardi,
her personal attendant for many years, writes that she was
"molto formosa del suo corpo."
[71] Paolo Bonoli, Storia di Forlì, 2 vols. 1826; vol. ii.
p. 211.
[72] Cardinal Bibbiena to Giuliano de Medici.
[73] Note 6.
[74] Clement XII., A.D. 1730.
[75] Paul III., A.D. 1534.
[76] Vita di Catarina, lib. i. chap. iv. p. 31.
[77] Bernardi. p. 429.
[78] Infessura, apud Muratori, tom. iii. part ii. p. 1146.
[79] Rer. Ital. Scrip. Muratori, tom. xxiii. p. 111.
[80] Ap. Muratori, Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. xxiii. p. 112.
[81] Jacobus Volaterranus, Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. xxiii.
p. 109.
[82] Jac. Volat, Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. xxiii. p. 104.
[83] Note 7.
[84] Note 8.
[85] Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. iii. par. ii. p. 1146.
[86] Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom, xxiii. p. 137.
[87] Bonoli, p. 213.
[88] Jac. Volter., Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. xxiii. p. 140.
[89] Burriel, p. 50.
[90] Jac. Volter., Rer. Ital. Scrip., tom. xxiii. p. 140.
[91] Burriel, p. 51.
[92] Vecchiazzani, Historia di Forlimpopoli (Rimini, 1647),
vol. ii. p. 153; Bonoli, Storia di Forlì, p. 210.
[93] Bonoli, p. 213; Burriel, p. 54.
[94] Burriel, p. 52.
[95] Alberghetti, Storia della Città d'Imola, p. 251.
[96] Burriel, p. 55.
[97] Burriel, p. 75.
[98] Rer. Ital. Script., tom., xxiii. p. 242.
[99] Printed by Fabroni, in his life of Lorenzo, from the
original in the Florentine archives.
[100] Note 9.
[101] Burriel, p. 103.
[102] Il Notario di Nantiporto. Ap. Rer. Ital. Script.,
tom. iii. par. 2, p. 1183.
[103] Rer. Ital. Script., tom. iii. par. 2, p. 1183.
[104] Not. di Nantiporto. Ap. Rer. Ital. Script., tom. iii.
par. 2, p. 1183.
[105] Notario di Nantiporto. Rer. Ital. Script., tom. iii.
par. 2, p. 1087.—Infessura, same volume, p. 1178.
[106] Note 10.
[107] Notario di Nantiporto. Rer. Ital. Script., tom. iii
p. 2, p. 1084.
[108] Infessura, tom. iii., por. ii. p. 1163.
[109] Tom. iii. por. ii. p. 1170.
[110] 12th of August, 1484.
[111] Infessura, tom. iii. por. ii. p. 1185.
[112] Burriel, p. 121.
[113] Burriel, p. 137.
[114] Burriel, p. 169.
[115] Marchesi, Storia di Forlì, lib. ix. p. 554.
[116] Bernardi, Lastri Forlìvesi, p. 117.
[117] Burriel, p. 174.
[118] Burriel, p. 239; Bonoli, p. 235; Vecchiazzani, vol.
ii. p. 164; Alberghetti, p. 254; Infessura apud Murat.,
tom. iii. por. ii. p. 1219.
[119] For the account of the following interesting passages
of Catherine's life, the authorities are Burriel, lib.
ii. cap. v. vi. vii.; Alberghetti, p. 255, _et seq._;
Vecchiazzani, vol. ii. p. 164, _et seq._; and Bonoli, lib.
x. The last is on this occasion the best, and has been
chiefly followed in the text.
[120] Note 11.
[121] Burriel, p. 430; Bonoli, vol. ii. p. 260.
[122] Burriel, p. 431.
[123] Burriel, p. 450.
[124] Burriel, p. 446.
[125] Burriel, lib. ii. cap. xviii.
[126] Burriel, p. 492.
[127] Guicciardini, lib. i.; Bonoli, vol. ii. p. 270.
[128] Burriel, p. 579.
[129] Bonoli, vol. ii. p. 274; Burriel, p. 579;
Vecchiazzani, vol. ii. p. 187.
[130] Cobelli, p. 277.
[131] Note 12.
[132] Burriel, p. 582.
[133] Litta. Famig. de' Medici.
[134] Burriel, lib. iii. chap. ii.
[135] Burriel, p. 629.
[136] Bonoli, vol. ii. p. 277.
[137] Burriel, p. 673.
[138] Opere di Macchiavelli. Italia. 1813, vol. vi. p. 7.
[139] Burriel, p. 725.
[140] Burriel, p. 760.
[141] Bernardi, p. 410.
[142] Burriel, p. 783.
[143] Burriel, p. 817.
[144] Fabio Oliva.
[145] Vecchiazzani, vol. ii. p. 203.
[146] Burriel, p. 823.
[147] Girlhood of Cat. de' Medici, cap. 10.
[148] Note 13.
[149] Storia di Nap., lib, i. cap. 1.
[150] He speaks, indeed, (p. 236) of Sciarra as a brother
of Ascanio: adding, that he was illegitimate.
[151] Coppi, Mem. Col., p. 269.
[152] Which is the truly wonderful assertion of M. le Fevre
Deumier, in his little volume entitled "Vittoria Colonna;"
Paris, 1856, p. 7.
[153] As it would appear they must have been, from the
dates given above to show that Vittoria must have been
their first child.
[154] Coppi Mem. Col., p. 228.
[155] Coppi. Mem. Col., p. 243.
[156] Book v. chap. ii.
[157] Book xvii. chaps. iii. and iv.
[158] Giovio, Vita del Mar. di Pescara, Venice, 1557, p. 14.
[159] Visconti, Rimi di Vit. Col., p. 39. See portrait
prefixed to this volume.
[160] Coppi, Mem. Col., p. 249.
[161] Note 1.
[162] Passeri, p. 122.
[163] Passeri, p. 126.
[164] Passeri, p. 146.
[165] Passeri, p. 151.
[166] Passeri, p. 152.
[167] Passeri, p. 162.
[168] Giovio, Bp. of Como, Life of Pescara, book i.
[169] Filocalo, MS. Life of Pescara, cited by Visconti, p.
lxxxii.
[170] Giovio, lib. i.
[171] Visconti, p. 77.
[172] Passeri, p. 197.
[173] Passeri, p. 326.
[174] Passeri, p. 234.
[175] See Note 2.
[176] Ist. Ital., lib. xvi. cap. 4.
[177] Varchi, Storia Fiorentina, vol. i. p. 88, edit.
Firenze, 1843.
[178] Varchi, p. 89.
[179] Lettere de Principi, vol. i. p. 87. See Letters from
Giberto to Gismondo Santo, and to Domenico Sanli.
[180] Storia, lib. xvii. chap. iv.
[181] Guicciardini, lib. xvii. chap. iv.
[182] Vita, lib. i.
[183] Contemporary copy of the Act of Accusation, cited by
Visconti, p. ci.
[184] See Note 3.
[185] See advertisement "ai lettori" of Rinaldo's Corso's
edition of the sonnet. Venice, 1558.
[186] Madame Lamaze, Études sur Trois Femmes Celèbres;
Paris, 1848, p. 41.
[187] Lettere di Bembo vol. i. p. 115, ed. 1560.
[188] Edit., Serassi pp. 14, 15, 37, 40.
[189] Mem. per la St. di Ferrara. di Antonio Frizzi, vol.
iv. p. 333.
[190] Vita., p. cxiii.
[191] Letter dated 11th September 1537, from Bembo's
Correspondence cited by Visconti, p. cxv.
[192] Visconti, p. cxiv.
[193] Visconti, p. cxvi.
[194] He left Rome 11th November, 1538. Letter from
Contarini to Pole, cited by Ranke. Austin's transl., vol.
i. p. 152.
[195] Caracciolo, Vita di Paolo 4, MS. Ranke, Popes, vol.
i. p. 136, edit. cit.
[196] Ranke. ed. cit., vol. i. p. 217.
[197] Ed. cit., vol. i. p. 138.
[198] Bembo, Opere, vol. iii. p. 65.
[199] Opere, ed. Ven., p. 164.
[200] Annales, ad. ann. 1540.
[201] Visconti, p. 123.
[202] See Harford's Michael Angelo, vol. ii. p. 148, _et
seq._
[203] Note 4.
[204] Harford's Michael Angelo, vol. ii. p. 158.
[205] Coppi. Mem. Col., p. 306.
[206] Especially Adriani, Storia di suoi tempi.
[207] Visconti, p. cxxvii.
[208] Contile, Lettere, p. 19; Venice, 1564.
[209] Note 5.
[210] Visconti, p. cxxxi. Printed also by Tiraboschi, vol.
7.
[211] Note 6.
[212] Lettere del Tolomei. Venezia, 1578.
[213] Visconti, p. cxxxiv.
[214] Condivi. Vita.
[215] See also, in support of the view taken in the text,
"Historia di Forlimpopoli, di Matteo Vecchiazzani."
Forlimpopoli, 1647. Page 140. Also, "Compendio della Storia
della Città d'Imola; da Giuseppe Alberghetti." Imola, 1810.
Page 248-9.
[216] The words in the original are "paludamentum" and
"soccam" on neither of which does Ducange throw any
satisfactory light.
[217] Anne Boleyn, whom Rome always deems to have been the
sole cause of England's heresy.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
-Plain text and punctuation errors fixed.
-The index in this e-book was not present in the original book, it has
been copied from the second volume.