Voices of the Renaissance: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life (Voices of an Era) 9781440876035, 9781440876042, 1440876037

Citation preview

Voices of the Renaissance

Recent Titles in Voices of an Era Voices of Civil War America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr. and Ray B. Browne, editors Voices of Early Christianity: Documents from the Origins of Christianity Kevin W. Kaatz, editor Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life during the Age of the Shoguns Constantine Vaporis, editor Voices of Revolutionary America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Carol Sue Humphrey, editor Voices of Shakespeare’s England: Contemporary Accounts of Elizabethan Daily Life John A. Wagner, editor Voices of World War II: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Priscilla Mary Roberts, editor Voices of Victorian England: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life John A. Wagner, editor Voices of Ancient Egypt: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Rosalie David, editor Voices of the Reformation: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life John A. Wagner, editor Voices of the Iraq War: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Brian L. Steed, editor Voices of Medieval England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life Linda E. Mitchell, editor

Voices of the Renaissance Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life

John A. Wagner, Editor

Voices of an Era

Copyright © 2022 by ABC-CLIO, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but in some instances this has proven impossible. The editors and publishers will be glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of the book and in the meantime extend their apologies for any omissions. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wagner, J. A. (John A.), editor. Title: Voices of the Renaissance : contemporary accounts of daily life / John A. Wagner, editor. Other titles: Contemporary accounts of daily life Description: Santa Barbara, California : Greenwood, [2022] | Series: Voices of an era | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021023283 (print) | LCCN 2021023284 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440876035 (print) | ISBN 9781440876042 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Renaissance—Italy—Sources. | Italy—Civilization—1268-1559—Sources. | Europe—Civilization—Italian influences. | Renaissance—Europe, Northern—Sources. Classification: LCC DG445 .V65 2022 (print) | LCC DG445 (ebook) | DDC 945/.05—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023283 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023284 ISBN:  978-1-4408-7603-5 (print) 978-1-4408-7604-2 (ebook) 26 25 24 23 22  1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available as an eBook. Greenwood An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 147 Castilian Drive Santa Barbara, California 93117 www.abc-clio.com This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America

To William “Bill” Roberts—loving husband, father, and grandfather; outstanding educator; and an excellent judge of good reference books And to Linda and Doug Roberts, excellent traveling companions, but even better friends

This page intentionally left blank

CONTENTS Prefacexi Acknowledgmentsxv Introductionxvii Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents xxiii Chronology of the Renaissance xxv

DOCUMENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE Art and Literature   1. “These Men Vilify the Italian Tongue”: Excerpts From Dante Alighieri’s Il Convivio (ca. 1307) and Divine Comedy (1320)   2. “The Courteous Fashion in Which a Lady Imposed Silence Upon a Gentleman”: Excerpt From the Decameron (ca. 1353) by Giovanni Boccaccio   3. “The Utterances of Men Concerning Me Will Differ Widely”: Excerpts From Petrarch’s “Letter to Posterity” (ca. 1372)   4. “You Sing My Book, But Not as I Have Made It”: Excerpt From Franco Sacchetti’s Novelle (Late 14th Century)   5. “They Both Imagined That They Loved in Vain”: Excerpt From The Tale of Two Lovers (1444) by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini   6. “A House Is a Little City”: A Description of a Gentleman’s Country House From Leon Battista Alberti’s De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building) (1452)   7. “I Can Carry Out Sculpture in Marble, Bronze or Clay”: Leonardo da Vinci’s Letter to Ludovico Sforza (ca. 1482) and Excerpts From Leonardo’s Notebooks   8. “He Fell to Crying ‘Wine! Wine! Wine!’ ”: Excerpts From the Novelle or Tales (1554–1573) of Matteo Bandello

1 3 11 17 23 27 33 39 45

vii

Contents

Economics and Society 51   9. “Thinking Less about Women than about Robbers”: Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s Description of His Mission to Scotland (1435) 53 10. “Once the Wine Has Been Slept Away”: Excerpts From the Facetiae (1470) of Poggio Bracciolini 59 11. “To Sail to the Regions of the East by Those of the West”: Letters on Trade and Western Voyaging From Paolo Toscanelli to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Martins (1474) 65 12. “This Creature of Indeterminate Image”: Excerpts From Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) 71 13. “You Should Be the Link to Bind This City Closer to the Church”: Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Letter of Advice to His Son, Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (ca. 1491) 77 14. “The Sleeves Were Made to Look Like Two Wings”: Two Letters of Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan (1493) 83 15. “She Gave Back Her Spirit to God”: Two Letters Describing the Death in Childbirth of Beatrice, Duchess of Milan (1497) 89 16. “The Principal and True Profession of a Courtier Ought to Be in Feats of Arms”: Excerpts from The Book of the Courtier (1528) by Baldassare Castiglione 95

viii

Politics and War 17. “The Child Drew a Ball for Each and the Councilors Broke Them”: A Description of the Procedures Followed for Election of the Doge of Venice (1268) 18. “I Will Proceed . . . to Destroy the Argument”: Excerpts From De Monarchia (1313) by Dante Alighieri 19. “May He Never Return Here”: Documents Relating to the Life in Italy of the English Condottiere Sir John Hawkwood (1377, 1391) 20. “I Had Already Preached Four Hours Before the Break of Day”: Excerpts From a Sermon of Fra Bernardino of Siena on the Dangers of Political Factions (ca. 1427) 21. “Is Giuliano Safe?”: Three Accounts of the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence (1478, ca. 1525) 22. “The Enemy Is in Full Retreat”: Letter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, to Isabella d’Este, His Sister-in-Law, Describing the Expulsion of the French From Milan (1500) 23. “Men More Quickly Forget the Death of Their Father Than the Loss of Their Patrimony”: Excerpts From The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532) 24. “No Nobleman Could Exercise any Magistracy”: Excerpts From Benedetto Varchi’s Story of Florence (1565)

101

Religion and the Papacy 25. “There Can Be Only One Supreme Ruling Power in a State”: Excerpts From Defensor Pacis (1324) by Marsilius of Padua 26. “The Pope Both Thirsts for the Goods of Others and Drinks Up His Own”: Excerpts From the Donation of Constantine (Eighth Century) and

151

103 109 115 121 127 133 139 145

153

Contents

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

From Lorenzo Valla’s Treatise on the Authenticity of the Donation (ca. 1440) “To Invade, Search Out, Capture, Vanquish, and Subdue all Saracens and Pagans”: Excerpts From Romanus Pontifex (1455), a Bull Issued by Pope Nicholas V “Many Cardinals Met in the Privies”: A Description of the Papal Election of 1458 by the Winner of the Election, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) “I Entreated for Wax Candles”: Excerpts From an Account of the Death and Funeral of Pope Sixtus IV by Johann Burchard, Papal Master of Ceremonies (1484) “His Majestic Stature Gave Him an Advantage”: Descriptions of Two Renaissance Popes—Innocent VIII (ca. 1484) and Alexander VI (ca. 1460, 1492, 1493) “Causing Great Perturbance Amongst the People”: Luca Landucci’s Diary Account of the Fall and Execution of Fra Girolamo Savonarola (1498) “You Are Dressed in the Bloody Armor of a Warrior”: Excerpts From Julius Excluded From Heaven (1514), a Satirical Dialogue on Pope Julius II by Desiderius Erasmus

159 165 171 177 183 189 195

Northern Renaissance 201 33. “It Removes All Obscurity”: Excerpts From a Letter of the Dutch Humanist Rudolphus Agricola to Jacobus Barbirianus, Choirmaster of Antwerp (1484) 203 34. “He May Not Become an Awkward, Lazy, Stupid, Foppish, Wanton Fellow”: Excerpt From Jacob Wimpheling’s Adolescentia (1500), a Treatise on Education 209 35. “They Cheat Both Man and Beast”: Letters of Albrecht Dürer Describing His Visit to Venice (1506) 215 36. “Why Did You Marry Such an Old Woman?”: Excerpts From Letters of Obscure Men (1515–1519) by Ulrich von Hutten and Other Humanists 221 37. “This Office of Ambassador Never Pleased Me”: Thomas More’s Letter to Erasmus Describing an English Embassy to Prince Charles of Spain (1516) 227 38. “Boys Are Naturally Apes; They Imitate Everything”: Excerpts From the De Tradendis Disciplinis (1531), a Treatise on Education by Juan Luis Vives 233 39. “Eleven Hundred Hides of Brown Cows”: Excerpts From François Rabelais’s Novel Gargantua (1534) 239 40. “I Do Not Grapple with Them”: Excerpts From Michel de Montaigne’s “Essay on Education” (1580) 245 Appendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in Text 251 Appendix 2: Glossary of Terms Mentioned in Text 275 Appendix 3: Popes, 1294–1585 281 Appendix 4: Rulers of Italian City-States During the Renaissance Period 283 Appendix 5: European Monarchs, 1300–1600 287 Bibliography291 Index305 ix

This page intentionally left blank

PREFACE Voices of the Renaissance: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life contains excerpts from over 40 different documents relating to the period of European history known as the Renaissance. In the 14th century, the rise of humanism, a philosophy based on the study of the languages, literature, and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome, led to a sense of revitalization and renewal among the city-states of Northern Italy. The political development and economic expansion of those cities provided the ideal conditions for humanist scholarship to flourish. This period of literary, artistic, architectural, and cultural flowering is today known as the Renaissance, a term taken from the French and meaning “rebirth.” The Italian Renaissance reached its height in the 15th and early 16th centuries. In the 1490s, the ideals of the Italian Renaissance spread north of the Alps and gave rise to a series of national cultural rebirths in various states. In many places, this Northern Renaissance extended into the 17th century, when war and religious discord, as they had done in Italy in the 1520s, put an end to the Renaissance era. The documents and the attendant commentary offered in this collection trace the beginning and course of the Renaissance in Italy and its extension into Northern Europe, telling the story of the emergence of a vibrant and varied intellectual and artistic culture in various states, cities, and kingdoms.

PRIMARY DOCUMENTS Primary documents offer a unique method of learning about the peoples of the past, allowing us to listen to those people speak in their own voices. The document excerpts reproduced in this volume provide all manner of readers with engaging and informational insights into the life, ideas, concerns, issues, events, and literature of Renaissance Europe. Offered here are the words of many key Italian Renaissance figures, including Giovanni Boccaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Pope Pius II, Baldassare Castiglione, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Lorenzo Valla, and Niccolò Machiavelli. Also included are key figures of the Northern Renaissance, such as Sir Thomas More, Albrecht Dürer, François Rabelais, Ulrich von Hutten, and Michel de Montaigne. From the documents included in Voices of the Renaissance one can begin to understand the humanist view of the world. Dante Alighieri advocates the use of the Tuscan dialect of Italian as a literary language; Leon Battista Alberti describes the best design for a gentleman’s

xi

Preface

country house; and Paolo Toscanelli recommends sailing west to reach the Far East. In other documents, the Duchess of Milan describes a wedding, Sir Thomas More describes being on a diplomatic embassy, and Johann Burchard describes preparations for a papal funeral. High school students, college undergraduates, public library patrons, and anyone with an interest in Renaissance history will find these and the other documents in this volume highly useful in pursuing classroom or personal study of the period and its people.

ORGANIZATION OF SECTIONS The document excerpts in this volume are divided into 40 numbered sections, with some sections offering two or more related documents. These sections are divided into the following five topical categories of eight sections each: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Art and Literature Economics and Society Politics and War Religion and the Papacy Northern Renaissance

The document selections include a wide variety of document types—letters, journal entries, poems, sermons, treatises, polemics, satires, essays, notebooks, histories, and descriptive narratives of people and events. Some of these documents are well known and often excerpted, such as selections from the writings of Dante Alghieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Petrarch. Others are more obscure but often just as rewarding to modern readers, such as excerpts from the Novelle of Matteo Bandello, the Facetiae of Poggio Bracciolini, and the treatises of Marsilius of Padua, Jacob Wimpheling, and Juan Luis Vives. Each of these documents uses the words of contemporaries to offer readers a window into the heart of the Renaissance, providing an understanding that cannot be had even from the best modern textbooks or monographs. Besides the excerpts themselves, each numbered section offers various tools to help the reader more fully understand the meaning, purpose, and importance of each document. These tools include an “Introduction” providing relevant historical background for the selection; a “Keep in Mind As You Read” section listing context points to help evaluate the document; an “Aftermath” section describing the results and consequences that flowed from the document; an “Ask Yourself ” section listing questions about the document and the life of the time that often relate both to present times; a “Topics and Activities to Consider” section suggesting several themes or ideas to explore in a paper, essay, online project, or class presentation, and often making use of other documents, books, films, and websites; and a “Further Information” section listing important print and electronic information resources as well as any relevant films or television programs. All documents are also accompanied by a brief sidebar that further illuminates some topic, concept, or person related to the document.

OTHER FEATURES Other important features of Voices of the Renaissance include an appendix of brief biographical entries on the most important individuals mentioned in the document sections,

xii

Preface

a glossary of unfamiliar terms encountered in the sections, a listing of popes of the period, a listing of rulers of the major Italian city-states during the period, and a listing of European monarchs of the period. All names and terms included in the biographical appendix or glossary are highlighted as cross-references upon their first mention in any section. Any unfamiliar terms appearing in the documents themselves are also highlighted and brief definitions will appear with the document text so that they may be quickly referred to while reading the selection. An “Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents” section provides users with a series of questions—Who wrote it? When and where was it written? Who was it written for? Why was it written?—to assess the historical context of the document. It also advises users on how to identify and define key words and passages, the main thesis of the document, and the assumptions the author brought to the document from his or her class, religious background, political preferences, or economic circumstances. Users will also be urged to understand how the document was produced and circulated and to compare it to other similar documents of the period. Finally, the volume includes an Introduction putting the Renaissance period into context for readers; a chronology of Renaissance history from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to the beginning of the 17th century; a current bibliography of important works on Renaissance history to provide readers with other useful information resources; and a detailed subject index to allow readers to easily and quickly access information in the document sections.

xiii

This page intentionally left blank

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS At ABC-CLIO, I wish to thank Vince Burns, Kevin Downing, George Butler, Erin Ryan, and Barbara Patterson. All helped in some vital way to bring this project into being or to actual completion. I lost one of my little writing companions, the butterscotch shih-tzu Snuffle, midway through the work, but her spirit is still there along with my other companion, the brown-and-white King Charles spaniel Schultzy. And, as always, I must thank my wife Donna, who has given meaning and purpose to everything I have done for almost 40 years. Especially in this endless, isolated year of plague and politics—one can kill you and the other can often make you want to die—it was beyond a blessing to have such loving affection sheltering in place with me.

xv

This page intentionally left blank

INTRODUCTION “Renaissance,” a term from the French meaning “rebirth,” describes a period of European history running roughly from the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 17th century. In Italy, where the conditions and characteristics that defined the period first arose, the Renaissance can be said to pertain to the period from about the 1290s to the 1520s. In Europe north of the Alps—France, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Poland, etc.—the influence of the Italian Renaissance first took sufficient hold to spawn and maintain something called the Northern Renaissance from about the 1490s to roughly the 1640s. The people living during this period realized that they existed in a time of change, a time that was distinctly different from the centuries that had preceded it. The renewal of interest in the people, languages, and written culture of the ancient world, and the rediscovery of the material culture of the ancient world, gave rise to a sense that a rebirth was indeed underway. In the mid-14th century, the Italian poet Petrarch believed he was witnessing the emergence of a vital, modern world from centuries of darkness and decline. In the mid-16th century, the painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari placed the beginning of this new order in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Although contemporaries could articulate this sense of rebirth, they did not use the term “Renaissance” to describe it. Art historians of the 18th century first employed the term to describe the classicizing artistic styles of the 14th and 15th centuries. The first historian to attach the term Renaissance to a particular time period was the 19th-century French scholar Jules Michelet, who entitled one volume of his multivolume history of France Le Renaissance (1855). Little interested in Italy or regions outside France, Michelet began his Renaissance period with the voyages of Christopher Columbus from 1492 and the start of the Reformation in 1517. It was the 19th-century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, writing in his extremely influential The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), who first defined the Renaissance as a distinct period of European history originating in Italy. Although much of Burckhardt’s work has today been refuted or revised, his magisterial book is still the starting point for any discussion of the period called the Renaissance.

BEGINNINGS In the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries, the foundations of the Renaissance were laid in Northern Italy. Politically, the period witnessed a struggle for power in the peninsula between the pope in Rome and the Holy Roman emperor in Germany. Originally seen xvii

Introduction

as a successor to the Roman emperors and a military protector of the papacy, the Holy Roman emperor enjoyed a preeminence among European rulers, receiving his crown and title, as had Charlemagne, from the pope himself. However, by the late 12th century, the Holy Roman Empire comprised primarily the German-speaking lands of Central Europe and Northern Italy. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the emperors claimed to be and acted as God’s representatives; the popes were their subordinates and emperors both deposed and installed popes as they saw fit. But beginning with Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073–1085) in the late 11th century, a reforming papacy proclaimed a conception of papal power that subordinated all secular rulers, whether princes, kings, or emperors, to papal authority. Supported by the Norman (French) rulers of Sicily and Southern Italy and assisted by the preoccupation of successive emperors with events in Germany, the popes of this period encouraged the cities of Northern Italy, many of which were ruled by bishops, to weaken their ties to the imperial power. Occurring simultaneously with these political developments in Northern Italy was a region-wide revival of maritime trade. Beginning with bulky products such as salt and fish, the traders from north Italian ports carried their wares across the Mediterranean, as the Romans had done. Exchanging their goods for the more refined products of the Levant, they eventually established a flourishing trade that allowed them to export the growing manufacturing output of Italy—e.g., iron tools, weapons, textiles—for the valuable luxury items available in the East, such as silks, spices, gems, and gold. By the 13th century, such cities as Genoa, Pisa, and Venice controlled large and expanding trade networks across the Eastern Mediterranean and northward across the Alps. This economic revival was given a further boost in the 12th and 13th centuries by the Crusades, for which the Italians were ideally placed to act as transporters of both men and supplies from Europe to the Levant. The rapid accumulation of wealth in the cities of Northern Italy led the merchants and traders who generated that wealth to grow restive under episcopal rule. In the late 11th and early 12th centuries, sworn associations of magnates, men who had left their small rural lordships to dwell in the towns and reap the greater rewards of commerce, seized control of many Italian cities from their bishops, thus flaunting the authority of both pope and emperor. These communes, as such civic regimes were called, came to power in Pisa in the 1080s, Milan in 1081, Rome in 1083, Genoa in 1099, Verona in 1107, and Florence in 1138. Italian communes frequently took forms reminiscent of the Roman Republic, with assemblies of all adult male citizens, and a host of elected committees and boards working under the direction of a council of elected magnates. In the 1150s and 1160s, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (r. 1155–1190), desirous of exploiting the tax revenues that could be generated by the wealthy communes, sought to reimpose imperial control over Italy. The major Italian city-states joined together to form the Lombard League, which in 1176 defeated an imperial army, thereby winning effective political autonomy. In the 13th century, the merchants and artisans of the cities, growing in wealth and political ambition, began to form themselves into guilds, associations for practitioners of a particular type of trade or a particular craft, which set up rules and standards for all members to follow. Calling themselves il popolo, “the people,” these guild members, who were tired of the arbitrary and often violent rule of the commune nobles, demanded a greater share of civic government. For decades, these groups struggled, with the urban guildsmen often supporting the papal interest, known as the Guelf party, and the noble faction often supporting the imperial interest, known as the Ghibelline party. Cities would declare themselves Guelf of Ghibelline depending on the strength of each internal faction or in opposition to the allegiance of rival cities. Eventually the popolo gained the upper hand in

xviii

Introduction

many cities. In Florence, for instance, the guildsmen seized power in 1250, were overthrown in 1260, and then returned to power in 1268, establishing the Secondo popolo, essentially the second republic of the people, which lasted until 1494. It was these republican city-states, which were largely in place by the end of the 13th century, that fostered the development of humanism, the philosophy that, in turn, fostered the development of the Renaissance.

HUMANISM The term “humanism” describes an educational program based on the moral and intellectual value of studying the languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Humanism focused not on the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, but on the application of knowledge derived from literary studies to the self-improvement of the student and the general betterment of society. The understanding and advancement of human beings and the human condition was the central theme of humanist study. A humanist educational program first sought to provide its students with the ability to read and write classical Latin and Greek, and then sought to imbue them with classical civic values—the belief that active involvement in public affairs was a worthwhile human activity, and the idea that education should prepare a student to render service to the state. Across the Renaissance period, humanism gradually replaced scholasticism as the dominant educational and literary philosophy employed in European schools and universities. Humanism arose in Italy in the 14th century. The new urban republics required educated men who could read and write elegant Latin to compose official letters, draft treaties, and draw up contracts and other legal documents. These jurists, secretaries, and public officials studied ancient Roman forms and models and created a literary network within their own city that was soon connected to like individuals in other urban centers. Classical culture had been an urban culture, and so was ideally suited to the republican city-states that dotted Northern Italy at the start of the 14th century. In this urban environment, some of the people making these connections began to produce works—poems, tales, letters, treatises—that were grounded in their familiarity of classical texts but not required by their official duties. In these writings were the origins of humanism. This new focus on the language and literature of Rome soon caused a shift in thinking. Medieval philosophers had concerned themselves almost exclusively with God and with humanity’s relationship to God. In this context, the contemplative life of a cloistered monk or a hermit-like mystic or holy man seemed the best mode of life—one that offered ample time for the prayer and meditation that could bring one closer to God and win salvation for oneself and others. However, as the term implies, humanists were more interested in human beings, in their essential nature, and in how they interacted with one another within their social, political, and historical environments. Knowledge of this type was not to be found in contemplation of God and the universe, but in the writings and thoughts of humans themselves. The sources of the classical past were the place to start the study of humanity. In this context, the active life of the citizen, engaged in the affairs of his community and seeking to use his knowledge for the improvement of that community seemed the best mode of life. In Florence, for instance, Dante Alighieri (ca. 1265–1321), a civic official exiled when his political faction lost a struggle for power, turned to the writing of his great epic, The Divine Comedy, in which the author moved through a Christian afterlife guided by the pagan Roman poet Virgil. Seeking to act, seeking to persuade, rather than to contemplate and then logically demonstrate brought humanists into conflict with medieval

xix

Introduction

scholastic philosophy, which most humanists rejected as barren and unproductive. Indeed, it was humanist scholars in the 15th century who first coined the term “Middle Ages” to describe the period of stagnation that they perceived to lie between them and the flowering of the classical world. Humanism soon moved beyond the literary to encompass a new focus on humans, particularly their physical form, in painting, sculpture, and architecture. Surrounded by the remnants and relics of the ancient past, the artists and architects of Italy began to sketch, study, and imitate the art, sculpture, and buildings that had survived the fall of Rome. They began to incorporate the forms and ideas that they saw into their own culture and society, ignoring those in the Church and the intellectual circles it controlled who warned of the dangers of engaging with the culture of pagans. For instance, the artist Giotto di Bondone (ca. 1266–1337) brought a new dynamic to Italian painting. While still depicting Christian subjects, Giotto transformed the flat, static devotional images of previous centuries into free, flowing human figures whose faces and bodies expressed emotion and told a tale. As humanist thought and practice seeped into more corners of Italian society, the sense that there was taking shape a rebirth, a revitalization, a Renaissance, began to grow.

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE In the 14th century, many of the urban republics, whose rise had created the conditions in which humanism rose and flourished, collapsed and were replaced by hereditary autocracies—the rule of one man and his descendants after him. Continuing social strife, economic uncertainty, and ongoing warfare with rival cities destabilized republican regimes, and the citizens of many states submitted, either freely or forcibly, to the rule of a lord. In Milan, for instance, Archbishop Ottone Visconti took power in 1278 and was succeeded by his nephew and his descendants, who were recognized as dukes of Milan in 1395. By 1500, republics still existed only in Venice, Florence, Siena, and Lucca, and by 1600 only the Venetian republic survived. This political shift, however, did not prove a check on developing Renaissance culture, but rather helped spur it on to new heights in the 15th century. Many ruling princes and tyrants, seeking to legitimize the power they had seized, became lavish patrons of the arts and letters. Presiding over glittering humanist courts, well adorned with talented artists, writers, and architects, seemed an effective way for a princely ruler to demonstrate to his citizens that he had a true and natural right to be their lord. Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, who had been a condottiere, a hired mercenary for the last Visconti duke, seized power in 1450. His sons were patrons to the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and the architect Donato Bramante. In Florence, the Medici family, though they held no princely title in the 15th century, conducted a lavish patronage, building palaces and villas decorated by a host of painters and sculptors and supporting writers and scholars who created poetry, treatises, and translations and built and supervised manuscript collections. The late 15th and early 16th centuries witnessed the height of Italian Renaissance culture. This flowering was due not only to the generous patronage of princes, but also to a period of peace and economic prosperity and to the resurgence of a Roman papacy. In 1417, the papacy, which for over 100 years had been either headquartered in France or had seen its authority weakly exercised by various competing popes, was reestablished in Rome, its power and patronage vested in a series of strong, if often corrupt popes, who functioned largely as Italian secular princes. Meanwhile, in 1454, the Treaty of Lodi created an effective

xx

Introduction

balance of power among the leading states of Italy—e.g., Milan, Florence, Naples, Venice— and established a peace that held for 40 years. This peace allowed Venice, Florence, and the other major states to expand their trading empires and manufacturing sectors and bring a new wealth to the merchant classes, who also supported the work of artists and writers. The Mona Lisa, for instance, is thought to have been commissioned by a wealthy Florentine merchant who wanted a portrait of his wife. In 1494, Charles VIII, king of France, invaded Italy intent on pressing his claim to the Crown of Naples. This invasion, though checked by a coalition of Italian states allied with Spain, initiated decades of war. These Italian wars drew in almost all the Italian powers, including the papacy, as well as various foreign powers, including the French, the Spanish, the Germans, and the Swiss. This series of wars, which saw looting and destruction in many Italian cities, undermined the conditions that had created and maintained the culture of the Italian Renaissance. In 1527, an imperial army, composed largely of German mercenaries of Lutheran sympathies, sacked Rome. The pope was immured in the Castel Sant’Angelo, much of the city was demolished, and thousands of Romans died or fled. Increasingly overshadowed by the religious conflicts generated by the burgeoning Reformation, which had begun in 1517, the Italian Renaissance slowly faded into a period of war, tyranny, and preoccupation with religious controversies.

NORTHERN RENAISSANCE The impact of Italian humanism was first felt north of the Alps in the late 15th century. The monarchs and rulers of Northern Europe brought many Italian scholars and artists to their courts. King Francis I invited Leonardo da Vinci to France in 1515. The French king also brought many Italian artists and architects to France to build and decorate his palaces, such as Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley. Many Northern European scholars also travelled and studied in Italy, imbibing the spirit of Italian humanism. The Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus studied Greek in Italy between 1506 and 1509; the English humanists William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre studied in Italy in the 1480s and 1490s; and the German artist Albrecht Dürer executed some of his major works in Venice between 1505 and 1507. Humanism in Northern Europe generally followed the Italian pattern, but, being a series of national expressions, differed in some significant ways from the Italian original. Because Northern Europe lacked the connection to the classical past that Italy enjoyed, northern humanism was less civic and secular in nature and illustrated a deeper religious piety and a greater enthusiasm for ecclesiastical studies. The literary heritage of the north had less connection to pagan classical texts and more to Christian religious writing and to medieval works of romance and chivalry. Indeed, it was not until Italian humanism developed a greater interest in theology and philosophy in the late 15th century that it began to penetrate northern intellectual circles. Scholars like Erasmus, who called for Church reform but did not, in the end, leave the Church of Rome, became the leaders of a northern Christian humanism. As in Italy, the various northern Renaissances in various nation-states fell prey to war and the preoccupation with questions of religion. By 1600, Europe was extremely polarized, with hostility between Catholic and Protestant parts of the continent at a high pitch. Religious persecution within states was rife. As the 16th century progressed, iconoclastic disorders erupted throughout Germany and the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire split into

xxi

Introduction

hostile Protestant and Catholic states, and religious civil wars wracked France. The Thirty Years’ War, which began in 1618, devastated the German-speaking lands and drew most of the major states of Europe into a bitter religious struggle that only ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. By then, the glow of the Renaissance had begun to fade across most of Europe.

Further Information Bauer, Susan Wise. The History of the Renaissance World—From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2013. Hale, J.R. Renaissance Europe, 1480–1520. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000. Jensen, De Lamar. Renaissance Europe: Age of Recovery and Reconciliation. 2nd ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992. King, Margaret L. A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. King, Margaret L., ed. and trans. Renaissance Humanism: An Anthology of Sources. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2014. Plumb, J.H. The Italian Renaissance. New York: Mariner Books, 2001.

xxii

EVALUATING AND INTERPRETING PRIMARY DOCUMENTS In historiography, which is the study of the writing of history and the employment of historical methods, a primary source is a document, recording, artifact, work of art or literature, or other information resource that was created at or near the time being studied, usually by someone with direct, personal knowledge of the particular past events, persons, or topics being described. Primary sources are original sources of information about the past, unlike secondary sources, which are works later historians create from a study, citation, and evaluation of primary sources. A modern study of the Renaissance, such as J.H. Plumb’s The Italian Renaissance or Margaret L. King’s A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe; a modern biography, such as Miles J. Unger’s Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici or Sarah Bradford’s Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Reniassance Italy; a modern monograph, such as Lauro Martines’ Power and Imagination: CityStates in Renaissance Italy; a modern television series such as Showtime’s The Borgias with Jeremy Irons; or a modern film such as The Agony and the Ecstasy starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison, may be helpful in displaying or explaining the European Renaissance to contemporary readers and viewers, but they are all secondary descriptions and depictions based upon firsthand experiences and recollections recorded and preserved in the primary documents of the period. Primary documents—as illustrated by the document selections included in Voices of the Renaissance: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life—come in many forms and types, including letters, journals, polemics, speeches, literary works, and public records and documents. All these types of sources were written by a particular person at a particular time in a particular place for a particular reason. Some were written with no expectation that they would ever be read by anyone other than the original recipient; others were written for publication or at least with an eye to wider distribution. Some were meant to inform, some to persuade, some to entertain, and some to obfuscate. Each exhibits the political, religious, class, ethnic, or personal biases of their creators, whether those attitudes were consciously or unconsciously expressed. Some are the product of poor memories, bad information, or outright deception, but all are authentic voices of someone alive at the time and all can add at least a little to the information we have of an otherwise irrecoverable past age or person. Nonetheless, historians must carefully evaluate and test all primary sources to determine how much weight and credibility each should be given.

xxiii

Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents

HOW TO READ PRIMARY DOCUMENTS When evaluating a primary source, historians ask the following questions: 1. Who wrote or produced it? What is known about this person’s life or career? 2. When was the source written or produced? What date? How close or far was that date from the date of the events described? 3. Where was it produced? What country, what region, what locality? 4. How was the source written or produced? What form did it originally take? Was it based upon any preexisting material? Does the source survive in its original form? 5. Why was the source written or produced? What was its creator trying to do, and for whom? 6. Who was the source written or produced for? Who was its audience, and why? What do we know about the audience? 7. What is the evidential value of its contents? How credible is it? Readers of the document selections contained in this volume, should apply these same questions to the selections they read or study. When analyzing a primary document, scholars also seek to identify the key words and phrases used by the author and try to understand what the author meant by those terms. They will also try to summarize the main thesis of the source to understand what point the author was trying to make. Once the author’s thesis is understood, historians evaluate the evidence the author provided to support that argument and try to identify any assumptions the author made in crafting those arguments. Historians also examine the source within the context of its time period by asking if the document is similar to others from the same period, or how widely was it circulated, or what tone, problems, or ideas it shares with other documents of the period. Scholars will also seek to determine if the author agrees or disagrees with other contemporary authors on the same subject and whether or not the source supports what they already know or have learned about the subject from other sources? Primary sources offer modern readers and researchers the actual words of people who lived through a particular event. Secondary sources, like textbooks, offer an interpretation of a historical person or event by someone who did not know the person or witness the period. Reading primary sources allows us to evaluate the interpretations of historians for ourselves and to draw our own conclusions about a past personage or event. Asking the questions listed above will help users of this volume better understand and interpret the documents provided here. Because of unfamiliar and archaic language or terminology, or very different modes of expression or styles of writing, some primary sources can be difficult to read and hard to understand. However, an important part of the process of reading and using historical sources is determining what the documents can tell about the past and deciding whether one agrees with the interpretation offered, both by the author of the original source and by later creators of secondary works based on the original document. By using primary sources, modern readers become aware that all history is based on sources that are themselves interpretations of events rooted in the interpreter’s own opinions and biases. This awareness allows modern students to recognize the subjective nature of history. Thus, reading primary sources provides modern readers with the tools and evidence needed to make informed statements about the world of the past and of the present.

xxiv

CHRONOLOGY OF THE R ENAISSANCE 476

Romulus Augustus, the Roman emperor in the West is deposed; Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain, becomes ruler of Italy

535

Justinian, the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor, reconquers Italy

568

The Lombards conquer much of Italy; refugees from the Lombard invasion found the city of Venice

756

Pippin, king of the Franks, defeats the Lombards and gives the city of Ravenna to the pope, who thus becomes a territorial ruler

774

With the Frankish conquest of the Lombards, Florence becomes part of the kingdom of Charlemagne; the city’s origins go back to 59 BCE, when Julius Caesar established the settlement of Fluentia on the site for his veterans

800

Pope Leo II crowns the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans

1075

Pope Gregory VII issues the bull Dictatus papae, which claims wide powers for the papacy, including the right to invest bishops

ca. 1080

Conflict between the pope and the German emperor encourages the spread of the “commune movement,” which leads to the formation of independent Italian city-states ruled by local magnates

1081

Milan becomes a commune

1083

Rome becomes a commune

1099

Genoa becomes a commune

1122

The Concordat of Worms, an agreement that ends the Investiture Controversy, is concluded by the pope and the German emperor

1125

Siena becomes a commune

1138

Florence becomes a commune

xxv

Chronology of the Renaissance

xxvi

1176

The Lombard League, an alliance of Italian city-states, defeats the emperor’s forces at Legnano

1226

The second Lombard League is formed to oppose Frederick II, the Holy Roman emperor

1250

The guilds of Florence take control of the city, establishing a popular Guelf (pro-papal) government (the Primo Popolo)

1252

Florence introduces use of the florin, a gold coin

1260

The Ghibelline (pro-imperial) party in the city overthrows Florence’s popular Guelf (pro-papal) government

1260

The Scaligeri (dells Scala) family takes power in Verona

1262

Ottone Visconti becomes archbishop of Milan, thereby initiating his family’s dominance of that city

1264

Obizzo d’Este assumes power in Ferrara, thus beginning 300 years of rule by his family in that city

1265

Dante Alighieri, the poet, is born in Florence

1266

While in exile in France, the Florentine writer Brunetto Latini (1220–1294) produces Li livres dou trésor (La Collection), the first encyclopedia written in a modern European language (French)

ca. 1267

Giotto di Bondone, the painter and architect, is born in Florence

1268

Popular Guelf (pro-papal) rule (the Secondo Popolo) is reestablished in Florence

1277

Archbishop Ottone Visconti becomes ruler of Milan

1277

Mastino della Scala becomes governor of Verona

1284

Venice first mints the gold ducat, which becomes a widely used trade coin in the later Middle Ages

1285

Genoa defeats the Pisan fleet, thus beginning Pisa’s economic and political decline

1293

Florence issues the Ordinances of Justice, which bring the city’s nobility more fully under the control of the popular government

1289

Victory over Arezzo at the Battle of Campaldino makes Florence the dominant power in Tuscany

1296

The construction of the Cathedral of Florence begins

1297

Membership of the Grand Council of Venice is declared to be hereditary

1300

Dante finishes his La Vita nuova (The New Life), which tells the story of his love for Beatrice

1301

Due to a change in government in Florence, Dante goes into exile and never returns to the city

Chronology of the Renaissance

1302

Pope Boniface VIII (Benedetto Caetani) (r. 1294–1303) issues the bull Unam Sanctam, which declares that both temporal and spiritual authority belong to the pope; the bull leads to a violent dispute with Philip IV of France (r. 1285–1314), who rejects any papal restriction of his power

1303

Abducted and beaten by agents of Philip IV of France (r. 1285–1314), Pope Boniface VIII escapes from his captors but dies shortly thereafter of his injuries

1304

Francesco Petrarca (known as Petrarch), the poet and scholar, is born in Arezzo

1306

Florence seizes control of the formerly independent city of Pistoia

1306

Giotto begins work on the frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua

1309

Pope Clement V (Raymond Bertrand de Got) (r. 1305–1314) moves from Rome to Avignon, a possession of the ruler of Naples on the southeastern border of France; the move increases French influence on the papacy

1310

Seeking to protect the state from internal conspiracies, the Council of Ten is established in Venice

ca. 1311

Duccio di Buoninsegna (ca. 1265–ca. 1319), a painter who worked in Siena, was among the first artists to explore perspective and to give his figures emotional depth

1312–1313 In response to Pope Boniface VIII’s bull Unam Sanctam, Dante writes De Monarchia, a political treatise that argues for the independence of the temporal realm under the emperor from the authority of the pope; the treatise is banned by the Church in 1585 1313

Giovanni Boccaccio, the writer, poet, and humanist, is born in the town of Certaldo in the Republic of Florence

1316

After an interregnum of two years, Jacques Duèze, a Frenchman, is elected pope as John XXII (r. 1316–1334), the second pontiff to reside at Avignon

1318

Jacopo de Carrara (1264–1324) becomes the ruler of Padua under the title “perpetual captain”

1320

Dante completes his long narrative poem the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), which is considered the preeminent work in Italian literature

1321

Returning from a diplomatic mission to Venice, Dante dies in Ravenna at the age of 56

1324

Influenced by Dante’s De Monarchia, Marsilius of Padua (1275–1342) writes Defensor pacis, a treatise on government that argues for the subordination of the Church to secular princes

1328

Lodovico Gonzaga begins his family’s 300-year rule of the city of Mantua

1334

Jacques Fournier, another Frenchman, is elected pope as Benedict XII (r. 1334–1342); he tries, without success, to end the Hundred Years War between France and England, and he begins construction of the papal palace in Avignon

xxvii

Chronology of the Renaissance

1334

Giotto is named master of works for the city of Florence

1337

Giotto dies in Florence

early 1340s Petrarch writes a letter to a friend in which he describes the city of Avignon under the popes as “the Babylon of the West”; it is likely from this description that the term “Babylonian captivity” came to be used to characterize the period of the Avignon popes

xxviii

1341

Petrarch is crowned poet laureate in Rome by two Roman noblemen; a poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government to compose poetry for special events and occasions

1342

Having made extensive loans for the support of his military campaigns against France during the Hundred Years War, the Florentine banking houses of the Bardi and Peruzzi go bankrupt when King Edward III (r. 1327–1377) of England repudiates his debts

1342

Pierre Roger, a French cardinal, is elected pope as Clement VI (r. 1342– 1352); the fourth Avignon pontiff, Clement’s efforts to end the Hundred Years War are unsuccessful because the English consider him to be biased in favor of the French

1342

Walter of Brienne seizes control of Florence, but is expelled from the city a year later

1345

Construction of the Ponte Vecchio, a stone bridge over the Arno River, begins in Florence

1348

The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, devastates Italy, killing thousands throughout the peninsula, including possibly as many as 60,000 in Florence alone

1352

Étienne Aubert, another French cardinal, is elected pope as Innocent VI (r. 1352–1362), becoming the fifth Avignon pope

1353

Boccaccio completes the Decameron, a collection of novellas that are depicted as being told by a group of young men and women sheltering together in a villa outside Florence to escape the Black Death; it is considered one of the most important prose works of early Italian literature

1355

The Council of Ten executes Doge Marino Falier for attempting to establish his personal rule in Venice

1362

Guillaume de Grimoard, another Frenchman, is elected pope as Urban V (r. 1362–1370), becoming the sixth Avignon pope

1363

Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), an influential Christian mystic and writer, becomes a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic, a lay order associated with the Dominican Order of friars

ca. 1370

Leonardo Bruni, a historian and statesman who is considered the most important humanist scholar of the early Renaissance, is born in Arezzo

1370

Pierre Roger de Beaufort, a French cardinal, is elected pope as Gregory XI (r. 1370–1378), becoming the seventh and last Avignon pontiff as well as the last French pope

Chronology of the Renaissance

1374

Petrarch dies in Arquà on his 70th birthday

1375

Boccaccio dies in Certaldo

1377

Influenced in part by Catherine of Siena, Pope Gregory XI returns to Rome from Avignon, ending the so-called Babylonian captivity of the papacy

1377

Sir John Hawkwood (ca. 1323–1394), an English mercenary, is named captain-general of Florence

1378

Bartolomeo Prignano, an Italian monk from the kingdom of Naples, is elected pope as Urban VI (r. 1378–1389); although his election was legitimately conducted, the cardinals were under pressure from a mob in Rome that demanded election of a Roman pontiff who would not return the papacy to Avignon

1378

Catherine of Siena publishes her treatise on religious life, entitled Dialogues of the Soul

1378

Backed by Charles V of France (r. 1364–1380), a rump conclave of French cardinals deposes Pope Urban VI and elects Robert of Geneva, archbishop of Cambrai, as pope under the name Clement VII (r. 1378–1394); the first antipope of the Great Schism—the period of two or more papal claimants— Clement returns to Avignon

1380

Catherine of Siena dies in Rome of a massive stroke at the age of 33

1380

Victory over Genoa at the naval Battle of Chioggia gives Venice trade dominance in the Mediterranean

1384

Florence seizes control of the city of Arezzo

1387

Milan conquers Verona

1391

The University of Ferrara is founded under the patronage of the city’s Este rulers

1395

Gian Galeazzo Visconti, ruler of Milan since 1385, becomes Duke of Milan after paying the Holy Roman emperor for the right to use the title

1397

Manuel Chrysoloras, a Byzantine scholar, teaches Greek to Italian humanists in Florence

1401

Leonardo Bruni writes Laudatio florentinae urbis (In Praise of the City of Florence), a eulogy to Florence

1401

Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378–1455), a sculptor and goldsmith, wins a contest to design the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistry

1402

The death of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti ends a Milanese siege of Florence

1404

Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder (1370–ca. 1445), a Venetian humanist and canon layer, writes De ingenuis moribus et liberalibus studiis (On Liberal Studies and Moral Education of Free-Born Youth), an important treatise on humanist education

1405

Venice seizes control of Padua and Verona, thus extending its power into the north Italian mainland xxix

Chronology of the Renaissance

xxx

1405

Christine de Pizan (1364–ca. 1430), a Venetian poet and author who writes at the court of Charles VI (r. 1380–1422) of France, completes her two most important prose works: The Book of the City of Ladies (on the character and intelligence of women) and The Treasure of the City of Ladies (on the social roles of women)

1406

Florence takes control of the important port city of Pisa

1409

The Great Schism becomes worse with the election of Peter Phillarges as Pope Alexander V (r. 1409–1410) at the Council of Pisa; when neither the Roman nor Avignon incumbents would resign, the Church was left with a third papal claimant in Pisa

1414

A Council of the Church assembles in the German town of Constance to address the Great Schism

1415

The Bohemian reformer Jan Hus is condemned as a heretic by the Council of Constance and burned at the stake

1415

Leonardo Bruni begins writing his History of the Florentine Republic

1416

Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), a humanist scholar known for recovering many classical manuscripts, rediscovers a copy of De architectura (On Architecture) at St. Gall Abbey in Switzerland

1416

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (ca. 1386–1466), known as Donatello, a Florentine sculptor, completes his statue of St. George for the guild Church of Orsanmichele in Florence

1417

Otto Colonna, a member of one of the most prominent families in Rome, is elected pope as Martin V (r. 1417–1431) by the Council of Constance, thus effectively ending the Great Schism

1417

Bracciolini makes his most famous discovery—a copy of Lucretius’s De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things)—in a German monastery

1421

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), considered the most important Renaissance architect, begins work on the naves of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, where the tombs of the Medici family were located

1421

Florence purchases the port of Livorno from Genoa

1423

Vittorino da Feltre (1378–1446), a humanist educator from Venice, establishes a humanist school at Mantua, where the children of the ruling Gonzaga family are educated

1424

In his short treatise De studiis et litteris, Bruni provides guidelines for the humanist education of women

1427

Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone (1401–1428), a Florentine painter known as Masaccio, completes the frescos for the Brancacci Chapel in Florence

1427

Bruni becomes the chancellor of the Florentine Republic

1428

Brescia and Bergamo fall under the control of Venice

Chronology of the Renaissance

1429

Guarino Veronese (1374–1460), a humanist scholar from Verona, establishes a humanist school in Ferrara

1429

Brunelleschi begins work on the Pazzi Chapel in Florence

ca. 1430

Donatello sculpts his David, the first nude statue done in Christian Europe

1431

Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457), a humanist scholar and literary critic from Rome, writes De voluptate (On Pleasure), a treatise that argues pleasure is an integral part of life

1431

Gabriele Condulmer becomes Pope Eugenius IV (r. 1443–1447), a member of a noble Venetian family, Eugenius was a humanist scholar and a patron of humanists

1432

Paolo Uccello (1397–1475), a Florentine painter and mathematician, completes his striking study of perspective, a painting entitled the Battle of San Romano

1433

Marsilio Ficino, a prominent humanist scholar and translator, is born in the Florentine commune of Figline Valdarno

1433

Francesca of Rome (1384–1440), an Italian female mystic, founds a Roman community of women who dedicate themselves to God while continuing to work in the world providing charity to others; Francesca is canonized in 1608

1433

Lorenzo Giustiniani (1381–1456), a member of a prominent Venetian family, becomes bishop of Venice

1434

Cosimo de’ Medici (1389–1464) commences his rule of Florence, which lasts until his death in 1464; under Cosimo and his family, Florence becomes the leading center of Italian Renaissance art

1435

Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) of Genoa completes his treatise Della pittura (On Painting), which instructs artists on the use of perspective

1436

Brunelleschi completes his design of the dome of Florence Cathedral, construction of which is completed in the 1460s after his death

1438

Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444), a popular Italian preacher who rails against such things as gambling, witchcraft, sodomy, and usury, becomes head of the Franciscan Order in Italy

1439

At the Council of Florence, representatives of the Latin (Catholic) and Greek (Orthodox) churches reach agreement on the doctrinal differences dividing them, ending the centuries-old schism; upon returning to Constantinople, most of the Greek representatives denounce the agreement, allowing the schism to continue

1440

In his Treatise on the Donation of Constantine, Valla proves the Donation of Constantine, a supposedly fourth-century decree whereby the Emperor Constantine transferred control of the Western Roman Empire to the pope, to be a forgery

1442

King Alfonso V (r. 1416–1458) of the Spanish kingdom of Aragon seizes control of the kingdom of Naples, thus bringing Southern Italy and Sicily under the Aragonese Crown

xxxi

Chronology of the Renaissance

xxxii

1444

Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482) becomes Duke of Urbino; until his death in 1482, the duke is a leading patron of art

1444

Bruni dies in Florence

1445

Donatello begins work on his equestrian statue of Erasmo da Narni (1370– 1443), known as “Gattamelata,” who was a famous condottiere in the service of Venice; the statute stands in the Piazza del Santo in Padua

1447

Tommaso Parentucelli becomes Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447–1455); a humanist scholar, Nicholas is the driving force behind the eventual founding of the Vatican Library

1450

Only six years after his death, Bernardino of Siena is canonized

1450

Alberti finishes his treatise De re aedificatoria (On Architecture)

1451

Bishop Giustiniani of Venice becomes the city’s first patriarch

1451

Isotta Nogarola (1418–1466), a female humanist scholar from Verona, writes her Dialogue, which rejects Eve’s guilt for the fall of humanity

1452

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, known as Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian polymath and artist, is born at Vinci, a commune of Florence

1452

Ghiberti completes the East Door of the Florence Baptistry

1453

Many Byzantine scholars flee to Italy after Constantinople falls to the Turks; in Venice, Patriarch Giustiniani takes a leading part in calming the fear that grips the city after the fall of Constantinople

1453

The Hundred Years War ends with the Battle of Castillon; except for the town of Calais, the English are expelled from France

1453

Giannozzo Manetti (1396–1459), a Florentine scholar and diplomat, writes a humanist treatise entitled De dignitate et excellentia hominis (On the Dignity and Excellence of Man)

1454

The Peace of Lodi, an agreement signed by Milan, Florence, and Naples, ends the wars between the north Italian city-states and initiates a period of peace that lasts for 40 years

ca. 1455

Piero della Francesca (ca. 1415–1492), a Florentine painter and mathematician, completes his painting entitled The Flagellation of Christ

ca. 1455

Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1468), a German printer and publisher and the first European to use movable type, publishes his Bible, the first printed book in Europe

1455

Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples, and the papacy, the major Italian powers, form the Italian League

1455

Alfonso de Borgia is elected pope as Calixtus III (r. 1455–1458); a native of Aragon, Calixtus is an uncle of the future Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503) and the initiator of the retrial and vindication of Joan of Arc

1458

nea Silvio Piccolomini becomes Pope Pius II (r. 1458–1464); born in CorE signano within the territory of Siena, Pius is a humanist scholar of some repute

Chronology of the Renaissance

1459

Pope Pius II (r. 1458–1464) convenes a conference at Mantua to launch a crusade to retake Constantinople from the Turks; the crusade is launched in 1464, but the pope’s death causes its abandonment

1461

Catherine of Siena is canonized; in 1970, Pope Paul VI declares her a doctor of the Church and, in 1999, Pope John Paul II proclaims her the patron saint of Europe

1462

Working under the patronage of Florentine leader Cosimo de’ Medici, Marsilio Ficino begins the translation of the entire corpus of Plato’s works from Greek to Latin

1464

Pietro Barbo is elected pope as Paul II (r. 1464–1471); the pope amasses a great collection of art and antiquities

1464

Piero de’ Medici (1416–1469) succeesds his father Cosimo as ruler of Florence

1464

Antonio Filarete (ca. 1400–ca. 1469), a Florentine architect and sculptor, finishes his Treatise on Architecture, which contains a plan for a symmetrically designed city

ca. 1465

Piero della Francesca completes his twin portraits of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his wife

1469

Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–1492) (known later as Lorenzo the Magnificent) succeeds his father Peiro as ruler of Florence

1469

The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon (1479–1516) and Isabella I of Castile (1474–1504) creates a united Spanish monarchy and makes Spain a major European power

1471

Francesco della Rovere is elected pope as Sixtus IV (r. 1471–1484); the pope becomes a great patron of artists

1472

Roman Catholic Cardinal John Bessarion (1403–1472), a famous Greek scholar, bequeaths his library of books to the city of Venice

1473

At the direction of Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471–1484), work begins on the rebuilding of the Cappella Magna (Great Chapel) in Rome; in honor of Sixtus, the structure, which is completed in 1481, becomes known as the Sistine Chapel

1474

Ficino completes his treatise Theologia Platonica de immortalitate animae (Platonic Theology on the Immortality of Soul); the work attempts to reconcile Plato with Christian beliefs

1474

Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), a mystic from Ferrara, joins the Dominican Order after experiencing a vision

1474

Working in Bruges, William Caxton (ca. 1422–ca. 1491), an English merchant and printer, produces the first printed book in English

1474

Isabella d’Este (1474–1539), marchioness of Mantua, is born; Isabella becomes one of the leading female patrons of Italian Renaissance art, supporting such artists as Giovanni Bellini, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da xxxiii

Chronology of the Renaissance

Vinci; she is also a possible candidate for the model used by da Vinci to paint the Mona Lisa

xxxiv

1475

Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471–1484), building on the unfulfilled plans of his predecessor Nicholas V (r. 1447–1455), founds the Vatican Library

1475

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti, known as Michelangelo, a Florentine sculptor, painter, and architect, is born near Arezzo in the Republic of Florence

1478

The Pazzi Conspiracy, a plot by the Pazzi family and others to overthrow Medici rule in Florence, fails, although Giuliano de’ Medici (1453–1478), younger brother of Lorenzo de’ Medici, is assassinated

1478

Spain establishes an Inquisition to root out heresy

1481

Ludovico Sforza (1452–1508) (known as il Moro) usurps the dukedom of Milan from his nephew

1482

Leonardo da Vinci takes up residence at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan

1482

Savonarola is assigned to be lector (teacher) at the Convent of San Marco in Florence

1483

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, a preeminent Renaissance painter and architect, is born in Urbino

1484

Giovanni Battista Cibo is elected pope as Innocent VIII (r. 1484–1492); a member of a Genoese family, Innocent was the compromise choice of a divided conclave

ca. 1485

Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510), a Florentine painter patronized by Lorenzo de’ Medici, completes his allegorical work entitled The Birth of Venus

1486

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494), a 23-year-old philosopher and nobleman, writes Oratio de dignitate hominis (Oration on the Dignity of Man), wherein he seeks to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, and, magic; Pope Innocent VIII (r. 1484–1492) declares these theses to be heretical, making the Oratio the first printed book banned by the Church

1486

The first printed edition of Vitruvius’s De architectura (On Architecture) is published

1487

Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430–1516), one the foremost painters of Renaissance Venice, completes his oil painting, San Giobbe Altarpiece

1489

Thanks to the popularity of his preaching at the Church of San Marco, Savonarola is hailed as a prophet in Florence

1492

Rodrigo Borgia, a nephew of former Pope Calixtus III (r. 1455–1458), is elected pope as Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503); known for corruption and nepotism, Alexander is often considered the nadir of the Renaissance papacy

1492

Piero II de’ Medici (1472–1503) succeeds his father Lorenzo the Magnificent as ruler of Florence

1492

Sailing for Spain, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) crosses the Atlantic in an attempt to find a new route to China, but lands instead in the Americas

Chronology of the Renaissance

1493

Savonarola becomes vicar-general of the Tuscan Dominicans

1494

Charles VIII of France (r. 1483–1498) invades Italy initiating decades of intermittent warfare in the peninsula

1494

Believing the French invasion of Italy to be the fulfillment of a prophecy by Savonarola, the Florentines expel the Medici and establish a republic dominated by the preacher’s followers

1494

Aldus Manutius (ca. 1449–1515), an Italian humanist scholar, establishes the Aldine Press in Venice; the press begins printing portable versions of Greek and Latin texts

1494

Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503) divides the New World between Spain and Portugal

1495

Accused of heresy, Savonarola refuses to travel to Rome to answer the charges

1495

After occupying Naples, Charles VIII of France (r. 1483–1498) withdraws from Italy following a French defeat by Italian forces at Fornovo

1497

Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503) excommunicates Savonarola

1498

Leonardo da Vinci completes his painting of The Last Supper

1498

Savonarola loses support and is arrested and tortured; after confessing that his prophecies were fraudulent, he is hanged and his body burned

1498

Albrech Dürer (1471–1528), a German printer and painter, produces his series of woodcuts entitled The Apocalypse

1499

Ficino dies in Florence

1499

King Louis XII of France (r. 1498–1515) seizes control of Milan and imprisons the duke, Lodovico Sforza (il Moro), in France

1499

Cesare Borgia (1475–1507), the son of Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503) launches a series of military campaigns to consolidate his father’s control of the Papal States

1500

The Aldine Press publishes the letters of Catherine of Siena

1500

Jacob Wimpfeling (1450–1528), a German humanist and theologian, publishes Adolescentia, which sets forth a scheme for the training of young people

1501

Michelangelo completes his monumental nude sculpture David

1501

The kingdom of Naples is partitioned between Aragon and France

1503

Francesco Todeschini is elected pope as Pius III (r. 1503); a nephew of former pope Pius II (r. 1458–1464), Pius III was pope for less than a month, one of the shortest pontificates on record

1503

The Aragonese defeat the French at the Battle of Garigliano; the battle leads to French acceptance of Aragonese rule in Naples in 1504

1503

Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa

1503

Guiliano della Rovere, a nephew of former Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471–1484), is elected pope as Julius II (r. 1503–1513); a fierce opponent of the Borgia xxxv

Chronology of the Renaissance

pope, Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503), Julius was a warrior pontiff who focused on militarily consolidating and strengthening the Papal States 1504

Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536), a Dutch humanist scholar, publishes his Handbook of the Christian Soldier

1505

Michelangelo moves to Rome to begin work on a tomb for Pope Julius II (r. 1503–1513)

1506

Pope Julius (r. 1503–1513) commissions Donato Bramante (1444–1514), an architect born in Urbino, to design and build a new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome

1507

To finance the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Julius II (r. 1503–1513) authorizes the selling of indulgences

ca. 1508

Leonardo da Vinci paints his Virgin on the Rocks

1508

Pope Julius II (r. 1503–1513) forms the League of Cambrai—including France, Aragon, and the Holy Roman emperor—to oppose Venice

1508–1512 Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II

xxxvi

1509

The French crush the Venetians at the Battle of Agnadello

1509

Raphael is commissioned by Pope Julius II to adorn apartments in the Vatican with frescos

1510

Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (ca. 1477–1510), known as Giorgione, a Venetian painter, completes The Tempest, which is later called the first landscape painting in Western art

1511

Pope Julius II (r. 1503–1513) organizes the Holy League, which includes Venice and Aragon, to drive the French from Italy; although the French defeat the Holy League at Ravenna in 1512, King Louis XII of France (r. 1498–1512) withdraws from Italy

1511

Erasmus publishes his popular satire, The Praise of Folly

1511

Ulrich von Hutten (1488–1523), a German poet and scholar, publishes his Ars versificandi (The Art of Prosody), a linguistic treatise

1512

The Congress of Mantua restores Medici rule in Florence and Sforza rule in Milan

1513

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), a Florentine diplomat under the republic, is arrested and tortured by the restored Medici regime; after going into exile, Machiavelli writes The Prince (Il Principe), a highly influential political treatise

1513

Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici, a son of the Florentine ruler Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–1492), is elected pope as Leo X (1513–1521); a great patron of the arts, Leo presides over the Church during the opening years of the Protestant Reformation

1515

King Francis I of France (r. 1515–1547) regains control of Milan by defeating the Venetians and the Swiss at Marignano

Chronology of the Renaissance

1516

Erasmus publishes his Greek New Testament, which proves invaluable to religious reformers

1516

Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), the English humanist scholar, publishes Utopia

1516

Leonardo da Vinci moves to France at the invitation of King Francis I (r. 1515–1547)

1516

Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), an Italian poet born in Reggio Emilia, writes Orlando furioso, an epic poem that inspired many later writers

1517

Opposing the papal sale of indulgences, Martin Luther (1483–1546), a German monk, sends his 95 theses to his bishop, thereby initiating the Protestant Reformation

1518

Tiziano Vecelli (ca. 1488–1576), known as Titian, one of the most important painters of Renaissance Venice, completes his Assumption of the Virgin for the Basilica of the Frari in Venice

1518

Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529), an Italian courtier and diplomat, completes Il Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier), a highly influential book of courtly etiquette and manners; the book is first translated into English in 1561

1519

Leonardo da Vinci dies in France

1520

Raphael dies in Rome at the age of 37

1520

Machiavelli is appointed official historian of Florence by the city’s Medici ruler

1521

Luther defends his published positions before Emperor Charles V (r. 1519– 1556) at Worms, but is excommunicated and outlawed

1521

Michelangelo begins work on the Medici family tombs in Florence

1521

Machiavelli writes The Art of War, a military that treatise argues citizen armies are superior to mercenary forces

1522

Adriaan Florensz Boeyens, a tutor of Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–1556), is elected pope as Adrian VI (r. 1522–1523); a Dutch cleric, Adrian is the only Dutch pope and the last non-Italian pope until the election of John Paul II in 1978

1523

Juan Luis Vives (1492–1540), a Spanish humanist, publishes The Education of Christian Women

1523

Giulo di Giuliano de’ Medici, a cousin of Pope Leo X (1513–1521), is elected pope as Clement VII (r. 1523–1534); the second pope from the ruling Medici family of Florence, his papacy witnesses the final break with Protestantism and sees the Church embroiled in a series of military and political struggles

1525

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–1556) defeats and captures Francis I of France (r. 1515–1547) at Pavia, thus ending for the time being the Franco-Imperial wars in Northern Italy

xxxvii

Chronology of the Renaissance

1525

Pietro Bembo (1470–1547), a Venetian poet, scholar, and cardinal, writes Prose della volgar lingua, a treatise that helps establish the Tuscan dialect as the basis for modern Italian

1526

Pope Clement VII (r. 1523–1534) creates the anti-Imperial League of Cognac, which includes Venice, Florence, Milan, and France

1527

Florence again expels the Medici and reestablishes a republic; an Imperial army sacks Rome and forces the pope to take shelter in the Castel Sant’Angelo

1528

Under the leadership of Andrea Doria (1466–1560), Genoese mercenary captain and admiral, Genoa becomes a republic allied with Spain

1529

Charles V (r. 1519–1556) and Francis I (r. 1515–1547) make peace with the Treaty of Cambrai

1529

Erasmus publishes On the Education of Children

1529

Lutheran princes in Germany create the Schmalkaldic League to defend themselves against the Catholic emperor

1530

When Imperial forces besiege Florence, the Florentine Republic falls and the Medici are restored

1532–1534 François Rabelais (ca. 1483–1553), a French writer, physician, and humanist scholar, writes his novels Pantagruel and Gargantua

xxxviii

1534

Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) declares himself supreme head of the English Church

1534

Alessandro Farnese, born in Canino in the Papal States, is elected pope as Paul III (r. 1534–1549); Paul launches the Catholic Reformation (CounterReformation), thus ending the period of the Renaissance popes and initiating the Catholic campaign to regain areas of Europe lost to Protestantism

1535

Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) executes Sir Thomas More, the English humanist, for opposing the king’s break with the papacy

1535

Angela Merici (1474–1540), an Italian religious educator, founds the Ursuline Order for women

1535

On the death of the last Sforza ruler, Milan passes to Spanish control

1536

Hans Holbein (1497–1543), a German artist, becomes court painter to Henry VIII of England (r. 1509–1547)

1537

Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519–1574) is recognized as Duke of Florence

1542

The pope creates the Roman Inquisition to combat heresy

1540

Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), Paduan-born creator of the classically influenced Palladian style of architecture, designs his first villa, the Villa GodiPorto at Lonedo

1543

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), a Polish astronomer, proposes a theory that the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the universe

1543

Andreas Vesalis (1514–1564), a Flemish physician, publishes De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), a founding treatise for the study of anatomy

Chronology of the Renaissance

1545–1563 The Council of Trent debates and enacts a series of reforms to allow the Roman Catholic Church to fight the spread of Protestantism 1550

Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), a Florentine writer, painter, and historian, publishes Lives of the Artists, a series of biographies of Italian Renaissance artists; Vasari was the first writer to use the term “Renaissance”

1555

The Peace of Augsburg allows German princes to choose either Catholicism or Lutheranism for their territories

1558

Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603) succeeds her Catholic sister, Mary I (r. 1553– 1558), as queen of England; Elizabeth restores England to Protestant worship

1559

The Franco-Imperial Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis recognizes Italy as being within the Imperial/Spanish sphere of influence

1564

Michelangelo dies in Rome

1570

Roger Ascham (1515–1568), an English humanist, publishes his influential treatise on education, The Scholemaster

1580

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), a leading figure of the French Renaissance, publishes his first two volumes of essays

1590

Edmund Spenser (ca. 1552–1599), a leading English poet, publishes his masterpiece, the epic allegory The Faerie Queene

1592–1605 William Shakespeare (1564–1616), an English dramatist and a leading force of the English literary Renaissance, produces his greatest works, such as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, for the London stage 1598

Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), a Danish astronomer, publishes the results of his observations of the stars

xxxix

This page intentionally left blank

ART AND LITERATURE

This page intentionally left blank

1. “THESE MEN VILIFY THE ITALIAN TONGUE” Excerpts From Dante Alighieri’s Il Convivio (ca. 1307) and Divine Comedy (1320) INTRODUCTION Dante Alighieri, usually referred to simply as Dante, is today considered the national poet of Italy and one of the great figures of world literature (see also Section 18). Dante was born into a Florentine family that seems to have enjoyed some wealth and status within the city. Writing in the last years of the 13th century and the first decades of the 14th, Dante, who was an innovative poet and an actively engaged politician, became for later generations both the culmination of late medieval philosophy and a harbinger of Renaissance literary accomplishment. By writing in Italian, rather than Latin, the traditional medium for serious literature, Dante established Italian as a literary language, a precedent that influenced later Italian Renaissance writers, such as Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (see Sections 2 and 3). Indeed, the Tuscan form of the language that Dante employed in his most famous works promoted the development of modern, standardized Italian on the basis of that dialect. In two of his works, De vulgari eloquentia (On Elegance in the Vernacular) (ca. 1302–1305) and Il convivio (The Banquet) (ca. 1304–1307), Dante explicitly argued for the use of Italian as a literary language. Reproduced here are excerpts from Il convivio and from the opening of Dante’s masterpiece, the Divine Comedy (Divina commedia) (ca. 1308–1320).

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Interest in Dante’s physical appearance has always been strong. The earliest portrait of the poet, attributed to Giotto, was painted about 1300, during Dante’s lifetime. Sandro Botticelli created another well-known portrait in 1495. According to Boccaccio, Dante “was of middle height, and in his later years he walked somewhat bent over, with a grave and gentle gait. He was clad always in most seemly attire, such as befitted his ripe years. His face was long, his nose aquiline, and his eyes big rather than small. His jaws were large, and his lower lip protruded. He had a brown complexion, his hair and beard were thick, black, and curly, and his countenance was always melancholy and thoughtful” (Holbrook, 16). In 2007, Italian scientists and engineers reconstructed the face of Dante from measurements and a secretly

3

Voices of the Renaissance

devised plaster model of the poet’s skull made by Professor Fabio Frassetto in 1921. According to this reconstruction, the aquiline nose described by Boccaccio was actually “pudgy rather than pointy and crooked rather than straight, almost as if he had been punched” (Pullella; see also Benazzi). 2. Dante titled his epic narrative poem simply Comedia, Tuscan for “Comedy,” and later rendered in modern Italian as Commedia. In the late 14th century, Boccaccio was the first to use the adjective divina to describe the work, and, in 1555, the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce was the first to publish an edition of the work titled Divina Comedia (Divine Comedy). 3. In 1477, Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, sent to Frederick of Aragon, future king of Naples, an anthology of Tuscan poetry entitled Raccolta Aragonese (The Aragon Collection). The dedicatory letter that accompanied the work traced the history of vernacular poetry and strongly defended the use of Tuscan as a literary language. The anthology opened with the story of Dante’s love for his female muse, Beatrice (see the sidebar), a selection that illustrated the cultural significance already attached to Dante’s work before the end of the 15th century.

Document 1: Excerpt from Il Convivio To the perpetual shame and abasement of the evil men of Italy who commend the mother tongue of other nations and depreciate their own, I say that their action proceeds from five abominable causes: the first is blindness of discretion; the second, mischievous selfjustification; the third, greed of vainglory; the fourth, an invention of envy; the fifth and last, littleness of soul, that is, cowardice. And each one of these grave faults has a great following, for few are those who are free from them. . . . There are many who would rather be thought masters than be such; and to avoid the opposite—that is, to be held not to be such—they always cast blame on the material they work on, or upon the instrument; as the clumsy smith blames the iron given to him, and the bad harpist blames the harp, thinking to cast the blame of the bad blade and of the bad music upon the iron and upon the harp, and to lift it from themselves. Thus there are some,—and not a few,—who desire that men may hold them to be orators; and to excuse themselves for not speaking, or for speaking badly, they accuse or throw blame on the material, that is, their own mother tongue, and praise that of other lands, which they are not required to employ. And he who wishes to see wherefore this iron is to be blamed, let him look at the work which good artificers make of it, and he will understand the malice of those who, in casting blame upon it, think thereby to excuse themselves. Against such as these Cicero exclaims in the beginning of his book, which he names De Finibus because in his time they blamed the Roman Latin and praised the Greek grammar. And thus I say, for like reasons, that these men vilify the Italian tongue, and glorify that of Provence. . . . Provence: a geographical region of There are many who, by describing certain things in southeastern France; governed by the some other language, and by praising that language, deem Counts of Provence through much of themselves to be more worthy of admiration than if they the Middle Ages, the region came under described them in their own. And undoubtedly to learn the rule of the French Crown in 1481 well a foreign tongue is deserving of some praise for intellect; but it is a blamable thing to applaud that language 4

“These Men Vilify the Italian Tongue”

beyond truth, to glorify oneself for such an acquisition. . . . Wherefore many, on account of this baseness of soul, depreciate their native tongue, and applaud that of others; and such as these are the abominable wicked men of Italy who hold this precious mother tongue in vile contempt, which if it be vile in any case is so only inasmuch as it sounds in the evil mouth of these adulterers, under whose guidance go those blind men of whom I spoke in the first argument. Source: Robinson, James Harvey, ed. Readings in European History. Vol. 1. New York: Ginn and Company, 1904, pp. 522–23.

Document 2: Excerpt from the Divine Comedy In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct: and e’en to tell, It were no easy task, how savage wild That forest, how robust and rough its growth, Which to remember only, my dismay Renews, in bitterness not far from death. Yet, to discourse of what there good befell, All else will I relate discover’d there. How first I enter’d it I scarce can say, Such sleepy dullness in that instant weigh’d My senses down, when the true path I left; But when a mountain’s foot I reach’d, where closed The valley that had pierced my heart with dread, I look’d aloft, and saw his shoulders broad Already vested with that planet’s beam, Who leads all wanderers safe through every way. Then was a little respite to the fear, That in my heart’s recesses deep had lain All of that night, so pitifully pass’d: And as a man, with difficult short breath, Forespent with toiling, ‘scaped from sea to shore, Turns to the perilous wide waste, and stands At gaze; e’en so my spirit, that yet fail’d, Struggling with terror, turn’d to view the straits That none hath passed and lived. My weary frame After short pause recomforted, again I journey’d on over that lonely steep, The hinder foot still firmer. Scarce the ascent Began, when, lo! a panther, nimble, light, And cover’d with a speckled skin, appear’d; Nor, when it saw me, vanish’d; rather strove To check my onward going; that oft-times, With purpose to retrace my steps, I turn’d.

e’en: even Forespent: exhausted ‘scaped: escaped

5

Voices of the Renaissance

The hour was morning’s prime, and on his way Aloft the sun ascended with those stars, That with him rose when Love Divine first moved Those its fair works: so that with joyous hope All things conspired to fill me, the gay skin Of that swift animal, the matin dawn, And the sweet season. Soon that joy was chased. And by new dread succeeded, when in view A lion came, ‘gainst me as it appear’d, With his head held aloft and hunger-mad, That e’en the air was fear-struck. A she-wolf Was at his heels, who in her leanness seem’d Full of all wants, and many a land hath made Disconsolate ere now. She with such fear O’erwhelm’d me, at the sight of her appall’d, That of the height all hope I lost. As one, Who, with his gain elated, sees the time When all unawares is gone, he inwardly Mourns with heart-griping anguish; such was I, Haunted by that fell beast, never at peace, Who coming o’er against me, by degrees Impell’d me where the sun in silence rests. While to the lower space with backward step I fell, my ken discern’d the form of one Whose voice seem’d faint through long disuse of speech. When him in that great desert I espied, “Have mercy on me,” cried I out aloud, “Spirit! or living man! whate’er thou be.” He answered: “Now not man, man once I was, Lombard parents, Mantuans both: from And born of Lombard parents, Mantuans both the city of Mantua in the province of By country, when the power of Julius [Caesar] yet Lombardy in Northern Italy Was scarcely firm. At Rome my life was past, conn’d: thought Beneath the mild Augustus [Caesar], in the time Of fabled deities and false. A bard Was I, and made Anchises’ upright son The subject of my song, who came from Troy, When the flames prey’d on Ilium’s haughty towers. But thou, say wherefore to such perils past Return’st thou? wherefore not this pleasant mount Ascendest, cause and source of all delight?” “And art thou then that Virgil, that well-spring, From which such copious floods of eloquence Have issued?” I with front abash’d replied. “Glory and light of all the tuneful train! May it avail me, that I long with zeal Have sought thy volume, and with love immense Have conn’d it o’er. My master thou, and guide!

6

“These Men Vilify the Italian Tongue”

Thou he from whom alone I have derived That style, which for its beauty into fame Exalts me. . . . Source: Cary, Henry F., trans. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. New York: P.F. Collier and Son, 1909, pp. 5–8.

AFTERMATH Appreciation of Dante’s role as a poet and Florentine patriot developed in the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1357, Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron (see Section 2), wrote the first biography of Dante, entitled Trattatello in laude di Dante (Treatise in Praise of Dante). In 1373, the Florentine government paid Boccaccio to deliver a series of public lectures entitled “Esposizioni sopra la Commedia di Dante” (“Expositions on Dante’s Comedy”), which elucidated the literal and allegorical meanings of the poem for a wider audience. Boccaccio saw Dante as a poet capable of probing both philosophical and theological questions, an ability that made him heir to such biblical poets as David and Solomon and such classical poets as Homer and Virgil. This lineage, combined with the fact that the poem was written in Tuscan Italian, won Dante wide recognition as a shaper of Florentine cultural identity. In 1481, Cristoforo Landino, a professor of poetry and rhetoric at the University of Florence, published a commentary on the Divine Comedy, which depicted Dante as a Florentine scholar and patriot who opposed the political power of the papacy. In the 18th century, the political philosopher Giambattista Vico, in his treatise “The Discovery of the True Dante” (1728–1729), viewed the Divine Comedy as the definitive literary work of its age and the first literary flowering of the Italian Renaissance. By the 19th century, thanks to the influence of the Italian cultural and literary movement known as the Risorgimento, Dante became viewed as the quintessential Italian poet.

ASK YOURSELF 1. In the passage from Il convivio, what reasons does Dante give for preferring Tuscan to Latin or other languages? What criticisms does Dante make of those who prefer to write in other languages? 2. In these opening lines of the Divine Comedy, how does Dante give an Italian flavor to the setting? Who appears as Dante’s guide and why do you think the poet chose this figure for this role?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Read selections from all three sections of Dante’s Divine Comedy—Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso—and compare and contrast the mood, atmosphere, and figures in each. 2. Obtain a copy and read selections from the 2007 book Dante on View: The Reception of Dante in the Visual and Performing Arts edited by Antonella Braida and Luisa Calè (Routledge), a collection of essays analyzing the influence of Dante on the visual and performing arts from his time through the early 21st century.

7

Voices of the Renaissance

3. In 1986, Gloria Naylor published Linden Hills (Penguin Books), a novel about an affluent African American community modelled on Dante’s Inferno. In 1997, Robert M. Durling published The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Volume 1: Inferno (Oxford University Press), a modern prose translation of the first part of Dante’s masterpiece. Read the novel and/or portions of Durling’s translation to get a sense of modern takes on Dante’s work.

DANTE’S MUSE In 1294, Dante published La Vita Nuova (The New Life)—a work of prose and poetry that expressed the feeling of courtly love inspired in the poet by a woman named Beatrice. Courtly love was a literary conception developed in the princely courts of southern France and Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries. Based on the ideals of chivalry, courtly love described a passionate but distant relationship between a lady and her knight, who sought to make himself worthy of her affection through his deeds of chivalry and valor. In La Vita Nuova, Dante transformed these martial achievements into literary achievement by attempting to elevate the writing of love poetry through the inspiration of Beatrice. According to Dante, he met Beatrice only twice, the first time when she was only nine, and he little older. Nonetheless, he was so affected by her person that he conceived for her a deep and abiding love that inspired his poetic explorations of courtly love and survived even after her death in 1290. Beatrice also appeared in the Divine Comedy, following Virgil as Dante’s guide into Paradise; it is she, as the incarnation of pure love, who leads the poet to the beatific vision at the end of the poem. So mysterious is this Beatrice, it is hard to know if she was even a real person. However, Dante’s muse is today believed to have been Beatrice Portinari (1265–1290), the daughter and wife of Florentine bankers. The only documentary evidence of her existence is a bequest in her father’s will from 1287. However, Boccaccio, in his lectures on the Divine Comedy, named her as Dante’s Beatrice, and most scholars today accept Boccaccio’s identification.

Further Information Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. Translated by Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1995. Benazzi, S. “The Face of the Poet Dante Alighieri, Reconstructed by Virtual Modeling and Forensic Anthropology Techniques.” Journal of Archaeological Science 36, no. 2 (2009): 278–83. Frisardi, Andrew, ed. and trans. Convivio: A Dual-Language Critical Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Holbrook, Richard. Portraits of Dante from Giotto to Raffael: A Critical Study with a Concise Iconography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1911. Pullella, Philip. Dante Gets Posthumous Nose Job—700 Years On. Reuters. November 5, 2007. https://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1171092320070112. Raffa, Guy P. Dante’s Bones: How a Poet Invented Italy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 2020. Raffa, Guy P. The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader’s Guide to the Divine Comedy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Reynolds, Barbara. Dante: The Poet, the Thinker, the Man. London: I.B. Taurus, 2006.

8

“These Men Vilify the Italian Tongue”

Rudd, Jay. Critical Companion to Dante: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2008. Took, John. Dante. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020.

Websites Alighieri, Dante. Il Convivio (The Banquet). Translated by Richard H. Lansing. New York: Garland Library of Medieval Literature, 1990. https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/text/ library/the-convivio/. Dartmouth Dante Project. https://dante.dartmouth.edu/. Contains more than 70 commentaries of the Divine Comedy. The Princeton Dante Project. http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/index.html. Offers the complete text of the Divine Comedy and other works by Dante.

9

This page intentionally left blank

2. “THE COURTEOUS FASHION IN WHICH A L ADY IMPOSED SILENCE UPON A GENTLEMAN” Excerpt From the Decameron (ca. 1353) by Giovanni Boccaccio INTRODUCTION Giovanni Boccaccio, the son of a Florentine merchant, dashed his father’s hopes of a law career for his son by becoming a writer of popular verse and prose romances. Beginning in the 1330s and 1340s, Boccaccio wrote such works as Filocolo (ca. 1336), considered the first prose novel in Italian literature; Caccia di Diana (Diana’s Hunt) (1342), a poem in terza rima telling highly embellished tales of ladies at the Neapolitan court; and Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta (The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta) (ca. 1344), a first-person monologue by the title character, which is considered the first psychological novel in European literature. Boccaccio’s most famous work is his Decameron (ca. 1353), a collection of one hundred prose tales told by ten narrators over as many days. The stories are entertaining, humorous, and both descriptive and critical of contemporary Florentine life, describing comic misadventures; failed and successful love affairs; and the courage, ignorance, ingenuity, and corruption displayed by people in all walks of daily life. Presenting the writing of literature as a worthy end unto itself, rather than as something which must be highly didactic, the Decameron influenced both later Italian and foreign writers, particularly the Englishman Geoffrey Chaucer (see the sidebar). Reproduced here is the first story related on the sixth day in the Decameron.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Besides the Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta, the character of Lady Fiammetta appears in various other works by Boccaccio, including 10 tales in the Decameron and several sonnets. Fiammetta is a representation of the woman Boccaccio loved and who served as his poetic muse, just as Beatrice inspired Dante Alghieri (see Section 1). This woman is believed to have been Maria d’Aquino, an illegitimate daughter of Robert the Wise, king of Naples. Boccaccio likely came to know her when he was at the Neapolitan court in the 1330s. She was beheaded in 1382 for her alleged involvement in a plot that led to the murder of Andrew, Duke of Calabria, husband of the queen of Naples, in 1345.

11

Voices of the Renaissance

2. In 1350, the Florentine government asked Boccaccio to officially greet the poet Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) when he visited the city. While in Florence, Petrarch stayed in Boccaccio’s home and the two men became friends, quickly bonding over their shared enthusiasm for the reading and study of ancient literature. The two met again in 1351, when Boccaccio traveled to Padua on an unsuccessful mission to convince Petrarch to accept a teaching position at the University of Florence. Their friendship had a great influence on Boccaccio and likely helped to inspire the writing of De genealogiis deorum gentilium (On the Genealogies of the Pagan Gods) (1360) and other of his later works. Boccaccio called Petrarch his “teacher,” and there is some evidence that Petrarch’s influence turned Boccaccio away from his early writing of popular poems and romances in Italian and to his later writing of scholarly Latin works based on ancient sources.

Document: The First Story, Day the Sixth, from the Decameron A Gentleman Engageth to Madam Oretta to Carry Her A-horseback with a Story, but, Telling It Disorderly, Is Prayed by Her to Set Her Down Again “Young ladies, like as stars, in the clear nights, are the ornaments of the heavens and the flowers and the leaf-clad shrubs, in the Spring, of the green fields and the hillsides, even so are praiseworthy manners and goodly discourse adorned by sprightly sallies, the which, for that they are brief, beseem women yet better than men, inasmuch as much speaking is more forbidden to the former than to the latter. Yet, true it is, whatever the cause, whether it be the meanness of our understanding or some particular grudge borne by heaven to our times, that there be nowadays few or no women left who know how to say a witty word in due season or who, an it be said to them, know how to apprehend it as it behoveth; the which is a general reproach to our Pampinea: the name given by Boccaccio to whole sex. However, for that enough hath been said aforeone of the storytellers in the Decameron time on the subject by Pampinea, I purpose to say no more thereof; but, to give you to understand how much goodliness there is in witty sayings, when spoken in due season, it pleaseth me to recount to you the courteous fashion in which a lady imposed silence upon a gentleman. As many of you ladies may either know by sight or have heard tell, there was not long since in our city a noble and well-bred and well-spoken gentlewoman, whose worth merited not that her name be left unsaid. She was called, then, Madam Oretta and was the wife of Messer Geri Spina. She chanced to be, as we are, in the country, going from place to place, by way of diversion, with a company of ladies and gentlemen, whom she had that day entertained to dinner at her house, and the way being belike somewhat long from the place whence they set out to that whither they were all purposed to go afoot, one of the gentlemen said to her, ‘Madam Oretta, an you will, I will carry you a-horseback great part of the way we have to go with one of the finest stories in the world.’ ‘Nay, sir,’ answered the lady, ‘I pray you instantly thereof; indeed, it will be most agreeable to me.’ Master cavalier, who maybe fared no better, sword at side than tale on tongue, hearing this, began a story of his, which of itself was in truth very goodly; but he, now thrice or four or even half 12

“The Courteous Fashion in Which a Lady Imposed Silence Upon a Gentleman”

a dozen times repeating one same word, anon turning back and whiles saying, ‘I said not aright,’ and often erring in the names and putting one for another, marred it cruelly, more by token that he delivered himself exceedingly ill, having regard to the quality of the persons and the nature of the incidents of his tale. By reason whereof, Madam Oretta, hearkening to him, was many a time taken with a sweat and failing of the heart, as she were sick and near her end, and at last, being unable to brook the thing anymore and seeing the gentleman engaged in an imbroglio from which he was not like to extricate himself, she said to him pleasantly, ‘Sir, this horse of yours hath too hard a trot; wherefore I pray you be pleased to set me down.’ The gentleman, who, as it chanced, understood a hint better than he told a story, took the jest in good part and turning it off with a laugh, fell to discoursing of other matters and left unfinished the story that he had begun and conducted so ill.” Source: Payne, John, trans. The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. London: The Villon Society, 1886, pp. 297–98.

AFTERMATH Beyond the influence and popularity of the Decameron, Boccaccio’s status as one of the giants of the Italian Renaissance was cemented by his later scholarly work, particularly his defense and promotion of the study of Greek and Latin literature and thought. In his De genealogiis deorum gentilium (On the Genealogies of the Pagan Gods) (1360), an encyclopedia of gods and figures in Greek and Roman myth, Boccaccio argued that the great benefits to be gained from the study of ancient literature should not be lost because these works derived from pagan cultures. Because the revival of interest in the classical world was a prerequisite to the rise of the Renaissance, Boccaccio’s championing of the study of ancient literature helped lay the foundations for the development of the Renaissance. Boccaccio illustrated his thesis by using his study of ancient sources to produce two collective biographies—De casibus virorum illustrium (On the Fortunes of Famous Men) (ca. 1355– 1374), a much revised selection of 56 biographies of real and mythical men running from the biblical Adam to the 14th century, and De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women) (ca. 1361–1362), a collection of 106 biographies of real and mythological women that is the first work devoted solely to the lives of women in European literature.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Who does the teller of this tale believe appreciates a well-told story more—men or women? Why does the storyteller believe this? 2. Why did Madame Oretta find the tale she was hearing tedious and why did she ask to be let down from her horse? 3. Instead of telling stories, how do people today amuse themselves while on long journeys or while entertaining guests?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access an online edition of the Decameron, such as those found on the Project Gutenberg website (www.gutenberg.org)—and read one tale from four or five different days. Did you find these stories entertaining? Would they engage your interest if told on a long trip? 13

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Search YouTube for “Decameron in the Time of Coronavirus,” a video that describes a contemporary project to produce a new Decameron. Inspired by the similarity between the isolation and social distancing occasioned by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and Boccaccio’s frame tale of 10 individuals sheltering from the 1348 Black Death in a secluded villa, the project sponsored by the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities offers a series of presenters telling their own tales to pass the time during this modern pandemic. Consider writing a short story of your own to tell your family or friends during a trip or a time when other diversions are unavailable. 3. Go to the Town & Country magazine website (www.townandcountrymag.com) and read the March 16, 2020, article by Norman Vanamee entitled “Decameron and Chill? Why a 14th-century Italian Masterpiece Is on Everyone’s Coronavirus Reading List.” The article explains why in the spring of 2020 Boccaccio’s Decameron was trending on Twitter and at the top of Amazon’s list of Best Sellers in Italian literature.

INFLUENCING CHAUCER Students of medieval and Renaissance literature have long noted the “framed story” structure shared by two 14th-century literary masterpieces—Boccaccio’s Decameron and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Written in Italian in the early 1350s, the Decameron is a collection of 100 short prose tales told by ten Florentine aristocrats—seven women and three men—who shelter together within a secluded villa during the 1348 visitation of the Black Death. For ten days, each member of the party recounts one tale, with all tales told on a particular day adhering to an agreed-upon theme for the day, though the tone can vary across tales from bawdy to moralistic. Written in Middle English between about 1387 and 1400, The Canterbury Tales comprises 24 stories in both verse and prose that are related by a diverse group of pilgrims who are travelling together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket. The structure and tone of the tales vary according to the class and occupation of the storyteller (e.g., monk, miller, knight, nun). This similarity of narrative framework makes clear Chaucer’s debt to Boccaccio. Chaucer visited Florence in 1373, leading scholars to speculate that the two men might have met, though there is no hard evidence of any such encounter. But several stories in The Canterbury Tales clearly mirror tales from the Decameron, such as “The Franklin’s Tale” and the fifth tale from Day 10. Although he mentions Dante and Petrarch several times in his works, Chaucer never mentions Boccaccio, even though his influence on Chaucer is by far the greatest of the three. Some scholars therefore suggest that the very extent of this influence might have caused Chaucer to seek to minimize evidence of his literary debt to Boccaccio.

Further Information Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated and edited by Wayne A. Rebhorn. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2016. Boccaccio, Giovanni. On Famous Women. Translated by Guido A. Guarino. New York: Italica Press, 2011. Branco, Vittore. Boccaccio: The Man and His Works. Edited by Dennis J. McAuliffe. Translated by Richard Monges. New York: New York University Press, 1976. Symonds, John Addington. Giovanni Boccaccio: As Man and Author. Reprint ed. Stockton, CA: University Press of the Pacific, 2004. 14

“The Courteous Fashion in Which a Lady Imposed Silence Upon a Gentleman”

Websites The Decameron, Volume I by Giovanni Boccacio. Translated by J.M. Rigg. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3726. The Decameron, Volume II by Giovanni Boccacio. Translated by J.M. Rigg. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13102.

15

This page intentionally left blank

3. “THE UTTERANCES OF MEN CONCERNING ME WILL DIFFER WIDELY ” Excerpts From Petrarch’s “Letter to Posterity” (ca. 1372) INTRODUCTION Francesco Petracco, who Latinized his name as Petrarca and who in English is commonly referred to as Petrarch, was the son of a Florentine civil servant. A friend and political ally of the poet Dante Alighieri (see Sections 1 and 18), Petrarch’s father was, like Dante, exiled from Florence in about 1302 when his political faction lost power. As a result, Petrarch’s family eventually settled in Provence (today a region in southeastern France), where Petrarch’s father found employment at the papal court in Avignon. Declining to follow his father into a legal career, Petrarch in the 1330s and 1340s took up the writing of verse and the pursuit of humanist scholarship, becoming known for his innovative lyric poetry and his discovery of ancient manuscripts, such as Cicero’s letters to his friend Atticus, which Petrarch found in Verona in 1345 and subsequently published. Inspired by Cicero’s letters, Petrarch published two collections of his own letters, Familiares (Familiar Letters) (1345–1366) and Seniles (Letters of Old Age) (1370s). Some of these letters were addressed to long-dead Roman writers with whom Petrarch felt an affinity, such as Cicero, Virgil, and Seneca. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Petrarch’s “Letter to Posterity,” the last letter in Seniles, which is an unfinished autobiography, a summary of his thought, and a description of his greatest works, a listing that focuses on his scholarly Latin writings and omits his earlier vernacular poetry.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Like Dante Alighieri and his Beatrice (see sidebar, Section 1) and Giovanni Boccaccio and his Maria (see Section 2), Petrarch had a female muse, a woman who inspired the lyric love poetry comprising his Canzoniere. Also like those of Dante and Boccaccio, Petrarch’s relationship with his love was distant and platonic, an idealistic, courtly relationship. In the “Letter to Posterity,” Petrarch described this relationship: “In my younger days I struggled constantly with an overwhelming but pure love affair—my only one, and I would have struggled with it longer had not premature death, bitter but salutary for me, extinguished the cooling flames.” (“Letter to Posterity,” Internet Archive). Little is known about the woman Petrarch

17

Voices of the Renaissance

calls Laura, whom he claimed to have first seen in an Avignon Church on Good Friday, April 6, 1327. Some scholars argue that she is not a real person, but an idealized feminine character, or a composite of various women. Other scholars, however, believe her to have been Laura de Noves, the wife of a French nobleman, who, after giving birth to numerous children, fell victim to the Black Death in 1348. 2. In 1309, Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, sought to escape the constant factional violence that plagued Rome by moving the papal court to Avignon, a city in southeastern France. Because this decision brought the papal court under eventual domination by the French Crown, the papacy in the 14th century lost much of the independence and esteem it had previously enjoyed as an institution of truly international authority and influence. The Avignon papacy soon acquired a reputation for corruption and worldly decadence, a perception accepted by Petrarch in a famous letter from the 1340s, which characterizes papal Avignon as “the Babylon of the West.” It is likely that the term “Babylonian captivity” of the Church, which later was used to describe the period of the Avignon papacy, derived from this letter of Petrarch. 3. The sonnet is a poetic form that originated in 13th-century Italy. Although he did not devise the sonnet form, Petrarch refined and popularized it. The classic Petrarchan sonnet was a poem of fourteen lines, with the first eight lines, the octave, rhyming abbaabba, and the last six lines, the sestet, usually rhyming cdecde. Often adopting themes of love, the sonnet described a romantic experience or situation in the octave that was then reacted to in the sestet. The Petrarchan sonnet entered English poetry in the 16th century, where it was modified as to theme and rhyme scheme by various poets. William Shakespeare published a collection of 154 sonnets in 1609. The rhyme scheme used by Shakespeare—abab cdcd efef gg—which is characterized by its ending couplet, is today known as the Shakespearean sonnet.

Document: Excerpt from the “Letter to Posterity” Francis Petrarch, to Posterity, greeting: It is possible that some word of me may have come to you, though even this is doubtful, since an insignificant and obscure name will scarcely penetrate far in either time or space. If, however, you should have heard of me, you may desire to know what manner of man I was, or what was the outcome of my labors, especially those of which some description or, at any rate, the bare titles may have reached you. To begin, then, with myself. The utterances of men concerning me will differ widely, since in passing judgment almost everyone is influenced not so much by truth as by preference, and good and evil report alike know no bounds. I was, in truth, a poor mortal like yourself, neither very exalted in my origin, nor, on the other hand, of the most humble birth, but belonging, as Augustus Caesar says of himself, to an ancient family. As to my disposition, I was not naturally perverse or wanting in modesty, however the contagion of evil associations may have corrupted me. My youth was gone before I realized it; I was carried away by the strength of manhood. But a riper age brought me to my senses and taught me by experience the truth I had long before read in books, that youth and pleasure are vanity—nay, that the Author of all ages

18

“The Utterances of Men Concerning Me Will Differ Widely”

and times permits us miserable mortals, puffed up with emptiness, thus to wander about, until finally, coming to a tardy consciousness of our sins, we shall learn to know ourselves. In my prime I was blessed with a quick and active body, although not exceptionally strong; and while I do not lay claim to remarkable personal beauty, I was comely enough in my best days. I was possessed of a clear complexion, between light and dark, lively eyes, and for long years a keen vision, which, however, deserted me, contrary to my hopes, after I reached my sixtieth birthday, and forced me, to my great annoyance, to resort to glasses. Although I had previously enjoyed perfect health, old age brought with it the usual array of discomforts. My parents were honorable folk, Florentine in their origin, of medium fortune, or, I may as well admit it, in a condition verging upon poverty. They had been expelled from their native city, and consequently I was born in exile, at Arezzo, in the year 1304 of this latter age, which begins with Christ’s birth, July the 20th, on a Monday, at dawn. I have always possessed an extreme contempt for wealth; not that riches are not desirable in themselves, but because I hate the anxiety and care which are invariably associated with them. I certainly do not long to be able to give gorgeous banquets. I have, on the contrary, led a happier existence with plain living and ordinary fare than all the followers of Apicius, with their elaborate dainties. Socalled convivia, which are but vulgar bouts, sinning against Apicius: Marcus Gavius Apicius, a Roman sobriety and good manners, have always been repugnant to gourmet who lived during the reign of the me. I have ever felt that it was irksome and profitless to Emperor Tiberius (14–37 CE); Apicius is also the title of a famous Roman cookbook invite others to such affairs, and not less so to be bidden that is attributed to Marcus Gavius to them myself. On the other hand, the pleasure of dining Apicius with one’s friends is so great that nothing has ever given me more delight than their unexpected arrival, nor have I ever willingly sat down to table without a companion. Nothing displeases me more than display, for not only is it bad in itself and opposed to humility, but it is troublesome and distracting. . . . In my familiar associations with kings and princes, and in my friendship with noble personages, my good fortune has been such as to excite envy. But it is the cruel fate of those who are growing old that they can commonly only weep for friends who have passed away. The greatest kings of this age have loved and courted me. They may know why; I certainly do not. With some of them I was on such terms that they seemed in a certain sense my guests rather than I theirs; their lofty position in no way embarrassing me, but, on the contrary, bringing with it many advantages. I fled, however, from many of those to whom I was greatly attached; and such was my innate longing for liberty that I studiously avoided those whose very name seemed incompatible with the freedom that I loved. I possessed a well-balanced rather than a keen intellect—one prone to all kinds of good and wholesome study, but especially inclined to moral philosophy and the art of poetry. The latter, indeed, I neglected as time went on, and took delight in sacred literature. Finding in that a hidden sweetness which I had once esteemed but lightly, I came to regard the works of the poets as only amenities. Among the many subjects that interested me, I dwelt especially upon antiquity, for our own age has always repelled me, so that had it not been for the love of those dear to me, I should have preferred to have been born in any other period than our own. In order to forget my own time, I have constantly striven to place myself in spirit in other ages, and

19

Voices of the Renaissance

consequently I delighted in history. The conflicting statements troubled me, but when in doubt I accepted what appeared most probable, or yielded to the authority of the writer. My style, as many claimed, was clear and forcible; but to me it seemed weak and obscure. In ordinary conversation with friends, or with those about me, I never gave thought to my language, and I have always wondered that Augustus Caesar should have taken such pains in this respect. When, however, the subject itself, or the place or the listener, seemed to demand it, I gave some attention to style, with what success I cannot pretend to say; let them judge in whose presence I spoke. If only I have lived well, it matters little to me how I talked. Mere elegance of language can produce at best but an empty renown. . . . Source: Ogg, Frederic Austin, ed. A Sourcebook of Medieval History: Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance. New York: American Book Company, 1907, pp. 470–73.

AFTERMATH Collected into a compilation known as the Canzoniere, Petrarch’s early Italian poetry, as well as his Latin epic poem Africa (describing the life of the Roman general Scipio Africanus), were very popular and made Petrarch something of an Italian celebrity. Consequently, on April 8, 1341, two Roman senators crowned Petrarch as the city’s poet laureate. The Canzoniere greatly shaped the development of Western poetry, with modern scholars often considering Petrarch and Virgil to be the most influential European poets. In 1353, Petrarch returned permanently to Italy from Provence, living for various periods in Milan, Padua, Venice, and Pavia. In his later years, he published mainly works of Latin scholarship, such as De viris illustribus (On Famous Men), a series of biographies of famous Romans; Rerum memorandarum libri (Book of Memorable Things), a treatise on the cardinal virtues; and the Secretum (Secret Book), an imaginary dialogue with the third-century Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo. Because of his enthusiasm for the study of ancient literature and his recovery and publication of Roman manuscripts (some 40 extant manuscripts are thought to be from his personal library), Petrarch is today considered the father of Renaissance humanism.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What does Petrarch say about his family and his background in the “Letter to Posterity”? 2. How does Petrarch describe himself in the letter? What does he say are his virtues? What does he list as his faults? 3. Do you think Petrarch expected that his fame as a writer would endure after his death? Is that why he addressed this letter to posterity rather than to contemporaries?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access print or online editions of Petrarch’s sonnets and read a selection of them. Then access a print or online edition of the sonnets of Shakespeare and other Tudor or Elizabethan poets, such as Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Thomas Wyatt the Elder, or Sir Philip Sidney. Understanding that Petrarch’s poems are translations of 20

“The Utterances of Men Concerning Me Will Differ Widely”

the Italian originals, how do the sonnets of these various poets compare and contrast? Try your hand at writing a sonnet. 2. Access print or online editions of the letters of Petrarch and read a selection of them. Include some of those letters addressed to ancient Roman writers. Write your own letter to posterity, or to some figure of the past with whom you identify, about yourself, your time, or your view of life. 3. Access a print or online copy of Petrarch’s “Ascent of Mount Ventoux” letter, which describes his climb up that mountain in Provence in 1336 (see, for instance, “Ascent of Mount Ventoux,” Hanover). The letter, which has a very modern tone, describes what Petrarch claimed was the first ascent of a mountain since ancient times that was undertaken solely for the purpose of seeing the view. The letter is today considered an expression of the new spirit of the Renaissance that Petrarch represented.

MYSTERY OF THE SKULL In November 2003, Italian scientists supervised the opening of Petrarch’s pink marble tomb in Arquà Petrarca, a village near Padua where the poet died in 1374. The team of scientists from Padua University hoped to use the poet’s skull to reconstruct the face of Petrarch in time for the commemoration of his 700th birthday in July 2004. Although another team would successfully produce such a facial reconstruction for the poet Dante Alighieri in 2007 (see Section 1), the Petrarch project failed—for a most unexpected reason. The skull retrieved from the tomb turned out to be not Petrarch’s, but that of an unknown woman who, according to DNA tests, died between 1134 and 1280. The team expressed “no doubt” that the rest of the skeleton was Petrarch’s (Hooper). The bones showed evidence of injuries mentioned by Petrarch, including one inflicted by the kick of a horse in 1350. No one knows what happened to Petrarch’s skull or how the woman’s skull came to replace it. Although the tomb has been opened several times over the centuries—some bones were stolen by a drunken friar in 1630—a likely culprit is Professor Giovanni Canestrini of Padua University, who, during an examination of the tomb in 1873, reported that the poet’s skull disintegrated upon contact with the air, something none of the 2004 team had ever experienced. Since the woman’s skull was in pieces, the current investigators conjecture that Canestrini may have dropped the skull or he may simply have kept Petrarch’s skull, replacing it with fragments of the woman’s skull. In any event, scientists are still hoping to recover Petrarch’s actual skull and, with it, his actual features.

Further Information Bishop, Morris. Petrarch and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Celenza, Christopher S. Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer. London: Reaktion Books, 2017. Kirkham, Victoria, and Armando Maggi, eds. Petrarch: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. Petrarch, Francesco. Letters on Familiar Matters I–VIII. Translated by Aldo S. Bernardo. New York: Italica Press, 2005. Petrarch, Francesco. Letters on Familiar Matters IX–XVI. Translated by Aldo S. Bernardo. New York: Italica Press, 2005. Petrarch, Francesco. Letters on Familiar Matters XVII–XXIV. Translated by Aldo S. Bernardo. New York: Italica Press, 2005. 21

Voices of the Renaissance

Petrarch, Francesco. Letters of Old Age I–IX. Translated by Also S. Bernardo, Saul Levin, and Reta A. Bernardo. New York: Italica Press, 2008. Petrarch, Francesco. Letters of Old Age X–XVIII. Translated by Also S. Bernardo, Saul Levin, and Reta A. Bernardo. New York: Italica Press, 2008.

Websites “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux.” Hanover Historical Texts Project. https://history.hanover. edu/texts/petrarch/pet17.html. Cosenza, Mario Emilio, ed. Petrarch’s Letters to Classical Authors. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1910. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47859/47859 -h/47859-h.htm. Hooper, John. “Petrarch—the Poet Who Lost His Head.” The Guardian, April 6, 2004. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/06/research.italy. Petrarca, Francesco. “Letter to Posterity.” Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ petrarchlettertoposteritymusa/mode/2up.

22

4. “YOU SING MY BOOK, BUT NOT AS I H AVE M ADE IT ” Excerpt From Franco Sacchetti’s Novelle (Late 14th Century) INTRODUCTION Born into an ancient and noble Florentine family, Franco Sacchetti travelled extensively in his youth on family business, visiting Milan, Genoa, and various cities and states in the Balkans. He soon acquired a reputation as a poet and a writer of novella, short prose tales that were often didactic or satiric in nature. Sacchetti’s best-known work is the Trecentonovelle (300 Tales) or simply Novelle, which was composed between about 1392 and 1397. Based loosely on Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (see Section 2), though not as imaginative or as polished as that work, the Novelle is a collection of 300 short stories, but without the narrative frame story that Boccaccio employed to organize the Decameron. Today only 223 of these tales survive in their complete form. Reproduced here is a story from the Novelle in which the poet Dante Aligheri (see Sections 1 and 18) is the main character.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Franco Sacchetti was born in the city of Ragusa, which is today the city of Dubrovnik, an important seaport and tourist destination located on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia. In the later 14th century, the city-state of Ragusa was a republic that controlled a sliver of the south Adriatic coast and a number of islands. Although technically subordinate to the king of Hungary, who had helped free the city from Venetian domination earlier in the century, the city’s noble families ruled the 14th-century republic with little interference from the Hungarian court. Until it became a tributary of the Ottoman Empire in 1458, Ragusa was an important trade rival of Venice. 2. Franco Sacchetti’s brother Giannozzo was a follower of Catherine of Siena, the famous activist and mystic, who was instrumental in returning the papacy to Rome from Avignon and who was canonized by the Church in 1461. Giannozzo Sacchetti was also a supporter of the Ciompi Revolt (see the sidebar) in Florence. When the revolt was crushed, this involvement with working-class rebels led to the family’s banishment and to Giannozzo’s execution.

23

Voices of the Renaissance

Document: Excerpt from the Novelle Dante Allighieri makes sensible of their errors a smith and an ass driver, who were singing his book in garbled form. That most excellent vernacular poet, whose fame will never grow less, Dante Allighieri the Florentine, was neighbor in Florence to the family of the Adimari. It came to pass that a certain young cavalier of that family fell into difficulty, I know not on account of what offense, and was about to come up for sentence, in the due course of justice, before a certain magistrate, who was, it seems, upon terms of friendship with Dante. He therefore besought the poet that he should intercede for him with the magistrate; and this Dante replied he would willingly do. So when the poet had dined, he left home and set out upon his way to accomplish the business; but just as he was passing by the gate of San Piero, a smith, hammering an iron upon his anvil, was singing Dante, as one sings a ditty, jumbling his verses together, clipping them and adding to them, in such a manner that it seemed to Dante they were suffering the greatest injury. He said nothing, however, but approached the smithy, where were lying the various tools with which the owner plied his trade. Dante seized the hammer and threw it into the street; seized the tongs and threw them into the street; seized the balances and threw them into the street, and so on with the remaining irons. The smith, turning about with an angry gesture, cried: “What the devil are you doing? Are you mad?” Said Dante: “And you, what are you doing?” “Working at my trade,” the smith replied, “and you are spoiling my tools, throwing them into the street.” Said Dante: “If you do not wish that I should spoil your things, do not spoil mine.” “How am I injuring you?” said the smith. Said Dante: “You sing my book, but not as I have made it. I also have a trade, and you are spoiling it for me.” The smith, swelling with rage, knew not what to reply, but gathered together his scattered tools and returned to his forge, and when he wished again to sing, he sang of Tristan and of Launcelot, but left Dante alone; and Dante went his way to the magistrate. But when he came into the presence of that official, it occurred to him that the cavalier of the Adimari, who had asked the favor of him, was a haughty youth with scant courtesy, who, when he went through the city, especially on horseback, rode with his legs outspread, until they filled the street, if it happened to be narrow, so that passers-by were compelled to brush the toes of his shoes; and to Dante, who was a close observer, such behaviour was always displeasing. Thereupon Dante said to the magistrate: “You have before your court a certain cavalier, charged with a certain offense. I wish to speak a word for him. His manners however are such that he deserves a severe penalty, for I believe that to trespass upon the rights of the public is the greatest of offenses.” Dante did not speak to deaf ears, and the magistrate asked in what respect the young man has trespassed upon the rights of the public. Dante replied: “When he rides through the city, he rides with his legs wide from his horse, so that whoever encounters him has to turn back, and cannot continue upon his way.” Said the judge: “This may appear to you a trifle, but it is a greater offence than the other of which he is accused.” “But see,” said Dante, “I am his neighbor. I intercede for him with you.” And he returned home, where he was asked by the cavalier how the affair stood. “He replied favorably,” said Dante. Some days afterwards the cavalier was summoned to appear and answer the charge against him. He made his appearance, and after he had been informed of the nature of the first charge, the judge ordered that the second charge, concerning the loose manner of his riding, be read to him. The cavalier, feeling that the penalty would be doubled, said to himself: “I have done a fine thing indeed, when through Dante’s visit I believed I should go free, and now I am to be doubly fined!” Having been dismissed,

24

“You Sing My Book, But Not as I Have Made It”

accused as he was, he returned home, and finding Dante, said: “You have indeed done me a good turn. Before you went to him the judge was disposed to condemn me for one offense, and after your visit he wished to condemn me for two; “and much angered at Dante, he added: “If he condemns me I am able to pay, and when it is over I will settle with him who is the cause of it.” Said Dante: “I have given you such a recommendation that if you were my own child I could not have given you a better. If the judge is ill-disposed toward you, I am not the cause of it.” The cavalier, shaking his head, went home. A few days afterward he was condemned to pay a thousand lire for the first offense and another thousand for the careless riding; and neither he nor any of the house of Adimari were able to forget the injury. And this was one of the chief reasons that a short time after he was driven . . . from Florence, not without disgrace to the city, and died an exile in the city of Ravenna. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, trans. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 24–27.

AFTERMATH In the early 1360s, Sacchetti settled in Florence, where he held a series of civic offices. During this period, Sacchetti wrote a collection of lyric poetry, the Libro delle rime (ca. 1362), which includes sonnets, songs, madrigals, and other verse, and the Sposizioni di Vangeli (1381), a commentary on the Gospels. In 1380, the Florentine government banished the Sacchetti family from the city for involvement in the Ciompi Revolt (see the sidebar). However, the government exempted Franco Sacchetti from the banishment decree because “he is a very good man” (Chisholm). By 1383, he was again holding civic office, and in 1386, the government offered him the post of ambassador to Genoa, but he chose instead to serve as chief administrator in various small towns dependent on Florence. He is thought to have died around 1400.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find this tale of Dante to be humorous? If so, why? 2. What does the use of Dante as a character tell you about that poet’s status among educated Italians less than a century after his death? 3. From this tale, do you think that Sacchetti had a good ear for the vocabulary and speech patterns of people of different stations and classes? Why or why not?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Mary Steegmann’s Tales of Sacchetti and read a number of other novelle by Sacchetti. Then access a print or online edition of Boccaccio’s Decameron and compare the tones and styles of the two writers. Which is easier to read? Which is more humorous? Which has the better ear for dialogue? 2. Search YouTube for “Three Funny Tales from the 14th Century.” This video is an edition of the Medieval Podcast by Danièle Cybulskie, the “five-minute medievalist,” during which Danièle reads three humorous tales from Sachetti’s Novelle. Did you find these tales entertaining? Was it better to hear them read than to read them yourself?

25

Voices of the Renaissance

CIOMPI REVOLT Erupting in July 1378, the Ciompi Revolt was an uprising of day laborers (known as ciompi) who worked in the Florentine wool industry. Because Franco Sacchetti’s brother, Giannozzo, supported the disaffected laborers, Giannozzo was executed and the Sacchetti family, except for Franco, were banished from the city after the revolt was suppressed. The ciompi of Florence were strictly controlled and had few rights. They could not join the wool guild (the Arte della Lana), which controlled the industry in the city. The ciompi were also forbidden to form their own association, were subject to arbitrary dismissal, and had no legal redress of grievances except to appeal to the Wool Guild, which had set their terms of employment. The 1378 uprising, which also included disaffected workers from other industries, forced the city government to grant the ciompi guild status and to raise their wages. By August, however, continuing disorder and fears of a worker take-over of the government convinced members of the city’s other guilds to join the Wool Guild in crushing the uprising. The governing oligarchy led by the Albizzi family then reestablished its control of the city, repealed all the ciompi legislation, and punished the workers and their allies.

Further Information Bartlett, Kenneth. The Renaissance in Italy: A History. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2019. Chisholm, Hugh. “Sacchetti, Franco.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 23, 11th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911. Henderson, John. Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Florence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Hibbert, Christopher W. Florence: The Biography of a City. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. Najemy, John M. A History of Florence, 1200–1575. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. Sacchetti, Franco. Tales from Sacchetti. Edited and translated by Mary G. Steegmann. Reprint ed. Berkeley: University of California Libraries, 1908.

Website Tales from Sacchetti. Translated by Mary G. Steegmann. London: J.M. Dent, 1908. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/talesfromsacche00steegoog.

26

5. “THEY BOTH IMAGINED THAT THEY L OVED IN VAIN” Excerpt From The Tale of Two Lovers (1444) by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini INTRODUCTION Aeneas Sylvius (Enea Silvio in Italian) Piccolomini was born into a noble Sienese family. Although his father had seventeen other children, Aeneas, as the eldest, received a good humanist education in Siena and Florence, where the young man soon acquired a reputation as a poet and a womanizer. In 1432, Piccolomini became secretary to Cardinal Domenico Capranica, whom he accompanied to the Council of Basel in 1431. Because of his skill as a writer and orator, Piccolomini served various prelates in Basel until 1435, when his current employer sent him on a secret diplomatic mission to Scotland (see Section 9). In 1436, Piccolomini returned to Basel, where he won a seat at the ongoing Council, even though he had to decline an offer of ordination due to his refusal to give up his dissolute personal life, the secretary having already fathered several illegitimate children. In 1442, Piccolomini entered the service of the future Emperor Frederick III, who so valued his secretary’s skills as a humanist writer and scholar that he named Piccolomini as his poet laureate. In 1444, during this period in imperial service, Piccolomini wrote a Latin novella—a short prose tale—that became one of the most popular books of the 15th century. Entitled, after the two main characters, Lucretia and Euryalus (but usually translated in English as The Tale of Two Lovers), the work is highly erotic in tone and imagery, and is one of the first epistolary novels in European literature. Reproduced here is an excerpt from The Tale of Two Lovers.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Piccolomini was born in the town of Corsignano near Siena. In 1459, a year after becoming pope as Pius II, he commissioned the architect and sculptor Bernardo Rossellino to remodel the town in a grand style. Rossellino laid out a grid pattern of streets running around a central piazza (Piazza Pio II), done in the Florentine style. The town’s design is the earliest example of symmetrical town planning in Europe. The remodel, which continued even after the deaths of Rossellino and Pius II in 1464, eventually included the Palazzo Piccolomini, surrounding an elegant

27

Voices of the Renaissance

courtyard containing a two-story loggia and hanging gardens; a cathedral, with a fine Renaissance façade; and the Palazzo Comunale, with its many fine towers. In 1462, Pius issued a papal bull renaming the town Pienza in honor of himself. 2. In the 1440s, Kaspar Schlick was imperial chancellor under Frederick III, the future Holy Roman emperor. During his period of service with Frederick, Piccolomini became well acquainted with the chancellor. As a result, scholars once identified Schlick and a daughter of Mariano Sozzini the Elder, Piccolomini’s law professor at the University of Siena, as the real-life people on whom the characters of Euryalus and Lucretia were based. Today, most scholars reject that identification.

Document: Excerpt from The Tale of Two Lovers The city of Siena, your native town and mine, did great honour to the Emperor Sigismund on his arrival, as is now well known; and a palace was made ready for him by the Church of Saint Martha, on the road that leads to the narrow gate of sandstone. As Sigismund came hither, Sigismund (1368–1437): the last Holy after the ceremonies, he met four married ladies, for Roman emperor from the House of birth and beauty, age and ornament, almost equal. All Luxembourg (1433–1437); he was king of thought them goddesses rather than mortal women, and Germany from 1411 and king of Bohemia had they been only three, they might have seemed those from 1419 whom Paris, we are told, saw in a dream. Now SigisParis: one of the main characters of Homer’s mund, though advanced in years, was quick to passion; Iliad; his abduction of Helen initiates the he took great pleasure in the company of women, and Trojan War loved feminine caresses. Indeed he liked nothing better than the presence of great ladies. So when he saw these, he leaped from his horse, and they received him with outstretched hands. Then, turning to his companions, he said: “Have you ever seen women like these: For my part, I cannot say whether their faces are human or angelic. Surely they are from heaven.” They cast down their eyes, and their modesty made them lovelier. For, as the blushes spread over their cheeks, their faces took the colour of Indian ivory stained with scarlet, or white lilies mixed with crimson roses. And chief among them all, shone the beauty of Lucretia. A young girl, barely twenty years of age, she came of the house of the Camilli, and was wife to Menelaus, a wealthy man, but quite unworthy give him horns: be unfaithful to him that such a treasure should look after his home; deserving rather that his wife should deceive him or, as we say, give him horns. This lady was taller than the others. Her hair was long, the colour of beaten gold, and she wore it not hanging down her back, as maidens do, but bound up with gold and precious stones. Her lofty forehead, of good proportions, was without a wrinkle, and her arched eyebrows were dark and slender, with a due space between. Such was the splendour of her eyes that, like the sun, they dazzled all who looked on them; with such eyes she could kill whom she chose and, when she would, restore the dead to life.

28

“They Both Imagined That They Loved in Vain”

Her nose was straight in contour, evenly dividing her rosy cheeks, while nothing could be sweeter, nothing more pleasant to see than those cheeks which, when she laughed, broke in a little dimple on either side. And all who saw those dimples longed to kiss them. A small and well-shaped mouth, coral lips made to be bitten, straight little teeth, that shone like crystal, and between them, running to and fro, a tremulous tongue that uttered not speech, but sweetest harmonies. And how can I describe the beauty of her mind, the whiteness of her breast? Nothing in that body but was praiseworthy, for her exterior witnessed to her inner beauty. Everyone that saw her envied her husband. Besides her mouth was full of wit; she talked as we are told Cornelia did, the mother of the Gracchi, or Hortensius’ daughter, and nothing could be Gracchi: Tiberius (ca. 166–133 BCE) and pleasanter or purer than her discourse. She did not, like Gaius Gracchus (154–121 BCE) were so many, display her virtue in a sour face, but, with joybrothers and Roman politicians who both ful countenance, her honesty. Neither fearful nor bold, she held the office of tribune in the Roman bore within her woman’s heart, tempered by modesty, the Republic and sought unsuccessfully to spirit of a man. initiate a series of reforms Her dress was elaborate: necklaces and brooches, girdles Hortensius: Quintus Hortensius (114–50 and bracelets, all were there, and marvellous fillets about BCE) was a prominent Roman statesman her head, while on her fingers and in her hair were many and orator; his daughter Hortensia, was pearls and diamonds. I think Helen was not more fair on also a well-known orator that day when Menelaus received Paris at his feast, nor Helen: Helen of Troy, a character in the Andromache more richly adorned, when joined in holy Iliad, an ancient Greek epic describing wedlock with Hector. the Trojan War and attributed to the poet Now among them (I mean, the four ladies) was also Homer Catherine Petrusia, who died a few days later; and the Menelaus: another character in the Iliad; Emperor was present at her funeral, and knighted her son Menelaus was the king of Sparta and the before her tomb, though he was still a child. She too was husband of Helen eminent for her great beauty, and yet she did not surpass Andromache: in the Iliad, Andromache is Lucretia. Everyone was talking of Lucretia: the Emperor, the wife of Hector, prince of Troy and and all the others, stared at her and commended her. brother of Paris Wherever she turned, all eyes followed her, and just as Hector: one of the central characters of the Orpheus is said to have drawn forests and rocks after him, Iliad, Hector is a prince of Troy, who is to the sound of his lute, so she, with her glance, drew men eventually slain by Achilles whither she would. Tyrian murex: a shelfish from which was But one among them all was especially drawn to her, extracted a popular and expensive purple Euryalus the Frank, who in beauty as in wealth was well dye that became the symbol of Roman fitted for love. He was thirty-two years old, not tall but imperial authority of gay and graceful carriage, with bright eyes, cheeks of a pleasant ruddiness and, for his other limbs, enjoying a certain majesty in proportion to his stature. While the rest of the courtiers were all penniless from the long campaign, he, whose home was rich, and who, as the Emperor’s friend, received valuable gifts, became in the world’s eyes every day more magnificent. A long train of servants followed him, and his clothes were now stamped with gold, now dyed with the Tyrian murex, now woven of the thread that is spun in farthest China. And his horses were like those that Memnon, in the story, brought from Troy.

29

Voices of the Renaissance

He had everything needed to arouse that sweet warmth of the spirit and great vigour of the mind by men called love, excepting leisure. But youth and splendour conquered, two pleasant gifts of fortune on which love thrives. Euryalus was no longer master of himself, when he had seen Lucretia; he began to burn for her and, gazing at her face, felt he would never have seen enough. Nor did he love alone. How strange love is! Many handsome youths were there, and even more women with beautiful bodies; yet Lucretia wanted only Euryalus, and he only Lucretia. But she did not know, that day, of Euryalus’ love, nor he of hers: they both imagined that they loved in vain. So, when the services for the Emperor’s sacred person were over, there was an end, and she went home to dream only of Euryalus, he of Lucretia. And who will now admire the story of Thisbe and Pyramus, between whom proximity founded acquaintance and the first steps towards more, and (as their homes adjoined) in time created love? But these had never seen each other before, nor known each other by repute. He a Frank, she of Tuscany, they had no words together, but their eyes did everything; for each pleased Thisbe and Pyramus: a pair of ill-fated lovers the other. whose story appears in the Metamorphoses, And so Lucretia, wounded by this grave sorrow, burnt a long narrative work by the Roman poet by a secret flame, completely forgets that she is a wife. She Ovid (43 BCE–ca. 18 CE) hates her husband, and cherishes love’s wound, keeping Euryalus’ face stamped on her heart, nor gives her body any rest. She says to herself: “I do not know what is the matter, that I can no longer love my husband. His caresses do not please me, his kisses give me no delight, and his words weary me. Always before my eyes is the image of that stranger who, to-day, was nearest to the Emperor. Cast out these flames from your chaste breast, if you can, poor wretch. But if I could, I’d not be sick, and sick I am. Some power that is new to me drives me on against my will; my wishes urge me one way, my thoughts another, and knowing what is best, I pursue the worst. Oh, great and noble daughter of this city, what have you to do with a foreigner? Why burn for a stranger, and contemplate marriage into an alien world? Though you are tired of your husband, surely this land can produce one you could love. But, woe is me, what a face he has! Who would not be moved by his beauty, his youth, his rank, and nobleness: Truly, he moved my heart, and unless he helps me, I shall die. God grant a kinder fate! “But shame! shall I betray my wedded purity, give myself to a chance-comer—I know not whom—who, when he’s abused me, will go away, marry someone else, and leave me to my sorrow? But his face is not like that; his spirit seemed too noble, his beauty too charming for me to fear betrayal or short memory of our love; and if first he’ll pledge himself to me, I am safe and need not fear. So I’ll make ready, and hesitate no longer. For I am fair enough for him to want me just as much as I do him. He’ll be forever mine, when once he has received my kisses. Many are the suitors that surround me wherever I go, many the rivals that throng my doors. I’ll make work for love; and either he’ll stay here or take me with him, when he goes. “Shall I then forsake my mother, my husband, and my native land? But my mother is hard with me, always against my pleasures. For my husband, I’d rather his room than his company, and one’s country is there where one’s life is happy. But my good name? What is the talk of men to me, when I’ll not hear it? She dares nothing, who thinks too

30

“They Both Imagined That They Loved in Vain”

much of reputation, and many have done this before me. Helen wanted to be raped; not against her will did Paris carry her off . . . None can prove her wrong, who errs with so many.” Thus Lucretia pondered; and Euryalus cherished no less passion in his breast. Source: Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius. The Tale of Two Lovers. Translated by Flora Grierson. London: Constable and Company, 1929, pp. 1–4.

AFTERMATH In 1458, Piccolomini was elected as pope, taking the name Pius II (see Section 28). The Tale of Two Lovers was first published in Cologne by Ulrich Zell between 1467 and 1470, three years after Piccolomini’s death. The work quickly became very popular in part because of its story and its readable style—Lucretia, a married woman in Siena, falls in love with the courtier Euryalus, who has also fallen in love with her, though neither, for a time, realizes this—and in part because it was a sexually charged work written by a pope. Written originally in Latin, The Tale of Two Lovers was translated into German in 1462, several years before the appearance of the first print edition. The work has since been translated and published in various languages, including a 1929 English edition translated by Flora Grierson, which was reprinted in 1978.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you think the descriptions, particularly of women, have erotic overtones? Why or why not? Some critics have called the work mildly pornographic. Do you think, from this selection, that such a description is overstating the case? 2. Although this is obviously a translation, do you think the tone and style of the excerpt has a modern feel? Why or why not? 3. How does Lucretia react to the intensity of her feelings for a man who is not her husband? Is she ashamed, angry, frightened? Does this reaction ring true to the situation?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of The Tale of Two Lovers and read a larger selection from the work. Read in particular a series of the lovers’ letters that make up a large portion of the novel. Do you like the epistolary organization? Do you think a different format would have been more effective? 2. Search YouTube for “Pienza and Tuscan Landscapes,” a five-minute video showing views of the town of Pienza, where Piccolomini was born and which he had extensively remodeled and rebuilt, as well as renamed after himself. 3. Access a print or online edition of Piccolomini’s most famous work, his Commentaries, which constitutes a remarkably frank third-person autobiography detailing his not always edifying life before becoming pope.

31

Voices of the Renaissance

HOUSE OF PICCOLOMINI Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was born into a family of merchants, soldiers, and churchmen that rose to wealth and prominence in Siena in the 13th century. The foundation of the family’s position and fortune was international trade; the Piccolominis maintained trading houses in important Italian cities, such as Genoa and Venice, and in the major cities of France and Germany. Aeneas Sylvius’ career in the 15th century corresponded with the family’s peak period of wealth and influence. After taking Holy Orders, Aeneas Sylvius was named bishop of Trieste in 1447 and bishop of Siena in 1450. His diplomatic work for Pope Calixtus III led to his appointment as a cardinal in 1456. After the death of Calixtus in 1458, Aeneas Sylvius was elected pope as Pius II. During Pius’ pontificate, his nephew, Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini, his sister’s son, was created Duke of Amalfi by the king of Naples. Another nephew, Antonio’s younger brother Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, won election as pope under the name Pius III in 1503. In the 16th century, two other kinsmen of Pius II achieved prominence. In 1528, Alfonso Piccolomini obtained a senior military command in Naples under Emperor Charles V. Alessandro Piccolomini, archbishop of Siena, won renown in the 1530s and 1540s as a poet, dramatist, and humanist scholar. In the 17th century, Ottavio Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, won fame as a military commander in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War.

Further Information Izbicki, Thomas M., Gerald Christianson, and Philip Krey, trans. Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius: Selected Letters of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II). Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2006. Noel, Gerard. “Pope Pius II.” In Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll and Graff Publishers, 2006, pp. 29–46. O’Brien, Emily. The “Commentaries” of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II). Commentaries. Edited by Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, 2007. Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II). The Tale of Two Lovers. Translated by Flora Grierson. Reprint ed. Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1978.

Website Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius. The Tale of Two Lovers. Translated by Flora Grierson. London: Constable and Company, 1929. Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum. www.forumromanum. org/literature/piccolomini/hist_e.html.

32

6. “A HOUSE IS A LITTLE CITY ” A Description of a Gentleman’s Country House From Leon Battista Alberti’s De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building) (1452) INTRODUCTION Born in Genoa in 1404, Leon Battista Alberti was the illegitimate son of a prominent Florentine exile. Despite his birth status, Alberti received an excellent humanist education. He studied law at Bologna, and by 1424 was writing Latin comedies and satires, as well as works of moral philosophy. He entered papal service in 1431, becoming a clerk in the papal secretariat. In Rome, he was fascinated by the ancient ruins he encountered and quickly developed an interest in architecture. A trip to Florence in 1432 exposed him to the classicizing movement in art and architecture then underway in that city. In 1435, these influences led to the writing of De pictura (On Painting), Alberti’s Latin treatise on the theory of painting, which he translated into Italian in 1436. Basing his treatise on the discussion of painting offered by the Roman writer Pliny in his Historia naturalis (Natural History) (77 CE), Alberti sought to bridge the gap between humanist scholars who viewed art in terms of geometry and mathematical rules of composition and perspective, and working artisans who sought to accurately depict what they saw around them. Starting in 1435 as an advisor to the pope on the rebuilding and restoration of Rome, Alberti by 1450 was accepting architectural commissions for the building and remodeling of churches and other structures in Rome and elsewhere. In 1452, Alberti completed his second major work, De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building); although largely based on De architectura (On Architecture) (ca. 30–15 BCE) by the Roman architect Vitruvius, De re aedificatoria, which is excerpted here, is the first and most influential treatise on the theory of architecture to come out of the Italian Renaissance.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Besides a discussion of architectural theory, De re aedificatoria described the architectural orders—that is, the different types of classical columns and their surmounting entablature; laid out basic principles of town planning and design; and explained the ideals of mathematical proportion. 2. Jacob Burckhardt, the 19th-century Swiss historian whose The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860) created the modern idea of the Renaissance

33

Voices of the Renaissance

era, considered Alberti to be one of the first examples of a truly “Renaissance man”—that is, a man of universal genius with wide interests and accomplishments. Burckhardt’s quintessential Renaissance man was Leonardo da Vinci (see Section 7), whom he contrasted with Aberti as follows: “Leonardo da Vinci was to Alberti as the finisher to the beginner, as the master to the dilettante. . . .,” but in “all by which praise is won, Leon Battista [Alberti] was from his childhood the first. . . .” (Burckhardt, 107)

Document: Excerpt from De re aedificatoria I now come to treat of private edifices. I have already observed elsewhere that a house is a little city. We are therefore in the building of it, to have an eye almost to everything that relates to the building of a city; that it be healthy, furnished with all manner of necessaries, not deficient in any of the conveniences that conduce to the repose, tranquility, or delicacy of life. . . . A private house is manifestly designed for the use of a family, to which it ought to be a useful and convenient abode. It will not be so convenient as it ought, if it has not everything within itself that the family has occasion for. There is a great number of persons and things in a family, which you cannot distribute as you would in a city so well as you can in the country. In building a house in town, your neighbor’s wall, a common gutter, a public square or street, and the like, shall all hinder you from contriving it just to your own mind; which is not so in the country, where you have as much freedom as you have obstruction in town. For this, and other reasons, therefore, I shall distinguish the matter thus: that the habitation for a private person must be different in town from what it is in the country. In both there must again be a difference between those which are for the meaner sort of citizens and those which are for the rich. The meaner sort build only for necessity; but the rich for pleasure and delight. I shall set down such rules as the modesty of the wisest men may approve of in all sorts of buildings, and for that purpose shall begin with those that are most easy. Habitations in the country are the freest from all obstructions, and therefore people are more inclined to bestow their expense in the country than in town. We shall therefore first take a review of some observations which we have already made, and which are very material with relation to the chief uses of a country house. They are as follows: we should carefully avoid bad air and ill soil. We should build in the middle of an open champian, under the shelter of some hill, where there is champian: a flat, open space plenty of water, and pleasant prospects, and in the healthiest part of a healthy country. . . . A country house ought to stand in such a place as may lie most convenient for the owner’s house in town. . . . It ought not therefore to lie far from the city, and the way to it should be good and clear, so as he may go to it either in summer or winter, either in a coach, or on foot, and if possible by water. It will be also very convenient to have your way to it lie through a gate of the city that is not far from your town house, but as near as it may be, that you may go backwards and forwards from town to country, and from country to town, with your wife and family, as often as you please, without being too much observed by the people, or being obliged in the least to consult your dress. It is not amiss to have a villa so placed, that when you go to it in the morning the rays of the rising sun

34

“A House Is a Little City”

may not be troublesome to your eyes, nor those of the setting sun in the evening when you return to the city. Neither should a country house stand in a remote, desert, mean corner, distant from a reasonable neighborhood; but in a situation where you may have people to converse with, drawn to the same place by the fruitfulness of the soil, the pleasantness of the air, the plentifulness of the country, the sweetness of the fields, and the security of the neighborhood. Nor should a villa be seated in a place of too much resort, near adjoining either to the city, or any great road, or to a port where great numbers of vessels and boats are continually putting in; but in such a situation, as though none of those pleasures may be wanting, yet your family may not be eternally molested with the visits of strangers and passengers. . . . Some are of the opinion that a gentleman’s country house should have quite different conveniences for summer and for winter; and the rules they give for this purpose are these: the bedchambers for the winter should look towards the point at which the sun rises in the winter, and the parlor, towards the equinoctial sun setting; whereas the bedchambers for the summer should look to the south, the parlors, to the winter sun-rising, and the portico or place for walking in, to the south. But, in my opinion, all these conveniences ought to be varied according to the difference of the country and climate, so as to temper heat by cold and dry by moist. I do not think it necessary for the gentleman’s house to stand in the most fruitful part of his whole estate, but rather in the most honorable, where he can uncontrolled enjoy all the pleasures and conveniences of air, sun, and fine prospects, go down easily at any time into his estate, receive strangers handsomely and spaciously, be seen by passengers for a good way round, and have a view of some city, towns, the sea, an open plain, and the tops of some known hills and mountains. Let him have the delights of the gardens, and the diversions of fishing and hunting close under his eye. . . . Source: Leoni, James, trans. The Architecture of Leon Battista Alberti. London, 1755.

AFTERMATH Alberti’s first major architectural commission came in 1450 from Sigismondo Malatesta, the ruler of Rimini, who wanted Rimini’s Gothic Church of San Francisco (today known as the Tempio Malatestiano) to be remodeled. Alberti designed a new marble façade for the building, which was to include a large dome and a front inspired by Roman triumphal arches. Although the full plan was never completed, a commemorative medal struck in Rimini shows what the original design looked like. In 1456, Alberti began a series of commissions for the Florentine wool merchant Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai. These commissions included designs for a new façade for the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence (see the sidebar) and for the refurbishing of the Palazzo Rucellai. The latter project included construction of the Loggia dei Rucellai, an open-sided extension that was built at right angles to the palace. In 1467, Alberti also designed the Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre in the Rucellai Chapel of the Church of San Pancrazio. Alberti rarely oversaw the actual construction of his designs. For example, the rebuilding of the Palazzo Rucellai, though done to Alberti’s design, was conducted by Bernardo Rosellino, a Florentine architect and sculptor who had worked with Alberti on the papal restoration of Rome in the 1430s and 1440s. A full edition of De re aedificatoria, which was dedicated to Pope Nicholas V, was published in 1485, 13 years after Alberti’s death.

35

Voices of the Renaissance

ASK YOURSELF 1. What kind of building is Alberti discussing in this excerpt? How does he view these structures and how does this view affect his idea of the ideal design for them? 2. In this excerpt, which concerns Alberti more—the way a country house is built or the way it accommodates and reflects the lifestyle of its owner? What would be the likely social class of the owner of such a house? What image would such a person want or need to project, and how does Alberti’s conception of the country house serve such an image?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access print or online translations of Alberti’s two other theoretical works, De pictura (On painting) (1435) and De statua (On Sculpture) (ca. 1464). Read selections from each. What is Alberti’s concept of the art of painting, of the art of sculpting? Access a print or online edition of De re aedificatoria and read Alberti’s description of the proper design for other types of buildings. 2. Search YouTube for “Alberti, Façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence” and “Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai,” two five-minute videos in which Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris analyze Alberti’s designs for both structures, which are pictured from many angles. 3. View Part III: Leon Battista Alberti: Humanism of Roberto Rossellini’s 1973 television series The Age of the Medici, which explores the history, politics, art, and architecture of Renaissance Florence in the 15th century. Shot in English, the program is a docudrama, which is meant to teach rather than entertain. The Italian actor Virginio Gazzolo plays Alberti, whose life and work are the focus of the last part of the series.

CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA NOVELLA In 1456, Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, a wealthy Florentine wool merchant, commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to design a new façade for the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Characterized by its elegant marble inlays, Alberti’s façade exhibited an innovative geometric design that drew its proportions from a series of ratios derived from music. Alberti knew that the pitch of a resonating string or wire would rise in certain harmonic proportions as its length was reduced. Alberti used the ratios described by these harmonics to make the new structure harmonize with the existing medieval façade. Alberti’s façade for Santa Maria Novella was the first Renaissance construction to employ these ratios. Square in overall shape, Alberti’s façade is a series of repeating squares of green and white marble. The upper portion of the façade includes four pilasters of green and white and a large round window. On the lower part of the façade, Alberti placed four columns with Corinthian capitals. S-shaped scrolls on the upper part of the structure, which were used to transition from the wider storey to the narrow one, were an innovation of Alberti’s, and greatly influenced much subsequent Church design in Italy. Work on the remodeling of the Church of Santa Maria Novella was completed in 1470, just two years before Alberti’s death.

36

“A House Is a Little City”

Further Information Alberti, Leon Battista. De re aedificatoria. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated by Joseph Rykwert, Robert Tavernor, and Neil Leach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988. Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting: A New Translation and Critical Edition. Edited and translated by Rocco Sinisgalli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Alberti, Leon Battista. The Ten Books of Architecture: The 1755 Leoni Edition. New York: Dover Publications, 1986. Anderson, Christy. Renaissance Architecture. Oxford History of Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Brothers, Cammy. Michelangelo, Drawing, and the Invention of Architecture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Translated by S.G.C. Middlemore. New York: Modern Library, 1954. Frommel, Christoph Luitpold. The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance. London: Thames and Hudson, 2007. Grafton, Anthony. Leon Battista Alberti: Master Builder of the Italian Renaissance. New York: Hill and Wang, 2000. Hemsoll, David. Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance Buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019. King, Ross. Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. Reprint ed. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2013. Pearson, Caspar. Humanism and the Urban World: Leon Battista Alberti and the Renaissance City. Philadelphia: Penn State University Press, 2011.

37

This page intentionally left blank

7. “I C AN C ARRY OUT SCULPTURE IN M ARBLE , BRONZE OR CLAY ” Leonardo da Vinci’s Letter to Ludovico Sforza (ca. 1482) and Excerpts From Leonardo’s Notebooks INTRODUCTION Leonardo da Vinci, an artist and polymath who is widely considered to be the quintessential example of a Renaissance man, was born out of wedlock in 1452 in a village near the Tuscan town of Vinci within the Republic of Florence. His father was a Florentine notary, a commissioned civil servant responsible for the proper attestation of legal documents, and his mother was a peasant woman named Caterina. As a child, he had no formal academic education, though he does seem to have received some informal training in Latin, geometry, and mathematics. Little is known about his childhood, though his family eventually moved to Florence, where, in about 1466, Leonardo began his artistic training in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, a prominent Florentine painter and sculptor. He started a formal seven-year apprenticeship with Verrocchio in about 1469. By 1478, Leonardo was accepting independent commissions and, according to some traditions, was being patronized by the city’s ruling Medici family. In about 1482, Leonardo sent a letter, excerpted here, to Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Seeking to attract the duke’s patronage, Leonardo emphasized his technological and engineering skills, especially in fortification and weapons design, although he also mentioned his ability as a painter. After entering the duke’s service, Leonardo was set to designing fortresses, waterways, and weapons. During his time in Milan, he filled notebooks, which, during the course of his lifetime, eventually totaled more than 3,500 pages, with designs for such inventions as tanks, flying machines, and shoes for walking on water. The second document reproduced here is an excerpt from Leonardo’s notebooks covering his study of the human body.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. The range of Leonardo’s interests and abilities was staggering, leading one modern art historian to write that “his mind and personality seem to us superhuman” (Gardner, 450). His major art works, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are well known, but Leonardo’s notebooks also reveal discoveries and inventions in such fields as anatomy, architecture, botany, civil engineering, geography, geology, hydrodynamics, mathematics, music, optics, philosophy, sculpture, and zoology.

39

Voices of the Renaissance

His designs for a type of helicopter, a parachute, an armored tank, a solar power device, and an adding machine were beyond the technological capacity of his day, and since his notebooks were a mass of unorganized observations and never published in any form during his lifetime, his findings and inventions had little direct impact on the development of European science. 2. During his stay in Milan, Leonardo completed two of his most famous paintings— The Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper. Commissioned in 1483, The Virgin of the Rocks exists in two versions—one in the Louvre Museum in Paris and one in the National Gallery in London. The Louvre painting is generally considered to be the earlier version. Both paintings show the Madonna and an angel with the infant Jesus and an infant John the Baptist surrounded by a rocky landscape, hence the title. The Last Supper, which was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza and completed about 1497, is a mural housed in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. It is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. Due to deterioration over time, environmental factors, and some malicious damage, frequent and sometimes controversial restorations have been required, the most recent in 1999. The painting has been often referenced in literature, including in Dan Brown’s 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code, in which the figure to the left of Jesus in the painting is suggested to be Mary Magdalene, and in the films, such as MASH and Jesus Christ Superstar, where the figures in the painting are parodied by characters in the films.

Document 1: Letter to Lodovico Sforza Most illustrious Lord, Having now sufficiently considered the specimens of all those who proclaim themselves skilled contrivers of instruments of war, and that the invention and operation of the said instruments are nothing different to those in common use: I shall endeavour, without prejudice to anyone else, to explain myself to your Excellency showing your Lordship my secrets, and then offering them to your best pleasure and approbation to work with effect at opportune moments as well as all those things which, in part, shall be briefly noted below. 1) I have a sort of extremely light and strong bridges, adapted to be most easily carried, and with them you may pursue, and at any time flee from the enemy; and others, secure and indestructible by fire and battle, easy and convenient to lift and place. Also methods of burning and destroying those of the enemy. 2) I know how, when a place is besieged, to take the water out of the trenches, and make endless variety of bridges, and covered ways and ladders, and other machines pertaining to such expeditions. 3) Item. If, by reason of the height of the banks, or the strength of the place and its position, it is impossible, when besieging a place, to avail oneself of the plan of bombardment, I have methods for destroying every rock or other fortress, even if it were founded on a rock, &c. 4) Again I have kinds of mortars; most convenient and easy to carry; and with these can fling small stones almost resembling a storm; and with the smoke of these causing great terror to the enemy, to his great detriment and confusion.

40

“I Can Carry Out Sculpture in Marble, Bronze or Clay”

5) Item. I have means by secret and tortuous mines and ways, made without noise to reach a designated [spot], even if it were needed to pass under a trench or a river. 6) Item. I will make covered chariots, safe and unattackable which, entering among the enemy with their artillery, there is no body of men so great but they would break them. And behind these, infantry could follow quite unhurt and without any hindrance. 7) Item. In case of need I will make big guns, mortars and light ordnance of fine and useful forms, out of the common type. 8) Where the operation of bombardment should fail, I would contrive catapults, mangonels, trabocchi mangonels, trabocchi: types of siege engines and other machines of marvellous efficacy and not used for throwing stones and other types in common use. And in short, according to the vaof missiles riety of cases, I can contrive various and endless means of offence and defence. 9) And when the fight should be at sea I have kinds of many machines most efficient for offence and defence; and vessels which will resist the attack of the largest guns and powder and fumes. 10) In time of peace I believe I can give perfect satisfaction and to the equal of any other in architecture and the composition of buildings public and private; and in guiding water from one place to another. Item: I can carry out sculpture in marble, bronze or clay, and also in painting whatever may be done, and as well as any other, be he whom he may. Again, the bronze horse may be taken in hand, which is to be to the immortal glory and eternal honour of the prince your father of happy memory, and of the illustrious house of Sforza. And if any one of the above-named things seem to anyone to be impossible or not feasible, I am most ready to make the experiment in your park, or in whatever place may please your Excellency—to whom I commend myself with the utmost humility &c. Source: Richter, Jean Paul, ed. The Literary Works of Leonardo de Vinci. Vol. 1. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1883, XXI, #1340.

Document 2: Excerpts from the Notebooks This depicting of mine of the human body will be as clear to you as if you had the natural man before you; and the reason is that if you wish thoroughly to know the parts of man, anatomically, you—or your eye—require to see it from different aspects, considering it from below and from above and from its sides, turning it about and seeking the origin of each member; and in this way the natural anatomy is sufficient for your comprehension. But you must understand that this amount of knowledge will not continue to satisfy you; seeing the very great confusion that must result from the combination of tissues, with veins, arteries, nerves, sinews, muscles, bones, and blood which, of itself, tinges every part the same colour. And the veins, which discharge this blood, are not discerned by reason of their smallness.

41

Voices of the Renaissance

Moreover integrity of the tissues, in the process of the investigating the parts within them, is inevitably destroyed, and their transparent substance being tinged with blood does not allow you to recognise the parts covered by them, from the similarity of their blood-stained hue; and you cannot know everything of the one without confusing and destroying the other. Hence, some further anatomy drawings become necessary. Of which you want three to give full knowledge of the veins and arteries, everything else being destroyed with the greatest care. And three others to display the tissues; and three for the sinews and muscles and ligaments; and three for the bones and cartilages; and three for the anatomy of the bones, which have to be sawn to show which are hollow and which are not, which have marrow and which are spongy, and which are thick from the outside inwards, and which are thin. And some are extremely thin in some parts and thick in others, and in some parts hollow or filled up with bone, or full of marrow, or spongy. And all these conditions are sometimes found in one and the same bone, and in some bones none of them. And three you must have for the woman, in which there is much that is mysterious by reason of the womb and the foetus. Therefore by my drawings every part will be known to you, and all by means of demonstrations from three different points of view of each part; for when you have seen a limb from the front, with any muscles, sinews, or veins which take their rise from the opposite side, the same limb will be shown to you in a side view or from behind, exactly as if you had that same limb in your hand and were turning it from side to side until you had acquired a full comprehension of all you wished to know. In the same way there will be put before you three or four demonstrations of each limb, from various points of view, so that you will be left with a true and complete knowledge of all you wish to learn of the human figure. Thus, in twelve entire figures, you will have set before you the cosmography of this lesser world on the same plan Ptolemy: Claudius Ptolemy (ca. 100– as, before me, was adopted by Ptolemy in his cosmograca. 170 CE) was a mathematician, phy; and so I will afterwards divide them into limbs as he astronomer, and geographer who wrote divided the whole world into provinces; then I will speak of several scientific treatises, including the the function of each part in every direction, putting before Geographia or Cosmographia, an atlas and your eyes a description of the whole form and substance treatise on cartography of man, as regards his movements from place to place, by means of his different parts. And thus, if it please our great Author, I may demonstrate the nature of men, and their customs in the way I describe his figure. Source: Richter, Jean Paul, trans. The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci. Vol. 1. London: Sampson Low, 1883, pp. 108–11.

AFTERMATH Leonardo left Milan in 1499 when the French occupied the city. He then lived briefly in Mantua and Venice, before moving to Florence in 1500. In 1502, Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, hired Leonardo to create maps that would allow Borgia to better plan the strategic movements of his military campaigns. In 1503, Leonardo returned to Florence, where he undertook many of his most important art works. In 1504–1505, he worked on a cartoon and mural entitled The Battle of Anghiari, which

42

“I Can Carry Out Sculpture in Marble, Bronze or Clay”

was commissioned by the Florentine government. In about 1507, he completed his most famous work, the Mona Lisa, which is believed to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo (hence the painting’s alternative name—La Gioconda). During this time and while in Rome in the pope’s service, Leonardo also undertook the study of anatomy, dissecting cadavers to better understand and draw the human body. Leonardo entered the service of King Francis I of France in 1516, and sometime in the following year moved to that country, where he was given use of a manor house near the Château d’Amboise, a favored royal residence in the Loire Valley. Visited frequently by the king, Leonardo drew up plans for a new town to be built around a royal castle and designed mechanical devices for royal masques, including a lion that could walk. When Leonardo died in May 1519, his body was buried in the chapel of the Château d’Amboise, where it remained until the chapel was destroyed during the French Revolution. The remains were recovered during excavations in 1863 and subsequently reburied in the nearby Chapelle of SaintHubert in 1874.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Would you say that Leonardo’s letter to the Duke of Milan is similar to a modern resume that one would send to a prospective employer? From the letter, what do you think Leonardo believed were the duke’s main interests? Did any of the talents or abilities that Leonardo listed surprise you? If so, why? 2. What does Leonardo say about the depiction of the human body in this excerpt from his notebooks? Does Leonardo seem most interested in what he has discovered about the body, or does he seem more interested in describing the best way to draw the body so as to properly illustrate it for viewers? What does he say is the best way to view the human body?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Leonardo’s notebooks and read his notes, or view his drawings, on other topics besides anatomy. Try to find some of the sections showing the weapons and fortifications that he designed for the Duke of Milan, or other inventions and ideas from his time in Florence. 2. Search YouTube for “Leonardo DaVinci, behind a Genius,” a BBC documentary on Leonardo’s life and career. Search also on YouTube and other streaming services such as Prime Video for other programs on Leonardo or on his individual works, such as “Who Is Mona Lisa?,” a documentary by the German public broadcast service DW. The video seeks to conclusively determine who actually sat for Leonardo’s famous portrait. 3. Since 2019 was the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death, numerous films and documentaries were released to commemorate the event. Many of these are available on Netflix and other streaming services. Among these films are Being Leonardo Da Vinci (2019), which is in Italian with subtitles, and A Night at the Louvre: Leonardo da Vinci (2020), which is in English and runs 90 minutes.

43

Voices of the Renaissance

SALAÌ Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, usually referred to as Salaì, was a long-time pupil and servant of Leonardo da Vinci. Salaì entered Leonardo’s household in 1490 at the age of 10. He stayed with Leonardo for almost 30 years, even though Leonardo once described him as “a liar, a thief, stubborn and a glutton” (Discovering Da Vinci), and recorded five occasions when the boy stole from him. The name Salaì, which means “demon” or “little devil,” was apparently given by Leonardo to humorously reflect the young man’s effect on the artist’s household. Salaì became a competent, if not brilliant, artist in his own right under the name Andrea Salaì, painting, among other works, the Monna Vanna, a nude version of the Mona Lisa that may have been based on one of Leonardo’s charcoal sketches. Salaì is thought to have served as the model for Leonardo’s St. John the Baptist and for his Bacchus. Some scholars even suggest that Salaì was the true model for the Mona Lisa, but this theory has been widely dismissed, especially by the Louvre, where the painting is now displayed. There are also suggestions that Leonardo left the Mona Lisa and other paintings to Salaì, and that these works came into the possession of Francis I of France after Salaì’s death, but this theory is unproven. Some historians speculate that Salaì, whose name appears more frequently than any other in Leonardo’s notes, was the artist’s male lover. This theory is based largely on drawings by Leonardo that depicts a model who was likely Salaì in a sexual manner. Salaì, who did not marry until 1523, four years after Leonardo’s death, was killed in a duel in 1524.

Further Information Gardner, Helen. Art through the Ages. Reprint ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1970. Isaacson, Walter. Leonardo da Vinci. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018. Kemp, Martin J. Leonardo by Leonardo. New York: Calloway Arts and Entertainment, 2019. Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo’s Notebooks: Writing and Art of the Great Master. Edited by H. Anna Suh. Reprint ed. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2013. Nicholl, Charles. Leonardo da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind. New York: Viking, 2004. Zöllner, Frank, and Johannes Nathan. Leonardo: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. Berlin: Taschen, 2019.

Websites Discovering Da Vinci. https://www.discoveringdavinci.com/salai/. Leonardo da Vinci. Letter to Ludovico Sforza. https://genius.com/Leonardo-da-vinci-letterto-ludovico-sforza-annotated#:~:text. The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. Project Gutenberg. www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/ 5000/pg5000.html.

44

8. “HE FELL TO CRYING ‘WINE! WINE! WINE!’ ” Excerpts From the Novelle or Tales (1554–1573) of Matteo Bandello INTRODUCTION Matteo Bandello was born in the town of Castelnuovo Scrivia in the Duchy of Milan in about 1485. He was well educated and entered the service of the Church, becoming a member of the Dominican Order. Despite his clerical status, he lived a secular life, serving as a diplomat in the court of Mantua, where he made the acquaintance of Niccolò Machiavelli (see Section 23) and tutored Lucrezia Gonzaga, a member of the Mantua ruling family who later became known for her literary accomplishments. Bandello wrote much poetry, including a long composition dedicated to Lucrezia Gonzaga, and a series of Petrarchan sonnets (see Section 3), and also translated some classical works into Italian, such as Euripedes’ Hecuba. His most famous work is his Novelle (published in two parts, 1554 and 1573)—a collection of often scandalous or sensual tales based on history or folk stories. Although in the same genre as Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (see Section 2), the 214 stories in the Novelle lack the stylistic elegance of the Decameron. Nonetheless, Bandello’s entertaining stories were highly popular and often translated into other languages. Reproduced here is one tale from Bandello’s Novelle.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Bandello’s Novelle had great influence on English literature, for it is believed that William Shakespeare’s plays Cymbeline, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, and Romeo and Juliet are in part or in full based upon tales by Bandello. Also, a Jacobean tragedy by dramatist John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi (1612–1613), is thought to be an adaptation of a Bandello story, as is The Insatiate Countess (1613), a play by John Marston (see the sidebar). 2. Bandello’s stories derive from a variety of sources. Many were drawn from real-life events that were related to Bandello by friends and acquaintances. Some stories were taken from literary sources, such as works of Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and the Roman historian Livy. Some are based on historical events in both Italy and other countries. There are tales, for instance, derived from English history, such as

45

Voices of the Renaissance

a story relating an incident from the life of Margaret Douglas, a niece of Henry VIII, and one adapting the history of Henry VIII’s six wives. Adultery, revenge, jealousy, and murder are frequent themes, though some tales are bawdy and humorous.

Document: Excerpts from the Novelle The Sixth Story Fra Bernardino da Peltro, seeking to set St. Francis over all the other saints, is confounded by a student. You must know, sirs, that when I was a student and abode at Pavia to learn the civil law, Fra Bernardino da Peltro, a man of exceeding consideration in our order, preached a whole year long in the Cathedral Church of Pavia to as great a concourse as was ever seen in that city. He had preached the foregone year at Brescia, where he had let publicly burn in the market-place the false tresses which the women wore on their heads, to enhance their native beauty, and other like womanish vanities. . . . Now, being in the pulpit at Pavia on the feast day of our Seraphic Father St. Francis, Seraphic: angelic he entered, in the presence of a great concourse of people, St. Francis: Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181–1226) upon discourse of the many virtues of that saint, and havan Italian saint and preacher who founded ing descanted thereon at large and recounted store of mirthe Franciscan Order of Friars; he was acles by him wroughten in his life and after his death, he canonized in 1228 bestowed on him all those praises, excellences and dignities which behooved unto the sanctity of so glorious a father, and having, by most effectual arguments, authorities and examples, proved that he was full of all the Christian graces and was altogether seraphic and afire with charity, he kindled into an exceeding fervor and said, “What seat now shall we assign thee in heaven, holiest father mine? Where shall we set thee, O vessel full of every grace? What place shall we find apt unto such sanctity?” Then, beginning with the virgins, he ascended to the confessors, the martyrs, the apostles, to Saint John Baptist and other prophets and patriarchs, still avouching that St. Francis merited a more honored place than they; after which, raising his voice, he went on to say, “O saint most truly glorious, thou, whom thy most godly gifts and singular merits and the conformity of thy life unto Christ exalt and uplift over all the other saints, what place shall we find sorting with such excellence! Tell me, my brethren, where shall we set him? Tell me, you, gentlemen students, who are of exalted understanding, where shall we place this most holy saint?” Whereupon Messer Paolo Taegio, then a student of laws and nowadays a very famous doctor in Milan, who was seated on a stool over against the pulpit, being weary of the friar’s useless and indiscreet babble and belike misdoubting him he meant to put St. Francis above or at least on a level with the Holy Trinity, rose to his feet and uplifting his settle with both hands, said so loudly that he was heard of all the people, “Father mine, for God’s sake, give yourself no more pains to seek a seat for St. Francis; here is my settle; put him thereon and so he may sit down, for I am off.” And so, departing he gave occasion unto all to arise also and depart the Church; therefore it behooved [Fra Bernardino da Peltro] to come down from the pulpit, without finding a place for his saint, and return, all crestfallen, to San Giacomo. And indeed that which a man saith in the pulpit should be well considered, lest indiscreet preachments bring the word of God into derision. . . . 46

“He Fell to Crying ‘Wine! Wine! Wine!’”

The Thirteenth Story A quaint and merry saying of a German about drinking at a public festival holden at Naples. We do but cudgel our brains in vain, comrades mine, an we think to say determinately that such a nation drinketh more than such another, for that of every nation I have seen very great drinkers and have found many Germans and Frenchmen who love water more than wine. True, it seemeth there are some nations who love wine more than others; but in effect all are mighty fain to drink. I warrant me, indeed, I have known Italians so greedy and such drinkers that they would not yield to whatsoever famous winebibber amongst the Albanians or the Germans. And what would you say if I should name to you a Lombard, whom I have seen toast it with Germans at a German Cardinal’s table and overcome them all, and eke carry off the Bacchic palm amongst the Albanians? The French drink often and will have good and costly wines, but water them well and drink little at fain: pleased or willing a time. The Albanians and Germans will have the beaker Lombard: native of the north Italian region full, and would fain be winebibbing from morning to of Lombardy night. Nay, the Spaniard, who at home drinketh water, Bacchic: relating to Bacchus, the Roman god an he drink at another’s expense, will hold the basin to of wine, agriculture, and fertility any one’s beard. However, in general, methinketh the Francesco Sforza: Francesco Sforza (1401– Germans of every sort and condition, whether nobles or 1466), Duke of Milan from 1450 to 1466 commons, gentle or simple, love better than any other Pope Pius the Second: born Aeneas Sylvius nation to play at drinking and publicly fuddle themPiccolomini (1405–1464), Pius II was selves at noblemen’s tables, so that needs must one after pope from 1458 to 1464 another be carried home drunken and senseless; nor is Alfonso of Aragon: Alfonso V (1396–1458) this accounted a shame among them. And to this purwas ruler of the Spanish kingdom of pose, remembering me of a goodly saying of a German, Aragon from 1416 to 1458 I will tell you a pleasant anecdote. After Francesco Sforza, first of that name, Duke of Milan, to maintain peace in Italy, made the famous league and union of all the Italian powers, in the time of Pope Pius the Second, he married Ippolita his daughter to Alfonso of Aragon, firstborn son of King Ferdinand the Old of Naples, where the nuptials were solemnized with all pomp and splendor, as behooved unto two such princes. All the princes of Italy sent ambassadors to honor the nuptials, and Duke Francesco appointed the bride an escort of the most worshipful feudatories and gentlemen of Lombardy. Now, among many other festivities, carrousels and sports which were holden, there was ordained a solemn and most magnificent tournament, which befell one day of exceeding great heat, for it was then in June. The jousters appeared all arrayed in the richest of accoutrements, with quaint and well-ordered devices, according to each one’s humor, and mounted on fiery and spirited horses. All ran and many lances were broken, to the honor of the jousters and the no small pleasure of the spectators. The jousts ended, there was naught heard but praises of these and those and sayings such as, “Such a lord hath broken so many lances,” “Such a baron hath made so many strokes,” “Such a knight hath done so and so, and such another so and so.” But behold, what time silence was made, to proclaim who had the honours of the tournament, a German in one of the galleries, without waiting for the victory to be declared, fell to crying out and saying, as loudliest he might, “For my part, accursed be that sport and accursed be all the festivals and carrousels whereat folk drink not!” You need not ask if there was matter for laughter, more by token

47

Voices of the Renaissance

that he fell to crying “Wine! wine! wine!” wherefore I know not if there was ever a word spoken among such a multitude whereat it was laughed so much as it was for a pretty while at this speech of the German’s. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, ed. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 102–04.

AFTERMATH In 1525, following the imperial victory at the Battle of Pavia, Bandello fled from Milan, where his house was burned and his property confiscated. He thereafter took up residence in France, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1550, he was consecrated bishop of the French diocese of Agen. Largely written in France and published initially in 1554, with the second part of the work appearing in 1573 after Bandello’s death, the Novelle brought its author much acclaim. First translated into French by such noted French authors and translators as François de Belleforest and Pierre Boaistuau, many of Bandello’s tales were then turned from French into English by William Paynter and included in his The Palace of Pleasure, a collection of tales published in 1566. From Payner, these stories were likely picked up by Shakespeare and other English writers, who adapted them for their own works. Bandello himself died in France in about 1561.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Many of Bandello’s stories are about great villainies and misdeeds. What is the point and tone of the story about Fra Bernardino da Peltro? What is the point and tone of the story about the wine-loving German? Do these stories seem somewhat atypical of what you know about the tales of Bandello? Do you find these stories entertaining? 2. What do you think might have been Bandello’s source for these stories—some tale told by a friend, a written history, a folk story? Why do you think the way you do? 3. Do you find Bandello’s depiction of characters to be realistic and engaging? Why or why not? Does the dialogue Bandello gives each character help to define that character’s personality for the reader? Why or why not?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Bandello’s Novelle and read several other stories in the collection. Read a good variety of tales—those that are wicked and shocking as well as those that are funny or bawdy. Do you see why Bandello’s tales were so popular with 16th-century readers? 2. Access a print or online edition of Giovanna Boccaccio’s Decameron and read a selection of stories from that work. Then read a selection of tales from a print or online edition of Bandello’s Novelle. Understanding that both are translations, how do you think the two works compare in terms of tone, style, and literary quality? Which was more interesting to read? Why? 3. Read the sixth story from part two of the Novelle, which is the tale from which Shakespeare eventually adapted his Romeo and Juliet. How does Bandello’s tale, which is itself a version of earlier stories, differ from Shakespeare’s play? How is it similar?

48

“He Fell to Crying ‘Wine! Wine! Wine!’”

THE INSATIATE COUNTESS On October 20, 1526, Bianca Maria Gaspardone, the wife of Renato di Challant, was beheaded in the Castello di Porta Giova, the Sforza fortress in Milan. Only 26 years old, the countess of Challant had confessed to instigating the murder of one of the lovers she had taken while her husband was away at war. We know of this shocking story because Matteo Bandello included it in his Novelle, a collection of tales drawn from history and folklore. According to Bandello, the beautiful but wicked countess induced one lover to kill another lover with whom she had become bored. When the two men instead fell to talking and discovered the lady’s perfidy “they repeated in public and private the crimes of this dishonest woman until they were on every person’s lips” (The Novels of Matteo Bandello). Eager for revenge, Bianca convinced a third lover, who was deeply smitten with her, to kill the other two. After ambushing and slaying one of them, the third lover was arrested, whereupon he quickly implicated Bianca. She, attempting to bribe her way out of trouble, foolishly admitted her involvement, and so was sentenced to death. So popular was Bandello’s scandalous tale that it quickly made its way into European literature. The English dramatist John Marston based his 1613 play The Insatiate Countess on Bandello’s Bianca, and a Restoration version of the play, ponderously titled God’s Revenge against the Abominable Sin of Adultery, was produced in 1679. The story was also the basis of a 19th-century Italian play, La Signora di Challant.

Further Information Bandello, Matteo. An Ass Tricks the Brothers of Modena. Translated by Valerie Martone and Robert L. Martone. New York: Italica Press, 1994. Bandello, Matteo. Matteo Bandello: Twelve Stories. Translated by Percy Pinkerton. New York: Sagwan Press, 2015. Bandello, Matteo. The Novels of Matteo Bandello. Vol. 1. Sydney: Wentworth Press, 2019. Prunster, N. (Ed). Romeo and Juliet before Shakespeare: Four Early Stories of Star-Crossed Love. Renaissance and Reformation Texts in Translation, No. 8. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Victoria University, 2000.

Website The Novels of Matteo Bandello: Bishop of Agen. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ novelsmatteoban01bandgoog.

49

This page intentionally left blank

ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY

This page intentionally left blank

9. “THINKING LESS ABOUT WOMEN THAN ABOUT ROBBERS” Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s Description of His Mission to Scotland (1435) INTRODUCTION Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was born into a prominent Sienese family in 1405. In 1458, Piccolomini was elected pope as Pius II. In 1584, one of the late pope’s descendants oversaw the publication of his ancestor’s autobiography, a massive work running to 13 books that was entitled Commentarii (Commentaries). The work, which was written in the third person, was a frank and often amazingly indiscrete account both of Piccolomini’s early life and his reign as pope. Because Piccolomini had an eye for detail and a gift for concise, vivid description of people, places, and events, the Commentaries constitute one of the finest extant examples of Renaissance autobiography. The work provides valuable insight into the functioning and the corruption of the 15th-century papacy. The accounts of Piccolomini’s life before his election to the papacy honestly and sometimes shockingly describe his great ambition for ecclesiastical office—see his description of the conclave that elected him (Section 28)—and his lax morals—he fathered several children with women he encountered on his many travels. In 1435, Cardinal Niccoló Albergati sent Piccolomini on a mysterious mission to Scotland, where he had an audience with King James I. Reproduced here is an excerpt from the Commentaries in which Piccolomini described his trip to Scotland.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Cardinal Francesco Bandini Piccolomini, the distant descendant who had the Commentaries published in the 16th century, was shocked by some of what he found in the work. The cardinal altered and even removed some words and passages that he found inappropriate or unflattering to his ancestor. 2. King James and Piccolomini were both well educated, cultured men. Although James had spent much of his youth in captivity at the English court, he was well treated and became an accomplished poet and musician. His best-known literary work is The Kingis Quair, a love poem that is partly autobiographical in nature and may have been written for Joan Beaufort, the English noblewoman whom James wed in 1424. Piccolomini also wrote poetry, as well as various other works, such as a treatise on the nature and care of horses and a popular erotic novel entitled The Tale of Two Lovers (see Section 5). 53

Voices of the Renaissance

3. Piccolomini was less than impressed with what he saw of Scotland and northern England. He described Scotland as “a cold country where few things will grow and for the most part has no trees,” and where in winter “the day . . . is not more than four hours long.” He found that the “common people, who are poor and rude, stuff themselves with meat and fish, but eat bread as a luxury.” The men of Scotland were “short and brave,” but the women, in an observation typical of the future pope, “were fair, charming, and easily won. Women [in Scotland] think less of a kiss than in Italy of a touch of the hand” (Gabel, 33). Piccolomini also apparently thought little of the king, finding James “plump and overburdened with fat” (Farrell).

Document: Account of a Mission to James I of Scotland in 1435 Having therefore crossed the Channel again, he went to the town of Bruges and then to Sluys, the busiest port in all the West. There he took ship for Scotland, but was driven to Norway by two violent gales, one of which kept them in fear of death for fourteen hours. The other pounded the ship for two nights and a day, so that she sprang a leak and was carried so far out to sea toward the north that the sailors, who could no longer recognize the constellations, abandoned all hope. But the Divine Mercy came to their aid, raising north winds, which drove the vessel back toward the mainland and finally on the twelfth day brought them in sight of Scotland. When they had made harbor, Aeneas in fulfillment of a vow walked barefoot ten miles to the Blessed Virgin of Whitekirk. After resting there two hours he found on rising that he could not stir a step, his feet were so weak and so numb with cold. It was his salvation that there was nothing there to eat and that he had to go on to another village. While he was being carried rather than led by his servants, he got his feet warm by continually striking them on the ground, so that he unexpectedly recovered and began to walk. When he was at last admitted to the King’s [James I] presence, he obtained all he had come to ask. He was reimbursed for his traveling expenses and was given fifty nobles for the return journey and two horses called trotters. . . . When he had finished his business and was ready to return, the skipper who had brought him over promptly came and offered him his old quarters on his ship. But Aeneas, not so much foreseeing the future peril as remembering the past, said, “If he who has twice been in danger has no right to accuse Neptune, what is to be said to the man who suffers shipwreck a third time? I prefer to trust to the mercy of men rather than of the sea.” So he sent the sailor away and chose to travel through England. And very soon after the ship sailed, in the sight of all she ran into a storm, which broke her up and sank her, and the skipper, who was going back to Flanders to marry a young bride, was drowned with everyone else on board except four men who caught hold of some planks and managed to swim to land. Then Aeneas, realizing that he had been saved by a beneficent God, disguised himself as a merchant and left Scotland for England. A river [the Tweed], which rises in a high mountain, separates the two countries. When he had crossed this in a small boat and had reached a large town about sunset, he knocked at a farmhouse and had dinner there with his host and the parish priest. Many relishes and chickens and geese were served, but there was no bread or wine. All the men and women of the village came running as if to see a strange

54

“Thinking Less about Women than about Robbers”

sight and as our people marvel at Ethiopians or Indians, so they gazed in amazement at Aeneas, asking the priest where he came from, what his business was, and whether he was a Christian, Aeneas, having learned of the scanty entertainment to be found on his journey, had obtained at a certain monastery several loaves of bread and a jug of wine and when he brought these out, they excited the liveliest wonder among the barbarians, who had never seen wine or white bread. Pregnant women and their husbands kept coming up to the table, touching the bread and sniffing the wine and asking for some, so that he had to divide it all among them. When the meal had lasted till the second hour of the night [probably about 9:00 p.m.], the priest and the host together with all the men and children took leave of Aeneas and hastened away, saying that they were taking refuge in a tower a long way off for fear of the Scots, who were accustomed, when the river was low at ebb tide, to cross by night and make raids upon them. They could not by any means be induced to take him with them, although he earnestly besought them, nor yet any of the women, although there were a number of beautiful girls and matrons. For they think the enemy will do them no wrong—not counting outrage a wrong. So Aeneas remained behind with two servants and his one guide among a hundred women, who made a circle around the fire and sat up all night cleaning hemp and carrying on a lively conversation with the interpreter. But after a good part of the night had passed, two young women showed Aeneas, who was by this time very sleepy, to a chamber strewn with straw, planning to sleep with him, as was the custom of the country, if they were asked. But Aeneas, thinking less about women than about robbers, who he feared might appear any minute, repulsed the protesting girls, afraid that, if he committed a sin, he would have to pay the penalty as soon as the robbers arrived. So he remained alone among the heifers and nanny goats, which prevented him from sleeping a wink by stealthily pulling the straw out of his pallet. Sometime after midnight there was a great noise of dogs barking and geese hissing, at which all the women scattered, the guide took to his heels, and there was the wildest confusion as if the enemy were at hand. Aeneas however was afraid that if he rushed outside, in his ignorance of the road he might fall a prey to the first person he met. Accordingly he thought best to await events in his own room (it was the stable) and very soon the women returned with the interpreter, saying that nothing was wrong and that the newcomers were friends, not enemies. Aeneas thought this was the reward of his continence. Source: Gabel, Leona C., ed. Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope: The Commentaries of Pius II. Translated by Florence A. Gragg. New York: Capricorn Books, 1962, pp. 32–33, 34–35.

AFTERMATH Piccolomini does not make clear the reason for his mission to Scotland, saying only that he was attempting to restore a particular churchman to the king’s favor. Because his commission came from his patron, Cardinal Albergati, who was then attending the Congress of Arras, the first Anglo-French diplomatic conference in 15 years, the likely purpose of the mission was to convince James to reactivate Scottish involvement in the ongoing Hundred Years War. The Scots had abandoned their Auld Alliance with France after the destruction of a Scottish force fighting for the French at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424. Piccolomini may have asked James to invade northern England, thereby putting pressure on the English to make concessions at Arras. If this was indeed the mission, it failed; no such invasion

55

Voices of the Renaissance

resulted, and a Scottish siege of English-held Roxburgh Castle in 1436 would likely have occurred even without Piccolomini’s embassy. After his audience with James, Piccolomini, as he mentions in the excerpt above, travelled into England and eventually back to the Continent, where he returned to the ongoing ecclesiastical Council of Basel.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find any humor in this passage from the Commentaries? If so, why? Do you like his breezy writing style? 2. Does the way Piccolomini glosses over his meeting with the king surprise you? If so, why? Why do you think that his otherwise chatty tone is dropped for a brief recitation of facts when it comes to describing the royal audience? 3. It is said that Piccolomini suffered from rheumatism for the rest of his life after his visit to the cold climate of Scotland. Do you think that the discomforts he experienced in 1435 affected the way he wrote his description of the country a decade later? If so, how?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of the Commentaries and read further selections from the work. Read both passages from the period before Piccolomini’s election as pope and passages describing the events of his papacy. 2. Search YouTube for “Piccolomini Library” to see views of Pinturicchio’s frescoes of scenes from Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini’s life, including one depicting his audience with King James (see the sidebar). 3. Access a print (such as Izbicki) or online version of Piccolomini’s Epistles, a collection of letters compiled by the writer himself. Read a selection of these letters, many of which contain valuable historical information.

AN ITALIAN VISION OF SCOTLAND Siena Cathedral contains a side chapel named the Piccolomini Library in honor of one of the town’s most illustrious families. The walls of the chapel are decorated with a series of frescoes depicting events in the life of the family’s most famous member—Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who in 1458 became Pope Pius II. The second image of the fresco cycle, which was painted by the Perugian artist Pinturicchio in 1503, depicts Piccolomini’s 1435 audience with King James I of Scotland, an event that the future pope described in detail in his Commentaries. The fresco shows James enthroned on a raised dais and surrounded by courtiers and prelates fashionably arrayed in the colorful attire of 15th-century Italian aristocrats. Piccolomini, who, according to the Latin inscription accompanying the fresco, was sent to Scotland by the Council of Basel, stands before the king grandly gesticulating as he explains his mission. The king’s palace exhibits all the colors and features that would have characterized the court of an Italian prince of the High Renaissance. Framed by a minutely decorated marble arch, the audience scene is painted against a landscape background that appears to show gondolas gliding along a waterway that is in turn bounded by lush green shrubbery, as one might expect to see outside an Italian prince’s residence. The light, the colors, and the courtly conventions depicted in the fresco are all Mediterranean, not northern European. Clearly, Pinturicchio had never been to Scotland.

56

“Thinking Less about Women than about Robbers”

Further Information Brown, Michael. James I. East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell Press, 1994. Gabel, Leona C., ed. Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope: The Commentaries of Pius II. Translated by Florence A. Gragg. New York: Capricorn Books, 1962. Grant, Alexander. Independence and Nationhood, Scotland 1306–1469. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2001. Izbicki, Thomas M., Gerald Christianson, and Philip Krey, trans. Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius: Selected Letters of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II). Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2006. Noel, Gerard. “Pope Pius II.” In Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll and Graff Publishers, 2006, pp. 29–46. O’Brien, Emily. The “Commentaries” of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II). Commentaries. Edited by Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, 2007.

Website Farrell, Joseph. “Pope Pius II’s Scotland Visit in 1435 Explored.” The National, April 22, 2019. https://www.thenational.scot/news/17586837.scotlands-original-papal-visit/.

57

This page intentionally left blank

10. “ONCE THE WINE H AS BEEN SLEPT AWAY ” Excerpts From the Facetiae (1470) of Poggio Bracciolini INTRODUCTION Born in 1380 in the village of Terranova and educated in Florence, Poggio Bracciolini became a prominent humanist scholar, known particularly for his facility in Latin. He moved to Rome in 1403 and entered the papal secretariat, where, over the course of his lifetime, he served eight popes. Beginning in the 1420s, Bracciolini wrote a series of essays in dialogue form that espoused a number of advanced humanist positions and were often explicitly sexual or radically anticlerical in tone and content. These works included De avaritia (On Greed) (1428; see the sidebar); De infelicitate principum (On the Unhappiness of Princes) (1440); De nobilitate (On Nobility) (1440), which calls for a nobility based on virtue rather than on birth; De varietate fortunae (On the Vicissitudes of Fortune) (1447); and Contra hypocritas (Against Hypocrisy) (1448). He also left a collection of letters offering insight into the life of an early humanist and a history of Florence covering the period 1350–1455. His most popular work is the Liber facetiarum (Book of Facetiae) (1438–1452), a collection of facetiae, or anecdotes and jokes of an often bawdy or anticlerical nature. Thanks to Bracciolini, facetiae came to constitute a whole new literary genre, as humanist scholars throughout Europe wrote and distributed similar collections in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Reproduced here are selections from Bracciolini’s Facetiae.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Bracciolini spent the years 1418–1423 in England, staying with Cardinal Henry Beaufort, the uncle and chancellor of King Henry V. During his stay, the Italian brought humanist ideas to a kingdom that had, as yet, little experience of the new learning then sweeping Italy. It was Bracciolini who encouraged Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, a powerful figure during the reign of his nephew Henry VI, to endow Oxford University with his collection of more than 260 volumes, which became the basis of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. 2. Bracciolini engaged in a long and fierce literary debate with fellow humanist Lorenzo Valla (see Section 26) regarding the correct form of written Latin, with Valla advocating classical Ciceronian Latin and Bracciolini favoring the living language

59

Voices of the Renaissance

as it had evolved since Cicero’s time. The two writers also clashed over the appropriateness of subjecting the Judeo-Christian scriptures to the same textual analysis and criticism that humanists applied to pagan classical texts. Valla argued that such analysis should be applied to the scriptures, while Bracciolini saw humanism and theology as separate fields of inquiry. Later humanists largely agreed with Valla. Erasmus, the famous Dutch scholar dismissed Bracciolini as “a petty clerk so uneducated that even if he were not indecent he would still not be worth reading” (Camporeale, 10). 3. Bracciolini is also credited with developing a new style of handwriting that was much adopted by humanists. Based on a study of early medieval writing styles, Bracciolini’s formal humanist script is an ancestor of modern Roman type.

Document: Excerpts from the Facetiae XVII. Concerning a tailor of Visconti, by manner of comparison Pope Martin had charged Antonio Lusco with the preparation of a letter. After having read the same he ordered him to submit it to one of my friends, in whom he had the greatest confidence. This friend, who was at the table and a little warmed with wine, perhaps, disapproved of the letter completely and said that it ought to be re-written. Here Antonio said to Bartholomew de’ Bardi, who happened to be present: “I will correct my letter in the same way that the tailor widened Pope Martin: Martin V, born Otto Colonna, the breeches of Gian Galeazzo Visconti; to-morrow, before was pope from 1417 to 1431 dinner, I will return and the letter will be satisfactory.” BarGian Galeazzo Visconti: the first duke of tholomew asked him what he meant by that. “Gian Galeazzo Milan; he held that title from 1395 until Visconti, father of the elder Duke of Milan,” said Antonio, his death in 1402 “was a man of high stature, and excessively corpulent. One day, when he had lined his stomach, as frequently happened, with an abundance of food and drink, and betaken himself to bed, he summoned his tailor and overwhelmed him with reproaches, charging him with having made his breeches too narrow, and ordering him to enlarge them in such a way that they would no longer inconvenience him. ‘It shall be done,’ replied the tailor, ‘according to your desire; to-morrow morning this garment will fit you to perfection.’ The tailor took the breeches and hung them upon a peg without changing them in the least. Somebody said to him: ‘Why don’t you widen this garment which the great belly of Monsignor filled to bursting?’ ‘To-morrow,’ said the tailor, ‘when Monsignor rises, his digestion finished, the breeches will be quite large enough for him.’ Next morning he returned with the breeches and Visconti, drawing them on, remarked: ‘Now you see they fit me perfectly; they no longer bind me anywhere.’ And in the same way will the letter please,” Antonio said, “when once the wine has been slept away.” . . .

XXII. Concerning a priest who, instead of priestly vestments, carried capons to his bishop A bishop of Arezzo, Angelo by name, an acquaintance of ours, convoked one day his clergy for a synod, and ordered all who were clothed with any dignity whatsoever to set out upon the journey with the priestly habits, or as they say in Italian, with cappe e cotte. A certain 60

“Once the Wine Has Been Slept Away”

priest who did not possess these vestments, reflected sadly to himself, not knowing how he might procure them. His housekeeper, seeing him thoughtful with downcast head, asked the reason of his grief. He replied that, according to the orders of the bishop, it was necessary to go to the synod with cappe e cotte. “But, my good man,” replied the housekeeper, “you have not grasped the meaning of this order: Monsignor does not demand cappe e cotte, but rather capponi cotti; that is what you must take him.” The priest followed the woman’s advice. He carried along cooked capons, and was exceedingly well received. The bishop went so far as to say, with a capons: castrated male chickens that have smile, that he alone, among all his brethren, had comprebeen fattened for eating hended the true sense of the command. . . .

LV. A story of Mancini Mancini, a peasant of my village, used to carry grain to Figlino upon a drove of asses, which he hired for the purpose. One time, as he was returning from market, tired with the journey, he mounted upon the best of the animals. As he approached home he counted the asses ambling along before him, and, forgetting the one upon which he was riding, imagined that one of them was lacking. Greatly agitated, he left the asses with his wife, telling her to return them to their owners, and returned to the market, more than seven miles away, without dismounting. On the way, he inquired of every passer-by if he had not seen a stray ass. Each one replied that he had not. At night he returned home sad and totally discouraged at having lost an ass. Finally, upon his wife’s entreaty, he dismounted and discovered that which he had sought with so great pains. . . .

LVII. Ingenious retort of Dante, the Florentine poet Dante Allighieri, our Florentine poet, received for some time at Verona the hospitality of the elder Cane della Scala, a most generous prince. Cane had ever in his company another Florentine, a man without birth, learning or tact, who was good for nothing but to laugh and play the fool. His silly jokes, for they were not worthy the name of wit, so pleased Cane that he made him rich presents. Dante, a man of the greatest learning, modest as he was wise, regarded this person as a stupid beast, as he had reason to. “How does it come to pass,” said one day the Florentine to Dante, “that you are poor and needy, you who pass for learned and wise, while I am rich, I who am stupid and ignorant?” “When I shall find,” replied Dante, “a master like myself, and whose tastes are similar to my own, as you have found one, then he will enrich me too.” Excellent and just reply; for the great are ever pleased with the company of their like.

LVIII. Witty reply of the same poet Dante was one time at the table between the elder and the younger of the Cani della Scala. In order to put the joke upon him the attendants of the two lords threw stealthily all the bones at the feet of Dante. On arising from the table the whole company turned toward Dante, astonished to see so great a quantity of bones at his place. But he, quick to take advantage of the situation, said: “Surely it is nothing to wonder at if the Dogs have eaten their bones. I myself am no dog.” . . . Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, trans. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 33–40. 61

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Much inspired by the revived interest in the art and literature of the classical world that had been encouraged by early humanists such as Petrarch (see Section 3) and Giovanni Boccaccio (see Section 2), Bracciolini spent much time searching for ancient Latin manuscripts. During and in the years following his attendance at the Council of Constance in 1414, he searched numerous French, Swiss, and German monasteries, uncovering several important works of Cicero, including a complete copy of his forensic orations at Cluny Abbey and nine previously unknown orations at Langres in France. Bracciolini also found a copy of Vitruvius’ De architectura (On Architecture) and a copy of Frontinus’ De aquaeductu (On Aqueducts). His greatest success was the discovery in a German monastery of the only surviving manuscript of De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius. Bracciolini had each of his discoveries copied and then communicated or distributed to other scholars, thereby greatly increasing access to classical authors and preserving their works for posterity.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find these anecdotes to be bawdy? Do you find them to be funny? Why do you think facetiae collections were so popular in the 15th century? Do they have aspects of the political mocking and criticism that one sometimes sees on modern news and opinion programs? 2. Anticlericalism is a criticism or mocking of the clergy, whom many humanists prior to the Reformation found to be corrupt, unlearned, and incompetent. Do you think these anecdotes have an anticlerical tone? If so, do you think such anecdotes helped promote anticlericalism, or do you think they were popular because they struck a chord with an already anticlerical audience? 3. Do you think these stories were based on tales that the author may have heard or that may have been current when he wrote, or do you think these are largely fiction made up by Bracciolini to make a certain point? Could they be a blend of both?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Bracciolini’s Facetiae and read more selections from the work. See Barbara Bowen’s article listed in “Further Information,” below, for English translations of other Italian and German facetiae collections published by Renaissance humanists. If possible, find one of these works and compare it to Bracciolini’s Facetiae. 2. Obtain a copy of Stephen Greenblatt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, which was published in 2011. The book describes Bracciolini’s discovery of Lucretius’ De rerum natura and analyzes the importance of that discovery to the development of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and modern science. Also search YouTube for “ ‘The Swerve’: When an Ancient Text Reaches Out & Touches Us,” which is a 2012 PBS NewsHour interview of Greenblatt talking about his book.

62

“Once the Wine Has Been Slept Away”

GREED IS GOOD The Renaissance, as its ideas began to spread, challenged the foundational notions of medieval life. One such notion was the belief that the contemplative life of seclusion, often as led in a monastery, was superior to a life of active engagement in the world. Thus, the life of a monk or hermit was more worthy than the life of a merchant, artisan, or royal officer. But as the 15th century progressed, and humanism became more widely accepted, the superiority of the contemplative life was frequently questioned. Humanism, by placing greater emphasis on human concerns than on spiritual matters, saw great value in active civic engagement. As a consequence, some humanists, such as Poggio Bracciolini, soon went even further in rejecting medieval thought. In his essay De avaritia (On Greed) (1428–1429), Bracciolini offered one of the earliest defenses of capitalism, an economic system that had been denounced by medieval clerics, who saw such practices as the charging of interest as sinful. De avaritia is written as a dialogue among three persons, one of whom argues that greed is essential to human society. Without greed “every splendor, every refinement, every ornament would be lacking. No one would build churches or colonnades; all artistic activity would cease, and confusion would result . . . if everyone were satisfied with only enough for himself.” Indeed, declared Bracciolini through his character, kingdoms and city-states were nothing “if not the workshops of avarice” (King, 92). This view, though startling and radical in the 15th century, is today the basis of economic life in much of the world.

Further Information Bowen, Barbara. “Renaissance Collections of Facetiae, 1344–1490: A New Listing.” Renaissance Quarterly 39, no. 1 (1986): 263–75. Bracciolini, Poggio. Revival: The Facetia of Poggio and Other Medieval Story-tellers (1928). Translated by Edward Storer. Routledge Revivals. London: Routledge, 2017. Camporeale, Salvatore I. Christianity, Latinity, and Culture: Two Studies of Lorenzo Valla. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Gordan, Phyllis Walter Goodhart. Two Renaissance Book Hunters: The Letters of Poggius Bracciolini to Nicolaus de Niccolis. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Hellinga, Lotte. “The Link between Two Early Printed Books: Two Editions of Poggio Bracciolini, Facetiae, c. 1470–1471.” In Anna Laura Lepschy, ed. Book Production and Letters in the Western European Renaissance: Essays in Honour of Conor Fahy. Cambridge: Modern Humanities Research Association, 1986, pp. 166–83. King, Margaret L. A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. Shepherd, William. The Life of Poggio Bracciolini. Reprint ed. Miami: Hardpress, 2017.

Website The Facetiae Or Jocose Tales of Poggio. Paris, 1879. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/ details/facetiaeorjocos00bracgoog/page/n7/mode/2up.

63

This page intentionally left blank

11. “TO SAIL TO THE R EGIONS OF THE E AST BY THOSE OF THE WEST ” Letters on Trade and Western Voyaging From Paolo Toscanelli to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Martins (1474) INTRODUCTION Born in Florence in 1397, Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was a noted mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and physician. As official astrologer of the Florentine government, Toscanelli made careful observations of the skies, noting the passing of several comets, including the bright comet that appeared in 1456, which, after its later observation by Edmond Halley in 1759, was to become known as Halley’s Comet. Toscanelli was also a prominent member of Florence’s humanist community, being friends with such figures as the architects Leon Battista Alberti (see Section 6) and Filippo Brunelleschi, the philosopher Marsilio Ficino, and the German theologian and astronomer Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa. In June 1474, Toscanelli responded to an inquiry sent by Ferdinand Martins, a canon of Lisbon Cathedral, on behalf of King Afonso V of Portugal, who was interested in Toscanelli’s thoughts on the utility of sailing westward into the Atlantic Ocean. Toscanelli in his reply, which one modern historian considers “one of the decisive letters of history” (King, 366), describes the theoretical benefits that could be gained from such voyaging. In the 1480s, Toscanelli sent a copy of this letter, and the map that had accompanied it, to Christopher Columbus, who was interested in the same question. Reproduced here are excerpts from Toscanelli’s letter to Martins and from his two letters to Columbus.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In his first letter to Columbus, Toscanelli wrote of a conversation he had with a man from Cathay. Although the man was part of a Chinese embassy received by Pope Eugenius IV in about 1444, it is unclear whether the man was Chinese or a European traveler to China. The man told Toscanelli that on one of China’s rivers “there were near 200 cities with marble bridges great in length and breadth, and everywhere adorned with columns.” Visiting China, wrote Toscanelli, would be of great value to Europeans, “not only because great wealth may be obtained from it, gold and silver, all sorts of gems, and spices, which never reach us, but also on account of its learned men, philosophers, and expert astrologers, and by what skill

65

Voices of the Renaissance

and art so powerful a province is governed, as well as how their wars are conducted” (Markam, 7). 2. Toscanelli was part of a group of humanist intellectuals who were instrumental in bringing the study of Greek and the knowledge of ancient Greek literature to Western Europe. Particularly interested in Greek works on mathematics and geography, the group included Nicholas of Cusa, Alberti, Brunelleschi, and the humanist pope Nicholas V. In 1439, the Greek philosopher George Gemistos Pletho, who was attending the ecumenical Council of Florence, introduced Toscanelli to the writings and maps of the ancient Greek geographer Strabo, who had previously been unknown in Western Europe. Toscanelli thus became a conduit for the dissemination of this knowledge.

Document: Toscanelli’s Letters to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Martins First Letter to Christopher Columbus To Christopher Columbus, Paul [Paolo], the physician, health: I notice the splendid and lofty desire thou hast to journey whither grow the spices, and as answer to thy letter I send thee a copy of another letter I wrote some time back to a friend and servant of the Most Serene King of Portugal, before the wars of Castile, in reply to another which by King of Portugal: Afonso V was king of command of His Highness he wrote me on the said matPortugal from 1438 to 1481 ter, and I send thee another such chart for navigating as is the one I sent him, by which thou shalt be satisfied of thy request; which copy is the one following.

Letter to Ferdinand Martins To Ferdinand Martins, Canon of Lisbon, Paul [Paolo], the physician gives greeting. It was pleasing to me to have intelligence concerning your health, and concerning your favour and familiar friendship with the most generous and magnificent prince, your King. Whereas I have spoken with you elsewhere concerning a shorter way of going by sea to the lands of spices, than that which you are making by Guinea. The most serene King now making by Guinea: that is, sailing along the wishes that I should give some explanation thereof, or coast of west Africa rather that I should so set it before the eyes of all, that even those who are but moderately learned might perceive that way and understand it. But though I know that this could be shown by the spherical form, which is that of the world, nevertheless I have determined to show [the route] in the way in which charts of navigation show it, and this both that it may be more readily understood, and that the work may be easier.

66

“To Sail to the Regions of the East by Those of the West”

Wherefore I send to His Majesty a chart, made by my hands, wherein your shores are shown, and the islands from which you may begin to make a voyage continually westwards, and the places [to which] you ought to come, and how much you ought to decline from the pole or from the equinoctial line, and through how much space, i.e., through how many miles you ought to arrive at the places most fertile in all spices and gems. And do not wonder if I call those places where the spaces are “western,” whereas they are commonly called “eastern,” because sail by subterranean: that is, in the southern to those that sail by subterranean navigation those places hemisphere are ever found in the west. by the upper way: that is, by the northern For if we go by land and by the upper way they will hemisphere always be found in the east. The straight lines, therefore, marked lengthwise in the chart, show the distances from east to west, but those which are transverse show the space from south to north. But I have marked in the chart divers places where you might arrive, and this indeed for the better information of navigators if they should come by the winds or by some chance where they did not think to come: but this is partly in order that they may show the inhabitants that they have some knowledge of that country—which will surely be no little pleasure to them. It is said only merchants stay in these islands; for here there is so great an abundance of men sailing with merchandise, that in all the rest of the world they are not as they are in a most noble port called Zaiton: likely Cheung Chau, an island Zaiton, for they say that every year a hundred large ships southwest of Hong Kong of pepper are brought into that port, without (counting) Katay: according to Marco Polo, northern other ships bearing other spices. That country is very popChina ulous, and very rich, with a multitude of provinces and sent to the Pope: this was the mission sent kingdoms and cities without number, under one prince to the pope by Kublai Khan, the Mongol who is called the Great Khan, which name in Latin means ruler of China, in 1267 via the father and rex regum (king of kings), whose seat and residence are uncle of Marco Polo chiefly in the province of Katay. His ancestors desired Eugenius: Pope Eugenius IV, born Gabriele to have fellowship with the Christians. For it is now two Condulmer, Eugenius was pope from hundred years since they sent to the Pope and asked for 1431 to 1447 several men learned in the faith, in order that they might be enlightened. But those who were sent went back, being hindered on their journey. In the time of (Pope) Eugenius [IV], also, one came to Eugenius and spoke of (their) great goodwill towards Christians. And I held speech with him for a long time on many things, on the greatness of the royal buildings, and on the greatness of the rivers of wondrous breadth and length. . . . These things (I write) to give some little satisfaction to your demand, in so far as the shortness of the time allowed, and my occupations suffered; being ready to satisfy your Royal Majesty in the future as much further as may be desired. [Dearest friend], farewell Florence, June 25, 1474 From the city of Lisbon in a direct line to the westward [to] the most noble and very great city of Quinsay, there are 26 spaces marked in the chart, each one of them

Quinsay: the modern-day city of Hangzhou, China

67

Voices of the Renaissance

containing 250 miles. For it (the aforementioned city) is a hundred miles round and has then bridges and its name means . . . City of Heaven, and many wondrous things are told of it, of the multitude of its works and its resources. This space is almost a third part of the whole sphere. This city Mangi: according to Marco Polo, southern is in the province of Mangi, that is to say, nigh unto the China province of Katay, wherein is the royal residence of the Antilia: an unknown island that was believed country. But from the island of Antilia, which is known to lie in the Atlantic west of Portugal to you, unto the most noble island of Cippangu there are Cippangu: Japan 10 spaces. For that island is most fertile in gold and in pearls and gems, and they cover the temples and the royal houses with solid gold. Thus by these [as yet] unknown ways there are not great spaces of the sea to be passed. Many things [perhaps] ought to be explained openly. But for these things he that [considers] diligently will be able to see the rest for himself.

Second Letter to Christopher Columbus To Christopher Columbus, Paul [Paolo], the physician, health: I have received thy letters with the things thou didst send me, and with them I received a great favour. I notice thy splendid and lofty desire to sail to the regions of the east by those of the west, as is shown by the chart which I send you, which would be better shown in the shape of a round sphere; it will please me greatly, should it be understood; and that not only is the said voyage possible, but it is sure and certain, and of honour and countless gain, and of the greatest renown among all Christians. But you will not be able to understand it thoroughly except with experience or discussion, as I have had most fully, and good and true information of mighty men and of great learning, who have come from the said regions here to the court of Rome, and of other merchants who have long trafficked in those parts, men of great authority. So that when the said journey occurs, it will be to powerful kingdoms and most noble cities and provinces, most rich in all manner of things in great abundance and very necessary to us, as also in all kinds of spices in great quantity, and of jewels in the largest abundance. It will also be to the said kings and princes who are very desirous, more than we are, to have dealing and speech with Christians from our parts, for a great number of them are Christians, and also to have speech and dealing with the learned men of genius from here, as well in religion as in all other sciences, because of the great reputation of the empires and administrations of these our parts; for all which things and many others which might be mentioned, I do not wonder that thou who art of great spirit, and the whole nation of the Portuguese, who have always been men noble in all great undertakings, should be seen with heart inflamed and full of desire to put into execution the said journey. Source: Vignaud, H. Toscanelli and Columbus: The Letter and Chart of Toscanelli: A Critical Study. London: Sands and Co., 1902, pp. 277–92, 320–21, 322–24.

68

“To Sail to the Regions of the East by Those of the West”

AFTERMATH Apparently, Columbus found Toscanelli’s ideas useful, or at least inspiring, for he carried the Martins letter and map with him on his first westward voyage in 1492. The original letter and map to Martins are no longer extant, but we do have both thanks to the copies that Toscanelli made later for Columbus. Toscanelli seems to have miscalculated the size of Asia, believing that it extended much further to the east than it does. Columbus compounded this error by miscalculating the circumference of the Earth. Based on these miscalculations, Columbus believed that Cathay (China) was only about 3,700 miles west of the Canary Islands, a Spanish possession about 62 miles west of Morocco. Believing this, Columbus was certain that the islands he encountered in 1492 were just off the coast of Asia, not, indeed, a totally unknown continent. Because Toscanelli died ten years before Columbus’ first voyage, he never knew the actual result of the westward voyaging he had advocated.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Why does Toscanelli believe that voyaging to the west is possible? What benefits does he believe will derive from such voyages? Why do you think the Portuguese were interested in sailing west? What was happening in Portugal in the last half of the 15th century that might explain their interest? 2. What is the tone of Toscanelli’s letters to Columbus? Do you think Toscanelli sensed a kindred spirit in the Italian seaman? How much influence do you think these letters had on Columbus? Would he have undertaken his voyages if he had not seen them? 3. Why were Europeans interested in China and the Far East? What valuable commodities were available in Asia that were not available in Europe? What else could China and Asia offer besides a lucrative trade relationship? Think in terms of politics, culture, and warfare.

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of Columbus’ journal of his 1492 voyage (see, for instance, Markham). Read a good selection of the journal. Read also a good modern biography of Christopher Columbus, paying particular attention to what led him to make his voyage and the planning he undertook for it. 2. Access the Jacobs article listed below in “Further Information” to see a representation of Toscanelli’s map superimposed on a modern map of the American continents. The article will help explain why Columbus was so adamant that he had reached Asia, even though it quickly became apparent to others that he had found a previously unknown land instead. 3. Access a print or online edition of Principal Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation, a compilation of documents describing many 16th-century English voyages of exploration that was published by Richard Hakluyt in 1589. Although covering a later period, this collection contains many valuable accounts of early European voyaging to the west. Read a selection of documents from Hakluyt’s monumental work.

69

Voices of the Renaissance

GNOMON OF FLORENCE CATHEDRAL In 1472, Florentine astronomer Paolo Toscanelli, to further his observations of the sun, obtained permission to set a bronze ring into the sill of one of the windows high in the dome of Florence Cathedral. The ring created a small aperture through which a stream of sunlight could pass into the interior of the building around the time of the summer solstice. The light then hit a circular white slab that Toscanelli had set in precise position in the floor of the cathedral. This optical arrangement, known as a gnomon, which is a term for the part of a sundial that causes the shadow being measured, turned the cathedral building into a camera obscura, that is, an optical device that uses a box, a room, or even a building to create an image by focusing light into a darkened space. The camera obscura was widely used during the Renaissance for astronomical observations of the sun. The Florentine architect Leon Battista Alberti (see Section 6), first used it for drawing designs in 1457, and Leonardo da Vinci (see Section 7), as a result of his anatomical studies, noted the resemblance of the camera obscura to the human eye. Toscanelli used his cathedral gnomon to make precise measurements of the height and position of the sun. He was able to calculate the time of the summer solstice to within a half second. Building on Toscanelli’s work, the Perugian mathematician and geographer Egnazio Danti set up two additional gnomons in Florence’s Church of Santa Maria Novella (see sidebar, Section 6) in the 1570s.

Further Information Bergreen, Laurence. Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492–1504. New York: Penguin Books, 2012. Columbus, Christopher. The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus: Being His Own LogBook, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives. Translated by J.M. Cohen. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. Davidson, Miles H. Columbus Then and Now: A Life Reexamined. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. King, Margaret L. A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. Markham, Clements R. The Journal of Christopher Columbus (During His First Voyage, 1492–93) and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot and Gaspar Corte Real. New York: Ayer Publishing, 1972. Quinn, David B. The European Outthrust and Encounter: The First Phase c. 1400–c. 1700. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1994. Rahn Phillips, Carla. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Websites Jacobs, Frank. “This Map Shows Why Columbus Thought He Found Asia.” BigThink.com, July 23, 2010. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/295-cathay-here-i-come-sailing-west -to-go-east. “Letters from Toscanelli Approving Columbus’ Project.” Original Sources. https:// originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4ZSL5MQKY7GBKCW#. Vignaud, Henry. Toscanelli and Columbus: The Letter and Chart of Toscanelli: A Critical Study. 1902. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/toscanellicolumb02vign/page /290/mode/2up.

70

12. “THIS CREATURE OF INDETERMINATE IMAGE” Excerpts From Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) INTRODUCTION Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was born in 1463, the son of Gianfrancesco Pico, the ruler of the small principality of Mirandola, located in Northern Italy near Ferrara. Schooled in Latin and Greek as a child, Pico studied canon law at the University of Bologna before taking up the study of philosophy at the universities of Ferrara and Padua. He read and studied numerous Arabic and Judaic manuscripts, becoming a student of the 12th-century Muslim philosopher Averroës and of the school of Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah. In 1484, he visited the University of Paris, where he likely began the compilation of his 900 philosophical theses or Conclusiones—a series of propositions that he had drawn from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish philosophies—both ancient and modern. In 1486, as an introduction to his Conclusiones, Pico wrote his most famous and influential work, De hominis dignitate oratio (Oration on the Dignity of Man), a syncretistic essay focused squarely on the infinite potential of human beings, through their own striving, to achieve oneness with God. Powerful and innovative, the Oration helped lay the basis for modern Western individualism. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Pico’s Oration on the Dignity of Man.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Pico was noted among contemporaries for his exceptional memory. It was said he could recite Dante’s Divine Comedy (see Section 1) backwards. Besides Italian and Latin, Pico had some degree of fluency in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and even Chaldean. His ability to recall facts and memorize literature has become so legendary in Italian history that when former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano grew exasperated while giving testimony in a 2014 trial covering long past events, he asked in frustration: “Do you think that I have the same memory as Pico della Mirandola’s?” (Slattery). 2. The Florentine preacher Girolamo Savonarola (see Section 31) preached a strict moralism, denouncing anything that he deemed sinful or immoral. In accord with these teachings, followers of Savonarola, of whom Pico was one, held a series of bonfires, culminating with the great “bonfire of the vanities” of February 1497, to

71

Voices of the Renaissance

destroy any such offending objects. Savonarola urged his followers to cast into the flames any immodest works of art, which might corrupt children, and such other temptations to sin as jewelry, fine clothes, rich carpets, cosmetics, mirrors, musical instruments, and playing cards. Also destroyed were any songs, poems, and books that were deemed to be bawdy or lewd, including even copies of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (see Section 2). Even Pico is said to have burned the love poems he had written in his youth.

Document: Excerpts from the Oration on the Dignity of Man Most esteemed Fathers, I have read in the ancient writings of the Arabians that Abdala the Saracen on being asked what, on this stage, so to say, of the world, seemed to him most evocative of wonder. He replied that there was nothing to be seen more marvelous than man. . . . And still, as I reflected upon the basis assigned for these estimations, I was not fully persuaded by the diverse reasons advanced for the pre-eminence of human nature; that man is the intermediary between creatures, that he is the familiar of the gods above him as he is the lord of the beings beneath him; that, by the acuteness of his senses, the inquiry of his reason and the light of his intelligence, he is the interpreter of nature, set midway between the timeless unchanging and the flux of time; the living union (as the Persians say), the very marriage hymn of the world, and, by David’s testimony but little lower than the angels. These reasons are all, without question, of great weight. Nevertheless, they do not touch the principal reasons, those, that is to say, which justify man’s unique right for such unbounded admiration. Why, I asked, should we not admire the angels themselves and the beatific choirs more? At long last, however, I feel that I have come to some understanding of why man is the most fortunate of living things and, consequently, deserving of all admiration; of what may be the condition in the hierarchy of beings assigned to him, which draws upon him the envy, not of the brutes alone, but of the astral beings and of the very intelligences which dwell beyond the confines of the world. A thing surpassing belief and smiting the soul with wonder. Still, how could it be otherwise? For it is on this ground that man is, with complete justice, considered and called a great miracle and a being worthy of all admiration. Hear then, oh Fathers, precisely what this condition of man is; and in the name of your humanity, grant me your benign audition as I pursue this theme. God the Father, the Mightiest Architect, had already raised, according to the precepts of His hidden wisdom, this world we see, the cosmic dwelling of divinity, a temple most august. He had already adorned the supercelestial region with Intelligences, infused the heavenly globes with the life of immortal souls and set the fermenting dung-heap of the inferior world teeming with every form of animal life. But when this work was done, the Divine Artificer still longed for some creature which might comprehend the meaning of so vast an achievement, which might be moved with love at its beauty and smitten with awe at its grandeur. When, consequently, all else had been completed . . . in the very last place, He bethought Himself of bringing forth man. Truth was, however, that there remained no

72

“This Creature of Indeterminate Image”

archetype according to which He might fashion a new offspring, nor in His treasure-houses the wherewithal to endow a new son with a fitting inheritance, nor any place, among the seats of the universe, where this new creature might dispose himself to contemplate the world. All space was already filled; all things had been distributed in the highest, the middle and the lowest orders. Still, it was not in the nature of the power of the Father to fail in this last creative élan; nor was it in the nature of that supreme Wisdom to hesitate through lack of counsel in so crucial a matter; nor, finally, in the nature of His beneficent love to compel the creature destined to praise the divine generosity in all other things to find it wanting in himself. At last, the Supreme Maker decreed that this creature, to whom He could give nothing wholly his own, should have a share in the particular endowment of every other creature. Taking man, therefore, this creature of indeterminate image, He set him in the middle of the world and thus spoke to him: “We have given you, O Adam, no visage proper to yourself, nor endowment properly your own, in order that whatever place, whatever form, whatever gifts you may, with premeditation, select, these same you may have and possess through your own judgement and decision. The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted within laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature. I have placed you at the very center of the world, so that from that vantage point you may with greater ease glance round about you on all that the world contains. We have made you a creature neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, in order that you may, as the free and proud shaper of your own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer. It will be in your power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life; you will be able, through your own decision, to rise again to the superior orders whose life is divine.” Oh unsurpassed generosity of God the Father, Oh wondrous and unsurpassable felicity of man, to whom it is granted to have what he chooses, to be what he wills to be! The brutes, from the moment of their birth, bring with them . . . all that they will ever possess. The highest spiritual beings were, from the very moment of creation, or soon thereafter, fixed in the mode of being which would be theirs through measureless eternities. But upon man, at the moment of his creation, God bestowed seeds pregnant with all possibilities, the germs of every form of life. Whichever of these a man shall cultivate, the same will mature and bear fruit in him. If vegetative, he will become a plant; if sensual, he will become brutish; if rational, he will reveal himself a heavenly being; if intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God. And if, dissatisfied with the lot of all creatures, he should recollect himself into the center of his own unity, he will there become one spirit with God, in the solitary darkness of the Father, Who is set above all things, himself transcend all creatures. Who then will not look with awe upon this our chameleon, or who, at least, will look with greater admiration on any other being? . . . Source: Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni. Oration on the Dignity of Man. 1486. http:// web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/pico_oration.htm. This translation is in the public domain.

73

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Pico disseminated his Conclusiones among the scholars of Europe, proposing that as many intellectuals as possible come to Rome in 1487 to participate in a great debate on his theses. Before this debate could occur, a papal commission examined the Conclusiones and condemned 13 of them as heretical. Pico defended his positions in an Apologia published in 1489. Pope Innocent VIII then established an inquisitorial tribunal that condemned the Conclusiones in their entirety—the first instance of the Church banning a printed work— and forced Pico to renounce both his theses and the Apologia. In 1488, Pico fled to France, where he was arrested and imprisoned at Vincennes. Through the intervention of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, Charles VIII of France was able to secure Pico’s release and return to Florence, although he remained under papal sanction until 1493, when a new pope, Alexander VI, cleared him of all censure. In Florence, Pico wrote a series of philosophical treatises, including Heptaplus (1489), which offered a new interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis; De ente et uno (Of Being and Unity) (1492), an ontological treatise attempting to harmonize the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle; and Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinicatrium (Treatise Against Predictive Astrology) (1496), which sharply criticized the practices of contemporary astrologers. After the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1492, Pico became a follower of the popular apocalyptic preacher Girolamo Savonarola (see Section 31), under whose influence Pico divested himself of much of his property. Only 31, Pico died under mysterious circumstances (see the sidebar) in November 1494.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What do you think is Pico’s view of humanity? Is it optimistic or pessimistic? How does Pico’s view of human beings differ from the medieval view of humans as sinful creatures who should reject the things of this world in favor of contemplation of God and the afterlife? What potential does Pico see for the human mind and the human spirit? 2. Pico based his work not just on scripture and Christian writings, but on pagan, Jewish, and Muslim writings as well. Do you see evidence of his research in nonChristian sources? If so, what is this evidence? Do you think Pico was seeking to free humanity from God or to integrate the philosophies of all traditions into the divine?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Pico’s Oration on the Dignity of Man and read additional excerpts from the work. Find and read also a copy of Pico’s Conclusiones (see, for instance, Farmer) and read excerpts from this compilation of propositions. Also search YouTube for “Oration on the Dignity of Man” and find several videos which are readings of the work. Often listening to a work being read gives a different perspective from reading it yourself from the page or screen. 2. Access a print or online edition of De dignitate et excellentia hominis (On the Dignity and Excellence of Man), a 1453 work by the Florentine humanist Giannozzo Manetti (see, for instance, Murchland). Like Pico’s Oration, Manetti’s treatise is a seminal statement of Renaissance humanism. Read selections of this work and compare them in tone, style, and content to what you have read of the Oration.

74

“This Creature of Indeterminate Image”

RENAISSANCE MURDER MYSTERY On November 17, 1494, the same day a French army entered the city, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola died in Florence at the age of 31. Pico’s mysterious passing occurred only weeks after the equally perplexing death of his 40-year-old friend and possible homosexual lover, the scholar-poet Angelo Poliziano. The doctors who examined Pico’s body suspected foul play, but could not prove it. In 2007, a committee headed by Silvano Vinceti, who had made a name for himself as a solver of historical mysteries, obtained permission to exhume the bodies of both Pico and Poliziano. Tests run at various Italian universities determined that both men likely died of arsenic poisoning. In 2013, Vinceti announced his belief, based on a 1496 passage from the diary of historian Marino Sanuto, that Pico was killed by his servant, a man named Christopher, who had confessed to hastening “the death of his master by poisoning” (Slattery). Vinceti also believed that Christopher committed the murder at the instigation of Piero de Medici, who had been ruler of Florence until 1494, when he was overthrown by Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk who led an apocalyptic religious movement that imposed a theocratic government on the city. Because Pico had been a convinced supporter of Savonarola, his murder was thought to be an act of revenge by the Medici party. Academic historians, who had known of Sanuto’s diary and the Medici murder theory since the 1890s, were skeptical of the arsenic findings and largely dismissed Vinceti’s assertions as unproven, with one scholar declaring that “Pico’s death is likely to remain shrouded in mystery” (Slattery).

Further Information Copenhaver, Brian P. Magic and the Dignity of Man: Pico della Mirandola and His Oration in Modern Memory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, an imprint of Harvard University Press, 2019. Dougherty, M.V., ed. Pico della Mirandola: New Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Farmer, Stephen A., ed. and trans. Syncretism in the West: Pico’s 900 Theses (1486): The Evolution of Traditional Religious and Philosophical Systems. Tempe, AZ: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1998. More, Thomas, trans. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola: His Life by His Nephew Giovanni Francesco Pico. Oxford: Benediction Books, 2009. Murchland, Bernard, trans. Two Views of Man: Pope Innocent III—On the Misery of Man; Giannozzo Manetti—On the Dignity of Man. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1966. Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni. Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man: A New Translation and Commentary. Edited by Francesco Borghesi, Michael Papio, and Massimo Riva. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Websites The Life of Pico della Mirandola by His Nephew Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola. Translated by Thomas More, 1504. London, 1890. https://www.exclassics.com/Pico/pico.txt. Slattery, Luke. “A Renaissance Murder Mystery.” The New Yorker, July 22, 2015. https:// www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-renaissance-murder-mystery.

75

This page intentionally left blank

13. “YOU SHOULD BE THE LINK TO BIND THIS CITY CLOSER TO THE CHURCH” Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Letter of Advice to His Son, Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (ca. 1491) INTRODUCTION The Medici of Florence, who began as bankers and businessmen, were the first family of the Italian Renaissance; the rule of the first three generations of the dynasty, from 1433 to 1492, represents the most brilliant and dynamic phase of the Renaissance in Florence. During this period, the Medici were de facto rulers of the city. Although they had no princely title, they were the directing force within the Florentine state. Medici power, wealth, and influence reached its height between 1469 and 1492, during the rule of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the grandson of Cosimo de’ Medici, the founder of the dynasty. Under Lorenzo, known to history as “Il Magnifico,” Medici patronage of artists, writers, translators, architects, and other scholars and artisans reached unprecedented levels and was a major factor in maintaining the vibrancy of the Florentine Renaissance. Lorenzo had three sons, the second of whom, Giovanni de’ Medici, became a cardinal of the Church in 1489 when he was only 13 years old, Lorenzo having prevailed upon his kinsman, Pope Innocent VIII, to make the appointment. About two years later, Lorenzo wrote a letter to Giovanni offering advice to the young cardinal on how to conduct himself properly and on how to ensure that his ecclesiastical career would benefit both his city and his family. Reproduced here is Lorenzo de’ Medici’s 1491 letter to his son Giovanni.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Lorenzo de’ Medici was anything but impressive in his physical appearance. He had a long flat nose, a sharp face, and a high-pitched nasal voice. His eyebrows were irregular and bushy, and his eyes were large, dark, and piercing. He was, according to one modern historian, “quite strikingly ugly” (Hibbert, 113), and even one of Lorenzo’s personal friends remarked that “nature had been a stepmother to him in regard to his personal appearance.” But, said the same friend, his face, if not handsome “was full of such dignity as to command respect” (Unger, 2). 2. Many importance figures are said to have attended Lorenzo de’ Medici on his deathbed. The philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (see Section 12), a Medici client, was there, as was another client, the poet Angelo Poliziano, who left an

77

Voices of the Renaissance

account of Lorenzo’s last hours. One surprising visitor was the preacher Girolamo Savonarola (see Section 31), who was at the time becoming an increasingly vocal Medici opponent. According to one story, Savonarola denied Lorenzo absolution for his confession when Lorenzo refused to respond when the preacher told him that to assure salvation he must “give back to the Republic the liberty of the city, and to see that she returns to her ancient state” (Unger, 434). Since Poliziano says nothing about this in his account, and records a brief and uneventful encounter between the two men, most historians regard the tale as apocryphal. 3. Lorenzo’s younger brother Giuliano de’ Medici was slain in 1478, a victim of the Pazzi Conspiracy, which aimed to overthrow the Medici regime (see Section 21). Lorenzo adopted his brother’s illegitimate son Giulio de’ Medici, who was born just one month after his father’s assassination. After the family’s exile in 1494, Giulio travelled about Europe with his cousin Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, serving mostly as a soldier. In 1513, Giovanni, now pope as Leo X, raised Giulio to the cardinalate. Cardinal Giulio ruled Florence from 1519 to 1523, when he was elected pope as Clement VII. His was a most unfortunate pontificate, as Lutheranism spread across Europe and Henry VIII of England split with the papacy when Clement would not annul his first marriage.

Document: Letter to Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici You, and all of us who are interested in your welfare, ought to esteem ourselves highly favored by Providence, not only for the many honours and benefits bestowed upon our house, but more particularly for having conferred upon us, in your person, the greatest dignity we have ever enjoyed. This favor, in itself so important, is rendered still more so by the circumstances with which it is accompanied, and especially by the consideration of your youth and of our situation in the world. The first that I would therefore suggest to you is that you ought to be grateful to God, and continually to recollect that it is not through your merits, your prudence, or your solicitude, that this event has taken place, but through his favour, which you can only repay by a pious, chaste and exemplary life; and that your obligations to the performance of these duties are so much the greater, as in your early years you have given some reasonable expectations that your riper age may produce such fruits. It would indeed be highly disgraceful, and as contrary to your duty as to my hopes, if, at a time when others display a greater share of reason and adopt a better mode of life, you should forget the precepts of your youth, and forsake the path in which you have hitherto trodden. Endeavor therefore to alleviate the burthen of your early dignity by the regularity of your life and by your perseverance in those studies which are suitable to your profession. It gave me great satisfaction to learn, that, in the course of the past year, you had frequently, of your own accord, gone to communion and confession; nor do I conceive that there is any better way of obtaining the favor of heaven than by habituating yourself to a performance of these and similar duties. This appears to me to be the most suitable and useful advice which, in the first instance, I can possibly give you. I well know, that as you are now reside at Rome, that sink of all iniquity, the difficulty of conducting yourself by these admonitions will be increased. The influence of example is itself prevalent; but you will probably meet with those who will particularly endeavor to corrupt and incite you to vice; because, as you may yourself perceive, your early attainment 78

“You Should Be the Link to Bind This City Closer to the Church”

to so great a dignity is not observed without envy, and those who could not prevent your receiving that honour will secretly endeavor to diminish it, by inducing you to forfeit the good estimation of the public; thereby precipitating you into that gulf into which they had themselves fallen; in which attempt, the consideration of your youth will give them a confidence of success. To these difficulties you ought to oppose yourself with the greater firmness, as there is at present less virtue amongst your brethren of the college. I acknowledge indeed that several of them are good and learned men, whose lives are exemplary, and whom I would recommend to you as patterns of your conduct. By emulating them you will be so much the more known and esteemed, in proportion as your age and the peculiarity of your situation will distinguish you from your colleagues. Avoid . . . the imputation of hypocrisy; guard against all ostentation, either in your conduct or your discourse; affect not austerity, nor even appear too serious. This advice, you will, I hope, in time understand and practice better than I can express it. Yet you are not unacquainted with the great importance of the character which you have to sustain, for you well know that all the Christian world would prosper if the cardinals were what they ought to be; because in such a case there would always be a good pope, upon which the tranquility of Christendom so materially depends. Endeavor then to render yourself such, that if all the rest resembled you, we might expect this universal blessing. To give you particular directions as to your behaviour and conversation would be a matter of no small difficulty. I shall therefore only recommend, that in your intercourse with the cardinals and other men of rank, your language be unassuming and respectful, guiding yourself, however, by your own reason, and not submitting to be impelled by the passions of others, who, actuated by improper motives, may pervert the use of their reasons. Let it satisfy your conscience that your conversation is without intentional offence; and if, through impetuosity of temper, any one should be offended, as his enmity is without just cause, so it will not be very lasting. On this your first visit to Rome, it will however be more advisable for you to listen to others than to speak much yourself. You are now devoted to God and the Church: on which account you ought to aim at being a good ecclesiastic, and to shew that you prefer the honor and state of the Church and of the apostolic see to every other consideration. Nor, while you keep this in view, will it be difficult for you to favour your family and your native place. On the contrary, you should be the link to bind this city closer to the Church, and our family with the city; and although it be impossible to foresee what accidents may happen, yet I doubt not but this may be done with equal advantage to all; observing, however, that you are always to prefer the interests of the Church. You are not only the youngest cardinal in the college, but the youngest person that ever was raised to that rank; and you ought therefore to be the most vigilant and unassuming, not giving others occasion to wait for you, either in the chapel, the consistory or upon deputations. You will soon get a sufficient insight into the manners of your brethren. With those of less respectable character converse not with too much intimacy; not merely on account of the circumstance in itself, but for the sake of public opinion. Converse on general topics with all. On public occasions let your equipage and address be rather below than above mediocrity. A handsome house and a well-ordered family will be preferable to a great retinue and a splendid residence. Endeavor to live with regularity, and gradually to bring your expenses within those bounds which in a new establishment cannot perhaps be expected. Silk and jewels are not suitable for persons in your station. Your taste will be better shewn in the acquisition of a few elegant remains of antiquity, or in the collecting of handsome books, and by your attendants being learned and well-bred rather than numerous. Invite 79

Voices of the Renaissance

others to your house oftener than you receive invitations. Practise neither too frequently. Let your own food be plain, and take sufficient exercise, for those who wear your habit are soon liable, without great caution, to contract infirmities. The station of a cardinal is not less secure than elevated; on which account those who arrive at it too frequently become negligent; conceiving their object is attained and that they can preserve it with little trouble. This idea is often injurious to the life and character of those who entertain it. Be attentive therefore to your conduct, and confide in others too little rather than too much. There is one rule which I would recommend to your attention in preference to all others. Rise early in the morning. This will not only contribute to your health, but will enable you to arrange and expedite the business of the day; and as there are various duties incident to your station, such as the performance of divine service, studying, giving audience, and so forth, you will find the observance of this admonition productive of the greatest utility. Another very necessary precaution, particularly on your entrance into public life, is to deliberate every evening on what you may have to perform the following day, that you may not be unprepared for whatever may happen. With respect to your speaking in the consistory, it will be most becoming for you at present to refer the matters in debate to the judgment of his holiness, alleging as a reason your own youth and inexperience. You will probably be desired to intercede for the favours of the pope on particular occasions. Be cautious, however, that you trouble him not too often; for his temper leads him to be most liberal to those who weary him least with their solicitations. This you must observe, lest you should give him offence, remembering also at times to converse with him on more agreeable topics; and if you should be obliged to request some kindness from him, let it be done with that modesty and humility which are so pleasing to his disposition. Farewell. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 80–83.

AFTERMATH Lorenzo de’ Medici died in April 1492, and his eldest son Piero de’ Medici inherited his political position in Florence. In 1494, when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in his quest to conquer the kingdom of Naples, Piero traveled to the French camp to offer his support. By thus leaving the city, Piero provided the anti-Medicean party in Florence with the opportunity it needed to overthrow the Medici regime and send the family into exile. Girolamo Savonarola, a popular Dominican preacher and strong opponent of the Medici, became the new ruler of the Florentine state, which under his direction became a theocracy. Piero died in 1503 while fighting for the French against the Spanish at the Battle of Garigliano. Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, meanwhile, established himself as a figure of influence at the papal court, especially after the election of Pope Julius II in 1503. With the pope’s help, the cardinal reestablished Medici rule in Florence in 1512, installing his younger brother Giuliano de’ Medici as head of the republic, though Cardinal Giovanni was the real ruler of the state during his lifetime. In March 1513, the cardinal, at age 37, won election as Pope Leo X. Deeply embroiled in the continuing Italian wars and often preoccupied with the governing of Florence, Leo initially paid little attention to the challenge to papal authority raised by the German monk Martin Luther in 1517. Luther’s discontent with the state of the Church and the papacy had been stirred by an indulgence issued by Pope Leo to pay for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s in Rome. By Leo’s death in 1521, the papacy faced a rapid spreading of the Lutheran movement throughout Germany—the Reformation had begun. 80

“You Should Be the Link to Bind This City Closer to the Church”

ASK YOURSELF 1. From the tone of the letter, do you think Lorenzo has concerns about his son’s character? Or is this just fatherly counsel? What advice does Lorenzo give? What is the purpose of his advice and of the letter in general? Do you think it is to make Giovanni a better man, or to guide him in how to conduct himself for the good of the family and the city? 2. What do you think of Lorenzo’s advice? Does it seem helpful? What do you think of the admonition to always rise early in the day? Research the life of Giovanni de’ Medici, the future Pope Leo X. Does it seem like he followed this advice in his life? Why do you believe he did or did not?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online version of the literary works of Lorenzo de’ Medici (see Guarino) and read selections from his poetry, his play, or from his treatise on falconry entitled Caccia del falcone. 2. View some episodes of the 2019 Netflix series Medici: The Magnificent, which depicts the Medici family in the 15th century. Daniel Sharman plays Lorenzo. How is Lorenzo portrayed in this series? How is the Medici family portrayed?

MEDICI PATRONAGE Under Lorenzo de’ Medici (r. 1469–1492) and his father Piero de’ Medici (r. 1464–1469) and grandfather Cosimo de’ Medici (r. 1433–1464), the Medici family acted as patrons for a host of noted artists, including Fra Filippo Lippi, Leonardo da Vinci, Benozzo Gozzoli, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Andrea del Verrocchio. Medici patronage also assisted the philosophers Marsilio Ficino, who undertook a translation of the works of Plato, and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who produced the seminal humanist treatise entitled Oration on the Dignity of Man. The poets Angelo Poliziano and Luigi Pulci also benefited from the support of Lorenzo, who was himself a poet of note. Cosimo de’ Medici was also a great buyer and disseminator of books and was the founder of the Florentine state library, which was built around a core of books and manuscript bequeathed to the city by the humanist bibliophile Niccolò Niccoli. The significance of Medici patronage to the proliferation of the arts in 15th-century Italy was clearly illustrated by modern historian Peter Burke in his 1964 work The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy. For statistical analysis, Burke compiled a so-called creative elite of 600 individuals who had most significantly patronized the arts of the period; to indicate the staggering scope of Medici patronage, Burke divided the work of this group into two overall categories—Medicean patronage and non-Medicean patronage. The efflorescence of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century, and the preeminence of Florence in that cultural flowering, was in large part based on Medici patronage.

Further Information Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy. Rev. ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987. Cummings, Anthony M. The Lion’s Ear: Pope Leo X, the Renaissance Papacy, and Music. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012. 81

Voices of the Renaissance

Guarino, Guido A. ed. and trans. The Complete Literary Works of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “The Magnificent.” New York: Italica Press, 2015. Hibbert, Christopher. The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1999. Kent, F.W. Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Art of Magnificence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Rubinstein, Nicolai. The Government of Florence under the Medici, 1434–1494. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Strathern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. Strathern, Paul. The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance. New York: Pegasus Books, 2016. Unger, Miles J. Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008.

Website “Lorenzo de Medici: Paternal Advice to a Cardinal (ca. 1491).” Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/lorenzomed1.asp.

82

14. “THE SLEEVES WERE M ADE TO L OOK LIKE TWO WINGS” Two Letters of Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan (1493) INTRODUCTION Beatrice d’Este was born in 1475, the second daughter of Ercole d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. As a member of an ancient and noble family, Beatrice received an excellent classical education and, like her elder sister Isabella d’Este, interacted with many artists and humanist scholars at her father’s cultured court. In January 1491, the 15-year-old Beatrice married 38-yearold Ludovico Sforza, then regent for his young nephew Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan. Vivacious and intelligent, Beatrice, who became Duchess of Milan in 1494 when her husband succeeded his nephew, soon put her stamp on the Milanese court, which became noted for its gorgeous and extravagant feasts and balls. With fine taste in art and fashion— one contemporary chronicler described her as “an inventor of new apparel” (Muraltus, 54; translation by editor)—and a lively interest in intellectual discussion, the duchess transformed the look of Sforza Caste and focused her husband’s patronage in more discriminating ways, ensuring that employment was offered to such figures as Leonardo da Vinci (see Section 7) and the architect Donato Bramante. Reproduced here are two letters written by Beatrice in 1493. The first letter describes her reception in Venice while on a visit to that city, and the second describes the marriage in Milan of her husband’s niece to Maximilian, then King of the Romans—an important political connection for the duchy.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Leonardo da Vinci, a recipient of Beatrice’s patronage, who was tasked with the organization of her wedding in 1491, is thought by some scholars to have painted one or perhaps two portraits of her. The identity of the subject in Leonardo’s “Portrait of a Lady,” which is currently in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana museum in Milan, is not certain, but the sitter is usually believed to be Beatrice. The woman depicted in the painting entitled “La belle Ferronnière,” which is found in the Louvre in Paris, has also been identified as Beatrice, though some experts identify her as Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza. Images of these paintings can be found online.

83

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Ludovico Sforza initially asked the Duke of Ferrara for the hand of his eldest daughter Isabella. But Isabella was already promised to Francesco II Gonzaga, the ruler of Mantua. Duke Ercol then offered Beatrice instead. The original wedding plans called for a double ceremony, with both sisters marrying their respective grooms on the same day, but delays occasioned by Ludovico scuttled this plan and the eventual double ceremony saw Beatrice marry Ludovico and Beatrice’s brother marry Ludovico’s niece.

Document 1: Letter to Her Husband, Ludovico Sforza, Describing a Visit to Venice Most illustrious Prince and excellent Lord, my dearest Husband I wrote to you yesterday of our arrival at Chioggia. This morning I heard mass in a chapel of the house where I lodged. . . . Then we breakfasted, and at ten we entered the bucentaur, dividing our company between the middle-sized and small bucentaur and a few gondolas, which were prepared Chioggia: coastal town outside Venice; today for us, as being safer, since the weather was still rather it is a commune of the city of Venice stormy. . . . bucentaur: state barge of the doges of Venice Then we set off towards Venice, and before we reached Prince: Agostino Barbarigo, Doge [i.e., S. Clemente, where the Prince was expecting us, two rafts elected head of state] of Venice from 1486 came towards us, and saluted us with the sound of trumpets to 1501 and firing of guns, followed by two galleys ready for battle, Signory: supreme governing body of the and other barks decked out like gardens, which were really Republic of Venice beautiful to see. An infinite number of boats, full of ladies and gentlemen, now surrounded us, and escorted us all the way to S. Clemente. Here we landed, and were conducted to a spacious pavilion hung with drapery, where the Prince, accompanied by the members of the Signory, met us and bade us welcome, assuring us how eagerly our presence had been desired, and saying that my lord father the duke and your Excellency could do him no greater pleasure than to send us, whom he looked upon as his dear daughters. All this and much more concerning the fatherly love which he bore us, he hoped to be able to express at a future occasion. Then he placed my lady mother on his right and myself on his left . . . and so he conducted us on board the bucentaur. On the way we shook hands with all the ladies, who stood up in two rows behind the Prince, and then sat down in the same order. All of our ladies shook hands with the Prince, and we set out again on our journey, meeting an infinite number of decorated galleys, boats, and barks. Among others, there was a raft with figures of Neptune and Minerva, armed with trident and spear, seated on either side of a hill crowned with the arms of the Pope and our own illustrious lord, together with your own and those of the Signory of Venice. First Neptune began to dance and gambol and throw balls into the air to the sound of drums and tambourines, and then Minerva did the same. Afterwards they both joined hands and danced together. Next Minerva struck the mountain with her spear, and an olive tree appeared. Neptune did the same with his trident,

84

“The Sleeves Were Made to Look Like Two Wings”

and a horse jumped out. Then other personages appeared on the mountain with open books in their hands, signifying that they had come to decide on the name that was to be given to the city on the mountain, and they gave judgment in favour of Minerva. This representation was said to signify that the existence of states is founded on treaties of peace, and that those who lay the foundations will give their name to future kingdoms, as Minerva did to Athens. . . . And so we entered the Canal Grande, where the Prince, who talked to us all the way with the utmost familiarity and kindness, took great pleasure in showing us the chief palaces of this noble city, and pointing out the ladies, who appeared glittering with jewels at all the balconies and windows, besides the great company—about a hundred and thirty in number—who were already with us in the bucentaur. All the palaces were richly adorned, and certainly it was a magnificent sight. Venice, May 27, 1493 Source: Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. New York, E.P. Dutton and Company, 1910, pp. 189–93.

Document 2: Letter to Isabella d’Este, the Duchess’s Sister, Describing the Wedding in Milan of Bianca Maria Sforza to Maximilian, King of the Romans Most illustrious Lady and dearest Sister, I told you some time ago that I would let you have a full account of the triumphant display held in Milan, at Most Serene Highness the Queen of the the marriage of her Most Serene Highness the Queen Romans: Bianca Maria Sforza, daughter of the Romans . . . of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan On the last day of the past month the nuptials took from 1466 to 1476; she became the third place, and in preparation for this solemnity, a portico wife of Maximilian I, who was king of the was erected in front of the Chiesa Maggiore of the Romans and Holy Roman emperor from city of Milan, with pillars on either side, supporting 1493 to 1519 a purple canopy, embroidered with doves. Within the Chiesa Maggiore: one of the oldest churches Church, the aisles were hung with brocade as far as in Milan the choir, in front of which a triumphal arch had been erected on massive pillars. . . . This triumphal arch was square in shape, and ornamented with pictures of antique feasts, and the imperial insignia and the arms of my husband were placed on the side towards the high altar. Beyond this arch were steps that led up to a great tribunal erected in front of the high altar. On the left was a small tribunal from which the Gospel was sung, hung with gold brocade; on the right was another, adorned with silver brocade; and behind these tribunals were seats ranged in order and covered with draperies, for the councillors and other feudatories and gentlemen. In the extreme corners of the choir were two raised stages, one for the singers, the other for the trumpeters, and in the

85

Voices of the Renaissance

space between were seated the doctors of law and medicine, with their birettas and capes lined with fur, each according to his rank. The altar itself was sumptuously adorned with all the silver vases and images of saints. . . . The street leading to the Duomo was beautifully decorated. There were columns wreathed with ivy all the way from the bastions of the Castello to the end of the piazza, and between the columns were festoons of boughs bearing antique devices, and round shields with the imperial Duomo: Milan Cathedral arms and those of our house. . . . Many of the doors had Castello: the main castle or fortress of Milan their pillars wreathed with ivy and green boughs, so that the season seemed to be May-time rather than November. On both sides of the street, the walls were hung with satin, excepting those houses which have lately been adorned with frescoes, and which are no less beautiful than tapestries. . . . At ten o’clock, her serene Highness the Queen ascended the triumphal car which our dearest mother of blessed memory gave me when I was at Ferrara, and which was drawn on this occasion by four snow-white horses. The queen wore a vest of crimson satin, embroidered in gold thread and covered with jewels. Her train was immensely long, and the sleeves were made to look like two Duchess Isabella: Isabella of Aragon was wings, which had a very fine appearance. . . . . The queen Duchess of Milan from 1489 until the seated herself in the centre of the car, the Duchess Isabella death of her husband, Gian Galeazzo being on her right, and myself on her left. The said duchess Sforza, in 1494 wore a camora of crimson satin, with gold cords looped over his Most Christian Majesty of France: it, as in my grey cloth camora, which you must remember; Charles VIII, who was king of France from and I wore my purple velvet camora, with the pattern of the 1483 to 1498 links worked in massive gold and green and white enamel, about six inches deep on the front and back of my bodice, and on both sleeves. The camora was lined with cloth of gold, and with it I wore a girdle of St. Francis made of large pearls, with a beautiful clearcut ruby for clasp. . . . The chariot was followed by the ambassadors who have been sent by his Most Christian Majesty of France to honour these nuptials, and after them came the envoys of the different Italian powers, according to their rank, then the lord duke and my husband on horseback. . . . I wished for your presence many times during the whole ceremony, but since this desire of mine could not be satisfied, I thought I would give you this account with my own hand. Commending myself to your Highness as ever, Your sister, Vigevano, December 29, 1493. Source: Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. New York, E.P. Dutton and Company, 1910, pp. 211–16.

AFTERMATH Beatrice also involved herself in politics, becoming active in her husband’s campaign to secure his recognition as heir to his young nephew. In 1492, she undertook an embassy

86

“The Sleeves Were Made to Look Like Two Wings”

to Venice to ensure that city’s friendship for Ludovico. In 1495, she advised her husband during the peace negotiations at Vercelli that followed the drawn Battle of Fornovo, in which the forces of the Holy League—an anti-French alliance including Milan— sought to defeat the retreating army of Charles VIII of France. Beatrice’s selective patronage and her involvement in the marriage diplomacy of her husband’s reign were also aimed at consolidating Ludovico Sforza’s tenuous hold on the duchy of Milan. Beatrice was also successful in the first duty of a prince’s wife, providing sons for a secure succession. Her first son, Massimiliano Sforza, was born in 1493, and her second son, Francesco Sforza was born in 1495. Both sons eventually ruled as dukes of Milan. In January 1497, Beatrice, who was only 21, died while giving birth to a stillborn third son (see Section 15).

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is the tone of the first letter regarding Beatrice’s reception in Venice? What does Beatrice find interesting about the city? The letter was written by a girl of 18. Does this come through in the letter? Why or why not? 2. What is the tone of the second letter regarding the marriage of her husband’s niece? Is Beatrice excited by the wedding? What aspects of it does she find most interesting? Does Beatrice’s age come out in this letter? Does Beatrice exhibit any awareness of the political importance of the wedding?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or electronic copy of A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650, edited and translated by Lisa Kaborycha. Read a selection of the letters contained in this volume. What do the letters say about the interests and activities of educated Italian women during the Renaissance? What do they say about the caliber of education provided to some women? How would you generally characterize such educated women as to class and position? 2. Access a print or online copy of The Second Mrs. Giaconda, a young adult novel by E.L. Konigsburg published by Atheneum in 1975. Read selections from the novel in which Beatrice d’Este, Leonardo da Vinci, and Leonardo’s servant Salaì (see sidebar, Section 7) are important characters. The novel won the Best Book of the Year Award for Young Adults from the American Library Association in 1975. Or you might find and read a copy of Duchess of Milan, a historical novel about Beatrice d’Este written by Michael Ennis and published by Onyx in 1993. 3. Access a print or online edition of Isabella d’Este’s Selected Letters, edited and translated by Deanna Shemek and published in 2016. Isabella was Beatrice’s older sister and a major political figure in Mantua, where she was the virtual ruler during her husband’s many absences. Read a selection of Isabella’s letters to obtain a sense of her intelligence and personality, as well as the fine humanist education she shared with her sister.

87

Voices of the Renaissance

HOUSE OF ESTE Beatrice d’Este was born into a family that ruled the city of Ferrara from 1196 to 1597 and the city of Modena from 1289 to 1803. The family’s origins ran back to the 10th century and included connections to the German imperial house. Obizzo d’Este became lord of Ferrara in 1264 and of the neighboring cities of Modena and Reggio in 1288 and 1289, respectively. The family came to dominate the eastern Po Valley, which they held as papal vicars. The Este patronized many building projects, including the construction of Este Caste in 1385, and were founders of the University of Ferrara in 1391. The Este court became the most cultured in Italy in the 15th century under Niccolò d’Este, who died in 1441, and was followed by his three sons. The family achieved the prestigious title of Duke of Ferrara in 1471, when the last of Niccolò’s sons, Ercol, came to power. Ercol d’Este was the father of Isabella, who became marchioness of Mantua, and Beatrice, who became Duchess of Milan. Both received fine classical educations at their father’s court. In 1502, their brother, Alfonso d’Este married, as a third husband, Lucrezia Borgia, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, thereby temporarily allying the family to the Borgia interest. The 16th-century Este court also patronized a number of significant literary talents, such as Ludovico Ariosto, the author of the epic romance poem Orlando Furioso, and the poet and dramatist Torquato Tasso, who became the Este court poet in 1572. The last Este Duke of Ferrara died without heirs in 1597, whereupon the duchy was reabsorbed into the Papal States.

Further Information Ady, Cecilia Mary. A History of Milan under the Sforza. New York: Sagwan Press, 2015. Black, Jane. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan: Plenitude of Power under the Visconti and Sforza, 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. Reprint ed. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2007. D’Este, Isabella. Selected Letters. Translated and edited by Deanna Shemek. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2016. Ianziti, Gary. Humanistic Historiography under the Sforzas: Politics and Propaganda in Fifteenth-Century Milan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Kaborycha, Lisa, ed. and trans. A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. Lubkin, Gregory. A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Muraltus, Franciscus. Annalia. Edited by Petrus Aloisius Doninius. Milan, 1861.

Websites Cartwright, Julia Mary. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497. Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25622/25622-h/25622-h.htm. “Portrait of Beatrice d’Este by Leonardo da Vinci.” https://painting-planet.com/ portrait-of-beatrice-d-este-by-leonardo-da-vinci/.

88

15. “SHE GAVE BACK HER SPIRIT TO GOD” Two Letters Describing the Death in Childbirth of Beatrice, Duchess of Milan (1497) INTRODUCTION Ludovico Sforza, known as il Moro (the Moor), perhaps because of his dark complexion, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. Although not his father’s heir, he was trained in statecraft, as well as classical studies, at the insistence of his mother. Ludovico’s elder brother, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, became duke in 1466. A dissolute man known for his cruelty and womanizing, Duke Galeazzo Maria was assassinated in 1476 by a group of courtier conspirators, whose act may have two years later inspired the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence (see Section 21). Because the new duke, Galeazzo Maria’s son Gian Galleazzo Sforza, was only seven years old, his mother, Bona of Savoy, became regent. In 1481, Ludovico wrested the regency from Bona and became the de facto ruler of Milan. To strengthen his political position, Ludovico arranged a series of marriage alliances. He negotiated a marriage for his nephew the duke with the granddaughter of the king of Naples and another marriage for his niece with Maximilian, king of the Romans. In 1491, he cemented an alliance with Ferrara by marrying Beatrice d’Este, the daughter of the Duke of Ferrara (see Section 14). Beatrice bore him two sons, but on January 3, 1497, she died attempting to birth a stillborn third son; she was only 21. Reproduced here are two letters describing the death of Beatrice and her husband’s moving reaction to it. The first letter is from the Ferrarese ambassador in Milan informing the Duke of Ferrara of his daughter’s death, and the second, written only hours after the event, is from Ludovico himself informing his brotherin-law of his wife’s passing.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Ludovico Sforza maintained a wide patronage network, extending support to musicians, artists, architects, humanist scholars, and inventors. Leonardo da Vinci was a ducal client (see Section 7), as was the architect Donato Bramante. For instance, for the Church and convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Bramante designed and built the dome and cloisters while Leonardo painted the Church’s mural of The Last Supper. After Ludovico’s marriage, his wife, Beatrice d’Este, was much involved in the direction of ducal patronage. Despite some complaints about high

89

Voices of the Renaissance

taxes, Ludovico also sponsored the construction of canals and fortifications, the refurbishing of Milan and Pavia cathedrals, and the enlargement and beautification of Milan’s streets. He was also a generous patron of the University of Pavia, and the dissolution of his court in 1499 was much lamented by artists and scholars. 2. In April 1500, a French army besieged Ludovico and his forces in the town of Novara. Both armies contained large contingents of both Swiss and German mercenaries, who were commonly hired during this period by Italian states and princes engaged in warfare. Because the Swiss troops of both sides did not want to kill their fellow countrymen and often fraternized with one another, an agreement was reached whereby Ludovico’s Swiss mercenaries abandoned their employer and were allowed to pass safely through the French lines on their way home. When Ludovico tried to escape the town by dressing as a mercenary soldier, some of his companions revealed his identity to the French and he was seized and carried captive into France. 3. In The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli (see Section 23) contemptuously dismissed Ludovico as a selfish intriguer who was primarily responsible for the French invasion of Italy and the extended misery of the subsequent Italian wars. Machiavelli’s comments damaged Ludovico’s historical reputation, especially with nationalist historians of the 19th century, but historians of the last century have tended to assess his career more favorably.

Document 1: Letter of Ambassador Antonius Costabilis to Ercol I, Duke of Ferrara, the Father of Duchess Beatrice Most illustrious and excellent Lord Although I had received a message to the effect that I need not leave the house before night, as none of your august family could be present at the funeral of our most illustrious Madonna, the late duchess, nevertheless at four o’clock the duke sent two councillors to fetch me, and accompanied by Camera della Torre: the tower chamber these gentlemen, I went to the Camera della Torre in the Castello: the main castle or fortress of Milan Castello, where I found all the ambassadors, ducal councillors, and a very large company of gentlemen assembled. Directly I arrived, his Excellency sent for me, and I found him in his room, lying on the bed, quite prostrate, and more overwhelmed with grief than anyone whom I have ever seen. After the customary salutations, I endeavoured, in obedience to the request of some of his councillors, to exhort his Highness to take a little comfort and have patience, trying to make use of whatever words came into my mind at the moment, and entreating him to bear this cruel blow with constancy and fortitude, because in this manner he would give comfort and courage to your Excellency in helping you to bear your grief, and at the same time relieve the anxieties of his own servants, and restore hope and peace to their hearts.

90

“She Gave Back Her Spirit to God”

His Highness thanked me for my kindness, and said that he could not bear this most cruel and grievous sorrow without speaking out the thoughts of his heart freely, and had sent for me, in order to tell me that if, as he was conscious, he had not always behaved as well as he should have done to your daughter, who deserved all good things, and who had never done him any wrong whatsoever, he begged both your Excellency’s pardon, and hers for whose sake his heart was now sorely troubled. He went on to tell me that in every one of his prayers he had asked our Lord God to allow her to survive him, since he placed all his trust and peace of mind in her. And, since this had not been the will of God, he prayed, and would never cease praying, that if it were ever possible for a living man to see the dead, God would give him grace to see her and speak to her once more, since he had loved her better than himself. After many sobs and lamentations, he ended by begging me to assure your Highness that the love and affection which he bore you would never be diminished in the smallest degree, and that he would retain the same warm sentiments for you and for all your sons, as long as he lived, and would prove by his actions the depth and sincerity of his feelings. Then I took my leave, and he told me to go and follow the corpse, with a fresh outburst of sorrow, lamenting her in language so true and natural that it would have moved the very stones to tears. Thus, still weeping, I returned to join the other ambassadors, who all approached and expressed their grief and sympathy with your Excellency in very loving and compassionate words. The obsequies which followed were celebrated with all possible magnificence and pomp. All the ambassadors at present in Milan, among whom were one from the King of the Romans, two from the King of Spain, and others from all the powers of Italy, lifted the corpse and bore King of the Romans: Maximilian I (1459– it to the first gate of the Castello. Here the privy coun1519), king of the Romans and Holy cillors took the body in their turn, and at the corners of Roman emperor from 1493 to 1519 the streets groups of magistrates stood waiting to receive King of Spain: Ferdinand (1452–1516), it. All the relatives of the ducal family wore long mournking of Aragon from 1479 and, by ing cloaks that trailed on the ground, and hoods over marriage to Isabella of Castile, ruler of that their heads. I walked first with the Marchese Ermes, and kingdom after 1474; he is thus considered the others followed, each in his right order. We bore her the first king of united Spain to Santa Maria delle Grazie, attended by an innumerable company of monks and nuns and priests, bearing crosses of gold, of silver and wood, infinite numbers of gentlemen and citizens, and crowds of people of every rank and class, all weeping and making the greatest lamentation that was ever seen, for the great loss which this city has suffered in the death of its duchess. There were so many wax torches it was marvellous to see! At the gates of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the ambassadors were waiting to receive the body, and, taking it from the hands of the chief magistrates, they bore it to the steps of the high altar, where the most reverend cardinal-legate was seated, in his purple robes, between two bishops, and himself said the whole Office. And there the duchess was laid on a bier draped with cloth of gold, bearing the arms of the house of Sforza, and clad in one of her richest camoras of gold brocade. My dear lord, besides the extraordinary demonstrations of grief which have been shown by the whole people of this city, and by the women quite as much as by the men,

91

Voices of the Renaissance

which may well be a great consolation to your Excellency, I must tell you how above all others, Signore Messer Galeazzo di Sanseverino has both by his words and deeds, as well as by his demonstrations of sorrow, given admirable expression to the affection which he had for the duchess, Galeazzo di Sanseverino: born c. 1460 and has taken care to make known to everyone the virand died in 1525, a courtier, cousin, and tues and goodness of that most illustrious Madonna. All military captain of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of which I have felt it my duty to tell your Excellency, in of Milan the hope that it may help to alleviate your sorrow, praying you to maintain the same fortitude that you have always shown hitherto. To whose favour I ever commend myself, Your Excellency’s servant, Antonius Costabilis. Source: Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. New York, E.P. Dutton and Company, 1910, pp. 308–11.

Document 2: Letter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, to His Brother-in Law Francesco II Gonzaga, Informing Him of the Death of the Duke’s Wife Most Illustrious Relative and Dearest Brother My wife was taken with sudden pains at eight o’clock last night. At eleven, she gave birth to a dead son, and at half-past twelve, she gave her spirit back to God. This cruel and premature end has filled me with bitter and indescribable anguish, so much so that I would rather have died myself than to lose the dearest and most precious thing that I had in this world. But great and excessive as is my grief, beyond all measure, and grievous as your own will be, I know, I feel that I must tell you this myself, because of the brotherly love between us. And I beg you not to send anyone to condole with me, as that would only renew my sorrow. I would not write to the Madonna Marchesana [Beatrice’s sister Isabella], and leave you to break the news to her as you think best, knowing well how inexpressible her sorrow will be. Lodovicus M. Sfortia Anglus Dux Mediolani Milan, 3 January 1497, 6 o’clock Source: Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. New York, E.P. Dutton and Company, 1910, p. 308.

92

“She Gave Back Her Spirit to God”

AFTERMATH Ludovico became Duke of Milan in 1494 when his nephew died under mysterious circumstances. Although suspected by some of having a hand in Duke Gian Galeazzo’s death, Ludovico’s alliance network stood him in good stead and he was quickly able to consolidate his authority. However, fearing that Naples began to pose a threat to Milan, Ludovico repudiated his alliance with the Neapolitan kingdom and allowed the French king, Charles VIII, to march through Milan when he invaded Italy in 1494 seeking to enforce a French claim to the throne of Naples. The French invasion initiated a 65-year period of intermittent Italian wars. Charles soon extended his ambitions to Milan itself, forcing Ludovico to join the Holy League, an anti-French alliance of Spain, the pope, and various Italian states. Charles withdrew from Italy in 1495, but, in 1498, the new French king, Louis XII, invaded Italy seeking to enforce a claim to Milan inherited from his grandmother. Ludovico was driven from Milan in October 1499, but retook the city in January 1500. However, the defeat of his army by the French at the Battle of Novara in April led to Ludovico’s capture and subsequent imprisonment in France. He died a prisoner in the castle of Loches in 1508. His eldest son was restored to the duchy in 1512, but then was himself overthrown and imprisoned following a new French invasion in 1515.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find these letters moving? Does Ludovico’s grief seem excessive? Does his grief seem genuine? What strikes you most about the ambassador’s description of the funeral rites? 2. The first letter is a diplomatic document, written by an ambassador to his master. That being the case, how does this letter differ from one on the same subject that might have passed between family members? Does the ambassador say anything of a political nature? Is his description of the funeral more a report or an expression of condolence? 3. The second letter from Ludovico himself is to a family member, but both writer and recipient are rulers of states. Do their political positions impact the tone of the letter? If so, why do you think this?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or electronic copy of A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650 (2016), edited and translated by Lisa Kaborycha. Read a selection of the letters contained in this volume. Also access a print or online edition of Isabella d’Este’s Selected Letters (2016), edited and translated by Deanna Shemek. Isabella, Beatrice d’Este’s older sister, was politically astute and virtually ruled Mantua during her husband’s many absences. Read a selection of Isabella’s letters. 2. View episodes of the 2011 Showtime series The Borgias, which covers the period of Ludovico’s rule in Milan. The character of Ludovico Sforza appears in the series played by Ivan Kaye, an English actor. How is Ludovico portrayed in this series?

93

Voices of the Renaissance

CHILDBIRTH IN THE RENAISSANCE The primary duty of women of high social rank, such as Beatrice d’Este, was to marry and bear legitimate children, especially boys, to inherit the wealth and property of their father’s family. The successful birth of a child was thus a great achievement for the mother and a cause for family celebration. Lacking effective birth control, women of the Renaissance often experienced frequent pregnancies, and many gave birth to eight, ten, or more children. However, infant mortality was high, with 25 to 50 percent of children dying at or shortly after birth. Few women saw all their children live to adulthood, and many women died in childbirth, which was the leading cause of death among women of childbearing age. The process of giving birth was entirely a women’s affair, with the pregnant woman retiring to a birthing chamber, to which no man was admitted, shortly before the child was expected. Directed by an experienced midwife, the women who attended the mother might include female relatives of different ages, servants of different social classes, and other kinswomen, neighbor women, and nurses. The midwife guided the mother through the birthing process and handled any emergencies, such as removing a stillborn child from a live mother or a live infant from a dead mother. The midwife could even perform emergency baptisms for struggling infants. Most infants of upper class women were handed over to wet nurses—women hired and paid by the father to breastfeed the newborn. These were women who had themselves recently given birth and either lost their child or entrusted it to the care of someone else. Thus, aristocratic mothers like Beatrice d’Este had little contact with their newborn children and were soon available to bear their husband another child.

Further Information Ady, Cecilia Mary. A History of Milan under the Sforza. Reprint ed. New York: Sagwan Press, 2015. Black, Jane. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan: Plenitude of Power under the Visconti and Sforza, 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. Reprint ed. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2007. Dean, Trevor. Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara: The Rule of the Este, 1350–1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. D’Este, Isabella. Selected Letters. Translated and edited by Deanna Shemek. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2016. Ianziti, Gary. Humanistic Historiography under the Sforzas: Politics and Propaganda in Fifteenth-Century Milan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Tuohy, Thomas. Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d’Este (1471–1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Website Cartwright, Julia Mary. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497. Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25622/25622-h/25622-h.htm.

94

16. “THE PRINCIPAL AND TRUE PROFESSION OF A COURTIER OUGHT TO BE IN FEATS OF A RMS” Excerpts from The Book of the Courtier (1528) by Baldassare Castiglione INTRODUCTION Born in 1478, Baldassare Castiglione was the son of a landowning professional soldier in the service of the marquis of Mantua. He received a humanist education and then entered the service of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (see Section 15) in 1496. In 1499, the death of his father and the overthrow of the duke led him to return to Mantua to serve the marquis as a soldier and diplomat. In 1504, he entered the service of the Duke of Urbino, who sent Castiglione to represent him at the royal courts of England and France, the ducal court of Milan, and the papal court at Rome. He returned to the service of the Duke of Mantua in 1516, the same year he married Ippolita Torelli, the daughter of Bolognese nobility. In 1524, Pope Clement VII named him papal nuncio to Spain, where Castiglione resided until his death of plague on February 8, 1529. In 1513, Castiglione began writing what became one of the most popular and important literary works of the European Renaissance, a treatise in dialogue form entitled Il cortegiano (The Courtier, or, as usually rendered in English, The Book of the Courtier). The work, which influenced such later writers as Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare, is a manual describing in detail the attributes of an ideal Renaissance courtier, including his appearance, manner, attainments, and political service, as well as the qualities of his perfect female companion. Full of wit and wisdom, and written in a lively, dramatic style, The Courtier served for centuries as the chief European guide to social and sexual interaction, defining proper behavior and correct manners. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Castiglione’s The Courtier.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. The Courtier is divided into four parts or books, which represent four successive evenings of discussion. Book 1 opens as the courtiers and ladies gather to play a game designed to “portray in words a perfect courtier.” The subsequent discussions define the ideal courtier as a nobleman proficient in the use of arms and delighting in physical activity, but also skilled in arts and letters and able to perform in each of these areas with grace and style, and without apparent effort. Proper outward appearance is also vital for a courtier, who must always avoid affectation. Book

95

Voices of the Renaissance

2 discusses the proper display of courtly qualities, especially through the use of finally honed conversational skills that illustrate the courtier’s charm, wit, humor, learning, and discretion. Book 3 defines the court lady, who exhibits most of the qualities of her male counterpart, although with a greater emphasis on physical beauty and the exercise of discretion to preserve reputation. Book 4 describes how the ideal courtier should serve his prince, a discussion that eventually becomes a debate on the relative merits of monarchies and republics. Resuming a theme from the previous book, Book 4 also discusses the topic of love and how the courtier should progress from physical love to a pure idealized love. 2. Among the characters who appear in The Courtier are Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, who is in ill-health and takes no part in the discussions; Elisabetta Gonzaga, the Duchess of Urbino, who is the organizer and moderator of each evening’s activities and discussions; Ottaviano Fregoso, the duke’s nephew and a future doge of Venice; Federico Fregoso, Ottaviano’s brother and a soldier and future cardinal; Giuliano de’ Medici, the future Pope Clement VII; and Pietro Bembo, the Venetian author and prelate. The most impetuous and emotional character is Gasparo Pallavicino, a noble friend and kinsman of Castiglione who was the absent author’s supposed source of information about the discussions. 3. The popularity and influence of The Courtier in the 16th century is illustrated by the following quotation from the 1585 dialogue Il Malpiglio overo de la corte (The Courtier Revisited) by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso: “Have you read Castiglione’s Cortegiano? The beauty of the book is such that it deserves to be read in all ages; and as long as courts endure, as long as princes reign and knights and ladies meet, as long valor and courtesy hold a place in our hearts, the name of Castiglione will be held in honor” (Cartwright, v–vi).

Document: Excerpts from The Book of the Courtier But to come to some particularities, I judge the principal and true profession of a Courtier ought to be in feats of arms, the which above all I will have him to practice lively, and to be known among other of his hardiness, for his achieving of enterprises, and for his fidelity toward him whom he serves. And he shall purchase himself a name with these good conditions, in doing the deeds in every time and place, for it is not for him to faint at any time in this behalf without a wondrous reproach. And even as in women honesty once stained doth never return again to the former estate: so the fame of a gentleman that carries weapon, if it once take a soil in any little point through dastardliness or any other reproach, doth evermore continue shameful in the world and full of ignorance. Therefore the more excellent our Courtier shall be in this arte, the more shall he be worthy of praise: albeit I judge not necessary in him so perfect a knowledge of things and other qualities that is requisite in a Captain. But because this is overlarge a scope of matters, we will hold our selves contented, as we have said, with the uprightness of a well-meaning mind, and with an invincible courage, and that he always shew himself such a one. For many times men of courage are sooner known in small matters than in great. Often times in dangers that stand them upon, and where many eyes be, ye shall see some that for all their heart is dead in their body, yet pricked with shame or with the company, go forward, as it were, blind field and do their duty. And God knows both in matters that little 96

“The Principal and True Profession of a Courtier Ought to Be in Feats of Arms”

touch them, and also where they suppose that without missing they may convey themselves from danger, how they are willing enough to sleep in a whole skin. But such as think themselves neither marked, seen, nor known, and yet declare a stout courage, and suffer not the least thing in the world to pass that may burthen them, they have that courage of spirit which we seek to have in our Courtier. Yet will we not have him for all that so lusty to make bravery in words, and to brag that he hath wedded his names for a wife, and to threaten with such grim looks. . . . For unto such may we be said, that a worthy gentle woman in a noble assembly spoke pleasantly unto one, that shall be nameless for this time, whom she to shew him a good countenance, desired to dance with her, and he refusing it, and to hear music, and many other entertainments offered him, always affirming such trifles not to be his profession, at last the gentle woman demanding him, what is then your profession? He answered with a frowning look, to fight. Then said the gentle woman: seeing you are not now at the war nor in place to fight, I would think it best for you to be well besmeared and set up in an armory with other implements of war till time were that you should be occupied, least you were more rustier than you are. Thus with much laughing of the standers by, she left him with a mock in his foolish presumption. The end therefore of a perfect Courtier (whereof hitherto nothing hath been spoken) I believe is to purchase him, by the mean of the qualities which these Lords have given him, in such wise the good will and favor of the Prince he is in service withal, that he may break his mind to him, and always inform him frankly of the truth of every matter meet for him to understand, without feared or peril to displease him. And when he knows his mind is bent to commit anything unseemly for him, to be bold to stand with him in it, and to take courage after an honest sorted at the favor which he hath gotten him through his good qualities, to dissuade him from every ill purpose, and to set him in the way of virtue. And so shall the Courtier, if he have the goodness in him that these Lords have given him accompanied with readiness of wit, pleasantness, wisdom, knowledge in letters, and so many other things, understand how to behave himself readily in all occurrence to drive into his Prince’s head what honor and profit shall ensue to him and to his by justice, liberality, gallantness of courage, meekness, and by the other virtues that belong to a good prince, and contrariwise what slander and damage comes of the vices contrary to them. And therefore in mine opinion, as music, sports, pastimes, and other pleasant fashions, are (as a man would say) the flower of courtliness, even so is the training and helping forward of the Prince to goodness, and the fearing him from evil, the fruit of it. And because the praises of well doing consists chiefly in two points, whereof the one is, in choosing out an end that our purpose is directed unto, that is good in deed, the other, the knowledge to find out apt and meet means to bring it to the appointed good end: sure it is that the mind of him which thinks to work so, that his Prince shall not be deceived, nor lead with flatterers, railers, and liars, but shall know both the good and the bad, and bear love to the one, and hatred to the other, is directed to a very good end. Me think again, that the qualities which these Lords have given the Courtier, may be a good means to compass it; and that, because among many vices that we see now a days in many of our Princes, the greatest are ignorance and self-liking. And the root of these two mischiefs is nothing else but lying, which vice is worthily abhorred of God and man, and more hurtful to Princes than any other, because they have more scarcity than of anything else, of that which they needed to have more plenty of, than of anything; namely, of such as should tell them the truth, and put them in mind of 97

Voices of the Renaissance

goodness: for enemies be not driven of love to do these offices, but they delight rather to have them live wickedly and never to amend: on the other side, they dare not rebuke them openly for fear they be punished. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, trans. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 93–99.

AFTERMATH Beginning his work in 1513, the year Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince (see Section 23), Castiglione largely completed The Courtier by 1518, although he spent the next decade revising the treatise. Having sent the manuscript to friends for comments and corrections, Castiglione finally submitted it for publication in 1528 when he began to fear that the various circulating copies of the text would lead to a pirated edition. The Courtier was an immediate success in Italy and soon gained great popularity throughout Western Europe, being translated into Spanish in 1534, French in 1537, English (by Sir Thomas Hoby) in 1561, and even Latin in 1571. The Courtier is set at the court of Urbino in 1506, during a visit there by Pope Julius II and his entourage and during a time when the author was himself absent from court. This device allowed Castiglione, whose characters were real people, to include among his interlocutors individuals who were not otherwise part of the court at Urbino, and to exclude himself from the dialogue, which he claims to record as it was reported to him. Written in vernacular Italian, rather than in the literary Tuscan used by Dante Alighieri (see Section 1) and Petrarch (see Section 3), The Courtier is dedicated to Alfonso Ariosto, the cousin of a close friend, who, at the urging of Francis I of France, encouraged Castiglione to write about the perfect courtier. Each of the characters in The Courtier is a recognized authority on the subject of his discourse; Pietro Bembo, for instance, speaks on Neoplatonic love, the topic of his 1505 work, Asolani. Although female characters appear in The Courtier, especially in the dialogue on the ideal court lady, they are never active participants and serve only to ask questions and moderate discussions (see the sidebar). Although many later works on “courtesy” and social relations attempted to imitate The Courtier, none was as successful or brilliant a portrait of 16th-century Renaissance courts as Castiglione’s masterpiece.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What, in this excerpt, does Castiglione say are the qualities of the perfect courtier? What skills should a courtier cultivate? At what pastimes should a courtier be proficient? What benefits does a courtier derive from correct behavior and proper manners? What practices should the good courtier avoid? 2. To what social class do the characters belong? What is the level of education of the characters? How dependent are the courtiers on the duke and duchess, in terms of their livelihoods and their status? 3. How does Castiglione’s description of a courtier compare to modern notions of what makes a gentleman? What conventions of modern etiquette and social interaction do you see reflected in Castiglione’s descriptions? Does Castiglione say anything about interaction between classes? Does he say anything about the interaction between sexes?

98

“The Principal and True Profession of a Courtier Ought to Be in Feats of Arms”

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of The Courtier and read selections from each of the four books. Try your hand at writing a dialogue between characters that addresses a particular topic or issue of importance to you. 2. Search YouTube for “The Book of the Courtier” and “The Courtly Lady of the Renaissance.” These are two short lectures by Tom Richey on Castiglione’s work, with the first focusing on civic humanism as exhibited in The Courtier and the second focusing on the role of a lady at court. Pay attention to Richey’s discussion of the proper pronunciation of the name Castiglione and to Richey’s definition of a courtier. 3. Access a print or online copy of Alison Cole’s Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure and Power, and read a chapter on one particular court—Cole covers the courts of Naples, Urbino (where The Courtier is set), Ferrara, Mantua, and Milan. To what, if any, contemporary setting or institution do you think a Renaissance court relates?

WOMEN AT THE RENAISSANCE COURT In Book 3 of The Courtier, the Magnificent Giuliano, who is in fact Giuliano de’ Medici, the future Pope Clement VII, describes what qualities define an ideal lady at court. The quintessential courtier is male, but no court can properly exist without women who are necessary counterparts to the male courtiers. Women bring splendor, ornament, and gaiety to a court, and no male courtier can cultivate a graceful and pleasing manner or exhibit bravery and gallantry unless inspired by the love and society of ladies. In this regard, the division between genders at court is sharply defined; men are required to be brave, sober, and manly, while women must project “a soft and delicate tenderness, with an air of womanly sweetness in every movement, which, in her going and staying, and in whatever she says, shall always make her appear the woman without any resemblance to a man.” This stark difference in how the social roles of men and women are perceived would characterize first the princely courts of Europe, and then, in the 18th and 19th centuries, European society more generally. The court lady needed to be beautiful, “for truly that woman lacks much who lacks beauty.” She also required a fine sense of fashion, for the lady of the court “must have the good judgment to see which are the garments that enhance her grace and are most appropriate to the exercises in which she intends to engage at a given time” (Castiglione, 2002, 154). She also needed to be a skillful conversationalist, able to guide discussions and put all others at their ease. Besides these guidelines, Book 3 also contains two dialogues on the virtues of women and on the proper way to conduct a romantic relationship.

Further Information Burke, Peter. The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione’s Cortegiano. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996. Cartwright, Julia Ady. Baldassare Castiglione, The Perfect Courtier: His Life and Letters, 1478– 1529. Reprint ed. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2010. Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Translated by Charles S. Singleton. Edited by Daniel Javitch. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002. Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003.

99

Voices of the Renaissance

Cole, Alison. Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure, and Power. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2016. Hanning, Robert W., and David Rosand, eds. Castiglione: The Ideal and the Real in Renaissance Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1983. Richards, Jennifer. “Assumed Simplicity and the Critique of Nobility: Or, How Castiglione Read Cicero.” Renaissance Quarterly 54, no. 2 (Summer 2001): 463. Saccone, Eduardo. “The Portrait of the Courtier in Castiglione.” Italica 64, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 1–18. Woodhouse, J.R. Baldesar Castiglione: A Reassessment of “The Courtier.” Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978.

Websites Castiglione, Baldassare. The Courtier. New York, 1903. Internet Archive. https://archive. org/details/bookofcourtier00castuoft. Castiglione, Baldassare. The Courtier. Translated by Sir Thomas Hoby. London, 1561. Available on Renascence Editions Website at www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/ courtier/courtier.html.

100

POLITICS AND WAR

This page intentionally left blank

17. “THE CHILD DREW A BALL FOR E ACH AND THE COUNCILORS BROKE THEM” A Description of the Procedures Followed for Election of the Doge of Venice (1268) INTRODUCTION Renaissance Venice was a city-state in northeastern Italy built on a series of small islands separated by canals and linked by numerous bridges. During the Middle Ages, the city became a maritime power and won control of an increasing share of eastern Mediterranean trade. By the late 14th century, Venice ruled a far-flung empire that extended from portions of the north Italian mainland to the eastern Adriatic coast, including parts of the modern states of Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Albania, and portions of mainland Greece as well as numerous Greek isles and the islands of Crete and Cyprus. The wealth of Renaissance Venice derived from the city’s trade with the Levant and Western Europe and from its thriving silk, glass, and printing industries, all of which were supported by Europe’s most sophisticated banking system. Venice was an oligarchic republic; its government comprised a series of elaborately organized councils whose memberships were derived from a closed oligarchy of men belonging to a legally defined nobility. These nobles comprised the Grand Council and they alone could hold the city’s many public offices. The official head of the government was the doge, but the heart of the Venetian government was the Grand Council, which elected the doge. The city’s complicated governmental structure was designed to provide safeguards against corruption and manipulation by families or factions. Such safeguards can be seen in the complex procedure that was followed for the election of a new doge. Reproduced here is an account of the electoral procedures attending the selection of a doge in 1268.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Beginning in 1297, Venice issued a series of decrees that restricted the membership of the Grand Council and other civic councils and commissions to certain patrician families. All civic offices were thereafter open only to male descendants of those families. Qualified members of the families were listed in the Libro d’Oro (Golden Book), a directory compiled by the government from 1315 until the end of the republic in 1797. 2. The doge was the chief magistrate of the Venetian Republic from the inception of the office in 726 to the end of the city’s independence in 1797. The term doge is thought to derive from the Latin word dux, which is usually translated as “duke.” The doge initially

103

Voices of the Renaissance

had significant powers, but the scope and prerogatives of the office were increasingly circumscribed beginning in the 13th century, when the office was closed to all but members of certain noble families. Changes were also made to the way doges were elected to eliminate any tendency toward hereditary succession—doges served for life—and to prevent the office from being monopolized by certain families or factional groupings.

Document: Description of the Procedures for Electing the Doge Then the noble Doge Rainiero Zeno died and was buried, clad in cloth of gold; and seventeen days after Lorenzo Tiepolo was elected Doge. Rainiero Zeno: served as Doge of Venice At that time there were six councilors in Venice who from 1253 to 1268 remained in the palace until the new Doge was elected, and their vicar was Nicolao Michele. And he assembled all the people in the Church of Saint Mark, and spoke to them very wisely of all that belonged to the electing [of ] a Doge of Venice, and all that the Doge must swear to observe; and the people approved that which had been established. And this was how the election was made: The noble councilors assembled that day in the Great Council; and for each one who was in the council there was made a little ball of wax, and inside thirty of these balls was a piece of parchment on which was written Lector. Then each one took a ball, and the councilors and the forty broke them in the sight of all, and when there was found within the word Lector, he who had drawn it went and sat down in a certain place, and those who found nothing written went behind. Thus when all was done there were thirty electors. When they were assembled together, Nicolao Michele spoke to them of the manner in which the election was to be made. And when they had sworn their oath before the council, they remained in their room above in the palace, and the others went away. Then these thirty men made balls of wax, and in nine of them was a parchment with the word Lector, and each one took his ball and those who found the word within tarried and the others went away. Then these nine assembled together and chose forty Venetians; and they had power to choose from the council, and from outside the council, seven of them agreeing together. And when they were agreed, they made known to Nicolao Michele, and to the councilors, and to the three heads of the forty the names of the forty men whom they had chosen; and they sent to fetch them to the palace. And they made forty balls of wax, of which twelve had within the word Lector; and they put the forty balls in a hat. And there was brought in a child of the age of 11 years; and as each one came up, he said to the little child, “Put your hand into the hat, and take out a wax ball for such a one” (Naming him); and the child took it and gave it to the councilors, and they broke it before him; and if was written within Lector, they made him sit down, and if not they sent him away. Then the vicar made the twelve chosen swear to observe all that the wise men had established; and they went into a room and chose twenty-five men, eight of them agreeing together. Then they made known the names to the vicar and to the others; and then assembled them together, and made twenty-five balls, and within nine of them was the parchment with the word Lector. And they came one after the other up to the hat, and the child drew a ball for each and the councilors broke them. 104

“The Child Drew a Ball for Each and the Councilors Broke Them”

And they made the nine chosen swear the oath, and they went into a chamber and chose forty-five men, seven men agreeing together. Then the vicar and the others assembled the forty-five, and made forty-five balls of wax, and in eleven of them put the parchment; and the child drew for them. And the eleven having been sworn, went into a chamber, and chose forty-one men, nine men agreeing together. These forty-one were to choose the Doge, twenty-five agreeing together. So they made the forty-one swear to observe the rules that the people had approved, and to support and defend the Doge who should be chosen. So these forty-one men chose Lorenzo Tiepolo; and they were the nobles of Venice. Also in all the elections there was no man chosen who was not thirty years old at least. There was great joy in Venice when Lorenzo Tiepolo was chosen; for the people remembered the goodness of Lorenzo Tiepolo: served as Doge of Venice Jacopo Tiepolo, his father, and the great things he had from 1268 to 1275 done, and Lorenzo had learned of him well. And they Jacopo Tiepolo: served as Doge of Venice assembled in the Church of Saint Mark, and he was from 1229 to 1249 declared to be Doge; and they stripped off his clothes and gonfalon: a banner or pennant hung from a led him before the altar, and there he took the oath, and crossbar there was given him the gonfalon of Saint Mark, and he took it. Then, amid great rejoicing, he went up to the palace, and on the stairs he stopped with the gonfalon in his hand, and the chaplains of Saint Mark cried aloud, “Let Christ conquer! Let Christ reign! Let Christ rule! And to our Lord Lorenzo Tiepolo, by the grace of God, illustrious Doge of Venice, Dalmatia, and Croatia, and Lord of the fourth part and a half of the Empire of Romania, be safety, honor, long life, and victory! May Saint Mark be your aid!” Then the Doge entered the palace, and the chaplains went to Saint Agostino, where there was the Dogaressa, and sang praises to her. Source: Tappan, Eva March, ed. The World’s Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art. Vol. V. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914, pp. 51–54.

AFTERMATH After the successful conclusion of the War of Chioggia in 1381, a long struggle with trade rival Genoa, Venice became the dominant maritime power in the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean. However, in the 15th century, Venice came into increasing conflict with the expanding Ottoman Turkish Empire, which, especially after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, seized numerous Venetian outposts in the Greek isles and on the eastern Adriatic coast. The city fought a series of wars against the Turks in the 15th and 16th centuries, joining with the pope and Emperor Charles V to form the anti-Turkish Holy League in 1537; destroying a Turkish naval fleet, with League assistance, at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and losing the island of Cyprus to the Turks in 1573. Despite losses in the east, Venice, during this period, expanded its territory on the Italian mainland, seizing control of Padua and Verona in 1405, of Brescia in 1426, and of Bergamo in 1428. During the decades of political turmoil that followed the French invasion of Italy in 1494, Venice maintained its independence, leading to the growth of a myth that its republican constitution gave it a strength and stability that were denied to other Italian cities and principalities (see the sidebar). Venetian economic and political power declined in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the independent republic was dissolved in 1797, when the city came under the control of Napoleonic France. 105

Voices of the Renaissance

ASK YOURSELF 1. From this description, do you understand how the election of the doge was conducted? Do the election procedures seem unnecessarily complex? From what you know of the Venetian government, why do you think this was done? 2. What to you is the most striking feature of the election process? Does it seem to you that the power of the doge was more symbolic than real? Does it seem that the power of the doge rested more in the exercise of influence than the giving of orders? Why do you believe as you do?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Read the above excerpt carefully and draw a chart or diagram tracing the electoral process. Does this help you make more sense of the complicated procedure? 2. Access a print or online copy of Venice: A Documentary History, 1450–1630, edited by David Chambers and Brian Pullan and read a selection of other documents that describes the governmental structure of the Venetian Republic. Several modern histories of the Venetian Republic (see, for instance, Crowley, Finlay, or Madden) are available. Read the chapters covering the structure and functioning of the Venetian government in one of these works. 3. Although not as complex as the Venetian procedure, and much more democratic, the United States also does not have direct popular election of the president, its chief magistrate. Draw a chart or diagram outlining the working of presidential elections in the United States, or write a narrative description of how presidential elections are conducted.

MYTH OF VENICE In the 16th century, as intermittent wars wracked Italy from the French invasion of 1494 to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, a belief arose in Italy and Western Europe that the ability of Venice to maintain its independence when neighboring states, such as Milan and Florence, were experiencing conquest and upheaval was due to the excellence of its republican institutions. Humanist intellectuals viewed Venice’s mixed constitution, combining elements of monarchy (the doge), enlightened oligarchy (the patrician Senate), and popular government (citizen representation in the Grand Council), as meeting the ideal city-state as defined by Aristotle in his Politics. The republic’s judicial system was also seen as fair and impartial and thus contributing to the city’s stability. Writers who originated and disseminated this idea during the 15th and 16th centuries included Gasparo Contarini, a cleric and political philosopher whose family had supplied Venice with eight doges; Donato Giannotti, a Florentine philosopher whose Book of the Republic of the Venetians (1527) extolled republican government in general and the Venetian republic in particular; and Bernardo Giustiniani, whose history of the Venetian republic, published in 1492, was instrumental in the development of the myth of Venice. Admiration of the Venetian constitution influenced the Dutch republicans who sought independence from Spain in the 16th century, the English republicans who overthrew the English monarchy in the 17th century, and the American republicans who initiated the break with Britain in the 18th century.

106

“The Child Drew a Ball for Each and the Councilors Broke Them”

Further Information Chambers, David, and Brian Pullan, eds. and trans. Venice: A Documentary History, 1450– 1630. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. Crowley, Roger. City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. New York: Random House, 2013. Finlay, Robert. Politics in Renaissance Venice. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1980. Madden, Thomas. Venice: A New History. New York: Viking, 2012. Muir, Edward. Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981. Romano, Dennis. The Likeness of Venice: A Life of Doge Francesco Foscari, 1373–1457. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007.

107

This page intentionally left blank

18. “I WILL PROCEED . . . TO DESTROY THE A RGUMENT ” Excerpts From De Monarchia (1313) by Dante Alighieri INTRODUCTION Although the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri is best known as the author of the Divine Comedy (see Section 1), he was also a political figure who was deeply involved in the great political controversies of his time. Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries was troubled by a long and bitter struggle between the adherents of the Holy Roman Emperor, known as Ghibellines, and the supporters of the pope, known as Guelfs. This conflict began in the 12th century, when Emperor Frederick I, known as Barbarossa, invaded Northern Italy in an effort to reimpose imperial rule on the increasingly independent and wealthy city-states of the region. Eager for the revenue that control of these cities would bring, Frederick besieged and destroyed Milan in an attempt to compel acquiescence to his demands. Backed by the pope, the major cities—Milan, Padua, Venice, Brescia, Mantua—formed the Lombard League, an alliance that defeated Frederick at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. This victory ended the threat from Frederick, but factions supporting either the Guelf or Ghibelline interest continued to fight against each other within all the principal north Italian cities for more than a century. In about 1302, Dante, after being caught up in a struggle between two Guelf factions in Florence, was banished from the city. About a decade later, Dante reacted to his continuing exile by writing De Monarchia (The Monarchy), a Latin treatise that explored the relationship between the secular (imperial) power and the religious (papal) power. Reproduced here is an excerpt from De Monarchia.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. On November 18, 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued a papal bull entitled Unam Sanctam (meaning, the one holy, i.e., the Church). The document laid down a series of dogmatic propositions, including the necessity of belonging to the Church to attain salvation, the pope’s divinely granted headship of the Church, and the superiority of papal authority to that of temporal rulers. One modern historian has called Unam Sanctam “the most famous of all documents on Church and state” from the Middle Ages (Tierney, 182). It was the claims made in Unam Sanctam that elicited such refutations as Dante’s De Monarchia.

109

Voices of the Renaissance

2. In the 11th and 12th centuries, alliances of urban nobles and wealthy merchants established sworn brotherhoods that seized power in most northern Italian cities from the emperor and from local bishops, thus initiating the Guelf-Ghibelline conflict. These cities became known as communes, a term that described the alliance of groups that had brought them into being. In the 13th century, the lesser merchants and artisans of these cities, themselves growing more prosperous, began to demand their own voice in civic affairs. These groups, to emphasize the fact that they were not nobles or the wealthy and powerful, called themselves the popolo, meaning “the people.” It was these groups who often dominated city governments, and drove internal disputes, in Dante’s time.

Document: Excerpt from De Monarchia Those men to whom all our subsequent reasoning is addressed, when they assert that the authority of the Empire depends on the authority of the Church, as the inferior workman depends upon the architect, are moved to take this view by many arguments, some of which they draw from Holy Scripture, and some also from the acts of the Supreme Pontiff and of the Emperor himself. Moreover, they strive to have some proof of reason. In the first place they say that God, according to the book of Genesis, made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; this they understand to be an allegory, for that the lights are the two powers, the spiritual and the temporal. And then they maintain that as the moon, which is the lesser light, only has light so far as she receives it from the sun, so the temporal power only has authority as it receives authority from the spiritual power. . . . Having thus first noted these things, I will proceed, as I said above, to destroy the argument of those who say that the two great lights are typical of the two great powers on earth; for on this type rests the whole strength of their argument. It can be shown in two ways that this interpretation cannot be upheld. First, seeing that these two kinds of power are, in a sense, accidents of men, God would thus appear to have used a perverted order, by producing the accidents before the essence to which they belong existed; and it is ridiculous to say this of God. For the two lights were created on the fourth day, while man was not created till the sixth day, as is evident in the text of Scripture. Secondly, seeing that these two kinds of rule are to guide men to certain ends, as we shall see, it follows that if man had remained in the state of innocence in which God created him, he would not have needed such means of guidance. These kinds of rule, then, are remedies against the weakness of sin. Since, then, man was not a sinner on the fourth day, for he did not then even exist, it would have been idle to make remedies for his sin, and this would be contrary to the goodness of God. For he would be a sorry physician who would make a plaster for an abscess which was to be, before the man was born. It cannot, therefore, be said that God made these two kinds of rule on the fourth day, and therefore the meaning of Moses cannot have been what these men pretend. We may also be more tolerant, and overthrow this falsehood by drawing a distinction. This way of distinction is a gentler way of treating an adversary, for so his arguments are not made to appear consciously false, as is the case when we utterly overthrow him. I say then that, although the moon has not light of its own abundantly, unless it receives it from the

110

“I Will Proceed . . . to Destroy the Argument”

sun, yet it does not therefore follow that the moon is from the sun. Therefore be it known that the being, and the power, and the working of the moon are all different things. For its being, the moon in no way depends on the sun, nor for its power, nor for its working, considered in itself. Its motion comes from its proper mover, its influence is from its own rays. For it has a certain light of its own, which is manifest at the time of an eclipse; though for its better and more powerful working it receives from the sun an abundant light, which enables it to work more Emperor Constantine: Constantine was powerfully. . . . Emperor of Rome from 306 to 337 CE; X. Certain persons say further that the Emperor Constantine was alleged by proponents Constantine, having been cleansed from leprosy by the of papal supremacy to have transferred intercession of Sylvester, then the Supreme Pontiff, gave authority over the city of Rome and the unto the Church the seat of Empire, which was Rome, Western Empire to the papacy together with many other dignities belonging to the Sylvester: Sylvester I was pope from 314 to Empire. Hence they argue that no man can take unto 335 CE; a later legend that Sylvester cured himself these dignities unless he receive them from the Emperor Constantine of leprosy was later Church, whose they are said to be. From this it would much employed by those who argued for rightly follow that one authority depends on the other, the subordination of the temporal power as they maintain. to the spiritual power The arguments which seem to have their roots in the Syllogism: a deductive form of reasoning Divine words, have been stated and disproved. It remains in which a conclusion is drawn from two to state and disprove those which are grounded on Roman premises, e.g., all birds have two legs; a history and in the reason of mankind. The first of these is robin is a bird; robins have two legs the one which we have mentioned, in which the Syllogism runs as follows: No one has a right to those things which belong to the Church, unless he has them from the Church; and this we grant. The government of Rome belongs to the Church; therefore, no one has a right to it, unless it be given him by the Church. The minor premise is proved by the facts concerning Constantine, which we have touched upon. This minor premise then will I destroy; and as for their proof, I say that it proves nothing. For the dignity of the Empire was what Constantine could not alienate, nor the Church receive. And, when they insist, I prove my words as follows: No man, on the strength of the office which is committed to him, may do aught that is contrary to that office; for so one and the same man, viewed as one man, would be contrary to himself, which is impossible. But to divide the Empire is contrary to the office committed to the Emperor; for his office is to hold mankind in all things subject to one will; as may be easily seen from the first book of this treatise. Therefore, it is not permitted to the Emperor to divide the Empire. If, therefore, as they say, any dignities had been alienated by Constantine, and had passed to the Church, the “coat without seam,” which, even they, who pierced Christ, the true God, with a spear, dared not rend, would have been rent. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, ed. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 1–3.

AFTERMATH Dante and his family were members of the Guelf faction in Florence. In 1289, Dante fought with the Guelf forces in the Battle of Campaldino, in which the Ghibellines were

111

Voices of the Renaissance

defeated and the Guelfs secured control of the city. Dante held various offices under the new regime, which was soon in turmoil due to divisions within the Guelf party. Dante supported the White Guelf faction, which sought to limit papal influence, and which soon gained the upper hand over the Black Guelf faction, which strongly supported papal authority. In 1301, while Dante was in Rome, the Black Guelfs seized control of the city government. The new regime fined Dante and seized his property. Believing he had done no wrong and was being persecuted for his political affiliation, Dante refused to pay the fine and was thereupon banished from the city. Written in about 1312–1313, De Monarchia was an attempt to resist recent papal assertions, upheld by the Black Guelfs, that the authority of the pope was superior to that of secular rulers, that God had placed both Church and State under papal dominion. Dante argued that God had given separate spheres of authority to the pope and the emperor—the pope over spiritual matters and the emperor (or any ruler) over secular matters in a particular kingdom or state. De Monarchia, which was banned by the Catholic Church in 1585, thus became an effective counterbalance to a contemporary trend toward support for an expansive conception of papal authority.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find Dante’s arguments to be persuasive? What is Dante trying to say with his discussion of the Sun and the Moon? How does Dante differentiate the spiritual and secular realms? 2. What is Dante’s tone in this treatise? Is he trying to reasonably argue people to his point of view, or is he being rather dismissive of his opponents? Do you think his banishment and his feeling of having suffered an injustice colored his tone and arguments in De Monarchia?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of De Monarchia and read an additional selection. The treatise is divided into three books (parts); read selections from all three parts, but particularly from Book 3, where Dante most directly addresses the theory of papal superiority. 2. Access and read the online copy of the 1302 papal bull Unam Sanctam, which is available at the Papal Encyclicals Online website. Unam Sanctam lays out the most extreme expression of papal authority issued in the Middle Ages. What powers and authority does the pope claim in this document? How do these claims contrast with the argument made by Dante in De Monarchia? 3. Read the excerpt from Marsilius of Padua’s Defensor Pacis (1324) reproduced in Section 25 of this book, or access a print or online version of that treatise and read a passage from it. Written about 12 years after De Monarchia, Defensor Pacis expands upon the arguments Dante made in his work. How do the two works compare in tone and style? How does Marsilius build upon the foundation laid by Dante? Which of the two works seems more anticlerical?

112

“I Will Proceed . . . to Destroy the Argument”

EXILE RESCINDED In June 2008, the Florence city council passed a motion calling for “a public rehabilitation” of Dante Alighieri (A Very Florentine Problem). After backing the wrong political faction, Dante was exiled from Florence in 1302. Accused of corruption and banished for two years, Dante refused to pay the fines imposed upon him and thus his banishment was made perpetual. He spent the last 19 years of his life in exile. Conceived as a symbolic act celebrating Florence’s great poet, the 2008 motion was not expected to be controversial. However, debate over the motion between the right-wing councilors who proposed it and the left-wing councilors who opposed it soon grew heated. Proponents called it a long overdue recognition of Dante’s contributions to Florence’s cultural and intellectual history, but opponents derided it as a publicity stunt and a failure to recognize that it was the suffering engendered by his exile that generated Dante’s greatest works, especially his Divine Comedy. The whole issue became so controversial that the 20th generation heir of Dante, Count Pieralvise Serego Alighieri, offended by some of the comments made by opponents, refused to attend the rehabilitation ceremony planned by the city. The count was then himself attacked for allegedly attempting to turn the whole event into a promotion for his wine-making business. In the end, the city did officially revoke Dante’s original conviction and restore his public reputation, some 700 years after his banishment.

Further Information Dante, Alighieri. The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. Translated by Alan Mandelbaum. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1995. Raffa, Guy P. Dante’s Bones: How a Poet Invented Italy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 2020. “Return of Dante: The Guelphs and the Ghibellines.” Independent, June 19, 2008. www. independent.co.uk. Reynolds, Barbara. Dante: The Poet, the Thinker, the Man. London: I.B. Taurus, 2006. Rudd, Jay. Critical Companion to Dante: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2008. Tierney, Brian. “The Crisis of Church and State, 1050–1300”: With Selected Documents. Reprint ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988. Took, John. Dante. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020. Valla, Lorenzo. The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine. Translated by C.B. Coleman. Reprint ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993.

Websites Dartmouth Dante Project. https://dante.dartmouth.edu/. The Princeton Dante Project. http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/index.html. The De Monarchia of Dante Alighieri. Edited and Translated by Aurelia Henry. Boston, 1904. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/stream/demonarchiaedite00dantuoft/ demonarchiaedite00dantuoft_djvu.txt. “A Very Florentine Problem—Ending Dante’s Exile.” Italy Magazine. July 29, 2008. https:// www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/very-florentine-problem-ending-dantes-exile.

113

This page intentionally left blank

19. “M AY HE NEVER R ETURN HERE” Documents Relating to the Life in Italy of the English Condottiere Sir John Hawkwood (1377, 1391) INTRODUCTION The rise of republican city-states in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries led to an innovation in the way wars between the various states were fought. Whereas war was the province of feudal magnates in the rest of Western Europe, the Italian cities lacked such a native warrior nobility, and wars were fought by citizen armies, with units organized by parishes or neighborhoods. Although these citizen militias somewhat resembled modern national armies raised by recruitment or conscription, the trend toward this contemporary model ceased in the 14th century when city governments found it more convenient to hire professional soldiers to fight their wars. The ongoing Anglo-French conflict now known as the Hundred Years War, which began in the 1330s and ran intermittently to 1453, gave rise to organized companies of professional freebooters who often sought other employment during lulls in the Anglo-French struggle. Many of these companies, comprising soldiers of many nationalities, found their way to Italy, where war was ubiquitous in the 14th and 15th centuries. The captains of these companies signed contracts called condotta with various Italian powers, including the pope, to supply military service for money and other consideration. Known as condottieri, these contracting captains became the heroes and celebrities of the late Italian Renaissance, often earning great personal wealth and artistic recognition (see the sidebar). By the 15th century, most condottieri were Italians, some of whom eventually seized political power in the states they served. However, in the 14th century most were foreigners, with the most famous being the Englishman Sir John Hawkwood, who was known to his Florentine employers as Giovanni Acuto (John the Sharp). Reproduced here are a series of documents relating to Hawkwood’s career as an Italian condottiere.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. A condottiere was not simply a military commander; he also had to be a skilled organizer, manager, and negotiator, as well as a first-rate tactician and leader of men. Out of the fees he negotiated, he was responsible for feeding and equipping his men, who tended to quickly become unruly and who were liable to desert if they were not promptly paid. Because a mercenary leader’s company was his livelihood,

115

Voices of the Renaissance

he tended to avoid pitched battles and sought to win by strategy and maneuver, though many battles were fought and many condottieri and their men died in combat. Relations between the condottieri and their civic or princely employers could also be difficult, leading governments to financially punish poor performance— Venice even executed an unsatisfactory mercenary leader in 1423—and condottieri to switch employers, as Hawkwood did on several occasions. 2. Hawkwood’s companies, like most mercenary bands in Italy, were composed of units known as lances, groups of four or five men consisting of two mounted menat-arms, a page, and one or two mounted archers, the latter of which were quickly becoming a staple in the English armies in France. Hawkwood’s personal force was only a fraction of the troops under his command, but it became the stable and seasoned core of most of his companies. 3. Milan provides several examples of Italian condottieri who achieved political power. In the late 13th century, strife between the local Guelf and Ghibelline factions (see Section 18) led the Milanese nobility to back Archbishop Ottone Visconti’s assumption of power in the city. Becoming captain during his great-uncle’s rule, Matteo Visconti used his military position to establish the Visconti as the ruling dynasty of Milan. The family made Milan the dominant north Italian power in the 14th century and even won the title of duke from the emperor in 1395. When Duke Filippo Maria Visconti died without an heir in 1447, his most able condottiere, Francesco Sforza, took control of the city and established the rule of the Sforza dynasty.

Document 1: Letter of the Mantuan Ambassador to Milan Describing the Marriage of Sir John Hawkwood (May 3, 1377) Last Sunday, Sir John Hawkwood conducted a bride with all honors to the house where he was living, that is to say to the house once belonging to Gasparo del Conte, in which the late bishop of Parma lived, and the wedding was honored by the presence of the lady Duchess, and all the daughters Signor Bernabo: Bernabo Visconti, ruler of of Signor Bernabo. After the dinner the said lord Signor Milan from 1354 to 1385 Bernabo with his Porina went to the house of Sir John, Porina: Donnina Porro, mistress of Bernabo where there was jousting going on all day. They tell me that Visconti and mother of Hawkwood’s after dinner the lady Regina made a present to the bride of bride; her five children by Bernabo were a thousand gold ducats in a vase. The Signor Marco gave legitimated in 1384 her . . . pearls, worth three hundred ducats, and the Signor Regina: Beatrice Regina della Scala (1331– Luigi, a gift of pearls of the same value, and in like man1384), wife of Bernabo Visconti ner did many of the nobles. So much silver was offered in Signor Marco: son of Bernabo largesse to the Englishmen, that it is estimated at the value Signor Luigi: son of Bernabo of a thousand ducats. . . . . I have heard that Sir John was near Parma on Thursday, and according to what Signor Bernabo told me amongst other things, he will soon be starting towards Modena with his English soldiers; and when I was in Cremona, there came some [country militia] from Signor Bernabo’s towns, who they say are to be quartered there in 116

“May He Never Return Here”

place of those who were ordered off. I also understood that they were preparing a great many projectiles and gunpowder.

Document 2: A Florentine Citizen’s Diary Description of Hawkwood’s Entry into the City (December 7, 1377) Today Sir John Hawkwood entered Florence with his Company at the twenty-third hour and dismounted at the twenty-third hour: hour before sunset Palace of the Archbishop of Florence, and great honor was paid him by our Signoria and other councils, and a great deal of wax, and sweetmeats, and draperies of silk and wool were presented to him. They made a great feast for him and his Company in the Palace of the Signoria and he was much honored. God give him grace never to injure us, either in goods or person, Amen.” . . . [He then departed on the third day] to go to his castles in the Romagna. . . . May he never return here.

Document 3: Florence Exempts Hawkwood from Payment of a Forced Loan (1391) [O]ut of regard to the brave knight, John Hawkwood, so prudent in affairs of war as to be superior to almost all those of his time in Italy, so devoted a friend and captain-general of war to the Commune [of Florence]—wishing to treat him with liberality, holds him free from every fine, impost, or residue, and also from the great dues which are called extraordinary or forced loans, which he should have paid, and also from all penalties for payments omitted.

Document 4: Florence Grants Marriage Portions, Pensions, and Citizenship to Hawkwood and His Family (April 1391) Hawkwood together with his wife and family shall be received as a perpetual friend of the Commune, and deputed its captain of war; that besides the pension of 1,200 gold florins conceded since 1375, he shall, during his life, receive a new annual pension of 2,000 gold florins. . . . That to the first three daughters, whom Sir John at present acknowledges, and whose names are given below, shall be given as portions, when they marry, or shall be of marriageable age, 6,000 florins of gold—that is to say, 2,000 for each. . . . And as it is asserted that 117

Voices of the Renaissance

one of the said daughters, that is to say Janet, has at present completed the age of 14 years, from this time hence, whenever it shall please her father that her marriage shall be contracted, the payment of the portion shall immediately be made. Janet is the first of the daughters, Catherine the second, Anna the third; Moreover after the death of the said Sir John—which God grant may be a peaceful and happy one after a long life, and meanwhile may he give him good fortune, and direct his steps happily—that the noble Lady Donnina, wife of Sir John as long as she is a widow, and remains in the city, country or of district of Florence, with the son or daughters of herself, and the said Sir John, shall have every year her widowhood the pension and gift of 1,000 gold florins, in honor of the memory of that noble and brave man her husband; whenever however she lives away from her son or daughters, or out of the city and country, the pension shall be deducted pro rata of the time; And that the said Sir John, with his sons and descendants in the male line, born, or yet to be born, shall enjoy the privilege of Florentine citizenship, and shall be only excluded from the power and ability of holding office in the Commune or city. Source: Temple-Leader, John, and Guiseppe Marcotti. Sir John Hawkwood (L’Acuto): Story of a Condottiere. Translated by Leader Scott. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1889, pp. 128– 29, 238, 265–66.

AFTERMATH Born in Essex in about 1320, Hawkwood probably served in the armies in France before joining a band of freebooters in about 1360 after the Treaty of Brétigny temporarily halted the Hundred Years War. By 1363, he had settled permanently in Italy and become a member of a mercenary company serving Pisa, which company comprised mainly English and Breton soldiers. He quickly assumed leadership of this band, which he renamed the White Company. By 1372, he was the captain of a band named the English Company, an amalgamation of primarily English soldiers who had previously fought under other captains. An effective leader of men and a brilliant tactician, Hawkwood soon found his services in high demand. He fought for the Duke of Milan from 1368 to 1372, for the pope from 1372 to 1377, and then largely, but not exclusively, for the Republic of Florence after 1380. Hawkwood amassed great wealth from fees, pensions, and ransoms, and even sent some of his money to England for the purchase of property there. In 1377, he married an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Milan, thereby acquiring a large dowry and powerful family connections. In the early 1390s, the aging Hawkwood was apparently preparing to return to England, though he died while still in Italy in March 1394. Florence gave him a magnificent funeral and buried him in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What do these documents say about how Hawkwood’s employers viewed him? What different types of rewards did Hawkwood receive for his military services? 2. What do you find most striking about the description of Sir John Hawkwood’s marriage? How do you think Hawkwood viewed his marriage? Was he interested in

118

“May He Never Return Here”

family and companionship, or was he more concerned with the wealth and influence the match brought to him? 3. Why do you think the Italian city-states preferred to hire Italian or foreign mercenaries rather than fight their wars with armies of their own citizens? Why do you think these wars were so frequent? Was there more than political benefit to be derived from them?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. A number of works of historical fiction are about Hawkwood, are based on Hawkwood’s career, or include him as a character. Among these are David Donachie’s Hawkwood (2016), Cassandra Clark’s The Red Velvet Turnshoe (2009), and Hubert Cole’s series of Hawkwood adventures—Hawkwood (1967), Hawkwood in Paris (1969), and Hawkwood and the Towers of Pisa (1973). Also, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, published a novel based on Hawkwood entitled The White Company (1891). Find and read one of these works or find another novel based on Hawkwood’s life and career. 2. View the second episode of Niall Ferguson’s six-part television documentary The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, which contains a description of Sir John Hawkwood in connection with the rise of banking and the development of a bond market to finance the wars of Renaissance Italy. The episode is available on YouTube.

EQUESTRIAN MONUMENTS An indication of the role and importance of condottieri in Renaissance Italy is the emergence of an artistic genre of equestrian monuments raised by grateful families or governments to some of the greatest of the mercenary captains. For instance, Erasmo da Narni, known as Gattamelata (meaning “honeyed” or “tabby cat”), became captain general of Venice in the 1430s. When he retired at age 70, the Venetian republic granted him a large pension, and, at his death in 1443, a grand funeral attended by the doge. To honor his memory, his family commissioned the sculptor Donatello (born Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) to create a bronze equestrian statue of the late condottiere. Considered one of Donatello’s masterpieces, the Gattamelata, which was completed in 1456, dominates the piazza in front of the Church of San Antonio in Padua. Bartolomeo Colleoni, the son of a minor nobleman, became captain general of Venice in 1454. He was richly rewarded for his services and lived in a magnificent castle in Malpaga. So great was his wealth that in his will he left 300,000 ducats to the Venetian government for the commissioning of an equestrian monument to himself to be placed in the Piazza San Marco. The city commissioned the sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio to undertake the project, but moved placement of the finished statue to the less prominent piazza of the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. In 1436, Florence commissioned the artist Paolo Uccello to paint a likeness of Sir John Hawkwood in the style of an equestrian statue for placement in Florence Cathedral. The painting, it was felt, appropriately recognized Hawkwood’s service to the republic without incurring the significantly greater costs of an actual bronze sculpture.

119

Voices of the Renaissance

Further Information Caferro, William. John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. Cooper, Stephen. “An Unsung Villain: The Reputation of a Condottiere.” History Today 56, no. 1 (January 2006). https://www.historytoday.com/archive/unsung-villain-reputation -condottiere. Fowler, Kenneth A. “Sir John Hawkwood and the English Condottieri in Trecento Italy.” Renaissance Studies 12, no. 1 (1998): 131–48. Mallet, Michael. Mercenaries and Their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1974. Saunders, Frances Stonor. Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman. London: Faber and Faber, 2004. Wagner, John A. “Hawkwood, Sir John.” In Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006, pp. 146–47.

120

20. “I H AD A LREADY PREACHED FOUR HOURS BEFORE THE BREAK OF DAY ” Excerpts From a Sermon of Fra Bernardino of Siena on the Dangers of Political Factions (ca. 1427) INTRODUCTION Born in 1380, Bernardino of Siena (Bernardiono degli Albizzeschi) was orphaned young and spent his early years with relatives in Siena, where he studied canon law. In 1402, he entered the Observant branch of the Franciscan Order of friars (i.e., the group most strictly adhering to the ideals of St. Francis). He was ordained to the priesthood in 1404 and thereafter began a career of itinerant preaching. By 1417, he had become so well known and so popular that he was delivering sermons in public squares and open fields; his crowds, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands, being too large to be accommodated in any Church. His message was stern and moralistic. Like his spiritual successor, Girolamo Savonarola, the Dominican friar whose preaching allowed him to dominate Florence in the 1490s (see Section 31), Bernardino denounced sexual sins, gambling, gossiping, usury, and attachment to such worldly “vanities” as fine clothes, jewelry, and other material possessions. The audiences at some sermons, which apparently comprised mainly women, were invited to toss their vanities into a bonfire, and many readily did so. Because he was so trusted and respected, Bernardino was often invited to preach peace and social order in towns experiencing political upheaval or social discontent. The pope was particularly eager for this message to be preached among the unruly towns of the Papal States. Reproduced here is one such sermon on the evils of political faction, which was delivered in about 1427.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Some members of Fra Bernardino’s audiences found his sermons so energizing and so valuable that they kept careful notes of his words, often transcribing entire sermons. In this way, 45 sermons delivered by the preacher in Siena in August and September 1428 have been preserved. One avid listener, a textile worker, attended each day during these months, writing the words down on wax tablets and later transcribing them on paper. 2. Pope Nicholas V canonized Fra Bernardino in 1450, only six years after his death, an uncommonly short time in which to officially achieve sainthood. The cult of

121

Voices of the Renaissance

San Bernardino spread rapidly across Europe in the late 15th century. A house of Observant Franciscans was even established in England, at Greenwich, in 1482. 3. The figure of San Bernardino appeared frequently in late Renaissance art. The preacher was depicted as a small and frail man carrying the IHS sign (for the devotion of the Holy Name of Jesus) and sometimes accompanied by three mitres below his feet to indicate the three bishoprics he refused.

Document: Excerpts from a Sermon on Factions VIII. Of divisions and factional feeling, and of the destruction sent by God 1.—This morning I wish to speak of the discord which there is among a people divided by factions, and therefore I say to each one of you, as Christ said: . . . Open thy eyes and thy ears to hear and to understand those things which thou hast never heard before. I will speak and thou endeavour to understand that which I shall say; because this which I desire to say is for the salvation of Siena. Until this I have given you sweet syrups in my sermons, now I shall commence to give you such medicines! Of those who belong to the factions, whether Guelf or Ghibelline, I have Guelf: in the city-states of northern and already spoken in my preaching, in Lombardy and in central Italy, the political party supporting other places, but never there, nor in any other place was the papal interest anything of that which I said either thought of or spoken Ghibelline: in the city-states of northern and of with distrust, or held in suspicion; but everyone becentral Italy, the political party supporting lieved rather that I spoke only for the sake of the truth, the imperial interest for there were present both those of one faction and of Lombardy: a province of Northern Italy the other, and each one wished me well because of what I said. Knowest thou why? Because I was ever armed with the teaching of the Doctors of the Church. Knowest thou what? Proceed with firmness and justice, and pay no heed to anyone who doth oppose thee. And therefore I say, that when I had preached of this matter in Lombardy among other places, my words produced so great fruit that if I had not preached, woe to each and every one! And of what I said no one spoke evil, although there were those present of each faction, and it would seem that it might have been displeasing to one party or the other. . . . 4.—I believe that if a country became Guelf or Ghibelline and if there were in it among all the rest one man who did not take the part either of one or of the other, and say that the rumour of this was spread abroad, and that one or more should go to him and should say to him: Long live such a faction! I tell you that if this man wish to save himself he cannot do better than to reply: Long live God, long live God! and even if they were to seek to constrain him by force to say: Long live such a faction! and he were not willing to say it, —I tell you that if he were cut to pieces, although he had committed thousands of sins, without confession I believe that he would be saved—more surely than if he had fulfilled vows or made restitution: I say that he is freed from all guilt. O can this be? Yes. O prove it to me? Willingly. John is my witness: . . . Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his

122

“I Had Already Preached Four Hours Before the Break of Day”

friends. Perceivest thou not then how great charity that man had shown who, thou seest, wished to give his life for Christ, and who rather than do anything against his will wished rather to die a martyr? He hath shown greater charity than it would have been in him to give all his possessions, more than to receive communion, more than to go to the Holy Sepulchre, or to Rome, for he cannot have greater charity within himself than when he saith: I belong to Christ. . . . 8.—When I was preaching in Crema in Lombardy it happened because of the factions and divisions that men to the number of about ninety, with all their families were outside the city; and they were all named to the Duke of Milan as those to be banished. And in this place there was a very worthy and excellent noble. And when I was preaching on this subject, somewhat covertly (for this is a subject not to be spoken of too openly), in my preaching I spoke in general and not in particular, and I was silent about nothing that should be said. And because it was the time of the vintage I preached in the very early morning, and so early that I had already preached four hours before the break of day. And when I was leaving, one after another, they all came to me saying; What think you that we should do? And they gave themselves up to me that I might counsel them. Then considering that they were so docile I commenced to say how the matter should go. They said that this rested wholly with the lord of the city. This lord was very familiar with me. I told him what I desired, counselling him to act well. Nevertheless limiting myself to my preaching I left the rest to God and to them. And in my preaching I spoke of the unceasing cries of the innocent before God, against those who have made them suffer punishment for no fault of theirs, asking for vengeance against those who have persecuted them. And so did these words enter into their hearts that they called a council, in which there was such harmony that it was marvellous; and in this it was decided that each of those might return to his home. Then leaving Crema I went to a village which was distant perhaps ten miles, and I talked to one of those exiles, who had left in Crema great possessions of his which were in value worth about forty-thousand florins. And he asked me: How then doth the matter stand? And I said to him: By the grace of God thou mayest return to thy house, because I know well what they intend. He laughed in mockery of that which I said to him, and in a little while from then came a messenger sent from Crema, who told him that he might return at will to his own house. And hearing this, he could not eat, or drink, or sleep, because of the joy that he felt. He came to me, and so great was the gladness he felt that he could not speak. And hearken to a wonderful thing: when he was returning to his house, he found in the Piazza his enemy, who when he saw him ran and fell on his neck and wished to lead fell on his neck: to embrace someone him home to supper with him. And another who affectionately was in possession of the house where he lived, at once, while they supped, cleared the house of all his possessions, and left there those of this other man; and whosoever had anything of his, sent it to that house of his,—at once, his bedstead, his coffers, his table-cloths, his bowls, his casks, his silver, and in this way it went on so that the very selfsame evening he was led into his house and slept in his own bed in the midst of his own possessions. And I say to you that it seemed as if that man were blessed who could carry him his goods and his chattels. Moreover on the days that followed, those also who had his cattle and his property, his horses,

123

Voices of the Renaissance

everyone came before him: Here are thy oxen, here are thy asses here are thy sheep; so that almost everything of his was returned to him; and so it was with all the others. And I say that I think I may believe that because of this thing God saved that land from many dangers. And many other places took example from this, and today it is one of the best villages of Lombardy. For all that is not a city, it is excellently well populated. Source: Orlandi, Don Nazareno, ed. St. Bernardine of Siena: Sermons. Translated by Helen Josephine Robins. Siena: Tipografia Sociale, 1920, pp. 35–41.

AFTERMATH In 1426, Bernardino was charged with heresy, specifically idolatry, for his fervent commitment to the Holy Name of Jesus, a devotion illustrated at all his sermons by the raising of a sign displaying the letters “IHS”—the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek. Some considered this devotion a dangerous innovation, an unwholesome veneration of a symbol, but a tribunal in Rome exonerated the preacher and the pope invited him to deliver a series of sermons in the Holy City. Three recurring themes of his sermons were blistering denunciations of witchcraft, sodomy, and usury. Couched in language that modern society would classify as anti-Semitic and homophobic (see the sidebar) these sermons were popular and influential with contemporaries because they were lively, folksy, and used images and examples from everyday life. In 1437, Bernardino was elected vicar-general (head) of the Observant Franciscans, who experienced a tenfold increase in recruitment under his leadership. He also established two schools of theology—in Perugia and Monteripido—believing that ignorance was as great an impediment to holiness as worldly vanities. In 1443, Bernardino, who had three times declined appointment to a bishopric, resigned his position as vicar and returned to preaching. He died in 1444 while on a preaching tour through the kingdom of Naples.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you think this sermon would resonate with modern audiences? Might it have some relevance in the politically polarized environment of early 21st-century America? Why or why not? Are there passages, ideas, or images that modern readers might find offensive? 2. Understanding that this is a translation, do you find the tone and style of the sermon to be engaging and persuasive? Can you understand from this excerpt why audiences were so moved when they heard Fra Bernardino preach? Although this sermon is political in nature and thus likely directly more at men, can you see from this excerpt why women were so attracted to Bernardino’s preaching?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Find a print or online copy (see Internet Archive for the latter) of the extant sermons of Fra Bernardino. Read selections from other sermons, especially those covering such things as witchcraft, sodomy, usury, and profane vanities. Does the preacher’s tone change depending on the sin or topic he is addressing? 2. Find a print or online copy of the sermons of Girolamo Savonarola, another popular 15th-century moralistic preacher. See, for instance, Wagner in “Further 124

“I Had Already Preached Four Hours Before the Break of Day”

Information” below. How do these sermons compare to the earlier sermons of Fra Bernardino? Can you see Fra Bernardino’s influence in Savonarola’s sermons? Do they use similar language and address similar topics?

HOMOPHOBIA AND ANTI-SEMITISM Fra Bernardino of Siena was especially vigorous in his denunciations of sodomy, that is various unnatural sex acts, including sexual relations between two men (or women), and usury, which typically led to attacks on Jews, whom he identified as notorious usurers. Bernardino preached numerous sermons condemning sodomy and homosexuality. He chastised the Florentines for being too lenient toward homosexual activity and he commended the people of Verona for recently hanging and quartering a man for homosexual acts. He declared that homosexual relations, because they did not lead to the birth of children, would could serious depopulation, and toleration of such acts would lead to divine retribution in the form of floods and plagues. Such preaching was not always well received; after one of his sermons in Siena, the preacher was set upon by four “irate sodomites” wielding clubs (Mormando, 6). Bernardino’s anti-Semitic sermons left similar legacies of bitterness among Italian Jewish communities. Besides denouncing the Jewish practice of usury as a main cause of Christian poverty, Bernardino advocated the banishment or segregation of Jews and demanded that they wear a special badge denoting them as Jews. Such inflammatory sermons often caused a deterioration of ChristianJewish relations in towns or regions where Fra Bernardino preached. The circle of disciples who formed about Fra Bernardino often continued to preach this anti-Jewish message after their mentor’s death.

Further Information Horan, Daniel. “The Complicated History of and the Popular Preaching of St. Bernardine of Siena.” HNP Today Newsletter 45, no. 10 (May 18, 2011). https://hnp.org. Meussig, Carolyn. “Bernardine da Sienna and Observant Preaching as a Vehicle for Religious Transformation.” In James Mixson and Bert Roest, eds. A Companion to Observant Reform in the Late Middle Ages and Beyond. Leiden: Brill, 2015, pp. 185–203. Mormando, Franco. “Bernardino of Siena: ‘Great Defender’ or ‘Merciless Betrayer’ of Women?” Italica. 75, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 22–40. Mormando, Franco. The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Polecritti, Cynthia L. Preaching Peace in Renaissance Italy. Bernardino of Siena and His Audience. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2000. Wagner, John A., ed. “4. ‘Wherefore Are Some Chosen and Others Cast Out?’: The Reformation Foreshadowed in the Life and Preaching of Fra Girolamo Savonarola.” Voices of the Reformation: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life. Santa Barbara, CA: ABCCLIO, 2015, pp. 21–26.

Website Saint Bernardine of Siena: Sermons. Edited by Don Nazareno Orlandi. Translated by Helen Josephine Robins. Siena, 1920. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/stream/ MN5033ucmf_1#page/n1/mode/2up.

125

This page intentionally left blank

21. “IS GIULIANO SAFE?” Three Accounts of the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence (1478, ca. 1525) INTRODUCTION The Pazzi were a wealthy Tuscan family of ancient lineage. By the 15th century, the Pazzi, though still wealthy and influential in Florence, had been eclipsed in terms of political power and economic opportunity by the Medici family. Since the 1430s, the Medici, through the skilled use of patronage and the great wealth derived from their banking business, had manipulated the city government in their interest, assuring that all important government councils and offices were filled with their supporters (see the sidebar). To end Medici dominance of Florence and enhance their own political position, the Pazzi, supported by the Salviati, another disgruntled Florentine family, began plotting in about 1477 to assassinate Lorenzo de’ Medici and his younger brother Giuliano, the current heads of the Medici family and the Florentine state. Although the Pazzi were the heart of the conspiracy, they were also supported by outside interests opposed, for various reasons, to the Medici regime, including the Duke of Urbino, the king of Naples, and Pope Sixtus IV. The pope, because of his office, would not openly endorse such a plot, but privately he made it clear that he would look favorably on anyone who removed the Medici from power. After several delays, the conspirators were finally able to put their plan into action on April 26, 1478, during a Mass in Florence Cathedral attended by both brothers. Two conspirators, Francesco de’ Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli stabbed and killed Giuliano, but Lorenzo, though slightly wounded, evaded the two priests sent to kill him and was quickly pulled to safety behind the large doors of the sacristy by his friends. Reproduced here are three separate accounts of the attacks—an eyewitness account by Angelo Poliziano, who was with Lorenzo in the cathedral, another contemporaneous account by Filippo Strozzi, and an account by the political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (see Section 23) from about 50 years later.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. To help commit the murders, the Pazzi had engaged a known assassin, the Count of Montesecco. However, when Giuliano’s illness meant that he would not attend the banquet following the Mass, where it was originally planned to assassinate the

127

Voices of the Renaissance

brothers, but only the Mass itself, Montesecco withdrew, declaring that he would not commit murder on holy ground. 2. It was arranged that the sign to act would be the elevation of the Host during Mass (or in some accounts at the concluding words of dismissal). When the time came, Franceso de’ Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli sank their daggers into Giuliano’s chest, shouting “Here traitor!” The assassins struck with such fury that they quickly landed almost 20 blows, including a sword wound to the head. Giuliano died almost instantly. Baroncelli, due to the violence of his attack, even wounded himself slightly in the leg. 3. Baroncelli was hung so quickly upon his extradition to the city from Constantinople in 1479 that he had no time to change out of the Turkish clothes he was wearing. Leonardo da Vinci, then a young man, drew a famous sketch of the hanging body of Baroncelli on which he included a notation describing the body’s unusual attire.

Document 1: Excerpt from the Account of Filippo Strozzi At the words missa est Ser Stefano da Bagnone, secretary of Messer Jacopo de’ Pazzi and Messer Antonio Maffei of Volterra assailed Lorenzo de’ Medici, while Francesco de’ Pazzi and Bernardo Bandini fell upon Giuliano [de’ Medici]. Both were walking round the choir outside, and Lorenzo missa est: Ite, missa est, meaning “Go, the at once understood, drew his sword, leaped into the choir, Church sends you forth,” the dismissal rushed across in front of the altar, entered the new sacristy, given by the priest to conclude a Catholic and ordered the door to be locked. There he remained until Mass aid came from his house. He was only wounded in the neck, Cardinal: Cardinal Raffaele Riario (1461– and in a few days was well. Francesco de Pazzi and Bernardo 1521), the 16-year-old nephew of Pope Bandini sprang at Giuliano, who was walking in front of the Sixtus IV; the cardinal was likely not part chapel of the Cross, and with ten or twelve blows laid him of the plot but was arrested because some dead on the pavement; they also killed Francesco Nori, who of his relatives were was with him. The uproar was great in the Church. I was Eight: an eight-man council responsible for there talking with Messer Bongianni and the other gentlesecurity in the city men, and we were all struck with astonishment, people flyArchbishop of Pisa: Francesco Salviati ing now here, now there, while the Church resounded with (1443–1478), one of the organizers of the loud shouts, and arms were seen in the hands of partisans plot of the Pazzi who had joined in this matter. The Cardinal Signory: the nine-man governing council of was left all alone by the side of the altar, until some priests the Republic of Florence came and led him into the old sacristy, where he remained Perugians: soldiers from the city-state until two of the Eight with many soldiers arrived and took of Perugia, who had accompanied him to the Palace. At the time this was happening the ArchArchbishop Salviati to Florence bishop of Pisa, under the pretence of paying a visit to the Signory, was at the Palace, and hearing tumult in the city, he tried to seize it. With him was his brother Jacopo and Jacopo his cousin, Jacopo Poggio, the Perugians, and others. But the Signory and their guard defended themselves and sounded the tocsin, and the citizens rushed armed into the

128

“Is Giuliano Safe?”

piazza, and forced a way into the Palace, the door of which had been closed on the inside, and all were made prisoners. Source: Ross, Janet, ed. and trans. Lives of the Early Medici as Told in Their Correspondence. London: Chatto & Windus, 1910, pp. 190–91.

Document 2: Excerpt from the Account of Agnolo Ambrogini, known as Angelo Poliziano Some feared that the priest’s dagger was poisoned, and Lorenzo’s friend, Antonio Ridolfi, a most excellent youth, sucked the wound in his neck. Lorenzo, however, gave no heed to it, continually repeating, “Is Giuliano safe?” Then came sharp knocks at the door. “We are friends, we are relations. Let Lorenzo come out ere the enemy gains a foothold.” We were undecided, and shouted, “Enemies or friends? Is Giuliano?” No answer was given. Then Sigismundo Della Stufa, devoted to Lorenzo since his boyhood, climbed up the ladders into the organ loft, looked down into the Church, and saw the dead body of Giuliano. He recognized those below as friends, and shouted to us to open the door. Closing around Lorenzo we led him, so that he should not come past the dead body, to his house. Source: Ross, Janet, ed. and trans. Lives of the Early Medici as Told in Their Correspondence. London: Chatto & Windus, 1910, pp. 190–91.

Document 3: Excerpt from the Account of Niccolò Machiavelli in His History of Florence (c. 1525) The conspirators proceeded to Santa Reparata, where the cardinal and Lorenzo had already arrived. The Church was crowded, and divine service commenced before Giuliano’s arrival. Francesco de’ Pazzi and Bernardo Bandini, who were appointed to be his murderers, went to his house, and finding him, they, by earnest entreaties, prevailed upon him to accompany them. It is surprising that such intense hatred, and designs so full of horror as those of Francesco and Bernardo, could be so perfectly concealed; for while conducting him to the Church, and after they had reached it, they amused him with jests and playful discourse. Nor did Francesco forget, under pretense of endearment, to press him in his arms, so as to ascertain whether under his apparel he wore a cuirass or other means of defense. Giuliano and cuirass: a type of armor consisting of a metal Lorenzo were both aware of the animosity of the Pazzi, and breastplate their desire to deprive them of the government; but they felt assured that any design would be attempted openly, and in conjunction with the civil authority. Thus being free from apprehension for their personal safety both affected to be on friendly terms with them. The murderers being ready, each in his appointed station, which they could retain without suspicion, on account of the vast numbers assembled in the Church, the preconcerted moment

129

Voices of the Renaissance

arrived, and Bernardo Bandini, with a short dagger provided for the purpose, struck Giuliano in the breast, who, after a few steps, fell to the earth. Francesco de’ Pazzi threw himself upon the body and covered him with wounds; while, as if blinded by rage, he inflicted a deep incision upon his own leg. Antonio and Stefano, the priest, attacked Lorenzo, and after dealing many blows, effected only a slight incision in the throat; for either their want of resolution, the activity of Lorenzo, who, finding himself attacked, used his arms in his own defense, or the assistance of those by whom he was surrounded, rendered all attempts futile. They fled and concealed themselves, but being subsequently discovered, were put to death in the most ignominious manner, and their bodies dragged about the city. Lorenzo, with the friends he had about him, took refuge in the sacristy of the Church. Bernardo Bandini, after Giuliano’s death, also slew Francesco Nori, a most intimate friend of the Medici, either from some previous hatred or for having endeavored to render assistance to Giuliano; and not content with these murders, he ran in pursuit of Lorenzo, intending, by his own promptitude, to make up for the weakness and inefficiency of the others; but finding he had taken refuge in the vestry, he was prevented. Source: Machiavelli, Niccolò. History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy from the Earliest Times to the Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Universal Classics Library Edition. London: W. Walter Dunne, 1901, Book VIII, Chapter 2.

AFTERMATH The bloody attacks caused chaos in the cathedral and drove the frightened congregation into the streets where wild rumors quickly spread. Not knowing if either of the brothers had survived, Medici supporters were uncertain how to proceed. Hoping to take advantage of this confusion, Jacopo de’ Pazzi led a small band of Perugian mercenaries through the streets calling for a revolt against the Medici. Meanwhile, another conspirator, Francesco Salviati, archbishop of Pisa, led his supporters into the Palazzo della Signoria, the headquarters of the city government, seeking to quickly establish control of the city. However, once it was clear that Lorenzo was alive, the city officers and the bulk of the citizens turned against the conspirators. Francesco and Jacopo de’ Pazzi were captured and hung. The Perugian mercenaries and many of the Pazzi supporters in the Palazzo della Signoria were flung to their deaths from the windows of the palazzo. So savage was popular reaction to the Pazzis’ act that the body of Jacopo de’ Pazzi was exhumed and dragged about the city by the noose that was still around his neck before finally being cast into the River Arno. Even Francesco Salviati’s clerical status failed to save him from being summarily hung. Baroncelli fled to Constantinople, but was arrested there a year later and held by Turkish officials until an embassy arrived to take him back to Florence, where he was promptly hung. The failed conspiracy cemented Lorenzo’s control of the city, both by convincing people that strong government was desirable and, ironically, by removing Giuliano and thus freeing Lorenzo from any need to share power with his brother.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What differences do you see among these three different accounts? Do you feel the immediacy of the account by Poliziano, who is said to have helped pull Lorenzo to safety in the sacristy? Does the much later account of Machiavelli seem to differ significantly from the two earlier accounts? 2. How do each of the accounts depict the main actors? How is Baroncelli (sometimes named Bernardo Bandini) portrayed in each account? How is Lorenzo de’ Medici 130

“Is Giuliano Safe?”

portrayed? Are there significant differences in these portrayals across the three accounts? 3. Do these accounts give an idea of the violence and brutality that underlay much of Renaissance politics? Are you shocked by the involvement of an archbishop and a pope in a political murder plot? Are you shocked by the violence of the citizens’ reaction to the Pazzi Conspircy?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Find and read a copy of Marcello Simonetta’s The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded (2008). Based on documents he recently found in Italian archives, Simonetta argues that the Duke of Urbino, who was ostensibly a friend of the Medici, was actually part of a papal plot to use the Pazzi to establish papal control of Florence. 2. View the last episode of Season 2, “Betrayal,” and the first episode of Season 3, “Survival,” of the 2019 Netflix series Medici: The Magnificent, which depicts the Medici family in the 15th century. These episodes dramatize the Pazzi Conspiracy and its aftermath. How does this depiction stray from the accounts reproduced here? 3. Search YouTube for “Pazzi Conspiracy.” This search will yield several results, including a 12-minute explanation of the conspiracy by Jennifer Brooks, who does a good job of telling the full story of the plot. There are also three videos on the conspiracy by Angelo Esposito, which use hip-hop music and images—and some rough language—to tell the story. Although unusual in his approach, Esposito nevertheless tells the story in an engaging and accurate manner. In another video entitled “The History of the Pazzi Family,” Donata Grossoni from the Santa Croce Opera tells the story of the conspiracy and the Pazzi family while standing in Florence’s Pazzi Chapel. She also tells the story of Leonardo da Vinci witnessing Baroncelli’s execution and shows the drawing of the hanged man that Leonardo made.

RISE OF OLIGARCHY The 14th and 15th centuries witnessed a steady shift toward oligarchic government among the Italian citystates. Although nominally republics, such important cities as Venice and Florence saw their political classes shrink in size, and most important offices and positions remained within the control of a ruling group and its supporters. This process was most clearly seen in Florence, where, by the mid-15th century, political power in the republic was concentrated in the hands of the Medici family and their circle of clients. The rise of the Medici began under Cosimo de’ Medici, who returned to the city from political exile in 1434. Using the family’s great banking fortune and his own political skills, Cosimo gradually won control of the city government by the judicious dispensation of patronage, granting handsome rewards of money and position to trusted supporters, who soon held all important city offices. Cosimo himself never held any major civic office for more than a short term, and never claimed actual lordship of the city, which, despite what everyone knew to be true, still called itself a republic. At Cosimo’s death in 1464, the dominant position in the Florentine state passed automatically to his son Piero de’ Medici, and, on Piero’s death in 1469, Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo de’ Medici, assumed control. By Lorenzo’s death in 1492, Florence, thanks to the shock of the Pazzi Conspiracy and Lorenzo’s political acumen, was almost a Medici lordship, even though the family held no noble title and all republican forms and institutions remained in place.

131

Voices of the Renaissance

Further Information Baker, Nicholas Scott. “For Reasons of State: Political Executions, Republicanism, and the Medici in Florence, 1480–1560.” Renaissance Quarterly 62, no. 2 (2009): 444–78. Brucker, Gene. Living on the Edge in Leonardo’s Florence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005. Cronin, Vincent. The Florentine Renaissance. London: Pimlico, 1992. Martines, Lauro. April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Medici, Lorenzo de’. The Complete Literary Works of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “The Magnificent.” Edited and translated by Guido A. Guarino. New York: Italica Press, 2016. Rubinstein, Nicolai. The Government of Florence under the Medici. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Unger, Miles J. Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008.

132

22. “THE ENEMY IS IN FULL R ETREAT ” Letter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, to Isabella d’Este, His Sister-in-Law, Describing the Expulsion of the French From Milan (1500) INTRODUCTION From the French invasion of Naples in 1494 to the conclusion of the Treaty of CateauCambrésis in 1559, Italy was the main theater for an intermittent series of wars that ultimately involved most of the states of Europe. These Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg-Valois Wars, were essentially dynastic struggles between the Valois, the ruling house of France, and the Habsburgs, who eventually ruled Burgundy (from 1482), Spain (from 1516), and the German Holy Roman Empire (from 1519). Both families had conflicting territorial ambitions across Europe, but most particularly in Italy. France and Burgundy disputed control of Flanders, Artois, and parts of the Netherlands; France and the Empire had rival claims to the duchy of Milan; and France and Spain both had claims to the throne of Naples. Italy quickly became the main focus of warfare because the major Italian powers—e.g., Venice, Milan, Florence, Genoa, Naples, the Papal States—had territorial designs upon each other that by the 1490s could no longer be advanced except by alliance with a non-Italian power, primarily France, Spain, or the Empire. When Charles VIII of France marched into Italy in 1494 to claim the kingdom of Naples, he was invited to do so by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (see Sections 14 and 15). This invitation came back to haunt the duke in 1499, when Louis XII, the new king of France, invaded Italy again with the intention of enforcing a family claim to Milan itself. The French, in alliance with Venice, drove Ludovico from Milan in October 1499, but on February 3, 1500, he was able to expel the French from the city. Reproduced here is Ludovico’s letter of February 5, 1500, informing his sister-in-law, Isabella d’Este, marchioness of Mantua (see Sections 14 and 15), of his victory.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Isabella d’Este was a lavish patron of the arts. She supported such artists as Leonardo da Vinci (see Section 7), Pietro Perugino, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), and Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), and such writers as Ludovico Ariosto, Matteo Bandello (see Section 8), and Baldassare Castiglione (see Section 16).

133

Voices of the Renaissance

2. During her lifetime, Isabella was the subject of several portraits, including a drawing in red chalk, dated to about 1499, by Leonardo da Vinci, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris. There is also a theory that Isabella is the woman depicted in Leonardo’s Mona Lisa. Support for this theory comes from the Louvre drawing, from a series of letters from Isabella to Leonardo sent between 1501 and 1506 and requesting delivery of a promised portrait, and from the mountains in the background of the Mona Lisa, which suggest Mantua. 3. Lucrezia Borgia, the infamous daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of Cesare Borgia, married Isabella’s brother Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1501; in 1502, Lucrezia became the mistress of Isabella’s husband, Francesco Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua. The long-lasting affair damaged Isabella’s marriage; after 1512, she lived largely independent from her husbanded and travelled extensively.

Document: Ludovico Sforza’s Description of His Return to Milan Illustrious Lady and dearest Sister, On the 24th of last month [January 1500] we left Brixen by the grace of God, and crossed Monte Braulio into the Valtellina with a body of Landsknechten. Monsignore the Vice-chancellor, Messer Galeaz, and Messer Visconti, went on before with the Swiss and Grison infantry, by way of Coire and Chiavenna, and reached the lake of Como on the 30th. Here M. Galeaz fitted out eleven ships, with which he attacked and put to flight the enemy’s fleet, and took a fortress occupied by the French. Both the Castle of Bellagio and the town of Torno surrendered to His Reverence, who pushed on with his troops to Como, where he met Monsignore Sanseverino arriving from the Valtellina, and the two cardinals together did the rest. Monsieur de Ligny and the Count of Musocho—Trivulzio’s son—who held the town with 1500 horse, fled at the approach of the two Monsignori, knowing the feeling of the people, and his Eminence entered Como amidst the greatest rejoicing in the world. M. Galeaz and his light horse pursued the enemy, and Monsignore pushed on towards Landsknechten: German mercenary troops, Milan, hearing from our friends there that his arrival was primarily pikemen impatiently desired. On Friday, the last of January, some Duomo: Milan Cathedral of the people rose in arms, and M. Gian Giacomo fortiCastello: the main castle or fortress of Milan fied the Corte Vecchia and the Duomo, and, with 2000 infantry, marched through the streets of the armourers, the builders, and the hatters, to make a public demonstration. But our friends waited, knowing that the right moment had not yet come. On Sunday, the 2nd, the French captains, hearing of the cardinals’ approach, and knowing the strong feeling in the city, assembled their troops early on the Piazza of the Castello. Our friends were well prepared, and at the same moment all the bells rang, and the whole city rose in arms. More than 60,000 people attacked the French, and drove them back into the Castello, where they spent the night, without forage for their horses, and on Monday morning, the day before yesterday, they fled from

134

“The Enemy Is in Full Retreat”

Milan in terror. The bridges had been broken down to hinder their passage, but, luckily for them, the Ticino was low, and they crossed the bed of the river, and retired to Gaiata in safety. And on Monday the Vice-chancellor entered Milan, amidst universal rejoicing, and endeavoured to give chase to the French army, but had not a sufficient number of horse to effect his object. On Monday morning we reached Como, after taking possession of the castle on the rock of Musso, and were joyfully received all along the lake, by the chief citizens and gentlemen of the district, who came out in boats to meet us. At the gates of the city, the whole population received us with incredible rejoicing and loud acclamations. Yesterday we slept at Mirabello, a house of the Landriani, about a mile out of Milan. All the way from Como crowds of gentlemen and citizens streamed out to meet us on foot or on horseback, in continually increasing numbers, and cries of Moro! Moro! and shouts of joy greeted our steps, Moro! Moro!: Il Moro, “the Moor,” was the whichever way we turned. This morning at sunrise we epithet supposedly given to Ludovico left Mirabello, and entered the suburb of the Porta Nova, Sforza because of his dark complexion at the hour indicated by our astrologer, but alighted at Gian Francesco da Vimercato’s garden, and waited there a little while, to give the gentlemen time to meet us, and enter the city. “The two cardinals rode out to meet us, and Messer Galeaz and many gentlemen, with a great number of men-at-arms on foot and horseback, and we marched all through the city and up to the Duomo. All the streets and windows and roofs were thronged with people shouting our name, with such rapture that it would be a thing almost incredible if we had not seen it ourselves. And so with universal rejoicing we have returned here, by the grace of God, and already we hear that Lodi, Piacenza, Pavia, Tortona, and Alessandria have driven out the French, and returned of their own free will to our allegiance. The castle of Trezzo has surrendered, and that of Cassano has been fortified in our name by the Marchesino, and all the towns on the Venetian frontier have declared for us, and before long we hope to have recovered the whole state. The Castello here is still held by 300 French soldiers, but it is badly provided with victuals and fuel, and although they have saltpetre, there is no charcoal to make gunpowder, so we are in good hope of recovering the place, but do not mean to let this delay us for a moment in pursuing our victorious course. The enemy is in full retreat, and we mean to drive them back to the mountain passes, and have already sent M. Galeaz early this morning with the infantry, and all the horse that we have, in their pursuit. Monsignore Sanseverino is gone today, and we follow tomorrow with all the horse we can collect and a good number of infantry, the better to carry out our plans. We hear that the soldiers, which were in Marquis of Mantua: Francesco II Gonzaga, Romagna, to the number of 250 lances, besides infantry, Marquis of Mantua (1466–1519), was have been recalled, and have reached Parma, and feel sure the ruler of Mantua and the husband of that your lord, the Marquis of Mantua, and our other Isabella d’Este allies will pursue them, and with their help, and the general rising of the people, we trust to obtain complete victory. We tell your Highness these things the more gladly because we feel sure that you have been grieved for our trouble, and will rejoice with us at these fortunate successes. You will forgive me for not writing in my own hand, because of pressing engagements.

135

Voices of the Renaissance

Lodovicus Maria Sfortia, Anglus Dux Mediolani, etc., B. Chalcus. Milan, February 5, 1500. Source: Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1910, pp. 356–58.

AFTERMATH Two months after this letter was written, on April 8, 1500, the French defeated Ludovico Sforza at the Battle of Novara. The duke was captured shortly thereafter and carried into imprisonment in France, where he died in 1508. Isabella d’Este, meanwhile, soon found herself embroiled in political turmoil. Her husband, Francesco II Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua, was a soldier who served as captain-general of Venice and at various other times fought for France, Florence, and the pope. Due to his frequent absences, including a year-long imprisonment in Venice from 1509 to 1510, the governing of Mantua was left largely in the hands of his wife, who was an intelligent and well-educated woman with a gift for diplomacy. After Ludovico Sforza’s capture, Isabella travelled to Milan for a personal meeting with King Louis XII, during which she persuaded him not to invade Mantua. In 1502, she concluded an agreement that protected Mantua from Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, who was attempting to carve out an Italian principality for himself. During her husband’s imprisonment in Venice, she led Mantuan resistance to the Venetian forces, thereby preserving the city’s independence until her husband’s release. In 1512, she served as hostess at the Congress of Mantua, a diplomatic gathering that sought to resolve the major issues between Italian states. After the marquis’s death in 1519, Isabella served as an advisor to her son Federico Gonzaga, and was instrumental in securing the title of duke for him from Emperor Charles V in 1530 and a cardinal’s hat for her second son from Pope Leo X in 1521.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is the tone of the letter? Is it exultant, cautious, or weary? What are the main points Ludovico wishes to make to his sister-in-law? Are his concerns mainly military? Does he say anything about the mood of the people in the city? Does he say anything about what may happen now that he has returned to Milan? 2. Why is Ludovico writing to his sister-in-law and not to her husband? Does this letter sound like a note to a family member or a proclamation to another head of state? Did Ludovico write this letter himself or did he dictate it to a secretary?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Search YouTube for “Early Renaissance Courts: Isabella d’Este,” which will yield a nine-minute video on the life of Isabella. The lecturer does an excellent job of describing Isabella’s personality and patronage. Also shown are the Leonardo drawing of 1499 and a portrait of the older Isabella done by Titian in the 1530s. There are also a number of other good videos covering the life of Isabella on YouTube. Select one or two of them to view. 2. Access a print or online edition of Isabella d’Este’s Selected Letters, edited and translated by Deanna Shemek and published in 2016. Read a selection of Isabella’s let136

“The Enemy Is in Full Retreat”

ters to obtain a sense of her intelligence and personality, as well as the fine humanist education she shared with her sister Beatrice d’Este (see Sections 14 and 15), wife of Ludovico Sforza. 3. Access a print or electronic copy of A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650, edited and translated by Lisa Kaborycha. This collection contains a letter from Isabella to Leonardo da Vinci and a letter of Lucrezia Borgia, as well as letters by other educated Renaissance women. Read a selection of the letters contained in this volume.

SACK OF ROME In May 1527, Isabella d’Este was visiting Rome. Italy was at the time in the midst of another flare-up of the Habsburg-Valois Wars. King Francis I of France had formed the anti-imperial League of Cognac in 1526. Besides France, the League consisted of Venice, Milan, and the papacy. Angered by the adherence of the Medici pope, Clement VII, to the French-led alliance, Emperor Charles V ordered his army to menace Rome. On May 6, 1527, the imperial forces, over 12,000 strong, stormed and captured Rome. With their commander slain in the initial assault, the imperial troops, many of whom were German Lutherans for whom Rome was the sinful Babylon, began ruthlessly sacking the city. As the violence intensified, Isabella organized the defense of her house, turning it into an asylum for over 1000 citizens seeking safety from the slaughter in the streets. Because her son was a member of the imperial army, Isabella’s house was one of the few in the city left undamaged by the rampaging soldiers. When military disciple was restored in mid-May, most of the city was destroyed, its economy was devastated, and perhaps as many as 10,000 people were dead, with thousands more homeless or in exile. The pope took refuge in the fortified Castel Sant’Angelo, where he remained immured until the occupation ended in February 1528. Isabella, meanwhile, left the city before the end of May 1527. All of the people who had taken shelter in her house were given safe-conduct out of the city.

Further Information Ady, Cecilia Mary. A History of Milan under the Sforza. New York: Sagwan Press, 2015. Black, Jane. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan: Plenitude of Power under the Visconti and Sforza 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Cartwright, Julia. Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475–1497: A Study of the Renaissance. Reprint ed. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2007. D’Este, Isabella. Selected Letters. Translated and edited by Deanna Shemek. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2016. Mallett, Michael, and Christine Shaw. The Italian Wars 1494–1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Ltd., 2012.

Websites Leonardo da Vinci: Paintings, Drawings, Quotes, Biography. “Portrait of Isabella d’Este— by Leonardo da Vinci.” https://www.leonardodavinci.net/portrait-of-Isabella-deste.jsp#. Portrait and Family Tree of Ludovico Sforza. https://web.archive.org/web/20081202234022/ http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/sforza/350.html.

137

This page intentionally left blank

23. “MEN MORE QUICKLY FORGET THE DEATH OF THEIR FATHER THAN THE L OSS OF THEIR PATRIMONY ” Excerpts From The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532) INTRODUCTION Born in 1469, Niccolò Machiavelli was the eldest son of a Florentine government official whose family had aristocratic roots. In 1498, following the execution of Girolamo Savonarola and the reorganization of the Florentine republic, Machiavelli became a member of the new regime. Led by Piero Soderini, an old associate of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the new government employed Machiavelli in various capacities. He undertook numerous important diplomatic missions, including several to France in 1500, 1510, and 1511; another to the court of Emperor Maximilian I in 1508; and others to the courts of Spain and of Pope Julius II in Rome. These missions gave Machiavelli firsthand experience of the effect upon Italy of foreign-power interventions and the cost and ineffectiveness of the mercenary armies employed by most Italian states. From October 1502 to January 1503, he was present in the military camp of Cesare Borgia, who, under the aegis of his father, Pope Alexander VI, was seeking to create a principality for himself in the Romagna region, which was part of the Papal States. This mission exposed Machiavelli to the cruelty and decisive vigor of a ruthless warlord. In 1505, the Florentine government authorized him to recruit a citizen army drawn from the whole of Tuscany, a project that Machiavelli had strongly advocated. In 1509, he fought with this citizen force in the successful recapture of rebellious Pisa, a strategically important city. In 1512, the Medici, backed by Spain and the pope, overthrew the republic and regained power. Although a well-known adherent of the republic, Machiavelli offered to serve the new regime, but he was promptly rejected. Now living outside the city in forced retirement, Machiavelli used his new leisure to write. The most famous and important fruit of this writing was a treatise on political theory entitled Il Principe (The Prince), which was completed in 1513 and distributed in manuscript shortly thereafter, though not actually published until 1532. Reproduced here are excerpts from The Prince.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Machiavelli wrote that Cesare Borgia’s principal weakness was his heavy dependence on the support of the papacy to further his aims. So long as his father was pope, Borgia’s position was strong. But when his bitter enemy Cardinal Giuliano

139

Voices of the Renaissance

della Rovere became pope as Julius II in 1503, Borgia found himself stymied at every turn by papal opposition. Defeated and imprisoned, Borgia later escaped, only to die in battle shortly thereafter in March 1507. 2. In 1559, the Catholic Church placed The Prince on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books), a listing of works that Catholics were prohibited from reading because they were deemed heretical or immoral. Pope Paul IV, who instituted the Index, found Machiavelli’s analysis of politics to be impious and immoral. The pope’s action severely restricted publication of The Prince in much of Catholic Europe in the later 16th century. Established in 1559, the Index was not formally abolished until 1966. 3. Machiavelli’s comedy Mandragola (The Mandrake Root) (ca. 1518) was staged several times in the 20th century. The play was produced for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976, by the Riverside Shakespeare Company in New York in 1979, and by London’s National Theatre in 1984. The German composer Peer Raben also presented it as a musical in Munich in 1971.

Document: Excerpts from The Prince Concerning Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than Feared Coming now to the other qualities mentioned above, I say that every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel. Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency. Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified Cesare Borgia: Cesare Borgia (1475–1507) it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly was an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciVI (r. 1492–1503); his attempts to ful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation conquer a state for himself in Northern for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed. Therefore a Italy are thought to have been a major prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, inspiration for the writing of The Prince ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with Romagna: a region of Northern Italy; in the a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, 15th century the province was part of the through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from Papal States which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to Pistoia: in the 15th century, an Italian cityinjure the whole people, whilst those executions which origstate in Tuscany lying north and west of inate with a prince offend the individual only. Florence And of all princes, it is impossible for the new prince to avoid the imputation of cruelty, owing to new states being full of dangers. . . . Nevertheless he ought to be slow to believe and to act, nor should he himself show fear, but proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence may not make him incautious and too much distrust render him intolerable. Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they

140

“Men More Quickly Forget the Death of Their Father Than the Loss of Their Patrimony”

are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails. Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from their women. But when it is necessary for him to proceed against the life of someone, he must do it on proper justification and for manifest cause, but above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. Besides, pretexts for taking away the property are never wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more difficult to find and sooner lapse. But when a prince is with his army, and has under control a multitude of soldiers, then it is quite necessary for him to disregard the reputation of cruelty, for without it he would never hold his army united or disposed to its duties. . . . Returning to the question of being feared or loved, I come to the conclusion that, men loving according to their own will and fearing according to that of the prince, a wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavour only to avoid hatred, as is noted. . . .

Concerning the Way in Which Princes Should Keep Faith Every one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word. You must know there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man. This has been figuratively taught to princes by ancient writers, who describe how Achilles and Achilles: in Homer’s Iliad, Achilles is the many other princes of old were given to the Centaur Chigreat Greek hero of the Trojan War ron to nurse, who brought them up in his discipline; which Centaur: a creature from Greek mythology means solely that, as they had for a teacher one who was half that has the upper body of a human and beast and half man, so it is necessary for a prince to know the legs and lower body of a horse how to make use of both natures, and that one without the other is not durable. A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion

141

Voices of the Renaissance

to terrify the wolves. Those who rely simply on the lion do not understand what they are about. Therefore a wise lord cannot, nor ought he to, keep faith when such observance may be turned against him, and when the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer. If men were entirely good this precept would not hold, but because they are bad, and will not keep faith with you, you too are not bound to observe it with them. Nor will there ever be wanting to a prince legitimate reasons to excuse this nonobservance. Of this endless modern examples could be given, showing how many treaties and engagements have been made void and of no effect through the faithlessness of princes; and he who has known best how to employ the fox has succeeded best. Source: Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Translated by W.K. Marriott. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1908.

AFTERMATH Besides The Prince, Machiavelli’s retirement also produced The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, written between about 1516 and 1519, which uses the work of the Roman historian Livy as the basis for an analysis of how best to establish and maintain a republican government. Mandragola (The Mandrake Root), written in about 1518, is a comedic play, and The Art of War, written in about 1520, is a treatise arguing the superiority of citizen militias over foreign mercenaries. In 1519, Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, who in 1523 would become Pope Clement VII, took power in Florence and offered Machiavelli a position in the government. After serving on some diplomatic embassies, Machiavelli was named official city historian in 1520. Commissioned by the cardinal to write a history of Florence, Machiavelli produced the eight-volume History of Florence and the Affairs of Italy, which avoids glorification of either the old republic or the Medici regime, and instead portrays 16th-century Florence as the result of a natural political evolution. Pleased by the work, Clement VII rewarded Machiavelli monetarily and sent him on a mission with the armies of the League of Cognac, an anti-imperial alliance formed by France, Florence, the papacy, and other Italian states. The subsequent failure of League forces to check the imperial armies led in 1527 to the Sack of Rome and the overthrow of the Medici regime in Florence. The new Florentine republic refused to employ Machiavelli, who was tainted by his association with the Medici. Machiavelli died shortly thereafter at age 58 and was buried in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Machiavelli is today often associated with the axiom “the ends justify the means,” that is, leaders should do whatever is needful to best serve the interests of the state. Do you find anything in this excerpt that supports that idea? What are the main points made in each section of the excerpt? 2. Understanding that this is a translation, what do you think of the tone and style of this excerpt? Is it clear? Is it persuasive? Does Machiavelli use examples that are helpful in explaining his ideas? 3. Do you find any ideas or sentiments in the excerpt to be shocking or immoral? What does Machiavelli say on the question of whether it is better for a leader to be loved or feared? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

142

“Men More Quickly Forget the Death of Their Father Than the Loss of Their Patrimony”

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of The Prince and read other passages of the work. Find also print or online editions of one of Machiavelli’s other works, such as the commentary on Livy, the history of Florence, or The Art of War, and read passages of those works. Does Machiavelli also discuss political theory in any of them? 2. Somerset Maugham’s novel Then and Now is a fictionalization of the relationship of Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia. Machiavelli is also a main character in Salman Rushdie’s 2008 novel The Enchantress of Florence and the main protagonist in Michael Ennis’ 2012 novel The Malice of Fortune. Find and read one of these novels to see how the novelist portrays Machiavelli. 3. A young Machiavelli appears as a recurring character in Season 3 of the 2019 Netflix series Medici: The Magnificent. Search YouTube for “Niccolo Machiavelli documentary” and find the hour-long 2016 BBC documentary Who’s Afraid of Machiavelli?, which was done for the 500th anniversary of the writing of The Prince in 2013. View either the series or the documentary and try to get a sense of Machiavelli’s life and personality.

MACHIAVELLIAN Today the adjective “Machiavellian” is often used to describe cunning, scheming, or unscrupulous practice, especially in politics, but also more generally in regard to advancing one’s personal interests. This view of Machiavelli’s political thought was fostered by such later interpretations of The Prince as Innocent Gentillet’s Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (Sermon on the Means of Governing), published in 1576. Known as the Anti-Machiavel, this work denounced Machiavelli as an atheist who attempted to introduce impiety and immorality into the art of governing. Gentillet, a French Huguenot, was trying to use the work of an ItalianFlorentine writer to discredit an Italian-Florentine queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici, whom he viewed as the great enemy of French Protestantism. This tendentious interpretation of Machiavelli led to such later fictional depictions of him as the character Machevil in Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta (ca. 1589), a sinister figure who shockingly declares “I count religion but a childish toy.” In fact, the essence of Machiavelli’s thinking in The Prince is that real experience with politics, such as Machiavelli himself acquired while accompanying Cesare Borgia or while observing the functioning of royal governments in France or Spain, provided more practical solutions to the problems of governing than an abstract moral code or a rigid set of ideological principles. Thus, minsters of kings and princes, and officers of republics, could base their advice and decisions on personal experience and on analysis of past patterns of political behavior. Policies based on such practice allow leaders to act swiftly and decisively. Although Machiavelli is seen today in popular culture as the advocate of harsh, practical politics, he was, as a republican himself, a great influence on later republicans, such as some of the American founding fathers.

Further Information King, Ross. Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power. New York: Harper, 2006. Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Essential Writings of Machiavelli. Selected and translated by Peter Constantine. New York: Modern Classics Library, 2007.

143

Voices of the Renaissance

Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Translated and Edited by Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli’s God. Translated by Antony Shugaar. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo’s Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 2001.

Website Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/ 1232-h/1232-h.htm.

144

24. “NO NOBLEMAN COULD E XERCISE ANY M AGISTRACY ” Excerpts From Benedetto Varchi’s Story of Florence (1565) INTRODUCTION The historian Benedetto Varchi was born in Florence in 1503. He studied law in Pisa before returning to Florence to become a notary, that is, a commissioned civil servant who attested legal documents. In 1527, Varchi joined the republican faction that took advantage of the Sack of Rome and the subsequent imprisonment of the Medici pope, Clement VII, the de facto ruler of Florence, to overthrow the Medici regime and restore the Florentine republic. When the Medici, with imperial assistance, retook control of the city in 1530, they exiled Varchi. In 1537, following the assassination of Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence, Varchi joined the republican forces assembled by the Strozzi family, whose leading members had also been exiled by the Medici. The uprising failed, and Medici rule continued under Cosimo de’ Medici, who became the new Duke of Florence. Varchi remained in exile until 1543, when Duke Cosimo permitted his return and commissioned him to write a history of the city covering the period 1527–1538. Despite its excessive praise of Duke Cosimo, Varchi’s 16-volume Storia fiorentina (Story of Florence) was a detailed and largely balanced account of recent Florentine history. Indeed, the work may have been too balanced for the Medici, for it was not published in Florence until 1721, over a century and a half after Varchi’s death in 1565. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Varchi’s Story of Florence.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Benedetto Varchi was a homosexual who was notorious for the writing of sonnets addressed to young boys. He was frequently criticized for this practice by other humanist writers, with one declaring that Varchi’s infatuation with boys “greatly lessened the reputation that would have been rightfully appropriate” (Crompton, 277–78). In 1545, he was arrested for pederasty—having sexual relations with boys—but Duke Cosimo released and pardoned Varchi at the behest of his friends. 2. Varchi also wrote poetry and plays, and translated classical texts into Italian. A collection of poems (Sonnetti) appeared in the 1550s and his treatise on the Tuscan dialect as a literary language, entitled L’Ercolano, was published in 1560. He also wrote a comedic play entitled La Suocera (The Mother-in-Law).

145

Voices of the Renaissance

Document: Excerpt from Story of Florence The whole city of Florence is divided into four quarters, the first of which takes in the whole of that part which is now called Beyond the Arno, and the chief Church of the district gives it the name of Santo Spirito. The other three, which embrace all that is called this side the Arno, also take their names from their chief churches, and are the Quarters of Sta. Croce, Sta. Maria Novella, and San Giovanni. Each of these four quarters is divided into four gonfalons, named after the different animals or other things they carry painted on their ensigns. The quarter of Santo Spirito includes the gonfalons of the Ladder, the Shell, the Whip, and the Dragon; that of Santa Croce, the Car, the Ox, the Golden Lion, and the Wheels; that of Santa Maria Novella, the Viper, the Unicorn, the Red Lion, and the White Lion; that of San Giovanni, the Black Lion, the Dragon, the Keys, and the Vair. Now all the households and families of Florence are included and classified under these four quarters and sixteen gonfalons, so that there is no burgher of Florence who does not rank in one of the four quarters and one of the sixteen gonfalons. Each gonfalon had its standard-bearer, who carried the standard like capBeyond the Arno: the quarter of Florence tains of bands; and their chief office was to run with arms located south of the River Arno whenever they were called by the Gonfalonier of Justice, gonfalons: a banner or pennant hung from and to defend, each under his own ensign, the palace of a crossbar; a gonfalonier was the bearer of the Signory, and to fight for the people’s liberty; wherefore this banner they were called Gonfaloniers of the companies of the peoVair: fur, usually the bluish-gray fur obtained ple, or, more briefly, from their number, the Sixteen. Now from a particular variety of squirrel since they never assembled by themselves alone, seeing that Signory: the nine-man governing council of they could not propose or carry any measure without the the Republic of Florence Signory, they were also called the Colleagues, that is, the Buonuomini: literally “good men,” the companions of the Signory, and their title was venerable. buonumini were charitable confraternities This, after the Signory, was the first and most honorable whose purpose was to provide assistance magistracy of Florence; and after them came the Twelve for citizens in want Buonuomini, also called, for the like reason, Colleagues. Calimala: guilds So the Signory with the Gonfalonier of Justice, the Sixteen, and the Twelve were called the Three Greater. No man was said to have the franchise. . ., and in consequence to frequent the council, or to exercise any office, whose grandfather or father had not occupied or been passed for . . . one of these three magistracies. To be passed Gonfalonier or Colleague meant this: when a man’s name was drawn from the purse of the Gonfaloniers or of the College to exercise the office of Gonfalonier or Colleague, but by reason of being below the legal age, or for some other cause, he never sat himself upon the Board or was in fact Gonfalonier or Colleague, he was then said to have been passed; and this held good of all the other magistracies of the city. It should also be known that all the Florentine burghers were obliged to rank in one of the twenty-one arts: that is, no one could be a burgher of Florence unless he or his ancestors had been approved and matriculated in one of these arts, whether they practiced it or no. Without the proof of such matriculation he could not be drawn for any office, or exercise any magistracy, or even have his name put into the bags. The arts were these: i. Judges and Notaries (for the doctors of the law were styled of old in Florence Judges); Merchants, or the Arts of; ii. Calimala, iii. Exchange, iv. Wool; Porta Santa Maria, or the Arts of; v. Silk; vi. Physicians and Apothecaries; vii. Furriers. The others were viii. Butchers, ix. Shoemakers, x.

146

“No Nobleman Could Exercise any Magistracy”

Blacksmiths, xi. Linen-drapers and Clothesmen, xii. Masters, or Masons, and Stone-cutters, xiii. Vintners, xiv. Innkeepers, xv. Oilsellers, Pork-butchers, and Rope-makers, xvi. Hosiers, xvii. Armorers, xviii. Locksmiths, xix. Saddlers, xx. Carpenters, xxi. Bakers. The last fourteen were called Lesser Arts; whoever was enrolled or matriculated into one of these was said to rank with the lesser. . .; and though there were in Florence many other trades than these, yet having no guild of their own they were associated to one or other of those that I have named. Each art had, as may still be seen, a house or mansion, large and noble, where they assembled, appointed officers, and gave account of debit and credit to all the members of the guild. In processions and other public assemblies the heads (for so the chiefs of the several arts were called) had their place and precedence in order. Moreover, these arts at first had each an ensign for the defense, on occasion, of liberty with arms. Their origin was when the people in 1282 overcame the nobles, and passed the Ordinances of Justice against them, whereby no nobleman could exercise any magistracy; so that such of the patricians as desired to be able to hold office had to enter the ranks of the people, as did many great houses of quality, and matriculate into one of the arts. Which thing, while it partly allayed the civil strife of Florence, almost wholly extinguished all noble feeling in the souls of the Florentines; and the power and haughtiness of the city were no less abated than the insolence and pride of the nobles, who since then have never lifted up their heads again. These arts, the greater as well as the lesser, have varied in numbers at different times; and often have not only been rivals, but even foes, among themselves; so much so that the lesser arts once got it passed that the Gonfalonier should be appointed only from their body. Yet after long dispute it was finally settled that the Gonfalonier could not be chosen from the lesser, but that he should always rank with the greater, and that in all other offices and magistracies, the lesser should always have a fourth and no more. Consequently, of the eight Priors, two were always of the lesser; of the Twelve, three; of the Sixteen, four; and so on through all the magistracies. Source: Symonds, John Addington. Renaissance in Italy: The Age of the Despots. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1888, pp. 595–99.

AFTERMATH After the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1492, Florence experienced several decades of political upheaval. Lorenzo’s son and successor, Piero de’ Medici, was driven from the city in 1494 by a republican revolution that erupted in the wake of the French invasion of Italy. Florence was a republic until 1512, when a new phase of the Italian Wars allowed the Medici to retake the city with papal assistance. Ruled first by Lorenzo’s son Giovanni de’ Medici, who became Pope Leo X in 1513, the city in 1519 came under the control of Leo’s cousin, Giulio de’ Medici, who became Pope Clement VII in 1523. Clement ruled the city through his two young kinsmen, Ippolito de’ Medici and Alessandro de’ Medici, both of whom were illegitimate grandsons of Lorenzo. In 1527, another eruption of the HabsburgValois Wars sparked the successful uprising, which Varchi supported, that again expelled the Medici and restored the republic. In 1530, the Medici, backed by imperial troops, regained power, overthrowing the republic and sending Varchi into exile. Alessandro de’ Medici, who had been granted the title Duke of Florence by Emperor Charles V, was assassinated in 1537; the murder instigated Varchi’s final involvement in an attempt, this time unsuccessful, to revive the republic. Power now passed to Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, who represented a cadet branch of the family, the main line having died out with Duke Alessandro. Cosimo

147

Voices of the Renaissance

ruled until his death in 1574 and his line remained in power in Florence until 1737, when it also died out.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find this excerpt from Varchi’s history to be easy to read and follow? Can you make sense of the various offices mentioned? Varchi is known for being evenhanded and for refusing to speculate on causes if he lacked documentary support? Do you see any bias toward one group or another in this excerpt? 2. What kinds of facts about the city of Florence does Varchi provide? What seems to be his main concern—politics, economics, society, culture, or something else? Why do you think the duke wanted a recent history of the city to be written? What may have been his purpose? How may Varchi’s purpose have differed from the duke’s?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. If possible, find and read, in full or in part, a copy of The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de’ Medici by Catherine Fletcher (Oxford, 2016). The book is a biography of the illegitimate son of Piero de’ Medici, the son of Lorenzo, and a dark-skinned maid. Fletcher contends that Alessandro, whose government Benedetto Varchi helped overthrow in 1527, was the first person of color to serve as head of a European state. 2. Other Florentine historians writing at the same time as Varchi include Niccolò Machiavelli (see Section 23) and Francesco Guicciardini (see Section 30). Access a print or online copy of either Machiavelli’s History of Florence and the Affairs of Italy (ca. 1520–1525), which runs to eight volumes, or Guicciardini’s History of Italy (1561), which innovatively makes extensive use of government sources. Read passages from one or both of these works and compare them in tone, style, and readability to this excerpt from Varchi’s history.

ACCADEMIA FIORENTINA An academy in Renaissance Italy was a learned society comprising a group of humanists who met to discuss a particular discipline or a particular scholarly issue. In Florence in the 15th century, a group of scholars, acting in imitation of Plato’s Symposium, began to meet informally under the patronage of the Medici in the garden of the Medici villa in Careggi. Known as the Accademia Platonica, the group at various times included such figures as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Angelo Poliziano, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and Niccolò Machiavelli. Although briefly revived under the patronage of Bernardo Rucellai around 1510, the Accademia Platonica largely faded away after the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1492. A successor society, the Accademia Fiorentina was founded in 1540 by 12 scholars who were interested in linguistic questions. After his return to Florence in 1543, Benedetto Varchi joined the Accademia Fiorentina, where he involved himself in debates regarding the proper basis for literary Italian. One school of thought, advocated by Pietro Bembo, was that 14thcentury Tuscan, the language of Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, should be the model for literary Italian, while another group argued for contemporary Florentine usage. Varchi’s 1560 treatise L’Ercolano, which was written in dialog form, was his contribution to this debate. The Accademia Fiorentina continued to exist until 1783, when Leopold, then Grand Duke of Tuscany, ordered it to be merged with two other linguistic academies.

148

“No Nobleman Could Exercise any Magistracy”

Further Information Brucker, Gene. Renaissance Florence. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Cochrane, Eric W. Historians and Historiography in the Italian Renaissance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Crompton, Louis. Homosexuality and Civilization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006. Gavitt, Philip. Gender, Honor, and Charity in Late Renaissance Florence. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Murry, Gregory. The Medicean Succession: Monarchy and Sacral Politics in Duke Cosimo dei Medici’s Florence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014. Polizzotto, Lorenzo. Children of the Promise: The Confraternity of the Purification and the Socialization of Youths in Florence, 1427–1785. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Rubinstein, Nicolai. The Government of Florence under the Medici, 1434–1494. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Strathern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of the Renaissance City. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015.

149

This page intentionally left blank

RELIGION AND THE PAPACY

This page intentionally left blank

25. “THERE C AN BE ONLY ONE SUPREME RULING POWER IN A STATE” Excerpts From Defensor Pacis (1324) by Marsilius of Padua INTRODUCTION Marsiglio dei Mainardini is best known to history as Marsilius of Padua, the town where he was born in about 1275. His early education likely included training in both medicine and Roman law at the University of Padua. He also studied and taught at the University of Paris, where he became rector in 1313. In 1324, Marsilius published Defensor Pacis (Defender of Peace), a Latin treatise on the nature of political power that extended and refined the arguments made by Dante Alighieri in his 1313 political treatise De Monarchia (see Section 18). In Defensor Pacis, Marsilius denounced papal claims to temporal authority and refuted clerical claims to an autonomous position within the state and to a special status that transcended the state. At the time, such arguments were revolutionary and caused a storm of controversy. In 1326, as the treatise became more widely known, Marsilius judged it wise to leave France to put himself outside the reach of Pope John XXII, who was resident at Avignon rather than Rome. Along with such like-minded scholars as the Frenchman John of Jandun and the Englishman William of Ockham, Marsilius took up residence at the court of Emperor Louis IV, who was then involved in his own dispute with the pope for political dominance in Italy. In 1327, Marsilius accompanied the emperor to Italy, where Louis declared Pope John deposed and installed his own candidate as pope in Rome. Appointed vicar of Rome by the emperor, Marsilius used his new position to root out supporters of John XXII. When the emperor returned to Germany, Marsilius went with him and remained at the imperial court until his death in 1342. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Defensor Pacis.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In Defensor Pacis, Marsilius paved the way for the modern concept of a secular society governed by the people through popularly elected governments. This idea completely overthrew the assertion developed by the medieval papacy that society must have a religious basis, that secular rulers must be subordinate to the papacy and the clergy, and that the pope had the right to establish, judge, and, if necessary, depose secular leaders.

153

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Marsilius also argued for the practice of clerical poverty. He believed that the payment of tithes should be abolished and that the State should confiscate most Church property, leaving the clergy only sufficient goods to support themselves in the conduct of their rightful duties, such as administering the sacraments, conducting divine service, and ministering to the poor and the ill. All these notions found favor among the religious reformers who made the Reformation in the 16th century.

Document: Excerpts from the Conclusions of Defensor Pacis Conclusions 1. The one divine canonical Scripture, the conclusions that necessarily follow from it, and the interpretation placed upon it by the common consent of Christians, are true, and belief in them is necessary to the salvation of those to whom they are made known. 2. The general council of Christians or its majority alone has the authority to define doubtful passages of the divine law, and to determine those that are to be regarded as articles of the Christian faith, belief in which is essential to salvation; and no partial council or single person of any position has the authority to decide these questions. 3. The gospels teach that no temporal punishment or penalty should be used to compel observance of divine commandments. 4. It is necessary to salvation to obey the commandments of the new divine law and the conclusions that follow necessarily from it and the precepts of reason; but it is new divine law: New Testament not necessary to salvation to obey all the commandancient law: Old Testament ments of the ancient law. decretals: a papal decree concerning a point 5. No mortal has the right to dispense with the commands of canon law or prohibitions of the new divine law. . . . 7. The whole body of citizens or its majority alone is the human “legislator.” 8. Decretals and decrees of the bishop of Rome, or of any other bishops or body of bishops, have no power to coerce anyone by secular penalties or punishments, except by the authorization of the human “legislator.” 9. The “legislator” alone or the one who rules by its authority has the power to dispense with human laws. 10. The elective principality or other office derives its authority from the election of the body having the right to elect, and not from the confirmation or approval of any other power. . . . 12. There can be only one supreme ruling power in a state or kingdom. 13. The number and the qualifications of persons who hold state offices and all civil matters are to be determined solely by the Christian ruler according to the law or approved custom [of the state].

154

“There Can Be Only One Supreme Ruling Power in a State”

14. No prince, still more, no partial council or single person of any position, has full authority and control over other persons, laymen or clergy, without the authorization of the “legislator”. 15. No bishop or priest has coercive authority or jurisdiction over any layman or clergyman, even if he is a heretic. 16. The prince who rules by the authority of the “legislator” has jurisdiction over the persons and possessions of every single mortal of every station, whether lay or clerical, and over every body of laymen or clergy. 17. No bishop or priest or body of bishops or priests has the authority to excommunicate anyone or to interdict the performance of divine services, without the authorization of the “legislator.” 18. All bishops derive their authority in equal measure immediately from Christ, and it cannot be proved from the divine law that one bishop should be over or under another, in temporal or spiritual matters. 19. The other bishops, singly or in a body, have the same right by divine authority to excommunicate or otherwise exercise authority over the bishop of Rome, having obtained the consent of the “legislator,” as the bishop of Rome has to excommunicate or control them. 20. No mortal has the authority to permit marriages that are prohibited by the divine law, especially by the New Testament. The right to permit marriages which are prohibited by human law belongs solely to the “legislator” or to the one who rules by its authority. 21. The right to legitimatize children born of illegitimate union so that they may receive inheritances, or other civil or ecclesiastical offices or benefits, belongs solely to the “legislator.” 22. The “legislator” alone has the right to promote to ecclesiastical orders, and to judge of the qualifications of persons for these offices, by a coercive decision, and no priest or bishop has the right to promote anyone without its authority. 23. The prince who rules by the authority of the laws of Christians, has the right to determine the number of churches and temples, and the number of priests, deacons, and other clergy who shall serve in them. . . . 28. In ecclesiastical offices and benefices those who have received consecration as deacons or priests, or have been otherwise irrevocably dedicated to God, should be preferred those who have not been thus consecrated. 29. The human “legislator” has the right to use ecclesiastical temporalities for the common public good and defence after the needs of the priests and clergy, the expenses of divine worship, and the necessities of the poor have been satisfied. 30. All properties established for pious purposes or for works of mercy, such as those that are left by will for the making of a crusade, the redeeming of captives, or the support of the poor, and similar purposes, may be disposed of by the prince alone according to the decision of the “legislator” and the purpose of the testator or giver. 31. The Christian “legislator” alone has the right to forbid or permit the establishment of religious orders or houses. 32. The prince alone, acting in accordance with the laws of the “legislator,” has the authority to condemn heretics, delinquents, and all others who should endure temporal punishment, to inflict bodily punishment upon them, and to exact fines from them.

155

Voices of the Renaissance

33. No subject who is bound to another by a legal oath may be released from his obligation by any bishop or priest, unless the “legislator” has decided by a coercive decision that there is just cause for it. 34. The general council of all Christians alone has the authority to create a metropolitan bishop or Church, and to reduce him or it from that position. . . . 37. The general council of Christians alone has the authority to canonize anyone or to order anyone to be adored as a saint. 38. The general council of Christians alone has the authority to forbid the marriage of priests, bishops, and other clergy, and to make other laws concerning ecclesiastical discipline, and that council or the one to whom it delegates its authority alone may dispense with these laws. . . . 41. The people as a community and as individuals, according to their several means, are required by divine law to support the bishops and other clergy authorized by the gospel, so that they may have food and clothing and the other necessaries of life; but the people are not required to pay tithes or other taxes beyond the amount necessary for such support. 42. The Christian “legislator” or the one who rules by its authority has the right to compel bishops and other clergy who live in the province under its control and whom it supplies with the necessities of life, to perform divine services and administer the sacrament. Source: Marsilius of Padua. Defensor Pacis. Part III, Ch. ii. In Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar Holmes McNeal, trans. and eds. A Source Book for Medieval History. New York: Scribners, 1905, pp. 317–24.

AFTERMATH In 1327, Pope John XXII condemned Marsilius of Padua as a heretic for the views he expressed in Defensor Pacis. This judgment was subsequently reaffirmed by Pope John’s two immediate successors—Benedict XII and Clement VI. Defensor Pacis expounded the political theory known as popular sovereignty, that is, the idea that all political authority is derived ultimately from the people. Secular rulers derive their authority over the state from its citizens; popes derive their authority over the Church from its members—neither has any divine right to rule. Vehemently anticlerical in tone, Defensor Pacis denied the papacy any authority in temporal affairs and rejected any clerical claims to exercise coercive or disciplinary powers over the lives of the people, such as the right to declare the excommunication of individuals or to place whole states under an interdict. The papacy, according to Marsilius, had over the centuries usurped the authority of the state and should be once again confined to its proper sphere of authority in spiritual matters only. Extremely controversial in the 14th century, the ideas expressed in Defensor Pacis found ready acceptance among the religious reformers of the 16th century, both those who remained in the Catholic Church, such as Desiderius Erasmus, and those who embraced Protestantism, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. The principles expound by Marsilius of Padua also provided the theoretical underpinning for the Reformation in various states, especially England (see the sidebar).

ASK YOURSELF 1. This excerpt from Defensor Pacis is Marsilius’ list of conclusions. Do any of the conclusions strike you as rather modern in tone? Do any seem to you to be rather 156

“There Can Be Only One Supreme Ruling Power in a State”

old-fashioned or outdated? Does Marsilius seem to be in any way anti-Christian or anti-religion, or is his argument just with the papacy and the Church hierarchy? 2. What is the main thrust of most of the conclusions? What do the conclusions say about the clergy—popes, priests, and bishops? What is said about secular rulers— princes and monarchs? Can you detect the anticlerical tone that is said to pervade much of the work? Can you understand why later Protestant reformers found the treatise useful to them in their arguments against the papacy and the Roman Church?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Defensor Pacis and read additional passages from the treatise. Write a short summary of your own of the main arguments presented by Marsilius. 2. Compare this excerpt from Defensor Pacis to the excerpt from Dante’s De Monarchia in Section 18 of this book. Both of these treatises argue for reducing the power of the papacy. Read additional passages from both works, if you wish. 3. Search YouTube for “Marsilius of Padua: Separating the Church from the State,” an eight-minute lecture that is part of the Inventing Civilization Channel. The lecture is a good, brief analysis of the ideas presented in Defensor Pacis.

DEFENSOR PACIS AND THE ENGLISH REFORMATION In the 1530s, almost 200 years after the death of Marsilius of Padua, his 1324 treatise, Defensor Pacis, acquired a new relevance and a new popularity thanks to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister and advisor to Henry VIII of England. Seeking to promote and defend the king’s revolutionary claim that he, not the pope, was head of the English Church, Cromwell found the arguments of Defensor Pacis tailor-made for his purpose. Denied an annulment of his marriage by the Medici pope, Clement VII, Henry and his advisors had, thanks to the ideas presented by Marsilius of Padua and others, hit upon the notion that the king had, by divine right, full authority in his realm over all spiritual matters and thus could by his own authority direct the English Church to grant him an annulment without recourse to Rome. The Act in Restraint of Appeals, which officially severed the English Church from Rome in 1533, began with a preamble—“this realm of England is an empire . . . governed by one supreme head and king”—that is drawn directly from the ideas of Marsilius of Padua (Wagner, 946). Cromwell also assembled a group of publicists and printers to produce pamphlets and treatises in support of the king’s claim, and many of the works thus produced were also based on the assertions in Defensor Pacis. In 1535, Cromwell even provided printer William Marshall with a generous loan to produce an English version of Defensor Pacis, which was then widely distributed throughout the kingdom in a royal propaganda campaign designed to convince the English people to support the king’s new religious settlement.

Further Information Lee, Hwa-Yong, Political Representation in the Later Middle Ages: Marsilius in Context. New York: Lang, 2008. Marsilius of Padua. Marsilius of Padua: The Defender of the Peace. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Moreno-Riano, Gerson, ed. The World of Marsilius of Padua. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Press, 2006. 157

Voices of the Renaissance

Syros, Vasileios. Marsilius of Padua at the Intersection of Ancient and Medieval Traditions of Political Thought. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012. Wagner, John A., and Susan Walters Schmid, eds. “Restraint of Appeals, Act in.” In Encyclopedia of Tudor England. Vol. 3. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012, pp. 945–47.

Website Marsilius of Padua: from Defensor Pacis, 1324. Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/marsiglio4.asp.

158

26. “THE POPE BOTH THIRSTS FOR THE GOODS OF O THERS AND DRINKS UP HIS O WN” Excerpts From the Donation of Constantine (Eighth Century) and From Lorenzo Valla’s Treatise on the Authenticity of the Donation (ca. 1440) INTRODUCTION Born in Rome in about 1407, Lorenzo Valla was the son of an attorney from Piacenza. Educated in Rome by humanist scholars, Valla became highly proficient in both Latin and Greek. He entered the University of Padua in 1428, and accepted a professorship there teaching rhetoric in 1429. In 1431, he entered the priesthood and published De voluptate (On Pleasure), a treatise that sought to blend Christian notions of self-discipline and self-denial with the Epicurean idea of enjoying the pleasures of life without fear of death or punishment. Because much medieval thought denounced Epicureanism as hedonistic self-indulgence, Valla’s arguments were highly controversial. Forced to resign his teaching position in 1433 after publishing an open letter that criticized the medieval scholastic basis of the judicial system, Valla moved eventually to Naples where he became Latin secretary to King Alfonso V in 1437. In 1439, the king became entangled in a territorial dispute with Pope Eugenius IV, who was also ruler of the Papal States, and who used a supposedly fourth-century document called the Donation of Constantine to assert that the Roman emperor Constantine had gifted the lands of central Italy to the political control of the papacy. To support his patron’s position, Valla published in 1440 an essay entitled De falso credita et ementita Constantini donation declamatio (Treatise on the Donation of Constantine), which through close textual analysis proved conclusively that the Donation was an eighth-century forgery. Reproduced here is the text of the Donation of Constantine and an excerpt from Valla’s essay disproving its authenticity.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Valla’s works on Latin grammar, such as De elegantiis linguae latinae (Elegance of the Latin Language), aroused great controversy because they criticized medieval Church Latin as stylistically awkward compared to the pure Latin of classical pagan writers. Valla argued that humanist Latin should be purged of all useless postclassical accretions. This stand aroused the ire of some other humanists, especially Poggio Bracciolini (see Section 10), who, in his works, attacked Valla personally as well as criticizing his scholarship.

159

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Valla completed numerous Latin translations from the Greek, including works by Homer (the Iliad), Aesop, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. 3. Desiderius Erasmus, the 16th-century humanist scholar, declared that for the study of Latin grammar there was no better guide than Lorenzo Valla. It was the work of Valla that inspired Erasmus to undertake his Greek New Testament, which was published in 1516. Erasmus’ translation was highly influential, serving as the basis for the vernacular editions of the New Testament later produced by Martin Luther (German) and William Tyndale (English).

Document 1: Excerpts from the Donation of Constantine In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, the Father, namely, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine in Christ Jesus, the Lord God our Saviour . . . to the most holy and blessed father of fathers Sylvester, bishop of the city of [Rome] and to all his successors the pontiffs. . . . And when, the blessed Sylvester preaching them, I perceived these things, and learned that by the kindness of St. Peter himself I had been entirely restored to health: I together with all our satraps and the whole senate and the nobles and all the Roman people, who are subject to the glory of our rule, considered it advisable that, as on earth he (Peter) is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God, so the pontiffs, who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy greater than the earthly clemency of our imperial serenity is seen to have had conceded to it. . . . And, to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we decree that his holy Roman Church shall be honoured with veneration; and that, more than our empire and earthly throne, the most sacred seat of St. Peter shall be gloriously exalted; we giving to it the imperial power, and dignity of glory, and vigour and honour. And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four chief seats Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, as also over all the churches of God in the whole world. And he who for the time being shall be pontiff of that holy Roman Church shall be more exalted than, and chief over, all the priests of the whole world; and, according to his judgment, everything which is to be provided for the service of God or the stability of the faith of the Christians is to be administered. . . . And we decree, as to those most reverend men, the clergy who serve, in different orders, that same holy Roman Church, that they shall have the same advantage, distinction, power and excellence by the glory of which our most illustrious senate is adorned; that is, that they shall be made patricians and consuls, we commanding that they shall also be decorated with the other imperial dignities. And even as the imperial soldiery, so, we decree, shall the clergy of the holy Roman Church be adorned. . . . In imitation of our own power, in order that for that cause the supreme pontificate may not deteriorate, but may rather be adorned with power and glory even more than is the dignity of an earthly rule: behold we are giving over to the oft-mentioned most blessed pontiff, our father Sylvester the universal pope, as well our palace, as has been said, as also the city of Rome and all the provinces, districts and cities of Italy or of the western regions; and relinquishing them, by our inviolable gift, to the power and sway of himself or the pontiffs

160

“The Pope Both Thirsts for the Goods of Others and Drinks Up His Own”

his successors do decree, by this our godlike charter and imperial constitution, that it shall be (so) arranged; and do concede that they (the palaces, provinces etc.) shall lawfully remain with the holy Roman Church. . . . Source: Henderson, Ernest F., ed. Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. London: George Bell, 1910, pp. 319–29.

Document 2: Excerpts from Lorenzo Valla’s Treatise on the Validity of the Donation of Constantine Wherefore I declare, and cry aloud, nor, trusting God, will I fear men, that in my time no one in the supreme pontificate has been either a faithful or a prudent steward, but they have gone so far from giving food to the household of God that they have devoured it as food and a mere morsel of bread! And the Pope himself makes war on peaceable people, and sows discord among states and princes. The Pope both thirsts for the goods of others and drinks up his own. . . . The Pope not only enriches himself at the expense of the republic, . . . but he enriches himself at the expense of even the Church and the Holy Spirit. . . . And when he is reminded of this and is reproved by good people occasionally, he does not deny it, but openly admits it, and boasts that he is free to wrest from its occupants by any means whatever the patrimony given the Church by Constantine; as though when it was recovered for Christianity would be in an ideal state,—and not rather the more oppressed by all kinds of crimes, extravagances and lusts; if indeed it can be oppressed more, and if there is any crime yet uncommitted! And so, that he may recover the other parts of the Donation, money wickedly stolen from good people he spends more wickedly, and he supports armed forces, mounted and foot, with which all places are plagued, while Christ is dying of hunger and nakedness in so many thousands of paupers. Nor does he know, the unworthy reprobate, that while he works to deprive secular powers of what belongs to them, they in turn are either led by his bad example, or driven by necessity (granting that it may not be a real necessity) to make off with what belongs to the officers of the Church. And so there is no religion anywhere, no sanctity, no fear of God; and, what I shudder to mention, impious men pretend to find in the Pope an excuse for all their crimes. For he and his followers furnish an example of every kind of crime. . . . But if the Roman people through excess of wealth lost the well-known quality of true Romans; if Solomon likewise fell into idolatry through the love of women; should we not recognize that the same thing happens in the case of a supreme pontiff and the other clergy? And should we then think that God would have permitted Sylvester to accept an occasion of sin? I will not suffer this injustice to be done that most holy man, I will not allow this affront to be offered that most excellent pontiff, that he should be said to have accepted empires, kingdoms, provinces, things which those who wish to enter the clergy are wont, indeed, to renounce. Little did Sylvester possess, little also the other holy pontiffs. . . . But recent supreme pontiffs, that is, those having riches and pleasures in abundance, seem to work hard to make themselves just as impious and foolish as those early pontiffs were wise and holy, and to extinguish the lofty praises of those men by every possible infamy. . . . Source: Coleman, Christopher, ed. The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1922, pp. 179, 181, 183.

161

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Although doubts had been raised about the Donation for centuries, Valla’s essay, by pointing out linguistic errors, anachronisms, historical misreadings, and logical improbabilities, left no doubt that the document was a fraud. Used repeatedly by popes since the 11th century to give validity to the Church’s territorial claims, the Donation was so thoroughly discredited by Valla that no pope made mention of it again after the 1440s. Because the essay also urged secular leaders in Italy to deprive the pope of his temporal possessions, and because of the generally iconoclastic nature of many of his writings, Valla faced charges of heresy in 1444. However, King Alfonso succeeded in having these charges dismissed and Valla went on to write his De elegantiis linguae latinae (Elegance of the Latin Language), printed in 1471, and his Adnotationes novi testamenti (Notes on the New Testament), printed in 1505. The former is a critical examination of Latin grammar and rhetoric, and the latter is a study of the Vulgate, a fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible by St. Jerome. Using the methods of textual criticism and his knowledge of Greek, Valla showed that many of Jerome’s translations, which had been used by the Church for centuries to justify various doctrines and practices, were not supported by the original Greek text. Valla’s philological work laid the foundation of modern textual analysis and provided later reformers, such as Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther, with a firm basis for many of their criticisms of the Church. In 1447, a new pope, Nicholas V, appointed Valla to a position in the papal secretariat and commissioned him to make translations of various classical Greek authors. Valla died in Rome in 1457.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What does the Donation of Constantine say that the emperor granted to the pope? Does the document say why these imperial grants were being made? Do you find anything suspicious in the way the document is worded or what the document states? Does the Donation seem to support the wide-ranging claims to secular authority made by the medieval papacy? 2. What does Valla say in this excerpt from his essay regarding the pope? What does he say about the legitimacy of papal authority as it is being exercised in his time? What recommendations does he make regarding papal power? Can you understand why Valla may have angered the pope and the Church hierarchy?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Valla’s essay on the Donation of Constantine and read additional passages. If possible, read also passages from other works by Valla, especially his treatise On Pleasure or his Notes on the New Testament. 2. Search YouTube for “Lorenzo Valla” or “Donation of Constantine.” These searches will bring up a number of short videos describing Valla’s career, the Donation of Constantine, or Valla’s essay proving that the Donation was a forgery. Select one or two of these videos to view. 3. Do online research on the False Decretals, a ninth-century collection of ecclesiastical documents that contains a number of forged items. See if you can determine what the false documents were and what use they were put to by the Church. What influence did these forgeries have on Church history?

162

“The Pope Both Thirsts for the Goods of Others and Drinks Up His Own”

THE LEGEND OF ST. SYLVESTER The document known as the Donation of Constantine was based on a fifth-century legend about the relationship between Pope Sylvester I (r. 314–335) and the Roman emperor Constantine (r. 306–337). The story describes the conversion of Constantine to Christianity after Pope Sylvester miraculously cures him of leprosy. Also tangled with this tale is a story of Sylvester saving the city of Rome from a dragon, which “slayeth every day with his breath more than three hundred men” (Saint Sylvester and the Dragon). With the help of St. Peter, who appears in answer to a prayer, Sylvester binds the dragon and also converts to Christianity the astonished pagan representatives of Constantine, who could themselves do nothing to help the city. As incorporated into the Donation, the legend tells of Constantine’s gratitude, which he manifests by granting control of the Western Roman Empire to Sylvester. The emperor also gives the pope the imperial palace in Rome and declares the See of Rome superior to all other major Christian sees, including Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. These grants give the pope primacy within the Church and also imply papal dominance over all secular rulers in the West. Modern scholarship has shown that the Donation was actually written in the 750s or 760s, over 400 years after the time of Constantine and Sylvester. It was probably written by a cleric in Rome, possibly with papal knowledge, and was likely part of an effort by the eighth-century papacy to win independence from the Byzantine Empire and secure the protection of contemporary Frankish rulers. Later popes, beginning with Leo IX in the 11th century, used the document to justify their rule of portions of Italy, a use that became impossible after the 1440s thanks to Valla’s essay.

Further Information Blum, Paul Richard. “Lorenzo Valla—Humanism as Philosophy.” In Paul Richard Blum, ed. Philosophers of the Renaissance. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2010, pp. 33–42. Celenza, Christopher S. “Lorenzo Valla and the Traditions and Transmissions of Philosophy.” Journal of the History of Ideas 66, no. 4 (2005): 483–506. Nauta, Lodi. In Defense of Common Sense: Lorenzo Valla’s Humanist Critique of Scholastic Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Valla, Lorenzo. On the Donation of Constantine. Translated by G.W. Bowersock. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. Valla, Lorenzo. The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine: Text and Translation into English. Translated by C.B. Coleman. Reprint ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993.

Websites “Saint Sylvester and the Dragon.” journeytothesea.com/sylvester-dragon/#. Valla, Lorenzo. Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine. Translated by Christopher B. Coleman. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1922. Hanover Historical Texts Project. https://history.hanover.edu/texts/vallatc.html.

163

This page intentionally left blank

27. “TO INVADE , SEARCH OUT, C APTURE , VANQUISH, AND SUBDUE ALL SARACENS AND PAGANS” Excerpts From Romanus Pontifex (1455), a Bull Issued by Pope Nicholas V INTRODUCTION The Canary Islands are located in the eastern Atlantic about 850 miles southwest of Spain and about 62 miles west of Morocco. The archipelago consists of eight main islands (Tenerife being the largest), and many smaller ones. The Portuguese first reached the islands in the early 14th century. By mid-century, they were frequent visitors to the Canaries, which served as bases for the growing Portuguese trade, including in slaves, that developed along the coast of West Africa. The first European settlement on the islands was undertaken by the Castilians in 1402, although the final conquest of the indigenous peoples did not occur until the 1490s, when the united Spanish monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella won full control of the archipelago. Hispano-Portuguese rivalry in the Canaries mirrored similar conflict along the African coast, as Castile and Portugal both sought to establish a trade monopoly in the region in the early 15th century. To resolve this dispute, the two kingdoms turned to the pope as an impartial arbitrator. In 1443, Pope Eugenius IV issued a bull entitled Rex Regum, which took an essentially neutral stance on the issue. However, in 1452, the new pope, Nicholas V, issued a second bull, entitled Dum Diversas, which, thanks to Portuguese military assistance against the Turks, recognized the right of Portugal to control trade in the region and to subdue any pagans or Saracens they encountered there. In 1455, responding to further requests from the Portuguese Crown, Pope Nicholas issued another bull, Romanus Pontifex, which confirmed and expanded the trade rights recognized in 1452. The Portuguese were given dominion over all lands south of Cape Bajador on the African coast, were permitted to seize the lands of all Saracens and non-Christians, and could also enslave such peoples. Thus, a full Portuguese monopoly of trade along the African coast was recognized. Reproduced here are excerpts from the bull Romanus Pontifex.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex have been interpreted as initiating the period of European imperialist expansion around the globe and as fostering the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade. Both documents granted to the Portuguese the right to enslave any non-Christian peoples they encountered in their trade sphere. The

165

Voices of the Renaissance

Portuguese were thus the first to engage in the Atlantic slave trade; they completed the first transatlantic slave voyage to Brazil in 1526. By the 17th century, various Western European peoples, including the Spanish, Dutch, and English, were also conducting a growing trade in slaves. 2. In Dum Diversas, trade with Muslims was strictly prohibited, as it was for Christians elsewhere, but in Romanus Pontifex, the king of Portugal was given an exception. The Portuguese could trade with Muslins so long as it was not in such dangerous commodities as iron for weapons (or weapons themselves) and wood for construction. 3. Pope Nicholas V was a humanist scholar and a bibliophile as well as a great patron of architecture and the decorative arts. He commissioned the translation of various Greek manuscripts and he authorized construction of numerous churches, palaces, bridges, and other structures in Rome. His collection of over 1,200 Greek and Roman manuscripts became the basis of the Vatican Library, of which Nicholas is today considered the founder.

Document: Excerpts from Romanus Pontifex Nicholas, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for a perpetual remembrance. The Roman pontiff, successor of the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom and vicar of Jesus Christ, contemplating with a father’s mind all the several climes of the world and the characteristics of all the nations dwelling in them and seeking and desiring the salvation of all, wholesomely ordains and disposes upon careful deliberation those things which he sees will be agreeable to the Divine Majesty and by which he may bring the sheep entrusted to him by God into the single divine fold. . . . This we believe will more certainly come to pass, through the aid of the Lord, if we bestow suitable favors and special graces on those Catholic kings and princes, who, like athletes and intrepid champions of the Christian faith . . . not only restrain the savage excesses of the Saracens and of other infidels, enemies of the Christian name, but also for the defense and increase of the faith vanquish them and their kingdoms and habitations . . . and subject them to their own temporal dominion, sparing no labor and expense, in order that those kings and princes, relieved of all obstacles, may be the more animated to the prosecution of so salutary and laudable a work. . . . Henry, infant of Portugal: Henry, Prince Henry, infante of Portugal, uncle of our most dear son of Portugal (1394–1460), known as in Christ, the illustrious Alfonso, king of . . . Portugal . . . Henry the Navigator for his support of has aspired from his early youth with his utmost might to Portuguese maritime exploration and cause the most glorious name of the said Creator to be pubexpansion lished, extolled, and revered throughout the whole world, Alfonso: Afonso V, nephew of Prince Henry, even in the most remote and undiscovered places, and also was king of Portugal from 1438 to 1481 to bring into the bosom of his faith the perfidious enemies Ceuta: a city on the coast of North Africa of him and of the life-giving Cross by which we have been across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain; redeemed, namely the Saracens and all other infidels whatthe city was captured by the Portuguese in soever, [and how] after the city of Ceuta, situated in Africa, 1415 had been subdued . . . has caused churches and other pious places to be there founded and built, in which divine service

166

“To Invade, Search Out, Capture, Vanquish, and Subdue all Saracens and Pagans”

is celebrated. Also by the laudable endeavor and industry of the said infante, very many inhabitants or dwellers in divers islands situated in the said sea, coming to the knowledge of the true God, have received holy baptism, to the praise and glory of God, the salvation of the souls of many, the propagation also of the orthodox faith, and the increase of divine worship. Moreover, since, some time ago, it had come to the knowledge of the said infante that never, or at least not within the memory of men, had it been customary to sail on this ocean sea toward the southern and eastern shores, and that it was so unknown to us westerners that we had no certain knowledge of the peoples of those parts, believing that he would best perform his duty to God in this matter, if by his effort and industry that sea might become navigable as far as to the Indians who are said to worship the name of Christ, and that thus he might be able to enter into relation with them, and to incite them to aid the Christians against the Saracens and other such enemies of the faith, and might also be able forthwith to subdue certain gentile or pagan peoples, living between, who are entirely free from infection by the sect of the most impious Mahomet, and to preach and cause to be preached to them the unknown but most sacred name of Christ, strengthened, however, always by the royal authority, he has not ceased for twenty-five years past to send almost yearly an army of the peoples of the said kingdoms with the greatest labor, danger, and expense, in very swift ships called caravels, to explore the sea and coast lands toward the south and the Antarctic pole. And so it came to pass that when a number of ships of this kind had explored and taken possession of very many harbors, islands, and seas, they at length came to the province Guinea: a coastal region of West Africa that of Guinea, and having taken possession of some islands and became a center of European slave trading harbors and the sea adjacent to that province. . . . and war in the 17th and 18th centuries was waged for some years against the peoples of those parts in the name of the said King Alfonso and of the infante, and in it very many islands in that neighborhood were subdued and peacefully possessed, as they are still possessed together with the adjacent sea. Thence also many Guineamen and other negroes, taken by force, and some by barter of unprohibited articles, or by other lawful contract of purchase, have been sent to the said kingdoms. A large number of these have been converted to the Catholic faith, and it is hoped, by the help of divine mercy, that if such progress be continued with them, either those peoples will be converted to the faith or at least the souls of many of them will be gained for Christ. But since, as we are informed, although the king and infante aforesaid . . . fearing lest strangers induced by covetousness should sail to those parts, and desiring to usurp to themselves the perfection, fruit, and praise of this work. . . . We [therefore] weighing all and singular the premises with due meditation, and noting that since we had formerly by other letters of ours granted among other things free and ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso—to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit. . . . We [therefore] . . . decree and declare that the aforesaid letters of faculty . . . are extended to Ceuta and to the aforesaid and all other acquisitions whatsoever, even those acquired before the date of the said letters of faculty, and to all those provinces, islands,

167

Voices of the Renaissance

harbors, and seas whatsoever, which hereafter, in the name of the said King Alfonso and of his successors and of the infante, in those parts and the adjoining, and in the more distant and remote parts, can be acquired from the hands of infidels or pagans, and that they are comprehended under the said letters of faculty. And by force of those and of the present letters of faculty the acquisitions already made, and what hereafter shall happen to be acquired, after they shall have been acquired, we do by the tenor of these presents decree and declare have pertained, and forever of right do belong and pertain, to the aforesaid king and to his successors. . . . Source: Davenport, Frances Gardiner, ed. European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies to 1648. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1917, pp. 20–26.

AFTERMATH The Portuguese king, Afonso V, abetted by his uncle, Prince Henry, known as Henry the Navigator for his promotion of exploration and trade, used Romanus Pontifex as their authorization to board and search any foreign vessels sailing in their sphere of trade. The king and prince also cloaked all Portuguese commerce in Africa in the mantle of religious duty. The bull effectively made the Portuguese Crown the Church’s representative in these new trading areas, enjoining all Portuguese authorities to build churches and monasteries and introduce priests and monks into all areas where they were conducting trade and settlement. However, the rise of the united Spanish monarchy after 1479, the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, and the election of a Spanish pope, Alexander VI, in the same year, led to further papal intervention in the ongoing Iberian trade rivalry. In 1493, Alexander issued two bulls, Inter Caetera and Dudum Siquidem, which sought to assist Spain in establishing its own trade monopolies in any new lands it discovered to the west of Europe. The exact nature of the dominion granted by the pope to Spain in these lands is still debated, but the Spanish Crown proceeded with conquest and settlement as if the bulls granted Spain full political sovereignty. In 1494, Spain and Portugal concluded the Treaty of Tordesillas, which confirmed to each Crown the sphere of influence that had been granted to them in the various papal bulls. The treaty drew a dividing line in the Atlantic roughly midway between the Portuguese-held Cape Verde Islands, about 300 miles off the African coast, and the new islands discovered by Columbus to the west. The treaty in effect gave most of the New World (save for Brazil) to Spain, which quickly established colonies and settlements in the region, and Africa and Asia to Portugal, which dominated trade with those regions for over a century.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is the view of non-Christian peoples displayed in Romanus Pontifex? How are such peoples to be treated? Do you think the bull justifies such treatment with the idea that conversion to Christianity will ultimately benefit such peoples? 2. What is the view of papal authority displayed in the bull? Why would a king seek authorization from the pope to trade and explore? What is the relationship between religion and commerce that is exhibited in the bull?

168

“To Invade, Search Out, Capture, Vanquish, and Subdue all Saracens and Pagans”

3. Do you think that other nation-states, such as the English and the Dutch, abided by the bulls and the Treaty of Tordesillas when they came to trade and establish settlements in the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries? Why or why not?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access print or online copies of the bulls Dum Diversas, Inter Caetera, and Dudum Siquidem, as well as a copy of the Treaty of Tordesillas (see “Further Information,” below, for some online versions). Read passages from these documents to get a sense of how 15th-century popes and governments viewed trade and settlement in the lands of non-Christian peoples. Do you see an evolution in thinking about trade and settlement across the various documents? 2. Search YouTube for “Treaty of Tordesillas”; this search will yield a number of short videos that explain the treaty, giving its background and its consequences. A good beginning is “Treaty of Tordesillas” by NBC News Learn, which is about two minutes long. Another interesting video is the 10-minute animated piece on the early history of the Spanish and Portuguese empires by History Matters.

FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE On May 29, 1453, the city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks after a siege of 53 days. The fall of the city shocked the peoples of Europe, who feared the further westward expansion of Islam. Humanists, such as Pope Nicholas V, also saw the event as a cultural disaster that cut Western scholarship off from the knowledge and traditions of the ancient Greeks. The fall of the city, declared Pope Nicholas to his friend Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (the future Pope Pius II) (see Sections 5, 9, and 28), was another death of Plato and Homer. Pope Nicholas sought to rally the rulers of Europe against the Turks by proclaiming a crusade on September 30, 1453. However, despite the widespread outcry against Ottoman aggression, the pope received little support and the crusade never materialized. Still, an attempt to bring peace to the states of Italy as a prelude to greater European-wide cooperation, which also sprang from the pope’s proclamation, did continue. This effort led to conclusion of the Treaty of Lodi in April 1454. Although irritated that the treaty had been concluded without his direct involvement, the pope, as ruler of the Papal States, eventually signed the pact, as did both Florence and the king of Naples. The Treaty of Lodi maintained the peace of Italy for 40 years, until the French invasion of the peninsula in 1494 initiated the long period of the Italian Wars.

Further Information Earle, T.F., and K.J.P. Lowe. Black Africans in Renaissance Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Newitt, Malyn D.D. A History of Portuguese Overseas Expansion, 1400–1668. London: Routledge, 2005. Russell, Peter E. Prince Henry “the Navigator”: A Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Russell-Wood, A.J.R. The Portuguese Empire 1415–1808. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.

169

Voices of the Renaissance

Websites The Bull Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V), January 8, 1455. http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/ legal/indig-romanus-pontifex.html. “Inter Caetera.” Papal Encyclicals Online. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/alex06/alex06 inter.htm. “Romanus Pontifex.” Papal Encyclicals Online. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/nichol05/ romanus-pontifex.htm. “Treaty between Spain and Portugal Concluded at Tordesillas; June 7, 1494.” The Avalon Project. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/15th_century/mod001.asp.

170

28. “M ANY C ARDINALS MET IN THE PRIVIES” A Description of the Papal Election of 1458 by the Winner of the Election, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) INTRODUCTION In August 1458, Pope Calixtus III died in Rome. The College of Cardinals, which would elect the next pope, comprised, at the time, 27 members. However, Cardinal Domenico Capranica, who was considered likely to be the next pope, died two days before the College could meet. Capranica’s death meant that only 18 cardinals were present in Rome, the other eight being too distant to reach Rome in time for the papal conclave. To be elected pope, a candidate had to receive two-thirds of the votes of the cardinals present in conclave or, in this case, 12 votes. The College in 1458 was roughly divided into two parties, a proFrench faction and an Italian group, which was committed to preventing the election of a French pope. The major Italian states, such as Milan and Naples, feared the reintroduction of French influence into Italy now that the king of France had victoriously ended the Hundred Years War. The death of Capranica left the Italian faction without a candidate and made Guillaume d’Estouteville, cardinal of Rouen and the leading French candidate, the likely winner. To avoid this outcome, some members of the Italian faction began promoting the candidacy of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, cardinal of Siena (see Sections 5 and 9). What resulted was three days of secret and corrupt dealmaking as various cardinals sought to win the papacy for themselves. On August 19, the College finally elected Cardinal Piccolomini by accession, that is, by cardinals who had supported another candidate in secret ballot openly announcing their “accession” to him, thereby making him pope. Reproduced here are excerpts from the third-person account of the 1458 conclave included by Cardinal Piccolomini himself in his autobiographical Commentaries.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. The election of Piccolomini as Pope Pius II greatly heartened European humanists, who recognized in him one of their own. His best-known work today is his Commentaries (see Section 9), but he was also the author of a popular romantic novella—The Tale of Two Lovers (see Section 5)—a history of the ecclesiastical Council of Basel, a series of biographies of famous contemporaries, a treatise on

171

Voices of the Renaissance

education, and geographical works on Europe, Bohemia, and Asia. The work on Asia was so well regarded that it was later consulted by Christopher Columbus. 2. The life of Pius II is depicted in a series of frescoes painted by the artist Pinturicchio between 1502 and 1507 in the Piccolomini Library, a side chapel in the Cathedral of Siena. The library was commissioned in 1492 as a repository for the books and manuscripts of Pius II by his nephew Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, then archbishop of Siena and a future pope as Pius III. 3. Pius II addressed the issue of non-Christians who were being enslaved by Portuguese traders in Africa and the Canary Islands. The recent bulls of Pope Nicholas V had allowed such enslavement (see Section 27), but Pius declared that the enslavement of any such peoples who were baptized as Christians was a crime and such converts should be freed. However, Pius continued to sanction the practice of enslaving non-Christians and of conducting trade in such slaves.

Document: Excerpt from the Commentaries of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) Ten days after Calixtus’s death the other eighteen cardinals entered the conclave, while the whole city waited in suspense for the outcome; though indeed it was common talk that Aeneas, Cardinal of Siena, would be pope, since no one was held in higher esteem. Calixtus: Alfonso de Borgia, was pope from The conclave was held in the apostolic palace at St. 1455 to 1458 as Calixtus III Peter’s, where two halls and two chapels were set apart for it. In the larger chapel were constructed cells in which the cardinals might eat and sleep; the smaller, called the chapel of San Niccolò, was reserved for discussion and the election of the pope. The halls were places where all might walk about freely. On the day of their entrance nothing was done about the election. On the next day certain capitulations were announced, which they agreed should be observed by the new pope, and each swore that he would abide by them, should the lot fall on him. On the third day, after Mass, when they came to the scrutiny, it was found that Filippo, Cardinal of Bologna, and Aeneas, Cardinal of Sienna, had an equal number of votes, five apiece. No one else had more than three. . . . The cardinals were accustomed, after the result of the scrutiny was announced, to sit and talk together in case any wished to change his mind and transfer the vote he had given one to another (a method called “by accession”), for in this way they more easily reach an agreement. This procedure was omitted after the first scrutiny, owing to the opposition of those who had received no votes and therefore could not now be candidates for accession. They adjourned for luncheon, and then there were many private conferences. The richer and more influential members of the college summoned the rest and sought to gain the papacy for themselves or their friends. They begged, promised, threatened, and some, shamelessly casting aside all decency, pleaded their own causes and claimed the papacy as their right. . . . Each [of these] had a great deal to say for himself. Their rivalry was extraordinary, their energy unbounded. They took no rest by day or sleep by night. . . . Many cardinals met in the privies as being a secluded and retired place. Here they agreed as to how they might elect Guillaume [Cardinal of Rouen] pope, and they bound themselves 172

“Many Cardinals Met in the Privies”

by written pledges and by oath. Guillaume trusted them and was presently promising benefices and preferment and dividing provinces among them. A fit place for such a pope to be elected! For where could one more appropriately enter into a foul covenant than in privies? . . . Some time after midnight the Cardinal of Bologna went hurriedly to Aeneas’s cell and, waking him, said, “Look here, Aeneas! Don’t you know that we already have a pope? Some of the cardinals have met in the privies and decided to elect Guillaume. They are only waiting for daylight. I advise you to get up and go and offer him your vote before he is elected, for fear that if he is elected with you against him, he will make trouble for you. . . .” Aeneas answered, “Filippo, away with you and your advice! No one shall persuade me o vote for a man I think utterly unworthy to be the successor of St. Peter. Far from me be such a sin! I will be clean of that crime and my conscience shall not prick me. . . “ The next day they went as usual to Mass, and then began the scrutiny. A golden chalice was placed on the altar, and three cardinals, the Bishop of Ruthen, the Presbyter of Rouen, and the Deacon of Colonna, were set to watch it and see that there should be no cheating. The other cardinals took their seats, and then, rising in order of rank and age, each approached the altar and deposited in the chalice a ballot on which was written the name of his choice for pope. . . . When all had voted, a table was placed in the middle of the room and the three cardinals mentioned above turned out upon it the cupful of votes. Then they read aloud the ballots one after another and noted down the names written on them. And there was not a single cardinal who did not likewise make notes of those named, that there might be no possibility of trickery. This proved to be to Aeneas’s advantage, for when the votes were counted and the teller, Rouen, announced that Aeneas had eight, though the rest said nothing about another man’s loss, Aeneas did not allow himself to be defrauded. “Look more carefully at the ballots,” he said to the teller, “for I have nine votes.” The others agreed with him. Rouen said nothing as if he had made a mistake. This was the form of the ballot: the voter wrote with his own hand, “I, Peter (or John or whatever his name was), choose for pope Aeneas, Cardinal of Siena, and Jaime, Cardinal of Lisbon”; for it is permitted to vote for one or two or more, on the understanding that the one first named is the one preferred, but if he does not have enough votes to be elected, the next is to be counted in his place, that an agreement may more easily be reached. But a thing advantageous in itself some men pervert to base ends, as Latino Orsini did on that day. He named seven in the hope that those he named might be influenced by that good turn either to accede to him in that scrutiny or to vote for him in another. . . . When the result of the scrutiny was made known, it was found that nine cardinals . . . had voted for Aeneas. . . . Since no one had received enough votes for election, they decided to resume their seats and try the method that is called “by accession,” to see if perhaps it might be possible to elect a pope that day. . . . All sat pale and silent in their places, as if entranced. For some time no one spoke, no one opened his lips, no one moved any part of his body except the eyes, which kept glancing all about. It was a strange silence and a strange sight, men sitting there like statues; no sound to be heard, no movement to be seen. They remained thus for some moments, those inferior in rank waiting for their superiors to begin the accession. Then Rodrigo, the vice-chancellor, rose and said, “I accede Rodrigo: Rodrigo de Borgia, the viceto the Cardinal of Siena,” an utterance which was like a chancellor, was the nephew of Calixtus III; dagger in Rouen’s heart, so pale did he turn. A silence folhe was later elected pope as Alexander VI, lowed, and each man, looking at his neighbor, began to serving from 1492 to 1503 indicate his sentiments by gestures. By this time it looked as if Aeneas would be pope, and some, fearing this result, left 173

Voices of the Renaissance

the conclave, pretending physical needs, but really with the purpose of escaping the fate of that day. Source: The Commentaries of Pius II. Translated by F.A. Gragg. Edited by L.C. Gabel. In Smith College Studies in History XXII (October 1936–January 1937). Reprinted with permission.

AFTERMATH On September 3, 1458, Piccolomini, taking the name Pius II, was solemnly crowned pope at the Vatican. His first action as pope was to issue a call for the rulers of Europe to send representatives to Mantua to plan a crusade against the Ottoman Turks, who had recently captured Constantinople and were threatening Christian Europe. Before the Congress of Mantua could convene, however, Pius was called upon to decide a dispute between the French and Aragonese claimants to the Crown of Naples. Deciding for the latter, the pope offended the French, who thus declined to support the crusade with either men or money. The imperial delegates at Mantua offered some support, but failed to deliver due to a dispute over the imperial Crown in which Pius soon found himself fruitlessly embroiled. This hostility toward Pius in both France and Germany soon frustrated his efforts to reform the Church administration and brought the crusade effort to a halt. However, popular support for the crusade remained strong. Thus, in 1463, Pius proclaimed a new crusade to be largely funded by papal revenues. Declaring that he would lead the crusade himself, Pius took the cross in Rome in June 1464 before setting off for Ancona, where he had ordered all crusaders to assemble. However, the pope fell ill on the journey and died in Ancona on August 14, 1464, thus ending the crusade.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find the third-person format that the Commentaries use to be disconcerting? What do you think of the tone and style of the account? Does it read like a modern story or even television episode? Are you shocked by the way various cardinals sought to win the papacy for themselves? Are you shocked by the large role politics played in the election of a pope? Do you think modern conclaves have changed in terms of how much they are influenced by politics? 2. Do you think Piccolomini was entirely accurate in his account? Might he have unconsciously slanted his telling of the story in his favor? Do you think the account contains the author’s sense of satisfaction at his foiling of the schemes of his opponents? 3. What other characters stand out in the story? How is Cardinal Guillaume d’Estouteville depicted? How is Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (the future Pope Alexander VI) depicted? Who else is a figure of interest in the account?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online copy of the Commentaries and read further selections from the work. Read both passages from the period before Piccolomini’s election as pope and passages describing the events of his papacy.

174

“Many Cardinals Met in the Privies”

2. Search YouTube for “Piccolomini Library” to see views of Pinturicchio’s frescoes of scenes from the life of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (see sidebar, Section 9). The video also shows the mythological scenes that cover the ceiling of the library. 3. Access a print (such as Izbicki) or online version of Piccolomini’s Epistles, a collection of letters compiled by the writer himself. Read a selection of these letters, many of which contain valuable historical information. Piccolomini was well known in humanist circles for his letters, which were considered models of humanist Latin. 4. The Conclave is a 2006 film available on Prime Video that depicts the election of Pius II in 1458. Drawn from Pius’ account in the Commentaries, the film stars Brian Blessed as Piccolomini/Pius II. View the film and see how closely you think it follows the written account.

LETTER TO THE SULTAN In 1460, Pius II, who was a humanist writer and scholar of note, drafted a long and eloquent letter to Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan who had taken Constantinople and ended the Byzantine Empire in 1453. In the letter, Pius offered a detailed explanation of Christian doctrine and an equally lengthy refutation of Islam. The pope also appealed to the sultan to abandon Islam and embrace Christianity, declaring that once Mehmet had been baptized he could be crowned as the next Byzantine emperor. This was a calculated appeal, for Mehmet had declared himself Caesar of the Roman Empire, seeing his rule as a continuation rather than as a replacement of the long line of Roman emperors. Because Mehmet, who was only 26 in 1458, had continued his campaigns of conquest into southeastern Europe, eventually marching as far as Bosnia, he was much feared in the West and no European ruler recognized his claim to the imperial title. Pius, unable to finance a crusade to defeat the Sultan militarily, sought, in his usual quixotic fashion, to solve the problem by persuading the Muslim sultan to voluntarily become a good Christian ruler. It is unclear if Pius ever sent the letter to the sultan. If he did, it is not surprising that no reply was ever received.

Further Information Izbicki, Thomas M., Gerald Christianson, and Philip Krey, trans. Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius: Selected Letters of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II). Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2006. Noel, Gerard. “Pope Pius II.” In Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll & Graff Publishers, 2006, pp. 29–46. Noel, Gerard. The Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006. O’Brien, Emily. The “Commentaries” of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II). Commentaries. Edited by Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, 2007.

175

This page intentionally left blank

29. “I ENTREATED FOR WAX C ANDLES” Excerpts From an Account of the Death and Funeral of Pope Sixtus IV by Johann Burchard, Papal Master of Ceremonies (1484) INTRODUCTION Born in 1414 into a poor family, Francesco della Rovere studied at Padua and Bologna, acquiring a reputation as a humanist scholar. He became general of the Franciscan Order in 1464 and was raised to the cardinalate in 1467. On the death of Pope Paul II in 1471, Cardinal della Rovere secured his election as Pope Sixtus IV by buying the votes of key cardinals with promises of lucrative benefices. As pope, Sixtus sought unsuccessfully to organize a crusade against the Turks. In an effort to strengthen his hold on the Papal States, he became deeply involved in Italian political intrigue, most notably with his support for the failed Pazzi Conspiracy (see Section 21), which sought to overthrow Medici rule in Florence. He also became embroiled in a damaging dispute with the French Crown, which sought to enlarge its control over the French Church by, among other things, issuing ordinances giving the king a greater voice in clerical appointments and forbidding the publishing of papal decrees without royal consent. Acceding to a request from the Spanish Crown, Sixtus established the Spanish inquisition for the detection and punishment of heresy. Sixtus practiced nepotism on an unprecedented scale (see the sidebar), naming six nephews to the cardinalate and giving other clerical offices to family members and clients. In 1482, the archbishop of Croatia, believing the papal administration was becoming a family business, demanded the reconvening of the Council of Basel, an effort that Sixtus successfully resisted. Before his death in August 1484, Sixtus set unfortunate precedents in nepotism, corruption, and political scheming that became the new norm in succeeding pontificates. Reproduced here is an account by Johann Burchard, papal master of ceremonies, of the death and funeral of Sixtus IV.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In the 1470s, Sixtus renewed negotiations with Ivan III, grand duke of Muscovy, which had been initiated by Paul II. Sixtus sought to reconcile the Russian Orthodox Church with the Roman Church and thereby bring the Russians into the war against the Turks. Ivan had married a daughter of the last Byzantine emperor and sought to cast himself as the Christian heir to the Byzantine throne. He also had

177

Voices of the Renaissance

many Italian architects and artists at his court, but his negotiations with Sixtus came to naught over the religious question. 2. Sixtus was a generous patron of the arts and a great builder. He built the Sistine Chapel, refounded the Vatican Library, and organized the Vatican archives. He also transformed the appearance of Rome, which became a truly Renaissance city. Sixtus paved and widened the streets, constructed new bridges, and built new churches and refurbished old ones, thereby attracting many fine artists and architects to the city.

Document: Account of the Death and Burial of Pope Sixtus IV On Thursday, the 12th of August, 1484, between the fourth and fifth hour of the night, or thereabouts, in the Vatican at St. Peter’s, in an upper chamber, above the court in front of the library, there died our Most Holy Father and Lord in Christ, Lord Sixtus IV, Pope by Divine Providence. . . . After his death, all the Most Reverend Lords, the Cardinals, who were present in the city, came to the palace, and passed through the chamber, wherein the deceased was lying on the bed, wearing a vestment over his cassock, a crucifix on his breast, his hands clasped together. They paid profound respects to the deceased, such as are due from the cardinals; then they entered the great court cassock: a full-length garment of a single near the said chamber, for the purpose of discussing what color worn as a clerical vestment should be done. . . . penitentiaries: a priest charged with certain Certain cardinals were appointed to guard the palace, aspects of the administration of the and to transact any business which might present itself. sacrament of penance After the fifth hour, Giovanni Maria, my colleague, called sacristan: a person in charge of a Church upon me at my house, and I went with him to the aforesaid sacristy and its contents; the sacristy is palace to make the necessary arrangements for the burial of the room where the priest prepares for the deceased. But, prior to this, the Most Reverend Lord services and where all vestments and other Vice-Chancellor had arrived at the palace, and according paraphernalia needed for worship are kept to custom he broke the seal used for the papal bulls, on which was engraved the name of the deceased pope. Then, when the cardinals had assembled in the aforesaid place, they stopped up the mouth, nostrils, ears and anus of the deceased with silk, dipped in balm. And, with the assistance of the regular penitentiaries of the Basilica of St. Peter, who meanwhile chanted the office for the dead in subdued, but distinct tones, standing round the corpse, they bore it away from this chamber to the lesser papal chamber, wrapped in the covering of the bed and in a certain cloth which formerly hung from the bed before the door of the aforesaid chamber, and there, about the tenth hour, they placed it naked in their midst, on a long table. The Abbot of San Sebastiano, the sacristan, had arranged a bier with torches, although that belonged rather to our office. All the other rites were performed immediately, so to speak, as soon as the deceased had been borne away from the chamber; for, from that hour, until the 6th, despite all my diligence, I could not obtain one towel, linen cloth, or any vessel in which to place the wine and water and fragrant herbs for cleansing the deceased Pontiff, nor could I find 178

“I Entreated for Wax Candles”

drawers or a clean shirt in which to clothe him, although I several times besought the Cardinal of Parma, Pietro of Mantua, Lord Accorsio, Gregorio and Bartolomeo della Rovere, Giorgio his private sweeper, and Andrea his barber, who were all his private chamberlains, and of his household, and who had received the best of treatment at his hands. At length the cook furnished me with hot water and a cauldron in which he was wont to heat the water for washing the dishes, and the aforesaid Andrea, the barber, sent for the basin from his shop. Thus the pope was washed, and since there was no linen cloth wherewith to dry him, I caused him to be dried with the shirt in which he had expired, torn in twain. I could not change the drawers in which he died, and in which he was washed, for there were no others. He was clothed in a doublet without a shirt, and a pair of shoes of pink cloth, furnished by the Bishop of Cervica, who was also his groom of the bed-chamber, and, doublet: a man’s short close-fitting padded unless my memory fails me, a damask vestment, either red jacket or white. In this I erred, for he should have been buried in rochet: a loose clerical vestment worn over a the habit of St. Francis, to whose Order he belonged, worn cassock, mainly by bishops and abbots over the holy pontifical vestments. And, since he had no amice: a white linen cloth worn on the neck rochet, we placed on him the holy vestments over the aforeand shoulders, under the alb, by a priest mentioned things;—the sandals, amice, alb, girdle, and the celebrating the Eucharist stole crossed over his breast (because I could not procure alb: a long white vestment coming down to a pectoral cross), the tunic, dalmatic, gloves, the precious the ankles and usually belted at the waist white chasuble, the pallium, the simple mitre, and the dalmatic: a long wide-sleeved liturgical signet-ring with its valuable sapphire which the sacristan vestment said was worth 300 ducats. Thus vested, we laid him on the chasuble: a sleeveless outer vestment worn bier which we arranged on the aforementioned table, with by a priest when celebrating Mass; it is cushions at his head, and a pall of brocade, in the midst of typically ornate the aforesaid chamber. There he remained until the hour of pallium: a woolen vestment conferred by burial. the pope on an archbishop, consisting of In the meanwhile, I entreated for wax candles, and a narrow circular band placed round the with great difficulty about the fourteenth hour, these were shoulders with a short lappet hanging produced to the number of twenty. When these had been from front and back brought, without any office having been said round the canons: a body of clergy attached to a corpse, the crucifix and the acolytes going first, the penitencathedral tiaries and the chamberlains carried the deceased as far as the first large court, that is to say, of the palace. Here were the canons and the beneficiaries and the clergy of the Basilica of St. Peter; from that place the aforesaid canons bore the deceased to the high altar. . . . The deceased was placed before the altar on the first step, next his head was placed towards the altar, and his feet outside the iron rails, in order that those who wished might kiss them, and the gates of the rails were closed. . . . After the deceased had been carried, as stated, into the Church, the cardinals withdrew; some went to the aforementioned palace, while others went to their homes. . . . About the first hour of the night of Friday, 13th August, the body of the deceased was borne from the choir of the principal altar by the clergy of the said Basilica in a procession to the place of burial, and it was buried with all the vestments, precious ring and chasuble aforesaid. . . . Source: Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York: Nicholas L. Brown, 1921, pp. 1–10. 179

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Born in Alsace in about 1450, Johann Burchard was papal master of ceremonies from 1483 until his death in 1506. His responsibilities included oversight of papal court protocol, such as the ceremonies attending the coronation or obsequies of a pope, and the organizing of important occasions, embassies, or conferences, such as the visit of a foreign dignitary or prince. Burchard bought his office for a substantial sum with the help of the bishop of Pienza, whose client he became. Serving for all or part of five pontificates, Burchard witnessed or was a participant in many important events at the papal court, including the reception of the king of France (1494–1495), the dispatching of an embassy to the imperial court (1496), and the official proclamation of a year of Jubilee (1499). A venal and acquisitive man, Burchard collected a series of lucrative clerical appointments over the years, becoming bishop of Orte in 1503. While conducting the newly elected Pope Innocent VIII to his apartments for the first time, Burchard allegedly took the opportunity to ask for the office of papal chamberlain. Burchard recorded his experiences in a diary, which he kept during the whole period of his papal service. The diary provides a wealth of information on the Renaissance papacy, and is particularly useful on the music of the papal court. However, the diary also contains accounts of political intrigue and sexual excess, such as the infamous Banquet of Chestnuts supposedly hosted by Cesare Borgia in 1501, that are today dismissed by most historians as unfounded gossip or extreme exaggeration. Burchard died in Rome in May 1506 and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find this account an interesting look behind the scenes or does it seem a dry recitation of tasks? Are you surprised by all the ceremonial that attended a pope’s death and funeral services? Do you think this level of ceremonial still pertains today, or was this mainly a feature of the more decadent Renaissance papacy? 2. Does Burchard’s difficulty in obtaining all the items he needed reflect the unpopularity of the late pontiff? Or do you think the attention of the cardinals had simply shifted to the coming election of a new pope? This was also the first time that Burchard had, as part of his duties, to deal with the death of pope. Read the accounts of other papal funerals, such as that of Alexander VI (see “Further Information,” below) to see if things went more smoothly later in his tenure.

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of the diary of Johann Burchard and read additional selections from it. Try to read accounts from the reigns of each of the popes Burchard served—Sixtus IV to Julius II. Read critically; modern scholars consider the diary an important source for the period, but one that must be read with caution, since Burchard, especially during the reign of Alexander VI, seems to have included much gossip, rumor, and innuendo in his accounts of events. 2. View episodes from the 2013 television series Da Vinci’s Demons, which is available on Prime Video. The series, which ran for three seasons, depicts the life of the young Leonardo da Vinci in Florence. Pope Sixtus IV, played by James Faulkner, is a key character in the series. Like all the modern series based on historical periods and personages, it is highly sensationalized, but it does provide some interesting portrayals of events and figures. 180

“I Entreated for Wax Candles”

3. View episodes of the 2011 Netflix television series The Borgias, which covers the lives of the Borgia family during the pontificate of Alexander VI. The character of Johann Burchard appears in six of the episodes played by Simon McBurney. This series is again a sensationalized modern telling of the story, but the depiction of the papal court and of Burchard’s role in it are interesting.

PAPAL NEPOTISM The term “nepotism” today refers to the practice of people with power or influence using their position to favor relatives or friends, particularly in regard to the giving of jobs. The term comes from the Italian word nepotismo, meaning “nephew.” Medieval popes and bishops, being celibate and without children, developed the practice of giving preference to their siblings’ sons, especially appointments to clerical offices and benefices. This practice became especially prevalent in the 15th century when a series of popes elevated their nephews to the cardinalate. Sixtus IV was particularly notorious in this regard, making six nephews cardinals, including Pietro Riario, who was infamously dissolute, and Giuliano della Rovere, who himself became pope as Julius II in 1503. Indeed, the late 15th and early 16th centuries saw the papacy held by numerous popes from a few prominent families. Pope Calixtus III, of the Spanish Borgia family, named two nephews to the cardinalate, including 25-year-old Rodrigo Borgia, who became pope himself as Alexander VI in 1492. Pope Alexander made a cardinal of Alessandro Farnese, the brother of his mistress, who in turn became pope as Paul III in 1534. Innocent VIII, seeking princely marriages for his illegitimate children, arranged a match for one son with the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, whose reward for the match was the elevation of his 13-year-old son Giovanni to the cardinalate. Giovanni de’ Medici, who became pope in 1513 as Leo X, made his illegitimate cousin Giulio de’ Medici a cardinal, thus paving the way for Giulio to become pope as Clement VII in 1523. The practice of nepotism was finally curbed in 1692 by a papal bull that prohibited popes from bestowing more than one Church office on a qualified relative.

Further Information Hallman, Barbara McClung. Italian Cardinals, Reform, and the Church as Property, 1492– 1563. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Hollingsworth, Mary. The Cardinal’s Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince. London: Profile, 2004. Noel, Gerard. The Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006.

Websites “The Death of Pope Alexander VI, 1503.” From the Diary of Johann Burchard. Eyewitness to History.com. www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/alexanderVI.htm. Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York, 1921. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ popealexandervih00burcuoft/page/190/mode/2up.

181

This page intentionally left blank

30. “HIS M AJESTIC STATURE GAVE HIM AN A DVANTAGE” Descriptions of Two Renaissance Popes— Innocent VIII (ca. 1484) and Alexander VI (ca. 1460, 1492, 1493) INTRODUCTION Innocent VIII (born Giovanni Battista Cibò) and Alexander VI (born Rodrigo de Borja; or Borgia in Italian) were two of the most corrupt popes in Church history. Innocent became pope in August 1484; he won election by purchasing votes with promises of offices and favors. He raised revenue by creating and selling to the highest bidder superfluous offices within the papal curia. Having fathered two illegitimate children in his youth, he sought to marry them into wealthy and powerful families. His son Franceschetto, who was given the lordship of several towns in the Papal States, was wed to the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici of Florence, a match purchased by the granting of a cardinal’s hat to Lorenzo’s 13-year-old son. A fierce opponent of heresy, he authorized the inquisition in Germany to punish witchcraft, declared heretical the propositions of the humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and appointed the stern Tomás de Torquemada as grand inquisitor in Spain. Elected to succeed Innocent in August 1492, Alexander also used bribery and promises of preferment to secure the necessary votes. He was Spanish by birth and owed his appointment to the cardinalate and to the immensely lucrative office of papal vice-chancellor to his uncle, Pope Calixtus III. He had offspring with several mistresses, his favorite being Vannozza dei Cattanei, with whom he fathered four children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia. While pope, he was rumored to have conducted a sexual relationship with Giulia Farnese, who shared a villa near the papal palace with Lucrezia Borgia, thus facilitating clandestine papal visits. Although the extent of Alexander’s crimes and corruption is much debated, he was accused of assassinating cardinals and noblemen and then seizing their estates to fund the military ventures of his son Cesare, who, with his father’s support, sought to create a princely lordship for himself in the Papal States. When Alexander fell ill and died in 1503, it was rumored that he was mistakenly poisoned, although the actual cause of his death is uncertain. Reproduced here are a series of contemporary descriptions of both Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, as well as a slightly later description of Alexander by the historian Francesco Guicciardini.

183

Voices of the Renaissance

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Born in about 1436, Stefano Infessura was an Italian humanist historian who is best known for his Diary of the City of Rome, a chronicle of events within the city that was written under the patronage, and therefore is favorable to, the Colonna, one of the city’s most prominent noble families. As secretary to the Roman Senate, he was well placed to know anything of political consequence that was happening in the city. 2. Born in 1483, Francesco Guicciardini was a prominent Florentine historian; he is best known for his Storia d’Italia, a history of Italy from the French invasion of 1494 to the death of Pope Clement VII in 1534. Although Guicciardini’s work was much admired by most later historians, the famous 19th-century British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay related a story about an Italian man convicted of a crime who was given a choice of punishments—either going to the galleys or reading Guicciardini’s history. The man chose the latter, but, after two days of reading, returned to the court and demanded to be sent to the galleys instead.

Document 1: Descriptions of Pope Innocent VIII Report of the Florentine Ambassador in Rome He is a man of rather more than medium height, of fair culture, pleasant and kindly as a cardinal, more so than the dignity of a cardinal requires; he appears to be a man of peaceable disposition, but I doubt whether, in time, his office may not change his mind. He has an illegitimate son, who is now at Naples, a man of more than twenty years of age, and some married daughters, who themselves have sons; he has a brother and nephews besides, one of whom is a priest, a canon of St. Peter’s, Messer Lorenzo by name, and it is thought that he will make him a cardinal at his first election of cardinals. Filippo di Nerone has a niece of his as his mistress, who was the wife of Stoldo Altovite, and when the Pontiff was a cardinal he held him in high esteem. He is naturally rather stout, fifty-three years of age, very prosperous, and an admirer of learned men.

Report of the Contemporary Historian Stefano Infessura The vicar of the Pope in Rome and neighborhood, watchful of his flock as befits an honorable man, published an edict forbidding clergy as well as laics, whatever their position might be, to keep mistresses either openly or in secret. The penalty for so doing would be excommunication and confiscation of their benefices, for it was a practice which redounded to the discredit of priestly dignity and divine law. When the Pope heard this, he summoned the vicar and commanded him to annul the edict, saying that the practice was not forbidden. And indeed, such was the life led by the clergy that there was hardly one who did not keep a mistress. The number of harlots at that time living in Rome amounted to 6800, not counting those who practiced their nefarious trade under the cloak of concubinage and those who exercised their arts in secret. Source: Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York: Nicholas L. Brown, 1921, pp. 189–90. 184

“His Majestic Stature Gave Him an Advantage”

Document 2: Descriptions of Pope Alexander VI Report of the Historian Gasparino of Verona (c. 1460) [Cardinal Borgia] is handsome; of a most glad countenance and joyous aspect, gifted with honeyed and choice eloquence. The beautiful women on whom his eyes are cast he lures to love him, and moves them in a wondrous way, more powerfully than the magnet influences iron.

Report of Sigismondo de’ Conti, a Humanist Writer and Later Secretary of Pope Julius II (1492) Few people understand etiquette so well as he did; he knew how to make most of himself, and took pains to shine in conversation and to be dignified in his manners. In the latter point his majestic stature gave him an advantage. Also, he was just at the age (about sixty) at which Aristotle says that men are wisest. Robust in body and vigorous in mind, he was admirably well equipped for his new position. He was tall and powerfully built, and, though his eyes were blinking, they were penetrating and lively; in conversation he was extremely affable; he understood money matters thoroughly.

Report of the Contemporary Writer Hieronymus of Portius (1493) Alexander is tall and neither light nor dark, his eyes are black and his lips somewhat full. His health is robust, and he is able to bear any pain or fatigue. He is wonderfully eloquent and a thorough man of the world. Source: Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York: Nicholas L. Brown, 1921, pp. xiv, xvii.

Document 3: Assessment of Alexander VI from Francesco Guicciardini’s The History of Florence (1509) So died Pope Alexander, at the height of glory and prosperity; about whom it must be known that he was a man of the utmost power and of great judgment and spirit, as his actions and behavior showed. But at his first accession to the Papacy was foul and shameful, seeing he had bought with gold so high a station, in like manner his government disagreed not with this base foundation. There were in him, and in full measure, all vices both of flesh and spirit; nor could there be imagined in the ordering of the Church a rule so bad but that he put it into working. He was most sensual toward both sexes, keeping publicly women and boys, but more especially toward women; and so far did he exceed all measure that public opinion judged he knew Madonna Lucrezia, his own daughter, toward whom 185

Voices of the Renaissance

he bore a most tender and boundless love. He was exceedingly avaricious, not in keeping what he had acquired, but in getting new wealth: and where he saw a way toward drawing money, he had no respect whatever; in his days were sold as at auction all benefices, dispensations, pardons, bishoprics, cardinalships, and all court dignities: unto which matters he had appointed two or three men privy to his thought, exceeding prudent, who let them out to the highest bidder. He caused the death by poison of many cardinals and prelates, even among his intimates, those namely whom he noted to be rich in benefices and understood to have hoarded much, with the view of seizing on their wealth. His cruelty was great, seeing that by his direction many were put to violent death. . . . There was in him no religion, no keeping of his troth: he promised all things liberally, but stood to naught but what was useful to himself: no care for justice, since in his days Rome was like a den of thieves and murderers: his ambition was boundless, and such that it grew in the same measure as his state increased: nevertheless, his sins meeting with no due punishment in this world, he was to the last of his days most prosperous. While young and still almost a boy, havCalixtus: Alfonso de Borgia, Alexander’s ing Calixtus for his uncle, he was made Cardinal and then uncle, was pope from 1455 to 1458 as Vice-Chancellor: in which high place he continued till his Calixtus III papacy, with great revenue, good fame, and peace. Having Romagna: a region of Northern Italy that become Pope, he made Cesare, his bastard son and bishop of was largely incorporated into the Papal Pampeluna, a Cardinal, against the ordinances and decrees States of the Church, which forbid the making of a bastard Cardinal even with the Pope’s dispensation, wherefore he brought proof by false witnesses that he was born in wedlock. Afterwards he made him a layman and took away the Cardinal’s dignity from him, and turned his mind to making a realm; wherein he fared far better than he purposed, and beginning with Rome, after undoing . . . those barons who were wont to be held in fear by former Popes, he was more full master of Rome than ever had been any Pope before. With greatest ease he got the lordships of Romagna . . . and having made a most fair and powerful state, the Florentines held him in much fear, the Venetians in jealousy, and the King of France in esteem. Then having got together a fine army, he showed how great was the might of a Pontiff when he hath a valiant general and one in whom he can place faith. At last he grew to that point that he was counted the balance in the war of France and Spain. In one word he was more evil and more lucky than ever for many ages peradventure had been any pope before. Source: Symonds, John Addington. Renaissance in Italy: The Age of the Despots. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1888, pp. 603–05.

AFTERMATH During his papacy, Innocent VIII blundered into a costly dispute with the king of Naples, who, in retaliation for Innocent’s support of rebellious Neapolitan noblemen, refused to send papal revenues collected in the kingdom to Rome. In 1489, Innocent deposed and excommunicated the Neapolitan king and awarded his Crown to Charles VIII of France, who had a family claim to the kingdom. This action later helped precipitate the 1494 French invasion of Italy, which in turn initiated over six decades of disastrous Italian warfare. In 1489, Innocent concluded an agreement with Sultan Beyazit II (see the sidebar);

186

“His Majestic Stature Gave Him an Advantage”

this unprecedented treaty with an Islamic power yielded the pope a rich yearly pension. In 1492, Innocent rejoiced at the news that Spain had expelled the Moors and led a series of celebrations of the event in Rome. Upon his death in July 1492, riots erupted in Rome, which had suffered poverty and disorder under his misgovernment. During his papacy, Alexander VI avoided deposition during the French invasion of 1494 by bribing the French king’s clerical advisors and by declaring his support for Charles VIII’s claim to Naples. When the tide turned against Charles, the pope joined the antiFrench Holy League. Alexander arranged various politically useful marriages for his daughter Lucrezia, but quickly ended the unions—possibly, in one case, by assassination—when the political situation demanded it. The mysterious death of his son Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia, in 1497, which may have been arranged by Juan’s brother Cesare, caused Alexander much grief and led him to pledge reform, although he was soon involved in the political intrigues of Cesare. In 1495, Alexander began a long struggle with Girolamo Savonarola, whose moralistic regime in Florence inhibited the pope’s foreign policy objectives. Alexander’s excommunication of Savonarola in 1497 led a year later to the friar’s overthrow and execution. Alexander’s death in 1503 was also unlamented in Rome, which was weary of the taxes and turmoil that had characterized his reign.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Are these descriptions mainly of the physical appearance of the two popes, or do they also describe the temperaments and personalities of the two men? 2. What do you find most striking about the descriptions of Innocent VIII? Do these descriptions betray any approval or disapproval of Innocent as pope? 3. What do you find most striking about the descriptions of Alexander VI? The first is of Alexander as a young man, but the second and third are contemporary accounts of him during his papacy. Do the accounts from the 1490s betray any approval or disapproval of Alexander as pope? Does the account by Guicciardini, who was writing a history about five or six years after Alexander’s death, differ in tone and style from the other accounts written as observations of the man at various points during his lifetime?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition (see Glaser) of the diary of Johann Burchard and read selections from it. Read accounts from the reigns of Innocent VIII and Alexander VI—Burchard served under both. Read critically; modern scholars consider the diary an important source for the period, but one that must be read with caution, since Burchard, especially during the reign of Alexander VI, seems to have included much gossip, rumor, and innuendo in his accounts of events. 2. View episodes of the 2011 Netflix television series The Borgias, which covers the lives of the Borgia family during the pontificate of Alexander VI. Besides the pope, who is played by Jeremy Irons, Cesare (François Arnaud) and Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) are major characters in the series. This is a sensationalized modern telling of the story, but the depiction of the papal court is lavish and interesting.

187

Voices of the Renaissance

JEM SULTAN Jem Sultan (Cem in Turkish) was a younger son of Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan who captured Constantinople in 1453. On Mehmet’s death in 1481, Jem lost a struggle for the succession to the Ottoman throne to his elder half brother Beyazit II. In 1483, Jem fled to the Christian-held island of Rhodes, where he negotiated for military support with the French master of the Knights of St. John, a Christian military order. The master approached Beyazit secretly and negotiated his own agreement to keep Jem a prisoner in return for a large pension. Jem remained a prisoner in France until 1489, when Pope Innocent VIII, who viewed Jem as a means of restraining Ottoman aggression and of obtaining Ottoman gold, paid to have Jem transferred to his custody in Rome. Innocent concluded an agreement with Beyazit whereby the sultan paid the pope to keep Jem in honorable confinement. When he became pope in 1492, Alexander VI continued this lucrative arrangement. In 1494, Charles VIII of France entered Rome on his march south to conquer Naples. Having declared his intention to war on the Turks, Charles demanded that Jem be placed in his custody. Fearful of being deposed by the French king, Alexander had no choice but to comply. The French carried Jem into Naples, where he died on February 24, 1495, at the age of 35. Pope Alexander was suspected of poisoning the Turkish prince, but that cannot be proven. In 1499, Jem’s body was finally returned to Constantinople, where it was buried with honor. During his lifetime, Jem was renowned across Europe as a figure of romance and mystery.

Further Information Bradford, Sarah. Lucrezia Borgia. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. Freeley, John. Jem Sultan: The Adventures of a Captive Turkish Prince in Renaissance Europe. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Hibbert, Christopher. The Borgia Popes and Their Enemies: 1431–1519. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. Hollingsworth, Mary. The Cardinal’s Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince. London: Profile, 2004. Meyer, G.J. The Borgias: The Hidden History. New York: Bantam Books, 2014. Morris, Samantha. Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia: Brother and Sister of History’s Most Vilified Family. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword, 2020. Noel, Gerard. The Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006. Strathern, Paul. Borgias: Power and Depravity in Renaissance Italy. New York: Pegasus Books, 2019.

Website Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York, 1921. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ popealexandervih00burcuoft/page/190/mode/2up.

188

31. “C AUSING GREAT PERTURBANCE A MONGST THE PEOPLE” Luca Landucci’s Diary Account of the Fall and Execution of Fra Girolamo Savonarola (1498) INTRODUCTION In the early 1490s, a Dominican friar named Girolamo Savonarola began preaching in Florence’s Church of San Marco. A charismatic speaker who drew large crowds, Savonarola warned his listeners of the coming apocalypse and urged them to undertake immediate and radical reform of their lives and state. Giving credence to the friar’s prophecies was a series of disasters that hit Italy in the 1490s, including a French invasion that threw the peninsula into political chaos. These events only strengthened belief in Savonarola’s message that God was working through him to reform Florentine society. As the French approached in 1494, the Florentines expelled the ruling Medici family and instituted a republic dominated by Savonarola’s supporters. However, when Pope Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola in 1497, some Florentines repudiated the friar. When a rival Franciscan friar challenged Savonarola to prove the divine nature of his message by walking through fire, he reluctantly agreed. On the appointed day, both sides delayed the start of the trial by fire until a sudden rain forced cancellation of the event and the disbursal of the large, angry crowd that had gathered to witness it. Savonarola’s opponents used this fiasco, and the growing realization that the friar’s reforms had not improved the political or economic position of the city, to turn a majority of the population against him. Arrested with his leading supporters, Savonarola was tortured and forced to confess that his visions and prophecies were false. On May 23, 1498, Savonarola was burned to death in the Piazza della Signoria; to prevent his supporters gathering relics, the friar’s ashes were scattered across the River Arno. Reproduced here is an excerpt from the diary of Luca Landucci describing the execution of Savonarola.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. There seems to have been no personal animosity between Pope Alexander and Savonarola, only political disagreement. The friar even sent a touching letter of condolence to the pope in 1497 following the murder of Alexander’s son, the Duke of Gandia. Politically, Savonarola rightly believed that the papal curia was conspiring against the Florentine Republic with his opponents, and Alexander rightly believed

189

Voices of the Renaissance

that the influence of Savonarola was keeping Florence out of his anti-French Holy League. 2. The Piagnoni, or “wailers,” were supporters of Savonarola who continued to espouse his ideas after his death. Besides emphasizing Savonarolan morality, they promoted the pietism of the Devotio Moderna and undertook missionary work. Although advocating Church reform, the Piagnoni tended to oppose the teachings of Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers. In 1527, they reverted to Savonarola’s republicanism, supporting a second overthrow of the Medici; their influence faded after the Medici restoration in 1530.

Document: Excerpts from the Diary of Luca Landucci 6th April. Fra Girolamo began to preach in San Marco, and declared that he was prepared to let his Frati pass through the fire for the truth that he preached; and not only some of his Frati, but all were ready to do so by acclamation, and several thousand secular men and women and children; in fact, in Frati: friars, here meaning the followers of the middle of his sermon all the congregation rose to their Savonarola feet with a cry, offering their life for this truth. braccia: an old Italian unit of length, usually 7th April. There was arranged in the Piazza de’ Signori a about 26 or 27 inches scaffold 50 braccia long, and 10 braccia wide, and 4 braccia high; and its foundation was of certain wooden beams, on the four sides of which was made a wall of unbaked bricks, half a braccio high, with gravel and rubbish in the middle, and everything covered, in fact, so that the fire could not touch the beams underneath; all along the edges of the said platform were laid big logs of wood . . . whilst in the middle a space was left . . . along which the Frati would have to pass. Outside and inside of these logs of wood was piled a quantity of brushwood and boughs, so that the passage remaining was only one braccio in width; and, besides this, all the wood was soaked with oil, spirit and resin, to make it burn better. The date having been fixed, the Frati of San Marco and of San Francesco, who were to pass through the fire, as they had agreed and signed to do, were to present themselves at [1:00 p.m.] in the afternoon of the said day; it having been resolved that Fra Domenico of Pescia should enter for those of San Marco, and Fra Giuliano de’ Rondinegli of the Osservanza for the Franciscans. At the time fixed, the Franciscans arrived, and went into the Loggia de’ Signori, which had been divided by a boarding in the middle, and they stood silently at the end towards San Piero Scheraggio. Then came the Dominicans, with much pomp, a number of Frati, about 250, walking two and two, followed by Fra Domenico carrying a crucifix, and then Fra Girolamo carrying the Host; whilst behind them was an immense crowd with torches and tapers, devoutly singing psalms. Having entered the Loggia and prepared an altar, they sang a mass; and the people awaited the great spectacle. After a wait of several hours, everybody began to wonder. The reason of the delay was some argument between the Frati, the Franciscans wishing Fra Domenico to strip himself of all his outer garments, as they declared he was bewitched; this he was ready to do, but then they made another condition, namely, that he should not carry the Host through the fire with him, which showed

190

“Causing Great Perturbance Amongst the People”

that they were desirous to avoid the test. This controversy lasted till the evening, the Frati going backwards and forwards to the Palagio all the time; and when the dispute ended in the Franciscans leaving, the Dominicans soon followed them, causing great perturbance amongst the people, who almost lost faith in the prophet. The fact was much discussed, especially by those who were against the Frate, who felt greatly encouraged. The Compagnacci began to fume, saying infamous things, and scoffing at all those who believed in the Frate’s work, calling them Piagnoni (psalm-singers) and hypocrites and other opprobrious names; so that not one of the Prate’s friends was able to speak. . . . 19th April. The protocol of Fra Girolamo, written by his own hand, was read in Council, in the Great Hall; he Compagnacci: a political faction opposed to whom we had held to be a prophet, confessed that he was Savonarola no prophet, and had not received from God the things Pope: Alexander VI, who was pope from which he preached; and he confessed that many things 1492 to 1503 which had occurred during the course of his preaching were ringhiera: railing contrary to what he had given us to understand. I was present when this protocol was read, and I marvelled, feeling utterly dumbfounded with surprise. My heart was grieved to see such an edifice fall to the ground on account of having been founded on a lie. Florence had been expecting a new Jerusalem, from which would issue just laws and splendour and an example of righteous life, and to see the renovation of the Church, the conversion of unbelievers, and the consolation of the righteous; and I felt that everything was exactly contrary. . . . 9th May. The Pope‘s envoy and the General of San Marco arrived in Florence, to examine Fra Girolamo. 20th May (Sunday). This envoy had him put to the rack, and before he was drawn up he asked him whether the things that he had confessed were true; and the Frate replied that they were not, and that he was sent by God. And then they put him on the rack, and he confessed that he was a sinner, the same as he had said before. 22nd May. It was decided that he should be put to death, and that he should be burnt alive. In the evening a scaffold was made, which covered the whole . . . Palagio de’ Signori, and then a scaffolding which began at the ringhiera next to the “lion” and reached into the middle of the Piazza . . . and here was erected a solid piece of wood many braccia high, and round this a large circular platform. On the aforesaid piece of wood was placed a horizontal one in the shape of a cross; but people noticing it, said: “They are going to crucify him”; and when these murmurs were heard, orders were given to saw off part of the wood, so that it should not look like a cross. 22nd May (Wednesday morning). The sacrifice of the three Frati was made. They took them out of the Palagio and brought them on to the ringhiera, where . . . the Bishop of the Pagagliotti, who was deputed to degrade the three Frati [performed] the said ceremony . . . They were robed in all their vestments, which were taken off one by one, with the appropriate words for the degradation, it being constantly affirmed that Fra Girolamo was a heretic and schismatic, and on this account condemned to be burnt; then their faces and hands were shaved, as is customary in this ceremony. . . . The first to be executed was Fra Silvestro, who was hung to the post and one arm of the cross, and there not being much drop, he suffered for some time, repeating “Jesu” many times whilst he was hanging, for the rope did not draw tight nor run well. The second was Fra Domenico of Pescia, who also kept saying “Jesu”; and the third was the Frate called a heretic, who did not speak aloud, but to

191

Voices of the Renaissance

himself, and so he was hung. This all happened without a word from one of them, which was considered extraordinary, especially by good and thoughtful people, who were much disappointed, as everyone had been expecting some signs. . . . Many, in fact, fell from their faith. When all three were hung, Fra Girolamo being in the middle . . . a fire was made on the circular platform round the cross, upon which gunpowder was put and set alight, so that the said fire burst out with a noise of rockets and cracking. In a few hours they were burnt, their legs and arms gradually dropping off; part of their bodies remaining hanging to the chains, a quantity of stones were thrown to make them fall, as there was a fear of the people getting hold of them; and then the hangman and those whose business it was, hacked down the post and burnt it on the ground, bringing a lot of brushwood, and stirring the fire up over the dead bodies, so that the very least piece was consumed. Then they fetched carts . . . and carried the last bit of dust to the Arno, by the Ponte Vecchio, that no remains should be found. Nevertheless, a few good men had so much faith that they gathered some of the floating ashes together, in fear and secrecy. . . . Source: Landucci, Luca. A Florentine Diary from 1450 to 1516. Translated by Alice de Rosen Jervis. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1927, pp. 135–36, 139, 142–43.

AFTERMATH Born in 1436, Luca Landucci was the son of a prosperous Florentine merchant. Trained in bookkeeping, he was apprenticed to an apothecary at age 16. In his early twenties, he opened an apothecary shop in partnership with a friend, but the business failed. When he married at age 30, his wife brought a dowry sufficient to open a new apothecary shop, which proved successful. In 1450, Landucci began keeping a diary that he would continue until his death in 1516. Most of the diary deals with everyday events in Florence, though many entries after 1494 record the involvement of Florentine troops in the almost continuous Italian Wars. Landucci also describes city festivals, political events, extraordinary occurrences that gripped the city’s attention, new buildings being constructed, popular art works, and gossip and rumors about important or well-known individuals. Much of the information collected in the entries may have been gathered from conversation with customers in the apothecary shop, but Landucci also clearly had some connections with the Florentine government, especially during the post-1494 republic, which he supported. His entries tend to become more reserved and spare after the restoration of the Medici in 1512. A valuable source for the social history of Renaissance Florence, Landucci’s diary was first published in English translation in 1927.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Does it appear that Landucci personally witnessed Savonarola’s execution? What details does he particularly notice? What is the tone of the description—emotional or matter-of-fact? Does Landucci appear to be an especially religious man? Does he appear to be particularly interested in politics? 2. Can you tell from the excerpt if Landucci was a supporter of Savonarola or an opponent? Does he seem shocked by the brutality of the execution or is he more concerned to give a straight recitation of events? Does he attempt to explain the reason why he thinks events are happening as they are?

192

“Causing Great Perturbance Amongst the People”

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. See Wagner for an excerpt from Savonarola’s 1493 Lenten sermon. Since sermons were meant to be heard, read the sermon out loud, as if you were delivering it to an audience. How would you read the passage to impress on your hearers the points the friar was trying to make? Search online for audios or videos of speeches being delivered (e.g., President Kennedy delivering his inaugural address), portraying dramatic readings of historical speeches or sermons from history (e.g., a reading of the Gettysburg Address), or even dramatic readings of well-known works of fiction. 2. Access either an online or print copy of Johann Burchard’s Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus (see Glaser) and read some selections. Burchard (see Sections 29 and 30) was master of ceremonies to successive popes, including Alexander VI. His diary provides an intimate look into the workings of the Renaissance papal court, and the personalities of the popes. 3. View episodes of Showtime’s The Borgias (2011), which is available on Netflix. In the series, Savonarola is portrayed by Steven Berkoff. View the scenes showing Savonarola preaching to Florentine crowds, dealing with the French occupation of Florence, and meeting with Pope Alexander’s opponents. The character of Johann Burchard, the papal master of ceremonies who wrote the diary of papal court life mentioned above, is portrayed by Simon McBurney. How are both of these characters depicted in the series? 4. Access a print or online edition of Luca Landucci’s diary and read additional selections from the work. Look for other descriptions of major historical events, such as the French invasion and the overthrow of the Medici in 1494. Does the tone and content of the entries change over time?

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES On February 7, 1497, during Florence’s annual pre-Lenten carnival celebration, supporters of Fra Girolamo Savonarola publicly burned thousands of objects that they deemed sinful or immoral. Although the idea of a “bonfire of the vanities” did not originate with Savonarola, the burnings conducted by his followers, culminating with the 1497 event, were the most infamous and elaborate bonfires of the vanities ever held. Preaching a strict moralism and denouncing anything that might lead to sin, Savonarola urged painters of “immodest figures” and sculptors of nude figures, the sight of which might corrupt children, to throw their offending creations into the fire. Besides unapproved works of art, the hundreds of children sent through the city by Savonarola’s followers collected jewelry, fine clothes, rich carpets, cosmetics, mirrors, musical instruments, and playing cards—anything that might tempt one to sin. Also collected were songs, poems, and books that were deemed to be lewd or bawdy, such as copies of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. All these items were piled high and set alight. Women and girls crowned with olive wreaths danced around the fire in religious ecstasy. Some accounts even claim that the painter Sandro Botticelli, carried away by spiritual enthusiasm, threw many of his paintings into the flames, though the accuracy of this account is in doubt. The bonfire of 1497 marked the height of Savonarola’s influence. In May, Pope Alexander VI excommunicated the friar, and, by the spring of 1498, the city’s continuing political and economic woes, for which Savonarola had promised divine amendment, turned the people against the friar, who was arrested, tortured, and executed in May 1498.

193

Voices of the Renaissance

Further Information Beebe, Donald, Anne Borelli, Maria Pastore Passaro, eds. Selected Writings of Girolamo Savonarola: Religion and Politics, 1490–1498. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. Gavitt, Philip. Gender, Honor, and Charity in Late Renaissance Florence. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Martines, Lauro. Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Polizzotto, Lorenzo. The Elect Nation: The Savonarolan Movement in Florence 1494–1545. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Strathern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. Wagner, John A., ed. “4. Wherefore Are Some Chosen and Others Cast Out?: The Reformation Foreshadowed in the Life and Preaching of Fra Girolamo Savonarola.” In Voices of the Reformation: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2015, pp. 21–26. Weinstein, Donald. Savonarola: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Prophet. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011.

Websites Glaser, F.L., ed. Pope Alexander VI and His Court: Extracts from the Latin Diary of Johannes Burchardus. New York, 1921. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ popealexandervih00burcuoft/page/190/mode/2up. Landucci, Luca. A Florentine Diary from 1450 to 1516. Translated by Alice de Rosen Jervis. London, 1927. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ldpd_10273453_000. Wilde, Robert. “Biography of Girolamo Savonarola.” http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/ famouspeople/a/Girolamo-Savonarola-1452-1498.htm.

194

32. “YOU A RE DRESSED IN THE BLOODY A RMOR OF A WARRIOR” Excerpts From Julius Excluded From Heaven (1514), a Satirical Dialogue on Pope Julius II by Desiderius Erasmus INTRODUCTION On February 21, 1513, Pope Julius II died in Rome. Julius, born Giuliano della Rovere in 1443, was the most martial of popes. Nicknamed “Il Terribile” because of his ruthless personal conduct of military campaigns, Julius was greatly admired by Niccolò Macchiavelli (see Section 23), the author of The Prince, the definitive manual of practical politics. The Italian historian Francesco Guicciardini declared that Julius had nothing in him that pertained to a priest save his title and his attire. Julius spent most of his reign at war restoring his control of the Papal States and jostling for political position in Italy. In 1506, dressed in full armor, he personally led his armies in campaigns against Perugia and Bologna, which he captured and returned to papal control. He conducted an extensive diplomacy. Julius joined the League of Cambrai in 1509 to defeat Venice, whose leadership he excommunicated; then, in 1510, he granted the Venetians absolution and negotiated a peace agreement with them to form an alliance against the Turks. Julius also instituted the papal Swiss Guards unit, which still exists today. The Guards’ uniforms were designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti, whom Julius also commissioned to paint the now-famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In 1514, a year after his death, Julius became the subject of a satirical dialogue written by the noted Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus. Entitled Julius Excluded from Heaven, the dialogue begins with a drunken Julius knocking on the gates of heaven, demanding entrance. St. Peter, shocked and disgusted by the martial figure before him who claims the prerogatives of a pope, refuses entrance. In a typical reaction, Julius threatens to storm heaven with an army comprising all the men who died in his earthly campaigns. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Julius Excluded from Heaven.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In Erasmus’ dialogue, Julius is accompanied before the gates of paradise by a character named “Genius,” who is in fact the late pope’s guardian angel. A witness to all the pope’s earthly sins, Genius serves as a source of humor, making a host of wry and comedic asides in response to the pope’s most outrageous statements.

195

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Julius Excluded was not only a personal attack on the late pope, it was also a bold indictment of the corruption that Erasmus believed pervaded the entire Church hierarchy at the time. Because such sentiments would likely anger the powerful members of that hierarchy, Erasmus never openly acknowledged authorship of the work. However, modern scholarship has substantially proved that Erasmus did write it in 1513–1514 while he was in Cambridge, where he taught Greek at the recommendation of Sir Thomas More and the appointment of Bishop John Fisher. Erasmus had the finished manuscript privately distributed among his friends, although it was later published anonymously, without his consent, and became very popular.

Document: Excerpts from Julius Excluded from Heaven Julius Excluded from Heaven: A Dialogue Speakers: Julius, his Genius, Peter JULIUS: What the devil is this? The doors don’t open? Somebody must have changed the lock or broken it. GENIUS: It seems more likely that you didn’t bring the proper key; for this door doesn’t open to the same key as a secret money-chest. Why didn’t you bring both the keys you have? This is the key of power, not of wisdom. JULIUS: I didn’t have any other key but this; I don’t see why we need a different one when we’ve got this. GENIUS: I don’t either; but the fact is, we’re still on the outside. JULIUS: Now I’m really getting mad; I’ll knock the doors down. Ho! Ho! Somebody come and open this door right away! What’s the hangup? nobody home? What’s the matter with the doorman? He’s asleep, I guess, or else drunk. GENIUS: This fellow judges everyone else by himself. PETER: A good thing our gates are of adamant, otheradamant: a mythic mineral to which many wise this one, whoever he is, would have kicked them in. properties of strength and hardness were He must be a giant of some sort, a general of the armies, attributed; it was often associated with a stormer of cities. But oh my God, what a sewer-stench is diamond or lodestone this! I certainly won’t open the gates right away, but take a seat up here by a grated window where I can look out and keep an eye on the scene. Who are you and what do you want? JULIUS: Open the door, will you? at least, if you can. And if you were really doing your job, it should have been open long ago, and decorated with all the heraldry of heaven. PETER: Pretty lordly. But first tell me who you are. JULIUS: As if you couldn’t see for yourself. PETER: See? What I see is new to me, like nothing I ever saw before, and I might say monstrous. JULIUS: But if you’re not stone-blind, you’re bound to recognize this key, even if you aren’t familiar with the golden oak tree. You can certainly see my triple crown, as well as my cloak all gleaming with gold and gems.

196

“You Are Dressed in the Bloody Armor of a Warrior”

PETER: That silver key of yours I do recognize, though there’s only one of them, and it’s very different from those that were given to me long ago by the one true shepherd of the Church, that is, Christ. But that glorious crown of yours, how could I possibly recognize it? No tyrant ruling over barbarian peoples ever ventured to wear one like it, much less anyone who came here asking for admission. Your cloak doesn’t impress me either; for I always used to consider gold and jewels as trash to be despised. But what does this amount to really? In all this stuff-the key, the crown, the cloak-I recognize marks of that rascally cheat and impostor who shared a name with me but not a faith, that scoundrel Simon whom I once flung down with the aid of Christ. JULIUS: Enough of these jokes, and watch yourself; for I, if you don’t know, am Julius of Liguria, and I don’t doubt you recognize these two letters P. M., unless you’ve forPontifex Maximus: in ancient Rome the gotten how to read. Pontifex Maximus was the head of the PETER: I expect they stand for “Pestiferous Maximus.” leading college of priests; it later became a GENIUS: Ha ha ha! This porter is as good as a wizard; he’s title of the pope got the needle’s touch. Hermes Trismegistus: meaning thriceJULIUS: What it means is “Pontifex Maximus.” greatest Hermes, the Greek god of heralds, PETER: If you were triply great, greater even than Hermes travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators; Trismegistus, you still wouldn’t get in here unless you Hermes Trismegistus is said to be the were supremely good, that is, holy. author of a series of second century CE JULIUS: Well, if it comes down to comparative holiness, Greek-Egyptian wisdom texts, written you’ve got some nerve to keep me waiting outside here mainly in the form of dialogues when for all these centuries you’ve only been called “holy,” whereas nobody ever called me anything but “most holy.” I have six thousand bulls to prove it. GENIUS: That’s what he said, bulls! JULIUS:—in which I am not only named “Lord most holy,” but addressed as “your holiness,” so that whatever I chose to do. GENIUS: Even when he was drunk. JULIUS:—people used to say that the holiness of the most holy lord Julius had done it. PETER: Then you’d better ask those flatterers of yours to let you into heaven, because they’re the ones who made you so holy. They provided the holiness, now let them provide the bliss. By the way, though I know you don’t think it matters, do you actually imagine you were a holy man? JULIUS: You really vex me. If I were only allowed to go on living, I wouldn’t envy you your holiness or your bliss, either one. PETER: The proper expression of a pious mind! But apart from that, when I look you over from head to foot, I see many a sign of impiety and none of holiness. What’s the meaning of these many comrades of yours? They’re certainly not a papal retinue. You have almost twenty thousand men at your back, and in this entire crowd I can’t find one single individual who has so much as the face of a Christian. I see a horrifying mob of ruffians, reeking of nothing but brothels, booze shops, and gunpowder. They look to me like plain highway robbers or spooks stolen out of hell and now intent on stirring up wars in heaven. As for yourself, the more I look at you, the fewer traces do I see of any apostolic character. What sort of unnatural arrangement is it, that while you wear the robes of a priest of God, under them you are dressed in the bloody armor of a warrior? Besides that, what a savage pair of eyes, what baleful features, what a menacing brow, what a

197

Voices of the Renaissance

disdainful and arrogant expression! I’m ashamed to say, and even to see, that there’s no part of your body not marked with traces of outrageous and abominable lust; in addition, you belch and stink like a man just come from a drunken debauch and fresh from a fit of vomiting. Judging from the appearance of your whole body, you seem to me, not worn out by age or disease, but broken down and shrivelled up by drunken excesses. GENIUS: How vividly he portrays the man in his own colors! PETER: I see you threatening me with your lofty expression; but my feelings won’t be suppressed. I suspect you may be that most pestilent pagan of all, Julius the Roman, returned from hell to make mock of our system. Certainly everything about you agrees well with him. . . . Source: Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly and Other Writings. Translated by Robert M. Adams. New York and London: Norton Critical Edition, 1989, pp. 142–73.

AFTERMATH Born in Rotterdam, the illegitimate son of a cleric, Erasmus entered a monastery at Gouda in about 1486. Ordained in 1492, he obtained permission to leave the monastery and became Latin secretary to the bishop of Cambrai. In 1495, Erasmus commenced the study of Greek and divinity at the University of Paris. On a 1499 trip to England, he befriended Sir Thomas More, John Colet, and other English humanists. On his second trip to England in 1505, Erasmus spent six months working with More on Latin translations of various Greek works. Between 1506 and 1509, Erasmus traveled in Italy, where he studied Greek. Returning to England in 1509, Erasmus lived for two years in More’s home, where he wrote (and dedicated to More) In Praise of Folly (1511), an imaginative oration in which Folly heaps praise upon herself. From 1511 to 1514, Erasmus served as Lady Margaret’s Professor of divinity and lecturer in Greek at Queen’s College, Cambridge. After returning to the Netherlands, he was released from his monastic vows and allowed to live as a celibate priest. Now a scholar of international reputation, Erasmus lived in Basle, Switzerland, for most of the 1520s. He completed his enormously influential Greek New Testament in 1516. Both Martin Luther and William Tyndale used Erasmus’s work as the basis for their vernacular editions. Erasmus published his Education of a Christian Prince in 1516 and his Paraphrases on the Epistles of Peter and Jude in 1520. In the 1520s, he published his Paraphrases of the Gospels, his Lord’s Prayer, and his successive editions of Colloquies, which criticized various religious practices. Although interested in promoting study of the Bible and critical of clerical abuses, Erasmus was not a reformer. He wrote against Lutheranism, but also engaged in debates with Catholic theologians. Erasmus died, still a papal Catholic, in July 1536.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find this excerpt to be funny? Which character has the most humorous comments? Do you like the character of Genius? What is his purpose? How does St. Peter represent the views of orthodox Christians? How does Julius represent the failings of the Renaissance papacy? 2. Do you understand why Erasmus never admitted his authorship of this dialogue? What criticisms are made of Pope Julius? What criticisms are made of the Church in general? Does this seem like the work of a religious reformer, or of an anticlerical intellectual? 198

“You Are Dressed in the Bloody Armor of a Warrior”

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access the selections from the works of Erasmus that are found online at the Project Gutenberg Website (http://www.gutenberg.org). Read passages from the English translation of Erasmus’ immensely popular Latin essay In Praise of Folly. Published in 1511, the work starts as a satirical depiction of Folly humorously praising itself, but then becomes a darker indictment of the abuses and excesses of the contemporary Church. Write an essay analyzing the passages you read as to tone, style, and content. Did you, like Pope Leo X, find Erasmus’ essay funny? What point was Erasmus trying to make in the passages you read? 2. View the 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy, which deals with the strained relationship between Pope Julius II and the artist Michelangelo during the time (1508–1512) when Michelangelo was executing the pope’s commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The film stars Rex Harrison as Pope Julius and Charlton Heston as Michelangelo. Or find and read a copy of the 1961 novel of the same title by Irving Stone upon which the film is based. How is Pope Julius portrayed in the film and in the novel?

PAPAL STATES Pope Julius II spent most of his reign consolidating his hold over the Papal States, a collection of territories in central Italy that constituted the temporal domain of the pope. It was his personal conduct of the military campaigns required to do this that led after his death to the writing of Julius Excluded from Heaven. The Church had been a landholder since 321, when an edict of Emperor Constantine allowed the Church to own and transmit property. Various medieval popes acquired blocks of territory in Italy over the centuries; these territories eventually included the Romagna, Latium, Umbria, and other towns and regions. When the papacy moved to Avignon in southeastern France in the early 14th century, the papal legates, who in theory administered these territories for the pope, turned their areas of control into private lordships. When the papacy returned to Rome in the early 15th century, Pope Martin V began a century-long process of reasserting papal control. One of the reasons the Renaissance popes have such bad reputations today is that most of them spent much of their time seeking to regain and hold their temporal possessions rather than providing pastoral care. Pope Alexander VI, through diplomacy and the military campaigns of his son, Cesare Borgia, cemented his control of most of the original Papal States. Julius II, through his incessant campaigning and tortuous diplomacy, recovered the remaining areas and even expanded the Papal possessions. The Papal States remained largely as left by Julius until 1870, when the kingdom of Italy was created and the papal territories were restricted to the Vatican. In 1929, by agreement with the kingdom of Italy, then governed by Benito Mussolini, Vatican City became an independent state under the pope.

Further Information Bainton, Roland H. Erasmus of Christendom. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2016. Dickens, A.G., and Whitney R.D. Jones. Erasmus: The Reformer. London: Mandarin, 1995. Halkin, Leon E. Erasmus: A Critical Biography. Translated by John Tonkin. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. 199

Voices of the Renaissance

Harbison, E. Harris. The Christian Scholar in the Age of the Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983. Jardine, Lisa. Erasmus, Man of Letters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Shaw, Christine. Julius II: The Warrior Pope. London: Willey-Blackwell, 1997. Tracy, James. Erasmus of the Low Countries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Website Erasmus. Julius II Excluded. https://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/105/108153/ ch2_a3_d1.pdf.

200

NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

This page intentionally left blank

33. “IT R EMOVES A LL OBSCURITY ” Excerpts From a Letter of the Dutch Humanist Rudolphus Agricola to Jacobus Barbirianus, Choirmaster of Antwerp (1484) INTRODUCTION Born in the Dutch city of Groningen in 1443, Rudolphus Agricola (or Roelof Huysmann) is often called the father of Northern European humanism. The illegitimate son of a cleric, Agricola was educated at the University of Erfurt in Germany and at the University of Louvain in Flemish Burgundy. Known for his command of Latin and his skill in scholarly disputation, Agricola also took up the study of Greek, and, in his later years, added the study of Hebrew. In about 1469, he travelled to Italy, where he studied civil law at the universities of Pavia and Ferrara. While in Italy, he also imbibed the humanism that pervaded the universities and the ducal court of Ferrara, and enthusiastically took up the study of classical Latin and Greek texts. In about 1479, he returned to Germany, where, through his extensive correspondence with other scholars, he became the foremost Northern European exponent for humanist studies and for adoption of the humanist curriculum—i.e., classical languages and literature, modern languages, history, rhetoric, philosophy, arithmetic— by all schools and universities. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Agricola’s June 7, 1484, letter to Jacobus Barbirianus, a Flemish composer and choirmaster. The long letter, which describes Agricola’s recommendations for an effective humanist educational program, was later published as a small pamphlet entitled De formando studio (The Formation of Study) and thus became one of the most influential pedagogical works of the early 16th century.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In about 1479–1480, the humanist headmaster of the school of St. Lebwin in the Dutch city of Deventer invited Rudolphus Agricola to deliver lectures to the students. One of the boys Agricola encountered at the school was a young Desiderius Erasmus, who later remembered Agricola as a formative influence on his own career. Erasmus lauded Agricola as the first northern scholar to bring humanist study out of Italy. In the 1530s, Erasmus participated in the posthumous publication of several of Agricola’s major works. 2. In De inventione dialectica (The Invention of Dialectics), Agricola describes his efforts to teach a deaf child how to communicate both orally and in writing. Agricola held the then revolutionary view that deaf persons can express themselves by putting their thoughts and ideas into writing, and that deaf people could be taught a 203

Voices of the Renaissance

language. These sentiments have made Agricola a pioneering figure in the field of education for the deaf. 3. Jacob Barbirianus was a Flemish composer and choirmaster. Agricola, who was the chapel organist at the Ferrarese court when he was in Italy, also had an interest in music. The two men began a correspondence of which a few letters are still extant. Barbirianus was choirmaster at the Church of Our Lady of Antwerp. His musical compositions, most of which are now lost, were highly regarded by the Emperor Maximilian I and by the queen of Hungary, his two most influential patrons.

Document: Excerpt of a Letter to Jacob Barbirianus In the arrangement of your studies two considerations, it seems to me, come prominently forward. In the first place, it is necessary to determine what department of knowledge shall be chosen. Then you must consider by what method it is possible to achieve the greatest success in the department already chosen. I wish to make myself clear on both these points. For some persons the compelling force of circumstances, having its origin either in external conditions or in natural capacity, determines the choice of a profession. Others, on the contrary, turn with a freedom of selection to that which they hold to be the best. If, for example, one has limited resources, he turns to that occupation in which he may hope to secure for himself, in the briefest possible space of time, the means for satisfying the needs of his existence. If, furthermore, one is by nature less energetic and possesses a weak intelligence, then for fear of wasting his effort he may not select that department which in fact most appeals to him, but will be obliged to select that in which he may achieve the greatest success. In the same way would he err, to whom abundant means and fortunate spiritual gifts have been confided, if with all his strength he did not pursue the highest aims, or if able to reach the highest place, he should content himself with the second or the third. Therefore one chooses the civil, another the canon law, and still a third medicine. Very many devote themselves to those wordy utterances resounding with empty verbal contests, which are so often mistaken for knowledge. They pass their days in labored and interminable disputations, or, to use an expression much to the point, with riddles, which in the course of many centuries have found no Oedipus to solve them, nor ever will find Oedipus: a tragic hero in Greek mythology; him. With these things they torture the ears of the unfortuOedipus, king of Thebes, fulfilled nate youth. Such nourishment they provide for their pupils, prophecy by unknowingly killing his with force, so to speak. In this manner they kill the most father and marrying his mother promising talents, and destroy the fruit while yet in the blosCicero: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE) som. Nevertheless, I commend all these intellectual exercises, was a famous Roman orator and politician and would commend them still more, if they were undertaken in a proper and orderly manner. For I am not so foolish as alone to condemn what so many praise. Why should I too not approve it, when I see that many thereby have attained to wealth, position, esteem, fame and distinction? Indeed I know and willingly acknowledge that many of the sciences, as Cicero says, are more easily converted into gain than others, of which it is said they are unfruitful and resultless, since they enrich the spirit rather than the pocket. If then you have gain in mind, you must choose one of the much celebrated professions, by the practice of which you may become rich. At the same time, you must always remember that the fame which you secure in this manner, you always have in common with every clever man of business. 204

“It Removes All Obscurity”

But if you cherish the juster view, that that which is noble should be pursued for its own sake, and if you are persuaded that your resources are sufficient for your modest demands— for when our demands are excessive even the slender means of others seem to us too great, and our own, on the contrary, were they ever so great, too small—then I advise you to turn your attention to philosophy; by which I mean to say, give yourself the trouble to acquire a competent knowledge of things in general, and the ability to express adequately what you know. This knowledge, like the essence of the things that form its subject, is twofold, one branch relating to our acts and customs. Upon it reposes the whole theory of a proper and well regulated manner of living. This sphere of philosophical activity furnishes the science of ethics. It is of the first importance, and deserves our special attention. It is to be sought for, not only among the philosophers, who treat it as a branch of literature, as for example, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca and others, who have written in Latin, or who at least have been Aristotle: Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was an translated into Latin, so that it is worthwhile to read them; ancient Greek philosopher who was much but also among the historians, poets and orators. They teach studied by medieval Christian scholars morality, not systematically, it is true, but they indicate it— Seneca: Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE–65 and this is indeed the most effective—in their praise of the CE) was a Roman Stoic philosopher good and their blame for the evil, and by their use of examples of virtue and its antithesis by way of illustration. By reading them, you arrive at the contemplation of the Scriptures; because you must arrange your life in accordance with their injunctions; to the Bible you must trust, as to a certain guide in matters of the soul’s salvation. All that which is furnished from other sources is more or less mixed with error; for they did not succeed in constructing an ideal of life that was absolutely correct and irreproachable in every respect. Either they did not recognize the object and purpose of life, or they had only indistinct perceptions, and looked, so to speak, through a veil of cloud. Therefore, although they talked much about these matters, it was not because they were thoroughly permeated with their doctrine. It is otherwise with Holy Writ. That is as far removed from all error as God, who has given it to us; it lone leads us on the sure and certain way. It removes all obscurity, and permits us not to be deceived, to lose ourselves, or go astray. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, ed. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 12–23.

AFTERMATH Agricola published his best-known work, De inventione dialectica (The Invention of Dialectics) in 1479; the work was a systematic treatment of ideas and concepts related to rhetorical studies, and also vigorously attacked medieval scholasticism. The treatise was well received and had a significant impact on the conduct of early humanist education. In the early 1480s, Agricola served as secretary for the city of Groningen, and, in 1481, he spent some months at the court of Archduke Maximilian (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I) at Brussels. He was also offered the headmastership of a Latin school in Antwerp, but he turned this position down, preferring to remain an independent scholar without any formal attachment to any educational institution. In 1484, Agricola moved to Heidelberg at the invitation of the bishop of Worms, whose patronage allowed Agricola to lecture at the local university while continuing his independent studies. His other major works include a biography of Petrarch, commentaries on the works of Boethius and Seneca, a number of poems, and several Latin translations of 205

Voices of the Renaissance

various Greek works. He died in October 1485, shortly after returning from Rome as part of a German embassy to the papal court. In the 1530s, various of Agricola’s students and followers gathered up his remaining manuscripts and supervised the publication of many of them.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Does this letter seem like a normal communication between friends, or does it read more like a formal treatise? Do you think Agricola intended that this letter should eventually be published? Does Agricola’s humanism come through in this letter? 2. What is the basis of the educational program Agricola is espousing? What, according to Agricola, is the goal of a good education? What does Agricola say about teaching, and how it is most effective? What does he say about the deficiencies of education in his time?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Obtain a print or online copy of Rudolph Agricola, Letters (2002), a selection of Agricola’s correspondence translated and edited by Adrie van der Laan and Fokke Akkerman. Read a selection of letters to get a sense of Agricola’s personality and the scope of his contacts with other humanists, particularly those in Northern Europe. 2. Conduct online research on the three great figures of early northern humanism— Agricola, Johann Reuchlin, and Conradus Celtis. These men were the first scholars to bring the humanistic spirit of Renaissance Italy to Germany and the Low Countries. What did these men have in common? How did their lives and careers differ? What made them so influential in the development of the Northern Renaissance?

ITALIANISCHE REISE Rudolpus Agricola was one of the first northern scholars to make the italianische Reise (German for “Italian journey”) and experience Italian humanism firsthand. Two other key figures who made the journey and brought the ideas of the Italian Renaissance to Germany were Johann Reuchlin and Conradus Celtis. Born in 1455 in southwestern Germany, Reuchlin, along with his Italian near-contemporaries Lorenzo Valla (see Section 26) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (see Section 12), was a pioneering Hebraist, learning the Hebrew language through the reading of scriptural and kabbalistic texts. Reuchlin was the first Christian to produce a Hebrew dictionary, and he was an early advocate for establishing professorships in Hebrew at European universities. He was also a strong defender of the reading of classical Hebrew texts, so long as they were not openly anti-Christian. These views were controversial and drew scathing attacks from more anti-Semitic scholars, who were, in turn, satirized by Ulrich von Hutten and other humanist defenders of Reuchlin in Letters of Obscure Men (see Section 36). Born in 1459 in southern Germany, Conradus Celtis was known as the German “archhumanist” for the breadth of his scholarship and his elegant Latin. He studied at various German universities and also visited Rome, Venice, Florence, and other Italian cities. He brought an enthusiasm for humanist scholarship not only to Germany, but also to Poland and Austria, where he taught at universities in Krakow and Vienna. In 1492, he delivered a famous lecture at Ingolstadt in which he urged German students to surpass their Italian rivals in the study of classical languages and literature. He also wrote much fine Latin verse and produced several important works of German history.

206

“It Removes All Obscurity”

Further Information Akkerman, Fokke, Arjo Vanderjagt, and Adrie van der Laan, eds. Northern Humanism in European Context, 1469–1625: From the “Adwert Academy” to Ubbo Emmius. Leiden: Brill, 1999. Fox, Charles Warren. “Jacobus Barbireau.” In Stanley Sadie, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980. Laan, Adrie van der, and Fokke Akkerman, eds. and trans. Rudolph Agricola, Letters. (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, vol. 216.) Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2002. Mack, Peter. Renaissance Argument: Valla and Agricola in the Traditions of Rhetoric and Dialectic. Leiden: Brill, 1993. Moss, Ann. Renaissance Truth and the Latin Language Turn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

207

This page intentionally left blank

34. “HE M AY NOT BECOME AN AWKWARD, L AZY, STUPID, FOPPISH, WANTON FELLOW ” Excerpt From Jacob Wimpheling’s Adolescentia (1500), a Treatise on Education INTRODUCTION Born in 1450 in Alsace in what is today eastern France, Jacob Wimpheling attended a humanist school in his hometown before entering the University of Freiburg in Germany in 1464. He then studied at the University of Erfurt before receiving a master’s degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1471. He next studied canon law and theology at Heidelberg until becoming the cathedral preacher in Speier in 1483. In 1498, Wimpheling became professor of rhetoric and poetry at the University of Heidelberg under the patronage of Philip, the Elector Palatine, a leading German prince. In 1493, Wimpheling published his first work, Elegantiarum medulla [The Marrow of Elegance], an extract from the books on elegant Latin usage published in the early 15th century by the Italian humanist Lorenzo Valla (see Section 26). In 1496, Wimpheling published Isidoneus germanicus [A Doorway of Learning for German Youth], a pedagogical treatise denouncing medieval scholasticism and advocating the reading of pagan classical works as well as early Christian writings, a humanist position that was still controversial. In 1500, Wimpheling published a second treatise setting forth his pedagogical ideas; in Adolescentia (Adolescence), Wimpheling argued that much of the corruption plaguing the Church stemmed from poorly educated clergy who had never received sound moral training. Wimpheling then laid out in the treatise a list of 20 moral laws which should be used to guide such training. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Wimpheling’s Adolescentia.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In 1494, Jacob Wimpheling wrote a comedy in the style of Terence, the great comedic playwright of the Roman Republic. Stylpho, which was the first major humanist play produced in Germany, addressed both of Wimpheling’s favorite topics—the importance of education and the need for Church reform. 2. In 1501, Wimpheling published a historical work entitled Germania, which, like his later Short History of Germany to the Present (1505), was very nationalistic in tone. Wimpheling’s histories also tended to have an anti-French bias, which involved him in controversy with other historians, and they displayed a very uncritical attitude toward source materials, unquestioningly accepting some of the most farfetched stories and claims. 209

Voices of the Renaissance

Document: Extracts from Adolescentia Chapter III. Boys of noble birth more than others should be instructed in the humanities If it is the duty of all parents to afford a good education to their children, it is of especial importance that those boys who later in life are to occupy prominent positions, and whose words and deeds may not lie in obscurity, should be instructed in the higher branches of learning, so that they may be worthy of their fortune, their dignity and their prominence. It is a reasonable condition, that those who demand for themselves the highest should also produce the highest. There is no safer nor more enduring basis for dominion than that those who rule should be considered most worthy of their lordship.

Chapter IV. Learning and virtue are more to be esteemed than all else Everyone should strive for learning and virtue, which alone confer nobility. These are to be striven for above all other things to which the human mind directs itself. For money, honor and pleasure are changing and transitory. The possession and fruits of virtue on the contrary are unassailable and permanent, and make their possessor immortal and happy. The youth, therefore, especially when he comes of distinguished parents, should be reminded with especial emphasis, that he may value the soul’s advantage and not the gifts of fortune and physical accomplishments. Each day he should exert himself, in order that he may not become an awkward, lazy, stupid, foppish, wanton fellow, as in our day most of the noble-born are, but that he shall be intelligent and educated; that he may be well instructed from his youth and not ignorant of the humanities; that he shall apply himself to the reading of Holy Writ; that he may be well-bred, just, wastlings: wasteful or good-for-nothing gentle and pious; that he may be no friend of wastlings and people buffoons, or of such as find their joy in biting calumny, or of such as in any way outrage good breeding; in order that he may be rather a friend of clever and cultured men.

Chapter V. A boy’s disposition has to be determined at the start

In the first place, each one has to give proof of his talents and capacity. Since on account of their age this cannot be adequately determined in the case of boys, it will be necessary for their parents or the teachers to whom the youths have been entrusted, to observe carefully the general direction of their mind, and talents, according to their natural dispositions. Their studies should there be directed into this same direction, and with these studies they should occupy themselves exclusively.

Chapter VII. The sons of the great shall not apply themselves exclusively to the chase What special signification has the art of the chase—if indeed this employment deserves to be called an art—for a king or for a noble prince, that for it he despises and neglects all other skilled labors and exercises of the body? Is it not true that an ordinary man of base

210

“He May Not Become an Awkward, Lazy, Stupid, Foppish, Wanton Fellow”

extraction, devoid of all distinction, of all cleverness and aptitude, may be quite the equal of a prince in the exercise gallows-bird: person deserving of hanging of the chase? The worst gallows-bird, empty of all ability, of all cleverness, of all fear of the Lord, is qualified to apply himself to this “delight.” He too may carry the horn which hangs about his neck; he too may jump about like mad, and race his horse here and there through field and forest, and fill the air with cries; he too in peril of life and health may follow the game and shoot it with bow or gun or run it down with hunting-spear. For a prince, however, that would be a more laudable art, in which a man of common birth and low intelligence could not equal him. Therefore he shall apply himself to use with ease the noblest of tongues in reading and in speaking and particularly in oral intercourse with foreigners; he shall consider it furthermore his duty to learn the customs of the ancients and the manners of foreign lands; he shall make himself acquainted with historical statements and relations, such as serve for agreeable and witty entertainment or for elevating instruction; then too, the holy councils, which attend to the interests of the individual and of the state, as well as to the public and civic welfare, should not be unfamiliar to him; in the range of his knowledge he should include the arts of peace and war, as well as the proper training of children, and law and equity, which may serve for the defence of justice and the maintenance of right. Then will he rise above his subjects; then will he be distinguished from them in his actions; then will he draw upon himself beyond a doubt the love and veneration of his people. Source: Whitcomb, Merrick, ed. A Literary Source-Book of the Italian Renaissance. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1900, pp. 25–28.

AFTERMATH In about 1500, Wimpheling moved to Strasbourg in eastern France, where the patronage of a local bishop allowed him to study and write. In 1505, he published Epitome rerum germanicarum (Short History of Germany to the Present), the first attempt at a humanist history of the German people. He also published during this period a number of works calling for reform of the Church, which he, like many other humanists, believed suffered from various abuses and corruption. The most important of these works was Apologia pro republica christiana (Apology for a Christian Republic), which was printed in 1506. In 1513, Wimpheling returned to his birthplace in Alsace, where he became the center of a scholarly circle of pupils and supporters who gathered for study and discussion of humanist topics. After the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517, disagreements between supporters and opponents of the expanding Lutheran movement broke up the group and involved Wimpheling in the growing religious controversy shaking Germany. Initially friendly to reform, Wimpheling joined efforts to persuade Pope Leo X to withdraw the excommunication of Luther that he had issued in January 1521. When Wimpheling found himself under suspicion of being a Lutheran, he withdrew from Luther’s movement and reaffirmed his commitment to papal Catholicism. In 1524, Wimpheling issued an open letter to Luther and the Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli, calling upon them to study the scriptures and retract their attacks on the Mass. On his death in 1528, Wimpheling left most of his books and manuscripts to the local humanist library founded by his old schoolmaster.

211

Voices of the Renaissance

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is Wimpheling’s view of the purpose of education? How should teachers conduct their lessons to achieve this purpose? What does Wimpheling say about the disciplining of students? 2. Adolescentia clearly is meant only for the education of boys, both because only they could join the clergy and, even among humanists, education for women was a radical notion in the 16th century. Nonetheless, do you think Wimpheling’s pedagogic prescriptions can, in general, also be applied to the education of girls? Why or why not? 3. What does Wimpheling see as the main problems with education in his time? How does the author connect deficiencies in contemporary education to abuses in the contemporary Church? How, according to Wimpheling, will better education help reform a corrupt Church?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Search YouTube for the term “Northern Renaissance.” View a number of the videos that come up, such as the two hour-long BBC videos on the art of the Northern Renaissance and the short videos by lecturer Tom Richey on the Northern Renaissance and on the Northern Renaissance vs. the Italian Renaissance. View also any other videos on the Northern Renaissance that interest you. 2. The greatest figure of the Northern Renaissance was the Dutch humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus (see Section 32). Access print or online editions of the major works of Erasmus, such as In Praise of Folly, and read selections from those works. Conduct online research on the life of Erasmus, paying particular attention to his influence on other humanist scholars in Germany, France, England, and elsewhere outside Italy.

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM Classical humanism, as it developed in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries, described an educational program based on the moral and intellectual value of studying the languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Humanism focused on the application of knowledge derived from such literary studies to the selfimprovement of the student and the general betterment of society. The understanding and advancement of human beings and the human condition was the central theme of humanist study. In Italy, this civic humanism was sometimes divorced from religious belief, but as Renaissance ideals spread into Northern Europe the humanist faith in the potential of humanity was often fused with a strong attachment to the Christian faith. Italian humanists and universities often focused on the study of classical mythology and literature as sources of knowledge, and on the beauties of nature and the capabilities of human beings as things worthy of study in themselves. Christian humanists and universities in Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, and elsewhere outside Italy, applied classical learning to a closer study of the Bible and to the works of the Church Fathers, and saw the human spirit reach its highest potential in devotion to God and a better understanding of the Bible. Led by the Dutch humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, such Christian humanists as Jacob Wimpheling, brought the Italian Renaissance to Northern Europe, disseminating humanist thought and learning throughout the region, while maintaining their commitment to the Christian faith. After Martin Luther initiated the Reformation in 1517, some humanists used their learning to spread the Lutheran and later Reformed movements across Europe, while others used their learning to defend the papacy and the Church of Rome.

212

“He May Not Become an Awkward, Lazy, Stupid, Foppish, Wanton Fellow”

Further Information Bartlett, Kenneth R., and Margaret McGlynn, eds. Humanism and the Northern Renaissance. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2000. Heard, Kate, and Lucy Whitaker. The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein. London: Royal Collection Trust, 2013. Nash, Susie. Northern Renaissance Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Newman, Karen. Cultural Capitals: Early Modern London and Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007. O’Brien, Patrick K., ed. Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Vale, Malcolm. A Short History of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

213

This page intentionally left blank

35. “THEY CHEAT BOTH M AN AND BEAST ” Letters of Albrecht Dürer Describing His Visit to Venice (1506) INTRODUCTION Born in the eastern German city of Nuremburg in 1471, Albrecht Dürer, one of the most famous artists of the Northern Renaissance, was the son of a goldsmith. Trained in drawing and engraving, Dürer was the godson of Nuremberg’s most prominent printer, Anton Köberger, and a life-long friend of the noted German humanist Willibald Pirkheimer. In the early 1490s, Dürer worked in Basel and Strasburg as a book illustrator, producing woodcuts (see the sidebar) for volumes by various German humanists. In about 1495, he travelled to Italy, where he produced a series of innovative watercolor paintings and a series of fine landscapes. Returning to Nuremburg, Dürer opened his own workshop, where he produced such notable works as his Self-Portrait (1500) and the Paumgärter altarpiece (1504), as well as several series of woodcuts and engravings, such as The Apocalypse (1498) and The Life of the Virgin (1510). In 1505–1506, Dürer lived in Venice, where he continued his study of perspective and produced several more important paintings, including the altarpiece known as the Feast of the Rose Garlands, which was a commission from the German emigrant community in Venice and is now in the National Gallery in Prague. Reproduced here are two letters Dürer wrote from Venice in 1506 that describe his experiences in the city to his Nuremberg friend Willibald Pirkheimer.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In about 1520, while on a trip to the Netherlands, Dürer met the famous Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus. The Dutch scholar had apparently heard of Dürer’s work, for, as a compliment on his woodcuts, Erasmus called the German artist “the Apelles of black lines,” Apelles being a renowned ancient Greek painter. 2. Dürer kept a diary in which he recorded his impressions of the scholars and artists that he met on his various journeys. While in the Netherlands in 1521, he wrote about hearing news of the disappearance of Martin Luther after his momentous audience with Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in April. Although Luther had been secretly carried off by men under orders from his protector, Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony, to keep the reformer safe, Dürer recorded his belief that Luther had been kidnapped by brigands and was in danger. 215

Voices of the Renaissance

3. Evidence from letters and from Dürer’s diary seems to indicate that he was sympathetic to the Lutheran reform movement. A diary entry from 1520 records a desire to paint Luther’s portrait: “And God help me that I may go to Dr. Martin Luther; thus I intend to make a portrait of him with great care and engrave him on a copper plate to create a lasting memorial of the Christian man who helped me overcome so many difficulties” (Price, 25). Some art historians also detect evangelical themes in some of Dürer’s later works, such as The Last Supper woodcut from 1523, but this interpretation is controversial.

Document: Excerpts from Dürer’s Letters from Venice Venice, 6th January, 1506 To the Honourable and wise Wilibald Pirkheimer, in Nuremberg. My dear Master, To you and all yours, many happy good New Years. My willing service to you, dear Herr Pirkheimer. Know that I am in good health; may God send you better even than that. Now as to what you commissioned me, namely, to buy a few pearls and precious stones, you must know that I can find nothing good enough or worth the money: everything is snapped up by the Germans. Those who go about on the Riva always expect four times the value for anything, for they are the falsest knaves that live there. No one expects to get an honest service of them. For that reason some good people warned me to be on my guard against them. They told me that they cheat both man and beast, and that you could buy better things for less Riva: waterfront area in Venice money at Frankfort than at Venice. picture for the Germans: this refers to an As for the books which I was to order for you, Imhof altarpiece known as the “Feast of the has already seen to it, but if you are in need of anything Rose Garlands,” painted for the chapel of else, let me know, and I shall do it for you with all zeal. And St. Bartolomeo in Venice; Emperor Rudolf would to God that I could do you some real good service. II (r. 1576–1612) brought the piece, one I should gladly accomplish it, since I know how much you of Dürer’s best-known works, to Prague in do for me. the early 17th century And I beg of you be patient with my debt, for I think gulden: German and Dutch name for a gold oftener of it than you do. As soon as God helps me to get coin home I will pay you honourably, with many thanks; for florins: a gold coin of Florence I have to paint a picture for the Germans, for which they are giving me 110 Rhenish gulden, which will not cost me as much as five. I shall have finished laying and scraping the ground-work in eight days, then I shall at once begin to paint, and if God will, it shall be in its place for the altar a month after Easter. The money I hope, if God will, to put by; and from that I will pay you: for I think that I need not send my mother and wife any money at present; I left 10 florins with my mother when I came away; she has since got 9 or 10 florins by selling works of art. Dratzieher has paid her 12 florins, and I have sent her 9 florins by Sebastian Imhof, of which she has to pay Pfinzing and Gartner 7 florins for rent. I gave my wife 12 florins and she got 13 more

216

“They Cheat Both Man and Beast”

at Frankfort, making all together 25 florins, so I don’t think she will be in any need, and if she does want anything, her brother will have to help her, until I come home, when I will repay him honourably. Herewith let me commend myself to you. Given at Venice on the day of the Holy Three Kings (Epiphany), the year 1506. Greet for me Stephen Paumgartner and my other good friends who ask after me. —Albrecht Dürer 7th February, 1506 First my willing service to you, dear Master. If it is well with you, I am as wholeheartedly glad as I should be for myself. I wrote to you recently. I hope the letter reached you. In the meantime my mother has written to me, chiding me for not writing to you, and has given me to understand that you are displeased with me because I do not write to you; and that I must excuse myself to you fully. And she is much worried about it, as is her wont. Now I do not know what excuse to make, except that I am lazy about writing and that you have not been at home. But as soon as I knew that you were at home or were coming home, I wrote to you at once; I also specially charged Gastel to convey my service to you. Therefore I most humbly beg you to forgive me, for I have no other friend on earth but you; but Gastel: Gastel Fugger (1475–1539), a I do not believe you are angry with me, for I hold you as member of the German banking house of no other than a father. Fugger How I wish you were here at Venice, there are so many Giambellin: Giovanni Bellini (ca. 1430– good fellows among the Italians who seek my company 1515), a noted Venetian painter more and more every day—which is very gratifying to me— Master Jacob: Jacopo de’ Barbari (ca. 1470– men of sense, and scholarly, good lute-players, and pipers, ca. 1516), a Venetian painter who moved connoisseurs in painting, men of much noble sentiment to Germany in 1500, becoming the first and honest virtue, and they show me much honour and major Italian Renaissance artist to work in friendship. On the other hand, there are also amongst them Northern Europe the most faithless, lying, thievish rascals; such as I scarcely believed could exist on earth; and yet if one did not know them, one would think that they were the nicest men on earth. I cannot help laughing to myself when they talk to me: they know that their villainy is well known, but that does not bother them. I have many good friends among the Italians who warn me not to eat and drink with their painters, for many of them are my enemies and copy my work in the churches and wherever they can find it; afterwards they criticize it and claim that it is not done in the antique style and say it is no good, but Giambellin has praised me highly to many gentlemen. He would willingly have something of mine, and came himself to me and asked me to do something for him, and said that he would pay well for it, and everyone tells me what an upright man he is, so that I am really friendly with him. He is very old and yet he is the best painter of all. And the thing which pleased me so well eleven years ago pleases me no longer, and if I had not seen it myself, I would not have believed anyone who told me. And you must know too that there are many better painters here than Master Jacob, though Antonio Kolb would take an oath that there was no better painter on earth than Jacob. Others sneer at him and say if he were any good, he would stay here. I have only today begun the sketch of my picture, for my hands are so scabby that I could not work, but I have cured them. . . .

217

Voices of the Renaissance

ninth hour: reckoning from sunset, the time for this date would be about 2:30 a.m.

Given at Venice at the ninth hour of the night on Saturday after Candlemas in the year 1506. . . . Albrecht Dürer

Source: Dürer, Albrecht. Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries. Translated by Rudolf Tombo. The Humanist’s Library, Vol. VI. Boston: The Merrymount Press, 1913, pp. 1–10.

AFTERMATH By his return to Nuremburg in 1507, Dürer had achieved a reputation as an artist of note, his engravings and woodcuts being particularly popular. In the period between his return to Germany and 1520, when he travelled to the Netherlands to secure an extension of his pension from Emperor Charles V, Dürer produced his most important works. These masterworks include several altarpieces, such as The Assumption of the Virgin (1509) and The Adoration of the Trinity (1511), and several series of woodcuts, such as The Great Passion (1510) and The Little Passion (1511). His Melancholia I and St. Jerome in His Study (both 1514) are considered by many art historians to be the finest extant examples of Renaissance engravings. Dürer also experimented with drypoint, a method of engraving whereby a design is scratched on a copper plate; with this technique, Dürer produced prints of St. Jerome and The Agony in the Garden (both 1515). In the 1520s, besides several additional series of engravings and two painted panels entitled The Four Apostles, Dürer wrote several theoretical treatises, including one on the art of proper measurement, one on fortification design, and a four-part study of human proportion. Dürer died in April 1528 at the age of 56; his house and workshop in Nuremberg are still a much-visited landmarks in the city.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is the tone of these letters? Are they letters to a friend or colleague or to a teacher or mentor? What particularly strikes you about the content of these letters? Is there much in the letters about the small happenings of daily life? 2. What does Dürer say about art or particular artists in these letters? What does he say about Venice or about Italy? Can you tell anything about the artist’s attitude toward religion in these letters? Remember that these letters were written over a decade before Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses.

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Search the internet for illustrations of Dürer’s various artworks. Look particularly for examples of his engravings and his woodcuts. It was said that Dürer’s work was so good and so well respected that the next generation of German engravers were intimidated by his achievements. What strikes you the most about Dürer’s work? 2. Access a print or online copy of the English translation of Dürer’s diary of his trip to the Netherlands in 1520–1521 (see Dürer in “Further Information,” below). Read selections of the diary to obtain a sense of the artist’s personality and thought. Does the diary make this 16th-century figure seem more real and human to you?

218

“They Cheat Both Man and Beast”

3. Search YouTube for “Northern Renaissance.” Find and view the hour-long second part of the BBC documentary on the “Northern Renaissance: The Birth of the Artist,” which discusses in part the life and work of Dürer.

WOODCUT A woodcut is a print made from a block of wood that has had a design done in relief cut into it. The wood is then inked and pressed on a sheet of paper to create the print. The artist uses knives and gouges to cut away the parts of the flattened surface of the wood block that will represent the white space on the print. The print is a mirror image of the design that is cut and gouged from the wood. The woodcut differs from an etching or engraving in that the image on the woodcut stands out in relief while the other techniques are intaglio processes, meaning the design is cut or incised into the wood or other medium. The earliest European woodcuts date to the early 15th century. By 1500, however, woodcuts were used for all sorts of purposes, including playing cards, religious prints, and book illustrations. Woodcuts were ideal for the latter since the cut blocks could be made the same height as the type and thus could be set together in the press along with the movable type. Many of Dürer’s woodcuts, such as his Apocalypse (1498), are among the most celebrated of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. As woodcut design became more sophisticated, artists such as Dürer drew the images, but specialized craftsmen transferred the design to the wood and actually gouged the block. Because woodcuts are more difficult to create than etchings or engravings and because they cannot be used to show crosshatching, they gradually fell out of use in the 17th century.

Further Information Bartrum, Giulia. Albrecht Dürer and His Legacy. London: British Museum Press, 2002. Campbell Hutchison, Jane. Albrecht Dürer: A Biography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990. Dürer, Albrecht. Albrecht Dürer: Diary of His Journey to the Netherlands. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1971. Heard, Kate, and Lucy Whitaker. The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein. London: Royal Collection Trust, 2013. Panofsky, Erwin. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. Price, David Hotchkiss. Albrecht Dürer’s Renaissance: Humanism, Reformation and the Art of Faith. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. Wilhelm, Kurth, ed. The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer. New York: Dover Publications, 2000.

219

This page intentionally left blank

36. “WHY DID YOU M ARRY SUCH AN OLD WOMAN?” Excerpts From Letters of Obscure Men (1515–1519) by Ulrich von Hutten and Other Humanists INTRODUCTION Ulrich von Hutten, the preeminent satirist of the German Renaissance, was born into an impoverished knightly family in western Germany in 1488. Placed in the Benedictine monastery at Fulda by his father, Hutten received a good education but found the monastic life stifling and left Fulda without permission in 1505. Over the next few years, Hutton found refuge with the humanist communities at various universities, taking a degree at Frankfurt and publishing some poems and writings. Having an unfortunate tendency to put on knightly airs and to write biting satires of the people he had thus offended, Hutten was forced to move several more times, leading to periods of illness and destitution. In 1508, for instance, he was shipwrecked on the Pomeranian coast, and, in 1510, he was robbed of all his possessions by the servants of his former patrons, whose displeasure with him had caused another flight, this time from the University of Greifswald. After living for a time in Italy at Pavia and Bologna, he returned to Germany in about 1514 and secured the patronage of the archbishop-elector of Mainz. In 1517, Hutten collaborated with Johann Reuchlin and other humanist scholars in the writing of the Letters of Obscure Men (Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum), a two-part pamphlet satirizing adherents of medieval scholasticism with whom Reuchlin was engaged in a literary dispute. The work comprises a series of fictitious letters mocking the poor Latin and convoluted reasoning of Reuchlin’s scholastic opponents. Although the letters were written by various humanists, most of part 2 is thought to be the work of Hutten. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Hutten’s work in Letters of Obscure Men.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. When Hutten fled from the failed Knights’ Revolt in 1523, he went to Basel, where he sought an interview with the famed humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who was then living in the city. Hutten hoped to convince Erasmus to come out publically in support of Lutheranism, but the Dutch scholar wanted nothing to do with the ill and dirty renegade and refused to see him. This refusal led to a brief pamphlet war between the two men and forced Hutten to seek refuge in Zürich.

221

Voices of the Renaissance

2. Hutten died in 1523 of syphilis, a disease he had contracted several years earlier. In 1519, Hutten wrote a treatise on his illness entitled De morbo Gallico (The French Disease). This work is one of the first patient narratives in the history of European medicine. A portrait of Hutten done in 1523 by Hans Holbein, who was for a time court painter to Henry VIII, is thought to be the first realistic depiction of someone suffering from syphilis. 3. In 1520, Hutten published Vadiscus, a dialogue that attacked the corruption of the papacy. The work cost Hutten the patronage of Emperor Charles V and led Pope Leo X to order his arrest. It was the consequences of this work that drove Hutten to make common cause with Franz von Sickingen and participate in the Knights’ Revolt, which Hutten tried to identify with the Lutheran cause.

Document: Excerpts from Letters of Obscure Men Johann Helferich [latine Juppiter] to Magister Ortwin sendeth greeting and humbly commendeth himself Reverend Herr Magister, you tell me that you marvel how it cometh to pass that I dub myself Juppiter. You must know, then, that when I resided at Vienna I attended lectures on poetry, and there was a certain young poet there—George Sibutus by name—who had been a pupil of Conrad Celtis. He was my companion, and we were ever together, and he said, “You ought to be named Juppiter, for Juppiter hath in Latin the same meaning as Helferich in German.” So Juppiter is my cognomen. Sibutus now dwells at Wittenberg, and he latine: obsolete spelling of “Latin” has taken to himself an old trot seventy-eight years old and cognomen: nickname more. I visited his house a while ago when I was making trot: derogatory term for woman my way out of Prussia—and there sat the crone behind the sapor: savor stove. “Is that your mother?” I asked. “No,” said he, “that is pelf: money or wealth, especially ill-gotten my spouse and wedded wife.” “Why did you marry such an stingo: strong ale or beer old woman?” quoth I. He made answer that she was still not fain: pleased or willing so over-ripe as to have lost all sapor, and had good store of Johann Reuchlin: Reuchlin (1455–1522) pelf; moreover she could brew rare stingo, which she sold was a German Catholic humanist and turned to profit. Then said I, “Thou hast done well; and Erasmus of Rotterdam: Desiderius Erasmus how call you your wife?” (1466–1536) was a famous Dutch “My Corinna,” he replied, “my Lesbia, and my Cynthia” humanist But let this pass. You tell me that it seemeth to you that the Jakob Wimpheling: Wimpheling (1450– Day of Judgment is at hand: for the world hath become so 1528) was an Alsatian humanist depraved that it cannot by any means grow worse, and men Sebastian Brant: Brant (1458–1521) was a walk in such evil ways that the times are portentous. The German humanist and satirist young are fain to put themselves on a level with their elders, scholars with their teachers, and Jurists with Theologians. All things are out of joint, and heretics and mock Christians are springing up—Johann Reuchlin, Erasmus of Rotterdam . . . with Ulrich Hutten, . . . and Jakob Wimpheling, who wrote against the Augustinians, and Sebastian Brant, who wrote against the Dominicans—the pity of it! and wantonly rails at them. Thereby many scandals arise within the Faith, and I can well share your belief, for I have read that such 222

“Why Did You Marry Such an Old Woman?”

happenings will immediately precede the Last Judgment. Moreover I will declare to you somewhat else, to wit that I have heard (it was told me as truth by a Father Superior) that Anti-Christ hath been born, but is as yet a child. He told me, too, that a revelation had been made to a certain Carthusian Monk, who, as he was sleeping in his cell, heard a voice from heaven crying, “The world shall perish! The world shall perish! The world shall perish! “Then the monk feared, and would fain have spoken, but silently made supplication against the wiles of the Devil. Then once more began the voice to cry out—and yet again a third time. Then perceiving in his heart that it was the voice of the Lord, he cried, “Why, Lord?” and the voice answered, “By reason of its sins.” Then cried the Monk, “When, Lord?” and the voice answered, “There are yet ten years.” Wherefore I go in great dread. When I passed through Bologna I heard that there was a citizen there who had a familiar Spirit called Rilla: and that wondrous spirit speaketh to him concerning the King of France, and the Emperor, and the Pope, and the end of the world. I have read his prophecies. And now, I have told you what I know, and commend you to the Lord.

Heinrich Schluntz to Magister Ortwin Gratius ALL amity and humble duty to your excellence, first and foremost, with my uttermost service to your excellence, here and everywhere—in all honest p]aces. Reverend Herr Magister, herewith I send your excellence a notable and right profitable book. It seemeth to me that this book is most skillfully composed; it containeth very masterly propositions, and is named “Rationale Divinorum.” I bought it here, at the fair, for I said to myself, “That is the book for Magister Ortwin! The Lord be praised that I have Johann Pfefferkorn: Pfefferkorn (1469–1523) lighted upon it! Now will I send it to him, just as he lately was a German Catholic theologian and sent me Johann Pfefferkorn’s work entitled “Johann Pfefconvert from Judaism who preached and ferkorn’s Defence against Calumnies,” which he compiled wrote against Jews, seeking to destroy in the intent that it should be a bulwark of the Holy Cathcopies of the Talmud; he engaged in olic Faith against Johann Reuchlin and his followers, and pamphlet wars with Johann Ruechlin and wherein he flouted them with many a shrewd gibe.” But other humanists you may say, “Why doth this fellow send the book to me? Doth he think that I have not plenty of books myself?” I answer that such was far from my mind. If indeed you think that I was for this reason moved to send you this book, you do me an injustice, for I do but send it with fair intent. You must not believe that I disparage you in that you possess but few books, for I know that you have many. Indeed, when I was in your study at Cologne I could see well enough that you had a multitude of volumes, both great and small. Some were clad in wooden boards, and some in parchment bindings,—some were covered all over with leather, red and green and black, while some were half-bound. And there you sat, with a whisk in your hand, to flap away the dust from the bindings. “Pardy!” said I, “Magister Ortwin, you have full many a fair volume, and you hold them in high esteem.” Then you replied that in this we might know whether a man were learned or not; for he that honoureth books, honoureth knowledge; and he that honoureth not books, honoureth not knowledge. And that saying I have laid up in my heart, and I will keep it there world without end. Amen. Source: Stokes, Francis Griffin, ed. and trans. Epistolae obscurorum virorum: The Latin Text with an English Rendering. London: Chatto and Windus, 1909, pp. 495–97. 223

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH In 1515, Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, murdered Hutten’s kinsman, Hans von Hutten, during an altercation over Hans’ wife. Although Ulrich von Hutten soon after won the favor of Emperor Maximilian I, who crowned him poet laureate in 1517, the arrogance and perfidy of Duke Ulrich so rankled with Hutten that he obsessively wrote and disseminated a series of scathing satires, orations, and letters denouncing the duke. In 1516, Hutten published a dialogue entitled Phalarismus, which attacked both the duke and the German princes in general. In 1519, Hutten collected his writings against the duke into a single volume. About 1520, Hutten began a friendship with Franz von Sickingen, a disgruntled German knight who convinced Hutten to join his fight to assert the rights of the knightly class against the great princes. Hutten, in turn, convinced Sickingen to take up the Lutheran cause. In 1522, Sickingen, supported by Hutten, blended these concerns into his leadership of the Knights’ Revolt, an uprising that sought to improve the political position of the knightly class within Germany and to advance the cause of Protestantism (see the sidebar). The uprising collapsed upon Sickingen’s death from battle wounds in May 1523. Hutten fled to Basel and then came eventually to Zürich, where he was befriended by the Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli, who sent Hutten, ill and impoverished, to live with an evangelical pastor on a small island in Lake Zürich. Hutten died on the island in September 1523 at the age of 35.

ASK YOURSELF 1. Do you find this excerpt humorous? Can you understand why these letters were funny to humanist readers and infuriating to their scholastic opponents? Understand that some of the humor and irony is lost in translation, since a large part of what would have amused educated 16th-century readers was the poor quality of the monastic Latin in which they were written; this aspect of the satire is lost in English translation. Do you think the Letters of Obscure Men, which was widely read by European humanists, damaged the cause of scholasticism? 2. Do you think casting this work in the form of letters enhances the satire? The letters were intended as a parody of real letters that Johann Reuchlin received from his opponents. In what other form could this work have been written to express humor and irony? Ortwin Gratius, to whom the letters are addressed, was a real person, a literary opponent of Reuchlin and Hutten. 3. Do you think this work would have been useful to the Lutheran reformers? Could the letters have served as examples of how to attack Catholic writers and polemicists? Could the Letters of Obscure Men have helped the ideas and writings of Martin Luther gain acceptance?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of the Letters of Obscure Men and read an additional selection of letters. Most of the letters in part 2 are by Hutten, but most of those in part 1 are by Crotus Rubianus, a German humanist and early Church critic who eventually returned to the Church of Rome. Read letters from both parts of the work and see if you can detect differences in tone and style between the letters of Hutten and those of other writers.

224

“Why Did You Marry Such an Old Woman?”

2. A satire is a writing (or, today, a film or television program) that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to criticize or mock what one perceives to be the vices or foolishness of another person or group of people. Satire often has a political context, but can also address popular culture topics. Conduct online research on the genre of satire. What qualities characterize a satire? What are some examples of famous satires in English? Find and read some of these satires and then write your own brief work of satire on any topic you choose. 3. View old episodes of the Comedy Central series The Colbert Report, which was a news satire hosted by Stephen Colbert that ran from 2005 to 2014. Colbert played a fictional anchorman character who was a parody of some actual evening news personalities on other networks. Before doing this show, Colbert had honed his clueless character while doing satirical segments on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Does this modern satire help you understand the satirical nature of the Letters of Obscure Men?

KNIGHTS’ REVOLT The knightly class of Germany, into which Ulrich von Hutten was born, comprised holders of small lordships usually centered around a castle or fortress. In the early 16th century, the German knights as a class were experiencing economic distress and political irrelevance. Lacking a strong central government, as was developing in England and France, Germany in the 16th century was a collection of small principalities, fiefdoms, and citystates. Both the great princes of the Holy Roman Empire and the burghers of the large towns were growing in wealth and power, usually at the expense of the knights, whose purpose and livelihood as warriors was being eroded by new military technologies and by the increasing use of professional mercenaries to fight wars. In 1522, Franz von Sickingen, a disgruntled knight with his own set of personal grievances, convened a “Brotherly Convention” of fellow knights to formulate a set of reform demands. Drafted by Ulrich von Hutten, Sickingen’s chief lieutenant, these demands called for the abolition of independent princely states, creation of one national government for all German lands, and the secularization of Church principalities and estates. The Knights’ Revolt began when Sickingen, perhaps hoping to vault himself into the ranks of the great princes, led a force of knights in an attack on the archbishop of Trier, who was besieged in his city. Drawing no support from either the princes or the urban burghers, the knights failed to take Trier and Sickingen was killed in 1523, thus ending the uprising and forcing Hutten to flee to Basel.

Further Information Bartlett, Kenneth R., and Margaret McGlynn, eds. Humanism and the Northern Renaissance. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2000. Becker, R.P. A War of Fools: The Letters of Obscure Men—A Study of the Satire and the Satirized. Pieterlen, Switzerland: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 1981. Halkin, Leon E. Erasmus: A Critical Biography. Translated by John Tonkin. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. Holborn, Hajo. Ulrich von Hutten and the German Reformation. Translated by Roland H. Bainton. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1965. Hutten, Ulrich von. Letters of Obscure Men. Translated by Francis Griffin Stokes. Reprint ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.

225

Voices of the Renaissance

Jardine, Lisa. Erasmus, Man of Letters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Vale, Malcolm. A Short History of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

Website Stokes, Francis Griffin, ed. and trans. Epistolae obscurorum virorum: The Latin Text with an English Rendering. London, 1909. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ epistolaeobscuro00huttuoft/page/498/mode/2up.

226

37. “THIS OFFICE OF A MBASSADOR NEVER PLEASED ME” Thomas More’s Letter to Erasmus Describing an English Embassy to Prince Charles of Spain (1516) INTRODUCTION Sir Thomas More, one of the best known and most compelling figures of Tudor England, is today the subject of countless books, plays, and films about his life and thought. The son of a lawyer, More was educated at St. Anthony’s School in London and served as page in the household of Cardinal John Morton, who was chancellor of England under Henry VII. In the late 1490s, More attended Oxford and then studied law. He considered a religious vocation, living for a time in the London Charterhouse of the austere Carthusian religious order. His literary interests led him to join a circle of prominent humanists that included John Colet, William Grocyn, Thomas Linacre, and the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus, whom More befriended in 1499. Foregoing the contemplative life, More began to practice law in about 1501. In 1510, More, who had by then established a thriving law practice, became undersheriff of London. More’s political career began in 1515, when the government sent him to the Netherlands as part of an embassy charged with renegotiating a trade agreement. He joined the royal Council in 1517 and was speaker in the Parliament of 1523. He was active in the work of several royal legal bodies, undertook several diplomatic missions, and was in frequent attendance upon King Henry VIII and his chief advisor Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, performing secretarial duties for both. On Wolsey’s fall from favor in 1529, More succeeded the cardinal as chancellor of England. Reproduced here is a letter from More to Erasmus describing More’s embassy to the Netherlands in 1515–1516.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Sir Thomas More is a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1886, Pope Leo XIII beatified More and Bishop John Fisher, who had also been executed in 1535 for his opposition to the king’s marriage. Pope Pius XI canonized both More and Fisher in 1935, the centenary of their deaths, and declared July 9 to be More’s feast day. In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared More to be the patron saint of statesmen and politicians. 2. More married Jane Colt in 1504. Shortly after Jane’s death in 1511, More, who had four small children, married a wealthy older widow, Alice Middleton More.

227

Voices of the Renaissance

Dame Alice was a formidable presence in the More household, careful with money and unafraid to deal sharply with guests who overstayed their welcome. This may explain the fact that some contemporary accounts depict her as a dull, difficult woman, though other references indicate her husband’s strong affection for her. 3. Margaret More Roper, Sir Thomas More’s eldest daughter, received an excellent humanist education from her father, a fact that later made her a symbol for the radical idea of educating women. The school that More established in his household included his own four children, his wards, his foster daughter and stepdaughter, and the children of other relatives and friends. More’s curriculum included training in Latin, Greek, theology, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, rhetoric, logic, and astronomy. In 1521, Margaret married William Roper, who later wrote a biography of his father-in-law. In her adulthood, Margaret was widely recognized for her intellect and her humanist scholarship, her most famous accomplishment being a translation of a work by Erasmus. After her father’s death, Margaret bribed the executioner for her father’s parboiled head, which she kept until her death in 1544.

Document: Letter to Erasmus Our embassy for this too, as all else which concerneth me, interests you, hath proceeded happily enough, save that the affair was drawn into greater length than I either expected or wished. For, on leaving home, I looked for an absence of hardly two months, but consumed above six on that embassy. Yet a conclusion sufficiently agreeable was the result of this long delay. But seeing the business on which I went brought to an end, and other matters arising one out of the other which appeared the initials of still greater delay (a circumstance never wanting on diplomatic occasions), I wrote to the cardinal for leave to return, and cardinal: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (ca. used, among other friends, the assistance of Pace chiefly on 1474–1530), lord chancellor of England, the occasion, who had not yet left England. On my way was the chief minister to Henry VIII home I met him unexpectedly at Gravelines, and in such a Pace: Richard Pace (ca. 1482–1536) was a hurry that he could hardly stop to greet me. leading English diplomat This office of ambassador never pleased me. Neither is it likely to suit us laymen so well as it doth you ecclesiastics, who either have no wives and children at home, or find them wherever you come. We, when we have been a little while absent, long to be home again on their accounts. And again, when an ecclesiastic sets-out, he may take his whole family whither he will, and maintain them abroad at the expense of kings, when he must have done it at home at his own. But when I am absent I have two families to support, one at home and one abroad. The provision made by the king for those I took with me was sufficiently liberal; yet no regard was had to those who must be left at home, none of whom, you will conceive, I could desire to feel any want during my absence, as you know what a husband, father, and master I wish to be. Lastly, princes can repay such as you without any cost to themselves; but with regard to us, this is not so easy. Nevertheless, on my return, a pension would have been given me by the king (an offer, in point of honour or profit, not to be despised), but I have hitherto declined it, and think I shall continue to do so. For if I accept it, my present situation in this city, which I prefer to a higher one, must either be relinquished, or, which I should be very 228

“This Office of Ambassador Never Pleased Me”

much against, be held with some dissatisfaction to our citizens; with whom and their prince, should any question arise as to their privileges (which sometimes occurs), they would think me less true to their cause because I was indebted to the king for my pension. For the rest, some occurrences in my embassy gave me peculiar delight. And first, my long and constant interTonstall: Cuthbert Tunstall (1474–1559) was course with Tonstall; than whom no man is better informed bishop of Durham in every elegant attainment, no man more correct in his Busleiden: Hieronymus van Busleyden (ca. conduct or agreeable in his conversation. Then I formed 1470–1517) was a Dutch humanist scholar a friendship with Busleiden, whose fortune gave him to and friend of both More and Erasmus treat me magnificently, and his goodness, courteously. The AEgidius of Antwerp: Peter Giles (1486– elegance of his house, his excellent domestic economy, the 1533), whose name was sometimes monuments of antiquity he possesses (in which you know Latinized as Petrus Ægidius, was a I take peculiar delight), lastly, his exquisite library, and his humanist writer, printer, and secretary to still more eloquent breast, completely astonished me. But in the city of Antwerp the whole of my peregrination, nothing was more agreeable to me than the company of your friend AEgidius of Antwerp; a man so learned, merry, modest, and truly friendly, that may I perish if I would not freely give a good part of my property only to enjoy constantly his intercourse. Source: Cayley, Arthur, ed. Memoirs of Sir Thomas More. Vol. 1. London: Published by Cadell and Davis, 1808, pp. 67–69.

AFTERMATH More’s literary career began in about 1505, when he translated a Latin biography of the Italian humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (see Section 12). In 1511, Erasmus dedicated his immensely popular In Praise of Folly to More, whose reputation as a scholar was growing rapidly in both England and Europe. In about 1513, More wrote Latin and English versions of his History of King Richard III, which later influenced William Shakespeare’s classic play Richard III. More published Utopia (see the sidebar), his most famous and influential work, in 1516, and his popular Latin Epigrams in 1518. After 1520, More’s literary output declined and his chief writings were attacks on the writings of Martin Luther and other reformers. In 1521, More assisted Henry VIII in completing his treatise defending the seven sacraments. In the late 1520s and early 1530s, More, who was increasingly concerned with the spread of heresy, wrote a series of harsh responses to the works of various Protestant and anticlerical writers. More could not support the annulment of the king’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon because achieving it threatened the independence of the Church. While serving as chancellor, he made no show of opposition, but he grew increasingly uncomfortable with the king’s religious policies. In May 1532, More resigned the chancellorship. He withdrew from public life and made no statement on Crown religious policy, but his international reputation made his silence seem a deafening condemnation of the king’s religious proceedings. In 1533, he refused to attend Anne Boleyn’s coronation, and was committed to the Tower of London in April 1534. During his imprisonment, More wrote a series of contemplations on hardship and consolation known as the Tower Works. The most important of these are A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation and De Tristitia Christi (The Sadness of Christ). When brought to trial on July 1, 1535, More was condemned for treason and beheaded on July 6, 1535. 229

Voices of the Renaissance

ASK YOURSELF 1. What does More say about being part of an embassy? What is the purpose of the embassy? Does he have colleagues? Does More like the conduct of diplomacy? Why or why not? 2. What is the tone of More’s letter? Is it a diplomatic report or a chatty letter updating a friend on recent events? Who is Busleiden and what does More say about him. Does the letter show More’s discomfort with being out in the political world? Do you think he would rather be at his study and writing then being a royal councillor and courtier?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access print or online copies of Utopia, the History of King Richard III, or any other of More’s works and read selections from them. Like many of More’s projects, the History of King Richard III was left unfinished. If you read Utopia, write a summary of what you think More was trying to say in the work. If you read the History, what is More’s view of King Richard III? 2. View the 1966 move A Man for All Seasons, which depicts the last years of More’s life. Paul Scofield, who played More in the film, won an Academy Award for his performance. The film is based on a play by Robert Bolt, which, in turn, is based on the biography of More by his son-in-law, William Roper. You could also view the 1988 made-for-television version of A Man for All Seasons starring Charlton Heston as More. 3. Access a print or online copy of William Roper’s The Life of Sir Thomas More, written in about 1557, and read a passage from it. The best print copy of Roper is in Sylvester and Harding’s Two Early Tudor Lives (1975).

UTOPIA Published in 1516, Utopia by Sir Thomas More is one of the most influential and popular literary works of the 16th century. The book contains More’s account of society on Utopia, a fictional island in the Southern Hemisphere of the New World. Derived from the Greek ou topos, meaning “nowhere,” the book’s title became a common noun for any idealized society or system of law and government, while the adjective “utopian” came to describe the new literary form the book initiated. Utopian literature today encompasses works that describe or advocate a fictional ideal society or any scheme for achieving such a society. More wrote much of Utopia in the Netherlands in 1515–1516 while serving on the diplomatic embassy described in his letter to Erasmus. The rest of the Latin work was completed in London in 1516. More sent the manuscript to Erasmus, who oversaw publication of the book in Louvain. By 1524, four new Latin editions and a German translation had appeared; the first English edition appeared in 1551, well after More’s death. Since the mid-16th century, Utopia has gone through countless new editions and has generated a wealth of scholarly studies of its meaning. It has also inspired a host of utopian books and novels, and, as such, is a foundational work for the modern genre of science fiction. Humorous and ironic, Utopia explores basic questions about the purpose and structure of human society, the nature of political power, the problem of injustice, and the likelihood of a human community being organized solely for the common good. It also tackles the problem, much on More’s mind when he wrote his letter to Erasmus in 1516, of whether or how a godly man can serve a worldly prince.

230

“This Office of Ambassador Never Pleased Me”

Further Information Ackroyd, Peter. The Life of Thomas More. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Baker-Smith, Dominic. More’s “Utopia.” London: HarperCollins Academic, 1991. Fox, Alistair. Thomas More. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982. Guy, John. Thomas More. London: Arnold, 2000. Halkin, Leon E. Erasmus: A Critical Biography. Translated by John Tonkin. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. Hexter, J.H. More’s Utopia: The Biography of an Idea. Reprint ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishers, 1976. Jardine, Lisa. Erasmus, Man of Letters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Marius, Richard. Thomas More. New York: Vintage, 1985. More, Sir Thomas. Utopia. Edited by George M. Logan and Robert M. Adams. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. More, Sir Thomas. The Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More. Edited by Richard S. Sylvester and Clarence H. Miller. 15 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1963–1997. Rogers, Elizabeth Frances, ed. St. Thomas More: Selected Letters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967. Roper, William. “The Life of Sir Thomas More.” In Richard S. Sylvester and Davis P. Harding, eds. Two Early Tudor Lives. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1975, pp. 195–254. Vale, Malcolm. A Short History of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

231

This page intentionally left blank

38. “BOYS A RE NATURALLY A PES; THEY IMITATE EVERYTHING” Excerpts From the De Tradendis Disciplinis (1531), a Treatise on Education by Juan Luis Vives INTRODUCTION Born in Valencia, Spain, in 1492 to Jewish parents recently converted to Catholicism, Juan Luís Vives undertook the study of logic at the University of Paris in 1509. His dissatisfaction with the professors and curriculum there led him to later ridicule both in his Adversus Pseudodialecticos, [Against the Pretended Dialecticians] a work that brought him to the attention of the famous English humanist, Sir Thomas More (see Section 37). Vives left Paris without a degree in 1512 and moved to Bruges to tutor the children of a Jewish merchant exiled from Spain. In 1516, Vives met the renowned Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (see Section 32), who helped him secure employment with the archbishop of Toledo in Louvain. In 1520, he received permission to teach at the University of Louvain, and also began, at the request of Erasmus, a commentary on St. Augustine’s De Civitate Dei (The City of God). The archbishop’s death in 1521 left Vives without a patron and led him to write to More about employment in England. A meeting with More at Bruges in September led, in 1523, to the offer of a lectureship in Greek at the new Oxford foundation, Cardinal College. Commissioned by Henry VIII’s Spanish wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon, to write a treatise on the education of women, Vives produced De Institutione Feminae Christanae (The Education of a Christian Woman), which was completed in 1523 (see the sidebar). Both De Institutione and an earlier work, De Ratione Studii Puerilis (On the Right Method of Instruction for Children), were intended to guide the education of Catherine’s daughter Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I. In 1531, Vives published another influential work on education, the three-part treatise De disciplinis (On the Disciplines of Knowledge). Reproduced here is an excerpt from the second part entitled De tradendis disciplinis (The Teaching of Disciplines).

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. In 1526, Vives wrote the treatise De subventione pauperum (On Assistance to the Poor), which suggested ways of offering assistance to the growing body of urban poor. In the Middle Ages, poor relief was provided by the Church, but, by the 16th century, city governments began to supplement the Church’s efforts by offering

233

Voices of the Renaissance

cheap or free food distributions to the poor within their jurisdictions. In his treatise, Vives, who thought poor relief should be a State rather than a Church concern, recommended that town governments gather funds from voluntary donations to provide cash subsidies to those people who could not be put to work. He also suggested that abandoned children—boys and girls—be placed in well-run state orphanages that provided their charges with good educations, which Vives saw as the best means of overcoming poverty. 2. Vives, in a chapter from his De Anima et Vita (On the Soul and Life), touched upon the concept of memory, offering some surprisingly modern ideas on the subject. He believed that the strength of a memory was tied to the strength of the emotion surrounding the experience, and that imagination played a key role in the making of memories, especially for children. He believed that children learned more quickly than adults because their minds were less cluttered with daily concerns. He also believed that memories could exist in the subconscious for years. In his own life, he recalled that as a child he ate cherries once when he had a fever; as an adult, he found that he could not eat cherries without feeling ill, a reflection of his childhood memory that he found fascinating.

Document: Excerpts from De Tradendis Disciplinis Chapter II: The Ideal School When a boy is brought to school by his father, let it be made clear to the father that learning ought not to be sought as a means of making an easy living, for that would be a reward unworthy of such extraordinary labour. If teachers gave expression to this opinion actually in their lives, others would readily believe it to be true. If the contrary were the case, what hope would a father have of practical wisdom and piety in his son, if he saw that the teacher, i.e., the example set to his son, was imprudent or wicked? It should be made known that the end of learning is that the boy may become wise and therefore better. Let the boy remain one or two months in the preparatory school that his disposition may be investigated. Four times a year let the masters meet in some place apart where they may discuss together the natures of their pupils and consult about them. And let them apply each boy to that study for which he seems most fit. . . . Let the gratuitous teacher do his work as thoroughly as the man who is paid, whether he be a rhetorician, philosopher or theologian. Let him as a Christian do what the heathen did, and not allow a boy to lose time and money by having him as a teacher when the pupil is unable to profit by instruction, Helicon: mountain in east central Greece lest nothing else should be looked for in learning but disthat was celebrated in Greek mythology grace and a seed-plot of errors, and the scholar, as it were, Parnassus: mountain of Central Greece that have the wild beast aroused in him and be thus sent out stands above the city of Delphi, where was as a source of injury into the state. If these precautions be located the Oracle of Delphi; both the taken, then the unlearned will honour the learned as if they Oracle and the mountain were associated were gods fallen down from heaven, and their academies as with the Greek god, Apollo holy places and full of sacred awe, inhabited by a divinity, as were formerly Helicon and Parnassus. How shameful it

234

“Boys Are Naturally Apes; They Imitate Everything”

will appear to the thinking man that our characters and our ignorance should be laughed at and despised by the unlearned, and, what is the most serious, that this treatment should not be undeserved? For indeed it is not to be tolerated that husbandmen, shoemakers and carpenters, and men of the lowest class should generally be more temperate in their dispositions than the very learned men. To a school of the right kind, not only should boys be brought, but even old men, driven hither and thither in a great tempest of ignorance and vice, should betake themselves to it as it were to a haven. In short, let all be attracted by a certain majesty and authority, and let the teacher accomplish more among his pupils by inspiring trust and veneration than by blows and threats. Admiration of the intellects and characters of the teachers will be the greatest stimulus to study, and a powerful influence in producing obedience. This is a true academy, namely, an association and harmony of men equally good as learned, met together to confer the same blessings on all those who come there for the sake of learning. For it is not enough for one or two in that academy to be good, if there are many bad who are marked by plotting and by audacity. For the bad will overcome the good, as we often see it happen. Pupils will flock over to the teacher who pampers them the most. Is the question asked: Are boys better educated at home or in public institutions? If there be any such academy as I have depicted, it would certainly be best to place boys there from their infancy, where they might at once imbibe the best morals, and evil behavior would be to them strange Plato: Plato (ca. 428–ca. 347 BCE) was and detestable, as he who was educated by Plato, when he an Athenian philosopher of the Greek saw his father angry, wondered very much and affirmed that Classical Period he had seen no such offence in Plato, But as academies are now, the question requires more consideration than one might think, For we must consult the interests of the home, the fatherland, and beyond it. Above all, boys must be accustomed to delight in good things and to love them, and to be grieved at evil things and to detest them; yet their ideas (of good and evil) should be suited to their mental grasp, for they cannot at once apprehend the highest and absolute. The fact is that habit is most pleasant, and opinions received by us as children follow us very far on the road of our lives, and so much the more if they have been fixed and confirmed in the earliest age by conduct. In this respect boys are naturally apes; they imitate everything and always, especially those whom they consider worthy of imitation on account of their authority, or because of the faith they place in them, such as parents, nurses, masters and schoolfellows. Hence, we find a corrupt disposition in many pupils from whom it ought to have been swept away, certainly in those whom I have just mentioned. Source: Watson, Foster, trans. Vives: On Education: A Translation of the De Tradendis Disciplinis of Juan Luis Vives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1913, pp. 62–71.

AFTERMATH By 1525, as English foreign policy shifted from friendship with Spain to alliance with France, official support for Vives waned, but he continued as a member of the queen’s suite at the English court. The king also continued Vives’ pension and even recruited him to assist in the effort to draft a rebuttal to Martin Luther’s attack on the king’s anti-Lutheran

235

Voices of the Renaissance

treatise, Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (The Defense of the Seven Sacraments) (1521). In October 1527, the king, at Queen Catherine’s request, named Vives as Princess Mary’s tutor. By 1528, as the king’s suit to annul his marriage to Catherine became public, Vives’ close association with the queen and her daughter cost him six weeks of house arrest. Sometime in 1528, he left England on Catherine’s advice but returned at the end of the year as a member of the papal delegation sent to try the annulment case. When the queen rejected his advice to take no part in the trial, Vives left England for good in 1529. He returned to Bruges, where he replaced his lost English pension with an imperial one and spent his last years writing and publishing some of his most important works, including De Concordia et Discordia in Humano Genere, which was dedicated to Emperor Charles V; De Anima et Vita, a study of human nature; Linguae Latinae exercitation, a set of dialogues for learning Latin; and De Veritate Fidei Christianae, a treatise on religion. Now recognized as one of the most prominent Spanish humanists, Vives remained in Bruges for the rest of his life, becoming an advisor to the countess of Nassau in 1537. He died in the city in May 1540.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What are Vives’ prescriptions for the ideal school? What does Vives say about learning at home versus learning in a school outside the home? What does Vives say about the discipline of students? Is Vives only concerned in this excerpt with the education of boys, or does he make some mention of educating girls as well? 2. What role does religion play in the ideal school? What is particularly humanist about the school Vives is describing? Does Vives take into account the age of the student? Should education be geared to what the student can handle at his particular stage of development?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of The Education of a Christian Woman and read several passages from the treatise. What does Vives say is the purpose of education for women? What roles does Vives think are proper for women? What sounds modern about the treatise to you? What do you think reflects the prevailing attitudes of the 16th century? 2. Access a print or online edition of De tradendis disciplinis and read additional passages from the work. What does Vives say is the purpose of education for boys? What does Vives say about how to administer discipline in school? What subjects does Vives say should be taught to all students? 3. Conduct online research on Queen Mary I of England, who, as a girl, was tutored by Vives according to an educational program he devised. How much of an influence do you think Vives had on the queen? Was Mary considered well educated by later humanists, or did later differences in religion split humanists into antagonistic Protestant and Catholic communities?

236

“Boys Are Naturally Apes; They Imitate Everything”

THE EDUCATION OF A CHRISTIAN WOMAN Written in Latin in 1523 and published as De Institutione Feminae Christianae, Juan Luis Vives’ treatise on the education of women was translated into English by the humanist scholar Richard Hyrde and published in 1529 as The Education [or Instruction] of a Christian Woman. Vives dedicated the treatise to Queen Catherine of Aragon, who had earlier commissioned Vives to write an educational program for her daughter Princess Mary, which was entitled De ratione studii puerilis (On the Right Method of Instruction for Children). De Institutione followed up that work with a treatment of education for women of all ages. The treatise expressed advanced views on the subject, though it did not advocate complete educational equality between the sexes. Vives supported education for women of all classes, but he did not advise women to defy the limits placed upon them by society—they should not seek a university education nor take on any public or professional role. He repeatedly asserted that the preeminent virtue for women is chastity, thus implicitly upholding the 16thcentury notions of the essential inferiority of women. Vives did, however, recognize the intelligence of women and their aptitude for learning, and he prescribed a rigorous curriculum for female education, including training in Latin, philosophy, and theology. Divided into three parts covering unmarried women, married women, and widows, the treatise was lauded by Sir Thomas More, Desiderius Erasmus, and other English and continental humanists, and was well received and widely used in both Catholic and Protestant communities in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Further Information Grafton, Anthony, and Lisa Jardine. From Humanism to the Humanities: Education and the Liberal Arts in Fifteenth and Sixteenth-Century Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986. Kallendorf, Craig, ed. and trans. Humanist Educational Treatises. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. Noreña, Carlos G. Juan Luis Vives. The Hague: Matinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1970. Vives, Juan Luis. The Education of a Christian Woman: A Sixteenth-Century Manual. Translated by Charles Fantazzi. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Watson, Foster, trans. Vives, On Education: A Translation of the De Tradendis Disciplinis of Juan Luis Vives. Reprint ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Website Watson, Foster, trans. Vives, On Education: A Translation of the De Tradendis Disciplinis of Juan Luis Vives. Cambridge, 1913. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ vivesoneducation00viveuoft.

237

This page intentionally left blank

39. “ELEVEN HUNDRED HIDES OF BROWN COWS” Excerpts From François Rabelais’s Novel Gargantua (1534) INTRODUCTION Born in 1483 in Chinon in the Loire Valley of France, François Rabelais was the son of an attorney. In about 1510, he entered a monastery belonging to the Order of Observantine Franciscans, where he stayed until 1524. During this period, he learned Greek and undertook translations of various classical texts. Being associated with the growing reform movement, the study of Greek was often considered heretical by the Church of the time and Rabelais thought it prudent to transfer to as less strict religious order. He therefore joined a Benedictine house, where he remained for about two years. In 1526, he abandoned the monastic life entirely and moved to Paris to study medicine. By 1530, he was in Montpellier, where he lectured on the ancient Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen and published an edited volume of his medical treatises. In 1532, he moved to Lyon and published Pantagruel, his first novel. Having received papal absolution for abandoning the monastic life, Rabelais travelled to Rome in 1534 and 1535 as secretary and physician to Cardinal Jean du Bellay, a noted French diplomat. In about 1535, Rabelais published his second novel, Gargantua, which was in effect a prequel to Pantagruel. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Rabelais’ second novel Gargantua.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. Pantagruel, subtitled The Horrible and Terrifying Deeds and Words of the Very Renowned Pantagruel King of the Dipsodes, tells the story of the giant Pantagruel, relating his genealogy, childhood, education, and conquest of the Dipsodes. Gargantua describes the life and deeds of Pantagruel’s giant father. Though published later, Gargantua is earlier in time than Pantagruel in terms of the story arc of the series of novels. The Third Book and the Fourth Book describe events in the life of Panurge, a friend of Pantagruel, and a long sea voyage undertaken by Pantagruel and his companions. 2. Pantagruelism (Pantagruélisme) is the comic vision that runs through Rabelias’ series of novels. For Rabelais, the term meant “living in good cheer”; in literary terms, Pantagruelism describes the use of buffoonery and coarse or cynical humor

239

Voices of the Renaissance

to disguise the underlying satire of serious issues and events. In the 16th century, some saw this writing style as vulgar and irreligious burlesque. Some still see it that way today, though most modern scholars consider Rabelais to have been a Christian humanist interested in criticizing and reforming the major social and religious abuses of his time.

Document: Excerpts from Gargantua Chapter 1.VIII.—How they apparelled Gargantua Being of this age, his father ordained to have clothes made to him in his own livery, which was white and blue. To work then went the tailors, and with great expedition were those clothes made, cut, and sewed, according to the fashion that was then in request. I find by the ancient records or panlivery: distinct clothing worn by servants and carts, to be seen in the chamber of accounts, or court of the retainers of nobles and persons of rank exchequer at Montsoreau, that he was accoutred in manpancarts: placards or signs ner as followeth. To make him every shirt of his were taken ells: historical units of measure based up nine hundred ells of Chasteleraud linen, and two hunoriginally on the length of the arm dred for the gussets, in manner of cushions, which they put or forearm; the English ell was later under his armpits. His shirt was not gathered nor plaited, standardized to 45 inches for the plaiting of shirts was not found out till the seamgussets: a piece of material sewn into a stresses (when the point of their needle . . . was broken) garment to strengthen or enlarge a part of began to work and occupy with the tail. There were taken it, such as the collar of a shirt or the crotch up for his doublet, eight hundred and thirteen ells of white of an undergarment satin, and for his points fifteen hundred and nine dogs’ doublet: a man’s short close-fitting padded skins and a half. Then was it that men began to tie their jacket breeches to their doublets, and not their doublets to their breeches: short trousers fastened just below breeches. . . . the knee For his breeches were taken up eleven hundred and five chamfered: cut away at right angles to create ells and a third of white broadcloth. They were cut in the a symmetrical sloping edge form of pillars, chamfered, channelled and pinked behind pinked: to cut with a pinking shears for a that they might not over-heat his reins: and were, within the perforated decorative pattern panes, puffed out with the lining of as much blue damask as codpiece: a pouch, especially a conspicuous was needful: and remark, that he had very good leg-harness, or decorative one, attached to a man’s proportionable to the rest of his stature. breeches or hose to cover the genitals For his codpiece were used sixteen ells and a quarter of purl: a knitting stitch made by putting the the same cloth, and it was fashioned on the top like unto a needle through the front of the stitch from triumphant arch, most gallantly fastened with two enamright to left elled clasps, in each of which was set a great emerald, as big as an orange . . . it hath an erective virtue and comfortative of the natural member. The exiture, outjecting or outstanding, of his codpiece was of the length of a yard, jagged and pinked, and withal bagging, and strutting out with the blue damask lining, after the manner of his breeches. But had you seen the fair embroidery of the small needlework purl, and the curiously interlaced knots, by the goldsmith’s art set out and trimmed with rich diamonds, precious rubies, fine

240

“Eleven Hundred Hides of Brown Cows”

turquoises, costly emeralds, and Persian pearls, you would have compared it to a fair cornucopia, or horn of abundance, such as you see in antiques. . . . And, like to that horn of abundance, it was still gallant, succulent, droppy, sappy, pithy, lively, always flourishing, always fructifying, full of juice, full of flower, full of fruit, and all manner of delight. I avow God, it would have done one good to have seen him, but I will tell you more of him in the book which I have made of the dignity of codpieces. One thing I will tell you, that as it was both long and large, so was it well furnished and victualled within, nothing like unto the hypocritical codpieces of some fond wooers and wench-courtiers, which are stuffed only with wind, to the great prejudice of the female sex. For his shoes were taken up four hundred and six ells of blue crimson-velvet, and were very neatly cut by parallel lines, joined in uniform cylinders. For the soling of them were made use of eleven hundred hides of brown cows. . . . For his coat were taken up eighteen hundred ells of blue velvet, dyed in grain, embroidered in its borders with fair gilliflowers, in the middle decked with silver purl, intergilliflowers: various types of colorful, mixed with plates of gold and store of pearls, hereby showfragrant flowers, such as carnations or ing that in his time he would prove an especial good fellow stock and singular whipcan. whipcan: hard drinker His girdle was made of three hundred ells and a half of silken serge, half white and half blue, if I mistake it not. His sword was not of Valentia, nor his dagger of Saragossa . . . but he had a fair sword made of wood, and the dagger of boiled leather, as well painted and gilded as any man could wish. . . . For his gown were employed nine thousand six hundred ells, wanting two-thirds, of blue velvet, as before, all so diagonally purled, that by true perspective issued thence an unnamed colour, like that you see in the necks of turtle-doves or turkey-cocks, which wonderfully rejoiced the eyes of the beholders. For his bonnet or cap were taken up three hundred, two ells and a quarter of white velvet, and the form thereof was wide and round, of the bigness of his head. . . . For his plume, he wore a fair great blue feather . . . very prettily hanging down over his right ear. For the jewel or brooch which in his cap he carried, he had in a cake of gold, weighing three score and eight marks, a fair piece enamelled, wherein was portrayed a man’s body with two heads, looking towards one another, four arms, four feet, two arses. . . . To wear about his neck, he had a golden chain, weighing twenty-five thousand and sixty-three marks of gold, the links thereof being made after the manner of great berries, amongst which were set in work green jaspers engraven and cut dragon-like, all environed with beams and sparks. . . . For his gloves were put in work sixteen otters’ skins, and three of the loupgarous, or men-eating wolves, for the bordering of them: and of this stuff were they made. . . . As for the rings which his father would have him to wear, to renew the ancient mark of nobility, he had on the forefinger of his left hand a carbuncle as big as an ostrich’s egg, enchased very daintily in gold. . . . Upon the middle finger of the same hand he had a ring made of four metals together, of the strangest fashion that ever was seen; so that the steel did not crash against the gold, nor the silver crush the copper. Source: Rabelais, François. The Works of Rabelais. Translated by Gustav Doré. Derby: Printed at the Moray Press, 1894, Bk. I, Chap. 1.VIII.

241

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Published under the pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier, an anagram of François Rabelais, Pantagruel and Gargantua, though both popular with readers, were condemned as obscene in 1543 by the Sorbonne, the theological college of the University of Paris, and in 1545 by the Roman Catholic Church. The unusual shifts in time and the often gross and fantastical characters and settings of the two books, as well as their satirical criticism of monasticism and clerical education, ensured this condemnation, especially in a time of increasing religious polarization. Rabelais published the Third Book (Tiers Livre) in the series of novels under his own name in 1546. This was possible because of the patronage of Marguerite d’Angoulême, to whom the volume was dedicated. The sister of King Francis I, Marguerite won for Rabelais a grant of privilege, which afforded the novelist royal protection for his work. Nonetheless, this volume and the subsequent Fourth Book (Quart Live), published in 1552 under the protection of King Henri II, were both condemned by the Sorbonne. In the 1540s, in part to escape academic and clerical censure of his novels, Rabelais travelled about Europe, living for short periods in Turin, Paris, Metz, and Rome. He died in Paris in about 1553. In 1564, more than a decade after Rabelais’ death, a work entitled L’ile sonnante, which comprised a portion of what Rabelais had planned as a Fifth Book (Cinquième Livre), was published.

ASK YOURSELF 1. What is the point that Rabelais is making in this excerpt? Do you enjoy the exaggerations in the passage? Do you like the colloquial language? This passage is, of course, an English translation, but one reason for the popularity of the original, and for its unpopularity among humanist scholars, was that it was written in a familiar colloquial French, rather than in more formal French or in academic Latin. Does this excerpt make you want to read more of the novel? 2. What is the tone of the excerpt? Is this passage humorous? Would you classify this passage as part of a work of history, a work of fantasy, or a work of comedy? Or would you call it something else entirely?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Pantagruel or Gargantua and read portions of the selected work. Or read passages from both works. Do you find the novels humorous? Do you find them vulgar or nonsensical? Do you perceive the institutions or conditions being satirized? 2. Conduct online research on both 16th-century and modern analyses of the novels of Rabelais. Some contemporaries thought Rabelais was an atheist. The Protestant reformer John Calvin approved Rabelais’ attacks on Catholic doctrines and institutions, but feared that the mocking tone of his satire could bring what he considered to be true Christian doctrines into disrepute. In later periods, James Joyce mentioned Rabelais in Ulysses; George Orwell thought Rabelais perverse and morbid; and Milan Kundera, the 21st-century Czech writer, thought him to be, along with Miguel de Cervantes, a central figure in the development of the modern novel. After completing your research, write a brief essay describing your view of Rabelais.

242

“Eleven Hundred Hides of Brown Cows”

ABBEY OF THÉLÈME In his second novel, Gargantua, published in 1534 or early 1535, François Rabelais, following the conceit of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) (see sidebar, Section 37), described an ideal society situated in the country of Thélème. Derived from a Greek root verb meaning “to will, want, or purpose,” Thélème, in Rebelais’ novel, is a territory that the title character Gargantua bestows upon a monk in his entourage. The monk is to build in Thélème a monastery to suit his liking. Before doing so, the monk asks Gargantua to devise rules for the community. Gargantua then declares that the Abbey of Thélème, unlike conventional abbeys, should have no walls built around it. He also prohibits any clocks, dials, or bells within the community. There should be nothing for telling time; all affairs within the abbey “should be conducted according to chance and opportunity.” For the counting of hours and the regulation of life by the sound of bells was, according to Gargantua, a waste of time; better to manage one’s life according to “the promptings of reason and good sense.” Populated by both men and women, the abbey offered its residents not vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, but the opportunity to marry, to accumulate wealth, and to leave the abbey whenever they desired. Fully endowed by Gargantua, the Abbey of Thélème provided to those within it a life of luxury and absolute freedom. Indeed, the only rule of the monastery was “Do What You Will” (all quotes taken from Rabelais, 1955, 150).

Further Information Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World. Translated by Hélène Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. Bowen, Barbara C. Enter Rabelais, Laughing. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1998. Febvre, Lucien. The Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century: The Religion of Rabelais. Translated by Beatrice Gottlieb. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. Haglund, Timothy. Rabelais’s Contempt for Fortune: Pantagruelism, Politics, and Philosophy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018. O’Brien, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Rabelais. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Rabelais, François. Gargantua. Translated by J.M. Cohen. London: Penguin Books, 1955. Rabelais. François. Gargantua and Pantagruel. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006.

Website Page, Curtis Hidden, ed. Rabelais: Five Books of the Lives, Heroick Deeds, and Sayings of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart and Peter Motteux. New York, 1905. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/rabelais00rabegoog/page/n12/ mode/2up.

243

This page intentionally left blank

40. “I DO NOT GRAPPLE WITH THEM” Excerpts From Michel de Montaigne’s “Essay on Education” (1580) INTRODUCTION Born in Gascony in southwestern France in 1533, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was the great-grandson of a successful merchant who purchased the family estate, the Château de Montaigne, in 1477, thus becoming the lord of Montaigne. Michel de Montaigne’s father, a soldier and former mayor of Bordeaux, insisted that his son be given a humanist education, hiring only servants who could speak Latin and ordering them to use only that language when talking to the boy. In 1539, Montaigne entered the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux, a highly regarded boarding school. Having proceeded to a study of the law in about 1546, Montaigne won appointment as a counselor of the Parlement of Périgord, a regional law court, in 1557. In 1558, he held the same position with the Parlement of Bordeaux. A courtier in the French royal court from 1561 to 1563, he served in the entourage of King Charles IX at the siege of Rouen in 1562. On the death of his father in 1568, Montaigne inherited the family title and estate, to which he returned in 1570. In about 1571, Montaigne withdrew to a tower of the Château Montaigne, which he called his “citadel,” proclaiming his intention to remain there for the rest of his life engaged in reading, writing, and contemplation. It was here that he wrote his Essais, which came eventually to comprise three volumes. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Montaigne’s “Essay on Education,” which was published in the first volume of the Essais in 1580.

KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ 1. By Montaigne’s time, his family was wealthy and had been part of the minor aristocracy of France for several generations, but the name Eyquem is thought to have had Jewish roots. The family may have been Iberian Marranos—Jews of Spain or Portugal who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages. 2. Montaigne’s library in the citadel, where he intended to spend his last years reading and writing contained an extensive library of over 1,500 volumes. The original Château de Montaigne no longer exists, but the tower in which Montaigne secluded himself still stands and is largely unchanged since the 16th century.

245

Voices of the Renaissance

3. Common themes of Montaigne’s essays include friendship; the value of good conversation; the human fear of death, especially from disease; and religious uncertainty. Although living in a time of intense religious civil war in France, Montaigne exhibited a broadly tolerant attitude in his essays. He, for instance, condemned the burning of witches, the Spanish mistreatment of the indigenous peoples in their American colonies, and the thoughtless denunciation of the customs and practices of societies about which one has little or no understanding (see the sidebar).

Document: Excerpts from the “Essay on Education” Chapter XXV—of the Education of Children I never seriously settled myself to the reading of any book of solid learning but Plutarch and Seneca; and there, like the Danaides, I eternally fill, and it as constantly runs out; something of which drops upon this paper, but little or nothing stays with me. HisPlutarch: Plutarch (46–ca. 119 CE) was a tory is my particular game as to matter of reading, or else prominent Greek philosopher, biographer, poetry, for which I have particular kindness and esteem: and essayist for, as Cleanthes said, as the voice, forced through the Seneca: Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE–65 narrow passage of a trumpet, comes out more forcible CE) was a Roman Stoic philosopher and shrill: so, methinks, a sentence pressed within the Danaides: in Greek mythology, they were harmony of verse darts out more briskly upon the underthe 50 daughters of Danaus; for killing standing, and strikes my ear and apprehension with a their husbands, they were condemned to smarter and more pleasing effect. As to the natural parts carry water in sieves, thus they have come I have, of which this is the essay, I find them to bow to represent the futility of continuously under the burden; my fancy and judgment do but grope performing a task that cannot be in the dark, tripping and stumbling in the way; and when completed I have gone as far as I can, I am in no degree satisfied; Cleanthes: Cleanthes of Assos (ca. 330–ca. I discover still a new and greater extent of land before 230 BCE) was a Greek Stoic philosopher me, with a troubled and imperfect sight and wrapped up in clouds, that I am not able to penetrate. And taking upon me to write indifferently of whatever comes into my head, and therein making use of nothing but my own proper and natural means, if it befall me, as oft-times it does, accidentally to meet in any good author, the same heads and commonplaces upon which I have attempted to write (as I did but just now in Plutarch’s “Discourse of the Force of Imagination”), to see myself so weak and so forlorn, so heavy and so flat, in comparison of those better writers, I at once pity or despise myself. Yet do I please myself with this, that my opinions have often the honour and good fortune to jump with theirs, and that I go in the same path, though at a very great distance, and can say, “Ah, that is so.” I am farther satisfied to find that I have a quality, which everyone is not blessed withal, which is, to discern the vast difference between

246

“I Do Not Grapple with Them”

them and me; and notwithstanding all that, suffer my own inventions, low and feeble as they are, to run on in their career, without mending or plastering up the defects that this comparison has laid open to my own view. And, in plain truth, a man had need of a good strong back to keep pace with these people. The indiscreet scribblers of our times, who, amongst their laborious nothings, insert whole sections and pages out of ancient authors, with a design, by that means, to illustrate their own writings, do quite contrary; for this infinite dissimilitude of ornaments renders the complexion of their own compositions so sallow and deformed, that they lose much more than they get. . . . I happened the other day upon this piece of fortune; I was reading a French book, where after I had a long time run dreaming over a great many words, so dull, so insipid, so void of all wit or common sense, that indeed they were only French words: after a long and tedious travel, I came at last to meet with a piece that was lofty, rich, and elevated to the very clouds; of which, had I found either the declivity easy or the ascent gradual, there had been some excuse; but it was so perpendicular a precipice, and so wholly cut off from the rest of the work, that by the first six words, I found myself flying into the other world, and thence discovered the vale whence I came so deep and low, that I have never had since the heart to descend into it any more. If I should set out one of my discourses with such rich spoils as these, it would but too evidently manifest the imperfection of my own writing. To reprehend the fault in others that I am guilty of myself, appears to me no more unreasonable, than to condemn, as I often do, those of others in myself: they are to be everywhere reproved, and ought to have no sanctuary allowed them. I know very well how audaciously I myself, at every turn, attempt to equal myself to my thefts, and to make my temerarious: reckless, rash style go hand in hand with them, not without a temerarious hope of deceiving the eyes of my reader from discerning the difference; but withal it is as much by the benefit of my application, that I hope to do it, as by that of my invention or any force of my own. Besides, I do not offer to contend with the whole body of these champions, nor hand to hand with anyone of them: ‘tis only by flights and little light attempts that I engage them; I do not grapple with them, but try their strength only, and never engage so far as I make a show to do. If I could hold them in play, I were a brave fellow; for I never attack them; but where they are most sinewy and strong. To cover a man’s self (as I have seen some do) with another man’s armour, so as not to discover so much as his fingers’ ends; to carry on a design (as it is not hard for a man that has anything of a scholar in him, in an ordinary subject to do) under old inventions patched up here and there with his own trumpery, and then to endeavour to conceal the theft, and to make it pass for his own, is first injustice and meanness of spirit in those who do it, who having nothing in them of their own fit to procure them a reputation, endeavour to do it by attempting to impose things upon the world in their own name, which they have no manner of title to; and next, a ridiculous folly to content themselves with acquiring the ignorant approbation of the vulgar by such a pitiful cheat, at the price at the same time of degrading themselves in the eyes of men of understanding, who turn up their noses at all this borrowed incrustation, yet whose praise alone is worth the having. . . . Source: Hazlitt, William Carew, ed. The Essays of Michel de Montaigne. Translated by Charles Cotton. New York: A.L. Burt, 1877.

247

Voices of the Renaissance

AFTERMATH Montaigne’s retirement to the citadel proved to be intermittent. In 1580–1581, he took an extended journey through France, Switzerland, southern Germany, and Italy, where he visited Venice and Rome. From 1581 to 1585, he served as mayor of Bordeaux, and in the late 1580s, at the height of the French Wars of Religion, he undertook a number of diplomatic missions for King Henri III and for the king’s Protestant heir Henri of Navarre, the future King Henri IV. Montaigne published his first two volumes of the Essais in 1580, with a revised edition of the work appearing in 1582. The third volume was part of an enlarged and further revised edition of the Essais that was published in Paris in 1588. A final posthumous edition of the Essais, which Montaigne was engaged in revising when he died in 1592, was published in 1595. Widely read and appreciated, Montaigne’s works were highly influential, being read by everyone from Francis Bacon and Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud. The Essais eventually comprised 107 chapters of varying length on a host of topics, both familiar, such as education, and more unusual, such as cannibals (see the sidebar). For Montaigne, his wholly original title for the work, Essais, meant “trial” or “test”—his struggle to come to grips with what he thought of an issue and why. The modern use of essai or essay, meaning a literary genre in which the author gives his or her own thoughts or arguments on a particular issue or topic, is derived from Montaigne, who is thus considered the father of the modern essay.

ASK YOURSELF 1. In a letter to the Comtesse de Gurson, to whom the “Essay on Education” is dedicated, Montaigne said clearly that education is most successful if not accompanied by coercion or harsh disciple. Does this idea come through in this excerpt? What does Montaigne see as the purpose of education? 2. What is the tone of this essay? Does Montaigne seem to pour a lot of his own experience into this essay? Do you find the arguments here compelling? Do you think Montaigne’s ideas on the education of children can be successfully applied today?

TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER 1. Access a print or online edition of Montaigne’s Essais and read two or three of the essays on topics of interest to you. Find essays by other writers who are well known for contributing to the genre, such as George Orwell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Leo Tolstoy, Isaac Asimov, or Rachel Carson. Read selections by these writers and by other essayists who come to your attention and try to develop an understanding of what an essay is and why writers might choose this literary form to express their ideas. 2. Research the essay genre online or in print. Then write your own brief essay on a topic or issue of interest to you. Search YouTube for “How to Write an Essay” and watch one or two of the instructional videos that come up.

248

“I Do Not Grapple with Them”

“OF CANNIBALS” Published in 1580 in the first volume of Michel de Montaigne’s Essais, “Of Cannibals” is today considered one of the earliest written works to express and examine the concept known in the 21st century as cultural relativism. This is the notion that behaviors and beliefs are derived from culture and cannot therefore be validly judged without a proper knowledge and understanding of their cultural context. In the essay, Montaigne writes about the peoples of the New World and their customs and practices as they were related to him by a common fellow who had once been his employee. Montaigne believes the information he received from the man even though the man was uneducated; such simple people, declares Montaigne, are more likely to relate the truth than learned scholars, who have a tendency to embellish and therefore distort the truth. Montaigne then states his thesis—people tend to condemn the unfamiliar customs of others while not recognizing the evils flowing from their own beliefs and customs. To illustrate this, Montaigne describes the customs of the indigenous Brazilians, which include holding defeated enemies in honorable captivity for months before killing them and eating their bodies as a symbolic form of revenge. Although this practice both shocks and disgusts Europeans, Montaigne maintains that this ritual offers the enemies respect and a way to die with dignity and differs sharply from the brutality and torture often shown to prisoners by European armies. Montaigne concludes his essay by describing a meeting he once had with some native Brazilians in Rouen. The Brazilians were appalled by the inequality they observed in European society, wherein princes and nobles lived in great luxury while many common people lived in great poverty.

Further Information Bakewell, Sarah. How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne. New York: Other Press, 2010. Desan, Philippe. Montaigne: A Life. Translated by Steven Rendall and Lisa Neal. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. Desan, Philippe. The Oxford Handbook of Montaigne. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. Montaigne, Michel de. The Complete Works. New York: Everyman’s Library, 2003. Thomas, Charlotte C.S., ed. No Greater Monster nor Miracle than Myself: The Political Philosophy of Michel de Montaigne. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2014.

Website Montaigne, Michel de. The Essays of Montaigne, Complete. Translated by Charles Cotton. Edited by William Carew Hazilitt. London, 1877. Internet Archive. https://ia802307. us.archive.org/18/items/theessaysofmonta03600gut/3600.txt.

249

This page intentionally left blank

A PPENDIX 1: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF IMPORTANT INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN TEXT Listed here are brief biographical sketches of the authors of document selections in this volume as well as of other important figures mentioned in connection with those documents. The first mention of any of these individuals in any numbered document section is highlighted in bold as a cross-reference. Afonso V, King of Portugal (1432–1481): King from 1438 to 1481; he was known as “Africano” for his crusade in North Africa and his capture of Tangier; under the guidance of his uncle, Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal during his reign established trading posts along the African coast and sent voyages of exploration into the Atlantic. Agricola, Rudolphus (born Roelof Huysman) (1443–1485): Dutch writer and translator of classical texts; Agricola was an early Northern European exponent of humanism; his best-known work is De invention dialectica (1479), an attack on medieval scholasticism. Albergati, Niccoló, Cardinal (1373–1443): Served as bishop of Bologna from 1417 and as cardinal from 1426; he conducted various diplomatic missions for the papacy and was a mentor to Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, the future Pope Pius II. Alberti, Leon Battista (1404–1472): Italian humanist writer on the theory of art and architecture, as well as a painter, philosopher, musician, and architect; his most important works are De pictura, an essay on painting, and De re aedificatoria, an influential architectural treatise. Alexander VI, Pope (1431–1503): Pope from August 1492 to August 1503; a Spaniard, Rodrigo de Borja y Borja (Borgia in Italian) is often today considered the most corrupt of Renaissance popes; he excommunicated the reforming Florentine friar Girolamo Savonarola. Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Naples (1396–1458): King of Aragon from 1416 to 1458 and king of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1443 to 1458; he established a magnificent court at Naples and was a great patron of humanist writers, such as Lorenzo Valla. Alighieri, Dante (ca. 1265–1321): Florentine poet, usually known simply as Dante, who championed Tuscan Italian as a literary language and who is considered one of the initiating figures of the Italian Renaissance; he is the author of the Divine Comedy, a long narrative poem that is considered one of the greatest works in Italian and European literature.

251

Appendix 1

Andrew, Duke of Calabria (1327–1345): Hungarian prince who was the husband of Queen Joanna of Naples; his murder led to decades of political strife in Naples. Ariosto, Alfonso (1475–1525): Friend of Baldassare Castiglione, who, acting upon a suggestion from Ariosto, wrote The Book of the Courtier (1528), one of the most popular and influential works of the 16th century; The Book of the Courtier is dedicated to Ariosto. Ariosto, Ludovico (1474–1533): Italian poet and dramatist who spent most of his career in the service of the Este family of Ferrara; his most famous work is the epic play Orlando furioso (1516), which is a work of parody and irony. Averroës (1126–1198): Medieval Islamic philosopher resident in Córdoba, Spain; his commentaries on Aristotle were read by European scholars in Latin translations; refuted by Thomas Aquinas and anathematized by the Church in 1277, his works were widely read by many Italian humanists in the 14th and 15th centuries. Bandello, Matteo (1485–1561): Italian writer best known for his 214 Novelle, a collection of often bawdy tales based on history or folklore; educated in Milan and Pavia, he was also a Dominican friar, a soldier, and a diplomat. Barbirianus, Jacobus (1455–1491): Flemish composer who served as choirmaster at the Church of Our Lady of Antwerp; he wrote musical compositions, most of which are now lost, for the Emperor Maximilian I and the queen of Hungary. Baroncelli, Bernardo (1453–1479): One of the Pazzi conspirators who sought unsuccessfully to overthrow the Medici regime in Florence in 1478; Baroncelli was one of the plotters who slew Giuliano de’ Medici, but Giuliano’s brother Lorenzo de’ Medici escaped and the plot collapsed; Baroncelli fled to Constantinople, but was captured and returned to Florence for execution. Beaufort, Henry, Cardinal-Bishop of Winchester (ca. 1375–1447): Half brother of King Henry IV of England and a cardinal of the Church; Beaufort was one of the most influential politicians in early 15th-century England; he served as chancellor, the Crown’s chief legal officer, under three kings. Beaufort, Joan (d. 1445): Great-granddaughter of Edward III of England; Joan Beaufort married James I, king of Scotland, in 1424; she served briefly as regent for her son James II after her husband’s assassination in 1437. Belleforest, François de (1530–1583): French Renaissance writer, poet, and translator who wrote on a variety of topics and in a variety of genres; he is best known for his novel La Pyrénée, the first pastoral novel—i.e., an idyllic depiction of rural life—in French literature, and for his translation into French of the Novelle of the Italian writer Matteo Bandello. Bembo, Pietro (1470–1547): Venetian writer, poet, and courtier, who wrote a dialogue on the nature of love and a history of Venice, as well as publishing a collection of poems; he appears as a character in Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, where he is cast as the ideal humanist courtier. Benedict XII, Pope (1285–1342): Pope from December 1334 to April 1342; a Frenchman born Jacques Fournier, Benedict was the third pope to reside at Avignon rather than at Rome; he reaffirmed his predecessor’s condemnation of Marsilius of Padua as a heretic for the views he expressed in the treatise Defensor Pacis. Bernardino di Betto. See Pinturicchio. Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444): Italian preacher and Franciscan friar who travelled Italy delivering popular sermons calling for repentance and veneration of the name of Jesus and denouncing gambling, witchcraft, usury, and Jews; a revered and influential

252

Appendix 1

figure, he served as vicar-general of the Strict Observant branch of the Franciscan Order and was canonized in 1450. Beyazit II, Sultan (1447–1512): Sultan of Ottoman Turkey from 1481 to 1512; he defeated his brother Jem in a civil war to win the throne; as sultan, he conducted campaigns against Venice, which extended Ottoman control into Greece, and sent the Ottoman navy to bring the Jews and Muslims expelled from Spain in 1492 to Ottoman lands. Boaistuau, Pierre (ca. 1517–1566): Popular French Renaissance writer, who published treatises on history, philosophy, and political theory, as well as works of fiction; his most famous works are Le Théátre du monde, a philosophical treatise on the hardships of human life, and Histoires tragiques, a French translation of some of the Novelle of Italian writer Matteo Bandello. Boccaccio, Giovanni (1313–1375): Florentine writer, who, along with Dante Aligheri and Petrarch, is considered one of the seminal figures of the Italian literary Renaissance; he wrote many poems and tales, but is best known for the Decameron, a collection of novellas within a frame story that had great influence on the subsequent development of European literature. Boleyn, Anne, Queen of England (ca. 1507–1536): Second wife and queen of Henry VIII of England, and mother of Elizabeth I, she is thought to have been sympathetic to Lutheran views; Henry’s desire to divorce his first wife and marry Anne was one impetus for the English break with Rome; Anne was beheaded for treason and witchcraft in 1536. Bona of Savoy (1449–1503): Daughter of the Duke of Savoy and the Duchess of Milan from 1466 to1476; after her husband’s assassination, she served as regent for her young son until she was outmaneuvered and exiled by her brother-in-law Ludovico Sforza in 1479. Boniface VIII, Pope (ca. 1230–1303): Pope from December 1294 until October 1303; born Benedetto Caetani in Anagni near Rome, Benedict is best known for his issuance of the bull Unam sanctam, which declared the spiritual authority of the pope to be superior to the secular authority of kings and princes; this declaration led to a feud with the king of France that resulted in Boniface’s imprisonment and death at the hands of the French king’s agents. Borgia, Cesare (1475–1507): Illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI; Cesare was made a cardinal by his father, but renounced his ecclesiastical position to become Duke of Romagna; from 1497, he sought, with his father’s help, to carve a principality out of the Papal States; opposed by Julius II, who became pope in 1503, Cesare was defeated and died in battle; Niccolò Machiavelli used Cesare, whom he knew, as an example in his book The Prince. Borgia, Juan (1474–1497): Illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI; Juan was given numerous appointments by his father, including as governor of St. Peter’s and captaingeneral of the Church; in 1497, Juan’s body was found floating in the Tiber River; his brother Cesare Borgia was suspected of his murder, but this was never proved. Borgia, Lucrezia (1480–1519): Illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI; her father arranged a series of aristocratic marriages for her, with the fourth making her Duchess of Ferrara; she also had various sexual affairs, including one with the Marquess of Mantua; her family’s political enemies accused her of plotting political assassinations and of having incestuous relationships with her father and her brother Cesare Borgia, but there is no evidence to support these accusations.

253

Appendix 1

Botticelli, Sandro (ca. 1445–1510): Florentine painter and draughtsman whose early paintings included the Adoration of the Magi; he painted a cycle of frescos on the wall of the Sistine Chapel and also completed a number of mythological paintings, including Mars and Venus and The Birth of Venus; he later seems to have been at least sympathetic to the religious movement led by Girolamo Savonarola. Bracciolini, Poggio (1380–1459): Italian humanist writer and Latinist who engaged in the recovery and dissemination of previously unknown Latin manuscripts; he is best known for his collection of Facetiae—brief and witty jokes and anecdotes—and for his history of Florence. Bramante, Donato (ca. 1443–1514): Italian architect and painter who executed various architectural commissions for the Duke of Milan, including the remodeling of the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie; after the French invasion of Milan in 1499, he fled to Rome where he began the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica, which was not completed until well after his death. Brunelleschi, Filippo (1377–1446): Florentine architect and engineer who designed and constructed a number of innovative buildings in Florence, including the Church of San Lorenzo and the Ospedale degli Innocenti, a foundling hospital; his most famous work is the dome of Florence Cathedral, which was completed in 1436. Buonarroti, Michelangelo (1475–1564): Florentine sculptor, painter, and architect who is one of the preeminent artists of the Italian Renaissance; his major works of sculpture are the Bacchus, the Pietá, and the David; his most famous painting is the fresco cycle that covers the vault of the Sistine Chapel, and his most notable architectural achievement is the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Burchard, Johann (ca. 1450–1506): Alsatian priest who served as papal master of ceremonies under five pontiffs, from Sixtus IV to Julius II; his diary is a valuable source of information about the events and protocols of the papal court from the 1480s to 1506. Burckhardt, Jacob (1818–1897): Nineteenth-century Swiss historian whose best-known book, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), is a classic work of Renaissance historiography and a model for the modern writing of cultural history; he was the first to define the Renaissance as a period of cultural rebirth distinct from the medieval past. Calixtus III, Pope (1378–1458): Pope from April 1455 to August 1458; born Alfonso de Borja (Borgia) in Valencia, Spain, he unsuccessfully attempted to organize a crusade to retake Constantinople from the Ottoman Turks; because of his Spanish birth and his extensive nepotism, he was unpopular in Rome; he made his nephew Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI) a cardinal and papal vice-chancellor. Calvin, John (1509–1564): French Protestant pastor and theologian who was one of the magisterial leaders of the Reformation; exiled from France, he settled in Geneva where he established a form of state and Church government that became the pattern for Church organization throughout Reformed Europe; the doctrine and practices that arose out of Calvin’s teaching (i.e., Calvinism) formed the philosophical bases of the Reformed churches that emerged in Germany, England, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands. Capranica, Cardinal Domenico (1400–1458): Italian cardinal who was advisor to several popes; his secretary, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini later became pope as Pius II; Capranica was considered likely to win the papacy himself in 1458, but died before he could be elected. Castiglione, Baldassare (1478–1529): Italian writer, diplomat, and courtier; he served in various capacities at the princely courts of Milan, Mantua, and Urbino; he is best known

254

Appendix 1

as the author of The Book of the Courtier (1528), which became a highly influential guide to court etiquette and to general deportment in the 16th and 17th centuries. Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (1485–1536): Spanish princess who was the first wife of Henry VIII and mother of Mary I; Henry’s desire to contract a new marriage to have the son he could not have with an aging Catherine led to England’s break with Rome; Catherine never acknowledged the annulment of her marriage and adhered strongly to the Catholic faith, as did her daughter. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380): Italian mystic and Dominican nun; she traveled throughout Italy with a band of followers teaching and mediating local conflicts; her teachings are articulated in her Dialogo and in her almost 400 surviving letters. Cattanei, Vannozza dei (1442–1518): Mistress of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, and the mother of his children—Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Gioffre Borgia. Celtis, Conradus (1459–1508): German humanist and student of Rudolphus Agricola; publication of his Ars versificandi et carminum (1486) led to his appointment as first imperial poet laureate in 1487; he planned but did not complete a highly nationalistic history of Germany and published various other Latin elegies, epigrams, plays, and poems. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558): Prince of the Austrian House of Habsburg, who, through family inheritance and election ruled the Netherlands (1505– 1555), Spain (1516–1556), and the Holy Roman Empire (1519–1556); as emperor, he was protector of the Catholic Church and sought to check and contain the spread of the Reformation in Germany; he outlawed Martin Luther through issuance of the Edict of Worms in 1521, but in 1555 reluctantly accepted the religious partition of Germany with the Peace of Augsburg. Charles VIII, King of France (1470–1498): King from 1483 to 1498; his invasion of Italy in 1494 to enforce his claim to the throne of Naples initiated the Italian wars, which disrupted Italian politics for over 60 years and contributed to the waning of the Italian Renaissance. Charles IX, King of France (1550–1574): King from 1560 to 1574; he was the son of Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici; dominated by his mother and council, he agreed to the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Huguenots in 1572. Chaucer, Geoffrey (1343–1400): English poet and author who is considered one of the greatest writers of the Middle Age; his most famous work, written in English, is The Canterbury Tales, written between about 1387 and 1400; the work is a collection of 24 tales within a broad frame story and thus resembles Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, from which Chaucer drew inspiration. Clement V, Pope (ca. 1264–1314): Pope from June 1305 to April 1314; a Frenchman, Raymond Bertrand de Got, former archbishop of Bordeaux, soon fell under the domination of Philip IV of France, who convinced Clement to move the papacy to Avignon; thus began the near 70-year period known as the “Babylonian Captivity,” when a papacy denounced as worldly and corrupt ruled the Church from Avignon. Clement VI, Pope (1291–1352): Pope from May 1342 to December 1352; born Pierre Roger in southwestern France, Clement was the fourth Avignon pope; he sought unsuccessfully to end the Hundred Years War between England and France and reaffirmed the condemnation of Marsilius of Padua; his papacy coincided with the first visitation of the Black Death, during which he sought to aid the poor and denounced those who blamed the plague on the Jews.

255

Appendix 1

Clement VII, Pope (1478–1534): Pope from November 1523 to September 1534; an Italian, Giulio de’ Medici, the nephew of Lorenzo de’ Medici of Florence, became entangled in the ongoing Franco-Imperial wars and in efforts to maintain his family in power in Florence; timid and inconsistent, he failed to halt the spread of Lutheranism in Germany or prevent the break with Henry VIII of England. Colet, John (1467–1519): Leading English humanist and educational reformer; from 1505 until his death, he was the dean of St. Paul’s School in London, which provided a humanist education to boys of promise; he was a friend of Sir Thomas More and a patron of Desiderius Erasmus. Colleoni, Bartolomeo (1400–1475): Italian condottiere of aristocratic family; he fought for both Milan and Venice, eventually becoming captain-general of Venice; he left the Venetians a huge bequest to fund the ongoing wars against the Ottomans, but requested that an equestrian statue of him be created and placed in the city. Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506): Italian seaman and explorer who sought to interest various European monarchs in funding a voyage westward across the Atlantic to reach East Asia; sailing for the Spanish Crown in 1492, he found instead the Caribbean islands lying off the North American continent; although he believed he had reached Asia, his voyages initiated European colonization in the Americas. Contarini, Gasparo (1483–1542): Venetian cardinal and political philosopher; he became a cardinal in 1535 and served on the commission that planned the reforming Council of Trent; he tried unsuccessfully to effect a reconciliation with the Lutherans; his bestknown work is The Commonwealth and Government of Venice, which described the Venetian constitution. Crivelli, Lucrezia (1452–1508): Mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and mother to his son; she is believed to be the subject of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci entitled Le belle ferronnière, though this is disputed. Cromwell, Thomas (ca. 1485–1540): English statesman and reformer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII; he is today seen as the chief architect of the king’s break with the papacy, a policy devised by Cromwell and others to obtain for the king an annulment of his first marriage and thus free him to contract a second marriage with Anne Boleyn. Dante. See Alighieri, Dante. Danti, Egnazio (1536–1586): Italian mathematician and geographer; he created a gnomen in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence by making a small hole in a window in the dome which focused the light of the winter solstice on a specially placed plate in the floor, thus turning the whole building into a camera obscura; this device allowed him to make observations needed for a projected reform of the calendar. Dolce, Lodovico (ca. 1509–1568): Italian dramatist; he wrote Mariamna (1565), a play about Herod and his wife Mariamne, and Giocasta, an adaptation of the play Phoenician Women by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) (ca. 1386–1466): Noted Florentine sculptor; his David, commissioned by the Medici, was the first life-size nude statue of the Renaissance; he also executed the famed equestrian statue of the condottiere Gattamelata in Padua, and the bronze John the Baptist for Siena Cathedral, the bronze Judith and Holofernes in Florence, and the wooden St. Mary Magdalene in Florence. Douglas, Margaret (1515–1578): Niece of Henry VIII of England; her mother, Henry’s sister, was the former queen of Scotland and Margaret was her daughter by her second

256

Appendix 1

marriage to a Scottish nobleman; her son, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and thus father of King James I of England. Du Bellay, Jean (1498–1560): French cardinal and diplomat; he held various high ecclesiastical positions in France, including as bishop of Paris, bishop of Le Mans, and archbishop of Bordeaux; he conducted diplomatic missions for the king of France to England and Rome; an important patron of humanist scholarship and literature, he supported such writers as François Rabelais. Erasmus, Desiderius (ca. 1466–1536): Dutch theologian and humanist scholar whose many popular humanist writings gave him a European-wide reputation as an advocate of ecclesiastical reform; despite this, he broke with Martin Luther and later Protestant reformers and never left the Catholic faith. Este, Alfonso d’, Duke of Ferrara (1476–1534): Duke from 1505 to 1534; he was a soldier who fought in many campaigns of the Italian Wars; he married Lucrezia Borgia as his second wife in 1501 and left the management of most court patronage in her hands. Este, Beatrice d’, Duchess of Milan (1475–1497): Daughter of the Duke of Ferrara and wife of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan; she was well educated and was active in both politics and the dispensation of court patronage; she died in childbirth in 1497. Este, Ercole d’, Duke of Ferrara (1431–1505): Duke from 1471 to 1505; he presided over a brilliant humanist court and provided excellent humanist educations for his children— his heir, Alfonso d’Este, and his two daughters, Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Milan, and Isabella d’Este, marchioness of Mantua. Este, Isabella d’, Marchioness of Mantua (1474–1539): Marchioness from 1490 to 1519; well-educated and politically adept, she served as regent during her husband’s frequent absences while on campaign or as a captive of war; she was chief adviser to her son after 1519 and extended her patronage to many artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, who drew her portrait. Este, Niccolò d’, Marquess of Ferrara (1384–1441): Marquess from 1393 to 1441; a descendant of Obizzo d’Este, he had to fight for control of the lordship because of his illegitimate birth; he was a successful condottiere, joining the league formed against Milan in 1403 and serving as captain-general of the papal army that supported the league. Este, Obizzo d’ (ca. 1247–1293): Ruler of Ferrara from 1264 to 1293; although born out of wedlock, he won control of Ferrara at his grandfather’s death, ending the commune and establishing his family’s lordship over the city. Estouteville, Guillaume d’, Cardinal (ca. 1412–1483): French cardinal and aristocrat; named cardinal in 1439, he undertook various diplomatic missions for the papacy; he was a great builder and patron of architects, especially in Rouen, where he was bishop; he several times sought the papacy, dispensing many promises of office, but failed in the conclaves of 1458 and 1471. Eugenius IV, Pope (1383–1447): Pope from March 1431 to February 1447; born Gabriele Condulmer in Venice, he spent much of his reign seeking to reconstitute the Papal States, parts of which had been alienated to family members by the previous pope; he also struggled with the Council of Basel, which sought to curb his authority and formally deposed him in 1439, but he retained his office and eventually reasserted papal authority. Farnese, Giulia (1474–1524): Mistress of Pope Alexander VI; a member of an Italian aristocratic family, she was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III

257

Appendix 1

in 1534; although she was married, the pope installed her in a palace close to the papal residence, where she lived with the pope’s daughter Lucrezia Borgia and was readily accessible for clandestine visits. Ferdinand, King of Aragon and Spain (1452–1516): King of Aragon and of Spain from 1479 to 1516; his marriage, as prince of Aragon, to Isabella, princess of Castile, in 1469 led to the formation of the united Spanish monarchy; under the joint monarchs, Spain conquered Granada, expelled the Muslims and the Jews, instituted the Spanish Inquisition, and funded the voyages of Christopher Columbus, which led to the creation of a vast Spanish colonial empire in the New World. Ficino, Marsilio (1433–1499): Florentine Neoplatonist philosopher and teacher; under Medici patronage, he translated various Greek texts, including the complete works of Plato, published in 1484; his wide circle of friends and students has been called the Florentine Platonic Academy; his original works included various commentaries on the works of Plato. Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester (1469–1535): English humanist bishop; a friend of Desiderius Erasmus, he convinced the Dutch scholar to teach at Cambridge, where Fisher was chancellor; his Assertionis Lutheranae confutatio (1523) attacked Martin Luther and defended Catholic doctrines; his opposition to Henry VIII’s attempt to annul his marriage led to Fisher’s arrest and execution in 1535. Francis I, King of France (1494–1547): King of France from 1515 to 1547, he spent much of his reign in conflict with Emperor Charles V; he was initially tolerant of Lutheranism, but turned against the reformers in the 1530s when he began to fear the spread of Protestantism; he was heavily involved in the ongoing Italian Wars, but was a great patron of the arts and invited many Italian artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, to France. Frederick of Aragon, King of Naples (1452–1504): King from 1496 to 1501; when Louis XII of France invaded Naples in 1499, Frederick called up his cousin, the king of Aragon, for help; his cousin defeated the French but then dispossessed Frederick of the Crown, forcing him into exile in France, where he died in 1504. Frederick I “Barbarossa,” Holy Roman Emperor (1122–1190): Emperor from 1155 to 1190; prior to his election as emperor, he participated in the Second Crusade; during his reign, he launched six military campaigns into Italy, seeking to restore the Italian states to imperial control; his campaigns were only partially successful and most Italian citystates retained some measure of independence; he was drowned while participating in the Third Crusade. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (1415–1493): Emperor from 1452 to 1493; a member of the House of Habsburg, Frederick was the last emperor to be crowned in Rome; although he tended to be slow and hesitant in decision-making, he consolidated Habsburg rule in Germany and in the family lands in Austria; his reign was a period of relative peace in Italy, where he did little to interfere with the Italian city-states. Fregoso, Federico (ca. 1480–1541): Genoese cardinal and general; he was a humanist and friend of Pietro Bembo and Baldassare Castiglione, who included Fregoso and his brother as characters in The Book of the Courtier; Fregoso was also a military man, who defended Genoa from internal rebellion and from Ottoman naval squadrons and pirates; in 1522, he led the defense of the city against the besieging forces of Charles V; wounded and defeated, he took refuge in France; he was made a cardinal in 1539. Fregoso, Ottaviano, Doge of Genoa (1470–1524): Doge from 1513 to 1515; he was a humanist and friend of Pietro Bembo and Baldassare Castiglione, who included

258

Appendix 1

Fregoso and his brother as characters in The Book of the Courtier; forced to accept the overlordship of the king of France in 1515, he remained ruler of Genoa until the city fell to imperial troops in 1522; taken prisoner, he died in captivity in 1524. Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony (1463–1525): Elector of Saxony and prince and protector of Martin Luther; he demanded a safe-conduct for Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and arranged for Luther to be taken secretly to the Wartburg after the Diet to prevent his arrest by the imperial authorities. Gattamelata (Erasmo da Narni) (1370–1443): Paduan condottiere; he fought for Florence and the pope, but became captain-general of the Venetian forces in 1434; his nickname, “Gattamelata,” meaning “tabby cat,” may have referred to the stealth and cunning with which he fought; he left Venice a large bequest to fund the Ottoman wars in return for the raising of an equestrian statue of himself (later done by Donatello) in the city. Gentillet, Innocent (1535–1588): French Huguenot lawyer; in 1576, he published his Sermon on the Means of Governing in which he strongly condemned Niccolò Machiavelli, whom he accused of introducing immorality and impiety into the art of governing through the ideas in his influential book The Prince (1532). Giannotti, Donato (1492–1573): Florentine political philosopher; a republican, he was banished from Florence for life after the Medici restoration in 1530; he served thereafter as a papal secretary; his most famous work, Libro dell repubblica de’ Viniziani (1540), described the constitution of Venice as the best form of government; Giannotti was thus one of the initiators of the “myth of Venice.” Giotto di Bondone (known as Giotto) (ca. 1267–1337): A Florentine painter and architect; Giotto is considered a seminal artist of the Italian Renaissance, his innovative work brought new depth and emotion to Italian painting, displacing the flat largely expressionless human figures that had previously characterized Italian art; a fine example of his work is the frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, which depict the life of the Virgin Mary. Giustiniani, Bernardo (1408–1489): Venetian historian and diplomat; he represented Venice in Rome and France and was elected to the Council of Ten in 1485; his most famous work, De origine Urbis Venetiarum rebusque ab ipsa gestis historia (1492) lauded the Venetian government and was thus one of the originating works for the “myth of Venice.” Gonzaga Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino (1471–1526): Duchess from 1489 to 1508; she remained in exile in Mantua for a year in 1502–1503 when Cesare Borgia occupied Urbino; she and her husband appear as characters in Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528), which is set in the court of Urbino. Gonzaga, Federico, Duke of Mantua (1500–1540): Marquis from 1519 and duke from 1530; a lavish patron of the arts, he was also a soldier, serving first the pope and later the emperor; his switch to the imperial side won him the title of duke in 1530; his mother was Isabella d’Este of Ferrara. Gonzaga, Gianfrancesco, Marquis of Mantua (1466–1519): Marquis from 1484 to 1519; a soldier, he was captain-general of Venice and also fought for Florence, the French, and the pope; in 1509, he was captured by the Venetians and held captive for a year; his wife, Isabella d’Este, served as regent during his many absences; he had a longstanding affair with Lucrezia Borgia. Gonzaga, Lucrezia (1522–1576): Italian noblewoman and humanist writer; she studied with Matteo Bandello who taught her mathematics, astronomy, and rhetoric; a volume of her letters was published in Venice in 1552.

259

Appendix 1

Gozzoli, Benozzo (ca. 1421–1497): Florentine painter and goldsmith; in 1459, Piero de’ Medici commissioned him to decorate the chapel in the Medici palace, an assignment that led to a fresco cycle entitled The Journey of the Magi; members of the Medici family are depicted as attendants of the Magi in the cycle. Grocyn, William (1446–1519): English humanist scholar; educated at Oxford, he travelled to Italy in 1488 and studied Greek until his return to England in 1490. He soon introduced the study of Greek at Oxford, where he developed a reputation as one of the foremost humanist scholars in England; he was a friend of Desiderius Erasmus and of such other noted English humanists as John Colet and Sir Thomas More. Guicciardini, Francesco (1483–1540): Florentine historian; he served the Medici regime in Florence in various capacities and then served the Medici pope, Clement VII, as councilor and military leader; his most famous work is the Storia d’Italia, a history of Italy from the French invasion of 1494 to the death of Pope Clement in 1534. Hakluyt, Richard (ca. 1552–1616): English writer; he was a strong advocate for English exploration; he served as chaplain to the English ambassador in Paris from 1583 to 1588; for the rest of his life, he wrote and collected accounts of English explorations, eventually publishing them in his Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffics, and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589); a three-volume edition of Principal Navigations appeared in 1598–1600. Hawkwood, Sir John (ca. 1320–1394): English condottiere; born in Essex, he served in France during the Hundred Years War, but moved to Italy in the 1360s during a period of Anglo-French peace; his band of mainly English and Breton mercenaries served the pope and various states until 1377, when he entered the service of Florence, where his military skills were so valued that he was granted citizenship and tax exemption for life. Henri II, King of France (1519–1559): Son of Francis I and king from 1547 to 1559, he continued his father’s wars with Charles V and intensified his father’s persecution of Huguenots; he also continued his father’s patronage of Italian artists. Henri III, King of France (1551–1589): Son of Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici and king from 1574 to 1589; he led royalist armies against the Huguenots in the 1560s and was deeply implicated in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Huguenots in 1572; as king, he made concessions to Protestants and supported the Catholic League, thus alienating both sides; he was murdered by a Catholic fanatic. Henri IV, King of France (1553–1610): King from 1589 to 1610; although Protestant, he was of royal blood and thus was shielded by the court from the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572; he succeeded his cousin Henri III in 1589 and converted to Catholicism in 1593 because his Catholic subjects refused to accept him as king; his conversion ended the French wars of religion and secured him on the throne. Henry V, King of England (1387–1422): King from 1413 to 1422; he reactivated the Hundred Years War with France, winning the Battle of Agincourt in 1415; he took advantage of a French civil war to establish his control of much of northern France; in 1420, he concluded an agreement whereby he became heir to Charles VI of France, but died before the French king, leaving his son’s claim to the French throne in doubt. Henry VI, King of England (1421–1471): King from 1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to 1471; only an infant when he acceded to the English throne, he was also heir to the French Crown; suffering from mental instability and later outright insanity, he lost almost all English possessions in France by 1453; his weak rule then led to the outbreak of a dynastic civil war known as the Wars of the Roses; he was murdered in the Tower of London in 1471.

260

Appendix 1

Henry VII, King of England (1457–1509): King from 1485 to 1509; he was the first king of the House of Tudor, having won the Crown by defeating and killing his opponent, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485; his reign ended the Wars of the Roses and restored royal authority and political stability to the realm. Henry VIII, King of England (1491–1547): King of England from 1509 to 1547; he was the first English monarch to have received some humanist training; he broke with the papacy over the annulment of his first marriage, which the pope refused on political and religious grounds; Henry had Parliament declare him head of the English Church and thereafter he undertook a series of reforms, including provision of an English Bible for each parish, that led in the reign of his son to a national Church based on Calvinist principles. Henry the Navigator, Prince of Portugal (1394–1460): Brother and uncle of Portuguese kings, he was a great patron of naval exploration; he initiated voyages to Madeira and the Azores and sponsored voyages of exploration and trade to the west African coast, with some of his explorers reaching the Gambia River and the Canary Islands; he resided on the Sagres Peninsula near Cape St. Vincent, making the town of Sagres a staging port for royal expeditions. Hoby, Sir Thomas (1530–1566): English diplomat and translator; educated at Cambridge, he undertook numerous diplomatic missions across the Continent, including in Italy; in 1561, he published an English translation of Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528), which was itself translated into Latin in 1577. Holbein, Hans (ca. 1497–1543): German painter; he arrived in England in 1526 with a letter of introduction from Desiderius Erasmus to Sir Thomas More, who commissioned him to paint a portrait of the More family; he moved to England permanently in 1532, winning the patronage of Thomas Cromwell and, through him, that of Henry VIII; Holbein executed several portraits of the king and numerous paintings and drawings of members of the royal family and court. Howard, Henry, Earl of Surrey (ca. 1516–1547): English aristocrat and poet; he legitimized the role of the poet in English society and deeply influenced the development of Elizabethan poetry; he also translated Virgil’s Aeneid into English blank verse, unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter that were entirely Surrey’s invention and that inspired much later English poetry; he was executed for treason in 1547. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (1391–1447): English aristocrat and politician; the brother of Henry V and uncle of Henry VI, he was a patron of poets and writers and an avid collector of manuscripts; he is often recognized as the first English proponent of Italian humanism; at his death, he left a benefaction of 260 volumes that became the basis of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Hutten, Ulrich von (1488–1523): German humanist and satirist; although often reduced to destitution as his aristocratic airs and biting satiric wit wore out his welcome with various humanist communities; Hutten did win the patronage of Emperor Maximilian I, who named him imperial poet laureate, and of the elector-archbishop of Mainz; his best-known work is his contribution to the second book of Letters of Obscure Men, a satire of proponents of scholasticism. Hyrde, Richard (d. 1528): English humanist scholar; an associate of Sir Thomas More, he, like More, supported the idea of providing women with an education; his best-known work is an English translation of the Latin treatise on women’s education by Juan Luis Vives, which in translation is titled The Instruction of a Christian Woman.

261

Appendix 1

Infessura, Stefano (ca. 1436–ca. 1500): Italian historian; a client of the Roman aristocratic family of Colonna, Infessura wrote Diario della cittá di Roma, a history of the city of Rome from 1303 until the French invasion of Italy in 1494. Innocent VIII, Pope (1432–1492): Pope from August 1484 to July 1492; born Giovanni Battista Cibò, his papacy was characterized by corruption and nepotism; he was also a fierce opponent of heresy, who advocated the punishment of witches, authorized the inquisition in Germany, and condemned as heretical the propositions of the Italian humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Isabella, Queen of Castile and Spain (1451–1504): Queen of Castile from 1474 and of Spain from 1479; her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 led to the formation of the united Spanish monarch after 1479 when he ascended the Aragonese throne; under the joint monarchs, Spain conquered Granada, expelled the Muslims and the Jews, instituted the Spanish Inquisition, and funded the voyages of Christopher Columbus, which led to the creation of a vast Spanish colonial empire in the New World. James I, King of Scotland (1394–1437): King from 1406 to 1437; he was captured by English pirates in 1406 and remained in honorable captivity at the English court until released in 1424; he married Joan Beaufort, a kinswoman of the English king, just prior to his release; James received Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, the future Pius II, when Piccolomini came to Scotland on a diplomatic embassy in 1435; James was assassinated in 1437. Jem (Cem) Sultan (1459–1495): An Ottoman Turkish prince; he fought his brother Beyazit II for the throne after his father’s death in 1481, but lost the civil war and went to Rhodes seeking Christian assistance; his brother paid various Christian leaders, including popes Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, to keep Jem in honorable captivity; he thus became a mysterious and exotic figure in the West; he died mysteriously in 1495, probably of disease, though Pope Alexander was suspected by some of his murder. John XXII, Pope (1244–1334): Pope from August 1316 to December 1334; born Jacques Duèze in Cahors in southwestern France, he was the second pope resident in Avignon instead of Rome; he defended papal claims to temporal as well as spiritual authority by condemning as heretical the anticlerical treatise Defensor Pacis written in 1324 by Marsilius of Padua. John of Jandun (ca. 1285–1328): French philosopher and theologian; while a professor of the arts faculty at the University of Paris, he became associated with Marsilius of Padua and with the anticlerical views Marsilius espoused in his 1324 treatise Defensor Pacis; in 1326, John and Marsilius fled Paris for the court of Louis IV, who, being at odds with the pope, offered both his protection; the pope excommunicated John of Jandun in 1327. Julius II, Pope (1443–1513): Pope from November 1503 to February 1513; an Italian, Guiliano della Rovere was a staunch opponent of Pope Alexander VI; as pope, his reign was dominated by war and politics rather than by reform, as he sought to enforce his authority in the Papal States. Köberger, Anton (ca. 1440–1513): German publisher; he introduced printing to Nuremberg in 1470 and established a string of shops and a network of agents through which he sold his books across Europe; he published more than 200 works, many lavishly illustrated with fine woodcuts. Landino, Cristoforo (1424–1498): Italian humanist, poet, and philosopher; he sought in his writings to reconcile Platonism with Aristotelianism and Christian writings with the writings of classical pagan authors; his most famous work, Disputationes Camaldulenses (1508), is a series of dialogues on Virgil’s Aeneid.

262

Appendix 1

Leo X, Pope (1475–1521): Pope from March 1513 to December 1521; an Italian, Giovanni de’ Medici was the son of Lorenzo de’ Medici of Florence; he initially paid little attention to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, but later issued two bulls that condemned Luther’s teachings and excommunicated him; he also spent much of his reign seeking to consolidate Medici rule in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519): Italian artist and polymath; his career is often considered the culmination of the Italian Renaissance; he worked for patrons in Milan, Florence, and Rome, going in his last years to France at the invitation of Francis I; his major works include the paintings The Virgin of the Rocks, The Last Supper, and the Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda); his surviving notebooks are full of innovative devices and inventions and much forward thinking on a multitude of topics, such as anatomy, astronomy, architecture, painting, optics, sculpture, and music. Linacre, Thomas (ca. 1460–1524): English humanist and physician; he studied medicine for seven years at Padua, returning to England in 1492; a friend of John Colet, Desiderius Erasmus, and Sir Thomas More, he became physician to Henry VIII and was a founder of the College of Physicians; he wrote a Latin grammar for Princess Mary, several treatises on medicine, and translated works by the ancient Greek physician Galen. Lippi, Fra Filippo (ca. 1406–1469): Florentine painter; he was a Carmelite friar, but was unsuited to that life and left it, abducting a novice nun and fathering an illegitimate child with her; among his most notable works are The Adoration of the Child and The Madonna Adoring Her Child with St. Bernard (both ca. 1453); his last commission, undertaken with his son, was scenes from the Life of the Virgin for the apse of Spoleto Cathedral. Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1282–1347): Emperor from 1328 to 1347; Louis won a disputed succession to the imperial Crown, but Pope John XXII refused to recognize his title and excommunicated him in 1324; in 1328, Louis entered Rome and had himself crowned by a Roman senator before declaring the deposition of the pope; he returned to Germany in 1330, being unable to consolidate his rule in Italy; he granted protection to Marsilius of Padua when his anticlerical treatise Defensor Pacis (1324) earned him a papal censure. Louis XII, King of France (1462–1515): King from 1498 to 1515; in 1499, he invaded Italy to lay claim to the duchy of Milan, which he won in 1500; he next attempted to win the kingdom of Naples but was defeated by Spanish forces and renounced his claim; he then overran Venice, but his victory provoked formation of the anti-French Holy League, which included Venice, Spain, the German Empire, and the pope; at his death, the French had been largely expelled from Italy. Luther, Martin (1483–1546): German monk and theologian; he is one of the magisterial leaders of the European Reformation; his 95 Theses condemning indulgences and other ecclesiastical abuses, which he sent to his bishop in 1517, are seen today as marking the start of the Protestant Reformation; through the printing and distribution of his books and pamphlets, the main tenets of Protestant belief spread rapidly across Germany and Europe in the decades after 1517; the doctrines and practices of Lutheranism, one of the main strands of Protestantism, emerged from his teachings. Machiavelli, Niccolò (1469–1527): Italian political philosopher and dramatist; he served the Florentine republic as a diplomat but was dismissed from office when the Medici were restored in 1512; in retirement, he wrote The Prince (1513), a highly influential treatise on the practice of politics, which has often been criticized for justifying the use of immoral means to achieve desired ends; his other major works include a treatise on war, a history of Florence, a novella, and various poems and comedies.

263

Appendix 1

Malatesta, Sigismondo (1417–1468): Ruler of Rimini from 1427 to 1468; a condottiere, he fought for the papacy, Milan, and Naples; for his refusal to accept papal peace terms, he was excommunicated by Pope Pius II in 1460, and for his ruthless military campaigns, he was condemned by the rulers of neighboring states as cruel, immoral, treacherous, and blasphemous; a poet and a major patron of the arts and the military sciences, he became the archetype of a wicked Renaissance prince with refined artistic tastes. Manetti, Giannozzo (1396–1459): Florentine humanist; he held various posts in the Florentine republic before entering papal service; known for his mastery of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, he prepared a Latin translation of the Greek New Testament for the pope; his best-known work is the Neoplatonic treatise De dignitate et excellentia hominis (1532). Marguerite d’Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (1492–1549): Sister of Francis I of France and a writer and literary patron; she was the grandmother of Henri of Navarre, who became King Henri IV in 1589; she supported various humanist writers, including François Rabelais; she wrote poetry, plays, and prose fiction, her best-known work being the Heptaméron, a cycle of 72 stories modeled on the Decameron. Marlowe, Christopher (1564–1593): English playwright and poet; his plays had great influence on the work of William Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists; his best-known works include The Tragedy of Dido; The Jew of Malta, which inspired Shakespeare’s character Shylock; and Edward II, which influenced Shakespeare’s Richard II; he died in a mysterious tavern brawl. Marsilius of Padua (1275–1342): Italian writer and scholar; he is best known for his political treatise Defensor Pacis, a highly anticlerical work that refuted expansive notions of papal authority; the treatise initiated a fierce controversy that caused Marsilius to flee to the protection of the imperial court; successive popes condemned both author and treatise, but Defensor Pacis found new popularity in the 16th century when Protestant reformers took up its arguments against papal power. Martin V, Pope (1369–1431): Pope from November 1417 to February 1431; an Italian, Oddo Colonna was a member of a powerful Roman family; his election followed the deposition by the Council of Constance of the various competing lines of popes in Avignon and Pisa, thus ending the Great Schism; his reign led to the restoration of one universally recognized papacy in Rome. Mary I, Queen of England (1516–1558): Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon and queen of England from 1553 to 1558; a devout Catholic like her mother, she restored the English Church to papal obedience and Catholic doctrine and practice; her desire to extirpate heresy led to the execution of almost 300 English Protestants (Marian martyrs) and the continental exile of thousands of others (Marian exiles) in the Reformed cities of Switzerland and Germany. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459–1519): Emperor from 1508 to 1519; the son of Emperor Frederick III of the House of Habsburg, he was deeply involved in the Italian wars, seeking to expel the French from the peninsula; his efforts to restore imperial power in Italy were hampered by the refusal of the German princes to fund his wars; by his death, the imperial position in Italy and the emperor’s authority in Germany were both significantly weakened. Medici, Alessandro de’, Duke of Florence (ca. 1510–1537): Illegitimate grandson of Lorenzo de’ Medici; he and his cousin Ippolito de’ Medici ruled Florence from 1523 until their expulsion in 1527; restored to power in 1530, the cousins’ joint rule ended in 1535 with the mysterious death of Ippolito; granted the title Duke of Florence by the emperor in 1532, Alessandro was assassinated in 1537.

264

Appendix 1

Medici, Catherine de’ (1519–1589): Wife and queen of Henri II of France, mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henri III, Catherine was Italian, a member of the Medici family of Florence; she governed France for and with her sons during the period of the religious civil wars after 1560 and was accused of being one of the instigators of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Huguenots in 1572. Medici, Cosimo de’ (1389–1464): Known as “Il Vecchio,” meaning “the elder,” he was effective ruler of Florence from 1434 to 1464; he used the vast wealth of his family— they were bankers—to secure useful political alliances within and without the city and to fill posts in the republican government with allies and supporters; he never took a princely title and ruled through republican institutions, but granted his patronage on a princely scale to many writers, artists, and architects. Medici, Cosimo de’, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519–1574): Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1569, then grand duke to his death; a member of a cadet branch of the Medici family, he became duke in 1537 on the death of his kinsman Alessandro de’ Medici; though raised in the countryside with no experience of Florentine politics, he ruthlessly consolidated his power, executing and disinheriting political opponents. Medici, Giovanni de’. See Leo X. Medici, Giuliano de’ (1453–1478): Younger brother of Lorenzo de’ Medici, he was coruler of Florence with his brother from 1469 until his death; he was assassinated in April 1478 by the Pazzi conspirators, who sought to overthrow the Medici regime; Lorenzo survived the assassination attempt, thus becoming sole ruler of Florence; Giuliano’s illegitimate son became pope as Clement VII in 1523. Medici, Giuliano de’, Duke of Nemours (1479–1516): Third son of Lorenzo de’ Medici; he fled Florence after the overthrow of the Medici regime in 1494, but returned to take power in the city in 1512; named captain-general of the papal armies in 1513 by his brother Pope Leo X, he was created Duke of Nemours by the French king in 1515. Medici, Giulio de’. See Clement VII. Medici, Ippolito de’, Cardinal (1511–1535): Illegitimate son of Giuliano de’ Medici, Duke of Nemours; upon winning the papacy in 1523, his cousin, Clement VII, made him ruler of Florence; Ippolito fled the city in 1527 when the Medici regime was overthrown; Clement made him a cardinal in 1529 and sent him on various diplomatic missions while giving another nephew, Alessandro de’ Medici, primary responsibility for the direction of the Florentine government; Ippolito died under mysterious circumstances in 1535. Medici, Lorenzo de’ (1449–1492): Known as “Il Magnifico,” he was the sole ruler of Florence from 1478 to 1492; in 1478, he survived the Pazzi Conspiracy, a failed attempt to overthrow the Medici which nonetheless led to the murder of his brother Giuliano de’ Medici; like his father and grandfather, he held no official title but ruled through his control and manipulation of republican institutions; he was a great patron of artists and writers, including Leonardo de Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Medici, Piero de’ (1416–1469): Son of Cosimo “il Vecchio” de’ Medici and the father of Lorenzo “il Magnifico” de’ Medici, he was ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469; like his father and son, he held no princely title and ruled through manipulation of republican institutions; he continued the extensive patronage of his father, supporting such artists as Benozzo Gozzoli; he was so afflicted by gout that he had to be carried everywhere. Medici, Piero de’ (1472–1503): Eldest son of Lorenzo ‘il Magnifico” de’ Medici, he was the ruler of Florence from 1492 to 1494; he was overthrown when a French invasion of

265

Appendix 1

Italy caused a revolution in the city supported by the politico-religious movement led by the popular Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola; his attempts to regain power failed and he died while fighting for the French in 1503. Mehmet II, Sultan (1432–1481): Ottoman Sultan from 1444 to 1446 and from 1451 to 1481; in May 1453, after an extended siege, Mehmet, then only 21, entered Constantinople as a conqueror, thus ending the Byzantine Empire; the fall of the city caused great fear in Europe; Mehmet next pushed his conquests into the Balkans, extending Ottoman rule into Bosnia and threatening the Venetian possessions in Greece and along the Adriatic coast. Michelangelo. See Buonarroti, Michelangelo. Montaigne, Michel de (1533–1592): French writer and essayist; in about 1570, he retired from his judicial positions to a tower in his château to read and write; the result of this isolation was the Essais, 107 essays on such themes as friendship, death, and the value of ancient literature; the Essais became the basis of the modern essay, a literary form essentially devised by Montaigne. Montefeltro, Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino (1472–1508): Duke from 1482 to 1508; he was an Italian condottiere, who, with his wife Elisabetta Gonzaga, were characters depicted in Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528); he had to flee Urbina in 1502 when Cesare Borgia invaded the duchy, but returned in 1503 and later became an ally of Pope Julius II in that pope’s reconquest of the Papal States. More, Alice Middleton (ca. 1474–ca. 1551): Second wife of English humanist Sir Thomas More; a wealthy older widow, she married More in 1511, shortly after the death of his first wife left him with four young children to raise; although there was affection between the two, More likely viewed the match as an economic union; she is portrayed in unflattering ways in some accounts, but this may be because she was unafraid to deal sharply with overstaying guests. More, Sir Thomas (ca. 1478–1535): English statesman and humanist scholar of Europeanwide reputation who was author of Utopia and a close friend of Desiderius Erasmus; More was chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532, but was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534 for refusing to swear an oath that denied papal authority over the English Church; More was executed for treason in 1535. Morton, John, Cardinal-Archbishop of Canterbury (ca. 1420–1500): Archbishop and lord chancellor of England from 1486 to 1500; he supported Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) in his successful bid for the English throne in 1485; made a cardinal in 1493, he was a powerful figure in the early Tudor government; he advised on foreign policy, received foreign embassies, and was consulted on all important secular and ecclesiastical appointments. Niccoli, Niccolò (1364–ca. 1437): Florentine humanist and bibliophile; he was passionate about the collecting and copying of manuscripts, many of which were bought with loans from the Medici bank; upon his death, Cosimo de’ Medici forgave his debts and used his 800 manuscripts as the foundation of a library that was opened to the public. Nicholas of Cusa, Cardinal (1401–1464): German humanist philosopher; a noted collector of manuscripts, he was initially a supporter of the authority of Church councils over popes, but later advocated papal superiority, a change of sides that earned him a cardinal’s hat in 1448; he published several philosophical treatises, such as De docta ignorantia, which sets forth the principles of educated ignorance. Nicholas V, Pope (1397–1455): Pope from March 1447 to March 1455; born Tommaso Prentucelli in northeastern Italy, he was a generous patron of artists, architects, and

266

Appendix 1

humanist writers; his papacy saw the fall of Constantinople to the Turks and the end of the Anglo-French Hundred Years War in May and July, respectively, of 1453; he sought to organize a crusade against the Turkish advance into the Balkans, but failed to convince major European rulers to participate. Paul II, Pope (1417–1471): Pope from August 1464 to July 1471; born Pietro Barbo in Venice, he was the nephew of Pope Eugenius IV and greatly benefited from his uncle’s nepotism, receiving numerous ecclesiastical offices; as pope, he did not practice nepotism himself, but acquired a reputation as an anti-humanist due to his arrest of several humanist scholars for suspicion of heresy and his ban on the study of pagan classical poets by Roman schoolchildren. Paul III, Pope (1468–1549): Pope from October 1534 to November 1549; an Italian, Alessandro Farnese convened the Council of Trent in 1545; although he was unable to halt the spread of Lutheranism in Germany, his reign witnessed the beginning of Catholic Reformation and the foundation of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and other reforming orders. Paul IV, Pope (1476–1559): Pope from May 1555 to August 1559; an Italian, Gian Pietro Carafa, ascetic and autocratic, sought to restore papal authority through the inquisition and other harsh measures; he quarreled with Catholic rulers, such as Philip II of Spain and Mary I of England, and during his reign there was no possibility of accommodation with Protestantism or of a reconvening of the Council of Trent. Pazzi, Francesco de’ (1444–1478): Florentine banker; he was an instigator of the April 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici; as part of the plot, he and Bernardo Baroncelli stabbed Giuliano de’ Medici to death; however, when Lorenzo de’ Medici survived the assassination attempt, the Pazzi failed to gain control of the government and he was arrested and executed. Pazzi, Jacopo de’ (1423–1478): Florentine banker; he was the uncle of Francesco de’ Pazzi and was thus involved in the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy to overthrow the Medici; when the assassination of Lorenzo de’ Medici failed, he led a band of armed men through the streets crying “Liberty!”; he then fled the city but was soon captured and hung; his body was then exhumed and dragged through the city before being tossed in the Arno River. Perugino, Pietro (ca. 1440–1523): Italian painter; he was commissioned to paint frescos in the Sistine, a cycle that included his Jesus Delivering the Keys to St. Peter (1482), which was highly acclaimed; some of his frescos were destroyed later to make room for Michelangelo Buonarroti’s Last Judgment; some of his other important works include a Crucifixion with Saints (1481), a Pietà (1495), and an Assumption (1506). Petrarca, Francesco. See Petrarch. Petrarch (1304–1374): Italian scholar and poet whose works helped initiate the Italian Renaissance and the emergence of humanist thought; Francisco Petrarco (Anglicized as “Petrarch”) acquired a European-wide reputation for literature and conducted a broad correspondence; he served in his early years at the papal court in Avignon and there acquired a distaste for the Avignon papacy, which he referred to as the “Babylon of the West.” Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius. See Pius II. Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni (1463–1494): Italian humanist philosopher; in 1486, he proposed 900 theses (known as Conclusiones), but the pope declared them heretical and Pico fled to France, where he was arrested in 1488; released through the intervention of Lorenzo de’ Medici, he returned to Florence, where he wrote a series of philosophical works, including Heptaplus (1489), which interpreted the first chapters of Genesis; he

267

Appendix 1

became a follower of Giralamo Savonarola and was murdered by a disgruntled retainer in 1494. Pinturicchio (Bernardino di Betto) (1454–1513): Italian painter; his major works include fresco cycles in the Vatican, where he painted The Life of Jesus (1492–1495) in the Borgia apartments, and in Siena Cathedral, where he painted Scenes from the Life of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (1503), who was pope as Pius II. Pirkheimer, Willibald (1470–1530): German humanist; educated in Italy at Padua and Pavia, he wrote Latin treatises on history and astronomy and translated Greek manuscripts into Latin; a friend of Albrecht Dürer, he also knew Desiderius Erasmus and Johann Reuchlin; he originally supported Martin Luther, but later returned to the Church of Rome. Pius II, Pope (1405–1464): Pope from August 1458 to August 1464; born Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini in a town near Siena, he held a series of clerical positions before becoming a cardinal in 1456; in his youth he was a womanizer who fathered several children, but he forsook that life when he was ordained in 1446; a humanist scholar of some note, he wrote a Latin novella, The Tale of Two Lovers, in the 1440s; his most famous work is the Commentaries, which is a remarkably honest autobiography of his indiscretions and ambitions; much of his papacy was taken up with an unsuccessful attempt to organize a crusade against the Ottomans. Pius III, Pope (1439–1503): Pope for three weeks in September/October 1503; he was raised to the cardinalate by his uncle Pope Pius II in 1460; he served as a diplomat under successive popes until his own election; an opponent of Pope Alexander VI, he was elected pope on Alexander’s death, but died only 10 days after his coronation; he was a patron of the arts, founding the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral to house his uncle’s papers. Pletho, George Gemistos (ca. 1355–ca. 1452): Byzantine Neoplatonic philosopher; he taught in Constantinople as a young man, but was banished from the city by the Byzantine emperor for suspicion of heresy and lived the rest of his life in Greece; he visited Italy to attend the Council of Florence in 1438 and his meetings with Italian humanists led to his work on Plato entitled On the Differences between the Philosophies of Plato and Aristotle (1439). Poliziano, Angelo (1454–1494): Italian humanist poet; he served as secretary to Lorenzo de’ Medici and tutor to his son Piero de’ Medici; an ardent philologist, he wrote poetry in Greek, Latin, and Italian and translated Greek works into Latin; an eyewitness to the Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478, he later wrote an account of the plot; he died in 1494 shortly before the death of his friend and fellow humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Pulci, Luigi (1432–1484): Italian poet; he was a member of the Medici literary circle; his best-known poem is the chivalric epic Il Morgante Maggiore (1478), which includes a host of notable characters; his work was later much admired by François Rabelais, but some contemporaries, such as Marsilio Ficino, criticized his work and thought him a heretic. Rabelais, François (1483–ca. 1553): French humanist and satirist; he is best known for his series of novels—Pantagruel (1532), Gargantua (1535), and their sequels in 1545 and 1552; bawdy, comic, and fantastical, the novels are satires that address large and difficult topics with what Rabelais called a tone of “good cheer”; although critics thought the novels, which were condemned by the Sorbonne, irreligious, they were popular with 16th-century readers.

268

Appendix 1

Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483–1520): Italian painter; influenced by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, he undertook a series of frescos at the Vatican in 1508 and then stayed in Rome to execute such works as the Madonna Alba (ca. 1511), the Madonna della Sedia (ca. 1514), and the Sistine Madonna altarpiece (ca. 1512); he also undertook a series of portraits, including those of Julius II, Baldassare Castiglione, and Leo X; in 1514, he was named architect for St. Peter’s Basilica. Reuchlin, Johann (1455–1522): German humanist and Hebraist; he studied and taught Greek and engaged in a debate with Desiderius Erasmus over the correct pronunciation of ancient Greek; in 1498, he returned to Germany from Italy with a large consignment of Hebrew books and wrote several texts that established Hebrew studies in Germany; in 1510, he became involved in a bitter controversy regarding the study of Jewish texts, a debate that led to the writing and publication of the satirical Letters of Obscure Men (1515–1519) as an attack on his opponents. Riario, Pietro, Cardinal (1445–1474): Cardinal from 1471 to 1474; named to the cardinalate by his uncle Pope Sixtus IV, he was made archbishop of Florence in 1473 and served as papal councilor on foreign policy; his lavish lifestyle and sexual exploits were legendary, making him the quintessential example of papal nepotism; when he died at age 28, poison was suspected though he likely died of his dietary or sexual excesses. Roper, Margaret More (1505–1544): Daughter of the English Humanist Sir Thomas More, she is best known for the exceptional humanist education provided to her by her father; her most famous work, A Devout Treatise upon the “Pater Noster,” an English translation of a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer by Desiderius Erasmus, was printed in 1524, a rare distinction for a 16th-century woman. Roper, William (ca. 1495–1578): Son-in-law and biographer of Sir Thomas More; Roper’s Life of Sir Thomas More was written in the 1550s and is the basis for many modern depictions of More, including the play and film A Man for All Seasons. Rossellino, Bernardo (ca. 1407–1464): Italian architect and sculptor; his early work is largely sculpture, including a terra cotta Annunciation in the cathedral in Arezzo; his later work was mainly as an architect and includes the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence; his best-known work is the remodeling of the town of Piaenza, the birthplace of Pope Pius II, who commissioned Rossellino to design a new layout for the town, with a piazza and a grid of streets in the Florentine style—one of the earliest examples of symmetrical town planning. Rucellai, Bernardo (1448–1514): Italian historian and garden designer; he was a friend of Lorenzo de’ Medici and the author of De bello Italico (1724), a history of the 1494 French invasion of Italy that first articulated the concept of the balance of power; he also laid out the Rucelli Gardens (Orti Oricellari) in Florence, which are famous for their topiary. Sacchetti, Franco (ca. 1330–ca. 1400): Italian writer and poet; born in Ragusa, he settled in Florence where he wrote poetry and a commentary on the Gospels in Italian; his best-known work is his collection of 300 tales, the Trecentonovelle (1392–1397), based loosely on the Decameron. Salaì (1480–1524): Pupil and servant of Leonardo da Vinci; born Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Orem, but usually referred to as Salaì, he entered Leonardo’s household as a young man and seems to have been a disruptive force within it; he sometimes served as a model for Leonardo and was also a competent artist in his own right. Salviati, Francesco, Archbishop of Pisa (1443–1478): Bishop from 1474 to 1478; he was one of the organizers of the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici in Florence;

269

Appendix 1

his role in the plot was to lead armed men to the Palazzo Vecchio and take over the government by killing the gonfaloniere and other state officers; instead, he was seized by a pro-Medici mob and hung. Sanuto, Marino (1466–1536): Venetian historian and diarist; he wrote a chronicle of the lives of the doges, a history of the 1482–1484 war with Ferrara, and an account of the French invasion of Italy in 1494, none of which were published in his lifetime; he also kept a detailed diary, running from 1496 to 1533, which is an often unique source for events during this period. Savonarola, Girolamo (1452–1498): Italian Dominican friar who led a radical reform movement in Florence in the 1490s; in his preaching and pronouncements, he prefigured some of the ideas and principles of the Protestant Reformation; excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, Savonarola lost support within the city and was arrested and condemned for heresy. Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan (1401–1466): Duke from 1450 to 1466; the illegitimate son of a condottiere, he was himself a condottiere in the service of the last Visconti Duke of Milan; on the duke’s death in 1447, he was forced to leave the city upon the establishment of a republic; in 1450, with the collapse of the republic, he entered the city in armed triumph and successfully claimed the dukedom. Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan (1495–1535): Duke from 1522 to 1525; the second son of Duke Ludovico Sforza, he fled to Germany after his father’s capture by the French in 1500; in 1522, he commanded a German-Spanish force that drove the French from the city and allowed him to claim the dukedom; in 1525, imperial troops occupied Milan and deposed him. Sforza, Galeazzo Maria, Duke of Milan (1444–1476): Duke from 1466 to 1476; although a generous patron of the arts; he was a stern and cruel ruler who was even suspected of poisoning his mother; he was murdered by a cabal of Milanese noblemen. Sforza, Gian Galeazzo (1469–1494): Duke from 1476 to 1494; only a child when his father’s assassination made him duke, he came under the regency of his uncle Ludovico Sforza, who controlled the Milanese government from 1481; when he died suddenly in 1494, his uncle was suspected of arranging his murder. Sforza, Ludovico, Duke of Milan (1452–1508): Duke from 1494 to 1500; known as “il Moro, “the Moor,” he was regent for his young nephew, Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza from 1481; in 1494, upon his nephew’s death, which some attributed to him, he became Duke of Milan; the French drove him from the city in 1499, but he briefly regained power in 1500, before being defeated again and carried to captivity in France. Sforza, Massimiliano, Duke of Milan (1493–1530): Duke from 1512 to 1515; the eldest son of Ludovico Sforza, he fled Milan after his father’s capture by the French in 1500; with the help of Swiss troops, he retook the city in 1512, but was defeated by the French in 1515; he then gave up the dukedom for a French pension and retired to Paris. Shakespeare, William (1564–1616): Elizabethan poet and playwright; he is considered by many to be the greatest writer in the English language; he produced 37 plays—romances, such as The Tempest; comedies, such as As You Like It; histories, such as Richard III, and tragedies, such as Macbeth; he also wrote a cycle of 154 sonnets, and such love poems as The Rape of Lucrece and Venus and Adonis; although Shakespeare’s authorship of these works has been questioned by some, who have proposed others as the actual writer of the works, most modern scholars support Shakespeare’s authorship. Sickingen, Franz von (1481–1523): German knight; a talented mercenary, he fought for several masters, including the emperor, who gave him command of a 1521 invasion of

270

Appendix 1

France; sympathetic to reform, he offered refuge to Martin Luther and other reformers in his castles; in 1522, aided by Ulrich von Hutten, he launched an attack on Trier in an effort to improve the political position of the German knights, the small landowners of Germany; this Knights’ War ended in failure and in Sickingen’s death. Sidney, Sir Philip (1554–1586): English courtier, poet, and soldier; he was accepted in his time as the archetypal Elizabethan courtier-poet; in the early 1580s, he wrote the prose romance Arcadia and the first English sonnet cycle, Astrophel and Stella; both works influenced later English writers, including William Shakespeare; he was mortally wounded while leading a charge against the Spanish in the Netherlands. Sixtus IV, Pope (1414–1484): Pope from August 1471 to August 1484; born Francesco della Rovere, he spent much of his papacy seeking to consolidate his control of the Papal States; he was also an unabashed nepotist, appointing six nephews, including the future Pope Julius II, to the cardinalate, and providing ecclesiastical positions for other family members; he was a generous patron of the arts—building the Sistine Chapel and reorganizing the Vatican Library. Soderini, Piero (1452–1522): Florentine politician; he began his career in the service of the Medici, but, after their overthrow in 1494, he became gonfaloniere for life of the new republic, a position that was meant to be analogous to the Venetian doge; he instituted a series of financial, judicial, and military reforms; in 1512, a papal-Spanish army restored the Medici to power, forcing him into exile for the rest of his life. Spenser, Edmund (ca. 1552–1599): English poet; one of the most prominent and popular Elizabethan poets, Spenser is best known for his epic poem The Faerie Queene, which eventually comprised six books, each depicting an adventure of one of the knights of the great queen Gloriana (i.e., Elizabeth I); published between 1589 and 1596, The Faerie Queene is the great Elizabethan paean of English Protestant nationalism. Strozzi, Filippo (1428–1491): Florentine banker and politician; a member of the Strozzi banking family, longtime rivals of the Medici, he returned from exile in 1466 and eventually became an advisor to Lorenzo de’ Medici; he built the family’s Florentine palace, the Palazzo Strozzi, and built a notable chapel on the Basilica Santa Maria Novella. Tasso, Torquato (1544–1595): Italian poet and dramatist; at age 18, he published a romance epic entitled Rinaldo (1562); by 1565, he was resident at the ducal court in Ferrara, where he wrote his pastoral drama Aminta (1573) and his epic Gerusalemme liberata (1575), about the capture of Jerusalem by the First Crusade; in the late 1570s, he began to show signs of insanity and was confined for some years in a mental hospital. Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (ca. 1489–1576): Italian painter; he is considered the most important figure in Venetian artistic circles in the early 16th century; he was extremely versatile, being adept at portraits, landscapes, and mythological and religious subjects; as his reputation grew, he was much sought after, not only by Venetian and Italian patrons, but also by German princes and the papacy. Torquemada, Tomás de (1420–1498): Spanish Dominican and inquisitor-general of Spain; confessor to Queen Isabella of Castile, he persuaded the queen and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, to request the pope to revive the inquisition in Castile (1493) and Aragon (1484); he became inquisitor-general in 1483; he devised the protocols for the conduct of the Spanish Inquisition, which, prior to his death, is estimated to have burned more than 10,000 individuals for heresy. Toscanelli, Paolo dal Pozzo (1397–1482): Italian mathematician and geographer; in 1474, he sent a letter to a correspondent in Portugal explaining the “small earth” hypothesis,

271

Appendix 1

which argued that Asia could be reached by sailing westward across the Atlantic; this letter was shown to the king of Portugal and was later consulted by Christopher Columbus, who then conducted a brief correspondence with Toscanelli in the early 1480s. Tyndale, William (ca. 1494–1536): First translator of the Bible into English and a prominent English advocate for religious reform; funded by wealthy Protestant merchants, Tyndale published the first complete English New Testament in 1526 in Germany; in 1530, he published an English translation of the Pentateuch; in 1535, while working on a translation of the Old Testament under the protection of the English merchant community in Antwerp, he was arrested by imperial agents and condemned and burned as a heretic. Uccello, Paolo (ca. 1397–1475): Florentine painter; a master of perspective and foreshortening, he produced a frescoed equestrian monument to the condottiere Sir John Hawkwood in Florence Cathedral in 1436; in the 1440s, he painted a fresco entitled The Flood in the cloister of Santa Maria Novella; in the 1450s, he painted his St. George and the Dragon and three large battle pieces for the Medici Palace in Florence. Valla, Lorenzo (ca. 1407–1457): Italian humanist scholar and philologist; he produced Latin translations of major Greek works, such as the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, and a comparison of the Latin and Greek texts of the New Testament; his greatest achievement was a treatise proving conclusively that the document known as the Donation of Constantine—often used as a justification for expansive papal authority— was a forgery. Varchi, Benedetto (1503–1565): Florentine historian; he supported the Florentine republic of 1527 and was exiled from the city upon the Medici restoration in 1530; in 1543, Duke Cosimo de’ Medici invited him to return and commissioned him to write a history of Florence; his Storia fiorentina (1721) covers the history of the city from 1527 to 1538. Verrocchio, Andrea del (ca. 1435–1488): Florentine sculptor and painter; trained possibly by Donatello, he was himself a teacher of Leonardo da Vinci; he decorated the bronze tomb of Cosimo de’ Medici and his son and produced other fine bronze sculptures, such as Boy with a Dolphin (ca. 1480), David (ca. 1475), and a terracotta portrait bust of Lorenzo de’ Medici; he also produced or collaborated on many fine paintings, such as Madonna and Child with Two Angels. Visconti, Filippo Maria, Duke of Milan (1392–1447): Duke from 1412 to 1447; he spent his reign fighting to recover the territories lost by his brother, whom he succeeded; cruel and violent, with a suspicious nature, he employed able condottieri, such as Francisco Sforza, to conduct his wars; after initial successes, he found himself at war with both Venice and Florence and so lost many of his conquests; he was the last ruler of the Visconti line. Visconti, Matteo (1255–1322): Lord of Milan from 1295 to 1322; he was the great-nephew of Ottone Visconti, who named him captain of the people in 1287; he succeeded his uncle in 1295; he was expelled from Milan in 1302 but returned to power in 1310; he used bribery, diplomacy, and war to consolidate his power and extend his principality; excommunicated by the pope in 1322, he abdicated in favor of his son and died shortly thereafter. Visconti, Ottone, Archbishop of Milan (1207–1295): Archbishop from 1277 to 1295; he led a coalition of Milanese nobles that overthrew the city government and then installed himself as lord of Milan, thus establishing a dynasty that ruled the city until the mid15th century.

272

Appendix 1

Vives, Juan Luis (1492–1540): Spanish humanist and philosopher; he taught at Oxford University and served in the court of Catherine of Aragon, queen of England; he wrote an educational program for the queen’s daughter and produced a treatise on the education of women entitled The Instruction of a Christian Woman (1540); his opposition to Henry VIII’s attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine cost Vives his position and pension, so he moved to Bruges, where he obtained an imperial pension. William of Ockham (1287–1347): English scholastic philosopher and theologian; a Franciscan friar, he is considered one of the major figures in medieval philosophy and was at the center of most intellectual and political controversies of the 14th century; he is noted for the principle of Ockham’s razor, the idea that the simplest explanation is usually the best; he wrote influential works on logic, physics, and theology. Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal (ca. 1474–1530): Cardinal-Archbishop of York, papal legate, and chief minister of Henry VIII; a pluralist and an absentee who spent little time in his archdiocese, Wolsey was a prime example of the need for reform; he fell from power due to his failure to obtain from the pope an annulment of Henry’s first marriage. Wyatt, Sir Thomas (1503–1542): English poet and courtier; he is considered the most able and innovative poet of early Tudor England; he is credited with introducing the Italian sonnet into England and with melding Italian verse forms with the English poetic tradition; he wrote elegies, epigrams, and satire, as well as much fine lyric poetry on both secular and religious themes. Zwingli, Ulrich (1484–1531): One of the magisterial reformers of the European Reformation and the leader of Protestant reform in Switzerland; Zwingli led the reform movement in Zürich; he clashed with Martin Luther over the question of the Eucharist, helping to distinguish Reformed Protestantism from Lutheranism, and sought to suppress the Anabaptist movement that was launched by some of his own followers; he was slain in battle against a coalition of Catholic cantons.

273

This page intentionally left blank

A PPENDIX 2: GLOSSARY OF TERMS MENTIONED IN TEXT Listed here are brief definitions of terms mentioned in connection with the documents reproduced in this volume. The first mention of any of these terms in any numbered section is highlighted in bold as a cross-reference. Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533): Enactment of the English Parliament that abolished English appeals to papal courts and thus effectively transferred the English Church from papal to royal control. Altarpiece: A work of art usually comprising a painting on wood that is set up above and behind the altar of a Church. Anticlericalism: Distrust and dislike of clergy by laypeople, especially in regard to clerical wealth and claims to regulate and control lay actions. Anti-Semitism: Hostility and prejudice directed against Jews. Auld Alliance: A formal military and political connection, frequently renewed, between France and Scotland that was initiated and maintained by mutual hostility toward England; forged in the 1290s, it lasted until 1560. “Babylonian Captivity”: A term referring to the period from 1309 to 1378 when the papacy was located in Avignon, in southeastern France, rather than in Rome; the term, which is an allusion to the Israelite captivity in Babylon, is thought to have been coined by Petrarch. Brétigny, Treaty of (1360): An Anglo-French treaty that ended the first phase of the Hundred Years War; the treaty was never fully implemented and war resumed within a decade of its signing. Camera Obscura: A darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object onto a screen inside; the device was important in the development of photography. Campaldino, Battle of (1289): Fought on June 11, the battle pitted Guelf forces from Florence and allied states against a Ghibelline force from Arezzo; the battle, in which Dante Alighieri fought for the Guelfs, secured Guelf dominance in Florence. Canon Law: Ecclesiastical law, which, by the Renaissance period, comprised a series of basic texts and documents (canons) evolved over the centuries by Church councils and reforming popes.

275

Appendix 2

Cardinals: Leading bishops and princes of the Roman Church, who are members of the College of Cardinals, which, by the Renaissance period, had the right to elect the pope, usually from their number. Cateau-Cambrésis, Treaty of (1559): Made peace between France and Spain, thus ending the Habsburg-Valois Wars and the concomitant Italian Wars that had raged intermittently in the peninsula since the French invasion of 1494. Ciompi Revolt (1378–1382): A revolt in Florence of the wool workers (ciompi) who labored for the merchants of the wool guild and were unrepresented in the Florentine government; the uprising briefly gave the ciompi control of the city administration. Commune: A sworn association of citizens that seized control of many cities in Northern Italy from their lords or bishops beginning in the 11th century. Conclave: An assembly of the College of Cardinals met specifically for the election of a new pope. Condottiere (pl. Condottieri): In Renaissance Italy, a mercenary leader hired by the pope, a prince, or a city government to supply and/or command military forces. Congress of Arras (1435): An Anglo-French-Burgundian diplomatic conference that reconciled Burgundy and France and left England to carry on the Hundred Years War against France alone. Congress of Mantua (1459): A conference of European rulers called by Pope Pius II in an unsuccessful effort to convince the princes of Western Europe to unite in launching a crusade against the Ottoman Turks, who had recently conquered Constantinople. Council of Basel (1431–1439): A general council of the Church called by Pope Martin V to address the question of papal supremacy and the continuance of the Hussite heresy in Bohemia. Council of Constance (1414–1418): An ecumenical council of the Church that ended the Great Schism by deposing all papal claimants and electing a new pope, Martin V; the council also condemned and executed the Bohemian reformer Jan Hus for heresy. Courtier: A person qualified by birth or personal favor to attend upon a prince or monarch at his or her court, exchanging deference, flattery, and advice for housing, sustenance, and political or monetary reward. Devotio Moderna (New Devotion): A lay religious movement centered in the Low Countries from the 14th through the 16th centuries that stressed a personal and mystical relationship with God. Doge: The elected head of the Venetian government chosen from among the members of the leading families and subject to the laws of the city; the title derives from the Latin dux, meaning duke or leader. Dominicans: A mendicant—itinerant—religious order founded by Dominic in 1216 for the specific purpose of teaching orthodox doctrine and opposing heresy. Epistolary Novel: A novel written as a series of documents, usually letters, but the documents can also be diary entries, newspaper clippings, and, contemporaneously, emails or blog posts. Excommunication: The exclusion of an offending individual from participation in worship services and from access to the sacraments as pronounced by the pope or other bishop of the Church. Fornovo, Battle of (1495): The first major battle of the Italian Wars, it was fought on July 6 near Parma between the armies of Charles VIII of France and a coalition of Italian states that included Milan and Venice; the French fought their way through the allied forces and were thus able to withdraw from Italy.

276

Appendix 2

Franciscans: A mendicant—itinerant—religious order founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209 and dedicated to the ideal of apostolic poverty. French Wars of Religion (1562–1598): A series of destructive wars fought between French Catholics and French Huguenots (Reformed Protestants); the wars stemmed largely from the attempts of the Huguenot minority to secure their right to worship freely; the wars ended with the issuance of the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots extensive rights and freedoms. Friars: Members of the mendicant—itinerant—religious orders, such as the Dominicans and the Franciscans; not confined to monasteries, the friars lived in the world teaching, preaching, and ministering to the sick and the poor. Garigliano, Battle of (1503): A major Spanish victory fought on 28–29 December, the battle resulted in the expulsion of the French from Naples and Southern Italy. Ghibellines: A major political faction in Northern Italy in the late Middle Ages; in opposition to the Guelfs, the Ghibellines were associated with the nobility and with support for imperial influence in Italy. Guelfs: A major political faction in Northern Italy in the late Middle Ages; in opposition to the Ghibellines, the Guelfs were associated with the mercantile interests and with support for papal influence in Italy. Habsburg-Valois Wars. See Italian Wars. Heresy: Beliefs that are considered contrary or at odds with the orthodox or official doctrine of the Church. Holy League (1495 and 1511): Either of two alliances sponsored by the papacy during the Italian Wars; the league of 1495 was a coalition of the pope, the emperor, Aragon, Venice, and Milan against the French under Charles VIII, who had invaded Italy; the league of 1511 was a coalition of the pope, Spain, Venice, the emperor, England, and the Swiss against the French under Louis XII, who was seeking to control Milan. Huguenots: French Protestants, usually adherents of Calvinsim. Hundred Years War: An intermittent Anglo-French war running from the 1330s to 1453, as the royal houses of England and France fought for control of territory and for the Crown of France itself; the conflict at various times involved most of the states of Western Europe; the war ended with the expulsion of the English from all their continental possessions save the town of Calais. Index Librorum Prohibitorum: Established in 1559, the Index was a listing of forbidden books issued by the Church of Rome; works on the list were considered dangerous to the faith or morals of Christians; the Index was abolished in 1966. Indulgence: Practice of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church whereby the Church dispensed, through sale, the merit derived from the holiness of Christ and the good deeds of the saints to sinners seeking reduction of the amount of time they or deceased loved ones would need to spend after death in Purgatory; the aggressive sales techniques used and the large sums of money derived from the sales angered Martin Luther, who was led by his outrage over indulgences to draft his 95 Theses denouncing this and other ecclesiastical abuses. Interdict: A form of ecclesiastical censure imposed by the Church to exclude certain individuals, groups, or states from the rites of the Church for some infraction of canon law or some disobedience to papal authority; in 1509, for instance, Pope Julius II issued an interdict against Venice for seizing control of several cities in the Papal States. Inquisition: An ecclesiastical commission established to inquire into and punish heresy; first established in Italy in 1233, this body was replaced by the Roman Inquisition in

277

Appendix 2

1542; the Spanish Inquisition was a state-run commission that was authorized by the pope in 1478. Italian Wars (1494–1559): A long series of wars fought in Italy between the French invasion of the peninsula in 1494 and the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559; mainly a struggle for control of Italy between France and the Holy Roman Empire or later France and Spain, it involved at one time or another most every Italian state and brought great political turmoil and material destruction to the peninsula. Kabbalah: A medieval Jewish body of mystical readings of scripture involving symbolic and numerological interpretations; by extension, any collection of esoteric knowledge. League of Cambrai (1508): An anti-Venetian alliance created by Pope Julius II and including, besides himself, France, Aragon, and the Empire. League of Cognac (1526): An alliance aimed at checking the power of Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor and king of Spain, and including France, the pope, Venice, England, Milan, and Florence. Legnano, Battle of (1176): Fought on May 29, the battle saw the forces of the Lombard League, an alliance of north Italian cities, defeat the imperial army of Frederick Barbarossa; the battle ended the emperor’s attempt to restore imperial authority in Northern Italy. Lepanto, Battle of (1571): On October 7, a Christian fleet comprising the naval forces of the pope, Venice, and Spain defeated a large Ottoman Turkish fleet at the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth; the battle at least temporarily ended Turkish naval dominance in the eastern Mediterranean. Lodi, Treaty of (1454): Signed on April 9 by Milan, Naples, and Florence, the treaty, and a related agreement signed in August between Milan, Venice, and Florence, ended the wars of Northern Italy for 40 years by establishing a balance of power between the major states in the region. Lombard League (1167): An alliance of most major north Italian cities, supported by the pope, to counter expansion of the imperial interest in Italy; the victory of the league at Legnano in 1176 ended the attempt of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to bring Northern Italy under imperial rule. Madrigal: As developed in Renaissance Italy, the madrigal is a musical genre comprising a secular song conceived for several independent voice parts, often setting amorous or pastoral texts. Masque: A form of courtly entertainment that involved music, singing, dancing, and acting with ornate costumes and an elaborate stage design; masques often had allegorical themes that would be pleasing or flattering to the prince or monarch for whom the entertainment was staged; on occasion the prince or courtiers would participate in the production. 95 Theses (1517): Issued by Martin Luther on October 31, the theses were a list of 95 statements protesting various Church practices, particularly the selling of indulgences, that Luther, and others, considered to be scandalous; intended to initiate academic debate on the subjects raised, the theses led to a split in the Church and their issuance is today seen as the initiating event of the Protestant Reformation. Novara, Battle of (1500): Fought on April 8, the battle between the French and the forces of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, ended in the defeat of the Milanese and the eventual capture of the duke, who was then imprisoned in France. Novella: A work of narrative fiction that is shorter than a novel but usually longer than a short story; the novella emerged as s story form in Renaissance Italian literature with the tales comprising the Decameron.

278

Appendix 2

Papal Bull: A public decree or edict issued by the pope; papal bulls are named for the opening words of the document. Papal States: A grouping of cities and territories in central Italy that were largely under the political control of the papacy from the eighth century to 1870; maintaining secular control of the Papal States was a major preoccupation of most Renaissance popes. Patronage: A system wherein a person of wealth or power (the patron) provides financial support or political or clerical position to a talented individual of low birth; patronage provided the means for artists, scholars, and other talented members of the lower classes to rise in society and allowed their abilities to be employed for the benefit of the Church or State. Pavia, Battle of (1525): A major battle of the Italian Wars fought on February 24 between French and imperial forces outside the city of Pavia; the imperialists broke a French siege of the city and destroyed the French army as well as capturing Francis I, the French king. Pazzi Conspiracy (1478): A plot to overthrow the Medici government in Florence that was organized by members of the rival Pazzi family; although Giuliano de’ Medici was assassinated, the conspiracy failed to topple the government and most of the conspirators were summarily executed. Poet Laureate: An eminent poet appointed to, or unofficially regarded as holding an honorary position of literary distinction in a country, city, region, or group, such as Petrarch, who was crowned poet laureate in Rome in 1341. Polymath: A person, such as Leonardo da Vinci, of wide-ranging knowledge and interests. Popolo: A term meaning “the people,” it refers to a movement in Northern Italy in the late Middle Ages whereby the merchant and professional middle classes, often organized in guilds, sought to wrest political power from the nobility. Reformation: A series of 16th-century movements that called for reform or elimination of some Roman Catholic beliefs and practices; these movements resulted in the formation of a variety of Protestant churches separated from the Church of Rome, which itself undertook reforms of it practices and clarification of its doctrines. Sack of Rome (1527): In May, imperial forces consisting mainly of German mercenaries, who were largely Lutheran in sympathy, mutinied over unpaid wages and entered the city of Rome, which they subjected to sack and pillage; many people were killed and much of the city was destroyed before military discipline was restored some weeks later. Scholasticism: The system of theology and philosophy taught in medieval European universities, based on Aristotelian logic and the writings of the early Church Fathers and having a strong emphasis on tradition and dogma; scholasticism was strongly opposed by Renaissance humanists. Siege of Rouen (1562): A major military engagement during the French wars of religion whereby the forces of the French Crown besieged the city of Rouen, which was held by dissident Huguenot forces; beginning in May, the siege ended in October, when the city was returned to royal control. Sonnet: An Italian verse form developed by Dante and Petrarch comprising 14 lines— an eight-line octave rhyming abba abba and a six-line sestet usually rhyming cde cde, although variations were possible; the octave usually defined a problem or described an experience that was reacted to in the sestet. terza rima: A rhyming verse stanza form arranged in triplets and rhyming aba bcb cdc, etc., as used by Dante in his Divine Comedy. Tithes: Payments amounting to one-tenth of the produce and a portion of the labor of the peasants working the land that pertained to the parish or benefice of a particular

279

Appendix 2

clergyman; these payments to the clergyman were often made in kind, such as grain, fish, eggs, poultry, etc. Tordesillas, Treaty of (1494): Concluded on June 7, this agreement between Spain and Portugal divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the two kingdoms on the basis of a meridian line drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands; all lands to the east of the line fell to Portugal, all lands to the west to Spain. Treason: In a monarchy or principality, treason was a heinous crime comprising offenses committed against the ruler’s person or regality; in a republic, treason involved betrayal of the state, especially during war, or attempting to overthrow the government. Unam Sanctam (1302): A bull of Pope Boniface VIII outlining an extreme expression of papal supremacy and declaring that all who wish to be a part of the Church are under the dominion of the popes as successors of St. Peter; intended to establish papal dominance over the increasingly powerful and independent monarchies of France and England, the bull provoked a quarrel with the king of France that led to the death of Boniface and the discrediting of his theory of papal supremacy. Verneuil, Battle of (1424): Fought on August 17, this major battle of the Hundred Years War saw an English army decisively defeat a Franco-Scottish force; besides the destruction of the allied army, the battle saw the virtual elimination of the Scots as a significant military presence for the rest of the war. War of Chioggia (1378–1381): A war between Genoa and Venice for commercial dominance in the Levant that resulted in the expulsion of Genoese traders from the Adriatic.

280

A PPENDIX 3: POPES, 1294–1585 Below is a listing of all popes and antipopes who reigned between 1294 and 1585. Each pope’s birth name and nationality are given in brackets following the dates of their reign. Antipopes are denoted with an asterisk (*). ROMAN POPES Boniface VIII (1294–1303) [Benedetto Caetani] [Italian] Benedict XI (1303–1304) [Nicola Boccasini] [Italian] AVIGNON POPES Clement V (1305–1314) [Raymond Bertrand de Got] [French] John XXII (1316–1334) [Jacques Duèze] [French] Benedict XII (1334–1342) [Jacques Fournier] [French] Clement VI (1342–1352) [Pierre Roger] [French] Innocent VI (1352–1362) [Étienne Aubert] [French] Urban V (1362–1370) [Guillaume de Grimoard] [French] Gregory XI (1370–1378) [Pierre Roger de Beaufort] [French]—nephew of Clement VI GREAT SCHISM Roman Line Urban VI (1378–1389) [Bartolomeo Prignano] [Italian] Boniface IX (1389–1404) [Pietro Tomacelli] [Italian] Innocent VII (1404–1406) [Cosimo de’ Migliorata] [Italian] Gregory XII (1406–1415)1 [Angelo Corraro] [Italian] Avignon Line *Clement VII (1378–1394) [Robert of Geneva] [French] *Benedict XIII (1394–1417)2 [Pedro Martinez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor] [Aragonese] *Clement VIII (1423–1429)3 [Gil Sánches Munoz y Carbón] [Aragonese]  Deposed by the Council of Pisa in 1409, but formally resigned to the Council of Constance in July 1415. 2.   Deposed by the Council of Constance in 1415 3.   Voluntarily abdicated in favor of Martin V in July 1429. 1.

281

Appendix 3

Pisa Line *Alexander V (1409–1410) [Peter Phillarges] [Italian] *John XXIII (1410–1415)4 [Baldassarre Cossa] [Italian] ROMAN POPES Martin V (1417–1431) [Otto Colonna] [Italian] Eugenius IV (1431–1447) [Gabriele Condulmer] [Italian] Nicholas V (1447–1455) [Tommaso Parentucelli] [Italian] Calixtus III (1455–1458) [Alfonso de Borgia] [Aragonese] Pius II (1458–1464) [Enea Silvio Piccolomini] [Italian] Paul II (1464–1471) [Pietro Barbo] [Italian] Sixtus IV (1471–1484) [Francesco della Rovere] [Italian] Innocent VIII (1484–1492) [Giovanni Battista Cibo] [Italian] Alexander VI (1492–1503) [Rodrigo Borgia] [Aragonese]—nephew of Calixtus III Pius III (1503) [Francesco Todeschini] [Italian] Julius II (1503–1513) [Giuliano della Rovere] [Italian]—nephew of Sixtus IV Leo X (1513–1521) [Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici] [Italian] Adrian VI (1522–1523) [Adriaan Florensz Boeyens] [Dutch] Clement VII (1523–1534) [Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici]—cousin of Leo X Paul III (1534–1549) [Alessandro Farnese] [Italian] Julius III (1550–1555) [Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte] [Italian] Marcellus II (1555) [Marcello Cervini degli Spannochi] [Italian] Paul IV (1555–1559) [Gian Pietro Carafa] [Italian] Pius IV (1559–1565) [Giovanni Angelo Medici] [Italian] Pius V (1566–1572) [Michele Ghislieri] [Italian] Gregory XIII (1572–1585) [Ugo Boncompagni] [Italian]

 Deposed by the Council of Pisa in 1409 and the Council of Constance in 1415 and formally submitted to Martin V in 1419.

4.

282

A PPENDIX 4: RULERS OF ITALIAN CITY-STATES DURING THE R ENAISSANCE PERIOD Listed below are the rulers of the major Italian states during the Renaissance period. RULERS OF FLORENCE, 1393–1587 Albizzi family (1393–1434) Cosimo de’ Medici (1434–1464) Piero de’ Medici, the Gouty (son of Cosimo) (1464–1469) Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent (son of Piero the Gouty) (1469–1492) Piero II de’ Medici (son of Lorenzo the Magnificent) (1492–1494) Republic/Savonarola (1494–1498) Republic/Piero Soderini, Gonfaloniere (1498–1512) Giuliano de’ Medici, Duke of Nemours (son of Lorenzo the Magnificent) (1512–1516) Lorenzo II de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino (son of Piero II) (1516–1519) Giulio de’ Medici (nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent and later Pope Clement VII) (1519–1523) Ippolito de’ Medici (son of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours) (1523–1527) Republic (1527–1530) Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence from 1532 (son of Lorenzo II) (1531–1537) Cosimo I de’ Medici, Duke of Florence and Grand Duke of Tuscany (1569) (descended from a brother of Cosimo [d. 1464]) (1537–1574) Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (son of Cosimo I) (1574–1587) DOGES OF VENICE, 1382–1585 Antonio Venier (1382–1400) Michele Steno (1400–1413) Tommaso Mocenigo (1414–1423) Francesco Foscari (1423–1457) Pasquale Malipiero (1457–1462) Cristoforo Moro (1462–1471) Niccolò Trono (1471–1473) Niccolò Marcello (1473–1474) Pietro Mocenigo (1474–1476)

283

Appendix 4

Andrea Vendramin (1476–1478) Giovanni Mocenigo (1478–1485) Marco Barbarigo (1485–1486) Agostino Barbarigo (1486–1501) Leonardo Loredan (1501–1521) Antonio Grimani (1521–1523) Andrea Gritti (1523–1538) Pietro Lando (1538–1545) Francesco Donato (1545–1553) Marcantonio Trivisan (1553–1554) Francesco Venier (1554–1556) Lorenzo Priuli (1556–1559) Girolamo Priuli (1559–1567) Pietro Loredano (1567–1570) Alvise Mocenigo (1570–1577) Sebastiano Venier (1577–1578) Niccolò da Ponte (1578–1585) RULERS OF MILAN, 1311–1598 Matteo I Visconti (1311–1322) Galeazzo I Visconti (son of Matteo I) (1322–1328) Azzone Visconti (son of Galeazzo I) (1328–1339) Luchino Visconti (son of Matteo I) (1339–1349) Giovanni Visconti (son of Matteo I) (1339–1354) Matteo II Visconti (nephew of Luchino and Giovanni) (1354–1355) Galeazzo II Visconti (nephew of Luchino and Giovanni) (1354–1378) Bernabò Visconti (nephew of Luchino and Giovanni) (1354–1385) Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1395) (son of Galeazzo II) (1378–1402) Gian Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (son of Gian Galeazzo) (1402–1412) Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (son of Gian Galeazzo) (1412–1447) Ambrosian Republic (1447–1450) Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (son-in-law of Filippo Maria Visconti) (1450–1466) Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (son of Francesco I) (1466–1476) Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan (son of Galeazzo Maria) (1476–1494) Ludovico Sforza (il Moro), Duke of Milan (son of Francesco I) (1494–1499) Luigi I (Louis XII of France), Duke of Milan (great-grandson of Gian Galeazzo Visconti) (1499–1512) Massimiliano Sforza, Duke of Milan (son of Ludovico Sforza) (1512–1515) Francesco II (Francis I of France), Duke of Milan (son-in-law of Louis XII) (1515–1521) Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (son of Ludovico Sforza) (1521–1535) No Duke (Milan ruled directly by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) (1535–1540) Filippo I (Philip II of Spain from 1556), Duke of Milan (son of Charles V) (1540–1598) RULERS OF MANTUA, 1328–1587 Ludovico I Gonzaga, Captain-General of Mantua (1328–1360)

284

Appendix 4

Guido Gonzaga, Captain-General of Mantua (son of Ludovico I) (1360–1369) Ludovico II Gonzaga, Captain-General of Mantua (son of Guido) (1369–1382) Francesco I Gonzaga, Captain-General of Mantua (son of Ludovico II) (1382–1407) Francesco II Gonzaga, Captain-General of Mantua and Marquis of Mantua (1433) (son of Francesco I) (1407–1444) Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (son of Francesco I) (1444–1478) Federico I Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (son of Ludovico III) (1478–1484) Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (son of Federico I) (1484–1519) Federico II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua and Duke of Mantua (1530) (son of Francesco II) (1519–1540) Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (son of Federico II) (1540–1550) Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (son of Federico II) (1550–1587) RULERS OF FERRARA AND MODENA, 1393–1597 Niccolò III d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara (1393–1441) Leonello d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara (son of Niccolò III) (1441–1450) Borso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (1452) (illegitimate son of Niccolò III) (1450–1471) Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (son of Niccolò III) (1471–1505) Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (son of Ercole I) (1505–1534) Ercole II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (son of Alfonso I) (1534–1559) Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara (son of Ercole II) (1559–1597) MONARCHS OF NAPLES, 1309–1598 Robert I, the Wise (1309–1343) (House of Anjou) Joanna I (1343–1382) (House of Anjou) Louis I of Anjou (1382–1384) (claimant of the House of Anjou-Taranto) Charles III (1382–1384) (claimant of the House of Anjou-Durazzo) Ladislaus (1386–1414) (House of Anjou-Durrazzo) Louis II (1384–1417) (House of Anjou-Taranto) Joanna II (1414–1435) (House of Anjou Durrazzo) Louis III (1417–1434) (House of Anjou-Durrazzo) Alfonso I the Magnanimous (1435–1458) (Aragonese House of Trastámara) Ferdinand I (1458–1494) (House of Trastámara) Alfonso II (1494–1495) (House of Trastámara) Ferdinand II (1495–1496) (House of Trastámara) Frederick I (1496–1501) (House of Trastámara) Louis III (Louis XII of France) (1501–1504) (House of Valois)—Naples is part of France Ferdinand III (1504–1516) (House of Trastámara) Joanna III (1516–1555) (House of Trastámara) Charles IV (1516–1554) (Charles V, Holy Roman emperor) (House of Habsburg)— Charles ruled for his mentally unstable mother Joanna III Philip I (1554–1598) (Philip II of Spain after 1556) (House of Habsburg)

285

This page intentionally left blank

A PPENDIX 5: EUROPEAN MONARCHS, 1300–1600 ENGLISH MONARCHS House of Plantagenet Edward I (1272–1307) Edward II (1307–1327) Edward III (1327–1377) Richard II (1377–1399)

House of Plantagenet—Lancaster Henry IV (1399–1413) Henry V (1413–1422) Henry VI (1422–1461)

House of Plantagenet—York Edward IV (1461–1470)

House of Plantagenet—Lancaster Henry VI (1470–1471)

House of Plantagenet—York Edward IV (1471–1483) Edward V (1483) Richard III (1483–1485)

House of Tudor Henry VII (1485–1509) Henry VIII (1509–1547) Edward VI (1547–1553) Mary I (1553–1558) Elizabeth I (1558–1603) 287

Appendix 5

FRENCH MONARCHS House of Capet Philip IV, the Fair (1285–1314) Louis X (1314–1316) John I (1316) Philip V (1316–1322) Charles IV (1322–1328)

House of Valois Philip VI (1328–1350) John II (1350–1364) Charles V (1364–1380) Charles VI (1380–1422) Charles VII (1422–1461) Louis XI (1461–1483) Charles VIII (1483–1498) Louis XII (1498–1515) Francis I (1515–1547) Henri II (1547–1559) Francis II (1559–1560) Charles IX (1560–1574) Henri III (1574–1589)

HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS Charles IV (1346–1378) (House of Luxembourg) Wenceslas of Bohemia (1378–1400) (House of Luxembourg) Rupert of the Palatinate (1400–1410) (House of Wittelsbach) Sigismund (1411–1437) (House of Luxembourg) Albert II (1438–1439) (House of Habsburg) Frederick III (1440–1493) (House of Habsburg) Maximilian I (1493–1519) (House of Habsburg) Charles V (1519–1556) (House of Habsburg) Ferdinand I (1556–1564) (House of Habsburg) Maximilian II (1564–1576) (House of Habsburg) Rudolf II (1576–1612) (House of Habsburg)

OTTOMAN TURKISH SULTANS Murad I (1361–1389) Bayazid I (1389–1402) Interregnum (1402–1413) Mehmed I (1413–1421) Murad II (1421–1451) Mehmed II (1451–1481) Bayazid II (1481–1512) 288

Appendix 5

Selim I (1512–1520) Suleiman, the Magnificent (1520–1566) Selim II (1566–1574) Murad III (1574–1595)

SPANISH MONARCHS Monarchs of Castile

House of Trastámara Henry II (1369–1379) John I (1379–1390) Henry III (1390–1406) John II (1406–1454) Henry IV, the Impotent (1454–1474) Isabella I, the Catholic (1474–1504) Monarchs of Aragon

House of Barcelona Peter IV (1336–1387) John I (1387–1396) Martin (1396–1410)

House of Trastámara Ferdinand I (1412–1416) Alfonso V, the Magnanimous (1416–1458) John II, the Great (1458–1479) Ferdinand II, the Catholic (1479–1516) Monarchs of Spain

House of Trastámara Ferdinand II of Aragon/Isabella I of Castile (joint monarchs of Spain) (1479–1504) Ferdinand of Aragon/Juana of Castile*/Philip I (Habsburg) of Castile (joint monarchs of Spain (1504–1506) Ferdinand of Aragon/Juana of Castile (joint monarchs of Spain) (1506–1516)

House of Habsburg Charles I (also Holy Roman emperor as Charles V after 1519) (1516–1556) Philip II (1556–1598) *Although Juana of Castile, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella and mother of Charles I, succeeded her mother as queen of Castile in 1504 and remained queen until her death in 1555, mental illness prevented her from ever ruling. Spain was thus effectively ruled by her father, King Ferdinand II, between 1504 and 1516, her husband Philip I [jointly with Ferdinand] between 1504 and 1506, and her son Charles I between 1516 and 1556. 289

This page intentionally left blank

BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS Alberti, Leon Battista. The Family in Renaissance Florence. Translated by Renée Neu Watkins. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1969. Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting: A New Translation and Critical Edition. Translated and edited by Rocco Sinisgalli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Baldassarri, Stefano Ugo, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Images of Quattrocento Florence: Selected Writings in Literature, History, and Art. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Barbaro, Francesco. The Wealth of Wives: A Fifteenth-Century Marriage Manual. Translated and edited by Margaret L. King. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2015. Bartlett, Kenneth R., and Margaret McGlynn, eds. Humanism and the Northern Renaissance. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2000. Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated by M. Musa and P. Bondanella. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1983. Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated and edited by Wayne A. Rebhorn. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2016. Branca, Vittore, ed. Merchant Writers: Florentine Memoirs from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Translated and edited by Murtha Baca and Cesare De Michelis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. Brucker, Gene, ed. The Society of Renaissance Florence: A Documentary Study. New York: Harper and Row, 1971. Campanella, Tommaso. The City of the Sun. Translated and edited by Daniel J. Donno. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. Cassirer, Ernest, P.O. Kristeller, and J.H. Randall, eds. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948. Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Translated by Charles S. Singleton. Edited by Daniel Javitch. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002. Cellini, Benvenuto. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. Rev. ed. Translated by George Bull. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1999. Chambers, David, and Brian Pullan, eds. and trans. Venice: A Documentary History, 1450– 1630. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.

291

Bibliography

Chojnacka, Monica, and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, eds. Ages of Women, Ages of Man: Sources in European Social History, 1400–1750. London: Longman, 2002. D’Albret, Jeanne. Letters from the Queen of Navarre, with an Ample Declaration. Translated and edited by Kathleen M. Llewellyn, Emily E. Thompson, and Colette H. Winn. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2016. D’Este, Isabella. Selected Letters. Translated and edited by Deanna Shemek. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2016. Elmer, Peter, Nicholas Webb, and Roberta Wood, eds. The Renaissance in Europe: An Anthology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Elyot, Sir Thomas. A Critical Edition of Sir Thomas Elyot’s “The Boke Named the Governour.” Edited by Donald W. Rude. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. Erasmus, Desiderius. Erasmus on Women. Edited by Erika Rummel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996. Erasmus, Desiderius. The Erasmus Reader. Edited by Erika Rummel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990. Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation with Critical Commentary. Edited and translated by Robert M. Adams. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1989. Ferrazzi, Cecilia. Autobiography of an Aspiring Saint. Translated and edited by Anne Jacobson Schutte. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996. Fonte, Moderata. The Worth of Women, Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men. Translated and edited by Virginia Cox. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Gordan, Phyllis W., ed. and trans. Two Renaissance Book Hunters: The Letters of Poggius Bracciolini to Nicolaus de Niccolis. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. Gouwens, Kenneth, ed. Remembering the Renaissance: Humanist Narratives of the Sack of Rome. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1998. Gragg, Florence A., trans. Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope: The Commentaries of Pius II: An Abridgement. Edited by Leona C. Gabel. New York: Capricorn Books, 1962. Grubb, James S., and Anna Bellavitis, eds. Family Memoirs from Venice (15th-17th Centuries). Rome: Viella, 2009. Guicciardini, Francesco. The History of Italy. Translated and edited by Sidney Alexander. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984. Kaborycha, Lisa, ed. and trans. A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Kallendorf, Craig, ed. and trans. Humanist Educational Treatises. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. King, Margaret L., ed. and trans. Renaissance Humanism: An Anthology of Sources. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2014. King, Margaret L., and Albert Rabil, Jr., eds. and trans. Her Immaculate Hand: Selected Works by and about the Women Humanists of Quarttrocento Italy. 2nd ed. Binghamton, NY: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1991. Kohl, Benjamin, and Ronald Witt, eds. and trans. The Earthly Republic: Italian Humanists on Government and Society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978. Lopez, Roberto S., and Irving W. Raymond, trans. and eds. Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents Translated with Introduction and Notes. 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Luther, Martin. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings. Edited by John Dillenberger. New York: Doubleday, 1972. 292

Bibliography

Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Essential Writings of Machiavelli. Selected and translated by Peter Constantine. New York: Modern Classics Library, 2007. Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Translated and edited by Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. McGlynn, Margaret, and Kenneth R. Bartlett, eds. The Renaissance and Reformation in Northern Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014. Medicis, Catherine de’. Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters. Translated and edited by Leah L. Chang and Katherine Kong. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2014. Modena, Leone. The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena’s Life of Judah. Translated and edited by Mark R. Cohen. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. Montaigne, Michel de. The Complete Essays of Montaigne. Translated and edited by Donald M. Frame. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1958. More, Thomas. Utopia. Edited by George M. Logan and Robert M. Adams. Norton Critical Editions. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2010. Petrarch, Francesco. Letters. Translated and edited by M. Bishop. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966. Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius (Pope Pius II). Commentaries. Edited by Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, 2007. Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni. Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man: A New Translation and Commentary. Translated with commentary by Francesco Borghesi, Michael Papio, and Massimo Riva. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pulci, Antonia. Saints’ Lives and Bible Stories for the Stage: A Bilingual Edition. Edited by Elissa B. Weaver and translated by James Wyatt Cook. Toronto: Iter Academic Press; Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2010. Rabelais, François. The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Translated by J.M. Cohen. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1976. Riccoboni, Bartolomea. Life and Death in a Venetian Convent: The Chronology and Necrology of Corpus Domini, 1395–1436. Translated and edited by Daniel Bornstein. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Ross, James Bruce, and Mary Martin McLaughlin, eds. The Portable Renaissance Reader. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. Sanudo, Marino. Venice, Cità Excelentissima: Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marino Sanudo. Translated and edited by Patricia H. Labalme and Laura Sanguineti White. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. Shally-Jensen, Michael, ed. Defining Documents in World History: Renaissance and Early Modern Era (1308–1600). Ipswich, MA: Grey House Publishing, 2017. Shearer, Robert G., ed. Voices of the Renaissance and Reformation. Lebanon, TN: Greenleaf Press, 2009. Strozzi, Alessandra Macinghi. Letters to Her Sons, 1447–1470. Translated and edited by Judith Bryce. Toronto: Iter Academic Press, 2016. Sulam, Sarra Copia. Jewish Poet and Intellectual in Seventeenth-Century Venice: The Works of Sarra Copia Sulam in Verse and Prose, along with Writings of Her Contemporaries in Her Praise, Condemnation, or Defense. Translated and edited by Don Harrán. Toronto: Iter Academic Press; Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2009. Tarabotti, Arcangela. Paternal Tyranny. Translated and Edited by Letizia Panizza. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. 293

Bibliography

Teresa of Avila. The Life of St. Teresa of Avila by Herself. Translated by J.M. Cohen. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1957. Valla, Lorenzo. The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine. Translated by C.B. Coleman. Reprint ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993. Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Artists. Translated by Julia Conway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Vives, Juan Luis. The Education of a Christian Woman: A Sixteenth-Century Manual. Translated and edited by Charles Fantazzi. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry, ed. The Renaissance and Reformation: A History in Documents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

HISTORY OF ITALY Abulafia, David, ed. Italy in the Central Middle Ages: 1000–1300. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Cronin, Vincent. Italy: A History. Rockville, MD: New Word City, 2016. Duggan, Christopher. A Concise History of Italy. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Gilmour, David. The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. Hearder, Harry. Italy: A Short History. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Holmes, George, ed. The Oxford History of Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Hyde, J.K. Society and Politics in Medieval Italy: The Evolution of the Civil Life, 1000–1350. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1973. Killinger, Charles L. The History of Italy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. Kreutz, Barbara M. Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991. La Rocca, Cristina, ed. Italy in the Early Middle Ages, 476–1000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Marino, John A., ed. Early Modern Italy, 1550–1796. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Wickham, Chris. Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society, 400–1000. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989.

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE HISTORY Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of Classicism and Tyranny. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966. Bartlett, Kenneth R., with Gillian C. Bartlett. The Renaissance in Italy: A History. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2019. Brotton, Jerry. The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. New York: New American Library, 1960 [1860]). Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy. 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.

294

Bibliography

Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Fletcher, Stella. The Longman Companion to Renaissance Europe 1390–1530. London: Longman, 2000. Hay, Dennis. Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, 1380–1530. New York: Longman, 1989. Jardine, Lisa. Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance. New York: Norton and Company, 1996. Jensen, De Lamar. Renaissance Europe: Age of Recovery and Reconciliation. 2nd ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992. Johnson, Paul. The Renaissance: A Short History. New York: The Modern Library, 2002. Kaborycha, Lisa. A Short History of Renaissance Italy. London: Pearson, 2020. King, Margaret L. A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. Konstam, Angus. Historical Atlas of the Renaissance. New York: Checkmark Books, 2004. Larner, John. Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, 1216–1380. London: Longman, 1980. Levi, Anthony. Renaissance and Reformation: The Intellectual Genesis. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002. Plumb, J.H. The Italian Renaissance. Reprint ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Pullan, Brian S. A History of Early Renaissance Italy: From the Mid-Thirteenth to the MidFifteenth Century. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1972. Rowland, Ingrid D. The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in SixteenthCentury Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Ruggiero, Guido. The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Speake, Jennifer, and Thomas G. Bergin. Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and Reformation. Rev. ed. New York: Facts on File, 2004.

ART, LITERATURE, AND MUSIC Asch, Ronald, and Adolf M. Birke, eds. Princes, Patronage, and the Nobility: The Court at the Beginning of the Early Modern Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400–1600. New York: Norton and Company, 1998. Baxandall, Michael. Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of a Pictorial Style. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Brown, Howard M., and Louise K. Stein. Music in the Renaissance. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Campbell, Lorne. Renaissance Portraits: European Portrait-Painting in the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990. Campbell, Stephen J. The Cabinet of Eros: Renaissance Mythological Painting and the Studiolo of Isabella d’Este. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. Campbell, Stephen J., and Michael W. Cole. Italian Renaissance Art. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2017. Cole, Bruce. The Renaissance Artist at Work: From Pisano to Titian. New York: Harper and Row, 1983. Connor, James A. The Last Judgment: Michelangelo and the Death of the Renaissance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

295

Bibliography

Edgerton, Samuel Y., Jr. Pictures and Punishment: Art and Criminal Prosecution during the Florentine Renaissance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985. Garrard, Mary D. Brunelleschi’s Egg: Nature, Art, and Gender in Renaissance Italy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. Glixon, Beth, and Jonathan Emmanuel Glixon. Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Goldthwaite, Richard. Wealth and the Demand for Art in Italy, 1300–1600. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. Hartt, Frederick, and David Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance Art. 7th ed. London: Pearson, 2010. Hollingsworth, Mary. Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. Johnson, Geraldine. Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. King, Catherine. Renaissance Women Patrons. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998. King, Ross. Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. New York: Bloomsbury, USA, 2013. Marina, Areli. The Italian Piazza Transformed: Parma in the Communal Age. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2012. McLean, Alick M. Prato: Architecture, Piety, and Political Identity in a Tuscan City-State. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. O’Malley, Michelle. Painting under Pressure: Fame, Reputation, and Demand in Renaissance Florence. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014. Pater, Walter. The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2005. Rosenberg, Charles M. The Este Monuments and Urban Development in Renaissance Ferrara. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Starn, Randolph, and Loren Partridge. Arts of Power: Three Halls of State in Italy, 1300– 1600. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. Trachtenberg, Marvin. Dominance of the Eye: Urbanism, Art, and Power in Early Modern Florence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

BIOGRAPHIES AND FAMILY HISTORIES Bourne, Molly. Francesco II Gonzaga: The Soldier-Prince as Patron. Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 2008. Bradford, Sarah. Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. Celenza, Christopher S. Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer. London: Reaktion Books, 2017. Crabb, Ann. The Merchant of Prato’s Wife: Margherita Datini and Her World, 1360–1423. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2015. Cummings, Anthony M. The Lion’s Ear: Pope Leo X, the Renaissance Papacy, and Music. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012. Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. Columbus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Forcellino, Antonio. Raphael: A Passionate Life. Translated by Lucinda Byatt. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2012.

296

Bibliography

Frieda, Leonie. Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Garrard, Mary D. Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989. Gordon, Bruce. John Calvin. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Grafton, Anthony. Cardano’s Cosmos: The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Guy, John. Thomas More. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Hendrix, Scott. Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. Hibbert, Christopher. The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall. New York: William Morrow, 1999. Isaacson, Walter. Leonardo di Vinci. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2017. Jardine, Lisa. Erasmus, Man of Letters: The Construction of Charisma in Print. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Kent, Dale. Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine Renaissance—The Patron’s Oeuvre. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Kent, F.W. Lorenzo de’ Medici and the Art of Magnificence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. King, Ross. Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Lowry, M.J.C. The World of Aldus Manutius: Business and Scholarship in Renaissance Venice. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979. Marius, Richard. Thomas More. New York: Random House, 1985. Medwick, Cathleen. Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul. New York: Image, 2001. Nicholl, Charles. Leonardo: Flights of the Mind. New York: Viking, 2004. Romano, Dennis. The Likeness of Venice: A Life of Doge Francesco Foscari, 1373–1457. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007. Strathern, Paul. The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance. New York: Pegasus Books, 2016. Took, John. Dante. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020. Tracy, James D. Erasmus of the Low Countries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Unger, Miles J. Magnifico: The Brillian Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008. Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo’s Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 2001. Wallace, William. Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man, and His Times. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

HUMANISM AND EDUCATION Celenza, Christopher S. The Intellectual World of the Italian Renaissance: Language, Philosophy, and the Search for Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Celenza, Christopher S. The Lost Italian Renaissance: Humanists, Historians, and Latin’s Legacy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the 14th and 18th Centuries. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994.

297

Bibliography

Grafton, Anthony, and Lisa Jardine. From Humanism to the Humanities: Education and the Liberal Arts in Fifteenth and Sixteenth-Century Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986. Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning, 1300–1600. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989. Hankins, James. Plato in the Italian Renaissance. 2 vols. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990. Hankins, James, ed. Renaissance Civic Humanism: Reappraisals and Reflections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Hexter, J.H. More’s Utopia: The Biography of an Idea. Reprint ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976. Houston, R.A. Literacy in Early Modern Europe: Its Growth, Uses, and Impact, 1500–1800. 2nd ed. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education, 2002. Kraye, Jill, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Kristeller, Paul Oskar. Renaissance Thought and Its Sources. Edited by M. Mooney. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979. McConica, James Kelsey. English Humanists and Reformation Politics under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Nauert, Charles G. Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Parker, Holt N. “Women and Humanism: Nine Factors for the Woman Learning.” Viator 35 (2004): 581–616. Testa, Simone. Italian Academies and Their Networks, 1525–1700: From Local to Global. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Thornton, Dora. The Scholar in His Study: Ownership and Experience in Renaissance Italy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. Trinkaus, Charles. In Our Image and Likeness: Humanity and Divinity in Italian Humanist Thought. 2 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. Witt, Ronald G. In the Footsteps of the Ancients: The Origins of Humanism from Lovato to Bruni. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2000. Yoran, Hanan. Between Utopia and Dystopia: Erasmus, More, and the Humanist Republic of Letters. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2010.

NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Bonney, Richard. The European Dynastic States, 1494–1660. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Bouwsma, William J. The Waning of the Renaissance, 1550–1640. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Dewald, Jonathan. The European Nobility, 1400–1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Duindam, Jeroen F.J. Vienna and Versailles: The Courts Europe’s Dynastic Rivals, 1550–1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Elias, Norbert. The Court Society. Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Oxford: Basil; Blackwell, 1983. Harbison, Craig. The Mirror of the Artist: Northern Renaissance Art in Its Historical Context. Upper Saddle River, NJ/New York: Prentice Hall/Harry N. Abrams, 1995.

298

Bibliography

Heard, Kate, and Lucy Whitaker. The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein. London: Royal Collection Trust, 2013. Hohenberg, Paul M. and Lynn Hollen Lees. The Making of Urban Europe, 1000–1994. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Knecht, R.J. The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France 1483–1610. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Nash, Susie. Northern Renaissance Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Newman, Karen. Cultural Capitals: Early Modern London and Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007. O’Brien, Patrick K., ed. Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. 2nd ed. Revised by Larry Silver and Henry Luttikhuizen. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. Vale, Malcolm. A Short History of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Wilson, Derek. In the Lion’s Court: Power, Ambition, and Sudden Death in the Reign of Henry VIII. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.

POLITICS AND WAR Black, Jane. Absolutism in Renaissance Milan: Plenitude of Power under the Visconti and Sforza, 1329–1535. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Brachtel, M.E. Lucca 1430–1494: The Reconstruction of an Italian City-Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Brown, Patricia Fortini. Venice and Antiquity: The Venetian Sense of the Past. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. Burke, Peter. The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione’s Cortegiano. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1996. Chastel, André. The Sack of Rome, 1527. Translated by Beth Archer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983. Dandelet, Thomas James. Spanish Rome, 1500–1700. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. Dean, Trevor. Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara: The Rule of the Este, 1350–1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Epstein, Steven A. Genoa and the Genoese, 958–1528. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. Finlay, Robert. Politics in Renaissance Venice. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1980. Fletcher, Catherine. Diplomacy in Renaissance Rome: The Rise of the Resident Ambassador. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Green, Louis. Castruccio Castracani: A Study on the Origins and Character of a FourteenthCentury Italian Despotism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. Herlihy, David. Medieval and Renaissance Pistoia: The Social History of an Italian Town, 1200–1430. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967. Holmes, George, ed. Art and Politics in Renaissance Italy. London: British Academy, 1993. Ianziti, Gary. Humanistic Historiography under the Sforzas: Politics and Propaganda in Fifteenth-Century Milan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988.

299

Bibliography

Jones, Philip J. The Italian City-State: From Commune to Signoria. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Kent, Dale. Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine Renaissance: The Patron’s Oeuvre. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Kohl, Benjamin G. Padua under the Carrara, 1318–1405. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980. Lane, Frederic C. Venice: A Maritime Republic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. Lansing, Carol. The Florentine Magnates: Lineage and Faction in a Medieval Commune. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. Lubkin, Gregory. A Renaissance Court: Milan under Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Martines, Lauro. April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Martines, Lauro. Power and Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988. Muir, Edward. Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981. Murry, Gregory. The Medicean Succession: Monarchy and Sacral Politics in Duke Cosimo dei Medici’s Florence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014. Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500– 1800. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Rubinstein, Nicolai. The Government of Florence under the Medici, 1434–1494. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Shaw, Christine, ed. Italy and the European Powers: The Impact of War, 1500–1530. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2006. Stephens, J.N. The Fall of the Florentine Republic, 1512–1530. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. Strathern, Paul. Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. Tabacco, Giovanni. The Struggle for Power in Medieval Italy: Structures of Political Rule, 400– 1400. Translated by Rosalind Brown Jensen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Tuohy, Thomas. Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d’Este, 1471–1505, and the Invention of a Ducal Captial. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli’s God. Translated by Antony Shugaar. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. Waley, Donald. The Italian City Republics. 4th ed. London: Routledge, 2009.

RELIGION AND THE PAPACY Black, Christopher F. The Italian Inquisition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Bonfil, Robert. Jewish Life in Renaissance Italy. Translated by Anthony Oldcorn. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Bornstein, Daniel, and Roberto Rusconi, eds. Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

300

Bibliography

Cohn, Samuel K., Jr. The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death: Six Renaissance Cities in Central Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. Davis, Robert C., and Benjamin Ravid, eds. The Jews of Early Modern Venice. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. D’Elia, Anthony F. A Sudden Terror: The Plot to Murder the Pope in Renaissance Rome. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Ginzburg, Carlo. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller. Translated by A. Tedeschi and J. Tedeschi. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1980. Gregory, Brad. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Hallman, Barbara McClung. Italian Cardinals, Reform, and the Church as Property, 1492– 1563. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Hart, D.G. Calvinism: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Henderson, John. Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Florence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Hollingsworth, Mary. The Cardinal’s Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince. London: Profile, 2004. Hsia, R. Po-Chia. The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540–1770. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation: A History. New York: Viking, 2004. Martines, Lauro. Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for Renaissance Florence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. 4th ed. Malden, MA: WileyBlackwell, 2012. Metcalfe, Alex. The Muslims of Medieval Italy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Mullett, Michael. The Catholic Reformation. London: Routledge, 1999. Noel, Gerard. The Renaissance Popes: Statesmen, Warriors and the Great Borgia Myth. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006. O’Malley, John W. Trent and All That: Renaming Catholicism in the Early Modern Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. Pettegree, Andrew. Brand Luther: 1517, Printing, and the Making of the Reformation. New York: Penguin Books, 2015. Polecritti, Cynthia L. Preaching Peace in Renaissance Italy: Bernardino of Siena and His Audience. Washington, DC: Catholic University Press of America, 2000. Polizzotto, Lorenzo. Children of the Promise: The Confraternity of the Purification and the Socialization of Youths in Florence, 1427–1785. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Ruderman, David B. Preachers of the Italian Ghetto. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. Sperling, Jutta Gisela. Convents and the Body Politic in Late Renaissance Venice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Strocchia, Sharon T. Nuns and Nunneries in Renaissance Florence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Terpstra, Nicholas. Lay Confraternities and Civic Religion in Renaissance Bologna. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Weinstein, Donald. Savonarola and Florence: Prophecy and Patriotism in the Renaissance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970.

301

Bibliography

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDICINE Biagioli, Mario. Galileo, Courtier: The Practice of Science in the Culture of Absolutism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Cohn, Samuel K., Jr. Cultures of Plague: Medical Thought at the End of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Crawshaw, Jane L. Stevens. Plague Hospitals: Public Health for the City in Early Modern Venice. London: Routledge, 2012. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early Modern Europe. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Grafton, Anthony. Defenders of the Text: The Traditions of Scholarship in an Age of Science, 1450–1800. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991. Herlihy, David. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Edited by Samuel Cohn. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997. Huff, Toby E. Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2011. Mullins, Lisa. Science in the Renaissance. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2009.

SOCIETY, ECONOMICS, AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN Ajmar-Wollheim, Marta, and Flora Dennis, eds. At Home in Renaissance Italy. London: V. and A., 2006. Briggs, Robin. Witches and Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. New York: HarperCollins/Viking Penguin, 1996. Brotton, Jerry. The Renaissance Bazaar: From the Silk Road to Michelangelo. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Brown, Patricia Fortini. Private Lives in Renaissance Venice: Art, Architecture, and the Family. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005. Brucker, Gene. Renaissance Florence. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy. Rev. ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. Chojnacka, Monica. Working Women of Early Modern Venice. Baltimore: John Hopkins Universty Press, 2000. Cohen, Elizabeth S., and Thomas V. Cohen. Daily Life in Renaissance Italy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. Cohn, Samuel K., Jr. The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death: Six Renaissance Cities in Central Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. Cohn, Samuel K., Jr. Women in the Streets: Essays on Sex and Power in Renaissance Italy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Cox, Virginia. Women’s Writing in Italy, 1400–1650. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. DuPlessis, Robert S. Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe: Economies in the Era of Early Globalization, c. 1450–c. 1820. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Frick, Carole Collier. Dressing Renaissance Florence: Families, Fortunes, and Fine Clothing. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

302

Bibliography

Gavitt, Philip. Gender, Honor, and Charity in Late Renaissance Florence. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of Renaissance Florence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Herlihy, David, and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber. Tuscans and Their Families: A Study of the Florentine Catasto of 1427. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986. Hunt, Edwin S., and James M. Murray. A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200– 1550. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. King, Margaret L. The Death of the Child Valerio Marcello. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1994. King, Margaret L. Women of the Renaissance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane. Women, Family and Ritual in Renaissance Italy. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. Larsen, Anne, Diana Robin, and Carole Levin, eds. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell. The Italian Cotton Industry in the Late Middle Ages, 1100– 1600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Musacchio, Jacqueline M. Art, Marriage and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Musacchio, Jacqueline M. The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. Parks, Tim. Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence. New York: Norton and Company, 2005. Pullan, Brian. Rich and Poor in Renaissance Venice. The Social Institutions of a Catholic State, to 1620. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971. Robin, Diana. Publishing Women: Salons, the Presses, and the Counter-Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Italy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Romano, Dennis. Patricians and Popolani: The Social Foundations of the Venetian Renaissance State. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. Ross, Sarah G. The Birth of Feminism: Women as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and England. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009. Ruggiero, Guido. The Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance Venice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. Saslow, James M. The Medici Wedding of 1589: Florentine Festival as Theatrum mundi. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. Sider, Sandra. Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Strocchia, Sharon. Death and Ritual in Renaissance Florence. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

303

This page intentionally left blank

INDEX Abbey of Thélème (Rabelais), 243 Accademia Fiorentina, 148 Achilles, 141 Adamant, 196 Adolescentia (Adolescence) (Wimpheling), 210–11 AEgidius of Antwerp (Giles), 229 Afonso V, King of Portugal, 65, 66 Africa (Petrarch), 20 Agricola, Rudolphus, 203–6; aftermath of works by, 205–6; historical background of, 203; italianische Reise and, 206; letter to Barbirianus, 204–5; points to help evaluate, 203–4; questions to consider regarding, 206; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 206 Alb, 179 Albergati, Niccoló, Cardinal, 53, 55 Alberti, Leon Battista, 33–36, 65; aftermath of works by, 35; Church of Santa Maria Novella and, 36; De re aedificatoria excerpt, 34–35; historical background of, 33; points to help evaluate, 33–34; questions to consider regarding, 36; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 36 Albizzeschi, Bernardiono degli. See Bernardino of Siena (Bernardiono degli Albizzeschi) Alexander VI, Pope, 42, 134, 139, 168, 174, 189, 191; aftermath of papacy, 187; descriptions of, 185; Guicciardini assessment of, 185–86; historical background of, 183; points to help

evaluate, 184; questions to consider regarding, 187; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 187 Alfonso of Aragon, 47 Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Naples, 159, 166, 168 Alighieri, Dante. See Dante Altarpiece, 215 Ambrogini, Agnolo. See Poliziano, Angelo Amice, 179 Ancient law, 154 Andrew, Duke of Calabria, 11 Andromache, 29 Anticlericalism, 62 Antilia, 68 Apicius, Marcus Gavius, 19 Archbishop of Pisa (Salviati), 128 Ariosto, Alfonso, 98 Aristotle, 205 Art and literature: Alberti, Leon Battista, 33–36; Bandello, Matteo, 45–49; Boccaccio, Giovanni, 11–14; Dante, 3–8; da Vinci, Leonardo, 39–44; Petrarch, 17–21; Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius, 27–32; Sacchetti, Franco, 23–26. See also individual headings Auld Alliance, 55 Babylonian captivity of the Church, 18 Bacchic, 47 Bandello, Matteo, 45–49; aftermath of works by, 48; countess of Challant and, 49; historical background of, 45; 305



Novelle, excerpts from, 46–48; points to help evaluate, 45–46; questions to consider regarding, 48; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 48 Barbari, Jacopo de’ (Master Jacob), 217 Barbarigo, Agostino, Doge of Venice, 84 Barbarossa, Frederick, xviii, 109 Barbirianus, Jacob, 203, 204–5 Baroncelli, Bernardo, 127 Battle of Anghiari, The (da Vinci), 42–43 Battle of Campaldino, 111–12 Battle of Fornovo, 87 Battle of Garigliano, 80 Battle of Legnano, 109 Battle of Lepanto, 105 Battle of Novara, 93, 136 Battle of Pavia, 48 Battle of Verneuil, 55 Beatrice, Portinari, Dante’s muse, 8, 11 Beaufort, Henry, 59 Beaufort, Joan, 53 Belleforest, François de, 48 Bellini, Giovanni (Giambellin), 217 Bembo, Pietro, 96 Benedict XII, Pope, 156 Bernardino of Siena (Bernardiono degli Albizzeschi), 121–25; aftermath of sermon by, 124; denunciations of sodomy and usury, 125; historical background of, 121; points to help evaluate, 121–22; questions to consider regarding, 124; sermon on factions excerpts, 122–24; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 124–25 Beyazit II, Sultan, 186, 188 Beyond the Arno, 146 Boaistuau, Pierre, 48 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 3, 11–14, 17; aftermath of works by, 13; Bracciolini and, 62; Chaucer and, 11, 14; d’Aquino and, 11; Decameron, 12–13, 14, 23; historical background of, 11; Petrarch and, 11; points to help evaluate, 11–12; questions to consider regarding, 13; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 13–14; Trattatello in laude di Dante (Treatise in Praise of Dante), 7 Boleyn, Anne, 229

306

Bona of Savoy, 89 Bondone, Giotto di, xx Bonfire of the vanities, 193 Boniface VIII, Pope, 109 Book of the Republic of the Venetians (Giannotti), 106 Borgia, Alfonso de, 172. See also Calixtus III, Pope Borgia, Cesare, 42, 134, 139, 140, 180, 183 Borgia, Juan, 187 Borgia, Lucrezia, 134, 183 Botticelli, Sandro, 3 Braccia, 190 Bracciolini, Poggio, 59–63, 159; aftermath of works by, 62; De avaritia, 63; Facetiae excerpts, 60–61; historical background of, 59; points to help evaluate, 59–60; questions to consider regarding, 62; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 62 Bramante, Donato, xx, 83, 89 Brant, Sebastian, 222 Breeches, 240 Brétigny, Treaty of, 118 Brunelleschi, Filippo, 65 Bucentaur, 84 Buonarroti, Michelangelo, 195 Buonumini, 146 Burchard, Johann, 177; aftermath of works by, 180; questions to consider regarding, 180; Sixtus IV death/burial, account of, 178–79; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 180–81 Burckhardt, Jacob, xvii, 33–34 Burke, Peter, 81 Busleyden, Hieronymus van, 229 By the upper way, 67 Caccia di Diana (Diana’s Hunt) (Boccaccio), 11 Calimala, 146 Calixtus III, Pope, 32, 171, 172, 183, 186 Calvin, John, 156, 242 Camera della Torre, 90 Camera obscura, 70 Campaldino, Battle of, 111–12 Canestrini, Giovanni, 21 Canon law, 121, 209 Canons, 179



Canterbury Tales, The (Chaucer), 14 Canzoniere (Petrarch), 17, 20 Capons, 61 Capranica, Domenico, 27, 171 Caprotti, Gian Giacomo, 44. See also Salaì Cardinal (Riario), 128 Cardinal (Wolsey), 228 Cassock, 178 Castello, 86, 90, 134 Castiglione, Baldassare, 95–99; aftermath of works by, 98; The Courtier excerpts, 96–98; historical background of, 95; points to help evaluate, 95–96; questions to consider regarding, 98; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 99; women at Renaissance court and, 99 Cateau-Cambrésis, Treaty of, 133 Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, 229, 233 Catherine of Siena, 23 Cattanei, Vannozza dei, 183 Celtis, Conradus, 206 Centaur, 141 Ceuta, 166 Challant, countess of, 49 Challant, Renato di, 49 Chamfered, 240 Champian, 34 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 105, 136, 147, 215, 222, 236 Charles VIII, King of France, xxi, 80, 86, 87, 93, 133, 186 Charles IX, King of France, 245 Chasuble, 179 Chaucer, Geoffrey, 11, 14 Chiesa Maggiore, 85 Childbirth in Renaissance, 94 Chioggia, 84 Christian humanism, 212 Church of Santa Maria Novella, 35, 36 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 204 Ciompi Revolt, 23, 25, 26 Cippangu, 68 Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, The (Burckhardt), xvii, 33–34 Cleanthes of Assos, 246 Clement V, Pope, 18 Clement VI, Pope, 156

Clement VII, Pope, 78, 95, 142, 145, 147, 184 Codpiece, 240 Cognomen, 222 Colet, John, 198, 227 Colleagues, 146 Columbus, Christopher, xvii, 168, 172; Toscanelli letters to, 65, 66, 68 Commentarii (Commentaries) (Piccolomini), 53 Communes, 110 Compagnacci, 191 Conclave, 171 Condottieri: defined, 115; equestrian monuments of, 119; points to help evaluate, 115–16; role and importance of, 119. See also Hawkwood, John Congress of Arras, 55 Congress of Mantua, 174 Conn’d, 6 Constantine, Emperor of Rome, 111, 163 Constantinople, fall of, 169 Contarini, Gasparo, 106 Contra hypocritas (Against Hypocrisy) (Bracciolini), 59 Costabilis, Antonius, 90–92 Council of Basel, 27, 56, 177 Council of Constance, 62 Courtier, 95 Courtier, The (Castiglione), 96–98 Crivelli, Lucrezia, 83 Cromwell, Thomas, Defensor Pacis and, 157 Cuirass, 129 Dalmatic, 179 Danaides, 246 d’Angoulême, Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, 242 Dante, xix, 3–8, 17, 23, 45, 98, 153; aftermath of works by, 7; Boccaccio appreciation of, 7; Dante’s muse Beatrice, 8, 17; De Monarchia excerpts, 109–13; The Divine Comedy excerpt, 5–7; historical background of, 3; Il convivio excerpt, 4–5; Landino appreciation of, 7; La Vita Nuova, 8; points to help evaluate, 3–4; portraits of, 3–4; questions to consider

307



regarding, 7; recinded exile of, 113; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 7–8; Vico appreciation of, 7 Dante’s muse Beatrice, 8 Danti, Egnazio, 70 d’Aquino, Maria, 11 da Vinci, Leonardo, xx, xxi, 34, 39–44, 83, 89, 128; aftermath of works by, 42–43; historical background of, 39; interests and abilities of, 39–40; letter to Ludovico Sforza excerpt, 40–41; notebooks, excerpts from, 41–42; points to help evaluate, 39–40; questions to consider regarding, 43; Salaì and, 44; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 43 Da Vinci Code, The (Brown), 40 De architectura (On Architecture) (Vitruvius), 33 De avaritia (On Greed) (Bracciolini), 59, 63 Decameron (Boccaccio), 7, 12–13, 14, 23, 45 De casibus virorum illustrium (On the Fortunes of Famous Men) (Boccaccio), 13 Decretals, 154 Defensor Pacis (Marsilius), 112, 153; English Reformation and, 157; excerpts from conclusions of, 154–56 De formando studio (The Formation of Study) (Agricola), 203 De genealogiis deorum gentilium (On the Genealogies of the Pagan Gods) (Boccaccio), 12, 13 De infelicitate principum (On the Unhappiness of Princes) (Bracciolini), 59 De Institutione Feminae Christianae (Vives), 237 De inventione dialectica (The Invention of Dialectics) (Agricola), 205 della Rovere, Francesco, 177. See also Sixtus IV, Pope De Monarchia (Dante), 109–13, 153; aftermath of, 111–12; excerpts from, 110–11; historical background of, 109; points to help evaluate, 109–10; questions to consider regarding, 112; rescinded exile of Dante, 113; themes/ ideas to explore regarding, 112

308

De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women) (Boccaccio), 13 De nobilitate (On Nobility) (Bracciolini), 59 De pictura (On Painting) (Alberti), 33, 36 De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building) (Alberti), 33, 34–35 De statua (On Sculpture) (Alberti), 36 De tradendis disciplinis (Vives), 234–35 De varietate fortunae (On the Vicissitudes of Fortune) (Bracciolini), 59 De viris illustribus (On Famous Men) (Petrarch), 20 De voluptate (On Pleasure) (Valla), 159 Devotio Moderna, 190 De vulgari eloquentia (Dante), 3 Diary of the City of Rome (Infessura), 184 di Sanseverino, Galeazzo, 91–92 “Discovery of the True Dante, The” (Vico), 7 Divine Comedy, The (Dante), xix–xx, 3; excerpt from, 5–7 Doge of Venice elections, 103–6; aftermath of, 105; described, 103; historical background of, 103; myth of Venice and, 106; points to help evaluate, 103–4; procedures for electing, 104–5; questions to consider regarding, 106; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 106 Dolce, Lodovico, 4 Dominican friar, 121 Donation of Constantine: excerpts from, 160–61; Valla on validity of, 161 Doublet, 179, 240 Douglas, Margaret, 45–46 du Bellay, Jean, 239 Duomo, 86, 134 Dürer, Albrecht, 215–19; aftermath of letters by, 219; historical background of, 215; letters from Venice excerpts, 216–18; points to help evaluate, 215–16; questions to consider regarding, 218; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 218–19; woodcuts, 219 Economics and society: Bracciolini, Poggio, 59–63; Castiglione, Baldassare, 95–99; Este, Beatrice d’, 83–88; Medici, Lorenzo de’, 77–81; Piccolomini,



Aeneas Sylvius, 53–56; Pico, Giovanni, 71–75; Sforza, Ludovico, 89–94; Toscanelli, Paolo dal Pozzo, 65–70. See also individual headings E’en, 5 Eight, 128 Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta (The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta) (Boccaccio), 11 Ells, 240 Epistolary novels, 27 Erasmus, Desiderius, xxi, 156, 160, 203, 212, 215, 221, 222, 227, 233; aftermath of works by, 198; Julius Excluded from Heaven, 195, 196–98; letter from More, 228–29; questions to consider regarding, 198; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 199 Erasmus of Rotterdam. See Erasmus, Desiderius Ercol I, Duke of Ferrara, 90–92 “Esposizioni sopra la Commedia di Dante” (public lectures), 7 “Essay on Education” (Montaigne), 246–47 Este, Alfonso d’, Duke of Ferrara, 134 Este, Beatrice d’, Duchess of Milan, 83–88, 136–37; aftermath of works by, 86–87; childbirth in Renaissance and, 94; family origins/imperial connections of, 88; historical background of, 83; letter to husband, 84–85; letter to sister, 85–86; points to help evaluate, 83–84; questions to consider regarding, 87; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 87. See also Sforza, Ludovico, Duke of Milan Este, Ercole d’, Duke of Ferrara, 83 Este, Isabella d’, Marchioness of Mantua, 83, 133 Estouteville, Guillaume d’, Cardinal, 171 Eugenius IV, Pope, 65, 67, 159, 165 Excommunication, 156, 211 Facetiae (Bracciolini), 60–61 Fain, 47, 222 Familiares (Familiar Letters) (Petrarch), 17 Farnese, Giulia, 183 “Feast of the Rose Garlands” (Dürer altarpiece), 216

Fell on his neck, 123 Ferdinand, King of Aragon and Spain, 165 Ficino, Marsilio, 65 Filocolo (Boccaccio), 11 Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, 196, 227 Florins, 216 Forespent, 5 Fornovo, Battle of, 87 Fra Bernardino of Siena. See Bernardino of Siena (Bernardiono degli Albizzeschi) Franciscan Order of friars, 121 Francis I, King of France, xxi, 43, 98, 242 Frassetto, Fabio, 4 Frati, 190 Frederick I “Barbarossa,” Holy Roman Emperor, 109 Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, 27 Fregoso, Federico, 96 Fregoso, Ottaviano, 96 French Wars of Religion, 248 Friars, 121 Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony, 215 Fugger, Gastel, 217 Gallows-bird, 211 Gargantua (Rabelais), 240–41 Garigliano, Battle of, 80 Gaspardone, Bianca Maria, 49 Gherardini, Lisa, 43 Ghibelline party, xviii, 109, 111–12, 116, 122 Giambellin, 217 Giannotti, Donato, 106 Giles, Peter, 229 Gilliflowers, 241 Giocondo, Francesco del, 43 Giotto (Giotto di Bondone), 3 Giustiniani, Bernardo, 106 Give him horns, 28 Gnomon of Florence Cathedral, 70 Gonfalons, 105, 146 Gonzaga, Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino, 96 Gonzaga, Federico, Duke of Mantua, 136 Gonzaga, Francesco II, 84, 92, 134 Gonzaga, Lucrezia, 45 Gracchi, 29 Gregory VII, Pope, xviii Grierson, Flora, 31

309



Grocyn, William, 227 Guelf party, xviii, 109, 112, 116, 122 Guicciardini, Francesco, 148, 183, 195 Guinea, 167; making by, 66 Gulden, 216 Gussets, 240 Habsburg-Valois Wars, 133. See also Italian Wars Hakluyt, Richard, 69 Halley, Edmond, 65 Hawkwood, John, 115–19; aftermath of service by, 118; equestrian statue of, 119; historical background of, 115; letter describing entry into Florence, 117; letter describing marriage, 116–17; letter exempting from forced loan payment, 117; pension, marriage portions, and citizenship document, 117–18; points to help evaluate, 115–16; questions to consider regarding, 118–19; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 119 Hector, 29 Helen of Troy, 29 Helicon, 234 Henri II, King of France, 242 Henri III, King of France, 248 Henri IV, King of France, 248 Henry, infante of Portugal, 166 Henry the Navigator, Prince of Portugal, 168 Henry V, King of England, 59 Henry VI, King of England, 59 Henry VII, King of England, 227 Henry VIII, King of England, 46, 78, 222, 227, 233 Heresy, 124, 177, 183, 229 Hermes Trismegistus, 197 His Most Christian Majesty of France, 86 Historia naturalis (Natural History) (Alberti), 33 Hoby, Thomas, 98 Holbein, Hans, 222 Holy League, 87, 93, 105, 187, 190 Holy Roman Empire, xviii Hortensius, Quintus, 29 Howard, Henry, 20

310

Humanism, xix–xx; Christian, 212; described, xix Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 59 Hundred Years War, 55, 115, 171 Hutten, Ulrich von, 221–25; aftermath of works by, 224; historical background of, 221; Knights’ Revolt and, 224, 225; Letters of Obscure Men (Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum) excerpts, 222–23; points to help evaluate, 221–22; questions to consider regarding, 224; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 224–25 Il convivio (Dante), 3; excerpt from, 4–5 Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books), 140 Indulgence, 80 Infessura, Stefano, 184 Innocent VIII, Pope, 77, 180; aftermath of papacy, 186–87; Guicciardini description of, 184; historical background of, 183; Infessura description of, 184; points to help evaluate, 184; questions to consider regarding, 187; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 187 Inquisition, 177, 183 Insatiate Countess, The (Marston play), 49 Interdict, 156 Isabella, Queen of Castile and Spain, 165 Isabella of Aragon, Duchess, 86 Italian as literary language, 3 Italianische Reise (Italian journey), 206 Italian Renaissance, xvii; described, xx–xxi Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy, The (Burke), 81 Italian Wars, 80, 93, 133–37, 147, 192; aftermath of Sforza’s capture, 136; historical background of, 133; points to help evaluate, 133–34; questions to consider regarding, 136; sack of Rome and, 137; Sforza’s description of return to Milan, 134–35; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 136–37 James I, King of Scotland, 53 Jem (Cem) Sultan, 188



John of Jandun, 153 John XXII, Pope, 153, 156 Julius II, Pope, 80, 98, 139, 195–99; historical background of, 195; Julius Excluded from Heaven excerpts, 196–98; Papal States and, 199; points to help evaluate, 195–96 Katay, 67 Kingis Quair, The (King James), 53 King of Spain, 91 Knights’ Revolt, 221, 224, 225 Köberger, Anton, 215 Landino, Cristoforo, 7 Landsknechten, 134 Landucci, Luca: aftermath of diary of, 192; questions to consider regarding, 192; Savonarola execution described by, 190–92; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 193 Last Supper, The (da Vinci), 40 Latine, 222 La Vita Nuova (Dante), 8 League of Cambrai, 195 League of Cognac, 142 Legnano, Battle of, 109 Leo X, Pope, 78–80, 136, 147, 211, 222 Lepanto, Battle of, 105 Le Renaissance (Michelet), xvii Letters of Obscure Men (Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum), 222–23; Helferich, Johann, 222–23; Schluntz, Heinrich, 223 “Letter to Posterity” (Petrarch), 18–20 Liber facetiarum (Book of Facetiae) (Bracciolini), 59 Libro delle rime (Sacchetti), 25 Linacre, Thomas, 227 Literature. See Art and literature Livery, 240 Lodi, Treaty of, xx–xxi Lombard, 47 Lombard League, xviii, 109 Lombard parents, Mantuans both, 6 Lombardy, 122 Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, 153 Louis XII, King of France, 93, 133

Ludovico Sforza, letter to (da Vinci), 40–41 Luigi, Signor, 116 Luther, Martin, 80, 156, 160, 190, 198, 211, 215, 224, 229, 235–36 Machiavelli, Niccolò, 45, 90, 127, 139–43, 148, 195; account of Pazzi Conspiracy, 129–30; as adjective, 143; aftermath of works by, 142; historical background of, 139; points to help evaluate, 139–40; The Prince, 98, 140–42; questions to consider regarding, 142; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 143 Machiavellian, 143 Madrigals, 25 Mainardini, Marsiglio dei. See Marsilius of Padua Making by Guinea, 66 Malatesta, Sigismondo, 35 Mangi, 68 Mangonels, 41 Marco, Signor, 116 Marguerite d’Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, 242 Marquis of Mantua, 135 Marsilius of Padua, 112, 153–57; aftermath of works by, 156; Cromwell and, 157; Defensor Pacis excerpts, 154–56; historical background of, 153; points to help evaluate, 153–54; questions to consider regarding, 156–57; themes/ ideas to explore regarding, 157 Marston, John, 49 Martins, Ferdinand, Toscanelli letters to, 66–68 Martin V, Pope, 60 Mary I, Queen of England, 233 Masques, 43 Master Jacob, 217 Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 83, 89, 91, 139, 204, 224 Medici, Alessandro de’, Duke of Florence, 145, 147 Medici, Cardinal Giovanni de’. See Leo X, Pope Medici, Cosimo de’, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 77, 81, 145

311



Medici, Giuliano de’, 78, 80, 99 Medici, Ippolito de’, Cardinal, 147 Medici, Lorenzo de’, 4, 77–81, 139, 147, 183; aftermath of works by, 80; family patronage, 81; historical background of, 77; letter to Giovanni de’ Medici, Cardinal, 78–80; points to help evaluate, 77–78; questions to consider regarding, 81; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 81 Medici, Piero de’, 80, 81, 147 Mehmet II, Ottoman sultan, 175 Menelaus, 29 Michelangelo. See Buonarroti, Michelangelo Michelet, Jules, xvii Missa est, 128 Mona Lisa (da Vinci), xxi, 43, 134 Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de, 245–49; aftermath of works by, 248; “Essay on Education” excerpts, 246–47; historical background of, 245; “Of Cannibals,” 249; points to help evaluate, 245–46; questions to consider regarding, 248; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 248 Montefeltro, Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, 96 More, Alice Middleton, 227–28 More, Sir Thomas, 196, 227–30, 233; aftermath of works by, 229; historical background of, 227; letter to Erasmus, 228–29; points to help evaluate, 227–28; questions to consider regarding, 230; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 230; Utopia, 230 Moro! Moro!, 135 Morton, John, 227 Most Christian Majesty of France, 86 Most Serene Highness the Queen of the Romans, 85 Nepotism, 181 New divine law, 154 Nicholas of Cusa, Cardinal, 65 Nicholas V, Pope, 35, 66, 121, 162; Dum Diversas, 165; fall of Constantinople and, 169; Romanus Pontifex, 165–69 95 Theses (Luther), 218

312

Ninth hour, 218 Northern Renaissance, xvii; Agricola, Rudolphus, 203–6; described, xxi–xxii; Dürer, Albrecht, 215– 19; Hutten, Ulrich von, 221–25; Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de, 245–49; More, Sir Thomas, 227–30; Rabelais, François, 239–43; Vives, Juan Luís, 233–37; Wimpheling, Jacob, 209–12. See also individual figures Notebooks of da Vinci, excerpts from, 41–42 Novara, Battle of, 93, 136 Novella, 27 Novelle (300 Tales) (Sacchetti), 23, 24–25 Novelle (Bandello), 45, 46–48; influence on English literature, 45; Sixth Story, 46; Thirteenth Story, 47–48 Oedipus, King of Thebes, 204 “Of Cannibals” (Montaigne), 249 Oligarchic government, 131 Oration on the Dignity of Man (Pico), 72–73 Pace, Richard, 228 Palace of Pleasure, The (Paynter), 48 Pallium, 179 Pampinea, 12 Pancarts, 240 Papal bull, 28 Papal conclave, 171 Papal nepotism, 181 Papal States, 121, 139, 159, 183, 199 Paris (Homer character), 28 Parnassus, 234 Paul II, Pope, 177 Paul IV, Pope, 140 Pavia, Battle of, 48 Paynter, William, 48 Pazzi, Francesco de’, 127 Pazzi, Jacopo de’, 130 Pazzi Conspiracy, 78, 89, 127–31, 177; aftermath of, 130; historical background of, 127; Machiavelli account of, excerpt from, 129–30; oligarchic government shift and, 131; points to help evaluate, 127–28; Poliziano account of, excerpt from,



129; questions to consider regarding, 130–31; Strozzi account of, excerpt from, 128–29; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 131 Pelf, 222 Penitentiaries, 178 Perugians, 128 Petrarca, Francesco. See Petrarch Petrarch, xvii, 3, 12, 17–21, 45, 98, 205; aftermath of works by, 20; Avignon papacy and, 18; Bracciolini and, 62; Cicero’s influence on, 17; historical background of, 17; Laura and (female muse), 17–18; “Letter to Posterity” excerpts, 18–20; points to help evaluate, 17–18; questions to consider regarding, 20; skull mystery, 21; sonnet poetic form and, 18; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 20–21 Pfefferkorn, Johann, 223 Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius, 27–32; aftermath of works by, 31, 55–56; historical background of, 27, 53; house of, 32; mission to James I of Scotland, account of, 53–56; Pinturicchio painting of, 56; points to help evaluate, 27–28, 53–54; questions to consider regarding, 31, 56; The Tale of Two Lovers excerpt, 28–31; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 31, 56. See also Pius II, Pope Piccolomini, Alessandro, 32 Piccolomini, Alfonso, 32 Piccolomini, Antonio Todeschini, 32 Piccolomini, Francesco Todeschini, 32 Piccolomini, Ottavio, 32 Piccolomini Library, 56 Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, 71–75, 77, 183, 229; aftermath of works by, 74; death of, 75; historical background of, 71; Oration on the Dignity of Man excerpts, 72–73; points to help evaluate, 71–72; questions to consider regarding, 74; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 74 Picture for the Germans, 216 Pinked, 240 Pinturicchio (Bernardino di Betto), 172 Pirkheimer, Willibald, 215

Pistoia, 140 Pius II, Pope, 31, 47, 53, 171–75; aftermath of works by, 174; Commentaries, excerpt from, 172–74; election of Piccolomini as, 171–72; historical background of, 171; letter to Mehmet II, 175; points to help evaluate, 171–72; questions to consider regarding, 174; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 174–75. See also Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius Pius III, Pope, 172 Plato, 235 Pletho, George Gemistos, 66 Plutarch, 246 Poet laureate: Petrarch as, 20; Piccolomini as, 27 Politics (Aristotle), 106 Politics and war: Bernardino of Siena, 121–25; condottieri Hawkwood, 115–19; De Monarchia (Dante), 109–13; doge of Venice elections, 103–6; Italian wars, 133–37; Machiavelli, Niccolò, 139–43; Pazzi Conspiracy, 127–31; Varchi, Benedetto, 145–48. See also individual headings Poliziano, Angelo, 75, 77–78, 127; account of Pazzi Conspiracy, 129 Polymath, 39 Pontifex Maximus, 197 Popolo, 110 Porina (Donnina Porro), 116 Primary documents, xi–xii, xiii, xxiii–xxiv Prince, The (Machiavelli), 98, 140–42, 195 Provence, 4 Ptolemy, Claudius, 42 Purl, 240 Quinsay, 67–68 Rabelais, François, 239–43; Abbey of Thélème and, 243; aftermath of works by, 242; Gargantua excerpts, 240–41; historical background of, 239; points to help evaluate, 239–40; questions to consider regarding, 242; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 242 Raccolta Aragonese (The Aragon Collection), 4

313



Reformation, xvii, 154 Regina (Beatrice Regina della Scala), 116 Religion and the papacy: Alexander VI, Pope, 183–88; Innocent VIII, Pope, 183–88; Julius II, Pope, 195–99; Marsilius of Padua, 153–57; Pius II, Pope, 171–75; Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V), 165–69; Savonarola, Girolamo, 189–93; Sixtus IV, Pope, 177–81; Valla, Lorenzo, 159–63. See also individual headings Renaissance: Castiglione and women at court, 99; childbirth in, 94; chronology of, xxv–xxxix; defined, xvii; foundations of, xvii–xix; period pertaining to, xvii Rerum memorandarum libri (Book of Memorable Things) (Petrarch), 20 Reuchlin, Johann, 206, 221, 222 Ringhiera, 191 Risorgimento (cultural and literary movement), 7 Riva, 216 Rochet, 179 Rodrigo (Rodrigo de Borgia), 173 Romagna, 140, 186 Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V), 165–69; aftermath from, 168; excerpts from, 166–68; fall of Constantinople and, 169; historical background of, 165; points to help evaluate, 165–66; questions to consider regarding, 168–69; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 169 Roper, Margaret More, 228 Roper, William, 228 Rossellino, Bernardo, 27, 35 Sacchetti, Franco, 23–26; aftermath of works by, 25; Ciompi Revolt and, 26; historical background of, 23; Novelle excerpt, 24–25; points to help evaluate, 23; questions to consider regarding, 25; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 25 Sacchetti, Giannozzo, 23, 26 Sack of Rome, 137, 142, 145 Sacristan, 178 Sail by subterranean navigation, 67 Salaì, 44, 87 Salviati, Francesco, Archbishop of Pisa, 130

314

Sanuto, Marino, 75 Sapor, 222 Savonarola, Girolamo, 75, 78, 80, 121, 139, 187, 189–93; bonfire of the vanities and, 193; historical background of, 189; Landucci describing execution of, 190–92; points to help evaluate, 189–90; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 193 ‘Scaped, 5 Schlick, Kaspar, 28 Secretum (Secret Book) (Petrarch), 20 Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, 205, 246 Seniles (Letters of Old Age) (Petrarch), 17 Sent to the Pope mission, 67 Seraphic, 46 Sermon on factions excerpts, 122–24 Sforza, Bianca Maria, 85–86 Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan, xx, 47, 87, 89, 116 Sforza, Galeazzo Maria, Duke of Milan, 89 Sforza, Gian Galeazzo, 83, 89 Sforza, Ludovico, Duke of Milan, 39, 40, 83, 84–85, 89–94, 95, 133; aftermath of works by, 93; description of return to Milan, 134–35; historical background of, 89; letter of Costabilis to Ercol I for, 90–92; letter to Francesco II Gonzaga, 92; points to help evaluate, 89–90; questions to consider regarding, 93; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 93 Sforza, Massimiliano, Duke of Milan, 87 Shakespeare, William, 18, 45, 95, 229 Shakespearean sonnet, 18 Sickingen, Franz von, 222 Sidney, Sir Philip, 20 Siege of Rouen, 245 Sigismund, Emperor, 28 Signory of Venice, 84, 128, 146 Sixtus IV, Pope, 127, 177–81; Burchard account of death/burial of, 178–79; historical background of, 177; papal nepotism and, 181; points to help evaluate, 177–78 Society. See Economics and society Soderini, Piero, 139 Sonnet poetic form, 18, 25, 45, 145



Spanish inquisition, 177 Spenser, Edmund, 95 Sposizioni di Vangeli (Sacchetti), 25 St. Francis, 46 Stingo, 222 Storia d’Italia (Guicciardini), 184 Story of Florence (Varchi), 146–47 Strozzi, Filippo, 127; account of Pazzi Conspiracy, 128–29 Syllogism, 111 Sylvester, Supreme Pontiff, 111 Sylvester I, Pope, 111, 163 Tale of Two Lovers, The (Piccolomini), 28–31, 53 Tasso, Torquato, 96 Temerarious, 247 Terza rima, 11 Thisbe and Pyramus, 30 Tiepolo, Jacopo, 105 Tiepolo, Lorenzo, 105 Tithes, 154 Tonstall, Cuthbert, 229 Tordesillas, Treaty of, 168 Torquemada, Tomás de, 183 Toscanelli, Paolo dal Pozzo, 65–70; aftermath of works by, 69; gnomon of Florence Cathedral and, 70; historical background of, 65; letters to Christopher Columbus, 66, 68; letters to Ferdinand Martins, 66–68; points to help evaluate, 65–66; questions to consider regarding, 69; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 69 Trabocchi, 41 Trattatello in laude di Dante (Treatise in Praise of Dante) (Boccaccio), 7 Treason, 229 Treatise on the Donation of Constantine (Valla), 161 Treaty of Brétigny, 118 Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, 133 Treaty of Lodi, xx–xxi Treaty of Tordesillas, 168 Trecentonovelle (300 Tales) (Sacchetti), 23 Trot, 222 Twenty-third hour, 117 Tyndale, William, 160, 198

Tyrian murex, 29 Unam Sanctam, 109 Utopia (More), 230 Vair, 146 Valla, Lorenzo, 59–60, 159–63, 209; aftermath of works by, 162; historical background of, 159; points to help evaluate, 159–60; questions to consider regarding, 162; Sylvester I, Pope and, 163; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 162; Treatise on the Donation of Constantine, 161 Varchi, Benedetto, 145–48; Accademia Fiorentina and, 148; aftermath of works by, 147–48; historical background of, 145; points to help evaluate, 145; questions to consider regarding, 148; Story of Florence excerpt, 146–47; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 148 Vasari, Giorgio, xvii Venice. See Doge of Venice elections Verneuil, Battle of, 55 Verrocchio, Andrea del, 39 Vico, Giambattista, 7 Vinceti, Silvano, 75 Virgin of the Rocks, The (da Vinci), 40 Visconti, Bernabo, Duke of Milan, 116 Visconti, Filippo Maria, Duke of Milan, 116 Visconti, Gian Galeazzo, 60 Visconti, Matteo, 116 Visconti, Ottone, Archbishop of Milan, xx, 116 Vives, Juan Luís, 233–37; aftermath of works by, 235–36; De Institutione Feminae Christianae, 237; De tradendis disciplinis excerpts, 234–35; historical background of, 233; points to help evaluate, 233–34; questions to consider regarding, 236; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 236 War of Chioggia, 105 Wastlings, 210 Whipcan, 241 William of Ockham, 153

315



Wimpheling, Jacob, 209–12, 222; Adolescentia (Adolescence), excerpts from, 210–11; aftermath of works by, 211; Christian humanism and, 212; historical background of, 209; points to help evaluate, 209; questions to consider regarding, 212; themes/ideas to explore regarding, 212 Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal, 227, 228

316

Women at Renaissance court, Castiglione and, 99 Woodcuts, 219 Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 20 Zaiton, 67 Zell, Ulrich, 31 Zeno, Rainiero, 104 Zwingli, Ulrich, 211, 224

A BOUT THE EDITOR John A. Wagner has taught British and U.S. history at Phoenix College and at Arizona State University. He holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and an MA and PhD from Arizona State University. He is the author of The Devon Gentleman: The Life of Sir Peter Carew (1998); the Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World (1999), which was a History Book Club and Booklist Editor’s Choice selection; the Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses (2001); Bosworth Field to Bloody Mary: An Encyclopedia of the Early Tudors (2003); and the Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War (2006). He is also editor of Voices of Shakespeare’s England: Contemporary Accounts of Elizabethan Daily Life (2010); Voices of Victorian England: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life (2014); Voices of the Reformation: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life (2015); Documents of the Reformation (2019); and Documents of Shakespeare’s England (2019). He is coeditor, with Susan Walters Schmid, of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Tudor England (2012). Wagner is also a contributor to the Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, 1272–1485 (2002); Women in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia (2004); the Encyclopedia of American Race Riots (2006); The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Love, Courtship, and Sexuality (2008); The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Global Medieval Life and Culture (2009); Black America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia (2011); the World History Encyclopedia (2011); and Events That Formed the Modern World: From the European Renaissance through the War on Terror (2012). He has also provided essays on the Hundred Years War, the English Civil War, and the Crimean War for the ABC-CLIO World at War Database.