Chapter XII: Part 12

It was with justice that the Florentines held the name of Poggio in respectful remembrance. Inspired by a zealous love of his country, he had constantly prided himself upon the honour of being a citizen of a free state, and he neglected no opportunity which presented itself of increasing and displaying the glory of the Tuscan republic. And this end he most effectually promoted by the splendour of his own accomplishments. He so faithfully improved the advantages which he enjoyed in the course of his education in the Florentine university, that amongst the multitudes of learned men who adorned his age, he occupied a station of the highest eminence. His admission into the Roman chancery, and his continuance in offices of confidence under eight successive pontiffs, afford an ample proof not only of his ability in business, but also of his fidelity and integrity. Honoured by the favour of the great, he did not sacrifice his independence at the shrine of power, but uniformly maintained the ingenuous sentiments of freedom. The whole tenor of his writings evinces, that he united to the accomplishments of literature an intimate knowledge of the world; and many passages might be quoted from his works to prove that the eye of his mind surveyed a wider intellectual horizon than fell to the general lot of the age in which he lived. He was warm and enthusiastic in his friendly attachments, and duteously eager to diffuse the renown of those whom he loved. But acute sensations are not productive of signal virtues alone; they too frequently betray mankind into capital errors. Though Poggio was by no means implacable in his anger, yet he was as energetic in the expression of his resentment, as he was enthusiastic in the language in which he testified his esteem for those to whom he was bound by the ties of friendship. The licentiousness in which he occasionally indulged in the early part of his life, and the indecent levity which occurs in some of his writings, are rather the vices of the times than of the man. We accordingly find that those circumstances did not deprive him of the countenance of the highest ecclesiastical dignitaries—they did not cause him to forfeit the favour of the pious Eugenius, or of the virtuous and accomplished Nicolas V. His failings, indeed, were fully counterbalanced by several moral qualities of superior excellence—by his gratitude for benefits received; by his sincerity in friendship; by his compassion for the unfortunate; and by his readiness, to the extent of his ability, to succour the distressed. To which it may be added, that he seems to have recommended himself to most of those with whom he maintained a personal intercourse, by the urbanity of his manners, and by the sportiveness of his wit.

As a scholar Poggio is entitled to distinguished praise. By a course of assiduous study, commenced at an early period of his life and continued to its close, he became intimately conversant with the works of the Roman classic authors; and though he was somewhat advanced in age when he began to direct his attention to Grecian literature, by dint of methodic industry he made a considerable proficiency in a knowledge of the writings of the Greek philosophers and historians. From those enlightened preceptors he imbibed those principles, which in his graver treatises he applied with fidelity and skill to the investigation of moral truth. To them, also, he was in no small degree indebted for that noble spirit of independence, and for that frankness of sentiment, which gave so much animation to his writings. The pictures of life and manners which he exhibits in his works are sketched by the decisive hand of a master, and are vividly coloured. His extensive erudition supplied him with that abundance of apt illustration with which his compositions are enriched. His Latin style is singularly unequal. In the letters which he wrote in haste, and which he addressed to his familiar friends, there occur frequent specimens of a phraseology in which his native idiom is thinly covered, as it were, with a transparent Roman robe. But in his more elaborate compositions he manifested the discernment of true taste, in selecting as his exemplar the style of Cicero. His spirited endeavours to imitate this exquisite model were far from being unsuccessful. His diction is flowing, and his periods are all well balanced; but, by the occasional admission of barbarous words and unauthorized phraseology, as well as his evident want of an intimate acquaintance with the philosophy of grammar, he reminds his reader that at the time when he wrote, the Iron age of literature was but lately terminated. His most striking fault is diffuseness—a diffuseness which seems to arise, not so much from the copiousness of his thoughts, as from the difficulty which he experienced in clearly expressing his ideas. It must, however, be observed, that he did not, like many modern authors who are celebrated for their Latinity, slavishly confine himself to the compilation of centos from the works of the ancients. In the prosecution of his literary labours he drew from his own stores; and those frequent allusions to the customs and transactions of his own times, which render his writings so interesting, must, at a period when the Latin language was just rescued from the grossest barbarism, have rendered their composition peculiarly difficult. When compared with the works of his immediate predecessors, the writings of Poggio are truly astonishing. Rising to a degree of elegance, to be sought for in vain in the rugged Latinity of Petrarca and Coluccio Salutati, he prepared the way for the correctness of Politiano, and of the other eminent scholars, whose gratitude has reflected such splendid lustre on the character of Lorenzo de’ Medici.

FOOTNOTES

[1] _Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1._ _Recanati Osservazioni, p. 34._

[2] _Elogi degli Uomini Illustri Toscani, tom. i. p. 270._ MS. in the Riccardi Library referred to by the Cavaliere Tonelli, _tom. i. p. 3._ of his translation of the Life of Poggio, which will be hereafter designated by the abridgment _Ton. Tr._

[3] _Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1._

[4] Recanati indeed, on the authority of a letter addressed by an unknown antiquary to Benedetto de’ Bondelmonti, asserts, that the office of notary had been for some generations hereditary in the family of Poggio.—_Recanati ut supr._

[5] See a fragment of a letter from Colucio Salutati to Pietro Turco. _Apud Mehi Vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, fo. ccclxxix. ccclxxx._

[6] Giovanni, the son of Jacopo Malpaghino, was born at Ravenna. In his early youth he left his native city, and went to Venice, where he attended the lectures of Donato Albasano, a celebrated grammarian. From the instructions of Donato he derived considerable advantage; but his connexion with that scholar was more eminently fortunate, as it introduced him to the acquaintance, and procured him the friendship of Petrarca, who took him into his family, and superintended the prosecution of his studies. In return for the kindness of his accomplished patron, Giovanni undertook the improving employment of transcribing his compositions—a task for which he was well qualified, as he had added to his other acquirements that of a beautiful hand writing. Petrarca in a letter to Giovanni Certaldo, which is preserved in Mehus’s life of Ambrogio Traversari, mentions, with distinguished applause, the industry, temperance and prudence of his young scribe; and particularly commends the tenaciousness of his memory, in proof of which, he informs his correspondent, that Giovanni had, in eleven successive days, qualified himself to repeat his twelve Bucolic poems. Perhaps the highest eulogium that can be pronounced upon Giovanni is this, that he continued to reside in the family of Petrarca for the space of fifteen years, at the end of which time, by the death of that elegant enthusiast, he was deprived of an enlightened master and a zealous friend. On this event he went to Padua, where he for some time gained an honourable livelihood, by instructing youth in the principles of eloquence. In the year 1397, he received an invitation to undertake the office of public instructor, in the city of Florence. This invitation he accepted, and discharged the duties of his station with great applause, during the course of at least fifteen years. The time of his death is uncertain. _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. cccxlviii.-cccliii._—_Ejusdem præfatio ad Colucii Salutati Epistolas, p. xli._

[7] _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 7._

[8] _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 10._

[9] _Platina Vite de’ Pontefici, tom. i. p. 368._

[10] _Platina, tom. i. p. 369._

[11] The conclave gave a name to the new pontiff, because he was absent from Rome at the time of his election.

[12] _Platina, tom. i. p. 370._

[13] _Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations, chap. 69._ The Cavaliere Tonelli is of opinion, that Joanna was innocent of this crime, which is not imputed to her by the best Neapolitan historians, Costanzo and Giannone. See _Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 16._

[14] _Platina, tom. i. p. 372._

[15] _Poggius de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 56._ _Ammirato Istorie Fiorentine, P. I. T. II. p. 752._

[16] _Platina, tom. i. p. 373, 374. Giannone, lib. xxiv. cap. i._

[17] _Vide Poggii Epistolas lvii, a Johanne Oliva Rhodigino vulgatas ad calcem librorum de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 199._

[18] Alter Urbanum olim summum pontificem leviter perstrinxit. Nam cum ille nescio quid acrius a pontifice contenderet, “malo capite es” inquit Urbanus. Tum ille “hoc idem” inquit “et de te vulgi dicunt homines pater sancte.” _Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 428._

[19] _Platina, tom. i. p. 376._

[20] _Platina, tom. i. p. 376, 377._ _Poggii Historia Florentina, lib. iii._ _Ammirato Istor. lib. xv._

[21] _Platina, tom. i. p. 378._

[22] The English reader will probably be surprised to recognize in Giovanni Auguto, his countryman John Hawkewood. John was a soldier of fortune, and had been engaged in the war which Edward III. king of England, carried on with so much glory against France. On the conclusion of peace between those two countries, he led into Italy a band of 3000 adventurers, of restless spirits, and approved courage, who had engaged to fight under his banners, on behalf of any state which would give them a suitable remuneration for their services. In the year 1363, this army of desperadoes was hired by the republic of Pisa, and spread ruin and devastation through the territories of Florence, with which state the Pisans were then at war. They afterwards entered into the service of Bernabò Visconti, lord of Milan, and being again opposed to the Florentines, they defeated the Tuscan army, and made predatory incursions to the very gates of Florence. Being defrauded by Bernabò of the remuneration which his services merited, Hawkewood readily acceded to the terms proposed to him by the cardinal of Berry, legate of pope Gregory XI. and heartily engaged on the side of the pontiff in hostilities against the lord of Milan. Having assisted in the capture of nearly a hundred towns belonging to that prince, he had the satisfaction of seeing him reduced to the necessity of suing for peace. In the year 1375 he entered into the service of the Florentines. In the course of a little time he was promoted to the chief command of the Tuscan forces, in which capacity he merited and acquired the confidence of his employers, by the courage and skill with which he conducted the military operations of the Republic. He retained the office of Generalissimo of the Florentine army till the time of his death, which event took place in the latter end of the year 1393. The gratitude of the Florentines honoured him with a magnificent funeral, and his fame was perpetuated by an equestrian statue, erected to his memory at the public expense.

_Poggii Historia Florentina, p. 29, 41, 46, 122, 123. See particularly note (x) p. 29, which settles the English appellation of Auguto._

In a volume of portraits of illustrious men, engraven on wood, entitled Musæi Joviani Imagines, and printed at Basil, An. 1577, there is a portrait of Auguto, who is there denominated IOANNES AVCVTHVS. BRITAN. Underneath this portrait is printed the following inscription.

“Anglorum egressus patriis Aucuthus ab oris,
Italiæ primum climata lætus adit,
Militiæ fuerat quascunque edoctus et artes,
Ausoniæ exeruit non semel ipse plagæ,
Ut donaretur statuâ defunctus equestri,
Debita nam virtus præmia semper habet.”

Paulus Jovius, in his _Elogia Virorum illustrium_, _p. 105, 106_, gives a long account of Auguto, who, he asserts, came into Italy in the suite of the duke of Clarence, when that prince visited Milan, where he married the daughter of Galeazzo Visconti.

Holingshed, in his Chronicle, has recorded the actions of Hawkewood in the following terms. “And that valiant knight, Sir John Hawkewood, whose fame in the parts of Italie shall remain for ever, where, as their histories make mention, he grew to such estimation for his valiant achieved enterprises, that happie might that prince or commonwealth accompt themselves that might have his service; and so living there in such reputation, sometimes he served the Pope, sometimes the Lords of Millane, now this prince or commonwealth, now that, and otherwhiles none at all, but taking one towne or other, would keep the same till some liking entertainment were offered, and then would he sell such a towne, where he had thus remained, to them that would give him for it according to his mind. Barnabe, Lord of Millane, gave unto him one of his base daughters in marriage, with an honourable portion for her dower.

“This man was born in Essex, (as some write) who at the first became a tailor in London, and afterwards going to the warres in France, served in the roome of an archer; but at length he became a Capteine and leader of men of war, highlie commended, and liked of amongst the souldiers, insomuch that when by the peace concluded at Bretignie, in the yeare 1360, great numbers of soldiers were discharged out of wages, they got themselves together in companies, and without commandment of any prince, by whose authoritie they might make warre, they fell to of themselves, and sore harried and spoiled diverse countries in the realm of France, as partlie yee have heard, amongst whome this Sir John Hawkewood was one of the principall capteines, and at length went into Italie to serve the Marquis of Montserrato, against the Duke of Millane, although I remember that some write how he came into that countrie with the Duke of Clarence, but I thinke the former report to be true; but it may well be that he was readie to attend the said Duke at his coming into Italie.”—_Holingshed’s Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 413._

[23] _Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 311._

[24] _Platina, tom. i. p. 378._

[25] _Platina, tom. i. p. 379._

[26] Marignano was a castle, or country residence, to which Galeazzo had retired to avoid the plague, which had made its appearance in Milan. Poggio informs us in his history of Florence, that the day and hour of his departure from his capital was fixed by his astrologers, whom he was accustomed to consult in all cases of consequence. According to the observations of these soothsayers, so evidently had the stars determined the proper season for his journey, and so auspicious was the appearance of the heavens, that they boldly predicted that their illustrious patron would return, graced with the title of King of Italy. Poggio also asserts, that it was generally believed, that the death of Galeazzo was portended by a comet, which appeared in the month of March preceding that event. It should seem that the astrologers of the lord of Milan had forgotten to take this comet into their calculations.

Poggio’s partiality to his native country did not render him blind to the merits of Galeazzo, on whom he bestows the praise due to his liberality, magnanimity, and noble manners. He also highly commends him for his patronage of literature and of learned men. The following anecdote however, which is recorded in Poggio’s Facetiæ, proves that the lustre of Galeazzo’s good qualities was tarnished by his excessive indulgence in the pleasures of the table.

“Pope Martin V. had employed Antonio Lusco in the composition of some letters, which, after he had perused them, the pontiff ordered him to submit to the examination of a friend of mine, in whose judgment he had great confidence. This person, who was a little disordered with wine at the time when the letters were communicated to him, totally disapproved of them, and ordered Lusco to re-write them. Then Antonio said to Bartolomeo de’ Bardi, who happened to be present, I will do with my letters as the tailor did with Giovanni Galeazzo’s waistcoat. Upon Bartolomeo’s asking what that was, he replied, Giovanni Galeazzo was a very corpulent man, and was in the habit of eating and drinking immoderately at supper. As he was retiring to rest after one of these copious repasts, he sent for his tailor, and sharply reproved him for making his waistcoat too tight, and ordered him to widen it. I will take care said the tailor to execute your highness’s orders, and I trust that to-morrow it will fit you to your satisfaction. He then took the garment in question, and without making the least alteration in it, hung it on a nail. Being asked why he did not make the waistcoat wider, according to the orders which he had received, he said, to-morrow when the prince has digested his supper, it will be found large enough. He accordingly carried it back in the morning, when Galeazzo having put it on, said, Aye, now it will do—it fits perfectly easy.”

_Platina, tom. i. p. 379, 380. Poggii Historia Florentina, p. 153._

[27] During the state of anarchy into which the Milanese territories fell, in consequence of the folly and wickedness of the successor of Galeazzo, Como and Piacenza became the prey of the soldiers, Vercelli and Novara were seized by the marquis of Montferat. Pandolfo Malatesta made himself master of Brescia; Ottobuono III. took possession of Piacenza, Parma, and Reggio. Pavia, Alessandria, Tortona, and several other towns, submitted to the authority of Facino Cane. This last chieftain was the captain of one of those bands of adventurers, who at this time subsisted upon the wages which they received for their military services, and upon the plunder of the rich towns and fertile provinces of Italy. The following anecdote may serve to give the reader an idea of the insolent rapacity with which these disciplined robbers carried on their depredations.

“A person once complained to Facino Cane that he had been robbed of his cloak by one of that captain’s soldiers. Facino, observing that the complainant was clad in a good waistcoat, asked him whether he wore that at the time when he was robbed. Being answered in the affirmative, Go, says he—the man who robbed you cannot be one of my soldiers, for none of my followers would have left you so good a waistcoat.”—_Poggii Hist. Flor. p. 159, 160._—_Opera, p. 427._

[28] “Mallem tamen dici adversus avaritiam, cum verear no sit necesse nos fieri avaros, ob tenuitatem lucri quo vix possumus tueri officii nostri dignitatem.”—_Poggii Opera, edit. Basil. p. 5._

[29] “Ego sane quò me ex eorum vulgo eximerem de quorum ocio parum constat, nonnulla hac tenus conscripsi, quæ jam inter multos diffusa longiorem paulo, mihi, post obitum, vitam allatura videantur. Idque eò feci libentius, quo facilius fugerem eas molestias, quibus hæc fragilis atque imbecilla ætas plena est. Hæc enim scribendi exercitatio, multum mihi contulit ad temporum injurias perferendas. Non enim non potui angi animo et dolere aliquando, cum viderem me natu majorem, ita adhuc tenui esse censu, ut cogerer quæstui potius operam quam ingenio dare.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 32._

[30] _Platina, tom. i. p. 380, 381._ The following anecdote, inserted by Poggio in his Facetiæ, is at once a record of this partiality, and a curious specimen of the Italian wit of the fourteenth century.

“Bonifacius pontifex nonus, natione fuit Neapolitanus ex familiâ Tomacellorum. Appellantur autem vulgari sermone Tomacelli cibus factus ex jecore suillo admodum contrito atque in modum pili involtuto interiore pinguedine porci. Contulit Bonifacius se Perusiam secundo sui pontificatûs anno. Aderant autem secum fratres et affines ex eâ domo permulti, qui ad eum (ut fit) confluxerant, bonorum ac lucri cupiditate. Ingresso Bonifacio urbem sequebatur turba primorum, inter quos fratres erant et cæteri ex eâ familiâ. Quidam cupidiores noscendorum hominum quærebant quinam essent qui sequerentur. Dicebat unus item alter, hic est Andreas Tomacellos deinde hic Johannes Tomacellus, tum plures deinde Tomacellos nominatim recensendo. Tum quidam facetus, Hohe! permagnum nempe fuit jecur istud, inquit, ex quo tot Tomacelli prodierunt et tam ingentes.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 431._

[31] _Mehi Vita Leonardi Bruni, p. xxiii. xxv._

[32] _Janotii Manetti, Oratio Funebris apud Mehi, edit. Epist. Leonardi Aretini, tom. i. p. xcii. xciii._

[33] _Mehi Vita Leon. Aret. p. xxxi._

[34] Coluccio Salutati was born in the obscure town of Stignano, about the year 1330. It appears from a letter which he wrote to Bernardo di Moglo, that he was destitute of the advantages of early education, and that he did not apply himself to the cultivation of polite literature, till he was arrived at man’s estate, and that he then began his grammatical studies without the aid of a master. When he deemed himself properly prepared to extend his literary career, he went to Bologna, where he attended the public lectures of Giovanni di Moglo, the father of the above-mentioned Bernardo. In compliance with the advice of his relations and friends, he qualified himself for the profession of a notary; but when he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of legal practice, he devoted himself to the Muses, and composed several poems. In the forty-fifth year of his age, he was elected chancellor of the city of Florence, which office he held during the remainder of his life. He died on the fourth of May, 1406, and his remains, after having been decorated with a crown of laurel, were interred with extraordinary pomp, in the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It was a subject of great regret to Leonardo Aretino, that soon after his arrival in Rome, some unfortunate misunderstanding deprived him of the affectionate regard of Coluccio, and that the death of his veteran friend prevented him from effecting a reconciliation, which he appears to have desired with all the earnestness of an ingenuous mind.

Coluccio was the author of the following works, MS. copies of most of which are preserved in the Laurentian library. 1 De Fato et Fortunâ. 2 De sæculo et religione. 3 De nobilitate legum et medicinæ. 4 Tractatus de Tyranno. 5 Tractatus quod medici eloquentiæ studeant et de Verecundiâ an sit virtus aut vitium. 6 De laboribus Herculis. 7 Historia de casu Hominis. 8 De arte dictandi. 9 Certamen Fortunæ. 10 Declamationes. 11 Invectiva in Antonium Luscum. 12 Phyllidis querimoniæ. 13 Eclogæ viii. 14 Carmina ad Jacobum Allegrettum. 15 Sonnetti, and lastly, various Epistles, a collection of which was published by Mehus in one volume, small quarto, printed at Florence, A. D. 1741.

We may judge of the zeal which Coluccio manifested for the promotion of literature by the extent of his library, which consisted of eight hundred volumes—a magnificent collection in those early times, when good MSS. were very scarce, and consequently very costly.—_Colluccii Vita à Philippo Villani, apud Mehi editionem Epistolarum Lini Colucii Pierii Salutati_—_Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, lib. i. ep. x. xii._

[35] _Leonardi Aretini Epist. l. i. ep. i._

[36] By gaining the victory in this contest, Leonardo considerably encreased his reputation, as his competitor was a man of very respectable talents. Jacopo d’Angelo was a native of Scarparia, and studied the Latin tongue under the auspices of John of Ravenna. Understanding that Demetrius Cydonius and Manuel Crysoloras had undertaken to give public lectures on the Grecian classics in the city of Venice, he immediately repaired thither for the purpose of availing himself of their instructions. So great was his zeal in the cause of literature, that he accompanied Crysoloras to Constantinople, with a view of collecting manuscripts, and attaining a more accurate and extensive acquaintance with the Greek language. He translated into Latin Ptolomey’s Cosmographia, and also Plutarch’s lives of Brutus and Pompey. His version of the Cosmographia he dedicated to Alexander V. Contemporary scholars have given ample testimonies to his literary abilities, but his studies were abruptly terminated by an early death. _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xvi. ccclvi._—_Ejusdem Vita Leonardi Bruni, p. xxxii._—_Facius de viris illustribus, p. 9._

[37] See an old diary of Gentile d’Urbino, _apud Muratorii Rer. Italic Scriptor. tom. vi. p. 844._

[38] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. i. ep. v._

[39] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. i. ep. x._

[40] _Platina, tom. i. p. 383, 384._

[41] _Platina, tom. i. p. 385, 386._

[42] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. ii. ep. iii._

[43] _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. ii. ep. xxi._ The cardinal of Bourdeaux, conversing with Poggio on the tardiness of Gregory in fulfilling his engagement, observed, that the conduct of his holiness reminded him of the wicked wit of the humourist, who imposed upon the credulity of the populace of Bologna. On Poggio’s asking him to what circumstance he alluded, he related the following anecdote, which may bear a comparison with the story of the famous bottle-conjurer. “There was lately at Bologna,” said the cardinal, “a wag, who proclaimed by public advertisement, that on a certain day he would fly from the top of a tower, situated about a mile from the city, near St. Raphael’s bridge. On the day appointed, almost all the Bolognese assembled together; and the man kept them waiting during the heat of the day, and until the evening, all gazing at the tower, and expecting every moment that he would begin his flight. At length he appeared on the top of the tower, and waved a pair of wings, on which the multitude gave a shout of applause. The wag however protracted the expected expedition till after sunset, when resolving that the good people should not go home without seeing a sight, he deliberately drew aside the skirts of his garment, and turned his posteriors to the multitude, who immediately returned home, exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and chagrined at their disappointment.” In my opinion, said the cardinal, Gregory has practised upon the sacred college as complete a delusion, as the wag practised upon the people of Bologna.—_Poggii Opera, p. 435._

[44] _Platina, tom. i. p. 386, 388._

[45] _Leon. Aret. Epistolæ, l. iii. ep. iii._

[46] _Ibid, ep. iv. vii._

[47] Leonardo Aretino, in his oration against Niccolo Niccoli, asserts, that Niccolo’s grandfather was a tavern-keeper at Pistoia. “Avi autem tui caupona Pistorii primum floruit non dignitate aliquà, sed fronde illâ festivâ quâ ad vinum et popinas meretrices et ganeos invitabat. Inde nocturnâ ebriorum cæde conterritus Pistorio demigravit, cauponam et serta Florentiam transtulit. Hic tandem pater tuus cauponâ egressus vino abstinuit, oleo se ac lanificio perunxit, sedens ad scamnum a matutino tempore quasi vile mancipium, sordido ac prope miserabili exercitio defamatus. Profer igitur insignia nobilitatis tuæ, qui alios tam insolenter contemnis. Habes enim præclarissima: ab avo quidem frondes et cyathos; a patre vero lanam et pectines.”—_Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxx._

So little regard did the learned men of the fifteenth century pay to truth in their invectives, that the assertion of Leonardo Aretino is not sufficient evidence of the history of Niccolo’s progenitors. But this is indisputably certain, that by endeavouring to throw ridicule upon his former friend, by a reference to the occupation of his ancestors, he only disgraces himself. The _frons festiva_, to which he alludes in the passage quoted above, is the laurel, which it was then customary to hang by way of a sign over the doors of taverns. From a similar custom is derived our English proverb, “Good wine needs no bush.”

[48] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. lxxvi._ Lodovico Marsilio was an ecclesiastic of the Augustine order, of which fraternity he became the superior in the province of Pisa. His literary reputation caused him to be employed in the chancery of the republic of Florence, and in the year 1382 he was appointed of the number of the ambassadors sent by that state, to negociate a peace between Carlo, the Hungarian prince, and the duke of Anjou. In so great estimation was he held by the Florentines, that the administrators of their government applied to Boniface IX., requesting his holiness to promote him to the dignity of bishop of their city. The letter which was written on this occasion, and which details his various merits in very flattering terms, is preserved by Mehus in his life of Ambrogio Traversari. Lodovico carried on a correspondence with Coluccio Salutati; and also with Petrarca, on a few of whose sonnets he wrote a commentary. Several of his letters occur, but in a mutilated state, in a collection of the epistles of the Tuscan Saints, published at Florence, in 4to. A. D. 1736. He died on the 21st of August, 1394.—_Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxx. cclxxxv. ccxxxix. cclxi._

[49] Gregory was accompanied to Rimini by Leonardo Aretino, who sent to Niccolo Niccoli an interesting and elegant account of the remains of antiquity which then existed in that city. Towards the close of his letter on this subject, Leonardo dilates with great eloquence upon the praises of Carlo Malatesta. After enlarging upon his merits as a soldier and a statesman, he thus proceeds.—“So liberal has nature been in her gifts to him, that he seems to possess an universal genius. He reads with the utmost grace—he writes verses—he dictates the most elegant prose, and his hand-writing is so neat, that it is superior to that of professed scribes. I should not have mentioned this fact, had I not found the same circumstance recorded with respect to Augustus, and Titus son of Vespasian.”—_Leonardi Aretini Ep., l. iii. ep. ix._

[50] _Platina ut supra._

[51] _Platina, p. 389._

[52] A manuscript, containing an account of the lives of several of the pontiffs, which is printed by Muratori, in his magnificent collection of the writers of Italian history, contains the following encomium on Alexander V.

“This pontiff, who truly deserved the name of Alexander, would have surpassed in liberality all his predecessors, to the extent of a distant period, had he not been embarrassed by the insufficiency of his revenues. But so great was his poverty, after his accession to the papal chair, that he was accustomed to say, that when he was a bishop he was rich, when he became a cardinal he was poor, and when he was elected pontiff he was a beggar.”

A little while before his death he summoned the cardinals, who were then attendant on his court, to his bed-side, and after earnestly exhorting them to adopt such measures after his decease as were likely to secure the tranquillity of the church, he took leave of them, by repeating the words of our Saviour, “Peace I give you, my peace I leave unto you.”

In a manuscript volume, which formerly belonged to the house of Este, there occurs the following epitaph on this pontiff, the two concluding lines of which are so uncouth and obscure, that we may reasonably suspect some error on the part of the transcriber.

Divus Alexander, Cretensi oriundus ab orâ
Clauditur hoc saxo, summo venerandus honore.
Antea Petrus erat, sed celsâ sede potitus
Quintus Alexander fit, ceu sol orbe coruscans,
Relligione minor, post ad sublime vocatus.

_Muratori Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, tom. vi. p. 842._

[53] _Platina, tom. i. p. 389, 390._

[54] _Mehi Vita Leonardi Aretini, p. xxxix. xl._ _Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, lib. iii. ep. xvii._ Leonardo Aretino was esteemed by his contemporaries too attentive to the minutiæ of œconomy. From the perusal of the following letter from Ermolao Barbaro to Pietro Cara, however, it should seem, that in the fifteenth century, complaints of the expensiveness of matrimony were by no means destitute of foundation.

“Duxit uxorem, clarus bello et pace vir Trivulcius, Neapolitanam, prænobili familiâ. Invitatus sum ad convivium, immo ad pontificiam, et adipalem cænam. At ego ad epulas primas satur, spectator potius quam conviva fui. Credo gratum fore vel tibi, vel posteris, si fercula quam brevissime descripsero, non ut Macrobius apud nostros, nec ut apud Græcos Athenæus justis voluminibus, sed ut occupatus homo, et ad epistolæ mensuram. Primum aqua manibus data, non ut apud nos, stantibus, sed accumbentibus, utique rosacea. Tum illati pugillares ex nucleis pineis, et saccaro pastilli. Item placentæ nucleis amygdalis, et saccaro confectæ, quos vulgo martios paneis vocamus. Secundum fertum altiles asparagi. Tertium pulpulæ, ita enim popinæ appellant et jecuscula. Quartum caro dorcadis tosta. Quintum capitula junicum vitulorumve una cum pellibus elixa. Sextum capi, gallinarum, columborumque pulli, bubuleis comitati linguis, et petasonibus, ac sumine omnibus elixis addito Lymonyacæ pultario, sic enim Cupediarii Mediolanenses vocant, quam nostri sermiacam. Septimum hedus integer tostus, in singulas singuli capidas, cum jure quod ex amaris Cerasis sive ut quidam malunt appellare laurocerasis, condimenti vico fungitur. Octavum turtures, perdices, phasiani, coturnices, turdi, ficedulæ, et omnino plurimi generis avitia, molliter et studiose tosta. Colymbades olivæ condimenti loco appositæ. Nonum gallus gallinaceus saccaro incoctus, et aspergine rosaceâ madefactus, singulis convivis, singuli patinis argenteis, ut et cætera quoque vascula. Decimum porcellus integer tostus, in singula singuli crateria jusculento quodam liquore perfusi. Undecimum pavi tosti, pro condimento leucopheon jus, immo ferugineum e jocinoribus pistis, et aromate pretiosi generis, ad portionem et Symmetriam additum; hyspani ... appellant. Duodecimum tostus orbis ex ovo, lacte, salvia, polline saccareo, Salviatum vocamus. Tertium decimum Struthea cotonea ex saccaro. Quartum decimum, Carduus, pinea, Icolymon sive Cynaram potius appellare convenit. Quintum decimum a lotis manibus, bellaria et tragemata omnis generis saccarea. Inducti mox histriones, pantomimi, petauristæ, aretalogi, funambuli, choraulæ, citharædi. Singulis porro ferculis præibant faces, atque tubæ; sub facibus inclusa caveis altilia, quadrupedes, aviculæ, omnia viventia generis ejus videlicet, cujus ea quæ magistri et structores cocta mensis inferebant; mensaæ per atrium abacis singulæ singulis dispositæ, sed et privi privis ministri. Ante omnia silentium quale ne pythagorici quidem servare potuissent. Vale Mediolani, Idibus Maiis, 1488.”—_Politiani Epistolæ, lib. xii._

[55] _Platina, tom. i. p. 390, 391._

[56] _Platina, vol. i. p. 391._

[57] The correct title of Zabarella, was that of cardinal of St. Cosmo and St. Damien; but he is now generally known by the designation of cardinal of Florence.

[58] _Poggii Opera, p. 255._

[59] _Poggii Histor. Florent., p. 76._

[60] _Leon. Aret. Epist., lib. iv. ep. iii._

[61] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, book i. sect. xxxix._

[62] _Hodius de Græcis illustribus, p. 14._

[63] _Hodius, p. 15._

[64] _Hodius, p. 15._

[65] _Ibid._

[66] Pietro Paulo Vegerio was a native of Capo d’Istria, a town situated at the extremity of the Adriatic gulf, not far from Trieste. He was eminent for his knowledge of the civil law, and made considerable proficiency in the study of philosophy and the mathematics. Under the instruction of Manuel Crysoloras, he also attained a respectable knowledge of the Grecian language. He composed a treatise, _De moribus ingenuis_, which was received by the literary characters of his time with considerable applause; and at the request of the emperor Sigismund, he translated into Latin Arrian’s history of the expedition of Alexander the Great. In the execution of this translation, he purposely avoided the cultivation of elegance of style, through an apprehension, as he himself said, lest his royal reader should stand in need of the assistance of an interpreter. He testified his zeal for the honour of classical learning, by publishing an invective against Carlo Malatesta, who, in detestation of heathens and heathenism, had removed from the market place of Mantua, a statue of Virgil. In the latter period of his life he lost his reason, which however returned at intervals before his death, the date of which event is uncertain.—_Facius de Viris illustribus, p. 8._

[67] _Hodius, p. 23._

[68] _Hodius, p. 23._

[69] _Poggii Opera, p. 297._

[70] _Leonardo Aretini Epist., lib. iv. ep. iv._ This letter is erroneously dated January 10, 1415. Aretino wrote from Constance a description of his journey to that city, on the 29th of December, 1414. It is therefore evidently impossible that he could have returned to Italy, and have there received letters from Poggio within twelve days from that date. For 1415, we should certainly read 1416.

[71] Leonardo Aretino, who does not appear to have possessed the slightest knowledge of Hebrew, in a very curious letter to Giovanni Cirignano, entered into a long train of argument, to prove the inutility of the study of that language. Nothing is more disgusting, than the propensity of men of narrow minds to undervalue those acquisitions in knowledge, to which they have not themselves attained; and which they consequently have not the means of appreciating. Excellent indeed is the precept of the Apulian bard,

“Neu tua plus laudes studia, aut aliena reprendas.”

This letter of Leonardo also shews the unhappy influence of religious bigotry and sacerdotal tyranny, in checking the progress of science. The most cogent argument which he advances, to prove the folly of spending time in the perusal of the Hebrew scriptures, is this, that St. Jerome having translated the Old Testament into Latin, whosoever presumes to study that book in the original, manifests a distrust of the fidelity of Jerome’s version.—_Leonardi Aretini Epist., lib. ix. ep. xii._

[72] In the letter which Poggio wrote from Baden to Niccolo Niccoli, he says, that he wrote to him from Constance on the 19th of February, 1416; and in another letter, addressed to Leonardo Aretino, he says, that the trial of Jerome of Prague took place a few days after his return to the council. As Jerome’s last hearing, to which Poggio evidently alludes, took place May 30th, 1416, the date of Poggio’s journey to Baden is fixed between the above mentioned periods, that is, in the spring of 1416.

[73] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. i. p. 167._

[74] _Ibid, p. 188._

[75] _L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. i. p. 204._

[76] _Ibid, p. 512._

[77] _Ibid, p. 584._

[78] In the _Fasciculus Rer. expet. et fugiend._ it is erroneously asserted that the following letter was addressed to Niccolo Niccoli.

[79] _Poggii Opera, p. 301-305._

[80] See a letter from Poggio to Alberto di Sarteano, which is preserved in the collection of Ambrogio Traversari’s epistles, edited by Mehus, (_lib. xxv. ep. xxii._) in which he defends his strictures on the immoralities of the clergy; his dialogue on Hypocrisy, printed in the second volume of the _Fasciculus Rerum expetend. et fugiend._; his treatise on Avarice; and many of his epistles.

[81] The sentence passed by the council upon Jerome concluded with the following declaration. “Propter quæ eadem sancta synodus eundem Hieronymum palmitem putridum et aridum, in vite non manentem, foras mittendum decernit: ipsumque hæreticum, et in hæresim relapsum, excommunicatum, anathematizatum pronunciat et declarat atque damnat.”—_Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et Fug., tom. i. p. 303._

[82] _Leon. Aret. Epist., lib. iv. ep. x._

[83] Guarino Veronese, as his surname imports, was a native of Verona, in which city he was born A. D. 1370. Dedicating himself to study from his early years, he became a pupil of John of Ravenna. Not contented with acquiring, under the instructions of this able tutor, a knowledge of the Latin language, he undertook a voyage to Constantinople for the express purpose of reading the Greek classics in the school of Manuel Crysoloras. Ponticio Virunio, who flourished in the beginning of the 16th century, affirms, that when Guarino had finished his Greek studies, he returned to Italy with two large chests full of books, which he had collected during his residence in Constantinople; and that he was so much affected by the loss of one of these valuable packages, which perished in a shipwreck, that his hair became grey in the space of a single night. But this story is generally considered as fabulous. On his return to his native country, he adopted the profession of a public lecturer on Rhetoric, in which capacity he visited various cities of Italy. The names of these cities are thus enumerated by Janus Pannonius, who testified his gratitude for the benefit which he had derived from Guarino’s instructions, by composing a poem to his praise.

“Tu mare frænantes Venetōs, tu Antenoris alti
Instituis cives, tua te Verona legentem,
Finis et Italiæ stupuit sublime Tridentum;
Nec jam flumineum referens Florentia nomen,
Ac Phæbo quondam, nunc sacra Bononia Marti;
Tandem mansurum placidâ statione recepit
Pacis et aligeri Ferraria mater amoris.”

Ferrara was the last abode of Guarino. After having resided many years in that city under the protection of the Marquis d’Este, he there terminated a life of literary labour, in the year 1460, at the advanced age of ninety. Bartolomeo Facio, who had been of the number of his pupils, made mention of him during his lifetime in the following flattering terms.

“Artem Rhetoricam profitetur, quâ in re supra quinque et triginta annos se exercuit. Ab hoc uno plures docti et eloquentes viri facti sunt quam a ceteris omnibus hujus ordinis, ut non immerito quidam de eo dixerit quod de Isocrate dictum ferunt, plures ex ejus scholâ viros eruditos, quam ex equo Trojano milites prodiisse—Ejus quoque præstantiæ singulare testimonium est Epigramma hoc nobile Antonii Panormitæ editum ab illo quum vitâ functum audivisset.”

“Quantum Romulidæ sanctum videre Catonem,
Quantum Cepheni volitantem Persea cœlo,
Alciden Thebe pacantem viribus orbem,
Tantum læta suum vidit Verona Guarinum.”

_Tiraboschi Storia della Letter. Ital., tom. vi. p. 255 & seq._—_Facius de Viris Illustr., p. 18._

[84] _Poggii Opera, p. 305._

[85] Gasperino Barziza was a native of Bergamo, and was one of that numerous assemblage of scholars, who were indebted for their knowledge of the Latin tongue to John of Ravenna. He read lectures on Rhetoric, first at Padua, and afterwards at Milan. His writings are not numerous: they consist of a treatise on Orthography; another on Elegance of Composition; various Orations and Letters; and a commentary on the Epistles of Seneca. In undertaking to supply the deficiencies which occurred in Cicero’s treatise de Oratore, in consequence of the mutilated condition of the ancient copies of that elegant and useful work, he evinced a temerity of spirit which nothing but the most able execution of his task could have justified. Happily however for the admirers of ancient eloquence, the labours of Gasperino were rendered useless, by the discovery of a complete copy of the work in question, made by the Bishop of Lodi. It appears however that he had actually enlarged, by supplementary chapters, the imperfect copies of _Quintilian’s Institutes_. These were also superseded by the labours of Poggio in search of ancient manuscripts.

Several of Gasperino’s letters were edited by Josepho Alessandro Furietti, and published at Rome, in 4to. A. D. 1733.—_Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers., p. xl. xlvi._—_Agostini Scrittori Viniz., tom. i. p. 20, tom. xi. p. 8. Facius de Viris illus., p. 28._

[86] On the subject of matrimony, Francesco did not confine himself to theoretical speculations. Trusting that in Maria, daughter of Piero Loredano, procurator of St. Mark, he had found the union of good qualities which he had represented in his dissertation, as requisite to the formation of the character of a good wife, he married that lady in the year 1419.

So great was the reputation of his eloquence and prudence, that he had scarcely attained the age of twenty-one, when notwithstanding the prohibition of the Venetian law, he was admitted by the Concilio Maggiore into the number of the senators. Three years after his exaltation to this honour, he was appointed to the government of Como, which office, however, he did not think proper to accept. It does not appear what were the motives which induced him to decline this honour. His biographer Agostini attributes his conduct in this instance to his modesty. If this amiable virtue, a quality of such rare occurrence in the history of statesmen, prevented him from undertaking the chief magistracy of the city of Como, it should seem that it did not long continue to obstruct him in his way to preferment, since in the same year in which he is supposed to have been thus diffident of his abilities, he suffered himself to be invested with the government of Trivigi, in which city he presided for the space of twelve months. The inhabitants of Trivigi lamented his departure, and long entertained a respectful remembrance of the wisdom of his administration. At the expiration of twenty-four years after the termination of his government, they applied for his advice in the choice of a public preceptor; and on this occasion, Francesco assured them, that he should always regard their welfare as an object of his particular attention. Immediately after his return to the Venetian capital, he was appointed, in conjunction with Leonardo Giustiniano, to compliment the eastern emperor Palæologus on his arrival in Venice. In the execution of this commission, he pronounced a Greek oration with such elegance and purity of style and diction, that, as a contemporary writer affirms, “He seemed to have been educated in the school of Homer.” Early in the year 1424 he was nominated to the præfecture of Vicenza. On his accession to this office, he found the laws of that city in such a state of confusion, that he deemed it absolutely necessary to reduce them to order and consistency. With the assistance of a committee of Vicentians, appointed for that purpose, and of Antonio Lusco, a celebrated civilian, he happily accomplished this difficult and delicate undertaking. Francesco was also the means of conferring upon the citizens of Vicenza another public benefit, in inducing George of Trebisond, whom he had invited from his native island Candia, to Italy, to settle amongst them, in quality of professor of the Greek language. In the year 1426 he was sent by the Venetian seignory to Rome, invested with the office of embassador extraordinary at the pontifical court. The object of his mission was to persuade Martin V. to enter into an alliance with his countrymen against the duke of Milan, with whom the Venetians were then at war. The pontiff, as became the common father of the faithful, interposed his good offices between the contending powers; and after encountering a variety of difficulties, he at length had the satisfaction of assembling a congress at Ferrara, which terminated April 18th, 1428, in the signing of a definite treaty of peace between the Venetians and their adversary. At this congress Francesco assisted as one of the deputies of his republic.

In the course of the war, the Venetians had taken the city of Bergamo. Of this newly acquired possession, Francesco Barbaro administered the government in 1430. On the expiration of this office, he was raised to the dignity of counsellor, and in the year 1433 he was elected by the Venetian government as a member of the embassy of honour, which they deputed to attend the emperor Sigismund, who purposed to travel through the states of the republic, on his way to the city of Basil, where the general council was then assembled. On this occasion, the Venetian envoys received from the emperor the honour of knighthood. So great was the esteem which Sigismund had conceived of the good qualities of Barbaro, that, with the permission of the seignory, he dispatched him into Bohemia upon the difficult errand of soothing the irritation, and abating the zeal of the confederated heretics. Nor was this the only instance of the trust reposed in the fidelity of Francesco by foreign princes. On his return from Germany he was employed by Eugenius IV. in conducting a negociation with the emperor. His reputation being increased by these striking testimonies to his merits, in the year 1434 he was appointed to the important and honourable government of Verona. In this station he conducted himself with his wonted wisdom, and consequently gained the esteem and affection of his subjects. Soon after the expiration of the term of his new government, he was dispatched to Florence, on an embassy to Eugenius IV. who then held his court in that city. During this visit to Florence, the following circumstance took place, which is related by Maffei as a proof of the patience and forbearance of his temper. The steward of his household having been reproved by his nephew Daniello Barbaro, was so much irritated, that he drew his sword, and attacked the youth with an intention of killing him. Daniello complained of this outrage to his uncle. Francesco sent for the offender, who vented his rage in the most violent and indecent reproaches against his master. The by-standers trembled for the life of the steward, when, to their astonishment, Francesco thus addressed him. “Begone! and act more prudently in future; I would not wish that your faults should make me lose that patience, of which, luckily for you, I am now possessed.”

In the year 1437 Francesco was appointed governor of Brescia. In the discharge of the duties of this office, he was obliged to call into exercise the full vigour of his abilities. At the time of his appointment the Venetians were at war with the duke of Milan, whose general, Piccinino, menaced their western borders with a powerful army; and in the month of September encamped before Brescia. On Francesco’s arrival in that city he had found it torn by faction, and scantily supplied with provisions. But by his prudent exertions he reconciled the contending families, and used the most strenuous exertions to provide the place with the necessary supplies. Encouraged by his example, the inhabitants repelled the attacks of the enemy with great valour, and patiently endured the evils of famine and pestilence, consequent upon their being for the space of three months closely confined within the walls of the town. At length, in the month of December, they had the satisfaction of seeing the Milanese forces retire. In gratitude for Francesco’s strenuous exertions in their defence, the inhabitants of Brescia presented him with a banner ornamented with the armorial bearings of their city; and when he returned to Venice, to give the seignory an account of the events of his administration, the Brescian deputies detailed his services to that august assembly in the most flattering terms.

He was afterwards called to the discharge of various other public offices, in which he acquitted himself in such a manner as to obtain universal commendation. A most unequivocal testimony to his honour and intelligence occurred, A. D. 1444, when he was chosen by the inhabitants of Verona and Vicenza as umpire to settle a dispute which had arisen between those communities about the limits of their respective territories. Having passed through all the inferior offices of the state, on the 5th of January, 1452, he received what he regarded as an ample reward of his labours, in being elected procurator of St. Mark. Two years after his exaltation to this distinguished honour, his earthly career of glory was terminated by his death, which event took place towards the end of January, 1454.

His remains were interred in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa, and the following inscription marks the spot where his body is deposited.

“Si quis honos, si fas lacrymis decorare sepultos,
Flete super tumulum, mœstisque replete querelis.
Franciscus, cui prisca parem vix secla tulerunt,
Barbarus hic situs est; linguæ decus omne Latinæ.
Fortia facta viri pro libertate Senatûs
Brixia, quam magno tenuit sudore, fatetur.
Hic summi ingenii, scriptis, monumenta reliquit;
Græcaque præterea fecit Romana. Tenet nunc
Spiritus astra; sacros tumulus complectitur artus.”

The life of this illustrious scholar was so much occupied by active pursuits, that the catalogue of his writings is necessarily short. The following productions of his pen are still extant.

1. _Francisci Barbari Veneti pro insigni Viro Joannino Conradino Veneto Physico Epitaphios Logos._ Manuscript copies of this oration were preserved in the Dominican monastery of S. Nicolò, in Trivigi, and in the library of Apostolo Zeno.

2. _Francisci Barbari Veneti Laudatio in Albertum Guidalotum cum eum in Academâ Patavinâ J. V. laureâ decoraret._ This oration was published by Bernardo Pez, in a collection entitled _Thesarurus novissimus Anecdotorum_.

3. _Francisci Barbari Veneti ad insignem Laurentium de Medicis Florentinum de Re Uxoriâ Liber._ The autograph of this treatise is preserved in the Medicean library at Florence; an early edition of it, of uncertain date, was printed at Antwerp. In the year 1513 it was printed at Paris, in 4to. _in œdibus Ascensianis_. In 1533 it was printed at Hagenau, in 8vo. A duodecimo edition of it was published at Strasbourg, in 1612; and another in the same form at Amsterdam, by John Janson, in 1639. This treatise was twice translated into the French language, first by Martin du Pin, and afterwards by Claude Joly. A beautiful MS. copy of the original Latin is preserved in the Cheetham library, in Manchester.

4. _Eloquentissimi ac Patricii viri Francisci Barbari Veneti Vitæ Aristidis et Majoris Catonis a Plutarcho conscriptæ, a Græco in Latinum versæ._ This translation was printed in an edition of Plutarch’s lives, published at Venice, by Nicolas Jenson, A. D. 1478, in folio; and in the Basil folio edition of the same work, printed by Bebelius in 1535. In Jenson’s edition, the version of the life of Aristides is erroneously ascribed to Leonardo Aretino.

5. _Oratio Clariss. Viri Francisci Barbari ad Sigismundum Cæsarem pro Republicâ Venetá acta Ferrariæ._ Agostini has printed this oration in his _Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani_, after a MS. copy belonging to Marco Foscarini.

6. _Oratio Francisci Barbari Patricii Veneti, habita, anno 1438, in templo Sanctorum Faustini et Jovitæ cum civitatis Brixiensis Magistratum iniret._ This oration is to be found in Pez’s Thesaurus.