Chapter XIV: Part 14

[276] Though no literary works of Francesco Marescalco have descended to posterity, and though from the designation of “Franciscum quendam Ferrariensem,” by which he is mentioned in a letter from Poggio to Niccolo Niccoli, it should seem that he was not much known, even to his contemporaries, the circumstance of Poggio’s inscribing to him a volume of his compositions affords reasonable grounds for a supposition that he was a man of learning, and of a respectable character. This supposition is confirmed by the respectful manner in which Poggio, in the following letter, thanks him for the offer of his friendship, and the assurance of his esteem.

“I have long maintained a most pleasant intercourse with my friend Scipio, of Ferrara, a man, whose learning and liberal manners lay an irresistible claim to my esteem and love. We often spend our leisure time in conversing together on various subjects, and particularly on the characters of learned and eloquent men. Of this number he assures me that you are one. He informs me, that you are not only devoted to literature, which circumstance is of itself a great recommendation, but, what is of the greatest weight, that your manners are most amiable, and that you are endowed with the most attractive virtues. He moreover says, that you are very much attached to me. This is a piece of intelligence which, I must confess, affords me the sincerest pleasure; for there is nothing, my dear Francesco, which I have more at heart, than to gain the esteem and good will of my fellow mortals. You are sensible that he who is favoured with the affection of his acquaintance, especially of those who are dignified by their virtues, is truly rich, and possesses a source of sincere enjoyment. I therefore most heartily embrace your proffered friendship, from which I trust I shall derive both pleasure and honour. Be assured of this, that I shall do my utmost endeavour to confirm, by my conduct, those friendly sentiments which you have voluntarily conceived on my behalf.—Farewell.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 307._

[277] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. p. 273._

[278] _Ibid._

[279] _Poggii Opera, p. 270-277._

[280] See note on chap. iii. of this work.

[281] _Poggii Opera, p. 274._

[282] “Delectabatur admodum tabulis et signis ac variis cœlaturis priscorum more. Plura enim prope solus atque exquisitiora habebat quam cæteri fere omnes.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 276._

[283] _Ibid._

[284] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. lxii._

[285] Gianozzo Manetti, who wrote memoirs of Niccolo Niccoli, which are printed from a Vatican MS. in Mehus’s life of Ambrogio Traversari, _p. lxvi. et seq._ “Raro tamen,” says Gianozzo, “vel numquam, latine loquendi, latineve scribendi onus suscipere voluit, eâ de causâ abductus, ut arbritror, quod quum nihil ab eo nisi plenum et perfectum probaretur, neque orationes, neque scripta sua sibi ipsi omni ex parte, ceu in aliis hominibus exigebat, satisfactura videbantur.” The testimony of Poggio may be adduced in confirmation of Gianozzo’s assertion. “Cum enim nihil nisi politum ac perfectum probaret, nequaquam sibi ipsi ejus scripta satisfacere videbantur.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 274._

[286] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. lxi._

[287] “Illud quoque animadvertendum est Nicolaum Nicolum veluti parentem fuisse artis criticæ, quæ auctores veteres distinguit emendatque. Nam quum eos auctores ex vetustissimis codicibus exscriberet, qui suo potissimum consilio, aliorum vero operâ inventi sunt, non solum a mendis quibus obsiti erant expurgavit, sed etiam distinxit capitibusque locupletavit. Testis sit Lucretius, qui in Cod. Chart. Bibliothecæ Mediceo-Laurentianæ adservatur. In hoc enim codice manu Nicolai Niccoli diligentissime scripto aliquot libris capitula præfixa a Niccolo sunt. Testes duodecim Comœdiæ Plauti noviter eodem sæculo repertæ, Niccolique nostri manu in Cod. Chartaceo Bibliothecæ Marcianæ ut supra diximus exaratæ. Has enim quum descripsisset ex vetustissimo Codice Jordani Cardinalis Ursini ex Germaniâ Romam advecto, quem mendosissimum judicavit Poggius, earum tamen exemplum a Niccolo nostro confectum paucis mendis, iisque levissimis deturpatum est.”—_Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. 1._

[288] _Gianotti Manettii Vita Nicolai Nicoli, apud Mehi Vitam Ambros. Travers. p. lxxvi._

[289] _Ibid, p. lxxvii._

[290] These and the following particulars are collected from a life of Niccolo Niccoli, written by Gianozzo Manetti, and composing part of a volume, _De Illustribus Longævis_, dedicated by him to Lodovico Gusman, governor of the province of Calatrava. In proof of the delicacy of Niccolo’s feelings, Gianozzo assures his reader of the wonderful fact, that he disliked the braying of an ass, the grating of a saw, and the squeaking of a mouse caught in a trap. “Neque rudentem asinum, neque secantem serram, neque muscipulam vagientem sentire audireve poterat.”—_Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. lxxvii._

[291] _Concil. tom. xxx. p. 212-217._ The orthodoxy of the editor of the acts of the councils has induced him to attach the following marginal observation to the decree which thus levelled the thunder of the rebels of Basil at the sacred head of the pontiff—“Multa in hac synodo sparsim habentur quæ pontifici et ejus auctoritati derogant, quæ sunt caute legenda.”

[292] _Concil. tom. xxx. p. 221, 222._

[293] _Ibid, p. 226, et seq._

[294] _Ibid, p. 232, et seq._

[295] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 169, 170._

[296] _Labbe Concil. tom. xiii. p. 876._

[297] _Muratori Rer. Italic. Script. tom. iii. p. 870._

[298] _Concil. tom. xxx. p. 189._

[299] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 173._

[300] _Ibid, p. 176, 177._

[301] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. 430._

[302] _Labbei Concilia, tom. xiii. p. 1164._

[303] _Labbei Concilia, tom. xiii. p. 1165-1168._

[304] _Zeno Dissert. Vos. tom. i. p. 307._

[305] _Zeno Dissert. Voss. tom. i. p. 308._

[306] _Ibid, p. 316._

[307] _Poggii Opera, p. 349, 350._

[308] _Poggii Opera, p. 350, 351, 352._

[309] _Ibid, p. 353, 354, 355._ Two manuscript copies of this work are preserved in the Laurentian, and a third in the Magliabecchian library at Florence. A fourth is deposited in the Ambrogian collection at Milan. The disgusting ribaldry of Beccatelli fully justifies the reproof which he received from Poggio. It is a disgrace to literature, that his work should have been lately committed to the press under the superintendence of a French editor.

The Hermaphroditus was openly condemned, not only by Poggio, but also by Filelfo, Laurentius Valla, and by Mariano da Volterra, who inveighed against it in a long poem. It was the subject of reprobation in the sermons of Bernadino da Siena, and of Roberto da Lecce, who caused it to be burnt in the public squares of Bologna and Milan. The zeal of Valla, (which, by the way, was kindled as much by personal enmity as by a regard to morality) prompted him to hope that the same fate awaited its author.

Besides the Hermaphroditus, Beccatelli published a variety of works, which are thus enumerated by Apostolo Zeno. 1. Alphonsi Regis Triumphus. 2. De Rebus gestis Ferdinandi Regis. 3. In coronatione Friderici III. Imperatoris Oratio Romæ habita 1452. 4. Ad Alphonsum Siciliæ Regem Oratio. 6. Oratio ad Caetanos de pace. 7. Oratio ad Venetos de pace. 8. Epistolarum Libri V. 9. Carmina. 10. Epistolæ et Orationes. 11. Epistolarum & Carminum liber. 12. In Rhodum Poema. 13. Tragediæ. 14. Commentarius in Plautum. 15. Elegiæ. 16. De dictis et factis Alphonsi Regis Libri IV. _Vallæ Invectiva secunda in Facium, sub finem._—_Zeno Diss. Voss. tom. i. p. 315, 316._

[310] _Concil. tom. xxx. p. 271._

[311] _Ibid, p. 298._

[312] In the _Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et Fugiend. tom. i. p. 46-54_, there is a very entertaining account drawn up by Æneas Sylvius of the organization and proceedings of the conclave which elected Amedeus to the pontificate, and of the splendid procession which took place at the coronation of this Anti-Pope, who assumed the name of Felix.

[313] _Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccccxxvii._

[314] _Elogi degli uomini illustri Toscani, tom. i. p. cccxlvi._

[315] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. ccccv._

[316] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. ccccxxvii._

[317] _Ibid, p. ccccxxviii._

[318] _Apostolo Zeno Diss. Vos. tom. i. p. 81._

[319] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. ccccxxxii._ The author of the life of Ambrogio, in the _Elogi degli uomini illustri Toscani_, mentions this report in the following terms. “Non manca chi creda, che Iddio a intercessione di Ambrogio facesse ancor dei prodigi. E certamente, l’esser dopo la di lui morte, nati spontaneamente gigli ed altri fiori sopra il suo cadavere, che colti dai Religiosi instantaneamente rifiorivano per tutto il luogo occupato dalla venerabile di lui spoglia, sembra cosa più che naturale. Eppure di ciò fanno fede persone che hanno potuto vedere ocularmente un tal prodigio al sacro Eremo di Camaldoli.” _p. cccxlviii. cccxlix._

[320] See Poggio’s dialogue on Hypocrisy in the _Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et fugiend. tom. ii. p. 583._

[321] _Recanati Osservazioni, p. 19._

[322] _Poggiana, tom. ii. p. 322-326._

[323] _Ton. Tr. vol. ii. p. 22._

[324] The short-sightedness of the Florentines seems to have been a subject of proverbial sarcasm to their neighbours. “Bartolomeo Soccini, of Siena,” says Mr. Roscoe, in his life of Lorenzo de’ Medici, “having observed, in allusion to the defect in Lorenzo’s sight, that the air of Florence was injurious to the eyes—_true_, said Lorenzo, _and that of Siena to the brain_.” When Leo X. was elected to the pontificate, the Roman wits thus interpreted a certain date of the year MCCCCXL, which was inscribed on a tablet in the church of the Vatican: Multi cæci cardinales creaverunt cæcum decimum Leonem.

_Roscoe’s Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici, vol. ii. p. 119_—_Fabroni Vita Leonis. X._

[325] _Poggii Opera, p. 333, 339._

[326] _Philelfi Opera, p. 13._

[327] _Philelfi Epistolæ, p. 18._

[328] _Ibid._

[329] _Ibid._

[330] _Poggii Opera, p. 175._

[331] _Poggii Opera, p. 176._

[332] _Poggii Opera, p. 186, 187._

[333] _Poggii Opera, p. 64-83._

[334] _Poggii Opera, p. 225-328._ Besides Gregorio Corriario, two other Venetian scholars, Pietro Tommasi and Lauro Querini, expressed their displeasure at the manner in which Poggio had treated the Venetian patricians in his dialogue _De Nobilitate_; the former in a letter addressed to Poggio—the latter, not only by a letter, but also in an express treatise on the same subject. To the former Poggio returned a civil reply—the latter, who seems to have been an ill-tempered man, he treated with contempt. _Ton. Tr. vol. ii. p. 42._

[335] _Poggii Opera, p. 278._

[336] _Poggii Opera, p. 285._

[337] _Poggii Historia Flor. p. 339._—_Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 185._—Lorenzo Valla, in his _Antidotus_, charges Poggio with the infamous villany of forging the commission, by virtue of which Vitelleschi was arrested; and asserts, that he was protected from the punishment due to his crime, by the power of the statesmen who had bribed him to commit so atrocious a deed. It is not, however, very probable, that any interest could have screened from punishment a secretary who stood convicted of so heinous an offence as counterfeiting the signature of a sovereign prince, for the purpose of committing murder: still less, that a subordinate officer who had taken such a wicked liberty, should have been continued in his place.—_Laurentii Vallæ Antidotus in Poggium, p. 109._

[338] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 186._

[339] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 199._

[340] _Poggii Opera, p. 344._

[341] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. liv._

[342] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. p. 282._

[343] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. p. 284._

[344] According to the tables of the relative value of money at different periods, the volume above mentioned may be said to have cost Lionello £250 or £300 sterling.—_Ton. Tr. vol. ii. p. 54._

[345] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 195, 196._

[346] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 198._

[347] _Muratori Rer. Italic. Script. tom. vi. p. 915._

[348] _Poggii Opera, p. 261-269._ The disease of which he died was the stone. Poggio asserts, that after his death, a calculus of the weight of a pound was extracted from his bladder.

[349] _Vita Nicolai V. a Jannotio Manetti apud Muratorii Rer. Italic Script. tom. iii. p. ii. p. 908 et. seq._

[350] _Poggii Opera, p. 390, 391._ The data of the publication of the dialogue above mentioned is ascertained by an unpublished Epistle of Poggio, cited by Tonelli, _Tr. vol. ii. p. 62._

[351] _Poggii Opera, p. 392-419._

[352] In the Basil edition of Poggio’s works, the dialogue _De Infelicitate Principum_ is so incorrectly printed, that it is frequently difficult to decypher the meaning of the author. An edition of the same dialogue, printed in 12mo. at Frankfort, by Erasmus Kempffer, in the year 1629, is one of the most incorrect books which ever disgraced a press. Fortunately, however, the one of these copies is frequently of use in correcting the errors of the other.

[353] _Janotii Manetti pro Leonardo Aretino Oratio Funebris, Epistolis Leonardi a Meho editis prœfixa, p. civ._

[354] _Janotii Manetti pro Leonardo Aretino Oratio Funebris, Epistolis Leonardi a Meho editis prœfixa, p. cxiv._

[355] The following analysis of Gianozzo’s oration will be sufficient to prove, that the foregoing censure is by no means too severe.—He began his address by informing his auditors, that if the immortal Muses (“immortales Musæ divinæquo Camœnæ”) could have deemed it compatible with their dignity to make an oration, either in the Latin or the Greek language, or to weep in public, they would not have delegated to another the task of paying the last honours to Leonardo; but since this exhibition of their grief was contrary to the usual habits of the Nine, the administrators of the Tuscan government had determined that the virtues of the deceased should be celebrated by one of his colleagues. He then with due modesty declared, that their choice having been directed to himself, not on account of his talents, but in consequence of his filling one of the principal offices of the state, he had prepared himself for the occasion, not to his own satisfaction, but as well as the brevity of the time allowed him for the purpose would permit.—The orator then proceeded to give a sketch of the life of Leonardo. When he arrived at that period of it in which the deceased became one of the public functionaries of the state, he detailed at some length the history of the Florentine republic during the time of Leonardo’s possession of civic and military offices. In the course of his minute detail of Leonardo’s literary labours, he contrived to introduce brief notices of a considerable number of Greek and Latin writers, and enlarged particularly upon the merits of Livy and Cicero, to each of whom he represented Leonardo as superior, since he not only translated Greek authors into Latin, after the example of the latter, but also wrote histories, in emulation of the former, thus uniting the excellencies of both. After this, preparing to perform the ceremony of coronation, he proved by historical evidence, that the custom of crowning emperors and poets was very ancient. Descanting on the various kinds of military crowns, he informed his auditors, that by the frequent perusal of ancient writers, he had ascertained, that of these tokens of honour there were eight different species, namely, the Corona Obsidionalis, Civica, Muralis, Castrensis, Navalis, Ovalis, quasi Triumphalis, and Triumphalis. The description of the materials of which these crowns were severally made, the occasions on which they were bestowed, the enumeration of divers eminent commanders whose brows they had adorned, led the errant orator into a further digression, from which he did not return before he had detailed at great length the reasons why poets should be crowned with laurel, in preference to ivy, palm, olive, or any other species of evergreen. This dissertation on crowns occupies the space of five quarto pages, closely printed in a small type. Having exhausted this topic, Gianozzo proceeded to prove, that Leonardo was a poet. This led him to enumerate most of the Greek and Latin poets, and to explain the derivation of the term _poeta_. In treating on this subject, he announces the marvellous discovery, that he who wishes to be a poet, must write excellent poems! “Itaque si quis poeta esse cuperet quædam egregia poemata scribat oportet.” Having endeavoured by sundry truly original arguments to vindicate Leonardo’s claim to the poetic wreath, he closed his harangue by the performance of the prescribed ceremony.

The following list of such of the voluminous works of Leonardo Aretino as have been committed to the press, is extracted from the enumeration of his writings, subjoined to his life by Laurentius Mehus.

1. _Historiarum Florentini Populi, Lib. xii. Per Sixtum Brunonem Argent. 1610._ _fol. Ejusdem traductio Italica a Donato Acciajolo Venetiis, 1473, Florentiæ, 1492._ _Venetiis, 1560._ _Ibidem a Sansovino, 1561._

2. _Leonardi Arretini de Temporibus suis Libri duo._ _Venetiis, 1475 and 1485._ _Lugduni apud Gryphium, 1539._ _Argentorati per Sixtum Brunonem, 1610._ It was reprinted by Muratori, in the 19th vol. of his _Rer. Italic. Script._

3. _De bello Italico adversus Gothos gesto Libri quatuor._ This work is founded upon the Greek history of Procopius. It has been edited in the following places: _Fulginii per Emilianum Fulginatum, 1470._ _Venetiis per Nicolaum Jenson, 1471._ _Basileæ, 1531._ _Parisiis, 1534._ It was also printed together with Zosimus, _Basileæ, 1576_, and with Agathias and Jornandes, _Lugd. 1594_. _Bellovisiis, 1607._

4. _De Bello Punico Libri tres. Brixiæ, 1498._ _Paris, apud Ascensium, 1512._ _Augustæ Vindel. 1537._

5. _Commentarium Rerum Græcarum_ was edited by Gryphius, _Lug. 1539._ _Lipsiæ a Joach. Camerario, 1546._ _Argentorati, 1610, per Sixtum Brunonem._ It was also reprinted by Gronovius in the 6th volume of his _Thes. Antiq. Græc._

6. _Isagogicon moralis disciplinæ ad Galeotum Ricasolanum._ This work also bears the title of _Dialogus de moribus ad Galeottum, &c._ and under the title of _Aristoteles de moribus ad Eudemum Latine Leonardo Arretino interprete_, it was printed, _Lovanii, 1475_. _Paris, juxta de la Mare, 1512._ _Ibidem, 1516, per Ascensium._

7. _Ad Petrum Histrium dialogorum Libri._ _Basileæ, 1536, per Henricum Petri, &c._ _Paris, 1642._

8. _De studiis et litteris ad illustrem Dominam Baptistam de Malatestis. Argentinæ, 1512._ It was also published by Gabriel Naudæus in 1642, and it composes part of a book entitled _Hugonis Grotii et aliorum dissertationes de studiis bene instituendis, Amstelæd. 1645_. It was also printed by Thomas Crenius in his _Meth. Stud. tom. i. Num. x. Rotterod. 1692_.

9. _Laudatio Cl. V. Johannis Strozæ Equitis Florentini_, was published by Baluzzi in the third volume of his Miscellanies.

10. _Imperatoris Heliogabali Oratio protreptica, sive adhortatoria ad Meretrices_, published by Aldus Manutius in his _Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores Minores, Venetiis, 1519_.

11. _Oratio in Hypocritas_ was printed in the _Fasciculus_ of Ortuinus Gratius _Coloniæ, 1535_. _Lugd. 1679._ _Londini, 1691._ It was again published in the year 1699, from a copy in the possession of Antonio Magliabecchi.

12. _La Vita di Dante e i costumi e studj di Messer Francesco Petrarca._ The life of Petrarca was edited by Philippus Tomasinus in his _Petraca Redivivus_, printed at Padua, 1650. It was again printed, together with the life of Dante, an. 1671.

13. _Magni Basilii Liber per Leonardum Arretinum de Græco in Latinum translatus_—_Brixiæ, 1485, per Boninum de Boninis—Bononiæ, 1497._ _Argentorati, 1507._ _Paris, 1508._ _Romæ, 1594._

14. _Marci Antonii Vita._

15. _Vita Pyrrhi Epirotarum Regis._

16. _Vita Pauli Emilii._

17. _Tiberii et Caii Gracchorum Vitæ._

18. _Q. Sertorii Vita._

19. _Catonis Uticensis Vita._

20. _Vita Demosthenis._ The seven foregoing pieces of biography, translated by Leonardo, from the Greek of Plutarch, were printed, _Basileæ apud Isingrinium, 1542_.

21. _Leonardi Arretini Apologia Socratis. Bononiæ, 1502._

22. _Aristotelis Ethicorum Libri decem secundum traductionem Leonardi Arretini._ _Paris, 1504 & 1510, per Henricum Stephanum_, & _1516, per Ascensium_.

23. _Aristotelis Politicorum, Libri viii._ per _Leonardum Arretinum in Latinum traducti. Venetiis, 1504, 1505, 1511, 1517._ _Basil. 1538._

24. _Oeconomicorum Aristotelis libri duo, a Leonardo Arretino in Latinum conversi. Basileæ, 1538._

25. _Oratio Æschinis in Ctesiphontem a Leonardo Arretino in Latinum conversa. Basileæ a Cratandro, 1528, 1540._

26. _Oratio Demosthenis contra Aeschinem a Leonardo Arretino in Latinum e Græco traducta. Basileæ a Cratandro, 1528, 1540._

27. _De crudeli amoris exitu Guisguardi et Sigismundæ Tancredi Salernitanorum Principis filiæ. Turon, 1467._ This version of Bocaccio’s well known tale is also printed in the works of Pius II.

28. _Epistolarum Libri viii. ann. 1472, fol. ab Antonio Moreto et Hieronymo Alexandrino._ A second edition was printed, ann. 1495—a third, _Augustæ, 1521, apud Knoblochium_—a fourth, _Basileæ, 1535, apud Henricum Petri_—a fifth, _Basileæ, 1724, apud Albertum Fabricium_—a sixth, _Florentiæ, 1741, edente Meho_.

29. _Canzone Morale di Messer Lionardo._ This poem is printed in the third volume of Crescimbeni’s Italian poetry.

The inspection of the foregoing catalogue will evince the diligence with which Leonardo Aretino prosecuted his studies. The numerous editions through which many of his works have passed afford a sufficient indication of the esteem in which they were held by the learned men of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

[356] Poggio’s funeral oration for Leonardo is prefixed by Mehus to his edition of Leonardo’s letters.

[357] _Poggii Oratio Funebris in obitu Leonardi Aretini, apud Mehi editionem Leonardi Epistolarum, tom. i. p. cxxii._

[358] _Ibid._

[359] _Janotii Manetti Vita a Naldo, apud Muratori Rer. Italic. Script. tom. xxx. p. 533, 534._

[360] _Tiraboschi Storia della Letter. Ital. tom. vi. p. ii. p. 328, 329._

[361] See the introduction to Poggio’s dialogue on Hypocrisy, in the _Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et. Fug. tom. ii. p. 571._

[362] _L’Enfant Histoire de la guerre des Hussites et du Conseil de Basle._

[363] _Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. ccccxix. ccccxx. ccccxxi._

[364] _Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. ut supra._

[365] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 402._

[366] _Ibid, p. 406._

[367] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 410, 412._

[368] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 416._ The foregoing particulars of the last illness and death of Eugenius were collected partly from a narrative of those events by Æneas Sylvius, which is preserved in the third vol. of Muratori’s _Rer. Italic. Script. p. ii. p. 890_, and partly from the diary of one of the pontiff’s chamberlains, which occurs in _p. 902_ of the same volume.

[369] The unlettered Shakspeare was much better versed in the natural history of ecclesiastics than the learned Gianozzo.

“Sometimes she cometh with a tythe-pig’s tail,
Tickling the parson as he lies asleep;
Then dreams he of another benefice.”

[370] _Janotii Manetti Vita Nicolai V. apud Muratori Rer. Italic. Script. tom. iii. p. 921._

[371] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 417._

[372] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 417._

[373] _Ibid, p. 425._

[374] _Ibid, p. 419._

[375] _Ibid, p. 420._

[376] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 441._

[377] _Poggii Opera, p. 32._

[378] _Poggii Opera, p. 287-292._

[379] “Optimi sanctissimique viri Nicolai quinti summi pontificis beneficentia id effecit, ut jam querelæ temporum sint prætereundæ, utque in gratiam aliquando cum fortuà videar rediisse.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 32._

[380] _Poggii Hist. de Variet. Fort. p. 1, 2, 3._

[381] _Poggii Hist. de Variet. Fort. p. 6, 7._

[382] Poggio’s narrative of the discoveries made by Niccolo Conti was translated into the Portuguese language, by the command of Emanuel I. king of Portugal. From the Portuguese version, an Italian translation was made by Giambattista Ramusio, who inserted it in the first volume of his collection of voyages and travels, printed in folio at Venice, in the year 1588. A small portion of the first book of the dialogue _De Varietate Fortunæ_ containing the description of the ruins of Rome, is printed in the Basil edition of the works of Poggio. A manuscript copy of the entire dialogue was discovered in the library of the cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, nephew of pope Alexander VIII., by Lionardo Adami da Bolsena, who began to prepare it for the press. Lionardo having died before he had finished the transcript of the first book, the execution of his design was completed by the Abate Domenico Giorgi da Rovigo, who finished the transcript of the dialogue, illustrated it with notes, and subjoined to it fifty-seven of Poggio’s epistles, which had not yet seen the light. Under the superintendence of the Abate Oliva, the work thus prepared was printed at Paris, in 4to., an. 1723, by Coustellier.

_Zeno Diss. Voss. tom. i. p. 40. Dominici Georgii Prœfatio ad Poggii Hist. de Variet. Fort._

[383] _Fasciculus Rer. Expet. et Fugiend. tom. ii. p. 570-583._ An edition of Leonardo Aretino and Poggio’s dialogues on Hypocrisy was published by Hieronymus Sincerus Lotharingus, _ex typograghiá Anissoniá, Lugduni, 1679, in 16mo._

[384] _Poggii Opera, p. 159._

[385] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 417._

[386] _Poggii Opera, p. 155-164._

[387] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 431._

[388] This translation of Diodorus Siculus was printed, _Bononiæ, 1472, in folio_. _Bandini Catalogus Bibliothecæ Laurentianæ, tom. ii. p. 819._

[389] _Poggii Hist. de Variet. Fortunæ, p. 3._ From the prefatory remarks which Poggio prefixed to his version of the Cyropædia, and which are quoted by Bandini, in his _Catalogus Bibliothecæ, Laurentianæ, tom. ii. p. 351_, it should seem, that by omitting many of the dialogues and speeches, he had considerably abridged the work of Xenophon, whose eight books he had compressed into six. An Italian translation of Poggio’s version of the Cyropædia, made by his son Jacopo, was published at Florence by the Junta, _an._ 1521. It is worthy of remark, that Poggio was the first literary character who declared his opinion (an opinion now generally entertained) that the Cyropædia is not a history, but a political romance. _Ton. Tr. vol. ii. p. 108._

[390] _Facii Opera, p. 98._

[391] Bartolomeo Facio was a native of Spezia, a sea-port in the Genoese territory. The most curious inquirers into the history of literature have not yet been able to ascertain the precise period of his birth. From many passages however which occur in his works it appears, that he was indebted for instruction in the Latin and Greek languages to Guarino Veronese, whom he frequently mentions in terms of affectionate esteem. Facio was one of the numerous assemblage of scholars that rendered illustrious the court of Alfonso, king of Naples, by whom he was treated with distinguished honour. During his residence at Naples, the jealousy of rivalship betrayed him into a violent quarrel with Lorenzo Valla, against whom he composed four invectives. The following list of his other works is extracted from his life, prefixed by Mehus to an edition of his treatise _De Viris illustribus_, published at Florence, _an._ 1745.

1. _De bello Veneto Clodiano ad Joannem Jacobum Spinulam Liber. Lugd. 1568._

2. _Aliud parvi temporis bellum Venetum_ was printed together with the former.

3. _De humanæ vitæ felicitate ad Alphonsum Arragonum et Siciliæ regem. Hanoviæ, typis Vechelianis, 1611. Post epitomen Felini Sandei de Regibus Siciliæ, &c._

4. _De excellentiâ et præstantiâ hominis._ This work, which is erroneously ascribed to Pius II., was printed together with the preceding treatise, _Hanoviæ, 1611_.

5. _De rebus gestis ab Alphonso primo Neapolitanorum rege Commentariorum, Libri x. Lugduni, 1560, apud hæredes Sebastiani Gryphii, in 4to._—_Ibidem, 1562 & 1566._ The seven first books of this work were also published, _Mantuæ, anno 1563, a Francisco Philopono_. It has also been reprinted in various collections of Italian history.

6. _Arriani de rebus gestis Alexandri, Libri viii. Latine redditi. Basileæ, 1539. in fo. a Roberto Winter._ _Pisauri, 1508._ _Lugduni, 1552._

7. _Epistolæ._ Several of Facio’s epistles are subjoined by Mehus to his edition of the treatise _De Viris illus_. It is justly observed by Tiraboschi, that Facio’s style is much more elegant than that of any of his contemporaries. _Mehi vita Bartolomei Facii._—_Tiraboschi Storia della Letter. Ital. tom. vi. p. ii. p. 80._

[392] _Facii Opera, p. 99, 100, 101._

[393] _Ton. Tr. vol. ii. p. 110._

[394] _Apostolo Zeno Dissert. Voss. tom. ii. p. 2._

[395] _Ibid, p. 4._

[396] _Ibid._

[397] _Hodius de Græcis Illus. p. 104._

[398] Valla, in his _Antidotus_, tells a ridiculous story of a pugilistic contest which on occasion of this quarrel took place between Poggio and George of Trebisond in Pompey’s theatre. This story was related as a fact in the first edition of this work; but, on further reflection, I agree in opinion with my Italian translator, that it is a fiction. See _Tonelli, vol. ii. p. 114._

[399] _Bandini Catalogus Biblioth. Laur. tom. iii. p. 438._

[400] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 438._ Muratori informs us, that the joy occasioned by the celebration of this jubilee experienced only one interruption, which was occasioned by the following accident. As an innumerable multitude of people were returning on the nineteenth of December from receiving the pontifical benediction, they were on a sudden so much alarmed by the braying of an ass, that they trampled upon each other in such precipitate disorder, that upwards of two hundred perished in the throng.

[401] It is properly remarked by the Cavaliere Tonelli, _vol. ii. p. 115_, that the whole of the _Facetiæ_ were not published at this time, and that they came out at uncertain intervals as Poggio increased his stock of entertaining anecdotes.

[402] _Poggii Opera, p. 420._

[403] Bugiale is derived from the Italian word _Bugia_, a falsehood, and is interpreted by Poggio “_mendaciorum officina_;” i. e. the manufactory of lies.

[404] Antonio Lusco was celebrated for his knowledge of the civil law, which procured him the honour of being selected as a proper person to assist Francesco Barbaro in revising the municipal regulations of the city of Vicenza. In the course of his journey to that place he overtook a Venetian, in whose company he rode to Siena, where they took up their lodgings for the night. The inn was crowded with travellers, who, on the ensuing morning, were busily employed in getting their horses out of the stable in order to pursue their journey. In the midst of the bustle, Lusco observed his Venetian friend booted and spurred, but sitting with great tranquillity at the door of the inn. Surprised at seeing him thus inactive, he told him, that if he wished to become his fellow traveller for that day’s journey, he must make haste, as he was just going to mount; on which the Venetian said, “I should be happy to accompany you, but I do not recollect which is my horse, and I am waiting till the other guests are gone, in order that I may take the beast which is left.” This anecdote Lusco communicated to his fellow secretaries; and Poggio did not fail to insert it in his _Facetiæ_. The horsemanship of the Venetians appears to have been a fruitful subject of mirth to the frequenters of the _Bugiale_. The following story proves what utter ignorance of equestrian affairs the wits of the pontifical chancery imputed to that amphibious race of men. “As a Venetian,” says Poggio, “was travelling to Trivigi on a hired horse, attended by a running footman, the servant received a kick from the beast, and in the first emotion of pain took up a stone and threw it at the aggressor; but missing his aim, he hit his master on the loins. The master looking back, and seeing his attendant limping after him at some distance, asked him why he did not quicken his pace. The servant excused himself by saying, that the horse had kicked him: on which his master replied, I see he is a vicious beast, for he has just now given me a severe kick on the back.” _Agostini Istoria degli Scrit. Viniz. tom. ii. p. 53_—_Poggii Opera, p. 444, 464._

[405] _Poggii Opera, p. 491._

[406] _Recanati Vita Poggii, p. xxiii._

[407] _Vallæ Antidotus in Poggium, p. 227, 228, et seq._

[408] _Fabliaux ou Contes du xii. et du xiii. Siecle, Fables et Romans du xiii. traduits ou extraits d’aprés plusieurs manuscrits du tems; avec des notes historiques et critiques, et les imitations qui out été faites de ces contes depuis leur origine jusqu’à nos jours. Nouvelle Edition, augmentée d’une dissertation sur les Troubadours. Par M. le Grand. En cinq tom. in 18mo. à Paris, 1781._

For the following enumeration of the _Facetiæ_ of Poggio, which appear to correspond with some of the _Fabliaux_, I am indebted to the friendly diligence of the late Rev. John Greswell, for many years master of the college school at Manchester.

The first occurs in _tom. i. p. 299_ of the _Fabliaux_, entitled _La Culotte des Cordeliers_, and is, with some variations in the commencement, the _Braccæ Divi Francisci_ of Poggio, _p. 236_ of the small edition of 1798. In _vol. iii. p. 107_, _Le Testament de l’Ane_, is in Poggio’s _Facet._ _p. 45, Canis Testamentum_. Same vol. _p. 197_, _Du Villain et de sa femme_, is in Poggio, _p. 69_, the _Mulier Demersa_, whose body is to be sought for as floating against the current, _vol. iii. p. 201_. _Du pré tondu, alias De la femme contrariante_, is the _Pertinacia Muliebris_ in the _Facetiæ_, _p. 68_. Again, _vol. iii. p. 292_, _Le Meunier d’Aleus_, is in Poggio the story entitled _Quinque Ova_, _p. 278_ of the _Facetiæ_. _Vol. iv. p. 192_, _Le Villain de Baïlleul, alias La femme qui fit croire à son Mari qu’il étoit mort_, is mentioned as imitated by Poggio, but resembles his _Mortuus loquens_, _p. 275_, only at the close. In Poggio, the young man persuaded that he was dead, hearing himself abused during the procession of his corpse to burial, _erecto capite, si vivus essem, sicut sum mortuus, inquit, dicerem, furcifer, te per gulam mentiri_. In _le Villain de Baïlleul_, the husband persuaded by his wife that he is dead, Le Curé lui-méme entre pour chanter ses _oremus_ aprés quoi il emmene la veuve dan la chambre. Pendant tout ce tems le Villain convaincu qu’il était mort, restait toujours sous le drap, sans remuer non plus qu’un cadavre. Mais entendant un certain bruit dans la chambre, et soulevant son linceul pour regarder: coquin de Pretre s’ecrie-t-il, tu dois bien remercier Dieu de ce que je suis mort, car sans cela, mordie, tu perirais ici sous le baton. _Vol. iii. p. 287_, _De la Bourgeoise d’Orléans, alias De la dame qui fit battre son Mari_, is said to be imitated in Poggio’s _Fraus Muliebris_, _p. 20_, but with much variation. _Vol. iv. p. 304_, _De l’Anneau ... (Par Haisiau)_. All the account of this is as follows: Quoique le grave President Fauchet ait donné l’extrait de ce _Fabliau_, je n’en parlerais point si je n’avais à remarquer sur celuici, comme sur le précédent qu’il a été imité. Ou le trouve dans Vergier sous le titre de _l’Anneau de Merlin_. This is the _Annulus_ which Poggio (_Facet. p. 141_) gives Philephus.

In addition to the above, _Le Médecin de Bral, aliàs le Villain dévenu Médecin_, _tom. ii. p. 366_, from which Moliere has borrowed his _Médecin malgré lui_, is in some parts imitated in the _Poggiana_, where an account is given of an expeditious method of clearing the sick list of an hospital on his estate, by an Italian cardinal. Deguisé en Médecin il leur declara qu’ on ne pouvait les guerir qu’ avec un onguent de graisse humaine, mais des qu’il eut proposé de tirer au sort à qui serait mis dans la chaudiere, tous viderent l’hôpital. _Vol. iii. p. 95_, _Les deux Parasites_, (une assez mauvaise plaisanterie) in the _Facetiæ_ of Frischlinus is attributed to Poggio, and is in his _Facetiæ_, _p. 67_, _Danthis Faceta Responsio_. When Dante was dining with Canis Scaliger, the courtiers had privately placed all the _bones_ before him. Versi omnes in solum Dantem, mirabantur cur ante ipsum solummodo ossa conspicerentur, tum ille, Minimè inquit mirum, si Canes ossa sua commederunt; ego autem non sum _Canis_. Le Grand does not notice this as contained in the _Facetiæ_ of Poggio; but the resemblance is as great as between most of those that he notices.

[409] _Poggii Opera, p. 219._

The popularity of the _Facetiæ_ is evinced by the number of editions through which that work has passed; seven different impressions of it are thus enumerated by De Bure, who erroneously gives to Poggio the prœnomen of Franciscus.

1. _Francisci Poggii Florentini Facetiarum Liber; editio vetustissima et originalis absque loci et anni indicatione, sed cujus in fronte apparet Epistola prœfatoria Bernardi cujusdam in senium deducti ad militem Raymundum Dominum Castri Ambrosii dicata, in 4to._

De Bure conjectures, that this edition was printed at Rome by George Laver or Ulric Han, in 1470.

2. _Ejusdem Edito vetus et secunda originalis absque loci et anni indicatione ulla, sed typis Vindelini Spirensis, aut saltem Nicolai Jenson Gallici excusa Venetiis circa, an. 1471, in fol._

3. _Ejusdem, Ferrariæ, 1471, 4to._

4. _Ejusdem, Noribergi per Fredericum Creusner, 1475, in fol._

5. _Ejusdem, Mediolani per Christophorum Valdarfer, 1477, 4to._

6. _Ejusdem, Mediolani per Leonardum Pachel, et Uldrericum Scinzinzeller, 1481, in 4to._

7. _Ejusdem, Facetiæ cum Laurentii Vallæ facetiis moralibus et Francisci Petrarchæ de Salibus viror. illus. ac facetiis libro, Paris, absque anni et typographi nomine sed circa, annum 1477, aut saltem 1478, excusa, 4to._

8. Poggii _Facetiæ, 1498_, in 4to. sine loci aut typographi nomine. This edition is not mentioned by De Bure, who closes his list with noticing the following translations.

_Les Faceties de Pogge translatées de Latin en François. Paris, Bonfons, 1549, 4to._

_Les Comptes facétieux et joyeuses recreations du Poge Florentin, trad. du Latin en François. Paris, Cousturier, 1605, in 16mo._

A neat and correct Latin edition of the _Facetiæ_ in two small pocket volumes was published by a French emigrant in the year 1798. Of this edition the following is the title.

_Poggii Florentini Facetiarum Libellus Unicus notulis Imitatores indicantibus et nonnullis sive Latinis, sive Gallicis Imitationibus illustratus, simul ad fidem optimarum editionum emendatus. Mileti, 1798._

[410] _Visio Francisci Philelphi apud Poggii Opera, p. 456._

[411] _Tonelli, vol. ii. p. 122, 123._

[412] An eulogiam of Cosmo de’ Medici, written by Niccolo of Foligni, is preserved in the Laurentian library. _Mehi Vita Amb. Trav. tom. i. p. lxxiii._

[413] The reader of Joe Miller will remember that this story has, in its descent to modern times, received divers improvements.

[414] See a long and elaborate letter of Leonardo’s on this subject in the collection of epistles published by Mehus, _Lib. vi. ep. x._

[415] It appears from the introduction to the second part of the _Historia discept. conviv._ (_Poggii Opera, p. 37_) that Poggio wrote two treatises, the one in commendation of the art of medicine, and the other in praise of the science of law. A MS. copy of the treatise _in laudem legum_ is preserved in the Laurentian library. _Bandini Catalogus, tom. ii. p. 408._

[416] _Poggii Epistolæ lvii. epist. xlvii._

[417] _Tiraboschi Storia della Letter. Ital. tom. vi. part 2d, p. 329._

[418] See _Ton. Tr. tom. ii. p. 138._

[419] _Recanati Vita Poggii, p. xvii.-xix._ The trading companies of Florence seem to have been constituted in the same manner as those into which the citizens of London are at this day subdivided.

[420] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 456._

[421] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 456._ It may be mentioned as a striking instance of the liberty which was granted by personages of the most exalted eminence to scholars of celebrity in the fifteenth century, that Poggio at various times addressed letters to his patron, cardinal Beaufort, to prince John Corrinus, Waiwode of Hungary, to the duke of Viseo, brother to Edward, king of Portugal, and also to Alfonso, king of Naples, exhorting them to active exertions against the Turks, who at this time threatened to overrun some of the finest countries of Europe. These letters still exist in the Riccardi MS. _Ton. Tr. tom. ii. p. 140._

[422] _Tiraboschi Storia della letter. Ital. tom. vi. p. ii. p. 303._ If credit may be given to Valla’s own assertion, his introduction into the world was announced in a supernatural manner. He boasts in his _Antidotus_, _p. 191_, that his mother being ignorant that she was pregnant, was apprized of that circumstance by the interposition of an oracle, which informed her that she would be brought to bed of a son, and gave particular directions with respect to her offspring’s name. It might have been reasonably conjectured that this oracle was some experienced matron; but by the subsequent part of Valla’s narration, it seems that the important admonition in question proceeded from one of the saints.

[423] _Valla Antidotus in Poggium, p. 200._

[424] _Ibid, p. 201._

[425] _Vallæ Antidotus in Poggium, p. 201._

[426] This treatise is printed in the first volume of the _Fasciculus Rer. expet. et fugiend._

[427] _Vallæ Antidotus, p. 210._

[428] _Ibid, p. 211._

[429] See the account given of this transaction by Valla in his _Antidotus_, _p. 218._ Poggio, towards the conclusion of his third invective, asserts, that Valla was on this occasion subjected to the discipline of the scourge, and narrates the manner and form of his punishment with great minuteness.

[430] Valla’s invective against Beccatelli and Facio is divided into four books, and occupies fifty-two pages of the edition of his works, published by Ascensius in folio, an. 1528.

[431] Valla triumphantly boasts, (_Antidotus, p. 167_) that Nicolas V. presented to him with his own hand five hundred gold crowns as a remuneration for his Latin version of Thucydides. This version was printed by Henry Stephens, in his edition of that author, in the preface to which he complains of Valla’s inaccuracy and inelegance of style. That this complaint is just, abundant proof may be found in Stephens’s marginal corrections of Valla’s translation.

[432] _Poggii Opera, p. 188-205._

[433] The passage which thus irritated the feeling of the Catalonian nobleman occurs in Poggio’s epistle to Andreolo Giustiniano, in which he remarks, upon the assertion of Francesco di Pistoia, that some Catalans had stolen a marble statue which he had in charge to deliver to Poggio: “in quo ut conjicio manifeste mentitus fuit. Non enim marmoria sculpti Cathalani cupidi sunt, sed auri et servorum quibus ad remigium utantur.”—_Poggii Opera, p. 329._

[434] This attack on Poggio’s moral character occurs in the proemium to the _Antidotus_, and is couched in the following atrocious terms. “Ostendam itaque eum quasi alterum Regulum, malum quidem virum, non quod libidinosus ac prope libidinis professor, non quod adulter atquo adeo alienarum uxorum præreptor, non quod vinolentus semper ac potius temulentus, non quod falsarius et quidem convictus, non quod avarus, sacrilegus, perjurus, corruptor, spurcus, aliaque quæ extra nostram causam sunt, sed quatenus ad causam nostram facit, quod manifestarius calumniator.”—_Antidotus, p. 8._

[435] He asserted, that during Valla’s residence at Pavia, he forged a receipt in order to evade the payment of a sum of money which he had borrowed, and that by way of punishment for this offence, he was exposed to public view with a mitre of paper upon his head. Poggio, in his relation of this anecdote, made use of the following ironical expression. “Falsum chirographum cum scripsisses, accusatus, convictus, damnatus, ante tempus legitimum absque ullâ dispensatione episcopus factus es.” This witticism of Poggio’s betrayed Monsieur L’Enfant into a very ridiculous error. “On trouve ici,” says he, in gravely commenting on this passage, “une particularité assez curieuse de la vie de Laurent Valla. C’est qu’ayant été ordonné Eveque à Pavie avant l’age et sans dispense, il quitta de lui même la mitre, et la deposa, en attendant dans le palais episcopal, où elle étoit encore. Je rapporterai ses paroles en Latin qui sont fort embrouillées.” _Poggiana, tom. i. p. 212._ On this statement of L’Enfant, Recanati, in his _Osservazioni_, _p. 111_, makes the following dry remark. “Non credo però, che l’autore della Poggiana, quando pure fosse Cattolico, vorrebbe essere fatto _Vescovo_ in questa foggia, come Poggio dice che il Valla lo sia stato.”

[436] To enter into the particulars of Poggio’s charges and Valla’s defence would be a most disgusting task. The following circumstance is, however, too curious to be passed over without notice. Poggio reprobating the incontinence of his adversary, accused him of debauching his sister’s maid-servant. In reply to this accusation, Valla did not deny the fact; but with wonderful ingenuity thus converted it into a proof of his principled chastity. “Itaque cum nonnulli meorum propinquorum me virginem, sive frigidioris naturæ, et ob id non idoneum conjugio arbitrarentur, quorum unus erat vir sororis, quodammodo experiri cupiebant. Volui itaque eis ostendere, id quod facerem, non vitium esse corporis, sed animi virtutem.” _Antidotus, p. 222._

[437] _Poggii Opera, p. 234-242._

[438] _Bandini Catalogus._

[439] _Filelfi Opera, p. 75._ On the death of the duke of Milan, Filelfo had experienced considerable inconvenience, in consequence of the war between Francesco Sforza and the Milanese. In the course of this contest he wavered between the two parties; but the success of Sforza at length attached him to the interests of that enterprising chieftain. Soon after the elevation of Nicolas V. to the pontificate, Filelfo was invited by Alfonso, king of Naples, to present to him in person a copy of his satires. On his way to Naples he passed through Rome, where he paid his respects to the pontiff, who endeavoured, but in vain, to retain him in his service by the promise of a liberal stipend. On his arrival at the Neapolitan capital, he was received with great kindness by Alfonso, at whose command he was crowned with laurel in the midst of the camp. From Naples he returned to Milan, where he received the afflicting intelligence, that at the sack of Constantinople by the Turks, Manfredina Doria, his mother-in-law, and two of her daughters had been carried away captives. It is an astonishing instance of the power of song, that he procured their redemption by an ode addressed to Mahomet II. In the year 1454, he was reconciled to Cosmo de’ Medici, by whose son Pietro he was treated with distinguished regard. During the life of Francesco Sforza, Filelfo was enabled, by the munificence of that prince, to live in a state of splendor which was very congenial to his dispositions; but on the death of that generous patron he received from his successor, Galeazzo Maria, little more than empty promises. In consequence of the pressure of distress, he undertook at the age of seventy-two to read lectures on Aristotle. After sustaining a variety of afflictions in consequence of the distracted state into which Milan was thrown by the death of Galeazzo, he received from Lorenzo de’ Medici an invitation to read lectures on the Greek language at Florence. This invitation he gladly accepted, and at the advanced age of eighty-three he repaired to the Tuscan capital, for the purpose of resuming the task of public instruction. The fatigues of his journey however overpowered the strength of his constitution, and soon after his arrival in Florence he closed a life of assiduous study, and of almost ceaseless turbulence.

For an elaborate history of Filelfo, see _Memoires de l’Academie des Inscriptions, tom. x._

[440] _Ton. Tr. tom. ii. p. 161._

[441] Matteo Palmerio was a Florentine citizen, descended from an illustrious family. Passing through the different gradations of civic honours, he was at length called to fill the highest offices of the state. He was an elegant scholar, and composed many works, amongst which the most distinguished was an Italian poem in terza rima, entitled _Città di vita_. This poem, in which are recounted the adventures of a human soul, which the author supposes to have been liberated from the prison of the body, was condemned by the inquisition as heretical.—_Zeno Diss. Voss. tom. i. p. 100 et seq._

[442] _Poggii Opera, p. 86-131._

[443] _Poggiana, tom. ii. p. 162._

[444] Poggio’s History of Florence, as edited by Recanati, has been republished in the magnificent historical collections of Grævius and Muratori.

[445] By his wife, Poggio had five sons; Pietro Paulo, Giovanni Battista, Jacopo, Giovanni Francesco, and Filippo. Pietro Paulo was born in the year 1438. He entered into the fraternity of the Dominicans, and was promoted to the honourable office of Prior of Santa Maria ad Minervam, in Rome, which office he held till the time of his death, which happened September 6th, 1464.

Giovanni Battista, who was born in the year 1439, took the degree of doctor of civil and canon law, and attained the several dignities of Canonico of Florence, and of Arezzo, Rector of the Lateran church, Acolyte of the pontiff, and assistant clerk of the chamber. He composed in the Latin language the lives of Niccolo Piccinino, and Dominico Capranica, cardinal of Firmiano. He died anno 1570.

Jacopo, born anno 1441, was the only one of Poggio’s sons who did not enter into the ecclesiastical profession. He was a scholar of distinguished accomplishments. His Italian translation of his father’s History of Florence, and of his Latin version of the Cyropædia, have already been noticed. He also translated into Italian the lives of four of the Roman emperors. Nor did he confine his literary exertions to translations. He composed a commentary on Petrarca’s Triumph of Fame, which he dedicated to Lorenzo de’ Medici; a treatise on the origin of the War between the English and the French; and the life of Filippo Scolario, vulgarly called Pipo Spano. Entering into the service of cardinal Riario, he was involved in the guilt of the Pazzi conspiracy, and was of the number of the criminals who were suspended from the windows of the town hall of Florence, in the year 1478.

Giovanni Francesco, who was born anno 1447, after holding the offices of Canonico of Florence, and Rector of the Lateran church, went to Rome, where he became chamberlain of the pontiff, and abbreviator of the apostolic epistles. He was highly esteemed by Leo X., who appointed him his secretary, in the enjoyment of which office he died at Rome, July 25th, 1522, and was buried in the church of St. Gregory, where there still exists a monument erected to his memory.

Filippo was born anno 1450. When he had attained the twentieth year of his age he was created Canonico of Florence. But quitting the ecclesiastical life, he married a lady of an illustrious family, by whom he had three daughters.

Besides these five sons, Poggio had a daughter, named Lucretia, who married into the family of the Buondelmonti. _Ton. Tr. tom. ii. p. 169._

[446] The fate of this statue was somewhat remarkable. In consequence of certain alterations made in the façade of the church of Santa Maria, in the year 1560, by Francesco, Grand duke of Tuscany, it was removed to another part of that edifice, where it now composes one of the group of the twelve apostles.—_Recanati Vita Poggii, p. xxxiv._

THE END.

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