Chapter 13

[116]It delights me to contemplate thy ruins, Rome, the witness amid desolation to thy pristine grandeur. But thy people burn thy marbles for lime, and three centuries of this sacrilege will destroy all sign of thy nobleness.' Compare a letter from Alberto degli Alberti to Giovanni de' Medici, quoted by Fabroni,Cosmi Vita, Adnot. 86. The real pride of Rome was still her ruins. Nicolo and Ugo da Este journeyed in 1396 to Rome, 'per vedere quelle magnificenze antiche che al presente si possono vedere in Roma.' Murat. xxiv. 845.

[117]My references are made to the Paris edition of 1723. The first book is sometimes cited under the title ofUrbis Romæ Descriptio.

[118]'Juxta viam Appiam, ad secundum lapidem, integrum vidi sepulchrum L. Cæciliæ Metellæ, opus egregium, et id ipsum tot sæculis intactum, ad calcem postea majori ex parte exterminatum' (p. 19). 'Capitolio contigua forum versus superest porticus ædis Concordiæ, quam, cum primum ad urbem accessi, vidi fere integram, opere marmoreo admodum specioso; Romani postmodum, ad calcem ædem totam et porticûs partem, disjectis columnis, sunt demoliti.'Ibid.

[119]Pp. 8, 9.

[120]De Pacificandâ Italiâ, Ad Carolum Quartum, p. 531.

[121]In theDittamondo, about 1360.

[122]Such, for example, as Boccaccio's description of the ruins of Baiæ in theFiammetta, Sannazzaro's lines on the ruins of Cumæ, Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini's notes on ancient sites in Italy.

[123]Filippo Maria Visconti is said to have denounced him as an impostor. Ambrogio Traversari mentions his coins and gems with mistrust. Poggio describes him as a conceited fellow with no claim to erudition. On the other hand, he gained the confidence of Eugenius IV., and received the panegyrics of Filelfo, Barbaro, Bruni, and others. See Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. i. cap. 5.

[124]In the place just cited. The temptation, at this epoch of discovery, when criticism was at a low ebb, and curiosity was frantic, to pass off forgeries upon the learned world must have been very great. The most curious example of this literary deception is afforded by Annius of Viterbo, who, in 1498, published seventeen books of spurious histories, pretending to be the lost works of Manetho, Berosus, Fabius Pictor, Archilochus, Cato, &c. Whether he was himself an impostor or a dupe is doubtful. A few of his contemporaries denounced the histories as patent fabrications. The majority accepted them as genuine. Their worthlessness has long been undisputed. See Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. 1.

[125]Vespasiano, p. 272.

[126]Vespasiano, p. 273.

[127]See Voigt, p. 202.

[128]Vespasiano, p. 275.

[129]Ibid.p. 276.

[130]See Von Reumont, vol. i. pp. 147-153, for the cruel treatment of the Albizzi and other leading citizens.

[131]See Vespasiano, pp. 283-287.

[132]Manetti's obligations to the commune were raised by arbitrary impositions to the enormous sum of 135,000 golden florins. He was broken in his trade and forced to live on charity in exile.

[133]See Von Reumont, vol. ii. p. 175.

[134]Vespasiano, p. 257.

[135]Vespasiano, p. 257.

[136]Ibid.p. 252. Cosimo ordered his clerks to honour all drafts presented with the signature of one of the chief brethren of the convent. 'Aveva ordinato al banco, che tutti i danari, che gli fussino tratti per polizza d'uno religioso de primi del convento, gli pagasse, e mettessegli a suo conto, e fussino che somma si volessino.'

[137]Vespasiano, pp. 264, 475.

[138]Vespasiano, pp. 29, 264.

[139]Ibid.pp. 34, 265.

[140]See Vespasiano'sLife of Nicholas V.p. 26.

[141]Vita di Cosimo, p. 254.

[142]See Von Reumont, vol. i. p. 578.

[143]Vita di Cosimo, p. 266.

[144]Condensed from Vespasiano, p. 258.

[145]What follows I have based on Vespasiano's Life of Niccolo. Poggio's Funeral Oration, and his letter to Carlo Aretino on the death of his friend Niccolo, are to the same effect.Poggii Opera, pp. 270, 342.

[146]Vespasiano, p. 471. 'Le scriveva di sua mano o di lettera corsiva o formata, che dell'una lettera e dell'altra era bellissimo scrittore.'

[147]Ibid.p. 473.

[148]See a letter of Ambrogio Traversari, quoted by Voigt, p. 155.

[149]Vespasiano, p. 476. Poggio, p. 271.

[150]Vespasiano, pp. 473, 478.

[151]Ibid.p. 478. Poggio, p. 343.

[152]Vespasiano, p. 477.

[153]Ibid.p. 479.

[154]Ibid.p. 474.

[155]Muratori, xix. p. 917. 'Erat in ipso cubiculo picta Francisci Petrarchæ imago, quam ego quotidie aspiciens, incredibili ardore studiorum ejus incendebar.'

[156]See above, pp.77,80.

[157]See Vespasiano, p. 436.

[158]SeeVol. I.,Age of Despots, pp. 216-218.

[159]These last were then thought genuine.

[160]Vespasiano, p. 436.

[161]Ibid.Vita di Manetti, p. 452. Manetti was himself a prior at this time.

[162]Vita di Carlo d'Arezzo, p. 440.

[163]See Tiraboschi, tom. vi. p. 1094.

[164]See Vespasiano, p. 500. Tiraboschi, vol. vi. p. 678.App. iii. to vol. v. of this work.

[165]The sources for Manetti's Life are Vespasiano and an anonymous Latin biography in Muratori. Besides the small Life of Vespasiano in hisVite d'Uomini Illustri, I have had recourse to hisComentario della Vita di Gianozo Manetti, Turin, 1862.

[166]'Tenne in casa dua Greci et uno Ebreo che s'era fatto Cristiano, et non voleva che il Greco parlasse con lui se non in greco, et il simile il Ebreo in ebreo.'—Comentario, p. 11.

[167]'Se ignuna cosa difficile o cura disperata, la davano a Messer Gianozo.'—Ibid.p. 22.

[168]Vita di Gianozo Manetti, p. 462. Compare Burckhardt, p. 182. There is another story, told in theComentario, of Manetti's speaking before Alfonso at Naples. The King remained so quiet that he did not even brush the flies from his face. P. 30.

[169]Muratori, vol. xx.

[170]For Pius II.'s reputation see Burckhardt, p. 182.

[171]Vespasiano, p. 465. Muratori, xx. 600.

[172]Alfonso gave him a pension of 900 scudi. He wrote a history of his life and deeds.

[173]Niccolo de' Niccoli, it must be remembered, was not a Grecian. Ambrogio used to insert the Greek words into his transcripts of Latin codices.

[174]See the emphatic words of Poliziano, quoted by Voigt, p. 189, on the revival of extinct Hellenism by the Florentines, and on their fluent command of the Attic idiom.

[175]See the curious passage in theVita di Eugenio IV., Papa, p. 14.

[176]I owe the greater part of the facts presented in this sketch of Gemistos to Fritz Schultze'sGeschichte der Philosophie der Renaissance, vol. i.

[177]See Schultze, p. 53.

[178]See Schultze, p. 77, note.

[179]Ibid.p. 107.

[180]Γεμιστόςandγεμίζω,Πλήθωνandπλήθω. Both mean to be full. Plato, however, is said to have been calledΠλάτων, because of his broad shoulders or his breadth of eloquence.

[181]See the translation of Plotinus by Ficino, quoted by Schultze, p. 76: 'Magnus Cosmus, Senatûs consulto patriæ pater, quo tempore concilium inter Græcos atque Latinos sub Eugenio pontifice Florentiæ tractabatur, philosophum Græcum nomine Gemistum, cognomine Plethonem quasi Platonem alterum, de mysteriis Platonicis disputantem frequenter audivit. E cujus ore ferventi sic afflatus est protinus, sic animatus, ut inde Academiam quandam altâ mente conceperit, hanc opportuno primum tempore pariturus.'

[182]Schultze, p. 92. His secular name was Georgios Scholarios.

[183]SeeVol. I.,Age of the Despots, pp. 134, 135, andSketches in Italy and Greece, article 'Rimini.'

[184]Vita di Palla di Noferi Strozzi, p. 284.

[185]See Vespasiano, p. 486.

[186]See long lists in Tiraboschi, vol. vi. pp. 812, 822-837, of foreign and Italian Grecians.

[187]See Facius,De Viris Illustribus, p. 3, quoted by Voigt, p. 278.

[188]See Vespasiano, p. 6.

[189]He was born at Forli in 1388, and died in 1463, the father of five sons.

[190]So Vespasiano relates the cause of their removal from Pisa. P. 20.

[191]P. 23.

[192]Vespasiano, p. 27.

[193]Ibid.p. 33.

[194]Vespasiano, pp. 25, 27.

[195]Ibid.p. 38.

[196]The latter was intended for Alfonso of Naples.

[197]Tiraboschi is the authority for these details.

[198]The more complete notices which Valla and Decembrio deserve will be given in the history of scholarship at Naples and at Milan.

[199]Of his debt to Niccolo de' Niccoli Poggio speaks with great warmth of feeling in a letter on his death addressed to Carlo Aretino: 'Quem enim patrem habui cui plus debuerim quam Nicolao? Hic mihi parens ab adolescentiâ, hic postmodum amicus, hic studiorum meorum adjutor atque hortator fuit, hic consilio, libris, opibus semper me ut filium et amicum fovit atque adjuvit.'—Poggii Opera, Basileæ, ex ædibus Henrici Petri,MDXXXVIII. p. 342. To this edition of Poggio's works my future references are made.

[200]'Stabat impavidus, intrepidus, mortem non contemnens solum sed appetens ut alterum Catonem dixeris.'—Opp. Omnia, p. 301. This most interesting letter, addressed to Lionardo Bruni, is translated by Shepherd,Life of Poggio Bracciolini, pp. 78-88.

[201]Opera Omnia, p. 297. See Shepherd, pp. 67-76, for a translation of this letter to Niccolo de' Niccoli.

[202]Cardinal Beaufort had invited him to England.

[203]Poggi Florentini Facetiarum Libellus Unicus, Londini, 1798, vol. i. p. 282.

[204]'Mendaciorum veluti officina' is Poggio's own explanation of the phrase.

[205]'Ibi parcebatur nemini, in lacessendo ea quæ non probabantur a nobis.'

[206]Life of Poggio, p. 423.

[207]Opera Omnia, pp. 155-164.

[208]P. 422.

[209]Ibid.p. 423.

[210]See the correspondence between Filippo Maria and Poggio,Opp.pp. 333-358. Letter to Cosimo, p. 339.

[211]'The World, the Stammering Simpleton, the Execrable Poet, and the Nobody.' SeeAuree Francisci Philelphi Poete Oratorisque Celeberrimi Satyre. Paris, 1508. Passim.

[212]Opp. Omn.pp. 164-187. The first invective is the most venomous, and deserves to be read in the original. The last, entitled 'Invectiva Excusatoria et Reconciliatoria,' is amusing from its tone of sulky and sated exhaustion.

[213]Life of Poggio, pp. 263-272, 354.Vita di Filelfo.

[214]The language of the arena was used by these literary combatants. Thus Valla, in the exordium of hisAntidote, describes his weapon of attack in this sentence:—'Hæc est mea fusana, quandoquidem gladiator a gladiatore fieri cogor, et ea duplex et utraque tridens,' p. 9.

[215]See Rosmini,Vita di Guarino da Verona, vol. ii. p. 96.

[216]Poggii Opera, p. 365.

[217]'Adolescens quidam auditor meus,' says Valla in theAntidotum, p. 2. The story is told at length, p. 151. I quote from the Cologne edition of 1527: 'Laurentii Vallæ viri clarissimi in Pogium Florentinum antidoti libri quatuor: in eundem alii duo libelli in dialogo conscripti.'

[218]See Shepherd'sPoggio, pp. 470, 471, for specimens of the scurrility on both sides.

[219]The invectives against Valla fill from p. 188 to p. 251 of Poggio's collected works. Part of them is devoted to a defence of his own Latinity, and to a critique of Valla'sElegantiæ. But by far the larger part consists of vehement incriminations. Heresy, theft, lying, forgery, cowardice, filthy living of the most odious description, drunkenness, and insane vanity—such are the accusations, supported with a terrible array of apparent evidence. As in the case of Filelfo, Poggio does not spare his antagonist's father and mother, but heaps the vilest abuse upon everyone connected with him. Valla'sAntidoteis written in a more tempered spirit and a purer Latin style.

[220]Shepherd,Life of Poggio, p. 474.

[221]Ambrogio Traversari, General of the Camaldolese Order, called her 'fidelissima fœmina.'

[222]Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. ii. cap. 2, sect. 15.

[223]Vespasiano, p. 146.

[224]See Platina's panegyric, quoted by Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. i. cap. 3, 22. Platina and Perotti were among his Italianprotégés.

[225]A striking instance of the want of literary enthusiasm at Venice.

[226]He first came to Italy in 1430, professed Greek at Ferrara from 1441 to 1450, and died in Campania about 1478. He translated many works of Aristotle. His own book on Grammar was printed by Aldus in 1495.

[227]Raffaello Volaterrano, quoted by Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. 2, 16.

[228]See Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. 2, 17.

[229]See mySketches in Italy and Greece, article 'Perugia.'

[230]Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. 5, 46.

[231]I may refer to Petrarch's Letters passim, and to the solemn peroration of theAfrica.

[232]SeeVol. I.,Age of the Despots, pp. 445, 446.

[233]Vita di Alfonso, p. 59.Vita di Manetti, p. 451.

[234]See Tiraboschi, vol. vi. lib. i. cap. 2, 17.

[235]Pontano,De Principe, and Panormita,De Dictis et Factis Alphonsi Regis, furnish these anecdotes.

[236]The MS. of Livy referred to above is now in the library at Holkham; see Roscoe'sLorenzo, p. 389.

[237]Published at Paris in 1791 amongQuinque illustrium Poetarum Lusus in Venerem, and again at Coburg in 1824, with annotations by F.G. Forberg.

[238]A man of about sixty-three, and father of twelve legitimate children.

[239]Poggii Opera, pp. 349-354.

[240]Poggio, while professing to condemn the scandals of these poems, writes thus:—'Delectatus sum mehercle varietate rerum et elegantiâ versuum, simulque admiratus sum res adeo impudicas, adeo ineptas, tam venuste, tam composite, a te dici, atque ita multa exprimi turpiuscula ut non enarrari sed agi videantur, nec ficta a te jocandi causâ, ut existimo, sed acta existimari possint.'—Poggii Opera, p. 349.

[241]Especially Bernardino da Siena, Roberto da Lecce, and Alberto da Sarteano. See the note to p. 353 ofVol. I.,Age of the Despots.

[242]See Vespasiano,Vita di Giuliano Cesarini, p. 134.

[243]A curious letter from Guarino to Beccadelli (Rosmini'sVita di Guarino, vol. ii. p. 44, and notes, p. 171) describes the enthusiastic reception given in public to an impostor who pretended to be the author ofHermaphroditus.

[244]De Dictis et Factis Alphonsi Regis Memorabilibus.Æneas Sylvius wrote a commentary on this work, in the preface to which he says, 'Legere potui, quod feci, corrigere vero non potui; nam quid est quod manu tuâ emissum correctione indigeat?'—Opp. Omnia, p. 472. This proves Beccadelli's reputation as a stylist.

[245]What the biographers, especially Vespasiano, relate of Alfonso's ceremonious piety and love of theological reading makes the contrast between him and his Court poet truly astounding.

[246]'Hic fæces varias Veneris moresque profanos,Quos natura fugit, me docuisse pudet.'

[246]

[247]'Romam, in quâ natus sum ... ego sum ortus Romæ oriundus a Placentiâ.'

[248]The naïve surprise with which Vespasiano records the fact of virginity (see especially the Lives of Ambrogio Traversari and the Cardinal Portogallo) shows how rare the virtue was, and what mysterious honour it conferred upon men who were reputed to be chaste.

[249]Poggio and Fazio are the authorities for this incident.

[250]De falso Creditâ et Ementitâ Constantini Donatione.

[251]It is printed in Muratori, vol. xx.

[252]The protection extended to Manetti and to Filelfo ought, however, to be here mentioned. Nearly all the contemporary scholars of Italy dedicated works to Alfonso.

[253]Above,p. 78.

[254]'Itaque Chrysoloras, mœrore confectus, compulsus precibus, malo coactus, filiam tibi nuptui dedit a te corruptam, quæ si extitisset integra, ne pilum quidem tibi abrasum ab illius natibus ostendisset. An tu illam unquam duxisses uxorem si virginitatem per te servare potuisset? Tibi pater illam dedisset profugo, ignobili, impuro? Primariis suæ civitatis viris servabatur virgo, non tibi, insulsæ pecudi et asello bipedali, quem ille domi alebat tanquam canem aliquem solent senio et ætate confectum.'—Poggii Opp.p. 167. This is just one of the tales with which the invectives of that day abound, and with which it is almost impossible to deal. It may be true; for certainly Filelfo, by his immorality and grossness in after-life, justified the worst calumnies that his enemies could invent. Yet there is little but Poggio's word to prove it, while Rosmini has shown that Filelfo's position at Byzantium was very different from what his foe suggests. Tiraboschi accepts the charge as 'not proven;' but he clearly leans in private against Filelfo, moved by the following passage from a letter of Ambrogio Traversari:—'Nuper a Guarino accepi litteras, quibus vehementer in fortunam invehitur quod filiam Joannis Chrysoloræ clarissimi viri is acceperit, exterus, qui quantum libet homo bono ingenio, longe tamen illis nuptiis impar esset, queriturque substomachans uxorem Chrysoloræ venalem habuisse pudicitiam, mœchumque ante habuisse quam socerum.' Vol. vi. lib. iii. cap. v. 21. All that can be said now is that Filelfo's own morality and the corruption of Byzantine society render a story believed by Guarino and Traversari, and openly told by Poggio, not improbable.

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