Chapter 30

[77]Ibid, p. 584.[78]In theFasciculus 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 theFasciculus 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 altiInstituis 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 recepitPacis 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 ofQuintilian’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 SenatûsBrixia, quam magno tenuit sudore, fatetur.Hic summi ingenii, scriptis, monumenta reliquit;Græcaque præterea fecit Romana. Tenet nuncSpiritus 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 entitledThesarurus 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 hisIstoria 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.7.Francisci Barbari P. V. Apologia ad Mediolanenses pro populo Brixiensi, anno 1439.A MS. copy of this work is preserved in the Vatican library.8.Oratio Francisci Barbari P. V. ad Populum Brixiensem in renunciatione illius Civitatis.This is in fact a report of an extempore speech of Francesco’s, composed from memory by Manelli, in whose Commentaries it is printed.9.Francisci Barbari, et aliorum ad ipsum Epistolæ ab anno Christi 1425, ad annum 1453, nunc primum editæ ex duplici MS. Cod. Brixiano et Vaticano uno, &c. Brixiæ excudebat Joannes Maria Rizzardi, 1743, in Quarto magno.This collection of Francesco’s epistles, which was edited by Cardinal Quirini, contains 284 of his letters, besides 94 addressed to him by various correspondents. In the learned dissertation prefixed to this publication, the cardinal has quoted at length fourteen other epistles of Barbaro.10.Francisci Barbari viri illustris. pro Flavio Forliviensi pro Proemio descriptionis Italiæ illustratæ. Ad Alphonsum Serenissimum Arragonum Regem.Cardinal Quirini, in the above mentioned dissertation, has printed this præfatory essay, which was written by Barbaro, in the name of Flavio Biondo.11.Epitaphium clarissimi viri Francisci Barbari Veneti in laudem Gathamelatæ Imperatoris Gentis Venetorum.This epitaph Agostini has published in hisIstoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, from a MS. preserved in the Guarnerian library in Friuli.Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 28-134.[87]Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. iv. ep. v.[88]This letter from Poggio to Guarino Veronese is printed by L’Enfant, in the supplement to the second volume of hisPoggiana, from a MS. in the Wolfenbuttle library.See Poggiana, tom. ii. p. 309.[89]Mehus is of opinion that the copy of Quintilian, thus found by Poggio, is preserved in the Laurentian library.—Præfatio ad vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxiv.[90]Mehi Præfatio ad vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxv. xxxvi.[91]The manuscript of this author was sent by Poggio to Martin V. who permitted Niccolo Niccoli to transcribe it. Niccolo’s transcript is preserved in the Marcian library at Florence.—Mehi Præfat. p. xxxvii. xxxviii.[92]Poggio transmitted his newly recovered copy of Lucretius to Niccolo Niccoli, who, with his usual diligence, made with his own hand a transcript of it, which is yet extant in the Laurentian library.—Mehi Præfat. p. xxxviii.[93]Poggio found this copy of Tertullian in a monastery of the monks of Clugny at Rome. By some means the cardinal Ursini got possession of it, and morosely locked it up from the inspection of the learned. At the instance of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, he suffered the manuscript to be transported to Florence, where it was copied, first by Ambrogio Traversari, and afterwards by Niccolo Niccoli. The transcript of Niccoli is lodged in the library of St. Mark.—Mehi Præfatio, p. xxxix.[94]The volume which Nicolas of Treves thus conveyed from Germany, contained, besides four comedies which had been already recovered, the following twelve, which had been till then unknown, Bacchides, Mostellaria, Menæchmi, Miles gloriosus, Mercator, Pseudolus Pœnulus, Persa, Rudens, Stichus, Trinummus, Truculentus—This volume was seized by cardinal Ursini, who would not permit Poggio to take a copy of it. Poggio highly resented the illiberality of the cardinal’s conduct. “I have not been able,” says he, addressing himself to Niccolo Niccoli, “to get possession of Plautus. Before the cardinal’s departure, I begged him to send you the book, but he refused to comply with my request. I do not understand what the man means. He seems to think that he has done something great, though in fact he has not had the least participation in the discovery of the book. It was found by another, but it is hidden by him. I told both him and his people, that I would never again ask him for the book, and I shall be as good as my word. I had rather unlearn what I have learnt, than acquire any knowledge by the means of his books.” By the interposition of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, the cardinal was induced to intrust the volume to Niccolo Niccoli, who copied it, and returned it to the Cardinal. Niccolo’s copy is deposited in the Marcian library.—Mehi Præfatio, p. xi-xliii.[95]Joannes Polenus, who published an elegant edition of Frontinus de Aquæductis at Padua in the year 1722, procured a transcript of this manuscript, which was still preserved in the monastery of Monte Cassino, and which he found to be much more correct than any printed editions of Frontinus’s treatise. It is in the form of a quarto volume, written on parchment, and, as appears from a fac simile of the first ten or twelve lines, in a very legible character. From the form of the letters, Polenus conjectures that it was written at the end of the thirteenth, or the beginning of the fourteenth century.—Prolegomena ad Poleni editionem Frontini de Aquæductis, p. 19, 20.Mention is made of this manuscript by Mabillon, in hisMuseum Italicum, tom. i. p. 123.[96]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlviii. xlix.[97]Ambrosii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 285.To the decline of life Poggio retained a considerable degree of indignation, which was at this time excited in his mind, by the indifference with which his labours to recover the lost writers of antiquity were regarded by the great. In the introduction to his dialogue,De Infelicitate Principum, he puts the following strictures on their conduct into the mouth of Niccolo Niccoli.—“When many of the ancient classics had been brought to light by our friend Poggio, and there was a most flattering prospect of the recovery of others of still greater consequence, no sovereign prince or pontiff contributed in the least degree to the liberation of those most excellent authors from the prisons of the barbarians. These exalted personages spend their days and their money in pleasures, in unworthy pursuits, in pestiferous and destructive wars. So great is their mental torpidity, that nothing can rouse them to search after the works of excellent writers, by whose wisdom and learning mankind are taught the way to true felicity.”—Poggii Opera, p. 394.[98]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvi. xlvii.[99]Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxx.[100]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvii.[101]Mehus, on the authority of one Vespasiano di Filippo, says, that he was born of poor parents. The author of his life, in theElogi degli Illustri uomini Toscani, maintains, on the contrary, that his family was graced with the honours of nobility; and he supports his position by very cogent arguments. These different statements may be reconciled by an hypothesis by no means devoid of probability, namely, that the father of Ambrogio was descended of noble blood, but that the fortunes of his house were fallen to decay.[102]Demetrius was so much pleased with the respectful attention which he received from his Camaldolese pupils, that he became a member of their fraternity in the year 1416.—Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxv.[103]Elogi degli uomini illus. Toscani, tom. i. p. cccxl. Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxiv. & seq. Ejusdem Præfatio ad Colucii Salutati Epistolas, p. xli.[104]Poggii Opera, p. 252-261.[105]Muratori Annali d’Italia, tom. ix. p. 84.[106]Ibid.[107]From a MS. which is preserved at Vienna, L’Enfant has given the following list of the persons who attended this wonderfully numerous assembly—Knights, 2300—Prelates, Priests, and Presbyters, 18,000—Laymen 80,000. In a more detailed catalogue, the Laymen are thus enumerated—Goldsmiths, 45—Shopkeepers, 330—Bankers, 242—Shoemakers, 70—Furriers, 48,—Apothecaries, 44—Smiths, 92—Confectioners, 75—Bakers belonging to the pope, &c. 250—Vintners of Italian wines, 83—Victuallers for the poorer sort, 43—Florentine Money-changers, 48—Tailors, 228—Heralds at Arms, 65—Jugglers, or Merry Andrews, 346—Barbers, 306—Courtezans, whose habitations were known to the author of the list, 700. It should seem, however, that this industrious chronicler had not visited all these professional ladies, as the Vienna list estimates their number at 1500! From a memorandum subjoined to this list, it appears, that during the sitting of the council, one of these frail fair ones earned the sum of 800 Florins.—L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 415-416.[108]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 89.[109]Ibid.p. 96.[110]L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 143.[111]SeeTonelli’s Epistolarium Poggii, lib. i. epist. xi.[112]SeeHenry’s History of Great Britain, vol. x. p. 109-128.[113]Thus William of Wyrcester tells us, that the duke of York returned from Ireland, “et arrivavit apud Redbank prope Cestriam.”—Henry’s History ut supra.[114]Though Poggio carefully examined the libraries of many of the English monasteries, he discovered in them only one manuscript which he esteemed of any value, namely the Chronicle of Sigebert, a monk who lived in the tenth century. SeeTon.-Tr. vol. i. p. 116.[115]Flavio Biondo, who was born at Forli, in the year 1388, was a descendant of the illustrious family of Ravaldini. He has himself recorded the fact, that he studied Grammar, Rhetoric, and Poetry, under the instructions of Giovanni Ballistario, of Cremona. At an early age he was commissioned by his countrymen to conduct some negociations at the court of Milan; and it was during his visit to that city, that he executed the task of copying the newly-discovered manuscript of Cicero’s treatise,De Claris Oratoribus. In the year 1430, he was making preparations for a journey to Rome; but Francesco Barbaro, who held him in the highest esteem, and who had procured for him the privileges of a Venetian citizen, having been lately appointed governor of the Bergamese district, induced him to give up this design, and to accompany him to Bergamo, invested with the confidential office of chancellor of that city. He afterwards entered into the Roman chancery, under the patronage of Eugenius IV., by whom he was employed in the year 1434, in conjunction with the bishop of Recanati, to solicit, on his behalf, the assistance of the Florentines and Venetians. He continued to hold the office of apostolic secretary during the pontificate of Nicholas V., Calixtus III., and Pius II. In the year 1459 he attended the last mentioned pontiff to the council of Mantua. From that city he returned to Rome, where he died on the 4th of June, 1463, leaving five sons, all well instructed in literature.Of his numerous publications the following are the most considerable.1.Roma Instaurata—A work of great erudition, in which he gave a most exact description of the buildings, gates, temples, and other monuments of ancient Rome, which still resisted the destructive hand of time.2.Roma Triumphans—This is also a most elaborate treatise, which contains an account of the laws, constitution, religion, and sacred ceremonies of the Roman republic, collected from the incidental notices of these subjects, which are scattered through the wide extent of Latin literature.3. Of a similar description is hisItalia Illustrata, in which he describes Italy, according to its ancient division into fourteen regions, and details the origin and history of each province and city. This work he composed at the request of Alphonso, king of Naples.4. A treatise,De Origine et Gestis Venetorum.5. He undertook a work of still greater extent than any of those which have been enumerated above, viz. A General History of the period extending from the decline of the Roman Empire to his own times. He had finished three decads and the first book of the fourth of this work, when its prosecution was interrupted by his death.“In all these works,” says Tiraboschi, “though Biondo occasionally deviates into various errors, he displays a singular diligence in collecting from all authors whatever appertains to his subject; and when it is considered, that they are the first essays in their kind, they cannot but give the reader a high idea of the prodigious learning and unwearied application of their author.”The historical works of Biondo, translated into Italian by Lucio Fauno, were printed at Venice by Michel Tramezzino. A general collection of his writings was also printed in folio, at Basil, by Frobenius, A. D. 1531 and 1539.Apostolo Zeno Dissertazioni Vossiane, tom. i. p. 229, &c. Tiraboschi Storia della Let. Ital. tom. vi. p. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.[116]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvi.[117]Ton. Tr. vol. i. p. 117.[118]It is rather an extraordinary circumstance, that Ambrogio Traversari, the celebrated superior of the monastery of Camaldoli, in several of his letters to Niccolo Niccoli, requests his correspondent to present his compliments to this Benvenuta, whom he distinguishes by the title offœmina fidelissima. Shall we suppose, that the reverend ecclesiastic was so little acquainted with the private history of the Florentine gentry, as to be ignorant of the intercourse which subsisted between Benvenuta and his friend—or shall we conclude that he did not regard this intercourse as a breach of moral duty?—Ambrogii Traversarii Epistolæ, lib. viii. ep. ii. iii. v. &c.[119]Leonardi Aretini Epis. lib. v. ep. iv.[120]Mehus, in his list of the works of Leonardo Aretino, intimates that a copy of this invective is preserved in the library of New College, Oxford. A strict and laborious search, made by direction of the Warden of New College, in the month of November, 1801, has ascertained the fact, that it does not now exist there. The catalogue of that valuable repository of learning does indeed make mention of a MS. volume, as containing the oration in question. On an accurate examination of this volume, however, no trace was found of Leonardo’s Invective, nor any appearances to justify the suspicion, that this or any other work has been withdrawn from it by the rapacity of literary peculation.[121]“Nam ut alias ad te seripsi, non ignoro, quam grave sit subire onus Clerici, et quantâ curâ oporteat eos torqueri, si quâ sint conscientiâ, qui ex beneficio vivunt. Quum enim præmia non dentur, nisi laboranti, qui non laborat ut ait Apostolus, non manducet. Hæc tamen dicuntur facilius quam fiant, et ut vulgo aiunt, satius est in manibus Dei incidere quam hominis. Sed tamen si opus Petri, hoc est promissio perficeretur, relinquerem ista sacra, ad quæ nonnisi invitus accedo, non quod Religionem spernam aliquo modo, sed quia non confido me talem futurum, qualem describunt esse debere.”—Ambrosii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 1123.These were the sentiments of Poggio, in the season of serious meditation. On another occasion, when irritated by the sarcasms of Cardinal Julian, he ascribed his abjuration of the priesthood to a somewhat different motive. “Nolo esse Sacerdos, nolo Beneficia; vidi enim plurimos, quos bonos viros censebam, maxime autem liberales, post susceptum sacerdotium avoras esse et nulli deditos virtuti, sed inertiæ, otio, voluptati. Quod ne mihi quoque accidat veritus, decrevi procul a vestro ordine consummere hoc, quidquid superest, temporis perigrinationis meæ; ex hâc enim magnâ capitis Sacerdotum rasurâ, conspicio non solum pilos abradi, sed etiam conscientiam et virtutem.”—Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxvii.[122]See TonelliEpistolarium Poggii, lib. i. ep. 18.[123]Ambrogii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 1122.[124]Poggii Opera, p. 69.[125]Ibid, p. 36.[126]Poggii Opera, p. 474.[127]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93.[128]Poggii Historia Flor. lib. iv. v.Martin was particularly offended by a ballad, the burthen of which wasPapa Martino non vale un quattrino.Ibid, p. 203. apud notas.—Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 103.[129]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 97.[130]Bologna surrendered to Braccio after a short siege, July 15th, 1420.Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 98.[131]Platina, p. 398.[132]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93.Baldassare Cossa is generally distinguished by the pontifical appellation of John XXIII. He was however in fact only the twenty-second of that name who filled the papal chair. The mistake in his designation arises from the extraordinary circumstance of the annalists of the holy see having admitted into the series of pontiffs the famous pope Joan, who it is asserted, on succeeding Leo IV. in the pontificate, assumed the name of John VII. This ecclesiastical Amazon is said to have been an Englishwoman, who went in man’s attire with her lover to Athens, where she made such a proficiency in her studies, that she rose through the subordinate degrees of clerical preferment to the supreme honours of the pontificate. It is further alleged, that having become pregnant by one of her domestics, she was seized with the pains of labour, as she was conducting a procession to the church of St. John Lateran, and expired in the street. This improbable story is related by Platina, who observes, however, that though it is commonly believed, it rests upon doubtful authority. He informs us, that those who maintain the truth of this narration, allege in proof of its authenticity, two circumstances, namely, that the pontiffs always avoid passing through the street where this untoward accident is said to have happened: and that on the installation of a newly elected pope, he is obliged to undergo a ceremony, which would infallibly detect any attempt at a repetition of the above-mentioned imposture. With regard to the first of these allegations, Platina acknowledges the fact of the pontiff’s avoiding the supposed scene of Joan’s disgrace; but says, that the reason of this is, that the street in question is too narrow to admit the passage of a crowded retinue. With regard to the second, he makes the following truly curious remark. “De secundâ ita sentio, sedem illam (perforatam sedem scilicet ubi pontificis genitalia ab ultimo diacono attrectantur) ad id paratam esse, ut qui in tanto magistratu constuitur sciat se non deum sed hominem esse, et necessitatibus naturæ, utpote egerendi subjectum esse, unde merito stercoraria sedes vocatur.”In the annotations subjoined by Panvinio to the Italian translation of Platina’s history, published at Venice, A. D. 1744, it is most satisfactorily proved, that this story of John VII., alias pope Joan, is a gross falsehood, invented by one Martin, a monk.[133]Ton. Tr. vol. i. p. 137.[134]Leon. Aret. Epist. lib. iv. ep. xxi.[135]Ibid, lib. iv. ep. xxii.[136]Ambrogii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 297.[137]This embassy occurred in the year, 1426.—Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 58, 59, 60.[138]Poggii Opera, p. 306.[139]Ibid, p. 347.[140]Poggii Opera, p. 347.[141]Poggii Epist. lvii. p. 161.[142]Of this great personage Poggio has recorded an anecdote, which at once commemorates her reputation for gallantry, and her ready wit. “The Florentines,” says he, “once sent a certain doctor of laws of the name of Francesco as their embassador to the court of Naples. Francesco being apprised of the amorous disposition of the reigning queen Joanna, requested on his second interview with her majesty, that she would grant him a private audience, as he was instructed by his republic to communicate certain matters to her majesty alone. The queen accordingly withdrew with him into an inner apartment, where after a short preliminary conversation, he abruptly made to her a declaration of love; on which Joanna looked upon him with a pleasant smile, and said,Was this also in your instructions?”—Poggii Opera, p. 448.

[77]Ibid, p. 584.

[78]In theFasciculus 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 theFasciculus 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 altiInstituis 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 recepitPacis 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.

“Tu mare frænantes Venetōs, tu Antenoris altiInstituis 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 recepitPacis et aligeri Ferraria mater amoris.”

“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.”

“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 ofQuintilian’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.

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 SenatûsBrixia, quam magno tenuit sudore, fatetur.Hic summi ingenii, scriptis, monumenta reliquit;Græcaque præterea fecit Romana. Tenet nuncSpiritus 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 entitledThesarurus 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 hisIstoria 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.7.Francisci Barbari P. V. Apologia ad Mediolanenses pro populo Brixiensi, anno 1439.A MS. copy of this work is preserved in the Vatican library.8.Oratio Francisci Barbari P. V. ad Populum Brixiensem in renunciatione illius Civitatis.This is in fact a report of an extempore speech of Francesco’s, composed from memory by Manelli, in whose Commentaries it is printed.9.Francisci Barbari, et aliorum ad ipsum Epistolæ ab anno Christi 1425, ad annum 1453, nunc primum editæ ex duplici MS. Cod. Brixiano et Vaticano uno, &c. Brixiæ excudebat Joannes Maria Rizzardi, 1743, in Quarto magno.This collection of Francesco’s epistles, which was edited by Cardinal Quirini, contains 284 of his letters, besides 94 addressed to him by various correspondents. In the learned dissertation prefixed to this publication, the cardinal has quoted at length fourteen other epistles of Barbaro.10.Francisci Barbari viri illustris. pro Flavio Forliviensi pro Proemio descriptionis Italiæ illustratæ. Ad Alphonsum Serenissimum Arragonum Regem.Cardinal Quirini, in the above mentioned dissertation, has printed this præfatory essay, which was written by Barbaro, in the name of Flavio Biondo.11.Epitaphium clarissimi viri Francisci Barbari Veneti in laudem Gathamelatæ Imperatoris Gentis Venetorum.This epitaph Agostini has published in hisIstoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, from a MS. preserved in the Guarnerian library in Friuli.Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 28-134.

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 SenatûsBrixia, quam magno tenuit sudore, fatetur.Hic summi ingenii, scriptis, monumenta reliquit;Græcaque præterea fecit Romana. Tenet nuncSpiritus astra; sacros tumulus complectitur artus.”

“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 entitledThesarurus 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 hisIstoria 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.

7.Francisci Barbari P. V. Apologia ad Mediolanenses pro populo Brixiensi, anno 1439.A MS. copy of this work is preserved in the Vatican library.

8.Oratio Francisci Barbari P. V. ad Populum Brixiensem in renunciatione illius Civitatis.This is in fact a report of an extempore speech of Francesco’s, composed from memory by Manelli, in whose Commentaries it is printed.

9.Francisci Barbari, et aliorum ad ipsum Epistolæ ab anno Christi 1425, ad annum 1453, nunc primum editæ ex duplici MS. Cod. Brixiano et Vaticano uno, &c. Brixiæ excudebat Joannes Maria Rizzardi, 1743, in Quarto magno.This collection of Francesco’s epistles, which was edited by Cardinal Quirini, contains 284 of his letters, besides 94 addressed to him by various correspondents. In the learned dissertation prefixed to this publication, the cardinal has quoted at length fourteen other epistles of Barbaro.

10.Francisci Barbari viri illustris. pro Flavio Forliviensi pro Proemio descriptionis Italiæ illustratæ. Ad Alphonsum Serenissimum Arragonum Regem.Cardinal Quirini, in the above mentioned dissertation, has printed this præfatory essay, which was written by Barbaro, in the name of Flavio Biondo.

11.Epitaphium clarissimi viri Francisci Barbari Veneti in laudem Gathamelatæ Imperatoris Gentis Venetorum.This epitaph Agostini has published in hisIstoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, from a MS. preserved in the Guarnerian library in Friuli.

Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 28-134.

[87]Leonardi Aretini Epistolæ, l. iv. ep. v.

[88]This letter from Poggio to Guarino Veronese is printed by L’Enfant, in the supplement to the second volume of hisPoggiana, from a MS. in the Wolfenbuttle library.See Poggiana, tom. ii. p. 309.

[89]Mehus is of opinion that the copy of Quintilian, thus found by Poggio, is preserved in the Laurentian library.—Præfatio ad vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxiv.

[90]Mehi Præfatio ad vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, p. xxxv. xxxvi.

[91]The manuscript of this author was sent by Poggio to Martin V. who permitted Niccolo Niccoli to transcribe it. Niccolo’s transcript is preserved in the Marcian library at Florence.—Mehi Præfat. p. xxxvii. xxxviii.

[92]Poggio transmitted his newly recovered copy of Lucretius to Niccolo Niccoli, who, with his usual diligence, made with his own hand a transcript of it, which is yet extant in the Laurentian library.—Mehi Præfat. p. xxxviii.

[93]Poggio found this copy of Tertullian in a monastery of the monks of Clugny at Rome. By some means the cardinal Ursini got possession of it, and morosely locked it up from the inspection of the learned. At the instance of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, he suffered the manuscript to be transported to Florence, where it was copied, first by Ambrogio Traversari, and afterwards by Niccolo Niccoli. The transcript of Niccoli is lodged in the library of St. Mark.—Mehi Præfatio, p. xxxix.

[94]The volume which Nicolas of Treves thus conveyed from Germany, contained, besides four comedies which had been already recovered, the following twelve, which had been till then unknown, Bacchides, Mostellaria, Menæchmi, Miles gloriosus, Mercator, Pseudolus Pœnulus, Persa, Rudens, Stichus, Trinummus, Truculentus—This volume was seized by cardinal Ursini, who would not permit Poggio to take a copy of it. Poggio highly resented the illiberality of the cardinal’s conduct. “I have not been able,” says he, addressing himself to Niccolo Niccoli, “to get possession of Plautus. Before the cardinal’s departure, I begged him to send you the book, but he refused to comply with my request. I do not understand what the man means. He seems to think that he has done something great, though in fact he has not had the least participation in the discovery of the book. It was found by another, but it is hidden by him. I told both him and his people, that I would never again ask him for the book, and I shall be as good as my word. I had rather unlearn what I have learnt, than acquire any knowledge by the means of his books.” By the interposition of Lorenzo de’ Medici, however, the cardinal was induced to intrust the volume to Niccolo Niccoli, who copied it, and returned it to the Cardinal. Niccolo’s copy is deposited in the Marcian library.—Mehi Præfatio, p. xi-xliii.

[95]Joannes Polenus, who published an elegant edition of Frontinus de Aquæductis at Padua in the year 1722, procured a transcript of this manuscript, which was still preserved in the monastery of Monte Cassino, and which he found to be much more correct than any printed editions of Frontinus’s treatise. It is in the form of a quarto volume, written on parchment, and, as appears from a fac simile of the first ten or twelve lines, in a very legible character. From the form of the letters, Polenus conjectures that it was written at the end of the thirteenth, or the beginning of the fourteenth century.—Prolegomena ad Poleni editionem Frontini de Aquæductis, p. 19, 20.Mention is made of this manuscript by Mabillon, in hisMuseum Italicum, tom. i. p. 123.

Mention is made of this manuscript by Mabillon, in hisMuseum Italicum, tom. i. p. 123.

[96]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlviii. xlix.

[97]Ambrosii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 285.To the decline of life Poggio retained a considerable degree of indignation, which was at this time excited in his mind, by the indifference with which his labours to recover the lost writers of antiquity were regarded by the great. In the introduction to his dialogue,De Infelicitate Principum, he puts the following strictures on their conduct into the mouth of Niccolo Niccoli.—“When many of the ancient classics had been brought to light by our friend Poggio, and there was a most flattering prospect of the recovery of others of still greater consequence, no sovereign prince or pontiff contributed in the least degree to the liberation of those most excellent authors from the prisons of the barbarians. These exalted personages spend their days and their money in pleasures, in unworthy pursuits, in pestiferous and destructive wars. So great is their mental torpidity, that nothing can rouse them to search after the works of excellent writers, by whose wisdom and learning mankind are taught the way to true felicity.”—Poggii Opera, p. 394.

[98]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvi. xlvii.

[99]Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxx.

[100]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvii.

[101]Mehus, on the authority of one Vespasiano di Filippo, says, that he was born of poor parents. The author of his life, in theElogi degli Illustri uomini Toscani, maintains, on the contrary, that his family was graced with the honours of nobility; and he supports his position by very cogent arguments. These different statements may be reconciled by an hypothesis by no means devoid of probability, namely, that the father of Ambrogio was descended of noble blood, but that the fortunes of his house were fallen to decay.

[102]Demetrius was so much pleased with the respectful attention which he received from his Camaldolese pupils, that he became a member of their fraternity in the year 1416.—Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxv.

[103]Elogi degli uomini illus. Toscani, tom. i. p. cccxl. Mehi Vita Ambros. Travers. p. ccclxiv. & seq. Ejusdem Præfatio ad Colucii Salutati Epistolas, p. xli.

[104]Poggii Opera, p. 252-261.

[105]Muratori Annali d’Italia, tom. ix. p. 84.

[106]Ibid.

[107]From a MS. which is preserved at Vienna, L’Enfant has given the following list of the persons who attended this wonderfully numerous assembly—Knights, 2300—Prelates, Priests, and Presbyters, 18,000—Laymen 80,000. In a more detailed catalogue, the Laymen are thus enumerated—Goldsmiths, 45—Shopkeepers, 330—Bankers, 242—Shoemakers, 70—Furriers, 48,—Apothecaries, 44—Smiths, 92—Confectioners, 75—Bakers belonging to the pope, &c. 250—Vintners of Italian wines, 83—Victuallers for the poorer sort, 43—Florentine Money-changers, 48—Tailors, 228—Heralds at Arms, 65—Jugglers, or Merry Andrews, 346—Barbers, 306—Courtezans, whose habitations were known to the author of the list, 700. It should seem, however, that this industrious chronicler had not visited all these professional ladies, as the Vienna list estimates their number at 1500! From a memorandum subjoined to this list, it appears, that during the sitting of the council, one of these frail fair ones earned the sum of 800 Florins.—L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 415-416.

[108]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 89.

[109]Ibid.p. 96.

[110]L’Enfant’s History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 143.

[111]SeeTonelli’s Epistolarium Poggii, lib. i. epist. xi.

[112]SeeHenry’s History of Great Britain, vol. x. p. 109-128.

[113]Thus William of Wyrcester tells us, that the duke of York returned from Ireland, “et arrivavit apud Redbank prope Cestriam.”—Henry’s History ut supra.

[114]Though Poggio carefully examined the libraries of many of the English monasteries, he discovered in them only one manuscript which he esteemed of any value, namely the Chronicle of Sigebert, a monk who lived in the tenth century. SeeTon.-Tr. vol. i. p. 116.

[115]Flavio Biondo, who was born at Forli, in the year 1388, was a descendant of the illustrious family of Ravaldini. He has himself recorded the fact, that he studied Grammar, Rhetoric, and Poetry, under the instructions of Giovanni Ballistario, of Cremona. At an early age he was commissioned by his countrymen to conduct some negociations at the court of Milan; and it was during his visit to that city, that he executed the task of copying the newly-discovered manuscript of Cicero’s treatise,De Claris Oratoribus. In the year 1430, he was making preparations for a journey to Rome; but Francesco Barbaro, who held him in the highest esteem, and who had procured for him the privileges of a Venetian citizen, having been lately appointed governor of the Bergamese district, induced him to give up this design, and to accompany him to Bergamo, invested with the confidential office of chancellor of that city. He afterwards entered into the Roman chancery, under the patronage of Eugenius IV., by whom he was employed in the year 1434, in conjunction with the bishop of Recanati, to solicit, on his behalf, the assistance of the Florentines and Venetians. He continued to hold the office of apostolic secretary during the pontificate of Nicholas V., Calixtus III., and Pius II. In the year 1459 he attended the last mentioned pontiff to the council of Mantua. From that city he returned to Rome, where he died on the 4th of June, 1463, leaving five sons, all well instructed in literature.Of his numerous publications the following are the most considerable.1.Roma Instaurata—A work of great erudition, in which he gave a most exact description of the buildings, gates, temples, and other monuments of ancient Rome, which still resisted the destructive hand of time.2.Roma Triumphans—This is also a most elaborate treatise, which contains an account of the laws, constitution, religion, and sacred ceremonies of the Roman republic, collected from the incidental notices of these subjects, which are scattered through the wide extent of Latin literature.3. Of a similar description is hisItalia Illustrata, in which he describes Italy, according to its ancient division into fourteen regions, and details the origin and history of each province and city. This work he composed at the request of Alphonso, king of Naples.4. A treatise,De Origine et Gestis Venetorum.5. He undertook a work of still greater extent than any of those which have been enumerated above, viz. A General History of the period extending from the decline of the Roman Empire to his own times. He had finished three decads and the first book of the fourth of this work, when its prosecution was interrupted by his death.“In all these works,” says Tiraboschi, “though Biondo occasionally deviates into various errors, he displays a singular diligence in collecting from all authors whatever appertains to his subject; and when it is considered, that they are the first essays in their kind, they cannot but give the reader a high idea of the prodigious learning and unwearied application of their author.”The historical works of Biondo, translated into Italian by Lucio Fauno, were printed at Venice by Michel Tramezzino. A general collection of his writings was also printed in folio, at Basil, by Frobenius, A. D. 1531 and 1539.Apostolo Zeno Dissertazioni Vossiane, tom. i. p. 229, &c. Tiraboschi Storia della Let. Ital. tom. vi. p. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Of his numerous publications the following are the most considerable.

1.Roma Instaurata—A work of great erudition, in which he gave a most exact description of the buildings, gates, temples, and other monuments of ancient Rome, which still resisted the destructive hand of time.

2.Roma Triumphans—This is also a most elaborate treatise, which contains an account of the laws, constitution, religion, and sacred ceremonies of the Roman republic, collected from the incidental notices of these subjects, which are scattered through the wide extent of Latin literature.

3. Of a similar description is hisItalia Illustrata, in which he describes Italy, according to its ancient division into fourteen regions, and details the origin and history of each province and city. This work he composed at the request of Alphonso, king of Naples.

4. A treatise,De Origine et Gestis Venetorum.

5. He undertook a work of still greater extent than any of those which have been enumerated above, viz. A General History of the period extending from the decline of the Roman Empire to his own times. He had finished three decads and the first book of the fourth of this work, when its prosecution was interrupted by his death.

“In all these works,” says Tiraboschi, “though Biondo occasionally deviates into various errors, he displays a singular diligence in collecting from all authors whatever appertains to his subject; and when it is considered, that they are the first essays in their kind, they cannot but give the reader a high idea of the prodigious learning and unwearied application of their author.”

The historical works of Biondo, translated into Italian by Lucio Fauno, were printed at Venice by Michel Tramezzino. A general collection of his writings was also printed in folio, at Basil, by Frobenius, A. D. 1531 and 1539.Apostolo Zeno Dissertazioni Vossiane, tom. i. p. 229, &c. Tiraboschi Storia della Let. Ital. tom. vi. p. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

[116]Mehi Præfatio, p. xlvi.

[117]Ton. Tr. vol. i. p. 117.

[118]It is rather an extraordinary circumstance, that Ambrogio Traversari, the celebrated superior of the monastery of Camaldoli, in several of his letters to Niccolo Niccoli, requests his correspondent to present his compliments to this Benvenuta, whom he distinguishes by the title offœmina fidelissima. Shall we suppose, that the reverend ecclesiastic was so little acquainted with the private history of the Florentine gentry, as to be ignorant of the intercourse which subsisted between Benvenuta and his friend—or shall we conclude that he did not regard this intercourse as a breach of moral duty?—Ambrogii Traversarii Epistolæ, lib. viii. ep. ii. iii. v. &c.

[119]Leonardi Aretini Epis. lib. v. ep. iv.

[120]Mehus, in his list of the works of Leonardo Aretino, intimates that a copy of this invective is preserved in the library of New College, Oxford. A strict and laborious search, made by direction of the Warden of New College, in the month of November, 1801, has ascertained the fact, that it does not now exist there. The catalogue of that valuable repository of learning does indeed make mention of a MS. volume, as containing the oration in question. On an accurate examination of this volume, however, no trace was found of Leonardo’s Invective, nor any appearances to justify the suspicion, that this or any other work has been withdrawn from it by the rapacity of literary peculation.

[121]“Nam ut alias ad te seripsi, non ignoro, quam grave sit subire onus Clerici, et quantâ curâ oporteat eos torqueri, si quâ sint conscientiâ, qui ex beneficio vivunt. Quum enim præmia non dentur, nisi laboranti, qui non laborat ut ait Apostolus, non manducet. Hæc tamen dicuntur facilius quam fiant, et ut vulgo aiunt, satius est in manibus Dei incidere quam hominis. Sed tamen si opus Petri, hoc est promissio perficeretur, relinquerem ista sacra, ad quæ nonnisi invitus accedo, non quod Religionem spernam aliquo modo, sed quia non confido me talem futurum, qualem describunt esse debere.”—Ambrosii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 1123.These were the sentiments of Poggio, in the season of serious meditation. On another occasion, when irritated by the sarcasms of Cardinal Julian, he ascribed his abjuration of the priesthood to a somewhat different motive. “Nolo esse Sacerdos, nolo Beneficia; vidi enim plurimos, quos bonos viros censebam, maxime autem liberales, post susceptum sacerdotium avoras esse et nulli deditos virtuti, sed inertiæ, otio, voluptati. Quod ne mihi quoque accidat veritus, decrevi procul a vestro ordine consummere hoc, quidquid superest, temporis perigrinationis meæ; ex hâc enim magnâ capitis Sacerdotum rasurâ, conspicio non solum pilos abradi, sed etiam conscientiam et virtutem.”—Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxvii.

These were the sentiments of Poggio, in the season of serious meditation. On another occasion, when irritated by the sarcasms of Cardinal Julian, he ascribed his abjuration of the priesthood to a somewhat different motive. “Nolo esse Sacerdos, nolo Beneficia; vidi enim plurimos, quos bonos viros censebam, maxime autem liberales, post susceptum sacerdotium avoras esse et nulli deditos virtuti, sed inertiæ, otio, voluptati. Quod ne mihi quoque accidat veritus, decrevi procul a vestro ordine consummere hoc, quidquid superest, temporis perigrinationis meæ; ex hâc enim magnâ capitis Sacerdotum rasurâ, conspicio non solum pilos abradi, sed etiam conscientiam et virtutem.”—Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxvii.

[122]See TonelliEpistolarium Poggii, lib. i. ep. 18.

[123]Ambrogii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 1122.

[124]Poggii Opera, p. 69.

[125]Ibid, p. 36.

[126]Poggii Opera, p. 474.

[127]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93.

[128]Poggii Historia Flor. lib. iv. v.Martin was particularly offended by a ballad, the burthen of which wasPapa Martino non vale un quattrino.Ibid, p. 203. apud notas.—Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 103.

[129]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 97.

[130]Bologna surrendered to Braccio after a short siege, July 15th, 1420.Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 98.

[131]Platina, p. 398.

[132]Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93.Baldassare Cossa is generally distinguished by the pontifical appellation of John XXIII. He was however in fact only the twenty-second of that name who filled the papal chair. The mistake in his designation arises from the extraordinary circumstance of the annalists of the holy see having admitted into the series of pontiffs the famous pope Joan, who it is asserted, on succeeding Leo IV. in the pontificate, assumed the name of John VII. This ecclesiastical Amazon is said to have been an Englishwoman, who went in man’s attire with her lover to Athens, where she made such a proficiency in her studies, that she rose through the subordinate degrees of clerical preferment to the supreme honours of the pontificate. It is further alleged, that having become pregnant by one of her domestics, she was seized with the pains of labour, as she was conducting a procession to the church of St. John Lateran, and expired in the street. This improbable story is related by Platina, who observes, however, that though it is commonly believed, it rests upon doubtful authority. He informs us, that those who maintain the truth of this narration, allege in proof of its authenticity, two circumstances, namely, that the pontiffs always avoid passing through the street where this untoward accident is said to have happened: and that on the installation of a newly elected pope, he is obliged to undergo a ceremony, which would infallibly detect any attempt at a repetition of the above-mentioned imposture. With regard to the first of these allegations, Platina acknowledges the fact of the pontiff’s avoiding the supposed scene of Joan’s disgrace; but says, that the reason of this is, that the street in question is too narrow to admit the passage of a crowded retinue. With regard to the second, he makes the following truly curious remark. “De secundâ ita sentio, sedem illam (perforatam sedem scilicet ubi pontificis genitalia ab ultimo diacono attrectantur) ad id paratam esse, ut qui in tanto magistratu constuitur sciat se non deum sed hominem esse, et necessitatibus naturæ, utpote egerendi subjectum esse, unde merito stercoraria sedes vocatur.”In the annotations subjoined by Panvinio to the Italian translation of Platina’s history, published at Venice, A. D. 1744, it is most satisfactorily proved, that this story of John VII., alias pope Joan, is a gross falsehood, invented by one Martin, a monk.

In the annotations subjoined by Panvinio to the Italian translation of Platina’s history, published at Venice, A. D. 1744, it is most satisfactorily proved, that this story of John VII., alias pope Joan, is a gross falsehood, invented by one Martin, a monk.

[133]Ton. Tr. vol. i. p. 137.

[134]Leon. Aret. Epist. lib. iv. ep. xxi.

[135]Ibid, lib. iv. ep. xxii.

[136]Ambrogii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 297.

[137]This embassy occurred in the year, 1426.—Agostini Istoria degli Scrittori Viniziani, tom. ii. p. 58, 59, 60.

[138]Poggii Opera, p. 306.

[139]Ibid, p. 347.

[140]Poggii Opera, p. 347.

[141]Poggii Epist. lvii. p. 161.

[142]Of this great personage Poggio has recorded an anecdote, which at once commemorates her reputation for gallantry, and her ready wit. “The Florentines,” says he, “once sent a certain doctor of laws of the name of Francesco as their embassador to the court of Naples. Francesco being apprised of the amorous disposition of the reigning queen Joanna, requested on his second interview with her majesty, that she would grant him a private audience, as he was instructed by his republic to communicate certain matters to her majesty alone. The queen accordingly withdrew with him into an inner apartment, where after a short preliminary conversation, he abruptly made to her a declaration of love; on which Joanna looked upon him with a pleasant smile, and said,Was this also in your instructions?”—Poggii Opera, p. 448.

Back to Index Next