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diff --git a/16504-h/16504-h.htm b/16504-h/16504-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2903315 --- /dev/null +++ b/16504-h/16504-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,28850 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Renaissance In Italy in Two Parts, by John + Addington Symonds. + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + p { margin-top: 0.75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em;} + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.8em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .6em; text-decoration: none;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 10em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + </style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2 +by John Addington Symonds + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2 + The Catholic Reaction + +Author: John Addington Symonds + +Release Date: August 10, 2005 [EBook #16504] +Last Updated: May 6, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RENAISSANCE IN ITALY *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Chuck Greif and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + +HTML file revised by David Widger + + + + +</pre> + <h1> + RENAISSANCE IN ITALY + </h1> + <h2> + <i>THE CATHOLIC REACTION</i> + </h2> + <h3> + In Two Parts + </h3> + <h3> + BY + </h3> + <h2> + JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS + </h2> + <h3> + NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1887 <i>AUTHOR'S EDITION</i> + </h3> + <hr style="width: 25%;" /> + <h2> + PART I + </h2> + <div class="center"> + <a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CONTENTS_OF_THE_FIRST_VOLUME"><b>CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER_I</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER + II</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER + V</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><br /> <a + href="#FOOTNOTES"><b>FOOTNOTES</b></a><br /> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + PART II + </h2> + <div class="center"> + <a href="#CONTENTS_OF_THE_SECOND_VOLUME"><b>CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER + VIII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER + XI</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER + XIV</b></a><br /> <a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a><br /> <a + href="#FOOTNOTES"><b>FOOTNOTES</b></a><br /> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + </h2> + <div class="blockquot"> + <h4> + CHAPTER I + </h4> + <h5> + THE SPANISH HEGEMONY + </h5> + <p> + Italy in the Renaissance—The Five Great Powers—The Kingdom + of Naples—The Papacy—The Duchy of Milan—Venice—The + Florentine Republic—Wars of Invasion closed by the Sack of Rome in + 1527—Concordat between Clement VII. and Charles V.—Treaty of + Barcelona and Paix des Dames—Charles lands at Genoa—His + Journey to Bologna—Entrance into Bologna and Reception by Clement—Mustering + of Italian Princes—Franceso Sforza replaced in the Duchy of Milan—Venetian + Embassy—Italian League signed on Christmas Eve 1529—Florence + alone excluded—The Siege of Florence pressed by the Prince of + Orange—Charles's Coronation as King of Italy and Holy Roman + Emperor—The Significance of this Ceremony at Bologna—Ceremony + in S. Petronio—Settlement of the Duchy of Ferrara—Men of + Letters and Arts at Bologna—The Emperor's Use of the Spanish Habit—Charles + and Clement leave Bologna in March 1530—Review of the Settlement + of Italy affected by Emperor and Pope—Extinction of Republics—Subsequent + Absorption of Ferrara and Urbino into the Papal States—Savoy + becomes an Italian Power—Period between Charles's Coronation and + the Peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559—Economical and Social + Condition of the Italians under Spanish Hegemony—The Nation still + exists in Separate Communities—Intellectual Conditions—Predominance + of Spain and Rome—Both Cosmopolitan Powers—Leveling down of + the Component Portions of the Nation in a Common Servitude—The + Evils of Spanish Rule + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER II + </h4> + <h5> + THE PAPACY AND THE TRIDENTINE COUNCIL + </h5> + <p> + The Counter-Reformation—Its Intellectual and Moral Character—Causes + of the Gradual Extinction of Renaissance Energy—Transition from + the Renaissance to the Catholic Revival—New Religious Spirit in + Italy—Attitude of Italians toward German Reformation—Oratory + of Divine Love—Gasparo Contarini and the Moderate Reformers—New + Religious Orders—Paul III.—His early History and Education—Political + Attitude between France and Spain—Creation of the Duchy of Parma—Imminence + of a General Council—Review of previous Councils—Paul's + Uneasiness—Opens a Council at Trent in 1542—Protestants + virtually excluded, and Catholic Dogmas confirmed in the first Sessions—Death + of Paul in 1549—Julius III.—Paul IV.—Character and + Ruling Passions of G. P. Caraffa—His Futile Opposition to Spain—Tyranny + of His Nephews—Their Downfall—Paul devotes himself to Church + Reform and the Inquisition—Pius IV.—His Minister Morone—Diplomatic + Temper of this Pope—His Management of the Council—Assistance + rendered by his Nephew Carlo Borromeo—Alarming State of Northern + Europe—The Council reopened at Trent in 1562—Subsequent + History of the Council—It closes with a complete Papal Triumph in + 1563—Place of Pius IV. in History—Pius V.—The + Inquisitor Pope—Population of Rome—Social Corruption—Sale + of Offices and Justice—Tridentine Reforms depress Wealth—Ascetic + Purity of Manners becomes fashionable—Catholic Reaction generates + the Counter-Reformation—Battle of Lepanto—Gregory XIII.—His + Relatives—Policy of enriching the Church at Expense of the Barons—Brigandage + in States of the Church—Sixtus V.—His Stern Justice—Rigid + Economy—Great Public Works—Taxation—The City of Rome + assumes its present form—Nepotism in the Counter-Reformation + Period—Various Estimates of the Wealth accumulated by Papal + Nephews—Rise of Princely Roman Families + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER III + </h4> + <h5> + THE INQUISITION AND THE INDEX + </h5> + <p> + Different Spirit in the Holy Office and the Company of Jesus—Both + needed by the Counter-Reformation—Heresy in the Early Church—First + Origins of the Inquisition in 1203—S. Dominic—The Holy + Office becomes a Dominican Institution—Recognized by the Empire—Its + early Organization—The Spanish Inquisition—Founded in 1484—How + it differed from the earlier Apostolical Inquisition—Jews, Moors, + New Christians—Organization and History of the Holy Office in + Spain—Torquemada and his Successors—The Spanish Inquisition + never introduced into Italy—How the Roman Inquisition organized by + Caraffa differed from it—<i>Autos da fé</i> in Rome—Proscription + of suspected Lutherans—The Calabrian Waldenses—Protestants + at Locarno and Venice—Digression on the Venetian Holy Office—Persecution + of Free Thought in Literature—Growth of the Index Librorum + Prohibitorum—Sanction given to it by the Council of Trent—The + Roman Congregation of the Index—Final Form of the Censorship of + Books under Clement VIII.—Analysis of its Regulations—Proscription + of Heretical Books—Correction of Texts—Purgation and + Castration—Inquisitorial and Episcopal Licenses—Working of + the System of this Censorship in Italy—Its long Delays—Hostility + to Sound Learning—Ignorance of the Censors—Interference with + Scholars in their Work—Terrorism of Booksellers—Vatican + Scheme for the Restoration of Christian Erudition—Frustrated by + the Tyranny of the Index—Dishonesty of the Vatican Scholars—Biblical + Studies rendered nugatory by the Tridentine Decree on the Vulgate—Decline + of Learning in Universities—Miserable Servitude of Professors—Greek + dies out—Muretus and Manutius in Rome—The Index and its + Treatment of Political Works—Machiavelli—<i>Ratio Status</i>—Encouragement + of Literature on Papal Absolutism—Sarpi's Attitude—Comparative + Indifference of Rome to Books of Obscene or Immoral Tendency—Bandello + and Boccaccio—Papal Attempts to control Intercourse of Italians + with Heretics + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER IV + </h4> + <h5> + THE COMPANY OF JESUS + </h5> + <p> + Vast Importance of the Jesuits in the Counter-Reformation—Ignatius + Loyola—His Youth—Retreat at Manresa—Journey to + Jerusalem—Studies in Spain and Paris—First Formation of his + Order at Sainte Barbe—Sojourn at Venice—Settlement at Rome—Papal + Recognition of the Order—Its Military Character—Absolutism + of the General—Devotion to the Roman Church—Choice of + Members—Practical and Positive Aims of the Founder—Exclusion + of the Ascetic, Acceptance of the Worldly Spirit—Review of the + Order's Rapid Extension over Europe—Loyola's Dealings with his + Chief Lieutenants—Propaganda—The Virtue of Obedience—The + <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>—Materialistic Imagination—Intensity + and Superficiality of Religious Training—The Status of the Novice—Temporal + Coadjutors—Scholastics—Professed of the Three Vows—Professed + of the Four Vows—The General—Control exercised over him by + his Assistants—His Relation to the General Congregation—Espionage + a Part of the Jesuit System—Advantageous Position of a Contented + Jesuit—The Vow of Poverty—Houses of the Professed and + Colleges—The Constitutions and Declarations—Problem of the + <i>Monita Secreta</i>—Reciprocal Relations of Rome and the Company—Characteristics + of Jesuit Education—Direction of Consciences—Moral Laxity—Sarpi's + Critique—Casuistry—Interference in Affairs of State—Instigation + to Regicide and Political Conspiracy—Theories of Church Supremacy—Insurgence + of the European Nations against the Company + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER V + </h4> + <h5> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS I PART I + </h5> + <p> + How did the Catholic Revival affect Italian Society?—Difficulty of + Answering this Question—Frequency of Private Crimes of Violence—Homicides + and Bandits—Savage Criminal Justice—Paid Assassins—Toleration + of Outlaws—Honorable Murder—Example of the Lucchese Army—State + of the Convents—The History of Virginia de Leyva—Lucrezia + Buonvisi—The True Tale of the Cenci—The Brothers of the + House of Massimo—Vittoria Accoramboni—The Duchess of + Palliano—Wife-Murders—The Family of Medici + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER VI + </h4> + <h5> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS: PART II + </h5> + <p> + Tales illustrative of Bravi and Banditti—Cecco Bibboni—Ambrogio + Tremazzi—Lodovico dall'Armi—Brigandage—Piracy—Plagues—The + Plagues of Milan, Venice, Piedmont—Persecution of the Untori—Moral + State of the Proletariate—Witchcraft—Its Italian Features—History + of Giacomo Centini + </p> + </div> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + </h2> + <div class="blockquot"> + <h4> + CHAPTER VII + </h4> + <h5> + TORQUATO TASSO + </h5> + <p> + Tasso's Relation to his Age—Balbi on that Period—The Life of + Bernardo Tasso—Torquato's Boyhood—Sorrento, Naples, Rome, + Urbino—His first Glimpse of the Court—Student Life at Padua + and Bologna—The <i>Rinaldo</i>—Dialogues on Epic Poetry—Enters + the Service of Cardinal d'Este—The Court of Ferrara—Alfonso + II. and the Princesses—Problem of Tasso's Love—Goes to + France with Cardinal d'Este—Enters the Service of Duke Alfonso—The + <i>Aminta</i>—Tasso at Urbino—Return to Ferrara—Revision + of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—Jealousies at Court—Tasso's Sense + of His own Importance—Plans a Change from Ferrara to Florence—First + Symptoms of Mental Disorder—Persecutions of the Ferrarese + Courtiers—Tasso confined as a Semi-madman—Goes with Duke + Alfonso to Belriguardo—Flies in Disguise from Ferrara to Sorrento—Returns + to Court Life at Ferrara—Problem of his Madness—Flies again—Mantua, + Venice, Urbino, Turin—Returns once more to Ferrara—Alfonso's + Third Marriage—Tasso's Discontent—Imprisoned for Seven Years + in the Madhouse of S. Anna—Character of Tasso—Character of + Duke Alfonso—Nature of the Poet's Malady—His Course of Life + in Prison—Released at the Intercession of Vincenzo Gonzaga—Goes + to Mantua—The <i>Torrismondo</i>—An Odyssey of Nine Years—Death + at Sant Onofrio in Rome—Constantini's Sonnet + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER VIII + </h4> + <h5> + THE "GERUSALEMME LIBERATA" + </h5> + <p> + Problem of Creating Heroic Poetry—The Preface to Tasso's <i>Rinaldo</i>—Subject + of <i>Rinaldo</i>—Blending of Romantic Motives with Heroic Style—Imitation + of Virgil—Melody and Sentiment—Choice of Theme for the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—It + becomes a Romantic Poem after all—Tancredi the real Hero—Nobility + of Tone—Virgilian Imitation—Borrowings from Dante—Involved + Diction—Employment of Sonorous Polysyllabic Words—Quality of + Religious Emotion in this Poem—Rhetoric—Similes—The + Grand Style of Pathos—Verbal Music—The Chant d'Amour—Armida—Tasso's + Favorite Phrase, <i>Un non so che</i>—His Power over Melody and + Tender Feeling—Critique of Tasso's Later Poems—General + Survey of his Character + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER IX + </h4> + <h5> + GIORDANO BRUNO + </h5> + <p> + Scientific Bias of the Italians checked by Catholic Revival—Boyhood + of Bruno—Enters Order of S. Dominic at Naples—Early + Accusations of Heresy—Escapes to Rome—Teaches the Sphere at + Noli—Visits Venice—At Geneva—At Toulouse—At + Paris—His Intercourse with Henri III.—Visits England—The + French Ambassador in London—Oxford—Bruno's Literary Work in + England—Returns to Paris—Journeys into Germany—Wittenberg, + Helmstädt, Frankfort—Invitation to Venice from Giovanni + Mocenigo—His Life in Venice—Mocenigo denounces him to the + Inquisition—His Trial at Venice—Removal to Rome—Death + by Burning in 1600—Bruno's Relation to the Thought of his Age and + to the Thought of Modern Europe—Outlines of his Philosophy + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER X + </h4> + <h5> + FRA PAOLO SARPI + </h5> + <p> + Sarpi's Position in the History of Venice—Parents and Boyhood—Entrance + into the Order of the Servites—His Personal Qualities—Achievements + as a Scholar and a Man of Science—His Life among the Servites—In + Bad Odor at Rome—Paul V. places Venice under Interdict—Sarpi + elected Theologian and Counselor of the Republic—His Polemical + Writings—Views on Church and State—The Interdict Removed—Roman + Vengeance—Sarpi attacked by Bravi—His Wounds, Illness, + Recovery—Subsequent History of the Assassins—Further + Attempts on Sarpi's Life—Sarpi's Political and Historical Works—History + of the Council of Trent—Sarpi's Attitude towards Protestantism His + Judgment of the Jesuits—Sarpi's Death—The Christian Stoic + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER XI + </h4> + <h5> + GUARINI, MARINO, CHIABRERA, TASSONI + </h5> + <p> + Dearth of Great Men—Guarini a Link between Tasso and the + Seventeenth Century—His Biography—The <i>Pastor Fido</i>—Qualities + of Guarini as Poet—Marino the Dictator of Letters—His + Riotous Youth at Naples—Life at Rome, Turin, Paris—Publishes + the <i>Adone</i>—The Epic of Voluptuousness—Character and + Action of Adonis—Marino's Hypocrisy—Sentimental Sweetness—Brutal + Violence—Violation of Artistic Taste—Great Powers of the + Poet—Structure of the <i>Adone</i>—Musical Fluency—Marinism—Marino's + Patriotic Verses—Contrast between Chiabrera and Marino—An + Aspirant after Pindar—Chiabrera's Biography—His Court Life—Efforts + of Poets in the Seventeenth Century to attain to Novelty—Chiabrera's + Failure—Tassoni's Life—His Thirst to Innovate—Origin + of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>—Mock-Heroic Poetiy—The Plot of + this Poem—Its Peculiar Humor—Irony and Satire—Novelty + of the Species—Lyrical Interbreathings—Sustained Contrast of + Parody and Pathos—The Poet Testi + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER XII + </h4> + <h5> + PALESTRINA AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN MUSIC + </h5> + <p> + Italy in Renaissance produces no National School of Music—Flemish + Composers in Rome—Singers and Orchestra—The Chaotic, + Indecency of this Contrapuntal Style—Palestrina's Birth and Early + History—Decrees of the Tridentine Council upon Church Music—The + Mass of Pope Marcello—Palestrina Satisfies the Cardinals with his + New Style of Sacred Music—Pius IV. and his Partiality for Music—Palestrina + and Filippo Neri—His Motetts—The Song of Solomon set to + Melody—Palestrina, the Saviour of Music—The Founder of the + Modern Style—Florentine Essays in the Oratorio + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER XIII + </h4> + <h5> + THE BOLOGNESE SCHOOL OF PAINTERS + </h5> + <p> + Decline of Plastic Art—Dates of the Eclectic Masters—The + Mannerists—Baroccio—Reaction started by Lodovico Caracci—His + Cousins Annibale and Agostino—Their Studies—Their Academy at + Bologna—Their Artistic Aims—Dionysius Calvaert—Guido + Reni—The Man and his Art—Domenichino—Ruskin's + Criticism—Relation of Domenichino to the Piety of his Age—Caravaggio + and the Realists—Ribera—Lo Spagna—Guercino—His + Qualities as Colorist—His Terribleness—Private Life—Digression + upon Criticism—Reasons why the Bolognese Painters, are justly now + Neglected + </p> + <h4> + CHAPTER XIV + </h4> + <h5> + CONCLUSION + </h5> + <p> + The Main Events of European History—Italy in the Renaissance—Germany + and Reformation—Catholic Reaction—Its Antagonism to + Renaissance and Reformation—Profound Identity of Renaissance and + Reformation—Place of Italy in European Civilization—Want of + Sympathy between Latin and Teutonic Races—Relation of Rome to + Italy—Macaulay on the Roman Church—On Protestantism—Early + Decline of Renaissance Enthusiasms—Italy's Present and Future + </p> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p> + <a name="vol_i" id="vol_i"> </a> + </p> + <h1> + RENAISSANCE IN ITALY + </h1> + <h2> + <i>THE CATHOLIC REACTION</i> + </h2> + <h3> + In Two Parts + </h3> + <h3> + BY + </h3> + <h2> + JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS + </h2> + <hr style="width: 25%;" /> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>'Deh! per Dio, donna,<br /> </span> <span>Se romper si potria + quelle grandi ale?<br /> </span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <br /> <span>Tu piangi e taci; e questo meglio parmi'<br /> </span><br /> + <span>SAVONAROLA: <i>De Ruina Ecclesia</i><br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + PART I + </h2> + <h3> + NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1887 <i>AUTHOR'S EDITION</i> + </h3> + <div class="center"> + <a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CONTENTS_OF_THE_FIRST_VOLUME"><b>CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER_I</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER + II</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER + V</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><br /> <a + href="#FOOTNOTES"><b>FOOTNOTES</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CONTENTS_OF_THE_SECOND_VOLUME"><b>CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME</b></a><br /> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + At the end of the second volume of my 'Renaissance in Italy' I indulged + the hope that I might live to describe the phase of culture which closed + that brilliant epoch. It was in truth demanded that a work pretending to + display the manifold activity of the Italian genius during the 15th + century and the first quarter of the 16th, should also deal with the + causes which interrupted its further development upon the same lines. + </p> + <p> + This study, forming a logically-necessitated supplement to the five former + volumes of 'Renaissance in Italy,' I have been permitted to complete. The + results are now offered to the public in these two parts. + </p> + <p> + So far as it was possible, I have conducted my treatment of the Catholic + Revival on a method analogous to that adopted for the Renaissance. I found + it, however, needful to enter more minutely into details regarding facts + and institutions connected with the main theme of national culture. + </p> + <p> + The Catholic Revival was by its nature reactionary. In order to explain + its influences, I have been compelled to analyze the position of Spain in + the Italian peninsula, the conduct of the Tridentine Council, the specific + organization of the Holy Office and the Company of Jesus, and the state of + society upon which those forces were brought to bear. + </p> + <p> + In the list of books which follows these prefatory remarks, I have + indicated the most important of the sources used by me. Special references + will be made in their proper places to works of a subordinate value for + the purposes of my inquiry. + </p> + <p> + DAVOS PLATZ: <i>July</i> 1886. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p> + <i>WORKS COMMONLY REFERRED TO IN THE TWO SUCCEEDING VOLUMES OF THIS BOOK</i> + </p> + <p> + SISMONDI.—Histoire des Republiques Italiennes du Moyen Age.<br /> + RANKE.—History of the Popes. 3 vols. English edition: Bohn.<br /> + CREIGHTON.—History of the Papacy during the Reformation. 2<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">vols. Macmillan.</span><br /> BOTTA.—Storia + d'Italia. Continuata da quella del Guicciardini<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1.5em;">sino al 1789.</span><br /> FERRARI.—Rivoluzioni + d'Italia. 3 vols.<br /> QUINET.—Les Revolutions d'Italie.<br /> + GALLUZZI.—Storia del Granducato di Toscana.<br /> PALLAVICINI.—Storia + del Concilio Tridentino.<br /> SARPI.—Storia del Concilio. Vols. 1 + and 2 of Sarpi's Opere.<br /> DENNISTOUN'S Dukes of Urbino. 3 vols.<br /> + ALBERI.—Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti.<br /> MUTINELLI.—Storia + Arcana ed Aneddotica d'Italia. Raccontata<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1.5em;">dai Veneti Ambasciatori. 4 vols. Venice. 1858.</span><br /> + MUTINELLI.—Annali Urbani di Venezia.<br /> LITTA.—Famiglie + Celebri Italiane.<br /> PHIUPPSON.—La Contre-Révolution + Religieuse au XVIme Siècle<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Bruxelles. + 1884.</span><br /> DEJOB.—De l'Influence du Concile de Trente. Paris. + 1884.<br /> GIORDANI.—Delia Venuta e Dimora in Bologna del Sommo + Pontefice<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Clemente VII. per la + Coronazione di Carlo V., Imperatore. Bologna. 1832.</span><br /> BALBI.—Sommario + della Storia d'Italia.<br /> CANTÙ.—Gli Eretici d'Italia. 3 + vols. Torino. 1866.<br /> LLORENTE.—Histoire Critique de + I'Inquisition d'Espagne. 4 vols.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Paris. + 1818.</span><br /> LAVALLÉE.—Histoire des Inquisitions + Religieuses. 2 vols. Paris.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">1808.</span><br /> + MCCRIE.—History of the Reformation in Italy. Edinburgh. 1827.<br /> + TIRABOSCHI.—Storia della Letteratura Italiana.<br /> DE SANCTIS.—Storia + della Letteratura Italiana. 2 vols.<br /> SETTEMBRINI.—Storia della + Letteratura Italiana. 3 vols.<br /> CANTÙ.—Storia della + Letteratura Italiana. Decreta, etc.,<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Societatis + Jesu. Avignon. 1827.</span><br /> CANTÙ.—Storia della Diocesi + di Como. 2 vols.<br /> DANDOLO.—La Signora di Monza e le Streghe del + Tirolo. Milano.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">1855.</span><br /> + BONGHI.—Storia di Lucrezia Buonvisi. Lucca. 1864.<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Archivio Storico Italiano.</span><br /> BANDI + LUCCHESI.—Bologna: Romagnoli. 1863.<br /> BERTOLOTTI.—Francesco + Cenci e la sua Famiglia. Firenze. 1877.<br /> GNOLI.—Vittoria + Accoramboni. Firenze: Le Monnier. 1870.<br /> DAELLI.—Lorenzino + de'Medici. Milano. 1862.<br /> DE STENDHAL.—Chroniques et Nouvelles. + Paris. 1855.<br /> GIORDANO BRUNO.—Opere Italiane (Wagner). 2 vols. + Leipzig. 1830.<br /> JORDANUS BRUNUS.—Opera Latina. 2 vols. Neapoli. + 1879.<br /> BRUNO.—Scripta Latina (Gförer). Stuttgart. 1836.<br /> + BERTI.—Vita di Giordano Bruno. Firenze, Torino, Milano. 1868.<br /> + BRUNNHOFER.—Giordano Bruno's Weltanschauung und Verhangniss.<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Leipzig. 1882.</span><br /> PAOLO SARPI.—Opere. + 6 vols. Helmstat. 1765.<br /> FRA FULGENZIO MICANZI—Vita del Sarpi.<br /> + BIANCHI GIOVINI.—Biografia di Fra Paolo Sarpi. 2 vols. Bruxelles. + 1836.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Lettere di Fra Paolo Sarpi. 2 + vols. Firenze. 1863.</span><br /> CAMPBELL.—Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi. + London: Molini and Green. 1869<br /> DEJOB.—Marc-Antoine Muret. + Paris: Thorin. 1881.<br /> CHRISTIE.—Etienne Dolet. London: + Macmillan. 1880.<br /> RENOUARD.—Imprimerie des Aides.<br /> TORQUATO + TASSO.—Opere. Ed. Rosini. 33 vols. Pisa. 1822<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1.5em;">and on.</span><br /> + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p> + <i>WORKS REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK</i> + </p> + <p> + TASSO.—Le Lettere. Ed. Guasti. 5 vols. Firenze. 1855.<br /> CECCHI.—T. + Tasso e la Vita Italiana. Firenze. 1877.<br /> CECCHI.—T. Tasso. Il + Pensiero e le Belle Lettere, etc. Firenze. 1877.<br /> D'OVIDIO.—Saggi + Critici. Napoli. 1878.<br /> MANSO.—Vita di T. Tasso, in Rosini's + edition, vol. 33.<br /> ROSINI.—Saggio sugli Amori di T. Tasso, in + edition cited<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">above, vol. 33.</span><br /> + GUARINI.—Il Pastor Fido. Ed. Casella. Firenze: Barbèra. 1866.<br /> + MARINO.—Adone, etc. Napoli. 1861.<br /> CHIABRERA.—Ed. + Polidori. Firenze: Barbèra. 1865.<br /> TASSONI.—La Secchia + Rapita. Ed. Carducci. Firenze: Barbèra 1861.<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Il Parnaso Italiano.</span><br /> BAINI.—Vita + di G. P. L. Palestrina.<br /> FELSINA PITTRICE.—2 vols. Bologna. + 1841.<br /> LANZI.—History of Painting in Italy. English Edition.<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">London. Bohn. Vol. 3.</span><br /> + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CONTENTS_OF_THE_FIRST_VOLUME" id="CONTENTS_OF_THE_FIRST_VOLUME"></a>CONTENTS + OF THE FIRST VOLUME + </h2> + <div class="blockquot"> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE SPANISH HEGEMONY + </h5> + <p> + Italy in the Renaissance—The Five Great Powers—The Kingdom + of Naples—The Papacy—The Duchy of Milan—Venice—The + Florentine Republic—Wars of Invasion closed by the Sack of Rome in + 1527—Concordat between Clement VII. and Charles V.—Treaty of + Barcelona and Paix des Dames—Charles lands at Genoa—His + Journey to Bologna—Entrance into Bologna and Reception by Clement—Mustering + of Italian Princes—Franceso Sforza replaced in the Duchy of Milan—Venetian + Embassy—Italian League signed on Christmas Eve 1529—Florence + alone excluded—The Siege of Florence pressed by the Prince of + Orange—Charles's Coronation as King of Italy and Holy Roman + Emperor—The Significance of this Ceremony at Bologna—Ceremony + in S. Petronio—Settlement of the Duchy of Ferrara—Men of + Letters and Arts at Bologna—The Emperor's Use of the Spanish Habit—Charles + and Clement leave Bologna in March 1530—Review of the Settlement + of Italy affected by Emperor and Pope—Extinction of Republics—Subsequent + Absorption of Ferrara and Urbino into the Papal States—Savoy + becomes an Italian Power—Period between Charles's Coronation and + the Peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559—Economical and Social + Condition of the Italians under Spanish Hegemony—The Nation still + exists in Separate Communities—Intellectual Conditions—Predominance + of Spain and Rome—Both Cosmopolitan Powers—Leveling down of + the Component Portions of the Nation in a Common Servitude—The + Evils of Spanish Rule + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE PAPACY AND THE TRIDENTINE COUNCIL + </h5> + <p> + The Counter-Reformation—Its Intellectual and Moral Character—Causes + of the Gradual Extinction of Renaissance Energy—Transition from + the Renaissance to the Catholic Revival—New Religious Spirit in + Italy—Attitude of Italians toward German Reformation—Oratory + of Divine Love—Gasparo Contarini and the Moderate Reformers—New + Religious Orders—Paul III.—His early History and Education—Political + Attitude between France and Spain—Creation of the Duchy of Parma—Imminence + of a General Council—Review of previous Councils—Paul's + Uneasiness—Opens a Council at Trent in 1542—Protestants + virtually excluded, and Catholic Dogmas confirmed in the first Sessions—Death + of Paul in 1549—Julius III.—Paul IV.—Character and + Ruling Passions of G. P. Caraffa—His Futile Opposition to Spain—Tyranny + of His Nephews—Their Downfall—Paul devotes himself to Church + Reform and the Inquisition—Pius IV.—His Minister Morone—Diplomatic + Temper of this Pope—His Management of the Council—Assistance + rendered by his Nephew Carlo Borromeo—Alarming State of Northern + Europe—The Council reopened at Trent in 1562—Subsequent + History of the Council—It closes with a complete Papal Triumph in + 1563—Place of Pius IV. in History—Pius V.—The + Inquisitor Pope—Population of Rome—Social Corruption—Sale + of Offices and Justice—Tridentine Reforms depress Wealth—Ascetic + Purity of Manners becomes fashionable—Catholic Reaction generates + the Counter-Reformation—Battle of Lepanto—Gregory XIII.—His + Relatives—Policy of enriching the Church at Expense of the Barons—Brigandage + in States of the Church—Sixtus V.—His Stern Justice—Rigid + Economy—Great Public Works—Taxation—The City of Rome + assumes its present form—Nepotism in the Counter-Reformation + Period—Various Estimates of the Wealth accumulated by Papal + Nephews—Rise of Princely Roman Families + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE INQUISITION AND THE INDEX + </h5> + <p> + Different Spirit in the Holy Office and the Company of Jesus—Both + needed by the Counter-Reformation—Heresy in the Early Church—First + Origins of the Inquisition in 1203—S. Dominic—The Holy + Office becomes a Dominican Institution—Recognized by the Empire—Its + early Organization—The Spanish Inquisition—Founded in 1484—How + it differed from the earlier Apostolical Inquisition—Jews, Moors, + New Christians—Organization and History of the Holy Office in + Spain—Torquemada and his Successors—The Spanish Inquisition + never introduced into Italy—How the Roman Inquisition organized by + Caraffa differed from it—<i>Autos da fé</i> in Rome—Proscription + of suspected Lutherans—The Calabrian Waldenses—Protestants + at Locarno and Venice—Digression on the Venetian Holy Office—Persecution + of Free Thought in Literature—Growth of the Index Librorum + Prohibitorum—Sanction given to it by the Council of Trent—The + Roman Congregation of the Index—Final Form of the Censorship of + Books under Clement VIII.—Analysis of its Regulations—Proscription + of Heretical Books—Correction of Texts—Purgation and + Castration—Inquisitorial and Episcopal Licenses—Working of + the System of this Censorship in Italy—Its long Delays—Hostility + to Sound Learning—Ignorance of the Censors—Interference with + Scholars in their Work—Terrorism of Booksellers—Vatican + Scheme for the Restoration of Christian Erudition—Frustrated by + the Tyranny of the Index—Dishonesty of the Vatican Scholars—Biblical + Studies rendered nugatory by the Tridentine Decree on the Vulgate—Decline + of Learning in Universities—Miserable Servitude of Professors—Greek + dies out—Muretus and Manutius in Rome—The Index and its + Treatment of Political Works—Machiavelli—<i>Ratio Status</i>—Encouragement + of Literature on Papal Absolutism—Sarpi's Attitude—Comparative + Indifference of Rome to Books of Obscene or Immoral Tendency—Bandello + and Boccaccio—Papal Attempts to control Intercourse of Italians + with Heretics + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE COMPANY OF JESUS + </h5> + <p> + Vast Importance of the Jesuits in the Counter-Reformation—Ignatius + Loyola—His Youth—Retreat at Manresa—Journey to + Jerusalem—Studies in Spain and Paris—First Formation of his + Order at Sainte Barbe—Sojourn at Venice—Settlement at Rome—Papal + Recognition of the Order—Its Military Character—Absolutism + of the General—Devotion to the Roman Church—Choice of + Members—Practical and Positive Aims of the Founder—Exclusion + of the Ascetic, Acceptance of the Worldly Spirit—Review of the + Order's Rapid Extension over Europe—Loyola's Dealings with his + Chief Lieutenants—Propaganda—The Virtue of Obedience—The + <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>—Materialistic Imagination—Intensity + and Superficiality of Religious Training—The Status of the Novice—Temporal + Coadjutors—Scholastics—Professed of the Three Vows—Professed + of the Four Vows—The General—Control exercised over him by + his Assistants—His Relation to the General Congregation—Espionage + a Part of the Jesuit System—Advantageous Position of a Contented + Jesuit—The Vow of Poverty—Houses of the Professed and + Colleges—The Constitutions and Declarations—Problem of the + <i>Monita Secreta</i>—Reciprocal Relations of Rome and the Company—Characteristics + of Jesuit Education—Direction of Consciences—Moral Laxity—Sarpi's + Critique—Casuistry—Interference in Affairs of State—Instigation + to Regicide and Political Conspiracy—Theories of Church Supremacy—Insurgence + of the European Nations against the Company + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a> + </h4> + <h5> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS I PART I + </h5> + <p> + How did the Catholic Revival affect Italian Society?—Difficulty of + Answering this Question—Frequency of Private Crimes of Violence—Homicides + and Bandits—Savage Criminal Justice—Paid Assassins—Toleration + of Outlaws—Honorable Murder—Example of the Lucchese Army—State + of the Convents—The History of Virginia de Leyva—Lucrezia + Buonvisi—The True Tale of the Cenci—The Brothers of the + House of Massimo—Vittoria Accoramboni—The Duchess of + Palliano—Wife-Murders—The Family of Medici + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a> + </h4> + <h5> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS: PART II + </h5> + <p> + Tales illustrative of Bravi and Banditti—Cecco Bibboni—Ambrogio + Tremazzi—Lodovico dall'Armi—Brigandage—Piracy—Plagues—The + Plagues of Milan, Venice, Piedmont—Persecution of the Untori—Moral + State of the Proletariate—Witchcraft—Its Italian Features—History + of Giacomo Centini + </p> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h1> + RENAISSANCE IN ITALY + </h1> + <h2> + <i>THE CATHOLIC REACTION</i> + </h2> + <h2> + PART I + </h2> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA1" id="pageA1"></a>{1}</span> + </p> + <h4> + THE SPANISH HEGEMONY + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Italy in the Renaissance—The Five Great Powers—The Kingdom + of Naples—The Papacy—The Duchy of Milan—Venice—The + Florentine Republic—Wars of Invasion closed by the Sack of Rome in + 1527—Concordat between Clement VII. and Charles V.—Treaty of + Barcelona and Paix des Dames—Charles lands at Genoa—His + Journey to Bologna—Entrance into Bologna and Reception by Clement—Mustering + of Italian Princes—Francesco Sforza replaced in the Duchy of Milan—Venetian + Embassy—Italian League signed on Christmas Eve, 1529—Florence + alone excluded—The Siege of Florence pressed by the Prince of + Orange—Charles's Coronation as King of Italy and Holy Roman + Emperor—The Significance of this Ceremony at Bologna—Ceremony + in S. Petronio—Settlement of the Duchy of Ferrara—Men of + Letters and Arts at Bologna—The Emperor's Use of the Spanish Habit—Charles + and Clement leave Bologna in March, 1530—Review of the Settlement + of Italy effected by Emperor and Pope—Extinction of Republics—Subsequent + Absorption of Ferrara and Urbino into the Papal States—Savoy + becomes an Italian Power—Period between Charles's Coronation and + the Peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559—Economical and Social + Condition of the Italians under Spanish Hegemony—The Nation still + Exists in Separate Communities—Intellectual Conditions—Predominance + of Spain and Rome—Both Cosmopolitan Powers—Leveling down of + the Component Portions of the Nation in a Common Servitude—The + Evils of Spanish Rule. + </p> + </div> + <p> + In the first volume of my book on <i>Renaissance in Italy</i> I attempted + to set forth the political and social <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA2" id="pageA2"></a>{2}</span> phases through which the Italians + passed before their principal States fell into the hands of despots, and + to explain the conditions of mutual jealousy and military feebleness which + exposed those States to the assaults of foreign armies at the close of the + fifteenth century. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1494, when Charles VIII. of France, at Lodovico Sforza's + invitation, crossed the Alps to make good his claim on Naples, the + peninsula was Independent. Internal peace had prevailed for a period of + nearly fifty years. An equilibrium had been established between the five + great native Powers, which secured the advantages of confederation and + diplomatic interaction. + </p> + <p> + While using the word confederation, I do not, of course, imply that + anything similar to the federal union of Switzerland or of North America + existed in Italy. The contrary is proved by patent facts. On a miniature + scale, Italy then displayed political conditions analogous to those which + now prevail in Europe. The parcels of the nation adopted different forms + of self-government, sought divers foreign alliances, and owed no + allegiance to any central legislative or administrative body. I therefore + speak of the Italian confederation only in the same sense as Europe may + now be called a confederation of kindred races. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1630, when Charles V. (of Austria and Spain) was crowned + Emperor at Bologna, this national independence had been irretrievably lost + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA3" id="pageA3"></a>{3}</span> by the + Italians. This confederation of evenly-balanced Powers was now exchanged + for servitude beneath a foreign monarchy, and for subjection to a + cosmopolitan elective priesthood. + </p> + <p> + The history of social, intellectual, and moral conditions in Italy during + the seventy years of the sixteenth century which followed Charles's + coronation at Bologna, forms the subject of this work; but before entering + upon these topics it will be well to devote one chapter to considering + with due brevity the partition of Italy into five States in 1494, the + dislocation of this order by the wars between Spain and France for + supremacy, the position in which the same States found themselves + respectively at the termination of those wars in 1527, and the new + settlement of the peninsula effected by Charles V. in 1529-30. + </p> + <p> + The five members of the Italian federation in 1494 were the kingdom of + Naples, the Papacy, the Duchy of Milan, and the Republics of Venice and + Florence. Round them, in various relations of amity or hostility, were + grouped these minor Powers: the Republics of Genoa, Lucca, Siena; the + Duchy of Ferrara, including Modena and Reggio; the Marquisates of Mantua + and Montferrat; and the Duchy of Urbino. For our immediate purpose it is + not worth taking separate account of the Republic of Pisa, which was + practically though not thoroughly enslaved by Florence; or of the despots + in the cities of Romagna, the March.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA4" + id="pageA4"></a>{4}</span> Umbria, and the Patrimony of S. Peter, who were + being gradually absorbed into the Papal sovereignty. Nor need we at + present notice Savoy, Piemonte, and Saluzzo. Although these north-western + provinces were all-important through the period of Franco-Spanish wars, + inasmuch as they opened the gate of Italy to French armies, and supplied + those armies with a base for military operations, the Duchy of Savoy had + not yet become an exclusively Italian Power. + </p> + <p> + The kingdom of Naples, on the death of Alfonso the Magnanimous in 1458, + had been separated from Sicily, and passed by testamentary appointment to + his natural son Ferdinand. The bastard Aragonese dynasty was Italian in + its tastes and interests, though unpopular both with the barons of the + realm and with the people, who in their restlessness were ready to welcome + any foreign deliverer from its oppressive yoke. This state of general + discontent rendered the revival of the old Angevine party, and their + resort to French aid, a source of peril to the monarchy. It also served as + a convenient fulcrum for the ambitious schemes of conquest which the + princes of the House of Aragon in Spain began to entertain. In territorial + extent the kingdom of Naples was the most considerable parcel of the + Italian community. It embraced the whole of Calabria, Apulia, the Abruzzi, + and the Terra di Lavoro; marching on its northern boundary with the Papal + States, and having no other neighbors.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA5" id="pageA5"></a>{5}</span> But though so large and so + compact a State, the semifeudal system of government which had obtained in + Naples since the first conquest of the country by the Normans, the nature + of its population, and the savage dynastic wars to which it had been + constantly exposed, rendered it more backward in civilization than the + northern and central provinces. + </p> + <p> + The Papacy, after the ending of the schism and the settlement of Nicholas + V. at Rome in 1447, gradually tended to become an Italian sovereignty. + During the residence of the Popes at Avignon, and the weakness of the + Papal See which followed in the period of the Councils (Pisa, Constance, + and Basel), it had lost its hold not only on the immediate neighborhood of + Rome, but also on its outlying possessions in Umbria, the Marches of + Ancona, and the Exarchate of Ravenna. The great Houses of Colonna and + Orsini asserted independence in their principalities. Bologna and Perugia + pretended to republican government under the shadow of noble families; + Bentivogli, Bracci, Baglioni. Imola, Faenza, Forlì, Rimíni, + Pesaro, Urbino, Camerino, Città di Castello, obeyed the rule of + tyrants, who were practically lords of these cities though they bore the + titles of Papal vicars, and who maintained themselves in wealth and power + by exercising the profession of <i>condottieri</i>. It was the chief + object of the Popes, after they were freed from the pressing perils of + General Councils, and were once more settled in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA6" id="pageA6"></a>{6}</span> their capital and recognized as + sovereigns by the European Powers, to subdue their vassals and consolidate + their provinces into a homogeneous kingdom. This plan was conceived and + carried out by a succession of vigorous and unscrupulous Pontiffs—Sixtus + IV., Alexander VI., Julius II., and Leo X.—throughout the period of + distracting foreign wars which agitated Italy. They followed for the most + part one line of policy, which was to place the wealth and authority of + the Holy See at the disposal of their relatives, Riarios, Delia Roveres, + Borgias, and Medici. Their military delegates, among whom the most + efficient captain was the terrible Cesare Borgia, had full power to crush + the liberties of cities, exterminate the dynasties of despots, and reduce + refractory districts to the Papal sway. For these services they were + rewarded with ducal and princely titles, with the administration of their + conquests, and with the investiture of fiefs as vassals of the Church. The + system had its obvious disadvantages. It tended to indecent nepotism; and + as Pope succeeded Pope at intervals of a few years, each bent on + aggrandizing his own family at the expense of those of his predecessors + and the Church, the ecclesiastical States were kept in a continual ferment + of expropriation and internal revolution. Yet it is difficult to conceive + how a spiritual Power like the Papacy could have solved the problem set + before it of becoming a substantial secular sovereignty, without recourse + to this ruinous method. The Pope, a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA7" + id="pageA7"></a>{7}</span> lonely man upon an ill-established throne, + surrounded by rivals whom his elevation had disappointed, was compelled to + rely on the strong arm of adventurers with whose interests his own were + indissolubly connected. The profits of all these schemes of egotistical + rapacity eventually accrued, not to the relatives of the Pontiffs; none of + whom, except the Delia Roveres in Urbino, founded a permanent dynasty at + this period; but to the Holy See. Julius II., for example, on his election + in 1503, entered into possession of all that Cesare Borgia had attempted + to grasp for his own use. He found the Orsini and Colonna humbled, Romagna + reduced to submission; and he carried on the policy of conquest by + trampling out the liberties of Bologna and Perugia, recovering the cities + held by Venice on the coast of Ravenna, and extending his sway over + Emilia. The martial energy of Julius added Parma and Piacenza to the + States of the Church, and detached Modena and Reggio from the Duchy of + Ferrara. These new cities were gained by force; but Julius pretended that + they formed part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, which had been granted to + his predecessors by Pepin and Charles the Great. He pursued the Papal line + of conquest in a nobler spirit than his predecessors, not seeking to + advance his relatives so much as to reinstate the Church in her dominions. + But he was reckless in the means employed to secure this object. Italy was + devastated by wars stirred up, and by foreign armies introduced, in order + that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA8" id="pageA8"></a>{8}</span> + Pope might win a point in the great game of ecclesiastical aggrandizement. + That his successor, Leo X., reverted to the former plan of carving + principalities for his relatives out of the possessions of their neighbors + and the Church, may be counted among the most important causes of the + final ruin of Italian independence. + </p> + <p> + Of the Duchy of Milan it is not necessary to speak at any great length, + although the wars between France and Spain were chiefly carried on for its + possession. It had been formed into a compact domain, of comparatively + small extent, but of vast commercial and agricultural resources, by the + two dynasties of Visconti and Sforza. In 1494 Lodovico Sforza, surnamed Il + Moro, ruled Milan for his nephew, the titular Duke, whom he kept in gilded + captivity, and whom he eventually murdered. In order to secure his usurped + authority, this would-be Machiavelli thought it prudent to invite Charles + VIII. into Italy. Charles was to assert his right to the throne of Naples. + Lodovico was to be established in the Duchy of Milan. All his subsequent + troubles arose from this transaction. Charles came, conquered, and + returned to France, disturbing the political equilibrium of the Italian + States, and founding a disastrous precedent for future foreign + interference. His successor in the French kingdom, Louis XII., believed he + had a title to the Duchy of Milan through his grandmother Valentina, + daughter of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. The claim was not a <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA9" id="pageA9"></a>{9}</span> legal one; for + in the investiture of the Duchy females were excluded. It sufficed, + however, to inflame the cupidity of Louis; and while he was still but Duke + of Orleans, with no sure prospect of inheriting the crown of France, he + seems to have indulged the fancy of annexing Milan. No sooner had he + ascended the French throne than he began to act upon this ambition. He + descended into Lombardy, overran the Milanese, sent Lodovico Sforza to die + in a French prison, and initiated the duel between Spain and France for + mastery, which ended with the capture of Francis I. at Pavia, and his + final cession of all rights over Italy to Charles V. by the Treaty of + Cambray. + </p> + <p> + Of all the republics which had conferred luster upon Italy in its + mediaeval period of prosperity Venice alone remained independent. She + never submitted to a tyrant; and her government, though growing yearly + more closely oligarchical, was acknowledged to be just and liberal. During + the centuries of her greatest power Venice hardly ranked among Italian + States. It had been her policy to confine herself to the lagoons and to + the extension of her dominion over the Levant. In the fifteenth century, + however, this policy was abandoned. Venice first possessed herself of + Padua, by exterminating the despotic House of Carrara; next of Verona, by + destroying the Scala dynasty. Subsequently, during the long dogeship of + Francesco Foscari (1423-1457), she devoted herself in good <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA10" id="pageA10"></a>{10}</span> earnest to + the acquisition of territory upon the mainland. Then she entered as a + Power of the first magnitude into the system of purely Italian politics. + The Republic of S. Mark owned the sea coast of the Adriatic from Aquileia + to the mouths of the Po; and her Lombard dependencies stretched as far as + Bergamo westward. Her Italian neighbors were, therefore, the Duchy of + Milan, the little Marquisate of Mantua, and the Duchy of Ferrara. When + Constantinople fell in 1453, Venice was still more tempted to pursue this + new policy of Italian aggrandizement. Meanwhile her growing empire seemed + to menace the independence of less wealthy neighbors. The jealousy thus + created and the cupidity which brought her into collision with Julius II. + in 1508, exposed Venice to the crushing blow inflicted on her power by the + combined forces of Europe in the war of the League of Cambray. From this + blow, as well as from the simultaneous decline of their Oriental and + Levantine commerce, the Venetians never recovered. + </p> + <p> + When we turn to the Florentines, we find that at the same epoch, 1494, + their ancient republican constitution had been fatally undermined by the + advances of the family of Medici towards despotism. Lorenzo de'Medici, who + enjoyed the credit of maintaining the equilibrium of Italy by wise + diplomacy, had lately died. He left his son Piero, a hot-headed and rash + young man, to control the affairs of the commonwealth, as he had + previously controlled them, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA11" + id="pageA11"></a>{11}</span> with a show of burgherlike equality, but with + the reality of princely power. Another of his sons, Giovanni, received the + honor of the Cardinalship. The one was destined to compromise the + ascendency of his family in Florence for a period of eighteen years, the + other was destined to re-establish that ascendency on a new and more + despotic basis. Piero had not his father's prudence, and could not + maintain himself in the delicate position of a commercial and civil + tyrant. During the disturbances caused by the invasion of Charles VIII. he + was driven with all his relatives into exile. The Medici were restored in + 1512, after the battle of Ravenna, by Spanish troops, at the petition of + the Cardinal Giovanni. The elevation of this man to the Papacy in 1513 + enabled him to plant two of his nephews, as rulers, in Florence, and to + pave the way whereby a third eventually rose to the dignity of the tiara. + Clement VII. finally succeeded in rendering Florence subject to the + Medici, by extinguishing the last sparks of republican opposition, and by + so modifying the dynastic protectorate of his family that it was easily + converted into a titular Grand Duchy. + </p> + <p> + The federation of these five Powers had been artificially maintained + during the half century of Italy's highest intellectual activity. That was + the epoch when the Italians nearly attained to coherence as a nation, + through common interests in art and humanism, and by the complicated + machinery of diplomatic relations. The federation perished when <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA12" id="pageA12"></a>{12}</span> foreign + Powers chose Lombardy and Naples for their fields of battle. The disasters + of the next thirty-three years (1494-1527) began in earnest on the day + when Louis XII. claimed Milan and the Regno. He committed his first + mistake by inviting Ferdinand the Catholic to share in the partition of + Naples. That province was easily conquered; but Ferdinand retained the + whole spoils for himself, securing a large Italian dependency and a + magnificent basis of operations for the Spanish Crown. Then Louis made a + second mistake by proposing to the visionary Emperor Maximilian that he + should aid France in subjugating Venice. We have few instances on record + of short-sighted diplomacy to match the Treaties of Granada and Blois + (1501 and 1504), through which this monarch, acting rather as a Duke of + Milan than a King of France, complicated his Italian schemes by the + introduction of two such dangerous allies as the Austrian Emperor and the + Spanish sovereign, while the heir of both was in his cradle—that + fatal child of fortune Charles. + </p> + <p> + The stage of Italy was now prepared for a conflict which in no wise + interested her prosperous cities and industrious population. Spain, + France, Germany, with their Swiss auxiliaries, had been summoned upon + various pretexts to partake of the rich prey she offered. Patriots like + Machiavelli perceived too late the suicidal self-indulgence which, by + substituting mercenary troops for national militia, and by accustoming + selfish tyrants to rely on foreign <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA13" + id="pageA13"></a>{13}</span> aid, had exposed the Italians defenceless to + the inroads of their warlike neighbors. Whatever parts the Powers of Italy + might play, the game was really in the hands of French, Spanish, and + German invaders. Meanwhile the mutual jealousies and hatreds of those + Powers, kept in check by no tie stronger than diplomacy, prevented them + from forming any scheme of common action. One great province (Naples) had + fallen into Spanish hands; another (Milan) lay open through the passes of + the Alps to France. The Papacy, in the center, manipulated these two + hostile foreign forces with some advantage to itself, but with + ever-deepening disaster for the race. As in the days of Guelf and + Ghibelline, so now again the nation was bisected. The contest between + French and Spanish factions became cruel. Personal interests were + substituted for principles; cross-combinations perplexed the real issues + of dispute; while one sole fact emerged into distinctness—that, + whatever happened, Italy must be the spoil of the victorious duelist. + </p> + <p> + The practical termination of this state of things arrived in the battle of + Pavia, when Francis was removed as a prisoner to Madrid, and in the sack + of Rome, when the Pope was imprisoned in the Castle of S. Angelo. It was + then found that the laurels and the profit of the bloody contest remained + with the King of Spain. What the people suffered from the marching and + countermarching of armies, from the military occupations of towns, from + the desolation <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA14" id="pageA14"></a>{14}</span> + of rural districts, from ruinous campaigns and sanguinary battles, from + the pillage of cities and the massacres of their inhabitants, can best be + read in Burigozzo's <i>Chronicle of Milan</i>, in the details of the siege + of Brescia and the destruction of Pavia, in the <i>Chronicle of Prato</i>, + and in the several annals of the sack of Rome. The exhaustion of the + country seemed complete; the spirit of the people was broken. But what + soon afterwards became apparent, and what in 1527 might have been thought + incredible, was that the single member of the Italian union which profited + by these apocalyptic sufferings of the nation, was the Papacy. Clement + VII., imprisoned in the Castle of S. Angelo, forced day and night to gaze + upon his capital in flames and hear the groans of tortured Romans, emerged + the only vigorous survivor of the five great Powers on whose concert + Italian independence had been founded. Instead of being impaired, the + position of the Papacy had been immeasurably improved. Owing to the + prostration of Italy, there was now no resistance to the Pope's secular + supremacy within the limits of his authorized dominion. The defeat of + France and the accession of a Spanish monarch to the Empire guaranteed + peace. No foreign force could levy armies or foment uprisings in the name + of independence. Venice had been stunned and mutilated by the League of + Cambray. Florence had been enslaved after the battle of Ravenna. Milan had + been relinquished, out-worn, and depopu<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA15" id="pageA15"></a>{15}</span> lated, to the nominal + ascendency of an impotent Sforza. Naples was a province of the Spanish + monarchy. The feudal vassals and the subject cities of the Holy See had + been ground and churned together by a series of revolutions unexampled + even in the mediaeval history of the Italian communes. If, therefore, the + Pope could come to terms with the King of Spain for the partition of + supreme authority in the peninsula, they might henceforward share the + mangled remains of the Italian prey at peace together. This is precisely + what they resolved on doing. The basis of their agreement was laid in the + Treaty of Barcelona in 1529. It was ratified and secured by the Treaty of + Cambray in the same year. By the former of these compacts Charles and + Clement swore friendship. Clement promised the Imperial crown and the + investiture of Naples to the King of Spain. Charles agreed to reinstate + the Pope in Emilia, which had been seized from Ferrara by Julius II.; to + procure the restoration of Ravenna and Cervia by the Venetians; to subdue + Florence to the House of Medici; and to bestow the hand of his natural + daughter Margaret of Austria on Clement's bastard nephew Alessandro, who + was already designated ruler of the city. By the Treaty of Cambray Francis + I. relinquished his claims on Italy and abandoned his Italian supporters + without conditions, receiving in exchange the possession of Burgundy. The + French allies who were sacrificed on this occasion by the Most Christian + to the Most<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA16" id="pageA16"></a>{16}</span> + Catholic Monarch consisted of the Republics of Venice and Florence, the + Dukes of Milan and Ferrara, the princely Houses of Orsini and Fregosi in + Rome and Genoa, together with the Angevine nobles in the realm of Naples. + The Paix des Dames, as this act of capitulation was called (since it had + been drawn up in private conclave by Louise of Savoy and Margaret of + Austria, the mother and the aunt of the two signatories), was a virtual + acknowledgment of the fact that French influence in Italy was at an end.<a + name="FNanchorA_1_1" id="FNanchorA_1_1"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_1_1" + class="fnanchor">[1]</a> + </p> + <p> + The surrender of Italy by Francis made it necessary that Charles V. should + put in order the vast estates to which he now succeeded as sole master. He + was, moreover, Emperor Elect; and he judged this occasion good for + assuming the two crowns according to antique custom. Accordingly in July, + 1529, he caused Andrea Doria to meet him at Barcelona, crossed the + Mediterranean in a rough passage of fourteen days, landed at Genoa on + August 12, and proceeded by Piacenza, Parma and Modena to Bologna, where + Clement VII. was already awaiting him. The meeting of Charles and Clement + at Bologna was so solemn an event in Italian history, and its results were + so important for the several provinces of the peninsula, that I may be + excused for enlarging at some length upon this episode.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA17" id="pageA17"></a>{17}</span> + </p> + <p> + With pomp and pageantry it closed an age of unrivaled intellectual + splendor and of unexampled sufferings through war. By diplomacy and debate + it prescribed laws for a new age of unexpected ecclesiastical energy and + of national peace procured at the price of slavery. Illustrious survivors + from the period of the pagan Renaissance met here with young men destined + to inaugurate the Catholic Revival. The compact struck between Emperor and + Pope in private conferences, laid a basis for that firm alliance between + Spain and Rome which seriously influenced the destinies of Europe. + Finally, this was the last occasion upon which a modern Caesar received + the iron and golden crowns in Italy from the hands of a Roman Pontiff. The + fortunate inheritor of Spain, the Two Sicilies, Austria and the Low + Countries, who then assumed them both at the age of twenty-nine, was not + only the last who wielded the Imperial insignia with imperial authority, + but was also a far more formidable potentate in Italy than any of his + predecessors since Charles the Great had been.<a name="FNanchorA_2_2" + id="FNanchorA_2_2"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> + </p> + <p> + That Charles should have employed the galleys of Doria for the + transhipment of his person, suite, and military escort from Barcelona, + deserves a word of comment. Andrea Doria had been bred in the service of + the French crown, upon which Genoa was <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA18" id="pageA18"></a>{18}</span> in his youth dependent. He + formed a navy of decisive preponderance in the western Mediterranean, and + in return for services rendered to Francis in the Neapolitan campaign of + 1528, he demanded the liberation of his native city. When this was + refused, Doria transferred his allegiance to the Spaniard, surprised Genoa + and reinstated the republic, magnanimously refusing to secure its tyranny + for himself or even to set the ducal cap upon his head. Charles invested + him with the principality of Melfi and made him a Grandee of Spain. By + this series of events Genoa was prepared to accept the yoke of Spanish + influence and customs, which pressed so heavily in the succeeding century + on Italy. + </p> + <p> + Charles had a body of 2000 Spaniards already quartered at Genoa, as well + as strong garrisons in the Milanese, and a force of about 7000 troops + collected by the Prince of Orange from the <i>débris</i> of the + army which had plundered Rome. While he was on his road from Genoa to + Bologna, this force was already moving upon Florence. He brought with him + as escort some 10,000 men, counting horse and infantry. The total of the + troops which obeyed his word in Italy might be computed at about 27,000, + including Spanish cavalry and foot-soldiers, German lansknechts and + Italian mercenaries. This large army, partly stationed in important posts + of defence, partly in movement, was sufficient to make every word of his a + law. The French were in no position to interfere with his arrangements. + His brother Ferdi<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA19" id="pageA19"></a>{19}</span> + nand, King of Bohemia and Hungary, was engaged in a doubtful contest with + Soliman before the gates of Vienna. He was himself the most considerable + potentate in Germany, then distracted by the struggles of the Reformation. + Italy lay crushed and prostrate, trampled down by armies, exhausted by + impost and exactions, terrorized by brutal violence. That Charles had come + to speak his will and be obeyed was obvious. + </p> + <p> + To greet the king on his arrival at Genoa, Clement deputed two + ambassadors, the Cardinals Ercole Gonzaga and Monsignor Gianmatteo + Giberti, Bishop of Verona. Gonzaga was destined to play a part of critical + importance in the Tridentine Council. Giberti had made himself illustrious + in the Church by the administration of his diocese on a system which + anticipated the coming ecclesiastical reforms, and was already famous in + the world of letters by his generous familiarity with students.<a + name="FNanchorA_3_3" id="FNanchorA_3_3"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_3_3" + class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Three other men of high distinction and of + fateful future waited on their imperial master. Of these the first was + Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who succeeded Clement in the Papacy, opened + the Tridentine Council, and added a new reigning family to the Italian + princes. The others were the Pope's nephews, Alessandro de'Medici, Duke of + Florence designate, and his cousin the Cardinal Ippolito de'Media. Six + years later, Ippolito died at Itri, poisoned by his cousin Alessandro, who + was himself <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA20" id="pageA20"></a>{20}</span> + murdered at Florence in 1537 by another cousin, Lorenzino de'Medici. + </p> + <p> + It had been intended that Charles should travel to Bologna from Parma + through Mantua, where the Marquis Federigo Gonzaga had made great + preparations for his reception. But the route by Reggio and Modena was + more direct; and, yielding to the solicitations of Alfonso, Duke of + Ferrara, he selected this instead. One of the stipulations of the Treaty + of Barcelona, it will be remembered, had been that the Emperor should + restore Emilia—that is to say, the cities and territories of Modena, + Reggio, and Rubbiera—to the Papacy. Clement regarded Alfonso as a + contumacious vassal, although his own right to that province only rested + on the force of arms by which Julius II. had detached it from the Duchy of + Ferrara. It was therefore somewhat difficult for Charles to accept the + duke's hospitality. But when he had once done so, Alfonso knew how to + ingratiate himself so well with the arbiter of Italy, that on taking leave + of his guest upon the confines of Bologna, he had already secured the + success of his own cause. + </p> + <p> + Great preparations, meanwhile, were being made in Bologna. The misery and + destitution of the country rendered money scarce, and cast a gloom over + the people. It was noticed that when Clement entered the city on October + 24, none of the common folk responded to the shouts of his attendants, <i>Viva + Papa Clemente</i>! The Pope and his Court, too, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA21" id="pageA21"></a>{21}</span> were in mourning. They had but + recently escaped from the horrors of the Sack of Rome, and were under a + vow to wear their beards unshorn in memory of their past sufferings. Yet + the municipality and nobles of Bologna exerted their utmost in these bad + times to render the reception of the Emperor worthy of the luster which + his residence and coronation would confer upon them. Gallant guests began + to flock into the city. Among these may be mentioned the brilliant + Isabella d'Este, sister of Duke Alfonso, and mother of the reigning + Marquis of Mantua. She arrived on November 1 with a glittering train of + beautiful women, and took up her residence in the Palazzo Manzoli. Her + quarters obtained no good fame in the following months; for the ladies of + her suite were liberal of favors. Jousts, masquerades, street-brawls, and + duels were of frequent occurrence beneath her windows—Spaniards and + Italians disputing the honor of those light amours. On November 3 came + Andrea Doria with his relative, the Cardinal Girolamo of that name. About + the same time, Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggi, Bishop of Bologna, returned from + his legation to England, where (as students of our history are well aware) + he had been engaged upon the question of Henry VIII.'s divorce from + Katharine of Aragon. Next day Charles arrived outside the gate, and took + up his quarters in the rich convent of Certosa, which now forms the Campo + Santo.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA22" id="pageA22"></a>{22}</span> + </p> + <p> + He was surrounded by a multitude of ambassadors and delegates from the + Bolognese magistracy, by Cardinals and ecclesiastics of all ranks, some of + whom had attended him from the frontier, while others were drawn up to + receive him. November 5 was a Friday, and this day was reckoned lucky by + Charles. He therefore passed the night of the 4th at the Certosa, and on + the following morning made his solemn entry into the city. A bodyguard of + Germans, Burgundians, Spaniards, halberdiers, lansknechts, men at arms, + and cannoneers, preceded him. High above these was borne the + captain-general of the imperial force in Italy, the fierce and cruel + Antonio de Leyva, under whose oppression Milan had been groaning. This + ruthless tyrant was a martyr to gout and rheumatism. He could not ride or + walk; and though he retained the whole vigor of his intellect and will, it + was with difficulty that he moved his hands or head. He advanced in a + litter of purple velvet, supported on the shoulders of his slaves. Among + the splendid crowd of Spanish grandees who followed the troops, it is + enough to mention the Grand Marshal, Don Alvaro Osorio, Marquis of + Astorga, who carried a naked sword aloft. He was armed, on horseback; and + his mantle of cloth of gold blazed with dolphins worked in pearls and + precious stones. Next came Charles, mounted on a bay jennet, armed at all + points, and holding in his hand the scepter. Twenty-four pages, chosen + from the nobles of Bologna, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA23" + id="pageA23"></a>{23}</span> waited on his bridle and stirrups. The train + was brought up by a multitude of secular and ecclesiastical princes too + numerous to record in detail. Conspicuous among them for the historian + were the Count of Nassau, Albert of Brandenburg, and the Marquis Bonifazio + of Montferrat, the scion of the Eastern Paleologi. As this procession + defiled through the streets of Bologna, it was remarked that Charles, with + true Spanish haughtiness, made no response to the acclamations of the + people, except once when, passing beneath a balcony of noble ladies, he + acknowledged their salute by lifting the cap from his head. + </p> + <p> + Clement, surrounded by a troop of prelates, was seated to receive him on a + platform raised before the church of San Petronio in the great piazza. The + king dismounted opposite the Papal throne, ascended the steps beneath his + canopy of gold and crimson, and knelt to kiss the Pontiff's feet. When + their eyes first met, it was observed that both turned pale; for the + memory of outraged Rome was in the minds of both; and Caesar, while he + paid this homage to Christ's Vicar, had the load of those long months of + suffering and insult on his conscience. Clement bent down, and with + streaming eyes saluted him upon the cheek. Then, when Charles was still + upon his knees, they exchanged a few set words referring to the purpose of + their meeting and their common desire for the pacification of Christendom. + After this the Emperor elect rose, seated himself for a while <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA24" id="pageA24"></a>{24}</span> beside the + Pope, and next, at his invitation, escorted him to the great portal of the + church. On the way, he inquired after Clement's health; to which the Pope + replied somewhat significantly that, after leaving Rome, it had steadily + improved. He tempered this allusion to his captivity, however, by adding + that his eagerness to greet his Majesty had inspired him with more than + wonted strength and courage. At the doorway they parted; and the Emperor, + having paid his devotions to the Sacrament and kissed the altar, was + conducted to the apartments prepared for him in the Palazzo Pubblico. + These were adjacent to the Pope's lodgings in the same palace, and were so + arranged that the two potentates could confer in private at all times. It + is worthy of remark that the negotiations for the settlement of Italy + which took place during the next six months in those rooms, were conducted + personally by the high contracting parties, and that none of their + deliberations transpired until the result of each was made public. + </p> + <p> + The whole of November 5 had been occupied in these ceremonies. It was late + evening when the Emperor gained his lodgings. The few next days were + ostensibly occupied in receiving visitors. Among the first of these was + the unfortunate ex-queen of Naples, Isabella, widow of Frederick of + Aragon, the last king of the bastard dynasty founded by Alfonso. She was + living in poverty at Ferrara, under the protection of her relatives, the + Este family,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA25" id="pageA25"></a>{25}</span> + On the 13th came the Prince of Orange and Don Ferrante Gonzaga, from the + camp before Florence. The siege had begun, but had not yet been prosecuted + with the strictest vigor. During the whole time of Charles's residence at + Bologna, it must be borne in mind that the siege of Florence was being + pressed. Superfluous troops detached from garrison duty in the Lombard + towns were drafted across the hills to Tuscany. Whatever else the Emperor + might decide for his Italian subjects, this at least was certain: Florence + should be restored to the Medicean tyrants, as compensation to the Pope + for Roman sufferings. The Prince of Orange came to explain the state of + things at Florence, where government and people seemed prepared to resist + to the death. Gonzaga had private business of his own to conduct, touching + his engagement to the Pope's ward, Isabella, daughter and heiress of the + wealthy Vespasiano Colonna. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, ambassadors from all the States and lordships of Italy flocked + to Bologna. Great nobles from the South—Ascanio Colonna, Grand + Constable of Naples; Alfonso d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto; Giovanni Luigi + Caraffa, Prince of Stigliano—took up their quarters in adjacent + houses, or in the upper story of the Public Palace. The Marquis of Vasto + arrests our graze for a moment. He was nephew to the Marquis of Pescara + (husband of Vittoria Colonna), who had the glory of taking Francis + prisoner at Pavia, and afterwards the infamy <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA26" id="pageA26"></a>{26}</span> of betraying the unfortunate + Girolamo Morone and his master the Duke of Milan to the resentment of the + Spanish monarch. What part Pescara actually played in that dark passage of + plot and counterplot remains obscure. But there is no doubt that he + employed treachery, single if not double, for his own advantage. His + arrogance and avowed hostility to the Italians caused his very name to be + execrated; nor did his nephew, the Marquis of Vasto, differ in these + respects from the more famous chief of his house. This man was also + destined to obtain an evil reputation when he succeeded in 1532 to the + government of Milan. Here too may be noticed the presence at Bologna of + Girolamo Morone's son, who had been created Bishop of Modena in 1529. For + him a remarkable fate was waiting. Condemned to the dungeons of the + Inquisition as a heretic by Paul IV., rescued by Pius IV., and taken into + highest favor at that Pontiff's Court, he successfully manipulated the + closing of the Tridentine Council to the profit of the Papal See. + </p> + <p> + Negotiations for the settlement of Italian affairs were proceeding without + noise, but with continual progress, through this month. The lodgings of + ambassadors and lords were so arranged in the Palazzo Pubblico that they, + like their Imperial and Papal masters, could confer at all times and + seasons. Every day brought some new illustrious visitor. On the 22nd + arrived Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, who took up his quarters in + immediate <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA27" id="pageA27"></a>{27}</span> + proximity to Charles and Clement. His business required but little + management. The house of Gonzaga was already well affected to the Spanish + cause, and counted several captains in the imperial army. Charles showed + his favor by raising Mantua to the rank of a Duchy. It was different with + the Republic of Venice and the Duke of Milan. The Emperor elect had + reasons to be strongly prejudiced against them both—against Venice + as the most formidable of the French allies in the last war; against + Francesco Maria Sforza, as having been implicated, though obscurely, in + Morone's conspiracy to drive the Spaniards from Italy and place the crown + of Naples on Pescara's head. Clement took both under his protection. He + had sufficient reasons to believe that the Venetians would purchase peace + by the cession of their recent acquisitions on the Adriatic coast, and he + knew that the pacification of Italy could not be accomplished without + their aid. In effect, the Republic agreed to relinquish Cervia and Ravenna + to the Pope, and their Apulian ports to Charles, engaging at the same time + to pay a sum of 300,000 ducats and stipulating for an amnesty to all their + agents and dependents. It is not so clear why Clement warmly espoused the + cause of Sforza. That he did so is certain. He obtained a safe-conduct for + the duke, and made it a point of personal favor that he should be received + into the Emperor's grace. This stipulation appears to have been taken into + account when the affairs of Fer<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA28" + id="pageA28"></a>{28}</span> rara were decided at a later date against the + Papal interests. + </p> + <p> + Francesco Maria Sforza appeared in Bologna on the 22nd. This unfortunate + bearer of one of the most coveted titles in Europe had lately lived a + prisoner in his own Castello, while the city at his doors and the fertile + country round it were being subjected to cruelest outrage and oppression + from Spanish, French, Swiss, and German mercenaries. He was a man ruined + in health as well as fortune. Six years before this date, one of his + chamberlains, Bonifazio Visconti, had given him a slight wound in the + shoulder with a poisoned dagger. From this wound he never recovered; and + it was pitiable to behold the broken man, unable to move or stand without + support, dragging himself upon his knees to Caesar's footstool. Charles + appears to have discerned that he had nothing to fear and much to gain, if + he showed clemency to so powerless a suitor. Franceso was the last of his + line. His health rendered it impossible that he should expect heirs; and + although he subsequently married a princess of the House of Denmark, he + died childless in the autumn of 1535. It was therefore determined, in + compliance with the Pope's request, that Sforza should be confirmed in the + Duchy of Milan. Pavia, however, was detached and given to the terrible + Antonio de Leyva for his lifetime. The garrisons of Milan and Como were + left in Spanish hands; and the duke promised to wring 400,000 <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA29" id="pageA29"></a>{29}</span> ducats as + the price of his investiture, with an additional sum of 500,000 ducats to + be paid in ten yearly instalments, from his already blood-sucked people. + It will be observed that money figured largely in all these high political + transactions. Charles, though lord of many lands, was, even at this early + stage of his career, distressed for want of cash. He rarely paid his + troops, but commissioned the captains in his service to levy contributions + on the provinces they occupied. The funds thus raised did not always reach + the pockets of the soldiers, who subsisted as best they could by + marauding. Having made these terms, Francesco Maria Sforza was received + into the Imperial favor. He returned to Milan, in no sense less a prisoner + than he had previously been, and with the heart-rending necessity of + extorting money from his subjects at the point of Spanish swords. In + exchange for the ducal title, he thus had made himself a tax-collector for + his natural enemies. Secluded in the dreary chambers of his castle, + assailed by the execrations of the Milanese, he may well have groaned, + like Marlowe's Edward— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>But what are Kings, when regiment is gone,<br /> </span> <span>But + perfect shadows in a sunshine day?<br /> </span> <span>My foemen rule; I + bear the name of King;<br /> </span> <span>I wear the crown; but am + controlled by them.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + When he died he bequeathed his duchy to the crown of Spain. It was + detached from the Empire, and became the private property of Charles and + of his son, Philip II. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA30" id="pageA30"></a>{30}</span> + During the month of December negotiations for the terms of peace in Italy + went briskly forward. On the part of Venice, two men of the highest + distinction arrived as orators. These were Pietro Bembo and Gasparo + Contarini, both of whom received the honors of the Cardinalate from Paul + III. on his accession. Of Bembo's place in Italian society, as the + dictator of literature at this epoch, I have already sufficiently spoken + in another part of my work on the Renaissance. Contarini will more than + once arrest our notice in the course of this volume. Of all the Italians + of the time, he was perhaps the greatest, wisest, and most sympathetic. + Had it been possible to avert the breach between Catholicism and + Protestantism, to curb the intolerance of Inquisitors and the ambition of + Jesuits, and to guide the reform of the Church by principles of moderation + and liberal piety, Contarini was the man who might have restored unity to + the Church in Europe. Once, indeed, at Regensburg in 1541, he seemed upon + the very point of effecting a reconciliation between the parties that were + tearing Christendom asunder. But his failure was even more conspicuous + than his momentary semblance of success. It was not in the temper of the + times to accept a Concordat founded on however philosophical, however + politic, considerations. Contarini will be remembered as a 'beautiful + soul,' born out of the due moment, and by no means adequate to cope with + the fierce passions that raged round him.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA31" id="pageA31"></a>{31}</span> Among Protestants he was a + Catholic, and they regarded his half measures with contempt. Among + Catholics he passed for a suspected Lutheran, and his writings were only + tolerated after they had been subjected to rigorous castration at the + hands of Papal Inquisitors.<a name="FNanchorA_4_4" id="FNanchorA_4_4"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> + </p> + <p> + On Christmas eve the ambassadors and representatives of the Italian powers + met together in the chambers of Cardinal Gattinara, Grand Chancellor of + the Empire, to subscribe the terms of a confederation and perpetual league + for the maintenance of peace. From this important document the Florentines + were excluded, as open rebels to the will of Charles and Clement. There + was no justice in the rigor with which Florence was now treated. Her + republican independence had hitherto been recognized, although her own + internal discords exposed her to a virtual despotism. But Clement + stipulated and Charles conceded, as a <i>sine qua non</i> in the project + of pacification, that Florence should be converted into a Medicean duchy. + For the Duke of Ferrara, whom the Pope regarded as a contumacious vassal, + and whose affairs were still the subject of debate, a place was specially + reserved in the treaty. He, as I have already observed, had been taken + under the Imperial protection; and a satisfactory settlement of his claims + was now a mere question of time. On the evening of the same day, the Pope + bestowed on Charles the Sword of the Spirit, which <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA32" id="pageA32"></a>{32}</span> it was the wont of Rome to + confer on the best-beloved of her secular sons at this festival. The peace + was publicly proclaimed, amid universal plaudits, on the last day of the + year 1529. + </p> + <p> + The chief affairs to be decided in the new year were the reduction of + Florence to submission and the coronation of the Emperor. The month of + January was passed in jousts and pastimes; ceremonial privileges were + conferred on the University of Bologna; magnificent embassies from the + Republic of S. Mark, glowing in senatorial robes of crimson silk, were + entertained; and a singular deputation from the African court of Prester + John obtained audience of the Roman Pontiff. Amid these festivities there + arrived, on January 16, three delegates from Florence, who spent some + weeks in fruitless efforts to obtain a hearing from the arbiters of Italy. + Clement refused to deal with them, because their commonwealth was still + refractory. Charles repelled them, because he wished to gratify the Pope, + and knew that Florence remained staunch in her devotion to the French + crown. The old proverb, 'Lilies with lilies,' the white lily of Florence + united with the golden fleur-de-lys of France, had still political + significance in this day of Italian degradation. Meanwhile Francis I. + treated his faithful allies with lukewarm tolerance. The smaller fry of + Italian potentates, worshipers of the rising sun of Spain, curried favor + with their masters by insulting the republic's representatives. On their + return to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA33" id="pageA33"></a>{33}</span> + Florence, the ambassadors had to report a total diplomatic failure. But + this, far from breaking the untamable spirit of the Signory and people, + prompted them in February to new efforts of resistance and to edicts of + outlawry against citizens whom they regarded as traitors to the State. + Among the proscribed were Francesco Guicciardini, Roberto Acciaiuoli, + Francesco Vettori, and Baccio Valori. Of these men Francesco Guicciardini, + Francesco Vettori, and Baccio Valori were attendant at Bologna upon the + Pope. They all adhered with fidelity to the Medicean party at this crisis + of their country's fate, and all paid dearly for their loyalty. When + Cosimo I., by their efforts, was established in the duchy, he made it one + of his first cares to rid himself of these too faithful servants. Baccio + Valori was beheaded after the battle of Montemurlo in 1537 for practice + with the exiles of Filippo Strozzi's party. Francesco Guicciardini, + Francesco Vettori, and Roberto Acciaiuoli died in disgrace before the year + 1543—their only crime being that they had made themselves the ladder + whereby a Medici had climbed into his throne, and which it was his + business to upset when firmly seated. For the heroism of Florence at this + moment it would be difficult to find fit words of panegyric. The republic + stood alone, abandoned by France to the hot rage of Clement and the cold + contempt of Charles, deserted by the powers of Italy, betrayed by lying + captains, deluged on all sides with the scum of armies pouring <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA34" id="pageA34"></a>{34}</span> into + Tuscany from the Lombard pandemonium of war. The situation was one of + impracticable difficulty. Florence could not but fall. Yet every generous + heart will throb with sympathy while reading the story of that final stand + for independence, in which a handful of burghers persisted, though + congregated princes licked the dust from feet of Emperor and Pontiff. + </p> + <p> + Charles had come to assume the iron and the golden crowns in Italy. He + ought to have journeyed to Monza or to S. Ambrogio at Milan for the first, + and to the Lateran in Rome for the second of these investitures. An + Emperor of the Swabian House would have been compelled by precedent and + superstition to observe this form. It is true that the coronation of a + German prince as the successor of Lombard kings and Roman Augusti, had + always been a symbolic ceremony rather than a rite which ratified genuine + Imperial authority. Still the ceremony connoted many mediaeval + aspirations. It was the outward sign of theories that had once exerted an + ideal influence. To dissociate the two-fold sacrament from Milan and from + Rome was the same as robbing it of its main virtue, the virtue of a + mystical conception. It was tantamount to a demonstration that the belief + in Universal Monarchy had passed away. By breaking the old rules of his + investiture, Charles notified the disappearance of the mediaeval order, + and proclaimed new political ideals to the world. When asked whether he + would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA35" id="pageA35"></a>{35}</span> + not follow custom and seek the Lombard crown in Monza, he brutally replied + that he was not wont to run after crowns, but to have crowns running after + him. He trampled no less on that still more venerable <i>religio loci</i> + which attached imperial rights to Rome. Together with this ancient piety, + he swept the Holy Roman Empire into the dust-heap of archaic curiosities. + By declaring his will to be crowned where he chose, he emphasized the + modern state motto of <i>L'état, c'est moi</i>, and prepared the + way for a Pope's closing of a General Council by the word <i>L'Eglise, + c'est moi</i>. Charles had sufficient reasons for acting as he did. The + Holy Roman Empire ever since the first event of Charles the Great's + coronation, when it justified itself as a diplomatical expedient for + unifying Western Christendom, had existed more or less as a shadow. + Charles violated the duties which alone gave the semblance of a substance + to that shadow. As King of Italy, he had desolated the Lombard realm of + which he sought the title. As Emperor elect, he had ravished his bride, + the Eternal City. As suitor to the Pope for both of his expected crowns, + he stood responsible for the multiplied insults to which Clement had been + so recently exposed. No Emperor had been more powerful since Charles the + Great than this Charles V., the last who took his crowns in Italy. It was + significant that he man in whose name Rome had suffered outrage, and who + was about to detach Lombardy from the Empire, was by his own will invested + at Bologna.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA36" id="pageA36"></a>{36}</span> + The citizens of Monza were accordingly bidden to send the iron crown to + Bologna. It arrived on February 20, and on the 22nd Charles received it + from the hands of Clement in the chapel of the palace. The Cardinal who + performed the ceremony of unction was a Fleming, William Hencheneor, who + in the Sack of Rome had bought his freedom for the large sum of 40,000 + crowns. On this auspicious occasion he cut off half the beard which he + still wore in sign of mourning! + </p> + <p> + The Duke and Duchess of Urbino made their entrance into Bologna on the + same day. Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Prefect of Rome, + and Captain General of the armies of the Church, was one of the most noted + warriors of that time. Yet victory had rarely crowned his brows with + laurels. Imitating the cautious tactics of Braccio, and emulating the fame + of Fabius Cunctator, he reduced the art of war to a system of manoeuvres, + and rarely risked his fortune in the field. It was chiefly due to his + dilatory movements that the disaster of the Sack of Rome was not averted. + He had been expelled by Leo X. from his duchy to make room for Lorenzo + de'Medici, and report ran that a secret desire to witness the humiliation + of a Medicean Pontiff caused him to withhold his forces from attacking the + tumultuary troops of Bourbon. Francesco Maria was a man of violent temper; + nineteen years before, he had murdered the Pope's Legate, Cardinal + Francesco Alidosi, with his dagger, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA37" + id="pageA37"></a>{37}</span> in the open streets of Bologna. His wife, + Eleanora Ippolita Gonzaga, presided with grace over that brilliant and + cultivated Court which Castiglione made famous by his <i>Cortegiano</i>. + The Duke and Duchess survive to posterity in two masterpieces of + portraiture by the hand of Titian which now adorn the Gallery of the + Uffizzi. + </p> + <p> + February 24, which was the anniversary of Charles's birthday, had been + fixed for his coronation as Emperor in San Petronio. This church is one of + the largest Gothic buildings in Italy. Its façade occupies the + southern side of the piazza. The western side, on the left of the church, + is taken up by the Palazzo Pubblico. In order to facilitate the passage of + the Pope and Emperor with their Courts and train of princes from the + palace to the cathedral, a wooden bridge wide enough to take six men + abreast was constructed from an opening in the Hall of the Ancients. The + bridge descended by a gradual line to the piazza, broadened out into a + platform before the front of San Petronio, and then again ascended through + the nave to the high altar. It was covered with blue draperies, and so + arranged that the vast multitudes assembled in the square and church to + see the ceremony had free access to it on all sides. On the morning of the + 24th, the solemn procession issued from the palace, and defiled in order + down the gangway. Clement was borne aloft by Pontifical grooms in their + red liveries. He wore the tiara and a cope of state <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA38" id="pageA38"></a>{38}</span> fastened by Cellini's famous + stud, in which blazed the Burgundian diamond of Charles the Bold. Charles + walked in royal robes attended by the Count of Nassau and Don Pietro di + Toledo, the Viceroy of Naples, who afterwards gave his name to the chief + street in that city. Before him went the Marquis of Montferrat, bearing + the scepter; Philip, Duke of Bavaria, carrying the golden orb; the Duke of + Urbino, with the sword; and the Duke of Savoy, holding the imperial + diadem. This Duke of Savoy was uncle to Francis I. and brother-in-law to + Charles—- his wife, Beatrice, being a sister of the Empress, and his + sister, Louise, mother of the French king. This double relationship made + his position during the late wars a difficult one. Yet his territory had + been regarded as neutral, and in the pacification of Italy he judged it + wise to adhere without reserve to the victorious King of Spain. It was + noticed that Ferrante di Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, though known to + be in Bologna, occupied no post of distinction in the imperial train. He + was closely related to the Emperor by his mother, Maria of Aragon, and had + done good service in the recent campaigns against Lautrec. The reason for + this neglect does not appear. But it may be mentioned that some years + later he espoused the French cause, and was deprived of his vast + hereditary fiefs. In his ruin the poet Bernardo, father of Torquato Tasso, + was involved. + </p> + <p> + To enumerate all the nobles of Spain, Italy and<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA39" id="pageA39"></a>{39}</span> Germany, with the ambassadors + from England, France, Scotland, Hungary, Bohemia and Portugal; who swelled + the Imperial <i>cortège</i>; to describe the series of ceremonies + by which Charles was first consecrated as a deacon, anointed, dressed and + undressed, and finally conducted to the Pope for coronation; to narrate + the breaking of the bridge at one point, and the squabbles between the + Genoese and Sienese delegates for precedence, would be superfluously + tedious. The day was well-nigh over when at length Charles received the + Imperial insignia from the Pope's hands. <i>Accipe gladium sanctum, Accipe + virgam, Accipe pomum, Accipe signum gloriae</i>! As Clement pronounced + these sentences, he gave the sword, the scepter, the globe, and the diadem + in succession to the Emperor, who knelt before him. Charles bent and + kissed the Papal feet. He then rose and took his throne beside the Pope. + It was placed two steps lower than that of Clement. The ceremony of + coronation and enthronization being now complete, Charles was proclaimed: + <i>Romanorum Imperator semper augustus, mundi totius Dominus, universis + Dominis, universis Principibus et Populis semper venerandus</i>. When Mass + was over, Pope and Emperor shook hands. At the church-door, Charles held + Clement's stirrup, and when the Pope had mounted, he led his palfrey for + some paces, in sign of filial submission. + </p> + <p> + The month of March was distinguished by the arrival of illustrious + visitors. The Duchess of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA40" + id="pageA40"></a>{40}</span> Savoy, with an escort of eighteen lovely + maids of honor, made her pompous entry on the 4th, and took up her + quarters in the Palazzo Pepoli. On the 6th came the Duke of Ferrara, for + whom Charles had procured a safe-conduct from the Pope. During the + Emperor's stay at Bologna, Alfonso d'Este had been assiduous in paying him + and his Court small attentions, sending excellent provisions for the + household and furnishing the royal table with game and every kind of + delicacy. The settlement of his dispute with the Holy See was the only + important business that remained to be transacted. Charles prevailed upon + both Clement and Alfonso to state their cases in writing and to place them + in the hands of jurisconsults, to report upon. There is little doubt that + his own mind was already made up in favor of the duke; but he did not pass + sentence until the following December, nor was the decision published + before April in the year 1531. The substance of the final agreement was as + follows. Modena, Reggio and Rubbiera were declared fiefs of the Empire, + seeing that they had not been included in Pepin's gift of the Exarchate. + Charles confirmed their investiture to Alfonso, in return for a + considerable payment to the Imperial Chancery. He had previously conferred + the town of Carpi, forfeited by Alberto Pio as a French adherent, on the + Duke. Ferrara remained a fief of the Church, and Clement consented to + acknowledge Alfonso's tenure, upon his disbursement of 100,000 ducats. + This decision saved Modena to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA41" + id="pageA41"></a>{41}</span> the bastard line of Este, when Pope Clement + VIII. seized Ferrara as a lapsed fief in 1598. In the sixty-seven years + which passed between the date of Charles's coronation and the extinction + of the duchy, Ferrara enjoyed the fame of the most brilliant Court in + Italy, and shone with the luster conferred on it by men like Tasso and + Guarini. + </p> + <p> + The few weeks which now remained before Charles left Bologna were spent + for the most part in jousts and tournaments, visits to churches, and + social entertainments. Veronica Gambara threw her apartments open to the + numerous men of letters who crowded from all parts of Italy to witness the + ceremony, of Charles's coronation. This lady was widow to the late lord of + Correggio, and one of the two most illustrious women of her time.<a + name="FNanchorA_5_5" id="FNanchorA_5_5"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_5_5" + class="fnanchor">[5]</a> She dwelt with princely state in a palace of the + Marsili; and here might be seen the poets Bembo, Mauro, and Molza in + conversation with witty Berni, learned Vida, stately Trissino, and + noble-hearted Marcantonio Flaminio. Paolo Giovio and Francesco + Guicciardini, the chief historians of their time, were also to be found + there, together with a host of literary and diplomatic worthies attached + to the Courts of Urbino and Ferrara or attendant on the train of + cardinals, who, like Ippolito de'Medici, made a display of culture. + Meanwhile the Dowager-Marchioness of Mantua and the Duchess of Savoy + entertained Italian and Spanish nobles with masqued <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA42" id="pageA42"></a>{42}</span> balls and carnival processions + in the Manzoli and Pepoli palaces. Frequent quarrels between hot-blooded + youths of the rival nations added a spice of chivalrous romance to + love-adventures in which the ladies of these Courts played a too + conspicuous part. What still remained to Italy of Renaissance splendor, + wit, and fashion, after the Sack of Rome and the prostration of her + wealthiest cities, was concentrated in this sunset blaze of sumptuous + festivity at Bologna. Nor were the arts without illustrious + representatives. Francesco Mazzola, surnamed Il Parmigianino, before whose + altar-piece in his Roman studio the rough soldiers of Bourbon's army were + said to have lately knelt in adoration, commemorated the hero of the day + by painting Charles attended by Fame who crowned his forehead, and an + infant Hercules who handed him the globe. Titian, too, was there, and + received the honor of several sittings from the Emperor. His life-sized + portrait of Charles in full armor, seated on a white war-horse, has + perished. But it gave such satisfaction at the moment that the fortunate + master was created knight and count palatine, and appointed painter to the + Emperor with a fixed pension. Titian also painted portraits of Antonio de + Leyva and Alfonso d'Avalos, but whether upon this occasion or in 1532, + when he was again summoned to the Imperial Court at Bologna, is not + certain. From this assemblage of eminent personages we notice the absence + of Pietro Aretino. He was at the moment out of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA43" id="pageA43"></a>{43}</span> favor with Clement VII. But + independently of this obstacle, he may well have thought it imprudent to + quit his Venetian retreat and expose himself to the resentment of so many + princes whom he had alternately loaded with false praises and bemired with + loathsome libels. + </p> + <p> + People observed that the Emperor in his excursions through the streets of + Bologna usually wore the Spanish habit. He was dressed in black velvet, + with black silk stockings, black shoes, and a black velvet cap adorned + with black feathers. This somber costume received some relief from jewels + used for buttons; and the collar of the Golden Fleece shone upon the + monarch's breast. So slight a circumstance would scarcely deserve + attention, were it not that in a short space of time it became the fashion + throughout Italy to adopt the subdued tone of Spanish clothing. The upper + classes consented to exchange the varied and brilliant dresses which gave + gayety to the earlier Renaissance for the dismal severity conspicuous in + Morone's masterpieces, in the magnificent gloom of the Genoese Brignoli, + and in the portraits of Roman inquisitors. It is as though the whole race + had put on mourning for its loss of liberty, its servitude to foreign + tyrants and ecclesiastical hypocrites. Nor is it fanciful to detect a note + of moral sadness and mental depression corresponding to these black + garments in the faces of that later generation. How different is Tasso's + melancholy grace from Ariosto's gentle joyousness; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA44" id="pageA44"></a>{44}</span> the dried-up precision of + Baroccio's Francesco Maria della Rovere from the sanguine joviality of + Titian's first duke of that name! One of the most acutely critical of + contemporary poets felt the change which I have indicated, and ascribed it + to the same cause. Campanella wrote as follows: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Black robes befit our age. Once they were white;<br /> </span> + <span class="i2">Next many-hued; now dark as Afric's Moor,<br /> </span> + <span class="i2">Night-black, infernal, traitorous, obscure,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">Horrid with ignorance and sick with fright.<br /> + </span> <span>For very shame we shun all colors bright,<br /> </span> + <span class="i2">Who mourn our end—the tyrants we endure,<br /> + </span> <span class="i2">The chains, the noose, the lead, the snares, + the lure—<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Our dismal heroes, our + souls sunk in night.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + In the midst of this mirth-making there arrived on March 20 an embassy + from England, announcing Henry VIII.'s resolve to divorce himself at any + cost from Katharine of Aragon. This may well have recalled both Pope and + Emperor to a sense of the gravity of European affairs. The schism of + England was now imminent. Germany was distracted by Protestant revolution. + The armies of Caesar were largely composed of mutinous Lutherans. Some of + these soldiers had even dared to overthrow a colossal statue of Clement + VII. and grind it into powder at Bologna; and this outrage, as it appears, + went unpunished. The very troops employed in reducing rebellious Florence + were commanded by a Lutheran general; and Clement began to fear that, + after Charles's departure, the Prince of Orange might cross the Apennines + and expose the Papal person to the insults of another captivity in + Bologna. Nor <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA45" id="pageA45"></a>{45}</span> + were the gathering forces of revolutionary Protestants alone ominous. + Though Soliman had been repulsed before Vienna, the Turks were still + advancing on the eastern borders of the Empire. Their fleets swept the + Levantine waters, while the pirate dynasties of Tunis and Algiers + threatened the whole Mediterranean coast with ruin. Charles, still + uncertain what part he should take in the disputes of Germany, left + Bologna for the Tyrol on March 23. Clement, on the last day of the month, + took his journey by Loreto to Rome. + </p> + <p> + It will be useful, at this point, to recapitulate the net results of + Charles's administration of Italian affairs in 1530. The kingdom of the + Two Sicilies, with the Island of Sardinia and the Duchy of Milan, became + Spanish provinces, and were ruled henceforth by viceroys. The House of + Este was confirmed in the Duchy of Ferrara, including Modena and Reggio. + The Duchies of Savoy and Mantua and the Marquisate of Montferrat, which + had espoused the Spanish cause, were undisturbed. Genoa and Siena, both of + them avowed allies of Spain, the former under Spanish protection, the + latter subject to Spanish coercion, remained with the name and empty + privileges of republics. Venice had made her peace with Spain, and though + she was still strong enough to pursue an independent policy, she showed as + yet no inclination, and had, indeed, no power, to stir up enemies against + the Spanish autocrat. The Duchy of Urbino, recog<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA46" id="pageA46"></a>{46}</span> nized by Rome and subservient + to Spanish influence, was permitted to exist. The Papacy once more assumed + a haughty tone, relying on the firm alliance struck with Spain. This + league, as years went by, was destined to grow still closer, still more + fruitful of results. + </p> + <p> + Florence alone had been excepted from the articles of peace. It was still + enduring the horrors of the memorable siege when Clement left Bologna at + the end of May. The last hero of the republic, Francesco Ferrucci, fell + fighting at Gavignana on August 2. Their general, Malatesta Baglioni, + broke his faith with the citizens. Finally, on August 12, the town + capitulated. Alessandro de'Medici, who had received the title of Duke of + Florence from Charles at Bologna, took up his residence there in July, + 1531, and held the State by help of Spanish mercenaries under the command + of Alessandro Vitelli. When he was murdered by his cousin in 1537, Cosimo + de'Medici, the scion of another branch of the ruling family, was appointed + Duke. Charles V. recognized his title, and Cosimo soon showed that he was + determined to be master in his own duchy. He crushed the exiled party of + Filippo Strozzi, who attempted a revolution of the State, exterminated its + leaders, and contrived to rid himself of the powerful adherents who had + placed him on the throne. But he remained a subservient though not very + willing ally of Spain; and when he expelled Alessandro Vitelli from the + fortress that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA47" id="pageA47"></a>{47}</span> + commanded Florence, he admitted a Spaniard, Don Juan de Luna, in his + stead. During the petty wars of 1552-56 which Henri II. carried on with + Charles V. in Italy, Siena attempted to shake off the yoke of a Spanish + garrison established there in 1547 under the command of Don Hurtado de + Mendoza. The citizens appealed to France, who sent them the great Marshal, + Piero Strozzi, brother of Cosimo's vanquished enemy Filippo. Cosimo + through these years supported the Spanish cause with troops and money, + hoping to guide events in his own interest. At length, by the aid of Gian + Giacomo Medici, sprung from an obscure Milanese family, who had been + trained in the Spanish methods of warfare, he succeeded in subduing Siena. + He now reaped the fruits of his Spanish policy. In 1557 Philip II. + conceded the Sienese territory, reserving only its forts, to the Duke of + Florence, who in 1569 obtained the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany from + Pope Pius V. This title was confirmed by the Empire in 1575 to his son + Francesco. + </p> + <p> + Thus the republics of Florence and Siena were extinguished. The Grand + Duchy of Tuscany was created. It became an Italian power of the first + magnitude, devoted to the absolutist principles of Spanish and Papal + sovereignty. The further changes which took place in Italy after the year + 1530, turned equally to the profit of Spain and Rome. These were + principally the creation of the Duchy of Parma for the Farnesi + (1545-1559), of which I <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA48" + id="pageA48"></a>{48}</span> shall have to speak in the next chapter; the + resumption of Ferrara by the Papacy in 1597, which reduced the House of + Este to the smaller fiefs of Modena and Reggio; the acquisition of + Montferrat by Mantua in 1536; the cession of Saluzzo to Savoy in 1598, and + the absorption of Urbino into the Papal domains in 1631. + </p> + <p> + It was hoped when Charles and Clement proclaimed the pacification of Italy + at Bologna on the last day of 1529, that the peninsula would no longer be + the theater of wars for supremacy between the French and Spaniards. This + expectation proved delusive; for the struggle soon broke out again. The + people, however, suffered less extensively than in former years; because + the Spanish party, supported by Papal authority, was decidedly + predominant. The Italian princes, whether they liked it or not, were + compelled to follow in the main a Spanish policy. At length, in 1559, by + the Peace of Cateau Cambresis signed between Henri II. and Philip II., the + French claims were finally abandoned, and the Spanish hegemony was + formally acknowledged. The later treaty of Vervins, in 1598, ceded Saluzzo + to the Duchy of Savoy, and shut the gates of Italy to French interference. + </p> + <p> + Though the people endured far less misery from foreign armies in the + period between 1630 and 1600 than they had done in the period from 1494 to + 1527, yet the state of the country grew ever more and more deplorable. + This was due in the first instance <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA49" + id="pageA49"></a>{49}</span> to the insane methods of taxation adopted by + the Spanish viceroys, who held monopolies of corn and other necessary + commodities in their hands and who invented imposts for the meanest + articles of consumption. Their example was followed by the Pope and petty + princes. Alfonso II. of Ferrara, for instance, levied a tenth on all + produce which passed his city gates, and on the capital engaged in every + contract. He monopolized the sale of salt, flour, bread; and imposed a + heavy tax on oil. Sixtus V. by exactions of a like description and by the + sale of numberless offices, accumulated a vast sum of money, much of which + bore heavy interest. He was so ignorant of the first principle of + political economy as to lock up the accruing treasure in the Castle of S. + Angelo. The rising of Masaniello in Naples was simply due to the + exasperation of the common folk at having even fruit and vegetables taxed. + In addition to such financial blunders, we must take into account the + policy pursued by all princes at this epoch, of discouraging commerce and + manufactures. Thus Cosimo I. of Tuscany induced the old Florentine + families to withdraw their capital from trade, sink it in land, create + entails in perpetuity on eldest sons, and array themselves with gimcrack + titles which he liberally supplied. Even Venice showed at this epoch a + contempt for the commerce which had brought her into a position of + unrivaled splendor. This wilful depression of industry was partly the + result of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA50" id="pageA50"></a>{50}</span> + Spanish aristocratic habits, which now invaded Italian society. But it was + also deliberately chosen as a means of extinguishing freedom. Finally, if + war proved now less burdensome, the exhaustion of Italy and the decay of + military spirit rendered the people liable to the scourge of piracy. The + whole sea-coast was systematically plundered by the navies of Barbarossa + and Dragut. The inhabitants of the ports and inland villages were carried + off into slavery, and many of the Italians themselves drove a brisk trade + in the sale of their compatriots. Brigandage, following in the wake of + agricultural depression and excessive taxation, depopulated the central + provinces. All these miseries were exacerbated by frequent recurrences of + plagues and famines. + </p> + <p> + It is characteristic of the whole tenor of Italian history that, in spite + of the virtual hegemony which the Spaniards now exercised in the + peninsula, the nation continued to exist in separate parcels, each of + which retained a certain individuality. That Italy could not have been + treated as a single province by the Spanish autocrat will be manifest, + when we consider the European jealousy to which so summary an exhibition + of force would have given rise. It is also certain that the Papacy, which + had to be respected, would have resisted an openly declared Spanish + despotism. But more powerful, I think, than all these considerations + together, was the past prestige of the Italian States. Europe was not pre<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA51" id="pageA51"></a>{51}</span> pared to + regard that brilliant and hitherto respected constellation of + commonwealths, from which all intellectual culture, arts of life, methods + of commerce, and theories of political existence had been diffused, as a + single province of the Spanish monarchy. The Spaniards themselves were + scarcely in a position to entertain the thought of reducing the peninsula + to bondage <i>vi et armis</i>. And if they had attempted any measure + tending to this result, they would undoubtedly have been resisted by an + alliance of the European powers. What they sought, and what they gained, + was preponderating influence in each of the parcels which they recognized + as nominally independent. + </p> + <p> + The intellectual and social life of the Italians, though much reduced in + vigor, was therefore still, as formerly, concentrated in cities marked by + distinct local qualities, and boastful of their ancient glories. The + Courts of Ferrara and Urbino continued to form centers for literary and + artistic coteries. Venice remained the stronghold of mental unrestraint + and moral license, where thinkers uttered their thoughts with tolerable + freedom, and libertines indulged their tastes unhindered. Rome early + assumed novel airs of piety, and external conformity to austere patterns + became the fashion here. Yet the Papal capital did not wholly cease to be + the resort of students and of artists. The universities maintained + themselves in a respectable position—- far different, indeed, from + that which they had held in the last century, yet not <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA52" id="pageA52"></a>{52}</span> ignoble. Much was being + learned on many lines of study divergent from those prescribed by earlier + humanists. Padua, in particular, distinguished itself for medical + researches. This was the flourishing time, moreover, of Academies, in + which, notwithstanding nonsense talked and foolish tastes indulged, some + solid work was done for literature and science. The names of the Cimento, + Delia Crusca, and Palazzo Vernio at Florence, remind us of not unimportant + labors in physics, in the analysis of language, and in the formation of a + new dramatic style of music. At the same time the resurgence of popular + literature and the creation of popular theatrical types deserve to be + particularly noticed. It is as though the Italian nation at this epoch, + suffocated by Spanish etiquette, and poisoned by Jesuitical hypocrisy, + sought to expand healthy lungs in free spaces of open air, indulging in + dialectical niceties and immortalizing street-jokes by the genius of + masqued comedy. + </p> + <p> + This most ancient and intensely vital race had given Europe the Roman + Republic, the Roman Empire, the system of Roman law, the Romance + languages, Latin Christianity, the Papacy, and, lastly, all that is + included in the art and culture of the Renaissance. It was time, perhaps, + that it should go to rest a century or so, and watch uprising nations—the + Spanish, English, French, and so forth—stir their stalwart limbs in + common strife and novel paths of pioneering industry. + </p> + <p> + After such fashion let us, then, if we can contrive <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA53" id="pageA53"></a>{53}</span> to do so, regard the Italians + during their subjection to the Church and Austria. Were it not for these + consolatory reflections, and for the present reappearance of the nation in + a new and previously unapprehended form of unity, the history of the + Counter-Reformation period would be almost too painful for investigation. + What the Italians actually accomplished during this period in art, + learning, science, and literature, was indeed more than enough to have + conferred undying luster on such races as the Dutch or Germans at the same + epoch. But it would be ridiculous to compare Italians with either Dutchmen + or Germans at a time when Italy was still so incalculably superior. + Compared with their own standard, compared with what they might have + achieved under more favorable conditions of national independence, the + products of this age are saddening. The tragic elements of my present + theme are summed up in the fact that Italy during the Counter-Reformation + was inferior to Italy during the Renaissance, and that this inferiority + was due to the interruption of vital and organic processes by reactionary + forces. + </p> + <p> + It would not be just to condemn Spain and the Papacy because, being + reactionary powers, they quenched for three centuries the genial light of + Italy. We must rather bear in mind that both Spain and the Papacy were at + that time cosmopolitan factors of the first magnitude, with perplexing + world-problems confronting them. Charles bore upon his <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA54" id="pageA54"></a>{54}</span> shoulders + the concerns of the Empire, the burden of the German revolution, and the + distracting anxiety of a duel with Islam. When his son bowed to the yoke + of government, he had to meet the same perplexities, complicated with + Netherlands in revolt, England in antagonism, and France in dubious + ferment. A succession of Popes were hampered by painful European + questions, which the instinct of self-preservation taught them to regard + as paramount. They were fighting for existence; for the Catholic creed; + for their own theocratic sovereignty. They held strong cards. But against + them were drawn up the battalions of heresy, free thought, political + insurgence in the modern world. The <i>Zeitgeist</i> that has made us what + we are, had begun to organize stern opposition to the Church. It was + natural enough that both the Spanish autocrat and the successor of S. + Peter should at this crisis have regarded Italian affairs as subordinate + in importance to wider matters which demanded their attention. Yet if we + shift our point of view from this high vantage-ground of Imperial and + Papal anxieties, and place ourselves in the center of Italy as our post of + observation, it will be apparent that nothing more ruinous for the + prosperity of the Italian people could have been devised than the joint + autocracy accorded at Bologna to two cosmopolitan but non-national forces + in their midst. An alien monarchy greedy for gold, a panic-stricken + hierarchy in terror for its life, warped the tendencies and throttled the + energies of the most artistically <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA55" + id="pageA55"></a>{55}</span> sensitive, the most heroically innovating of + the existing races. However we may judge the merits of the Spaniards, they + were assuredly not those which had brought Italy into the first rank of + European nations. The events of a single century proved that, far from + being able to govern other peoples, Spain was incapable of self-government + on any rational principle. Whatever may have been the policy thrust upon + the chief of Latin Christianity in the desperate struggle with militant + rationalism, the repressive measures which it felt bound to adopt were + eminently pernicious to a race like the Italians, who showed no + disposition for religious regeneration, and who were yet submitted to the + tyranny of ecclesiastical discipline and intellectual intolerance at every + point. + </p> + <p> + The settlement made by Charles V. in 1530, and the various changes which + took place in the duchies between that date and the end of the century, + had then the effect of rendering the Papacy and Spain omnipotent in Italy. + These kindred autocrats were joined in firm alliance, except during the + brief period of Paul IV.'s French policy, which ended in the Pope's + complete discomfiture by Alva in 1557. They used their aggregated forces + for the riveting of spiritual, political, and social chains upon the + modern world. What they only partially effected in Europe at large, by + means of S. Bartholomew massacres, exterminations of Jews in Toledo and of + Mussulmans in Granada, holocausts of victims in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA56" id="pageA56"></a>{56}</span> the Low Countries, wars + against French Huguenots and German Lutherans, naval expeditions and plots + against the state of England, assassinations of heretic princes, and + occasional burning of free thinkers, they achieved with plenary success in + Italy. The center of the peninsula, from Ferrara to Terracina, lay at the + discretion of the Pope. The Two Sicilies, Sardinia and the Duchy of Milan, + were absolute dependencies of the Spanish crown. Tuscany was linked by + ties of interest, and by the stronger bonds of terrorism, to Spain. The + insignificant principalities of Mantua, Modena, Parma could not do + otherwise than submit to the same predominant authority. It is not worth + while to take into account the tiny republics of Genoa and Lucca. Their + history through this period, though not so uneventful, is scarcely less + insignificant than that of San Marino. Venice alone stood independent, + still powerful enough to extinguish Bedmar's Spanish conspiracy in + silence, still proud enough to resist the encroachments of Paul V. with + spirit, yet sensible of her decline and spending her last energies on + warfare with the Turk. + </p> + <p> + At the close of the century, by the Peace of Vervins in 1598 and two + subsequent treaties, Spain and France settled their long dispute. France + was finally excluded from Italy by the cession of Saluzzo to Savoy, while + Savoy at the same moment, through the loss of its Burgundian provinces, + became an Italian power. The old antagonism which, dating <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA57" id="pageA57"></a>{57}</span> from the + Guelf and Ghibelline contentions of the thirteenth century, had taken a + new form after the Papal investiture of Charles of Anjou with the kingdoms + of Sicily and Naples, now ceased. That antique antagonism of parties, + alien to the home interests of Italy, had been exasperated by the rivalry + of Angevine and Aragonese princes; had assumed formidable intensity after + the invasion of Charles VIII. in 1494; and had expanded under the reigns + of Louis XII. and Francis I. into an open struggle between France and + Spain for the supremacy of Italy. It now was finally terminated by the + exclusion of the French and the acknowledged overlordship of the Spaniard. + But though peace seemed to be secured to a nation tortured by so many + desolating wars of foreign armies, the Italians regarded the cession of + Saluzzo with despondency. The partisans of national independence and + political freedom had become, however illogically, accustomed to consider + France as their ally.<a name="FNanchorA_6_6" id="FNanchorA_6_6"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> They now beheld the gates + of Italy closed against the French; they saw the extinction of their + ancient Guelf policy of calling French arms into Italy. They felt that + rest from strife was dearly bought at the price of prostrate servitude + beneath Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs, Spanish Bourbons, and mongrel + princelings bred by crossing these stocks with decaying scions of Italian + nobility. As a matter of fact, this was the destiny which lay <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA58" id="pageA58"></a>{58}</span> before them + for nearly two centuries after the signing of the Peace of Vervins. + </p> + <p> + Yet the cession of Saluzzo was really the first dawn of hope for Italy. It + determined the House of Savoy as an Italian dynasty, and brought for the + first time into the sphere of purely Italian interests that province from + which the future salvation of the nation was to come. From 1598 until 1870 + the destinies of Italy were bound up with the advance of Savoy from a + duchy to a kingdom, with its growth in wealth, military resources and + political self-consciousness, and with its ultimate acceptance of the + task, accomplished in our days, of freeing Italy from foreign tyranny and + forming a single nation out of many component elements. Those component + elements by their diversity had conferred luster on the race in the Middle + Ages, by their jealousies had wrecked its independence in the Renaissance, + and by their weakness had left it at the period of the Counter-Reformation + a helpless prey to Papal and Spanish despotism. + </p> + <p> + The leveling down of the component elements of the Italian race beneath a + common despotism, which began in the period I have chosen for this work, + was necessary perhaps before Italy could take her place as a united nation + gifted with constitutional self-government and independence. Except, + therefore, for the sufferings and the humiliations inflicted on her + people; except for their servitude beneath the most degrading forms of + ecclesiastical <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA59" id="pageA59"></a>{59}</span> + and temporal tyranny; except for the annihilation of their beautiful + Renaissance culture; except for the depression of arts, learning, science, + and literature, together with the enfeeblement of political energy and + domestic morality; except for the loathsome domination of hypocrites and + persecutors and informers; except for the Jesuitical encouragement of + every secret vice and every servile superstition which might emasculate + the race and render it subservient to authority;—except for these + appalling evils, we have no right perhaps to deplore the settlement of + Italy by Charles V. in 1530, or the course of subsequent events. For it is + tolerably certain that some such leveling down as then commenced was + needed to bring the constituent States of Italy into accord; and it is + indubitable, as I have had occasion to point out, that the political force + which eventually introduced Italy into the European system of federated + nations, was determined in its character, if not created, then. None the + less, the history of this period (1530-1600) in Italy is a prolonged, a + solemn, an inexpressibly heart-rending tragedy. + </p> + <p> + It is the tragic history of the eldest and most beautiful, the noblest and + most venerable, the freest and most gifted of Europe's daughters, + delivered over to the devilry that issued from the most incompetent and + arrogantly stupid of the European sisterhood, and to the cruelty, inspired + by panic, of an impious theocracy. When we use these terms to <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA60" id="pageA60"></a>{60}</span> designate + the Papacy of the Counter-Reformation, it is not that we forget how many + of those Popes were men of blameless private life and serious views for + Catholic Christendom. When we use these terms to designate the Spanish + race in the sixteenth century, it is not that we are ignorant of Spanish + chivalry and colonizing enterprise, of Spanish romance, or of the fact + that Spain produced great painters, great dramatists, and one great + novelist in the brief period of her glory. We use them deliberately, + however, in both cases; because the Papacy at this period committed itself + to a policy of immoral, retrograde, and cowardly repression of the most + generous of human impulses under the pressure of selfish terror; because + the Spaniards abandoned themselves to a dark fiend of religious + fanaticism; because they were merciless in their conquests and + unintelligent in their administration of subjugated provinces; because + they glutted their lusts of avarice and hatred on industrious folk of + other creeds within their borders; because they cultivated barren pride + and self-conceit in social life; because at the great epoch of Europe's + reawakening they chose the wrong side and adhered to it with fatal + obstinacy. This obstinacy was disastrous to their neighbors and ruinous to + themselves. During the short period of three reigns (between 1598 and + 1700) they sank from the first to the third grade in Europe, and saw the + scepter passing in the New World from their hands to those of more + normally <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA61" id="pageA61"></a>{61}</span> + constituted races. That the self-abandonment to sterilizing passions and + ignoble persecutions which marked Spain out for decay in the second half + of the sixteenth century, and rendered her the curse of her dependencies, + can in part be ascribed to the enthusiasm aroused in previous generations + by the heroic conflict with advancing Islam, is a thesis capable of + demonstration. Yet none the less is it true that her action at that period + was calamitous to herself and little short of destructive to Italy. + </p> + <p> + After the year 1530 seven Spanish devils entered Italy. These were the + devil of the Inquisition, with stake and torture-room, and war declared + against the will and soul and heart and intellect of man; the devil of + Jesuitry, with its sham learning, shameless lying, and casuistical economy + of sins; the devil of vice-royal rule, with its life-draining monopolies + and gross incapacity for government; the devil of an insolent soldiery, + quartered on the people, clamorous for pay, outrageous in their lusts and + violences; the devil of fantastical taxation, levying tolls upon the bare + necessities of life, and drying up the founts of national well-being at + their sources; the devil of petty-princedom, wallowing in sloth and + cruelty upon a pinchbeck throne; the devil of effeminate hidalgoism, + ruinous in expenditure, mean and grasping, corrupt in private life, in + public ostentatious, vain of titles, cringing to its masters, arrogant to + its inferiors. In their train these brought with them seven other devils, + their pernicious offspring:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA62" + id="pageA62"></a>{62}</span> idleness, disease, brigandage, destitution, + ignorance, superstition, hypocritically sanctioned vice. These fourteen + devils were welcomed, entertained, and voluptuously lodged in all the + fairest provinces of Italy. The Popes opened wide for them the gates of + outraged and depopulated Rome. Dukes and marquises fell down and worshiped + the golden image of the Spanish Belial-Moloch—that hideous idol + whose face was blackened with soot from burning human flesh, and whose + skirts were dabbled with the blood of thousands slain in wars of + persecution. After a tranquil sojourn of some years in Italy, these devils + had everywhere spread desolation and corruption. Broad regions, like the + Patrimony of S. Peter and Calabria, were given over to marauding bandits; + wide tracks of fertile country, like the Sienese Maremma, were abandoned + to malaria; wolves prowled through empty villages round Milan; in every + city the pestilence swept off its hundreds daily; manufactures, commerce, + agriculture, the industries of town and rural district, ceased; the Courts + swarmed with petty nobles, who vaunted paltry titles; and resigned their + wives to cicisbei and their sons to sloth: art and learning languished; + there was not a man who ventured to speak out his thought or write the + truth; and over the Dead Sea of social putrefaction floated the sickening + oil of Jesuitical hypocrisy. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA63" id="pageA63"></a>{63}</span> + </p> + <h4> + THE PAPACY AND THE TRIDENTINE COUNCIL + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + The Counter-Reformation—Its Intellectual and Moral Character—Causes + of the Gradual Extinction of Renaissance Energy—Transition from + the Renaissance to the Catholic Revival—New Religious Spirit in + Italy—Attitude of Italians toward German Reformation—Oratory + of Divine Love—Gasparo Contarini and the Moderate Reformers—New + Religious Orders—Paul III.—His early History and Education—Political + Attitude between France and Spain—Creation of the Duchy of Parma—Imminence + of a General Council—Review of previous Councils—Paul's + Uneasiness—Opens a Council at Trent in 1542—Protestants + virtually excluded, and Catholic Dogmas confirmed in the first Sessions—Death + of Paul in 1549—Julius III.—Paul IV.—Character and + Ruling Passions of G.P. Caraffa—His Futile Opposition to Spain—Tyranny + of his Nephews—Their Downfall—Paul Devotes himself to Church + Reform and the Inquisition—Pius IV.—His Minister Morone—Diplomatic + Temper of this Pope—His Management of the Council—Assistance + rendered by his nephew Carlo Borromeo—Alarming State of Northern + Europe—The Council reopened at Trent in 1562—Subsequent + History of the Council—It closes with a complete Papal Triumph in + 1563—Place of Pius IV. in History—Pius V.—The + Inquisitor Pope—Population of Rome—Social Corruption—Sale + of Offices and Justice—Tridentine Reforms depress Wealth—Ascetic + Purity of Manners becomes fashionable—- Piety—The Catholic + Reaction generates the Counter-Reformation—Battle of Lepanto—Gregory + XIII.—His Relatives—Policy of Enriching the Church at + Expense of the Barons—Brigandage in States of the Church—Sixtus + V.—His Stern Justice—Rigid Economy—Great Public Works—Taxation—The + City of Rome assumes its present form—Nepotism in the + Counter-Reformation Period—Various Estimates of the Wealth + accumulated by Papal Nephews—Rise of Princely Roman Families. + </p> + </div> + <p> + It is not easy to define the intellectual and moral changes which passed + over Italy in the period of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA64" + id="pageA64"></a>{64}</span> Counter-Reformation<a name="FNanchorA_7_7" + id="FNanchorA_7_7"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>; + it is still less easy to refer those changes to distinct causes. Yet some + analysis tending toward such definition is demanded from a writer who has + undertaken to treat of Italian culture and manners between the years 1530 + and 1600. + </p> + <p> + In the last chapter I attempted to describe the depth of servitude to + which the States of Italy were severally reduced at the end of the wars + between France and Spain. The desolation of the country, the loss of + national independence, and the dominance of an alien race, can be counted + among the most important of those influences which produced the changes in + question. Whatever opinions we may hold regarding the connection between + political autonomy and mental vigor in a people, it can hardly be disputed + that a sudden and universal extinction of liberty must be injurious to + arts and studies that have grown up under free institutions. + </p> + <p> + But there were other causes at work. Among these a prominent place should + be given to an alteration in the intellectual interests of the Italians + themselves. The original impulses of the Renaissance, in scholarship, + painting, sculpture, architecture, and vernacular poetry, had been + exhausted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA65" id="pageA65"></a>{65}</span> + </p> + <p> + Humanism, after recovering the classics and forming a new ideal of + culture, was sinking into pedantry and academic erudition. Painting and + sculpture, having culminated in the great work of Michelangelo, tended + toward a kind of empty mannerism. Architecture settled down into the types + fixed by Palladio and Barozzi. Poetry seemed to have reached its highest + point of development in Ariosto. The main motives supplied to art by + mediaeval traditions and humanistic enthusiasm were worked out. Nor was + this all. The Renaissance had created a critical spirit which penetrated + every branch of art and letters. It was not possible to advance further on + the old lines; yet painters, sculptors, architects, and poets of the + rising generation had before their eyes the masterpieces of their + predecessors, in their minds the precepts of the learned. All alike were + rendered awkward and self-conscious by the sense of laboring at a + disadvantage, and by the dread of academical censorship. + </p> + <p> + In truth, this critical spirit, which was the final product of the + Renaissance in Italy, favored the development of new powers in the nation: + it hampered workers in the elder spheres of art, literature, and + scholarship; but it set thinkers upon the track of those investigations + which we call scientific. I shall endeavor, in a future chapter, to show + how the Italians were now upon the point of carrying the ardor of the + Renaissance into fresh fields of physical discovery and speculation, when + their evolution <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA66" id="pageA66"></a>{66}</span> + was suspended by the Catholic Reaction. But here it must suffice to + observe that formalism had succeeded by the operation of natural + influences to the vigor and inventiveness of the national genius in the + main departments of literature and fine art. + </p> + <p> + If we study the development of other European races, we shall find that + each of them in turn, at its due season, passed through similar phases. + The mediaeval period ends in the efflorescence of a new delightful energy, + which gives a Rabelais, a Shakspere, a Cervantes to the world. The + Renaissance riots itself away in Marinism, Gongorism, Euphuism, and the + affectations of the Hôtel Rambouillet. This age is succeeded by a + colder, more critical, more formal age of obedience to fixed canons, + during which scholarly efforts are made to purify style and impose laws on + taste. The ensuing period of sense is also marked by profounder inquiries + into nature and more exact analysis of mental operations. The correct + school of poets, culminating in Dryden and Pope, holds sway in England; + while Newton, Locke, and Bentley extend the sphere of science. In France + the age of Rabelais and Montaigne yields place to the age of Racine and + Descartes. Germany was so distracted by religious wars, Spain was so + down-trodden by the Inquisition, that they do not offer equally luminous + examples.<a name="FNanchorA_8_8" id="FNanchorA_8_8"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> It may be added that in all + these nations the end of the eighteenth and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA67" id="pageA67"></a>{67}</span> the beginning of the + nineteenth centuries are marked by a similar revolt against formality and + common sense, to which we give the name of the Romantic movement. + </p> + <p> + Quitting this sphere of speculation, we may next point out that the + European system had undergone an incalculable process of transformation. + Powerful nationalities were in existence, who, having received their + education from Italy, were now beginning to think and express thought with + marked originality. The Italians stood no longer in a relation of + uncontested intellectual superiority to these peoples, while they met them + under decided disadvantages at all points of political efficiency. The + Mediterranean had ceased to be the high road of commercial enterprise and + naval energy. Charles V.'s famous device of the two columns, with its + motto <i>Plus Ultra</i>, indicated that illimitable horizons had been + opened, that an age had begun in which Spain, England and Holland should + dispute the sovereignty of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Italy was + left, with diminished forces of resistance, to bear the brunt of Turk and + Arab depredations. The point of gravity in the civilized world had + shifted. The Occidental nations looked no longer toward the South of + Europe. + </p> + <p> + While these various causes were in operation, Catholic Christianity showed + signs of re-wakening. The Reformation called forth a new and sincere + spirit in the Latin Church; new antagonisms were <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA68" id="pageA68"></a>{68}</span> evoked, and new efforts after + self-preservation had to be made by the Papal hierarchy. The center of the + world-wide movement which is termed the Counter-Reformation was naturally + Rome. Events had brought the Holy See once more into a position of + prominence. It was more powerful as an Italian State now, through the + support of Spain and the extinction of national independence, than at any + previous period of history. In Catholic Christendom its prestige was + immensely augmented by the Council of Trent. At the same epoch, the + foreigners who dominated Italy, threw themselves with the enthusiasm of + fanaticism into this Revival. Spain furnished Rome with the militia of the + Jesuits and with the engines of the Inquisition. The Papacy was thus able + to secure successes in Italy which were elsewhere only partially achieved. + It followed that the moral, social, political and intellectual activities + of the Italians at this period were controlled and colored by influences + hostile to the earlier Renaissance. Italy underwent a metamorphosis, + prescribed by the Papacy and enforced by Spanish rule. In the process of + this transformation the people submitted to rigid ecclesiastical + discipline, and adopted, without assimilating, the customs of a foreign + troop of despots. + </p> + <p> + At first sight we may wonder that the race which had shone with such + incomparable luster from Dante to Ariosto, and which had done so much to + create modern culture for Europe, should <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA69" id="pageA69"></a>{69}</span> so quietly have accepted a + retrogressive revolution. Yet, when we look closer, this is not + surprising. The Italians were fatigued with creation, bewildered by the + complexity of their discoveries, uncertain as to the immediate course + before them. The Renaissance had been mainly the work of a select few. It + had transformed society without permeating the masses of the people. Was + it strange that the majority should reflect that, after all, the old ways + are the best? This led them to approve the Catholic Revival. Was it + strange that, after long distracting aimless wars, they should hail peace + at any price? This lent popular sanction to the Spanish hegemony, in spite + of its obvious drawbacks. + </p> + <p> + These may be reckoned the main conditions which gave a peculiar but not + easily definable complexion of languor, melancholy, and dwindling vitality + to nearly every manifestation of Italian genius in the second half of the + sixteenth century, and which well nigh sterilized that genius during the + two succeeding centuries. In common with the rest of Europe, and in + consequence of an inevitable alteration of their mental bias, they had + lost the blithe spontaneity of the Renaissance. But they were at the same + time suffering from grievous exhaustion, humiliated by the tyranny of + foreign despotism, and terrorized by ecclesiastical intolerance. In their + case, therefore, a sort of moral and intellectual atrophy becomes + gradually more and more perceptible. The clear artistic sense of rightness + and of beauty yields to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA70" + id="pageA70"></a>{70}</span> doubtful taste. The frank audacity of the + Renaissance is superseded by cringing timidity, lumbering dulness, + somnolent and stagnant acquiescence in accepted formulae. At first the + best minds of the nation fret and rebel, and meet with the dungeon or the + stake as the reward of contumacy. In the end everybody seems to be + indifferent, satisfied with vacuity, enamored of insipidity. The brightest + episode in this dreary period is the emergence of modern music with + incomparable sweetness and lucidity. + </p> + <p> + It must not be supposed that the change which I have adumbrated, passed + rapidly over the Italian spirit. When Paul III. succeeded Clement on the + Papal throne in 1534, some of the giants of the Renaissance still + survived, and much of their great work was yet to be accomplished. + Michelangelo had neither painted the Last Judgment nor planned the cupola + which crowns S. Peter's. Cellini had not cast his Perseus for the Loggia + de'Lanzi, nor had Palladio raised San Giorgio from the sea at Venice. + Pietro Aretino still swaggered in lordly insolence; and though Machiavelli + was dead, the 'silver histories' of Guicciardini remained to be written. + Bandello, Giraldi and Il Lasca had not published their Novelle, nor had + Cecchi given the last touch to Florentine comedy. It was chiefly at + Venice, which preserved the ancient forms of her oligarchical + independence, that the grand style of the Renaissance continued to + flourish. Titian was in his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA71" + id="pageA71"></a>{71}</span> prime; the stars of Tintoretto and Veronese + had scarcely risen above the horizon. Sansovino was still producing + masterpieces of picturesque beauty in architecture. + </p> + <p> + In order to understand the transition of Italy from the Renaissance to the + Counter-Reformation manner, it will be well to concentrate attention on + the history of the Papacy during the eight reigns of Paul III., Julius + III., Paul IV., Pius IV., Pius V., Gregory XIII., Sixtus V., and Clement + VIII.<a name="FNanchorA_9_9" id="FNanchorA_9_9"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> In the first of these + reigns we hardly notice that the Renaissance has passed away. In the last + we are aware of a completely altered Italy. And we perceive that this + alteration has been chiefly due to the ecclesiastical policy which brought + the Council of Trent to a successful issue in the reign of Pius IV. + </p> + <p> + Before engaging in this review of Papal history, I must give some brief + account of the more serious religious spirit which had been developed + within the Italian Church; since the determination of this spirit toward + rigid Catholicism in the second half of the sixteenth century decided the + character of Italian manners and culture. Protestantism in the strict + sense of the term took but little hold upon Italian society. It is true + that the minds of some philosophical students were deeply stirred by the + audacious discussion of theological principles in Germany. Such men had + been rendered receptive of new im<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA72" + id="pageA72"></a>{72}</span> pressions by the Platonizing speculations of + Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, as well as by the criticism of the Bible + in its original languages which formed a subordinate branch of humanistic + education. They had, furthermore, been powerfully affected by the + tribulations of Rome at the time of Bourbon's occupation, and had grown to + regard these as a divine chastisement inflicted on the Church for its + corruption and ungodliness. Lutheranism so far influenced their opinions + that they became convinced of the necessity of a return to the simpler + elements of Christianity in creed and conduct. They considered a + thorough-going reform of the hierarchy and of all Catholic institutions to + be indispensable. They leant, moreover, with partiality to some of the + essential tenets of the Reformation, notably to the doctrines of + justification by faith and salvation by the merits of Christ, and also to + the principle that Scripture is the sole authority in matters of belief + and discipline. Thus both the Cardinals Morone and Contarini, the poet + Flaminio, and the nobles of the Colonna family in Naples who imbibed the + teaching of Valdes, fell under the suspicion of heterodoxy on these + points. But it was characteristic of the members of this school that they + had no will to withhold allegiance from the Pope as chief of Christendom. + They shrank with horror from the thought of encouraging a schism or of + severing themselves from the communion of Catholics. The essential + difference between Italian and Teutonic thinkers on <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA73" id="pageA73"></a>{73}</span> such subjects at this epoch + seems to have been this: Italians could not cease to be Catholics without + at the same time ceasing to be Christians. They could not accommodate + their faith to any of the compromises suggested by the Reformation. Even + when they left their country in a spirit of rebellion, they felt ill at + ease both with Lutherans and Calvinists. Like Bernardino Ochino and the + Anti-Trinitarians of the Socinian sect, they wandered restlessly through + Europe, incapable of settling down in communion with any one of the + established forms of Protestantism. Calvin at Geneva instituted a real + crusade against Italian thinkers, who differed from his views. He drove + Valentino Gentile to death on the scaffold; and expelled Gribaldi, Simone, + Biandrata, Alciati, Negro. Most of these men found refuge in Poland, + Transylvania, even Turkey.<a name="FNanchorA_10_10" id="FNanchorA_10_10"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> + </p> + <p> + There were bold speculators in Italy enough, who had practically abandoned + the Catholic faith. But the majority of these did not think it worth their + while to make an open rupture with the Church. Theological hair-splitting + reminded them only of the mediaeval scholasticism from which they had been + emancipated by classical culture. They were less interested in questions + touching the salvation of the individual or the exact nature of the + sacraments, than in metaphysical problems suggested by the study of + antique philosophers, or new theories of the material universe.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA74" id="pageA74"></a>{74}</span> + </p> + <p> + The indifference of these men in religion rendered it easy for them to + conform in all external points to custom. Their fundamental axiom was that + a scientific thinker could hold one set of opinions as a philosopher, and + another set as a Christian. Their motto was the celebrated <i>Foris ut + moris, intus ut libet</i>.<a name="FNanchorA_11_11" id="FNanchorA_11_11"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Nor were ecclesiastical + authorities dissatisfied with this attitude during the ascendancy of + humanistic culture. It was, indeed, the attitude of Popes like Leo, + Cardinals like Bembo. And it only revealed its essential weakness when the + tide of general opinion, under the blast of Teutonic revolutionary ideas, + turned violently in favor of formal orthodoxy. Then indeed it became + dangerous to adopt the position of a Pomponazzo. + </p> + <p> + The mental attitude of such men is so well illustrated by a letter written + by Celio Calcagnini to Peregrino Morato, that I shall not hesitate to + transcribe it here. It seems that Morato had sent his correspondent some + treatise on the theological questions then in dispute; and Calcagnini + replies: + </p> + <p> + 'I have read the book relating to the controversies so much agitated at + present. I have thought on its contents, and weighed them in the balance + of reason. I find in it nothing which may not be approved and defended, + but some things which, as mysteries, it is safer to suppress and conceal + than to bring before the common people, inasmuch as they pertained to the + primitive and infant state of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA75" + id="pageA75"></a>{75}</span> Church. Now, when the decrees of the fathers + and long usage have introduced other modes, what necessity is there for + reviving antiquated practices which have long fallen into desuetude, + especially as neither piety nor the salvation of the soul is concerned + with them? Let us, then, I pray you, allow these things to rest. Not that + I disapprove of their being embraced by scholars and lovers of antiquity; + but I would not have them communicated to the common people and those who + are fond of innovations, lest they give occasion to strife and sedition. + There are unlearned and unqualified persons who having, after long + ignorance, read or heard certain new opinions respecting baptism, the + marriage of the clergy, ordination, the distinction of days and food, and + public penitence, instantly conceive that these things are to be stiffly + maintained and observed. Wherefore, in my opinion, the discussion of these + points ought to be confined to the initiated, that so the seamless coat of + our Lord may not be rent and torn.... Seeing it is dangerous to treat such + things before the multitude and in public discourses, I must deem it + safest to "speak with the many and think with the few," and to keep in + mind the advice of Paul, "Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before + God."'<a name="FNanchorA_12_12" id="FNanchorA_12_12"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> + </p> + <p> + The new religious spirit which I have attempted to characterize as + tinctured by Protestant opinions <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA76" + id="pageA76"></a>{76}</span> but disinclined for severance from Rome, + manifested itself about the same time in several groups. One of them was + at Rome, where a society named the Oratory of Divine Love, including from + fifty to sixty members, began to meet as early as the reign of Leo X. in + the Trastevere. This pious association included men of very various kinds. + Sadoleto, Giberto, and Contarini were here in close intimacy with Gaetano + di Thiene, the sainted founder of the Theatines, and with his friend + Caraffa, the founder of the Roman Inquisition. Venice was the center of + another group, among whom may be mentioned Reginald Pole, Gasparo + Contarini, Luigi Priuli, and Antonio Bruccioli, the translator of the + Bible from the original tongues into Italian. The poet Marcantonio + Flaminio became a member of both societies; and was furthermore the + personal friend of the Genoese Cardinals Sauli and Fregoso, whom we have a + right to count among thinkers of the same class. Flaminio, though he died + in the Catholic communion, was so far suspected of heresy that his works + were placed upon the Index of 1559. In Naples Juan Valdes made himself the + leader of a similar set of men. His views, embodied in the work of a + disciple, and revised by Marcantonio Flaminio, <i>On the Benefits of + Christ's Death</i>, revealed strong Lutheran tendencies, which at a later + period would certainly have condemned him to perpetual imprisonment or + exile. This book had a wide circulation in Italy, and was influential in + directing the minds <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA77" id="pageA77"></a>{77}</span> + of thoughtful Christians to the problems of Justification. It was ascribed + to Aonio Paleario, who suffered martyrdom at Rome for maintaining + doctrines similar to those of Valdes.<a name="FNanchorA_13_13" + id="FNanchorA_13_13"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> + Round him gathered several members of the great Colonna family, notably + Vespasiano, Duke of Palliano, and his wife, the star of Italian beauty, + Giulia Gonzaga. Vittoria Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara, imbibed the new + doctrines in the same circle; and so did Bernardino Ochino. Modena could + boast another association, which met in the house of Grillenzone; while + Ferrara became the headquarters of a still more pronounced reforming party + under the patronage of the Duchess, Renée of France, daughter of + Louis XII. These various societies and coteries were bound together by + ties of friendship and literary correspondence, and were indirectly + connected with less fortunate reforming theologians; with Aonio Paleario, + Bernardino Ochino, Antonio dei Pagliaricci, Carnesecchi, and others, whose + tragic history will form a part of my chapter on the Inquisition. + </p> + <p> + It does not fall within the province of this chapter to write an account + of what has, not very appropriately, been called the Reformation in Italy. + My purpose in the present book is, not to follow the for<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA78" id="pageA78"></a>{78}</span> tunes of + Protestantism, but to trace the sequel of the Renaissance, the merging of + its impulse in new phases of European development. I shall therefore + content myself with pointing out that at the opening of Paul III.'s reign, + there was widely diffused throughout the chief Italian cities a novel + spirit of religious earnestness and enthusiasm, which as yet had taken no + determinate direction. This spirit burned most highly in Gasparo + Contarini, who in 1541 was commissioned by the Pope to attend a conference + at Rechensburg for the discussion of terms of reconciliation with the + Lutherans. He succeeded in drawing up satisfactory articles on the main + theological points regarding human nature, original sin, redemption and + justification. These were accepted by the Protestant theologians at + Rechensburg and might possibly have been ratified in Rome, had not the + Congress been broken up by Contarini's total failure to accommodate + differences touching the Pope's supremacy and the conciliar principle.<a + name="FNanchorA_14_14" id="FNanchorA_14_14"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_14_14" + class="fnanchor">[14]</a> He made concessions to the Reformers, which + roused the fury of the Roman Curia. At the same time political intrigues + were set on foot in France and Germany to avert a reconciliation which + would have immeasurably strengthened the Emperor's position. The moderate + sections of both parties, Lutheran and Catholic, failed at Rechensburg. + Indeed, it was inevi<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA79" id="pageA79"></a>{79}</span> + table that they should fail; for the breach between the Roman Church and + the Reformation was not of a nature to be healed over at this date. + Principles were involved which could not now be harmonized, and both + parties in the dispute were on the point of developing their own forces + with fresh internal vigor. + </p> + <p> + The Italians who desired reform of the Church were now thrown back upon + the attempt to secure this object within the bosom of Catholicism. At the + request of Paul III. they presented a memorial on ecclesiastical abuses, + which was signed by Contarini, Caraffa, Sadoleto, Pole, Fregoso, Giberto, + Cortese and Aleander. These Cardinals did not spare plain speech upon the + burning problem of Papal misgovernment. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the new spirit began to manifest itself in the foundation of + orders and institutions tending to purification of Church discipline. The + most notable of these was the order of Theatines established by Thiene and + Caraffa. Its object was to improve the secular priesthood, with a view to + which end seminaries were opened for the education of priests, who took + monastic vows and devoted themselves to special observance of their + clerical duties, as preachers, administrators of the sacraments, visitors + of the poor and sick. + </p> + <p> + A Venetian, Girolamo Miani, at the same period founded a congregation, + called the Somascan, for the education of the destitute and orphaned, and + for the reception of the sick and infirm into hospitals.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA80" id="pageA80"></a>{80}</span> The + terrible state in which Lombardy had been left by war rendered this + institution highly valuable. Of a similar type was the order of the + Barnabites, who were first incorporated at Milan, charged with the + performance of acts of mercy, education, preaching, and other forms of + Christian ministration. It may be finally added that the Camaldolese and + Franciscan orders had been in part reformed by a spontaneous movement + within their bodies. + </p> + <p> + If we compare the spirit indicated by these efforts in the first half of + the sixteenth century with that of the earlier Renaissance, it will be + evident that the Italians were ready for religious change. They sink, + however, into insignificance beside two Spanish institutions which about + the same period added their weight and influence to the Catholic revival. + I mean, of course, the Inquisition and the Jesuit order. Paul III. + empowered Caraffa in 1542 to re-establish the Inquisition in Rome upon a + new basis resembling that of the Spanish Holy Office. The same Pope + sanctioned and confirmed the Company of Jesus between the years 1540 and + 1543. The establishment of the Inquisition gave vast disciplinary powers + to the Church at the moment when the Council of Trent fixed her dogmas and + proclaimed the absolute authority of the Popes. At the same time the + Jesuits, devoted by their founder in blind obedience—<i>perinde ac + cadaver</i>—to the service of the Papacy, penetrated Italy, Spain, + France, Germany, and the transatlantic colonies. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA81" id="pageA81"></a>{81}</span> The + Pope who succeeded Clement VII. in 1534 was in all ways fitted to + represent the transition which I have indicated. Alessandro Farnese sprang + from an ancient but decayed family in the neighborhood of Bolsena, several + of whose members had played a foremost part in the mediaeval revolutions + of Orvieto. While still a young man of twenty-five, he was raised to the + Cardinalate by Alexander VI. This advancement he owed to the influence of + his sister Giulia, surnamed La Bella, who was then the Borgia's mistress. + It is characteristic of an epoch during which the bold traditions of the + fifteenth century still lingered, that the undraped statue of this Giulia + (representing Vanity) was carved for the basement of Paul III.'s monument + in the choir of S. Peter's. The old stock of the Farnesi, once planted in + the soil of Papal corruption at its most licentious period, struck firm + roots and flourished. Alessandro was born in 1468, and received a + humanistic education according to the methods of the earlier Renaissance. + He studied literature with Pomponius Laetus in the Roman Academy, and + frequented the gardens of Lorenzo de'Medici at Florence. His character and + intellect were thus formed under the influences of the classical revival + and of the Pontifical Curia, at a time when pagan morality and secular + policy had obliterated the ideal of Catholic Christianity. His sister was + the Du Barry of the Borgian Court. He was himself the father of several + illegitimate children, whom he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA82" + id="pageA82"></a>{82}</span> acknowledged, and on whose advancement by the + old system of Papal nepotism he spent the best years of his reign. Both as + a patron of the arts and as an elegant scholar in the Latin and Italian + languages, Alessandro showed throughout his life the effects of this early + training. He piqued himself on choice expression, whenever he was called + upon to use the pen in studied documents, or to answer ambassadors in + public audiences. To his taste and love of splendor Rome owes the Farnese + palace. He employed Cellini, and forced Michelangelo to paint the Last + Judgment. On ascending the Papal throne he complained that this mighty + genius had been too long occupied for Delia Roveres and Medici. When the + fresco was finished, he set the old artist upon his last great task of + completing S. Peter's. + </p> + <p> + So far there was nothing to distinguish Alessandro Farnese from other + ecclesiastics of the Renaissance. As Cardinal he seemed destined, should + he ever attain the Papal dignity, to combine the qualities of the Borgian + and Medicean Pontiffs. But before his elevation to that supreme height, he + lived through the reigns of Julius II., Leo X., Adrian VI., and Clement + VII. Herein lies the peculiarity of his position as Paul III. The pupil of + Pomponius Laetus, the creature of Roderigo Borgia, the representative of + Italian manners and culture before the age of foreign invasion had changed + the face of Italy, Paul III. was called at the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA83" id="pageA83"></a>{83}</span> age of sixty-six to steer the + ship of the Church through troubled waters and in very altered + circumstances. He had witnessed the rise and progress of Protestant revolt + in Germany. He had observed the stirrings of a new and sincere spirit of + religious gravity, an earnest desire for ecclesiastical reform in his own + country. He had watched the duel between France and Spain, during the + course of which his predecessors Alexander V. and Julius II. restored the + secular authority of Rome. He had seen that authority humbled to the dust + in 1527, and miraculously rehabilitated at Bologna in 1530. He had learned + by the example of the Borgias how difficult it was for any Papal family to + found a substantial principality; and the vicissitudes of Florence and + Urbino had confirmed this lesson. Finally, he had assisted at the + coronation of Charles V.; and when he took the reins of power into his + hands, he was well aware with what a formidable force he had to cope in + the great Emperor. + </p> + <p> + Paul III. knew that the old Papal game of pitting France against Spain in + the peninsula could not be played on the same grand scale as formerly. + This policy had been pursued with results ruinous to Italy but favorable + to the Church, by Julius. It had enabled Leo and Clement to advance their + families at the hazard of more important interests. But in the reign of + the latter Pope it had all but involved the Papacy itself in the general + confusion and desolation of the country. Moreover, France <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA84" id="pageA84"></a>{84}</span> was no + longer an effective match for Spain; and though their struggle was + renewed, the issue was hardly doubtful. Spain had got too firm a grip upon + the land to be cast off. + </p> + <p> + Yet Paul was a man of the elder generation. It could not be expected that + a Pope of the Renaissance should suddenly abandon the mediaeval policy of + Papal hostility to the Empire, especially when the Empire was in the hands + of so omnipotent a master as Charles. It could not be expected that he + should recognize the wisdom of confining Papal ambition to ecclesiastical + interests, and of forming a defensive and offensive alliance with Catholic + sovereigns for the maintenance of absolutism. It could not be expected + that he should forego the pleasures and apparent profits of creating + duchies for his bastards, whereby to dignify his family and strengthen his + personal authority as a temporal sovereign. It is true that the experience + of the last half century had pointed in the direction of all these + changes; and it is certain that the series of events connected with the + Council of Trent, which began in Paul III.'s reign, rendered them both + natural and necessary. Yet Paul, as a man of the elder generation filling + the Papal throne for fifteen years during a period of transition, adhered + in the main to the policy of his predecessors. It was fortunate for him + and for the Holy See that the basis of his character was caution combined + with tough tenacity of purpose, capacity for dilatory action, diplomatic + shiftiness and a poli<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA85" id="pageA85"></a>{85}</span> + tical versatility that can best be described by the word trimming. These + qualities enabled him to pass with safety through perils that might have + ruined a bolder, a hastier, or a franker Pope, and to achieve the object + of his heart's desire, where stronger men had failed, in the foundation of + a solid duchy for his heirs. + </p> + <p> + Paul's jealousy of the Spanish ascendancy in Italian affairs caused him to + waver between the Papal and Imperial, Guelf and Ghibelline, parties. These + names had lost much of their significance; but the habit of distinction + into two camps was so rooted in Italian manners, that each city counted + its antagonistic factions, maintained by various forms of local + organization and headed by the leading families.<a name="FNanchorA_15_15" + id="FNanchorA_15_15"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> + Burigozzo, under the year 1517, tells how the whole population of Milan + was divided between Guelfs and Ghibellines, wearing different costumes; + and it is not uncommon to read of petty nobles in the country at this + period, who were styled Captains of one or the other party. + </p> + <p> + The wars between France and Spain revived the almost obsolete dispute, + which the despots of the fifteenth century and the diplomatic + confederation of the five great powers had tended in large measure to + erase. The Guelfs and Ghibellines <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA86" + id="pageA86"></a>{86}</span> were now partisans of France and Spain + respectively. Thus a true political importance was regained for the + time-honored factions; and in the distracted state of Italy they were + further intensified by the antagonism between exiles and the ruling + families in cities. If Cosimo de'Medici, for example, was a Ghibelline or + Spanish partisan, it followed as a matter of course that Filippo Strozzi + was a Guelf and stood for France. Paul III. managed to maintain himself by + manipulating these factions and holding the balance between them for the + advantage of his family and of the Church. + </p> + <p> + He thus succeeded in creating the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza for his son, + Pier Luigi Farnese, that outrageous representative of the worst vices and + worst violences of the Renaissance. It will be remembered that Julius had + detached these two cities from the Duchy of Milan, and annexed them to the + Papal States, on the plea that they formed part of the old Exarchate of + Ravenna. When Charles decided against this plea in the matter of Modena + and Reggio, he left the Church in occupation of Parma and Piacenza. Paul + created his son Duke of Nepi and Castro in 1537, and afterwards conferred + the Duchy of Camerino on his grandson, Ottavio, who was then married to + Margaret of Austria, daughter of Charles V., and widow of the murdered + Alessandro de'Medici. The usual system of massacre, exile, and + confiscation had reduced the signorial family of the Varani at Camerino to + extremities. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA87" id="pageA87"></a>{87}</span> + fief reverted to the Church, and Paul induced the Cardinals to sanction + his investiture of Ottavio Farnese with its rights and honors. He + subsequently explained to them that it would be more profitable for the + Holy See to retain Camerino and to relinquish Parma and Piacenza to the + Farnesi in exchange. There was sense in this arrangement; for Camerino + formed an integral part of the Papal States, while Parma and Piacenza were + held under a more than doubtful title. Pier Luigi did not long survive his + elevation to the dukedom of Parma. He was murdered by his exasperated + subjects in 1547. His son, Ottavio, with some difficulty, maintained his + hold upon this principality, until in 1559 he established himself and his + heirs, with the approval of Philip II., in its perpetual enjoyment. The + Farnesi repaid Spanish patronage by constant service, Alessandro, Prince + of Parma, and son of Ottavio, being illustrious in the annals of the + Netherlands. It would not have been worth while to enlarge on this + foundation of the Duchy of Parma, had it not furnished an excellent + example of my theme. By this act Paul III. proved himself a true and able + inheritor of those political traditions by which all Pontiffs from Sixtus + IV. to Clement VII. had sought to establish their relatives in secular + princedoms. It was the last eminent exhibition of that policy, the last + and the most brilliant display of nepotistical ambition in a Pope. A new + age had opened, in which such schemes became impossible—when Popes + could no <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA88" id="pageA88"></a>{88}</span> + longer dare to acknowledge and legitimize their bastards, and when they + had to administer their dominions exclusively for the temporal and + ecclesiastical aggrandizement of the tiara. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, Paul was living under the conditions which brought this + modern attitude of the Papacy into potent actuality. He was surrounded by + intellectual and moral forces of recent growth but of incalculable + potency. One of the first acts of his reign was to advance six members of + the moderate reforming party—Sadoleto, Pole, Giberto, Federigo, + Fregoso, Gasparo Contarini, and G.M. Caraffa—to the Cardinalate. By + this exercise of power he showed his willingness to recognize new elements + of very various qualities in the Catholic hierarchy. Five of these men + represented opinions which at the moment of their elevation to the purple + had a fair prospect of ultimate success. Imbued with a profound sense of + the need for ecclesiastical reform, and tinctured more or less deeply with + so-called Protestant opinions, they desired nothing more intensely than a + reconstitution of the Catholic Church upon a basis which might render + reconciliation with the Lutherans practicable. They had their opportunity + during the pontificate of Paul III. It was a splendid one; and, as I have + already shown, the Conference of Rechensburg only just failed in securing + the end they so profoundly desired. But the Papacy was not prepared to + concede so much as they were anxious to grant: the German Reformers proved + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA89" id="pageA89"></a>{89}</span> + intractable; they were themselves impeded by their loyalty to antique + Catholic traditions, and by their dread of a schism; finally, the militant + expansive force of Spanish orthodoxy, expressing itself already in the + concentrated energy of the Jesuit order, rendered attempts at fusion + impossible. The victory in Rome remained with the faction of <i>intransigeant</i> + Catholics; and this was represented, in Paul III.'s first creation of + Cardinals, by Caraffa. Caraffa was destined to play a singular part in the + transition period of Papal history which I am reviewing. He belonged as + essentially to the future as Alessandro Farnese belonged to the past. He + embodied the spirit of the Inquisition, and upheld the principles of + ecclesiastical reform upon the narrow basis of Papal absolutism. He openly + signalized his disapproval of Paul's nepotism; and when his time for + ruling came, he displayed a remorseless spirit of justice without mercy in + dealing with his own family. Yet he hated the Spanish ascendancy with a + hatred far more fierce and bitter than that of Paul III. His ineffectual + efforts to shake off the yoke of Philip II. was the last spasm of the + older Papal policy of resistance to temporal sovereigns, the last appeal + made in pursuance of that policy to France by an Italian Pontiff.<a + name="FNanchorA_16_16" id="FNanchorA_16_16"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_16_16" + class="fnanchor">[16]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA90" id="pageA90"></a>{90}</span> The + object of this excursion into the coming period is to show in how deep a + sense Paul III. may be regarded as the beginner of a new era, while he was + at the same time the last continuator of the old. The Cardinals whom he + promoted on his accession included the chief of those men who strove in + vain for a concordat between Rome and Reformation; it also included the + man who stamped Rome with the impress of the Counter-Reformation. Yet + Caraffa would not have had the fulcrum needed for this decisive exertion + of power, had it not been for another act of Paul's reign. This was the + convening of a Council at Trent. Paul's attitude toward the Council, which + he summoned with reluctance, which he frustrated as far as in him lay, and + the final outcome of which he was far from anticipating, illustrates in a + most decisive manner his destiny as Pope of the transition. + </p> + <p> + The very name of a Council was an abomination to the Papacy. This will be + apparent if we consider the previous history of the Church during the + first half of the fifteenth century, when the conciliar authority was + again invoked to regulate the Papal See and to check Papal encroachments + on the realms and Churches of the Western nations. The removal of the + Papal Court to Avignon, the great schism which resulted from this measure, + and the dissent which spread from England to Bohemia at the close of the + fourteenth century, rendered it necessary that the representative powers + of Chris<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA91" id="pageA91"></a>{91}</span> + tendom should combine for the purpose of restoring order in the Church. + Four main points lay before the powers of Europe, thus brought for the + first time into deliberative and confederated congress to settle questions + that vitally concerned them. The most immediately urgent was the + termination of the schism, and the appointment of one Pope, who should + represent the mediaeval idea of ecclesiastical face to face with imperial + unity. The second was the definition of the indeterminate and + ever-widening authority which the Popes asserted over the kingdoms and the + Churches of the West. The third was the eradication of heresies which were + rending Christendom asunder and threatening to destroy that ideal of unity + in creed to which the Middle Ages clung with not unreasonable passion. The + fourth was a reform of the Church, considered as a vital element of + Western Christendom, in its head and in its members. + </p> + <p> + The programme, very indistinctly formulated by the most advanced thinkers + of the age, and only gradually developed by practice into actuality, was a + vast one. It involved the embitterment of national jealousies, the + accentuation of national characteristics, and the complication of + antagonistic principles regarding secular and ecclesiastical government, + which rendered a complete and satisfactory solution well-nigh + impracticable. The effort to solve these problems had, however, important + influence in creating conditions under which the politico-religious + struggles <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA92" id="pageA92"></a>{92}</span> + of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were conducted.<a + name="FNanchorA_17_17" id="FNanchorA_17_17"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_17_17" + class="fnanchor">[17]</a> + </p> + <p> + The first Council, opened at Pisa in 1409, was a congress of prelates + summoned by Cardinals for the conclusion of the schism. It deposed two + Popes, who still continued to assert their titles; it elected a third, + Alexander V., who had no real authority. For the rest, it effected no + reform, and cannot be said to have done much more than to give effect to + those aspirations after Church-government by means of Councils which had + been slowly forming during the continuance of the schism. + </p> + <p> + The second Council, opened at Constance in 1414, was a Council not + convened by Cardinals, but by the universal demand of Europe that the + advances of the Papacy toward tyranny should be checked, and that the + innumerable abuses of the Church and Papal Curia should be reformed. It + received a different complexion from that of Pisa, through the presidency + of the Emperor and the attendance of representatives from the chief + nations. At Constance the Papacy and the Roman Curia stood together, + exposed to the hostile criticism of Europe. The authority of a General + Council was, after a sharp conflict, decreed superior to that of the + Bishop of Rome. Three Popes were forced to abdicate; and a fourth, Martin + V., was elected.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA93" id="pageA93"></a>{93}</span> + </p> + <p> + The Council further undertook to deal with heresy and with the reform of + the Church. It discharged the first of these offices by condemning Hus and + Jerome of Prague to the stake. It left the second practically untouched. + Yet the question of reform had been gravely raised, largely discussed, and + fundamentally examined. Two methods were posed at Constance for the future + consideration of earnest thinkers throughout Europe. One was the way + suggested by John Hus; that the Church should be reconstituted, after a + searching analysis of the real bases of Christian conduct, an appeal to + Scripture as the final authority, and a loyal endeavor to satisfy the + spiritual requirements of individual souls and consciences. The second + plan was that of inquiry into the existing order of the Church and + detailed amendment of its flagrant faults, with preservation of the main + system. The Council adopted satisfactory measures of reform on neither of + these methods. It contented itself with stipulations and concordats, + guaranteeing special privileges to the Churches of the several nations. + But in the following century it became manifest that the Teutonic races + had declared for the method suggested by Hus; while the Latin races, in + the Council of Trent, undertook a purgation of the Church upon the second + of the two plans. The Reformation was the visible outcome of the one, the + Counter-Reformation of the other method. + </p> + <p> + The Council of Constance was thus important in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA94" id="pageA94"></a>{94}</span> causing the recognition of a + single Pope, and in ventilating the divergent theories upon which the + question of reform was afterwards to be disputed. But perhaps the most + significant fact it brought into relief was the new phase of political + existence into which the European races had entered. Nationality, as the + main principle of modern history, was now established; and the diplomatic + relations of sovereigns as the representatives of peoples were shown to be + of overwhelming weight. The visionary mediaeval polity of Emperor and Pope + faded away before the vivid actuality of full-formed individual nations, + federally connected, controlled by common but reciprocally hostile + interests.<a name="FNanchorA_18_18" id="FNanchorA_18_18"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> + </p> + <p> + The Council of Basel, opened in 1431, was in appearance a continuation of + the Council of Constance. But its method of procedure ran counter to the + new direction which had been communicated to European federacy by the + action of the Constance congress. There the votes had been taken by + nations. At Basel they were taken by men, after the questions to be + decided had been previously discussed by special congregations and + committees deputed for preliminary deliberations. It soon appeared that + the fathers of the Basel Council aimed at opposing a lawfully-elected + Pope, and sought to assume the, administration of the Church into their + own hands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA95" id="pageA95"></a>{95}</span> + </p> + <p> + Their struggle with Eugenius IV., their election of an antipope, Felix V., + and their manifest tendency to substitute oligarchical for Papal tyranny + in the Church, had the effect of bringing the conciliar principle itself + into disfavor with the European powers. The first symptom of this + repudiation of the Council by Europe was shown in the neutrality + proclaimed by Germany. The attitude of other Courts and nations proved + that the Western races were for the moment prepared to leave the Papal + question open on the basis supplied by the Council of Constance. + </p> + <p> + The result of this failure of the conciliar principle at Basel was that + Nicholas V. inaugurated a new age for the Papacy in Rome. I have already + described the chief features of the Papal government from his election to + the death of Clement VII. It was a period of unexampled splendor for the + Holy See, and of substantial temporal conquests. The second Council of + Pisa, which began its sittings, in 1511 under French sanction and support, + exercised no disastrous influence over the restored powers and prestige of + the Papacy. On the contrary, it gave occasion for a counter-council, held + at the Lateran under the auspices of Julius II. and Leo X., in which the + Popes established several points of ecclesiastical discipline that were + not without value to their successors. But the leaven which had been + scattered by Wyclif and Hus, of which the Council of Constance had taken + cognizance, but which had not been extirpated, was spreading in<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA96" id="pageA96"></a>{96}</span> Germany + throughout this period. The Popes themselves were doing all in their power + to propagate dissent and discontent. Well aware of the fierce light cast + by the new learning they had helped to disseminate, upon the dark places + of their own ecclesiastical administration, they still continued to raise + money by the sale of pardons and indulgences, to bleed their Christian + flocks by monstrous engines of taxation, and to offend the conscience of + an intelligent generation by their example of ungodly living. The + Reformation ran like wild-fire through the North. It grew daily more + obvious that a new Council must be summoned for carrying out measures of + internal reform, and for coping with the forces of belligerent + Protestantism. When things had reached this point, Charles V. declared his + earnest desire that the Pope should summon a General Council. Paul III. + now showed in how true a sense he was the man of a transitional epoch. So + long as possible he resisted, remembering to what straits his predecessors + had been reduced by previous Councils, and being deeply conscious of + scandals in his own domestic affairs which might expose him to the fate of + a John XXIII. Reviewing the whole series of events which have next to be + recorded, we are aware that Paul had no great cause for agitation. The + Council he so much dreaded was destined to exalt his office, and to + recombine the forces of Catholic Christendom under the absolute supremacy + of his successors. The Inquisition and the Company <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA97" id="pageA97"></a>{97}</span> of Jesus, both of which he + sanctioned at this juncture, were to guard, extend, and corroborate that + supreme authority. But this was by no means apparent in 1540. It is a + character of all transitional periods that in them the cautious men regard + past precedents of peril rather than sanguine expectations based on + present chances. A hero, in such passes, goes to meet the danger armed + with his own cause and courage. A genius divines the future, and + interprets it, and through interpretation tries to govern it. Paul was + neither a hero nor a man of genius. Yet he did as much as either could + have done; and he did it in a temper which perhaps the hero and the genius + could not have commanded. He sent Legates to publish the opening of a + Council at Trent in the spring of 1545; and he resolved to work this + Council on the principles of diplomatical conservatism, reserving for + himself the power of watching events and of enlarging or restricting its + efficiency as might seem best to him.<a name="FNanchorA_19_19" + id="FNanchorA_19_19"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA98" id="pageA98"></a>{98}</span> It is + singular that the Council thus reluctantly conceded by Paul III. should, + during its first sessions and while he yet reigned, have confirmed the + dogmatic foundations of modern Catholicism, made reconciliation with the + Teutonic Reformers impossible, and committed the secular powers which held + with Rome to a policy that rendered the Papal supremacy incontestable.<a + name="FNanchorA_20_20" id="FNanchorA_20_20"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_20_20" + class="fnanchor">[20]</a> Face to face with the burning question of the + Protestant rebellion, the Tridentine fathers hastened to confirm the + following articles. First, they declared that divine revelation was + continuous in the Church of which the Pope was head; and that the chief + written depository of this revelation—namely, the Scriptures—had + no authority except in the version of the Vulgate.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA99" id="pageA99"></a>{99}</span> + </p> + <p> + Secondly, they condemned the doctrine of Justification by Faith, adding + such theological qualifications and reservations as need not, at this + distance of time, and on a point devoid of present actuality, be + scrupulously entertained. Thirdly, they confirmed the efficacy and the + binding authority of the Seven Sacraments. It is thus clear that, on + points of dogma, the Council convened by Pope and Emperor committed Latin + Christianity to a definite repudiation of the main articles for which + Luther had contended. Each of these points they successively traversed, + foreclosing every loophole for escape into accommodation. It was in large + measure due to Caraffa's energy and ability that these results were + attained. + </p> + <p> + The method of procedure adopted by the Council, and the temper in which + its business was conducted, were no less favorable to the Papacy than the + authoritative sanction which it gave to dogmas. From the first, the + presidency and right of initiative in its sessions were conceded to the + Papal Legates; and it soon became customary to refer decrees, before they + were promulgated, to his Holiness in Rome for approval. The decrees + themselves were elaborated in three congregations, one appointed for + theological questions, the second for reforms, the third for supervision + and ratification. They were then proposed for discussion and acceptance in + general sessions of the Council. Here each vote told; and as there was a + standing majority of Italian prelates, it required but little dexterity to + secure the passing of any measure upon which the Court of Rome <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA100" id="pageA100"></a>{100}</span> + insisted. The most formidable opposition to the Papal prerogatives during + these manoeuvres proceeded from the Spanish bishops, who urged the + introduction of reforms securing the independence of the episcopacy. + </p> + <p> + We find a remarkable demonstration of Paul III.'s difficulties as Pope of + the transition, in the fact that while the Council of Trent was waging + this uncompromising war against Reformers, his dread of Charles V. + compelled him to suspend its sessions, transfer it to Bologna, and declare + himself the political ally of German Protestants. This transference took + place in 1547. His Legates received orders to invent some decent excuse + for a step which would certainly be resisted, since Bologna was a city + altogether subject to the Holy See. The Legates, by the connivance of the + physicians in Trent, managed to create a panic of contagious epidemic.<a + name="FNanchorA_21_21" id="FNanchorA_21_21"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_21_21" + class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Charles had won victories which seemed to place + Germany at his discretion. His preponderance in Italy was thereby + dangerously augmented. Paul, following the precedents of policy in which + he had been bred, thought it at this crisis necessary to subordinate + ecclesiastical to temporal interests. He interrupted the proceedings of + the Council in order to hamper the Emperor in Germany. He encouraged the + Northern Protestants in order that he might maintain an open issue in the + loins of his Spanish rival. Nothing could more delicately illustrate the + compli<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA101" id="pageA101"></a>{101}</span> + cations of European politics than the inverted attitude assumed by the + Roman Pontiff in his dealings with a Catholic Emperor at this moment of + time.<a name="FNanchorA_22_22" id="FNanchorA_22_22"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> + </p> + <p> + The opposition of the Farnesi to Paul's scheme for restoring Parma to the + Holy See in 1549, broke Paul III.'s health and spirits. He died on + November 10, and was succeeded by the Cardinal Giovanni Maria del Monte, + of whose reign little need be said. Julius III. removed the Council from + Bologna to Trent in 1551, where it made some progress in questions + touching the Eucharist and the administration of episcopal sees; but in + the next year its sessions were suspended, owing to the disturbed state of + Southern Germany and the presence of a Protestant army under Maurice of + Saxony in the Tyrol.<a name="FNanchorA_23_23" id="FNanchorA_23_23"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> This Pope passed his + time agreeably and innocently enough in the villa which he built near the + Porta del Popolo. His relatives were invested with several petty fiefs—that + of their birthplace, Monte Sansovino, by Cosimo de'Medici; that of Novara + by the Emperor, and that of Camerino by the Church. The old methods of + Papal nepotism were not as yet abandoned. His successor, Marcello<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA102" id="pageA102"></a>{102}</span> II., + survived his elevation only three weeks; and in May 1555, Giovanni Pietro + Caraffa was elected, with the title of Paul IV. We have already made the + acquaintance of this Pope as a member of the Oratory of Divine Love, as a + co-founder of the Theatines, as the organizer of the Roman Inquisition, + and as a leader in the first sessions of the Tridentine Council. Paul IV. + sprang from a high and puissant family of Naples. He was a man of fierce, + impulsive and uncompromising temper, animated by two ruling passions—burning + hatred for the Spaniards who were trampling on his native land, and + ecclesiastical ambition intensified by rigid Catholic orthodoxy. The first + act of his reign was a vain effort to expel the Spaniards from Italy by + resorting to the old device of French assistance. The abdication of + Charles V. had placed Philip II. on the throne of Spain, and the + settlement whereby the Imperial crown passed to his brother Ferdinand had + substituted a feeble for a powerful Emperor. But Philip's disengagement + from the cares of Germany left him more at liberty to maintain his + preponderance in Southern Europe. It was fortunate for Paul IV. that + Philip was a bigoted Catholic and a superstitiously obedient son of the + Church. These two potentates, who began to reign in the same year, were + destined, after the settlement of their early quarrel, to lead and + organize the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Duke of Guise at the Pope's + request marched a French army into Italy. Paul <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA103" id="pageA103"></a>{103}</span> raised a body of + mercenaries, who were chiefly German Protestants<a name="FNanchorA_24_24" + id="FNanchorA_24_24"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>; + and opened negotiations with Soliman, entreating the Turk to make a + descent on Sicily by sea. Into such a fantastically false position was the + Chief of the Church, the most Catholic of all her Pontiffs, driven by his + jealous patriotism. We seem to be transported back into the times of a + Sixtus IV. or an Alexander VI. And in truth, Paul's reversion to the + antiquated Guelf policy of his predecessors was an anachronism. That + policy ceased to be efficient when Francis I. signed the Treaty of + Cambray; the Church, too, had gradually assumed such a position that armed + interference in the affairs of secular sovereigns was suicidal. This + became so manifest that Paul's futile attack on Philip in 1556 may be + reckoned the last war raised by a Pope. From it we date the commencement + of a new system of Papal co-operation with Catholic powers. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Alva put the forces at his disposal in the Two Sicilies into + motion, and advanced to meet the Duke of Guise. But while the campaign + dragged on, Philip won the decisive battle of S. Quentin. The Guise + hurried back to France, and Alva marched unresisted upon Rome. There was + no reason why the Eternal City should not have been subjected to another + siege and sack. The will was certainly not wanting in Alva to humiliate + the Pope, who never spoke of Spaniards but as renegade<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA104" id="pageA104"></a>{104}</span> Jews, Marrani, heretics, + and personifications of pride. Philip, however, wrote reminding his + general that the date of his birth (1527) was that of Rome's calamity, and + vowing that he would not signalize the first year of his reign by + inflicting fresh miseries upon the capital of Christendom. Alva was + ordered to make peace on terms both honorable and advantageous to his + Holiness; since the King of Spain preferred to lose the rights of his own + crown rather than to impair those of the Holy See in the least particular. + Consequently, when Alva entered Rome in peaceful pomp, he did homage for + his master to the Pope, who was generously willing to absolve him for his + past offences. Paul IV. publicly exulted in the abasement of his + conquerors, declaring that it would teach kings in future the obedience + they owed to the Chief of the Church. But Alva did not conceal his + discontent. It would have been better, he said, to have sent the Pope to + sue for peace and pardon at Brussels, than to allow him to obtain the one + and grant the other on these terms. + </p> + <p> + Paul's ambition to expel the Spaniards from Italy exposed him to the worst + abuses of that Papal nepotism which he had denounced in others. He judged + it necessary to surround himself with trusty and powerful agents of his + own kindred.<a name="FNanchorA_25_25" id="FNanchorA_25_25"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA105" id="pageA105"></a>{105}</span> + </p> + <p> + With that view he raised one of his nephews, Carlo, to the Cardinalate, + and bestowed on two others the principal fiefs of the Colonna family. The + Colonnas were by tradition Ghibelline. This sufficed for depriving them of + Palliano and Montebello. Carlo Caraffa, who obtained the scarlet, had + lived a disreputable life which notoriously unfitted him for any + ecclesiastical dignity. In the days of Sixtus and Alexander this would + have been no bar to his promotion. But the Church was rapidly undergoing a + change; and Carlo, complying with the hypocritical spirit of his age, + found it convenient to affect a thorough reformation, and to make open + show of penitence. Rome now presented the singular spectacle of an + inquisitorial Pope, unimpeachable in moral conduct and zealous for Church + reform, surrounded by nephews who were little better than Borgias. The + Caraffas began to dream of principalities and scepters. It was their + ambition to lay hold on Florence, where Cosimo de'Medici, as a pronounced + ally of Spain, had gained the bitter hatred of their uncle. But their + various misdoings, acts of violence and oppression, avarice and + sensuality, gradually reached the ears of the Pope. In an assembly of the + Inquisition, held in January 1559, he cried aloud, 'Reform! reform! + reform!' Cardinal Pacheco, a determined foe of the Caraffeschi, raised his + voice, and said, 'Holy Father! reform must first begin with us.' + Pallavicini adds the remark that Paul understood well who was meant by <i>us</i>. + He <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA106" id="pageA106"></a>{106}</span> + immediately retired to his apartments, instituted a searching inquiry into + the conduct of his nephews, and, before the month was out, deprived them + of all their offices and honors, and banished them from Rome. He would not + hear a word in their defence; and when Cardinal Farnese endeavored to + procure a mitigation of their sentence, he brutally replied, 'If Paul III. + had shown the same justice, your father would not have been murdered and + mutilated in the streets of Piacenza.' In open consistory, before the + Cardinals and high officials of his realm, with tears streaming from his + eyes, he exposed the evil life of his relatives, declared his abhorrence + of them, and protested that he had dwelt in perfect ignorance of their + crimes until that time. This scene recalls a similar occasion, when + Alexander VI. bewailed himself aloud before his Cardinals after the murder + of the Duke of Gandia by Cesare. But Alexander's repentance was momentary; + his grief was that of a father for Absalom; his indignation gave way to + paternal weakness for the fratricide. Paul, though his love for his + relatives seems to have been fervent, never relaxed his first severity + against them. They were buried in oblivion; no one uttered their names in + the Pope's presence. The whole secular administration of the Papal States + was changed; not an official kept his place. For the first time Rome was + governed by ministers in no way related to the Holy Father. + </p> + <p> + Paul now turned his attention, with the fiery <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA107" id="pageA107"></a>{107}</span> passion that distinguished + him, to the reformation of ecclesiastical abuses. On his accession he had + published a Bull declaring that this would be a principal object of his + reign. Nor had he in the midst of other occupations forgotten his + engagement. A Congregation specially appointed for examining, classifying, + and remedying such abuses had been established. It was divided into three + committees, consisting of eight Cardinals, fifteen prelates, and fifty men + of learning. At the same time the Inquisition was rigorously maintained. + Paul extended its jurisdiction, empowered it to use torture, and was + constant in his attendance on its meetings and <i>autos da fé</i>.<a + name="FNanchorA_26_26" id="FNanchorA_26_26"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_26_26" + class="fnanchor">[26]</a> But now that his plans for the expulsion of the + Spaniards had failed, and his nephews had been hurled from their high + station into the dust, there remained no other interest to distract his + mind. Every day witnessed the promulgation of some new edict touching + monastic discipline, simony, sale of offices, collation to benefices, + church ritual, performance of clerical duties, and appointment to + ecclesiastical dignities. It was his favorite boast that there would be no + need of a Council to restore the Church to purity, since he was doing it.<a + name="FNanchorA_27_27" id="FNanchorA_27_27"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_27_27" + class="fnanchor">[27]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA108" + id="pageA108"></a>{108}</span> And indeed his measures formed the nucleus + of the Tridentine decrees upon this topic in the final sessions of the + Council. Under this government Rome assumed an air of exemplary behavior + which struck foreigners with mute astonishment. Cardinals were compelled + to preach in their basilicas. The Pope himself, who was vain of his + eloquence, preached. Gravity of manners, external signs of piety, a + composed and contrite face, ostentation of orthodoxy by frequent + confession and attendance at the Mass, became fashionable; and the Court + adopted for its motto the <i>Si non caste tamen caute</i> of the + Counter-Reformation.<a name="FNanchorA_28_28" id="FNanchorA_28_28"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Aretino, with his usual + blackguardly pointedness of expression, has given a hint of what the new + <i>régime</i> implied in the following satiric lines:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Carafla, ipocrita infingardo,<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Che + tien per coscienza spirituale<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Quando si + mette del pepe in sul cardo.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Paul IV. brought the first period of the transition to an end. There were + no attempts at dislodging the Spaniard, no Papal wars, no tyranny of Papal + nephews converted into feudal princes, after his days. He stamped Roman + society with his own austere and bigoted religion. That he was in any + sense a hypocrite is wholly out of the question. But he made Rome + hypocritical, and by establishing the Inquisition on a firm basis, he + introduced a reign of spiritual terror into Italy.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA109" id="pageA109"></a>{109}</span> + </p> + <p> + At his death the people rose in revolt, broke into the dungeons of the + Inquisition, released the prisoners, and destroyed the archives. The Holy + Office was restored, however; and its higher posts of trust soon came to + be regarded as stepping-stones to the Pontifical dignity. + </p> + <p> + The successor of Paul IV. was a man of very different quality and + antecedents. Giovanni Angelo Medici sprang, not from the Florentine house + of Medici, but from an obscure Lombard stem. His father acquired some + wealth by farming the customs in Milan; and his eldest brother, Gian + Giacomo, pushed his way to fame, fortune, and a title by piracy upon the + lake of Como.<a name="FNanchorA_29_29" id="FNanchorA_29_29"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Gian Giacomo established + himself so securely in his robber fortress of Musso that he soon became a + power to reckon with. He then entered the imperial service, was created + Marquis of Marignano by the Duke of Milan, and married a lady of the + Orsini house, the sister of the Duchess of Parma. At a subsequent period + he succeeded in subduing Siena to the rule of Cosimo de'Medici, who then + acknowledged a pretended consanguinity between the two families.<a + name="FNanchorA_30_30" id="FNanchorA_30_30"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_30_30" + class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The younger brother, Giovanni Angelo, had + meanwhile been studying law, practising as a jurist, and following the + Court at Rome in the place of prothonotary which, as <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA110" id="pageA110"></a>{110}</span> the custom then was, he + purchased in 1527. Paul III. observed him, took him early into favor, and + on the marriage of Gian Giacomo, advanced him to the Cardinalate. This was + the man who assumed the title of Pius IV. on his election to the Papacy in + 1559. + </p> + <p> + Paul IV. hated Cardinal Medici, and drove him away from Rome. It is + probable that this antipathy contributed something to Giovanni Angelo's + elevation. Of humble Lombard blood, a jurist and a worldling, pacific in + his policy, devoted to Spanish interests, cautious and conciliatory in the + conduct of affairs, ignorant of theology and indifferent to niceties of + discipline, Pius IV. was at all points the exact opposite of the fiery + Neapolitan noble, the Inquisitor and fanatic, the haughty trampler upon + kings, the armed antagonist of Alva, the brusque, impulsive autocrat, the + purist of orthodoxy, who preceded him upon the Papal throne.<a + name="FNanchorA_31_31" id="FNanchorA_31_31"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_31_31" + class="fnanchor">[31]</a> His trusted counselor was Cardinal Morone, whom + Paul had thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition on a charge of + favoring Lutheran opinions, and who was liberated by the rabble in their + fury.<a name="FNanchorA_32_32" id="FNanchorA_32_32"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA111" id="pageA111"></a>{111}</span> + </p> + <p> + This in itself was significant of the new <i>régime</i> which now + began in Rome. Morone, like his master, understood that the Church could + best be guided by diplomacy and arts of peace. The two together brought + the Council of Trent to that conclusion which left an undisputed + sovereignty in theological and ecclesiastical affairs to the Papacy. It + would have been impossible for a man of Caraffa's stamp to achieve what + these sagacious temporizers and adroit managers effected. + </p> + <p> + Without advancing the same arrogant claims to spiritual supremacy as Paul + had made, Pius was by no means a feeble Pontiff. He knew that the temper + of the times demanded wise concessions; but he also knew how to win + through these concessions the reality of power. It was he who initiated + and firmly followed the policy of alliance between the Papacy and the + Catholic sovereigns.<a name="FNanchorA_33_33" id="FNanchorA_33_33"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Instead of asserting the + interests of the Church in antagonism <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA112" id="pageA112"></a>{112}</span> to secular potentates, he + undertook to prove that their interests were identical. Militant + Protestantism threatened the civil no less than the ecclesiastical order. + The episcopacy attempted to liberate itself from monarchical and + pontifical authority alike. Pius proposed to the autocrats of Europe a + compact for mutual defence, divesting the Holy See of some of its + privileges, but requiring in return the recognition of its ecclesiastical + absolutism. In all difficult negotiations he was wont to depend upon + himself; treating his counselors as agents rather than as peers, and + holding the threads of diplomacy in his own hands. Thus he was able to + transact business as a sovereign with sovereigns, and came to terms with + them by means of personal correspondence. The reconstruction of Catholic + Christendom, which took visible shape in the decrees of the Tridentine + Council, was actually settled in the Courts of Spain, Austria, France and + Rome. The Fathers of the Council were the mouthpieces of royal and Papal + cabinets. The Holy Ghost, to quote a profane satire of the time, reached + Trent in the despatch-bags of couriers, in the sealed instructions issued + to ambassadors and legates. + </p> + <p> + We observe throughout the negotiations which crowned the policy of this + Pope with success, the operation not only of a pacific and far-seeing + character, but also of the temper of a lawyer. Pius drew up the Tridentine + decrees as an able con<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA113" + id="pageA113"></a>{113}</span> veyancer draws up a complicated deed, + involving many trusts, recognizing conflicting rights, providing for + distant contingencies. It was in fact the marriage contract of + ecclesiastical and secular absolutism, by which the estates of Catholic + Christendom were put in trust and settlement for posterity. In formulating + its terms the Pope granted points to which an obstinate or warlike + predecessor, a Julius II. or a Paul IV., would never have subscribed his + signature. In purely theological matters, such as the concession of the + chalice to the laity and the marriage of the clergy, he was even willing + to yield more for the sake of peace than his Court and clergy would agree + to. But for each point he gave, he demanded a substantial equivalent, and + showed such address in bargaining, that Rome gained far more than it + relinquished. When the contract had been drafted, he ratified it by a full + and ready recognition, and lawyer-like was punctual in executing all the + terms to which he pledged himself. + </p> + <p> + We must credit Pius IV. with keen insight into the new conditions of + Catholic Europe, and recognize him as the real founder of the modern as + distinguished from the mediaeval Papacy. That transition which I have been + describing in the present chapter remained uncertain in its issue up to + his pontificate. Before his death the salvation of Catholicism, the + integrity of the Catholic Church, the solidity of the Roman hierarchy, and + the possibility of a vigorous Counter-Reformation were placed beyond all + doubt. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA114" id="pageA114"></a>{114}</span> It + is noticeable that these substantial successes were achieved, not by a + religious fanatic, but by a jurist; not by a saint, but by a genial man of + the world; not by force of intellect and will, but by adroitness; not by + masterful authority, but by pliant diplomacy; not by forcing but by + following the current of events. Since Gregory VII., no Pope had done so + much as Pius IV. for bracing the ancient fabric of the Church and + confirming the Papal prerogative. But what a difference there is between a + Hildebrand and a Giovanni Angelo Medici! How Europe had changed, when a + man of the latter's stamp was the right instrument of destiny for starting + the weather-beaten ship of the Church upon a new and prosperous voyage. + </p> + <p> + Pius IV. was greatly assisted in his work by circumstances, of which he + knew how to avail himself. Had it not been for the renewed spiritual + activity of Catholicism to which I have alluded in this chapter, he might + not have been able to carry that work through. He took no interest in + theology, and felt no sympathy for the Inquisition.<a + name="FNanchorA_34_34" id="FNanchorA_34_34"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_34_34" + class="fnanchor">[34]</a> But he prudently left that institution alone to + pursue its function of policing the ecclesiastical realm. The Jesuits + rendered him important assistance by propagating their doctrine of passive + obedience to Rome. Spain supported him with the massive strength of a + nation Catholic to the core; and when the Spanish prelates gave him + trouble, he could rely for aid upon <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA115" id="pageA115"></a>{115}</span> the Spanish crown. His own + independence, as a prudent man of business, uninfluenced by bigoted + prejudices or partialities for any sect, enabled him to manipulate all + resources at his disposal for the main object of uniting Catholicism and + securing Papal supremacy. He was also fortunate in his family relations, + having no occasion to complicate his policy by nepotism. One of the first + acts of his reign had been to condemn four of the Caraffeschi—Cardinal + Caraffa, the Duke of Palliano, Count Aliffe and Leonardo di Cardine—to + death; and this act of justice ended forever the old forms of domestic + ambition which had hampered the Popes of the Renaissance in their + ecclesiastical designs. His brother, the Marquis of Marignano, died in + 1555; and this event opened for him the path to the Papacy, which he would + never have attained in the lifetime of so grasping and ambitious a man.<a + name="FNanchorA_35_35" id="FNanchorA_35_35"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_35_35" + class="fnanchor">[35]</a> With his next brother, Augusto, who succeeded to + the marquisate, he felt no sympathy.<a name="FNanchorA_36_36" + id="FNanchorA_36_36"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> + His nephew Federigo Borromeo died in youth. His other nephew, Carlo + Borromeo, the sainted Archbishop of Milan, remained close to his person in + Rome.<a name="FNanchorA_37_37" id="FNanchorA_37_37"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> But Carlo Borromeo was a + man who personified the new spirit of Catholicism. Sincerely pious, + zealous for the faith, immaculate in conduct, unwearied in the discharge + of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA116" id="pageA116"></a>{116}</span> + diocesan duties, charitable to the poor, devoted to the sick, he summed up + all the virtues of the Counter-Reformation. Nor had he any of the virtues + of the Renaissance. A Venetian Ambassador described him as cold of + political temperament, little versed in worldly affairs, and perplexed + when he attempted to handle matters of grave moment.<a + name="FNanchorA_38_38" id="FNanchorA_38_38"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_38_38" + class="fnanchor">[38]</a> His presence at the Papal Court, so far from + being perilous, as that of an ambitious Cardinal Nipote would have been, + or scandalous as that of former Riarios, Borgias, and Caraffas had + undoubtedly been, was a source of strength to Pius. It imported into his + immediate surroundings just what he himself lacked, and saved him from + imputations of worldliness which in the altered temper of the Church might + have proved inconvenient.<a name="FNanchorA_39_39" id="FNanchorA_39_39"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Truly, among all + Pontiffs who have occupied St. Peter's Chair, Pius IV. deserved in the + close of his life to be called fortunate. He had risen from obscurity, had + entered Rome in humble office at the moment of Rome's deepest degradation. + He had lived through troubled times, and for some years had felt the whole + weight of Catholic concerns upon his shoulders. At the last, he was + conscious of having opened a new era for the Church, and of being able to + transmit a scepter of undisputed authority to his successors. His + death-bed was troubled with no remorse, with no ingratitude of <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA117" id="pageA117"></a>{117}</span> + relatives, with no political complications produced by family ambition or + by the sacrifice of his official duties to personal aggrandizement. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the election of Pope Pius IV. the state of Europe made the + calling of a General Council indispensable. Paul's impolitic pretensions + had finally alienated England from the Roman Church. Scotland was upon the + point of declaring herself Protestant. The Huguenots were growing stronger + every year in France, the Queen Mother, Catherine de'Medici, being at that + time inclined to favor them. The Confession of Augsburg had long been + recognized in Germany. The whole of Scandinavia, with Denmark, was lost to + Catholicism. The Low Countries, in spite of Philip, Alva, and the + Inquisition, remained intractable. Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland were + alienated, ripe for open schism. The tenets of Zwingli had taken root in + German Switzerland. Calvin was gaining ground in the French cantons. + Geneva had become a stationary fortress, the stronghold of belligerent + reformers, whence heresy sent forth its missionaries and promulgated + subversive doctrines through the medium of an ever-active press. + Transformed by Calvin from its earlier condition of a pleasure-loving and + commercial city, it was now what Deceleia under Spartan discipline had + been to Athens in the Peloponnesian war—a permanent <i>epiteichismos</i>, + perpetually garrisoned and on guard to harry the flanks of Catholics. + Faithful to the Roman See in a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA118" + id="pageA118"></a>{118}</span> strict sense of the term, there remained + only Spain, Portugal, and Italy. As the events of the next century proved, + the disaffected nations still offered rallying-points for the Catholic + cause, from which the tide of conquest was rolled back upon the + Reformation. But in 1559 the outlook for the Church was very gloomy; no + one could predict whether a General Council might not increase her + difficulties by weakening the Papal power and sowing further seeds of + discord among her few faithful adherents. Yet Pius, after an attempt to + combine the Catholic nations in a crusade against Geneva, which was + frustrated by the jealousy of Spain, the internal weakness of France and + the respect inspired by Switzerland,<a name="FNanchorA_40_40" + id="FNanchorA_40_40"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> + determined to cast his fortunes on the Council. He had several strong + points in his favor. The reigning Emperor, Ferdinand, wielded a power + insignificant when compared with that of Charles V. The Protestants, + though formally invited, were certain not to attend a Council which had + already condemned the articles of their Confession. The cardinal dogmas of + Catholicism had been confirmed in the sessions of 1545-1552. It was to be + hoped that, with skillful management, existing differences of opinion with + regard to doctrine, church-management, and reformation of abuses, might be + settled to the satisfaction of the Catholic powers. + </p> + <p> + The Pope accordingly sent four Legates, the Cardinals Gonzaga, Seripando, + Simoneta, Hosius, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA119" id="pageA119"></a>{119}</span> + and Puteo, to Trent, who opened the Council on January 15, 1562.<a + name="FNanchorA_41_41" id="FNanchorA_41_41"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_41_41" + class="fnanchor">[41]</a> As had been anticipated, the Protestants showed + strong disinclination to attend. The French prelates were unable to + appear, pending negotiations with the Huguenots at Poissy and Pontoise. + The German prelates intimated their reluctance to take part in the + proceedings. The Court of France demanded that the chalice for the laity + and the use of the vulgar tongue in religious services should be conceded. + The Emperor also insisted on these points, making a further demand for the + marriage of the clergy. Circumstances both in France and Germany seemed to + render these conditions imperative, if the rapid spread of Protestant + dissent were to be checked and the remnant of the Catholic population to + be kept in obedience. Of ecclesiastics, only Spaniards and Italians, the + latter in a large majority, appeared at Trent. The Courts of other nations + were represented by ambassadors, who took no part in the deliberations of + the Council.<a name="FNanchorA_42_42" id="FNanchorA_42_42"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> + </p> + <p> + In spite of this inauspicious commencement, Pius declared the Council a + General Council, and further decreed that it should be recognized as a + continuation <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA120" id="pageA120"></a>{120}</span> + of that Council which had begun at Trent in 1545. This rendered + co-operation of the Protestants impossible, since they would have been + compelled to accept the earlier dogmatic resolutions of the Fathers. It + was decided that no proxies should be allowed to absentees; that the + questions of doctrine and reform should be prepared for discussion in two + separate congregations, and should be taken into consideration in full + sessions simultaneously; finally that the Papal Legates should alone have + the privilege of proposing resolutions to the fathers. This last point, by + which the Court of Rome reserved to itself the control of all proceedings + in the Council, was carried by a clever ruse. Until too late the Spanish + prelates do not seem to have been aware of the immense power they had + conferred on Rome by passing the words <i>Legatis proponentibus</i>.<a + name="FNanchorA_43_43" id="FNanchorA_43_43"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_43_43" + class="fnanchor">[43]</a> The principle involved in this phrase continued + to be hotly disputed all through the sessions of the Council. But Pius + knew that so long as he stuck fast to it he always held the ace of trumps, + and nothing would induce him to relinquish it. + </p> + <p> + Fortified in this position of superiority, Pius now proceeded to organize + his forces and display his tactics. All through the sessions of the + Council they remained the same; and as the method resulted in his final + victory, it deserves to be briefly described. At any cost he determined to + secure a numerical majority in the Synod. This was effected by drafting<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA121" id="pageA121"></a>{121}</span> Italian + prelates, as occasion required, to Trent. Many of the poorer sort were + subsidized, and placed under the supervision of Cardinal Simoneta, who + gave them orders how to vote. A small squadron of witty bishops was told + off to throw ridicule on inconvenient speakers by satirical + interpolations, or to hamper them by sophistical arguments. Spies were + introduced into the opposite camps, who kept the Legates informed of what + the French or Spaniards deliberated in their private meetings. The Legates + meanwhile established a daily post of couriers, who carried the minutest + details of the Council to the Vatican. When the resolutions of the + congregations on which decrees were to be framed had been drawn up, they + referred them to his Holiness. Without his sanction they did not propose + them in a general session. In this fashion, by means of his standing + majority, the exclusive right of his Legates to propose resolutions, and + the previous reference of these resolutions to himself, Pius was enabled + to direct the affairs of the Council. It soon became manifest that while + the fathers were talking at Trent their final decisions were arranged in + Rome. This not unnaturally caused much discontent. It began to be murmured + that the Holy Ghost was sent from Rome to Trent in carpet-bags. A man of + more imperious nature than Pius might, by straining his prerogatives, have + produced an irreconcilable rupture. But he was aware that the very + existence of the Papacy depended on circumspection. He therefore used all + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA122" id="pageA122"></a>{122}</span> + his advantages with caution, and resolved to win the day by diplomacy. + With this object in view he introduced the further system of negotiating + with the Catholic Courts through special agents. Instead of framing the + decrees upon the information furnished by his Legates, he in his turn + submitted them to Philip, Catherine de'Medici, and Ferdinand, agreed on + terms of mutual concession, persuaded the princes that their interests + were identical with his own, and then returned such measures to the + Council as could be safely passed. In course of time the Holy Ghost was + not packed up at Rome for Trent in carpet-bags before he had gone round of + Europe and made his bow in all cabinets. + </p> + <p> + It must not, however, be thought that matters went smoothly for the Pope + at first, or that so novel a method as that which I have described, + whereby the faith and discipline of Christendom were settled by + negotiations between sovereigns, came suddenly into existence. In its + first sessions the Council, to quote the Pope's own words, resembled the + Tower of Babel rather than a Synod of Fathers. The Spanish prelates + contended fiercely for two principles touching the episcopacy: one was + that the residence of bishops in their dioceses had been divinely + commanded; the other, that their authority is derived from Christ + immediately. The first struck at the Pope's power to dispense from the + duty of residence; and if it had been established, it would have ruined + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA123" id="pageA123"></a>{123}</span> + his capital. The second would have rendered the episcopacy independent of + Rome, and have made the Holy Father one of a numerous oligarchy instead of + the absolute chief of a hierarchy. Pius was able to show Philip that the + independence of the bishops must inflict deep injuries on the crown of + Spain. Philip therefore wrote to forbid insistance on this point. But the + Spanish prelates, though coerced, were not silenced, and the storm which + they had raised went grumbling on. + </p> + <p> + Difficulties of a no less serious nature arose when the French and + Imperial ambassadors arrived at Trent in the spring. They demanded, as I + have already stated, that the chalice should be conceded to the laity; nor + is it easy to understand why this point might not have been granted. Pius + himself was ready to make the concession; and the only valid argument + against it was that it imperiled the uniformity of ritual throughout all + Catholic countries. The Germans further stipulated for the marriage of the + clergy, which the Pope was also disposed to entertain, until he reflected + that celibacy alone retained the clergy faithful to his interests and + regardless of those of their own nations. At this juncture of affairs, the + Roman Court, which was strongly opposed to both concessions, received + material aid from the dissensions of the Council. The Spaniards would hear + nothing of the Eucharist under both forms. The marriage of the clergy was + opposed by French and Spaniards alike. On the point of epis<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA124" id="pageA124"></a>{124}</span> copal + independence, the French supported the Spaniards; but Pius used the same + arguments in France which he had used in Spain, with similar success. Thus + there was no agreement on any of the disputed questions between Spaniards, + Frenchmen and Germans; and since the ambassadors could neither propose nor + vote, and the Italian prelates were in a permanent majority, Pius was able + to defer and temporize at leisure. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he began to feel the gravity of the situation. He saw that + the embassies constituted dangerous centers of intrigue and national + organization at Trent. He was not entirely satisfied with his own Legate, + the Cardinal Gonzaga, who supported the divine right of the episcopacy, + and quarreled with his colleagues. The Spaniards, infuriated at having + sacrificed the right of proposing measures, began to talk openly about the + reform of the Papacy. Disagreeable messages reached Rome from France, and + Spain, and Germany, complaining of the Pope's absolutism in Council, and + demanding that the reform of the Church should be taken into serious and + instant consideration. His devoted adherent, Lainez, General of the + Jesuits, embittered opposition by passionately preaching the doctrine of + passive obedience. Two dangers lay before him. One was that the Council + should break up in confusion, with discredit to Rome, and anarchy for the + Catholic Church. The other was that it should be prolonged in its + dissensions by the princes, with a view of de<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA125" id="pageA125"></a>{125}</span> pressing and enfeebling the + Papal authority. Other perils of an incalculable kind threatened him in + the announced approach of the mighty Cardinal of Lorraine, brother to the + Duke of Guise, with a retinue of French bishops released from the + Conference at Poissy. Though he kept on packing the Council with fresh + relays of Italians, it was much to be apprehended that they might be + unable to oppose a coalition between French and Spanish prelates, should + that be now effected. + </p> + <p> + Pius, at this crisis, resolved on two important lines of policy, the + energetic pursuit of which speedily brought the Council of Trent to a + peaceful termination. The first was to meet the demand for a searching + reformation of the Church with cheerful acquiescence; but to oppose a + counter-demand that the secular States in all their ecclesiastical + relations should at the same time be reformed. This implied a threat of + alienating patronage and revenue from the princes; it also indicated + plainly that the tiara and the crowns had interests in common. The second + was to develop the diplomatic system upon which he had already tentatively + entered. + </p> + <p> + The events of the spring, 1563, hastened the adoption of these measures by + the Pope. Cardinal Lorraine had arrived with his French bishops<a + name="FNanchorA_44_44" id="FNanchorA_44_44"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_44_44" + class="fnanchor">[44]</a>; and the Papal Legates found themselves involved + at <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA126" id="pageA126"></a>{126}</span> + once in intricate disputes on questions touching the Huguenots and the + interests of the Gallican Church. The Italians were driven in despair to + epigrams: <i>Dalla scabie Spagnuola siamo caduti nel mal Francese</i>. + Somewhat later, the Emperor dispatched a bulky and verbose letter, + announcing his intention to play the part which Sigismund had assumed at + the Council of Constance. He complained roundly of the evils caused by the + reference of all resolutions to Rome, by the exclusive rights of the + Legates to propose decrees, and by the intrigues of the Italian majority + in the Synod. He wound up by declaring that the reformation of the Church + must be accomplished in Trent, not left to the judgment of the Papal + Curia; and threatened to arrive from Innsbruck by the Brenner. Though + Ferdinand was in a position of ecclesiastical and political weakness, such + an Imperial rescript could not be altogether contemned; especially as + Cardinal Lorraine, soon after his arrival, had made the journey to + Innsbruck on purpose to confer with the Emperor. It therefore behoved the + Pope to act with decision; and an important event happened in the first + days of March, which materially assisted him in doing so. This was the + death of Cardinal Gonzaga, whom Pius determined to replace by the moderate + and circumspect Morone.<a name="FNanchorA_45_45" id="FNanchorA_45_45"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA127" id="pageA127"></a>{127}</span> + Through Ippolito d'Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, he opened negotiations with + the French Court, showing that the wishes of the prelates in the Council + on the question of episcopacy were no less opposed to the crown than to + his own interests. Cardinal Simoneta urged the same point on the Marquis + of Pescara, who governed Milan for Philip, and was well inclined to the + Papal party. Cardinal Morone was sent on a special embassy to the Emperor.<a + name="FNanchorA_46_46" id="FNanchorA_46_46"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_46_46" + class="fnanchor">[46]</a> By wise concessions, in which the prerogatives + of the Imperial ambassadors at Trent were considerably enlarged, and a + searching reformation of the Church was promised, Morone succeeded in + establishing a good working basis for the future. It came to be understood + that while the Pope would allow no further freedom to the bishops, he was + well disposed to let his Legates admit the envoys of the Catholic powers + into their counsels. From this time forward the Synod may be said to have + existed only as a mouthpiece for uttering the terms agreed on by the Pope + and potentates. Morone returned to Trent, and the Emperor withdrew from + Innsbruck toward the north. + </p> + <p> + The difficulty with regard to France and Germany consisted in this, that + politics forced both<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA128" id="pageA128"></a>{128}</span> + King and Emperor to consider the attitude of their Protestant subjects. + Yet both alike were unable to maintain their position as Catholic + sovereigns, if they came to open rupture with the Papacy. Ferdinand, as we + have just seen, had expressed himself contented with the situation of + affairs at Trent. But the French prelates still remained in opposition, + and the French Court was undecided. Cardinal Morone, upon his arrival at + Trent, began to flatter the Cardinal of Lorraine, affecting to take no + measures of importance without consulting him. This conduct, together with + timely compliments to several Frenchmen of importance, smoothed the way + for future agreement; while the couriers who arrived from France, brought + the assurance that Ippolito d'Este's representations had not been + fruitless. Pius, meanwhile, was playing the same conciliatory game in + Rome, where Don Luigi d'Avila arrived as a special envoy from Philip. The + ambassador obtained a lodging in the Vatican, and was seen in daily social + intercourse with his Holiness.<a name="FNanchorA_47_47" + id="FNanchorA_47_47"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> + But the climax of this policy was reached when Lorraine accepted the + Pope's invitation, and undertook a journey to Rome. This happened in + September. The French Cardinal was pompously received, entertained in the + palace, and honored with personal visits in his lodgings by the Pope. + Weary of Trent and the tiresome intrigues of the<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA129" id="pageA129"></a>{129}</span> Council, this unscrupulous + prelate was still further inclined to negotiation after the murder of his + brother, Duke of Guise. It must be remembered that the Guises in France + were after all but a potent faction of semi-royal adventurers, who had + risen to eminence by an alliance with Diane de Poitiers. The murder of the + duke shook the foundations of their power; and the Cardinal was naturally + anxious to be back again in France. For the moment he basked in the + indolent atmosphere of Rome, surrounded by those treasures of antique and + Renaissance luxury which still remained after the Sack of 1527. Pius held + out flattering visions of succession to the Papacy, and proved + convincingly that nothing could sustain the House of Guise or base the + Catholic faith in France except alliance with the Papal See. Lorraine, who + had probably seen enough of episcopal <i>canaillerie</i> in the Council, + and felt his inner self expand in the rich climate of pontifical Rome, + allowed his ambition to be caressed, confessed himself convinced, and + returned to Trent intoxicated with his visit, the devoted friend of Rome. + </p> + <p> + Menaces, meanwhile, had been astutely mingled with cajoleries. The French + and the Imperial Courts were growing anxious on the subject of reform in + secular establishments. Pius had threatened to raise the whole question of + national Churches and the monarch's right of interfering in their + administration. This was tantamount to flinging a <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA130" id="pageA130"></a>{130}</span> burning torch into the + powder-magazine of Huguenot and Lutheran grievances. In order to save + themselves from the disaster of explosion, they urged harmonious action + with the Papacy upon their envoys. The Spanish Court, through Pescara, De + Luna, and D'Avalos, wrote dispatches of like tenor. It was now debated + whether a congress of Crowned heads should not be held to terminate the + Council in accordance with the Papal programme. This would have suited + Pius. It was the point to which his policy had led. Yet no such measure + could be lightly hazarded. A congress while the Council was yet sitting, + would have been too palpable and cynical a declaration of the Papal game. + As events showed, it was not even necessary. When Lorraine returned to + Trent, the French opposition came to an end. The Spanish had been already + neutralized by the firm persistent exhibition of Philip's will to work for + Roman absolutism.<a name="FNanchorA_48_48" id="FNanchorA_48_48"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> There was nothing left + but to settle details, to formulate the terms of ecclesiastical reform, + and to close the Council of Trent with a unanimous vote of confidence in + his Holiness. The main outlines of dogma and discipline were quickly + drawn. Numerous details were referred to the Pope for definition. The + Council terminated in December <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA131" + id="pageA131"></a>{131}</span> with an act of submission, which placed all + its decrees at the pleasure of the Papal sanction. Pius was wise enough to + pass and ratify the decrees of the Tridentine fathers by a Bull dated on + December 26, 1563, reserving to the Papal sovereign the sole right of + interpreting them in doubtful or disputed cases. This he could well afford + to do; for not an article had been penned without his concurrence, and not + a stipulation had been made without a previous understanding with the + Catholic powers. The very terms, moreover, by which his ratification was + conveyed, secured his supremacy, and conferred upon his successors and + himself the privileges of a court of ultimate appeal. At no previous + period in the history of the Church had so wide, so undefined, and so + unlimited an authority been accorded to the See of Rome. Thus Pius IV. was + triumphant in obtaining conciliar sanction for Pontifical absolutism, and + in maintaining the fabric of the Roman hierarchy unimpaired, the cardinal + dogmas of Latin Christianity unimpeached and after formal inquisition + reasserted in precise definitions. A formidable armory had been placed at + the disposal of the Popes, who were fully empowered to use it, and who had + two mighty engines for its application ready in the Holy Office and the + Company of Jesus.<a name="FNanchorA_49_49" id="FNanchorA_49_49"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA132" id="pageA132"></a>{132}</span> + </p> + <p> + After the termination of the Council there was nothing left for Pius but + to die. He stood upon a pinnacle which might well have made him nervous—lest + haply the Solonian maxim, 'Call no man fortunate until his death,' should + be verified in his person. During the two years of peace and retirement + which he had still to pass, the unsuccessful conspiracy of Benedetto + Accolti and Antonio Canossa against his life gave point to this warning. + But otherwise, withdrawn from cares of state, which he committed to his + nephew, Carlo Borromeo, he enjoyed the tranquillity that follows + successful labor, and sank with undiminished prestige into his grave <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA133" id="pageA133"></a>{133}</span> at the + end of 1565. Those who believe in masterful and potent leaders of humanity + may be puzzled to account for the triumph achieved by this common-place + arbiter of destiny. Not by strength but by pliancy of character he + accomplished the transition from the mediaeval to the modern epoch of + Catholicism. He was no Cromwell, Frederick the Great, or Bismarck; only a + politic old man, contriving by adroit avoidance to steer the ship of the + Church clear through innumerable perils. This scion of the Italian middle + class, this moral mediocrity, placed his successors in S. Peter's chair + upon a throne of such supremacy that they began immediately to claim + jurisdiction over kings and nations. Thirty-eight years before his death, + when Clement VII. was shut up in S. Angelo, it seemed as though the Papal + power might be abolished. Forty-five years after his death, Sarpi, writing + to a friend in 1610, expressed his firm opinion that the one, the burning + question for Europe was the Papal power.<a name="FNanchorA_50_50" + id="FNanchorA_50_50"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> + Through him, poor product as he was of ordinary Italian circumstances, + elected to be Pope because of his easy-going mildness by prelates worn to + death in fiery Caraffa's reign, it happened that the flood of Catholic + reaction was rolled over Europe. In a certain sense we may therefore + regard him as a veritable <i>Flagellum Dei</i>, wielded by inscrutable + fate. It seems that at momentous epochs of world-history no hero is needed + to effect the purpose of the Time-<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA134" + id="pageA134"></a>{134}</span> Spirit. A Gian Angelo Medici, agreeable, + diplomatic, benevolent, and pleasure-loving, sufficed to initiate a series + of events which kept the Occidental races in perturbation through two + centuries. + </p> + <p> + A great step had been taken in the pontificate of Pius IV. That reform of + the Church, which the success of Protestantism rendered necessary, and + which the Catholic powers demanded, had been decreed by the Council of + Trent. Pius showed no unwillingness to give effect to the Council's + regulations; and the task was facilitated for him by his nephew, Carlo + Borromeo, and the Jesuits. It still remained, however, to be seen whether + a new Pope might not reverse the policy on which the Counter-Reformation + had been founded, and impede the beneficial inner movement which was + leading the Roman hierarchy into paths of sobriety. Should this have + happened, it would have been impossible for Romanism to assume a warlike + attitude of resistance toward the Protestants in Europe, or to have + rallied its own spiritual forces. The next election was therefore a matter + of grave import. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is more remarkable in the history of the Papacy at this epoch than + the singular contrast offered by each Pontiff in succession to his + predecessor. The conclave was practically uncontrolled in its choice by + any external force of the first magnitude. Though a Duke of Florence might + now, by intrigue, determine the nomination of a Pius IV., no commanding + Emperor or King of France, as in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA135" + id="pageA135"></a>{135}</span> the times of Otto the Great or Philip le + Bel, could designate his own candidate. There was no strife, so open as in + the Renaissance period, between Cardinals subsidized by Spain or Austria + or France.<a name="FNanchorA_51_51" id="FNanchorA_51_51"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> The result was that the + deliberations of the conclave were determined by motives of petty + interests, personal jealousies, and local considerations, to such an + extent that the election seemed finally to be the result of chance or + inspiration. We find the most unlikely candidates, Caraffa and Peretti, + attributing their elevation to the direct influence of the Holy Ghost, in + the consciousness that they had slipped into S. Peter's Chair by the + maladroitness of conflicting factions. The upshot, however, of these + uninfluenced elections generally was to promote a man antagonistic to his + predecessor. The clash of parties and the numerical majority of + independent Cardinals excluded the creatures of the last reign, and + selected for advancement one who owed his position to the favor of an + antecedent Pontiff. This result was further secured by the natural desire + of all concerned in the election to nominate an old man, since it was for + the general advantage that a pontificate should, if possible, not exceed + five years. + </p> + <p> + The personal qualities of Carlo Borromeo were <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA136" id="pageA136"></a>{136}</span> of grave importance in the + election of a successor to his uncle. He had ruled the Church during the + last years of Pius IV.; and the newly-appointed Cardinals were his + dependents. Had he attempted to exert his power for his own election, he + might have met with opposition. He chose to use it for what he considered + the deepest Catholic interests. This unselfishness led to the selection of + a man, Michele Ghislieri, whose antecedents rendered him formidable to the + still corrupt members of the Roman hierarchy, but whose character was + precisely of the stamp required for giving solidity to the new phase on + which the Church had entered. As Pius IV. had been the exact opposite to + Paul IV., so Pius V. was a complete contrast to Pius IV. He had passed the + best years of his life as chief of the Inquisition. Devoted to theology + and to religious exercises, he lacked the legal and mundane faculties of + his predecessor. But these were no longer necessary. They had done their + duty in bringing the Council to a favorable close, and in establishing the + Catholic concordat. What was now required was a Pope who should, by + personal example and rigid discipline, impress Rome with the principles of + orthodoxy and reform. Carlo Borromeo, self-conscious, perhaps, of the + political incapacity which others noticed in him, and fervently zealous + for the Catholic Revival, devolved this duty on Michele Ghislieri, who + completed the work of his two predecessors. + </p> + <p> + Paul IV. had laid a basis for the modern Roman<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA137" id="pageA137"></a>{137}</span> Church by strengthening the + Inquisition and setting internal reforms on foot. Pius IV., externally, by + his settlement of the Tridentine Council, and by the establishment of the + Catholic concordat, built upon this basis an edifice which was not as yet + massive. Carlo Borromeo and the Jesuits during the last pontificate + prepared the way for a Pope who should cement and gird that building, so + that it should be capable of resisting the inroads of time and should + serve as a fortress of attack on heresy. That Pope was Michele Ghislieri, + who assumed the title of Pius V. in 1566. + </p> + <p> + Before entering on the matter of his reign, it will be necessary to review + the state of Rome at this moment in the epoch of transition, when the + mediaeval and Renaissance phases were fast merging into the phase of the + Counter-Reformation. Old abuses which have once struck a deep root in any + institution, die slowly. It is therefore desirable to survey the position + in which the Papal Sovereign of the Holy City, as constituted by the + Council of Trent, held sway there. + </p> + <p> + The population of Rome was singularly fluctuating. Being principally + composed of ecclesiastics with their households and dependents; foreigners + resident in the city as suitors or ambassadors; merchants, tradespeople + and artists attracted by the hope of gain; it rose or fell according to + the qualities of the reigning Pope, and the greater or less train of life + which happened to be fashionable. Noble <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA138" id="pageA138"></a>{138}</span> families were rather + conspicuous by their absence than by their presence; for those of the + first rank, Colonna and Orsini, dwelt upon their fiefs, and visited the + capital only as occasion served. The minor aristocracy which gave solidity + to social relations in towns like Florence and Bologna, never attained the + rank of a substantial oligarchy in Rome. Nor was there an established + dynasty round which a circle of peers might gather in permanent alliance + with the Court. On the other hand, the frequent succession of Pontiffs + chosen from various districts encouraged the growth of an ephemeral + nobility, who battened for a while upon the favor of their Papal kinsmen, + flooded the city with retainers from their province, and disappeared upon + the election of a new Pope, to make room for another flying squadron. + Instead of a group of ancient Houses, intermarrying and transmitting + hereditary rights and honors to their posterity, Rome presented the + spectacle of numerous celibate establishments, displaying great pomp, it + is true, but dispersing and disappearing upon the decease of the patrons + who assembled them. The households of wealthy Cardinals were formed upon + the scale of princely Courts. Yet no one, whether he depended on the + mightiest or the feeblest prelate, could reckon on the tenure of his place + beyond the lifetime of his master. Many reasons, again—among which + may be reckoned the hostility of reigning Pontiffs to the creatures of + their predecessors or to their old rivals in the conclave—caused + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA139" id="pageA139"></a>{139}</span> + the residence of the chief ecclesiastics in Rome to be precarious. Thus + the upper stratum of society was always in a state of flux, its elements + shifting according to laws of chronic uncertainty. Beneath it spread a + rabble of inferior and dubious gentlefolk, living in idleness upon the + favor of the Court, serving the Cardinals and Bishops in immoral and + dishonest offices, selling their wives, their daughters and themselves, + all eager to rise by indirect means to places of emolument.<a + name="FNanchorA_52_52" id="FNanchorA_52_52"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_52_52" + class="fnanchor">[52]</a> Lower down, existed the <i>bourgeoisie</i> of + artists, bankers, builders, shopkeepers, and artisans; and at the bottom + of the scale came hordes of beggars. Rome, like all Holy Cities, + entertained multitudes of eleemosynary paupers. Gregory XIII. is praised + for having spent more than 200,000 crowns a year on works of charity, and + for having assigned the district of San Sisto (in the neighborhood of + Trinità del Monte, one of the best quarters of the present city) to + the beggars.<a name="FNanchorA_53_53" id="FNanchorA_53_53"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> + </p> + <p> + Such being the social conditions of Rome, it is not surprising to learn + that during the reign of so harsh a Pontiff as Paul IV., the population + sank to a number estimated at between 40,000 and 50,000. It rose rapidly + to 70,000, and touched 80,000 in the reign of Pius IV. Afterwards it + gradually ascended to 90,000, and during the popular pontificate of + Gregory XIII. it is said to have reached the high <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA140" id="pageA140"></a>{140}</span> figure of 140,000. These + calculations are based upon the reports of the Venetian ambassadors, and + can be considered as impartial, although they may not be statistically + exact.<a name="FNanchorA_54_54" id="FNanchorA_54_54"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> + </p> + <p> + What rendered Roman society rotten to the core was universal pecuniary + corruption. In Rome nothing could be had without payment; but men with + money in their purse obtained whatever they desired. The office of the + Datatario alone brought from ten to fourteen thousand crowns a month into + the Papal treasury in 1560.<a name="FNanchorA_55_55" id="FNanchorA_55_55"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> This large sum accrued + from the composition of benefices and the sale of vacant offices. The + Camera Apostolica, or Chamber of Justice, was no less venal. A price was + set on every crime, for which its punishment could be commuted into + cash-payment. Even so severe a Pope as Paul IV. committed to his nephew, + by published and printed edict, the privilege of compounding with + criminals by fines.<a name="FNanchorA_56_56" id="FNanchorA_56_56"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> One consequence of this + vile system, rightly called by the Venetian envoy 'the very strangest that + could be witnessed or heard of in such matters,' was that wealthy sinners + indulged their appetites at the expense of their families, and that + innocent people became the prey of sharpers and informers.<a + name="FNanchorA_57_57" id="FNanchorA_57_57"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_57_57" + class="fnanchor">[57]</a> Rome had organized a vast system of <i>chantage</i>. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA141" id="pageA141"></a>{141}</span> + Another consequence was that acts of violence were frightfully common. Men + could be hired to commit murders at sums varying from ten to four scudi; + and on the death of Paul IV., when anarchy prevailed for a short while in + Rome, an eye-witness asserts that several hundred assassinations were + committed within the walls in a few days.<a name="FNanchorA_58_58" + id="FNanchorA_58_58"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> + </p> + <p> + It was not to be expected that a population so corrupt, accustomed for + generations to fatten upon the venality and vices of the hierarchy, should + welcome those radical reforms which were the best fruits of the Tridentine + Council. They specially disliked the decrees which enforced the residence + of prelates and the limitation of benefices held by a single ecclesiastic. + These regulations implied the withdrawal of wealthy patrons from Rome, + together with an incalculable reduction in the amount of foreign money + spent there. Nor were the measures for abolishing a simoniacal sale of + offices, and the growing demand for decency in the administration of + justice, less unpopular. The one struck at the root of private speculation + in lucrative posts, and deprived the Court of revenues which had to be + replaced by taxes. The other destroyed the arts of informers, checked + lawlessness and license in the rich, and had the same lamentable effect of + impoverishing the Papal treasury. In proportion as the Curia ceased to + subsist upon the profits of simony, superstition, and sin, it was forced + to main<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA142" id="pageA142"></a>{142}</span> + tain itself by imposts on the people, and by resuming, as Gregory XIII. + attempted to do, its obsolete rights over fiefs and lands accorded on easy + terms or held by doubtful titles. Meanwhile the retrenchment rendered + necessary in all households of the hierarchy, and the introduction of + severer manners, threatened many minor branches of industry with + extinction. + </p> + <p> + These changes began to manifest themselves during the pontificate of Pius + IV. The Pope himself was inclined to a liberal and joyous scale of living. + But he was not remarkable for generosity; and the new severity of manners + made itself felt by the example of his nephew Carlo Borromeo—a man + who, while living in the purple, practiced austerities that were apparent + in his emaciated countenance. The Jesuits ruled him; and, through him, + their influence was felt in every quarter of the city.<a + name="FNanchorA_59_59" id="FNanchorA_59_59"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_59_59" + class="fnanchor">[59]</a> 'The Court of Rome,' says the Venetian envoy in + the year 1565, 'is no longer what it used to be either in the quality or + the numbers of the courtiers. This is principally due to the poverty of + the Cardinals and the parsimony of the Popes. In the old days, when they + gave away more liberally, men of ability flocked from all quarters. This + reduction of the Court dates from the Council; for the bishops and + beneficed clergy being now obliged to retire to their residences, the + larger portion of the Court has left Rome. To the same cause may be <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA143" id="pageA143"></a>{143}</span> ascribed + a diminution in the numbers of those who serve the Pontiff, seeing that + since only one benefice can now be given, and that involves residence, + there are few who care to follow the Court at their own expense and + inconvenience without hope of greater reward. The poverty of the Cardinals + springs from two causes. The first is that they cannot now obtain + benefices of the first class, as was the case when England, Germany, and + other provinces were subject to the Holy See, and when moreover they could + hold three or four bishoprics apiece together with other places of + emolument, whereas they now can only have one apiece. The second cause is + that the number of the Cardinals has been increased to seventy-five, and + that the foreign powers have ceased to compliment them with large presents + and Benefices, as was the wont of Charles V. and the French crown.' In the + last of these clauses we find clearly indicated one of the main results of + the concordat established between the Papacy and the Catholic sovereigns + by the policy of Pius IV. It secured Papal absolutism at the expense of + the college. Soranzo proceeds to describe the changes visible in Roman + society. 'The train of life at Court is therefore mean, partly through + poverty, but also owing to the good example of Cardinal Borromeo, seeing + that people are wont to follow the manners of their princes. The Cardinal + holds in his hands all the threads of the administration; and living + religiously in the retirement I have noticed, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA144" id="pageA144"></a>{144}</span> indulging in liberalities + to none but persons of his own stamp, there is neither Cardinal nor + courtier who can expect any favor from him unless he conform in fact or in + appearance to his mode of life. Consequently one observes that they have + altogether withdrawn, in public at any rate, from every sort of pleasures. + One sees no longer Cardinals in masquerade or on horseback, nor driving + with women about Rome for pastime, as the custom was of late; but the + utmost they do is to go alone in close coaches. Banquets, diversions, + hunting parties, splendid liveries and all the other signs of outward + luxury have been abolished; the more so that now there is at Court no + layman of high quality, as formerly when the Pope had many of his + relatives or dependents around him. The clergy always wear their robes, so + that the reform of the Church is manifested in their appearance. This + state of things, on the other hand, has been the ruin of the artisans and + merchants, since no money circulates. And while all offices and + magistracies are in the hands of Milanese, grasping and illiberal persons, + very few indeed can be still called satisfied with the present reign.'<a + name="FNanchorA_60_60" id="FNanchorA_60_60"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_60_60" + class="fnanchor">[60]</a> + </p> + <p> + One chief defect of Pius IV., judged by the standard of the new party in + the Church, had been his coldness in religious exercises. Paolo Tiepolo + remarks that during the last seven months of his life he never once + attended service in his chapel.<a name="FNanchorA_61_61" + id="FNanchorA_61_61"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA145" id="pageA145"></a>{145}</span> + </p> + <p> + This indifference was combined with lukewarmness in the prosecution of + reforms. The Datatario still enriched itself by the composition of + benefices, and the Camera by the composition of crimes. Pius V., on the + contrary, embodied in himself those ascetic virtues which Carlo Borromeo + and the Jesuits were determined to propagate throughout the Catholic + world. He never missed a day's attendance on the prescribed services of + the Church, said frequent Masses, fasted at regular intervals, and + continued to wear the coarse woolen shirt which formed a part of his + friar's costume. In his piety there was no hypocrisy. The people saw + streams of tears pouring from the eyes of the Pontiff bowed in ecstacy + before the Host. A rigid reformation of the churches, monasteries, and + clergy was immediately set on foot throughout the Papal States. Monks and + nuns complained, not without cause, that austerities were expected from + them which were not included in the rules to which they vowed obedience. + The severity of the Inquisition was augmented, and the Index Expurgatorius + began to exercise a stricter jurisdiction over books. The Pope spent half + his time at the Holy Office, inquiring into cases of heresy of ten or + twenty years' standing. From Florence he caused Carnesecchi to be dragged + to Rome and burned; from Venice the refugee Guido Zanetti of Fano was + delivered over to his tender mercies; and the excellent Carranza, + Archbishop of Toledo, was sent from Spain to be condemned to death before + the Roman <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA146" id="pageA146"></a>{146}</span> + tribunal. Criminal justice, meanwhile, was administered with greater + purity, and the composition of crimes for money, if not wholly abolished, + was moderated. In the collation to bishoprics and other benefices the same + spirit of equity appeared; for Pius inquired scrupulously into the + character and fitness of aspirants after office. + </p> + <p> + The zeal manifested by Pius V. for a thorough-going reform of manners may + be illustrated by a curious circumstance related by the Venetian + ambassador in the first year of the pontificate.<a name="FNanchorA_62_62" + id="FNanchorA_62_62"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> + On July 26, 1566, an edict was issued, compelling all prostitutes to leave + Rome within six days, and to evacuate the States of the Church within + twelve days. The exodus began. But it was estimated that about 25,000 + persons, counting the women themselves with their hangers-on and + dependents, would have to quit the city if the edict were enforced.<a + name="FNanchorA_63_63" id="FNanchorA_63_63"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_63_63" + class="fnanchor">[63]</a> The farmers of the customs calculated that they + would lose some 20,000 ducats a year in consequence, and prayed the Pope + for compensation. Meanwhile the roads across the Campagna began to be + thronged by caravans, which were exposed to the attacks of robbers. The + confusion became so great, and the public discontent was so openly + expressed, that on August 17 Pius repealed <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA147" id="pageA147"></a>{147}</span> his edict and permitted the + prostitutes to reside in certain quarters of the city. + </p> + <p> + Pius IV. had wasted the greater part of his later life in bed, neglecting + business, entertaining his leisure with buffoons and good companions, + eating much and drinking more. Pius V., on the contrary, carried the + habits of the convent with him into the Vatican, and bestowed the time he + spared from devotion upon the transaction of affairs. He was of choleric + complexion, adust, lean, wasted, with sunken eyes and snow-white hair, + looking ten years older than he really was. + </p> + <p> + Such a Pope changed the face of Rome, or rather stereotyped the change + which had been instituted by Cardinal Borromeo. 'People, even if they are + not really better, seem at least to be so,' says the Venetian envoy, who + has supplied me with the details I have condensed.<a name="FNanchorA_64_64" + id="FNanchorA_64_64"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> + Retrenchments in the Papal establishment were introduced; money was + scarce; the Court grew meaner in appearance; and nepotism may be said to + have been extinct in the days of Pius V. He did indeed advance one nephew, + Michele Bonelli, to the Cardinalate; but he showed no inclination to + enrich or favor him beyond due measure. A worn man, without ears, marked + by the bastinado, frequented the palace, and stood near the person of the + Pope, as Captain of the Guard. This was Paolo Ghislieri, a somewhat + distant relative of Pius, who had passed his life in servitude to Bar<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA148" id="pageA148"></a>{148}</span> bary + corsairs and had been ransomed by a merchant upon the election of his + kinsman. No other members of the Papal family were invited to Rome. + </p> + <p> + Pius V., while living this exemplary monastic life upon the Papal throne, + ruled Catholic Christendom more absolutely than any of his predecessors. + As the Papacy recognized its dependence on the sovereigns, so the + sovereigns in their turn perceived that religious conformity was the best + safeguard of their secular authority. Therefore the Catholic States + subscribed, one after the other, to the Tridentive Profession of Faith, + and adopted one system in matters of Church discipline. A new Breviary and + a new Missal were published with the Papal sanction. Seminaries were + established for the education of ecclesiastics, and the Jesuits labored in + their propaganda. The Inquisition and the Congregation of the Index + redoubled their efforts to stamp out heresy by fire and iron, and by the + suppression or mutilation of books. A rigid uniformity was impressed on + Catholicism. The Pope, to whom such power had been committed by the + Council, stood at the head of each section and department of the new + organization. To his approval every measure in the Church was referred, + and the Jesuits executed his instructions with punctual exactness. + </p> + <p> + It is not, therefore, to be wondered that Pius V. should have opened the + era of active hostilities against Protestantism. Firmly allied with Philip + II., he advocated attacks upon the Huguenots in France, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA149" id="pageA149"></a>{149}</span> the + Protestants in Flanders, and the English crown. There is no evidence that + he was active in promoting the Massacre of S. Bartholomew, which took + place three months after his death; and the expedition of the Invincible + Armada against England was not equipped until another period of fifteen + years had elapsed. Yet the negotiations in which he was engaged with + Spain, involving enterprises to the detriment of the English realm and the + French Reformation, leave no doubt that both S. Bartholomew and the Armada + would have met with his hearty approval. One glorious victory gave luster + to the reign of Pius V. In 1571 the navies of Spain, Venice and Rome + inflicted a paralyzing blow upon the Turkish power at Lepanto; and this + success was potent in fanning the flame of Catholic enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + The pontificates of Paul IV., Pius IV., and Pius V., differing as they did + in very important details, had achieved a solid triumph for reformed + Catholicism, of which both the diplomatical and the ascetic parties in the + Church, Jesuits and Theatines, were eager to take advantage. A new spirit + in the Roman polity prevailed, upon the reality of which its future force + depended; and the men who embodied this spirit had no mind to relax their + hold on its administration. After the death of Pius V. they had to deal + with a Pope who resembled his penultimate predecessor, Pius IV., more than + the last Pontiff. Ugo Buoncompagno, the scion of a <i>bourgeois</i> family + settled in Bologna, began his career as a jurist.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA150" id="pageA150"></a>{150}</span> He took orders in middle + life, was promoted to the Cardinalate, and attained the supreme honor of + the Holy See in 1572. The man responded to his name. He was a good + companion, easy of access, genial in manners, remarkable for the facility + with which he cast off care and gave himself to sanguine expectations.<a + name="FNanchorA_65_65" id="FNanchorA_65_65"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_65_65" + class="fnanchor">[65]</a> In an earlier period of Church history he might + have reproduced the Papacy of Paul II. or Innocent VIII. As it was, + Gregory XIII. fell at once under the potent influence of Jesuit directors. + His confessor, the Spanish Francesco da Toledo, impressed upon him the + necessity of following the footsteps of Paul IV. and Pius V. It was made + plain that he must conform to the new tendencies of the Catholic Church; + and in his neophyte's zeal he determined to outdo his predecessors. The + example of Pius V. was not only imitated, but surpassed. Gregory XIII. + celebrated three Masses a week, built churches, and enforced parochial + obedience throughout his capital. The Jesuits in his reign attained to the + maximum of their wealth and influence. Rome, 'abandoning her ancient + license, displayed a moderate and Christian mode of living: and in so far + as the external observance of religion was concerned, she showed herself + not far removed from such perfection as human frailties allow.'<a + name="FNanchorA_66_66" id="FNanchorA_66_66"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_66_66" + class="fnanchor">[66]</a> + </p> + <p> + While he was yet a layman, Gregory became the father of one son, Giacomo. + Born out of wedlock, he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA151" + id="pageA151"></a>{151}</span> was yet acknowledged as a member of the + Buoncompagno family, and admitted under this name into the Venetian + nobility.<a name="FNanchorA_67_67" id="FNanchorA_67_67"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> The Pope manifested + paternal weakness in favor of his offspring. He brought the young man to + Rome, and made him Governatore di Santa Chiesa with a salary of 10,000 + ducats. The Jesuits and other spiritual persons scented danger. They + persuaded the Holy Father that conscience and honor required the + alienation of his bastard from the sacred city. Giacomo was relegated to + honorable exile in Ancona. But he suffered so severely from this rebuff, + that terms of accommodation were agreed on. Giacomo received a lady of the + Sforza family in marriage, and was established at the Papal Court with a + revenue amounting to about 25,000 crowns.<a name="FNanchorA_68_68" + id="FNanchorA_68_68"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> + The ecclesiastical party now predominant in Rome, took care that he should + not acquire more than honorary importance in the government. Two of the + Pope's nephews were promoted to the Cardinalate with provisions of about + 10,000 crowns apiece. His old brother abode in retirement at Bologna under + strict orders not to seek fortune or to perplex the Papal purity of rule + in Rome.<a name="FNanchorA_69_69" id="FNanchorA_69_69"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> + </p> + <p> + I have introduced this sketch of Gregory's relations in order to show how + a Pope of his previous <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA152" + id="pageA152"></a>{152}</span> habits and personal proclivities was now + obliged to follow the new order of the Church. It was noticed that the + mode of life in Rome during his reign struck a just balance between + license and austerity, and that general satisfaction pervaded society.<a + name="FNanchorA_70_70" id="FNanchorA_70_70"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_70_70" + class="fnanchor">[70]</a> Outside the city this contentment did not + prevail. Gregory threw his States into disorder by reviving obsolete + rights of the Church over lands mortgaged or granted with obscure titles. + The petty barons rose in revolt, armed their peasants, fomented factions + in the country towns, and filled the land with brigands. Under the + leadership of men like Alfonso Piccolomini and Roberto Malatesta, these + marauding bands assumed the proportion of armies. The neighboring Italian + States—Tuscany, Venice, Naples, Parma, all of whom had found the + Pope arbitrary and aggressive in his dealings with them—encouraged + the bandits by offering them an asylum and refusing to co-operate with + Gregory for their reduction. + </p> + <p> + His successor, Sixtus V., found the whole Papal dominion in confusion. It + was impossible to collect the taxes. Life and property were nowhere safe. + By a series of savage enactments and stern acts of justice, Sixtus swept + the brigands from his States. He then applied his powerful will to the + collection of money and the improvement of his provinces. In the four + years which followed his election he succeeded in accumulating a round sum + of four million <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA153" id="pageA153"></a>{153}</span> + crowns, which he stored up in the Castle of S. Angelo. The total revenues + of the Papacy at this epoch were roughly estimated at 750,000 crowns, + which in former reigns had been absorbed in current costs and the + pontifical establishment. By rigorous economy and retrenchments of all + kinds Sixtus reduced these annual expenses to a sum of 250,000, thus + making a clear profit of 500,000 crowns.<a name="FNanchorA_71_71" + id="FNanchorA_71_71"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> + At the same time he had already spent about a million and a half on works + of public utility, including the famous Acqua Felice, which brought + excellent water into Rome. Roads and bridges throughout the States of the + Church were repaired, The Chiana of Orvieto and the Pontine Marsh were + drained. Encouragement was extended, not only to agriculture, but also to + industries and manufactures. The country towns obtained wise financial + concessions, and the unpopular resumption of lapsed lands and fiefs was + discontinued. Rome meanwhile began to assume her present aspect as a city, + by the extensive architectural undertakings which Sixtus set on foot. He + loved building; but he was no lover of antiquity. For pagan monuments of + art he showed a monastic animosity, dispersing or mutilating the statues + of the Vatican and Capitol; turning a Minerva into an image of the Faith + by putting a cross in her hand; surmounting the columns of Trajan and + Antonine with figures of Peter and Paul; destroying the Septizonium of + Severus, and wishing to lay sacri<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA154" + id="pageA154"></a>{154}</span> legious hands on Caecilia Metella's tomb. + To mediaeval relics he was hardly less indifferent. The old buildings of + the Lateran were thrown down to make room for the heavy modern palace. + But, to atone in some measure for these acts of vandalism, Sixtus placed + the cupola upon S. Peter's and raised the obelisk in the great piazza + which was destined to be circled with Bernini's colonnades. This obelisk + he tapped with a cross. Christian inscriptions, signalizing the triumph of + the Pontiff over infidel emperors, the victory of Calvary over Olympus, + the superiority of Rome's saints and martyrs to Rome's old deities and + heroes, left no doubt that what remained of the imperial city had been + subdued to Christ and purged of paganism. Wandering through Rome at the + present time, we feel in every part the spirit of the Catholic Revival, + and murmur to ourselves those lines of Clough: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>O ye mighty and strange, ye ancient divine ones of Hellas!<br /> + </span> <span>Are ye Christian too? To convert and redeem and renew you,<br /> + </span> <span>Will the brief form have sufficed, that a Pope has sat up + on the apex<br /> </span> <span>Of the Egyptian stone that o'ertops you, + the Christian symbol?<br /> </span> <span>And ye, silent, supreme in + serene and victorious marble,<br /> </span> <span>Ye that encircle the + walls of the stately Vatican chambers,<br /> </span> <span>Are ye also + baptized; are ye of the Kingdom of Heaven?<br /> </span> <span>Utter, O + some one, the word that shall reconcile Ancient and Modern.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Nothing was more absent from the mind of Sixtus than any attempt to + reconcile Ancient and Modern. He was bent on proclaiming the ultimate + triumph of Catholicism, not only over antiquity, but also over the + Renaissance. His inscriptions, crosses, and images of saints are the + enduring badges of serf<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA155" + id="pageA155"></a>{155}</span> dom set upon the monuments of ancient and + renascent Italy, bearing which they were permitted by the now absolute + Pontiff to remain as testimonies to his power. + </p> + <p> + Retrenchment alone could not have sufficed for the accumulation of so much + idle capital, and for so extensive an expenditure on works of public + utility. Sixtus therefore had recourse to new taxation, new loans, and the + creation of new offices for sale. The Venetian envoy mentions eighteen + imposts levied in his reign; a sum of 600,000 crowns accruing to the + Camera by the sale of places; and extensive loans, or Monti, which were + principally financed by the Genoese.<a name="FNanchorA_72_72" + id="FNanchorA_72_72"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> + It was necessary for the Papacy, now that it had relinquished the larger + part of its revenues derived from Europe, to live upon the proceeds of the + Papal States. The complicated financial expedients on which successive + Popes relied for developing their exchequer, have been elaborately + explained by Ranke.<a name="FNanchorA_73_73" id="FNanchorA_73_73"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> They were materially + assisted in their efforts to support the Papal dignity upon the resources + of their realm, by the new system of nepotism which now began to prevail. + Since the Council of Trent, it was impossible for a Pope to acknowledge + his sons, and few, if any, of the Popes after Pius IV. had sons to + acknowledge.<a name="FNanchorA_74_74" id="FNanchorA_74_74"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA156" id="pageA156"></a>{156}</span> + </p> + <p> + The tendencies of the Church rendered it also incompatible with the Papal + position that near relatives of the Pontiff should be advanced, as + formerly, to the dignity of independent princes. The custom was to create + one nephew Cardinal, with such wealth derived from office as should enable + him to benefit the Papal family at large. Another nephew was usually + ennobled, endowed with capital in the public funds for the purchase of + lands, and provided with lucrative places in the secular administration. + He then married into a Roman family of wealth and founded one of the + aristocratic houses of the Roman State. We possess some details respecting + the incomes of the Papal nephews at this period, which may be of interest.<a + name="FNanchorA_75_75" id="FNanchorA_75_75"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_75_75" + class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Carlo Borromeo was reasonably believed to enjoy + revenues amounting to 50,000 scudi. Giacomo Buoncompagno's whole estate + was estimated at 120,000 scudi; while the two Cardinal nephews of Gregory + XIII. had each about 10,000 a year. At the same epoch Paolo Giordano + Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, enjoyed an income of some 25,000, his estate + being worth 60,000, but being heavily encumbered. These figures are taken + from the Reports of the Venetian <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA157" + id="pageA157"></a>{157}</span> envoys. If we may trust them as accurate, + it will appear by a comparison of them with the details furnished by + Ranke, that Gregory's successors treated their relatives with greater + generosity.<a name="FNanchorA_76_76" id="FNanchorA_76_76"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Sixtus V. enriched the + Cardinal Montalto with an ecclesiastical income of 100,000 scudi. Clement + VIII. bestowed on two nephews—one Cardinal, the other layman—revenues + of about 60,000 apiece in 1599. He is computed to have hoarded altogether + for his family a round sum of 1,000,000 scudi. Paul V. was believed to + have given to his Borghese relatives nearly 700,000 scudi in cash, 24,600 + scudi in funds, and 268,000 in the worth of offices.<a + name="FNanchorA_77_77" id="FNanchorA_77_77"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_77_77" + class="fnanchor">[77]</a> The Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of + Gregory XV., had a reputed income of 200,000 scudi; and the Ludovisi + family obtained 800,000 in <i>luoghi di monte</i> or funds. Three nephews + of Urban VIII., <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA158" id="pageA158"></a>{158}</span> + the brothers Barberini, were said to have enjoyed joint revenues amounting + to half a million scudi, and their total gains from the pontificate + touched the enormous sum of 105,000,000. These are the families, sprung + from obscurity or mediocre station, whose palaces and villas adorn Rome, + and who now rank, though of such recent origin, with the aristocracy of + Europe. + </p> + <p> + Sixtus V. died in 1590. To follow the history of his successors would be + superfluous for the purpose of this book. The change in the Church which + began in the reign of Paul III. was completed in his pontificate. About + half a century, embracing seven tenures of the Holy Chair, had sufficed to + develop the new phase of the Papacy as an absolute sovereignty, + representing the modern European principle of absolutism, both as the + acknowledged Head of Catholic Christendom and also as a petty Italian + power.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA159" id="pageA159"></a>{159}</span> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h4> + THE INQUISITION AND THE INDEX + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Different Spirit in the Holy Office and the Company of Jesus—Both + needed by the Counter-Reformation—Heresy in the Early Church—First + Origins of the Inquisition in 1203—S. Dominic—The Holy + Office becomes a Dominican Institution—Recognized by the Empire—Its + early Organization—The Spanish Inquisition—Founded in 1484—How + it differed from the earlier Apostolical Inquisition—Jews, Moors, + New Christians—Organization and History of the Holy Office in + Spain—Torquemada and his Successors—The Spanish Inquisition + never introduced into Italy—How the Roman Inquisition organized by + Caraffa differed from it—<i>Autos da fé</i> in Rome—Proscription + of suspected Lutherans—The Calabrian Waldenses—Protestants + at Locarno and Venice—Digression on the Venetian Holy Office—Persecution + of Free Thought in Literature—Growth of the Index Librorum + Prohibitorum—Sanction given to it by the Council of Trent—The + Roman Congregation of the Index—Final Form of the Censorship of + Books under Clement VIII.—Analysis of its Regulations—Proscription + of Heretical Books—Correction of Texts—Purgation and + Castration—Inquisitorial and Episcopal Licenses—Working of + the System of this Censorship in Italy—Its long Delays—Hostility + to Sound Learning—Ignorance of the Censors—Interference with + Scholars in their Work—Terrorism of Booksellers—Vatican + Scheme for the Restoration of Christian Erudition—Frustrated by + the Tyranny of the Index—Dishonesty of the Vatican Scholars—Biblical + Studies rendered nugatory by the Tridentine Decree on the Vulgate—Decline + of Learning in Universities—Miserable Servitude of Professors—Greek + dies out—Muretus and Manutius in Rome—The Index and its + Treatment of Political Works—Machiavelli—<i>Ratio Status</i>—Encouragement + of Literature on Papal Absolutism—Sarpi's Attitude—Comparative + Indifference of Rome to Books of Obscene or Immoral Tendency—Bandello + and Boccaccio—Papal attempts to Control Intercourse of Italians + with Heretics. + </p> + </div> + <p> + In pursuing the plan of this book, which aims at showing how the spirit of + the Catholic revival pene<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA160" + id="pageA160"></a>{160}</span> trated every sphere of intellectual + activity in Italy, it will now be needful to consider the two agents, both + of Spanish origin, on whose assistance the Church relied in her crusade + against liberties of thought, speech, and action. These were the + Inquisition and the Company of Jesus. The one worked by extirpation and + forcible repression; the other by mental enfeeblement and moral + corruption. The one used fire, torture, imprisonment, confiscation of + goods, the proscription of learning, the destruction or emasculation of + books. The other employed subtle means to fill the vacuum thus created + with spurious erudition, sophistries, casuistical abominations and false + doctrines profitable to the Papal absolutism. Opposed in temper and in + method, the one fierce and rigid, the other saccharine and pliant, these + two bad angels of Rome contributed in almost equal measure to the triumph + of Catholicism. + </p> + <p> + In the earlier ages of the Church, the definition of heresy had been + committed to episcopal authority. But the cognizance of heretics and the + determination of their punishment remained in the hands of secular + magistrates. At the end of the twelfth century the wide diffusion of the + Albigensian heterodoxy through Languedoc and Northern Italy alarmed the + chiefs of Christendom, and furnished the Papacy with a good pretext for + extending its prerogatives. Innocent III. in 1203 empowered two French + Cistercians, Pierre de Castelnau and Raoul, to preach against the heretics + of Provence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA161" id="pageA161"></a>{161}</span> + In the following year he ratified this commission by a Bull, which + censured the negligence and coldness of the bishops, appointed the Abbot + of Citeaux Papal delegate in matters of heresy, and gave him authority to + judge and punish misbelievers. This was the first germ of the Holy Office + as a separate Tribunal. In order to comprehend the facility with which the + Pope established so anomalous an institution, we must bear in mind the + intense horror which heresy inspired in the Middle Ages. Being a distinct + encroachment of the Papacy upon the episcopal jurisdiction and + prerogatives, the Inquisition met at first with some opposition from the + bishops. The people for whose persecution it was designed, and at whose + expense it carried on its work, broke into rebellion; the first years of + its annals were rendered illustrious by the murder of one of its founders, + Pierre de Castelnau. He was canonized, and became the first Saint of the + Inquisition. Two other Peters obtained the like honor through their zeal + for the Catholic faith: Peter of Verona, commonly called Peter Martyr, the + Italian saint of the Dominican order; and Peter Arbues, the Spanish saint, + who sealed with his blood the charter of the Holy Office in Aragon. + </p> + <p> + In spite of opposition, the Papal institution took root and flourished. + Philip Augustus responded to the appeals of Innocent; and a crusade began + against the Albigenses, in which Simon de Montfort won his sinister + celebrity. During those bloody <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA162" + id="pageA162"></a>{162}</span> wars the Inquisition developed itself as a + force of formidable expansive energy. Material assistance to the cause was + rendered by a Spanish monk of the Augustine order, who settled in Provence + on his way back from Rome in 1206. Domenigo de Guzman, known to universal + history as S. Dominic, organized a new militia for the service of the + orthodox Church between the years 1215 and 1219. His order, called the + Order of the Preachers, was originally designed to repress heresy and + confirm the faith by diffusing Catholic doctrine and maintaining the creed + in its purity. It consisted of three sections: the Preaching Friars; nuns + living in conventual retreat; and laymen, entitled the Third Order of + Penitence or the Militia of Christ, who in after years were merged with + the congregation of S. Peter Martyr, and corresponded to the familiars of + the Inquisition. Since the Dominicans were established in the heat and + passion of a crusade against heresy, by a rigid Spaniard who employed his + energies in persecuting misbelievers, they assumed at the outset a + belligerent and inquisitorial attitude. Yet it is not strictly accurate to + represent S. Dominic himself as the first Grand Inquisitor. The Papacy + proceeded with caution in its design of forming a tribunal dependent on + the Holy See and independent of the bishops. Papal Legates with + plenipotentiary authority were sent to Languedoc, and decrees were issued + against the heretics, in which the Inquisition was rather implied than + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA163" id="pageA163"></a>{163}</span> + directly named; nor can I find that S. Dominic, though he continued to be + the soul of the new institution until his death in 1221, obtained the + title of Inquisitor. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding this vagueness, the Holy Office may be said to have been + founded by S. Dominic; and it soon became apparent that the order he had + formed, was destined to monopolize its functions. The Emperor Frederick + II. on his coronation, in 1221, declared his willingness to support a + separate Apostolical tribunal for the suppression of heresy. He sanctioned + the penalty of death by fire for obstinate heretics, and perpetual + imprisonment for penitents—forms of punishment which became + stereotyped in the proceedings of the Holy Office.<a name="FNanchorA_78_78" + id="FNanchorA_78_78"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> + The tribunal, now recognized as a Dominican institution, derived its + authority from the Pope. The bishops were suffered to sit with the + Inquisitors, but only in such subordinate capacity as left to them a bare + title of authority.<a name="FNanchorA_79_79" id="FNanchorA_79_79"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> The secular magistracy + was represented by an assessor, who, being nominated by <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA164" id="pageA164"></a>{164}</span> the + Inquisitor, became his servile instrument. The expenses of the Court in + prosecuting, punishing and imprisoning heretics, together with the + maintenance of the Inquisitors and their guards, were thrown upon the + communes which they visited. Such was the organization which the Popes, + aided by S. Dominic, and availing themselves of the fanatical passions + aroused in the Provençal wars, succeeded in creating for their own + aggrandizement. It is strange to think that its ratification by the + supreme secular power was obtained from an Emperor who died in contumacy, + excommunicated and persecuted as an arch-heretic by the priests he had + supported. + </p> + <p> + This Apostolical Inquisition was at once introduced into Lombardy, Romagna + and the Marches of Treviso. The extreme rigor of its proceedings, the + extortions of monks, and the violent resistance offered by the communes, + led to some relaxation of its original constitution. More authority had to + be conceded to the bishops; and the right of the Inquisitors to levy taxes + on the people was modified. Yet it retained its true form of a Papal + organ, superseding the episcopal prerogatives, and overriding the secular + magistrates, who were bound to execute its biddings. As such it was + admitted into Tuscany, and established in Aragon. Venice received it in + 1289, with certain reservations that placed its proceedings under the + control of Doge and Council. In Languedoc, the country of its birth, it + remained rooted at Toulouse and Carcassonne; but the In<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA165" id="pageA165"></a>{165}</span> + quisition did not extend its authority over central and northern France.<a + name="FNanchorA_80_80" id="FNanchorA_80_80"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_80_80" + class="fnanchor">[80]</a> In Paris its functions were performed by the + Sorbonne. Nor did it obtain a footing in England, although the statute 'De + Haeretico Comburendo,' passed in 1401 at the instance of the higher + clergy, sanctioned the principles on which it existed. + </p> + <p> + The wide and ready acceptance of so terrible an engine of oppression + enables us to estimate the profound horror which heresy inspired in the + Middle Ages.<a name="FNanchorA_81_81" id="FNanchorA_81_81"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> On the whole, the + Inquisition performed the work for which it had been instituted. Those + spreading sects, known as Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathari and Paterines, + whom it was commissioned to extirpate, died away into obscurity during the + fourteenth century; and through the period of the Renaissance the + Inquisition had little scope for the display of energy in Italy. Though + dormant, it was by no means extinct, however; and the spirit which created + it, needed only external cause and circumstance to bring it once more into + powerful operation. Meanwhile the Popes throughout the Renaissance used + the imputation of heresy, which never lost its blighting stigma, in the + prosecution of their secular <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA166" + id="pageA166"></a>{166}</span> ambition. As Sarpi has pointed out, there + were few of the Italian princes with whom they came into political + collision, who were not made the subject of such accusation. + </p> + <p> + The revival of the Holy Office on a new and far more murderous basis, took + place in 1484. We have seen that hitherto there had been two types of + inquisition into heresy. The first, which remained in force up to the year + 1203, may be called the episcopal. The second was the Apostolical or + Dominican: it transferred this jurisdiction from the bishops to the + Papacy, who employed the order of S. Dominic for the special service of + the tribunal instituted by the Imperial decrees of Frederick II. The third + deserves no other name than Spanish, though, after it had taken shape in + Spain, it was transferred to Portugal, applied in all the Spanish and + Portuguese colonies, and communicated with some modifications to Italy and + the Netherlands.<a name="FNanchorA_82_82" id="FNanchorA_82_82"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Both the second and + third types of Inquisition into heresy were Spanish inventions, patented + by the Roman Pontiffs and monopolized by the Dominican order. But the + third and final form of the Holy Office <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA167" id="pageA167"></a>{167}</span> in Spain distinguished + itself by emancipation from Papal and Royal control, and by a specific + organization which rendered it the most formidable of irresponsible + engines in the annals of religious institutions. + </p> + <p> + The crimes of which the second or Dominican Inquisition had taken + cognizance were designated under the generic name of heresy. Heretics were + either patent by profession of some heterodox cult or doctrine; or they + were suspected. The suspected included witches, sorcerers, and blasphemers + who invoked the devil's aid; Catholics abstaining from confession and + absolution; harborers of avowed heretics; legal defenders of the cause of + heretics; priests who gave Christian burial to heretics; magistrates who + showed lukewarmness in pursuit of heretics; the corpses of dead heretics, + and books that might be taxed with heretical opinions. All ranks in the + social hierarchy, except the Pope, his Legates and Nuncios, and the + bishops, were amenable to this Inquisition. The Inquisitors could only be + arraigned and judged by their peers. In order to bring the machinery of + imprisonment, torture and final sentence into effect, it was needful that + the credentials of the Inquisitor should be approved by <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA168" id="pageA168"></a>{168}</span> the + sovereign, and that his procedure should be recognized by the bishop. + These limitations of the Inquisitorial authority safeguarded the crown and + the episcopacy in a legal sense. But since both crown and episcopacy + concurred in the object for which the Papacy had established the tribunal, + the Inquisitor was practically unimpeded in his functions. Furnished with + royal or princely letters patent, he traveled from town to town, attended + by his guards and notaries, defraying current expenses at the cost of + provinces and towns through which he passed. Where he pitched his camp, he + summoned the local magistrates, swore them to obedience, and obtained + assurance of their willingness to execute such sentences as he might + pronounce. Spies and informers gathered round him, pledged to secrecy and + guaranteed by promises of State-protection. The Court opened; witnesses + were examined; the accused were acquitted or condemned. Then sentence was + pronounced, to which the bishop or his delegate, often an Inquisitor, gave + a formal sanction. Finally, the heretic was handed over to the secular arm + for the execution of justice. The extraordinary expenses of the tribunal + were defrayed by confiscation of goods, a certain portion being paid to + the district in which the crime had occurred, the rest being reserved for + the maintenance of the Holy Office. + </p> + <p> + Such, roughly speaking, was the method of the Inquisition before 1484; and + it did not materially differ in Italy and Spain. Castile had hitherto + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA169" id="pageA169"></a>{169}</span> + been free from the pest. But the conditions of that kingdom offered a good + occasion for its introduction at the date which I have named. During the + Middle Ages the Jews of Castile acquired vast wealth and influence. Few + families but felt the burden of their bonds and mortgages. Religious + fanaticism, social jealousy, and pecuniary distress exasperated the + Christian population; and as early as the year 1391, more than 5000 Jews + were massacred in one popular uprising. The Jews, in fear, adopted + Christianity. It is said that in the fifteenth century the population + counted some million of converts—called New Christians, or, in + contempt, Marranos: a word which may probably be derived from the Hebrew + Maranatha. These converted Jews, by their ability and wealth, crept into + high offices of state, obtained titles of aristocracy, and founded noble + houses. Their daughters were married with large dowers into the best + Spanish families; and their younger sons aspired to the honors of the + Church. Castilian society was being penetrated with Jews, many of whom had + undoubtedly conformed to Christianity in externals only. Meanwhile a large + section of the Hebrew race remained faithful to their old traditions; and + a mixed posterity grew up, which hardly knew whether it was Christian or + Jewish, and had opportunity for joining either party. + </p> + <p> + A fertile field was now opened for Inquisitorial energy. The orthodox + Dominican saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA170" id="pageA170"></a>{170}</span> + Christ's flock contaminated. Not without reason did earnest Catholics + dread that the Church in Castile would suffer from this blending of the + Jewish with the Spanish breed. But they had a fiery Catholic enthusiasm to + rely upon in the main body of the nation. And in the crown they knew that + there were passions of fear and cupidity, which might be used with + overmastering effect. It sufficed to point out to Ferdinand that a + persecution of the New Christians would flood his coffers with gold + extorted from suspected misbelievers. No merely fabled El Dorado lay in + the broad lands and costly merchandise of these imperfect converts to the + faith. It sufficed to insist upon the peril to the State if an element so + ill-assimilated to the nation were allowed to increase unchecked. At the + same time, the Papacy was nothing loth to help them in their undertaking. + Sixtus V., one of the worst of Pontiffs, sat then on S. Peter's chair. He + readily discerned that a considerable portion of the booty might be + indirectly drawn into his exchequer; and he knew that any establishment of + the Inquisition on an energetic basis would strengthen the Papacy in its + combat with national and episcopal prerogatives. The Dominicans on their + side can scarcely be credited with a pure zeal for the faith. They had + personal interests to serve by spiritual aggrandizement, by the elevation + of their order, and by the exercise of an illimitable domination. + </p> + <p> + It was a Sicilian Inquisitor, Philip Barberis, who <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA171" id="pageA171"></a>{171}</span> suggested to Ferdinand the + Catholic the advantage he might secure by extending the Holy Office to + Castile. Ferdinand avowed his willingness; and Sixtus IV. gave the project + his approval in 1478. But it met with opposition from the gentler-natured + Isabella. She refused at first to sanction the introduction of so sinister + an engine into her hereditary dominions. The clergy now contrived to raise + a popular agitation against the Jews, reviving old calumnies of impossible + crimes, and accusing them of being treasonable subjects. Then Isabella + yielded; and in 1481 the Holy Office was founded at Seville. It began its + work by publishing a comprehensive edict against all New Christians + suspected of Judaizing, which offense was so constructed as to cover the + most innocent observance of national customs. Resting from labor on + Saturday; performing ablutions at stated times; refusing to eat pork or + puddings made of blood; and abstaining from wine, sufficed to color + accusations of heresy. Men who had joined the Catholic communion after the + habits of a lifetime had been formed, thus found themselves exposed to + peril of death by the retention of mere sanitary rules.<a + name="FNanchorA_83_83" id="FNanchorA_83_83"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_83_83" + class="fnanchor">[83]</a> + </p> + <p> + Upon the publication of this edict, there was an <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA172" id="pageA172"></a>{172}</span> exodus of Jews by thousands + into the fiefs of independent vassals of the crown—the Duke of + Medina Sidonia, the Marquis of Cadiz, and the Count of Arcos. All + emigrants were <i>ipso facto</i> declared heretics by the Holy Office. + During the first year after its foundation, Seville beheld 298 persons + burned alive, and 79 condemned to perpetual imprisonment. A large square + stage of stone, called the Quemadero, was erected for the execution of + those multitudes who were destined to suffer death by hanging or by flame. + In the same year, 2000 were burned and 17,000 condemned to public + penitence, while even a larger number were burned in effigy, in other + parts of the kingdom. + </p> + <p> + While estimating the importance of these punishments we must remember that + they implied confiscation of property. Thus whole families were orphaned + and consigned to penury. Penitence in public carried with it social + infamy, loss of civil rights and honors, intolerable conditions of + ecclesiastical surveillance, and heavy pecuniary fines. Penitents who had + been reconciled, returned to society in a far more degraded condition than + convicts released on ticket of leave. The stigma attached in perpetuity to + the posterity of the con<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA173" + id="pageA173"></a>{173}</span> demned, whose names were conspicuously + emblazoned upon church-walls as foemen to Christ and to the State. + </p> + <p> + It is not strange that the New Christians, wealthy as they were and allied + with some of the best blood in Spain, should have sought to avert the + storm descending on them by appeals to Rome. In person or by procurators, + they carried their complaints to the Papal Curia, imploring the relief of + private reconciliation with the Church, special exemption from the + jurisdiction of the Holy Office, rehabilitation after the loss of civil + rights and honors, dispensation from humiliating penances, and avvocation + of causes tried by the Inquisition, to less prejudiced tribunals. The + object of these petitions was to avoid perpetual infamy, to recover social + status, and to obtain an impartial hearing in doubtful cases. The Papal + Curia had anticipated the profits to be derived from such appeals. Sixtus + IV. was liberal in briefs of indulgence, absolution and exemption, to all + comers who paid largely. But when his suitors returned to Spain, they + found their dearly-purchased parchments of no more value than waste paper. + The Holy Office laughed Papal Bulls of Privilege to scorn, and the Pope + was too indifferent to exert such authority as he might have possessed. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the Inquisition rapidly took shape. In 1483 Thomas of + Torquemada was nominated Inquisitor General for Castile and Aragon. Under + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA174" id="pageA174"></a>{174}</span> + his rule a Supreme Council was established, over which he presided for + life. The crown sent three assessors to this board; and the Inquisitors + were strengthened in their functions by a council of jurists. Seville, + Cordova, Jaen, Toledo, became the four subordinate centers of the Holy + Office, each with its own tribunal and its own right of performing <i>autos + da fé</i>. Commission was sent out to all Dominicans, enjoining on + them the prosecution of their task in every diocese. + </p> + <p> + In 1484 a General Council was held, and the constitution of the + inquisition was established by articles. In these articles four main + points seem to have been held in view. The first related to the system of + confiscation, fines, civil disabilities, losses of office, property, + honors, rights, inheritances, which formed a part of the penitentiary + procedure, and by which the crown and Holy Office made pecuniary gains. + The second secured secrecy in the action of the tribunal, whereby a door + was opened to delation, and accused persons were rendered incapable of + rational defense. The third elaborated the judicial method, so as to leave + no loophole of escape even for those who showed a wish to be converted, + empowering the use of torture, precluding the accused from choosing their + own counsel, and excluding the bishops from active participation in the + sentence. The fourth multiplied the charges under which suspected + heretics, even after their death might be treated as impenitent or <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA175" id="pageA175"></a>{175}</span> + relapsed, so as to increase the number of victims and augment the booty. + </p> + <p> + The two most formidable features of the Inquisition as thus constituted, + were the exclusion of the bishops from its tribunal and the secrecy of its + procedure. The accused was delivered over to a court that had no mercy, no + common human sympathies, no administrative interest in the population. He + knew nothing of his accusers; and when he died or disappeared from view no + record of his case survived him. + </p> + <p> + The Inquisition rested on the double basis of ecclesiastical fanaticism + and protected delation. The court was <i>primâ facie</i> hostile to + the accused; and the accused could never hope to confront the detectives + upon whose testimony he was arraigned before it. Lives and reputations lay + thus at the mercy of professional informers, private enemies, malicious + calumniators. The denunciation was sometimes anonymous, sometimes signed, + with names of two corroborative witnesses. These witnesses were examined, + under a strict seal of secrecy, by the Inquisitors, who drew up a form of + accusation, which they submitted to theologians called Qualificators. The + qualificators were not informed of the names of the accused, the delator, + or the witnesses. It was their business to qualify the case of heresy as + light, grave, or violent. Having placed it in one of these categories, + they returned it to the Inquisitors, who now arrested the accused and + flung him into the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA176" id="pageA176"></a>{176}</span> + secret prisons of the Holy Office. After some lapse of time he was + summoned for a preliminary examination. Having first been cautioned to + tell the truth, he had to recite the Paternoster, Credo, Ten Commandments, + and a kind of catechism. His pedigree was also investigated, in the + expectation that some traces of Jewish or Moorish descent might serve to + incriminate him. If he failed in repeating the Christian shibboleths, or + if he was discovered to have infidel ancestry, there existed already a + good case to proceed upon. Finally, he was questioned upon the several + heads of accusation condensed from the first delation and the deposition + of the witnesses. If needful at this point, he was put to the torture, + again and yet again.<a name="FNanchorA_84_84" id="FNanchorA_84_84"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> He never heard the names + of his accusers, nor was he furnished with a full bill of the charges + against him in writing. At this stage he was usually remanded, and the + judicial proceedings were deliberately lengthened out with a view of + crushing his spirit and bringing him to abject submission. For his defence + he might select one advocate, but only from a list furnished by his + judges; and this advocate in no case saw the original documents of the + impeachment. It rarely happened, upon this one-sided method of trial, that + an accused person was acquitted altogether. If he escaped burning or + perpetual incarceration, he was almost <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA177" id="pageA177"></a>{177}</span> certainly exposed to the + public ceremony of penitence, with its attendant infamy, fines, civil + disabilities, and future discipline. Sentence was not passed upon + condemned persons until they appeared, dressed up in a San Benito, at the + place of punishment. This costume was a sort of sack, travestying a monk's + frock, made of coarse yellow stuff, and worked over with crosses, flames, + and devils, in glaring red. It differed in details according to the + destination of the victim: for some ornaments symbolized eternal hell, and + others the milder fires of purgatory. If sufficiently versed in the + infernal heraldry of the Holy Office, a condemned man might read his doom + before he reached the platform of the <i>auto</i>. There he heard whether + he was sentenced to relaxation—in other words, to burning at the + hands of the hangman—or to reconciliation by means of penitence. At + the last moment, he might by confession <i>in extremis</i> obtain the + commutation of a death sentence into life-imprisonment, or receive the + favor of being strangled before he was burned. A relapsed heretic, however—that + is, one who after being reconciled had once again apostatized, was never + exempted from the penalty of burning. To make these holocausts of human + beings more ghastly, the pageant was enhanced by processions of exhumed + corpses and heretics in effigy. Artificial dolls and decomposed bodies, + with grinning lips and mouldy foreheads, were hauled to the huge bonfire, + side by side with living men, women, and children. All of them <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA178" id="pageA178"></a>{178}</span> alike—<i>fantoccini</i>, + skeletons, and quick folk—were enveloped in the same grotesquely + ghastly San Benito, with the same hideous yellow miters on their + pasteboard, worm-eaten, or palpitating foreheads. The procession presented + an ingeniously picturesque discord of ugly shapes, an artistically + loathsome dissonance of red and yellow hues, as it defiled, to the + infernal music of growled psalms and screams and moanings, beneath the + torrid blaze of Spanish sunlight. + </p> + <p> + Spaniards—such is the barbarism of the Latinized Iberian nature—delighted + in these shows, as they did and do in bull-fights. Butcheries of heretics + formed the choicest spectacles at royal christenings and bridals. + </p> + <p> + At Seville the Quemadero was adorned with four colossal statues of + prophets, to which some of the condemned were bound, so that they might + burn to death in the flames arising from the human sacrifice between them. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1484 the Inquisition was introduced into Aragon; and + Saragossa became its headquarters in that State. Though the Aragonese were + accustomed to the institution in its earlier and milder form, they + regarded the new Holy Office with just horror. The Marranos counted at + that epoch the Home Secretary, the Grand Treasurer, a Proto-notary, and a + Vice-Chancellor of the realm among their members; and they were allied by + marriage with the purest aristocracy. It is not, therefore, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA179" id="pageA179"></a>{179}</span> + marvelous that a conspiracy was formed to assassinate the Chief + Inquisitor, Peter Arbues. In spite of a coat-of-mail and an iron skullcap + worn beneath his monk's dress, Arbues was murdered one evening while at + prayer in church. But the revolt, notwithstanding this murder, flashed, + like an ill-loaded pistol, in the pan. Jealousies between the old and new + Christians prevented any common action; and the Inquisition took a bloody + vengeance upon all concerned. It even laid its hand on Don James of + Navarre, the Infant of Tudela. + </p> + <p> + The Spanish Inquisition was now firmly grounded. Directed by Torquemada, + it began to encroach upon the crown, to insult the episcopacy, to defy the + Papacy, to grind the Commons, and to outrage by its insolence the + aristocracy. Ferdinand's avarice had overreached itself by creating an + ecclesiastical power dangerous to the best interests of the realm, but + which fascinated a fanatically-pious people, and the yoke of which could + not be thrown off. The Holy Office grew every year in pride, pretensions, + and exactions. It arrogated to its tribunal crimes of usury, bigamy, + blasphemous swearing, and unnatural vice, which appertained by right to + the secular courts. It depopulated Spain by the extermination and + banishment of at least three million industrious subjects during the first + 139 years of its existence. It attacked princes of the blood,<a + name="FNanchorA_85_85" id="FNanchorA_85_85"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_85_85" + class="fnanchor">[85]</a> arch<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA180" + id="pageA180"></a>{180}</span> bishops, fathers of the Tridentine Council. + It filled every city in the kingdom, the convents of the religious, and + the palaces of the nobility, with spies. The Familiars, or lay brethren + devoted to its service, lived at charges of the communes, and debauched + society by crimes of rapine, lust, and violence.<a name="FNanchorA_86_86" + id="FNanchorA_86_86"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> + Ignorant and bloodthirsty monks composed its provincial tribunals, who, + like the horrible Lucero el Tenebroso at Cordova, paralyzed whole + provinces with a veritable reign of terror.<a name="FNanchorA_87_87" + id="FNanchorA_87_87"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> + Hated and worshiped, its officers swept through the realm in the guise of + powerful <i>condottieri</i>. The Grand Inquisitor maintained a bodyguard + of fifty mounted Familiars and two hundred infantry; his subordinates were + allowed ten horsemen and fifty archers apiece. Where these black guards + appeared, city gates were opened; magistrates swore fealty to masters of + more puissance than the king; the resources of flourishing districts were + placed at their disposal. Their arbitrary acts remained unquestioned, + their mysterious sentences irreversible. Shrouded in secrecy, amenable to + no jurisdiction but their own, they reveled in the license of + irresponsible dominion. Spain gradually fell beneath the charm of their + dark fascination. A brave though cruel nation drank delirium from the + poison-cup of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA181" id="pageA181"></a>{181}</span> + these vile medicine-men, whose Moloch-worship would have disgusted + cannibals. + </p> + <p> + Torquemada was the genius of evil who created and presided over this foul + instrument of human crime and folly. During his eighteen years of + administration, reckoning from 1480 to 1498, he sacrificed, according to + Llorente's calculation, above 114,000 victims, of whom 10,220 were burned + alive, 6,860 burned in effigy, and 97,000 condemned to perpetual + imprisonment or public penitence.<a name="FNanchorA_88_88" + id="FNanchorA_88_88"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> + He, too, it was who in 1492 compelled Ferdinand to drive the Jews from his + dominions. They offered 30,000 ducats for the war against Granada, and + promised to abide in Spain under heavy social disabilities, if only they + might be spared this act of national extermination. Then Torquemada + appeared before the king, and, raising his crucifix on high, cried: 'Judas + sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Look ye to it, if ye do the + like!' The edict of expulsion was issued on the last of March. Before the + last of July all Jews were sentenced to depart, carrying no gold or silver + with them. They disposed of their lands, houses, and goods for next to + nothing, and went forth to die by thousands on the shores of Africa and + Italy. Twelve who were found concealed at Malaga in August were condemned + to be pricked to death by pointed reeds.<a name="FNanchorA_89_89" + id="FNanchorA_89_89"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> + </p> + <p> + The exodus of the Jews was followed in 1502 <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA182" id="pageA182"></a>{182}</span> by a similar exodus of + Moors from Castile, and in 1524 by an exodus of Mauresques from Aragon. To + compute the loss of wealth and population inflicted upon Spain by these + mad edicts, would be impossible. We may wonder whether the followers of + Cortez, when they trod the teocallis of Mexico and gazed with loathing on + the gory elf-locks of the Aztec priests, were not reminded of the + Torquemada they had left at home. His cruelty became so intolerable that + even Alexander VI. was moved to horror. In 1494 the Borgia appointed four + assessors, with equal powers, to restrain the blood-thirst of the fanatic. + </p> + <p> + After Torquemada, Diego Deza reigned as second Inquisitor General from + 1498 to 1507. In these years, according to the same calculation, 2,592 + were burned alive, 896 burned in effigy, 34,952 condemned to prison or + public penitence.<a name="FNanchorA_90_90" id="FNanchorA_90_90"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> Cardinal Ximenez de + Cisneros followed between 1507 and 1517. The victims of this decade were + 3,564 burned alive, 1,232 burned in effigy, 48,059 condemned to prison or + public penitence.<a name="FNanchorA_91_91" id="FNanchorA_91_91"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> Adrian, Bishop of + Tortosa, tutor to Charles V., and afterwards Pope, was Inquisitor General + between 1516 and 1525. Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia, at this epoch, + simultaneously demanded a reform of the Holy Office from their youthful + sovereign. But Charles refused, and the tale of Adrian's administration + was 1,620 burned alive, 560 burned in effigy, 21,845 con<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA183" id="pageA183"></a>{183}</span> demned + to prison or public penitence.<a name="FNanchorA_92_92" + id="FNanchorA_92_92"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> + The total, during forty-three years, between 1481 and 1525, amounted to + 234,526, including all descriptions of condemned heretics.<a + name="FNanchorA_93_93" id="FNanchorA_93_93"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_93_93" + class="fnanchor">[93]</a> These figures are of necessity vague, for the + Holy Office left but meager records of its proceedings. The vast numbers + of cases brought before the Inquisitors rendered their method of procedure + almost as summary as that of Fouquier Thinville, while policy induced them + to bury the memory of their victims in oblivion.<a name="FNanchorA_94_94" + id="FNanchorA_94_94"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> + </p> + <p> + Sometimes, while reading the history of the Holy Office in Spain, we are + tempted to imagine that the whole is but a grim unwholesome nightmare, or + the fable of malignant calumny. That such is not the case, however, is + proved by a jubilant inscription on the palace of the Holy Office at + Seville, which records the triumphs of Torquemada. Of late <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA184" id="pageA184"></a>{184}</span> years, + too, the earth herself has disgorged some secrets of the Inquisition. 'A + most curious discovery,' writes Lord Malmesbury in his Memoirs,<a + name="FNanchorA_95_95" id="FNanchorA_95_95"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_95_95" + class="fnanchor">[95]</a> 'has been made at Madrid. Just at the time when + the question of religious liberty was being discussed in the Cortes, + Serrano had ordered a piece of ground to be leveled, in order to build on + it; and the workmen came upon large quantities of human bones, skulls, + lumps of blackening flesh, pieces of chains, and braids of hair. It was + then recollected that the <i>autos da fé</i> used to take place at + that spot in former days. Crowds of people rushed to the place, and the + investigation was continued. They found layer upon layer of human remains, + showing that hundreds had been inhumanly sacrificed. The excitement and + indignation this produced among the people was tremendous, and the party + for religious freedom taking advantage of it, a Bill on the subject was + passed by an enormous majority.' Let modern Spain remember that a similar + Aceldama lies hidden in the precincts of each of her chief towns! + </p> + <p> + I have enlarged upon the details of the Spanish Inquisition for two + reasons. In the first place it strikingly illustrates the character of the + people who now had the upper hand in Italy. In the second place, its + success induced Paul III., acting upon the advice of Giov. Paolo Caraffa, + to remodel the Roman office on a similar type in 1542. It may at once be + said that the real Spanish Inquisition was never <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA185" id="pageA185"></a>{185}</span> introduced into Italy.<a + name="FNanchorA_96_96" id="FNanchorA_96_96"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_96_96" + class="fnanchor">[96]</a> Such an institution, claiming independent + jurisdiction and flaunting its cruelties in the light of day, would not + have suited the Papal policy. As temporal and spiritual autocrats, the + Popes could not permit a tribunal of which they were not the supreme + authority. It was their interest to consult their pecuniary advantage + rather than to indulge insane fanaticism; to repress liberty of thought by + cautious surveillance rather than by public terrorism and open acts of + cruelty. The Italian temperament was, moreover, more humane than the + Spanish; nor had the refining culture of the Renaissance left no traces in + the nation. Furthermore, the necessity for so Draconian an institution was + not felt. Catholicism in Italy had not to contend with Jews and Moors, + Marranos and Moriscoes. It was, indeed, alarmed by the spread of Lutheran + opinions. Caraffa complained to Paul III. that 'the whole of Italy is + infected with the Lutheran heresy, which has been embraced not only by + statesmen, but also by many ecclesiastics.'<a name="FNanchorA_97_97" + id="FNanchorA_97_97"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> + Pius V. was so panic-stricken by the prevalence of heresy in Faenza that + he seriously meditated destroying the town and dispersing its inhabitants.<a + name="FNanchorA_98_98" id="FNanchorA_98_98"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_98_98" + class="fnanchor">[98]</a> Yet, after a few years of active persecution, + this peril proved to be unreal. The Reformation had not taken root so deep + and wide in Italy that it could not be eradicated.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA186" id="pageA186"></a>{186}</span> When, therefore, the + Spanish viceroys sought to establish their national Inquisition in Naples + and Milan, the rebellious people received protection and support from the + Papacy; and the Holy Office, as remodeled in Rome, became a far less awful + engine of oppression than that of Seville. + </p> + <p> + It was sufficiently severe, however. 'At Rome,' writes a resident in 1568, + 'some are daily burned, hanged, or beheaded; the prisons and places of + confinement are filled, and they are obliged to build new ones.'<a + name="FNanchorA_99_99" id="FNanchorA_99_99"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_99_99" + class="fnanchor">[99]</a> This general statement may be checked by + extracts from the despatches of Venetian ambassadors in Rome, which, + though they are not continuous, and cannot be supposed to give an + exhaustive list of the victims of the Inquisition, enable us to judge with + some degree of accuracy what the frequency of executions may have been.<a + name="FNanchorA_100_100" id="FNanchorA_100_100"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> + </p> + <p> + On September 27, 1567, a session of the Holy Office was held at S. Maria + sopra Minerva. Seventeen heretics were condemned. Fifteen of these were + sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, the galleys for life, fines, or + temporary imprisonment, according to the nature of their offenses. Two + were reserved for capital punishment—namely, Carnesecchi and a friar + from Cividale di Belluno. They were beheaded and burned upon the bridge of + S. Angelo on October 4. On May 28, 1569, there <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA187" id="pageA187"></a>{187}</span> was an Act of the + Inquisition at the Minerva, twenty Cardinals attending. Four impenitent + heretics were condemned to the stake. Ten penitents were sentenced to + various punishments of less severity. On August 2, 1578, occurred a + singular scandal touching some Spaniards and Portuguese of evil manners, + all of whom were burned with the exception of those who contrived to + escape in time. On August 5, 1581, an English Protestant was burned for + grossly insulting the Host. On February 20, 1582, after an Act of the + Inquisition in due form, seventeen heretics were sentenced, three to + death, and the rest to imprisonment, etc. We must bear in mind that + Mutinelli, who published the extracts from the Venetian dispatches which + contain these details, does not profess to aim at completeness. Gaps of + several years occur between the documents of one envoy and those of his + successor. Nor does it appear that the writers themselves took notice of + more than solemn and ceremonial proceedings, in which the Acts of the + Inquisition were published with Pontifical and Curial pomp.<a + name="FNanchorA_101_101" id="FNanchorA_101_101"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> Still, when these + considerations have been weighed, it will appear that the victims of the + Inquisition, in Rome, could be counted, not by hundreds, but by units. + After illustrious examples, like those of Aonio Paleario, Pietro + Carnesecchi, Giordano Bruno, who were burned for Protestant or<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA188" id="pageA188"></a>{188}</span> + Atheistical opinions, the names of distinguished sufferers are few. Wary + heretics, a Celio Secundo Curio, a Galeazzo Caracciolo, a Bernardino + Ochino, a Pietro Martire Vermigli, a Pietro Paolo Vergerio, a Lelio + Socino, escaped betimes to Switzerland, and carried on their warfare with + the Church by means of writings.<a name="FNanchorA_102_102" + id="FNanchorA_102_102"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> + Others, tainted with heresy, like Marco Antonio Flaminio, managed to + satisfy the Inquisition by timely concessions. The Protestant Churches, + which had sprung up in Venice, Lucca, Modena, Ferrara, Faenza, Vicenza, + Bologna, Naples, and Siena, were easily dispersed.<a + name="FNanchorA_103_103" id="FNanchorA_103_103"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> Their pastors fled or + submitted. The flocks conformed to Catholic orthodoxy. Only in a few cases + was extreme rigor displayed. A memorable massacre took place in the year + 1561 in Calabria within the province of Cosenza.<a name="FNanchorA_104_104" + id="FNanchorA_104_104"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> + Here at the end of the fourteenth century a colony of Waldensians had + settled in some villages upon the coast. They preserved their peculiar + beliefs and ritual, and after three centuries numbered about 4000 souls. + Nearly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA189" id="pageA189"></a>{189}</span> + the whole of these, it seems, were exterminated by sword, fire, famine, + torture, noisome imprisonment, and hurling from the summits of high + cliffs. A few of the survivors were sent to work upon the Spanish galleys. + Some women and children were sold into slavery. At Locarno, on the Lago + Maggiore, a Protestant community of nearly 300 persons was driven into + exile in 1555; and at Venice, in 1560-7, a small sect, holding reformed + opinions, suffered punishment of a peculiar kind. We read of five persons + by name, who, after being condemned by the Holy Office, were taken at + night from their dungeons to the Porto del Lido beyond the Due Castelli, + and there set upon a plank between two gondolas. The gondolas rowed + asunder; and one by one the martyrs fell and perished in the waters.<a + name="FNanchorA_105_105" id="FNanchorA_105_105"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA190" id="pageA190"></a>{190}</span> + </p> + <p> + The position of the Holy Office in Venice was so far peculiar as to + justify a digression upon its special constitution. Always jealous of + ecclesiastical interference, the Republic insisted on the Inquisition + being made dependent on the State. Three nobles of senatorial rank were + chosen to act as Assessors of the Holy Office in the capital; and in the + subject cities this function was assigned to the Rectors, or lieutenants + of S. Mark. It was the duty of these lay members to see that justice was + impartially dealt by the ecclesiastical tribunal, to defend the State + against clerical encroachments, and to refer dubious cases to the Doge in + Council. They were forbidden to swear oaths of allegiance or of secrecy to + the Holy Office, and were bound to be present at all trials, even in the + case of ecclesiastical offenders. No causes could be avvocated to Rome, + and no crimes except heresy were held to lie within the jurisdiction of + the court. The State reserved to it<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA191" + id="pageA191"></a>{191}</span> self witchcraft, profane swearing, bigamy + and usury; allowed no interference with Jews, infidels and Greeks; forbade + the confiscation of goods in which the heirs of condemned persons had + interest; and made separate stipulations with regard to the Index of + Prohibited Books. It precluded the Inquisition from extending its + authority in any way, direct or indirect, over trades, arts, guilds, + magistrates, and communal officials.<a name="FNanchorA_106_106" + id="FNanchorA_106_106"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> + The tenor of this system was to repress ecclesiastical encroachments on + the State prerogatives, and to secure equity in the proceedings of the + Holy Office. Had practice answered to theory in the Venetian Inquisition, + by far the worst abuses of the institution would have been avoided. But as + a matter of fact, causes were not unfrequently transferred to Rome; + confiscations were permitted; and the lists of the condemned include + Mussulmans, witches, conjurors, men of scandalous life, etc., showing that + the jurisdiction of the Holy Office extended beyond heresy in Venice.<a + name="FNanchorA_107_107" id="FNanchorA_107_107"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> + </p> + <p> + The truth is that the Venetians, though they were willing to risk an open + rupture with Rome, remained at heart sound Churchmen devoted to the + principles of the Catholic Reaction. The Republic conceded the fact of + Inquisitorial authority, while it reserved the letter of + State-supervision. Venetian decadence was marked by this hypocrisy of + pride; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA192" id="pageA192"></a>{192}</span> + and so long as appearances were saved, the Holy Office exercised its + functions freely. The nobles who acted as assessors had no sympathy with + religious toleration, being themselves under the influence of confessors + and directors. + </p> + <p> + How little the subjects of S. Mark at this epoch trusted the good faith of + laws securing liberty of thought in Venice, may be gathered from what + happened immediately after the publication of the Index Expurgatorius in + 1596. From an official report upon the decline of the printing trade in + Venice, it appears that within the space of a few months the number of + presses fell from 125 to 40.<a name="FNanchorA_108_108" + id="FNanchorA_108_108"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> + Printers were afraid to undertake either old or new works, and the trade + languished for lack of books to publish. Yet an edict had been issued + announcing that by the terms of the Concordat with Clement VIII., the + Venetian press would only be subject to State control and not to the Roman + tribunals.<a name="FNanchorA_109_109" id="FNanchorA_109_109"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> The truth is that, in + regard both to the Holy Office and to the Index, Venice was never strong + enough to maintain the independence which she boasted. By cunning use of + the confessional, and by unscrupulous control of opinion, the Church + succeeded in doing there much the same as in any other Italian city. + Successive Popes made, indeed, a show of respecting the liberties of the + Republic. On material <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA193" + id="pageA193"></a>{193}</span> points, touching revenue and + State-administration, they felt it wise to concede even more than + complimentary privileges; and when Paul V. encroached upon these + privileges, the Venetians were ready to resist him. Yet the quarrels + between the Vatican and San Marco were, after all, but family disputes. + The Venetians at the close of the sixteenth century proved themselves no + better friends to spiritual freedom than were the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. + Their political jealousies, commercial anxieties, and feints of + maintaining a power that was rapidly decaying, denoted no partiality for + the opponents of Rome—unless, like Sarpi, these wore the livery of + the State, and defended with the pen its secular prerogatives. Therefore, + when the Signory published Clement VIII.'s Index, when copies of that + Index were sown broadcast, while only an edition of sixty was granted to + the Concordat, authors and publishers felt, and felt rightly, that their + day had passed. The art of printing sank at once to less than a third of + its productivity. The city where it had flourished so long, and where it + had effected so much of enduring value for European culture, was gagged in + scarcely a less degree than Rome. We have full right to insist upon these + facts, and to draw from them a stringent corollary. If Venice allowed the + trade in books, which had brought her so much profit and such honor in the + past, to be paralyzed by Clement's Index, what must have happened in other + Italian towns? The blow which maimed<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA194" id="pageA194"></a>{194}</span> Venetian literature, was + mortal elsewhere; and the finest works of genius in the first half of the + seventeenth century had to find their publishers in Paris.<a + name="FNanchorA_110_110" id="FNanchorA_110_110"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> But these reflections + have led me to anticipate the proper development of the subject of this + chapter. + </p> + <p> + In Italy at large, the forces of the Inquisition were directed, not as in + Spain against heretics in masses, but against the leaders of heretical + opinion; and less against personalities than against ideas. Italy during + the Renaissance had been the workshop of ideas for Europe. It was the + business of the Counter-Reformation to check the industry of that <i>officina + scientiarum</i>, to numb the nervous centers which had previously emitted + thought of pregnant import for the modern world, and to prevent the reflux + of ideas, elaborated by the northern races in fresh forms, upon the + intelligence which had evolved them. To do so now was comparatively easy. + It only needed to put the engine of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum into + working order in concert with the Inquisition. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the Middle Ages it had been customary to burn heretical + writings. The bishops, the universities, and the Dominican Inquisitors + exercised this privilege; and by their means, in the age of manuscripts, + the life of a book was soon extinguished. Whole libraries were sometimes + sacrificed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA195" id="pageA195"></a>{195}</span> + at one fell swoop, as in the case of the 6000 volumes destroyed at + Salamanca in 1490 by Torquemada, on a charge of sorcery.<a + name="FNanchorA_111_111" id="FNanchorA_111_111"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> After the invention + of printing it became more difficult to carry on this warfare against + literature, while the rapid diffusion of Protestant opinions through the + press rendered the need for their extermination urgent. Sixtus IV. laid a + basis for the Index by prohibiting the publication of any books which had + not previously been licensed by ecclesiastical authority. Alexander VI. by + a brief of 15O1 confirmed this measure, and placed books under the + censorship of the episcopacy and the Inquisition. Finally, the Lateran + Council, in its tenth session, held under the auspices of Leo X., gave + solemn ecumenical sanction to these regulations. + </p> + <p> + The censorship having been thus established, the next step was to form a + list of books prohibited by the Inquisitors appointed for that purpose. + The Sorbonne in Paris drew one up for their own use, and even presented a + petition to Francis I. that publication through the press should be + forbidden altogether.<a name="FNanchorA_112_112" id="FNanchorA_112_112"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> A royal edict to this + effect was actually promulgated in 1535. Charles V. commissioned the + University of Louvain in 1539 to furnish a similar catalogue, proclaiming + at the same time the penalty of death for all who read or owned the works + of Luther in his realms.<a name="FNanchorA_113_113" id="FNanchorA_113_113"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> The University + printed their catalogue with Papal approval in 1549.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA196" id="pageA196"></a>{196}</span> + </p> + <p> + These lists of the Sorbonne and Louvain formed the nucleus of the + Apostolic Index, which, after the close of the Council of Trent, became + binding upon Catholics. When the Inquisition had been established in Rome, + Caraffa, who was then at its head, obtained the sanction of Paul III. for + submitting all books, old or new, printed or in manuscript, to the + supervision of the Holy Office. He also contrived to place booksellers, + public and private libraries, colporteurs and officers of customs, under + the same authority; so that from 1543 forward it was a penal offence to + print, sell, own, convey or import any literature, of which the + Inquisition had not first been informed, and for the diffusion or + possession of which it had not given its permission. Giovanni della Casa, + who was sent in 1546 to Venice with commission to prosecute P. Paolo + Vergerio for heresy, drew up a list of about seventy prohibited volumes, + which was printed in that city.<a name="FNanchorA_114_114" + id="FNanchorA_114_114"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> + Other lists appeared, at Florence in 1552, and at Milan in 1554. Philip + II. at last, in 1558, issued a royal edict commanding the publication of + one catalogue which should form the standard for such Indices throughout + his States.<a name="FNanchorA_115_115" id="FNanchorA_115_115"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> These lists, revised, + collated, and confirmed by Papal authority, were reprinted, in the form + which ever afterwards obtained, at Rome, by command of Paul IV. in 1559.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA197" id="pageA197"></a>{197}</span> + </p> + <p> + The Tridentine Council ratified the regulations of the Inquisition and the + Index concerning prohibited books, and referred the execution of them in + detail to the Papacy. A congregation was appointed at Rome, which, though + technically independent of the Holy Office, worked in concert with it. + This Congregation of the Index brought the Tridentine decrees into harmony + with the practice that had been developed by Caraffa as Inquisitor and + Pope. Their list was published in 1564 with the authority of Pius IV. + Finally, in 1595 the decrees embodying the statutes of the Church upon + this topic were issued in print, together with a largely augmented + catalogue of interdicted books. This document will form the basis of what + I have to say with regard to the Catholic crusade against literature. + </p> + <p> + Not without reason did Aonio Paleario call this engine of the Index 'a + dagger drawn from the scabbard to assassinate letters'—<i>sica + districta in omnes scriptores</i>.<a name="FNanchorA_116_116" + id="FNanchorA_116_116"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> + Not without reason did Sarpi describe it as 'the finest secret which has + ever been discovered for applying religion to the purpose of making men + idiotic.'<a name="FNanchorA_117_117" id="FNanchorA_117_117"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA198" id="pageA198"></a>{198}</span> + </p> + <p> + Index Expurgatorius sixty-one printing firms by name, all of whose + publications were without exception prohibited, adding a similar + prohibition for the books edited by any printer who had published the + writings of any heretic; so that in fine, as Sarpi says, 'there was not a + book left to read.' Truly he might well exclaim in another passage that + the Church was doing its best to extinguish sound learning altogether.<a + name="FNanchorA_118_118" id="FNanchorA_118_118"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> + </p> + <p> + In order to gain a clear conception of the warfare carried on by Rome + against free literature, it will be well to consider first the rules for + the Index of Prohibited Books, sketched out by the fathers delegated by + the Tridentine Council, published by Pius IV., augmented by Sixtus V., and + reduced to their final form by Clement VIII. in 1595.<a + name="FNanchorA_119_119" id="FNanchorA_119_119"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> Afterwards I shall + proceed to explain the operation of the system, and to illustrate by + details the injury inflicted upon learning and enlightenment. + </p> + <p> + The preambles to this document recite the circumstances under which the + necessity for digesting an Index or Catalogue of Prohibited Books arose. + These were the diffusion of heretical opinions at the epoch of the + Lutheran schism, and their propagation through the press. The Council of + Trent decreed that a list of writings 'heretical, or suspected of + heretical pravity, or injurious to manners and piety,'<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA199" id="pageA199"></a>{199}</span> should be drawn up. This + charge they committed to prelates chosen from all nations, who, when the + catalogue had been completed, referred it for sanction and approval to the + Pope. He nominated a congregation of eminent ecclesiastics, by whose care + the catalogue was perfected, and rules were framed, defining the use that + should be made of it in future. It issued officially, as I have already + stated, in 1564, the fifth year of the pontificate of Pius IV., with + warning to all universities and civil and ecclesiastical authorities that + any person of what grade or condition soever, whether clerk or layman, who + should read or possess one or more of the proscribed volumes, would be + accounted <i>ipso jure</i> excommunicate, and liable to prosecution by the + Inquisition on a charge of heresy.<a name="FNanchorA_120_120" + id="FNanchorA_120_120"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> + Booksellers, printers, merchants, and custom-house officials received + admonition that the threat of excommunication and prosecution concerned + them specially. + </p> + <p> + The first rules deal with the acknowledged writings of Protestant + heresiarchs. Those of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, whether in their + original languages or translated, are condemned absolutely and without + exception. Next follow regulations for securing the monopoly of the + Vulgate, considered as the sole authorized version of the Holy Scriptures. + Translations of portions of the Bible made by learned men in Latin may be + used by scholars with permission of a bishop, provided it be understood + that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA200" id="pageA200"></a>{200}</span> + they are never appealed to as the inspired text. Translations into any + vernacular idiom are strictly excluded from public use and circulation, + but may, under exceptional circumstances, be allowed to students who have + received license from a bishop or Inquisitor at the recommendation of + their parish priest or confessor. Compilations made by heretics, in the + form of dictionaries, concordances, etc., are to be prohibited until they + have been purged and revised by censors of the press. The same regulation + extends to polemical and controversial works touching on matters of + doctrine in dispute between Catholics and Protestants. Next follow + regulations concerning books containing lascivious or obscene matter, + which are to be rigidly suppressed. Exception is made in favor of the + classics, on account of their style; with the proviso that they are on no + account to be given to boys to read. Treatises dealing professedly with + occult arts, magic, sorcery, predictions of future events, incantation of + spirits, and so forth, are to be proscribed; due reservation being made in + favor of scientific observations touching navigation, agriculture, and the + healing art, in which prognostics may be useful to mankind. Having thus + broadly defined the literature which has to be suppressed or subjected to + supervision, rules are laid down for the exercise of censure. Books, + whereof the general tendency is good, but which contain passages savoring + of heresy, superstition or divination, shall be reserved for the + consideration <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA201" id="pageA201"></a>{201}</span> + of Catholic theologians appointed by the Inquisition; and this shall hold + good also of prefaces, summaries, or annotations. All writings printed in + Rome must be submitted to the judgment of the Vicar of the Pope, the + Master of the Sacred Palace, or a person nominated by the Pontiff. In + other cities the bishop, or his delegate, and the Inquisitor of the + district, shall be responsible for examining printed or manuscript works + previous to publication; and without their license it shall be illegal to + circulate them. Inquisitorial visits shall from time to time be made, + under the authority of the bishop and the Holy Office, in bookshops or + printing houses, for the removal and destruction of prohibited works. + Colporteurs of books across the frontiers, heirs and executors who have + become depositaries of books, collectors of private libraries, as well as + editors and booksellers, shall be liable to the same jurisdiction, bound + to declare their property by catalogue, and to show license for the use, + transmission, sale, or possession of the same. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the correction of books, it is provided that this duty + shall fall conjointly on bishops and Inquisitors, who must appoint three + men distinguished for learning and piety to examine the text and make the + necessary changes in it. Upon the report of these censors, the bishops and + Inquisitors shall give license of publication, provided they are satisfied + that the work of emendation has been duly performed. The censor must + submit <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA202" id="pageA202"></a>{202}</span> + not only the body of a book, to scrupulous analysis; but he must also + investigate the notes, summaries, marginal remarks, indexes, prefaces, and + dedicatory epistles, lest haply pestilent opinions lurk there in ambush. + He must keep a sharp lookout for heretical propositions, and arguments + savoring of heresy; insinuations against the established order of the + sacraments, ceremonies, usages and ritual of the Roman Church; new turns + of phrase insidiously employed by heretics, with dubious and ambiguous + expressions that may mislead the unwary; plausible citations of Scripture, + or passages of holy writ extracted from heretical translations; quotations + from the authorized text, which have been adduced in an unorthodox sense; + epithets in honor of heretics, and anything that may redound to the praise + of such persons; opinions savoring of sorcery and superstition; theories + that involve the subjection of the human will to fate, fortune, and + fallacious portents, or that imply paganism; aspersions upon ecclesiastics + and princes; impugnments of the liberties, immunities, and jurisdiction of + the Church; political doctrines in favor of antique virtues, despotic + government, and the so-called Reason of State, which are in opposition to + the evangelical and Christian law; satires on ecclesiastical rites, + religious orders, and the state, dignity, and persons of the clergy; + ribaldries or stories offensive and prejudicial to the fame and estimation + of one's neighbors, together with lubricities, lascivious re<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA203" id="pageA203"></a>{203}</span> marks, + lewd pictures, and capital letters adorned with obscene images. All such + peccant passages are to be expunged, obliterated, removed or radically + altered, before the license for publication be accorded by the ordinary. + </p> + <p> + No book shall be printed without the author's name in full, together with + his nationality, upon the title-page. If there be sufficient reason for + giving an anonymous work to the world, the censor's name shall stand for + that of the author. Compilations of words, sentences, excerpts, etc., + shall pass under the name of the compiler. Publishers and booksellers are + to take care that the printed work agrees with the MS. copy as licensed, + and to see that all rules with regard to the author's name and his + authority to publish have been observed. They are, moreover, to take an + oath before the Master of the Sacred Palace in Rome, or before the bishop + and Inquisitor in other places, that they will scrupulously follow the + regulations of the Index. The bishops and Inquisitors are held responsible + for selecting as censors, men of approved piety and learning, whose good + faith and integrity they shall guarantee, and who shall be such as will + obey no promptings of private hatred or of favor, but will do all for the + glory of God and the advantage of the faithful. The approbation of such + censors, together with the license of the bishop and Inquisitor, shall be + printed at the opening of every published book. Finally, if any work + composed by a condemned author shall be <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA204" id="pageA204"></a>{204}</span> licensed after due + purgation and castration, it shall bear his name upon the title-page, + together with the note of condemnation, to the end that, though the book + itself be accepted, the author be understood to be rejected. Thus, for + example, the title shall run as follows: 'The Library, by Conrad Gesner, a + writer condemned for his opinions, which work was formerly published and + proscribed, but is now expurgated and licensed by superior authority.' + </p> + <p> + The Holy Office was made virtually responsible for the censorship of + books. But, as I have already stated, there existed a Congregation of + prelates in Rome to whom the final verdict upon this matter Was reserved. + If an author in some provincial town composed a volume, he was bound in + the first instance to submit the MS. to the censor appointed by the bishop + and Inquisitor of his district. This man took time to weigh the general + matter of the work before him, to scrutinize its propositions, verify + quotations, and deliberate upon its tendency. When the license of the + ordinary had been obtained, it was referred to the Roman Congregation of + the Index, who might withhold or grant their sanction. So complicated was + the machinery, and so vast the pressure upon the officials who were held + responsible for the expurgation of every book imprinted or reprinted in + all the Catholic presses, that even writers of conspicuous orthodoxy had + to suffer grievous delays. An archbishop writes to Cardinal Sirleto about + a book which had been examined <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA205" + id="pageA205"></a>{205}</span> thrice, at Rome, at Venice and again at + Rome, and had obtained the Pope's approval, and yet the license for + reprinting it is never issued.<a name="FNanchorA_121_121" + id="FNanchorA_121_121"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> + The censors were not paid; and in addition to being overworked and + over-burdened with responsibility, they were rarely men of adequate + learning. In a letter from Bartolommeo de Valverde, chaplain to Philip + II., under date 1584, we read plain-spoken complaints against these + subordinates.<a name="FNanchorA_122_122" id="FNanchorA_122_122"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> 'Unacquainted with + literature, they discharge the function of condemning books they cannot + understand. Without knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, and animated by a + prejudiced hostility against authors, they take the easy course of + proscribing what they feel incapable of judging. In this way the works of + many sainted writers and the useful commentaries made by Jews have been + suppressed.' A memorial to Sirleto, presented by Cardinal Gabriele + Paleotti, points out the negligence of the Index-makers and their + superficial discharge of onerous duties, praying that in future men of + learning and honesty should be employed, and that they should receive + payment for their labors.<a name="FNanchorA_123_123" id="FNanchorA_123_123"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> These are the + expostulations addressed by faithful Catholics, engaged in literary work + demanded by the Vatican, to a Cardinal who was the soul and mover of the + Congregation. They do not question the salutary nature of the Index, but + only call attention to the incapacity and ignorance of its unpaid + officials.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA206" id="pageA206"></a>{206}</span> + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, it was no easy matter to appoint responsible and learned + scholars to the post. The inefficient censors proceeded with their work of + destruction and suppression. A commentator on a Greek Father, or the + Psalms, was corrected by an ignoramus who knew neither Greek nor Hebrew, + anxious to discover petty collisions with the Vulgate, and eager to create + annoyances for the author. Latino Latini, one of the students employed by + the Vatican, refused his name to an edition of Cyprian which he had + carefully prepared with far more than the average erudition, because it + had been changed throughout by the substitution of bad readings for good, + in defiance of MS. authority, with a view of preserving a literal + agreement with the Vulgate.<a name="FNanchorA_124_124" + id="FNanchorA_124_124"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> + Sigonius, another of the Vatican students, was instructed to prepare + certain text-books by Cardinal Paleotti. These were an Ecclesiastical + History, a treatise on the Hebrew Commonwealth, and an edition of + Sulpicius Severus. The MSS. were returned to him, accused of unsound + doctrine, and scrawled over with such remarks as 'false,' 'absurd.'<a + name="FNanchorA_125_125" id="FNanchorA_125_125"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> + </p> + <p> + In addition to the intolerable delays of the Censure, and the arrogant + inadequacy of its officials, learned men suffered from the pettiest + persecution at the hands of informers. The Inquisitors themselves were + often spies and persons of base origin. 'The Roman Court,' says Sarpi, + 'being anxious that the office of the Inquisition should not suffer + through <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA207" id="pageA207"></a>{207}</span> + negligence in its ministers, has confided these affairs to individuals + without occupation, and whose mean estate renders them proud of their + official position.'<a name="FNanchorA_126_126" id="FNanchorA_126_126"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> It was not to be + expected that such people should discharge their duties with intelligence + and scrupulous equity. Pius V., himself an incorruptible Inquisitor, had + to condemn one of his lieutenants for corruption or extortion of money by + menaces.<a name="FNanchorA_127_127" id="FNanchorA_127_127"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> There was still + another source of peril and annoyance to which scholars were exposed. + Their comrades, engaged in similar pursuits, not unfrequently wreaked + private spite by denouncing them to the Congregation.<a + name="FNanchorA_128_128" id="FNanchorA_128_128"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> Van Linden indicated + heresies in Osorius, Giovius, Albertus Pighius. The Jesuit Francesco + Torres accused Maës, and threatened Latini. Sigonius obtained a + license for his <i>History of Bologna</i>, but could not print it, owing + to the delation of secret enemies. Baronius, when he had finished his + Martyrology, found that a cabal had raised insuperable obstacles in the + way of its publication. I have been careful to select only examples of + notoriously Catholic authors, men who were in the pay and under the + special protection of the Vatican. How it fared with less favored + scholars, may be left to the imagination. We are not astonished to find a + man like Latini writing thus from Rome to Maës during the pontificate + of Paul IV.<a name="FNanchorA_129_129" id="FNanchorA_129_129"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA208" id="pageA208"></a>{208}</span> + </p> + <p> + 'Have you not heard of the peril which threatens the very existence of + books? What are you dreaming of, when now that almost every published book + is interdicted, you still think of making new ones? Here, as I imagine, + there is no one who for many years to come will dare to write except on + business or to distant friends. An Index has been issued of the works + which none may possess under pain of excommunication; and the number of + them is so great that very few indeed are left to us, especially of those + which have been published in Germany. This shipwreck, this holocaust of + books will stop the production of them in your country also, if I do not + err, and will teach editors to be upon their guard. As you love me and + yourself, sit and look at your bookcases without opening their doors, and + beware lest the very cracks let emanations come to you from those + forbidden fruits of learning.' This letter was written in 1559, when Paul + proscribed sixty-one presses, and prohibited the perusal of any work that + issued from them. He afterwards withdrew this interdict. But the Index did + not stop its work of extirpation. + </p> + <p> + Another embarrassment which afflicted men of learning, was the danger of + possessing books by heretics and the difficulty of procuring them.<a + name="FNanchorA_130_130" id="FNanchorA_130_130"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Yet they could not + carry on their Biblical studies with<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA209" id="pageA209"></a>{209}</span> out reference to such + authors as, for example, Erasmus or Reuchlin. The universities loudly + demanded that books of sound erudition by heretics should at least be + expurgated and republished. Yet the process of disfiguring their + arguments, effacing the names of authors, expunging the praises of + heretics, altering quotations and retouching them all over, involved so + much labor that the demand was never satisfied. The strict search + instituted at the frontiers stopped the importation of books,<a + name="FNanchorA_131_131" id="FNanchorA_131_131"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> and carriers refused + to transmit them. In their dread of the Inquisition, these folk found it + safer to abstain from book traffic altogether. Public libraries were + exposed to intermittent raids, nor were private collections safe from such + inspection. The not uncommon occurrence of old books in which precious and + interesting passages have been erased with printer's ink, or pasted over + with slips of opaque paper, testifies to the frequency of these + inquisitorial visitations.<a name="FNanchorA_132_132" + id="FNanchorA_132_132"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> + Any casual acquaintance, on leaving a man's house, might denounce him as + the possessor <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA210" id="pageA210"></a>{210}</span> + of a proscribed volume; and everybody who owned a book-case was bound to + furnish the Inquisitors with a copy of his catalogue. Book-stalls lay open + to the malevolence of informers. We possess an insolent letter of Antonio + Possevino to Cardinal Sirleto, telling him that he had noticed a forbidden + book by Filiarchi on a binder's counter, and bidding him to do his duty by + suppressing it.<a name="FNanchorA_133_133" id="FNanchorA_133_133"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> When this Cardinal's + library was exposed for sale after his death, the curious observed that it + contained 1872 MSS. in Greek and Latin, 530 volumes of printed Greek + books, and 3939 volumes of Latin, among which 39 were on the Index. But + charity suggested that the Cardinal had retained these last for censure. + </p> + <p> + During the period of the Counter-Reformation it was the cherished object + of the Popes to restore ecclesiastical and theological learning. They + gathered men of erudition round them in the Vatican, and established a + press for the purpose of printing the Fathers and diffusing Catholic + literature. But they were met in the pursuance of this project by very + serious difficulties. Their own policy tended to stifle knowledge and + suppress criticism. The scholars whom they chose as champions of the faith + worked with tied hands. Baronio knew no Greek; Latini knew hardly any; + Bellarmino is thought to have known but little. And yet these were the + apostles of Catholic enlightenment, the defenders of the infallible Church + against students of the caliber <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA211" + id="pageA211"></a>{211}</span> of Erasmus, Casaubon, Sarpi! An insuperable + obstacle to sacred studies of a permanently useful kind was the Tridentine + decree which had declared the Vulgate inviolable. No codex of age or + authority which displayed a reading at variance with the inspired Latin + version might be cited. Sirleto, custodian of the Vatican Library, refused + lections from its MSS. to learned men, on the ground that they might seem + to impugn the Vulgate.<a name="FNanchorA_134_134" id="FNanchorA_134_134"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> For the same reason, + the critical labors of all previous students, from Valla to Erasmus, on + the text of the Bible were suppressed, and the best MSS. of the Fathers + were ruthlessly garbled, in order to bring their quotations into + accordance with Jerome's translation. Galesini takes credit to himself in + a letter to Sirleto for having withheld a clearly right reading in his + edition of the Psalms, because it explained a mistake in the Vulgate.<a + name="FNanchorA_135_135" id="FNanchorA_135_135"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> We have seen how + Latini's Cyprian suffered from the censure; and there is a lamentable + history of the Vatican edition of Ambrose, which was so mutilated that the + Index had to protect it from confrontation with the original codices.<a + name="FNanchorA_136_136" id="FNanchorA_136_136"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> This dishonest + dealing not only discouraged students and paralyzed the energy of critical + investigation; but it also involved the closing of public libraries to + scholars. The Vatican could not afford to let the light of science in upon + its workshop of forgeries and sophistications.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA212" id="pageA212"></a>{212}</span> + </p> + <p> + A voice of reasonable remonstrance was sometimes raised by even the most + incorruptible children of the Church. Thus Bellarmino writes to Cardinal + Sirleto, suggesting a doubt whether it is obligatory to adhere to the + letter of the Tridentine decree upon the Vulgate.<a + name="FNanchorA_137_137" id="FNanchorA_137_137"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> Is it rational, he + asks, to maintain that every sentence in the Latin text is impeccable? + Must we reject those readings in the Hebrew and the Greek, which elucidate + the meaning of the Scriptures, in cases where Jerome has followed a + different and possibly a corrupt authority? Would it not be more sensible + to regard the Vulgate as the sole authorized version for use in + universities, pulpits, and divine service, while admitting that it is not + an infallible rendering of the inspired original? He also touches, in a + similar strain of scholar-like liberality, upon the Septuagint, pointing + out that this version cannot have been the work of seventy men in unity, + since the translator of Job seems to have been better acquainted with + Greek than Hebrew, while the reverse is true of the translator of Solomon. + Such remonstrances were not, however, destined to make themselves + effectively heard. Instead of relaxing its severity after the pontificate + of Pius IV., the Congregation of the Index grew, as we have seen, more + rigid, until, in the rules digested by Clement VIII., it enforced the + strictest letter of the law regarding the Vulgate, and ratified all the + hypocrisies and subterfuges which that implied. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA213" id="pageA213"></a>{213}</span> + Under the conditions which I have attempted to describe, it was impossible + that Italy should hold her place among the nations which encouraged + liberal studies. Rome had one object in view—to gag the + revolutionary free voice of the Renaissance, to protect conservative + principles, to establish her own supremacy, and to secure the triumph of + the Counter-Reformation. In pursuance of this policy, she had to react + against the learning and the culture of the classical revival; and her + views were seconded not only by the overwhelming political force of Spain + in the Peninsula, but also by the petty princes who felt that their + existence was imperiled. + </p> + <p> + Independence of judgment was rigorously proscribed in all academies and + seats of erudition. New methods of education and new text-books were + forbidden. Professors found themselves hampered in their choice of antique + authors. Only those classics which were sanctioned by the Congregation of + the Index could be used in lecture-rooms. On the one hand, the great + republican advocates of independence had incurred suspicion. On the other + hand, the poets were prohibited as redolent of paganism. To mingle + philosophy with rhetoric was counted a crime. Thomas Aquinas had set up + Pillars of Hercules beyond which the reason might not seek to travel. + Roman law had to be treated from the orthodox scholastic standpoint. Woe + to the audacious jurist who made the Pandects serve for disquisitions on + the rights of men and nations! Scholars <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA214" id="pageA214"></a>{214}</span> like Sigonius found + themselves tied down in their class-rooms to a weariful routine of Cicero + and Aristotle. Aonio Paleario complained that a professor was no better + than a donkey working in a mill; nothing remained for him but to dole out + commonplaces, avoiding every point of contact between the authors he + interpreted and the burning questions of modern life. Muretus, who brought + with him to Italy from France a ruined moral reputation with a fervid zeal + for literature, who sold his soul to praise the Massacre of S. Bartholomew + and purge by fulsome panegyrics of great public crimes the taint of heresy + that clung around him, found his efforts to extend the course of studies + in Rome thwarted.<a name="FNanchorA_138_138" id="FNanchorA_138_138"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> He was forbidden to + lecture on Plato, forbidden to touch jurisprudence, forbidden to consult a + copy of Eunapius in the Vatican Library. It cost him days and weeks of + pleading to obtain permission to read Tacitus to his classes. Greek, the + literature of high thoughts, noble enthusiasms, and virile sciences, was + viewed with suspicion. As the monks of the middle ages had written on the + margins of their MSS.: <i>Graeca sunt, ergo non legenda</i>, so these new + obscurantists exclaimed: <i>Graeca sunt, periculosa sunt, ergo non legenda</i>. + 'I am forced,' he cries in this extremity, 'to occupy myself with Latin + and to abstain entirely from Greek.' And yet he knew that 'if the men of + our age advance one step further in their neglect of Greek, doom and + destruction are <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA215" id="pageA215"></a>{215}</span> + impending over all sound arts and sciences.' 'It is my misery,' he groans, + 'to behold the gradual extinction and total decay of Greek letters, in + whose train I see the whole body of refined learning on the point of + vanishing away.<a name="FNanchorA_139_139" id="FNanchorA_139_139"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> + </p> + <p> + A vigorous passage from one of Sarpi's letters directly bearing on these + points may here be cited (vol. i. p. 170): 'The revival of polite learning + undermined the foundations of Papal monarchy. Nor was this to be wondered + at. This monarchy began and grew in barbarism; the cessation of barbarism + naturally curtailed and threatened it with extinction. This we already see + in Germany and France; but Spain and Italy are still subject to barbarism. + Legal studies sink daily from bad to worse. The Roman Curia opposes every + branch of learning which savors of polite literature, while it defends its + barbarism with tooth and nail. How can it do otherwise? Abolish those + books on Papal Supremacy, and where shall they find that the Pope is + another God, that he is almighty, that all rights and laws are closed + within the cabinet of his breast, that he can shut up folk in hell, in a + word that he has power to square the circle? Destroy that false + jurisprudence, and this tyranny will vanish; but the two are reciprocally + supporting, and we shall not do away with the former until the latter + falls, which will only happen at God's good pleasure.' + </p> + <p> + The jealousy with which liberal studies were <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA216" id="pageA216"></a>{216}</span> regarded by the Church bred + a contempt for them in the minds of students. Benci, a professor of humane + letters at Rome, says that his pupils walked about the class-room during + his lectures. With grim humor he adds that he does not object to their + sleeping, so long as they abstain from snoring.<a name="FNanchorA_140_140" + id="FNanchorA_140_140"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> + But it is impossible, he goes on to complain, that I should any longer + look upon the place in which I do my daily work as an academy of learning; + I go to it rather as to a mill in which I must grind out my tale of + worthless grain. Muretus, when he had labored twenty years in the chair of + rhetoric at Rome, begged for dismissal. His memorial to the authorities + presents a lamentable picture of the insubordination and indifference from + which he had suffered.<a name="FNanchorA_141_141" id="FNanchorA_141_141"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> 'I have borne + immeasurable indignities from the continued insolence of these students, + who interrupt me with cries, whistlings, hisses, insults, and such + opprobrious remarks that I sometimes scarcely know whether I am standing + on my head or heels.' 'They come to the lecture-room armed with poignards, + and when I reprove them for their indecencies, they threaten over and over + again to cut my face open if I do not hold my tongue.' The walls, he adds, + are scrawled over with obscene emblems and disgusting epigrams, so that + this haunt of learning presents the aspect of the lowest brothel; and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA217" id="pageA217"></a>{217}</span> + the professor's chair has become a more intolerable seat than the pillory, + owing to the missiles flung at him and the ribaldry with which he is + assailed. The manners and conversation of the students must have been + disgusting beyond measure, to judge by a letter of complaint from a father + detailing the contamination to which his son was exposed in the Roman + class-rooms, and the immunity with which the lewdest songs were publicly + recited there.<a name="FNanchorA_142_142" id="FNanchorA_142_142"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> But the total + degradation of learning at this epoch in Rome is best described in one + paragraph of Vittorio de'Rossi, setting forth the neglect endured by Aldo + Manuzio, the younger. This scion of an illustrious family succeeded to the + professorship of Muretus in 1588. 'Then,' says Rossi, 'might one marvel at + or rather mourn over, the abject and down-trodden state of the liberal + arts. Then might one perceive with tears how those treasures of humane + letters, which our fathers exalted to the heavens, were degraded in the + estimation of youth. In the good old days men crossed the seas, undertook + long journeys, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA218" id="pageA218"></a>{218}</span> + traversed the cities of Greece and Asia, in order to obtain the palm of + eloquence and salute the masters of languages and learning, at whose feet + they sat entranced by noble words. But now these fellows poured scorn upon + an unrivaled teacher of both Greek and Latin eloquence, whose services + were theirs for the asking, theirs without the fatigue of travel, without + expense, without exertion. Though he freely offered them his abundance of + erudition in both learned literatures, they shut their ears against him. + At the hours when his lecture-room should have been thronged with + multitudes of eager pupils you might see him, abandoned by the crowd, + pacing the pavement before the door of the academy with one, or may be + two, for his companions.'<a name="FNanchorA_143_143" id="FNanchorA_143_143"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> + </p> + <p> + To accuse the Church solely and wholly for this decay of humanistic + learning in Italy would be uncritical and unjust. We must remember that + after a period of feverish energy there comes a time of languor in all + epochs of great intellectual excitement. Nor was it to be expected that + the enthusiasm of the fifteenth century for classical studies should have + been prolonged into the second half of the sixteenth century. But we are + justified in blaming the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of the + Counter-Reformation for their determined opposition to the new direction + which that old enthusiasm for the classics was now manifesting. They + strove to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA219" id="pageA219"></a>{219}</span> + force the stream of learning backward into scholastic and linguistic + channels, when it was already plowing for itself a fresh course in the + fields of philosophical and scientific discovery. They made study odious, + because they attempted to restrain it to the out-worn husks of pedantry + and rhetoric. These, they thought, were innocuous. But what the + intellectual appetite then craved, the pabulum that it required to satisfy + its yearning, was rigidly denied it. Speculations concerning the nature of + man and of the world, metaphysical explorations into the regions of dimly + apprehended mysteries, physics, political problems, religious questions + touching the great matters in dispute through Europe, all the storm and + stress of modern life, the ferment of the modern mind and will and + conscience, were excluded from the schools, because they were antagonistic + to the Counter-Reformation. Italy was starved and demoralized in order to + avert a revolution; and learning was asphyxiated by confinement to a + narrow chamber filled with vitiated and exhausted air.<a + name="FNanchorA_144_144" id="FNanchorA_144_144"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> + </p> + <p> + Similar deductions may be drawn from the life of Paolo Manuzio in Rome. He + left Venice in 1561 at the invitation of Pius IV., who proposed to + establish a press 'for the publication of books printed with the finest + type and the utmost accuracy, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA220" + id="pageA220"></a>{220}</span> more especially of works bearing upon + sacred and ecclesiastical literature.'<a name="FNanchorA_145_145" + id="FNanchorA_145_145"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> + Paolo's engagement was for twelve years; his appointments were fixed at + 300 ducats for traveling expenses, 500 ducats of yearly salary, a press + maintained at the Pontifical expense, and a pension secured upon his son's + life. The scheme was a noble one. Paolo was to print all the Greek and + Latin Fathers, and to furnish the Catholic world with an arsenal of + orthodox learning. Yet, during his residence in Rome, no Greek book issued + from his press.<a name="FNanchorA_146_146" id="FNanchorA_146_146"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> Of the Latin Fathers + he gave the Epistles of Jerome, Salvian, and Cyprian to the world. For the + rest, he published the Decrees of the Tridentine Council ten times, the + Tridentine Catechism eight times, the <i>Breviarium Romanum</i> four + times, and spent the greater part of his leisure in editing minor + translations, commentaries, and polemical or educational treatises. The + result was miserable, and the man was ruined. + </p> + <p> + It remains to notice the action of the Index with regard to secular books + in the modern languages. I will first repeat a significant passage in its + statutes touching upon political philosophy and the so-called <i>Ratio + Status</i>: 'Item, let all propositions, drawn from the digests, manners, + and examples of the Gentiles, which foster a tyrannical polity and + encourage what they falsely call the reason of state, in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA221" id="pageA221"></a>{221}</span> + opposition to the law of Christ and of the Gospel, be expunged.' This, + says Sarpi in his Discourse on Printing, is aimed in general against any + doctrine which impugns ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the civil sphere + of princes and magistrates, and the economy of the family.<a + name="FNanchorA_147_147" id="FNanchorA_147_147"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> Theories drawn from + whatever source to combat Papal and ecclesiastical encroachments, and to + defend the rights of the sovereign in his monarchy or of the father in + his, household, are denominated and denounced as <i>Ratio Status</i>. The + impugner of Papal absolutism in civil, as well as ecclesiastical affairs, + is accounted <i>ipso facto</i> a heretic.<a name="FNanchorA_148_148" + id="FNanchorA_148_148"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> + It would appear at first sight as though the clause in question had been + specially framed to condemn Machiavelli and his school. The works of + Machiavelli were placed upon the Index in 1559, and a certain Cesare of + Pisa who had them in his library was put to the torture on this account in + 1610. It was afterwards proposed to correct and edit them without his + name; but his heirs very properly refused to sanction this proceeding, + knowing that he would be made to utter the very reverse of what he meant + in all that touched upon the Roman Church.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA222" id="pageA222"></a>{222}</span> + </p> + <p> + This paragraph in the statutes of the Index had, however, a further and + far more ambitious purpose than the suppression of Machiavelli, + Guicciardini, and Sarpi. By assuming to condemn all political writings of + which she disapproved, and by forbidding the secular authorities to + proscribe any works which had received her sanction, the Church obtained a + monopoly of popular instruction in theories of government. She interdicted + every treatise that exposed her own ambitious interference in civil + affairs or which maintained the rights of temporal rulers.<a + name="FNanchorA_149_149" id="FNanchorA_149_149"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> She protected and + propagated the works of her servile ministers, who proclaimed that the + ecclesiastical was superior in all points to the civil power; that nations + owed their first allegiance to the Pope, who was divinely appointed to + rule over them, and their second only to the Prince, who was a delegate + from their own body; and that tyrannicide itself was justifiable when + employed against a contumacious or heretical sovereign. Such were the + theories of the Jesuits—of Allen and Parsons in England, Bellarmino + in Italy, Suarez and Mariana in Spain, Boucher in France.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA223" id="pageA223"></a>{223}</span> + </p> + <p> + In his critique of this monstrous unfairness Sarpi says: 'There are not + wanting men in Italy, pious and of sound learning, who hold the truth upon + such topics; but these can neither write nor send their writings to the + press.'<a name="FNanchorA_150_150" id="FNanchorA_150_150"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> The best years and + the best energies of Sarpi's life were spent, as is well known, in + combating the arrogance of Rome, and in founding the relations of State to + Church upon a basis of sound common sense and equity. More than once he + narrowly escaped martyrdom as the reward of his temerity; and when the + poignard of an assassin struck him, his legend relates that he uttered the + celebrated epigram: <i>Agnosco stilum Curiae Romanae</i>. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi protested, not without good reason, that Rome was doing her best to + extinguish sound learning in Italy. But how did she deal with that rank + growth of licentious literature which had sprung up during the Renaissance + period? This is the question which should next engage us. We have seen + that the Council of Trent provided amply for the extirpation of lewd and + obscene publications. Accordingly, as though to satisfy the sense of + decency, some of the most flagrantly immoral books, including the <i>Decameron</i>, + the <i>Priapeia</i>, the collected works of Aretino, and certain mediaeval + romances, were placed upon the Index. Berni was proscribed in 1559; but + the interdict lasted only a short time, probably <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA224" id="pageA224"></a>{224}</span> because it was discovered + that his poems, though licentious, were free from the heresies which Pier + Paolo Vergerio had sought to fix upon him. Meanwhile no notice was taken + of the <i>Orlando Furioso</i>, and a multitude of novelists, of + Beccadelli's and Pontano's verses, of Molza and Firenzuola, of the whole + mass of mundane writers in short, who had done so much to reveal the + corruption of Italian manners. It seemed as though the Church cared less + to ban obscenity than to burke those authors who had spoken freely of her + vices. When we come to examine the expurgated editions of notorious + authors, we shall see that this was literally the case. A castrated + version of Bandello, revised by Ascanio Centorio degli Ortensi, was + published in 1560.<a name="FNanchorA_151_151" id="FNanchorA_151_151"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> It omitted the + dedications and preambles, suppressed some disquisitions which palliated + vicious conduct, expunged the novels that brought monks or priests into + ridicule, but left the impurities of the rest untouched. A reformed + version of Folengo's <i>Baldus</i> appeared in 1561. The satires on + religious orders had been erased. Zambellus was cuckolded by a layman + instead of a priest. Otherwise the filth of the original received no + cleansing treatment. When Cosimo de'Medici requested that a revised + edition of the <i>Decameron</i> might be licensed, Pius V. entrusted the + affair to Thomas Manrique, Master of the Sacred Palace. It was published + by the Giunti in 1573 under the auspices of Gregory XIII., with the ap<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA225" id="pageA225"></a>{225}</span> proval + of the Holy Office and the Florentine Inquisition, fortified by privileges + from Spanish and French kings, dukes of Tuscany, Ferrara, and so forth. + The changes which Boccaccio's masterpiece had undergone were these: + passages savoring of doubtful dogma, sarcasms on monks and clergy, the + names of saints, allusions to the devil and hell, had disappeared. + Ecclesiastical sinners were transformed into students and professors, nuns + and abbesses into citizens' wives. Immorality in short was secularized. + But the book still offered the same allurements to a prurient mind. Sixtus + V. expressed his disapproval of this recension, and new editions were + licensed in 1582 and 1588 under the revision of Lionardo Salviati and + Luigi Groto. Both preserved the obscenities of the <i>Decameron</i>, while + they displayed more rigor with regard to satires on ecclesiastical + corruption. It may be added, in justice to the Roman Church, that the <i>Decameron</i> + stands still upon the Index with the annotation <i>donec expurgetur</i>.<a + name="FNanchorA_152_152" id="FNanchorA_152_152"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> Therefore we must + presume that the work of purification is not yet accomplished, though the + Jesuits have used parts of it as a text-book in their schools, while + Panigarola quoted it in his lectures on sacred eloquence. + </p> + <p> + It would weary the reader to enlarge upon this process of stupid or + hypocritical purgation, whereby the writings of men like Doni and + Straparola were stripped of their reflections on the clergy, while their + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA226" id="pageA226"></a>{226}</span> + indecencies remained untouched; or to show how Ariosto's Comedies were + sanctioned, when his Satires, owing to their free speech upon the Papal + Court, received the stigma.<a name="FNanchorA_153_153" + id="FNanchorA_153_153"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> + But I may refer to the grotesque attempts which were made in this age to + cast the mantle of spirituality over profane literature. Thus Hieronimo + Malipieri rewrote the <i>Canzoniere</i> of Petrarch, giving it a pious + turn throughout; and the <i>Orlando Furioso</i> was converted by several + hands into a religious allegory.<a name="FNanchorA_154_154" + id="FNanchorA_154_154"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> + </p> + <p> + The action of Rome under the influence of the Counter-Reformation was + clearly guided by two objects: to preserve Catholic dogma in its + integrity, and to maintain the supremacy of the Church. She was eager to + extinguish learning and to paralyze intellectual energy. But she showed no + unwillingness to tolerate those pleasant vices which enervate a nation. + Compared with unsound doctrine and audacious speculation, immorality + appeared in her eyes a venial weakness. It was true that she made serious + efforts to reform the manners of her ministers, and was fully alive to the + necessity of enforcing decency and decorum. Yet a radical purification of + society seemed of less importance to her than the conservation of Catholic + orthodoxy and the inculca<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA227" + id="pageA227"></a>{227}</span> tion of obedience to ecclesiastical + authority. When we analyze the Jesuits' system of education, and their + method of conducting the care of souls, we shall see to what extent the + deeply seated hypocrisy of the Counter-Reformation had penetrated the most + vital parts of the Catholic system. It will suffice, at the close of this + chapter, to touch upon one other repressive measure adopted by the Church + in its panic. Magistrates received strict injunctions to impede the + journeys of Italian subjects into foreign countries where heresies were + known to be rife, or where the rites of the Roman Church were not + regularly administered.<a name="FNanchorA_155_155" id="FNanchorA_155_155"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> In 1595 Clement VIII. + reduced these admonitions to Pontifical law in a Bull, whereby he forbade + Italians to travel without permission from the Holy Office, or to reside + abroad without annually remitting a certificate of confession and + communion to the Inquisitors. To ensure obedience to this statute would + have been impossible without the co-operation of the Jesuits. They were, + however, diffused throughout the nations of North, East, South, and West. + When an Italian arrived, the Jesuit Fathers paid him a visit, and unless + they received satisfactory answers with regard to his license of travel + and his willingness to accept <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA228" + id="pageA228"></a>{228}</span> their spiritual direction, these serfs of + Rome sent a delation to the central Holy Office, upon the ground of which + the Inquisitors of his province instituted an action against him in his + absence. Merchants, who neglected these rules, found themselves exposed to + serious impediments in their trading operations, and to the peril of + prosecution involving confiscation of property at home. Sarpi, who + composed a vigorous critique of this abuse, points out what injury was + done to commerce by the system.<a name="FNanchorA_156_156" + id="FNanchorA_156_156"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> + We may still further censure it as an intolerable interference with the + liberty of the individual; as an odious exercise of spiritual tyranny on + the part of an ambitious ecclesiastical power which aimed at nothing less + than universal domination. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a> CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA229" id="pageA229"></a>{229}</span> + </p> + <h4> + THE COMPANY OF JESUS + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Vast Importance of the Jesuits in the Counter-Reformation—Ignatius + Loyola—His Youth—Retreat at Manresa—Journey to + Jerusalem—Studies in Spain and Paris—First Formation of his + Order at Sainte Barbe—Sojourn at Venice—Settlement at Rome—Papal + Recognition of the Order—Its Military Character—Absolutism + of the General—Devotion to the Roman Church—Choice of + Members—Practical and Positive Aims of the Founder—Exclusion + of the Ascetic, Acceptance of the Worldly Spirit—Review of the + Order's Rapid Extension over Europe—Loyola's Dealings with his + Chief Lieutenants—Propaganda—The Virtue of Obedience—The + <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>—Materialistic Imagination—Intensity + and Superficiality of Religious Training—The Status of the Novice—Temporal + Coadjutors—Scholastics—Professed of the Three Vows—Professed + of the Four Vows—The General—Control exercised over him by + his Assistants—His relation to the General Congregation—Espionage + a part of the Jesuit System—Advantageous Position of a Contented + Jesuit—The Vow of Poverty—Houses of the Professed and + Colleges—The Constitutions and Declarations—Problem of the + <i>Monita Secreta</i>—Reciprocal Relations of Rome and the Company—Characteristics + of Jesuit Education—Direction of Consciences—Moral Laxity—Sarpi's + Critique—Casuistry—Interference in affairs of State—Instigation + to Regicide and Political Conspiracy—Theories of Church Supremacy—Insurgence + of the European Nations against the Company. + </p> + </div> + <p> + We have seen in the preceding chapters how Spain became dominant in Italy, + superseding the rivalry of confederate states by the monotony of + servitude, and lending its weight to Papal Rome. The internal changes + effected in the Church by the Tridentine Council, and the external power + conferred <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA230" id="pageA230"></a>{230}</span> + on it, were due in no small measure to Spanish influence or sanction. A + Spanish institution, the Inquisition, modified to suit Italian + requirements, lent revived Catholicism weapons of repression and attack. + We have now to learn by what means a partial vigor was communicated to the + failing body of Catholic beliefs, how the Tridentine creed was propagated, + the spiritual realm of the Roman Pontiff policed, and his secular + authority augmented. A Spanish Order rose at the right moment to supply + that intellectual and moral element of vitality without which the Catholic + Revival might have remained as inert as a stillborn child. The devotion of + the Jesuits to the Papacy, was in reality the masterful Spanish spirit of + that epoch, masking its world-grasping ambition under the guise of + obedience to Rome. This does not mean that the founders and first + organizers of the Company of Jesus consciously pursued one object while + they pretended to have another in view. The impulse which moved Loyola was + spontaneous and romantic. The world has seen few examples of disinterested + self-devotion equal to that of Xavier. Yet the fact remains that Jesuitry, + taking its germ and root in the Spanish character, persisting as an + organism within the Church, but separate from the ecclesiastical + hierarchy, devised the doctrine of Papal absolutism, and became the prime + agent of that Catholic policy in Europe which passed for Papal during the + Counter-Reformation. The indissoluble connection between Rome,<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA231" id="pageA231"></a>{231}</span> Spain, + and the Jesuits, was apparent to all unprejudiced observers. For this + triad of reactionary and belligerent forces Sarpi invented the name of the + Diacatholicon, alluding, under the metaphor of a drug, to the virus which + was being instilled in his days into all the States of Europe.<a + name="FNanchorA_157_157" id="FNanchorA_157_157"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> + </p> + <p> + The founder of the Jesuit order was the thirteenth child of a Spanish + noble, born in 1491 at his father's castle of Loyola in the Basque + province of Guipuzcoa.<a name="FNanchorA_158_158" id="FNanchorA_158_158"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> His full name was Iñigo + Lopez de Recalde; but he is better known to history as Saint Ignatius + Loyola. Ignatius spent his boyhood as page in the service of King + Ferdinand the Catholic, whence he passed into that of the Duke of Najara, + who was the hereditary friend and patron of his family. At this time he + thought of nothing but feats of arms, military glory, and romantic + adventures.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA232" id="pageA232"></a>{232}</span> + </p> + <p> + He could boast but little education; and his favorite reading was in <i>Amadis + of Gaul</i>. That romance appeared during the boy's earliest childhood, + and Spain was now devouring its high-flown rhapsodies with rapture. The + peculiar admixture of mystical piety, Catholic enthusiasm, and chivalrous + passion, which distinguishes <i>Amadis</i>, exactly corresponded to the + spirit of the Spaniards at an epoch when they had terminated their + age-long struggle with the Moors, and were combining propagandist zeal + with martial fervor in the conquest of the New World. Its pages inflamed + the imagination of Ignatius. He began to compose a romance in honor of S. + Peter, and chose a princess of blood royal for his Oriana. Thus, in the + first days of youth, while his heart was still set on love and warfare, he + revealed the three leading features of his character—soaring + ambition, the piety of a devotee, and the tendency to view religion from + the point of fiction. + </p> + <p> + Ignatius was barely twenty when the events happened which determined the + future of his life and so powerfully affected the destinies of Catholic + Christendom. The French were invading Navarre; and he was engaged in the + defense of its capital, Pampeluna. On May 20, 1521, a bullet shattered his + right leg, while his left foot was injured by a fragment of stone detached + from a breach in the bastion. Transported to his father's castle, he + suffered protracted anguish under the hands of unskilled medical + attendants. The badly set bone <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA233" + id="pageA233"></a>{233}</span> in his right leg had twice to be broken; + and when at last it joined, the young knight found himself a cripple. This + limb was shorter than the other; the surgeons endeavored to elongate it by + machines of iron, which put him to exquisite pain. After months of + torture, he remained lame for life. + </p> + <p> + During his illness Ignatius read such books as the castle of Loyola + contained. These were a 'Life of Christ' and the 'Flowers of the Saints' + in Spanish. His mind, prepared by chivalrous romance, and strongly + inclined to devotion, felt a special fascination in the tales of Dominic + and Francis. Their heroism suggested new paths which the aspirant after + fame might tread with honor. Military glory and the love of women had to + be renounced; for so ambitious a man could not content himself with the + successes of a cripple in these spheres of action. But the legends of + saints and martyrs pointed out careers no less noble, no less useful, and + even more enticing to the fancy. He would become the spiritual Knight of + Christ and Our Lady. To S. Peter, his chosen protector, he prayed + fervently; and when at length he rose from the bed of sickness, he firmly + believed that his life had been saved by the intercession of this patron, + and that it must be henceforth consecrated to the service of the faith. + The world should be abandoned. Instead of warring with the enemies of + Christ on earth, he would carry on a crusade against the powers of + darkness. They were first to be met and fought in his own <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA234" id="pageA234"></a>{234}</span> heart. + Afterwards, he would form and lead a militia of like-hearted champions + against the strongholds of evil in human nature. + </p> + <p> + It must not be thought that the scheme of founding a Society had so early + entered into the mind of Ignatius. What we have at the present stage to + notice is that he owed his adoption of the religious life to romantic + fancy and fervid ambition, combined with a devotion to Peter, the saint of + orthodoxy and the Church. Animated by this new enthusiasm, he managed to + escape from home in the spring of 1522. His friends opposed themselves to + his vocation; but he gave them the slip, took vows of chastity and + abstinence, and began a pilgrimage to our Lady of Montserrat near + Barcelona. On the road he scourged himself daily. When he reached the + shrine he hung his arms up as a votive offering, and performed the vigil + which chivalrous custom exacted from a squire before the morning of his + being dubbed a knight. This ceremony was observed point by point, + according to the ritual he had read in <i>Amadis of Gaul</i>. Next day he + gave his raiment to a beggar, and assumed the garb of a mendicant pilgrim. + By self-dedication he had now made himself the Knight of Holy Church. + </p> + <p> + His first intention was to set sail for Palestine, with the object of + preaching to the infidels. But the plague prevented him from leaving port; + and he retired to a Dominican convent at Manresa, a little town of + Catalonia, north-west of Barcelona. Here <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA235" id="pageA235"></a>{235}</span> he abandoned himself to the + crudest self-discipline. Feeding upon bread and water, kneeling for seven + hours together rapt in prayer, scourging his flesh thrice daily, and + reducing sleep to the barest minimum, Ignatius sought by austerity to + snatch that crown of sainthood which he felt to be his due. Outraged + nature soon warned him that he was upon a path which led to failure. + Despair took possession of his soul, sometimes prompting him to end his + life by suicide, sometimes plaguing him with hideous visions. At last he + fell dangerously ill. Enlightened by the expectation of early death, he + then became convinced that his fanatical asceticism was a folly. The + despair, the dreadful phantoms which had haunted him, were ascribed + immediately to the devil. In those rarer visitings of brighter visions, + which sometimes brought consolation, bidding him repose upon God's mercy, + he recognized angels sent to lead him on the pathway of salvation. God's + hand appeared in these dealings; and he resolved to dedicate his body as + well as his soul to God's service, respecting both as instruments of the + divine will, and entertaining both in efficiency for the work required of + them. + </p> + <p> + The experiences of Manresa proved eminently fruitful for the future method + of Ignatius. It was here that he began to regard self-discipline and + self-examination as the needful prelude to a consecrated life. It was here + that he learned to condemn the ascetism of anchorites as pernicious or + unprofitable to a militant Christian. It was here that, while studying + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA236" id="pageA236"></a>{236}</span> + the manual of devotion written by Garcia de Cisneros, he laid foundations + for those famous <i>Exercitia</i>, which became his instrument for rapidly + passing neophytes through spiritual training similar to his own. It was + here that he first distinguished two kinds of visions, infernal and + celestial. Here also he grew familiar with the uses of concrete + imagination;, and understood how the faculty of sensuous realization might + be made a powerful engine for presenting the past of sacred history or the + dogmas of orthodox theology under shapes of fancy to the mind. Finally, in + all the experiences of Manresa, he tried the temper of his own character, + which was really not that of a poet or a mystic, but of a sagacious man of + action, preparing a system calculated to subjugate the intelligence and + will of millions. Tested by self-imposed sufferings and by diseased + hallucinations, his sound sense, the sense of one destined to control men, + gathered energy, and grew in, solid strength: yet enough remained of his + fanaticism to operate as a motive force in the scheme which he afterwards + developed; enough survived from the ascetic phase he had surmounted, to + make him comprehend that some such agony as he had suffered should form + the vestibule to a devoted life. We may compare the throes of Ignatius at + Manresa with the contemporary struggles of Luther at Wittenberg and in the + Wartzburg. Our imagination will dwell upon the different issues to which + two heroes distinguished by practical ability were led <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA237" id="pageA237"></a>{237}</span> through + their contention with the powers of spiritual evil. Protagonists + respectively of Reformation and Counter-Reformation, they arrived at + opposite conclusions; the one championing the cause of spiritual freedom + in the modern world, the other consecrating his genius to the maintenance + of Catholic orthodoxy by spiritual despotism. Yet each alike fulfilled his + mission by having conquered mysticism at the outset of his + world-historical career. + </p> + <p> + Ignatius remained for the space of ten months at Manresa. He then found + means to realize his cherished journey to the Holy Land. In Palestine he + was treated with coldness as an ignorant enthusiast, capable of subverting + the existing order of things, but too feeble to be counted on for + permanent support. His motive ideas were still visionary; he could not + cope with conservatism and frigidity established in comfortable places of + emolument. It was necessary that he should learn the wisdom of compromise. + Accordingly he returned to Spain, and put himself to school. Two years + spent in preparatory studies at Barcelona, another period at Alcala, and + another at Salamanca, introduced him to languages, grammar, philosophy, + and theology. This man of noble blood and vast ambition, past the age of + thirty, sat with boys upon the common benches. This self-consecrated saint + imbibed the commonplaces of scholastic logic. It was a further stage in + the evolution of his iron character from romance and mysticism, into + political and practical sagacity. It <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA238" id="pageA238"></a>{238}</span> was a further education of + his stubborn will to pliant temper. But he could not divest himself of his + mission as a founder and apostle. He taught disciples, preached, and + formed a sect of devotees. Then the Holy Office attacked him. He was + imprisoned, once at Alcala for forty-two days, once at Salamanca for three + weeks, upon charges of heresy. Ignatius proved his innocence. The + Inquisitors released him with certificates of acquittal; but they + sentenced him to four years' study of theology before he should presume to + preach. These years he resolved to spend at Paris. Accordingly he + performed the journey on foot, and arrived in the capital of France upon + February 2, 1528. He was then thirty-seven years old, and sixteen years + had elapsed since he received his wounds at Pampeluna. + </p> + <p> + At Paris he had to go to school again from the beginning. The alms of + well-wishers, chiefly devout women at Barcelona, amply provided him with + funds. These he employed not only in advancing his own studies, but also + in securing the attachment of adherents to his cause. At this epoch he + visited the towns of Belgium and London during his vacations. But the main + outcome of his residence at Paris was the formation of the Company of + Jesus. Those long years of his novitiate and wandering were not without + their uses now. They had taught him, while clinging stubbornly to the main + projects of his life, prudence in the choice of means, temperance in + expectation, sagacity in the manipulation of fellow-<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA239" id="pageA239"></a>{239}</span> workers selected for the + still romantic ends he had in view. His first two disciples were a + Savoyard, Peter Faber or Le Fèvre, and Francis Xavier of Pampeluna. + Faber was a poor student, whom Ignatius helped with money. Xavier sprang + from a noble stock, famous in arms through generations, for which he was + eager to win the additional honors of science and the Church. Ignatius + assisted him by bringing students to his lectures. Under the personal + influence of their friend and benefactor, both of these men determined to + leave all and follow the new light. Visionary as the object yet was, the + firm will, fervent confidence, and saintly life of Loyola inspired them + with absolute trust. That the Christian faith, as they understood it, + remained exposed to grievous dangers from without and form within, that + millions of souls were perishing through ignorance, that tens of thousands + were falling away through incredulity and heresy, was certain. The realm + of Christ on earth needed champions, soldiers devoted to a crusade against + Satan and his hosts. And here was a leader, a man among men, a man whose + words were as a fire, and whose method of spiritual discipline was + salutary and illuminative; and this man bade them join him in the Holy + War. He gained them in a hundred ways, by kindness, by precept, by + patience, by persuasion, by attention to their physical and spiritual + needs, by words of warmth and wisdom, by the direction of their + conscience, by profound and intense sympathy with <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA240" id="pageA240"></a>{240}</span> souls struggling after the + higher life. The means he had employed to gain Faber and Xavier were used + with equal success in the case of seven other disciples. The names of + these men deserve to be recorded; for some of them played a part of + importance in European history, while all of them contributed to the + foundation of the Jesuits. They were James Lainez, Alfonzo Salmeron, and + Nicholas Bobadilla, three Spaniards; Simon Rodriguez d'Azevedo, a + Portuguese; two Frenchmen, Jean Codure and Brouet; and Claude le Jay, a + Savoyard. All these neophytes were subjected by Ignatius to rigid + discipline, based upon his <i>Exercitia</i>. They met together for prayer, + meditation, and discussion, in his chamber at the College of S. Barbe. + Here he unfolded to them his own plans, and poured out on them his spirit. + At length, upon August 15, 1534, the ten together took the vows of + chastity and poverty in the church of S. Mary at Montmartre, and bound + themselves to conduct a missionary crusade in Palestine, or, if this + should prove impracticable, to place themselves as devoted instruments, + without conditions and without remuneration, in the hands of the Sovereign + Pontiff. + </p> + <p> + The society was thus established, although its purpose remained + indecisive. The founder's romantic dream of a crusade in Holy Land, though + never realized, gave an object of immediate interest to the associated + friends. Meanwhile two main features of its historical manifestation, the + propaganda of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA241" id="pageA241"></a>{241}</span> + Catholic faith and unqualified devotion to the cause of the Roman See, had + been clearly indicated. Nothing proves the mastery which Ignatius had now + acquired over his own enthusiasm, or the insight he had gained into the + right method of dealing with men, more than the use he made of his + authority in this first instance. The society was bound to grow and to + expand; and it was fated to receive the lasting impress of his genius. + But, as though inspired by some prophetic vision of its future greatness, + he refrained from circumscribing the still tender embryo within definite + limits which might have been pernicious to its development. + </p> + <p> + The associates completed their studies at Paris, and in 1535 they + separated, after agreeing to meet at Venice in the first months of 1537. + Ignatius meanwhile traveled to Spain, where he settled his affairs by + bestowing such property as he possessed on charitable institutions. He + also resumed preaching, with a zeal that aroused enthusiasm and extended + his personal influence. At the appointed time the ten came together at + Venice, ostensibly bent on carrying out their project of visiting + Palestine. But war was now declared between the Turks and the Republic of + S. Mark. Ignatius found himself once more accused of heresy, and had some + trouble in clearing himself before the Inquisition. It was resolved in + these circumstances to abandon the mission to Holy Land as impracticable + for the moment, and to remain in Venice waiting for more <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA242" id="pageA242"></a>{242}</span> + favorable opportunities. We may believe that the romance of a crusade + among the infidels of Syria had already begun to fade from the imagination + of the founder, in whose career nothing is more striking than his gradual + abandonment of visionary for tangible ends, and his progressive + substitution of real for shadowy objects of ambition. + </p> + <p> + Loyola's first contact with Italian society during this residence in + Venice exercised decisive influence over his plans. He seems to have + perceived with the acute scent of an eagle that here lay the quarry he had + sought so long. Italy, the fountain-head of intellectual enlightenment for + Europe, was the realm which he must win. Italy alone offered the fulcrum + needed by his firm and limitless desire of domination over souls. It was + with Caraffa and the Theatines that Ignatius obtained a home. They were + now established in the States of S. Mark through the beneficence of a rich + Venetian noble, Girolamo Miani, who had opened religious houses and placed + these at their disposition. Under the direction of their founder, they + carried on their designed function of training a higher class of clergy + for the duties of preaching and the priesthood, and for the repression of + heresy by educational means. Caraffa's scheme was too limited to suit + Ignatius: and the characters of both men were ill adapted for + co-operation. One zeal for the faith inspired both. Here they agreed. But + Ignatius was a Spaniard; and the second passion in Caraffa's <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA243" id="pageA243"></a>{243}</span> breast + was a Neapolitan's hatred for that nation. Ignatius, moreover, + contemplated a vastly more expansive and elastic machinery for his workers + in the vineyard of the faith, than the future Pope's coercive temper could + have tolerated. These two leaders of the Counter-Reformation, equally + ambitious, equally intolerant of opposition, equally bent upon a vast + dominion, had to separate. The one was destined to organize the + Inquisition and the Index. The other evolved what is historically known as + Jesuitry. Nevertheless we know that Ignatius learned much from Caraffa. + The subsequent organization of his Order showed that the Theatines + suggested many practical points in the method he eventually adopted for + effecting his designs. + </p> + <p> + Some of his companions, meanwhile, journeyed to Rome. There they obtained + from Paul III. permission to visit Palestine upon a missionary enterprise, + together with special privileges for their entrance into sacerdotal + orders. Those of the ten friends who were not yet priests, were ordained + at Venice in June 1537. They then began to preach in public, roaming the + streets with faces emaciated by abstinence, clad in ragged clothes, and + using a language strangely compounded of Italian and Spanish. Their + obvious enthusiasm, and the holy lives they were known to lead, brought + them rapidly into high reputation of sanctity. Both the secular and the + religious clergy of Italy could <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA244" + id="pageA244"></a>{244}</span> show but few men at that epoch equal to + these brethren. It was settled in the autumn that they should all revisit + Rome, traveling by different routes, and meditating on the form which the + Order should assume. Palestine had now been definitely, if tacitly, + abandoned. As might have been expected, it was Loyola who baptized his + Order, and impressed a character upon the infant institution. He + determined to call it the Company of Jesus, with direct reference to those + Companies of Adventure which had given irregular organization to restless + military spirits in the past. The new Company was to be a 'cohort, or + century, combined for combat against spiritual foes; men-at-arms, devoted, + body and soul, to our Lord Jesus Christ and to his true and lawful Vicar + upon earth.'<a name="FNanchorA_159_159" id="FNanchorA_159_159"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> An Englishman of the + present day may pause to meditate upon the grotesque parallel between the + nascent Order of the Jesuits and the Salvation Army, and can draw such + conclusions from it as may seem profitable. + </p> + <p> + Loyola's withdrawal from all participation in the nominal honor of his + institution, his enrollment of the militia he had levied under the name of + Jesus, and the combative functions which he ascribed to it, were very + decided marks of originality. It stamped the body with impersonality from + the outset, and indicated the belligerent attitude it was destined to + assume. There was nothing exactly similar to its dominant conception in + any of the previous religious <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA245" + id="pageA245"></a>{245}</span> orders. These had usually received their + title from the founder, had aimed at a life retired from the world, had + studied the sanctification of their individual members, and had only + contemplated an indirect operation upon society. Ignatius, on the + contrary, placed his community under the protection of Christ, and defined + it at the outset as a militant and movable legion of auxiliaries, + dedicated, not to retirement or to the pursuit of salvation, but to freely + avowed and active combat in defense of their Master's vicegerent upon + earth. It was as though he had divined the deficiencies of Catholicism at + that epoch, and had determined to supplement them by the creation of a + novel and a special weapon of attack. Some institutions of mediaeval + chivalry, the Knights of the Temple, and S. John, for instance, furnished + the closest analogy to his foundation. Their spirit he transferred from + the sphere of physical combat with visible forces, infidel and Mussulman, + to the sphere of intellectual warfare against heresy, unbelief, + insubordination in the Church. He had refined upon the crude enthusiasm of + romance which inspired him at Montserrat. Without losing its intensity, + this had become a motive force of actual and political gravity. + </p> + <p> + The Company of Jesus was far from obtaining the immediate approval of the + Church. Paul III. indeed, perceived its utility, and showed marked favor + to the associates when they arrived in Rome about the end of 1537. The + people, too, welcomed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA246" + id="pageA246"></a>{246}</span> their ministration gladly, and recognized + the zeal which they displayed in acts of charity and their exemplary + behavior. But the Curia and higher clergy organized an opposition against + them. They were accused of heresy, and attempts to seduce the common folk. + Ignatius demanded full and public inquiry, which was at first refused him. + He then addressed the Pope in person, who ordered a trial, out of which + the brethren came with full acquittal. After this success, they obtained a + hold upon religious instruction in many schools of Rome. Adherents flocked + around them; and they saw that it was time to give the society a defined + organization, and to demand its official recognition as an Order. It was + resolved to add the vow of obedience to their former vows of chastity and + poverty. Obedience had always been a prime virtue in monastic + institutions; but Ignatius conceived of it in a new and military spirit. + The obedience of the Jesuits was to be absolute, extending even to the + duty of committing sins at a superior's orders. The General, instead of + holding office for a term of years, was to be elected for life, with + unlimited command over the whole Order in its several degrees. He was to + be regarded as Christ present and personified. This autocracy of the + General might have seemed to menace the overlordship of the Holy See, but + for a fourth vow which the Company determined to adopt. It ran as follows: + 'That the members will consecrate their lives to the continual service of + Christ and of the Popes, will fight under the banner of the<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA247" id="pageA247"></a>{247}</span> Cross, + and will serve the Lord and the Roman Pontiff as God's vicar upon earth, + in such wise that they shall be bound to execute immediately and without + hesitation or excuse all that the reigning Pope or his successors may + enjoin upon them for the profit of souls or for the propagation of the + faith, and shall do so in all provinces whithersoever he may send them, + among Turks or any other infidels, to furthest Ind, as well as in the + region of heretics, schismatics, or believers of any kind.' + </p> + <p> + Loyola himself drew up these constitutions in five chapters, and had them + introduced to Paul III., with the petition that they might be confirmed. + This was in September 1539, and it is singular that the man selected to + bring them under the Pope's notice should have been Cardinal Contarini. + Paul had no difficulty in recognizing the support which this new Order + would bring to the Papacy in its conflict with Reformers, and its + diplomatic embarrassments with Charles V. He is even reported to have + said, 'The finger of God is there!' Yet he could not confirm the + constitutions without the previous approval of three Cardinals appointed + to report on them. This committee condemned Loyola's scheme; and nearly a + year passed in negotiations with foreign princes and powerful prelates, + before a reluctant consent was yielded to the Pope's avowed inclination. + At length the Bull of Sept. 27, 1540, <i>Regimini militantis Ecclesiae</i>, + launched the Society of Jesus on the world. Ignatius became the first<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA248" id="pageA248"></a>{248}</span> General + of the Order; and the rest of his life, a period of sixteen years, was + spent in perfecting the machinery and extending the growth of this + institution, which in all essentials was the emanation of his own mind. + </p> + <p> + It may be well at this point to sketch the organization of the Jesuits, + and to describe the progress of the Society during its founder's lifetime, + in order that a correct conception may be gained of Loyola's share in its + creation. Many historians of eminence, and among them so acute an observer + as Paolo Sarpi, have been of the opinion that Jesuitry in its later + developments was a deflection from the spirit and intention of Ignatius. + It is affirmed that Lainez and Salmeron, rather than Loyola, gave that + complexion to the Order which has rendered it a mark for the hatred and + disgust of Europe. Aquaviva, the fifth General, has been credited with its + policy of interference in affairs of states and nations. Yet I think it + can be shown that the Society, as it appeared in the seventeenth century, + was a logical and necessary development of the Society as Ignatius framed + it in the sixteenth.<a name="FNanchorA_160_160" id="FNanchorA_160_160"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> + </p> + <p> + Lainez, who succeeded the founder as General, digested the constitutions + and supplied them <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA249" id="pageA249"></a>{249}</span> + with a commentary or Directorium. He defined, formulated, and stereotyped + the system; but the essential qualities of Jesuitry, its concentration + upon political objects, its unscrupulousness in choice of means to ends, + the worldliness which lurked beneath the famous motto <i>Ad Majorem Dei + Gloriam</i>, were implicit in Loyola's express words, and in his actual + administration. The framework of the Order, as he fixed it, was so firmly + traced, and so cunningly devised for practical efficiency, that it + admitted of no alteration except in the direction of more rigid + definition. Lainez may, indeed, have emphasized its tendency to become a + political machine, and may have weakened its religious tone, by his rules + for the interpretation of the constitutions; but we have seen that the + development of Loyola's own ideas ran in this direction. The real + strength, as well as the worst vices of Jesuitry, were inherent in the + system from the first; and in it we have perhaps the most remarkable + instance on record, of the evolution of a cosmopolitan and world-important + organism from the embryo of one man's conception. + </p> + <p> + The Bull <i>Regimini militantis Ecclesiae</i> restricted the number of the + Jesuits to sixty. If Ignatius did not himself propose this limit, the + restriction may perhaps have suggested his policy of reserving the full + privileges of the Society for a small band of selected members—the + very essence of the body, extracted by processes which will be afterwards + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA250" id="pageA250"></a>{250}</span> + described. Anyhow, it is certain that though the Papal limitation was + removed in 1543, and though candidates flowed on the tide of fashion + toward the Order, yet the representative and responsible Fathers remained + few in numbers. These were distributed as the General thought fit. He + stayed in Rome; for Rome was the chosen headquarters of the Society, the + nucleus of their growth, and the fulcrum of their energy. From Rome, as + from a center, Ignatius moved his men about the field of Europe. We might + compare him under one metaphor to a chess-player directing his pieces upon + the squares of the political and ecclesiastical chessboard; under another, + to a spider spinning his web so as to net the greatest number of + profitable partisans. The fathers were kept in perpetual motion. To shift + them from place to place, to exclude them from their native soil, to + render them cosmopolitan and pliant was the first care of the founder. He + forbade the follies of ascetic piety, inculcated the study of languages + and exact knowledge, and above all things recommended the acquisition of + those social arts which find favor with princes and folk of high + condition. 'Prudence of an exquisite quality,' he said, 'combined with + average sanctity, is more valuable than eminent sanctity and less of + prudence.' Also he bade them keep their eyes open for neophytes 'less + marked by pure goodness than by firmness of character and ability in + conduct of affairs, since men who are not apt for public business do not + suit the requirements <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA251" + id="pageA251"></a>{251}</span> of the Company.' Orlandino tells us that + though Ignatius felt drawn to men who showed eminent gifts for erudition, + he preferred, in the difficulties of the Church, to choose such as knew + the world well and were distinguished by their social station. The fathers + were to seek out youths 'of good natural parts, adapted to the acquisition + of knowledge and to practical works of utility.' Their pupils were, if + possible, to have physical advantages and manners that should render them + agreeable. These points had more of practical value than a bare vocation + for piety. In their dealings with tender consciences, they were to act + like 'good fishers of souls, passing over many things in silence as though + these had not been observed, until the time came when the will was gained, + and the character could be directed as they thought best.'<a + name="FNanchorA_161_161" id="FNanchorA_161_161"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> Loyola's dislike for + the common forms of monasticism appears in his choice of the ordinary + secular priest's cassock for their dress, and in his emancipation of the + members from devotional exercises and attendance in the choir. The + aversion he felt for ascetic discipline is evinced in a letter he + addressed to Francis Borgia in 1548. It is better, he writes, to + strengthen your stomach and other faculties, than to impair the body and + enfeeble the intellect by fasting. God needs both our physical and mental + powers for his service; and every drop of blood you shed in flagellation + is a loss.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA252" id="pageA252"></a>{252}</span> + </p> + <p> + The end in view was to serve the Church by penetrating European society, + taking possession of its leaders in rank and hereditary influence, + directing education, assuming the control of the confessional, and + preaching the faith in forms adapted to the foibles and the fancies of the + age. The interests of the Church were paramount: 'If she teaches that what + seems to us white is black, we must declare it to be black upon the spot.' + There were other precepts added. These, for instance, seem worth + commemoration: 'The workers in the Lord's vineyard should have but one + foot on earth, the other should be raised to travel forward.' 'The + abnegation of our own will is of more value than if one should bring the + dead to life again.' 'No storm is so pernicious as a calm, and no enemy is + so dangerous as having none.' It will be seen that what is known as + Jesuitry, in its mundane force and in its personal devotion to a cause, + emerges from the precepts of Ignatius. We may wonder how the romances of + the mountain-keep of Loyola, the mysticism of Montserrat, and the + struggles of Manresa should have brought the founder of the Jesuits to + these results. Yet, if we analyze the problem, it will yield a probable + solution. What survived from that first period was the spirit of + enthusiastic service to the Church, the vast ambition of a man who felt + himself a destined instrument for shoring up the crumbling walls of + Catholicity, the martial instinct of a warrior fighting at fearful odds + with nations running toward infidelity.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA253" id="pageA253"></a>{253}</span> + </p> + <p> + He had no doubt where the right lay. He was a Spaniard, a servant of S. + Peter; and for him the creed enounced by Rome was all in all. But his + commerce with the world, his astute Basque nature, and his judgment of the + European situation, taught him that he must use other means than those + which Francis and Dominic had employed. He had to make his Company, that + forlorn hope of Catholicism, the exponent of a decadent and rotten faith. + He had to adapt it to the necessities of Christendom in dissolution, to + constitute it by a guileful and sagacious method. He had to render it wise + in the wisdom of the world, in order that he might catch the powers of + this world by their interests and vices for the Church. He was like + Machiavelli, endeavoring to save a corrupt state by utilizing corruption + for ends acknowledged sound. And, like Machiavelli, he was mistaken, + because it will not profit man to trust in craft or the manipulation of + evil. Luther was stronger in his weakness than the creator of the Jesuit + machinery, wiser in his simplicity than the deviser of that subtle engine. + But Luther had the onward forces of humanity upon his side. Ignatius could + but retard them by his ingenuity. We may be therefore excused if we admire + Ignatius for the virile effort which he made in a failing cause, and for + the splendid gifts of organizing prudence which he devoted to a misplaced + object. + </p> + <p> + Under his direction, the members of the Society <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA254" id="pageA254"></a>{254}</span> spread themselves over + Europe, and always with similar results. Wherever they went, hundreds of + adherents joined the Order. Paul III. and Julius III. heaped privileges + upon it, seeing what a power it had become in warfare with heresy. + Ignatius spared no pains to secure his position in Rome, paying court to + Cardinals and prelates, visiting ambassadors and princes, soliciting their + favors and offering the service of his brethren in return. Profitable + negotiations were opened with the King of Spain and the Duke of Bavaria, + which, under cover of reforming convents, led to a partition of + ecclesiastical property between the Jesuits and the State. Good reasons + seemed to justify such acts of spoliation; for the old orders were sunk in + sloth and immorality beyond redemption, while the Company kept alive all + that was sound in Catholic discipline, preaching, and instruction. In + Italy the Jesuits made rapid progress from the first. Lainez occupied the + Venetian territory, opposing Protestant opinions in Venice itself, at + Brescia, and among the mountains of the Valtelline. Le Jay combated the + forces of Calvin and Renée of France at Ferrara. Salmeron took + possession of Naples and Sicily. Piacenza, Modena, Faenza, Bologna, and + Montepulciano received the fathers with open arms. The Farnesi welcomed + them in Parma. Wherever they went, they secured the good will of noble + women, and gained some hold on universities. Colleges were founded in the + chief cities of the peninsula, where <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA255" id="pageA255"></a>{255}</span> they not only taught + gratis, but used methods superior to those previously in vogue. Rome, + however, remained the stronghold of the Company. Here Ignatius founded its + first house in 1550. This was the Collegium Romanum; and in 1555, some + hundred pupils, who had followed a course of studies in Greek, Latin, + Hebrew, and theology, issued from its walls. In 1557 he purchased the + palace Salviati, on the site of which now stands the vast establishment of + the Gesù. In 1552 he started a separate institution, Collegium + Germanicum, for the special training of young Germans. There was also a + subordinate institution for the education of the sons of nobles. These + colleges afforded models for similar schools throughout Europe; some of + them intended to supply the society with members, and some to impress the + laity with Catholic principles. Uniformity was an object which the Jesuits + always held in view. + </p> + <p> + They did not meet at first with like success in all Catholic countries. In + Spain, Charles V. treated them with suspicion as the sworn men of the + Papacy; and the Dominican order, so powerful through its hold upon the + Inquisition, regarded them justly as rivals. Though working for the same + end, the means employed by Jesuits and Dominicans were too diverse for + these champions of orthodoxy to work harmoniously together. The Jesuits + belonged to the future, to the party of accommodation and control by + subterfuge. The Dominicans were rooted in the past; their dogmatism + admitted of no <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA256" id="pageA256"></a>{256}</span> + compromise; they strove to rule by force. There was therefore, at the + outset, war between the kennels of the elder and the younger dogs of God + in Spain. Yet Jesuitism gained ground. It had the advantage of being a + native, and a recent product. It was powerful by its appeals to the + sensuous imagination and carnal superstitions of that Iberian-Latin + people. It was seductive by its mitigation of oppressive orthodoxy and + inflexible prescriptive law. Where the Dominican was steel, the Jesuit was + reed; where the Dominican breathed fire and fagots, the Jesuit suggested + casuistical distinctions; where the Dominican raised difficulties, the + Jesuit solved scruples; where the Dominican presented theological + abstractions, the Jesuit offered stimulative or agreeable images; where + the Dominican preached dogma, the Jesuit retailed romance. It only needed + one illustrious convert to plant the Jesuits in Spain. Him they found in + Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia, Viceroy of Catalonia, and subsequently the + third General of the Order and a saint. This man placed the university, + which he had founded, in their hands; and about the same time they gained + a footing in the university of Salamanca. Still they continued to retain + their strongest hold upon the people, who regarded them as saviours from + the tyranny and ennui of the established Dominican hierarchy. + </p> + <p> + Portugal was won at a blow. Xavier and Rodriguez planted the Company there + under the affectionate protection of King John III. When<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA257" id="pageA257"></a>{257}</span> Xavier + started on his mission to the Indies in 1541, Rodriguez took the affairs + of the realm into his hands, controlled the cabinet, and formed the + heir-apparent to their will. + </p> + <p> + With France they had more trouble. Both the University and the Parliament + of Paris opposed their settlement. The Sorbonne even declared them + 'dangerous in matters of the faith, fit to disturb the peace of the + Church, and to reverse the order of monastic life; more adapted to destroy + than to build.' The Gallican Church scented danger in these bondsmen of + the Papacy; and it was only when they helped to organize the League that + the influence of the Guises gave them a foothold in the kingdom. Even then + their seminaries at Reims, Douai, and S. Omer must be rather regarded as + outposts <i>epiteichismoi</i> against England and Flanders, than, as + nationally French establishments. In France they long remained a seditious + and belligerent faction.<a name="FNanchorA_162_162" id="FNanchorA_162_162"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> + </p> + <p> + They had the same partial and clandestine success in the Low Countries, + where their position was at first equivocal, though they early gained some + practical hold upon the University of Louvain. We are perhaps justified in + attributing the evil fame of Reims, Douai, S. Omer, and Louvain to the + incomplete sympathy which existed between the Jesuits and the countries + where they made these settlements. Not perfectly at home, surrounded by + discontent <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA258" id="pageA258"></a>{258}</span> + and jealousy, upon the borderlands of the heresies they were bound to + combat, their system assumed its darkest colors in those hotbeds of + intrigue and feverish fanaticism. In time, however, the Jesuits fixed + their talons firmly upon the Netherlands, through the favor of Anne of + Austria; and the year 1562 saw them comfortably ensconced at Antwerp, + Louvain, Brussels, and Lille, in spite of the previous antipathy of the + population. Here, as elsewhere, they pushed their way by gaining women and + people of birth to their cause, and by showily meritorious services to + education. Faber achieved ephemeral success as lecturer at Louvain. + </p> + <p> + To take firm hold on Germany had been the cherished wish of Ignatius; 'for + there,' to use his own words, 'the pest of heresy exposed men to graver + dangers than elsewhere.' The Society had scarcely been founded when Faber, + Le Jay, and Bobadilla were sent north. Faber made small progress, and was + removed to Spain. But Bobadilla secured the confidence of William, Duke of + Bavaria; while Le Jay won that of Ferdinand of Austria. In both provinces + they avowed their intention of working at the reformation of the clergy + and the improvement of popular education—ends, which in the + disorganized condition of Germany, seemed of highest importance to those + princes. Through the influence of Bavaria, Bobadilla succeeded in + rendering the Interim proclaimed by Charles V. nugatory; while Le Jay + founded the college of the Order at<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA259" + id="pageA259"></a>{259}</span> Vienna. In this important post he was soon + succeeded by Canisius, Ferdinand's confessor, through whose co-operation + Cardinal Morone afterwards brought this Emperor into harmony with the + Papal plan for winding up the Council of Trent. It should be added that + Ingolstadt, in Bavaria, became the second headquarters of the Jesuit + propaganda in Germany. + </p> + <p> + The methods adopted by Ignatius in dealing with his three lieutenants, + Bobadilla, Le Jay, and Canisius, are so characteristic of Jesuit policy + that they demand particular attention. Checkmated by Bobadilla in the + matter of the Interim, Charles V. manifested his resentment. He was + already ill-affected toward the Society, and its founder felt the need of + humoring him. The highest grade of the Order was therefore ostentatiously + refused to Bobadilla, until such time as the Emperor's attention was + distracted from the cause of his disappointment. With Le Jay and Canisius + the case stood differently. Ferdinand wished to make the former Bishop of + Triest and the latter Archbishop of Vienna. Ignatius opposed both + projects, alleging that the Company of Jesus could not afford to part with + its best servants, and that their vows of obedience and poverty were + inconsistent with high office in the Church. He discerned the necessity of + reducing each member of the Society to absolute dependence on the General, + which would have been impracticable if any one of them attained to the + position of a pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA260" id="pageA260"></a>{260}</span> + late. A law was therefore passed declaring it mortal sin for Jesuits to + accept bishoprics or other posts of honor in the Church. Instead of + assuming the miter, Canisius was permitted to administer the See of Vienna + without usufruct of its revenues. To the world this manifested the + disinterested zeal of the Jesuits in a seductive light; while the + integrity of the Society, as an independent self-sufficing body, exacting + the servitude of absolute devotion from its members, was secured. Another + instance of the same adroitness may be mentioned. The Emperor in 1552 + offered a Cardinal's hat to Francis Borgia, who was by birth the most + illustrious of living Jesuits. Ignatius refrained from rebuffing the + Emperor and insulting the Duke of Gandia by an open prohibition; but he + told the former to expect the Duke's refusal, while he wrote to the latter + expressing his own earnest hope that he would renounce an honor injurious + to the Society. This diplomacy elicited a grateful but firm answer of <i>Nolo + Episcopari</i> from the Duke, who thus took the responsibility of + offending Charles V. upon himself. Meanwhile the missionary objects of the + Company were not neglected. Xavier left Portugal in 1541 for that famous + journey through India and China, the facts of which may be compared for + their romantic interest with Cortes' or Pizarro's exploits. Brazil, the + transatlantic Portugal, was abandoned to the Jesuits, and they began to + feel their way in Mexico. In the year of Loyola's death, 1561, thirty-two + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA261" id="pageA261"></a>{261}</span> + members of the Society were resident in South America; one hundred in + India, China, and Japan; and a mission was established in Ethiopia. Even + Ireland had been explored by a couple of fathers, who returned without + success, after undergoing terrible hardships. At this epoch the Society + counted in round numbers one thousand men. It was divided in Europe into + thirteen provinces: seven of these were Portuguese and Spanish; three were + Italian, namely, Rome, Upper Italy, and Sicily; one was French; two were + German. Castile contained ten colleges of the Order; Aragon, five; + Andalusia, five. Portugal was penetrated through and through with Jesuits. + Rome displayed the central Roman and Teutonic colleges. Upper Italy had + ten colleges. France could show only one college. In Upper Germany the + Company held firm hold on Vienna, Prag, Munich, and Ingolstadt. The + province of Lower Germany, including the Netherlands, was still + undetermined. This expansion of the Order during the first sixteen years + of its existence, enables us to form some conception of the intellectual + vigor and commanding will of Ignatius. He lived, as no founder of an + order, as few founders of religions, ever lived, to see his work + accomplished, and the impress of his genius stereotyped exactly in the + forms he had designed, upon the most formidable social and political + organization of modern Europe. + </p> + <p> + In his administration of the Order, Ignatius was absolute and autocratic. + We have seen how he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA262" id="pageA262"></a>{262}</span> + dealt with aspirants after ecclesiastical honors, and how he shifted his + subordinates, as he thought best, from point to point upon the surface of + the globe. The least attempt at independence on the part of his most + trusted lieutenants was summarily checked by him. Simon Rodriguez, one of + the earliest disciples of the College of S. Barbe at Paris, ruled the + kingdom of Portugal through the ascendency which he had gained over John + III. Elated by the vastness of his victory, Rodriguez arrogated to himself + the right of private judgment, and introduced that ascetic discipline into + the houses of his province which Ignatius had forbidden as inexpedient. + Without loss of time, the General superseded him in his command; and, + after a sharp struggle, Rodriguez was compelled to spend the rest of his + days under strict surveillance at Rome. Lainez, in like manner, while + acting as Provincial of Upper Italy, thought fit to complain that his best + coadjutors were drawn from the colleges under his control, to Rome. + Ignatius wrote to this old friend, the man who best understood the spirit + of its institution, and who was destined to succeed him in his headship, a + cold and terrible epistle. 'Reflect upon your conduct. Let me know whether + you acknowledge your sin, and tell me at the same time what punishment you + are ready to undergo for this dereliction of duty.' Lainez expressed + immediate submission in the most abject terms; he was ready to resign his + post, abstain from preaching, confine his studies to the Breviary, walk + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA263" id="pageA263"></a>{263}</span> as + a beggar to Rome, and there teach grammar to children, or perform menial + offices. This was all Ignatius wanted. If he were the Christ of the + Society, he well knew that Lainez was its S. Paul. He could not prevent + him from being his successor, and he probably was well aware that Lainez + would complete and supplement what he must leave unfinished in his + life-work. The groveling apology of such an eminent apostle, dictated as + it was by hypocrisy and cunning, sufficed to procure his pardon, and + remained among the archives of the Jesuits as a model for the spirit in + which obedience should be manifested by them. + </p> + <p> + Obedience was, in fact, the cardinal and dominant quality of the Jesuit + Order. To call it a virtue, in the sense in which Ignatius understood it, + is impossible. The <i>Exercitia</i>, the Constitutions, and the Letter to + the Portuguese Jesuits, all of which undoubtedly explain Loyola's views, + reveal to us the essence of historical Jesuitry, the <i>fons et origo</i> + of that long-continued evil which impested modern society. Let us examine + some of his precepts on this topic. 'I ought to desire to be ruled by a + superior who endeavors to subjugate my judgment and subdue my + understanding.'—'When it seems to me that I am commanded by my + superior to do a thing against which my conscience revolts as sinful, and + my superior judges otherwise, it is my duty to yield my doubts to him, + unless I am constrained by evident reasons.'—'I ought not to be my + own, but His who created <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA264" + id="pageA264"></a>{264}</span> me, and his too through whom God governs + me.'—'I ought to be like a corpse, which has neither will nor + understanding; like a crucifix, that is turned about by him that holds it; + like a staff in the hands of an old man, who uses it at will for his + assistance or pleasure.'—'In our Company the person who commands + must never be regarded in his own capacity, but as Jesus Christ in him.'—'I + desire that you strive and exercise yourselves to recognize Christ our + Lord in every Superior.'—'He who wishes to offer himself wholly up + to God, must make the sacrifice not only of his will but of his + intelligence.'—'In order to secure the faithful and successful + execution of a Superior's orders, all private judgment must be yielded + up.'—'A sin, whether venial or mortal, must be committed, if it is + commanded by the Superior in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, or in + virtue of obedience.' Of such nature was the virtue of obedience within + the Order.<a name="FNanchorA_163_163" id="FNanchorA_163_163"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> It rendered every + member a tool in the hands of his immediate Superior, and the whole body + one instrument in the hand of the General. The General's responsibility + for the oblique acts and evasions of moral law, committed in the name of + this virtue, was covered by the sounding phrase, 'Unto the greater glory + of God.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA265" id="pageA265"></a>{265}</span> + </p> + <p> + He had also his own duty of obedience, which was to Holy Church. 'In + making the sacrifice of our own judgment, the mind must keep itself ever + whole and ready for obedience to the spouse of Christ, our Holy Mother, + the Church orthodox, apostolical and hierarchical.'<a + name="FNanchorA_164_164" id="FNanchorA_164_164"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> Not a portion of the + Catholic creed, of Catholic habits, of Catholic institutions, of Catholic + superstitions, but must be valiantly defended.—'It is our duty + loudly to uphold reliques, the cult of saints, stations, pilgrimages + indulgences, jubilees, the candles which are lighted before altars.' To + criticise the clergy, even though notoriously corrupt, is a sin. The + philosophy of the Church, as expressed by S. Thomas Aquinas, S. + Bonaventura, and others, must be recognized as equal in authority with + Holy Writ. It follows that just as a subordinate was enjoined to sin, if + sin were ordered by his Superior, so the whole Company were bound to lie, + and do the things they disapproved, and preach the mummeries in which they + disbelieved, in virtue of obedience to the Church. They may not even trust + their senses; for 'If the Church pronounces a thing which seems to us + white to be black, we must immediately say that it is black.'<a + name="FNanchorA_165_165" id="FNanchorA_165_165"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA266" id="pageA266"></a>{266}</span> + </p> + <p> + The Jesuits were enrolled as an army, in an hour of grave peril for the + Church, to undertake her defense. They pledged themselves, by this vow of + obedience, to perform that duty with their eyes shut. It was not their + mission to reform or purify or revivify Catholicism, but to maintain it + intact with all its intellectual anachronisms. How well they succeeded may + be judged from the issue of the Council of Trent, in which Lainez and + Salmeron played so prominent a part. That rigid enforcement of every jot + and tittle in the Catholic hierarchical organization, in Catholic ritual, + in the Catholic cult of saints and images, in the Catholic interpretation + of Sacraments, in Catholic tradition as of equal value with the Bible, and + lastly in the theory of Papal Supremacy, which was the astounding result + of a Council convened to alter and reform the Church, can be attributed in + no small measure to Jesuit persistency. + </p> + <p> + Ignatius attained his object. Obedience, blind, servile, unquestioning, + unscrupulous, became the distinguishing feature of the Jesuits. But he + condemned his Order to mediocrity. No really great man in any department + of human knowledge or activity has arisen in the Company of Jesus. In + course of time it became obvious to any one of independent character and + original intellect that their ranks were not the place for him. And if + youths of real eminence entered it before they perceived this truth, their + spirit was crushed. The machine was powerful enough for good and evil; but + it remained an aggregate of individual inferiorities. Its merit and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA267" id="pageA267"></a>{267}</span> its + perfection lay in this, that so complex an instrument could be moved by a + single finger of the General in Rome. He consistently employed its + delicate system of wheels and pulleys for the aggrandizement of the Order + in the first place, in the second place for the control of the Catholic + Church, and always for the subjugation and cretinization of the mind of + Europe. + </p> + <p> + The training of a Jesuit began with study of the <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>.<a + name="FNanchorA_166_166" id="FNanchorA_166_166"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> This manual had been + composed by Loyola himself at intervals between 1522 and 1548, when it + received the imprimatur of Pope Paul III. He based it on his own + experiences at Manresa, and meant it to serve as a perpetual introduction + to the mysteries of the religious life. It was used under the direction of + a father, who prescribed a portion of its text for each day's meditation, + employing various means to concentrate attention and enforce effect. The + whole course of this spiritual drill extended over four weeks, during + which the pupil remained in solitude. Light and sound and all distractions + of the outer world were carefully excluded from his chamber. He was bidden + to direct his soul inward upon itself and God, and was led by graduated + stages to realize in the most vivid way the torments of the damned and the + scheme of man's, salvation. The first week was occupied in an examination + of the conscience; the second in contempla<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA268" id="pageA268"></a>{268}</span> tion of Christ's Kingdom + upon earth; the third in meditation on the Passion; the fourth in an + ascent to the glory of the risen Lord. Materialism of the crudest type + mingled with the indulgence of a reverie in this long spiritual journey. + At every step the neophyte employed his five senses in the effort of + intellectual realization. Prostrate upon the ground, gazing with closed + eyelids in the twilight of his cell upon the mirror of imagination, he had + to <i>see</i> the boundless flames of hell and souls encased in burning + bodies, to <i>hear</i> the shrieks and blasphemies, to <i>smell</i> their + sulphur and intolerable stench, to <i>taste</i> the bitterness of tears + and <i>feel</i> the stings of ineffectual remorse. + </p> + <p> + He had to localize each object in the camera obscura of the brain. If the + Garden of Gethsemane, for instance, were the subject of his meditation, he + was bound to place Christ here and the sleeping apostles there, and to + form an accurate image of the angel and the cup. He gazed and gazed, until + he was able to handle the raiment of the Saviour, to watch the drops of + bloody sweat beading his forehead and trickling down his cheeks, to grasp + the chalice with the fingers of the soul. As each carefully chosen and + sagaciously suggested scene was presented, he had to identify his very + being, soul, will, intellect, and senses, with the mental vision. He lived + again, so far as this was possible through fancy, the facts of sacred + history. If the director judged it advisable, symbolic objects were placed + before him in the cell; at one time skulls and bones, at another fresh + sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA269" id="pageA269"></a>{269}</span> + smelling flowers. Fasting and flagellation, peculiar postures of the body, + groanings and weepings, were prescribed as mechanical aids in cases where + the soul seemed sluggish. The sphere traversed in these exercises was a + narrow one. The drill aimed at intensity of discipline, at a concentrated + and concrete impression, not at width of education or at intellectual + enlightenment. Speculation upon the fundamental principles of religion was + excluded. God's dealings with mankind revealed in the Old Testament found + no place in this theory of salvation. Attention was riveted upon a very + few points in the life of Christ and Mary, such as every Catholic child + might be supposed to be familiar with. But it was fixed in such a way as + to bring the terrors and raptures of the mystics, of a S. Catharine or a + S. Teresa, within the reach of all; to place spiritual experience <i>à + la portée de tout le monde</i>. The vulgarity is only equaled by + the ingenuity and psychological adroitness of the method. The soul + inspired with carnal dread of the doom impending over it, passed into + almost physical contact with the incarnate Saviour. The designed effect + was to induce a vivid and varied hypnotic dream of thirty days, from the + influence of which a man should never wholly free himself. The end at + which he arrived upon this path of self-scrutiny and materialistic + realization, was the conclusion that his highest hope, his most imperative + duty, lay in the resignation of his intellect and will to spiritual + guidance, and in blind obedience to the Church. Thou<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA270" id="pageA270"></a>{270}</span> sands and thousands of + souls in the modern world have passed through this discipline; and those + who responded to it best, have ever been selected, when this was possible, + as novices of the Order. The director had ample opportunity of observing + at each turn in the process whether his neophyte displayed a likely + disposition. + </p> + <p> + When the <i>Exercitia</i> had been performed, there was an end of + asceticism. Ignatius, as we have seen, dreaded nothing more than the + intrusion of that dark spirit into his Company; he aimed at nothing more + earnestly than at securing agreeable manners, a cheerful temper, and + ability for worldly business in its members. + </p> + <p> + The novice, when first received into one of the Jesuit houses, was + separated, so far as possible, for two years from his family, and placed + under the control of a master, who inspected his correspondence and + undertook the full surveillance of his life. He received cautiously + restricted information on the constitutions of the Society, and was + recommended, instead of renouncing his worldly possessions, to reserve his + legal rights and make oblation of them when he took the vows. It was not + then made clear to him that what he gave would never under any + circumstances be restored, although the Society might send him forth at + will a penniless wanderer into the world. Yet this was the hard condition + of a Jesuit's existence. After entering the order, he owned nothing, and + he had no power to depart if he repented. But <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA271" id="pageA271"></a>{271}</span> the General could cashier + him by a stroke of the pen, condemning him to destitution in every land + where Jesuits held sway, and to suspicion in every land where Jesuits were + loathed. Before the end of two years, the novice generally signed an + obligation to assume the vows. He was then drafted into the secular or + spiritual service. Some novices became what is called Temporal Coadjutors; + their duty was to administer the property of the Society, to superintend + its houses, to distribute alms, to work in hospitals, to cook, garden, + wash, and act as porters. They took the three vows of poverty, chastity, + and obedience. Those, on the other hand, who showed some aptitude for + learning, were classified as Scholastics, and were distributed among the + colleges of the order. They studied languages, sciences, and theology, for + a period of five years; after which they taught in schools for another + period of five or six years; and when they reached the age of about + thirty, they might be ordained priests with the title of Spiritual + Coadjutors. From this body the Society drew the rectors and professors of + its colleges, its preachers, confessors, and teachers in schools for the + laity. They were not yet full members, though they had taken the three + vows, and were irrevocably devoted to the service of the order. The final + stage of initiation was reached toward the age of forty-five, after long + and various trials. Then the Jesuit received the title of Professed. He + was either a professed of the three vows, or a professed of the four vows; + having in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA272" id="pageA272"></a>{272}</span> + the latter case dedicated his life to the special service of the Papacy, + in missions or in any other cause. The professed of four vows constituted + the veritable Company of Jesus, the kernel of the organization. They were + never numerous. At Loyola's death they numbered thirty-five out of a + thousand; and it has been calculated that their average proportion to the + whole body is as two to a hundred.<a name="FNanchorA_167_167" + id="FNanchorA_167_167"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> + Even these had no indefeasible tenure of their place in the Society. They + might be dismissed by the General without indemnification. + </p> + <p> + The General was chosen for life from the professed of four vows by the + General Congregation, which consisted of the provincials and two members + of each province. He held the whole Society at his discretion; for he + could deal at pleasure with each part of its machinery. The constitutions, + strict as they appeared, imposed no barriers upon his will; for almost + unlimited power was surrendered to him of dispensing with formalities, + freeing from obligations, shortening or lengthening the periods of + initiation, retarding or advancing a member in his career. Ideal fixity of + type, qualified by the utmost elasticity in practice, formed the essence + of the system. And we shall see that this principle pervaded the Jesuit + treatment of morality. The General resided at Rome, consecrated solely to + the government of the Society, holding the threads of all its complicated + affairs in his hands, studying the per<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA273" id="pageA273"></a>{273}</span> sonal history of each of + its members in the minute reports which he constantly received from every + province, and acting precisely as he chose with the highest as well as the + lowest of his subordinates. Contrary to all precedents of previous + religious orders, Ignatius framed the Company of Jesus upon the lines of a + close aristocracy with autocratic authority confided to an elected chief. + Yet the General of the Jesuits, like the Doge of Venice, had his hands + tied by subtly powerful though almost invisible fetters. He was subjected + at every hour of the day and night to the surveillance of five sworn + spies, especially appointed to prevent him from altering the type or + neglecting the concerns of the Order. The first of these functionaries, + named the Administrator, who was frequently also the confessor of the + General, exhorted him to obedience, and reminded him that he must do all + things for the glory of God. Obedience and the glory of God, in Jesuit + phraseology, meant the maintenance of the Company. The other four were + styled Assistants. They had under their charge the affairs of the chief + provinces; one overseeing the Indies, another Portugal and Spain, a third + France and Germany, a fourth Italy and Sicily. Together with the + Administrator, the Assistants were nominated by the General Congregation + and could not be removed or replaced without its sanction. It was their + duty to regulate the daily life of the General, to control his private + expenditure on the scale which they determined, to <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA274" id="pageA274"></a>{274}</span> prescribe what he should + eat and drink, and to appoint his hours for sleep, and religious + exercises, and the transaction of public business. If they saw grave + reasons for his deposition, they were bound to convene the General + Congregation for that purpose. And since the Founder knew that guardians + need to be guarded, he provided that the Provincials might convene this + assembly to call in question the acts of the Assistants. The General + himself had no power to oppose its convocation. + </p> + <p> + The Company of Jesus was thus based upon a system of mutual and pervasive + espionage. The novice on first entering had all his acts, habits, and + personal qualities registered. As he advanced in his career, he was + surrounded by jealous brethren, who felt it their duty to report his + slightest weakness to a superior. The superiors were watched by one + another and by their inferiors. Masses of secret intelligence poured into + the central cabinet of the General; and the General himself ate, slept, + prayed, worked, and moved about the world beneath the fixed gaze of ten + vigilant eyes. Men accustomed to domesticity and freedom may wonder that + life should have been tolerable upon these terms. Yet we must remember + that from the moment when a youth had undergone the <i>Exercitia</i> and + taken the vows, he became no less in fact than in spirit <i>perinde ac + cadaver</i> in the hands of his superior. The Company replaced for him + both family and state; and in spite of the fourth vow, it is very evident + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA275" id="pageA275"></a>{275}</span> + that the Black Pope, as the General came to be nicknamed, owned more of + his allegiance than the White Pope, who filled the chair of S. Peter. He + could, indeed, at any moment be expelled and ruined. But if he served the + Order well, he belonged to a vast incalculably-potent organism, of which + he might naturally, after such training as he had received, be proud. The + sacrifice of his personal volition and intelligence made him part of an + indestructible corporation, which seemed capable of breaking all + resistance by its continuity of will and effecting all purposes by its + condensed sagacity. Nor was he in the hands of rigid disciplinarians. His + peccadilloes were condoned, unless the credit of the order came in + question. His natural abilities obtained free scope for their employment; + for it suited the interest of the Company to make the most of each + member's special gifts. He had no tedious duties of the regular monastic + routine to follow. He was encouraged to become a man of the world, and to + mix freely with society. And thus, while he resigned himself, he lived the + large life of a complex microcosm. Nor were men of resolute ambition + without the prospect of eventually swaying an authority beyond that + possessed by princes; for any one of the professed might rise to the + supreme power in the order. + </p> + <p> + Something must be said about Loyola's interpretation of the vow of + poverty. During his lifetime the Company acquired considerable wealth; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA276" id="pageA276"></a>{276}</span> + and after his death it became a large owner of estates in Europe. How was + this consistent with the observance of that vow, so strictly inculcated by + the founder on his first disciples, and so pompously proclaimed in their + constitutions? The professed and all their houses, as well as their + churches, were bound to subsist on alms; they preached, administered the + sacraments of the Church, and educated gratis. They could inherit nothing, + and were not allowed to receive money for their journeys. But here + appeared the wisdom of restricting the numbers of the professed to a small + percentage of the whole Society. The same rigid prohibition with regard to + property was not imposed upon the houses of novices, colleges, and other + educational establishments of the Jesuits; while the secular coadjutors + were specially appointed for the administration of wealth which the + professed might use but could not own.<a name="FNanchorA_168_168" + id="FNanchorA_168_168"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> + In like manner, as they lived on alms, there was no objection to a priest + of the order receiving valuable gifts in cash or kind from grateful + recipients of his spiritual bounty. A separate article of the + constitutions furthermore reserved for the General the right of accepting + any donation whatsoever, made in favor of the whole Company, and of + assigning capital or revenue as he judged wisest.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA277" id="pageA277"></a>{277}</span> + </p> + <p> + Scholastics, even after they had taken the vow of poverty, were not + obliged to relinquish their private possessions. Sooner or later, it was + hoped that these would become the property of the order. In a word, the + principle of this solemn obligation was so manipulated as to facilitate + the acquisition and accumulation of wealth by the Jesuit like any other + corporation. Only no individual Jesuit owned anything. He was rich or + poor, he wore the clothes of princes or the rags of a mendicant, he lived + sumptuously or begged in the street, he traveled with a following of + servants or he walked on foot, according as it seemed good to his + superiors. The vow of poverty, thus interpreted in practice, meant a total + disengagement from temporalities on the part of every member, an absolute + dependence of each subordinate upon his superior in the hierarchy. + </p> + <p> + Having thus far treated the organization of the Jesuits as implicit in + Loyola's own conception and administration, I ought to add that it + received definite form from his successor, Lainez. The founder pronounced + the Constitutions in 1553. But they were thoroughly revised after his + death in 1558, at which date they first issued from the press. Lainez, + again, supplemented these laws with a perpetual commentary, which is + styled the Declarations. These contain the bulk of those easements and + indulgent interpretations, whereby the strictness of the original rules + was explained away, and an almost unbounded elasticity was communicated to + the system. + </p> + <p> + It would be rash to pronounce a decided opinion <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA278" id="pageA278"></a>{278}</span> upon the much disputed + question, whether, in addition to their Constitutions and Declarations, + the Jesuits were provided with an esoteric code of rules known as <i>Monita + Secreta</i>.<a name="FNanchorA_169_169" id="FNanchorA_169_169"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> The existence of such + a manual, which was supposed to contain the very pith of Jesuitical + policy, has been confidently asserted and no less confidently denied. In + the absence of direct evidence, it may be worth quoting two passages from + Sarpi's Letters, which prove that this keen-sighted observer believed the + Society to be governed in its practice by statutes inaccessible to all but + its most trusted members. 'I have always admired the policy of the + Jesuits,' he writes in 1608, 'and their method of maintaining secrecy. + Their Constitutions are in print, and yet one cannot set eyes upon a copy. + I do not mean their Rules, which are published at Lyons, for those are + mere puerilities; but the digest of laws which guide their conduct of the + order, and which they keep concealed. Every day many members leave, or are + expelled from the Company; and yet their artifices are not exposed to + view.'<a name="FNanchorA_170_170" id="FNanchorA_170_170"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> In another letter, of + the date 1610, Sarpi returns to the same point. 'The Jesuits before this + Aquaviva was elected General were saints in comparison with what they + afterwards became. Formerly they had not mixed in affairs of state or + thought of governing cities. Since then, they have indulged a hope of + controlling the whole world.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA279" + id="pageA279"></a>{279}</span> + </p> + <p> + And I am sure that the least part of their Cabala is in the Ordinances and + Constitutions of 1570. All the same, I am very glad to possess even these. + Their true Cabala they never communicate to any but men who have been well + tested, and proved by every species of trial; nor is it possible for those + who have been initiated into it, to think of retiring from the order, + since the congregation, through their excellent management of its + machinery, know how to procure the immediate death of any such initiated + member who may wish to leave their ranks.'<a name="FNanchorA_171_171" + id="FNanchorA_171_171"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> + Probably the mistake which Sarpi and the world made, was in supposing that + the Jesuits needed a written code for their most vital action. Being a + potent and life-penetrated organism, the secret of their policy was not + such as could be reduced to rule. It was not such as, if reduced to rule, + could have been plastic in the affairs of public importance which the + Company sought to control. Better than rule or statute, it was biological + function. The supreme deliberative bodies of the order created, + transmitted, and continuously modified its tradition of policy. This + tradition some member, partially initiated into their counsels, may have + reduced to precepts in the published <i>Monita Secreta</i> of 1612. But + the quintessential flame which breathed a breath of life into the fabric + of the Jesuits through two centuries of organic activity, was far too + vivid and too spiritual to be condensed in any charter. A friar and a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA280" id="pageA280"></a>{280}</span> + jurist, like Sarpi, expected to discover some controlling code. The + public, grossly ignorant of evolutionary laws in the formation of social + organisms, could not comprehend the non-existence of this code. + Adventurers supplied the demand from their knowledge of the ruling policy. + But like the <i>Liber Trium Impostorum</i> we may regard the <i>Monita + Secreta</i> of the Jesuits as an <i>ex post facto</i> fabrication. + </p> + <p> + There is no need to trace the further history of the Jesuits. Their part + in the Counter-Reformation has rather been exaggerated than insufficiently + recognized. Though it was incontestably considerable, we cannot now + concede, as Macaulay in his random way conceded to this Company, the <i>spolia + opima</i> of down-beaten Protestantism. Without the ecclesiastical reform + which originated in the Tridentine Council; without the gold and sword of + Spain; without the stakes and prisons of the Inquisition; without the + warfare against thought conducted by the Congregation of the Index; the + Jesuits alone could not have masterfully governed the Catholic revival. + That revival was a movement of world-historical importance, in which they + participated. It was their fortune to find forces in the world which they + partially understood; it was their merit to know how to manipulate those + forces; it was their misfortune and their demerit that they proved + themselves incapable of diverting those forces to any wholesome end. In + Italy a succession of worldly Popes, Paul III., Julius III., Pius IV., and + Gregory XIII., <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA281" id="pageA281"></a>{281}</span> + heaped favors and showered wealth upon the order. The Jesuits incarnated + the political spirit of the Papacy at this epoch; they lent it a potency + for good and evil which the decrepit but still vigorous institution + arrogated to itself. They adapted its anachronisms with singular + adroitness to the needs of modern society. They transfused their throbbing + blood into its flaccid veins, until it became doubtful whether the Papacy + had been absorbed into the Jesuits, or whether the Jesuits had remodeled + the Papacy for contemporary uses. But this tendency in the aspiring order + to identify itself with Rome, this ambition to command the prestige of + Rome as leverage for carrying out its own designs, stirred the resentment + of haughty and <i>intransigeant</i> Pontiffs. The Jesuits were not beloved + by Paul IV., Pius V., and Sixtus V. + </p> + <p> + It remains, however, to inquire in what the originality, the effective + operation, and the modifying influence of the Jesuit Society consisted + during the period with which we are concerned. It was their object to gain + control over Europe by preaching, education, the direction of souls, and + the management of public affairs. In each of these departments their + immediate success was startling; for they labored with zeal, and they + adapted their methods to the requirements of the age. Yet, in the long + run, art, science, literature, religion, morality and politics, all + suffered from their interference. By preferring artifice to reality, + affectation to sincerity, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA282" + id="pageA282"></a>{282}</span> shams and subterfuges to plain principle + and candor, they confused the conscience and enfeebled the intellect of + Catholic Europe. When we speak of the Jesuit style in architecture, + rhetoric and poetry, of Jesuit learning and scholarship, of Jesuit + casuistry and of Jesuit diplomacy, it is either with languid contempt for + bad taste and insipidity, or with the burning indignation which systematic + falsehood and corruption inspire in honorable minds. + </p> + <p> + In education, the Jesuits, if they did not precisely innovate, improved + upon the methods of the grammarians which had persisted from the Middle + Ages through the Renaissance. They spared no pains in training a large and + competent body of professors, men of extensive culture, formed upon one + uniform pattern, and exercised in the art of popularizing knowledge. These + teachers were distributed over the Jesuit colleges; and in every country + their system was the same. New catechisms, grammars, primers, manuals of + history, enabled their pupils to learn with facility in a few months what + it had cost years of painful labor to acquire under pompous pedants of the + old <i>régime</i>. The mental and physical aptitudes of youths + committed to their charge were carefully observed; and classes were + adapted to various ages and degrees of capacity. Hours of recreation + alternated with hours of study, so that the effort of learning should be + neither irksome nor injurious to health. Nor was religious education + neglected. Attendance upon daily Mass, monthly <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA283" id="pageA283"></a>{283}</span> confession, and instruction + in the articles of the faith, formed an indispensable part of the system. + When we remember that these advantages were offered gratuitously to the + public, it is not surprising that people of all ranks and conditions + should have sent their boys to the Jesuit colleges. Even Protestants + availed themselves of what appeared so excellent a method; and the Jesuits + obtained the reputation of being the best instructors of youth.<a + name="FNanchorA_172_172" id="FNanchorA_172_172"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> It soon became the + mark of a good Catholic to have frequented Jesuit schools; and in after + life a pupil who had studied creditably in their colleges, found himself + everywhere at home. Yet the Society took but little interest in elementary + or popular education. Their object was to gain possession of the nobility, + gentry, and upper middle class. The proletariat might remain ignorant; it + was the destiny of such folk to be passive instruments in the hands of + spiritual and temporal rulers. Nor were they always scrupulous in the + means employed for taking hold on young men of distinction. One instance + of the animosity they aroused, even in Italy, at an early period of their + activity, will suffice. Tuscany was thrown into commotion by the discovery + of their designs upon the boys they undertook to teach. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA284" id="pageA284"></a>{284}</span> + 'They were so madly bent,' says Galluzzi, 'upon filling the ranks of their + Company with individuals of wealth and birth, that in 1584, in the single + city of Siena, under the pretense of devotion, they seduced thirty youths + of the noblest and richest houses, not without great injury to their + families and grief to their parents. The most notorious of these cases Was + that of two sons of Pandolfo Petrucci, whose name indicates his high + position in the aristocracy of Siena. These young men they got into their + power by inducing them to commit a theft, and then compelled them to + pledge fealty to the Society. Escaping by night in the direction of Rome, + the lads were arrested by the city guards, and confessed that they had + agreed to meet two Jesuits, who were waiting to conduct them on their + journey.'<a name="FNanchorA_173_173" id="FNanchorA_173_173"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> + </p> + <p> + It was, indeed, not the propagation of sound principles or liberal + learning, but the aggrandizement of the order and the enforcement of + Catholic usages, at which the Jesuits aimed in their scheme of education. + This was noticeable in their attitude toward literature and science. + Michelet has described their method in a brilliant and exact metaphor, as + the attempt to counteract the poison of free thought and stimulative + studies by means of vaccination. They taught the classics in expurgated + editions, history in drugged epitomes, science in popular lectures. + Instead of banning what M. Renan is wont to style <i>études fortes</i>, + they undertook to emasculate these and render them <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA285" id="pageA285"></a>{285}</span> innocuous. While Bruno was + burned by the Inquisition for proclaiming what the Copernican discovery + involved for faith and metaphysics, Father Koster at Cologne vulgarized it + into something pretty and agreeable. While Scaliger and Casaubon used the + humanities as a propaedeutic of the virile reason, the Jesuits contrived + to sterilize and mechanize their influences by insipid rhetoric. + Everywhere through Europe, by the side of stalwart thinkers, crept + plausible Jesuit professors, following the light of learning like its + shadow, mimicking the accent of the gods like parrots, and mocking their + gestures like apes. Their adroit admixture of falsehood with truth in all + departments of knowledge, their substitution of veneer for solid timber, + and of pinchbeck for sterling metal, was more profitable to the end they + had in view than the torture-chamber of the Inquisition or the quarantine + of the Index. Mediocrities and respectabilities of every description—that + is to say, the majority of the influential classes—were delighted + with their method. What could be better than to see sons growing up, good + Catholics in all external observances, devoted to the order of society and + Mother Church, and at the same time showy Latinists, furnished with a + cyclopaedia of current knowledge, glib at speechifying, ingenious in the + construction of an epigram or compliment? If some of the more sensible + sort grumbled that Jesuit learning was shallow, and Jesuit morality of + base alloy, the reply, like that of an Italian draper selling <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA286" id="pageA286"></a>{286}</span> palpable + shoddy for broadcloth, came easily and cynically to the surface: <i>Imita + bene</i>! The stuff is a good match enough! What more do you want? To + produce plausible imitations, to save appearances, to amuse the mind with + tricks, was the last resort of Catholicism in its warfare against + rationalism. And such is the banality of human nature as a whole, that the + Jesuits, those monopolists of Brummagem manufactures, achieved eminent + success. Their hideous churches, daubed with plaster painted to resemble + costly marbles, encrusted with stucco polished to deceive the eye, loaded + with gewgaws and tinsel and superfluous ornament and frescoes, turning + flat surfaces into cupolas and arcades, passed for masterpieces of + architectonic beauty. The conceits of their pulpit oratory, its artificial + cadences and flowery verbiage, its theatrical appeals to gross sensations, + wrought miracles and converted thousands. Their sickly Ciceronian style, + their sentimental books of piety, 'the worse for being warm,' the + execrable taste of their poetry, their flimsy philosophy and disingenuous + history, infected the taste of Catholic Europe like a slow seductive + poison, flattering and accelerating the diseases of mental decadence. + Sound learning died down beneath the tyranny of the Inquisition, the + Index, the Council of Trent, Spain and the Papacy. A rank growth of + unwholesome culture arose and flourished on its tomb under the + forcing-frames of Jesuitry. But if we peruse the records of literature and + science during the last three <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA287" + id="pageA287"></a>{287}</span> centuries, few indeed are the eminences + even of a second order which can be claimed by the Company of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + The same critique applies to Jesuit morality. It was the Company's aim to + control the conscience by direction and confession, and especially the + conscience of princes, women, youths in high position. To do so by plain + speaking and honest dealing was clearly dangerous. The world had had + enough of Dominican austerity and dogmatism. To do so by open toleration + and avowed cynicism did not suit the temper of the time. A reform of the + monastic orders and the regular clergy had been undertaken by the Church. + Pardoners, palmers, indulgence-mongers, jolly Franciscan confessors, and + such-like folk were out of date. But the Jesuits were equal to the + exigencies of the moment. We have seen how Ignatius recommended fishers of + souls to humor queasy consciences. His successors expanded and applied the + hint.—You must not begin by talking about spiritual things to people + immersed in worldly interests. That is as simple as trying to fish without + bait. On the contrary, you must insinuate yourself into their confidence + by studying their habits, and spying out their propensities. You must + appear to notice little at the first, and show yourself a good companion. + When you become acquainted with the bosom sins and pleasant vices of folk + in high position, you can lead them on the path of virtue at your + pleasure. You must certainly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA288" + id="pageA288"></a>{288}</span> tell them then that indulgence in + sensuality, falsehood, fraud, violence, covetousness, and tyrannical + oppression, is unconditionally wrong. Make no show of compromise with evil + in the gross; but refine away the evil by distinctions, reservations, + hypothetical conditions, until it disappears. Explain how hard it is to + know whether a sin be venial or mortal, and how many chances there are + against its being in any strict sense a sin at all. Do not leave folk to + their own blunt sense of right and wrong, but let them admire the finer + edge of your scalpel, while you shred up evil into morsels they can hardly + see. A ready way may thus be opened for the satisfaction of every human + desire without falling into theological faults. The advantages are + manifest. You will be able to absolve with a clear conscience. Your + penitent will abound in gratitude and open out his heart to you. You will + fulfill your function as confessor and counselor. He will be secured for + the sacred ends of our Society, and will contribute to the greater glory + of God.—It was thus that the Jesuit labyrinth of casuistry, with its + windings, turnings, secret chambers, whispering galleries, blind alleys, + issues of evasion, came into existence; the whole vicious and monstrous + edifice being crowned with the saving virtue of obedience, and the theory + of ends justifying means. After the irony of Pascal, the condensed rage of + La Chalotais, and the grave verdict of the Parlement of Paris (1762), it + is not necessary now to refute the errors <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA289" id="pageA289"></a>{289}</span> or to expose the + abominations of this casuistry in detail.<a name="FNanchorA_174_174" + id="FNanchorA_174_174"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> + Yet it cannot be wholly passed in silence here; for its application + materially favored the influence of Jesuits in modern Europe.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA290" id="pageA290"></a>{290}</span> + </p> + <p> + The working of the Company, as we have seen, depended upon a skillful + manipulation of apparently hard-and-fast principles. The Declarations + explained away the Constitutions; and an infinite number of minute + exceptions and distinctions volatilized vows and obligations into ether. + Transferring the same method to the sphere of ethics, they so wrought upon + the precepts of the moral law, whether expressed in holy writ, in the + ecclesiastical <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA291" id="pageA291"></a>{291}</span> + decrees, or in civil jurisprudence, as to deprive them of their binding + force. The subtlest elasticity had been gained for the machinery of the + order by casuistical interpretation. A like elasticity was secured for the + control and government of souls by an identical process. It was no wonder + that the Jesuits became rapidly fashionable as confessors. The plainest + prohibitions were as wax in their hands. The Decalogue laid down as rules + for conduct: 'Thou shalt not steal;' 'Thou shalt not kill;' 'Thou shalt + not commit adultery.' Christ spiritualized these rules into their essence: + 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;' 'Whosoever looketh on a woman + to lust after her, hath committed adultery already with her in his heart.' + It is manifest that both the old and the new covenant upon which modern + Christianity is supposed to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA292" + id="pageA292"></a>{292}</span> rest, suffered no transactions in matters + so clear to the human conscience. Jesus himself refined upon the legality + of the Mosaic code by defining sin as egotism or concupiscence. But the + Company of Jesus took pains in their casuistry to provide attenuating + circumstances for every sin in detail. By their doctrines of the + invincible erroneous conscience, of occult compensation, of equivocation, + of mental reservation, of probabilism, and of philosophical sin, they + afforded loopholes for the gratification of every passion, and for the + commission of every crime. Instead of maintaining that any injury done to + a neighbor is wrong, they multiplied instances in which a neighbor may be + injured. Instead of holding firm to Christ's verdict that sexual vice is + implicit in licentious desire, they analyzed the sensual modes of crude + voluptuousness, taxed each in turn at arbitrary values, and provided + plausible excuses for indulgence. Instead of laying it down as a broad + principle that men must keep their word, they taught them how to lie with + spiritual impunity and with credit to their reputation as sons of the + Church. Thus the inventive genius of the casuist, bent on dissecting + immorality and reducing it to classes; the interrogative ingenuity of the + confessor, pruriently inquisitive into private experience; the apologetic + subtlety of the director, eager to supply his penitent with salves and + anodynes; were all alike and all together applied to anti-social con<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA293" id="pageA293"></a>{293}</span> + tamination in matters of lubricity, and to anti-social corruption in + matters of dishonesty, fraud, falsehood, illegality and violence. The + single doctrine of probabilism, as Pascal abundantly proved, facilitates + the commission of crime; for there is no perverse act which some casuist + of note has not plausibly excused. + </p> + <p> + It may be urged that confession and direction, as adopted by the Catholic + Church, bring the abominations of casuistry logically in their train. + Priests who have to absolve sinners must be familiar with sin in all its + branches. In the confessional they will be forced to listen to recitals, + the exact bearings of which they cannot understand unless they are + previously instructed. Therefore the writings of Sanchez, Diana, Liguori, + Burchard, Billuard, Rousselot, Gordon, Gaisson, are put into their hands + at an early age—works which reveal more secrets of impudicity than + Aretino has described, or Commodus can have practiced—works which + recommend more craft and treachery and fraud and falsehood than + Machiavelli accorded to his misbegotten Saviour of Society. In these + writings men vowed to celibacy probe the foulest labyrinths of sexual + impurity; men claiming to stand outside the civil order and the state, + imbibe false theories upon property and probity and public duty. + </p> + <p> + The root of the matter is wrong indubitably. It is contrary to good + government that a sacerdotal class, by means of confession and direction, + should be placed in a position of deciding upon conduct. It <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA294" id="pageA294"></a>{294}</span> is + revolting to human dignity that this same class, without national + allegiance, and without domestic ties, should have the opportunity of + infecting young minds by unhealthy questionings and dishonorable + suggestions. But this wrong, which is inherent in the modern Catholic + system, becomes an atrocity when it is employed, as the Jesuits employed + it, as an instrument for moulding and controlling society in their own + interest. + </p> + <p> + While the Jesuits rendered themselves obnoxious to criticism by their + treatment of the individual in his private and social capacity, they + speedily became what Hallam cautiously styles 'rather dangerous supporters + of the See of Rome' in public and political affairs. The ultimate failure + of their diplomacy and intrigue over the whole field of modern statecraft + inclines historians of the present epoch to underrate their mechanics of + obstruction, and to underestimate the many occasions on which they did + successfully retard the progress of civil government and intellectual + freedom. It were wiser to regard them in the same light as fanatics laying + stones upon a railway, or of dynamiters blowing up an emperor or a corner + of Westminster Hall. The final end of the nefarious traffic may not be + attained. But credit can be claimed by those who took their part in it, + for the wreck of express trains, the perturbation of cities, and the + mourning of peaceable families. And thus it was with the Jesuits. Though + the results of their political intrigues had not corresponded to <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA295" id="pageA295"></a>{295}</span> their + hopes, they yet worked appreciable mischief by the organization of the + League in France, and the Thirty Years' War in Germany, and by their + revolutionary theories which infected Europe with conspiracy and murder. + Their method was not original. Machiavelli had expounded the doctrines + they put in practice. He taught that in a desperate state of the nation, + men may have recourse to treachery and violence. The nation of the Jesuits + was a hybrid between their order and Catholicism. The peril to the Church + was imminent; its decadence demanded desperate remedies. They invoked + regicide, revolt, and treason, to effect an impossible cure. + </p> + <p> + The political theory of the Jesuits was deduced from their fundamental + principle of obedience to the Church. They maintained that the + ecclesiastical is <i>jure divino</i> superior to the secular power. The + Pope through God's commission and appointment sways the Church; the Church + takes rank above the State, as the soul above the body. Consequently, the + first allegiance of a Christian nation, together with its secular rulers, + belongs of right to the Supreme Pontiff. The people is the real sovereign; + and kings are delegates from the people, with authority which they can + only justly exercise so long as they remain in obedience to Rome. It + follows from these positions that every nation must refuse fealty to an + irreligious or contumacious ruler. In the last resort they may lawfully + remove him by murder; and they <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA296" + id="pageA296"></a>{296}</span> are <i>ipso facto</i> in a state of mortal + sin if they elect or recognize a heretic as sovereign. This theory sprang + from the writings of the English Jesuits, Allen and Parsons. It was + elaborated in Rome by Cardinal Bellarmino, applied in Spain by Suarez and + Mariana, and openly preached in France by Jean Boucher. The best energies + of Paolo Sarpi were devoted to combating the main position of + ecclesiastical supremacy. His works had a salutary effect by delimiting + the relations of the Church to the State, and by demonstrating even to + Catholics the pernicious results of acknowledging a Papal overlordship in + temporal affairs. At the same time the boldly democratic principle of the + sovereignty of the people, which the Jesuits advanced in order to + establish their doctrine of ecclesiastical superiority, provoked + opposition. It led to the contrary hypothesis of the Divine Right of + sovereigns, which found favor in Protestant kingdoms, and especially in + England under the Stuart dynasty. When the French Catholics resolved to + terminate the discords of their country by the recognition of Henri IV., + they had recourse to this argument for justifying their obedience to a + heretic. It was felt by all sound thinkers and by every patriot in Europe, + that the Papal prerogatives claimed by the Jesuits were too inconsistent + with national liberties to be tolerated. The zeal of the Society had + clearly outrun its discretion; and the free discussion of the theory of + government which their insolent assumptions <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA297" id="pageA297"></a>{297}</span> stimulated, weakened the + cause they sought to strengthen. Their ingenuity overreached itself. + </p> + <p> + This, however, was as nothing compared with the hostility evoked by their + unscrupulous application of these principles in practice. There was hardly + a plot against established rule in Protestant countries with which they + were not known or believed to be connected. The invasion of Ireland in + 1579, the murder of the Regent Morton in Scotland, and Babington's + conspiracy against Elizabeth, emanated from their councils. They were held + responsible for the attempted murder of the Prince of Orange in 1580, and + for his actual murder in 1584. They loudly applauded Jacques Clément, + the assassin of Henri III. in 1589, as 'the eternal glory of France.'<a + name="FNanchorA_175_175" id="FNanchorA_175_175"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> Numerous unsuccessful + attacks upon the life of Henri IV., culminating in that of Jean Chastel in + 1594, caused their expulsion from France. When they returned in 1603, they + set to work again;<a name="FNanchorA_176_176" id="FNanchorA_176_176"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> and the assassin + Ravaillac, who succeeded in removing the obnoxious champion of European + independence in 1610, was probably inspired by their doctrine.<a + name="FNanchorA_177_177" id="FNanchorA_177_177"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> They had a hand in + the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, and were thought by some to have instigated + the Massa<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA298" id="pageA298"></a>{298}</span> + ere of S. Bartholomew. They fomented the League of the Guises, which had + for its object a change in the French dynasty. They organized the Thirty + Years' War, and they procured the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. If it + is not possible to connect them immediately with all and each of the + criminal acts laid to their charge, the fact that a Jesuit in every case + was lurking in the background, counts by the force of cumulative evidence + heavily against them, and explains the universal suspicion with which they + came to be regarded as factious intermeddlers in the concerns of nations. + Moreover, their written words accused them; for the tyrannicide of + heretics was plainly advocated in their treatises on government. So + profound was the conviction of their guilt, that the death of Sixtus V. in + 1590, predicted by Bellarmino, the sudden death of Urban VII. in the same + year, and the death of Clement VIII. in 1805, also predicted by Bellarmino—these + three Popes being ill-affected toward the order—were popularly + ascribed to their agency. But of their practical intervention there is no + proof. Old age and fever must be credited, in these as in other cases, + with the decease of Roman Pontiffs supposed to have been poisoned. + </p> + <p> + It is not, however, to be wondered that sooner, or later the Jesuits made + themselves insupportable <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA299" + id="pageA299"></a>{299}</span> by their intrigues in all the countries + where they were established.<a name="FNanchorA_178_178" + id="FNanchorA_178_178"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> + Even to the Papacy itself they proved too irksome to be borne. The Company + showed plainly that what they meant by obedience to Rome was obedience to + a Rome controlled and fashioned by themselves. It was their ambition to + stand in the same relation to the Pope as the Shogûn to the Mikado + of Japan. Nor does the analysis of their opinions fail to justify the + condemnation passed upon them by the Parlement of Paris in 1762. 'These + doctrines tend to destroy the natural law, that rule of manners which God + Himself has imprinted on the hearts of men, and in consequence to sever + all the bonds of civil society, by the authorization of theft, falsehood, + perjury, the most culpable impurity, and in a word each passion and each + crime of human weakness; to obliterate all sentiments of humanity by + favoring homicide and parricide; and to annihilate the authority of + sovereigns in the State.' + </p> + <p> + Great psychological and pathological interest, attaches to the study of + the Jesuit order. To withhold our admiration from the zeal, energy, + self-devotion and constructive ability of its founders, would be + impossible. Equally futile would it be to affect indifference before the + sinister spectacle of so world-<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA300" + id="pageA300"></a>{300}</span> embracing an organism, persistently + maintained in action for an anti-social end. There is something Roman in + the colossal proportions of Loyola's idea, something Roman in the + durability of the structure which perpetuates it. Yet the philosopher + cannot but agree with the vulgar in his final judgment on the odiousness + of these sacerdotal despots, these unflinching foes not merely to the + heroes of the human intellect, and to the champions of right conduct, but + also to the very angels of Christianity. That the Jesuits should claim to + have been founded by Him who preached the Sermon on the Mount, that they + should flaunt their motto, A.M.D.G., in the sight of Him who spake from + Sinai, is one of those practical paradoxes in which the history of + decrepit religions abounds. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA301" id="pageA301"></a>{301}</span> + </p> + <h4> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS: PART I + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + How did the Catholic Revival affect Italian Society?—Difficulty of + Answering this Question—Frequency of Private Crimes of Violence—Homicides + and Bandits—Savage Criminal Justice—Paid Assassins—Toleration + of Outlaws—Honorable Murder—Example of the Lucchese Army—State + of the Convents—The History of Virginia de Leyva—Lucrezia + Buonvisi—The True Tale of the Cenci—The Brothers of the + House of Massimo—Vittoria Accoramboni—The Duchess of + Palliano—Wife-Murders—The Family of Medici. + </p> + </div> + <p> + We are naturally led to inquire what discernible effect the Catholic + Revival and the Counter-Reformation had upon the manners and morals of the + Italians as a nation. Much has been said about the contrast between + intellectual refinement and almost savage license which marked the + Renaissance. Yet it can with justice be maintained that, while ferocity + and brutal sensuality survived from the Middle Ages, humanism, by means of + the new ideal it introduced, tended to civilize and educate the race. Now, + however, the Church was stifling culture and attempting to restore that + ecclesiastical conception of human life which the Renaissance had + superseded. Did then her resuscitated Catholicism succeed in permeating + the Italians with the spirit of Christ and of the Gospel? Were the nobles + more quiet in their demeanor, less quarrelsome and haughty, more law-<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA302" id="pageA302"></a>{302}</span> abiding + and less given to acts of violence, than they had been in the previous + period? Were the people more contented and less torn by factions, happier + in their homes, less abandoned to the insanities of baleful superstitions? + </p> + <p> + It is obviously difficult to answer these questions with either + completeness or accuracy. In the first place, we have no right to expect + that the religious revival, signalized by the Tridentine Council, should + have made itself immediately felt in the sphere of national conduct. In + the second place, it was not, like the German Reformation, a renewal of + Christianity at its sources, but a resuscitation of mediaeval Catholicity, + in direct antagonism to the intellectual tendencies of the age. The new + learning among northern races disintegrated that system of ideas upon + which mediaeval society rested; but it also introduced religious and moral + conceptions more vital than those ideas in their decadence. In Italy the + disintegrating process had been no less thorough, nay far more subtle and + pervasive. Yet the new learning had not led the nation to attempt a + reconstruction of primitive Christianity. The Catholic Revival gave + nothing vital or enthusiastic to the conscience of the race. It brought + the old creeds, old cult, old superstitions, old abuses back, with + stricter discipline and under a <i>régime</i> of terror. Meanwhile, + it resolutely ranged its forces in opposition to what had been salutary + and life-giving in the mental movement of the Renaissance. It compelled + people who had <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA303" id="pageA303"></a>{303}</span> + watched the dawning of a new light, to shut their eyes upon that + dayspring. It extinguished the studies of the Classical Revival; bade + philosophers return to Thomas of Aquino; threatened thinkers with the + dungeon or the stake who should presume to pass the Pillars of Hercules, + when a whole Atlantic of knowledge had been opened to their curiosity. + Under these circumstances it was impossible that a revolution, so + retrograde in its nature, checking the tide of national energy in full + flow, should have exercised a healthy influence over the Italian + temperament at large. We have a right to expect, what in fact we find, the + advent of hypocrisy and ceremonial observances, but little actual + amendment in manners. In the third place, the question is still further + complicated by the Catholic Revival having been effected concurrently with + the establishment of the Spanish Hegemony. At the end of the first chapter + of this volume I pointed out the evils brought on Italy by her servitude + to a foreign and unsympathetic despot: the decline of commercial activity, + the multiplication of slothful lordlings, the depression of industry, the + diminution of wealth, and the suffering of the lower classes from pirates, + bandits and tax-gatherers. These conditions were sufficient to demoralize + a people. And mediaeval Catholicism, restored by edict, enforced by the + Inquisition, propagated by Jesuits, was not of the fine enthusiastic + quality to counteract them. Servile in its conception, it sufficed to + bridle and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA304" id="pageA304"></a>{304}</span> + benumb a race of serfs, but not to soften or to purify their brutal + instincts.<a name="FNanchorA_179_179" id="FNanchorA_179_179"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> + </p> + <p> + In this chapter I shall not attempt a general survey of Italian society.<a + name="FNanchorA_180_180" id="FNanchorA_180_180"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> I shall content + myself with supplying materials for the formation of a judgment by + narrating some of the most remarkable domestic tragedies of the second + half of the sixteenth century, choosing those only which rest upon + well-sifted documentary evidence, and which bring the social conditions of + the country into strong relief. Before engaging in these historical + romances, it will be well to preface them with a few general remarks upon + the state of manners they will illustrate. + </p> + <p> + The first thing which strikes a student of Italy between 1530 and 1600 is + that crimes of violence, committed by private individuals for personal + ends, continued steadily upon the increase.<a name="FNanchorA_181_181" + id="FNanchorA_181_181"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA305" id="pageA305"></a>{305}</span> + </p> + <p> + Compared with the later Middle Ages, compared with the Renaissance, this + period is distinguished by extraordinary ferocity of temper and by an + almost unparalleled facility of bloodshed.<a name="FNanchorA_182_182" + id="FNanchorA_182_182"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> + </p> + <p> + The broad political and religious contests which had torn the country in + the first years of the sixteenth century, were pacified. Foreign armies + had ceased to dispute the provinces of Italy. The victorious powers of + Spain, the Church, and the protected principalities, seemed secure in the + possession of their gains. But those international quarrels which kept the + nation in unrest through a long period of municipal wars, ending in the + horrors of successive invasions, were now succeeded by an almost universal + discord between families and persons. Each province, each city, each + village became the theater of private feuds and assassinations. Each + household was the scene of homicide and empoisonment. Italy presented the + spectacle of a nation armed against itself, not to decide the issue of + antagonistic political principles by civil strife, but to gratify lawless + passions—cupidity, revenge, resentment—by deeds of personal + high-handedness. Among the common people of the country and the towns, + crimes of brutality and bloodshed were of daily occurrence; every man bore + weapons for self-defence, and for attack upon <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA306" id="pageA306"></a>{306}</span> his neighbor. The + aristocracy and the upper classes of the <i>bourgeoisie</i> lived in a + perpetual state of mutual mistrust, ready upon the slightest occasion of + fancied affront to blaze forth into murder. Much of this savagery was due + to the false ideas of honor and punctilio which the Spaniards introduced. + Quarrels arose concerning a salute, a title, a question of precedence, a + seat in church, a place in the prince's ante-chamber, a meeting in the + public streets. Noblemen were ushered on their way by servants, who + measured distances, and took the height of daïs or of bench, before + their master committed his dignity by advancing a step beyond the minimum + that was due. Love-affairs and the code of honor with regard to women + opened endless sources of implacable jealousies, irreconcilable hatreds, + and offenses that could only be wiped out with blood. On each and all of + these occasions, the sword was ready to the right hand; and where this + generous weapon would not reach, the harquebuss and knife of paid + assassins were employed without compunction.<a name="FNanchorA_183_183" + id="FNanchorA_183_183"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> + We must not, however, ascribe this condition of society wholly or chiefly + to Spanish influences. + </p> + <p> + It was in fact a survival of mediaeval habits under altered circumstances. + During the municipal wars of the thirteenth <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA307" id="pageA307"></a>{307}</span> century, and afterwards + during the struggle of the despots for ascendency, the nation had become + accustomed to internecine contests which set party against party, + household against household, man against man. These humors in the cities, + as Italian historians were wont to call them, had been partially + suppressed by the confederation of the five great Powers at the close of + the fifteenth century, and also by a prevalent urbanity of manners. At + that epoch, moreover, they were systematized and controlled by the methods + of <i>condottiere</i> warfare, which offered a legitimate outlet to the + passions of turbulent young men. But when Italy sank into the sloth of + pacification after the settlement of Charles V. at Bologna in 1530, when + there were no longer <i>condottieri</i> to levy troops in rival armies, + when political parties ceased in the cities, the old humors broke out + again under the aspect of private and personal feuds. Though the names of + Guelf and Ghibelline had lost their meaning, these factions reappeared, + and divided Milan, the towns of Romagna, the villages of the Campagna. In + the place of <i>condottieri</i> arose brigand chiefs, who, like + Piccolomini and Sciarra, placed themselves at the head of regiments, and + swept the country on marauding expeditions. Instead of exiles, driven by + victorious parties in the state to seek precarious living on a foreign + soil, bandits, proscribed for acts of violence, abounded. Thus the habits + which had been created through centuries of political ferment, subsisted + when <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA308" id="pageA308"></a>{308}</span> + the nation was at rest in servitude, assuming baser and more selfish forms + of ferocity. The end of the sixteenth century witnessed the final + degeneration and corruption of a mediaeval state of warfare, which the + Renaissance had checked, but which the miseries of foreign invasions had + resuscitated by brutalizing the population, and which now threatened to + disintegrate society in aimless anarchy and private lawlessness. + </p> + <p> + It must not be imagined that governments and magistracies were slack in + their pursuit of criminals. Repressive statutes, proclamations of + outlawry, and elaborate prosecutions succeeded one another with unwearied + conscientiousness. The revenues of states were taxed to furnish + blood-money and to support spies. Large sums were invariably offered for + the capture or assassination of escaped delinquents; and woe to the + wretches who became involved in criminal proceedings! Witnesses were + tortured with infernal cruelty. Convicted culprits suffered horrible + agonies before their death, or were condemned to languish out a miserable + life in pestilential dungeons. But the very inhumanity of this judicial + method, without mercy for the innocent, from whom evidence could be + extorted, and frequently inequitable in the punishments assigned to + criminals of varying degrees of guilt, taught the people to defy justice, + and encouraged them in brutality. They found it more tolerable to join the + bands of brigands who preyed upon their fields <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA309" id="pageA309"></a>{309}</span> and villages, than to + assist rulers who governed so unequally and cruelly. We know, for + instance, that a robber chief, Marianazzo, refused the Pope's pardon, + alleging that the profession of brigandage was more lucrative and offered + greater security of life than any trade within the walls of Rome. Thus the + bandits of that generation occupied the specious attitude of opposition to + oppressive governments. There were, moreover, many favorable chances for a + homicide. The Church was jealous of her rights of sanctuary. Whatever may + have been her zeal for orthodoxy, she showed herself an indulgent mother + to culprits who demanded an asylum. Feudal nobles prided themselves on + protecting refugees within their fiefs and castles. There were innumerable + petty domains left, which carried privileges of signorial courts and local + justice. Cardinals, ambassadors, and powerful princes claimed immunity + from common jurisdiction in their palaces, the courts and basements of + which soon became the resort of escaped criminals. No extradition treaties + subsisted between the several and numerous states into which Italy was + then divided, so that it was only necessary to cross a frontier in order + to gain safety from the law. The position of an outlaw in that case was + tolerably secure, except against private vengeance or the cupidity of + professional cut-throats, who gained an honest livelihood by murdering + bandits with a good price on their heads. Condemned for the most part in + their absence, these homicides <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA310" + id="pageA310"></a>{310}</span> entered a recognized and not dishonorable + class. They were tolerated, received, and even favored by neighboring + princes, who generally had some grudge against the state from which the + outlaws fled. After obtaining letters of safe-conduct and protection, they + enrolled themselves in the militia of their adopted country, while the + worst of them became spies or secret agents of police. No government seems + to have regarded crimes of violence with severity, provided these had been + committed on a foreign soil. Murders for the sake of robbery or rape were + indeed esteemed ignoble. But a man who had killed an avowed enemy, or had + shed blood in the heat of a quarrel, or had avenged his honor by the + assassination of a sister convicted of light love, only established a + reputation for bravery, which stood him in good stead. He was likely to + make a stout soldier, and he had done nothing socially discreditable. On + the contrary, if he had been useful in ridding the world of an outlaw some + prince wished to kill, this murder made him a hero. In addition to the + blood-money, he not unfrequently received lucrative office, or a pension + for life. + </p> + <p> + A very curious state of things resulted from these customs. States + depended, in large measure, for the execution of their judicial sentences + in cases of manslaughter and treason, upon foreign murderers and traitors. + Towns were full of outlaws, each with a price upon his head, mutually + suspicious, individually <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA311" + id="pageA311"></a>{311}</span> desirous of killing some fellow-criminal + and thereby enriching his own treasury. If he were successful, he received + a fair sum of money, with privileges and immunities from the state which + had advertised the outlaw; and not unfrequently he obtained the further + right of releasing one or more bandits from penalties of death or prison. + It may be imagined at what cross-purposes the outlaws dwelt together, with + crimes in many states accumulated on their shoulders; and what peril might + ensue to society should they combine together, as indeed they tried to do + in Bedmar's conspiracy against Venice. Meanwhile, the states kept this + floating population of criminals in check by various political and social + contrivances, which grew up from the exigencies and the habits of the + moment. Instead of recruiting soldiers from the stationary population, it + became usual, when a war was imminent, to enroll outlaws. Thus, when Lucca + had to make an inroad into Garfagnana in 1613, the Republic issued a + proclamation promising pardon and pay to those of its own bandits who + should join its standard. Men to the number of 591 answered this call, and + the little war which followed was conducted with more than customary + fierceness.<a name="FNanchorA_184_184" id="FNanchorA_184_184"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> + </p> + <p> + Even the ordinary police and guards of cities were composed of fugitives + from other states, care being taken to select by preference those who came + stained only with honorable bloodshed. In 1593 the guard of the palace of + Lucca was reinforced by the addition of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA312" id="pageA312"></a>{312}</span> forty-three men, among whom + four were bandits for wounds inflicted upon enemies in open fight; twelve + for homicide in duel, sword to sword; five for the murder of more than one + person in similar encounters; one for the murder of a sister, and the + wounding of her seducer; two for mutilating an enemy in the face; one for + unlawful recruiting; one for wounding; one for countenancing bandits; and + sixteen simple refugees.<a name="FNanchorA_185_185" id="FNanchorA_185_185"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> The phrases employed + to describe these men in the official report are sufficiently illustrative + of contemporary moral standards. Thus we read 'Banditi per omicidi + semplici <i>da buono a buono</i>, a sangue caldo, da spada a spada, <i>o + di nemici</i>.' 'Per omicidio d'una sorella <i>per causa d'onore</i>.' To + murder an enemy, or a sister who had misbehaved herself, was accounted + excusable. + </p> + <p> + The prevalence of lawlessness encouraged a domestic custom which soon grew + into a system. This was the maintenance of so-called <i>bravi</i> by + nobles and folk rich enough to afford so expensive a luxury. The outlaws + found their advantage in the bargain which they drew with their employers; + for besides being lodged, fed, clothed and armed, they obtained a certain + protection from the spies and professional murderers who were always on + the watch to kill them. Their masters used them to defend their persons + when a feud was being carried on, or directed them against private enemies + whom they wished to injure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA313" + id="pageA313"></a>{313}</span> + </p> + <p> + It is not uncommon in the annals of these times to read: 'Messer + So-and-so, having received an affront from the Count of V., employed the + services of three <i>bravi</i>, valiant fellows up to any mischief, with + whom he retired to his country house.' Or again: 'The Marquis, perceiving + that his neighbor had a grudge against him on account of the Signora + Lucrezia, thought it prudent to increase his bodyguard, and therefore + added Pepi and Lo Scarabone, bandits from Tuscany for murders of a priest + and a citizen, to his household.' Or again: 'During the vacation of the + Holy See the Baron X had, as usual, engaged men-at-arms for the protection + of his palace.' + </p> + <p> + In course of time it became the mark of birth and wealth to lodge a rabble + of such rascals. They lived on terms of familiarity with their employer, + shared his secrets, served him in his amours, and executed any devil's job + he chose to command. Apartments in the basement of the palace were + assigned to them, so that a nobleman's house continued to resemble the + castle of a mediaeval baron. But the <i>bravi</i>, unlike soldiery, were + rarely employed in honorable business. They formed a permanent element of + treachery and violence within the social organism. Not a little singular + were the relations thus established. The community of crime, involving + common interests and common perils, established a peculiar bond between + the noble and his <i>bravo</i>. This was complexioned by a certain sense + of 'honor rooted in dishonor,' and by a faint reflection from elder + retainership. The compact <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA314" + id="pageA314"></a>{314}</span> struck between landowner and bandit + parodied that which drew feudal lord and wandering squire together. There + was something ignobly noble in it, corresponding to the confused + conscience and perilous conditions of the epoch. + </p> + <p> + While studying this organized and half-tolerated system of social + violence, we are surprised to observe how largely it was countenanced and + how frequently it was set in motion by the Church. In a previous chapter + on the Jesuits, I have adverted to their encouragement of assassination + for ends which they considered sacred. In a coming chapter upon Sarpi, I + shall show to what extent the Roman prelacy was implicated in more than + one attempt to take away his life. The chiefs of the Church, then, instead + of protesting against this vice of corrupt civilization in Italy, lent the + weight of their encouragement to what strikes us now, not only as + eminently unchristian, but also as pernicious to healthy national + conditions of existence. We may draw two conclusions from these + observations: first, that religions, except in the first fervor of their + growth and forward progress, recognize the moral conventions of the + society which they pretend to regulate: secondly, that it is well-nigh + impossible for men of one century to sympathize with the ethics of a past + and different epoch. We cannot comprehend the regicidal theories of the + Jesuits, or the murderous intrigues of a Borghese Pontiff's Court, without + admitting that priests, specially dedicated to the service of Christ and + to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA315" id="pageA315"></a>{315}</span> + propagation of his gospel, felt themselves justified in employing the + immoral and unchristian means which social custom placed at their disposal + for ridding themselves of inconvenient enemies. This is at the same time + their defense as human beings in the sixteenth century, and their + indictment as self-styled and professed successors of the Founder who + rebuked Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. + </p> + <p> + To make general remarks upon the state of sexual morality at this epoch, + is hardly needful. Yet there are some peculiar circumstances which deserve + to be noticed, in order to render the typical stories which I mean to + relate intelligible. We have already seen that society condoned the murder + of a sister by a brother, if she brought dishonor on her family; and the + same privilege was extended to a husband in the case of a notoriously + faithless wife. Such homicides did not escape judicial sentence, but they + shared in the conventional toleration which was extended to murders in hot + blood or in the prosecution of a feud. The state of the Italian convents + at this period gave occasion to crimes in which women played a prominent + part. After the Council of Trent reforms were instituted in religious + houses. But they could not be immediately carried out; and, meanwhile, the + economical changes which were taking place in the commercial aristocracy, + filled nunneries with girls who had no vocation for a secluded life. Less + money was yearly made in trade; merchants became nobles, investing their + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA316" id="pageA316"></a>{316}</span> + capital in land, and securing their estates on their eldest sons by + entails. It followed that they could not afford to marry all their + daughters with dowries befitting the station they aspired to assume. A + large percentage of well-born women, accustomed to luxury, and vitiated by + bad examples in their homes, were thus thrown on a monastic life. Signor + Bonghi reckons that at the end of the sixteenth century, more than five + hundred girls, who had become superfluous in noble families, crowded the + convents in the single little town of Lucca. At a later epoch there would + have been no special peril in this circumstance. But at the time with + which we are now occupied, an objectionable license still survived from + earlier ages. The nunneries obtained evil notoriety as houses of + licentious pleasure, to which soldiers and youths of dissolute habits + resorted by preference.<a name="FNanchorA_186_186" id="FNanchorA_186_186"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> There appears to have + been a specific profligate fanaticism, a well-marked morbid partiality for + these amours with cloistered virgins. The young men who prosecuted them, + obtained a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA317" id="pageA317"></a>{317}</span> + nickname indicative of their absorbing passion.<a name="FNanchorA_187_187" + id="FNanchorA_187_187"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> + The attraction of mystery and danger had something, no doubt, to do with + this infatuation; and the fascination that sacrilege has for depraved + natures, may also be reckoned into the account. To enjoy a lawless amour + was not enough; but to possess a woman who alternated between transports + of passion and torments of remorse, added zest to guilty pleasure. For men + who habitually tampered with magic arts and believed firmly in the devil, + this raised romance to rapture. It was a common thing for debauchees to + seek what they called <i>peripetezie di nuova idea</i>, or novel and + exciting adventures stimulative of a jaded appetite, in consecrated + places. At any rate, as will appear in the sequel of this chapter, convent + intrigues occupied a large space in the criminal annals of the day. + </p> + <h4> + <i>The Lady of Monza</i> + </h4> + <p> + Virginia Maria de Leyva was a descendant of Charles V.'s general, Antonio + de Leyva, who through many years administered the Duchy of Milan, and died + loaded with wealth and honors.<a name="FNanchorA_188_188" + id="FNanchorA_188_188"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA318" id="pageA318"></a>{318}</span> + </p> + <p> + For his military service he was rewarded with the principality of Ascoli, + the federal lordship of the town of Monza, and the life-tenure of the city + of Pavia. Virginia's father was named Martino, and upon his death her + cousin succeeded to the titles of the house. She, for family reasons, + entered the convent of S. Margherita at Monza, about the year 1595. Here + she occupied a place of considerable importance, being the daughter of the + Lord of Monza, of princely blood, wealthy, and allied to the great houses + of the Milanese. S. Margherita was a convent of the Umiliate, dedicated to + the education of noble girls, in which, therefore, considerable laxity of + discipline prevailed.<a name="FNanchorA_189_189" id="FNanchorA_189_189"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> + </p> + <p> + Sister Virginia dwelt at ease within its walls, holding a kind of little + court, and exercising an undefined authority in petty affairs which was + conceded to her rank. Among her favorite companions at the time of the + events I am about to narrate, were numbered the Sisters Ottavia Ricci, + Benedetta Homata, Candida Brancolina, and Silvia Casata; she was waited on + by a converse sister, Caterina da Meda. Adjoining the convent stood the + house and garden of a certain Gianpaolo Osio, who plays the principal part + in Virginia's tragedy. He must have been a young man of distinguished + appearance; for when Virginia <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA319" + id="pageA319"></a>{319}</span> first set eyes upon him from a window + overlooking his grounds, she exclaimed: 'Is it possible that one could + ever gaze on anything more beautiful?' He attracted her notice as early as + the year 1599 or 1600, under circumstances not very favorable to the plan + he had in view. His hands were red with the blood of Virginia's bailiff, + Giuseppe Molteno, whom he had murdered for some cause unknown to us. + During their first interview (Virginia leaning from the window of her + friend Candida's cell, and Osio standing on his garden-plot beneath), the + young man courteously excused himself for this act of violence, adding + that he would serve her even more devotedly than the dead Molteno, and + begging to be allowed to write her a letter. When the letter came, it was + couched in terms expressive of a lawless passion. Virginia's noble blood + rebelled against the insult, and she sent an answer back, rebuffing her + audacious suitor. The go-betweens in the correspondence which ensued were + the two nuns, Ottavia and Benedetta, and a certain Giuseppe Pesen, who + served as letter-carrier. Osio did not allow himself to be discouraged by + a first refusal, but took the hazardous step of opening his mind to the + confessor of the convent, Paolo Arrigone, a priest of San Maurizio in + Milan. Arrigone at once lent himself to the intrigue, and taught Osio what + kind of letters he should write Virginia. They were to be courteous, + respectful, blending pious rhetoric with mystical suggestions of romantic + pas<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA320" id="pageA320"></a>{320}</span> + sion. It seems that the confessor composed these documents himself, and + advised his fair penitent that there was no sin in perusing them. From + correspondence, Osio next passed to interviews. By the aid of Arrigone he + gained access to the parlor of the convent, where he conversed with + Virginia through the bars. In their earlier meetings the lover did not + venture beyond compliments and modest protestations of devotion. But as + time went on, he advanced to kisses and caresses, and once he made + Virginia take a little jewel into her mouth. This was a white loadstone, + blessed by Arrigone, and intended to operate like a love-charm. The girl, + in fact, began to feel the influence of her seducer. In the final + confession which she made, she relates how she fought against temptation. + 'Some diabolical force compelled me to go to the window overlooking his + garden; and one day when Sister Ottavia told me that Osio was standing + there, I fainted from the effort to restrain myself. This happened several + times. At one moment I flew into a rage, and prayed to God to help me; at + another I felt lifted from the ground, and forced to go and gaze on him. + Sometimes when the fit was on me, I tore my hair; I even thought of + killing myself.' Virginia was surrounded by persons who had an interest in + helping Osio. Not only the confessor, who was a man of infamous character, + but her friends among the nuns, themselves accustomed to intrigue of a + like nature, led her down the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA321" + id="pageA321"></a>{321}</span> path to ruin. False keys were made, and one + or other of the faithless sisters introduced the young man into the + convent at night. When Virginia resisted, and enlarged upon the sacrilege + of breaking cloister, Arrigone supplied her with a printed book of + casuistry, in which it was written that though it might be sinful for a + nun to leave her convent, there was no sin in a man entering it. At last + she fell; and for seven years she lived in close intimacy with her lover, + passing the nights with him, either in his own house or in one of the + cells of S. Margherita. On one occasion, when he had to fly from justice, + the girls concealed him in their rooms for fifteen days. The first fruit + of this amour was a stillborn child; after giving birth to which, Virginia + sold all the silver she possessed, and sent a votive tablet to Our Lady of + Loreto, on which she had portrayed a nun and baby, kneeling and weeping. + 'Twice again I sent the same memorial to our Lady, imploring the grace of + liberation from this passion. But the sorceries with which I was + surrounded, prevailed. In my bed were found the bones of the dead, hooks + of iron, and many other things, of which the nuns were well informed. Nay, + I would fain have given up my life to save my soul; and so great were my + afflictions, that in despair I went to throw myself into the well, but was + restrained by the image of the Virgin at the bottom of the garden, for + which I had a special devotion.' In course of time she gave birth to a + little girl, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA322" id="pageA322"></a>{322}</span> + named Francesca, who frequented the convent, and whom Osio legitimated as + his child. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible that a connection of long standing, known to several + accomplices, and corroborated by the presence of the child Francesca, + should remain hidden from the world. People began to speak about the fact + in Monza. A druggist, named Reinaro Soncini, gossiped somewhat too openly. + Osio had him shot one night by a servant in his pay. + </p> + <p> + And now the lovers were engaged in a career of crime, which brought them + finally to justice. Virginia's waiting-woman Caterina fell into disgrace + with her mistress, and was shut up in a kind of prison by her orders. The + girl declared that she would bring the whole bad affair before the + superior authorities, and would do so immediately, seeing that Monsignor + Barca, the Visitor of S. Margherita, was about to make one of his official + tours of inspection. + </p> + <p> + This threat cost Caterina her life. About midnight, while a thunder-storm + was raging, Virginia, accompanied by her usual associates, Ottavia, + Benedetta, Silvia, and Candida, entered the room where the girl was + confined. They were followed by Osio, holding in his hand a heavy + instrument of wood and iron, called <i>piede di bicocca</i>, which he had + snatched up in the convent outhouse. He found Caterina lying face downward + on the bed, and smashed her skull with a single blow. The body <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA323" id="pageA323"></a>{323}</span> was + conveyed by him and the nuns into the fowl-house of the sisters, whence he + removed it on the following night by the aid of Benedetta into his own + dwelling. From evidence which afterwards transpired, Osio decapitated the + corpse, concealed the body in a sort of cellar, and flung the head into an + empty well at Velate. + </p> + <p> + The disappearance of Caterina just before the visitation of Monsignor + Barca, roused suspicion; and, though a murder was not immediately + apprehended, the guilty associates felt that the cord of fate was being + drawn around them. In the autumn of 1607 the tempest broke upon their + heads. Virginia was removed from Monza to the convent called Del Bocchetto + at Milan; and on November 27 the depositions of the abbess, prioress, and + other members of S. Margherita were taken regarding Osio's intrigues, the + assassination of Soncini, and the disappearance of Caterina. + </p> + <p> + Among the nuns who had abetted Osio, the two most criminally implicated + were Ottavia and Benedetta. Their evidence, if closely scrutinized, must + reveal each secret of the past. It was much to Osio's interest, therefore, + that they should not fall into the hands of justice; nor had he any + difficulty in persuading them to rely on his assistance for contriving + their escape to some convent in the Bergamasque territory. We may wonder, + by the way, what sort of discipline was then maintained in nunneries, if + two so guilty sisters counted upon safe <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA324" id="pageA324"></a>{324}</span> entrance into an asylum, + provided only they could leave the diocese of Milan for another.<a + name="FNanchorA_190_190" id="FNanchorA_190_190"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> On the night of + Thursday, November 30, 1607, Osio came to the wall of the convent garden, + and began to break a hole in it, through which Ottavia and Benedetta + crept. The three then prowled along the city wall of Monza, till they + found a breach wide enough for exit. Afterwards they took a path beside + the river Lambro, and stopped for awhile at the church of the Madonna + delle Grazie. Here the sisters prayed for assistance from our Lady in + their journey, and recited the <i>Salve Regina</i> seven times. Then they + resumed their walk along the Lambro, and at a certain point Ottavia fell + into the river. In her dying depositions she accused Osio of having pushed + her in; and there seems little doubt that he did so; for while she was + struggling in the water, he disengaged his harquebuss from his mantle and + struck her several blows upon the head and hands. + </p> + <p> + She pretended to be dead, and was carried down the stream to a place where + she contrived to crawl to land. Some peasants came by, whose assistance + she implored. But they, observing that she was a nun of S. Margherita by + her dress, refused to house her for the rest of the night. They gave her a + staff to lean on, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA325" + id="pageA325"></a>{325}</span> after a painful journey she regained the + church of the Grazie at early dawn. Ottavia's wounds upon the head, face, + and right hand, inflicted by the stock of Osio's gun, were so serious that + after making a clean breast to her judges, she died of them upon December + 26, 1607. + </p> + <p> + When Osio had pushed Ottavia into the Lambro, and had tried to smash her + brains out with his harquebuss, he resumed his midnight journey with + Sister Benedetta. They reached an uninhabited house in the country about + five or six miles distant from Monza. Here Osio shut Benedetta up in an + empty room with a stone bench running along the wall. She remained there + all Friday, visited once by her dreaded companion, who brought her bread, + cheese, and wine. She abstained from touching any of this food, in fear of + poison. About nine in the evening he returned, and bade her prepare to + march. They set out again, together, in the dark; and after walking about + three miles they came to a well, down which Osio threw her. The well was + deep, and had no water in it. Benedetta injured her left side in the fall; + and when she had reached the bottom, her would-be murderer flung a big + stone on her which broke her right leg. She contrived to protect her head + by gathering stones around it, and lay without moaning or moving, in the + fear that Osio would attempt fresh violence unless he thought her dead. + From the middle of Friday night, until Sunday morning, she remained thus, + exploring with <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA326" id="pageA326"></a>{326}</span> + her eyes the surface of her dungeon. It was dry and strewn with bones. In + one corner lay a round black object which bore the aspect of a human + skull. As it eventually turned out, this was the head of Caterina, whom + Benedetta herself had helped to murder, and which Osio had thrown there. + On Sunday, during Mass, the men of the village of Velate were in church, + when they heard a voice from outside calling out, 'Help, help! I am at the + bottom of this well!' The well, as it happened, was distant some dozen + paces from the church door, and Benedetta had timed her call for + assistance at a lucky moment. The villagers ran to the spot, and drew her + out by means of a man who went down with a rope. She was then taken to the + house of a gentleman, Signor Alberico degli Alberici, who, when no one + else was charitable enough to receive her, opened his doors to the + exhausted victim of that murderous outrage. It may be remarked that the + same surgeon who had been employed to report on Ottavia's wounds, now + appeared to examine Benedetta. His name was Ambrogio Vimercati. Benedetta + was taken to the convent of S. Orsola, where her friend Ottavia lay dying; + and after making a full confession, she eventually recovered her health, + and suffered life-long incarceration in her old convent. + </p> + <p> + Osio was still at large. On December 20, he addressed a long letter to the + Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, in which he vainly attempted to defend <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA327" id="pageA327"></a>{327}</span> himself, + and throw the blame on his associates. It is a loathsome document, + blending fulsome protestations and fawning phrases, with brutal + denouncements of his victims, and treacherous insinuations. One passage + deserves notice. 'Who was it,' he says, 'who suggested my correspondence + with Virginia? The priest Paolo Arrigone, that ruin of the monastery! The + Canon Pisnato, who is now confessor to the nuns of Meda; in his house you + will find what will never be discovered in mine, presents from nuns, + incitements to amours, and other such things. The priest Giacomo Bertola, + confessor of the nuns of S. Margherita; who was his devotee? Sacha!—and + he stayed there all the day through. These men, being priests, are not + prosecuted; they are protected by their cloth, forsooth! It is only of + poor Osio that folk talk. Only he is persecuted, only he is a malefactor, + only he is the traitor!' Arrigone, as a matter of fact, was tried, and + condemned to two years' labor at the galleys, after the expiration of + which term he was not to return to Monza or its territory. This seems a + slight sentence; for the judges found him guilty, not only of promoting + Osio's intrigue with Virginia, by conducting the correspondence, and + watching the door during their interviews in the parlor, but also of + pursuing the Signora himself with infamous proposals. + </p> + <p> + In his absence Osio was condemned to death on the gibbet. His goods were + confiscated to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA328" id="pageA328"></a>{328}</span> + State. His house in Monza was destroyed, and a pillar of infamy recording + his crimes, was erected on its site. A proclamation of outlawry was issued + on April 5, 1608, under the seal of Don Pietro de Acevedo, Count of + Fuentes, and governor of the State of Milan, which offered 'to any person + not himself an outlaw, or to any commune, that shall consign Gianpaolo + Osio to the hands of justice, the reward of a thousand scudi from the + royal ducal treasury, together with the right to free four bandits + condemned for similar or less offenses; and in case of his being delivered + dead, even though he shall be slain in foreign parts, then the half of the + aforesaid sum of money, and the freedom of two bandits as above. And if + the person who shall consign him alive be himself an outlaw for similar or + less offenses, he shall receive, beside the freedom of himself and two + other bandits, the half of the aforesaid sum of money; and in the case of + his consignment after death, the freedom of himself and of two other + bandits as aforesaid.' I have recited this <i>Bando</i>, because it is a + good instance of the procedure in use under like conditions. Justice + preferred to obtain the culprit alive, and desired to receive him at + honest hands. But there was an expectation of getting hold of him through + less reputable agents. Therefore they offered free pardon to a bandit and + a couple of accomplices, who might undertake the capture or the murder of + the proscribed outlaw in concert, and in the event of his being produced + alive, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA329" id="pageA329"></a>{329}</span> + a sum of money down. Osio, apparently, spent some years in exile, changing + place, and name, and dress, living as he could from hand to mouth, until + the rumor spread abroad that he was dead. He then returned to his country, + and begged for sanctuary from an old friend. That friend betrayed him, had + his throat cut in a cellar, and exposed his head upon the public market + place. + </p> + <p> + Virginia was sentenced to perpetual incarceration in the convent of S. + Valeria at Milan. She was to be 'inclosed within a little dungeon, the + door of which shall be walled up with stones and mortar, so that the said + Virginia Maria shall abide there for the term of her natural life, immured + both day and night, never to issue thence, but shall receive food and + other necessaries through a small hole in the wall of the said chamber, + and light and air through an aperture or other opening.' This sentence was + carried into effect. But at the expiration of many years, her behavior + justified some mitigation of the penalty. She was set at large, and + allowed to occupy a more wholesome apartment, where the charity of + Cardinal Borromeo supplied her with comforts befitting her station, and + the reputation she acquired for sanctity. Her own family cherished + implacable sentiments of resentment against the woman who had brought + disgrace upon them. Ripamonte, the historian of Milan, says that in his + own time she was still alive: 'a bent old woman, tall of stature, dried + and fleshless, but venerable in her aspect, whom no <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA330" id="pageA330"></a>{330}</span> one could believe to have + been once a charming and immodest beauty.' Her associates in guilt, the + nuns of S. Margherita, were consigned to punishments resembling hers. + Sisters Benedetta, Silvia and Candida suffered the same close + incarceration. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Lucrezia Buonvisi</i> + </h4> + <p> + The tale of Lucrezia Buonvisi presents some points of similarity to that + of the Signora di Monza.<a name="FNanchorA_191_191" id="FNanchorA_191_191"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> + </p> + <p> + Her father was a Lucchese gentleman, named Vincenzo Malpigli, who passed + the better portion of his life at Ferrara, as treasurer to Duke Afonsono + II. He had four children; one son, Giovan Lorenzo, and three daughters, of + whom Lucrezia, born at Lucca in 1572, was probably the youngest. + Vincenzo's wife sprang from the noble Lucchese family of Buonvisi, at that + time by their wealth and alliances the most powerful house of the + Republic. Lucrezia spent some years of her girlhood at Ferrara, where she + formed a romantic friendship for a nobleman of Lucca named Massimiliano + Arnolfini. This early attachment was not countenanced by her parents. They + destined her to be the wife of one of Paolo Buonvisi's numerous sons, her + relatives upon the mother's side. In consequence of this determination, + she was first affianced to an heir of that house, who died; again to + another, who also died; and in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA331" + id="pageA331"></a>{331}</span> third place to their brother, called Lelio, + whom she eventually married in the year 1591. Lelio was then twenty-five + years of age, and Lucrezia nineteen. Her beauty was so distinguished, that + in poems written on the ladies of Lucca it received this celebration in a + madrigal:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Like the young maiden rose<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Which at + the opening of the dawn,<br /> </span> <span class="i4">Still sprinkled + with heaven's gracious dew,<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Her beauty and + her bosom on the lawn<br /> </span> <span>Doth charmingly disclose,<br /> + </span> <span class="i4">For nymphs and amorous swains with love to + view;<br /> </span> <span>So delicate, so fair, Lucrezia yields<br /> + </span> <span>New pearls, new purple to our homely fields,<br /> </span> + <span class="i4">While Cupid plays and Flora laughs in her fresh hue.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Less than a year after her marriage with Lelia Buonvisi, Lucrezia resumed + her former intimacy with Massimiliano Arnolfini. He was scarcely two yeara + her elder, and they had already exchanged vows of fidelity in Ferrara. + Massimiliano's temper inclined him to extreme courses; he was quick and + fervent in all the disputes of his age, ready to back his quarrels with + the sword, and impatient of delay in any matter he had undertaken. Owing + to a feud which then subsisted between the families of Arnolfini and + Boccella, he kept certain <i>bravi</i> in his service, upon whose devotion + he relied. This young man soon found means to open a correspondence with + Lucrezia, and arranged meetings with her in the house of some poor weavers + who lived opposite the palace of the Buonvisi. Nothing passed between them + that exceeded the limits of respectful court<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA332" id="pageA332"></a>{332}</span> ship. But the situation + became irksome to a lover so hot of blood as Massimiliano was. On the + evening of June 5, in 1593, his men attacked Lelio Buonvisi, while + returning with Lucrezia from prayers in an adjacent church. Lelio fell, + stabbed with nineteen thrusts of the poignard, and was carried lifeless to + his house. Lucrezia made her way back alone; and when her husband's corpse + was brought into the palace, she requested that it should be laid out in + the basement. A solitary witness of this act of violence, Vincenzo di + Coreglia, deposed to having raised the dying man from the ground, put + earth into his mouth by way of Sacrament, and urged him to forgive his + enemies before he breathed his last. The weather had been very bad that + day, and at nightfall it was thundering incessantly. + </p> + <p> + Inquisition was made immediately into the causes of Lelio's death. + According to Lucrezia's account, her husband had reproved some men upon + the road for singing obscene songs, whereupon they turned and murdered + him. The corpse was exposed in the Church of the Servi, where multitudes + of people gathered round it; and there an ancient dame of the Buonvisi + house, flinging herself upon her nephew's body, vowed vengeance, after the + old custom of the <i>Vocero</i>, against his murderers. Other members of + the family indicated Massimiliano as the probable assassin; but he + meantime had escaped, with three of his retainers, to a villa of his + mother's at S. Pancrazio, whence he managed to take the open <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA333" id="pageA333"></a>{333}</span> country + and place himself in temporary safety. During this while, the judicial + authorities of Lucca were not idle. The Podestà issued a + proclamation inviting evidence, under the menace of decapitation and + confiscation of goods for whomsoever should be found to have withheld + information. To this call a certain Orazio Carli, most imprudently, + responded. He confessed to having been aware that Massimiliano was + plotting the assassination of somebody—not Lelio; and said that he + had himself facilitated the flight of the assassins by preparing a ladder, + which he placed in the hands of a <i>bravo</i> called Ottavio da Trapani. + This revelation delivered him over, bound hand and foot, to the judicial + authorities, who at the same time imprisoned Vincenzo da Coreglia, the + soldier present at the murder. + </p> + <p> + Massimiliano and his men meanwhile had made their way across the frontier + to Garfagnana. Their flight, and the suspicions which attached to them, + rendered it tolerably certain that they were the authors of the crime. But + justice demanded more circumstantial information, and the Podestà + decided to work upon the two men already in his clutches. On June 4, Carli + was submitted to the torture. The rack elicited nothing new from him, but + had the result of dislocating his arms. He was then placed upon an + instrument called the 'she-goat,' a sharp wooden trestle, to which the man + was bound with weights attached to his feet, and where he sat for nearly + four hours. In the course of this painful <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA334" id="pageA334"></a>{334}</span> exercise, he deposed that + Massimiliano and Lucrezia had been in the habit of meeting in the house of + Vincenzo del Zoppo and Pollonia his wife, where the <i>bravi</i> also + congregated and kept their arms. Grave suspicion was thus cast on + Lucrezia. Had she perchance connived at her husband's murder? Was she an + accomplice in the tragedy? + </p> + <p> + Lucrezia's peril now became imminent. Her brother, Giovan Lorenzo + Malpigli, who remained her friend throughout, thought it best for her to + retire as secretly as possible into a convent. The house chosen was that + of S. Chiara in the town of Lucca. On June 5, she assumed the habit of S. + Francis, cut her hair, changed her name from Lucrezia to Umilia, and + offered two thousand crowns of dower to this monastery. Only four days had + elapsed since her husband's assassination. But she, at all events, was + safe from immediate peril; for the Church must now be dealt with; and the + Church neither relinquished its suppliants, nor disgorged the wealth they + poured into its coffers. The Podestà, when news of this occurrence + reached him, sent at once to make inquiries. His messenger, Ser Vincenzo + Petrucci, was informed by the Abbess that Lucrezia had just arrived and + was having her hair shorn. At his request, the novice herself appeared—'a + young woman, tall and pale, dressed in a nun's habit, with a crown upon + her head.' She declared herself to be 'Madonna Lucretiina Malpigli, widow + of Lelio Buonvisi.' The priest who had conducted <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA335" id="pageA335"></a>{335}</span> her reception, affirmed + that 'the gentle lady, immediately upon her husband's death, conceived + this good prompting of the spirit, and obeyed it on the spot.' + </p> + <p> + For the moment, Lucrezia, whom in future we must call Sister Umilia, had + to be left unmolested. The judges returned to the interrogation of their + prisoners. Vincenzo del Zoppo and his wife Pollonia, in whose house the + lovers used to meet, were tortured; but nothing that implied a criminal + correspondence transpired from their evidence. Then the unlucky Carli was + once more put to the strappado. He fell into a deep swoon, and was with + difficulty brought to life again. Next his son, a youth of sixteen years, + was racked with similar results. On June 7, they resolved to have another + try at Vincenzo da Coreglia. This soldier had been kept on low diet in his + prison during the last week, and was therefore ripe, according to the + judicial theories of those times, for salutary torments. Having been + strung up by his hands, he was jerked and shaken in the customary fashion, + until he declared his willingness to make a full confession. He had been + informed, he said, that Massimiliano intended to assassinate Lelio by + means of his three bravi, Pietro da Castelnuovo, Ottavio da Trapani, and + Niccolo da Pariana. He engaged to stand by and cover the retreat of these + men. It was Carli, and not Massimiliano, who had made overtures to him. On + being once more tortured, he only confirmed this confession. Carli was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA336" id="pageA336"></a>{336}</span> + again summoned, and set upon the 'she-goat,' with heavy weights attached + to his feet. The poor wretch sat for two hours on this infernal machine, + the sharp edges and spikes of which were so contrived as to press slowly + and deeply upon the tenderest portions of his body.<a + name="FNanchorA_192_192" id="FNanchorA_192_192"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> But he endured this + agony without uttering a word, until the judges perceived that he was at + the point of death. Next day, the 8th of June, Coreglia was again summoned + to the justice-chamber. Terrified by the prospect of future torments, and + wearied out with importunities, he at last made a clean breast of all he + knew. It was not Carli, but Massimiliano himself, who had engaged him; and + he had assisted at the murder of Lelio, which was accomplished by two of + the bravi, Ottavio and Pietro. Coreglia said nothing to implicate Sister + Umilia. On the contrary he asserted that she seemed to lose her senses + when she saw her husband fall. + </p> + <p> + The General Council, to whom the results of these proceedings were + communicated, published an edict of outlawry against Massimiliano and his + three <i>bravi</i>. A price of 500 crowns was put upon the head of each, + wherever he should be killed; and 1,000 crowns were offered to any one who + should kill<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA337" id="pageA337"></a>{337}</span> + Massimiliano within the city or state of Lucca. At the same time they sent + an envoy to Rome requesting the Pope's permission to arrest Umilia, on the + ground that she was gravely suspected of being privy to the murder, and of + entering the convent to escape justice. A few days afterwards, the + miserable witnesses, Carli and Coreglia, were beheaded in their prison. + </p> + <p> + The Chancellor, Vincenzo Petrucci, left Lucca on June 12, and reached Rome + on the 14th. He obtained an audience from Clement VIII. upon the 15th. + When the Pope had read the letter of the Republic, he struck his palm down + on his chair, and cried: 'Jesus! This is a grave case! It seems hardly + possible that a woman of her birth should have been induced to take share + in the murder of her husband.' After some conversation with the envoy, he + added: 'It is certainly an ugly business. But what can we do now that she + has taken the veil?' Then he promised to deliberate upon the matter, and + return an answer later. Petrucci soon perceived that the Church did not + mean to relinquish its privileges, and that Umilia was supported by + powerful friends at court. Cardinal Castrucci remarked in casual + conversation: 'She is surely punished enough for her sins by the life of + the cloister.' A second interview with Clement on June 21 confirmed him in + the opinion that the Republic would not obtain the dispensation they + requested. Meanwhile the Signory of Lucca prepared a schedule of the + suspicions against Umilia, grounded upon her <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA338" id="pageA338"></a>{338}</span> confused evidence, her + correspondence with Massimiliano, the fact that she had done nothing to + rescue Lelio by calling out, and her sudden resort to the convent. This + paper reached the Pope, who, on July 8, expressed his view that the + Republic ought to be content with leaving Umilia immured in her monastery; + and again, upon the 23rd, he pronounced his final decision that 'the lady, + being a nun, and tonsured and prepared for the perfect life, is not within + the jurisdiction of your Signory. It is further clear that, finding + herself exposed to the calumnies of those two witnesses, and injured in + her reputation, she took the veil to screen her honor.' On August 13, + Petrucci returned to Lucca. + </p> + <p> + Clement conceded one point. He gave commission to the Bishop of Lucca to + inquire into Umilia's conduct within the precincts of the monastery. But + the council refused this intervention, for they were on bad terms with the + Bishop, and resented ecclesiastical interference in secular causes. + Moreover, they judged that such an inquisition without torture used, and + in a place of safety, would prove worse than useless. Thus the affair + dropped. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile we may relate what happened to Massimiliano and his <i>bravi</i>. + They escaped, through Garfagnana and Massa, into the territory of Alfonso + Malaspina, Marquis of Villafranca and Tresana. This nobleman, who + delighted in protecting outlaws, placed the four men in security in his + stronghold of Tresana. Pietro da Castelnuovo was an outlaw <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA339" id="pageA339"></a>{339}</span> from + Tuscany for the murder of a Carmelite friar, which he had committed at + Pietrasanta a few days before the assassination of Lelio. Seventeen years + after these events he was still alive, and wanted for grave crimes + committed in the Duchy of Modena. History knows no more about him, except + that he had a wife and family. Of Niccolo da Pariana nothing has to be + related. Ottavio da Trapani was caught at Milan, brought back to Lucca, + and hanged there on June 13, 1604, after being torn with pincers. + Massimiliano is said to have made his way to Flanders, where the Lucchese + enjoyed many privileges, and where his family had probably hereditary + connections.<a name="FNanchorA_193_193" id="FNanchorA_193_193"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> Like all outlaws he + lived in perpetual peril of assassination. Remorse and shame invaded him, + especially when news arrived that the mistress, for whom he had risked + all, was turning to a dissolute life (as we shall shortly read) in her + monastery. His reason gave way; and, after twenty-two years of wandering, + he returned to Lucca and was caught. Instead of executing the capital + sentence which had been pronounced upon him, the Signory consigned him to + perpetual prison in the tower of Viareggio, which was then an insalubrious + and fever-stricken village on the coast. Here, walled up in a little room, + alone, deprived of light and air and physical decency, he remained + forgotten for ten years from 1615 to 1625. At the latter date <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA340" id="pageA340"></a>{340}</span> report + was made that he had refused food for three days and was suffering from a + dangerous hemorrhage. When the authorities proposed to break the wall of + his dungeon and send a priest and surgeon to relieve him, he declared that + he would kill himself if they intruded on his misery. Nothing more was + heard of him until 1629, when he was again reported to be at the point of + death. This time he requested the assistance of a priest; and it is + probable that he then died at the age of sixty-nine, having survived the + other actors in this tragedy, and expiated the passion of his youth by + life-long sufferings. + </p> + <p> + When we return to Sister Umilia, and inquire how the years had worn with + her, a new chapter in the story opens. In 1606 she was still cloistered in + S. Chiara, which indeed remained her home until her death. She had now + reached the age of thirty-four. Suspicion meanwhile fell upon the conduct + of the nuns of S. Chiara; and on January 9, in that year, a rope-ladder + was discovered hanging from the garden wall of the convent. Upon inquiry, + it appeared that certain men were in the habit of entering the house and + holding secret correspondence with the sisters. Among these the most + notorious were Piero Passari, a painter, infamous for vulgar profligacy, + and a young nobleman of Lucca, Tommaso Samminiati. Both of them contrived + to evade justice, and were proclaimed, as usual, outlaws. In the further + course of investigation the strongest proofs were brought to light, from + which it appeared <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA341" id="pageA341"></a>{341}</span> + that the chief promoter of these scandals was a man of high position in + the state, advanced in years, married to a second wife, and holding office + of trust as Protector of the Nunnery of S. Chiara. He was named + Giovanbattista Dati, and represented an ancient Lucchese family mentioned + by Dante. While Dati carried on his own intrigue with Sister Cherubina + Mei, he did his best to encourage the painter in promiscuous debauchery, + and to foster the passion which Samminiati entertained for Sister Umilia + Malpigli. Dati was taken prisoner and banished for life to the island of + Sardinia; but his papers fell into the hands of the Signory, who extracted + from them the evidence which follows, touching Umilia and Samminiati. This + young man was ten years her junior; yet the quiet life of the cloister had + preserved Umilia's beauty, and she was still capable of inspiring + enthusiastic adoration. This transpires in the letters which Samminiati + addressed to her through Dati from his asylum in Venice. They reveal, says + Signor Bonghi, a strange confusion of madness, crime, and love.<a + name="FNanchorA_194_194" id="FNanchorA_194_194"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> + </p> + <p> + Their style is that of a delirious rhetorician. One might fancy they had + been composed as exercises, except for certain traits which mark the + frenzy of genuine exaltation. Threats, imprecations, and blasphemies + alternate with prayers, vows of fidelity and reminiscences of past + delights in love. Samminiati bends <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA342" + id="pageA342"></a>{342}</span> before 'his lady' in an attitude of + respectful homage, offering upon his knees the service of awe-struck + devotion. At one time he calls her 'his most beauteous angel,' at another + 'his most lovely and adored enchantress.' He does not conceal his firm + belief that she has laid him under some spell of sorcery; but entreats her + to have mercy and to liberate him, reminding her how a certain Florentine + lady restored Giovan Lorenzo Malpigli to health after keeping him in magic + bondage till his life was in danger.<a name="FNanchorA_195_195" + id="FNanchorA_195_195"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a> + Then he swears unalterable fealty; heaven and fortune shall not change his + love. It is untrue that at Florence, or at Venice, he has cast one glance + on any other woman. Let lightning strike him, if he deserts Umilia. But + she has caused him jealousy by stooping to a base amour. To this point he + returns with some persistence. Then he entreats her to send him her + portrait, painted in the character of S. Ursula. At another time he + gossips about the nuns, forwarding messages, alluding to their several + love-affairs, and condoling with them on the loss of a compliant + confessor. This was a priest, who, when the indescribable corruptions of + S. Chiara had been clearly proved, calmly remarked that there was no + reason to make such a fuss—they were only affairs of gentlefolk, <i>cose + di gentilhuomini</i>. The rival of whom Samminiati was jealous seems to + have <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA343" id="pageA343"></a>{343}</span> + been the painter Pietro, who held the key to all the scandals of the + convent in his hand. Umilia, Dati, and Samminiati at last agreed 'to rid + their neighborhood of that pest.' The man had escaped to Rovigo, whither + Samminiati repaired from Venice, 'attended by two good fellows thoroughly + acquainted with the district.' + </p> + <p> + But Pietro got away to Ferrara, his enemy following and again missing him. + Samminiati writes that he is resolved to hunt 'that rascal' out, and make + an end of him. Meanwhile Umilia is commissioned to do for Calidonia + Burlamacchi, a nun who had withdrawn from the company of her guilty + sisters, and knew too many of their secrets. Samminiati sends a white + powder, and a little phial containing a liquid, both of which, he informs + Umilia, are potent poisons, with instructions how to use them and how to + get Calidonia to swallow the ingredients. Then 'if the devil does not help + her, she will pass from this life in half a night's time, and without the + slightest sign of violence.' + </p> + <p> + It may be imagined what disturbance was caused in the General Council by + the reading of this correspondence. Nearly all the noble families of Lucca + were connected by ties of blood or marriage with one or other of the + culprits; and when the relatives of the accused had been excluded from the + session, only sixty members were left to debate on further measures. I + will briefly relate what happened to the three outlaws. Venice refused to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA344" id="pageA344"></a>{344}</span> + give up Samminiati at the request of the Lucchese, saying that 'the + Republic of S. Mark would not initiate a course of action prejudicial to + the hospitality which every sort of person was wont to enjoy there.' But + the young man was banished to Candia, whither he obediently retired. + Pietro, the painter, was eventually permitted to return to the territory + but not the town of Lucca. Dati surrounded himself with armed men, as was + the custom of rich criminals on whose head a price was set. After + wandering some time, he submitted, and took up his abode in Sardinia, + whence he afterwards removed, by permission of the Signory, to France. + There he died. With regard to the nuns, it seemed at first that the ends + of justice would be defeated through the jealousies which divided the + civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Lucca. The Bishop was absent, and + his Vicar refused to institute a criminal process. Umilia remained at + large in the convent, and even began a new intrigue with one Simo + Menocchi. At last, in 1609, the Vicar prepared his indictment against the + guilty nuns, and forwarded it to Rome. Their sentence was as follows: + Sister Orizia condemned to incarceration for life, and loss of all her + privileges; Sister Umilia, to the same penalties for a term of seven + years; Sisters Paola, Cherubina, and Dionea, received a lighter + punishment. Orizia, it may be mentioned, had written a letter with her own + blood to some lover; but nothing leads us to suppose that she was equally + guilty with Umilia, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA345" id="pageA345"></a>{345}</span> + who had entered into the plot to poison Sister Calidonia. + </p> + <p> + Umilia was duly immured, and bore her punishment until the year 1616, at + which time the sentence expired. But she was not released for another two + years; for she persistently refused to humble herself, or to request that + liberation as a grace which was her due in justice. Nor would she submit + to the shame of being seen about the convent without her monastic habit. + Finally, in 1618, she obtained freedom and restoration to her privileges + as a nun of S. Chiara. It may be added, as a last remark, that, when the + convent was being set to rights, Umilia's portrait in the character of S. + Ursula was ordered to be destroyed, or rendered fit for devout uses by + alterations. Any nun who kept it in her cell incurred the penalty of + excommunication. In what year Umilia died remains unknown. + </p> + <hr style="width: 45%;" /> + <h4> + <i>The Cenci</i> + </h4> + <p> + Shifting the scene to Rome, we light upon a group of notable misdeeds + enacted in the last half of the sixteenth century, each of which is well + calculated to illustrate the conditions of society and manners at that + epoch. It may be well to begin with the Cenci tragedy. In Shelley's + powerful drama, in Guerrazzi's tedious novel, and Scolari's digest, the + legend of Beatrice Cenci has long appealed to modern sympathy. The real + facts, extracted from legal documents and public registers, reduce its + poetry of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA346" id="pageA346"></a>{346}</span> + horror to comparatively squalid prose.<a name="FNanchorA_196_196" + id="FNanchorA_196_196"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> + Yet, shorn of romantic glamour, the bare history speaks significantly to a + student of Italian customs. Monsignore Cristoforo Cenci, who died about + the year 1562, was in holy orders, yet not a priest. One of the clerks of + the Apostolic Camera, a Canon of S. Peter's, the titular incumbent of a + Roman parish, and an occupant of minor offices about the Papal Court and + Curia, he represented an epicene species, neither churchman nor layman, + which the circumstances of ecclesiastical sovereignty rendered + indispensable. Cristoforo belonged to a good family among that secondary + Roman aristocracy which ranked beneath the princely feudatories and the + Papal bastards. He accumulated large sums of money by maladministration of + his official trusts, inherited the estates of two uncles, and bequeathed a + colossal fortune to his son Francesco. This youth was the offspring of an + illicit connection carried on between Monsignore Cenci and Beatrice Amias + during the lifetime of that lady's husband. Upon the death of the husband + the Monsignore obtained dispensation from his orders, married Beatrice, + and legitimated his son, the inheritor of so much wealth. Francesco was + born in 1549, and had therefore reached the age of thirteen when his + father died. His mother, Beatrice, soon contracted a third matrimonial + union; but during her guardianship of the boy she appeared before the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA347" id="pageA347"></a>{347}</span> + courts, accused of having stolen clothing from his tutor's wardrobe. + </p> + <p> + Francesco Cenci disbursed a sum of 33,000 crowns to various public + offices, in order to be allowed to enter unmolested into the enjoyment of + his father's gains: 3,800 crowns of this sum went to the Chapter of S. + Peter's.<a name="FNanchorA_197_197" id="FNanchorA_197_197"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> He showed a certain + precocity; for at the age of fourteen he owned an illegitimate child, and + was accused of violence to domestics. In 1563 his family married him to + Ersilia, a daughter of the noble Santa Croce house, who brought him a fair + dowry. Francesco lived for twenty-one years with this lady, by whom he had + twelve children. Upon her death he remained a widower for nine years, and + in 1593 he married Lucrezia Petroni, widow of a Roman called Velli. + Francesco's conduct during his first marriage was not without blame. + Twice, at least, he had to pay fines for acts of brutality to servants; + and once he was prosecuted for an attempt to murder a cousin, also named + Francesco Cenci. On another occasion we find him outlawed from the States + of the Church. Yet these offences were but peccadilloes in a wealthy Roman + baron; and Francesco used to boast that, with money in his purse, he had + no dread of justice. After the death of his wife Ersilia, his behavior + grew more irregular. Three times between 1591 and 1594 he was sued for + violent attacks on servants; and in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA348" id="pageA348"></a>{348}</span> February of the latter year + he remained six months in prison on multiplied charges of unnatural vice. + There was nothing even here to single Francesco Cenci out from other + nobles of his age.<a name="FNanchorA_198_198" id="FNanchorA_198_198"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> Scarcely a week + passed in Rome without some affair of the sort involving outrage, being + brought before the judges. Cardinals, prelates, princes, professional men + and people of the lowest rank were alike implicated. The only difference + between the culprits was that the rich bought themselves off, while the + destitute were burned. Eleven poor Spaniards and Portuguese were sent to + the stake in 1578 for an offence which Francesco Cenci compounded in 1594 + by the payment of 100,000 crowns. After this warning and the loss of so + much money, he grew more circumspect, married his second wife Lucrezia, + and settled down to rule his family. His sons caused him considerable + anxiety. Giacomo, the eldest, married against his father's will, and + supported <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA349" id="pageA349"></a>{349}</span> + himself by forging obligations and raising money. Francesco's displeasure + showed itself in several lawsuits, one of which accused Giacomo of having + plotted against his life. The second son, Cristoforo, was assassinated by + Paolo Bruno, a Corsican, in the prosecution of a love affair with the wife + of a Trasteverine fisherman. The third son, Rocco, spent his time in + street adventures, and on one occasion laid his hands on all the plate and + portable property that he could carry off from his father's house. This + young ruffian, less than twenty years of age, found a devoted friend in + Monsignore Querro, a cousin of the family well placed at court, who + assisted him in the burglary of the Cenci palace. Rocco was killed by + Amilcare Orsini, a bastard of the Count of Pitigliano, in a brawl at + night. The young men met, Cenci attended by three armed servants, Orsini + by two. A single pass of rapiers, in which Rocco was pierced through the + right eye, ended the affair. + </p> + <p> + In addition to his vindictive persecution of his worthless eldest son, + Francesco Cenci behaved with undue strictness to the younger, allowing + them less money than befitted their station and treating them with a + severity which contrasted comically with his own loose habits. The legend + which represents him as an exceptionally wicked man, cruel for cruelty's + sake and devoid of natural affection, receives some color from the facts. + Yet these alone are not sufficient to justify its darker hues, while they + amply <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA350" id="pageA350"></a>{350}</span> + prove that Francesco's children gave him grievous provocation. The + discontents of this ill-governed family matured into rebellion; and in + 1598 it was decided on removing the old Cenci by murder. His second wife + Lucrezia, his eldest son Giacomo, his daughter Beatrice, and the youngest + son Bernardo, were implicated in the crime. It was successfully carried + out at the Rocca di Petrella in the Abruzzi on the night of September 9. + Two hired <i>bravi</i>, Olimpio Calvetti and Marzio Catalani, entered the + old man's bedroom, drove a nail into his head, and flung the corpse out + from a gallery, whence it was alleged that he had fallen by accident. Six + days after this assassination Giacomo and his brothers took out letters + both at Rome and in the realm of Naples for the administration of their + father's property; nor does suspicion seem for some time to have fallen + upon them. It awoke at Petrella in November, the feudatory of which fief, + Marzio Colonna, informed the government of Naples that proceedings ought + to be taken against the Cenci and their cut-throats. Accordingly, on + December 10, a ban was published against Olimpio and Marzio. Olimpio met + his death at an inn door in a little village called Cantalice. Three + desperate fellows, at the instigation of Giacomo de'Cenci and Monsignore + Querro, surprised him there. But Marzio fell into the hands of justice, + and his evidence caused the immediate arrest of the Cenci. It appears that + they were tortured and that none of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA351" id="pageA351"></a>{351}</span> them denied the accusation; + so that their advocates could only plead extenuating circumstances. To + this fact may possibly be due the legend of Beatrice. In order to mitigate + the guilt of parricide, Prospero Farinacci, who conducted her defense, + established a theory of enormous cruelty and unspeakable outrages + committed on her person by her father. With the same object in view, he + tried to make out that Bernardo was half-witted. There is quite sufficient + extant evidence to show that Bernardo was a young man of average + intelligence; and with regard to Beatrice, nothing now remains to + corroborate Farinaccio's hypothesis of incest. She was not a girl of + sixteen, as the legend runs, but a woman of twenty-two;<a + name="FNanchorA_199_199" id="FNanchorA_199_199"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> and the codicils to + her will render it nearly certain that she had given birth to an + illegitimate son, for whose maintenance she made elaborate and secret + provisions. That the picture ascribed to Guido Reni in the Barberini + palace is not a portrait of Beatrice in prison, appears sufficiently + proved. Guido did not come to Rome until 1608, nine years after her death; + and catalogues of the Barberini gallery, compiled in 1604 and 1623, + contain no mention either of a painting by Guido or of Beatrice's + portrait. The Cenci were lodged successively in the prisons of Torre di + Nona, Savelli, and S. Angelo. They occupied wholesome apartments and were + allowed the attendance of their own <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA352" id="pageA352"></a>{352}</span> domestics. That their food + was no scanty dungeon fare appears from the <i>menus</i> of dinners and + suppers supplied to them, which include fish, flesh, fruit salad, and snow + to cool the water. In spite of powerful influence at court, Clement VIII. + at last resolved to exercise strict justice on the Cenci. He was brought + to this decision by a matricide perpetrated in cold blood at Subiaco, on + September 5, 1599. Paolo di S. Croce, a relative of the Cenci, murdered + his mother Costanza in her bed, with the view of obtaining property over + which she had control. The sentence issued a few days after this event. + Giacomo was condemned to be torn to pieces by red hot pincers, and + finished with a <i>coup de grâce</i> from the hangman's hammer. + Lucrezia and Beatrice received the slighter sentence of decapitation; + while Bernardo, in consideration of his youth, was let off with the + penalty of being present at the execution of his kinsfolk, after which he + was to be imprisoned for a year and then sent to the galleys for life. + Their property was confiscated to the Camera Apostolica. These punishments + were carried out.<a name="FNanchorA_200_200" id="FNanchorA_200_200"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> But Bernardo, after + working at Cività Vecchia until 1606, obtained release and lived in + banishment till his death in 1627. Monsignor Querro, for his connivance in + the whole affair, was banished to the island of Malta, whence he returned + at some date before the year 1633 to Rome, having expiated his <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA353" id="pageA353"></a>{353}</span> guilt by + long and painful exile. In this abstract of the Cenci tragedy, I have + followed the documents published by Signor Bertolotti. They are at many + points in startling contradiction to the legend, which is founded on MS. + accounts compiled at no distant period after the events. One of these was + translated by Shelley; another, differing in some particulars, was + translated by De Stendhal. Both agree in painting that lurid portrait of + Francesco Cenci which Shelley has animated with the force of a great + dramatist.<a name="FNanchorA_201_201" id="FNanchorA_201_201"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> Unluckily, no copy of + the legal instructions upon which the trial was conducted is now extant. + In the absence of this all-important source of information, it would be + unsafe to adopt Bertolotti's argument, that the legend calumniates + Francesco in order to exculpate Beatrice, without some reservation. There + is room for the belief that facts adduced in evidence may have partly + justified the prevalent opinion of Beatrice's infamous persecution by her + father. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h4> + <i>The Massimi</i> + </h4> + <p> + The tragedy of the Cenci, about which so much has been written in + consequence of the supposed part taken in it by Beatrice, seems to me + common-place compared with that of the Massimi.<a name="FNanchorA_202_202" + id="FNanchorA_202_202"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA354" id="pageA354"></a>{354}</span> + </p> + <p> + Whether this family really descended from the Roman Fabii matters but + little. In the sixteenth century they ranked, as they still rank, among + the proudest nobles of the Eternal City. Lelio, the head of the house, had + six stalwart sons by his first wife, Girolama Savelli. They were + conspicuous for their gigantic stature and herculean strength. After their + mother's death in 1571, their father became enamoured of a woman inferior + at all points, in birth, breeding, and antecedents, to a person of his + quality. She was a certain Eufrosina, who had been married to a man called + Corberio. The great Marc Antonio Colonna murdered this husband, and + brought the wife to Rome as his own mistress. Lelio Massimo committed the + grand error of so loving her, after she had served Colonna's purpose, that + he married her. This was an insult to the honor of the house, which his + sons could not or would not bear. On the night of her wedding, in 1585, + they refused to pay her their respects; and on the next morning, five of + them entered her apartments and shot her dead. Only one of the six sons, + Pompeo Massimo, bore no share in this assassination. Him, the father, + Lelio, blessed; but he solemnly cursed the other five. After the lapse of + a few weeks, he followed his wife to the grave with a broken heart, + leaving this imprecation unrecalled. Pompeo grew up to continue the great + line of Massimo. But disaster fell on each of his five brothers, the + flower of Roman youth, exulting in their blood, and insolence, and vigor.—The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA355" id="pageA355"></a>{355}</span> + first of them, Ottavio, was killed by a cannon-ball at sea in honorable + combat with the Turk. Another, Girolamo, who sought refuge in France, was + shot down in an ambuscade while pursuing his amours with a gentle lady. A + third, Alessandro, died under arms before Paris in the troops of General + Farnese. A fourth, Luca, was imprisoned at Rome for his share of the + step-mother's murder, but was released on the plea that he had avenged the + wounded honor of his race. He died, however, poisoned by his own brother, + Marcantonio, in 1599.<a name="FNanchorA_203_203" id="FNanchorA_203_203"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> Marcantonio was + arrested on suspicion and imprisoned in Torre di Nona, where he confessed + his guilt. He was shortly afterwards beheaded on the little square before + the bridge of S. Angelo. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Vittoria Accoramboni</i> + </h4> + <p> + Next in order, I shall take the story of Vittoria Accoramboni. It has been + often told already,<a name="FNanchorA_204_204" id="FNanchorA_204_204"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> yet it combines so + many points of interest bearing upon the social life of the Italians in my + period, that to omit it would be to sacrifice the most important document + bearing on the matter of this chapter. As the Signora di Monza and + Lucrezia Buonvisi <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA356" id="pageA356"></a>{356}</span> + help us to understand the secret history of families and convents, so + Vittoria Accoramboni introduces us to that of courts. + </p> + <p> + It will be noticed how the same machinery of lawless nobles and profligate + <i>bravi</i>, acting in concert with bold women, is brought into play + throughout the tragedies which form the substance of our present inquiry. + </p> + <p> + Vittoria was born in 1557, of a noble but impoverished family, at Gubbio + among the hills of Umbria. Her biographers are rapturous in their praises + of her beauty, grace, and exceeding charm of manner. Not only was her + person most lovely, but her mind shone at first with all the amiable + luster of a modest, innocent, and winning youth. Her father, Claudio + Accoramboni, removed to Rome, where his numerous children were brought up + under the care of their mother, Tarquinia, an ambitious woman, bent on + rehabilitating the decayed honors of her house. Here Vittoria in early + girlhood soon became the fashion. She exercised an irresistible influence + over all who saw her, and many were the offers of marriage she refused. At + length a suitor appeared whose condition and connection with the Roman + ecclesiastical nobility rendered him acceptable in the eyes of the + Accoramboni. Francesco Peretti was welcomed as the successful candidate + for Vittoria's hand. His mother, Camilla, was sister to Felice, Cardinal + of Montalto; and her son, Francesco Mignucci, had changed both of his + names <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA357" id="pageA357"></a>{357}</span> + to Felice Peretti in compliment to this illustrious relative.<a + name="FNanchorA_205_205" id="FNanchorA_205_205"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> + </p> + <p> + It was the nephew, then, of the future Sixtus V., that Vittoria + Accoramboni married on June 28, 1573. For a short while the young couple + lived happily together. According to some accounts of their married life, + the bride secured the favor of her powerful uncle-in-law, who indulged her + costly fancies to the full. It is, however, more probable that the + Cardinal Montalto treated her follies with a grudging parsimony; for we + soon find the Peretti household hopelessly involved in debt. Discord, too, + arose between Vittoria and her husband on the score of levity in her + behavior; and it was rumored that even during the brief space of their + union she had proved a faithless wife. Yet she contrived to keep + Francesco's confidence, and it is certain that her family profited by + their connection with the Peretti. Of her six brothers, Mario, the eldest, + was a favorite courtier of the great Cardinal d'Este. Ottavio was in + orders, and through Montalto's influence obtained the See of Fossombrone. + The same eminent protector placed Scipione in the service of the Cardinal + Sforza. Camillo, famous for his beauty and his courage, followed the + fortunes of Filibert of Savoy, and died in France. Flaminio was still a + boy, dependent, as the sequel of this story shows, upon his sister's + destiny.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA358" id="pageA358"></a>{358}</span> + </p> + <p> + Of Marcello, the second in age and most important in the action of this + tragedy, it is needful to speak with more particularity. He was young, + and, like the rest of his breed, singularly handsome—so handsome, + indeed, that he is said to have gained an infamous ascendency over the + great Duke of Bracciano, whose privy chamberlain he had become. Marcello + was an outlaw for the murder of Matteo Pallavicino, the brother of the + Cardinal of that name. This did not, however, prevent the chief of the + Orsini house from making him his favorite and confidential friend. + Marcello, who seems to have realized in actual life the worst vices of + those Roman courtiers described for us by Aretino, very soon conceived the + plan of exalting his own fortunes by trading on his sister's beauty. He + worked upon the Duke of Bracciano's mind so cleverly that he brought this + haughty prince to the point of an insane passion for Peretti's young wife; + and meanwhile he so contrived to inflame the ambition of Vittoria and her + mother, Tarquinia, that both were prepared to dare the worst of crimes in + expectation of a dukedom. The game was a difficult one to play. Not only + had Francesco Peretti first to be murdered, but the inequality of birth + and wealth and station between Vittoria and the Duke of Bracciano rendered + a marriage almost impossible. It was also an affair of delicacy to + stimulate without satisfying the Duke s passion. Yet Marcello did not + despair. The stakes were high enough to justify great risks; and all he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA359" id="pageA359"></a>{359}</span> + put in peril was his sister's honor, the fame of the Accoramboni, and the + favor of Montalto. Vittoria, for her part, trusted in her power to ensnare + and secure the noble prey both had in view. + </p> + <p> + Paolo Giordano Orsini, born about the year 1637, was reigning Duke of + Bracciano. Among Italian princes he ranked almost upon a par with the + Dukes of Urbino; and his family, by its alliances, was more illustrious + than any of that time in Italy. He was a man of gigantic stature, + prodigious corpulence, and marked personal daring; agreeable in manners, + but subject to uncontrollable fits of passion, and incapable of + self-restraint when crossed in any whim or fancy. Upon the habit of his + body it is needful to insist, in order that the part he played in this + tragedy of intrigue, crime, and passion may be well defined. He found it + difficult to procure a charger equal to his weight, and he was so fat that + a special dispensation relieved him from the duty of genuflexion in the + Papal presence. Though lord of a large territory, yielding princely + revenues, he labored under heavy debts; for no great noble of the period + lived more splendidly, with less regard for his finances. In the politics + of that age and country, Paolo Giordano leaned towards France. Yet he was + a grandee of Spain, and had played a distinguished part in the battle of + Lepanto. Now, the Duke of Bracciano was a widower. He had been married in + 1553 to Isabella de'Medici, daughter of the Grand, Duke Cosimo, sister of + Francesco,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA360" id="pageA360"></a>{360}</span> + Bianca Capello's lover, and of the Cardinal Ferdinando. Suspicion of + adultery with Troilo Orsini had fallen on Isabella; and her husband, with + the full concurrence of her brothers, removed her in 1576 from this world + by poison.<a name="FNanchorA_206_206" id="FNanchorA_206_206"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> No one thought the + worse of Bracciano for this murder of his wife. In those days of abandoned + vice and intricate villany, certain points of honor were maintained with + scrupulous fidelity. A wife's adultery was enough to justify the most + savage and licentious husband in an act of semi-judicial vengeance; and + the shame she brought upon his head was shared by the members of her own + house, so that they stood by, consenting to her death. Isabella, it may be + said, left one son, Virginio, who became, in due time, Duke of Bracciano. + </p> + <p> + It appears that in the year 1581, four years after Vittoria's marriage, + the Duke of Bracciano satisfied Marcello of his intention to make her his + wife, and of his willingness to countenance Francesco Peretti's murder. + Marcello, feeling sure of his game, now introduced the Duke in private to + his sister, and induced her to overcome any natural repugnance she may + have felt for the unwieldy and gross lover. Having reached this point, it + was imperative to push matters quickly on toward matrimony. + </p> + <p> + But how should the unfortunate Francesco be <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA361" id="pageA361"></a>{361}</span> entrapped? They caught him + in a snare of peculiar atrocity, by working on the kindly feelings which + his love for Vittoria had caused him to extend to all the Accoramboni. + Marcello, the outlaw, was her favorite brother, and Marcello at that time + lay in hiding, under the suspicion of more than ordinary crime, beyond the + walls of Rome. Late in the evening of April 18, while the Peretti family + were retiring to bed, a messenger from Marcello arrived, entreating + Francesco to repair at once to Monte Cavallo. Marcello had affairs of the + utmost importance to communicate, and begged his brother-in-law not to + fail him at a grievous pinch. The letter containing this request was borne + by one Dominico d'Aquaviva, <i>alias</i> Il Mancino, a confederate of + Vittoria's waiting-maid. This fellow, like Marcello, was an outlaw; but + when he ventured into Rome he frequented Peretti's house, and he had made + himself familiar with its master as a trusty bravo. Neither in the + message, therefore, nor in the messenger was there much to rouse + suspicion. The time, indeed, was oddly chosen, and Marcello had never made + a similar appeal on any previous occasion. Yet his necessities might + surely have obliged him to demand some more than ordinary favor from a + brother. Francesco immediately made himself ready to start out, armed only + with his sword and attended by a single servant. It was in vain that his + wife and his mother reminded him of the dangers of the night, the + loneliness of Monte<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA362" id="pageA362"></a>{362}</span> + Cavallo, its ruinous palaces and robber-haunted caves. He was resolved to + undertake the adventure, and went forth, never to return. As he ascended + the hill, he fell to earth, shot with three harquebusses. His body was + afterwards found on Monte Cavallo, stabbed through and through, without a + trace that could identify the murderers. Only, in the course of subsequent + investigations, Il Mancino (February 24, 1582) made the following + statements:—That Vittoria's mother, assisted by the waiting woman, + had planned the trap; that Marchionne of Gubbio and Paolo Barca of + Bracciano, two of the Duke's men, had despatched the victim. Marcello + himself, it seems, had come from Bracciano to conduct the whole affair. + Suspicion fell immediately upon Vittoria and her kindred, together with + the Duke of Bracciano; nor was this diminished when the Accoramboni, + fearing the pursuit of justice, took refuge in a villa of the Duke's at + Magnanapoli a few days after the murder. + </p> + <p> + A cardinal's nephew, even in those troublous times, was not killed without + some noise being made about the matter. Accordingly, Pope Gregory XIII. + began to take measures for discovering the authors of the crime. Strange + to say, however, the Cardinal Montalto, notwithstanding the great love he + was known to bear his nephew, begged that the investigation might be + dropped. The coolness with which he first received the news of Francesco + Peretti's <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA363" id="pageA363"></a>{363}</span> + death, the dissimulation with which he met the Pope's expression of + sympathy in a full consistory, his reserve while greeting friends on + ceremonial visits of condolence, and, more than all, the self-restraint he + showed in the presence of the Duke of Bracciano, impressed the society of + Rome with the belief that he was of a singularly moderate and patient + temper. It was thought that the man who could so tamely submit to his + nephew's murder, and suspend the arm of justice when already raised for + vengeance, must prove a mild and indulgent ruler. When, therefore, in the + fifth year after this event, Montalto was elected Pope, men ascribed his + elevation in no small measure to his conduct at the present crisis. Some, + indeed, attributed his extraordinary moderation and self-control to the + right cause. '<i>Veramente costui è un gran frate</i>!' was + Gregory's remark at the close of the consistory when Montalto begged him + to let the matter of Peretti's murder rest. '<i>Of a truth, that fellow is + a consummate hypocrite</i>!' How accurate this judgment was, appeared when + Sixtus V. assumed the reins of power. The priest who, as monk and + cardinal, had smiled on Bracciano, though he knew him to be his nephew's + assassin, now, as Pontiff and sovereign, bade the chief of the Orsini + purge his palace and dominions of the scoundrels he was wont to harbor, + adding significantly, that if the Cardinal Felice Peretti forgave what had + been done against him in a private station, the same man would exact + uttermost ven<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA364" id="pageA364"></a>{364}</span> + geance for disobedience to the will of Sixtus. The Duke of Bracciano + judged it best, after that warning, to withdraw from Rome. + </p> + <p> + Francesco Peretti had been murdered on April 16, 1581. Sixtus V. was + proclaimed on April 24, 1585. In this interval Vittoria underwent a series + of extraordinary perils and adventures. First of all, she had been + secretly married to the Duke in his gardens of Magnanapoli at the end of + April 1581. That is to say, Marcello and she secured their prize, as well + as they were able, the moment after Francesco had been removed by murder. + But no sooner had the marriage become known, than the Pope, moved by the + scandal it created, no less than by the urgent instance of the Orsini and + Medici, declared it void. After some while spent in vain resistance, + Bracciano submitted, and sent Vittoria back to her father's house. By an + order issued under Gregory's own hand, she was next removed to the prison + of Corte Savella, thence to the monastery of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, and + finally to the Castle of S. Angelo. Here at the end of December 1581, she + was put on her trial for the murder of her first husband. In prison she + seems to have borne herself bravely, arraying her beautiful person in + delicate attire, entertaining visitors, exacting from her friends the + honors due to a duchess, and sustaining the frequent examinations to which + she was submitted with a bold, proud front. In the middle of the month of + July her constancy was sorely tried by the receipt of a letter in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA365" id="pageA365"></a>{365}</span> the + Duke's own handwriting, formally renouncing his marriage. It was only by a + lucky accident that she was prevented on this occasion from committing + suicide. The Papal court meanwhile kept urging her either to retire to a + monastery or to accept another husband. She firmly refused to embrace the + religious life, and declared that she was already lawfully united to a + living husband, the Duke of Bracciano. It seemed impossible to deal with + her; and at last, on November 8, she was released from prison under the + condition of retirement to Gubbio. The Duke had lulled his enemies to rest + by the pretense of yielding to their wishes. But Marcello was continually + beside him at Bracciano, where we read of a mysterious Greek enchantress + whom he hired to brew love-philters for the furtherance of his ambitious + plots. Whether Bracciano was stimulated by the brother's arguments or by + the witch's potions need not be too curiously questioned. But it seems in + any case certain that absence inflamed his passion instead of cooling it. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, in September 1583, under the excuse of a pilgrimage to + Loreto, he contrived to meet Vittoria at Trevi, whence he carried her in + triumph to Bracciano. Here he openly acknowledged her as his wife, + installing her with all the splendor due to a sovereign duchess. On + October 10 following, he once more performed the marriage ceremony in the + principal church of his fief; and in the January of 1584 he brought her + openly to Rome.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA366" id="pageA366"></a>{366}</span> + This act of contumacy to the Pope, both as feudal superior and as Supreme + Pontiff, roused all the former opposition to his marriage. Once more it + was declared invalid. Once more the Duke pretended to give way. But at + this juncture Gregory died; and while the conclave was sitting for the + election of the new Pope, he resolved to take the law into his own hands, + and to ratify his union with Vittoria by a third and public marriage in + Rome. On the morning of April 24, 1585, their nuptials were accordingly + once more solemnized in the Orsini palace. Just one hour after the + ceremony, as appears from the marriage-register, the news arrived of + Cardinal Montalto's election to the Papacy. Vittoria lost no time in + paying her respects to Camilla, sister of the new Pope, her former + mother-in-law. The Duke visited Sixtus V. in state to compliment him on + his elevation. But the reception which both received proved that Rome was + no safe place for them to live in. They consequently made up their minds + for flight. + </p> + <p> + A chronic illness from which Bracciano had lately suffered furnished a + sufficient pretext. This seems to have been something of the nature of a + cancerous ulcer, which had to be treated by the application of raw meat to + open sores. Such details are only excusable in the present narrative on + the ground that Bracciano's disease considerably affects our moral + judgment of the woman who could marry a man thus physically tainted, and + with her hus<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA367" id="pageA367"></a>{367}</span> + band's blood upon his hands. At any rate, the Duke's <i>lupa</i> justified + his trying what change of air, together with the sulphur waters of Abano, + would do for him. + </p> + <p> + The Duke and Duchess arrived in safety at Venice, where they had engaged + the Dandolo palace on the Zueca. There they only stayed a few days, + removing to Padua, where they had hired palaces of the Foscari in the + Arena and a house called De'Cavalli. At Salò, also, on the Lake of + Garda, they provided themselves with fit dwellings for their princely + state and their large retinues, intending to divide their time between the + pleasures which the capital of luxury afforded and the simpler enjoyments + of the most beautiful of the Italian lakes. But <i>la gioia dei profani + è un fumo passaggier</i>. Paolo Giordano Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, + died suddenly at Salò on November 10, 1585, leaving the young and + beautiful Vittoria helpless among enemies. What was the cause of his + death? It is not possible to give a clear and certain answer. We have seen + that he suffered from a horrible and voracious disease, which after his + removal from Rome seems to have made progress. Yet though this malady may + well have cut his life short, suspicion of poison was not, in the + circumstances, quite unreasonable. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Pope, + and the Orsini family were all interested in his death. Anyhow, he had + time to make a will in Vittoria's favor, leaving her large sums of money, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA368" id="pageA368"></a>{368}</span> + jewels, goods, and houses—enough, in fact, to support her ducal + dignity with splendor. His hereditary fiefs and honors passed by right to + his only son, Virginio. + </p> + <p> + Vittoria, accompanied by her brother, Marcello, and the whole court of + Bracciano, repaired at once to Padua, where she was soon after joined by + Flaminio, and by the Prince Lodovico Orsini. Lodovico Orsini assumed the + duty of settling Vittoria's affairs under her dead husband's will. In life + he had been the duke's ally as well as relative. His family pride was + deeply wounded by what seemed to him an ignoble, as it was certainly an + unequal, marriage. He now showed himself the relentless enemy of the + Duchess. Disputes arose between them as to certain details, which seem to + have been legally decided in the widow's favor. On the night of December + 22, however, forty men, disguised in black and fantastically tricked out + to elude detection, surrounded her palace. Through the long galleries and + chambers hung with arras, eight of them went, bearing torches, in search + of Vittoria and her brothers. Marcello escaped, having fled the house + under suspicion of the murder of one of his own followers. Flaminio, the + innocent and young, was playing on his lute and singing <i>Miserere</i> in + the great hall of the palace. The murderers surprised him with a shot from + one of their harquebusses. He ran, wounded in the shoulder, to his + sister's room. She, it is said, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA369" + id="pageA369"></a>{369}</span> was telling her beads before retiring for + the night. When three of the assassins entered, she knelt before the + crucifix, and there they stabbed her in the left breast, turning the + poignard in the wound, and asking her with savage insults if her heart was + pierced. Her last words were, 'Jesus, I pardon you.' Then they turned to + Flaminio, and left him pierced with seventy-four stiletto wounds. + </p> + <p> + The authorities of Padua identified the bodies of Vittoria and Flaminio, + and sent at once for further instructions to Venice. Meanwhile it appears + that both corpses were laid out in one open coffin for the people to + contemplate. The palace and the church of the Eremitani, to which they had + been removed, were crowded all through the following day with a vast + concourse of the Paduans. Vittoria's dead body, pale yet sweet to look + upon, the golden hair flowing around her marble shoulders, the red wound + in her breast uncovered, the stately limbs arrayed in satin as she died, + maddened the populace with its surpassing loveliness. '<i>Dentibus + fremebant</i>.' says the chronicler, when they beheld that gracious lady + stiff in death. And of a truth, if her corpse was actually exposed in the + chapel of the Eremitani, as we have some right to assume, the spectacle + must have been impressive. Those grim gaunt frescoes of Mantegna looked + down on her as she lay stretched upon her bier, solemn and calm, and, but + for pallor, beautiful as though in life. No wonder that the folk forgot + her first husband's murder, her less <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA370" id="pageA370"></a>{370}</span> than comely marriage to the + second. It was enough for them that this flower of surpassing loveliness + had been cropped by villains in its bloom. Gathering in knots around the + torches placed beside the corpse, they vowed vengeance against the Orsini; + for suspicion, not unnaturally, fell on Prince Lodovico. + </p> + <p> + The Prince was arrested and interrogated before the court of Padua. He + entered their hall attended by forty armed men, responded haughtily to + their questions and demanded free passage for his courier to Virginio + Orsini, then at Florence. To this demand the court acceded; but the + precaution of waylaying the courier and searching his person was very + wisely taken. Besides some formal despatches which announced Vittoria's + assassination, they found in this man's boot a compromising letter, + declaring Virginio a party to the crime, and asserting that Lodovico had + with his own poignard killed their victim. Padua placed itself in a state + of defense, and prepared to besiege the palace of Prince Lodovico, who + also got himself in readiness for battle. Engines, culverins, and + fire-brands were directed against the barricades which he had raised. The + militia was called out and the Brenta was strongly guarded. Meanwhile the + Senate of S. Mark had despatched the Avogadore, Aloisio Bragadin, with + full power, to the scene of action. Lodovico Orsini, it may be mentioned, + was in their service: and had not this affair intervened, he would in a + few <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA371" id="pageA371"></a>{371}</span> + weeks have entered on his duties as Governor for Venice of Corfu. + </p> + <p> + The bombardment of Orsini's palace began on Christmas Day. Three of the + Prince's men were killed in the first assault; and since the artillery + brought to bear upon him threatened speedy ruin to the house and its + inhabitants, he made up his mind to surrender. 'The Prince Luigi,' writes + one chronicler of these events, 'walked attired in brown, his poignard at + his side, and his cloak slung elegantly under his arm. The weapon being + taken from him he leaned upon a balustrade, and began to trim his nails + with a little pair of scissors he happened to find there.' + </p> + <p> + On the 27th he was strangled in prison by order of the Venetian Republic. + His body was carried to be buried, according to his own will, in the + church of S. Maria dell'Orto at Venice. Two of his followers were hanged + next day. Fifteen were executed on the following Monday; two of these were + quartered alive; one of them the Conte Paganello, who confessed to having + slain Vittoria, had his left side probed with his own cruel dagger. Eight + were condemned to the galleys, six to prison, and eleven were acquitted. + </p> + <p> + Thus ended this terrible affair, which brought, it is said, good credit, + and renown to the lords of Venice through all nations of the civilized + world. It only remains to be added that Marcello Accoramboni was + surrendered to the Pope's <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA372" + id="pageA372"></a>{372}</span> vengeance and beheaded at Ancona, where + also his mysterious accomplice, the Greek sorceress, perished. + </p> + <h4> + <i>The Duchess of Palliano</i> + </h4> + <p> + It was the custom of Italians in the 16th and 17th centuries to compose + and circulate narratives of tragic or pathetic incidents in real life. + They were intended to satisfy curiosity in an age when newspapers and law + reports did not exist, and also to suit the taste of ladies and gentlemen + versed in Boccaccio and Bandello. Resembling the London letters of our + ancestors, they passed from hand to hand, rarely found their way into the + printing office, and when they had performed their task were left to + moulder in the dust of bookcases. The private archives of noble families + abound in volumes of such tales, and some may still be found upon the + shelves of public libraries. These MS. collections furnish a mine of + inexhaustible riches to the student of manners. When checked by legal + documents, they frequently reveal carelessness, inaccuracy, or even + willful distortion of facts. The genius of the Novella, so paramount in + popular Italian literature of that epoch, presided over their composition, + adding <i>intreccio</i> to disconnected facts, heightening sympathy by the + suggestion of romantic motives, turning the heroes or the heroines of + their adventures into saints, and blackening the faces of the villains. + Yet these stories, pretending to be veracious and aiming at <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA373" id="pageA373"></a>{373}</span> + information no less than entertainment, present us with even a more vivid + picture of customs than the Novelle. By their truthful touches of + landscape and incident painting, by their unconscious revelation of + contemporary sentiment in dialogue and ethical analysis of motives, they + enable us to give form and substance to the drier details of the + law-courts. One of these narratives I propose to condense from the + transcript made by Henri Beyle, for the sake of the light it throws upon + the tragedy of the Caraffa family.<a name="FNanchorA_207_207" + id="FNanchorA_207_207"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> + It opens with an account of Paul IV.'s ascent to power and a description + of his nephews. Don Giovanni, the eldest son of the Count of Montorio, was + married to Violante de Cardona, sister of the Count Aliffe. Paul invested + him with the Duchy of Palliano, which he wrested from Marc Antonio + Colonna. Don Carlo, the second son, who had passed his life as a soldier, + entered the Sacred College; and Don Antonio, the third, was created + Marquis of Montebello. The cardinal, as prime minister, assumed the reins + of government in Rome. The Duke of Palliano disposed of the Papal + soldiery. The Marquis of Montebello, commanding the guard of the palace, + excluded or admitted persons at his pleasure. Surrounded by these nephews, + Paul saw only with their eyes, heard only what they whispered to him, and + unwittingly lent his authority to their lawlessness. They exercised an + unlimited tyranny <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA374" id="pageA374"></a>{374}</span> + in Rome, laying hands on property and abusing their position to gratify + their lusts. No woman who had the misfortune to please them was safe; and + the cells of convents were as little respected as the palaces of + gentlefolk. To arrive at justice was impossible; for the three brothers + commanded all avenues, civil, ecclesiastical, and military, by which the + Pope could be approached. + </p> + <p> + Violante, Duchess of Palliano, was a young woman distinguished for her + beauty no less than for her Spanish pride. She had received a thoroughly + Italian education; could recite the sonnets of Petrarch and the stanzas of + Ariosto by heart, and repeated the tales of Ser Giovanni and other + novelists with an originality that lent new charm to their style.<a + name="FNanchorA_208_208" id="FNanchorA_208_208"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> Her court was a + splendid one, frequented by noble youths and gentlewomen of the best blood + in Naples. Two of these require particular notice: Diana Brancaccio, a + relative of the Marchioness of Montebello; and Marcello Capecce, a young + man of exceptional beauty. Diana was a woman of thirty years, + hot-tempered, tawny-haired, devotedly in love with Domiziano Fornari, a + squire of the Marchese di Montebello's household. Marcello had conceived + one of those bizarre passions for the Duchess, in which an almost + religious adoration was mingled with audacity, persistence, and aptitude + for any crime. The character of his mistress gave him <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA375" id="pageA375"></a>{375}</span> but little hope. Though + profoundly wounded by her husband's infidelities, insulted in her pride by + the presence of his wanton favorites under her own roof, and assailed by + the importunities of the most brilliant profligates in Rome, she held a + haughty course, above suspicion, free from taint or stain, Marcello could + do nothing but sigh at a distance and watch his opportunity. + </p> + <p> + At this point, the narrator seems to sacrifice historical accuracy for the + sake of combining his chief characters in one intrigue.<a + name="FNanchorA_209_209" id="FNanchorA_209_209"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> + </p> + <p> + Though he assumes the tone of a novelist rather than a chronicler, there + has hitherto been nothing but what corresponds to fact in his description + of the Caraffa Cabal. He now explains their downfall; and opens the + subject after this fashion. At the beginning of the year 1559, the Pope's + confessor ventured to bring before his notice the scandalous behavior of + the Papal nephews. Paul at first refused to credit this report. But an + incident happened which convinced him of its truth. On the feast of the + Circumcision—a circumstance which aggravated matters in the eyes of + a strictly pious Pontiff—Andrea Lanfranchi, secretary to the Duke of + Palliano, invited the Cardinal Caraffa to a banquet. One of the loveliest + and most notorious courtesans of Rome,<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA376" id="pageA376"></a>{376}</span> Martuccia, was also + present; and it so happened that Marcello Capecce at this epoch believed + he had more right to her favors than any other man in the capital. That + night he sought her in her lodgings, pursued her up and down, and learned + at last that she was supping with Lanfranchi and the Cardinal. Attended by + armed men, he made his way to Lanfranchi's house, entered the banquet + room, and ordered Martuccia to come away with him at once. The Cardinal, + who was dressed in secular habit, rose, and, drawing his sword, protested + against this high-handed proceeding. Martuccia, by favor of their host, + was his partner that evening. Upon this, Marcello called his men; but when + they recognized the Cardinal nephew, they refused to employ violence. In + the course of the quarrel, Martuccia made her escape, followed by + Marcello, Caraffa, and the company. There ensued a street-brawl between + the young man and the Cardinal; but no blood was spilt, and the incident + need have had but slight importance, if the Duke of Palliano had not + thought it necessary to place Lanfranchi and Marcello under arrest. They + were soon released, because it became evident that the chief scandal would + fall upon the Cardinal, who had clearly been scuffling and crossing swords + in a dispute about a common prostitute. The three Caraffa brothers + resolved on hushing the affair up. But it was too late. The Pope heard + something, which sufficed to confirm his confessor's warnings; and on + January 27, he pronounced the famous <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA377" id="pageA377"></a>{377}</span> sentence on his nephews. + The Cardinal was banished to Cività Lavinia, the Duke to Soriano, + the Marquis to Montebello. The Duchess took up her abode with her court in + the little village of Gallese. It was here that the episode of her love + and tragic end ensued. + </p> + <p> + Violante found herself almost alone in a simple village among mountains, + half-way between Rome and Orvieto, surrounded indeed by lovely forest + scenery, but deprived of all the luxuries and entertainments to which she + was accustomed. Marcello and Diana were at her side, the one eager to + pursue his hitherto hopeless suit, and the other to further it for her own + profit. One day Marcello committed the apparent imprudence of avowing his + passion. The Duchess rejected him with scorn, but disclosed the fact to + Diana, who calculated that if she could contrive to compromise her + mistress, she might herself be able to secure the end she had in view of + marrying Domiziano. In the solitude of those long days of exile the + waiting-woman returned again and again to the subject of Marcello's + devotion, his beauty, his noble blood and his manifold good qualities. She + arranged meetings in the woods between the Duchess and her lover, and + played her cards so well that during the course of the fine summer weeks + Violante yielded to Marcello. Diana now judged it wise to press her own + suit forward with Domiziano. But this cold-blooded fellow knew that he was + no fit match for a relative of the Mar<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA378" id="pageA378"></a>{378}</span> chioness of Montebello. He + felt, besides, but little sentiment for his fiery <i>innamorata</i>. + Dreading the poignard of the Caraffas, if he should presume to marry her, + he took the prudent course of slipping away in disguise from the port of + Nettuno. Diana maddened by disappointment, flew to the conclusion that the + Duchess had planned her lover's removal, and resolved to take a cruel + revenge. The Duke of Palliano was residing at Soriano, only a few miles + from Gallese. To bring him secret information of his wife's intrigue was a + matter of no difficulty. At first he refused to believe her report. Had + not Violante resisted the seductions of all Rome, and repelled the + advances even of the Duke of Guise? At last she contrived to introduce him + into the bedroom of the Duchess at a moment when Marcello was also there. + The circumstances were not precisely indicative of guilt. The sun had only + just gone down behind the hills; a maid was in attendance; and the Duchess + lay in bed, penciling some memoranda. Yet they were sufficient to arouse + the Duke's anger. He disarmed Marcello and removed him to the prisons of + Soriano, leaving Violante under strict guard at Gallese. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Palliano had no intention of proclaiming his jealousy or of + suggesting his dishonor, until he had extracted complete proof. He + therefore pretended to have arrested Marcello on the suspicion of an + attempt to poison him. Some large toads, bought by the young man at a high + price two or <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA379" id="pageA379"></a>{379}</span> + three months earlier, lent color to this accusation. Meanwhile the + investigation was conducted as secretly as possible by the Duke in person, + his brother-in-law Count Aliffe, and a certain Antonio Torando, with the + sanction of the Podestà of Soriano. After examining several + witnesses, they became convinced of Violante's guilt. Marcello was put to + the torture, and eventually confessed. The Duke stabbed him to death with + his own hands, and afterwards cut Diana's throat for her share in the + business. Both bodies were thrown into the prison-sewer. Meanwhile Paul + IV. had retained the young Cardinal, Alfonso Caraffa, son of the Marquis + of Montebello, near his person. This prelate thought it right to inform + his grand-uncle of the occurrences at Soriano. The Pope only answered: + 'And the Duchess? What have they done with her?' Paul IV. died in August, + and the Conclave, which ended in the election of Pius IV., was opened. + During the important intrigues of that moment, Cardinal Alfonso found time + to write to the Duke, imploring him not to leave so dark a stain upon his + honor, but to exercise justice on a guilty wife. On August 28, 1559, the + Duke sent the Count Aliffe, and Don Leonardo del Cardine, with a company + of soldiers to Gallese. They told Violante that they had arrived to kill + her, and offered her the offices of two Franciscan monks. Before her + death, the Duchess repeatedly insisted on her innocence, and received the + Sacrament from the hands of Friar Antonio of<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA380" id="pageA380"></a>{380}</span> Pavia. The Count, her + brother, then proceeded to her execution. She covered her eyes with a + handkerchief, which she, with perfect <i>sang froid</i>, drew somewhat + lower in order to shut his sight out. Then he adjusted the cord to her + neck; but, finding that it would not exactly fit, he removed it and walked + away. The Duchess raised the bandage from her face, and said: "Well! what + are we about then?" He answered: "The cord was not quite right, and I am + going to get another, in order that you may not suffer." When he returned + to the room, he arranged the handkerchief again, fixed the cord, turned + the wand in the knot behind her neck, and strangled her. The whole + incident, on the part of the Duchess, passed in the tone of ordinary + conversation. She died like a good Christian, frequently repeating the + words <i>Credo, Credo</i>. + </p> + <p> + Contrary to the usual custom and opinion of the age, this murder of an + erring wife and sister formed part of the accusations brought against the + Duke of Palliano and Count Aliffe. It will be remembered that they were + executed in Rome, together with the elder Cardinal Caraffa, during the + pontificate of Pius IV. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Wife-Murders</i> + </h4> + <p> + It would be difficult to give any adequate notion of the frequency of + wife-murders at this epoch in the higher ranks of society. I will, + however, mention a few, noticed by me in the course of study. Donna<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA381" id="pageA381"></a>{381}</span> + Pellegrina, daughter of Bianca Capello before her marriage with the Grand + Duke of Tuscany, was killed at Bologna in 1598 by four masked assassins at + the order of her husband, Count Ulisse Bentivoglio. She had been suspected + or convicted of adultery; and the Court of Florence sent word to the + Count, 'che essendo vero quanto scriveva, facesse quello che conveniva a + cavaliere di honore.' In the light of open day, together with two of her + gentlewomen and her coachman, she was cut to pieces and left on the road.<a + name="FNanchorA_210_210" id="FNanchorA_210_210"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> In 1690 at Naples Don + Carlo Gesualdo, son of the Prince of Venosta, assassinated his wife and + cousin Donna Maria d'Avalos, together with her lover, Fabricio Caraffa, + Duke of Andri. This crime was committed in his palace by the husband, + attended by a band of cut-throats.<a name="FNanchorA_211_211" + id="FNanchorA_211_211"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> + In 1577, at Milan, Count Giovanni Borromeo, cousin of the Cardinal + Federigo, stabbed his wife, the Countess Giulia Sanseverina, sister of the + Contessa di Sala, at table, with three mortal wounds. A mere domestic + squabble gave rise to this tragedy.<a name="FNanchorA_212_212" + id="FNanchorA_212_212"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> + In 1598, in his villa of Zenzalino at Ferrara, the Count Ercole Trotti, + with the assistance of a bravo called Jacopo Lazzarini, killed his wife + Anna, daughter of the poet Guarini. Her own brother Girolamo connived at + the act and helped to facilitate its execution. She was accused—falsely, + as it afterwards appeared from Girolamo's confession—of an improper + intimacy with <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA382" id="pageA382"></a>{382}</span> + the Count Ercole Bevilacqua. I may add that Count Ercole Trotti's father, + Alfonso, had murdered his own wife, Michela Granzena, in the same villa.<a + name="FNanchorA_213_213" id="FNanchorA_213_213"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> + </p> + <h4> + <i>The Medici</i> + </h4> + <p> + The history of the Medicean family during the sixteenth century epitomizes + the chief features of social morality upon which I have been dwelling in + this chapter. It will be remembered that Alessandro de' Medici, the first + Duke of Florence, poisoned his cousin Ippolito, and was himself + assassinated by his cousin Lorenzino. To the second of these crimes + Cosimo, afterwards Grand Duke of Tuscany, owed the throne of Florence, on + which, however, he was not secure until he had removed Lorenzino from this + world by the poignard of a bravo. Cosimo maintained his authority by a + system of espionage, remorseless persecution, and assassination, which + gave color even to the most improbable of legends.<a + name="FNanchorA_214_214" id="FNanchorA_214_214"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> + </p> + <p> + But it is not of him so much as of his children that I have to speak. + Francesco, who reigned from 1564 till 1587, brought disgrace upon his line + by marrying the infamous Bianca Capello, after authorizing the murder of + her previous husband. Bianca, though incapable of bearing children, + flattered her besotted <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA383" + id="pageA383"></a>{383}</span> paramour before this marriage by pretending + to have borne a son. In reality, she had secured the co-operation of three + women on the point of child-birth; and when one of these was delivered of + a boy, she presented this infant to Francesco, who christened him Antonio + de'Medici. Of the three mothers who served in this nefarious transaction, + Bianca contrived to assassinate two, but not before one of the victims to + her dread of exposure made full confession at the point of death. The + third escaped. Another woman who had superintended the affair was shot + between Florence and Bologna in the valleys of the Apennines. Yet after + the manifestation of Bianca's imposture, the Duke continued to recognize + Antonio as belonging to the Medicean family; and his successor was obliged + to compel this young man to assume the Cross of Malta, in order to exclude + his posterity from the line of princes.<a name="FNanchorA_215_215" + id="FNanchorA_215_215"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> + </p> + <p> + The legend of Francesco's and Bianca's mysterious death is well known. The + Duchess had engaged in fresh intrigues for palming off a spurious child + upon her husband. These roused the suspicions of his brother Cardinal + Ferdinando de'Medici, heir presumptive to the crown. An angry + correspondence followed, ending in a reconciliation between the three + princes. They met in the autumn of 1587 at the villa of Poggio a Cajano. + Then the world was startled by the announcement that the Grand Duke had + died of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA384" id="pageA384"></a>{384}</span> + fever after a few days' illness, and that Bianca had almost immediately + afterwards followed him to the grave. Ferdinand, on succeeding to the + throne, refused her the interment suited to her rank, defaced her arms on + public edifices, and for her name and titles in official documents + substituted the words, 'la pessima Bianca.' What passed at Poggio a Cajano + is not known. It was commonly believed in Italy that Bianca, meaning to + poison the Cardinal at supper, had been frustrated in her designs by a + blunder which made her husband the victim of this plot, and that she ended + her own life in despair or fell a victim to the Cardinal's vengeance. This + story is rejected both by Botta and Galluzzi; but Litta has given it a + partial credence.<a name="FNanchorA_216_216" id="FNanchorA_216_216"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> Two of Cosimo's sons + died previously, in the year 1562, under circumstances which gave rise to + similar malignant rumors. Don Garzia and the Cardinal Giovanni were + hunting together in the Pisan marshes, when the latter expired after a + short illness, and the former in a few days met with a like fate. Report + ran that Don Garzia had stabbed his brother, and that Cosimo, in a fit of + rage, ran him through the body with his own sword. In this case, although + Litta attaches weight to the legend, the balance of evidence is strongly + in favor of both brothers having been carried off by a pernicious fever + contracted simultaneously during <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA385" + id="pageA385"></a>{385}</span> their hunting expedition.<a + name="FNanchorA_217_217" id="FNanchorA_217_217"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> Each instance serves + however, to show in what an atmosphere of guilt the Medicean princes were + enveloped. No one believed that they could die except by fraternal or + paternal hands. And the authentic crimes of the family certainly justified + this popular belief. I have already alluded to the murders of Ippolito, + Alessandro, and Lorenzino. I have told how the Court of Florence + sanctioned the assassination of Bianca's daughter by her husband at + Bologna.<a name="FNanchorA_218_218" id="FNanchorA_218_218"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> I must now proceed to + relate the tragic tales of the princesses of the house. + </p> + <p> + Pietro de'Medici, a fifth of Cosimo's sons, had rendered himself notorious + in Spain and Italy by forming a secret society for the most revolting + debaucheries.<a name="FNanchorA_219_219" id="FNanchorA_219_219"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> Yet he married the + noble lady Eleonora di Toledo, related by blood to Cosimo's first wife. + Neglected and outraged by her husband, she proved unfaithful, and Pietro + hewed her in pieces with his own hands at Caffaggiolo. Isabella de'Medici, + daughter of Cosimo, was married to the Duke of Bracciano. Educated in the + empoisoned atmosphere of Florence, she, like Eleonora di Toledo, yielded + herself to fashionable profligacy, and was strangled by her husband at + Cerretto.<a name="FNanchorA_220_220" id="FNanchorA_220_220"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA386" id="pageA386"></a>{386}</span> + </p> + <p> + Both of these murders took place in 1576. Isabella's death, as I have + elsewhere related, opened the way for the Duke of Bracciano's marriage + with Vittoria Accoramboni, which had been prepared by the assassination of + her first husband, and which led to her own murder at Padua.<a + name="FNanchorA_221_221" id="FNanchorA_221_221"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> Another of Cosimo's + daughters, Lucrezia de'Medici, became Duchess of Ferrara, fell under a + suspicion of infidelity, and was possibly removed by poison in 1561.<a + name="FNanchorA_222_222" id="FNanchorA_222_222"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> The last of his sons + whom I have to mention, Don Giovanni, married a dissolute woman of low + birth called Livia, and disgraced the name of Medici by the unprincely + follies of his life. Eleonora de'Medici, third of his daughters, + introduces a comic element into these funereal records. She was affianced + to Vincenzo Gonzaga, heir of the Duchy of Mantua. But suspicions, arising + out of the circumstances of his divorce from a former wife, obliged him to + prove his marital capacity before the completion of the contract. This he + did at Venice, before a witness, upon the person of a virgin selected for + the experiment.<a name="FNanchorA_223_223" id="FNanchorA_223_223"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> Maria de'Medici, the + only child of Duke Francesco, became Queen of France. <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA387" id="pageA387"></a>{387}</span> The history of her amours + with Concini forms an episode in French annals. + </p> + <p> + If now we eliminate the deaths of Don Garcia, Cardinal Giovanni, Duke + Francesco, Bianca Capello, and Lucrezia de'Medici, as doubtful, there will + still remain the murders of Cardinal Ippolito, Duke Alessandro, Lorenzino + de'Medici, Pietro Bonaventuri (Bianca's husband), Pellegrina Bentivoglio + (Bianca's daughter), Eleonora di Toledo, Francesco Casi (Eleonora's + lover), the Duchess of Bracciano, Troilo Orsini (lover of this Duchess), + Felice Peretti (husband of Vittoria Accoramboni), and Vittoria Accoramboni—eleven + murders, all occurring between 1535 and 1585, an exact half century, in a + single princely family and its immediate connections. The majority of + these crimes, that is to say seven, had their origin in lawless passion.<a + name="FNanchorA_224_224" id="FNanchorA_224_224"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA388" id="pageA388"></a>{388}</span> + </p> + <h4> + SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC MORALS: PART II + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Tales illustrative of Bravi and Banditti—Cecco Bibboni—Ambrogio + Tremazzi—Lodovico dall'Armi—Brigandage—Piracy—Plagues—The + Plagues of Milan, Venice, Piedmont—Persecution of the Untori—Moral + State of the Proletariate—Witchcraft—Its Italian Features—History + of Giacomo Centini. + </p> + </div> + <p> + The stories related in the foregoing chapter abundantly demonstrate the + close connection between the aristocracy and their accomplices—bravos + and bandits. But it still remains to consider this connection from the + professional murderer's own point of view. And for this purpose, I will + now make use of two documents vividly illustrative of the habits, + sentiments, and social status of men who undertook to speculate in + bloodshed for reward. They are both autobiographical; and both relate + tragedies which occupied the attention of all Italy. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Cecco Bibboni</i> + </h4> + <p> + The first of these documents is the report made by Cecco Bibboni + concerning his method adopted for the murder of Lorenzino de'Medici at + Venice in 1546. Lorenzino, by the help of a bravo called Scoroncolo, had + assassinated his cousin Alessandro, Duke of Florence, in 1537. After + accomplishing <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA389" id="pageA389"></a>{389}</span> + this deed, which gained for him the name of Brutus, he escaped from the + city; and a distant relative of the murdered and the murderer, Cosimo + de'Medici, was chosen Duke in Alessandro's stead. One of the first acts of + his reign was to publish a ban of outlawry against Lorenzino. His portrait + was painted according to old Tuscan usage head downwards, and suspended by + one foot, upon the wall of Alessandro's fortress. His house was cut in + twain from roof to pavement, and a narrow passage was driven through it, + which received the name of Traitor's Alley, <i>Chiasso del Traditore</i>. + The price put upon his head was enormous—four thousand golden + florins, with a pension of one hundred florins to the murderer and his + heirs in perpetuity. The man who should kill Lorenzino was, further, to + enjoy amnesty from all offenses and to exercise full civic rights; he was + promised exemption from taxes, the privilege of carrying arms with two + attendants in the whole domain of Florence, and the prerogative of + restoring ten outlaws at his choice. If he captured Lorenzino and brought + him alive to Florence, the reward would be double in each item. There was + enough here to raise cupidity and stir the speculative spirit. Cecco + Bibboni shall tell us how the business was brought to a successful + termination.<a name="FNanchorA_225_225" id="FNanchorA_225_225"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> + </p> + <p> + 'When I returned from Germany,' begins Bibboni,<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA390" id="pageA390"></a>{390}</span> 'where I had been in the + pay of the Emperor, I found at Vicenza Bebo da Volterra, who was staying + in the house of M. Antonio da Roma, a nobleman of that city. This + gentleman employed him because of a great feud he had; and he was mighty + pleased, moreover, at my coming, and desired that I too should take up my + quarters in his palace.' + </p> + <p> + Bibboni proceeds to say how another gentleman of Vicenza, M. Francesco + Manente, had at this time a feud with certain of the Guazzi and the + Laschi, which had lasted several years, and cost the lives of many members + of both parties and their following. M. Francesco, being a friend of M. + Antonio, besought that gentleman to lend him Bibboni and Bebo for a + season; and the two <i>bravi</i> went together with their new master to + Celsano, a village in the neighborhood. 'There both parties had estates, + and all of them kept armed men in their houses, so that not a day passed + without feats of arms, and always there was some one killed or wounded. + One day, soon afterwards, the leaders of our party resolved to attack the + foe in their house, where we killed two, and the rest, numbering five men, + entrenched themselves in a ground-floor apartment; whereupon we took + possession of their harquebusses and other arms, which forced them to + abandon the villa and retire to Vicenza; and within a short space of time + this great feud was terminated by an ample peace.' After this Bebo took + service with the Rector of the University in Padua, and was transferred by + his new <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA391" id="pageA391"></a>{391}</span> + patron to Milan. Bibboni remained at Vicenza with M. Galeazzo della Seta, + who stood in great fear of his life, notwithstanding the peace which had + been concluded between the two factions. At the end of ten months he + returned to M. Antonio da Roma and his six brothers, 'all of whom being + very much attached to me, they proposed that I should live my life with + them, for good or ill, and be treated as one of the family; upon the + understanding that if war broke out and I wanted to take part in it, I + should always have twenty-five crowns and arms and horse, with welcome + home, so long as I lived; and in case I did not care to join the troops, + the same provision for my maintenance.' + </p> + <p> + From these details we comprehend the sort of calling which a bravo of + Bibboni's species followed. Meanwhile Bebo was at Milan. 'There it + happened that M. Francesco Vinta, of Volterra, was on embassy from the + Duke of Florence. He saw Bebo, and asked him what he was doing in Milan, + and Bebo answered that he was a knight errant.' This phrase—derived, + no doubt, from the romantic epics then in vogue—was a pretty + euphemism for a rogue of Bebo's quality. The ambassador now began + cautiously to sound his man, who seems to have been outlawed from the + Tuscan duchy, telling him he knew a way by which he might return with + favor to his home, and at last disclosing the affair of Lorenzino. Bebo + was puzzled at first, but when he understood the matter, he professed his + willingness, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA392" id="pageA392"></a>{392}</span> + took letters from the envoy to the Duke of Florence, and, in a private + audience with Cosimo, informed him that he was ready to attempt + Lorenzino's assassination. He added that 'he had a comrade fit for such a + job, whose fellow for the business could not easily be found.' + </p> + <p> + Bebo now traveled to Vicenza, and opened the whole matter to Bibboni, who + weighed it well, and at last, being convinced that the Duke's commission + to his comrade was <i>bonâ fide</i>, determined to take his share in + the undertaking. The two agreed to have no accomplices. They went to + Venice, and 'I,' says Bibboni, 'being most intimately acquainted with all + that city, and provided there with many friends, soon quietly contrived to + know where Lorenzino lodged, and took a room in the neighborhood, and + spent some days in seeing how we best might rule our conduct.' Bibboni + soon discovered that Lorenzino never left his palace; and he therefore + remained in much perplexity, until, by good luck, Ruberto Strozzi arrived + from France in Venice, bringing in his train a Navarrese servant, who had + the nickname of Spagnoletto. This fellow was a great friend of the bravo. + They met, and Bibboni told him that he should like to go and kiss the + hands of Messer Ruberto, whom he had known in Rome. Strozzi inhabited the + same palace as Lorenzino. 'When we arrived there, both Messer Ruberto and + Lorenzino were leaving the house, and there were around them so many + gentlemen and other persons, that I could <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA393" id="pageA393"></a>{393}</span> not present myself, and + both straightway stepped into the gondola. Then I, not having seen + Lorenzino for a long while past, and because he was very quietly attired, + could not recognize the man exactly, but only as it were between certainty + and doubt. Wherefore I said to Spagnoletto, "I think I know that + gentleman, but don't remember where I saw him." And Messer Ruberto was + giving him his right hand. Then Spagnoletto answered, "You know him well + enough; he is Messer Lorenzino. But see you tell this to nobody. He goes + by the name of Messer Dario, because he lives in great fear for his + safety, and people don't know that he is now in Venice." I answered that I + marveled much, and if I could have helped him, would have done so + willingly. Then I asked where they were going, and he said, to dine with + Messer Giovanni della Casa, who was the Pope's Legate. I did not leave the + man till I had drawn from him all I required.' + </p> + <p> + Thus spoke the Italian Judas. The appearance of La Casa on the scene is + interesting. He was the celebrated author of the <i>Capitolo del Forno</i>, + the author of many sublime and melancholy sonnets, who was now at Venice + prosecuting a charge of heresy against Pier Paolo Vergerio, and paying his + addresses to a noble lady of the Quirini family. It seems that on the + territory of San Marco he made common cause with the exiles from Florence, + for he was himself by birth a Florentine, and he had no objection to take + Brutus-Lorenzino by the hand. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA394" id="pageA394"></a>{394}</span> + After the noblemen had rowed off in their gondola to dine with the Legate, + Bibboni and his friend entered their palace, where he found another old + acquaintance, the house-steward, or <i>spenditore</i> of Lorenzino. From + him he gathered much useful information. Pietro Strozzi, it seems, had + allowed the tyrannicide one thousand five hundred crowns a year, with the + keep of three brave and daring companions (<i>tre compagni bravi e + facinorosi</i>), and a palace worth fifty crowns on lease. But Lorenzino + had just taken another on the Campo di San Polo at three hundred crowns a + year, for which swagger (<i>altura</i>) Pietro Strozzi had struck a + thousand crowns off his allowance. Bibboni also learned that he was + keeping house with his uncle, Alessandro Soderini, another Florentine + outlaw, and that he was ardently in love with a certain beautiful Barozza. + This woman was apparently one of the grand courtesans of Venice. He + further ascertained the date when he was going to move into the palace at + San Polo, and, 'to put it briefly, knew everything he did, and, as it + were, how many times a day he spit.' Such were the intelligences of the + servants' hall, and of such value were they to men of Bibboni's calling. + </p> + <p> + In the Carnival of 1546 Lorenzino meant to go masqued in the habit of a + gypsy woman to the square of San Spirito, where there was to be a joust. + Great crowds of people would assemble, and Bibboni hoped to do his + business there. The assassination, however, failed on this occasion, and + Lorenzino took <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA395" id="pageA395"></a>{395}</span> + up his abode in the palace he had hired upon the Campo di San Polo. This + Campo is one of the largest open places in Venice, shaped irregularly, + with a finely curving line upon the western side, where two of the noblest + private houses in the city are still standing. Nearly opposite these, in + the south-western angle, stands, detached, the little old church of San + Polo. One of its side entrances opens upon the square; the other on a lane + which leads eventually to the Frari. There is nothing in Bibboni's + narrative to make it clear where Lorenzino hired his dwelling. But it + would seem from certain things which he says later on, that in order to + enter the church his victim had to cross the square. Meanwhile Bibboni + took the precaution of making friends with a shoemaker, whose shop + commanded the whole Campo, including Lorenzino's palace. In this shop he + began to spend much of his time; 'and oftentimes I feigned to be asleep; + but God knows whether I was sleeping, for my mind, at any rate, was wide + awake.' + </p> + <p> + A second convenient occasion for murdering Lorenzino soon seemed to offer. + He was bidden to dine with Monsignor della Casa; and Bibboni, putting a + bold face on, entered the Legate's palace, having left Bebo below in the + loggia, fully resolved to do the business. 'But we found,' he says, 'that + they had gone to dine at Murano, so that we remained with our tabors in + their bag.' The island of Murano at that period was a favorite resort of + the Venetian <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA396" id="pageA396"></a>{396}</span> + nobles, especially of the more literary and artistic, who kept + country-houses there, where they enjoyed the fresh air of the lagoons and + the quiet of their gardens. + </p> + <p> + The third occasion, after all these weeks of watching, brought success to + Bibboni's schemes. He had observed how Lorenzino occasionally so far broke + his rules of caution as to go on foot, past the church of San Polo, to + visit the beautiful Barozza; and he resolved, if possible, to catch him on + one of these journeys. 'It so chanced on February 28, which was the second + Sunday of Lent, that having gone, as was my wont, to pry out whether + Lorenzino would give orders for going abroad that day, I entered the + shoemaker's shop, and stayed awhile, until Lorenzino came to the window + with a napkin round his neck—for he was combing his hair —and + at the same moment I saw a certain Giovan Battista Martelli, who kept his + sword for the defense of Lorenzino's person, enter and come forth again. + Concluding that they would probably go abroad, I went home to get ready + and procure the necessary weapons, and there I found Bebo asleep in bed, + and made him get up at once, and we came to our accustomed post of + observation, by the church of San Polo, where our men would have to pass.' + Bibboni now retired to his friend the shoemaker's, and Bebo took up his + station at one of the side doors of San Polo: 'and, as good luck would + have it, Giovan Battista Martelli came forth, and walked a piece in front, + and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA397" id="pageA397"></a>{397}</span> + then Lorenzino came, and then Alessandro Soderini, going the one behind + the other, like storks, and Lorenzino, on entering the church, and lifting + up the curtain of the door, was seen from the opposite door by Bebo, who + at the same time noticed how I had left the shop, and so we met upon the + street as we had agreed, and he told me that Lorenzino was inside the + church.' + </p> + <p> + To any one who knows the Campo di San Polo, it will be apparent that + Lorenzino had crossed from the western side of the piazza and entered the + church by what is technically called its northern door. Bebo, stationed at + the southern door, could see him when he pushed the heavy <i>stoia</i> or + leather curtain aside, and at the same time could observe Bibboni's + movements in the cobbler's shop. Meanwhile Lorenzino walked across the + church and came to the same door where Bebo had been standing. 'I saw him + issue from the church and take the main street; then came Alessandro + Soderini, and I walked last of all; and when we reached the point we had + determined on, I jumped in front of Alessandro with the poignard in my + hand, crying, "Hold hard, Alessandro, and get along with you, in God's + name, for we are not here for you!" He then threw himself around my waist, + and grasped my arms, and kept on calling out. Seeing how wrong I had been + to try to spare his life, I wrenched myself as well as I could from his + grip, and with my lifted poignard struck him, as God willed, above the + eyebrow, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA398" id="pageA398"></a>{398}</span> + a little blood trickled from the wound. He, in high fury, gave me such a + thrust that I fell backward, and the ground besides was slippery from + having rained a little. Then Alessandro drew his sword, which he carried + in its scabbard, and thrust at me in front, and struck me on the corselet, + which for my good fortune was of double mail. Before I could get ready I + received three passes, which, had I worn a doublet instead of that mailed + corselet, would certainly have run me through. At the fourth pass I had + regained my strength and spirit, and closed with him, and stabbed him four + times in the head, and being so close he could not use his sword, but + tried to parry with his hand and hilt, and I, as God willed, struck him at + the wrist below the sleeve of mail, and cut his hand off clean, and gave + him then one last stroke on his head. Thereupon he begged for God's sake + spare his life, and I, in trouble about Bebo, left him in the arms of a + Venetian nobleman, who held him back from jumping into the canal.' + </p> + <p> + Who this Venetian nobleman, found unexpectedly upon the scene, was, does + not appear. Nor, what is still more curious, do we hear anything of that + Martelli, the bravo, 'who kept his sword for the defense of Lorenzino's + person.' The one had arrived accidentally, it seems. The other must have + been a coward and escaped from the scuffle. + </p> + <p> + 'When I turned,' proceeds Bibboni, 'I found Lorenzino on his knees. He + raised himself, and I in anger, gave him a great cut across the head, + which <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA399" id="pageA399"></a>{399}</span> + split it in two pieces, and laid him at my feet, and he never rose again.' + </p> + <p> + Bebo, meanwhile, had made off from the scene of action. And Bibboni, + taking to his heels, came up with him in the little square of San + Marcello. They now ran for their lives till they reached the traghetto di + San Spirito, where they threw their poignards into the water, remembering + that no man might carry these in Venice under penalty of the galleys. + Bibboni's white hose were drenched with blood. He therefore agreed to + separate from Bebo, having named a rendezvous. Left alone, his ill luck + brought him face to face with twenty constables (<i>sbirri</i>). 'In a + moment I conceived that they knew everything, and were come to capture me, + and of a truth I saw that it was over with me. As swiftly as I could I + quickened pace and got into a church, near to which was the house of a + Compagnia, and the one opened into the other, and knelt down and prayed + commending myself with fervor to God for my deliverance and safety. Yet + while I prayed, I kept my eyes well opened and saw the whole band pass the + church, except one man who entered, and I strained my sight so that I + seemed to see behind as well as in front, and then it was I longed for my + poignard, for I should not have heeded being in a church.' But the + constable, it soon appeared, was not looking for Bibboni. So he gathered + up his courage, and ran for the Church of San Spirito, where the Padre + Andrea Volterrano was preaching to a great congre<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA400" id="pageA400"></a>{400}</span> gation. He hoped to go in + by one door and out by the other, but the crowd prevented him, and he had + to turn back and face the <i>sbirri</i>. One of them followed him, having + probably caught sight of the blood upon his hose. Then Bibboni resolved to + have done with the fellow, and rushed at him, and flung him down with his + head upon the pavement, and ran like mad, and came at last, all out of + breath to San Marco. + </p> + <p> + It seems clear that before Bibboni separated from Bebo they had crossed + the water, for the Sestiere di San Polo is separated from the Sestiere di + San Marco by the Grand Canal. And this they must have done at the + traghetto di San Spirito. Neither the church nor the traghetto are now in + existence, and this part of the story is therefore obscure.<a + name="FNanchorA_226_226" id="FNanchorA_226_226"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> + </p> + <p> + Having reached San Marco, he took a gondola at the Ponte della Paglia, + where tourists are now wont to stand and contemplate the Ducal Palace and + the Bridge of Sighs. First, he sought the house of a woman of the town who + was his friend; then changed purpose, and rowed to the palace of the Count + Salici da Collalto. 'He was a great friend and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA401" id="pageA401"></a>{401}</span> intimate of ours, because + Bebo and I had done him many and great services in times past. There I + knocked; and Bebo opened the door, and when he saw me dabbled with blood, + he marveled that I had not come to grief and fallen into the hands of + justice; and, indeed, had feared as much because I had remained so long + away.' It appears, therefore, that the Palazzo Collalto was their + rendezvous. 'The Count was from home; but being known to all his people, I + played the master and went into the kitchen to the fire, and with soap and + water turned my hose, which had been white, to a grey color.' This is a + very delicate way of saying that he washed out the blood of Alessandro and + Lorenzino! + </p> + <p> + Soon after the Count returned, and 'lavished caresses' upon Bebo and his + precious comrade. They did not tell him what they had achieved that + morning, but put him off with a story of having settled a <i>sbirro</i> in + a quarrel about a girl. Then the Count invited them to dinner; and being + himself bound to entertain the first physician of Venice, requested them + to take it in an upper chamber. He and his secretary served them with + their own hands at table. When the physician arrived, the Count went + downstairs; and at this moment a messenger came from Lorenzino's mother, + begging the doctor to go at once to San Polo, for that her son had been + murdered and Soderini wounded to the death. It was now no longer possible + to conceal their doings from the Count, who told them to pluck up courage + and abide <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA402" id="pageA402"></a>{402}</span> + in patience. He had himself to dine and take his siesta, and then to + attend a meeting of the Council. + </p> + <p> + About the hour of vespers, Bibboni determined to seek better refuge. + Followed at a discreet distance by Bebo, he first called at their lodgings + and ordered supper. Two priests came in and fell into conversation with + them. But something in the behavior of one of these good men roused his + suspicions. So they left the house, took a gondola, and told the man to + row hard to S. Maria Zobenigo. On the way he bade him put them on shore, + paid him well, and ordered him to wait for them. They landed near the + palace of the Spanish embassy; and here Bibboni meant to seek sanctuary. + For it must be remembered that the houses of ambassadors, no less than + those of princes of the Church, were inviolable. They offered the most + convenient harboring-places to rascals. Charles V., moreover, was deeply + interested in the vengeance taken on Alessandro de'Medici's murderer, for + his own natural daughter was Alessandro's widow and Duchess of Florence. + In the palace they were received with much courtesy by about forty + Spaniards, who showed considerable curiosity, and told them that Lorenzino + and Alessandro Soderini had been murdered that morning by two men whose + description answered to their appearance. Bibboni put their questions by + and asked to see the ambassador. He was not at home. 'In that case,' said + Bibboni, 'take us to the secretary. Attended by some thirty Spaniards, + 'with great joy <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA403" id="pageA403"></a>{403}</span> + and gladness,' they were shown into the secretary's chamber. He sent the + rest of the folk away, 'and locked the door well, and then embraced and + kissed us before we had said a word, and afterwards bade us talk freely + without any fear.' When Bibboni had told the whole story, he was again + embraced and kissed by the secretary, who thereupon left them and went to + the private apartment of the ambassador. Shortly after he returned and led + them by a winding staircase into the presence of his master. The + ambassador greeted them with great honor, told them he would strain all + the power of the empire to hand them in safety over to Duke Cosimo, and + that he had already sent a courier to the Emperor with the good news. + </p> + <p> + So they remained in hiding in the Spanish embassy; and in ten days' time + commands were received from Charles himself that everything should be done + to convey them safely to Florence. The difficulty was how to smuggle them + out of Venice, where the police of the Republic were on watch, and + Florentine outlaws were mounting guard on sea and shore to catch them. The + ambassador began by spreading reports on the Rialto every morning of their + having been seen at Padua, at Verona, in Friuli. He then hired a palace at + Malghera, near Mestre, and went out daily with fifty Spaniards, and took + carriage or amused himself with horse exercise and shooting. The + Florentines, who were on watch, could only discover from his people that + he did this <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA404" id="pageA404"></a>{404}</span> + for amusement. When he thought that he had put them sufficiently off their + guard, the ambassador one day took Bibboni and Bebo out by Canaregio to + Malghera, concealed in his own gondola, with the whole train of Spaniards + in attendance. And though on landing, the Florentines challenged them, + they durst not interfere with an ambassador or come to battle with his + men. So Bebo and Bibboni were hustled into a coach, and afterwards + provided with two comrades and four horses. They rode for ninety miles + without stopping to sleep, and on the day following this long journey + reached Trento, having probably threaded the mountain valleys above + Bassano, for Bibboni speaks of a certain village where the people talked + half German. The Imperial Ambassador at Trento forwarded them next day to + Mantua; from Mantua they came to Piacenza; thence passing through the + valley of the Taro, crossing the Apennines at Cisa, descending on + Pontremoli, and reaching Pisa at night, the fourteenth day after their + escape from Venice. + </p> + <p> + When they arrived at Pisa, Duke Cosimo was supping. So they went to an + inn, and next morning presented themselves to his Grace. Cosimo welcomed + them kindly, assured them of his gratitude, confirmed them in the + enjoyment of their rewards and privileges, and swore that they might rest + secure of his protection in all parts of his dominion. We may imagine how + the men caroused together after this reception. As Bibboni adds, 'We were + now able <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA405" id="pageA405"></a>{405}</span> + for the whole time of life left us to live splendidly, without a thought + or care.' The last words of his narrative are these: 'Bebo, from Pisa, at + what date I know not, went home to Volterra, his native town, and there + finished his days; while I abode in Florence, where I have had no further + wish to hear of wars, but to live my life in holy peace.' + </p> + <p> + So ends the story of the two <i>bravi</i>. We have reason to believe, from + some contemporary documents which Cantù has brought to light, that + Bibboni exaggerated his own part in the affair. Luca Martelli, writing to + Varchi, says that it was Bebo who clove Lorenzino's skull with a cutlass. + He adds this curious detail, that the weapons of both men were poisoned, + and that the wound inflicted by Bibboni on Soderini's hand was a slight + one. Yet, the poignard being poisoned, Soderini died of it. In other + respects Martelli's brief account agrees with that given by Bibboni, who + probably did no more, his comrade being dead, than claim for himself, at + some expense of truth, the lion's share of their heroic action. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Ambrogio Tremazzi</i><a name="FNanchorA_227_227" id="FNanchorA_227_227"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> + </h4> + <p> + In illustration of this narrative, and in evidence that it stands by no + means solitary on the records of that century, I shall extract some + passages from the report made by Ambrogio Tremazzi of Modigliana <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA406" id="pageA406"></a>{406}</span> + concerning the assassination of Troilo Orsini. Troilo it will be + remembered, was the lover of the Medicean Duchess of Bracciano. After the + discovery of their amours, and while the lady was being strangled by her + husband, with the sanction of her brother Troilo escaped to France. + Ambrogio Tremazzi knowing that his murder would be acceptable to the + Medici, undertook the adventure; moved, as he says, 'solely by the desire + of bringing myself into favorable notice with the Grand Duke; for my mind + revolted at the thought of money payments, and I had in view the + acquisition of honor and praise rather, being willing to risk my life for + the credit of my Prince, and not my life only, but also to incur deadly + and perpetual feud with a powerful branch of the Orsini family.' On his + return from France, having successfully accomplished the mission, Ambrogio + Tremazzi found that the friends who had previously encouraged his hopes, + especially the Count Ridolfo Isolami, wished to compromise his reward by + the settlement of a pension on himself and his associate. Whether he + really aimed at a more honorable recognition of his services, or whether + he sought to obtain better pecuniary terms, does not appear. But he + represents himself as gravely insulted; 'seeing that my tenor of life from + boyhood upwards has been always honorable, and thus it ever shall be.' + After this exordium in the form of a letter addressed to one Signor + Antonio [Serguidi], he proceeds to render account of his <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA407" id="pageA407"></a>{407}</span> + proceedings. It seems that Don Piero de'Medici gave him three hundred + crowns for his traveling expenses; after which, leaving his son, a boy of + twelve years, as hostage in the service of Piero, he set off and reached + Paris on August 12, 1577. There he took lodgings at the sign of the Red + Horse, near the Cordeilliers, and began at once to make inquiries for + Troilo. He had brought with him from Italy a man called Hieronimo + Savorano. Their joint investigations elicited the fact that Troilo had + been lately wounded in the service of the King of France, and was expected + to arrive in Paris with the Court. It was not until the eve of All Saints' + day that the Court returned. Soon afterwards, Ambrogio was talking at the + door of a house with some Italian comedians, when a young man, covered + with a tawny-colored mantle, passed by upon a brown horse, bearing a + servant behind him on the crupper. This was Troilo Orsini; and Ambrogio + marked him well. Troilo, after some minutes' conversation with the + players, rode forward to the Louvre. The <i>bravo</i> followed him and + discovered from his servant where he lodged. Accordingly, he engaged rooms + in the Rue S. Honoré, in order to be nearer to his victim. + </p> + <p> + Some time, however, elapsed before he was able to ascertain Troilo's daily + habits. Chance at last threw them together. He was playing <i>primiero</i> + one evening in the house of an actress called Vittoria, when Troilo + entered, with two gentlemen of Florence.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA408" id="pageA408"></a>{408}</span> He said he had been absent + ten days from Paris. Ambrogio, who had left his harquebuss at home, not + expecting to meet him, 'was consequently on that occasion unable to do + anything.' Days passed without a better opportunity, till, on November 30, + 'the feast of S. Andrew, which is a lucky day for me, I rose and went at + once to the palace, and, immediately on my arrival, saw him at the hour + when the king goes forth to mass.' Ambrogio had to return as he went; for + Troilo was surrounded by too many gentlemen of the French Court; but he + made his mind up then and there 'to see the end of him or me.' He called + his comrade Hieronimo, posted him on a bridge across the Seine, and + proceeded to the Court, where Troilo was now playing racquets with princes + of the royal family. Ambrogio hung about the gates until Troilo issued + from the lodgings of Monseigneur de Montmorenci, still tracked by his + unknown enemy, and thence returned to his own house on horseback attended + by several servants. After waiting till the night fell, Troilo again left + home on horseback preceded by his servants with torches. Ambrogio followed + at full speed, watched a favorable opportunity, and stopped the horse. + When I came up with him, I seized the reins with my left hand and with my + right I set my harquebuss against his side, pushing it with such violence + that if it had failed to go off it would at any rate have dislodged him + from his seat. The gun took effect and he fell crying out "Eh! Eh!" In the + tumult <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA409" id="pageA409"></a>{409}</span> + which ensued, I walked away, and do not know what happened afterwards.' + Ambrogio then made his way back to his lodgings, recharged his harquebuss, + ate some supper and went to bed. He told Hieronimo that nothing had + occurred that night. Next day he rose as usual, and returned to the Court, + hoping to hear news of Troilo. In the afternoon, at the Italian theatre, + he was informed that an Italian had been murdered, at the instance, it was + thought, of the Grand Duke of Florence. Hieronimo touched his arm, and + whispered that he must have done the deed; but Ambrogio denied the fact. + It seems to have been his object to reserve the credit of the murder for + himself, and also to avoid the possibility of Hieronimo's treachery in + case suspicion fell upon him. Afterwards he learned that Troilo lay + dangerously wounded by a harquebuss. Further details made him aware that + he was himself suspected of the murder, and that Troilo could not recover. + He therefore conferred upon the matter with Hieronimo in Notre Dame, and + both of them resolved to leave Paris secretly. This they did at once, + relinquishing clothes, arms, and baggage in their lodgings, and reached + Italy in safety. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Lodovico dall'Armi</i> + </h4> + <p> + The relations of trust which <i>bravi</i> occasionally maintained with + foreign Courts, supply some curious illustrations of their position in + Italian society. One <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA410" id="pageA410"></a>{410}</span> + characteristic instance may be selected from documents in the Venetian + Archives referring to Lodovico dall'Armi.<a name="FNanchorA_228_228" + id="FNanchorA_228_228"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> + This man belonged to a noble family of Bologna; and there are reasons for + supposing that his mother was sister to Cardinal Campeggi, famous in the + annals of the English Reformation. Outlawed from his native city for a + homicide, Lodovico adopted the profession of arms and the management of + secret diplomacy. He first took refuge at the Court of France, where in + 1541 he obtained such credit, especially with the Dauphin, that he was + entrusted with a mission for raising revolt in Siena against the + Spaniards.<a name="FNanchorA_229_229" id="FNanchorA_229_229"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> His transactions in + that city with Giulio Salvi, then aspiring to its lordship, and in Rome + with the French ambassador, led to a conspiracy which only awaited the + appearance of French troops upon the Tuscan frontier to break out into + open rebellion. The plot, however, transpired before it had been matured; + and Lodovico took flight through the Florentine territory. He was arrested + at Montevarchi and confined in the fortress of Florence, where he made + such revelations as rendered the extinction of the Sienese revolt an easy + matter. After this we do not hear of him until he reappears at Venice in + the year 1545. He was now accredited to the English ambassador with the + title of Henry VIII.'s 'Colonel,' and enjoyed the consideration accorded + to a powerful monarch's privy agent.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA411" id="pageA411"></a>{411}</span> + </p> + <p> + His pension amounted to fifty crowns a month, while he kept eight captains + at his orders, each of whom received half that sum as pay. These + subordinates were people of some social standing. We find among them a + Trissino of Vicenza and a Bonifacio of Verona, the one entitled Marquis + and the other Count. What the object of Lodovico's residence in Italy + might be, did not appear. Though he carried letters of recommendation from + the English Court, he laid no claim to the rank of diplomatic envoy. But + it was tolerably well known that he employed himself in levying troops. + Whether these were meant to be used against France or in favor of Savoy, + or whether, as the Court of Rome suggested, Henry had given orders for the + murder of his cousin, Cardinal Pole, at Trento, remained an open question. + Lodovico might have dwelt in peace under the tolerant rule of the + Venetians, had he not exposed himself to a collision with their police. In + the month of August he assaulted the captain of the night guard in a + street brawl; and it was also proved against him that he had despatched + two of his men to inflict a wound of infamy upon a gentleman at Treviso. + These offenses, coinciding with urgent remonstrances from the Papal Curia, + gave the Venetian Government fair pretext for expelling him from their + dominions. A ban was therefore published against him and fourteen of his + followers. The English ambassador declined to interfere in his behalf, and + the man left Italy. At the end of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA412" + id="pageA412"></a>{412}</span> August he appeared at Brussels, where he + attempted to excuse himself in an interview with the Venetian ambassador. + Now began a diplomatic correspondence between the English Court and the + Venetian Council, which clearly demonstrates what kind of importance + attached to this private agent. The Chancellor Lord Wriothesley, and the + Secretary Sir William Paget, used considerable urgency to obtain a + suspension of the ban against Dall'Armi. After four months' negotiation, + during which the Papal Court endeavored to neutralize Henry's influence, + the Doge signed a safe-conduct for five years in favor of the bravo. Early + in 1546 Lodovico reappeared in Lombardy. At Mantua he delivered a letter + signed by Henry himself to the Duke Francesco Gonzaga, introducing 'our + noble and beloved familiar Lodovico Dall'Armi,' and begging the Duke to + assist him in such matters as he should transact at Mantua in the king's + service.<a name="FNanchorA_230_230" id="FNanchorA_230_230"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> Lodovico presented + this letter in April; but the Duchess, who then acted as regent for her + son Francesco, refused to receive him. She alleged that the Duke forbade + the levying of troops for foreign service, and declined to complicate his + relations with foreign powers. It seems, from a sufficiently extensive + correspondence on the affairs of Lodovico, that he was understood by the + Italian princess to be charged with some special commission for recruiting + soldiers against the French. + </p> + <p> + The peace between England and France, signed <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA413" id="pageA413"></a>{413}</span> at Guines in June, rendered + Lodovico's mission nugatory; and the death of Henry VIII. in January 1547 + deprived him of his only powerful support. Meanwhile he had contrived to + incur the serious displeasure of the Venetian Republic. In the autumn of + 1546 they outlawed one of their own nobles, Ser Mafio Bernardo, on the + charge of his having revealed state secrets to France. About the middle of + November, Bernardo, then living in concealment at Ravenna, was lured into + the pine forest by two men furnished with tokens which secured his + confidence. He was there murdered, and the assassins turned out to be paid + instruments of Lodovico. It now came to light that Lodovico and Ser Mafio + Bernardo had for some time past colluded in political intrigue. If, + therefore, the murder had a motive, this was found in Lodovico's dread of + revelations under the event of Ser Mario's capture. Submitted to torture + in the prisons of the Ten, Ser Mafio might have incriminated his + accomplice both with England and Venice. It was obvious why he had been + murdered by Lodovico's men. Dall'Armi was consequently arrested and + confined in Venice. After examination, followed by a temporary release, he + prudently took flight into the Duchy of Milan. Though they held proof of + his guilt in the matter of Ser Mafio's murder, the Venetians were + apparently unwilling to proceed to extremities against the King of + England's man. Early in February, however, Sir William Paget surrendered + him in the name of Lord Pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA414" + id="pageA414"></a>{414}</span> tector Somerset to the discretion of S. + Mark. Furnished with this assurance that Dall'Armi had lost the favor of + England, the Signory wrote to demand his arrest and extradition from the + Spanish governor in Milan. He was in fact arrested on February 10. The + letter announcing his capture describes him as a man of remarkably + handsome figure, accustomed to wear a crimson velvet cloak and a red cap + trimmed with gold. It is exactly in this costume that Lodovico has been + represented by Bonifazio in a picture of the Massacre of the Innocents. + The bravo there stands with his back partly turned, gazing stolidly upon a + complex scene of bloodshed. He wears a crimson velvet mantle, scarlet cap + and white feather, scarlet stockings, crimson velvet shoes, and + rose-colored silk underjacket. His person is that of a gallant past the + age of thirty, high-complexioned, with short brown beard, spare whiskers + and moustache. He is good to look at, except that the sharp set mouth + suggests cynical vulgarity and shallow rashness. On being arrested in + Milan, Lodovico proclaimed himself a privileged person <i>(persona + pubblica)</i>, bearing credentials from the King of England; and, during + the first weeks of his confinement, he wrote to the Emperor for help. This + was an idle step. Henry's death had left him without protectors, and + Charles V. felt no hesitation in abandoning his suppliant to the + Venetians. When the usual formalities regarding extradition had been + completed, the Milanese Government delivered Lo<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA415" id="pageA415"></a>{415}</span> dovico at the end of April + into the hands of the Rector of Brescia, who forwarded him under a guard + of two hundred men to Padua. He was hand-cuffed; and special directions + were given regarding his safety, it being even prescribed that if he + refused food it should be thrust down his throat. What passed in the + prisons of the State, after his arrival at Venice, is not known. But on + May 14, he was beheaded between the columns on the Molo. + </p> + <p> + Venice, at this epoch, incurred the reproaches of her neighbors for + harboring adventurers of Lodovico's stamp. One of the Fregosi of Genoa a + certain Valerio, and Pietro Strozzi, the notorious French agent, all of + whom habitually haunted the lagoons, roused sufficient public anxiety to + necessitate diplomatic communications between Courts, and to disquiet + fretful Italian princelings. Banished from their own provinces, and plying + a petty Condottiere trade, such men, when they came together on a neutral + ground, engaged in cross-intrigues which made them politically dangerous. + They served no interest but that of their own egotism, and they were + notoriously unscrupulous in the means employed to effect immediate + objects. At the same time, the protection which they claimed from foreign + potentates withdrew them from the customary justice of the State. Bedmar's + conspiracy in 1617-18 revealed to Venice the full extent of the peril + which this harborage of ruffians involved; for though grandees of the + distinction of the Duke of Ossuna were involved in it, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA416" id="pageA416"></a>{416}</span> the main + agents, on whose ambition and audacity all depended, sprang from those + French, English, Spanish, and Italian mercenaries, who crowded the low + quarters of the city, alert for any mischief, and inflamed with the + wildest projects of self-aggrandizement by policy and bloodshed. Nothing + testifies to the social and political decrepitude of Italy in this period + more plainly than the importance which folk like Lodovico Dall'Armi + acquired, and the revolutionary force which a man like Jaffier commanded. + </p> + <h4> + <i>Brigands, Pirates, Plague</i> + </h4> + <p> + After collecting these stories, which illustrate the manners of the upper + classes in society and prove their dependence upon henchmen paid to + subserve lawless passions, it would be interesting to lay bare the life of + the common people with equal lucidity. This, however, is a more difficult + matter. Statistics of dubious value can indeed be gathered regarding the + desolation of villages by brigands, the multitudes destroyed by pestilence + and famine, and the inroads of Mediterranean pirates. I propose, + therefore, to touch lightly upon these points, and especially to use our + records of plague in different Italian districts as tests for contrasting + the condition of the people at this epoch with that of the same people in + the Middle Ages. + </p> + <p> + Brigandage, though this was certainly a curse of the first magnitude to + Central and Southern Italy, cannot be paralleled, either for the miseries + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA417" id="pageA417"></a>{417}</span> it + inflicted, or for the ferocity it stimulated, with the municipal warfare + of the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In those internecine + struggles whole cities disappeared, and fertile districts were + periodically abandoned to wolves. The bands of an Alfonso Piccolomini or a + Sciarra Colonna plundered villages, exacted black mail, and held prisoners + for ransom.<a name="FNanchorA_231_231" id="FNanchorA_231_231"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> But their barbarities + were insignificant, when compared with those commonly perpetrated by + wandering companies of adventure before the days of Alberigo da Barbiano; + nor did brigands cost Italy so much as the mercenary troops, which, after + the Condottiere system had been developed, became a permanent drain upon + the resources of the country. The raids of Tunisian and Algerian Corsairs + were more seriously mischievous; since the whole sea-board from Nice to + Reggio lay open to the ravages of such incarnate fiends as Barbarossa and + Dragut, while the Adriatic was infested by Uscocchi, and the natives of + the Regno not unfrequently turned pirates in emulation of their + persecutors.<a name="FNanchorA_232_232" id="FNanchorA_232_232"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> + </p> + <p> + Yet even these injuries may be reckoned light, when we consider what Italy + had suffered between 1494 and 1527 from French, Spanish, German and Swiss + troops in combat on <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA418" id="pageA418"></a>{418}</span> + her soil. The pestilences of the Middle Ages notably the Black Death of + 1348, of which Boccaccio has left an immortal description, exceeded in + virulence those which depopulated Italian cities during the period of my + history. But plagues continued to be frequent; and some of these are so + memorable that they require to be particularly noticed. At Venice in + 1575-77, a total of about 50,000 persons perished; and in 1630-31, 46,490 + were carried off within a space of sixteen months in the city, while the + number of those who died at large in the lagoons amounted to 94,235.<a + name="FNanchorA_233_233" id="FNanchorA_233_233"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> On these two + occasions the Venetians commemorated their deliverance by the erection of + the Redentore and S. Maria della Salute, churches which now form principal + ornaments of the Giudecca and the Grand Canal. Milan was devastated at the + same periods by plagues, of which we have detailed accounts in the + dispatches of resident Venetian envoys.<a name="FNanchorA_234_234" + id="FNanchorA_234_234"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> + The mortality in the second of these visitations was terrible. Before + September 1629, fourteen thousand had succumbed; between May and August + 1630, forty-five thousand victims had been added to the tale.<a + name="FNanchorA_235_235" id="FNanchorA_235_235"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> + </p> + <p> + At Naples in the year 1656, more than fifty thousand perished between May + and July; the dead were cast naked into the sea, and the Venetian envoy + describes the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA419" id="pageA419"></a>{419}</span> + city as <i>'non più città ma spelonca di morti</i>.'<a + name="FNanchorA_236_236" id="FNanchorA_236_236"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> In July his diary is + suddenly interrupted, whether by departure from the stricken town, or more + probably by death, we know not. Savoy was scourged by a fearful pestilence + in the years 1598-1600. Of this plague we possess a frightfully graphic + picture in the same accurate series of the State documents.<a + name="FNanchorA_237_237" id="FNanchorA_237_237"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> Simeone Contarini, + then resident at Savigliano, relates that more than two-thirds of the + population in that province had been swept away before the autumn of 1598, + and that the evil was spreading far and wide through Piedmont. In + Alpignano, a village of some four hundred inhabitants, only two remained. + In Val Moriana, forty thousand expired out of a total of seventy thousand. + The village of San Giovanni counted but twelve survivors from a population + of more than four thousand souls. In May 1599, the inhabitants of Turin + were reduced by flight and death to four thousand; and of these there died + daily numbers gradually rising through the summer from 50 to 180. The + streets were encumbered with unburied corpses, the houses infested by + robbers and marauders. Some incidents reported of this plague are ghastly + in their horror. The infected were treated with inhuman barbarity, and + retorted with savage fury, battering their assailants with the pestiferous + bodies of unburied victims. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA420" id="pageA420"></a>{420}</span> To + the miseries of pestilence and its attendant famine were added lawlessness + and license, raging fires, and what was worst of all, the dark suspicion + that the sickness had been introduced by malefactors. This belief appears + to have taken hold upon the popular mind during the plague of 1598 in + Savoy and in Milan.<a name="FNanchorA_238_238" id="FNanchorA_238_238"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> Simeone Contarini + reports that two men from Geneva confessed to having come with the express + purpose of disseminating infection. He also gives curious particulars of + two who were burned, and four who were quartered at Turin in 1600 for this + offense.<a name="FNanchorA_239_239" id="FNanchorA_239_239"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> 'These spirits of + hell,' as he calls them, indicated a wood in which they declared that they + had buried a pestilential liquid intended to be used for smearing houses. + The wood was searched, and some jars were discovered. A surgeon at the + same epoch confessed to having meant to spread the plague at Mondovi. + Other persons, declaring themselves guilty of a similar intention, + described a horn filled with poisonous stuff collected from the sores of + plague-stricken corpses, which they had concealed outside the walls of + Turin. This too was discovered; and these apparent proofs of guilt so + infuriated the people that every day some criminals were sacrificed to + judicial vengeance. + </p> + <p> + The name given to the unfortunate creatures <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA421" id="pageA421"></a>{421}</span> accused of this diabolical + conspiracy was <i>Untori</i> or the Smearers. The plague of Milan in + 1629-30 obtained the name of 'La Peste degli Untori' (as that of 1576 had + been called 'La Peste di S. Carlo'), because of the prominent part played + in it by the smearers.<a name="FNanchorA_240_240" id="FNanchorA_240_240"></a><a + href="#FootnoteA_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> They were popularly + supposed to go about the city daubing walls, doors, furniture, + choir-stalls, flowers, and articles of food with plague stuff. They + scattered powders in the air, or spread them in circles on the pavement. + To set a foot upon one of these circles involved certain destruction. + Hundreds of such <i>untori</i> were condemned to the most cruel deaths by + justice firmly persuaded of their criminality. Exposed to prolonged + tortures, the majority confessed palpable absurdities. One woman at Milan + said she had killed four thousand people. But, says Pier Antonio Marioni, + the Venetian envoy, although tormented to the utmost, none of them were + capable of revealing the prime instigators of the plot. So thoroughly + convinced was he, together with the whole world, of their guilt, that he + never paused to reflect upon the fallacy contained in this remark. The + rack-stretched wretches could not reveal their instigators, because there + were none; and the acts of which they accused themselves were the + delirious figments of their own torture-fretted brains. We possess + documents relating to the trial of the Milanese <i>untori</i>, which make + it clear that crimes of this sort must have <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA422" id="pageA422"></a>{422}</span> been imaginary. As in cases + of witchcraft, the first accusation was founded upon gossip and delation. + The judicial proceedings were ruled by prejudice and cruelty. Fear and + physical pain extorted confessions and complicated accusations of their + neighbors from multitudes of innocent people.<a name="FNanchorA_241_241" + id="FNanchorA_241_241"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_241_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> + Indeed the parallel between these unfortunate smearers and no less + wretched witches is a close one. I am inclined to think that, as some + crazy women fancied they were witches, so some morbid persons of this + period in Italy believed in their power of spreading plague, and yielded + to the fascination of malignity. Whether such moral mad folk really + extended the sphere of the pestilence to any appreciable extent remains a + matter for conjecture; and it is quite certain that all but a small + percentage of the accused were victims of calumny. + </p> + <p> + After taking brigandage, piracy, and pestilence into account, the decline + of Italy must be attributed to other causes. These I believe to have been + the extinction of commercial republics, the decay of free commonwealths, + iniquitous systems of taxation, the insane display of wealth by + unproductive princes, and the diversion of trade into foreign channels. + Florence ceased to be the center of wool manufacture, Venice lost her hold + upon the traffic between East <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA423" + id="pageA423"></a>{423}</span> and West.<a name="FNanchorA_242_242" + id="FNanchorA_242_242"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> + Stagnation fell like night upon the land, and the population suffered from + a general atrophy. + </p> + <h4> + <i>The Proletariate</i> + </h4> + <p> + In what concerns social morality it would be almost impossible to define + the position of the proletariate, tillers of the soil, and artisans, at + this epoch. These classes vary in their goodness and their badness, in + their drawbacks and advantages, from age to age far less than those who + mold the character of marked historical periods by culture. They enjoy + indeed a greater or a smaller immunity from pressing miseries. They are + innocent or criminal in different degrees. But the ground-work of humanity + in them remains comparatively unaltered; and their moral qualities, so far + as these may be exceptional, reflect the influences of an upper social + stratum. It is clear from the histories related in this chapter that + members of the lowest classes were continually mixing with the nobles and + the gentry in the wild adventures of that troubled century. They, like + their betters, were undergoing a tardy <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA424" id="pageA424"></a>{424}</span> metamorphosis from + mediaeval to modern conditions, retaining vices of ferocity and grossness, + virtues of loyalty and self-reliance, which belonged to earlier periods. + They, too, were now infected by the sensuous romance of pietism, the + superstitious respect for sacraments and ceremonial observances which had + been wrought by the Catholic Revival into ecstatic frenzy. They shared + those correlative yearnings after sacrilegious debauchery, felt those + allurements of magic arts, indulged that perverted sense of personal honor + which constituted psychological disease in the century which we are + studying. It can, moreover, be maintained that Italian society at no epoch + has been so sharply divided into sections as that of the feudalized races. + In this period of one hundred years, from 1530 to 1630, when education was + a privilege of the few, and when Church and princes combined to retard + intellectual progress, the distinction between noble and plebeian, burgher + and plowman, though outwardly defined, was spiritually and morally + insignificant. As in the Renaissance, so now, vice trickled downwards from + above, infiltrating the masses of the people with its virus. But now, even + more decidedly than then, the upper classes displayed obliquities of + meanness, baseness, intemperance, cowardice, and brutal violence, which + are commonly supposed to characterize villeins. + </p> + <p> + I had thought to throw some light upon the manners of the Italian + proletariate by exploring the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA425" + id="pageA425"></a>{425}</span> archives of trials for witchcraft. But I + found that these were less common than in Germany, France, Spain, and + England at a corresponding period. In Italy witchcraft, pure and simple, + was confined, for the most part, to mountain regions, the Apennines of the + Abruzzi, and the Alps of Bergamo and Tyrol.<a name="FNanchorA_243_243" + id="FNanchorA_243_243"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_243_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> + In other provinces it was confounded with crimes of poisoning, the + procuring of abortion, and the fomentation of conspiracies in private + families. These facts speak much for the superior civilization of the + Italian people considered as a whole. We discover a common fund of + intelligence, vice, superstition, prejudice, enthusiasm, craft, devotion, + self-assertion, possessed by the race at large. Only in districts remote + from civil life did witchcraft assume those anti-social and repulsive + features which are familiar to Northern nations. Elsewhere it penetrated, + as a subtle poison, through society, lending its supposed assistance to + passions already powerful enough to work their own accomplishment. It + existed, not as an endemic disease, a permanent delirium of maddened + peasants, but as a weapon in the arsenal of malice on a par with poisons + and provocatives to lust. + </p> + <p> + I might illustrate this position by the relation of a fantastic attempt + made against the life of Pope Urban VIII.<a name="FNanchorA_244_244" + id="FNanchorA_244_244"></a><a href="#FootnoteA_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA426" id="pageA426"></a>{426}</span> + </p> + <p> + Giacomo Centini, the nephew of Cardinal d'Ascoli, fostered a fixed idea, + the motive of his madness being the promotion of his uncle to S. Peter's + Chair. In 1633 he applied to a hermit, who professed profound science in + the occult arts and close familiarity with demons. The man, in answer to + Giacomo's inquiries, said that Urban had still many years to live, that + the Cardinal d'Ascoli would certainly succeed him, and that he held it in + his power to shorten the Pope's days. He added that a certain Fra + Cherubino would be useful, if any matter of grave moment were resolved on; + nor did he reject the assistance of other discreet persons. Giacomo, on + his side, produced a Fra Domenico; and the four accomplices set at work to + destroy the reigning Pope by means of sorcery. They caused a knife to be + forged, after the model of the Key of Solomon, and had it inscribed with + Cabalistic symbols. A clean virgin was employed to spin hemp into a + thread. Then they resorted to a distant room in Giacomo's palace, where a + circle was drawn with the mystic thread, a fire was lighted in the center, + and upon it was placed an image of Pope Urban formed of purest wax. The + devil was invoked to appear and answer whether Urban had deceased this + life after the melting of the image. No infernal visitor responded to the + call; and the hermit accounted for this failure by suggesting that some + murder had been committed in the palace. As things went at that period, + this excuse was by no means feeble, if only the audience, bent on <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageA427" id="pageA427"></a>{427}</span> unholy + invocation of the power of evil, would accept it as sufficient. Probably + more than one murder had taken place there, of which the owner was dimly + conscious. The psychological curiosity to note is that avowed malefactors + reckoned purity an essential element in their nefarious practice. They + tried once more in a vineyard, under the open heavens at night. But no + demon issued from the darkness, and the hermit laid this second mischance + to the score of bad weather. Giacomo was incapable of holding his tongue. + He talked about his undertaking to the neighbors, and promised to make + them all Cardinals when he should become the Papal nephew. Meanwhile he + pressed the hermit forward on the path of folly; and this man, driven to + his wits' end for a device, said that they must find seven priests + together, one of whom should be assassinated to enforce the spell. It was + natural, while the countryside was being raked for seven convenient + priests by such a tattler as Giacomo, that suspicions should be generated + in the people. Information reached Rome, in consequence of which the + persons implicated in this idiotic plot were conveyed thither and given + over to the mercies of the Holy Office. The upshot of their trial was that + Giacomo lost his head, while the hermit and Fra Cherubino were burned + alive, and Fra Domenico went to the galleys for life. Several other men + involved in the process received punishments of considerable severity. It + must be added in conclusion <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageA428" + id="pageA428"></a>{428}</span> that the whole story rests upon the + testimony of Inquisitorial archives, and that the real method of Giacomo + Centini's apparent madness yet remains to be investigated. The few facts + that we know about him, from his behavior on the scaffold and a letter he + wrote his wife, prejudice me in his favor. + </p> + <p> + Enough, and more than enough, perhaps, has been collected in this chapter, + to throw light upon the manners of Italians during the + Counter-Reformation. It would have been easy to repeat the story of the + Countess of Cellant and her murdered lovers, or of the Duchess of Amalfi + strangled by her brothers for a marriage below her station. The massacres + committed by the Raspanti in Ravenna would furnish a whole series of + illustrative crimes. From the deeds of Alfonso Piccolomini, Sciarra and + Fabrizio Colonna details sufficient to fill a volume with records of + atrocious savagery could be drawn. The single episode of Elena Campireali, + who plighted her troth to a bandit, became Abbess of the Convent at + Castro, intrigued with a bishop, and killed herself for shame on the + return of her first lover, would epitomize in one drama all the principal + features of this social discord. The dreadful tale of the Baron of + Montebello might be told again, who assaulted the castle of the Marquis of + Pratidattolo, and, by the connivance of a sister whom he subsequently + married, murdered the Marquis with his mother, children, and relatives. + The hunted life of Alessandro Antelminelli, pursued <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA429" id="pageA429"></a>{429}</span> through all the States of + Europe by assassins, could be used to exemplify the miseries of proscribed + exiles. But what is the use of multiplying instances, when every pedigree + in Litta, every chronicle of the time, every history of the most + insignificant township, swarms with evidence to the same purpose? We need + not adopt the opinion that society had greatly altered for the worse. We + must rather decide that mediaeval ferocity survived throughout the whole + of that period which witnessed the Catholic Revival, and that the piety + which distinguished it was not influential in curbing vehement passions. + </p> + <p> + The conclusions to be drawn from the facts before us seem to be in general + these. The link between government and governed in Italy had snapped. The + social bond was broken, and the constituents that form a nation were + pursuing divers aims. On the one hand stood Popes and princes, founding + their claims to absolute authority upon titles that had slight rational or + national validity. These potentates were ill-combined among themselves, + and mutually jealous. On the other side were ranged disruptive forces of + the most heterogeneous kinds—remnants from antique party-warfare, + fragments of obsolete domestic feuds, new strivings after freer life in + mentally down-trodden populations, blending with crime and misery and want + and profligacy to compose an opposition which exasperated despotism. These + anarchical conditions were due in large <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageA430" id="pageA430"></a>{430}</span> measure to the troubles + caused by foreign campaigns of invasion. They were also due to the Spanish + type of manners imposed upon the ruling classes, which the native genius + accepted with fraudulent intelligence, and to which it adapted itself by + artifice. We must further reckon the division between cultured and + uncultured people, which humanism had effected, and which subsisted after + the benefits conferred by humanism had been withdrawn from the race. The + retirement of the commercial aristocracy from trade, and their assumption + of princely indolence in this period of political stagnation, was another + factor of importance. But the truest cause of Italian retrogression + towards barbarism must finally be discerned in the sharp check given to + intellectual evolution by the repressive forces of the + Counter-Reformation. + </p> + <h3> + END OF THE FIRST VOLUME + </h3> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_1_1" id="FootnoteA_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_1_1"><span + class="label">[1]</span></a> It is significant for the future of Italy + that both the ladies who drew up this agreement were connected with + Savoy. Louise, Duchess of Angoulême, was a daughter of the house. + Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, was Duchess Dowager of Savoy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_2_2" id="FootnoteA_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_2_2"><span + class="label">[2]</span></a> In what follows regarding Charles V. at + Bologna I am greatly indebted to Giordani's laboriously compiled volume: + <i>Della Venuta e Dimora in Bologna del Sommo Pont. Clemente VII. etc.</i> + (Bologna, 1832). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_3_3" id="FootnoteA_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_3_3"><span + class="label">[3]</span></a> See <i>Ren. in It.</i>, vol. v. p. 357. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_4_4" id="FootnoteA_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_4_4"><span + class="label">[4]</span></a> See Ranke, vol. i. p. 153, note. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_5_5" id="FootnoteA_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_5_5"><span + class="label">[5]</span></a> See <i>Ren. in It.</i> vol. v. p. 289. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_6_6" id="FootnoteA_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_6_6"><span + class="label">[6]</span></a> See, for instance, temp. Henri IV., <i>Sarpi's + Letters</i>, vol. i. p. 233. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_7_7" id="FootnoteA_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_7_7"><span + class="label">[7]</span></a> I may here state that I intend to use this + term Counter-Reformation to denote the reform of the Catholic Church, + which was stimulated by the German Reformation, and which, when the + Council of Trent had fixed the dogmas and discipline of Latin + Christianity, enabled the Papacy to assume a militant policy in Europe, + whereby it regained a large portion of the provinces, that had + previously lapsed to Lutheran and Calvinistic dissent. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_8_8" id="FootnoteA_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_8_8"><span + class="label">[8]</span></a> With regard to Germany, see Mr. T. S. + Perry's acute and philosophical study, entitled <i>From Opitz to Lessing</i> + (Boston). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_9_9" id="FootnoteA_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchorA_9_9"><span + class="label">[9]</span></a> These eight reigns cover a space of time + from 1534 to 1605. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_10_10" id="FootnoteA_10_10"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See Berti's + <i>Vita di G. Bruno</i>, pp. 105-108. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_11_11" id="FootnoteA_11_11"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> This maxim + is ascribed to the materialistic philosopher Cremonini. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_12_12" id="FootnoteA_12_12"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <i>C. + Calcagnini Opera</i>, p. 195. I am indebted for the above version to + McCrie's <i>Reformation in Italy</i>, p. 183. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_13_13" id="FootnoteA_13_13"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Though as + many as 40,000 copies were published, this book was so successfully + stamped out that it seemed to be irrecoverably lost. The library of St. + John's College at Cambridge, however, contains two Italian copies and + one French copy. That of Laibach possesses an Italian and a Croat + version. Cantù, <i>Gli Eretici</i>, vol. i. p. 360. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_14_14" id="FootnoteA_14_14"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> It should be + observed, however, that Luther rejected the article on justification, + and that Caraffa in Rome used his influence to prevent its acceptance by + Paul III. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_15_15" id="FootnoteA_15_15"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> See Bruno's + <i>Cena delle Ceneri</i>, ed. Wagner, vol. i. p. 133, for a humorous + story illustrative of the state of things ensuing among the lower + Italian classes. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_16_16" id="FootnoteA_16_16"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Paul IV. as + Pope was feeble compared with his predecessors, Julius II. and Leo X.; + the Guises, on whom he relied for resuscitating the old French party in + the South, were but half-successful adventurers, mere shadows of the + Angevine invaders whom they professed to represent. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_17_17" id="FootnoteA_17_17"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The best + account of the Councils will be found in Professor Creighton's admirable + <i>History of the Papacy during the Reformation</i>, 2 vols. Longmans. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_18_18" id="FootnoteA_18_18"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See above, + p. 2, for the special sense in which I apply the word federation to + Italy before 1530, and to Europe at large in the modern period. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_19_19" id="FootnoteA_19_19"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> The first + official opening of the Council at Trent was in November 1542, by + Cardinals Pole and Morone as Legates. It was adjourned in July, 1543, on + account of insufficient attendance. When it again opened in 1545, Pole + reappeared as Legate. With him were associated two future Popes, Giov. + Maria del Monte (Julius III.), and Marcello Cervini (Marcellus II.) The + first session of the Council took place in December, 1545, four + Cardinals, four Archbishops, twenty-one Bishops, and five Generals of + Orders attending. Among these were only five Spanish and two French + prelates; no German, unless we count Cristoforo Madrazzo, the Cardinal + Bishop of Trent, as one. No Protestants appeared; for Paul III. had + successfully opposed their ultimatum, which demanded that final appeal + on all debated points should be made to the sole authority of Holy + Scripture. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_20_20" id="FootnoteA_20_20"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Throughout + the sessions of the Council, Spanish, French, and German + representatives, whether fathers or ambassadors, maintained the theory + of Papal subjection to conciliar authority. The Spanish and French were + unanimous in zeal for episcopal independence. The French and German were + united in a wish to favor Protestants by reasonable concessions. Thus + the Papal supremacy had to face serious antagonism, which it eventually + conquered by the numerical preponderance of the Italian prelates, by the + energy of the Jesuits, by diplomatic intrigues, and by manipulation of + discords in the opposition. Though the Spanish fathers held with the + French and German on the points of episcopal independence and conciliar + authority, they disagreed whenever it became a question of compromise + with Protestants upon details of dogma or ritual. The Papal Court + persuaded the Catholic sovereigns of Spain and France, and the Emperor, + that episcopal independence would be dangerous to their own + prerogatives; and at every inconvenient turn in affairs, it was made + clear that Catholic sovereigns, threatened by the Protestant revolution, + could not afford to separate their cause from that of the Pope. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_21_21" id="FootnoteA_21_21"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> See Sarpi, + p. 249. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_22_22" id="FootnoteA_22_22"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Charles, at + this juncture, was checkmated by Paul through his own inability to + dispense with the Pope's co-operation as chief of the Catholic Church. + So long as he opposed the Reformation, it was impossible for him to + assume an attitude of violent hostility to Rome. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_23_23" id="FootnoteA_23_23"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> During the + brief and unimportant sessions at Bologna, Jesuit influences began to + make themselves decidedly felt in the Council, where Lainez and Salmeron + attended as Theologians of the Papal See. Up to this time the Dominicans + had shaped decrees. Dogmatic orthodoxy was secured by their means. Now + the Jesuits were to fight and win the battle of Papal Supremacy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_24_24" id="FootnoteA_24_24"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Sarpi, + quoted in his Life by Fra Fulgenzio, p. 83, says Paul called his Grisons + mercenaries 'Angels sent from Heaven.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_25_25" id="FootnoteA_25_25"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> New men—and + Popes were always <i>novi homines</i>—are compelled to take this + course, and suffer when they take it. We might compare their + difficulties with those which hampered Napoleon when he aspired to the + Imperial tyranny over French conquests in Europe. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_26_26" id="FootnoteA_26_26"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Pallavicini, + in his history of the Council of Trent (Lib. xiv. ix. 5), specially + commends Paul's zeal for the Holy Office:—'Fra esse d'eterna lode + lo fa degno il tribunal dell'inquisizione, che dal zelo di lui e prima + in autorità di consigliero e poscia in podestà di principe + riconosce il presente suo vigor nell'Italia, e dal quale riconosce + l'Italia la sua conservata integrità della fede: e per quest' + opera salutare egli rimane ora tanto più benemerito ed onorabile + quantao più allora ne fu mal rimerilato e disonorato.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_27_27" id="FootnoteA_27_27"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> See Luigi + Mocenigo in <i>Rel. degli Amb. Veneti</i>, vol. x. p. 25. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_28_28" id="FootnoteA_28_28"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> 'Roma a + paragone delli tempi degli altri pontefici si poteva riputar come un + onesto monasterio di religiosi' (<i>op. cit.</i> p. 41). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_29_29" id="FootnoteA_29_29"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> In my <i>Sketches + and Studies in Italy</i> I have narrated the romantic history of this + filibuster. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_30_30" id="FootnoteA_30_30"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Soranzo: + Alberi, vol. x. p. 67. Pius IV. adopted the arms of the Florentine + Medici, and spent 30,000 scudi on carving them about through Rome. See + P. Tiepolo, <i>Ib.</i> p. 174. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_31_31" id="FootnoteA_31_31"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> 'Veramente + quasi in ogni parte si può chiamare il rovescio dell' altro' (<i>op. + cit.</i> p. 50). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_32_32" id="FootnoteA_32_32"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Luigi + Mocenigo says of him that Pius 'averlo per un angelo di paradiso, e + adoperandolo per consiglio in tutte le sue cose importanti.' Alberi, + vol. x. p. 40. The case made out against Morone during the pontificate + of Paul IV. may be studied in Cantù, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. ii. pp. + 171-192, together with his defence in full. It turned mainly on these + articles:—unsound opinions regarding justification by faith, + salvation by Christ's blood, good works, invocation of saints, reliques; + dissemination of the famous book on the <i>Benefits of Christ's Death</i>; + practice with heretics. He was imprisoned in the Castle of S. Angelo + from June, 1557 till August, 1559. Suspicions no doubt fell on him + through his friendship with several of the moderate reformers, and from + the fact that his diocese of Modena was a nest of liberal thinkers—the + Grillenzoni, Castelvetro, Filippo Valentini, Faloppio, Camillo Molza, + Francesco da Porto, Egidio Foscarari, and others, all of whom are + described by Cantù, <i>op. cit.</i> Disc, xxviii. The charges + brought against these persons prove at once the mainly speculative and + innocuous character of Italian heresy, and the implacable enmity which a + Pope of Caraffa's stamp exercised against the slightest shadow of + heterodoxy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_33_33" id="FootnoteA_33_33"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Soranzo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 75, says: 'Con li principi tiene modo affatto contrario al + suo predecessore; perchè mentre quello usava dire, il grado dei + pontefici esser per mettersi sotto i piedi gl'imperatori e i re, questo + dice che senza l'autorità dei principi non si può + conservare quella dei pontefici.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_34_34" id="FootnoteA_34_34"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Soranzo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 74. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_35_35" id="FootnoteA_35_35"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Soranzo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 71, says: 'II marchese suo fratello con la moglie gli diede + il cappello, e con la morte il papato.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_36_36" id="FootnoteA_36_36"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Mocenigo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 52. Soranzo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 93. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_37_37" id="FootnoteA_37_37"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Margherita + Medici, sister of the Pope, had married Gilberto Borromeo. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_38_38" id="FootnoteA_38_38"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> See + Mocenigo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 53. Soranzo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 91. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_39_39" id="FootnoteA_39_39"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Gia. Soranzo + (<i>op. cit.</i> p. 133) says of Carlo Borromeo, 'ch'egli solo faccia più + profitto nella Corte di Roma che tutti i decreti del Concilio insieme.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_40_40" id="FootnoteA_40_40"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> See Sarpi, + vol. ii. pp. 43, 44. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_41_41" id="FootnoteA_41_41"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Cardinal + Puteo was soon replaced by a Papal nephew, the Cardinal d'Altemps (Mark + of Hohen Embs). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_42_42" id="FootnoteA_42_42"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> At the first + session there were five Cardinals, one hundred and four prelates, + including Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops, four Abbots, and four + Generals of Orders. These were all Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese. + And yet this Conciliabulum called itself a General Council, inspired by + the Holy Ghost to legislate for the whole of Latin and Teutonic + Christianity. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_43_43" id="FootnoteA_43_43"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> See Sarpi, + vol. ii. p. 87. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_44_44" id="FootnoteA_44_44"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> He reached + Trent, November 13, 1562, with eighteen Bishops, and three Abbots of + France, charged by Charles IX. to demand purified ritual, reformed + discipline of clergy, use of vernacular in church services, and finally, + if possible, the marriage of the clergy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_45_45" id="FootnoteA_45_45"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> The + confusion at Trent in the spring of 1563 is thus described by the Bishop + of Alife: 'Methinks Antichrist has come, so greatly confounded are the + perturbations of the holy Fathers here.' Phillipson, p. 525. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_46_46" id="FootnoteA_46_46"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> When Morone + set out, he told the Venetian envoy in Rome that he was going on a + forlorn hope. 'L'illmo Morone, quando partì per il Concilio, mi + disse che andava a cura disperata e che <i>nulla speserat</i> della + religione Cattolica.' Soranzo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 82. The Jesuit + Canisius, by his influence with Ferdinand, secured the success of + Morone's diplomacy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_47_47" id="FootnoteA_47_47"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Sarpi says + that Don Luigi resided in the lodgings of Count Federigo Borromeo, a + deceased nephew of the Pope. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_48_48" id="FootnoteA_48_48"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Yet the + Spanish bishops fought to the end, under the leadership of their chief + Guerrero, for the principle of conciliar independence and the episcopal + prerogatives. 'We had better not have come here, than be forced to stand + by as witnesses,' says the Bishop of Orense. Phillipson, p. 577. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_49_49" id="FootnoteA_49_49"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> The vague + reference of all decrees passed by the Tridentine Council to the Pope + for interpretation enabled him and his successors to manipulate them as + they chose. It therefore happened, as Sarpi says ('Tratt. delle Mat. + Ben.' <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 161), that no reform, with regard to the + tenure of benefices, residence, pluralism, etc., which the Council had + decided, was adopted without qualifying expedients which neutralized its + spirit. If the continuance of benefices <i>in commendam</i> ceased, the + device of <i>pensions</i> upon benefices was substituted; and a thousand + pretexts put colossal fortunes extracted from Church property, now as + before, into the hands of Papal nephews. Witness the contrivances + whereby Cardinal Scipione Borghese enriched himself in the Papacy of + Paul V. The Council had decreed the residence of bishops in their sees; + but it had reserved to the Pope a power of dispensation; so that those + whom he chose to exile from Rome were bound to reside, and those whom he + desired to have about him were released from this obligation. On each + and all delicate points the Papacy was more autocratic after than before + the Council. One of Sarpi's letters (vol. i. p. 371) to Jacques + Leschassier, dated December 22, 1609, should be studied by those who + wish to penetrate the '<i>reserve ed altre arcane arti</i>,' the '<i>renunzie</i>', + '<i>pensioni</i>' and '<i>altri stratagemmi</i>,' by means of which the + Papal Curia, during the half-century after the Tridentine Council, + managed to evade its decrees, and to get such control over Church + property in Italy that 'out of 500 benefices not one is conferred + legally.' Compare the passage in the 'Trattato delle Materie + Beneficiarie,' p. 163. There Sarpi says that five-sixths of Italian + benefices are at the Pope's disposal, and that there is good reason to + suppose that he will acquire the remaining sixth. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_50_50" id="FootnoteA_50_50"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 167. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_51_51" id="FootnoteA_51_51"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> This does + not mean that the Spanish crown had not a powerful voice in the + elections. See the history of the conclaves which elected Urban VII., + Gregory XIV., Innocent IX., Clement VIII., in Ranke, vol. ii. pp. 31-39. + Yet it was noticed by those close observers, the Venetian envoys, that + France and Spain had abandoned their former policy of subsidizing the + Cardinals who adhered to their respective factions. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_52_52" id="FootnoteA_52_52"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> See + Mocenigo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 35; Aretino's <i>Dialogo della Corte di + Roma</i>; and the private history of the Farnesi. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_53_53" id="FootnoteA_53_53"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Giov. + Carraro and Lor. Priuli, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 275, 306. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_54_54" id="FootnoteA_54_54"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Alberi, vol. + x. pp. 35, 83, 277. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_55_55" id="FootnoteA_55_55"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Mocenigo's + computation, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 29. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_56_56" id="FootnoteA_56_56"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 31. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_57_57" id="FootnoteA_57_57"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> The true + history of the Cenci, as written by Bertolotti, throws light upon these + points. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_58_58" id="FootnoteA_58_58"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Mocenigo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 38. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_59_59" id="FootnoteA_59_59"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Giac. + Soranzo, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 131-136 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_60_60" id="FootnoteA_60_60"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Soranzo, <i>op. + cit.</i> pp. 136-138. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_61_61" id="FootnoteA_61_61"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i> + p. 171. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_62_62" id="FootnoteA_62_62"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Mutinelli, + <i>Storia Arcana</i>, etc., vol. i. pp. 51-54. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_63_63" id="FootnoteA_63_63"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Assuming the + population of Rome to have been about 90,000 at that date, this number + appears incredible. Yet we have it on the best of all evidences, that of + a resident Venetian envoy. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_64_64" id="FootnoteA_64_64"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Tiepolo, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 172. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_65_65" id="FootnoteA_65_65"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Paolo + Tiepolo, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 312. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_66_66" id="FootnoteA_66_66"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 214. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_67_67" id="FootnoteA_67_67"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> The + Venetians, when they inscribed his name upon the Libro d'Oro, called him + 'a near relative of his Holiness.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_68_68" id="FootnoteA_68_68"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> This lady + was a sister of the Count of Santa Fiora. For a detailed account of the + wedding, see Mutinelli, <i>Stor. arc.</i> vol. i. p. 112. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_69_69" id="FootnoteA_69_69"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Tiepolo, <i>op. + cit.</i> pp. 213, 219—221, 263, 266. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_70_70" id="FootnoteA_70_70"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Giov. + Corraro, op. cit. p. 277. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_71_71" id="FootnoteA_71_71"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> See Giov. + Gritti, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 333. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_72_72" id="FootnoteA_72_72"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Giov. + Gritti, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 337. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_73_73" id="FootnoteA_73_73"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> <i>History + of the Popes</i>, Book iv. section I. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_74_74" id="FootnoteA_74_74"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Giacomo + Buoncompagno was born while Gregory XIII. was still a layman and a + lawyer. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_75_75" id="FootnoteA_75_75"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Sarpi + writes: 'In my times Pius V., during five years, accumulated 25,000 + ducats for the Cardinal nephew; Gregory XIII., in thirteen years, 30,000 + for one nephew, and 20,000 for another; Sixtus V., for his only nephew, + 9,000; Clement VIII., in thirteen years, for one nephew, 8,000, and for + the other, 3,000; and this Pope, Paul V., in four years, for one nephew + alone, 40,000. To what depths are we destined to fall in the future?' (<i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 281). This final question was justified by the event; for, + after the Borghesi, came the Ludovisi and Barberini, whose accumulations + equalled, if they did not surpass, those of any antecedent Papal + families. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_76_76" id="FootnoteA_76_76"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> The details + may be examined in Ranke, vol. ii. pp. 303-311. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_77_77" id="FootnoteA_77_77"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Sarpi's + Letters supply some details relating to Paul V.'s nepotism. He describes + the pleasure which this Pope took on one day of each week in washing his + hands in the gold of the Datatario and the Camera (vol. i. p. 281), and + says of him, 'attende solo a far danari' (vol. ii. p. 237). When Paul + gave his nephew Scipione the Abbey of Vangadizza, with 12,000 ducats a + year, Sarpi computed that the Cardinal held about 100,000 ducats of + ecclesiastical benefices (vol. i. p. 219). When the Archbishopric of + Bologna, worth over 16,000 ducats a year, fell vacant in 1610, Paul gave + this to Scipione, who held it a short time without residence, and then + abandoned it to Alessandro Ludovisi retaining all its revenues, with the + exception of 2,000 ducats, for himself as a <i>pension</i> (vol. ii. pp. + 158, 300). In the year 1610 Sarpi notices the purchase of Sulmona and + other fiefs by Paul for his family, at the expenditure of 160,000 ducats + (vol. ii. p. 70). In another place he speaks of another sum of 100,000 + spent upon the same object (vol. i. p. 249, note). Well might he + exclaim, 'Il pontefice e attesa ad arrichir la sua casa' (vol. i. p. + 294). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_78_78" id="FootnoteA_78_78"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> See Cantù, + <i>Gli Eretici d'Italia</i>, vol. i. Discorso 5, and the notes appended + to it, for Frederick's edicts and letters to Gregory IX. upon this + matter of heresy. The Emperor treats of <i>Heretica Pravitas</i> as a + crime against society, and such, indeed, it then appeared according to + the mediaeval ideal of Christendom united under Church and Empire. Yet + Frederick himself, it will be remembered, died under the ban of the + Church, and was placed by Dante among the heresiarchs in the tenth + circle of Hell. We now regard him justly as one of the precursors of the + Renaissance. But at the beginning of his reign, in his peculiar attitude + of Holy Roman Emperor, he had to proceed with rigor against + free-thinkers in religion. They were foes to the mediseval order, of + which he was the secular head. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_79_79" id="FootnoteA_79_79"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Sarpi, + 'Discorso dell'Origine,' etc. <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 6. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_80_80" id="FootnoteA_80_80"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> See + Christie's <i>Etienne Dolet</i>, chapter 21. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_81_81" id="FootnoteA_81_81"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Visitors to + Milan must have been struck with the equestrian statue to the Podestà + Oldrado da Trezzeno in the Piazza de'Mercanti. Underneath it runs an + epitaph containing among the praises of this man: <i>Catharos ut debuit + uxit</i>. An Archbishop of Milan of the same period (middle of the + thirteenth century), Enrico di Settala, is also praised upon his epitaph + because <i>jugulavit haereses</i>. See Cantù, <i>Gli Eretici d + Italia</i>, vol. i. p. 108. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_82_82" id="FootnoteA_82_82"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Sarpi + estimates the number of victims in the Netherlands during the reign of + Charles V. at 50,000; Grotius at 100,000. In the reign of Philip II. + perhaps another 25,000 were sacrificed. Motley (<i>Rise of the Dutch + Republic</i>, vol. ii. p. 155) tells how in February 1568 a sentence of + the Holy Office, confirmed by royal proclamation, condemned all the + inhabitants of the Netherlands, some three millions of souls, with a few + specially excepted persons, to death. It was customary to burn the men + and bury the women alive. In considering this institution as a whole, we + must bear in mind that it was extended to Mexico, Lima, Carthagena, the + Indies, Sicily, Sardinia, Oran, Malta. Of the working of the Holy Office + in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies we possess but few authentic + records. The <i>Histoire des Inquisitions</i> of Joseph Lavallée + (Paris, 1809) may, however, be consulted. In vol. ii. pp. 5-9 of this + work there is a brief account of the Inquisition at Goa written by one + Pyrard; and pp. 45-157 extend the singularly detailed narrative of a + Frenchman, Dellon, imprisoned in its dungeons. Some curious + circumstances respecting delation, prison life, and <i>autos da fé</i> + are here minutely recorded. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_83_83" id="FootnoteA_83_83"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> See Lavallée, + <i>Histoire des Inquisitions</i>, vol. ii. pp. 341-361, for the + translation of a process instituted in 1570 against a Mauresque female + slave. Suspected of being a disguised infidel, she was exposed to the + temptations of a Moorish spy, and convicted mainly on the evidence + furnished by certain Mussulman habits to which she adhered. Llorente + reports a similar specimen case, vol. i. p. 442. The culprit was a + tinker aged 71, accused in 1528 of abstaining from pork and wine, and + using certain ablutions. He defended himself by pleading that, having + been converted at the age of 45, it did not suit his taste to eat pork + or drink wine, and that his trade obliged him to maintain cleanliness by + frequent washing. He was finally condemned to carry a candle at an <i>auto + da fé</i> in sign of penitence, and to pay four ducats, the costs + of his trial. His detention lasted from September, 1529, till December + 18, 1530. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_84_84" id="FootnoteA_84_84"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> The Supreme + Council forbade the repetition of torture; but this hypocritical law was + evaded in practice by declaring that the torture had been suspended. + Llorente, vol. i. p. 307. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_85_85" id="FootnoteA_85_85"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Llorente, in + his introduction to the <i>History of the Inquisition</i>, gives a long + list of illustrious Spanish victims. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_86_86" id="FootnoteA_86_86"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> See + Llorente, vol. i. p. 349, for their outrages on women. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_87_87" id="FootnoteA_87_87"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> For the + history of Lucero's tyranny, read Llorente, vol. i. pp. 345-353. When at + last he had to be deposed, it was not to a dungeon or the scaffold, but + to his bishopric of Almeria that this miscreant was relegated. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_88_88" id="FootnoteA_88_88"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Llorente, + vol. i. p. 229. The basis for these and following calculations is + explained <i>ib.</i> pp. 272-281. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_89_89" id="FootnoteA_89_89"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + vol. i. p. 263. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_90_90" id="FootnoteA_90_90"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Llorente, p. + 341. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_91_91" id="FootnoteA_91_91"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 360. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_92_92" id="FootnoteA_92_92"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Llorente, p. + 406. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_93_93" id="FootnoteA_93_93"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 407. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_94_94" id="FootnoteA_94_94"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> I know that + Llorente's calculations have been disputed: as, for instance, in some + minor details by Prescott (<i>Ferd. and Isab.</i> vol. iii. p. 492). The + truth is that no data now exist for forming a correct census of the + victims of the Spanish Moloch; and Llorente, though he writes with the + moderation of evident sincerity, and though he had access to the + archives of the Inquisition, does not profess to do more than give an + estimate based upon certain fixed data. However, it signifies but little + whether we reckon by thousands or by fifteen hundreds. That foul monster + spawned in the unholy embracements of perverted religion with purblind + despotism cannot be defended by discounting five or even ten per cent. + Let its apologists write for every 1000 of Llorente 100, and for every + 100 of Llorente 10, and our position will remain unaltered. The Jesuit + historian of Spain, Mariana, records the burning-of 2000 persons in + Andalusia alone in 1482. Bernaldez mentions 700 burned in the one town + of Seville between 1482 and 1489. An inscription carved above the + portals of the Holy Office in Seville stated that about 1000 had been + burned between 1492 and 1524. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_95_95" id="FootnoteA_95_95"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Vol. ii. p. + 399. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_96_96" id="FootnoteA_96_96"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Naples and + Milan passionately and successfully opposed its introduction by the + Spanish viceroys. But it ruled in Sicily and Sardinia. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_97_97" id="FootnoteA_97_97"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> McCrie, p. + 186. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_98_98" id="FootnoteA_98_98"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Mutinelli, + <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. i. p. 79. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_99_99" id="FootnoteA_99_99"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> McCrie, p. + 272. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_100_100" id="FootnoteA_100_100"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> + Mutinelli's <i>Storia Arcana</i>, etc. vol. i., is the source from which + I have drawn the details given above. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_101_101" id="FootnoteA_101_101"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> It is + singular that only one contemporary writes from Rome about Bruno's + execution in 1600; whence, I think, we may infer that such events were + too common to excite much attention. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_102_102" id="FootnoteA_102_102"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> The main + facts about these men may be found in Cantù's <i>Gli Eretici + d'Italia</i>, vol. ii. This work is written in no spirit of sympathy + with Reformers. But it is superior in learning and impartiality to + McCrie's. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_103_103" id="FootnoteA_103_103"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> For the + repressive measures used at Lucca, see <i>Archivio Storico</i>, vol. x. + pp. 162-185. They include the prohibition of books, regulation of the + religious observances of Lucchese citizens abroad in France or Flanders, + and proscription of certain heretics, with whom all intercourse was + forbidden. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_104_104" id="FootnoteA_104_104"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> An + eye-witness gives a heart-rending account of these persecutions: sixty + thrown from the tower of Guardia, eighty-eight butchered like beasts in + one day at Montalto, seven burned alive, one hundred old women tortured + and then slaughtered. <i>Arch. Stor.</i>, vol. ix. pp. 193-195. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_105_105" id="FootnoteA_105_105"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> McCrie, + <i>op. cit.</i> p. 232-236. The five men were Giulio Gherlandi of + Spresian, near Treviso (executed in 1562), Antonio Rizzetta of Vicenza + (in 1566), Francesco Sega of Rovigo (sentenced in 1566), Francesco + Spinola of Milan (in 1567), and Fra Baldo Lupatino (1556). McCrie bases + his report upon the <i>Histoire des Martyrs</i> (Genève, 1597) + and De Porta's <i>Historia Reformationis Rhaeticarum Ecclesiarum</i>. + Thinking these sources somewhat suspicious, I applied to my friend Mr. + H.F. Brown, whose researches in the Venetian archives are becoming known + to students of Italian history. He tells me that all the above cases, + except that of Spinola, exist in the Frari. Lupatino was condemned as a + Lutheran; the others as Anabaptists. In passing sentence on Lupatino, + the Chief Inquisitor remarked that he could not condemn him to death by + fire in Venice, but must consign him to a watery grave. This is + characteristic of Venetian state policy. It appears that, of the + above-named persons, Sega, though sentenced to death by drowning, + recanted at the last moment, saying, 'Non voglio esser negato, ma voglio + redirmi et morir buon Christiano.' Mr. Brown adds that there is nothing + in the archives to prove that he was executed; but there is also nothing + to show that his sentence was commuted. Two other persons involved in + this trial, viz. Nic. Bucello of Padua and Alessio of Bellinzona, upon + recantation, were subjected to public penances and confessions for + different terms of years. Sega's fate must, therefore, be considered + doubtful; since the fact that no commutation of sentence is on record + lends some weight to the hypothesis that he withdrew his recantation, + and submitted to martyrdom. I will close this note by expressing my hope + that Mr. Brown, who is already engaged upon the papers of the Venetian + Holy Office, will make them shortly the subject of a special + publication. Considering how rare are the full and authentic records of + any Inquisition, this would be of incalculable value for students of + history. The series of trials in the Frari extends from 1541 to 1794, + embracing 1562 <i>processi</i> for the sixteenth century, 1469 for the + seventeenth, 541 for the eighteenth, and 25 of no date. Nearly all the + towns and districts of the Venetian State are involved. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_106_106" id="FootnoteA_106_106"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> See + Sarpi's 'Discourse on the Inquisition,' <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_107_107" id="FootnoteA_107_107"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> I owe to + Mr. H.F. Brown details about the register of criminals condemned by the + Holy Office, which substantiate my statement regarding the various types + of cases in its jurisdiction. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_108_108" id="FootnoteA_108_108"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> The + document in question, prepared for the use of the Signoria, exists in + MS. in the Marcian Library, Misc. Eccl. et Civ. Class. VII. Cod. + MDCCLXI. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_109_109" id="FootnoteA_109_109"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> This + edict is dated August 24, 1596. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_110_110" id="FootnoteA_110_110"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> This will + be apparent when I come to treat of Marino and Tassoni. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_111_111" id="FootnoteA_111_111"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> Llorente, + vol. i. p. 281. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_112_112" id="FootnoteA_112_112"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> + Christie's <i>Etienne Dolet</i>, pp. 220-24. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_113_113" id="FootnoteA_113_113"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Llorente, + vol. i. p. 463. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_114_114" id="FootnoteA_114_114"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> In the + year 1548. The MS. cited above (p. 192) mentions another Index of the + Venetian Holy Office published in 1554. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_115_115" id="FootnoteA_115_115"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> Sarpi, <i>Ist. + del Conc. Tial</i>, vol. ii..p. 90. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_116_116" id="FootnoteA_116_116"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> In his <i>Oratio + pro se ipso ad Senenses</i>. Printed by Gryphius at Lyons in 1552. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_117_117" id="FootnoteA_117_117"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> <i>1st. + del Conc. Trid</i>. vol. ii. p. 91. The passage deserves to be Paul IV. + designated in his transcribed. 'Sotto colore di fede e religione sono + vietati con la medesima severità e dannati gli autori de'libri + da'quali l'autorità del principe e magistrati temporali è + difesa dalle usurpazioni ecclesiastiche; dove l'autorità de' + Concilj è de'Vescovi è difesa dalle usurpazioni della + Corte Romana; dove le ipocrisie o tirannidi con le quali sotto pretesto + di religione il popolo è ingannato o violentato sono manifestate. + In somma non fu mai trovato più bell'arcano per adoperare la + religione a far gli uomini insensati.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_118_118" id="FootnoteA_118_118"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> <i>Discorso + Sopra l'Inq.</i> vol. iv. p. 54. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_119_119" id="FootnoteA_119_119"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> These + rules form the Preface to modern editions of the Index. The one I use is + dated Naples, 1862. They are also printed in vol. iv. of Sarpi's works. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_120_120" id="FootnoteA_120_120"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Paulus + Manutius Aldus printed this Index at Venice in 1564. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_121_121" id="FootnoteA_121_121"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Dejob, <i>De + l'Influence</i>, etc. p. 60. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_122_122" id="FootnoteA_122_122"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> Id. <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 76. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_123_123" id="FootnoteA_123_123"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Id. <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 78. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_124_124" id="FootnoteA_124_124"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Dejob, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 74. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_125_125" id="FootnoteA_125_125"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Id. <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 54. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_126_126" id="FootnoteA_126_126"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Discorso + dell'Origine, etc. dell'Inquisizione,' <i>Opp.</i> vol. iv. p. 34. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_127_127" id="FootnoteA_127_127"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. i. p. 277. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_128_128" id="FootnoteA_128_128"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Dejob, <i>op. + cit.</i> pp. 53-57. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_129_129" id="FootnoteA_129_129"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Id. <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 75. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_130_130" id="FootnoteA_130_130"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Sarpi's + Letters abound in useful information on this topic. Writing to French + correspondents, he complains weekly of the impossibility even in Venice + of obtaining books. See, for instance, <i>Lettere</i>, vol. i. pp. 286, + 287, 360, vol. ii. p. 13. In one passage he says that the importation of + books into Italy is impeded at Innsbruck, Trento, and throughout the + Tyrolese frontiers (vol. i. p. 74). In another he warns his friends not + to send them concealed in merchandise, since they will fall under so + many eyes in the custom-houses and lazzaretti (vol. i. p. 303). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_131_131" id="FootnoteA_131_131"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> It was + usual at this epoch to send Protestant publications from beyond the Alps + in bales of cotton or other goods. This appears from the Lucchese + proclamations against heresy published in <i>Arch. Stor.</i> vol. x. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_132_132" id="FootnoteA_132_132"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> I may + mention that having occasion to consult Savonarola's works in the Public + Library of Perugia, which has a fairly good collection of them, I found + them useless for purposes of study by reason of these erasures and + Burke-plasters. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_133_133" id="FootnoteA_133_133"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Dejob, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 43. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_134_134" id="FootnoteA_134_134"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> Dejob, <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 50. Also his <i>Muret</i>, pp. 223-227. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_135_135" id="FootnoteA_135_135"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Dejob, <i>De + l'Influence</i>, p. 49. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_136_136" id="FootnoteA_136_136"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> Id. <i>op. + cit.</i> pp. 96-98. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_137_137" id="FootnoteA_137_137"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> This very + interesting and valuable letter is printed by Dejob in the work I have + so often cited, p. 391. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_138_138" id="FootnoteA_138_138"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> See + Dejob's <i>Life of Muret</i>, pp. 231, 238, 274, 320. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_139_139" id="FootnoteA_139_139"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> <i>Op. + cit</i>. pp. 262, 481. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_140_140" id="FootnoteA_140_140"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> Dejob, <i>Marc + Antoine Muret</i>, p. 349. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_141_141" id="FootnoteA_141_141"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> The + original is printed by Dejob, <i>Marc Antoine Muret</i>, pp. 487-489. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_142_142" id="FootnoteA_142_142"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> The + original letter, printed by Dejob, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 491, is signed by + Giustiniano Finetti, who seems to have been a professor of medicine in + the Roman University. His son, a youth of sixteen, complained that the + students had demanded and obtained leave to recite a certain 'lettione + che era carnavalesca d'ano et de priapo,' adding that they were in the + habit of holding debates upon the thesis that (LATIN: 'res sodcae erant + praeferendae veneri naturali, et reprobabant rem veneream cum feminis ac + audabant masturbationem.') The dialogue which the students obtained + leave publicly to recite was probably similar to one that might still be + heard some years ago in spring upon the quays of Naples, and which + appeared to have descended from immemorial antiquity. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_143_143" id="FootnoteA_143_143"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> The Latin + text is printed in Renouard's <i>Imprimerie des Aldes</i>, p. 473. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_144_144" id="FootnoteA_144_144"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> As Sarpi + says: 'Of a truth the extraordinary rigor with which books are hunted + out for extirpation, shows how vigorous is the light of that lantern + which they have resolved to extinguish.' <i>Lettere</i>, vol. i. p. 328. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_145_145" id="FootnoteA_145_145"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> See + Renouard, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 442-459, for Paulus Manutius's life at + Rome. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_146_146" id="FootnoteA_146_146"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> <i>op. + cit.</i> pp. 184-216. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_147_147" id="FootnoteA_147_147"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> Sarpi's + Works, vol. iv. p. 4. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_148_148" id="FootnoteA_148_148"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> Sarpi, <i>Discorso</i>, + vol. iv. p. 25, on Bellarmino's doctrine. Sarpi's <i>Letters</i>, vol. + i. pp. 138, 243. Sarpi says that he and Gillot had both had their + portraits painted in a picture of Hell and shown to the common folk as + foredoomed to eternal fire, because they opposed doctrines of Papal + omnipotence. <i>Ibid.</i> p. 151. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_149_149" id="FootnoteA_149_149"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> On this + point, again, Sarpi's <i>Letters</i> furnish valuable details. He + frequently remarks that a general order had been issued by the + Congregation of the Index to suppress all books against the writings of + Baronius, who was treated as a saint, vol. i. pp. 3, 147, ii. p. 35. He + relates how the Jesuits had procured the destruction of a book written + to uphold aristocracy in states, without touching upon ecclesiastical + questions, as being unfavorable to their theories of absolutism (vol. i. + p. 122). He tells the story of a confessor who refused the sacraments to + a nobleman, because he owned a treatise written by Quirino in defense of + the Venetian prerogatives (vol. i. p. 113). He refers to the suppression + of James I.'s <i>Apologia</i> and De Thou's <i>Histories</i> (vol. i. + pp. 286, 287, 383). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_150_150" id="FootnoteA_150_150"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> In the + Treatise on the Inquisition, <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 53. Sarpi, in a + passage of his <i>Letters</i> (vol. ii. p. 163), points out why the + secular authorities were ill fitted to retaliate in kind, upon these + Papal proscriptions. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_151_151" id="FootnoteA_151_151"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> See + Dejob, <i>De l'Influence, etc.</i> Chapter III. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_152_152" id="FootnoteA_152_152"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> <i>Index</i>, + Naples, Pelella, 1862, p. 87. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_153_153" id="FootnoteA_153_153"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> This + treatment of Ariosto is typical. Men of not over scrupulous nicety may + question whether his Comedies are altogether wholesome reading. But not + even a Puritan could find fault with his Satires on the score of their + morality. Yet Rome sanctioned the Comedies and forbade the Satires. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_154_154" id="FootnoteA_154_154"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Curious + details on this topic are supplied by Dejob, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. + 179-181, and p. 184. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_155_155" id="FootnoteA_155_155"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Any + correspondence with heretics was accounted sufficient to implicate an + Italian in the charge of heresy. Sarpi's Letters are full of matter on + this point. He always used Cipher, which he frequently changed, + addressed his letters under feigned names, and finally resolved on + writing in his own hand to no heretic. See <i>Lettere</i>, vol. ii. pp. + 2, 151, 242, 248, 437. See also what Dejob relates about the timidity of + Muretus, <i>Muret</i>, pp. 229-231. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_156_156" id="FootnoteA_156_156"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> 'Treatise + on the Inquisition,' <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 45. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_157_157" id="FootnoteA_157_157"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> For + Sarpi's use of this phrase see his <i>Lettere</i>, vol. ii. pp. 72, 80, + 92. He clearly recognized the solidarity between the Jesuits and Spain. + 'The Jesuit is no more separable from the Spaniard than the accident + from the substance.' 'The Spaniard without the Jesuit is not worth more + than lettuce without oil.' 'For the Jesuits to deceive Spain, would be + tantamount to deceiving themselves.' <i>Ibid.</i> vol. i. pp. 203, 384, + vol. ii. p. 48. Compare passages in vol. i. pp. 184, 189. He only + perceived a difference in the degrees of their noxiousness to Europe. + Thus, 'the worst Spaniard is better than the least bad of the Jesuits' + (vol. i. p. 212). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_158_158" id="FootnoteA_158_158"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Study of + the Jesuits must be founded on <i>Institutum Societatis Jesu</i>, 7 + vols. Avenione; Orlandino, <i>Hist. Soc. Jesu</i>; Crétineau-Joly, + <i>Histoire de la Compagnie de Jésus</i>; Ribadaneira, <i>Vita + Ignatii</i>; Genelli's Life of Ignatius in German, or the French + translation; the Jesuit work, <i>Imago Primi Saeculi</i>; Ranke's + account in his <i>History of the Popes</i>, and the three chapters + assigned to this subject in Philippson's <i>La Contre-Révolution + Religieuse</i>. The latter will be found a most valuable summary. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_159_159" id="FootnoteA_159_159"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> These + phrases occur in the <i>Deliberatio primorum patrum</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_160_160" id="FootnoteA_160_160"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Sarpi, + though he expressed an opinion that the Jesuits of his day had departed + from the spirit of their founders, spoke thus of Loyola's worldly aims (<i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p 224): 'Even Father Ignatius, Founder of the Company, as his + biography attests, based himself in such wise upon human interest as + though there were none divine to think about.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_161_161" id="FootnoteA_161_161"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> See + Philippson, <i>op. cit.</i> pp. 61, 62. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_162_162" id="FootnoteA_162_162"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> It was + not till the epoch of Maria de'Medici's Regency that the Jesuits + obtained firm hold on France. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_163_163" id="FootnoteA_163_163"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> The + letter addressed by Ignatius to the Portuguese Jesuits, March 22, 1553, + on the virtue of obedience, the Constitutions and the glosses on them + called Declarations, and the last chapter of the <i>Exercitia</i>, + furnish the above sentences. <i>See</i>, too, Philippson, <i>op. cit.</i> + pp. 60, 120-124. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_164_164" id="FootnoteA_164_164"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> Read in + the <i>Exercitia</i> (<i>Inst. Jesu</i>, vol. iv. p. 167-173) the Rules + for right accord with the Orthodox Church. What follows above is taken + from that chapter. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_165_165" id="FootnoteA_165_165"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> <i>Exercitia</i>, + ibid. p. 171. In this spirit a Jesuit of the present century writing on + astronomy develops the heliocentric theory while he professes his + submission to the geocentric theory as maintained by the Church. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_166_166" id="FootnoteA_166_166"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> <i>Inst. + Soc. Jesu</i>, vol. iv. The same volume contains the Directorium, or + rules for the use of the <i>Exercitia</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_167_167" id="FootnoteA_167_167"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> + Philippson, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 142. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_168_168" id="FootnoteA_168_168"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Quinet + calculates that at the close of the sixteenth century there were + twenty-one houses of the professed (incapable of owning property) to 293 + colleges (free from this inability). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_169_169" id="FootnoteA_169_169"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> A book + with this title was published in 1612 at Cracow. It was declared a + forgery at Rome by a congregation of Cardinals. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_170_170" id="FootnoteA_170_170"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 100. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_171_171" id="FootnoteA_171_171"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 174. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_172_172" id="FootnoteA_172_172"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> See + Sarpi's <i>Letters</i>, vol. i. p. 352, for Protestant pupils of + Jesuits. Sarpi's <i>Memorial to the Signory of Venice on the Collegio + de'Greci in Rome</i> exposes the fallacy of their being reputed the best + teachers of youth, by pointing out how their aim is to withdraw their + pupils' allegiance from the nation, the government, and the family, to + themselves. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_173_173" id="FootnoteA_173_173"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> <i>Storia + del Granducato di Toscana</i>, vol. iv. p. 275. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_174_174" id="FootnoteA_174_174"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> Having + mentioned the names of these illustrious Frenchmen, I feel bound to + point out how accurately their criticism of the Jesuits was anticipated + by Paolo Sarpi. His correspondence between the years 1608 and 1622 + demonstrates that this body of social corrupters had been early + recognized by him in their true light. Sarpi calls them 'sottilissimi + maestri in mal fare,' 'donde esce ogni falsità et bestemmia,' 'il + vero morbo Gallico,' 'peste pubblica,' 'peste del mondo' (<i>Letters</i>, + vol. i. pp. 142, 183, 245, ii. 82, 109). He says that they 'hanno messo + l'ultima mano a stabilire una corruzione universale' (<i>ib.</i> vol. i. + p. 304). By their equivocations and mental reservations 'fanno essi + prova di gabbare Iddio' (<i>ib.</i> vol. ii. p. 82). 'La menzogna non + iscusano soltanto ma lodano' (<i>ib.</i> vol. ii. p. 106). So far, the + utterances which I have quoted might pass for the rhetoric of mere + spite. But the portrait gradually becomes more definite in details + limned from life. 'The Jesuits have so many loopholes for escape, + pretexts, colors of insinuation, that they are more changeful than the + Sophist of Plato; and when one thinks to have caught them between thumb + and finger, they wriggle out and vanish' (<i>ib.</i> vol. i. p. 230). + 'The Jesuit fathers have methods of acquiring in this world, and making + their neophytes acquire, heaven without diminution, or rather with + augmentation, of this life's indulgences' (<i>ib.</i> vol. i. p. 313). + 'The Jesuit fathers used to confer Paradise; they now have become + dispensers of fame in this world' (<i>ibid.</i> p. 363). 'When they seek + entrance into any place, they do not hesitate to make what promises may + be demanded of them, possessing as they do the art of escape by lying + with equivocations and mental reservations' (<i>ib.</i> vol. ii. p. + 147). 'The Jesuit is a man of every color; he repeats the marvel of the + chameleon' (<i>ibid.</i> p. 105). 'When they play a losing game, they + yet rise winners from the table. For it is their habit to insinuate + themselves upon any condition demanded, having arts enough whereby to + make themselves masters of those who bind them by prescribed rules. They + are glad to enter in the guise of galley-slaves with irons on their + ankles; since, when they have got in, they will find no difficulty in + loosing their own bonds and binding others' (<i>ibid.</i> p. 134). 'They + command two arts: the one of escaping from the bonds and obligations of + any vow or promise they shall have made, by means of equivocation, tacit + reservation, and mental restriction; the other of insinuating, like the + hedgehog, into the narrowest recesses, being well aware that when they + unfold their piercing bristles, they will obtain the full possession of + the dwelling and exclude its master' <i>(ibid</i>. p. 144). 'Everybody + in Italy is well aware how they have wrought confession into an art. + They never receive confidences under that seal without disclosing all + particulars in the conferences of their Society; and that with the view + of using confession to the advantage of their order and the Church. At + the same time they preach the doctrine that the seal of the confessional + precludes a penitent from disclosing what the confessor may have said to + him, albeit his utterances have had no reference to sins or to the + safety of the soul' (<i>ib.</i> vol. ii. p. 108). 'Should the Jesuits in + France get hold of education, they will dominate the university, and + eradicate sound letters. Yet why do I speak of healthy literature? I + ought to have said good and wholesome doctrine, the which is verily + mortal to that Company' (<i>ibid.</i> p. 162). 'Every species of vice + finds its patronage in them. The avaricious trust their maxims, for + trafficking in spiritual commodities; the superstitious, for + substituting kisses upon images for the exercise of Christian virtues; + the base fry of ambitious upstarts, for cloaking every act of + scoundreldom with a veil of holiness. The indifferent find in them a + palliative for their spiritual deadness; and whoso fears no God, has a + visible God ready made for him, whom he may worship with merit to his + soul. In fine, there is nor perjury, nor sacrilege, nor parricide, nor + incest, nor rapine, nor fraud, nor treason, which cannot be masked as + meritorious beneath the mantle of their dispensation' (<i>ibid.</i> p. + 330). 'I apprehend the difficulty of attacking their teachings; seeing + that they merge their own interests with those of the Papacy; and that + not only in the article of Pontifical authority, but in all points. At + present they stand for themselves upon the ground of equivocations. But + believe me, they will adjust this also, and that speedily; forasmuch as + they are omnipotent in the Roman Court, and the Pope himself fears them' + (<i>ibid.</i> p. 333). 'Had S. Peter known the creed of the Jesuits, he + could have found a way to deny our Lord without sinning' (<i>ibid.</i> + p. 353). 'The Roman Court will never condemn Jesuit doctrine; for this + is the secret of its empire—a secret of the highest and most + capital importance, whereby those who openly refuse to worship it are + excommunicated, and those who would do so if they dared, are held in + check' (<i>ibid.</i> p. 105). The object of this lengthy note is to + vindicate for Sarpi a prominent and early place among those candid + analysts of Jesuitry who now are lost in the great light of Pascal's + genius. Sarpi's <i>Familiar Letters</i> have for my mind even more + weight than the famous <i>Lettres Provinciales</i> of Pascal. They were + written with no polemical or literary bias, at a period when Jesuitry + was in its prime; and their force as evidence is strengthened by their + obvious spontaneity. A book of some utility was published in 1703 at + Salzburg (?), under the title of <i>Artes Jesuiticae</i> Christianus + Aletophilus. This contains a compendium of those passages in casuistical + writings on which Pascal based his brilliant satires. Paul Bert's modern + work, <i>La Morale des Jésuites</i> (Paris: Charpentier, 1881), + is intended to prove that recent casuistical treatises of the school + repeat those ancient perversions of sound morals. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_175_175" id="FootnoteA_175_175"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> See + Mariana, <i>De Rege</i>, lib. i. cap. 6. This book, be it remembered, + was written for the instruction of the heir apparent, afterwards Philip + III. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_176_176" id="FootnoteA_176_176"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> Henri IV. + let them return to France, in mere dread of their machinations against + him. See Sully, vol. v. p. 113. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_177_177" id="FootnoteA_177_177"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Sarpi, + who was living at the time of Henri's murder, and who saw his best hopes + for Italy and the Church of God extinguished by that crime, at first + credited the Jesuits with the deliberate instigation Ravaillac. He + gradually came to the conclusion that, though they were not directly + responsible, their doctrine of regicide had inflamed the fanatic's + imagination. See, in succession, <i>Letters</i>, vol. ii. pp. 78, 79, + 81, 83, 86, 91, 105, 121, 170, 181, 192. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_178_178" id="FootnoteA_178_178"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> Expelled + from Venice in 1606, from Bohemia in 1618, from Naples and the + Netherlands in 1622, from Russia in 1676, from Portugal in 1759, from + Spain in 1767, from France in 1764. Suppressed by the Bull of Clement + XIV. in 1773. Restored in 1814, as an instrument against the Revolution. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_179_179" id="FootnoteA_179_179"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> The last + section of Loyola's <i>Exercitia</i> is an epitome of post-Tridentine + Catholicism, though penned before the opening of the Council. In its + last paragraph it inculcates the fear of God: 'neque porro is timor + solum, quem filialem appellamus, qui pius est ac sanctus maxime; verum + etiam alter, servilis dictus' (<i>Inst. Soc. Jesu</i>, vol. iv. p. 173). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_180_180" id="FootnoteA_180_180"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> An + interesting survey of this wider kind has been attempted by U.A. Canello + for the whole sixteenth century in his <i>Storia della Lett. It. nel + Secolo XVI</i>. (Milano: Vallardi, 1880). He tries to demonstrate that, + in the sphere of private life, Italian society gradually refined the + brutal lusts of the Middle Ages, and passed through fornication to a + true conception of woman as man's companion in the family. The theme is + bold; and the author seems to have based it upon too slight acquaintance + with the real conditions of the Middle Ages. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_181_181" id="FootnoteA_181_181"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Galluzzi, + in his <i>Storia del Granducato di Toscana</i>, vol. iv. p. 34, + estimates the murders committed in Florence alone during the eighteen + months which followed the death of Cosimo I., at 186. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_182_182" id="FootnoteA_182_182"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> In + drawing up these paragraphs I am greatly indebted to a vigorous passage + by Signor Salvatore Bonghi in his <i>Storia di Lucrezia Buonvisi</i>, + pp. 7-9, of which I have made free use, translating his words when they + served my purpose, and interpolating such further details as might + render the picture more complete. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_183_183" id="FootnoteA_183_183"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> The lax + indulgence accorded by the Jesuit casuists to every kind of homicide + appears in the extracts from those writers collected in <i>Artes + Jesuiticae</i> (Salisburgi, 1703, pp. 75-83). Tamburinus went so far as + to hold that if a man mixed poison for his enemy, and a friend came in + and drank it up before his eyes, he was not bound to warn his friend, + nor was he guilty of his friend's death (<i>Ib.</i> p. 135, Art. 651). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_184_184" id="FootnoteA_184_184"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> See + Salvatore Bonghi, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 159. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_185_185" id="FootnoteA_185_185"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> Bonghi, + <i>op. cit.</i> p. 159, note. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_186_186" id="FootnoteA_186_186"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> In + support of this assertion I translate a letter addressed (Milan, + September 15, 1622) by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo to the Prioress of the + Convent of S. Margherita at Monza (Dandolo, <i>Signora di Monza</i>, p. + 132). 'Experience of similar cases has shown how dangerous to your holy + state is the vicinity of soldiers, owing to the correspondence which + young and idle soldiers continually try to entertain with monasteries, + sometimes even under fair and honorable pretexts.... Wherefore we have + heard with much displeasure that in those places of our diocese where + there are convents of nuns and congregations of virgins, ordinary + lodgings for the soldiery have been established, called lonely houses (<i>case + erme</i>), where they are suffered or obliged to dwell through long + periods.' The Bishop commands the Prioress to admit no soldier, on any + plea of piety, devotion or family relationship, into her convent; to + receive no servant or emissary of a soldier; to forbid special services + being performed in the chapel at the instance of a soldier; and, + finally, to institute a more rigorous system of watch and ward than had + been formerly practiced. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_187_187" id="FootnoteA_187_187"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> In + Venice, for example, they were called <i>Monachini</i>. But the name + varied in various provinces. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_188_188" id="FootnoteA_188_188"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> The + following abstract of the history of Virginia Maria de Leyva is based on + Dandolo's <i>Signora di Monza</i> (Milano, 1855). Readers of Manzoni's + <i>I Promessi Sposi</i>, and of Rosini's tiresome novel, <i>La Signora + di Monza</i>, will be already familiar with her in romance under the + name of Gertrude. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_189_189" id="FootnoteA_189_189"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> Carlo + Borromeo found it necessary to suppress the Umiliati. But he left the + female establishment of S. Margherita untouched. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_190_190" id="FootnoteA_190_190"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> In + ecclesiastical affairs the diocese of Milan exercised jurisdiction over + that of Bergamo, although Bergamo was subject in civil affairs to + Venice. This makes the matter more puzzling. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_191_191" id="FootnoteA_191_191"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> <i>Storia + di Lucrezia Buonvisi</i>, by Salvatore Bonghi, Lucca, 1864. This is an + admirably written historical monograph, based on accurate studies and + wide researches, containing a mine of valuable information for a student + of those times. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_192_192" id="FootnoteA_192_192"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> + Campanelia, who was tortured in this way at Naples, says that on one + occasion a pound and a half of his flesh was macerated, and ten pounds + of his blood shed. 'Perduravi horis quadraginta, funiculis arctissimis + ossa usque secantibus ligatus, pendens manibus retro contortis de fune + super acutissimum lignum qui (?) carnis sextertium (?) in posterioribus + mihi devoravit et decem sanguinis libras tellus ebibit.' Preface to <i>Atheismus + Triumphatus</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_193_193" id="FootnoteA_193_193"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> I may + here allude to a portrait in our National Gallery of a Lucchese + Arnolfini and his wife, painted by Van Eyck. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_194_194" id="FootnoteA_194_194"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Here + again I have very closely followed the text of Signor Bonghi's + monograph, pp. 112-115. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_195_195" id="FootnoteA_195_195"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> It + appears that violent passion for a person was commonly attributed at + that epoch to enchantment. See above, the confession of the Lady of + Monza, p. 320. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_196_196" id="FootnoteA_196_196"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> <i>Francesco + Cenci e la sua Famiglia</i>. Per A. Bertolotti, Firenze, 1877. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_197_197" id="FootnoteA_197_197"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> He was + afterwards forced, in 1590, to disgorge a second sum of 25,000 crowns. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_198_198" id="FootnoteA_198_198"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> Prospero + Farinaccio, the advocate of Cenci's murderers, was himself tried for + this crime (Bertolotti, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 104). The curious story of + the Spanish soldiers alluded to above will be found in Mutinelli, <i>Stor. + Arc</i>. vol. i. p. 121. See the same work of Mutinelli, vol. i. p. 48, + for a similar prosecution in Rome 1566; and vol. iv. p. 152 for another + involving some hundred people of condition at Milan in 1679. Compare + what Sarpi says about the Florentine merchants and Roman <i>cinedi</i> + in his <i>Letters</i>, date 1609, vol. i. p. 288. For the manners of the + Neapolitans, <i>Vita di D. Pietro di Toledo (Arch. Stor. It</i>., vol. + ix. p. 23). The most scandalous example of such vice in high quarters + was given by Pietro de'Medici, one of Duke Cosimo's sons. <i>Galluzzi</i>, + vol. v. p. 174, and Litta's pedigree of the Medici. The <i>Bandi + Lucchesi</i>, ed. S. Bonghi, Bologna, 1863, pp. 377 381, treats the + subject in full; and it has been discussed by Canello, <i>op. cit.</i> + pp. 20-23. The <i>Artes Jesuiticae</i>, op. cit. Articles 62, 120, + illustrate casuistry on the topic. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_199_199" id="FootnoteA_199_199"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> De + Stendhal's MS. authority says she was sixteen, Shelley's that she was + twenty. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_200_200" id="FootnoteA_200_200"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> De + Stendhal's MS. describes how Giacomo was torn by pincers; Shelley's says + that this part of the sentence was remitted. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_201_201" id="FootnoteA_201_201"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> The + author of De Stendhal's MS. professes to have known the old Cenci, and + gives a definite description of his personal appearance. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_202_202" id="FootnoteA_202_202"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> Litta + supplies the facts related above. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_203_203" id="FootnoteA_203_203"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> This + fratricide, concurring with the matricide of S. Croce, contributed to + the rigor with which the Cenci parricide was punished in that year of + Roman crimes. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_204_204" id="FootnoteA_204_204"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> <i>The + White Devil</i>, a tragedy by John Webster, London, 1612; De Stendhal's + <i>Chroniques et Nouvelles</i>, Vittoria Accoramboni, Paris 1855; <i>Vittoria + Accoramboni</i>, D. Gnoli, Firenze, 1870; <i>Italian Byways</i>, by J.A. + Symonds, London, 1883. The greater part of follows above is extracted + from my <i>Italian Byways</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_205_205" id="FootnoteA_205_205"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> I find a + Felice Peretti mentioned in the will of Giacomo Cenci condemned in 1597. + But this was after the death of this Peretti, whom I shall continue to + call Francesco. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_206_206" id="FootnoteA_206_206"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> The + balance of probability leans against Isabella in this affair. At the + licentious court of the Medici she lived with unpardonable freedom. + Troilo Orsini was himself assassinated in Paris by Bracciano's orders a + few years afterwards. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_207_207" id="FootnoteA_207_207"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> 'La + Duchesse de Palliano,' in <i>Chroniques et Nouvelles</i>, De Stendhal + (Henri Beyle). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_208_208" id="FootnoteA_208_208"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> This + touch shows what were then considered the accomplishments of a noble + woman. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_209_209" id="FootnoteA_209_209"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> It was a + street-brawl, in which the Cardinal Monte played an indecent part, that + finally aroused the anger of Paul IV. De Stendhal's MS. shifts the chief + blame on to the shoulders of Cardinal Caraffa, who indeed appears to + have been in the habit of keeping bad company. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_210_210" id="FootnoteA_210_210"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. ii. p. 64. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_211_211" id="FootnoteA_211_211"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. ii. p. 162. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_212_212" id="FootnoteA_212_212"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. i. p. 343. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_213_213" id="FootnoteA_213_213"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> <i>I + Guarini, Famiglia Nobile Ferrarese</i> (Bologna, Romagnoli, 1870), pp. + 83-87. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_214_214" id="FootnoteA_214_214"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> In + addition to the victims of his vengeance who perished by the poignard, + he publicly executed in Florence forty-two political offenders. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_215_215" id="FootnoteA_215_215"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> See + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. ii. pp.54-56, for Antonio's + reception into the Order. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_216_216" id="FootnoteA_216_216"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> I refer, + of course, to Galluzzi's <i>Storia del Gran Ducato</i>, vol. iv. pp. + 241-244. Botta's <i>Storia d'Italia</i>, Book xiv., and Litta's <i>Famiglie + Celebri</i> under the pedigree of Medici. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_217_217" id="FootnoteA_217_217"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> See + Galluzzi, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. iii. p, 25, and Botta, <i>op. cit.</i> + Book xii. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_218_218" id="FootnoteA_218_218"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> See + above, p. 381. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_219_219" id="FootnoteA_219_219"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Litta may + be consulted for details; also Galluzzi, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. v. p. 174. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_220_220" id="FootnoteA_220_220"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> It maybe + worth mentioning that Virginio Orsini, Bracciano's son and heir, married + Donna Flavia, grand niece of Sixtus V., and consequently related to the + man his father murdered in order to possess Vittoria Accoramboni. See + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. ii. p. 72. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_221_221" id="FootnoteA_221_221"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> See + above, pp. 361-369. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_222_222" id="FootnoteA_222_222"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> Galluzzi, + vol. iii. p. 5, says that she died of a putrid fever. Litta again + inclines to the probability of poison. But this must counted among the + doubtful cases. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_223_223" id="FootnoteA_223_223"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> See + Galluzzi, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. iv. pp. 195-197, for the account of a + transaction which throws curious light upon the customs of the age. It + was only stipulated that the trial should not take place upon a Friday. + Otherwise, the highest ecclesiastics gave it their full approval. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_224_224" id="FootnoteA_224_224"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> I have + told the stories in this chapter as dryly as I could. Yet it would be + interesting to analyze the fascination they exercised over our + Elizabethan playwrights, some of whose Italian tragedies handle the + material with penetrative imagination. For the English mode of + interpreting southern passions see my <i>Italian Byways</i>, pp. 142 <i>et + seq.</i>, and a brilliant essay in Vernon Lee's <i>Euphorion</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_225_225" id="FootnoteA_225_225"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> For the + Italian text see <i>Lorenzino de'Medici</i>, Daelli, Milano, 1862. The + above is borrowed from my <i>Italian Byways</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_226_226" id="FootnoteA_226_226"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> So far as + I can discover, the only church of San Spirito in Venice was a building + on the island of San Spirito, erected by Sansavino, which belonged to + the Sestiere di S. Croce, and which was suppressed in 1656. Its plate + and the fine pictures which Titian painted there were transferred at + that date to S. M. della Salute. I cannot help inferring that either + Bibboni's memory failed him, or that his words were wrongly understood + by printer or amanuensis. If for S. Spirito, we substitute S. Stefano, + the account would be intelligible. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_227_227" id="FootnoteA_227_227"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> The text + is published, from Florentine Archives, in Gnoli's <i>Vittoria + Accoramboni</i>, pp. 404-414. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_228_228" id="FootnoteA_228_228"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> See + Rawdon Brown's <i>Calendar of State Papers</i>, vol. iv. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_229_229" id="FootnoteA_229_229"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> See + Botta, Book IV., for the story of Lodovico's intrigues at Siena. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_230_230" id="FootnoteA_230_230"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> This + letter is dated February 16, 1546. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_231_231" id="FootnoteA_231_231"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> See + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. ii. p. 167, for the pillage of + Lucera by Pacchiarotto. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_232_232" id="FootnoteA_232_232"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> Sarpi's + <i>History of the Uscocchi</i> may be consulted for this singular + episode in the Iliad of human savagery. See Mutinelli, <i>op. cit.</i> + vol. ii. p. 182, on the case of the son and heir of the Duke of Termoli + joining them; and <i>ibid.</i> p. 180 on the existence of pirates at + Capri. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_233_233" id="FootnoteA_233_233"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>Annali Urbani di Venezia</i>, pp. 470-483,549-550. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_234_234" id="FootnoteA_234_234"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. i. p. 310-340, and vol. xiv. pp. + 30-65. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_235_235" id="FootnoteA_235_235"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> It is + worth mentioning that Ripamonte calculates the mortality from plague in + Milan in 1524 at 140,000. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_236_236" id="FootnoteA_236_236"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. in. pp. 229-233. Botta has given an + account of this plague in the twenty-sixth book of his <i>History</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_237_237" id="FootnoteA_237_237"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. ii. pp. 287-307. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_238_238" id="FootnoteA_238_238"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> See + Mutinelli, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 241 and p. 289. We hear of the same belief + at Milan in 1576, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. i. pp. 311-315. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_239_239" id="FootnoteA_239_239"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 309. See also vol. iii. p. 254 for a similar narration. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_240_240" id="FootnoteA_240_240"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> + Mutinelli, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. ii. pp. 51-65. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_241_241" id="FootnoteA_241_241"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> Cantù's + <i>Ragionamenti sulla Storia Lombarda del Secolo XVII.</i> Milano, 1832. + The trial may also be read in Mutinelli, <i>Storm Arcana</i>, vol. iv. + pp. 175-201. Mutinelli inclines to believe in the <i>Untori</i>. So do + many grave historians, including Nani and Botta. See Cantù, <i>Storia + degli Italiani</i>, Milano, 1876, vol. ii. p. 215. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_242_242" id="FootnoteA_242_242"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> Mr. + Ruskin has somewhere maintained that the decline of Venice was not due + to this cause, but to fornication. He should read the record given by + Mutinelli (<i>Diari Urbani</i>, p. 157), of Venetian fornication in + 1340, at the time when the Ducal Palace was being covered with its + sculpture. The public prostitutes were reckoned then at 11,654. + Adulteries, rapes, infanticides were matters of daily occurrence. Yet + the Renaissance had not begun, and the expansion of Venice, which roused + the envious hostility of Europe, had yet to happen. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_243_243" id="FootnoteA_243_243"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> Dandolo's + <i>Streghe Tirolesi</i>, and Cantù's work on the Diocese of Como + show how much Subalpine Italy had in common in Northern Europe in this + matter. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="FootnoteA_244_244" id="FootnoteA_244_244"></a><a + href="#FNanchorA_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> See <i>Rassegna + Settimanale</i>, September 18, 1881. + </p> + </div> + <h1> + RENAISSANCE IN ITALY + </h1> + <h3> + <i>THE CATHOLIC REACTION</i> + </h3> + <h3> + In Two Parts + </h3> + <h3> + BY + </h3> + <h2> + JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr style="width: 25%;" /> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span><i>'Il mondo invecchia</i>,</span><br /> <span><i>E invecchiando + intristisce'</i></span><br /> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>TASSO, <i>Aminta</i>, Act 2, sc. 2<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + PART II + </h2> + <h3> + NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1887 <i>AUTHOR'S EDITION</i> + </h3> + <div class="center"> + <a href="#CONTENTS_OF_THE_SECOND_VOLUME"><b>CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME</b></a><br /> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER + VIII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER + XI</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a><br /> <a + href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a><br /> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER + XIV</b></a><br /> <a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a><br /> <a + href="#BFOOTNOTES"><b>FOOTNOTES</b></a><br /> + </div> + <h2> + <a id="CONTENTS_OF_THE_SECOND_VOLUME" name="CONTENTS_OF_THE_SECOND_VOLUME"></a>CONTENTS + OF THE SECOND VOLUME + </h2> + <div class="blockquot"> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a> + </h4> + <h5> + TORQUATO TASSO + </h5> + <p> + Tasso's Relation to his Age—Balbi on that Period—The Life of + Bernardo Tasso—Torquato's Boyhood—Sorrento, Naples, Rome, + Urbino—His first Glimpse of the Court—Student Life at Padua + and Bologna—The <i>Rinaldo</i>—Dialogues on Epic Poetry—Enters + the Service of Cardinal d'Este—The Court of Ferrara—Alfonso + II. and the Princesses—Problem of Tasso's Love—Goes to + France with Cardinal d'Este—Enters the Service of Duke Alfonso—The + <i>Aminta</i>—Tasso at Urbino—Return to Ferrara—Revision + of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—Jealousies at Court—Tasso's Sense + of His own Importance—Plans a Change from Ferrara to Florence—First + Symptoms of Mental Disorder—Persecutions of the Ferrarese + Courtiers—Tasso confined as a Semi-madman—Goes with Duke + Alfonso to Belriguardo—Flies in Disguise from Ferrara to Sorrento—Returns + to Court Life at Ferrara—Problem of his Madness—Flies again—Mantua, + Venice, Urbino, Turin—Returns once more to Ferrara—Alfonso's + Third Marriage—Tasso's Discontent—Imprisoned for Seven Years + in the Madhouse of S. Anna—Character of Tasso—Character of + Duke Alfonso—Nature of the Poet's Malady—His Course of Life + in Prison—Released at the Intercession of Vincenzo Gonzaga—Goes + to Mantua—The <i>Torrismondo</i>—An Odyssey of Nine Years—Death + at Sant Onofrio in Rome—Constantini's Sonnet + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE "GERUSALEMME LIBERATA" + </h5> + <p> + Problem of Creating Heroic Poetry—The Preface to Tasso's <i>Rinaldo</i>—Subject + of <i>Rinaldo</i>—Blending of Romantic Motives with Heroic Style—Imitation + of Virgil—Melody and Sentiment—Choice of Theme for the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—It + becomes a Romantic Poem after all—Tancredi the real Hero—Nobility + of Tone—Virgilian Imitation—Borrowings from Dante—Involved + Diction—Employment of Sonorous Polysyllabic Words—Quality of + Religious Emotion in this Poem—Rhetoric—Similes—The + Grand Style of Pathos—Verbal Music—The Chant d'Amour—Armida—Tasso's + Favorite Phrase, <i>Un non so che</i>—His Power over Melody and + Tender Feeling—Critique of Tasso's Later Poems—General + Survey of his Character + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a> + </h4> + <h5> + GIORDANO BRUNO + </h5> + <p> + Scientific Bias of the Italians checked by Catholic Revival—Boyhood + of Bruno—Enters Order of S. Dominic at Naples—Early + Accusations of Heresy—Escapes to Rome—Teaches the Sphere at + Noli—Visits Venice—At Geneva—At Toulouse—At + Paris—His Intercourse with Henri III.—Visits England—The + French Ambassador in London—Oxford—Bruno's Literary Work in + England—Returns to Paris—Journeys into Germany—Wittenberg, + Helmstädt, Frankfort—Invitation to Venice from Giovanni + Mocenigo—His Life in Venice—Mocenigo denounces him to the + Inquisition—His Trial at Venice—Removal to Rome—Death + by Burning in 1600—Bruno's Relation to the Thought of his Age and + to the Thought of Modern Europe—Outlines of his Philosophy + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a> + </h4> + <h5> + FRA PAOLO SARPI + </h5> + <p> + Sarpi's Position in the History of Venice—Parents and Boyhood—Entrance + into the Order of the Servites—His Personal Qualities—Achievements + as a Scholar and a Man of Science—His Life among the Servites—In + Bad Odor at Rome—Paul V. places Venice under Interdict—Sarpi + elected Theologian and Counselor of the Republic—His Polemical + Writings—Views on Church and State—The Interdict Removed—Roman + Vengeance—Sarpi attacked by Bravi—His Wounds, Illness, + Recovery—Subsequent History of the Assassins—Further + Attempts on Sarpi's Life—Sarpi's Political and Historical Works—History + of the Council of Trent—Sarpi's Attitude towards Protestantism His + Judgment of the Jesuits—Sarpi's Death—The Christian Stoic + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a> + </h4> + <h5> + GUARINI, MARINO, CHIABRERA, TASSONI + </h5> + <p> + Dearth of Great Men—Guarini a Link between Tasso and the + Seventeenth Century—His Biography—The <i>Pastor Fido</i>—Qualities + of Guarini as Poet—Marino the Dictator of Letters—His + Riotous Youth at Naples—Life at Rome, Turin, Paris—Publishes + the <i>Adone</i>—The Epic of Voluptuousness—Character and + Action of Adonis—Marino's Hypocrisy—Sentimental Sweetness—Brutal + Violence—Violation of Artistic Taste—Great Powers of the + Poet—Structure of the <i>Adone</i>—Musical Fluency—Marinism—Marino's + Patriotic Verses—Contrast between Chiabrera and Marino—An + Aspirant after Pindar—Chiabrera's Biography—His Court Life—Efforts + of Poets in the Seventeenth Century to attain to Novelty—Chiabrera's + Failure—Tassoni's Life—His Thirst to Innovate—Origin + of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>—Mock-Heroic Poetiy—The Plot of + this Poem—Its Peculiar Humor—Irony and Satire—Novelty + of the Species—Lyrical Interbreathings—Sustained Contrast of + Parody and Pathos—The Poet Testi + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a> + </h4> + <h5> + PALESTRINA AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN MUSIC + </h5> + <p> + Italy in Renaissance produces no National School of Music—Flemish + Composers in Rome—Singers and Orchestra—The Chaotic, + Indecency of this Contrapuntal Style—Palestrina's Birth and Early + History—Decrees of the Tridentine Council upon Church Music—The + Mass of Pope Marcello—Palestrina Satisfies the Cardinals with his + New Style of Sacred Music—Pius IV. and his Partiality for Music—Palestrina + and Filippo Neri—His Motetts—The Song of Solomon set to + Melody—Palestrina, the Saviour of Music—The Founder of the + Modern Style—Florentine Essays in the Oratorio + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a> + </h4> + <h5> + THE BOLOGNESE SCHOOL OF PAINTERS + </h5> + <p> + Decline of Plastic Art—Dates of the Eclectic Masters—The + Mannerists—Baroccio—Reaction started by Lodovico Caracci—His + Cousins Annibale and Agostino—Their Studies—Their Academy at + Bologna—Their Artistic Aims—Dionysius Calvaert—Guido + Reni—The Man and his Art—Domenichino—Ruskin's + Criticism—Relation of Domenichino to the Piety of his Age—Caravaggio + and the Realists—Ribera—Lo Spagna—Guercino—His + Qualities as Colorist—His Terribleness—Private Life—Digression + upon Criticism—Reasons why the Bolognese Painters, are justly now + Neglected + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a> + </h4> + <h5> + CONCLUSION + </h5> + <p> + The Main Events of European History—Italy in the Renaissance—Germany + and Reformation—Catholic Reaction—Its Antagonism to + Renaissance and Reformation—Profound Identity of Renaissance and + Reformation—Place of Italy in European Civilization—Want of + Sympathy between Latin and Teutonic Races—Relation of Rome to + Italy—Macaulay on the Roman Church—On Protestantism—Early + Decline of Renaissance Enthusiasms—Italy's Present and Future + </p> + <h4> + <a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a> + </h4> + <h4> + <a href="#BFOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a> + </h4> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB1" id="pageB1"></a>{1}</span> + </p> + <h1> + RENAISSANCE IN ITALY + </h1> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h4> + TORQUATO TASSO + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Tasso's Relation to his Age—Balbi on that Period—The Life of + Bernardo Tasso—Torquato's Boyhood—Sorrento, Naples, Rome, + Urbino—His first Glimpse of the Court—Student Life at Padua + and Bologna—The <i>Rinaldo</i>—Dialogues on Epic Poetry—Enters + the Service of Cardinal d'Este—The Court of Ferrara—Alfonso + II. and the Princesses—Problem of Tasso's Love—Goes to + France with Cardinal d'Este—Enters the Service of Duke Alfonso—The + <i>Aminta</i>—Tasso at Urbino—Return to Ferrara—Revision + of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—Jealousies at Court—Tasso's Sense + of His own Importance—Plans a Change from Ferrara to Florence—First + Symptoms of Mental Disorder—Persecutions of the Ferrarese + Courtiers—Tasso confined as a Semi-madman—Goes with Duke + Alfonso to Belriguardo—Flies in Disguise from Ferrara to Sorrento—Returns + to Court Life at Ferrara—Problem of his madness—Flies again—Mantua, + Venice, Urbino, Turin—Returns once more to Ferrara—Alfonso's + Third Marriage—Tasso's Discontent—Imprisoned for Seven years + in the madhouse of S. Anna—Character of Tasso—Character of + Duke Alfonso—Nature of the Poet's Malady—His Course of Life + in Prison—Released at the Intercession of Vincenzo Gonzaga—Goes + to Mantua—The <i>Torrismondo</i>—An Odyssey of nine Years—Death + at Sant Onofrio in Rome—Constantini's Sonnet. + </p> + </div> + <p> + It was under the conditions which have been set forth in the foregoing + chapters that the greatest literary genius of his years in Europe, the + poet who ranks among the four first of Italy, was educated, rose to + eminence, and suffered. The political<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB2" + id="pageB2"></a>{2}</span> changes introduced in 1530, the tendencies of + the Catholic Revival, the terrorism of the Inquisition, and the + educational energy of the Jesuits had, each and all, their manifest effect + in molding Tasso's character. He represents that period when the culture + of the Renaissance was being superseded, when the caries of court-service + was eating into the bone and marrow of Italian life, when earlier forms of + art were tending to decay, or were passing into the new form of music. + Tasso was at once the representative poet of his age and the + representative martyr of his age. He was the latter, though this may seem + paradoxical, in even a stricter sense than Bruno. Bruno, coming into + violent collision with the prejudices of the century, expiated his + antagonism by a cruel death. Tasso, yielding to those influences, lingered + out a life of irresolute misery. His nature was such, that the very + conditions which shaped it sufficed to enfeeble, envenom, and finally + reduce it to a pitiable ruin. + </p> + <p> + Some memorable words of Cesare Balbi may serve as introduction to a sketch + of Tasso's life. 'If that can be called felicity which gives to the people + peace without activity; to nobles rank without power; to princes + undisturbed authority within their States without true independence or + full sovereignty; to literary men and artists numerous occasions for + writing, painting, making statues, and erecting edifices with the applause + of contemporaries but the ridicule of posterity; to the whole nation ease + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB3" id="pageB3"></a>{3}</span>without + dignity and facilities for sinking tranquilly into corruption; then no + period of her history was so felicitous for Italy as the 140 years which + followed the peace of Cateau-Cambrèsis. Invasions ceased: her + foreign lord saved Italy from intermeddling rivals. Internal struggles + ceased: her foreign lord removed their causes and curbed national + ambitions. Popular revolutions ceased: her foreign lord bitted and bridled + the population of her provinces. Of bravi, highwaymen, vulgar acts of + vengeance, tragedies among nobles and princes, we find indeed abundance; + but these affected the mass of the people to no serious extent. The + Italians enjoyed life, indulged in the sweets of leisure, the sweets of + vice, the sweets of making love and dangling after women. From the camp + and the council-chamber, where they had formerly been bred, the nobles + passed into petty courts and moldered in a multitude of little capitals. + Men bearing historic names, insensible of their own degradation, bowed the + neck gladly, groveled in beatitude. Deprived of power, they consoled + themselves with privileges, patented favors, impertinences vented on the + common people. The princes amused themselves by debasing the old + aristocracy to the mire, depreciating their honors by the creations of new + titles, multiplying frivolous concessions, adding class to class of idle + and servile dependents on their personal bounty. In one word, the paradise + of mediocrities came into being.' + </p> + <p> + Tasso was born before the beginning of this <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB4" id="pageB4"></a>{4}</span> epoch. But he lived into the last + decade of the sixteenth century. In every fiber of his character he felt + the influences of Italian decadence, even while he reacted against them. + His misfortunes resulted in great measure from his not having wholly + discarded the traditions of the Renaissance, though his temperament and + acquired habits made him in many points sympathetic to the + Counter-Reformation. At the same time, he was not a mediocrity, but the + last of an illustrious race of nobly gifted men of genius. Therefore he + never patiently submitted to the humiliating conditions which his own + conception of the Court, the Prince, the Church, and the Italian gentleman + logically involved at that period. He could not be contented with the + paradise of mediocrities described by Balbi. Yet he had not strength to + live outside its pale. It was the pathos of his situation that he + persisted in idealizing this paradise, and expected to find in it a + paradise of exceptional natures. This it could not be. No one turns + Circe's pigsty into a Parnassus. If Tasso had possessed force of character + enough to rend the trammels of convention and to live his own life in a + self-constructed sphere, he might still have been unfortunate. Nature + condemned him to suffering. But from the study of his history we then had + risen invigorated by the contemplation of heroism, instead of quitting it, + as now we do, with pity, but with pity tempered by a slight contempt.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB5" id="pageB5"></a>{5}</span> + </p> + <p> + Bernardo, the father of Torquato Tasso, drew noble blood from both his + parents. The Tassi claimed to be a branch of that ancient Guelf house of + Delia Torre, lords of Milan, who were all but extirpated by the Visconti + in the fourteenth century. A remnant established themselves in mountain + strongholds between Bergamo and Como, and afterwards took rank among the + more distinguished families of the former city. Manso affirms that + Bernardo's mother was a daughter of those Venetian Cornari who gave a + queen to Cyprus.<a name="BFNanchor_1_1" id="BFNanchor_1_1"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> He was born at Venice in + the year 1493; and, since he died in 1568, his life covered the whole + period of national glory, humiliation, and attempted reconstruction which + began with the invasion of Charles VIII. and ended with the closing of the + Council of Trent. Born in the pontificate of Alexander VI., he witnessed + the reigns of Julius II., Leo X., Clement VII., Paul IV., Pius IV., and + died in that of Pius V. + </p> + <p> + All the illustrious works of Italian art and letters were produced while + he was moving in the society of princes and scholars. He saw the + Renaissance in its splendor and decline. He watched the growth, progress, + and final triumph of the Catholic Revival. Having stated that the curve of + his existence led upward from a Borgia and down to a Ghislieri Vicar of + Christ, the merest tyro in Italian history knows what vicissitudes it + spanned. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB6" id="pageB6"></a>{6}</span> Though + the Tassi were so noble, Bernardo owned no wealth. He was left an orphan + at an early age under the care of his uncle, Bishop of Recanati. But in + 1520 the poignard of an assassin cut short this guardian's life; and, at + the age of seventeen, he was thrown upon the world. After studying at + Padua, where he enjoyed the patronage of Bembo, and laid foundations for + his future fame as poet, Bernardo entered the service of the Modenese + Rangoni in the capacity of secretary. Thus began the long career of + servitude to princes, of which he frequently complained, but which only + ended with his death.<a name="BFNanchor_2_2" id="BFNanchor_2_2"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> The affairs of his first + patrons took him to Paris at the time when a marriage was arranged between + Renée of France and Ercole d'Este. He obtained the post of + secretary to this princess, and having taken leave of the Rangoni, he next + established himself at Ferrara. Only for three years, however; for in 1532 + reasons of which we are ignorant, but which may have been connected with + the heretical sympathies of Renée, induced him to resign his post. + Shortly after this date, we find him attached to the person of Ferrante + Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, one of the chief feudatories and + quasi-independent vassals of the Crown of Naples. In the quality of + secretary he attended this patron through the campaign of Tunis in 1535, + and accompanied him on all his diplomatic expeditions. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB7" id="pageB7"></a>{7}</span> The + Prince of Salerno treated him more as an honored friend and confidential + adviser than as a paid official. His income was good, and leisure was + allowed him for the prosecution of his literary studies. In this + flourishing state of his affairs, Bernardo contracted an alliance with + Porzia de'Rossi, a lady of a noble house, which came originally from + Pistoja, but had been established for some generations in Naples. She was + connected by descent or marriage with the houses of Gambacorti, + Caracciolo, and Caraffa. Their first child, Cornelia, was born about the + year 1537. Their second, Torquato, saw the light in March 1544 at + Sorrento, where his father had been living some months previously and + working at his poem, the <i>Amadigi</i>. + </p> + <p> + At the time of Torquato's birth Bernardo was away from home, in Lombardy, + France, and Flanders, traveling on missions from his Prince. However, he + returned to Sorrento for a short while in 1545, and then again was forced + to leave his family. Married at the mature age of forty-three, Bernardo + was affectionately attached to his young wife, and proud of his children. + But the exigencies of a courtier's life debarred him from enjoying the + domestic happiness for which his sober and gentle nature would have fitted + him. In 1547 the events happened which ruined him for life, separated him + for ever from Porzia, drove him into indigent exile, and marred the + prospects of his children. In that year, the Spanish Viceroy, Don<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB8" id="pageB8"></a>{8}</span> Pietro Toledo, + attempted to introduce the Inquisition, on its Spanish basis, into Naples. + The population resented this exercise of authority with the fury of + despair, rightly judging that the last remnants of their liberty would be + devoured by the foul monster of the Holy Office. They besought the Prince + of Salerno to intercede for them with his master, Charles V., whom he had + served loyally up to this time, and who might therefore be inclined to + yield to his expostulations. The Prince doubted much whether it would be + prudent to accept the mission of intercessor. He had two counsellors, + Bernardo Tasso and Vincenzo Martelli. The latter, who was an astute + Florentine, advised him to undertake nothing so perilous as interposition + between the Viceroy and the people. Tasso, on the contrary, exhorted him + to sacrifice personal interest, honors, and glory, for the duty which he + owed his country. The Prince chose the course which Tasso recommended. + Charles V. disgraced him, and he fled from Naples to France, adopting + openly the cause of his imperial sovereign's enemies. He was immediately + declared a rebel, with confiscation of his fiefs and property. Bernardo + and his infant son were included in the sentence. After twenty-two years + of service, Bernardo now found himself obliged to choose between + disloyalty to his Prince or a disastrous exile. He took the latter course, + and followed Ferrante Sanseverino to Paris. But Bernardo Tasso, though + proving himself a man of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB9" id="pageB9"></a>{9}</span> + honor in this severe trial, was not of the stuff of Shakespeare's Kent; + and when the Prince of Salerno suspended payment of his salary he took + leave of that master. Some differences arising from the discomforts and + irritations of both exiles had early intervened between them. Tasso was + miserably poor. 'I have to stay in bed,' he writes, 'to mend my hose; and + if it were not for the old arras I brought with me from home, I should not + know how to cover my nakedness.'<a name="BFNanchor_3_3" id="BFNanchor_3_3"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Besides this he suffered + grievously in the separation from his wife, who was detained at Naples by + her relatives—'brothers who, instead of being brothers, are deadly + foes, cruel wild beasts rather than men; a mother who is no mother but a + fell enemy, a fury from hell rather than a woman.'<a name="BFNanchor_4_4" + id="BFNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#BFootnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> + His wretchedness attained its climax when Porzia died suddenly on February + 3, 1556. Bernardo suspected that her family had poisoned her; and this may + well have been. His son Torquato, meanwhile had joined him in Rome; but + Porzia's brothers refused to surrender his daughter Cornelia, whom they + married to a Sorrentine gentleman, Marzio Sersale, much to Bernardo's + disgust, for Sersale was apparently of inferior blood. They also withheld + Porzia's dowry and the jointure settled on her by Bernardo—property + of considerable value which neither he nor Torquato were subsequently able + to recover. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB10" id="pageB10"></a>{10}</span> In + this desperate condition of affairs, without friends or credit, but + conscious of his noble birth and true to honor, the unhappy poet bethought + him of the Church. If he could obtain a benefice, he would take orders. + But the King of France and Margaret of Valois, on whose patronage he + relied, turned him a deaf ear; and when war broke out between Paul IV. and + Spain, he felt it prudent to leave Rome. It was at this epoch that + Bernardo entered the service of Guidubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, + with whom he remained until 1563, when he accepted the post of secretary + from Guglielmo, Duke of Mantua. He died in 1569 at Ostiglia, so poor that + his son could scarcely collect money enough to bury him after selling his + effects. Manso says that a couple of door-curtains, embroidered with the + arms of Tasso and De'Rossi, passed on this occasion into the wardrobe of + the Gonzaghi. Thus it seems that the needy nobleman had preserved a scrap + of his heraldic trophies till the last, although he had to patch his one + pain of breeches in bed at Rome. It may be added, as characteristic of + Bernardo's misfortunes, that even the plain marble sarcophagus, inscribed + with the words <i>Ossa Bernardi Tassi</i> which Duke Guglielmo erected to + his memory in S. Egidio at Mantua, was removed in compliance with a papal + edict ordering that monuments at a certain height above the ground should + be destroyed to save the dignity of neighboring altars! + </p> + <p> + Such were the events of Bernardo Tasso's life.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB11" id="pageB11"></a>{11}</span> I have dwelt upon them in + detail, since they foreshadow and illustrate the miseries of his more + famous son. In character and physical qualities Torquato inherited no + little from his father. Bernardo was handsome, well-grown, conscious of + his double dignity as a nobleman and poet. From the rules of honor, as he + understood them, he deviated in no important point of conduct. Yet the + life of courts made him an incorrigible dangler after princely favors. The + <i>Amadigi</i>, upon which he set such store, was first planned and + dedicated to Charles V., then altered to suit Henri II. of France, and + finally adapted to the flattery of Philip II., according as its author's + interests with the Prince of Salerno and the Duke of Urbino varied. No + substantial reward accrued to him, however, from its publication. His + compliments wasted their sweetness on the dull ears of the despot of + Madrid. In misfortune Bernardo sank to neither crime nor baseness, even + when he had no clothes to put upon his back. Yet he took the world to + witness of his woes, as though his person ought to have been sacred from + calamities of common manhood. A similar dependent spirit was manifested in + his action as a man of letters. Before publishing the <i>Amadigi</i> he + submitted it to private criticism, with the inevitable result of obtaining + feigned praises and malevolent strictures. Irresolution lay at the root of + his treatment of Torquato. While groaning under the collar of courtly + servitude, he determined <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB12" + id="pageB12"></a>{12}</span> that the youth should study law. While + reckoning how little his own literary fame had helped him, he resolved + that his son should adopt a lucrative profession. Yet no sooner had + Torquato composed his <i>Rinaldo</i>, than the fond parent had it printed, + and immediately procured a place for him in the train of the Cardinal + Luigi d'Este. It is singular that the young man, witnessing the + wretchedness of his father's life, should not have shunned a like career + of gilded misery and famous indigence. But Torquato was born to reproduce + Bernardo's qualities in their feebleness and respectability, to outshine + him in genius, and to outstrip him in the celebrity of his misfortunes. + </p> + <p> + In the absence of his father little Torquato grew up with his mother and + sister at Sorrento under the care of a good man, Giovanni Angeluzzo who + gave him the first rudiments of education. He was a precocious infant, + grave in manners, quick at learning, free from the ordinary naughtinesses + of childhood. Manso reports that he began to speak at six months, and that + from the first he formed syllables with precision. His mother Porzia + appears to have been a woman of much grace and sweetness, but timid and + incapable of fighting the hard battle of the world. A certain shade of + melancholy fell across the boy's path even in these earliest years, for + Porzia, as we have seen, met with cruel treatment from her relatives, and + her only support, Bernardo, was far away in exile. In<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB13" id="pageB13"></a>{13}</span> 1552 she removed with her + children to Naples, where Torquato was sent at once to the school which + the Jesuits had opened there in the preceding year. These astute + instructors soon perceived that they had no ordinary boy to deal with. + They did their best to stimulate his mental faculties and to exalt his + religious sentiments; so that he learned Greek and Latin before the age of + ten, and was in the habit of communicating at the altar with transports of + pious ecstasy in his ninth year.<a name="BFNanchor_5_5" id="BFNanchor_5_5"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The child recited speeches + and poems in public, and received an elementary training in the arts of + composition. He was in fact the infant prodigy of those plausible Fathers, + the prize specimen of their educational method. As might have been + expected, this forcing system overtaxed his nerves. He rose daily before + daybreak to attack his books, and when the nights were long he went to + morning school attended by a servant carrying torches. + </p> + <p> + Without seeking to press unduly on these circumstances, we may fairly + assume that Torquato's character received a permanent impression from the + fever of study and the premature pietism excited in him by the Jesuits in + Naples. His servile attitude toward speculative thought, that anxious + dependence upon ecclesiastical authority, that scrupulous mistrust of his + own mental faculties, that pretense of solving problems by accumulated + citations instead of going to the root of the matter, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB14" id="pageB14"></a>{14}</span> whereby his philosophical + writings are rendered nugatory, may with probability be traced to the + mechanical and interested system of the Jesuits. He was their pupil for + three years, after which he joined his father in Rome. There he seems to + have passed at once into a healthier atmosphere. Bernardo, though a sound + Catholic, was no bigot; and he had the good sense to choose an able master + for his son—'a man of profound learning, possessed of both the + ancient languages, whose method of teaching is the finest and most + time-saving that has yet been tried; a gentleman withal, with nothing of + the pedant in him.'<a name="BFNanchor_6_6" id="BFNanchor_6_6"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The boy was lucky also in + the companion of his studies, a cousin, Cristoforo Tasso, who had come + from Bergamo to profit by the tutor's care. + </p> + <p> + The young Tasso's home cannot, however, have been a cheerful one. The + elderly hidalgo sitting up in bed to darn a single pair of hose, the + absent mother pining for her husband and tormented by her savage brother's + avarice, environed the precocious child of ten with sad presentiments. + That melancholy temperament which he inherited from Bernardo was nourished + by the half-concealed mysteriously-haunting troubles of his parents. And + when Porzia died suddenly, in 1556, we can hardly doubt that the father + broke out before his son into some such expressions of ungovernable grief + as he openly expressed in the letter to Amerigo Sanse<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB15" id="pageB15"></a>{15}</span> verino.<a name="BFNanchor_7_7" + id="BFNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#BFootnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> + Is it possible, then, thought Torquato, that the mother from whose tender + kisses and streaming tears I was severed but one year ago,<a + name="BFNanchor_8_8" id="BFNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#BFootnote_8_8" + class="fnanchor">[8]</a> has died of poison—poisoned by my uncles? + Sinking into the consciousness of a child so sensitive by nature and so + early toned to sadness, this terrible suspicion of a secret death by + poison incorporated itself with the very essence of his melancholy humor, + and lurked within him to flash forth in madness at a future period of + life. That he was well acquainted with the doleful situation of his family + is proved by his first extant letter. Addressed to the noble lady Vittoria + Colonna on behalf of Bernardo and his sister, this is a remarkable + composition for a boy of twelve.<a name="BFNanchor_9_9" id="BFNanchor_9_9"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> His poor father, he says, + is on the point of dying of despair, oppressed by the malignity of fortune + and the rapacity of impious men. His uncle is bent on marrying Cornelia to + some needy gentleman, in order to secure her mother's estate for himself. + 'The grief, illustrious lady, of the loss of property is great, but that + of blood is crushing. This poor old man has naught but my sister and + myself; and now that fortune has deprived him of wealth and of the wife he + loved like his own soul, he cannot bear that that man's avarice should rob + him of his beloved daughter, with whom he hoped to end in rest these last + years of his failing age. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB16" + id="pageB16"></a>{16}</span> In Naples we have no friends; for my father's + disaster makes every one shy of us: our relatives are our enemies. + Cornelia is kept in the house of my uncle's kinsman Giangiacopo Coscia, + where no one is allowed to speak to her or give her letters.' + </p> + <p> + In the midst of these afflictions, which already tuned the future poet's + utterance to a note of plaintive pathos and ingenuous appeal for aid, + Torquato's studies were continued on a sounder plan and in a healthier + spirit than at Naples. The perennial consolation of his troubled life, + that delight in literature which made him able to anticipate the lines of + Goethe— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>That naught belongs to me I know,<br /> </span> <span>Save thoughts + that never cease to flow<br /> </span> <span class="i2">From founts that + cannot perish,<br /> </span> <span>And every fleeting shape of bliss<br /> + </span> <span>Which kindly fortune lets me kiss,<br /> </span> <span + class="i2">Or in my bosom cherish—<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + now became the source of an inner brightness which not even the 'malignity + of fortune,' the 'impiety of men,' the tragedy of his mother's death, the + imprisonment of his sister, and the ever-present sorrow of his father, + 'the poor gentleman fallen into misery and misfortune through no fault of + his own,' could wholly overcloud. The boy had been accustomed in Naples to + the applause of his teachers and friends. In Rome he began to cherish a + presentiment of his own genius. A 'vision splendid' dawned upon his mind; + and every step he made in knowledge and in mastery of language enforced + the delightful con<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB17" id="pageB17"></a>{17}</span> + viction that 'I too am a poet.' Nothing in Tasso's character was more + tenacious than the consciousness of his vocation and the kind of + self-support he gained from it. Like the melancholy humor which + degenerated into madness, this sense of his own intellectual dignity + assumed extravagant proportions, passed over into vanity, and encouraged + him to indulge fantastic dreams of greatness. Yet it must be reckoned as a + mitigation of his suffering; and what was solid in it at the period of + which I now am writing, was the certainty of his rare gifts for art. + </p> + <p> + The Roman residence was broken by Bernardo's journey to Urbino in quest of + the appointment he expected from Duke Guidubaldo. He sent Torquato with + his cousin Cristoforo meanwhile to Bergamo, where the boy enjoyed a few + months of sympathy and freedom. This appears to have been the only period + of his life in which Tasso experienced the wholesome influences of + domesticity. In 1557 his father sent for him to Pesaro, and Tasso made his + first entrance into a Court at the age of thirteen. This event decided the + future of his existence. Urbino was not what it had been in the time of + Duke Federigo, or when Castiglione composed his Mirror of the Courtier on + its model. Yet it retained the old traditions of gentle living, splendor + tempered by polite culture, aristocratic urbanity refined by arts and + letters. The evil days of Spanish manners and Spanish bigotry, of + exhausted revenues and insane <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB18" + id="pageB18"></a>{18}</span> taxation, were but dawning; and the young + prince, Francesco Maria, who was destined to survive his heir and transfer + a ruined duchy to the mortmain of the Church, was now a boy of eight years + old. In fact, though the Court of Urbino labored already under that + manifold disease of waste which drained the marrow of Italian + principalities, its atrophy was not apparent to the eye. It could still + boast of magnificent pageants, trains of noble youths and ladies moving + through its stately palaces and shady villa-gardens, academies of learned + men discussing the merits of Homer and Ariosto and discoursing on the + principles of poetry and drama. Bernardo Tasso read his <i>Amadigi</i> in + the evenings to the Duchess. The days were spent in hunting and athletic + exercises; the nights in masquerades or dances. Love and ambition wore an + external garb of ceremonious beauty; the former draped itself in sonnets, + the latter in rhetorical orations. Torquato, who was assigned as the + companion in sport and study to the heir-apparent, shared in all these + pleasures of the Court. After the melancholy of Rome, his visionary nature + expanded under influences which he idealized with fatal facility. Too + young to penetrate below that glittering surface, flattered by the + attention paid to his personal charm or premature genius, stimulated by + the conversation of politely educated pedants, encouraged in studies for + which he felt a natural aptitude, gratified by the comradeship of the + young prince whose temperament corresponded to <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB19" id="pageB19"></a>{19}</span> his own in gravity, he + conceived that radiant and romantic conception of Courts, as the only fit + places of abode for men of noble birth and eminent abilities, which no + disillusionment in after life was able to obscure. We cannot blame him for + this error, though error it indubitably was. It was one which he shared + with all men of his station at that period, which the poverty of his + estate, the habits of his father, and his own ignorance of home-life + almost forced upon his poet's temperament. + </p> + <p> + At Urbino Tasso read mathematics under a real master, Federigo Comandino, + and carried on his literary studies with enthusiasm. It was probably at + this time that he acquired the familiar knowledge of Virgil which so + powerfully influenced his style, and that he began to form his theory of + epic as distinguished from romantic poetry. After a residence of two years + he removed to Venice, where his father was engaged in polishing the <i>Amadigi</i> + for publication. Here a new scene of interest opened out for him; and here + he first enjoyed the sweets of literary fame. Bernardo had been chosen + secretary by an Academy, in which men like Veniero, Molino, Gradenigo, + Mocenigo, and Manuzio, the most learned and the noblest Venetians, met + together for discussion. The slim lad of fifteen was admitted to their + sessions, and surprised these elders by his eloquence and erudition. It is + noticeable that at this time he carefully studied and annotated Dante's <i>Divine + Comedy</i>, a poem almost neglected by Italians <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB20" id="pageB20"></a>{20}</span> in the Cinque Cento. It seemed + good to his father now that he should prosecute his studies in earnest, + with the view of choosing a more lucrative profession than that of letters + or Court-service. Bernardo, while finishing the <i>Amadigi</i>, which he + dedicated to Philip II., sent his son in 1560 to Padua. He was to become a + lawyer under the guidance of Guido Panciroli. But Tasso, like Ovid, like + Petrarch, like a hundred other poets, felt no inclination for juristic + learning. He freely and frankly abandoned himself to the metaphysical + conclusions which were being then tried between Piccolomini and Pendasio, + the one an Aristotelian dualist, the other a materialist for whom the soul + was not immortal. Without force of mind enough to penetrate the deepest + problems of philosophy, Tasso was quick to apprehend their bearings. The + Paduan school of scepticism, the logomachy in vogue there, unsettled his + religious opinions. He began by criticising the doubts of others in his + light of Jesuit-instilled belief; next he found a satisfaction for + self-esteem in doubting too; finally he called the mysteries of the Creed + in question, and debated the articles of creation, incarnation, and + immortality. Yet he had not the mental vigor either to cut this Gordian + knot, or to untie it by sound thinking. His erudition confused him; and he + mistook the lumber of miscellaneous reading for philosophy. Then a + reaction set in. He remembered those childish ecstasies before the + Eucharist: he recalled the pictures of a burning hell his Jesuit <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB21" id="pageB21"></a>{21}</span> teachers + had painted; he heard the trumpets of the Day of Judgment, and the + sentence 'Go ye wicked!' On the brink of heresy he trembled and recoiled. + The spirit of the coming age, the spirit of Bruno, was not in him. To all + appearances he had not heard of the Copernican discovery. He wished to + remain a true son of the Church, and was in fact of such stuff as the + Catholic Revival wanted. Yet the memory of these early doubts clung to + him, principally, we may believe, because he had not force to purge them + either by severe science or by vivid faith. Later, when his mind was + yielding to disorder, they returned in the form of torturing scruples and + vain terrors, which his fervent but superficial pietism, his imaginative + but sensuous religion, were unable to efface. Meanwhile, with one part of + his mind devoted to these problems, the larger and the livelier was + occupied with poetry. To law, the <i>Brod-Studium</i> indicated by his + position in the world, he only paid perfunctory attention. The consequence + was that before he had completed two years of residence in Padua, his + first long poem, the <i>Rinaldo</i>, saw the light. In another chapter I + mean to discuss the development of Tasso's literary theories and + achievements. It is enough here to say that the applause which greeted the + <i>Rinaldo</i>, conquered his father's opposition. Proud of its success, + Bernardo had it printed, and Torquato in the beginning of his nineteenth + year counted among the notable romantic poets of his country.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB22" id="pageB22"></a>{22}</span> + </p> + <p> + At the end of 1563, Tasso received an invitation to transfer himself from + Padua to Bologna. This proposal came from Monsignor Cesi, who had recently + been appointed by Pope Pius IV. to superintend public studies in that + city. The university was being placed on a new footing, and to secure the + presence of a young man already famous seemed desirable. An exhibition was + therefore offered as an inducement; and this Tasso readily accepted. He + spent about two years at Bologna, studying philosophy and literature, + planning his Dialogues on the Art of Poetry, and making projects for an + epic on the history of Godfred. Yet in spite of public admiration and + official favor, things did not go smoothly with Tasso at Bologna. One main + defect of his character, which was a want of tact, began to manifest + itself. He showed Monsignor Cesi that he had a poor opinion of his + literary judgment, came into collision with the pedants who despised + Italian, and finally uttered satiric epigrams in writing on various + members of the university. Other students indulged their humor in like + pasquinades. But those of Tasso were biting, and he had not contrived to + render himself generally popular. His rooms were ransacked, his papers + searched; and finding himself threatened with a prosecution for libel, he + took flight to Modena. No importance can be attached to this insignificant + affair, except in so far as it illustrates the unlucky aptitude for making + enemies by want of <i>savoir vivre</i> which pursued<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB23" id="pageB23"></a>{23}</span> Tasso through life. His real + superiority aroused jealousy; his frankness wounded the self-love of + rivals whom he treated with a shadow of contempt. As these were unable to + compete with him in eloquence, or to beat him in debate, they soothed + their injured feelings by conspiracy and calumny against him. + </p> + <p> + In an age of artifice and circumspection, while paying theoretical homage + to its pedantries, and following the fashion of its compliments, Tasso was + nothing if not spontaneous and heedless. This appears in the style of his + letters and prose compositions, which have the air of being uttered from + the heart. The excellences and defects of his poetry, soaring to the + height of song and sinking into frigidity or baldness when the lyric + impulse flags, reveal a similar quality. In conduct this spontaneity + assumed a form of inconsiderate rashness, which brought him into collision + with persons of importance, and rendered universities and Courts, the + sphere of his adoption, perilous to the peace of so naturally out-spoken + and self-engrossed a man. His irritable sensibilities caused him to suffer + intensely from the petty vengeance of the people he annoyed; while a kind + of amiable egotism blinded his eyes to his own faults, and made him blame + fortune for sufferings of which his indiscretion was the cause. + </p> + <p> + After leaving Bologna, Tasso became for some months house-guest of his + father's earliest patrons, the Modenese Rangoni. With them he seems to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB24" id="pageB24"></a>{24}</span> have + composed his Dialogues upon the Art of Poetry. For many years the learned + men of Italy had been contesting the true nature of the Epic. One party + affirmed that the ancients ought to be followed; and that the rules of + Aristotle regarding unity of plot, dignity of style, and subordination of + episodes, should be observed. The other party upheld the romantic manner + of Ariosto, pleading for liberty of fancy, richness of execution, variety + of incident, intricacy of design. Torquato from his earliest boyhood had + heard these points discussed, and had watched his father's epic, the <i>Amadigi</i>, + which was in effect a romantic poem petrified by classical convention, in + process of production. Meanwhile he carefully studied the text of Homer + and the Latin epics, examined Horace and Aristotle, and perused the + numerous romances of the Italian school. Two conclusions were drawn from + this preliminary course of reading: first, that Italy as yet possessed no + proper epic; Trissino's <i>Italia Liberata</i> was too tiresome, the <i>Orlando + Furioso</i> too capricious; secondly, that the <i>spolia opima</i> in this + field of art would be achieved by him who should combine the classic and + romantic manners in a single work, enriching the unity of the antique epic + with the graces of modern romance, choosing a noble and serious subject, + sustaining style at a sublime altitude, but gratifying the prevalent + desire for beauty in variety by the introduction of attractive episodes + and the ornaments <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB25" id="pageB25"></a>{25}</span> + of picturesque description. Tasso, in fact, declared himself an eclectic; + and the deep affinity he felt for Virgil, indicated the lines upon which + the Latin language in its romantic or Italian stage of evolution might be + made to yield a second Aeneid adapted to the requirements of modern taste. + He had, indeed, already set before himself the high ambition of supplying + this desideratum. The note of prelude had been struck in <i>Rinaldo</i>; + the subject of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> had been chosen. But the age in + which he lived was nothing if not critical and argumentative. The time had + long gone by when Dante's massive cathedral, Boccaccio's pleasure domes, + Boiardo's and Ariosto's palaces of enchantment, arose as though unbidden + and unreasoned from the maker's brain. It was now impossible to take a + step in poetry or art without a theory; and, what was worse, that theory + had to be exposed for dissertation and discussion. Therefore Tasso, though + by genius the most spontaneous of men, commenced the great work of his + life with criticism. Already acclimatized to courts, coteries, academies, + formed in the school of disputants and pedants, he propounded his <i>Ars + Poetica</i> before establishing it by an example. This was undoubtedly + beginning at the wrong end; he committed himself to principles which he + was bound to illustrate by practice. In the state of thought at that time + prevalent in Italy, burdened as he was with an irresolute and diffident + self-consciousness, Tasso <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB26" + id="pageB26"></a>{26}</span> could not deviate from the theory he had + promulgated. How this hampered him, will appear in the sequel, when we + come to notice the discrepancy between his critical and creative + faculties. For the moment, however, the Dialogues on Epic Poetry only + augmented his fame. + </p> + <p> + Scipione Gonzaga, one of Tasso's firmest and most illustrious friends, had + recently established an Academy at Padua under the name of Gli Eterei. At + his invitation the young poet joined this club in the autumn of 1564, + assumed the title of Il Pentito in allusion to his desertion of legal + studies, and soon became the soul of its society. His dialogues excited + deep and wide-spread interest. After so much wrangling between classical + and romantic champions, he had transferred the contest to new ground and + introduced a fresh principle into the discussion. This principle was, in + effect, that of common sense, good taste and instinct. Tasso meant to say: + there is no vital discord between classical and romantic art; both have + excellences, and it is possible to find defects in both; pedantic + adherence to antique precedent must end in frigid failure under the + present conditions of intellectual culture; yet it cannot be denied that + the cycle of Renaissance poetry was closed by Ariosto; let us therefore + attempt creation in a liberal spirit, trained by both these influences. He + could not, however, when he put this theory forward in elaborate prose, + abstain from propositions, distinctions, deductions, and con<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB27" id="pageB27"></a>{27}</span> clusions, + all of which were discutable, and each of which his critics and his honor + held him bound to follow. In short, while planning and producing the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, + he was involved in controversies on the very essence of his art. These + controversies had been started by himself and he could not do otherwise + than maintain the position he had chosen. His poet's inspiration, his + singer's spontaneity, came thus constantly into collision with his own + deliberate utterances. A perplexed self-scrutiny was the inevitable + result, which pedagogues who were not inspired and could not sing, but who + delighted in minute discussion, took good care to stimulate. The worst, + however, was that he had erected in his own mind a critical standard with + which his genius was not in harmony. The scholar and the poet disagreed in + Tasso; and it must be reckoned one of the drawbacks of his age and + education that the former preceded the latter in development. Something of + the same discord can be traced in contemporary painting, as will be shown + when I come to consider the founders of the Bolognese Academy. + </p> + <p> + At the end of 1565 Tasso was withdrawn from literary studies and society + in Padua. The Cardinal Luigi d'Este offered him a place in his household; + and since this opened the way to Ferrara and Court-service, it was readily + accepted. It would have been well for Tasso, at this crisis of his fate, + if the line of his beloved Aeneid—<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB28" id="pageB28"></a>{28}</span> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Heu, fuge crudeles terras, fuge littus avarum—<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + that line which warned young Savonarola away from Ferrara, had sounded in + his ears, or met his eyes in some Virgilian <i>Sortes</i>. It would have + been well if his father, disillusioned by the <i>Amadigi's</i> + ill-success, and groaning under the galling yoke of servitude to Princes, + had forbidden instead of encouraging this fatal step. He might himself + have listened to the words of old Speroni, painting the Court as he had + learned to know it, a Siren fair to behold and ravishing of song, but + hiding in her secret caves the bones of men devoured, and 'mighty poets in + their misery dead.' He might even have turned the pages of Aretino's <i>Dialogo + delle Corti</i>, and have observed how the ruffian who best could profit + by the vices of a Court, refused to bow his neck to servitude in their + corruption. But no man avoids his destiny, because few draw wisdom from + the past and none foresee the future. To Ferrara Tasso went with a blithe + heart. Inclination, the custom of his country, the necessities of that + poet's vocation for which he had abandoned a profession, poverty and + ambition, vanity and the delights of life, combined to lure him to his + ruin. + </p> + <p> + He found Ferrara far more magnificent than Urbino. Pageants, hunting + parties, theatrical entertainments, assumed fantastic forms of splendor in + this capital, which no other city of Italy, except Florence and Venice + upon rare occasions, rivaled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB29" + id="pageB29"></a>{29}</span> For a long while past Ferrara had been the + center of a semi-feudal, semi-humanistic culture, out of which the Masque + and Drama, music and painting, scholarship and poetry, emerged with + brilliant originality, blending mediaeval and antique elements in a + specific type of modern romance. This culminated in the permanent and + monumental work began by Boiardo in the morning, and completed by Ariosto + in the meridian of the Renaissance. Within the circuit of the Court the + whole life of the Duchy seemed to concentrate itself. From the frontier of + Venice to the Apennines a tract of fertile country, yielding all + necessaries of life, corn, wine, cattle, game, fish, in abundance, poured + its produce into the palaces and castles of the Duke. He, like other + Princes of his epoch, sucked each province dry in order to maintain a + dazzling show of artificial wealth. The people were ground down by taxes, + monopolies of corn and salt, and sanguinary game-laws. Brutalized by being + forced to serve the pleasures of their masters, they lived the lives of + swine. But why repaint the picture of Italian decadence, or dwell again + upon the fever of that phthisical consumption? Men like Tasso saw nothing + to attract attention in the rotten state of Ferrara. They were only + fascinated by the hectic bloom and rouged refinement of its Court. And + even the least sympathetic student must confess that the Court at any rate + was seductive. A more cunningly combined medley of polite culture, + political astuteness, urbane learning, sumptuous <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB30" id="pageB30"></a>{30}</span> display, diplomatic + love-intrigue and genial artistic productiveness, never before or since + has been exhibited upon a scale so grandiose within limits so precisely + circumscribed, or been raised to eminence so high from such inadequate + foundations of substantial wealth. Compare Ferrara in the sixteenth with + Weimar in the eighteenth century, and reflect how wonderfully the Italians + even at their last gasp understood the art of exquisite existence! + </p> + <p> + Alfonso II., who was always vainly trying to bless Ferrara with an heir, + had arranged his second sterile nuptials when Tasso joined the Court in + 1565. It was therefore at a moment of more than usual parade of splendor + that the poet entered on the scene of his renown and his misfortune. He + was twenty-one years of age; and twenty-one years had to elapse before he + should quit Ferrara, ruined in physical and mental health,—<i>quantum + mutatus ab illo</i> Torquato! The diffident and handsome stripling, famous + as the author of <i>Rinaldo</i>, was welcomed in person with special + honors by the Cardinal, his patron. Of such favors as Court-lacqueys + prize, Tasso from the first had plenty. He did not sit at the common table + of the serving gentlemen, but ate his food apart; and after a short + residence, the Princesses, sisters of the Duke, invited him to share their + meals. The next five years formed the happiest and most tranquil period of + his existence. He continued working at the poem which had then no name, + but which we know as the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB31" id="pageB31"></a>{31}</span> Envies and jealousies had not + arisen to mar the serenity in which he basked. Women contended for his + smiles and sonnets. He repaid their kindness with somewhat indiscriminate + homage and with the verses of occasion which flowed so easily from his + pen. It is difficult to trace the history of Tasso's loves through the + labyrinth of madrigals, odes and sonnets which belong to this epoch of his + life. These compositions bear, indeed, the mark of a distinguished genius; + no one but Tasso could have written them at that period of Italian + literature. Yet they lack individuality of emotion, specific passion, + insight into the profundities of human feeling. Such shades of difference + as we perceive in them, indicate the rhetorician seeking to set forth his + motive, rather than the lover pouring out his soul. Contrary to the + commonly received legend, I am bound to record my opinion that love played + a secondary part in Tasso's destinies. It is true that we can discern the + silhouettes of some Court-ladies whom he fancied more than others. The + first of these was Laura Peperara, for whom he is supposed to have + produced some sixty compositions. The second was the Princess Leonora + d'Este. Tasso's attachment to her has been so shrouded in mystery, + conjecture and hair-splitting criticism, that none but a very rash man + will pronounce confident judgment as to its real nature. Nearly the same + may be said about his relations to her sister, Lucrezia. He has posed in + literary history <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB32" id="pageB32"></a>{32}</span> + as the Rizzio of the one lady and the Chastelard of the other. Yet he was + probably in no position at any moment of his Ferrarese existence to be + more than the familiar friend and most devoted slave of either. When he + joined the Court, Lucrezia was ten and Leonora nine years his senior. Each + of the sisters was highly accomplished, graceful and of royal carriage. + Neither could boast of eminent beauty. Of the two, Lucrezia possessed the + more commanding character. It was she who left her husband, Francesco + Maria della Rovere, because his society wearied her, and who helped + Clement VIII. to ruin her family, when the Papacy resolved upon the + conquest of Ferrara. Leonora's health was sickly. For this reason she + refused marriage, living retired in studies, acts of charity, religion, + and the company of intellectual men. Something in her won respect and + touched the heart at the same moment; so that the verses in her honor, + from whatever pen they flowed, ring with more than merely ceremonial + compliment. The people revered her like a saint; and in times of + difficulty she displayed high courage and the gifts of one born to govern. + From the first entrance of Tasso into Ferrara, the sisters took him under + their protection. He lived with them on terms of more than courtly + intimacy; and for Leonora there is no doubt that he cherished something + like a romantic attachment. This is proved by the episode of Sofronia and + Olindo in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, which points in care<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB33" id="pageB33"></a>{33}</span> fully constructed innuendoes + to his affection. It can even be conceded that Tasso, who was wont to + indulge fantastic visions of unattainable greatness, may have raised his + hopes so high as sometimes to entertain the possibility of winning her + hand. But if he did dally with such dreams, the realities of his position + must in sober moments have convinced him of their folly. Had not a Duchess + of Amalfi been murdered for contracting a marriage with a gentleman of her + household? And Leonora was a grand-daughter of France; and the cordon of + royalty was being drawn tighter and tighter yearly in the Italy of his + day. That a sympathy of no commonplace kind subsisted between this + delicate and polished princess and her sensitively gifted poet, is + apparent. But it may be doubted whether Tasso had in him the stuff of a + grand passion. Mobile and impressible, he wandered from object to object + without seeking or attaining permanence. He was neither a Dante nor a + Petrarch; and nothing in his <i>Rime</i> reveals solidity of emotion. It + may finally be said that had Leonora returned real love, or had Tasso felt + for her real love, his earnest wish to quit Ferrara when the Court grew + irksome, would be inexplicable. Had their <i>liaison</i> been scandalous, + as some have fancied, his life would not have been worth two hours' + Purchase either in the palace or the prison of Alfonso. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be thought of Tasso's love-relations to these sisters—and + the problem is open to all conjectures in the absence of clear testimony—<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB34" id="pageB34"></a>{34}</span> it is + certain that he owed a great deal to their kindness. The marked favor they + extended to him, was worth much at Court: and their maturer age and wider + experience enabled them to give him many useful hints of conduct. Thus, + when he blundered into seeming rivalry with Pigna (the Duke's secretary, + the Cecil of that little state), by praising Pigna's mistress, Lucrezia + Bendidio, in terms of imprudent warmth, it was Leonora who warned him to + appease the great man's anger. This he did by writing a commentary upon + three of Pigna's leaden Canzoni, which he had the impudence to rank beside + the famous three sisters of Petrarch's Canzoniere. The flattery was + swallowed, and the peril was averted. Yet in this first affair with Pigna + we already hear the grumbling of that tempest which eventually ruined + Tasso. So eminent a poet and so handsome a young man was insupportable + among a crowd of literary mediocrities and middle-aged gallants. + Furthermore the brilliant being, who aroused the jealousies of rhymesters + and of lovers, had one fatal failing—want of tact. In 1568, for + example, he set himself up as a target to all malice by sustaining fifty + conclusions in the Science of Love before the Academy of Ferrara. As he + afterwards confessed, he ran the greatest risks in this adventure; but + who, he said, could take up arms against a lover? Doubtless there were + many lovers present; but none of Tasso's eloquence and skill in argument.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB35" id="pageB35"></a>{35}</span> + </p> + <p> + In 1569, Tasso was called to his father's sickbed at Ostiglia on the Po. + He found the old man destitute and dying. There was not money to bury him + decently; and when the funeral rites had been performed by the help of + money-lenders, nothing remained to pay for a monument above his graven + What the Romans called <i>pietas</i> was a strong feature in Torquato's + character. At crises of his life he invariably appealed to the memory of + his parents for counsel and support. When the Delia Cruscans attacked his + own poetry, he answered them with a defense of the <i>Amadigi</i>; and he + spent much time and pains in editing the <i>Floridante</i>, which naught + but filial feeling could possibly have made him value at the worth of + publication. + </p> + <p> + In the spring of the next year, Lucrezia d'Este made her inauspicious + match with the Duke of Urbino, Tasso's former playmate. She was a woman of + thirty-four, he a young man of twenty-one. They did not love each other, + had no children, and soon parted with a sense of mutual relief. In the + auturmn Tasso accompanied the Cardinal Luigi d'Este into France, leaving + his MSS. in the charge of Ercole Rondinelli. The document drawn up for + this friend's instructions in case of his death abroad is interesting. It + proves that the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, here called <i>Gottifredo</i>, was + nearly finished; for Tasso wished the last six cantos and portions of the + first two to be published. He also gave directions for collection and + publication of his love<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB36" id="pageB36"></a>{36}</span> + sonnets and madrigals, but requested Rondinelli to bury 'the others, + whether of love or other matters which were written in the service of some + friend,' in his grave. This last commission demands comment. That Tasso + should have written verses to oblige a friend, was not only natural but + consistent with custom. Light wares like sonnets could be easily produced + by a practiced man of letters, and the friend might find them valuable in + bringing a fair foe to terms. But why should any one desire to have such + verses buried in his grave? The hypothesis which has been strongly urged + by those who believe in the gravity of Tasso's <i>liaison</i> with + Leonora, is that he used this phrase to indicate love-poems which might + compromise his mistress. We cannot, however, do more than speculate upon + the point. There is nothing to confirm or to refute conjecture in the + evidence before us. + </p> + <p> + Tasso met with his usual fortunes at the Court of Charles IX. That is to + say, he was petted and caressed, wrote verses, and paid compliments. It + was just two years before the Massacre of S. Bartholomew, and France + presented to the eyes of earnest Catholics the spectacle of truly + horrifying anarchy. Catherine de'Medici inclined to compromise matters + with the Huguenots. The social atmosphere reeked with heresy and cynicism. + In that Italianated Court, public affairs and religious questions were + treated from a purely diplomatic point of view. Not principle, but + practical conveni<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB37" id="pageB37"></a>{37}</span> + ence ruled conduct and opinion. The large scale on which Machiavellism + manifested itself in the discordant realm of France, the apparent + breakdown of Catholicism as a national institution, struck Tasso with + horror. He openly proclaimed his views, and roundly taxed the government + with dereliction of their duty to the Church. An incurable idealist by + temperament, he could not comprehend the stubborn actualities of politics. + A pupil of the Jesuits, he would not admit that men like Coligny deserved + a hearing. An Italian of the decadence, he found it hard to tolerate the + humors of a puissant nation in a state of civil warfare. But his master, + Luigi d'Este, well understood the practical difficulties which forced the + Valois into compromise, and felt no personal aversion for lucrative + transaction with the heretic. Though a prince of the Church, he had not + taken priest's orders. He kept two objects in view. One was succession to + the Duchy of Ferrara, in case Alfonso should die without heirs.<a + name="BFNanchor_10_10" id="BFNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#BFootnote_10_10" + class="fnanchor">[10]</a> + </p> + <p> + The other was election to the Papacy. In the latter event France, the + natural ally of the Estensi, would be of service to him, and the Valois + monarchs, his cousins, must therefore be supported in their policy. Tasso + had been brought to Paris to look graceful and to write madrigals. It was + inconvenient, it was unseemly, that a man of letters in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB38" id="pageB38"></a>{38}</span> the + Cardinal's train should utter censures on the Crown, and should profess + more Catholic opinions than his patron. Without the scandal of a public + dismissal, it was therefore contrived that Tasso should return to Italy; + and after this rupture, the suspicious poet regarded Luigi d'Este as his + enemy. During his confinement in S. Anna he even threw the chief blame of + his detention upon the Cardinal.<a name="BFNanchor_11_11" + id="BFNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#BFootnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> + </p> + <p> + After spending a short time at Rome in the company of the Cardinals + Ippolito d'Este and Albano, Tasso returned to Ferrara in 1572. Alfonso + offered him a place in his own household with an annual stipend worth + about 88 <i>l</i>. of our money. No duties were attached to this post, + except the delivery of a weekly lecture in the university. For the rest, + Tasso was to prosecute his studies, polish his great poem, and augment the + luster of the court by his accomplishments.<a name="BFNanchor_12_12" + id="BFNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#BFootnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> + It was of course understood that the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, when completed, + should be dedicated to the Duke and shed its splendor on the House of + Este. Who was happier than Torquato now? Having recently experienced the + discomforts of uncongenial service, he took his place again upon a firmer + footing in the city of his dreams. The courtiers welcomed him with smiles. + He was once more close to Leonora, basking like Rinaldo in Armida's + garden, with golden prospects of the fame his epic would achieve to lift + him higher in the coming years. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB39" id="pageB39"></a>{39}</span> No + wonder that the felicity of this moment expanded in a flower of lyric + beauty which surpassed all that Tasso had yet published. He produced <i>Aminta</i> + in the winter of 1572-3. It was acted with unparalleled applause; for this + pastoral drama offered something ravishingly new, something which + interpreted and gave a vocal utterance to tastes and sentiments that ruled + the age. While professing to exalt the virtues of rusticity, the <i>Aminta</i> + was in truth a panegyric of Court life, and Silvia reflected Leonora in + the magic mirror of languidly luxurious verse. Poetry melted into music. + Emotion exhaled itself in sensuous harmony. The art of the next two + centuries, the supreme art of song, of words subservient to musical + expression, had been indicated. This explains the sudden and extraordinary + success of the <i>Aminta</i>. It was nothing less than the discovery of a + new realm, the revelation of a specific faculty which made its author + master of the heart of Italy. The very lack of concentrated passion lent + it power. Its suffusion of emotion in a shimmering atmosphere toned with + voluptuous melancholy, seemed to invite the lutes and viols, the mellow + tenors, and the trained soprano voices of the dawning age of melody. We + may here remember that Palestrina, seven years earlier in Rome, had + already given his Mass of Pope Marcello to the world. + </p> + <p> + Lucrezia d'Este, now Duchess of Urbino, who was anxious to share the + raptures of <i>Aminta</i>, invited<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB40" + id="pageB40"></a>{40}</span> Tasso to Pesaro in the summer of 1573, and + took him with her to the mountain villa of Casteldurante. She was an + unhappy wife, just on the point of breaking her irksome bonds of + matrimony. Tasso, if we may credit the deductions which have been drawn + from passages in his letters, had the privilege of consoling the + disappointed woman and of distracting her tedious hours. They roamed + together through the villa gardens, and spent days of quiet in the + recesses of her apartments. He read aloud passages from his unpublished + poem, and composed sonnets in her honor, praising the full-blown beauty of + the rose as lovelier than its budding charm. The duke her husband, far + from resenting this intimacy, heaped favors and substantial gifts upon his + former comrade. He had not, indeed, enough affection for his wife to be + jealous of her. Yet it is indubitable that if he had suspected her of + infidelity the Italian code of honor would have compelled him to make + short work with Tasso.<a name="BFNanchor_13_13" id="BFNanchor_13_13"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile it seemed as though Leonora had been forgotten by her servant. + We possess one <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB41" id="pageB41"></a>{41}</span> + letter written to her from Casteldurante on September 3, 1573, in which he + encloses a sonnet, disparaging it by comparison with those which he + believes she has been receiving from another poet (Guarino probably), and + saying that, though the verses were written, not for himself, but 'at the + requisition of a poor lover, who, having been for some while angry with + his lady, now is forced to yield and crave for pardon,' yet he hopes that + they 'will effect the purpose he desires.'<a name="BFNanchor_14_14" + id="BFNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#BFootnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> + Few of Tasso's letters to Leonora have survived. This, therefore, is a + document of much importance; and it is difficult to resist the conclusion + that he was indirectly begging Leonora to forgive him for some piece of + petulance or irritation. At any rate, his position between the two + princesses at this moment was one of delicacy, in which a less vain and + more cautious man than Tasso might have found it hard to keep his head + cool. + </p> + <p> + Up to the present time his life had been, in spite of poverty and domestic + misfortunes, one almost uninterrupted career of triumph. But his fiber had + been relaxed in the irresponsible luxurious atmosphere of Courts, and his + self-esteem had been inflated by the honors paid to him as the first poet + of his age in Europe. Moreover, he had been continuously over-worked and + over-wrought from childhood onwards. Now, when he returned to Ferrara with + the Duchess of Urbino at the age of twenty-nine, it remained to <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB42" id="pageB42"></a>{42}</span> be seen + whether he could support himself with stability upon the slippery + foundation of princely favor, whether his health would hold out, and + whether he would be able to bring the publication of his long expected + poem to a successful issue. + </p> + <p> + In 1574 he accompanied Duke Alfonso to Venice, and witnessed the + magnificent reception of Henri III, on his return from Poland. A fever, + contracted during those weeks of pleasure, prevented him from working at + the epic for many months. This is the first sign of any serious failure in + Tasso's health. At the end of August 1574, however, the <i>Gerusalemme</i> + was finished, and in the following February he began sending the MS. to + Scipione Gonzaga at Rome. So much depended on its success, that doubts + immediately rose within its author's mind. Will it fulfill the expectation + raised in every Court and literary coterie of Italy? Will it bear + investigation in the light of the Dialogues on Epic Poetry? Will the + Church be satisfied with its morality; the Holy Office with its doctrine? + None of these diffidences assailed Tasso when he flung <i>Aminta</i> + negligently forth and found he had produced a masterpiece. It would have + been well for him if he had turned a deaf ear to the doubting voice on + this occasion also. But he was not of an independent character to start + with; and his life had made him sensitively deferent to literary opinion. + Therefore, in an evil hour, yielding to Gonzaga's advice, he resolved to + submit the <i>Gerusalemme</i> in MS. to four <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB43" id="pageB43"></a>{43}</span> censors—Il Borga, + Flaminio de'Nobili, vulpine Speroni with his poisoned fang of pedantry, + precise Antoniano with his inquisitorial prudery. They were to pass their + several criticisms on the plot, characters, diction, and ethics of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>; + Tasso was to entertain and weigh their arguments, reserving the right of + following or rejecting their advice, but promising to defend his own + views. To the number of this committee he shortly after added three more + scholars, Francesco Piccolomini, Domenico Veniero, and Celio Magno.<a + name="BFNanchor_15_15" id="BFNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#BFootnote_15_15" + class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Not to have been half maddened by these critics + would have proved Tasso more or less than human. They picked holes in the + structure of the epic, in its episodes, in its theology, in its incidents, + in its language, in its title. One censor required one alteration, and + another demanded the contrary. This man seemed animated by an acrid spite; + that veiled his malice in the flatteries of candid friendship. Antoniano + was for cutting out the love passages: Armida, Sofronia, Erminia, + Clorinda, were to vanish or to be adapted to conventual proprieties. It + seemed to him more than doubtful whether the enchanted forest did not come + within the prohibitions of the Tridentine decrees. As the revision + advanced, matters grew more serious. Antoniano threw out some decided + hints of ecclesiastical displeasure; Tasso, reading between the lines, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB44" id="pageB44"></a>{44}</span> + scented the style of the Collegium Germanicum. + </p> + <p> + Speroni spoke openly of plagiarism—plagiarism from himself forsooth!—and + murmured the terrible words between his teeth, 'Tasso is mad!' He was in + fact driven wild, and told his tormentors that he would delay the + publication of the epic, perhaps for a year, perhaps for his whole life, + so little hope had he of its success.<a name="BFNanchor_16_16" + id="BFNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#BFootnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> + At last he resolved to compose an allegory to explain and moralize the + poem. When he wrote the <i>Gerusalemme</i> he had no thought of hidden + meanings; but this seemed the only way of preventing it from being + dismembered by hypocrites and pedants.<a name="BFNanchor_17_17" + id="BFNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#BFootnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> + The expedient proved partially successful. When Antoniano and his friends + were bidden to perceive a symbol in the enchanted wood and other marvels, + a symbol in the loves of heroines and heroes, a symbol even in Armida, + they relaxed their wrath. The <i>Gerusalemme</i> might possibly pass + muster now before the Congregation of the Index. Tasso's correspondence + between March 1575 and July 1576 shows what he suffered at the hands of + his revisers, and helps to explain the series of events which rendered the + autumn of that latter year calamitous for him.<a name="BFNanchor_18_18" + id="BFNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#BFootnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> + There are, indeed, already indications in the letters of those months that + his nerves, enfeebled by the quartan fever under which he labored, and + exasperated by carping or envious criticism, were overstrung. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB45" id="pageB45"></a>{45}</span> + Suspicions began to invade his mind. He complained of headache. His + spirits alternated between depression and hysterical gayety. A dread lest + the Inquisition should refuse the imprimatur to his poem haunted him. He + grew restless, and yearned for change of scene. + </p> + <p> + The events of 1575, 1576, and 1577 require to be minutely studied: for + upon our interpretation of them must depend the theory which we hold of + Tasso's subsequent misfortunes. It appears that early in the year 1575 he + was becoming discontented with Ferrara. A party in the Court, led by + Pigna, did their best to make his life there disagreeable. They were + jealous of the poet's fame, which shone with trebled splendor after the + production of <i>Aminta</i>. Tasso's own behavior provoked, if it did not + exactly justify their animosity. He treated men at least his equals in + position with haughtiness, which his irritable temper rendered + insupportable. We have it from his own pen that 'he could not bear to live + in a city where the nobles did not yield him the first place, or at least + admit him to absolute equality'; that 'he expected to be adored by + friends, served by serving-men, caressed by domestics, honored by masters, + celebrated by poets, and pointed out by all.'<a name="BFNanchor_19_19" + id="BFNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#BFootnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> + </p> + <p> + He admitted that it was his habit 'to build castles in the air of honors, + favors, gifts and graces, showered on him by emperors and kings and mighty + princes'; that 'the slightest coldness from a patron seemed to him a tacit + act of dismissal, or rather an <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB46" + id="pageB46"></a>{46}</span> open act of violence.'<a + name="BFNanchor_20_20" id="BFNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#BFootnote_20_20" + class="fnanchor">[20]</a> His blood, he argued, placed him on a level with + the aristocracy of Italy; but his poetry lifted him far above the vulgar + herd of noblemen. At the same time, while claiming so much, he constantly + declared himself unfit for any work or office but literary study, and + expressed his opinion that princes ought to be his tributaries.<a + name="BFNanchor_21_21" id="BFNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#BFootnote_21_21" + class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Though such pretensions may not have been openly + expressed at this period of his life, it cannot be doubted that Tasso's + temper made him an unpleasant comrade in Court-service. His sensitiveness, + as well as the actual slenderness of his fortunes, exposed him only too + obviously to the malevolent tricks and petty bullyings of rivals. One + knows what a boy of that stamp has to suffer at public schools, and a + Court is after all not very different from an academy. + </p> + <p> + Such being the temper of his mind, Tasso at this epoch turned his thoughts + to bettering himself, as servants say. His friend Scipione Gonzaga pointed + out that both the Cardinal de'Medici and the Grand Duke of Tuscany would + be glad to welcome him as an ornament of their households. Tasso nibbled + at the bait all through the summer; and in November, under the pretext of + profiting by the Jubilee, he traveled to Rome. This journey, as he + afterwards declared, was the beginning of his ruin.<a + name="BFNanchor_22_22" id="BFNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#BFootnote_22_22" + class="fnanchor">[22]</a> It was certainly one of the principal steps + which led to the prison of S. Anna. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB47" id="pageB47"></a>{47}</span> There + were many reasons why Alfonso should resent Tasso's entrance into other + service at this moment. The House of Este had treated him with uniform + kindness. The Cardinal, the duke and the princesses had severally marked + him out by special tokens of esteem. In return they expected from him the + honors of his now immortal epic. That he should desert them and transfer + the dedication of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> to the Medici, would have been + nothing short of an insult; for it was notorious that the Estensi and the + Medici were bitter foes, not only on account of domestic disagreements and + political jealousies, but also because of the dispute about precedence in + their titles which had agitated Italian society for some time past. In his + impatience to leave Ferrara, Tasso cast prudence to the winds, and entered + into negotiations with the Cardinal de'Medici in Rome. When he traveled + northwards at the beginning of 1576, he betook himself to Florence. What + passed between him and the Grand Duke is not apparent. Yet he seems to + have still further complicated his position by making political + disclosures which were injurious to the Duke of Ferrara. Nor did he gain + anything by the offer of his services and his poem to Francesco de'Medici. + In a letter of February 4, 1576, the Grand Duke wrote that the Florentine + visit of that fellow, 'whether to call him a mad or an amusing and astute + spirit, I hardly know,'<a name="BFNanchor_23_23" id="BFNanchor_23_23"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> had been throughout a + ridiculous affair; and that nothing could be less convenient than his + putting <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB48" id="pageB48"></a>{48}</span> + the <i>Gerusalemme</i> up to auction among princes. One year later, he + said bluntly that 'he did not want to have a madman at his Court.'<a + name="BFNanchor_24_24" id="BFNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#BFootnote_24_24" + class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Thus Tasso, like his father, discovered that a + noble poem, the product of his best pains, had but small substantial + value. It might, indeed, be worth something to the patron who paid a + yearly exhibition to its author; but it was not a gem of such high price + as to be wrangled for by dukes who had the cares of state upon their + shoulders. He compromised himself with the Estensi, and failed to secure a + retreat in Florence. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile his enemies at Ferrara were not idle. Pigna had died in the + preceding November. But Antonio Montecatino, who succeeded him as ducal + secretary, proved even a more malicious foe, and poisoned Alfonso's mind + against the unfortunate poet. The two princesses still remained his + faithful friends, until Tasso's own want of tact alienated the sympathies + of Leonora. When he returned in 1576, he found the beautiful Eleonora + Sanvitale, Countess of Scandiano, at Court. Whether he really fell in love + with her at first sight, or pretended to do so in order to revive Leonora + d'Este's affection by jealousy, is uncertain.<a name="BFNanchor_25_25" + id="BFNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#BFootnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> + At any rate he paid the countess such marked attentions, and wrote for her + and a lady of her suite such splendid poetry, that <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB49" id="pageB49"></a>{49}</span> all Ferrara rang with this + amour. A sonnet in Tasso's handwriting, addressed to Leonora d'Este and + commented by her own pen, which even Guasti, no credulous believer in the + legend of the poet's love, accepts as genuine, may be taken as affording + proof that the princess was deeply wounded by her servant's conduct.<a + name="BFNanchor_26_26" id="BFNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#BFootnote_26_26" + class="fnanchor">[26]</a> + </p> + <p> + It is obvious that, though Tasso's letters at this period show no signs of + a diseased mind, his conduct began to strike outsiders as insane. + Francesco de'Medici used the plain words <i>matto</i> and <i>pazzo</i>. + The courtiers of Ferrara, some in pity, some in derision, muttered + 'Madman,' when he passed. And he spared no pains to prove that he was + losing self-control. In the month of January 1577, he was seized with + scruples of faith, and conceived the notion that he ought to open his mind + to the Holy Office. Accordingly, he appeared before the Inquisitor of + Bologna, who after hearing his confession, bade him be of good cheer, for + his self-accusations were the outcome of a melancholy humor. Tasso was, in + fact, a Catholic molded by Jesuit instruction in his earliest childhood; + and though, like most young students, he had speculated on the groundwork + of theology and metaphysic, there was no taint of heresy or disobedience + to the Church in his nature. The terror of the Inquisition was a morbid + nightmare, first implanted in his mind by the experience of his father's + collision with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB50" id="pageB50"></a>{50}</span> + Holy Office, enforced by Antoniano's strictures on his poem, and justified + to some extent by the sinister activity of the institution which had + burned a Carnesecchi and a Paleario. However it grew up, this fancy that + he was suspected as a heretic took firm possession of his brain, and + subsequently formed a main feature of his mental disease. It combined with + the suspiciousness which now became habitual. He thought that secret + enemies were in the habit of forwarding delations against him to Rome. + </p> + <p> + All through these years (1575-1577) his enemies drew tighter cords around + him. They were led and directed by Montecatino, the omnipotent persecutor, + and hypocritical betrayer. In his heedlessness Tasso left books and papers + loose about his rooms. These, he had good reason to suppose, were + ransacked in his absence. There follows a melancholy tale of treacherous + friends, dishonest servants, false keys, forged correspondence, scraps and + fragments of imprudent compositions pieced together and brought forth to + incriminate him behind his back. These arts were employed all through the + year which followed his return to Ferrara in 1576. But they reached their + climax in the spring of 1577. He had lost his prestige, and every servant + might insult him, and every cur snap at his heels. Even the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, + became an object of derision. It transpired that the revisers, to whom he + had confided it, were picking the poem to pieces; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB51" id="pageB51"></a>{51}</span> ignoramuses who could not scan + a line, went about parroting their pedantries and strictures. At the + beginning of 1576 Tasso had begged Alfonso to give him the post of + historiographer left vacant by Pigna. It was his secret hope that this + would be refused, and that so he would obtain a good excuse for leaving + Ferrara.<a name="BFNanchor_27_27" id="BFNanchor_27_27"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> But the duke granted his + request. In the autumn of that year, one of the band of his tormentors, + Maddalò de'Frecci, betrayed some details of his love-affairs. What + these were we do not know. Tasso resented the insult, and gave the traitor + a box on the ears in the courtyard of the castle. Maddalò and his + brothers, after this, attacked Tasso on the piazza, but ran away before + they reached him with their swords. They were outlawed for the outrage, + and the duke of Ferrara, still benignant to his poet, sent him a kind + message by one of his servants. This incident weighed on Tasso's memory. + The terror of the Inquisition blended now with two new terrors. He + conceived that his exiled foes were plotting to poison him. He wondered + whether Maddalò's revelations had reached the duke's ears, and if + so, whether Alfonso would not inflict sudden vengeance. There is no + sufficient reason, however, to surmise that Tasso's conscience was really + burdened with a guilty secret touching Leonora d'Este. On the contrary, + everything points to a different conclusion. His mind was simply giving + way. Just as he con<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB52" id="pageB52"></a>{52}</span> + jured up the ghastly specter of the Inquisition, so he fancied that the + duke would murder him. Both the Inquisition and the duke were formidable; + but the Holy Office mildly told him to set his morbid doubts at rest, and + the duke on a subsequent occasion coldly wrote: 'I know he thinks I want + to kill him. But if indeed I did so, it would be easy enough.' The duke, + in fact, had no sufficient reason and no inclination to tread upon this + insect. + </p> + <p> + In June 1577, the crisis came. On the seventeenth evening of the month + Tasso was in the apartments of the Duchess of Urbino. He had just been + declaiming on the subject of his imaginary difficulties with the + Inquisition, when something in the manner of a servant who passed by + aroused his suspicion. He drew a knife upon the man—like Hamlet in + his mother's bedchamber. He was immediately put under arrest, and confined + in a room of the castle. Next day Maffeo Veniero wrote thus to the Grand + Duke of Tuscany about the incident. 'Yesterday Tasso was imprisoned for + having drawn a knife upon a servant in the apartment of the Duchess of + Urbino. The intention has been to stay disorder and to cure him, rather + than to inflict punishment. He suffers under peculiar delusions, believing + himself guilty of heresy and dreading poison; which state of mind arises, + I incline to think, from melancholic blood forced in upon the heart and + vaporing to the brain. A wretched case, in truth, considering his great + parts and his goodness!'<a name="BFNanchor_28_28" id="BFNanchor_28_28"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> + </p> + <p> + Tasso was soon released, and taken by the duke his villa of Belriguardo. + Probably this excursion was designed to soothe the perturbed spirits of + the poet. But it may also have had a different object. Alfonso may have + judged it prudent to sift the information laid before him by Tasso's + enemies. We do not know what passed between them. Whether moral pressure + was applied, resulting in the disclosure of secrets compromising Leonora + d'Este, cannot now be ascertained; nor is it worth while to discuss the + hypothesis that the Duke, in order to secure his family's honor, imposed + on Tasso the obligation of feigning madness.<a name="BFNanchor_29_29" + id="BFNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#BFootnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> + There is a something not entirely elucidated, a sediment of mystery in + Tasso's fate, after this visit to Belriguardo, which criticism will not + neglect to notice, but which no testing, no clarifying process of study, + has hitherto explained. All we can rely upon for certain is that Alfonso + sent him back to Ferrara to be treated physically and spiritually for + derangement; and that Tasso thought his life was in danger. He took up his + abode in the Convent of S. Francis, submitted to be purged, and began + writing eloquent letters to his friends and patrons. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB53" id="pageB53"></a>{53}</span> Those + which he addressed to the Duke of Ferrara at this crisis, weigh naturally + heaviest in the scale of criticism.<a name="BFNanchor_30_30" + id="BFNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#BFootnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> + They turn upon his dread of the Inquisition, his fear of poison, and his + diplomatic practice with Florence. While admitting 'faults of grave + importance' and 'vacillation in the service of his prince,' he maintains + that his secret foes have exaggerated these offenses, and have succeeded + in prejudicing the magnanimous and clement spirit of Alfonso. He is + particularly anxious about the charge of heresy. Nothing indicates that + any guilt of greater moment weighed upon his conscience.<a + name="BFNanchor_31_31" id="BFNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#BFootnote_31_31" + class="fnanchor">[31]</a> After scrutinizing all accessible sources of + information, we are thus driven to accept the prosaic hypothesis that + Tasso was deranged, and that his Court-rivals had availed themselves of a + favorable opportunity for making the duke sensible of his insanity. + </p> + <p> + After the middle of July, the Convent of S. Francis became intolerable to + Tasso. His malady had assumed the form of a multiplex fear, which never + afterwards relaxed its hold on his imagination. The Inquisition, the duke, + the multitude of secret enemies plotting murder, haunted him day and night + like furies. He escaped, and made his way, disguised in a peasant's + costume, avoiding cities, harboring in mountain hamlets, to Sorrento. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB54" id="pageB54"></a>{54}</span> + Manos, who wrote the history of Tasso's life in the spirit of a novelist, + has painted for us a romantic picture of the poet in a shepherd's hut.<a + name="BFNanchor_32_32" id="BFNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#BFootnote_32_32" + class="fnanchor">[32]</a> It recalls Erminia among the pastoral people. + Indeed, the interest of that episode in the <i>Gerusalemme</i> is + heightened by the fact that its ill-starred author tested the reality of + his creation ofttimes in the course of this pathetic pilgrimage. Artists + of the Bolognese Academy have placed Erminia on their canvases. But, up to + the present time, I know of no great painter who has chosen the more + striking incident of Tasso exchanging his Court-dress for sheepskin and a + fustian jacket in the smoky cottage at Velletri. + </p> + <p> + He reached Sorrento safely—'that most enchanting region, which at + all times offers a delightful sojourn to men and to the Muses; but at the + warm season of the year, when other places are intolerable, affords + peculiar solace in the verdure of its foliage, the shadow of its woods, + the lightness of the fanning airs, the freshness of the limpid waters + flowing from impendent hills, the fertile expanse of tilth, the serene + air, the tranquil sea, the fishes and the birds and savory fruits in + marvelous variety; all which delights compose a garden for the intellect + and senses, planned by Nature in her rarest mood, and perfected by art + with most consummate curiosity.'<a name="BFNanchor_33_33" + id="BFNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#BFootnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> + Into this earthly paradise the wayworn pilgrim entered. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB55" id="pageB55"></a>{55}</span> It + was his birthplace; and here his sister still dwelt with her children. + Tasso sought Cornelia's home. After a dramatic scene of suspense, he threw + aside his disguise, declared himself to be the poet of Italy and her + brother; and for a short while he seemed to forget Courts and schools, + pedants and princes, in that genial atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + Why did he ever leave Sorrento? That is the question which leaps to the + lips of a modern free man. The question itself implies imperfect + comprehension of Tasso's century and training. Outside the Court, there + was no place for him. He had been molded for Court-life from childhood. It + was not merely that he had no money; assiduous labor might have <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB56" id="pageB56"></a>{56}</span> supplied + him with means of subsistence. But his friends, his fame, his habits, his + ingrained sense of service, called him back to Ferrara. He was not simply + a man, but that specific sort of man which Italians called <i>gentiluomo</i>—a + man definitely modified and wound about with intricacies of association. + Therefore, he soon began a correspondence with the House of Este. If we + may trust Manso, Leonora herself wrote urgently insisting upon his return.<a + name="BFNanchor_34_34" id="BFNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#BFootnote_34_34" + class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Yet in his own letters Tasso says that he + addressed apologies to the duke and both princesses. Alfonso and Lucrezia + vouchsafed no answer. Leonora replied coldly that she could not help him.<a + name="BFNanchor_35_35" id="BFNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#BFootnote_35_35" + class="fnanchor">[35]</a> + </p> + <p> + Anyhow, Ferrara drew him back. It is of some importance here to understand + Tasso's own feeling for the duke, his master. A few months later, after + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB57" id="pageB57"></a>{57}</span> he + had once more experienced the miseries of Court-life, he wrote: 'I trusted + in him, not as one hopes in men but as one trusts in God.... I was + inflamed with the affection for my lord more than ever was man with the + love of woman, and became unawares half an idolater.... He it was who from + the obscurity of my low fortunes raised me to the light and reputation of + the Court; who relieved me from discomforts, and placed me in a position + of honorable ease; he conferred value on my compositions by listening to + them when I read them, and by every mark of favor; he deigned to honor me + with a seat at his table and with his familiar conversation; he never + refused a favor which I begged for; lastly, at the commencement of my + troubles, he showed me the affection, not of a master, but of a father and + a brother.'<a name="BFNanchor_36_36" id="BFNanchor_36_36"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> These words, though + meant for publication, have the ring of truth in them. Tasso was actually + attached to the House of Este, and cherished a vassal's loyalty for the + duke, in spite of the many efforts which he made to break the fetters of + Ferrara. At a distance, in the isolation and the ennui of a village, the + irksomeness of those chains was forgotten. The poet only remembered how + sweet his happier years at Court had been. The sentiment of fidelity + revived. His sanguine and visionary temperament made him hope that all + might yet be well. + </p> + <p> + Without receiving direct encouragement from the duke, Tasso accordingly + decided on returning. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB58" id="pageB58"></a>{58}</span> His + sister is said to have dissuaded him; and he is reported to have replied + that he was going to place himself in a voluntary prison.<a + name="BFNanchor_37_37" id="BFNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#BFootnote_37_37" + class="fnanchor">[37]</a> He first went to Rome, and opened negotiations + with Alfonso's agents. In reply to their communications, the duke wrote + upon March 22, 1578, as follows: 'We are content to take Tasso back; but + first he must recognize the fact that he is full of melancholic humors, + and that his old notions of enmities and persecutions are solely caused by + the said humors. Among other signs of his disorder, he has conceived the + idea that we want to compass his death, whereas we have always received + him gladly and shown favor to him. It can easily be understood that if we + had entertained such a fancy, the execution of it would have presented no + difficulty. Therefore let him make his mind up well, before he comes, to + submit quietly and unconditionally to medical treatment. Otherwise, if he + means to scatter hints and words again as he did formerly, we shall not + only give ourselves no further trouble about him, but if he should stay + here without being willing to undergo a course of cure, we shall at once + expel him from our state with the order not to return.'<a + name="BFNanchor_38_38" id="BFNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#BFootnote_38_38" + class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Words could not be plainer than these. Yet, in + spite of them, such was the allurement of the cage for this clipped + singing-bird, that Tasso went <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB59" + id="pageB59"></a>{59}</span> obediently back to Ferrara. Possibly he had + not read the letter written by a greater poet on a similar occasion: 'This + is not the way of coming home, my father! Yet if you or others find one + not beneath the fame of Dante and his honor, that will I pursue with no + slack step. But if none such give entrance to Florence, I will never enter + Florence. How! Shall I not behold the sun and stars from every spot of + earth? Shall I not be free to meditate the sweetest truths in every place + beneath the sky unless I make myself ignoble, nay, ignominious to the + people and the state of Florence? Nor truly will bread fail.' These words, + if Tasso had remembered them, might have made his cheek blush for his own + servility and for the servile age in which he lived. But the truth is that + the fleshpots of Egyptian bondage enticed him; and moreover he knew, as + half-insane people always know, that he required treatment for his mental + infirmities. In his heart of hearts he acknowledged the justice of the + duke's conditions. + </p> + <p> + An Epistle or Oration addressed by Tasso to the Duke of Urbino, sets forth + what happened after his return to Ferrara in 1578.<a name="BFNanchor_39_39" + id="BFNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#BFootnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> + </p> + <p> + He was aware that Alfonso thought him both malicious and mad. The first of + these opinions, which he knew to be false, he resolved to pass in silence. + But he openly admitted the latter, 'esteeming it no disgrace to make a + third to Solon and Brutus.' Therefore he began to act the madman even in + Rome, neglecting his health, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB60" + id="pageB60"></a>{60}</span> exposing himself to hardships, and indulging + intemperately in food and wine. By these means, strange as it may seem, he + hoped to win back confidence and prove himself a discreet servant of + Alfonso. Soon after reaching Ferrara, Tasso thought that he was gaining + ground. He hints that the duke showed signs of raising him to such + greatness and showering favors upon him so abundant that the sleeping + viper of Court envy stirred. Montecatino now persuaded his master that + prudence and his own dignity indicated a very different line of treatment. + If Tasso was to be great and honored, he must feel that his reputation + flowed wholly from the princely favor, not from his studies and + illustrious works. Alfonso accordingly affected to despise the poems which + Tasso presented, and showed his will that: 'I should aspire to no eminence + of intellect, to no glory of literature, but should lead a soft delicate + and idle life immersed in sloth and pleasure, escaping like a runaway from + the honor of Parnassus, the Lyceum and the Academy, into the lodgings of + Epicurus, and should harbor in those lodgings in a quarter where neither + Virgil nor Catullus nor Horace nor Lucretius himself had ever stayed.' + This excited such indignation in the poet's breast that: 'I said + oftentimes with open face and free speech that I would rather be a servant + of any prince his enemy than submit to this indignity, and in short <i>odia + verbis aspera movi</i>.' Whereupon, the duke caused his papers to be + seized, in order that the still imperfect <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB61" id="pageB61"></a>{61}</span> epic might be prepared for + publication by the hated hypocritical Montecatino. When Tasso complained, + he only received indirect answers; and when he tried to gain access to the + princesses, he was repulsed by their doorkeepers. At last: 'My infinite + patience was exhausted. Leaving my books and writings, after the service + of thirteen years, persisted in with luckless constancy, I wandered forth + like a new Bias, and betook myself to Mantua, where I met with the same + treatment as at Ferrara.' + </p> + <p> + This account sufficiently betrays the diseased state of Tasso's mind. + Being really deranged, yet still possessed of all his literary faculties, + he affected that his eccentricity was feigned. The duke had formed a firm + opinion of his madness; and he chose to flatter this whim. Yet when he + arrived at Ferrara he forgot the strict conditions upon which Alfonso + sanctioned his return, began to indulge in dreams of greatness, and + refused the life of careless ease which formed part of the programme for + his restoration to health. In these circumstances he became the + laughing-stock of his detractors; and it is not impossible that Alfonso, + convinced of his insanity, treated him like a Court-fool. Then he burst + out into menaces and mutterings of anger. Having made himself wholly + intolerable, his papers were sequestrated, very likely under the + impression that he might destroy them or escape with them into some + quarter where they would be used against the interests of his patron. + Finally he so fatigued <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB62" id="pageB62"></a>{62}</span> + everybody by his suspicions and recriminations that the duke forebore to + speak with him, and the princesses closed their doors against him. + </p> + <p> + From this moment Tasso was a ruined man; he had become that worst of + social scourges, a courtier with a grievance, a semi-lunatic all the more + dangerous and tiresome because his mental powers were not so much impaired + as warped. Studying his elaborate apology, we do not know whether to + despise the obstinacy of his devotion to the House of Este, or to respect + the sentiment of loyalty which survived all real or fancied insults. + Against the duke he utters no word of blame. Alfonso is always magnanimous + and clement, excellent in mind and body, good and courteous by nature, + deserving the faithful service and warm love of his dependents. + Montecatino is the real villain. 'The princes are not tyrants—they + are not, no, no: he is the tyrant.'<a name="BFNanchor_40_40" + id="BFNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#BFootnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> + </p> + <p> + After quitting Ferrara, Tasso wandered through Mantua, Padua, Venice, + coldly received in all these cities; for 'the hearts of men were hardened + by their interests against him.' Writing from Venice to the Grand Duke in + July, Maffeo Veniero says: 'Tasso is here, disturbed in mind; and though + his intellect is certainly not sound, he shows more signs of affliction + than of insanity.'<a name="BFNanchor_41_41" id="BFNanchor_41_41"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB63" id="pageB63"></a>{63}</span> The + sequestration of his only copy of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> not unnaturally + caused him much distress; and Veniero adds that the chief difficulty under + which he labored was want of money. Veniero hardly understood the case. + Even with a competence it is incredible that Tasso would have been + contented to work quietly at literature in a private position.<a + name="BFNanchor_42_42" id="BFNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#BFootnote_42_42" + class="fnanchor">[42]</a> From Venice he found his way southward to + Urbino, writing one of his sublimest odes upon the road from Pesaro.<a + name="BFNanchor_43_43" id="BFNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#BFootnote_43_43" + class="fnanchor">[43]</a> + </p> + <p> + Francesco Maria della Rovere received him with accustomed kindness; but + the spirit of unrest drove him forth again, and after two months we find + him once more, an indigent and homeless pedestrian, upon the banks of the + Sesia. He wanted to reach Vercelli, but the river was in flood, and he + owed a night's lodging to the chance courtesy of a young nobleman. Among + the many picturesque episodes in Tasso's wanderings none is more + idyllically beautiful than the tale of his meeting with this handsome + youth. He has told it himself in the exordium to his Dialogue <i>Il Padre + di Famiglia</i>. When asked who he was and whither he was going, he + answered: 'I was born in the realm of Naples, and my mother was a + Neapolitan; but I draw my paternal blood from<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB64" id="pageB64"></a>{64}</span> Bergamo, a Lombard city. My + name and surname I pass in silence: they are so obscure that if I uttered + them, you would know neither more nor less of my condition. I am flying + from the anger of a prince and fortune. My destination is the state of + Savoy.' Upon this pilgrimage Tasso chose the sobriquet of <i>Omero + Fuggiguerra</i>. Arriving at Turin, he was refused entrance by the + guardians of the gate. The rags upon his back made them suspect he was a + vagabond infected with the plague. A friend who knew him, Angelo + Ingegneri, happened to pass by, and guaranteed his respectability. Manso + compares the journey of this penniless and haggard fugitive through the + cities of Italy to the meteoric passage of a comet.<a + name="BFNanchor_44_44" id="BFNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#BFootnote_44_44" + class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Wherever he appeared, he blazed with momentary + splendor. Nor was Turin slow to hail the lustrous apparition. The Marchese + Filippo da Este entertained him in his palace. The Archbishop, Girolamo + della Rovere, begged the honor of his company. The Duke of Savoy, Carlo + Emanuele, offered him the same appointments as he had enjoyed at Ferrara. + Nothing, however, would content his morbid spirit. Flattered and caressed + through the months of October and November he began once more in December + to hanker after his old home. Inconceivable as it may seem, he opened + fresh negotiations with the duke; and Alfonso, on his side, already showed + a will to take him back. Writing to his sister <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB65" id="pageB65"></a>{65}</span> from Pesaro at the end of + September, Tasso stay that a gentleman had been sent from Ferrara + expressly to recall him.<a name="BFNanchor_45_45" id="BFNanchor_45_45"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> The fact seems to be + that Tasso was too illustrious to be neglected by the House of Este. Away + from their protection, he was capable of bringing on their name the slur + of bad treatment and ingratitude. Nor would it have looked well to publish + the <i>Gerusalemme</i> with its praises of Alfonso, while the poet was + lamenting his hard fate in every town of Italy. The upshot of these + negotiations was that Tasso resolved on retracing his steps. He reached + Ferrara again upon February 21, 1579, two days before Margherita Gonzaga, + the duke's new bride, made her pompous entrance into the city. But his + reception was far from being what he had expected. The duke's heart seemed + hardened. Apartments inferior to his quality were assigned him, and to + these he was conducted by a courtier with ill-disguised insolence. The + princesses refused him access to their lodgings, and his old enemies + openly manifested their derision for the kill-joy and the skeleton who had + returned to spoil their festival. Tasso, querulous as he was about his own + share in the disagreeables of existence, remained wholly unsympathetic to + the trials of his fellow-creatures. Self-engrossment closed him in a magic + prison-house of discontent. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB66" id="pageB66"></a>{66}</span> + Therefore when he saw Ferrara full of merry-making guests, and heard the + marriage music ringing through the courtyards of the castle, he failed to + reflect with what a heavy heart the duke might now be entering upon his + third sterile nuptials. Alfonso was childless, brotherless, with no + legitimate heir to defend his duchy from the Church in case of his + decease. The irritable poet forgot how distasteful at such a moment of + forced gayety and hollow parade his reappearance, with the old complaining + murmurs, the old suspicions, the old restless eyes, might be to the master + who had certainly borne much and long with him. He only felt himself + neglected, insulted, outraged: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">Questa è la data fede?<br /> </span> <span>Son + questi i miei bramati alti ritorni?<a name="BFNanchor_46_46" + id="BFNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#BFootnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a><br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Then he burst out into angry words, which he afterwards acknowledged to + have been 'false, mad and rash.'<a name="BFNanchor_47_47" + id="BFNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#BFootnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> + The duke's patience had reached its utmost limit. Tasso was arrested, and + confined in the hospital for mad folk at S. Anna. This happened in March + 1579. He was detained there until July 19, 1586, a period of seven years + and four months. + </p> + <p> + No one who has read the foregoing pages will wonder why Tasso was + imprisoned. The marvel is rather that the fact should have roused so many + speculations. Alfonso was an autocratic princeling. His favorite minister + Montecatino fell in one moment from a height of power to irrecoverable + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB67" id="pageB67"></a>{67}</span> ruin. + The famous preacher Panigarola, for whom he negotiated a Cardinal's hat, + lost his esteem by seeking promotion at another Court, and had to fly + Ferrara. His friend, Ercole Contrario, was strangled in the castle on + suspicion of having concealed a murder. Tasso had been warned repeatedly, + repeatedly forgiven; and now when he turned up again with the same + complaints and the same menaces, Alfonso determined to have done with the + nuisance. He would not kill him, but he would put him out of sight and + hearing. If he was guilty, S. Anna would be punishment enough. If he was + mad, it might be hoped that S. Anna would cure him. To blame the duke for + this exercise of authority, is difficult. Noble as is the poet's calling, + and faithful as are the wounds of a devoted friend and servant, there are + limits to princely patience. It is easier to blame Tasso for the incurable + idealism which, when he was in comfort at Turin, made him pine 'to kiss + the hand of his Highness, and recover some part of his favor on the + occasion of his marriage.'<a name="BFNanchor_48_48" id="BFNanchor_48_48"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> + </p> + <p> + Three long letters, written by Tasso during the early months of his + imprisonment, discuss the reasons for his arrest.<a name="BFNanchor_49_49" + id="BFNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#BFootnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> + Two of these are directed to his staunch friend Scipione Gonzaga, the + third to Giacomo Buoncompagno, nephew of Pope Gregory XIII. Partly owing + to omissions made by the editors before publication, and partly perhaps to + the writer's reticence, they throw no very certain light <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB68" id="pageB68"></a>{68}</span> even on his + own opinion.<a name="BFNanchor_50_50" id="BFNanchor_50_50"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> But this much appears + tolerably clear. Tasso was half-mad and altogether irritable. He had used + language which could not be overlooked. The Duke continued to resent his + former practice with the Medici, and disapproved of his perpetual + wanderings. The courtiers had done their utmost to prejudice his mind by + calumnies and gossip, raking up all that seemed injurious to Tasso's + reputation in the past acts of his life and in the looser verses found + among his papers. It may also be conceded that they contrived to cast an + unfavorable light upon his affectionate correspondence with the two + princesses. Tasso himself laid great stress upon his want of absolute + loyalty, upon some lascivious compositions, and lastly upon his supposed + heresies. It is not probable that the duke attached importance to such + poetry as Tasso may have written in the heat of youth; and it is certain + that he regarded the heresies as part of the poet's hallucinations. It is + also far more likely that the Leonora episode passed in his mind for + another proof of mental infirmity than that he judged it seriously. It was + quite enough that Tasso had put himself in the wrong by petulant abuse of + his benefactor and by persistent fretfulness. Moreover, he was plainly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB69" id="pageB69"></a>{69}</span> + brain-sick. That alone justified Alfonso in his own eyes. + </p> + <p> + And brain-sick Tasso was, without a shadow of doubt.<a + name="BFNanchor_51_51" id="BFNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#BFootnote_51_51" + class="fnanchor">[51]</a> It is hardly needful to recapitulate his terror + of the Inquisition, dread of being poisoned, incapacity for self-control + in word and act, and other signs of incipient disease. During the + residence in S. Anna this malady made progress. He was tormented by + spectral voices and apparitions. He believed himself to be under the + influence of magic charms. He was haunted by a sprite, who stole his books + and flung his MSS. about the room. A good genius, in the form of a + handsome youth, appeared and conversed with him. He lost himself for hours + together in abstraction, talking aloud, staring into vacancy, and + expressing surprise that other people could not see the phantoms which + surrounded him. He complained that his melancholy passed at moments into + delirium (which he called <i>frenesia</i>), after which he suffered from + loss of memory and prostration. His own mind became a constant cause of + self-torture. Suspicious of others, he grew to be suspicious of himself. + And when he left S. Anna, these disorders, instead of abating, continued + to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB70" id="pageB70"></a>{70}</span> + afflict him, so that his most enthusiastic admirers were forced to admit + that 'he was subject to constitutional melancholy with crises of delirium, + but not to actual insanity.'<a name="BFNanchor_52_52" id="BFNanchor_52_52"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> At first, his infirmity + did not interfere with intellectual production of a high order, though + none of his poetry, after the <i>Gerusalemme</i> was completed in 1574, + rose to the level of his earlier work. But in course of time the artist's + faculty itself was injured, and the creations of his later life are + unworthy of his genius. + </p> + <p> + The seven years and four months of Tasso's imprisonment may be passed over + briefly. With regard to his so-called dungeon, it is certain that, after + some months spent in a narrow chamber, he obtained an apartment of several + rooms. He was allowed to write and receive as many letters as he chose. + Friends paid him visits, and he went abroad under surveillance in the city + of Ferrara. To extenuate the suffering which a man of his temper endured + in this enforced seclusion would be unjust to Tasso. There is no doubt + that he was most unhappy. But to exaggerate his discomforts would be + unjust to the duke. Even Manso describes 'the excellent and most + convenient lodgings' assigned <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB71" + id="pageB71"></a>{71}</span> him in S. Anna, alludes to the provision for + his cure by medicine, and remarks upon the opposition which he offered to + medical treatment. According to this biographer, his own endeavors to + escape necessitated a strict watch upon his movements.<a + name="BFNanchor_53_53" id="BFNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#BFootnote_53_53" + class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Unless, therefore, we flatly deny the fact of + his derangement, which is supported by a mass of testimony, it may be + doubted whether Tasso was more miserable in S. Anna than he would have + been at large. The subsequent events of his life prove that his release + brought no mitigation of his malady. + </p> + <p> + It was, however, a dreary time. He spent his days in writing letters to + all the princes of Italy, to Naples, to Bergamo, to the Roman Curia, + declaiming on his wretchedness and begging for emancipation. Occasional + poems flowed from his pen. But during this period he devoted his serious + hours mainly to prose composition. The bulk of his Dialogues issued from + S. Anna. On August 7, 1580, Celio Malaspina published a portion of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> + at Venice, under the title of <i>Il Gottifredo di M. Torquato Tasso</i>. + In February of the following year, his friend Angelo Ingegneri gave the + whole epic to the world. Within six months from that date the poem was + seven times reissued. This happened without the sanction or the + supervision of the luckless author; and from the sale of the book he + obtained no profit. Leonora d'Este died upon February 10, 1581. A volume + of elegies appeared <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB72" id="pageB72"></a>{72}</span> + on this occasion; but Tasso's Muse uttered no sound.<a + name="BFNanchor_54_54" id="BFNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#BFootnote_54_54" + class="fnanchor">[54]</a> He wrote to Panigarola that 'a certain tacit + repugnance of his genius' forced him to be mute.<a name="BFNanchor_55_55" + id="BFNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#BFootnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> + His rival Guarini undertook a revised edition of his lyrics in 1582. Tasso + had to bear this dubious compliment in silence. All Europe was devouring + his poems; scribes and versifiers were building up their reputation on his + fame. Yet he could do nothing. Embittered by the piracies of publishers, + infuriated by the impertinence of editors, he lay like one forgotten in + that hospital. His celebrity grew daily; but he languished, penniless and + wretched, in confinement which he loathed. The strangest light is cast + upon his state of mind by the efforts which he now made to place two of + his sister's children in Court-service. He even tried to introduce one of + them as a page into the household of Alfonso. Eventually, Alessandro + Sersale was consigned to Odoardo Farnese, and Antonio to the Duke of + Mantua. In 1585 new sources of annoyance rose. Two members of the Delia + Crusca Academy in Florence, Leonardo Salviati and Bastiano de'Rossi, + attacked the <i>Gerusalemme</i>. Their malevolence was aroused by the + panegyric written on it by Cammillo Pellegrini, a Neapolitan, and they + exposed it to pedantically <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB73" + id="pageB73"></a>{73}</span> quibbling criticism. Tasso replied in a + dignified apology. But he does not seem to have troubled himself overmuch + with this literary warfare, which served meanwhile to extend the fame of + his immortal poem. At this time new friends gathered round him. Among + these the excellent Benedictine, Angelo Grillo, and the faithful Antonio + Costantini demand commemoration from all who appreciate disinterested + devotion to genius in distress. At length, in July 1586, Vincenzo Gonzaga, + heir apparent to the Duchy of Mantua, obtained Tasso's release. He rode + off with this new patron to Mantua, leaving his effects at S. Anna, and + only regretting that he had not waited on the Duke of Ferrara to kiss his + hand as in duty bound.<a name="BFNanchor_56_56" id="BFNanchor_56_56"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> Thus to the end he + remained an incorrigible courtier; or rather shall we say that, after all + his tribulations, he preserved a doglike feeling of attachment for his + master? + </p> + <p> + The rest of Tasso's life was an Odyssey of nine years. He seemed at first + contented with Mantua, wrote dialogues, completed the tragedy of <i>Torrismondo</i> + and edited his father's <i>Floridante</i>. But when Vincenzo Gonzaga + succeeded to the dukedom, the restless poet felt himself neglected. His + young friend had not leisure to pay him due attention. He therefore + started on a journey to Loreto, which had long been the object of his + pious aspiration. Loreto led to Rome, where Scipione Gonzaga resided as<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB74" id="pageB74"></a>{74}</span> Patriarch + of Jerusalem and Cardinal. Rome suggested Southern Italy, and Tasso + hankered after the recovery of his mother's fortune. Accordingly he set + off in March 1588 for Naples, where he stayed, partly with the monks of + Monte Oliveto, and partly with the Marchese Manso. Rome saw him again in + November; and not long afterwards an agent of the Duke of Urbino wrote + this pitiful report of his condition. 'Every one is ready to welcome him + to hearth and heart; but his humors render him mistrustful of mankind at + large. In the palace of the Cardinal Gonzaga there are rooms and beds + always ready for his use, and men reserved for his especial service. Yet + he runs away and mistrusts even that friendly lord. In short, it is a sad + misfortune that the present age should be deprived of the greatest genius + which has appeared for centuries. What wise man ever spoke in prose or + verse better than this madman?<a name="BFNanchor_57_57" + id="BFNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#BFootnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> + In the following August, Scipione Gonzaga's servants, unable to endure + Tasso's eccentricities, turned him from their master's house, and he took + refuge in a monastery of the Olivetan monks. Soon afterwards he was + carried to the hospital of the Bergamasques. His misery now was great, and + his health so bad that friends expected a speedy end.<a + name="BFNanchor_58_58" id="BFNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#BFootnote_58_58" + class="fnanchor">[58]</a> Yet the Cardinal Gonzaga again opened his doors + to him in the spring of 1590. Then the morbid poet turned suspicious, and + began to indulge fresh hopes of fortune <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB75" id="pageB75"></a>{75}</span> in another place. He would + again offer himself to the Medici. In April he set off for Tuscany, and + alighted at the convent of Monte Oliveto, near Florence. Nobody wanted + him; he wandered about the Pitti like a spectre, and the Florentines + wrote: <i>actum est de eo</i>.<a name="BFNanchor_59_59" + id="BFNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#BFootnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> + Some parting compliments and presents from the Grand Duke sweetened his + dismissal. He returned to Rome; but each new journey told upon his broken + health, and another illness made him desire a change of scene. This time + Antonio Costantini offered to attend upon him. They visited Siena, Bologna + and Mantua. At Mantua, Tasso made some halt, and took a new long poem, the + <i>Gerusalemme Conquistata</i>, seriously in hand. But the demon of unrest + pursued him, and in November 1591 he was off again with the Duke of Mantua + to Rome. From Rome he went to Naples at the beginning of the following + year, worked at the <i>Conquistata</i>, and began his poem of the <i>Sette + Giornate</i>.<a name="BFNanchor_60_60" id="BFNanchor_60_60"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> He was always occupied + with the vain hope of recovering a portion of his mother's estate. April + saw him once more upon his way to Rome. Clement VIII. had been elected, + and Tasso expected patronage from the Papal nephews.<a + name="BFNanchor_61_61" id="BFNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#BFootnote_61_61" + class="fnanchor">[61]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB76" id="pageB76"></a>{76}</span> He + was not disappointed. They received him into their houses, and for a while + he sojourned in the Vatican. The year 1593 seems, through their means, to + have been one of comparative peace and prosperity. Early in the summer of + 1594 his health obliged him to seek change of air. He went for the last + time to Naples. The Cardinal of S. Giorgio, one of the Pope's nephews, + recalled him in November to be crowned poet in Rome. His entrance into the + Eternal City was honorable, and Clement granted him a special audience; + but the ceremony of coronation had to be deferred because of the + Cardinal's ill health. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile his prospects seemed likely to improve. Clement conferred on him + a pension of one hundred ducats, and the Prince of Avellino, who had + detained his mother's estate, compounded with him for a life-income of two + hundred ducats. This good fortune came in the spring of 1595. But it came + too late; for his death-illness was upon him. On the first of April he had + himself transported to the convent of S. Onofrio, which overlooks Rome + from the Janiculan hill. 'Torrents of rain were falling with a furious + wind, when the carriage of Cardinal Cinzio was seen climbing the steep + ascent. The badness of the weather made the fathers think there must be + some grave cause for this arrival. So the prior and others hurried to the + gate, where Tasso descended with considerable difficulty, greeting the + monks with these words: 'I am come to die among <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB77" id="pageB77"></a>{77}</span> you.''<a name="BFNanchor_62_62" + id="BFNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#BFootnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> + The last of Tasso's letters, written to Antonio Costantini from S. + Onofrio, has the quiet dignity of one who struggles for the last time with + the frailty of his mortal nature.<a name="BFNanchor_63_63" + id="BFNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#BFootnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> + </p> + <p> + 'What will my good lord Antonio say when he shall hear of his Tasso's + death? The news, as I incline to think, will not be long in coming; for I + feel that I have reached the end of life, being unable to discover any + remedy for this tedious indisposition which has supervened on the many + others I am used to—like a rapid torrent resistlessly sweeping me + away. The time is past when I should speak of my stubborn fate, to mention + not the world's ingratitude, which, however, has willed to gain the + victory of bearing me to the grave a pauper; the while I kept on thinking + that the glory which, despite of those that like it not, this age will + inherit from my writings, would not have left me wholly without guerdon. I + have had myself carried to this monastery of S. Onofrio; not only because + the air is commended by physicians above that of any other part of Rome, + but also as it were upon this elevated spot and by the conversation of + these devout fathers to commence my conversation in heaven. Pray God for + me; and rest assured that as I have loved and honored you always in the + present life, so will I perform for you in that other <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB78" id="pageB78"></a>{78}</span> and more real life what + appertains not to feigned but to veritable charity. And to the Divine + grace I recommend you and myself.' + </p> + <p> + On April 25, Tasso expired at midnight, with the words <i>In manus tuas, + Domine</i>, upon his lips. Had Costantini, his sincerest friend, been + there, he might have said like Kent: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i9">O, let him pass! he hates him much<br /> </span> <span>That + would upon the rack of this tough world<br /> </span> <span>Stretch him + out longer.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + But Costantini was in Mantua; and this sonnet, which he had written for + his master, remains Tasso's truest epitaph, the pithiest summary of a life + pathetically tragic in its adverse fate— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Friends, this is Tasso, not the sire but son;<br /> </span> <span>For + he of human offspring had no heed,<br /> </span> <span>Begetting for + himself immortal seed<br /> </span> <span>Of art, style, genius and + instruction.<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>In exile long he lived and utmost need;<br /> </span> <span>In + palace, temple, school, he dwelt alone;<br /> </span> <span>He fled, and + wandered through wild woods unknown;<br /> </span> <span>On earth, on + sea, suffered in thought and deed.<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>He knocked at death's door; yet he vanquished him<br /> </span> + <span>With lofty prose and with undying rhyme;<br /> </span> <span>But + fortune not, who laid him where he lies.<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Guerdon for singing loves and arms sublime,<br /> </span> <span>And + showing truth whose light makes vices dim,<br /> </span> <span>Is one + green wreath; yet this the world denies.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The wreath of laurel which the world grudged was placed upon his bier; and + a simple stone, en<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB79" id="pageB79"></a>{79}</span> + graved with the words <i>Hic jacet Torquatus Tassus</i>, marked the spot + where he was buried. + </p> + <p> + The foregoing sketch of Tasso's life and character differs in some points + from the prevalent conceptions of the poet. There is a legendary Tasso, + the victim of malevolent persecution by pedants, the mysterious lover + condemned to misery in prison by a tyrannous duke. There is also a Tasso + formed by men of learning upon ingeniously constructed systems; Rosini's + Tasso, condemned to feign madness in punishment for courting Leonora + d'Este with lascivious verses; Capponi's Tasso, punished for seeking to + exchange the service of the House of Este for that of the House of Medici; + a Tasso who was wholly mad; a Tasso who remained through life the victim + of Jesuitical influences. In short, there are as many Tassos as there are + Hamlets. Yet these Tassos of the legend and of erudition do not reproduce + his self-revealed lineaments. Tasso's letters furnish documents of + sufficient extent to make the real man visible, though something yet + remains perhaps not wholly explicable in his tragedy. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB80" id="pageB80"></a>{80}</span> + </p> + <h4> + THE GERUSALEMME LIBERATA + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Problem of Creating Heroic Poetry—The Preface to Tasso's <i>Rinaldo</i>—Subject + of <i>Rinaldo</i>—Blending of Romantic Motives with Heroic Style—Imitation + of Virgil—Melody and Sentiment—Choice of Theme for the <i>Gerusalemme</i>—It + becomes a Romantic Poem after all—Tancredi the real Hero—Nobility + of Tone—Virgilian Imitation—Borrowings from Dante—Involved + Diction—Employment of Sonorous Polysyllabic Words—Quality of + Religious Emotion in this Poem—Rhetoric—Similes—The + Grand Style of Pathos—Verbal Music—The Chant d'Amour—Armida—Tasso's + Favorite Phrase, <i>Un non so che</i>—His Power over Melody and + Tender Feeling—Critique of Tasso's Later Poems—General + Survey of his Character. + </p> + </div> + <p> + In a previous portion of this work, I attempted to define the Italian + Romantic Epic, and traced the tale of Orlando from Pulci through Boiardo + and Ariosto to the burlesque of Folengo. There is an element of humor more + or less predominant in the <i>Morgante Maggiore</i>, the <i>Orlando + Innamorato</i>, and the <i>Orlando Furioso</i>. This element might almost + be regarded as inseparable from the species. Yet two circumstances + contributed to alter the character of Italian Romance after the + publication of the <i>Furioso</i>. One of these was the unapproachable + perfection of that poem. No one could hope to surpass Ariosto in his own + style, or to give a fresh turn to his humor without passing into broad + burlesque. The romantic poet <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB81" + id="pageB81"></a>{81}</span> had therefore to choose between sinking into + parody with Folengo and Aretino, or soaring into the sublimities of solemn + art. Another circumstance was the keen interest aroused in academic + circles by Trissino's unsuccessful epic, and by the discussion of heroic + poetry which it stimulated. The Italian nation was becoming critical, and + this critical spirit lent itself readily to experiments in hybrid styles + of composition which aimed at combining the graces of the Romantic with + the dignity of the Heroic poem. The most meritorious of these hybrids was + Bernardo Tasso's <i>Amadigi</i>, a long romance in octave stanzas, + sustained upon a grave tone throughout, and distinguished from the earlier + romantic epics by a more obvious unity of subject. Bernardo Tasso + possessed qualities of genius and temper which suited his proposed task. + Deficient in humor, he had no difficulty in eliminating that element from + the <i>Amadigi</i>. Chivalrous sentiment took the place of irony; + scholarly method supplied the want of wayward fancy. + </p> + <p> + It was just at this point that the young Torquato Tasso made his first + essay in poetry. He had inherited his father's temperament, its want of + humor, its melancholy, its aristocratic sensitiveness. At the age of + seventeen he was already a ripe scholar, versed in the critical questions + which then agitated learned coteries in Italy. The wilding graces and the + freshness of the Romantic Epic, as conceived by Boiardo and perfected by + Ariosto, had forever <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB82" id="pageB82"></a>{82}</span> + disappeared. To 'recapture that first fine careless rapture' was + impossible. Contemporary conditions of society and thought rendered any + attempt to do so futile. Italy had passed into a different stage of + culture; and the representative poem of Tasso's epoch was imperatively + forced to assume a different character. Its type already existed in the <i>Amadigi</i>, + though Bernardo Tasso had not the genius to disengage it clearly, or to + render it attractive. How Torquato, while still a student in his teens at + Padua, attacked the problem of narrative poetry, appears distinctly in his + preface to <i>Rinaldo</i>. 'I believe,' he says, 'that you, my gentle + readers, will not take it amiss if I have diverged from the path of modern + poets, and have sought to approach the best among the ancients. You shall + not, however, find that I am bound by the precise rules of Aristotle, + which often render those poems irksome which might otherwise have yielded + you much pleasure. I have only followed such of his precepts as do not + limit your delight: for instance, in the frequent use of episodes, making + the characters talk in their own persons, introducing recognitions and + peripeties by necessary or plausible motives, and withdrawing the poet as + far as possible from the narration. I have also endeavored to construct my + poem with unity of interest and action, not, indeed, in any strict sense, + but so that the subordinate portions should be seen to have their due + relation to the whole.' He then proceeds to explain why he has abandoned + the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB83" id="pageB83"></a>{83}</span> + discourses on moral and general topics with which Ariosto opened his + Cantos, and hints that he has taken Virgil, the 'Prince of Poets,' for his + model. Thus the Romantic Epic, as conceived by Tasso, was to break with + the tradition of the Cantastorie, who told the tale in his own person and + introduced reflections on its incidents. It was to aim at unity of subject + and to observe classical rules of art, without, however, sacrificing the + charm of variety and those delights which episodes and marvelous + adventures yielded to a modern audience. The youthful poet begs that his + <i>Rinaldo</i> should not be censured on the one hand by severely + Aristotelian critics who exclude pleasure from their ideal, or on the + other by amateurs who regard the <i>Orlando Furioso</i> as the perfection + of poetic art. In a word, he hopes to produce something midway between the + strict heroic epic, which had failed in Trissino's <i>Italia Liberata</i> + through dullness, and the genuine romantic epic, which in Ariosto's + masterpiece diverged too widely from the rules of classical pure taste. + This new species, combining the attractions of romance with the simplicity + of epic poetry, was the gift which Tasso at the age of eighteen sought to + present in his <i>Rinaldo</i> to Italy. The <i>Rinaldo</i> fulfilled + fairly well the conditions propounded by its author. It had a single hero + and a single subject— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Canto i felici affanni, e i primi ardori,<br /> </span> <span + class="i2">Che giovinetto ancor soffrì Rinaldo,<br /> </span> + <span class="i2">E come il trasse in perigliosi errori<br /> </span> + <span class="i2">Desir di gloria ed amoroso caldo.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB84" id="pageB84"></a>{84}</span> The + perilous achievements and the passion of Rinaldo in his youth form the + theme of a poem which is systematically evolved from the first meeting of + the son of Amon with Clarice to their marriage under the auspices of + Malagigi. There are interesting episodes like those of young Florindo and + Olinda, unhappy Clizia and abandoned Floriana. Rinaldo's combat with + Orlando in the Christian camp furnishes an anagnorisis; while the plot is + brought to its conclusion by the peripeteia of Clarice's jealousy and the + accidents which restore her to her lover's arms. Yet though observant of + his own classical rules, Tasso remained in all essential points beneath + the spell of the Romantic Epic. The changes which he introduced were + obvious to none but professional critics. In warp and woof the <i>Rinaldo</i> + is similar to Boiardo's and Ariosto's tale of chivalry; only the loom is + narrower, and the pattern of the web less intricate. The air of + artlessness which lent its charm to Romance in Italy has disappeared, + yielding place to sustained elaboration of Latinizing style. Otherwise the + fabric remains substantially unaltered—like a Gothic dwelling + furnished with Palladian window-frames. We move in the old familiar sphere + of Paladins and Paynims, knights errant and Oriental damsels, magicians + and distressed maidens. The action is impelled by the same series of + marvelous adventures and felicitous mishaps. There are the same encounters + in war and rivalries in love between Christian and Pagan champions; + journeys through <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB85" id="pageB85"></a>{85}</span> + undiscovered lands and over untracked oceans; fantastic hyperboles of + desire, ambition, jealousy, and rage, employed as motive passions. + Enchanted forests; fairy ships that skim the waves without helm or pilot; + lances endowed with supernatural virtues; charmed gardens of perpetual + spring; dismal dungeons and glittering palaces, supply the furniture of + this romance no less than of its predecessors. Rinaldo, like any other + hero of the Renaissance, is agitated by burning thirst for fame and blind + devotion to a woman's beauty. We first behold him pining in inglorious + leisure<a name="BFNanchor_64_64" id="BFNanchor_64_64"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Poi, ch'oprar non poss'io che di me s'oda<br /> </span> <span + class="i2">Con mia gloria ed onor novella alcuna,<br /> </span> <span + class="i2">O cosa, ond' io pregio n'acquisti e loda,<br /> </span> <span + class="i2">E mia fama rischiari oscura e bruna.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The vision of Clarice, appearing like Virgil's Camilla, stirs him from + this lethargy. He falls in love at first sight, as Tasso's heroes always + do, and vows to prove himself her worthy knight by deeds of unexampled + daring. Thus the plot is put in motion; and we read in well-appointed + order how the hero acquired his horse, Baiardo, Tristram's magic lance, + his sword Fusberta from Atlante, his armor from Orlando, the trappings of + his charger from the House of Courtesy, the ensign of the lion rampant on + his shield from Chiarello, and the hand of his lady after some delays from + Malagigi. + </p> + <p> + No new principle is introduced into the romance.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB86" id="pageB86"></a>{86}</span> As in earlier poems of this + species, the religious motive of Christendom at war with Islam becomes a + mere machine; the chivalrous environment affords a vehicle for fanciful + adventures. Humor, indeed, is conspicuous by its absence. Charles the + Great assumes the sobriety of empire; and his camp, in its well-ordered + gravity, prefigures that of Goffredo in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>.<a + name="BFNanchor_65_65" id="BFNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#BFootnote_65_65" + class="fnanchor">[65]</a> Thus Tasso's originality must not be sought in + the material of his work, which is precisely that of the Italian romantic + school in general, nor yet in its form, which departs from the romantic + tradition in details so insignificant as to be inessential. We find it + rather in his touch upon the old material, in his handling of the familiar + form. The qualities of style, sympathy, sentiment, selection in the use of + phrase and image, which determined his individuality as a poet, rendered + the <i>Rinaldo</i> a novelty in literature. It will be therefore well to + concentrate attention for a while upon those subjective peculiarities by + right of which the <i>Rinaldo</i> ranks as a precursor of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>. + </p> + <p> + The first and the most salient of these is a pronounced effort to heighten + style by imitation of Latin poets. The presiding genius of the work is + Virgil. Pulci's racy Florentine idiom; Boiardo's frank and natural Lombard + manner; Ariosto's transparent and unfettered modern phrase, have been + supplanted by a pompous intricacy of construction. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB87" id="pageB87"></a>{87}</span> The + effort to impose Latin rules of syntax on Italian is obvious in such lines + as the following:<a name="BFNanchor_66_66" id="BFNanchor_66_66"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Torre ei l'immagin volle, che sospesa<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Era + presso l'altar gemmato e sacro,<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Ove in + chiaro cristal lampade accesa<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Fea lume di + Ciprigna al simulacro:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + or in these: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Umida i gigli e le vermiglie rose<br /> </span> <span>Del volto, e + gli occhi bei conversa al piano,<br /> </span> <span>Gli occhi, onde in + perle accolto il pianto uscia,<br /> </span> <span>La giovinetta il + cavalier seguia.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Virgil is directly imitated, where he is least worthy of imitation, in the + details of his battle-pieces. Thus:<a name="BFNanchor_67_67" + id="BFNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#BFootnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Si riversa Isolier tremando al piano,<br /> </span> <span>Privo di + senso e di vigore ignudo,<br /> </span> <span>Ed a lui gli occhi oscura + notte involve,<br /> </span> <span>Ed ogni membro ancor se gli dissolve.<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span><br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Quel col braccio sospeso in aria stando,<br /> </span> <span>Nè + lo movendo a questa o a quella parte,<br /> </span> <span>Chè + dalla spada ciò gli era conteso,<br /> </span> <span>Voto sembrava + in sacro tempio appeso.<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span><br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Mentre ignaro di ciò che 'l ciel destine,<br /> </span> + <span>Così diceva ancor, la lancia ultrice<br /> </span> <span>Rinaldo + per la bocca entro gli mise,<br /> </span> <span>E la lingua e 'l parlar + per mezzo incise.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This Virgilian imitation yields some glowing flowers of poetry in longer + passages of description. Among these may be cited the conquest of Baiardo + in the second canto, the shipwreck in the tenth, the chariot of Pluto in + the fourth, and the supper with queen Floriana in the ninth. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB88" id="pageB88"></a>{88}</span> The + episode of Floriana, while closely studied upon the Aeneid, is also a + first sketch for that of Armida. Indeed, it should be said in passing that + Tasso anticipates the <i>Gerusalemme</i> throughout the <i>Rinaldo</i>. + The murder of Anselmo by Rinaldo (Canto XI.) forecasts the murder of + Gernando by his namesake, and leads to the same result of the hero's + banishment. The shipwreck, the garden of courtesy, the enchanted boat, and + the charmed forest, are motives which reappear improved and elaborated in + Tasso's masterpiece.<a name="BFNanchor_68_68" id="BFNanchor_68_68"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> + </p> + <p> + While Tasso thus sought to heighten diction by Latinisms, he revealed + another specific quality of his manner in <i>Rinaldo</i>. This is the + inability to sustain heroic style at its ambitious level. He frequently + drops at the close of the octave stanza into a prosaic couplet, which has + all the effect of bathos. Instances are not far to seek:<a + name="BFNanchor_69_69" id="BFNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#BFootnote_69_69" + class="fnanchor">[69]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Già tal insegna acquistò l'avo, e poi<br /> </span> + <span>La portàr molti de'nipoti suoi.<br /> </span> <span><br /> + </span> <span>E a questi segni ed al crin raro e bianco<br /> </span> + <span>Monstrava esser dagli anni oppresses e stanco.<br /> </span> <span><br /> + </span> <span>Fu qui vicin dal saggio Alchiso il Mago,<br /> </span> + <span>Di far qualch'opra memorabil vago.<br /> </span> <span><br /> + </span> <span class="i21">Io son Rinaldo,<br /> </span> <span>Solo di + servir voi bramoso e caldo.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The reduplication of epithets, and the occasional use of long sonorous + Latin words, which characterize<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB89" + id="pageB89"></a>{89}</span> Tasso's later manner, are also noticeable in + these couplets. Side by side with such weak endings should be placed some + specimens, no less characteristic, of vigorous and noble lines:<a + name="BFNanchor_70_70" id="BFNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#BFootnote_70_70" + class="fnanchor">[70]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i10">Nel cor consiston l'armi,<br /> </span> <span>Onde il + forte non e chi mai disarmi.<br /> </span> <span><br /> </span> <span + class="i12">Si sta placido e cheto,<br /> </span> <span>Ma serba + dell'altiero nel mansueto.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + If the <i>Rinaldo</i> prefigures Tasso's maturer qualities of style, it is + no less conspicuous for the light it throws upon his eminent poetic + faculty. Nothing distinguished him more decidedly from the earlier + romantic poets than power over pathetic sentiment conveyed in melodious + cadences of oratory. This emerges in Clarice's monologue on love and + honor, that combat of the soul which forms a main feature of the lyrics in + <i>Aminta</i> and of Erminia's episode in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>.<a + name="BFNanchor_71_71" id="BFNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#BFootnote_71_71" + class="fnanchor">[71]</a> This steeps the whole story of Clizia in a + delicious melancholy, foreshadowing the death-scene of Clorinda.<a + name="BFNanchor_72_72" id="BFNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#BFootnote_72_72" + class="fnanchor">[72]</a> This rises in the father's lamentation over his + slain Ugone, into the music of a threnody that now recalls Euripides and + now reminds us of mediaeval litanies.<a name="BFNanchor_73_73" + id="BFNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#BFootnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> + Censure might be passed upon rhetorical conceits and frigid affectations + in these characteristic outpourings of pathetic feeling. Yet no one can + ignore their liquid melody, their transference of emotion through sound + into modulated verse. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB90" id="pageB90"></a>{90}</span> That + lyrical outcry, finding rhythmic utterance for tender sentiment, which may + be recognized as Tasso's chief addition to romantic poetry, pierces like a + song through many passages of mere narration. Rinaldo, while carrying + Clarice away upon Baiardo, with no chaste intention in his heart, bids her + thus dry her tears:<a name="BFNanchor_74_74" id="BFNanchor_74_74"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Egli dice: Signora, onde vi viene<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Sì + spietato martir, sì grave affanno?<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Perchè + le luci angeliche e serene<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Ricopre della + doglia oscuro panno?<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Forse fia l'util + vostro e 'l vostro bene<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Quel ch'or vi + sembra insupportabil danno,<br /> </span> <span class="i2">Deh! per Dio, + rasciugate il caldo pianto.<br /> </span> <span class="i2">E l'atroce + dolor temprate alquanto.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + It is not that we do not find similar lyrical interbreathings in the + narrative of Ariosto. But Tasso developed the lyrism of the octave stanza + into something special, lulling the soul upon gentle waves of rising and + falling rhythm, foreshadowing the coming age of music in cadences that are + untranslateable except by vocal melody. In like manner, the idyl, which + had played a prominent part in Boiardo's and in Ariosto's romance, + detaches itself with a peculiar sweetness from the course of Tasso's + narrative. This appears in the story of Florindo, which contains within + itself the germ of the <i>Aminta</i>, the <i>Pastor Fido</i> and the <i>Adone</i>.<a + name="BFNanchor_75_75" id="BFNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#BFootnote_75_75" + class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Together with the bad taste of the artificial + pastoral, its preposterous costume (stanza 13), its luxury of tears + (stanza 23), we find the tyranny of kisses (stanzas 28, 52), the yearning + after the Golden<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB91" id="pageB91"></a>{91}</span> + Age (stanza 29), and all the other apparatus of that operatic species. + Tasso was the first poet to bathe Arcady in a golden afternoon light of + sensuously sentimental pathos. In his idyllic as in his lyrical + interbreathings, melody seems absolutely demanded to interpret and + complete the plangent rhythm of his dulcet numbers. Emotion so far + predominates over intelligence, so yearns to exhale itself in sound and + shun the laws of language, that we find already in <i>Rinaldo</i> Tasso's + familiar <i>Non so che</i> continually used to adumbrate sentiments for + which plain words are not indefinite enough. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Rinaldo</i> was a very remarkable production for a young man of + eighteen. It showed the poet in possession of his style and displayed the + specific faculties of his imagination. Nothing remained for Tasso now but + to perfect and develop the type of art which he had there created. Soon + after his first settlement in Ferrara, he began to meditate a more + ambitious undertaking. His object was to produce the heroic poem for which + Italy had long been waiting, and in this way to rival or surpass the fame + of Ariosto. Trissino had chosen a national subject for his epic; but the + <i>Italia Liberata</i> was an acknowledged failure, and neither the past + nor the present conditions of the Italian people offered good material for + a serious poem. The heroic enthusiasms of the age were religious. Revived + Catholicism had assumed an attitude of defiance. The Company of Jesus was + declaring its crusade <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB92" id="pageB92"></a>{92}</span> + against heresy and infidelity throughout the world. Not a quarter of a + century had elapsed since Charles V. attacked the Mussulman in Tunis; and + before a few more years had passed, the victory of Lepanto was to be won + by Italian and Spanish navies. Tasso, therefore, obeyed a wise instinct + when he made choice of the first crusade for his theme, and of Godfrey of + Boulogne for his hero. Having to deal with historical facts, he studied + the best authorities in chronicles, ransacked such books of geography and + travel as were then accessible, paid attention to topography, and sought + to acquire what we now call local coloring for the details of his poem. + Without the sacrifice of truth in any important point, he contrived to + give unity to the conduct of his narrative, while interweaving a number of + fictitious characters and marvelous circumstances with the historical + personages and actual events of the crusade. The vital interest of the <i>Gerusalemme + Liberata</i> flows from this interpolated material, from the loves of + Rinaldo and Tancredi, from the adventures of the Pagan damsels Erminia, + Armida and Clorinda. The <i>Gerusalemme</i> is in truth a Virgilian epic, + upon which a romantic poem has been engrafted. Goffredo, idealized into + statuesque frigidity, repeats the virtues of Aeneas; but the episode of + Dido, which enlivens Virgil's hero, is transferred to Rinaldo's part in + Tasso's story. The battles of Crusaders and Saracens are tedious copies of + the battle in the tenth Aeneid; but the duels of Tancredi <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB93" id="pageB93"></a>{93}</span> with + Clorinda and Argante breathe the spirit and the fire of chivalry. The + celestial and infernal councils, adopted as machinery, recall the rival + factions in Olympus; but the force by which the plot moves is love. Pluto + and the angel Gabriel are inactive by comparison with Armida, Erminia and + Clorinda. Tasso in truth thought that he was writing a religious and + heroic poem. What he did write, was a poem of sentiment and passion—a + romance. Like Anacreon he might have cried: + </p> + <div class="center"> + <img src="images/greek.jpg" + alt="thelô legein Atreidas, ha barbitos de chordais Erôta mounon êchei." + title="thelô legein Atreidas, thelô de Kadmon adein, ha barbitos de chordais, Erôta mounon êchei." /> + </div> + <h5> + (thelô legein Atreidas, thelô de Kadmon adein, ha barbitos de + chordais Erôta mounon êchei.) + </h5> + <p> + He displayed, indeed, marvelous ingenuity and art in so connecting the two + strains of his subject, the stately Virgilian history and the glowing + modern romance, that they should contribute to the working of a single + plot. Yet he could not succeed in vitalizing the former, whereas the + latter will live as long as human interest in poetry endures. No one who + has studied the <i>Gerusalemme</i> returns with pleasure to Goffredo, or + feels that the piety of the Christian heroes is inspired. He skips canto + after canto dealing with the crusade, to dwell upon those lyrical + outpourings of love, grief, anguish, vain remorse and injured affection + which the supreme poet of sentiment has invented for his heroines; he + recognizes the genuine inspiration of Erminia's pastoral idyl, of Armida's + sensuous charms, of Clorinda's dying words, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB94" id="pageB94"></a>{94}</span> of the Siren's song and the + music of the magic bird: of all, in fact, which is not pious in the poem. + </p> + <p> + Tancredi, between Erminia and Clorinda, the one woman adoring him, the + other beloved by him—the melancholy graceful modern Tancredi, + Tasso's own soul's image—is the veritable hero of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>; + and by a curious unintended propriety he disappears from the action before + the close, without a word. The force of the poem is spiritualized and + concentrated in Clorinda's death, which may be cited as an instance of + sublimity in pathos. It is idyllized in the episode of Erminia among the + shepherds, and sensualized in the supreme beauty of Armida's garden. + Rinaldo is second in importance to Tancredi; and Goffredo, on whom Tasso + bestows the blare of his Virgilian trumpet from the first line to the + last, is poetically of no importance whatsoever. Argante, Solimano, + Tisaferno, excite our interest, and win the sympathy we cannot spare the + saintly hero; and in the death of Solimano Tasso's style, for once, verges + upon tragic sublimity. + </p> + <p> + What Tasso aimed at in the <i>Gerusalemme</i> was nobility. This quality + had not been prominent in Ariosto's art. If he could attain it, his + ambition to rival the <i>Orlando Furioso</i> would be satisfied. One main + condition of success Tasso brought to the achievement. His mind itself was + eminently noble, incapable of baseness, fixed on fair and worthy objects + of contemplation. Yet the personal nobility which distinguished him as a + thinker and a man, was <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB95" id="pageB95"></a>{95}</span> + not of the heroic type. He had nothing Homeric in his inspiration, nothing + of the warrior or the patriot in his nature. His genius, when it pursued + its bias, found instinctive utterance in elegy and idyl, in meditative + rhetoric and pastoral melody. In order to assume the heroic strain, Tasso + had recourse to scholarship, and gave himself up blindly to the guidance + of Latin poets. This was consistent with the tendency of the Classical + Revival; but since the subject to be dignified by epic style was Christian + and mediaeval, a discord between matter and manner amounting almost to + insincerity resulted. Some examples will make the meaning of this + criticism more apparent. When Goffredo rejects the embassy of Atlete and + Argante, he declares his firm intention of delivering Jerusalem in spite + of overwhelming perils. The crusaders can but perish: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Noi morirem, ma non morremo inulti. (i. 86.)<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This of course is a reminiscence of Dido's last words, and the difference + between the two situations creates a disagreeable incongruity. The nod of + Jove upon Olympus is translated to express the fiat of the Almighty (xiii. + 74); Gabriel is tricked out in the plumes and colors of Mercury (i. + 13-15); the very angels sinning round the throne become 'dive sirene' + (xiv. 9); the armory of heaven is described in terms which reduce + Michael's spear and the arrows of pestilence to ordinary weapons (vii. + 81); Hell is filled with harpies, centaurs, hydras, pythons, the com<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB96" id="pageB96"></a>{96}</span> mon lumber + of classical Tartarus (iv. 5); the angel sent to cure Goffredo's wound + culls dittany on Ida (xi. 72); the heralds, interposing between Tancredi + and Argante, hold pacific scepters and have naught of chivalry (vi. 51). + It may be said that both Dante before Tasso, and Milton after him, + employed similar classical language in dealing with Christian and + mediaeval motives. But this will hardly serve as an excuse; for Dante and + Milton communicate so intense a conviction of religious earnestness that + their Latinisms, even though incongruous, are recognized as the mere + clothing of profoundly felt ideas. The sublimity, the seriousness, the + spiritual dignity is in their thought, not in its expression; whereas + Tasso too frequently leaves us with the certainty that he has sought by + ceremonious language to realize more than he could grasp with the + imagination. In his council of the powers of hell, for instance, he + creates monsters of huge dimensions and statuesque distinctness; but these + are neither grotesquely horrible like Dante's, nor are they spirits with + incalculable capacity for evil like Milton's. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Stampano alcuni il suol di ferine orme,<br /> </span> <span>E in + fronte umana ban chiome d'angui attorte;<br /> </span> <span>E lor + s'aggira dietro immensa coda,<br /> </span> <span>Che quasi sferza si + ripiega e snoda.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Against this we have to place the dreadful scene of Satan with his angels + transformed to snakes (<i>Par. Lost</i>, x. 508-584), and the Dantesque + horror of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB97" id="pageB97"></a>{97}</span> + 'vermo reo che 'l mondo fora' (<i>Inf.</i> xxxiv. 108). Again when Dante + cries— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">O Sommo Giove,<br /> </span> <span>Che fosti in terra + per noi crocifisso!<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + we feel that the Latin phrase is accidental. The spirit of the poet + remains profoundly Christian. Tasso's Jehovah-Jupiter is always 'il Re del + Ciel'; and the court of blessed spirits which surrounds his 'gran seggio,' + though described with solemn pomp of phrase, cannot be compared with the + Mystic Rose of Paradise (ix. 55-60). What Tasso lacks is authenticity of + vision; and his heightened style only renders this imaginative poverty, + this want of spiritual conviction, more apparent. + </p> + <p> + His frequent borrowings from Virgil are less unsuccessful when the matter + to be illustrated is not of this exalted order. Many similes (vii. 55, + vii. 76, viii. 74) have been transplanted with nice propriety. Many + descriptions, like that of the approach of night (ii-96), of the + nightingale mourning for her young (xii. 90), of the flying dream (xiv. + 6), have been translated with exquisite taste. Dido's impassioned + apostrophe to Aeneas reappears appropriately upon Armida's lips (xvi. 56). + We welcome such culled phrases as the following: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i15">l'orticel dispensa<br /> </span> <span>Cibi non compri + alia mia parca mensa (vii. 10).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Premer gli alteri, e sollevar gl'imbelli (x. 76).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>E Tisaferno, il folgore di Marte (xvii. 31).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Va, vedi, e vinci (xvii. 38).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB98" id="pageB98"></a>{98}</span> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ma mentre dolce parla e dolce ride (iv. 92).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Chè vinta la materia è dal lavoro (xvi. 2).<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Non temo io te, nè tuoi gran vanti, o fero:<br /> </span> + <span>Ma il Cielo e il mio nemico amor pavento (xix. 73).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + It may, however, be observed that in the last of these passages Tasso does + not show a just discriminative faculty. Turnus said: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i17">Non me tua fervida terrent<br /> </span> <span>Dicta, + ferox: Di me terrent et Jupiter hostis.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + From Jupiter to Amor is a descent from sublimity to pathos. In like manner + when Hector's ghost reappears in the ghost of Armida's mother, + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Quanto diversa, oimè, da quel che pria<br /> </span> <span>Visto + altrove (iv. 49),<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + the reminiscence suggests ideas that are unfavorable to the modern + version. + </p> + <p> + In his description of battles, the mustering of armies, and military + operations, Tasso neither draws from mediaeval sources nor from + experience, but imitates the battle-pieces of Virgil and Lucan, sometimes + with fine rhetorical effect and sometimes with wearisome frigidity. The + death of Latino and his five sons is both touching in itself, and a good + example of this Virgilian mannerism (ix. 35). The death of Dudone is + justly celebrated as a sample of successful imitation (iii. 45): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Cade; e gli occhi, ch'appena aprir si ponno,<br /> </span> <span>Dura + quiete preme e ferreo sonno.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB99" id="pageB99"></a>{99}</span> The + wound of Gerniero, on the contrary, illustrates the peril of seeking after + conceits in the inferior manner of the master (ix. 69): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>La destra di Gerniero, onde ferita<br /> </span> <span>Ella fu + pria, manda recisa al piano;<br /> </span> <span>Tratto anco il ferro, e + con tremanti dita<br /> </span> <span>Semiviva nel suol guizza la mano.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The same may be said about the wound of Algazèl (ix. 78) and the + death of Ardonio (xx. 39). In the description of the felling of the forest + (iii. 75, 76) and of the mustering of the Egyptian army (xvii. 1-36) + Tasso's Virgilian style attains real grandeur and poetic beauty. + </p> + <p> + Tasso was nothing if not a learned poet. It would be easy to illustrate + what he has borrowed from Lucretius, or to point out that the pathos of + Clorinda's apparition to Tancredi after death is a debt to Petrarch. It + may, however, suffice here to indicate six phrases taken straight from + Dante; since the <i>Divine Comedy</i> was little studied in Tasso's age, + and his selection of these lines reflects credit on his taste. These are: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Onorate l'altissimo campione! (iii. 73: <i>Inf.</i> iv.)<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Goffredo intorno gli occhi gravi e tardi (vii. 58: <i>Inf.</i>. + iv.).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i15">a riveder le stelle (iv. 18: <i>Inf.</i> xxxiv.).<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ond' è ch'or tanto ardire in voi s'alletti? (ix. 76: <i>Inf.</i> + ix.)<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>A guisa di leon quando si posa (x. 56: <i>Purg.</i> vi.)<br /> + </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">e guardi e passi (xx. 43: <i>Inf.</i> in.)<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + As in the <i>Rinaldo</i>, so also in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, Tasso's + classical proclivities betrayed him into vio<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB100" id="pageB100"></a>{100}</span> lation of the clear Italian + language. Afraid of what is natural and common, he produced what is + artificial and conceited. Hence came involved octaves like the following + (vi. 109): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">Siccome cerva, ch'assetata il passo<br /> </span> <span>Mova + a cercar d'acque lucenti e vive,<br /> </span> <span>Ove un bel fonte + distillar da un sasso<br /> </span> <span>O vide un fiume tra frondose + rive,<br /> </span> <span>Se incontra i cani allor che il corpo lasso<br /> + </span> <span>Ristorar crede all'onde, all'ombre estive,<br /> </span> + <span>Volge indietro fuggendo, e la paura<br /> </span> <span>La + stanchezza obbliar face e l'arsura.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The image is beautiful; but the diction is elaborately intricate, + rhetorically indistinct. We find the same stylistic involution in these + lines (xii. 6): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ma s'egli avverrà pur che mia ventura<br /> </span> <span>Nel + mio ritorno mi rinchiuda il passo,<br /> </span> <span>D'uom che in amor + m'è padre a te la cura<br /> </span> <span>E delle fide mie + donzelle io lasso.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The limpid well of native utterance is troubled at its source by + scholastic artifices in these as in so many other passages of Tasso's + masterpiece. Nor was he yet emancipated from the weakness of <i>Rinaldo</i>. + Trying to soar upon the borrowed plumes of pseudo-classical sublimity, he + often fell back wearied by this uncongenial effort into prose. Lame + endings to stanzas, sudden descents from highly-wrought to pedestrian + diction, are not uncommon in the <i>Gerusalemme</i>. The poet, diffident + of his own inspiration, sought inspiration from books. In the magnificence + of single lines again, the <i>Gerusalemme</i> reminds us of <i>Rinaldo</i>. + Tasso gained dignity of rhythm by choos<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB101" id="pageB101"></a>{101}</span> ing Latin adjectives and + adverbs with pompous cadences. No versifier before his date had + consciously employed the sonorous music of such lines as the following:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Foro, tentando inaccessibil via (ii. 29).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ond' Amor l'arco inevitabil tende (iii. 24).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Questa muraglia impenetrabil fosse (iii. 51).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Furon vedute fiammeggiare insieme (v. 28).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Qual capitan ch'inespugnabil terra (v. 64).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Sotto l'inevitabile tua spada (xvi. 33).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Immense solitudini d'arena (xvii. I).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The last of these lines presents an impressive landscape in three + melodious words. + </p> + <p> + These verbal and stylistic criticisms are not meant to cast reproach on + Tasso as a poet. If they have any value, it is the light they throw upon + conditions under which the poet was constrained to work. Humanism and the + Catholic Revival reduced this greatest genius of his age to the necessity + of clothing religious sentiments in scholastic phraseology, with the view + of attaining to epic grandeur. But the Catholic Revival was no + regeneration of Christianity from living sources; and humanism had run its + course in Italy, and was ending in the sands of critical + self-consciousness. Thus piety in Tasso appears superficial and + conventional rather than profoundly felt or originally vigorous; while the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB102" id="pageB102"></a>{102}</span> + scholarship which supplied his epic style is scrupulous and timid. + </p> + <p> + The enduring qualities of Tasso as a modern poet have still to be + indicated; and to this more grateful portion of my argument I now address + myself. Much might be said in the first place about his rhetorical + dexterity—the flexibility of language in his hands, and the + copiousness of thought, whereby he was able to adorn varied situations and + depict diversity of passions with appropriate diction. Whether Alete is + subtly pleading a seductive cause, or Goffredo is answering his + sophistries with well-weighed arguments; whether Pluto addresses the + potentates of hell, or Erminia wavers between love and honor; whether + Tancredi pours forth the extremity of his despair, or Armida heaps + reproaches on Rinaldo in his flight; the musical and luminously polished + stanzas lend themselves without change of style to every gradation of the + speaker's mood. In this art of rhetoric, Tasso seems to have taken Livy + for his model; and many of his speeches which adorn the graver portions of + his poem are noticeable for compact sententious wisdom. + </p> + <p> + In fancy Tasso was not so naturally rich and inventive as the author of <i>Orlando + Furioso</i>. Yet a gallery of highly-finished pictures might be collected + from his similes and metaphors. What pride and swiftness mark this vision + of a thunderbolt: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Grande ma breve fulmine il diresti,<br /> </span> <span>Che + inaspettato sopraggiunga e passi;<br /> </span> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB103" id="pageB103"></a>{103}</span> <span>Ma del suo corso + momentaneo resti<br /> </span> <span>Vestigio eterno in dirupati sassi + (xx. 93).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + How delicately touched is this uprising of the morning star from ocean: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Qual mattutina Stella esce dell'onde<br /> </span> <span>Rugiadosa + e stillante; o come fuore<br /> </span> <span>Spuntò nascendo già + dalle feconde<br /> </span> <span>Spume dell'ocean la Dea d'amore (xv. + 60).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Here is an image executed in the style of Ariosto. Clorinda has received a + wound on her uncovered head: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Fu levissima piaga, e i biondi crini<br /> </span> <span>Rosseggiaron + così d'alquante stille,<br /> </span> <span>Come rosseggia l'or + che di rubini<br /> </span> <span>Per man d'illustre artefice sfaville + (iii. 30).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Flowers furnish the poet with exquisite suggestions of color: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>D'un bel pallor ha il bianco volto asperso,<br /> </span> <span>Come + a gigli sarian miste viole (xii. 69).<br /> </span> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Quale a pioggia d'argento e mattutina<br /> </span> <span>Si + rabbellisce scolorita rosa (xx. 129).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Sometimes the painting is minutely finished like a miniature: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">Così piuma talor, che di gentile<br /> </span> + <span>Amorosa colomba il collo cinge,<br /> </span> <span>Mai non sì + scorge a sè stessa simile,<br /> </span> <span>Ma in diversi + colori al sol si tinge:<br /> </span> <span>Or d'accesi rubin sembra un + monile,<br /> </span> <span>Or di verdi smeraldi il lume finge,<br /> + </span> <span>Or insieme li mesce, e varia e vaga<br /> </span> <span>In + cento modi i riguardanti appaga (xv. 5).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Sometimes the style is broad, the touch vigorous: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">Qual feroce destrier, ch'al faticoso<br /> </span> <span>Onor + dell'arme vincitor sia tolto,<br /> </span> <span>E lascivo marito in vil + riposo<br /> </span> <span>Fra gli armenti e ne'paschi erri dìsciolto,<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB104" id="pageB104"></a>{104}</span> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Se il desta o suon di tromba, o luminoso<br /> </span> <span>Acciar, + cola tosto annitrendo è volto;<br /> </span> <span>Già già + brama l'arringo, el'uom sul dorso<br /> </span> <span>Portando, urtato + riurtar nel corso (xvi. 28).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + I will content myself with referring to the admirably conceived simile of + a bulky galleon at sea attacked by a swifter and more agile vessel (xix. + 13), which may perhaps have suggested to Fuller his famous comparison of + Shakespeare and Ben Jonson in their wit encounters. + </p> + <p> + But Tasso was really himself, incomparable and unapproachable, when he + wrote in what musicians would call the <i>largo e maestoso</i> mood. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Giace l'alta Cartago; appena i segni<br /> </span> <span>Dell'alte + sue ruine il lido serba.<br /> </span> <span>Muoino le città, + muoino i regni;<br /> </span> <span>Copre i fasti e le pompe arena ed + erba;<br /> </span> <span>E l'uomo d'esser mortal par che si sdegni!<br /> + </span> <span>Oh nostra mente cupida e superba! (xv. 20).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This is perfect in its measured melancholy, the liquid flow of its + majestic simplicity. The same musical breadth, the same noble sweetness, + pervade a passage on the eternal beauty of the heavens compared with the + brief brightness of a woman's eyes: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i23">oh quante belle<br /> </span> <span>Luci il tempio + celeste in sè raguna!<br /> </span> <span>Ha il suo gran carro il + di; le aurate stelle<br /> </span> <span>Spiega la notte e l'argentata + luna;<br /> </span> <span>Ma non è chi vagheggi o questa o quelle;<br /> + </span> <span>E miriam noi torbida luce e bruna,<br /> </span> <span>Che + un girar d'occhi, un balenar di riso<br /> </span> <span>Scopre in breve + confin di fragil viso (xviii. 15).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This verbal music culminates in the two songs of earthly joy, the <i>chants + d'amour</i>, or hymns to pleas<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB105" + id="pageB105"></a>{105}</span> ure, sung by Armida's ministers (xiv. + 60-65, xvi. 12, 13). Boiardo and Ariosto had painted the seductions of + enchanted gardens, where valor was enthralled by beauty, and virtue dulled + by voluptuous delights. It remained for Tasso to give that magic of the + senses vocal utterance. From the myrtle groves of Orontes, from the + spell-bound summer amid snows upon the mountains of the Fortunate Isle, + these lyrics with their penetrative sweetness, their lingering regret, + pass into the silence of the soul. It is eminently characteristic of + Tasso's mood and age that the melody of both these honeyed songs should + thrill with sadness. Nature is at war with honor; youth passes like a + flower away; therefore let us love and yield our hearts to pleasure while + we can. <i>Sehnsucht</i>, the soul of modern sentiment, the inner core of + modern music, makes its entrance into the sphere of art with these two + hymns. The division of the mind, wavering between natural impulse and + acquired morality, gives the tone of melancholy to the one chant. In the + other, the invitation to self-abandonment is mingled with a forecast of + old age and death. Only Catullus, in his song to Lesbia, among the + ancients touched this note; only Villon, perhaps, in his Ballade of Dead + Ladies, touched it among the moderns before Tasso. But it has gone on + sounding ever since through centuries which have enjoyed the luxury of + grief in music. + </p> + <p> + If Tancredi be the real hero of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>,<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB106" id="pageB106"></a>{106}</span> Armida + is the heroine. The action of the epic follows her movements. She combines + the parts of Angelica and Alcina in one that is original and novel. A + sorceress, deputed by the powers of hell to defeat the arms of the + crusaders, Armida falls herself in love with a Christian champion. Love + changes her from a beautiful white witch into a woman.<a + name="BFNanchor_76_76" id="BFNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#BFootnote_76_76" + class="fnanchor">[76]</a> When she meets Rinaldo in the battle, she + discharges all her arrows vainly at the man who has deserted her. One by + one, they fly and fall; and as they wing their flight, Love wounds her own + heart with his shafts: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Scocca I' arco più volte, e non fa piaga<br /> </span> <span>E, + mentre ella saetta, amor lei piaga (xx. 65).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Then she turns to die in solitude. Rinaldo follows, and stays her in the + suicidal act. Despised and rejected as she is, she cannot hate him. The + man she had entangled in her wiles has conquered and subdued her nature. + To the now repentant minister of hell he proposes baptism; and Armida + consents: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Sì parla, e prega; e i preghi bagna e scalda<br /> </span> + <span>Or di lagrime rare, or di sospiri:<br /> </span> <span>Onde, + siccome suol nevosa falda<br /> </span> <span>Dov'arde il sole, o tepid' + aura spiri,<br /> </span> <span>Così l'ira che in lei parea sì + salda,<br /> </span> <span>Solvesi, e restan sol gli altri desiri.<br /> + </span> <span><i>Ecco l'ancilla tua</i>; d'essa a tuo senno<br /> </span> + <span>Dispon, gli disse, e le fia legge il cenno (xx. 136).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This metamorphosis of the enchantress into the woman in Armida, is the + climax of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB107" + id="pageB107"></a>{107}</span> It is also the climax and conclusion of + Italian romantic poetry, the resolution of its magic and marvels into the + truths of human affection. Notice, too, with what audacity Tasso has + placed the words of Mary on the lips of his converted sorceress! + Deliberately planning a religious and heroic poem, he assigns the spoils + of conquered hell to love triumphant in a woman's breast. Beauty, which in + itself is diabolical, the servant of the lords of Hades, attains to + apotheosis through affection. In Armida we already surmise <i>das ewig + Weibliche</i> of Goethe's Faust, Gretchen saving her lover's soul before + Madonna's throne in glory. + </p> + <p> + What was it, then, that Tasso, this 'child of a later and a colder age,' + as Shelley called him, gave of permanent value to European literature? We + have seen that the <i>Gerusalemme</i> did not fulfill the promise of + heroic poetry for that eminently unheroic period. We know that neither the + Virgilian hero nor the laboriously developed theme commands the interest + of posterity. We feel that religious emotion is feeble here, and that the + classical enthusiasm of the Renaissance is on the point of expiring in + those Latinistic artifices. Yet the interwoven romance contains a + something difficult to analyze, intangible and evanescent—<i>un non + so che</i>, to use the poet's favorite phrase—which riveted + attention in the sixteenth century, and which harmonizes with our own + sensibility to beauty. Tasso, in one word, was the poet, not of passion, + not of humor, not of piety, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB108" + id="pageB108"></a>{108}</span> not of elevated action, but of that new and + undefined emotion which we call Sentiment. Unknown to the ancients, + implicit in later mediaeval art, but not evolved with clearness from + romance, alien to the sympathies of the Renaissance as determined by the + Classical Revival, sentiment, that <i>non so che</i> of modern feeling, + waited for its first apocalypse in Tasso's work. The phrase which I have + quoted, and which occurs so frequently in this poet's verse, indicates the + intrusion of a new element into the sphere of European feeling. Vague, + indistinct, avoiding outline, the phrase <i>un non so che</i> leaves + definition to the instinct of those who feel, but will not risk the + limitation of their feeling by submitting it to words. Nothing in antique + psychology demanded a term of this kind. Classical literature, in close + affinity to sculpture, dealt with concrete images and conscious thoughts. + The mediaeval art of Dante, precisely, mathematically measured, had not + felt the need of it. Boccaccio's clear-cut intaglios from life and nature, + Petrarch's compassed melodies, Poliziano's polished arabesques, Ariosto's + bright and many colored pencilings, were all of them, in all their varied + phases of Renaissance expression, distinguished by decision and firmness + of drawing. Vagueness, therefore, had hitherto found no place in European + poetry or plastic art. But music, the supreme symbol of spiritual infinity + in art, was now about to be developed; and the specific touch of Tasso, + the musician-poet, upon portraiture and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB109" id="pageB109"></a>{109}</span> feeling, called forth this + quality of vagueness, a vagueness that demanded melody to give what it + refused from language to accept. Mendelssohn when some one asked him what + is meant by music, replied that it had meanings for his mind more + unmistakable than those which words convey; but what these meanings were, + he did not or he could not make clear. This certainty of sentiment, + seeming vague only because it floats beyond the scope of language in + regions of tone and color and emotion, is what Tasso's <i>non so che</i> + suggests to those who comprehend. And Tasso, by his frequent appeal to it, + by his migration from the plastic into the melodic realm of the poetic + art, proved himself the first genuinely sentimental artist of the modern + age. It is just this which gave him a wider and more lasting empire over + the heart through the next two centuries than that claimed by Ariosto. + </p> + <p> + It may not be unprofitable to examine in detail Tasso's use of the phrase + to which so much importance has been assigned in the foregoing paragraph. + We meet it first in the episode of Olindo and Sofronia. Sofronia, of all + the heroines of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, is the least interesting, + notwithstanding her magnanimous mendacity and Jesuitical acceptance of + martyrdom. Olindo touches the weaker fibers of our sympathy by his + feminine devotion to a woman placed above him in the moral scale, whose + love he wins by splendid falsehood equal to her own. The episode, entirely + idle in the action <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB110" id="pageB110"></a>{110}</span> + of the poem, has little to recommend it, if we exclude the traditionally + accepted reference to Tasso's love for Leonora d'Este. But when Olindo and + Sofronia are standing, back to back, against the stake, Aladino, who has + decreed their death by burning, feels his rude bosom touched with sudden + pity: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Un non so che d'inusitato e molle<br /> </span> <span>Par che nel + duro petto al re trapasse:<br /> </span> <span>Ei presentillo, e si sdegnò; + nè voile<br /> </span> <span>Piegarsi, e gli occhi torse, e si + ritrasse (ii. 37).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The intrusion of a lyrical emotion, unknown before in the tyrant's breast, + against which he contends with anger, and before the force of which he + bends, prepares us for the happy <i>dénouement</i> brought about by + Clorinda. This vague stirring of the soul, this <i>non so che</i>, this + sentiment, is the real agent in Sofronia's release and Olindo's + beatification. + </p> + <p> + Clorinda is about to march upon her doom. She is inflamed with the + ambition to destroy the engines of the Christian host by fire at night; + and she calls Argante to her counsels: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Buona pezza è, signor, che in sè raggira<br /> + </span> <span>Un non so che d'insolito e d'audace<br /> </span> <span>La + mia mente inquieta; o Dio l'inspira,<br /> </span> <span>O l'uom del suo + voler suo Dio si face (xii. 5).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Thus at this solemn point of time, when death is certainly in front, when + she knows not whether God has inspired her or whether she has made of her + own wish a deity, Clorinda utters the mystic word of vague compulsive + feeling.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB111" id="pageB111"></a>{111}</span> + </p> + <p> + Erminia, taken captive by Tancredi after the siege of Antioch, is brought + into her master's tent. He treats her with chivalrous courtesy, and offers + her a knight's protection: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Allora un non so che soave e piano<br /> </span> <span>Sentii, + ch'al cor mi scese, e vi s'affisse,<br /> </span> <span>Che, serpendomi + poi per l'alma vaga,<br /> </span> <span>Non so come, divenne incendio e + piaga (xix. 94).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + At that moment, by the distillation of that vague emotion into vein and + marrow, Erminia becomes Tancredi's slave, and her future is determined. + </p> + <p> + These examples are, perhaps, sufficient to show how Tasso, at the + turning-points of destiny for his most cherished personages, invoked + indefinite emotion to adumbrate the forces with which will contends in + vain. But the master phrase rings even yet more tyrannously in the passage + of Clorinda's death, which sums up all of sentiment included in romance. + Long had Tancredi loved Clorinda. Meeting her in battle, he stood her + blows defenseless; for Clorinda was an Amazon, reduced by Tasso's gentle + genius to womanhood from the proportions of Marfisa. Finally, with heart + surcharged with love for her, he has to cross his sword in deadly duel + with this lady. Malign stars rule the hour: he knows not who she is: + misadventure makes her, instead of him, the victim of their encounter. + With her last breath she demands baptism—the good Tasso, so it + seems, could not send so fair a creature of his fancy as Clorinda to the + shades without <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB112" id="pageB112"></a>{112}</span> + viaticum; and his poetry rises to the sublime of pathos in this stanza: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">Amico, hai vinto: io ti perdon: perdona<br /> </span> + <span>Tu ancora: al corpo no, che nulla pave;<br /> </span> <span>All'alma + sì: deh! per lei prega; e dona<br /> </span> <span>Battesmo a me + ch'ogni mia colpa lave.<br /> </span> <span>In queste voci languide + risuona<br /> </span> <span>Un non so che di flebile e soave<br /> </span> + <span>Ch'al cor gli serpe, ed ogni sdegno ammorza,<br /> </span> <span>E + gli occhi a lagrimar gl'invoglia e sforza (xii. 66).<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Here the vague emotion, the <i>non so che</i>, distils itself through + Clorinda's voice into Tancredi's being. Afterwards it thrills there like + moaning winds in an Aeolian lyre, reducing him to despair upon his bed of + sickness, and reasserting its lyrical charm in the vision which he has of + Clorinda among the trees of the enchanted forest. He stands before the + cypress where the soul of his dead lady seems to his misguided fancy + prisoned; and the branches murmur in his ears: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Fremere intanto udia continuo il vento<br /> </span> <span>Tra le + frondi del bosco e tra i virgulti,<br /> </span> <span>E trarne un suon + che flebile concento<br /> </span> <span>Par d'umani sospiri e di + singulti;<br /> </span> <span>E un non so che confuso instilla al core<br /> + </span> <span>Di pietà, di spavento e di dolore (xiii. 40).<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The master word, the magic word of Tasso's sentiment, is uttered at this + moment of illusion. The poet has no key to mysteries locked up within the + human breast more powerful than this indefinite <i>un non so che</i>. + </p> + <p> + Enough has been said to show how Tasso used the potent spell of vagueness, + when he found himself <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB113" + id="pageB113"></a>{113}</span> in front of supreme situations. This is in + truth the secret of his mastery over sentiment, the spell whereby he + brings nature and night, the immense solitudes of deserts, the darkness of + forests, the wailings of the winds and the plangent litanies of sea-waves + into accord with overstrained humanity. It was a great discovery; by right + of it Tasso proved himself the poet of the coming age. + </p> + <p> + When the <i>Gerusalemme</i> was completed, Tasso had done his best work as + a poet. The misfortunes which began to gather round him in his + thirty-first year, made him well-nigh indifferent to the fate of the poem + which had drained his life-force, and from which he had expected so much + glory. It was published without his permission or supervision. He, + meanwhile, in the prison of S. Anna, turned his attention to prose + composition. The long series of dialogues, with which he occupied the + irksome leisure of seven years, interesting as they are in matter and + genial in style, indicate that the poet was now in abeyance. It remained + to be seen whether inspiration would revive with freedom. No sooner were + the bolts withdrawn than his genius essayed a fresh flight. He had long + meditated the composition of a tragedy, and had already written some + scenes. At Mantua in 1586-7 this work took the form of <i>Torrismondo</i>. + It cannot be called a great drama, for it belongs to the rigid declamatory + species of Italian tragedy; and Tasso's genius was romantic, idyllic, + elegiac, anything but genuinely tragic. Yet the style is eminent for no<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB114" id="pageB114"></a>{114}</span> bility + and purity. Just as the <i>Aminta</i> showed how unaffected Tasso could be + when writing without preconceived theories of heightened diction, so the + <i>Torrismondo</i> displays an unstrained dignity of simple dialogue. It + testifies to the plasticity of language in the hands of a master, who + deliberately chose and sustained different styles in different species of + poetry, and makes us regret that he should have formed his epic manner + upon so artificial a type. The last chorus of <i>Torrismondo</i> deserves + to be mentioned as a perfect example of Tasso's melancholy elegiac pathos. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile he began to be dissatisfied with the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, and in + 1588 he resolved upon remodeling his masterpiece. The real vitality of + that poem was, as we have seen, in its romance. But Tasso thought + otherwise. During the fourteen years which elapsed since its completion, + the poet's youthful fervor had been gradually fading out. Inspiration + yielded to criticism; piety succeeded to sentiment and enthusiasm for art. + Therefore, in this later phase of his maturity, with powers impaired by + prolonged sufferings and wretched health, tormented by religious scruples + and vague persistent fear, he determined to eliminate the romance from the + epic, to render its unity of theme more rigorous, and to concentrate + attention upon the serious aspects of the subject. The result of this + plan, pursued through five years of wandering, was the <i>Gerusalemme + Conquistata</i>, a poem which the world has willingly let <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB115" id="pageB115"></a>{115}</span> die, in + which the style of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i> is worsened, and which + now serves mainly to establish by comparison the fact that what was + immortal in Tasso's art was the romance he ruthlessly rooted out. A + further step in this transition from art to piety is marked by the poem + upon the Creation of the World, called <i>Le Sette Giornate</i>. Written + in blank verse, it religiously but tamely narrates the operation of the + Divine Artificer, following the first chapter of Genesis and expanding the + motive of each of the seven days with facile rhetoric. Of action and of + human interest the poem has none; of artistic beauty little. The sustained + descriptive style wearies; and were not this the last work of Tasso, it + would not be mentioned by posterity. + </p> + <p> + Tasso has already occupied us through two chapters. Before passing onward + I must, however, invite the reader to pause awhile and reconsider, even at + the risk of retrospect and repetition, some of the salient features of his + character. And now I remember that of his personal appearance nothing has + hitherto been said. 'Tasso was tall, well-proportioned, and of very fair + complexion. His thick hair and beard were of a light-brown color. His head + was large, forehead broad and square, eyebrows dark, eyes large, lively + and blue, nose large and curved toward the mouth, lips thin and pale.' So + writes Manso, the poet's friend and biographer, adding: 'His voice was + clear and sonorous; but he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB116" + id="pageB116"></a>{116}</span> read his poems badly, because of a slight + impediment in his speech, and because he was short-sighted.' I know not + whether I am justified in drawing from this description the conclusion + that Tasso was, physically, a man of mixed lymphatic and melancholic + temperament, of more than ordinary sensitiveness. Imperfection, at any + rate, is indicated by the thin pale lips, the incoherent utterance and the + uncertain vision to which his friend in faithfulness bears witness. Of + painted portraits representing Tasso in later life there are many; but + most of these seem to be based upon the mask taken from his face after + death, which still exists at S. Onofrio. Twenty-one years ago I gazed upon + this mask, before I knew then more than every schoolboy knows of Tasso's + life and writings. This is what I wrote about it in my Roman diary: 'The + face is mild and weak, especially in the thin short chin and feeble mouth.<a + name="BFNanchor_77_77" id="BFNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#BFootnote_77_77" + class="fnanchor">[77]</a> The forehead round, and ample in proportion to + the other features. The eyes are small, but this may be due to the + contraction of death. The mouth is almost vulgar, very flat in the upper + lip; but this also ought perhaps to be attributed to the relaxation of + tissue by death. + </p> + <p> + Tasso was constitutionally inclined to pensive moods. His outlook over + life was melancholy.<a name="BFNanchor_78_78" id="BFNanchor_78_78"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB117" id="pageB117"></a>{117}</span> + The tone of his literary work, whether in prose or poetry, is elegiac—musically, + often querulously plaintive. There rests a shadow of dejection over all he + wrote and thought and acted. Yet he was finely sensitive to pleasure, + thrillingly alive to sentimental beauty.<a name="BFNanchor_79_79" + id="BFNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#BFootnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> + Though the man lived purely, untainted by the license of the age, his + genius soared highest when he sang some soft luxurious strain of love. He + was wholly deficient in humor. Taking himself and the world of men and + things too much in earnest, he weighed heavily alike on art and life. The + smallest trifles, if they touched him, seemed to him important.<a + name="BFNanchor_80_80" id="BFNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#BFootnote_80_80" + class="fnanchor">[80]</a> Before imaginary terrors he shook like an aspen. + The slightest provocation roused his momentary resentment. The most + insignificant sign of neglect or coldness wounded his self-esteem. + Plaintive, sensitive to beauty, sentimental, tender, touchy, + self-engrossed, devoid of humor—what a sentient instrument was this + for uttering Aeolian melodies, and straining discords through + storm-jangled strings! + </p> + <p> + From the Jesuits, in childhood, he received religious impressions which + might almost be described as mesmeric or hypnotic in their influence upon + his nerves. These abode with him through manhood; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB118" id="pageB118"></a>{118}</span> and in later life morbid + scruples and superstitious anxieties about his soul laid hold on his + imagination. Yet religion did not penetrate Tasso's nature. As he + conceived it, there was nothing solid and supporting in its substance. + Piety was neither deeply rooted nor indigenous, neither impassioned nor + logically reasoned, in the adult man.<a name="BFNanchor_81_81" + id="BFNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#BFootnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> + What it might have been, but for those gimcrack ecstasies before the Host + in boyhood, cannot now be fancied. If he contained the stuff of saint or + simple Christian, this was sterilized and stunted by the clever fathers in + their school at Naples. + </p> + <p> + During the years of his feverishly active adolescence Tasso played for a + while with philosophical doubts. But though he read widely and speculated + diffusely on the problems of the universe, he failed to pierce below the + surface of the questions which he handled. His own beliefs had been tested + in no red-hot crucible, before he recoiled with terror from their + analysis. The man, to put it plainly, was incapable of honest revolt + against the pietistic fashions of his age, incapable of exploratory + efforts, and yet too intelligent to rest satisfied with gross dogmatism or + smug hypocrisy. Neither as a thinker, nor as a Christian, nor yet again as + that epicene religious being, a Catholic of the Counter-Reformation, did + this noble and ingenuous, but weakly nature attain to thoroughness.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB119" id="pageB119"></a>{119}</span> + </p> + <p> + Tasso's mind was lively and sympathetic; not penetrative, not fitted for + forming original or comprehensive views. He lived for no great object, + whether political, moral, religious, or scientific. He committed himself + to no vice. He obeyed no absorbing passion of love or hatred. In his + misfortunes he displayed the helplessness which stirs mere pity for a + prostrate human being. The poet who complained so querulously, who wept so + copiously, who forgot offense so nonchalantly, cannot command admiration. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing sublimely tragic in Tasso's suffering. The sentiment + inspired by it is that at best of pathos. An almost childish + self-engrossment restricted his thoughts, his aims and aspirations, to a + narrow sphere, within which he wandered incurably idealistic, pursuing + prosaic or utilitarian objects—the favor of princes, place at + Courts, the recovery of his inheritance—in a romantic and + unpractical spirit.<a name="BFNanchor_82_82" id="BFNanchor_82_82"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Vacillating, irresolute, + peevish, he roamed through all the towns of Italy, demanding more than + sympathy could give, exhausting friendship, changing from place to place, + from lord to lord. Yet how touching was the destiny of this laureled + exile, this brilliant wayfarer on the highroads of a world he never + understood! Shelley's phrase, 'the world's rejected guest' exactly seems + to suit him. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB120" id="pageB120"></a>{120}</span> + And yet he allowed himself to become the spoiled child of his misfortunes. + Without them, largely self-created as they were, Tasso could not now + appeal to our hearts. Nor does he appeal to us as Dante, eating the salt + bread of patrons' tables, does; as Milton, blind and fallen on evil days; + as Chatterton, perishing in pride and silence; as Johnson, turning from + the stairs of Chesterfield; as Bruno, averting stern eyes from the + crucifix; as Leopardi, infusing the virus of his suffering into the veins + of humanity; as Heine, motionless upon his mattress grave. These more + potent personalities, bequeathing to the world examples of endurance, have + won the wreath of never-blasted bays which shall not be set on Tasso's + forehead. We crown him with frailer leaves, bedewed with tears tender as + his own sentiment, and aureoled with the light that emanates from pure and + delicate creations of his fancy. + </p> + <p> + Though Tasso does not command admiration by heroism, he wins compassion as + a beautiful and finely-gifted nature inadequate to cope with the + conditions of his century. For a poet to be independent in that age of + intellectual servitude was well-nigh impossible. To be light-hearted and + ironically indifferent lay not in Tasso's temperament. It was no less + difficult for a man of his mental education to maintain the balance + between orthodoxy and speculation, faith and reason, classical culture and + Catholicism, the Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation. He belonged in + one sense too much, and in another <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB121" + id="pageB121"></a>{121}</span> sense too little, to his epoch. One eminent + critic calls him the only Christian of the Italian Renaissance, another + with equal justice treats him as the humanistic poet of the Catholic + Revival.<a name="BFNanchor_83_83" id="BFNanchor_83_83"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> + </p> + <p> + Properly speaking, he was the genius of that transition from the + Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation, on which I dwelt in the second + chapter of this work. By natural inclination he belonged to the line of + artists which began with Boccaccio and culminated in Ariosto. But his + training and the bias of the times in which he lived, made him break with + Boccaccio's tradition. He tried to be the poet of the Council of Trent, + without having assimilated hypocrisy or acquired false taste, without + comprehending the essentially prosaic and worldly nature of that religious + revolution. He therefore lived and worked in a continual discord. This may + not suffice to account for the unhingement of his reason. I prefer to + explain that by the fatigue of intellectual labor and worry acting on a + brain predisposed for melancholia and overtasked from infancy. But it does + account for the moral martyrdom he suffered, and the internal perplexity + to which he was habitually subject. + </p> + <p> + When Tasso first saw the light, the Italians had rejected the Reformation + and consented to stifle free thought. The culture of the Renaissance had + been condemned; the Spanish hegemony had been <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB122" id="pageB122"></a>{122}</span> accepted. Of this new + attitude the concordat between Charles and Clement, the Tridentine + Council, the Inquisition and the Company of Jesus were external signs. But + these potent agencies had not accomplished their work in Tasso's lifetime. + He was rent in twain because he could not react against them as Bruno did, + and could not identify himself with them as Loyola was doing. As an artist + he belonged to the old order which was passing, as a Christian to the new + order which was emerging. His position as a courtier, when the Augustan + civility of the earlier Medici was being superseded by dynastic + absolutism, complicated his difficulties. While accepting service in the + modern spirit of subjection, he dreamed of masters who should be + Maecenases, and fondly imagined that poets might still live, like + Petrarch, on terms of equality with princes. + </p> + <p> + We therefore see in Tasso one who obeyed influences to which his real self + never wholly or consciously submitted. He was not so much out of harmony + with his age as the incarnation of its still unharmonized contradictions. + The pietism instilled into his mind at Naples; the theories of art imbibed + at Padua and Venice; the classical lumber absorbed during his precocious + course of academical studies; the hypocritical employment of allegory to + render sensuous poetry decorous; the deference to critical opinion and the + dictates of literary lawgivers; the reverence for priests and princes + interposed between <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB123" id="pageB123"></a>{123}</span> + the soul and God: these were principles which Tasso accepted without + having properly assimilated and incorporated their substance into his + spiritual being. What the poet in him really was, we perceive when he + wrote, to use Dante's words, as Love dictates; or as Plato said, when he + submitted to the mania of the Muse; or as Horace counseled, when he + indulged his genius. It is in the <i>Aminta</i>, in the episodes of the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, + in a small percentage of the <i>Rime</i>, that we find the true Tasso. For + the rest, he had not the advantages enjoyed by Boiardo and Ariosto in a + less self-conscious age, of yielding to natural impulse after a full and + sympathetic study of classical and mediaeval sources. The analytical + labors of the previous century hampered his creativeness. He brought to + his task preoccupations of divers and self-contradictory pedantries—pedantries + of Catholicism, pedantries of scholasticism, pedantries of humanism in its + exhausted phase, pedantries of criticism refined and subtilized within a + narrow range of problems. He had, moreover, weighing on his native genius + the fears which brooded like feverish exhalations over the evil days in + which he lived—fears of Church-censure, fears of despotic princes, + fears of the Inquisition, fears of hell, fears of the judgment of + academies, fears of social custom and courtly conventionalities. Neither + as poet nor as man had he the courage of originality. What he lacked was + character. He obeyed the spirit of his age, in so far as he did not, like + young David, decline Saul's <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB124" + id="pageB124"></a>{124}</span> armor and enter into combat with + Philistinism, wielding his sling and stone of native force alone. Yet that + native force was so vigorous that, in spite of the panoply of prejudice he + wore, in spite of the cumbrous armor lent him by authority, he moved at + times with superb freedom. In those rare intervals of personal inspiration + he dictated the love-tales of Erminia and Armida, the death-scene of + Clorinda, the pastoral of Aminta and Silvia—episodes which created + the music and the painting of two centuries, and which still live upon the + lips of the people. But inasmuch as his genius labored beneath the + superincumbent weight of precedents and deferences, the poet's nature was + strained to the uttermost and his nervous elasticity was overtaxed. No + sooner had he poured forth freely what flowed freely from his soul, than + he returned on it with scrupulous analysis. The product of his spirit + stood before him as a thing to be submitted to opinion, as a substance + subject to the test of all those pedantries and fears. We cannot wonder + that the subsequent conflict perplexed his reason and sterilized his + creative faculty to such an extent that he spent the second half of his + life in attempting to undo the great work of his prime. The <i>Gerusalemme + Conquistata</i> and the <i>Sette Giornate</i> are thus the splendid + triumph achieved by the feebler over the stronger portions of his nature, + the golden tribute paid by his genius to the evil genius of the age + controlling him. He was a poet who, had he lived in the days of Ariosto, + would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB125" id="pageB125"></a>{125}</span> + have created in all senses spontaneously, producing works of Virgilian + beauty and divine melancholy to match the Homeric beauty and the divine + irony of his great peer. But this was not to be. The spirit of the times + which governed his education, with which he was not revolutionary enough + to break, which he strove as a critic to assimilate and as a social being + to obey, destroyed his independence, perplexed his judgment, and impaired + his nervous energy. His best work was consequently of unequal value; pure + and base metal mingled in its composition. His worst was a barren and + lifeless failure. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB126" id="pageB126"></a>{126}</span> + </p> + <h4> + GIORDANO BRUNO + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Scientific Bias of the Italians checked by Catholic Revival—Boyhood + of Bruno—Enters Order of S. Dominic at Naples—Early + Accusations of Heresy—Escapes to Rome—Teaches the Sphere at + Noli—Visits Venice—At Geneva—At Toulouse—At + Paris—His Intercourse with Henri III.—Visits England—The + French Ambassador in London—Oxford—Bruno's Literary Work in + England—Returns to Paris—Journeys into Germany—Wittenberg, + Helmstädt, Frankfort—Invitation to Venice from Giovanni + Mocenigo—His Life in Venice—Mocenigo denounces him to the + Inquisition—His Trial at Venice—Removal to Rome—Death + by Burning in 1600—Bruno's Relation to the Thought of his Age and + to the Thought of Modern Europe—Outlines of his Philosophy. + </p> + </div> + <p> + The humanistic and artistic impulses of the Renaissance were at the point + of exhaustion in Italy. Scholarship declined; the passion for antiquity + expired. All those forms of literature which Boccaccio initiated—comedy, + romance, the idyl, the lyric and the novel—had been worked out by a + succession of great writers. It became clear that the nation was not + destined to create tragic or heroic types of poetry. Architecture, + sculpture and painting had performed their task of developing mediaeval + motives by the light of classic models, and were now entering on the stage + of academical inanity. Yet the mental vigor of the Italians was by no + means exhausted. Early in the sixteenth century Machiavelli had in<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB127" id="pageB127"></a>{127}</span> + augurated a new method for political philosophy; Pompanazzo at Padua and + Telesio at Cosenza disclosed new horizons for psychology and the science + of nature. It seemed as though the Renaissance in Italy were about to + assume a fresh and more serious character without losing its essential + inspiration. That evolution of intellectual energy which had begun with + the assimilation of the classics, with the first attempts at criticism, + with the elaboration of style and the perfection of artistic form, now + promised to invade the fields of metaphysical and scientific speculation. + It is true, as we have seen, that the theological problems of the German + Reformation took but slight hold on Italians. Their thinkers were already + too far advanced upon the paths of modern rationalism to feel the + actuality of questions which divided Luther from Zwingli, Calvin from + Servetus, Knox from Cranmer. But they promised to accomplish master-works + of incalculable magnitude in wider provinces of exploration and + investigation. And had this progress not been checked, Italy would have + crowned and completed the process commenced by humanism. In addition to + the intellectual culture already given to Europe, she might have revealed + right methods of mental analysis and physical research. For this further + step in the discovery of man and of the world, the nation was prepared to + bring an army of new pioneers into the field—the philosophers of the + south, and the physicists of the Lombard universities.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB128" id="pageB128"></a>{128}</span> + </p> + <p> + Humanism effected the emancipation of intellect by culture. It called + attention to the beauty and delightfulness of nature, restored man to a + sense of his dignity, and freed him from theological authority. But in + Italy, at any rate, it left his conscience, his religion, his sociological + ideas, the deeper problems which concern his relation to the universe, the + subtler secrets of the world in which he lives, untouched. + </p> + <p> + These <i>novi homines</i> of the later Renaissance, as Bacon called them, + these <i>novatori</i>, as they were contemptuously styled in Italy, + prepared the further emancipation of the intellect by science. They + asserted the liberty of thought and speech, proclaimed the paramount + authority of that inner light or indwelling deity which man owns in his + brain and breast, and rehabilitated nature from the stigma cast on it by + Christianity. What the Bible was for Luther, that was the great Book of + Nature for Telesio, Bruno, Campanella. The German reformer appealed to the + reason of the individual as conscience; the school of southern Italy made + a similar appeal to intelligence. In different ways Luther and these + speculative thinkers maintained the direct illumination of the human soul + by God, man's immediate dependence on his Maker, repudiating + ecclesiastical intervention, and refusing to rely on any principle but + earnest love of truth. + </p> + <p> + Had this new phase of the Italian Renaissance been permitted to evolve + itself unhindered, there is no saying how much earlier Europe might have + entered into the possession of that kingdom of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB129" id="pageB129"></a>{129}</span> unprejudiced research which + is now secured for us. But it was just at the moment when Italy became + aware of the arduous task before her, that the Catholic reaction set in + with all its rigor. The still creative spirit of her children succumbed to + the Inquisition, the Congregation of the Index, the decrees of Trent, the + intellectual submission of the Jesuits, the physical force of Spanish + tyranny, and Roman absolutism. Carnesecchi was burned alive; Paleario was + burned alive; Bruno was burned alive: these three at Rome. Vanini was + burned at Toulouse. Valentino Gentile was executed by Calvinists at Berne. + Campanella was cruelly tortured and imprisoned for twenty-seven years at + Naples. Galileo was forced to humble himself before ignorant and arrogant + monks, and to hide his head in a country villa. Sarpi felt the knife of an + assassin, and would certainly have perished at the instigation of his + Roman enemies but for the protection guaranteed him by the Signory of + Venice. In this way did Italy—or rather, let us say, the Church + which dominated Italy—devour her sons of light. It is my purpose in + the present chapter to narrate the life of Bruno and to give some account + of his philosophy, taking him as the most illustrious example of the + school exterminated by reactionary Rome. + </p> + <p> + Giordano Bruno was born in 1548 at Nola, an ancient Greek city close to + Naples. He received the baptismal name of Filippo, which he exchanged for + Giordano on assuming the Dominican habit. His <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB130" id="pageB130"></a>{130}</span> parents, though people of + some condition, were poor; and this circumstance may perhaps be reckoned + the chief reason why Bruno entered the convent of S. Dominic at Naples + before he had completed his fifteenth year. It will be remembered that + Sarpi joined the Servites at the age of thirteen, and Campanella the + Dominicans at that of fourteen. In each of these memorable cases it is + probable that poverty had something to do with deciding a vocation so + premature. But there were other inducements, which rendered the monastic + life not unattractive, to a young man seeking knowledge at a period and in + a district where instruction was both costly and difficult to obtain. + Campanella himself informs us that he was drawn to the order of S. Dominic + by its reputation for learning and by the great names of S. Thomas Aquinas + and Albertus Magnus. Bruno possibly felt a similar attraction; for there + is nothing in the temper of his mind to make us believe that he inclined + seriously to the religious life of the cloister. + </p> + <p> + During his novitiate he came into conflict with the superiors of his + convent for the first time. It was proved against him that he had given + away certain images of saints, keeping only the crucifix; also that he had + told a comrade to lay aside a rhymed version of the Seven Joys of Mary, + and to read the lives of the Fathers of the Church instead. On these two + evidences of insufficient piety, an accusation was prepared against him + which might have led to serious <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB131" + id="pageB131"></a>{131}</span> results. But the master of the novices + preferred to destroy the document, retaining only a memorandum of the fact + for future use in case of need.<a name="BFNanchor_84_84" + id="BFNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#BFootnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> + Bruno, after this event, obeyed the cloistral discipline in quiet, and + received priest's orders in 1572. + </p> + <p> + At this epoch of his life, when he had attained his twenty-fourth year, he + visited several Dominican convents of the Neapolitan province, and entered + with the want of prudence which was habitual to him into disputations on + theology. Some remarks he let fall on transubstantiation and the Divinity + of Christ, exposed him to a suspicion of Arianism, a heresy at that time + rife in southern Italy. Bruno afterwards confessed that from an early age + he had entertained speculative doubts upon the metaphysics of the Trinity, + though he was always prepared to accept that dogma in faith as a good + Catholic. The Inquisition took the matter up in earnest, and began to + institute proceedings of so grave a nature that the young priest felt + himself in danger. He escaped in his monk's dress, and traveled to Rome, + where he obtained admittance for a short while to the convent of the + Minerva. + </p> + <p> + We know very little what had been his occupations up to this date. It is + only certain that he had already composed a comedy, <i>Il Candelajo</i>: + which furnishes sufficient proof of his familiarity with mundane manners. + It is, in fact, one of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB132" + id="pageB132"></a>{132}</span> freest and most frankly satirical + compositions for the stage produced at that epoch, and reveals a previous + study of Aretino. Nola, Bruno's birthplace, was famous for the license of + its country folk. Since the day of its foundation by Chalkidian colonists, + its inhabitants had preserved their Hellenic traditions intact. The + vintage, for example, was celebrated with an extravagance of obscene + banter, which scandalized Philip II.'s viceroy in the sixteenth century.<a + name="BFNanchor_85_85" id="BFNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#BFootnote_85_85" + class="fnanchor">[85]</a> During the period of Bruno's novitiate, the + ordinances of the Council of Trent for discipline in monasteries were not + yet in operation; and it is probable that throughout the thirteen years of + his conventual experience, he mixed freely with the people and shared the + pleasures of youth in that voluptuous climate. He was never delicate in + his choice of phrase, and made no secret of the admiration which the + beauty of women excited in his nature. The accusations brought against him + at Venice contained one article of indictment implying that he professed + distinctly profligate opinions; and though there is nothing to prove that + his private life was vicious, the tenor of his philosophy favors more + liberty of manners than the Church allowed in theory to her ministers.<a + name="BFNanchor_86_86" id="BFNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#BFootnote_86_86" + class="fnanchor">[86]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB133" id="pageB133"></a>{133}</span> It + is of some importance to dwell on this topic; for Bruno's character and + temper, so markedly different from that of Sarpi, for example, affected in + no small measure the form and quality of his philosophy. He was a poet, + gifted with keen and lively sensibilities, open at all pores to the + delightfulness of nature, recoiling from nothing that is human. At no + period of his life was he merely a solitary thinker or a student of books. + When he came to philosophize, when the spiritual mistress, Sophia, + absorbed all other passions in his breast, his method of exposition + retained a tincture of that earlier phase of his experience. + </p> + <p> + It must not be thought, however, that Bruno prosecuted no serious studies + during this period. On the contrary, he seems to have amassed considerable + erudition in various departments of learning: a fact which should make us + cautious against condemning conventual education as of necessity narrow + and pedantic. When he left Naples, he had acquired sufficient knowledge of + Aristotle and the Schoolmen, among whom he paid particular attention to S. + Thomas and to Raymond Lully. Plato, as expounded by Plotinus, had taken + firm hold on his imagination. He was versed in the dialectics of the + previous age, had mastered mediaeval cosmography and mathematics, and was + probably already acquainted with Copernicus. The fragments of the Greek + philosophers, especially of Pythagoras and Parmenides, whose metaphysics + powerfully influenced his mind, had been assimilated. Perhaps the writ<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB134" id="pageB134"></a>{134}</span> ings of + Cardinal Cusa, the theologian who applied mathematics to philosophy, were + also in his hands at the same period. Beside Italian, he possessed the + Spanish language, could write and speak Latin with fluency, and knew + something of Greek. It is clear that he had practiced poetry in the + vernacular under the immediate influence of Tansillo. Theological studies + had not been wholly neglected; for he left behind him at Naples editions + of Jerome and Chrysostom with commentaries of Erasmus. These were books + which exposed their possessors to the interdiction of the Index. + </p> + <p> + It seems strange that a Dominican, escaping from his convent to avoid a + trial for heresy, should have sought refuge at S. Maria Sopra Minerva, + then the headquarters of the Roman Inquisition. We must, however, remember + that much freedom of movement was allowed to monks, who found a temporary + home in any monastery of their order. Without money, Bruno had no roof but + that of a religious house to shelter him; and he probably reckoned on + evading pursuit till the fatigues of his journey from Naples had been + forgotten. At any rate, he made no lengthy stay in Rome. News soon reached + him that the prosecution begun at Naples was being transferred to the + metropolis. This implied so serious a danger that he determined to quit + Rome in secret. Having flung his frock to the nettles, he journeyed—how, + we do not know—to Genoa, and thence to Noli on the Riviera. The next + time Bruno entered the Dominican convent of<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB135" id="pageB135"></a>{135}</span> S. Maria sopra Minerva, it + was as a culprit condemned to death by the Inquisition. + </p> + <p> + At Noli Bruno gained a living for about five months by teaching grammar to + boys and lecturing in private to some gentlefolk upon the Sphere. The + doctrine of the Sphere formed a somewhat miscellaneous branch of mediaeval + science. It embraced the exposition of Ptolemaic astronomy, together with + speculations on the locality of heaven, the motive principle of the world, + and the operation of angelical intelligences. Bruno, who professed this + subject at various times throughout his wanderings, began now to use it as + a vehicle for disseminating Copernican opinions. It is certain that + cosmography formed the basis of his philosophy, and this may be ascribed + to his early occupation with the sphere. But his restless spirit would not + suffer him to linger in those regions where olive and orange and palm + flourish almost more luxuriantly than in his native Nola. The gust of + travel was upon him. A new philosophy occupied his brain, vertiginously + big with incoherent births of modern thought. What Carlyle called 'the + fire in the belly' burned and irritated his young blood. Unsettled, cast + adrift from convent moorings, attainted for heresy, out of sympathy with + resurgent Catholicism, he became a Vagus Quidam—a wandering student, + like the Goliardi of the Middle Ages. From Noli he passed to Savona; from + Savona to Turin; from Turin to Venice. There his feet might perhaps have + found <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB136" id="pageB136"></a>{136}</span> + rest; for Venice was the harbor of all vagrant spirits in that age. But + the city was laid waste with plague. Bruno wrote a little book, now lost, + on 'The Signs of the Times,' and lived upon the sale of it for some two + months. Then he removed to Padua. Here friends persuaded him to reassume + the cowl. There were more than 40,000 monks abroad in Italy, beyond the + limits of their convent. Why should not he avail himself of house-roof in + his travels, a privilege which was always open to friars? From Padua he + journeyed rapidly again through Brescia, Bergamo and Milan to Turin, + crossed Mont Cenis, tarried at Chambéry, and finally betook himself + to Geneva. + </p> + <p> + Geneva was no fit resting-place for Bruno. He felt an even fiercer + antipathy for dissenting than for orthodox bigotry. The despotism of a + belligerent and persecuting sectarian seemed to him more intolerable, + because less excusable, than the Catholic despotism from which he was + escaping. Galeazzo Caracciolo, Marquis of Vico, who then presided over the + Italian refugees in Geneva, came to visit him. At the suggestion of this + man Bruno once more laid aside his Dominican attire, and began to earn his + bread by working as a reader for the press—a common resort of needy + men of learning in those times. But he soon perceived that the Calvinistic + stronghold offered no freedom, no security of life even, to one whose mind + was bent on new developments of thought. After two months'<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB137" id="pageB137"></a>{137}</span> + residence on the shores of Lake Leman he departed for Toulouse, which he + entered early in 1577. + </p> + <p> + We cannot help wondering why Bruno chose that city for his refuge. + Toulouse, the only town in France where the Inquisition took firm root and + flourished, Toulouse so perilous to Muret, so mortal to Dolet and Vanini, + ought, one might have fancied, to have been avoided by an innovator flying + from a charge of heresy.<a name="BFNanchor_87_87" id="BFNanchor_87_87"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> Still it must be + remembered that Toulouse was French. Italian influence did not reach so + far. Nor had Bruno committed himself even in thought to open rupture with + Catholicism. He held the opinion, so common at that epoch, so inexplicable + to us now, that the same man could countermine dogmatic theology as a + philosopher, while he maintained it as a Christian. This was the paradox + on which Pomponazzo based his apology, which kept Campanella within the + pale of the Church, and to which Bruno appealed for his justification when + afterwards arraigned before the Inquisitors at Venice. + </p> + <p> + It appears from his own autobiographical confessions that Bruno spent some + six months at Toulouse, lecturing in private on the peripatetic + psychology; after which time he obtained the degree of Doctor in + Philosophy, and was admitted to a Readership in the university. This post + he occupied two years. It was a matter of some moment <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB138" id="pageB138"></a>{138}</span> to him that professors at + Toulouse were not obliged to attend Mass. In his dubious position, as an + escaped friar and disguised priest, to partake of the Sacrament would have + been dangerous. Yet he now appears to have contemplated the possibility of + reconciling himself to the Church, and resuming his vows in the Dominican + order. He went so far as to open his mind upon this subject to a Jesuit; + and afterwards at Paris he again resorted to Jesuit advice. But these + conferences led to nothing. It may be presumed that the trial begun at + Naples and removed to Rome, combined with the circumstances of his flight + and recusant behavior, rendered the case too grave for compromise. No one + but the Pope in Rome could decide it. + </p> + <p> + There is no apparent reason why Bruno left Toulouse, except the + restlessness which had become a marked feature in his character. We find + him at Paris in 1579, where he at once began to lecture at the Sorbonne. + It seems to have been his practice now in every town he visited, to + combine private instruction with public disputation. His manners were + agreeable; his conversation was eloquent and witty. He found no difficulty + in gaining access to good society, especially in a city like Paris, which + was then thronged with Italian exiles and courtiers. Meanwhile his public + lectures met with less success than his private teaching. In conversation + with men of birth and liberal culture he was able to expound views + fascinating by their novelty and bold<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB139" id="pageB139"></a>{139}</span> ness. Before an academical + audience it behoved him to be circumspect; nor could he transgress the + formal methods of scholastic argumentation. + </p> + <p> + Two principal subjects seem to have formed the groundwork of his teaching + at this period. The first was the doctrine of the Thirty Divine + Attributes, based on S. Thomas of Aquino. The second was Lully's Art of + Memory and Classification of the Sciences. This twofold material he worked + up into a single treatise, called <i>De Umbris Idearum</i>, which he + published in 1582 at Paris, and which contains the germ of all his leading + speculations. Bruno's metaphysics attracted less attention than his + professed Art of Memory. In an age credulous of occult science, when men + believed that power over nature was being won by alchemy and magic, there + was no difficulty in persuading people that knowledge might be + communicated in its essence, and that the faculties of the mind could be + indefinitely extended, without a toilsome course of study. Whether Bruno + lent himself wittingly to any imposture in his exposition of mnemonics, + cannot be asserted. But it is certain that the public were led to expect + from his method more than it could give. + </p> + <p> + The fame of his Art of Memory reached the king's ears; and Henri III. sent + for him. 'The king, says Bruno, 'had me called one day, being desirous to + know whether the memory I possessed and professed, was natural or the + result of magic art. I gave him satisfaction; by my explanations and by + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB140" id="pageB140"></a>{140}</span> + demonstrations to his own experience, convincing him that it was not an + affair of magic but of science.' Henri, who might have been disappointed + by this result, was taken with his teacher, and appointed him Reader + Extraordinary—a post that did not oblige Bruno to hear Mass. The + Ordinary Readers at Paris had to conform to the usages of the Catholic + Church. On his side, Bruno appears to have conceived high admiration for + the king's ability. In the <i>Cena della Ceneri</i> and the <i>Spaccio + della Bestia Trionfante,</i> composed and published after he had left + France, he paid him compliments in terms of hyperbolical laudation. It + would be vain to comment on these facts. No one conversant with French + society at that epoch could have been ignorant of Henri's character and + vicious life. No one could have pretended that his employment of the + kingdom's wealth to enrich unworthy favorites was anything but + dishonorable, or have maintained that his flagrant effeminacy was + beneficial to society. The fantastic superstition which the king indulged + alternately with sensual extravagances, must have been odious to one whose + spiritual mistress was divine Sophia, and whose religion was an adoration + of the intellect for the One Cause. But Henri had one quality which seemed + of supreme excellence to Bruno. He appreciated speculation and encouraged + men of learning. A man so enthusiastic as our philosopher may have thought + that his own teaching could expel that Beast Triumphant of the vices <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB141" id="pageB141"></a>{141}</span> from a + royal heart tainted by bad education in a corrupt Court. Bruno, moreover, + it must be remembered, remained curiously inappreciative of the revolution + effected in humanity by Christian morals. Much that is repulsive to us in + the manners of the Valois, may have been indifferent to him. + </p> + <p> + Bruno had just passed his thirtieth year. He was a man of middling height, + spare figure, and olive complexion, wearing a short chestnut-colored + beard. He spoke with vivacity and copious rhetoric, aiming rather at force + than at purity of diction, indulging in trenchant metaphors to adumbrate + recondite thoughts, passing from grotesque images to impassioned flights + of declamation, blending acute arguments and pungent satires with grave + mystical discourses. The impression of originality produced by his + familiar conversation rendered him agreeable to princes. There was nothing + of the pedant in his nature, nothing about him of the doctor but his + title. + </p> + <p> + After a residence of rather less than four years in Paris, he resolved + upon a journey to England. Henri supplied him with letters of introduction + to the French ambassador in London, Michel de Castelnau de la Mauvissière. + This excellent man, who was then attempting to negotiate the marriage of + Elizabeth with the Duke of Anjou, received Bruno into his own family as + one of the gentlemen of his suite. Under his roof the wandering scholar + enjoyed a quiet home during the two years which he passed in England—years + that were undoubtedly the happiest, as <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB142" id="pageB142"></a>{142}</span> they were the most + industrious, of his checkered life. It is somewhat strange that Bruno left + no trace of his English visit in contemporary literature. Seven of his + most important works were printed in London, though they bore the impress + of Paris and Venice—for the very characteristic reason that English + people only cared for foreign publications. Four of these, on purely + metaphysical topics, were dedicated to Michel de Castelnau; two, treating + of moral and psychological questions, the famous <i>Spaccio della Bestia</i> + and <i>Gli eroici Furori</i>, were inscribed to Sidney. The <i>Cena delle + Ceneri</i> describes a supper party at the house of Fulke Greville; and it + is clear from numerous allusions scattered up and down these writings, + that their author was admitted on terms of familiarity to the best English + society. Yet no one mentions him. Fulke Greville in his Life of Sidney + passes him by in silence; nor am I aware that any one of Sidney's + panegyrists, the name of whom is legion, alludes to the homage paid him by + the Italian philosopher. + </p> + <p> + On his side, Bruno has bequeathed to us animated pictures of his life in + London, portraying the English of that period as they impressed a + sensitive Italian.<a name="BFNanchor_88_88" id="BFNanchor_88_88"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> His descriptions are + valuable, since they dwell on slight particulars unnoticed by ambassadors + in their dispatches. He was much struck with the filth and unkempt + desolation of the streets adjacent to the Thames, the rudeness of the + watermen who <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB143" id="pageB143"></a>{143}</span> + plied their craft upon the river, and the stalwart beef-eating brutality + of prentices and porters. The population of London displayed its antipathy + to foreigners by loud remarks, hustled them in narrow lanes, and played at + rough-and-tumble with them after the manners of a bear-garden. But there + is no hint that these big fellows shouldering through the crowd were + treacherous or ready with their knives. The servants of great houses + seemed to Bruno discourteous and savage; yet he says nothing about such + subtlety and vice as rendered the retainers of Italian nobles perilous to + order. He paints the broad portrait of a muscular and insolently insular + people, untainted by the evils of corrupt civilization. Mounting higher in + the social scale, Bruno renders deserved homage to the graceful and + unaffected manners of young English noblemen, from whom he singles Sidney + out as the star of cultivated chivalry.<a name="BFNanchor_89_89" + id="BFNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#BFootnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> + </p> + <p> + What he says about the well-born youth of England, shows that the flower + of our gentlefolk delighted Southern observers by their mixture of + simplicity and sweetness with good breeding and sound sense. For the + ladies of England he cannot find words fair enough to extol the beauties + of their persons and the purity of their affections. Elizabeth herself he + calls a goddess, <i>diva</i>, using phrases which were after<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB144" id="pageB144"></a>{144}</span> wards + recited in the terms of his indictment before the Inquisition. What + pleased him most in England, was the liberty of speech and thought he + there enjoyed.<a name="BFNanchor_90_90" id="BFNanchor_90_90"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> Society was so urbane, + government was so unsuspicious, that a man could venture to call things by + their proper names and speak his heart out without reserve. That Bruno's + panegyric was not prompted by any wish to flatter national vanity, is + proved by the hard truths he spoke about the grossness of the people, and + by his sarcasms on Oxford pedants. He also ventured to condemn in no + unmeasured terms some customs which surprised him in domestic intercourse. + He drew, for instance, a really gruesome picture of the loving-cup, as it + passed round the table, tasted by a mixed assemblage.<a + name="BFNanchor_91_91" id="BFNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#BFootnote_91_91" + class="fnanchor">[91]</a> + </p> + <p> + A visit paid by Bruno to Oxford forms a curious episode in his English + experiences. He found that university possessed by pedants and ignorant + professors of the old learning. 'Men of choice,' he calls them, 'trailing + their long velvet gowns, this one arrayed with two bright chains of gold + around his neck, that one, good heavens! with such a valuable hand—twelve + rings upon two fingers, giving him the look of some rich jeweler.'<a + name="BFNanchor_92_92" id="BFNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#BFootnote_92_92" + class="fnanchor">[92]</a> These excellent dons, blest in the possession of + fat fellowships, felt no sympathy for an eccentric interloper of Bruno's + stamp. They allowed him to lecture on the Soul and the Sphere. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB145" id="pageB145"></a>{145}</span> + They even condescended to dispute with him. Yet they made Oxford so + unpleasant a place of residence that after three months he returned to + London. The treatment he experienced rankled in his memory. 'Look where + you like at the present moment, you will find but doctors in grammar here; + for in this happy realm there reigns a constellation of pedantic stubborn + ignorance and presumption mixed with a rustic incivility that would + disturb Job's patience. If you do not believe it, go to Oxford, and ask to + hear what happened to the Nolan, when he disputed publicly with those + doctors of theology in the presence of the Polish Prince Alasco.<a + name="BFNanchor_93_93" id="BFNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#BFootnote_93_93" + class="fnanchor">[93]</a> Make them tell you how they answered to his + syllogisms; how the pitiful professor, whom they put before them on that + grave occasion as the Corypheus of their university, bungled fifteen times + with fifteen syllogisms, like a chicken in the stubble. Make them tell you + with what rudeness and discourtesy that pig behaved; what patience and + humanity he met from his opponent, who, in truth, proclaimed himself a + Neapolitan, born and brought up beneath more genial heavens. Then learn + after what fashion they brought his public lectures to an end, those on + the Immortality of the Soul and those on the Quintuple Sphere.'<a + name="BFNanchor_94_94" id="BFNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#BFootnote_94_94" + class="fnanchor">[94]</a> The Soul and the Sphere were Bruno's favorite + themes. He handled both at this period of life with startling audacity. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB146" id="pageB146"></a>{146}</span> + They had become for him the means of ventilating speculations on + terrestrial movement, on the multiplicity of habitable worlds, on the + principle of the universe, and on the infinite modes of psychical + metamorphosis. Such topics were not calculated to endear him to people of + importance on the banks of Isis. That he did not humor their prejudices, + appears from a Latin epistle which he sent before him by way of + introduction to the Vice Chancellor.<a name="BFNanchor_95_95" + id="BFNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#BFootnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> + It contains these pompous phrases: 'Philotheus Jordanus Brunus Nolanus + magis laboratae theologiae doctor, purioris et innocuae sapientiae + professor. In praecipuis Europae academiis notus, probatus et honorifice + exceptus philosophus. Nullibi praeterquam apud barbaros et ignobiles + peregrinus. Dormitantium animarum excubitor. Praesuntuosae et + recalcitrantis ignorantiae domitor. Qui in actibus universis generalem + philantropiam protestatur. Qui non magis Italum quam Britannum, marem quam + foeminam, mitratum quam coronatum, togatum quam armatum, cucullatum + hominem quam sine cucullo virum: sed ilium cujus pacatior, civilior, + fidelior et utilior est conversatio diligit.' Which may thus be Englished: + 'Giordano Bruno of Nola, the God-loving, of the more highly-wrought + theology doctor, of the purer and harmless wisdom professor. In the chief + universities of Europe known, approved, and honorably received as + philosopher. Nowhere save among barbarians and the ignoble a stranger. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB147" id="pageB147"></a>{147}</span> + The awakener of sleeping souls. The trampler upon presuming and + recalcitrant ignorance. Who in all his acts proclaims a universal + benevolence toward man. Who loveth not Italian more than Briton, male than + female, mitred than crowned head, gowned than armed, frocked than + frockless; but seeketh after him whose conversation is the more peaceful, + more civil, more loyal, and more profitable.' This manifesto, in the style + of a mountebank, must have sounded like a trumpet-blast to set the humdrum + English doctors with sleepy brains and moldy science on their guard + against a man whom they naturally regarded as an Italian charlatan. What, + indeed, was this more highly-wrought theology, this purer wisdom? What + call had this self-panegyrist to stir souls from comfortable slumbers? + What right had he to style the knowledge of his brethren ignorance? + Probably he was but some pestilent fellow, preaching unsound doctrine on + the Trinity, like Peter Martyr Vermigli, who had been properly hissed out + of Oxford a quarter of a century earlier. When Bruno arrived and lectured, + their worst prognostications were fulfilled. Did he not maintain a theory + of the universe which even that perilous speculator and political schemer, + Francis Bacon, sneered at as nugatory? + </p> + <p> + In spite of academical opposition, Bruno enjoyed fair weather, halcyon + months, in England. His description of the Ash Wednesday Supper at Fulke + Greville's, shows that a niche had been carved out <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB148" id="pageB148"></a>{148}</span> for him in London, where he + occupied a pedestal of some importance. Those gentlemen of Elizabeth's + Court did not certainly exaggerate the value of their Italian guest. In + Italy, most of them had met with spirits of Bruno's stamp, whom they had + not time or opportunity to prove. He was one among a hundred interesting + foreigners; and his martyrdom had not as yet set the crown of glory or of + shame upon his forehead. They probably accepted him as London society of + the present day accepts a theosophist from Simla or Thibet. But his real + home at this epoch, the only home, so far as I can see, that Bruno ever + had, after he left his mother at the age of thirteen for a convent, was + the house of Castelnau. The truest chords in the Italian's voice vibrate + when he speaks of that sound Frenchman. To Mme. de Castelnau he alludes + with respectful sincerity, paying her the moderate and well-weighed homage + which, for a noble woman, is the finest praise. There is no rhetoric in + the words he uses to express his sense of obligation to her kindness. They + are delicate, inspired with a tact which makes us trust the writer's sense + of fitness.<a name="BFNanchor_96_96" id="BFNanchor_96_96"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> But Bruno indulges in + softer phrases, drawn from the heart, and eminently characteristic of his + predominant enthusiastic mood, when he comes to talk of the little girl, + Marie, who brightened the home of the Castelnaus. 'What shall I say of + their noble-natured daughter? She has gazed upon the sun barely one luster + and one <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB149" id="pageB149"></a>{149}</span> + year; but so far as language goes, I know not how to judge whether she + springs from Italy or France or England! From her hand, touching the + instruments of music, no man could reckon if she be of corporate or + incorporeal substance. Her perfected goodness makes one marvel whether she + be flown from heaven, or be a creature of this common earth. It is at + least evident to every man that for the shaping of so fair a body the + blood of both her parents has contributed, while for the tissue of her + rare spirit the virtues of their heroic souls have been combined.'<a + name="BFNanchor_97_97" id="BFNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#BFootnote_97_97" + class="fnanchor">[97]</a> + </p> + <p> + It was time to leave these excellent and hospitable friends. 'Forth from + the tranquil to the trembling air' Bruno's unquiet impulse drove him. He + returned to Paris at the end of 1585, disputed before the Sorbonne with + some success of scandal, and then, disquieted by the disorders of the + realm, set out for Germany. We find him at Marburg in the following year, + ill-received by the University, but welcomed by the Prince. Thence we + follow him to Mainz, and afterwards to Wittenberg, where he spent two + years. Here he conceived a high opinion of the Germans. He foresaw that + when they turned their attention from theology to science and pure + speculation, great results might be expected from their solid intellectual + capacity. He seems in fact to have taken a pretty accurate measure of the + race as it has subsequently shown itself. Wittenberg he called the German + Athens. Luther, he recog<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB150" + id="pageB150"></a>{150}</span> nized as a hero of humanity, who, like + himself, defied authority in the defense of truth. Yet he felt no sympathy + for the German reformers. When asked by the Inquisitors at Venice what he + thought about these men, he replied: 'I regard them as more ignorant than + I am. I despise them and their doctrines. They do not deserve the name of + theologians, but of pedants.' That this reply was sincere, is abundantly + proved by passages in the least orthodox of Bruno's writings. It was the + weakness of a philosopher's position at that moment that he derived no + support from either of the camps into which Christendom was then divided. + Catholics and Protestants of every shade regarded him with mistrust. + </p> + <p> + A change in the religious policy of Saxony, introduced after the death of + the Elector Augustus, caused Bruno to leave Wittenberg for Prague in 1588. + From Prague he passed to Helmstädt, where the Duke Heinrich Julius of + Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel received him with distinction, and bestowed on + him a purse of eighty dollars.<a name="BFNanchor_98_98" + id="BFNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#BFootnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> + Here he conceived two of his most important works, the <i>De Monade</i> + and <i>De Triplici Minimo</i>, both written in Latin hexameters.<a + name="BFNanchor_99_99" id="BFNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#BFootnote_99_99" + class="fnanchor">[99]</a> Why he adopted this new form of exposition is + not manifest. Possibly he was tired of dialogues, through which he had + expressed his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB151" id="pageB151"></a>{151}</span> + thought so freely in England. Possibly a German public would have been + indifferent to Italian. Possibly he was emulous of his old masters, + Parmenides and Lucretius. + </p> + <p> + At Helmstädt he came into collision with Boetius, the rector of the + Evangelical church, who issued a sentence of excommunication against him. + Like a new Odysseus, he set forth once again upon his voyage, and in the + spring of 1590 anchored in Frankfort on the Main. A convent (that of the + Carmelites) sheltered him in this city, where he lived on terms of + intimacy with the printers Wechel and Fischer, and other men of learning. + It would appear from evidence laid before the Venetian Inquisitors that + the prior of the monastery judged him to be a man of genius and doctrine, + devoid of definite religion, addicted to fantastic studies, and bent on + the elaboration of a philosophy that should supersede existing creeds.<a + name="BFNanchor_100_100" id="BFNanchor_100_100"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> This was a not + inaccurate portrait of Bruno as he then appeared to conservatives of + commonplace capacity. Yet nothing occurred to irritate him in the shape of + persecution or disturbance. Bruno worked in quiet at Frankfort, pouring + forth thousands of metaphysical verses, some at least of which were + committed to the press in three volumes published by the Wechels. + </p> + <p> + Between Frankfort and Italy literary communications were kept open through + the medium of the great fair, which took place every year at Michael<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB152" id="pageB152"></a>{152}</span> mas.<a + name="BFNanchor_101_101" id="BFNanchor_101_101"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> Books formed one of + the principal commodities, and the Italian bibliopoles traveled across the + Alps to transact business on these important occasions. It happened by + such means that a work of Bruno's, perhaps the <i>De Monude</i>, found its + way to Venice.<a name="BFNanchor_102_102" id="BFNanchor_102_102"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> Exposed on the + counter of Giambattista Ciotto, then plying the trade of bookseller in + that city, this treatise met the eyes of a Venetian gentleman called + Giovanni Mocenigo. He belonged to one of the most illustrious of the still + surviving noble families in Venice. The long line of their palaces upon + the Grand Canal has impressed the mind of every tourist. One of these + houses, it may be remarked, was occupied by Lord Byron, who, had he known + of Bruno's connection with the Mocenighi, would undoubtedly have given to + the world a poem or a drama on the fate of our philosopher. Giovanni + Mocenigo was a man verging on middle life, superstitious, acknowledging + the dominion of his priest, but alive in a furtive way to perilous ideas. + Morally, he stands before us as a twofold traitor: a traitor to his + Church, so long as he hoped to gain illicit power by magic arts; a traitor + to his guest, so soon as he discovered that his soul's risk brought + himself no profit.<a name="BFNanchor_103_103" id="BFNanchor_103_103"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> He seems to have + imagined <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB153" id="pageB153"></a>{153}</span> + that Bruno might teach him occult science or direct him on a royal way to + knowledge without strenuous study. Subsequent events proved that, though + he had no solid culture, he was fascinated by the expectation of + discovering some great secret. It was the vice of the age to confound + science with sorcery, and Bruno had lent himself to this delusion by his + whimsical style. Perhaps the booksellers, who then played a part scarcely + less prominent than that of the barbers in diffusing gossip, inflamed + Mocenigo's curiosity by painting the author of the puzzling volume in + seductive colors. Any how this man sent two letters, one through Ciotto, + and one direct to Bruno, praying him to visit Venice, professing his + desire for instruction, and offering him an honorable place of residence. + </p> + <p> + In an evil hour Bruno accepted this invitation. No doubt he longed to see + Italy again after so many years of exile. Certainly he had the right to + believe that he would find hospitality and a safe refuge in Venice. Had + not a Venetian noble pledged his word for the former? Was not the latter a + privilege which S. Mark extended to all suppliants? The Republic professed + to shield even the outlaws of the Inquisition, if they claimed her + jurisdiction. There was therefore no palpable imprudence in the step which + Bruno now took. Yet he took it under circumstances which would have made a + cautious man <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB154" id="pageB154"></a>{154}</span> + mistrustful. Of Mocenigo he knew merely nothing. But he did know that + writs from the Holy Office had been out against himself in Italy for many + years, during which he had spent his time in conversing with heretics and + printing works of more than questionable orthodoxy.<a + name="BFNanchor_104_104" id="BFNanchor_104_104"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> Nothing proves the + force of the vagrant's impulse which possessed Bruno, more than his light + and ready consent to Giovanni Mocenigo's proposal. + </p> + <p> + He set off at once from Frankfort, leaving the MS. of one of his + metaphysical poems in Wechel's hands to print, and found himself at the + end of 1591 a guest of his unknown patron. I have already described what + Mocenigo hoped to gain from Bruno—the arts of memory and invention, + together with glimpses into occult science.<a name="BFNanchor_105_105" + id="BFNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#BFootnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> + We know how little Bruno was able to satisfy an in satiable curiosity in + such matters. One of his main weaknesses was a habit of boasting and + exaggerating his own powers, which at first imposed upon a vulgar audience + and then left them under the impression that he was a charlatan. The + bookseller Ciotto learned from students who had conversed with him at + Frankfort, that 'he professed an art of memory and other secrets in the + sciences, but that all the persons who had dealt with him in such matters, + had left him discontinued.'<a name="BFNanchor_106_106" + id="BFNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#BFootnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB155" id="pageB155"></a>{155}</span> + Another weakness in his character was extraordinary want of caution. + Having lived about the world so long, and changed from town to town, + supporting himself as he best could, he had acquired the custom of + attracting notice by startling paradoxes. Nor does he seem to have cared + to whom he made the dangerous confidence of his esoteric beliefs. His + public writings, presumably composed with a certain circumspection—since + everybody knows the proverb <i>litera scripta manet</i>—contain such + perilous stuff that—when we consider what their author may have let + fall in unguarded conversation—we are prepared to credit the charges + brought against him by Mocenigo. For it must now be said that this man, + 'induced by the obligation of his conscience and by order of his + confessor,' denounced Bruno to the Inquisition on May 23, 1592. + </p> + <p> + When the two men, so entirely opposite in their natures, first came + together, Bruno began to instruct his patron in the famous art of memory + and mathematics. At the same time he discoursed freely and copiously, + according to his wont, upon his own philosophy. Mocenigo took no interest + in metaphysics, and was terrified by the audacity of Bruno's speculations. + It enraged him to find how meager was Bruno's vaunted method for acquiring + and retaining knowledge without pains. In his secret heart he believed + that the teacher whom he had maintained at a considerable cost, was + withholding the occult knowledge he so much coveted. Bruno, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB156" id="pageB156"></a>{156}</span> + meanwhile, attended Andrea Morosini's receptions in the palace at S. Luca, + and frequented those of Bernardo Secchini at the sign of the Golden Ship + in the Merceria. He made friends with scholars and men of fashion; + absented himself for weeks together at Padua; showed that he was tired of + Mocenigo; and ended by rousing that man's suspicious jealousy. Mocenigo + felt that he had been deceived by an impostor, who, instead of furnishing + the wares for which he bargained, put him off with declamations on the + nature of the universe. What was even more terrible, he became convinced + that this charlatan was an obstinate heretic. + </p> + <p> + Whether Bruno perceived the gathering of the storm above his head, whether + he was only wearied with the importunities of his host, or whether, as he + told the Inquisitors, he wished to superintend the publication of some + books at Frankfort, does not greatly signify. At any rate, he begged + Mocenigo to excuse him from further attendance, since he meant to leave + Venice. This happened on Thursday, May 21. Next day, Mocenigo sent his + bodyservant together with five or six gondoliers into Bruno's apartment, + seized him, and had him locked up in a ground-floor room of the palace. At + the same time he laid hands on all Bruno's effects, including the MS. of + one important treatise <i>On the Seven Liberal Arts</i>, which was about + to be dedicated to Pope Clement VIII. This, together with other + unpublished works, exists probably in the<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB157" id="pageB157"></a>{157}</span> Vatican Archives, having + been sent with the papers referring to Bruno's trial from Venice when he + was transported to Rome. The following day, which was a Saturday, Mocenigo + caused Bruno to be carried to one of those cellars (<i>magazzeni terreni</i>) + which are used in Venice for storing wood, merchandise or implements + belonging to gondolas. In the evening, a Captain of the Council of Ten + removed him to the dungeons of the Inquisition. On the same day, May 23, + Mocenigo lodged his denunciation with the Holy Office. + </p> + <p> + The heads of this accusation, extracted from the first report and from two + subsequent additions made by the delator, amount to these. Though Bruno + was adverse to religions altogether, he preferred the Catholic to any + other; but he believed it to stand in need of thorough reform. The + doctrines of the Trinity, the miraculous birth of Christ, and + transubstantiation, were insults to the Divine Being. Christ had seduced + the people by working apparent miracles. So also had the Apostles. To + develop a new philosophy which should supersede religions, and to prove + his superiority in knowledge over S. Thomas and all the theologians, was + Bruno's cherished scheme. He did not believe in the punishment of sins; + but held a doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and of the generation + of the human soul from refuse. The world he thought to be eternal. He + maintained that there were infinite worlds, all made by God, who wills to + do what he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB158" id="pageB158"></a>{158}</span> + can do, and therefore produces infinity. The religious orders of + Catholicism defile the earth by evil life, hypocrisy, and avarice. All + friars are only asses. Indulgence in carnal pleasures ought not to be + reckoned sinful. The man confessed to having freely satisfied his passions + to the utmost of his opportunities. + </p> + <p> + On being questioned before the Inquisitors, Mocenigo supported these + charges. He added that when he had threatened Bruno with delation, Bruno + replied, first, that he did not believe he would betray his confidence by + making private conversation the groundwork of criminal charges; secondly, + that the utmost the Inquisition could do, would be to inflict some penance + and force him to resume the cowl. These, which are important assertions, + bearing the mark of truth, throw light on his want of caution in dealing + with Mocenigo, and explain the attitude he afterwards assumed before the + Holy Office. + </p> + <p> + Mocenigo's accusations in the main yield evidences of sincerity. They are + exactly what we should expect from the distortion of Bruno's doctrines by + a mind incapable of comprehending them. In short, they are as veracious as + the image of a face reflected on a spoon. Certain gross details (the + charges, for example, of having called Christ a <i>tristo</i> who was + deservedly hung, and of having sneered at the virginity of Mary) may + possibly have emanated from the delator's own imagination.<a + name="BFNanchor_107_107" id="BFNanchor_107_107"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB159" id="pageB159"></a>{159}</span> + Bruno emphatically repudiated these; though some passages in his + philosophical poems, published at Frankfort, contain the substance of + their blasphemies. A man of Mocenigo's stamp probably thought that he was + faithfully representing the heretic's views, while in reality he was + drawing his own gross conclusions from skeptical utterances about the + origin of Christianity which he obscurely understood. It does not seem + incredible, however, that Bruno, who was never nice in his choice of + language, and who certainly despised historical Christianity, let fall + crude witticisms upon such and other points in Mocenigo's presence. + </p> + <p> + Bruno appeared before the Venetian Inquisition on May 29. His examination + was continued at intervals from this date till July 30. His depositions + consist for the most part of an autobiographical statement which he + volunteered, and of a frank elucidation of his philosophical doctrines in + their relation to orthodox belief. While reading the lengthy pages of his + trial, we seem to overhear a man conversing confidentially with judges + from whom he expected liberal sympathy. Over and over again, he relies for + his defense upon the old distinction between philosophy and faith, + claiming to have advocated views as a thinker which he does not hold as a + Christian. 'In all my books I have used philosophical methods of + definition according to the principles and light of nature, not taking + chief regard of that which ought to be held in faith; <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB160" id="pageB160"></a>{160}</span> and I believe they do not + contain anything which can support the accusation that I have professedly + impugned religion rather than that I have sought to exalt philosophy; + though I may have expounded many impieties based upon my natural light.'<a + name="BFNanchor_108_108" id="BFNanchor_108_108"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> In another place he + uses the antithesis, 'speaking like a Christian and according to theology'—'speaking + after the manner of philosophy.'<a name="BFNanchor_109_109" + id="BFNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#BFootnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> + The same antithesis is employed to justify his doctrine of metempsychosis: + 'Speaking as a Catholic, souls do not pass from one body into another, but + go to paradise or purgatory or hell; yet, following philosophical + reasonings, I have argued that, the soul being inexistent without the body + and inexistent in the body, it can be indifferently in one or in another + body, and can pass from one into another, which, if it be not true, seems + at any rate probable according to the opinion of Pythagoras.'<a + name="BFNanchor_110_110" id="BFNanchor_110_110"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> + </p> + <p> + That he expected no severe punishment appears from the terms of his + so-called recantation. 'I said that I wished to present myself before the + feet of his Holiness with certain books which I approve, though I have + published others which I do not now approve; whereby I meant to say that + some works composed and published by me do not meet with my approbation, + inasmuch as in these I have spoken and discussed too philosophically, in + unseemly wise, not altogether as a good Christian ought; in particular I + know that in some of these works I have taught and philosophically held + things which ought <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB161" id="pageB161"></a>{161}</span> + to be attributed to the power, wisdom and goodness of God according to the + Christian faith, founding doctrine in such matters on sense and reason, + not upon faith.'<a name="BFNanchor_111_111" id="BFNanchor_111_111"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> At the very end of + his examination, he placed himself in the hands of his judges, 'confessing + his errors with a willing mind,' acknowledging that he had 'erred and + strayed from the Church,' begging for such castigation as shall not 'bring + public dishonor on the sacred robe which he had worn,' and promising to + 'show a noteworthy reform, and to recompense the scandal he had caused by + edification at least equal in magnitude.'<a name="BFNanchor_112_112" + id="BFNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#BFootnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> + These professions he made upon his knees, evincing clearly, as it seems to + me, that at this epoch he was ready to rejoin the Dominican order, and + that, as he affirmed to Mocenigo, he expected no worse punishment than + this. + </p> + <p> + In attempting to estimate Bruno's recantation, we must remember that he + felt no sympathy at all for heretics. When questioned about them, he was + able to quote passages from his own works in which he called the + Reformation a Deformation of religion.<a name="BFNanchor_113_113" + id="BFNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#BFootnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> + Lutheran and Calvinist theologians were alike pedants in his eyes.<a + name="BFNanchor_114_114" id="BFNanchor_114_114"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> There is no doubt + that Bruno meant what he said; and had he been compelled to choose one of + the existing religions, he would have preferred Catholicism. He was, in + fact, at a period of life when he wished to dedicate his time in quiet to + metaphysical studies. He had matured his philo<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB162" id="pageB162"></a>{162}</span> sophy and brought it to a + point at which he thought it could be presented as a peace-offering to the + Supreme Pontiff. Conformity to ecclesiastical observances seemed no longer + irksome to the world-experienced, wide-reaching mind of the man. Nor does + he appear to have anticipated that his formal submission would not be + readily accepted. He reckoned strangely, in this matter, without the + murderous host into whose clutches he had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Searching interrogations touching other heads in the evidence against him, + as blasphemous remarks on sacred persons, intercourse with heretics, abuse + of the religious orders, dealings in magic arts, licentious principles of + conduct, were answered by Bruno with a frank assurance, which proves his + good conscience in essentials and his firm expectation of a favorable + issue to the affair. Mocenigo had described him as <i>indemoniato</i>; and + considering the manifest peril in which he now stood, there is something + scarcely sane in the confidence he showed. For Mocenigo himself he + reserved words of bitterest scorn and indignation. When questioned in the + usual terms whether he had enemies at Venice, he replied: 'I know of none + but Ser Giovanni Mocenigo and his train of servants. By him I have been + grievously injured, more so than by living man, seeing he has murdered me + in my life, my honor and my property, having imprisoned me in his own + house and stolen all my writings, books, and other effects. And this he + did because he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB163" id="pageB163"></a>{163}</span> + not only wished that I should teach him everything I know, but also wished + to prevent my teaching it to any one but him. He has continued to threaten + me upon the points of life and honor, unless I should teach him everything + I knew.'<a name="BFNanchor_115_115" id="BFNanchor_115_115"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> + </p> + <p> + The scene closes over Bruno in the Venetian Inquisition on July 30, 1592. + We do not behold him again till he enters the Minerva at Rome to receive + his death-sentence on February 9, 1600. What happened in the interval is + almost a blank. An exchange of letters took place between Rome and Venice + concerning his extradition, and the Republic made some show of reluctance + to part with a refugee within its jurisdiction. But this diplomatic affair + was settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and Bruno disappeared + into the dungeons of the Roman Inquisition in the month of January 1593. + </p> + <p> + Seven years of imprisonment was a long period.<a name="BFNanchor_116_116" + id="BFNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#BFootnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> + </p> + <p> + We find it hard to understand why Bruno's prosecution occupied the Holy + Office through this space of time. But conjectures on the subject are now + useless. Equally futile is it to speculate whether Bruno offered to + conform in life and doctrine to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB164" + id="pageB164"></a>{164}</span> Church at Rome as he had done at Venice. + The temptation to do so must have been great. Most probably he begged for + grace, but grace was not accorded on his own terms; and he chose death + rather than dishonor and a lie in the last resort, or rather than + life-long incarceration. It is also singular that but few contemporaries + mention the fact of his condemnation and execution. Rome was crowded in + the jubilee year of 1600. Bruno was burned in open daylight on the Campo + di Fiora. Yet the only eye-witness who records the event, is Gaspar + Schoppe, or Scioppius, who wrote a letter on the subject to his friend + Rittershausen. Kepler, eight years afterwards, informed his correspondent + Breugger that Bruno had been really burned: 'he bore his agonizing death + with fortitude, abiding by the asseveration that all religions are vain, + and that God identifies himself with the world, circumference and center.' + Kepler, it may be observed, conceived a high opinion of Bruno's + speculations, and pointed him out to Galileo as the man who had divined + the infinity of solar systems in their correlation to one infinite order + of the universe.<a name="BFNanchor_117_117" id="BFNanchor_117_117"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB165" id="pageB165"></a>{165}</span> + Scioppius was a German humanist of the elder Italianated type, an elegant + Latin stylist, who commented indifferently on the <i>Priapeia</i> and the + Stoic philosophy. He abjured Protestantism, and like Muretus, sold his pen + to Rome. The Jesuits, in his pompous panegyric, were first saluted as 'the + praetorian cohort of the camp of God.' Afterwards, when he quarreled with + their Order, he showered invectives on them in the manner of a Poggio or + Filelfo. The literary infamies of the fifteenth century reappeared in his + polemical attacks on Protestants, and in his satires upon Scaliger. Yet he + was a man of versatile talents and considerable erudition. It must be + mentioned in his honor that he visited Campanella in his prison, and + exerted himself for his liberation. Campanella dedicated his <i>Atheismus + Triumphatus</i> to Scioppius, calling him 'the dawn-star of our age.' + Schoppe was also the first credible authority to warn Sarpi of the + imminent peril he ran from Roman hired assassins, as I hope to relate in + my chapter upon Sarpi's life. This man's letter to his friend is the + single trustworthy document which we possess regarding the last hours of + Bruno. Its inaccuracies on minor points may be held to corroborate his + testimony. + </p> + <p> + Scioppius refers to Bruno's early heresies on Transubstantiation and the + Virginity of Mary. He alludes to the <i>Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante</i>, + as though it had been a libel on the Pope.<a name="BFNanchor_118_118" + id="BFNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#BFootnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB166" id="pageB166"></a>{166}</span> He + then enumerates Bruno's heterodox opinions, which had been recited in the + public condemnation pronounced on the heresiarch. 'Horrible and most + utterly absurd are the views he entertained, as, for example, that there + are innumerable worlds; that the soul migrates from body to body, yea into + another world, and that one soul can inform two bodies; that magic is good + and lawful; that the Holy Spirit is nothing but the Soul of the World, + which Moses meant when he wrote that it brooded on the waters; that the + world has existed from eternity; that Moses wrought his miracles by magic, + being more versed therein than the Egyptians, and that he composed his own + laws; that the Holy Scriptures are a dream, and that the devils will be + saved; that only the Jews descend from Adam and Eve, the rest of men from + that pair whom God created earlier; that Christ is not God, but that he + was an eminent magician who deluded mankind, and was therefore rightly + hanged, not crucified; that the prophets and Apostles were men of naught, + magicians, and for the most part hanged: in short, without detailing all + the monstrosities in which his books abound, and which he maintained in + conversation, it may be summed up in one word that he defended every error + that has been advanced by pagan philosophers or by heretics of earlier and + present times.' Accepting this list as tolerably faithful to the terms of + Bruno's sentence, heard by Scioppius in the hall of Minerva, we can see + how Mocenigo's accusation had been verified by reference to his published + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB167" id="pageB167"></a>{167}</span> + works. The <i>De Monade</i> and <i>De Triplici</i> contain enough + heterodoxy to substantiate each point. + </p> + <p> + On February 9, Bruno was brought before the Holy Office at S. Maria sopra + Minerva. In the presence of assembled Cardinals, theologians, and civil + magistrates, his heresies were first recited. Then he was excommunicated, + and degraded from his priestly and monastic offices. Lastly, he was handed + over to the secular arm, 'to be punished with all clemency and without + effusion of blood.' This meant in plain language to be burned alive. + Thereupon Bruno uttered the memorable and monumental words: 'Peradventure + ye pronounce this sentence on me with a greater fear than I receive it.' + They were the last words he spoke in public. He was removed to the prisons + of the State, where he remained eight days, in order that he might have + time to repent. But he continued obdurate. Being an apostate priest and a + relapsed heretic, he could hope for no remission of his sentence. + Therefore, on February 17, he marched to a certain and horrible death. The + stake was built up on the Campo di Fiora. Just before the wood was set on + fire, they offered him the crucifix.<a name="BFNanchor_119_119" + id="BFNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#BFootnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> + He turned his face away from it in stern disdain. It was not Christ but + his own soul, wherein he believed the Diety resided, that sustained Bruno + at the supreme moment. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB168" id="pageB168"></a>{168}</span> No + cry, no groan, escaped his lips. Thus, as Scioppius affectedly remarked, + 'he perished miserably in flames, and went to report in those other worlds + of his imagination, how blasphemous and impious men are handled by the + Romans.' + </p> + <p> + Whatever we may think of the good taste of Bruno's sarcasms upon the faith + in which he had been bred—and it is certain that he never rightly + apprehended Christianity in its essence—there is no doubt he died a + valiant martyr to the truth as he conceived it. 'His death like that of + Paleario, Carnesecchi, and so many more, no less than countless exiles + suffered for religious causes, are a proof that in Italy men had begun to + recognize their obligation to a faith, the duty of obedience to a thought: + an immense progress, not sufficiently appreciated even by modern + historians.'<a name="BFNanchor_120_120" id="BFNanchor_120_120"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> Bruno was a hero in + the battle for the freedom of the conscience, for the right of man to + think and speak in liberty.<a name="BFNanchor_121_121" + id="BFNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#BFootnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> + </p> + <p> + Just five years before this memorable 17th of February, Tasso had passed + quietly away in S. Onofrio. 'How dissimilar in genius and fortune,' + exclaims Berti, 'were these men, though born under <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB169" id="pageB169"></a>{169}</span> the same skies, though in + childhood they breathed the same air! Tasso a Christian and poet of the + cross; Bruno hostile to all religious symbols. The one, tired and + disillusioned of the world, ends his days in the repose of the convent; + the other sets out from the convent to expire upon the scaffold, turning + his eyes away from the crucifix.'<a name="BFNanchor_122_122" + id="BFNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#BFootnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> + And yet how much alike in some important circumstances of their lives were + these two men! Both wanderers, possessed by that spirit of vagrancy which + is the outward expression of an inner restlessness. The unfrocked friar, + the courtier out of service, had no home in Italy. Both were pursued by an + oestrum corresponding to the intellectual perturbations which closed the + sixteenth century, so different from the idyllic calm that rested upon + Ariosto and the artists of its opening years. Sufficient justice has not + yet been done in history to the Italian wanderers and exiles of this + period, men who carried the spirit of the Renaissance abroad, after the + Renaissance had ended in Italy, to the extremest verges of the civilized + world. An enumeration of their names, an examination of their services to + modern thought, would show how puissant was the intellectual influence of + Italy in that period of her political decadence.<a name="BFNanchor_123_123" + id="BFNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#BFootnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> + </p> + <p> + Bruno has to be treated from two distinct but <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB170" id="pageB170"></a>{170}</span> interdependent points of + view—in his relation to contemporary thought and the Renaissance; + and in his relation to the evolution of modern philosophy—as the + critic of mediaeval speculation and the champion of sixteenth-century + enthusiasm; and also as the precursor of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, + Schelling, Hegel, Darwin. + </p> + <p> + From the former of these two points of view Bruno appears before us as the + man who most vitally and comprehensively grasped the leading tendencies of + his age in their intellectual essence. He left behind him the mediaeval + conception of an extra-mundane God, creating a finite world, of which this + globe is the center, and the principal episode in the history of which is + the series of events from the Fall, through the Incarnation and + Crucifixion, to the Last Judgment.<a name="BFNanchor_124_124" + id="BFNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#BFootnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> + He substituted the conception of an ever-living, ever-acting, + ever-self-effectuating God, immanent in an infinite universe, to the + contemplation of whose attributes the mind of man ascends by study of + Nature and interrogation of his conscience. The rehabilitation of the + physical world and of humanity as part of its order, which the Renaissance + had already indirectly effected through the medium of arts and literature + and modes of life, found in Bruno an impassioned metaphysical supporter. + He divinized Nature, not by degrading the Deity to matter, but by lifting + matter <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB171" id="pageB171"></a>{171}</span> + to participation in the divine existence. The Renaissance had proclaimed + the dignity of man considered as a mundane creature, and not in his + relation to a hypothetical other-world. It abundantly manifested the + beauty and the joy afforded by existence on this planet, and laughingly + discarded past theological determinations to the contrary of its new + Gospel. Bruno undertook the systematization of Renaissance intuitions; + declared the divine reality of Nature and of man; demonstrated that we + cannot speculate God, cannot think ourselves, cannot envisage the + universe, except under the form of one living, infinite, eternal, + divinely-sustained and soul-penetrated complex. He repudiated authority of + every sort, refusing to acknowledge the decrees of the Church, freely + criticising past philosophers, availing himself of all that seemed to him + substantial in their speculations, but appealing in the last resort to + that inner witness, that light of reason, which corresponds in the mental + order to conscience in the moral. As he deified Nature, so he emancipated + man as forming with Nature an integral part of the supreme Being. He was + led upon this path to combat Aristotle and to satirize Christian beliefs, + with a subtlety of scholastic argumentation and an acerbity of rhetoric + that now pass for antiquated. Much that is obsolete in his writings must + be referred to the polemical necessities of an age enthralled by + peripatetic conceptions, and saturated with the ecclesiastical divinity of + the schoolmen. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB172" id="pageB172"></a>{172}</span> + These forces of the philosophy he sought to supersede, had to be attacked + with their own weapons and by methods adapted to the spirit of his age. + Similar judgment may be passed upon his championship of the Copernican + system. That system was the pivot of his metaphysic, the revelation to + which he owed his own conception of the universe. His strenuous and + ingenious endeavors to prove its veracity, his elaborate and + often-repeated refutations of the Ptolemaic theory, appear to modern minds + superfluous. But we must remember what a deeply-penetrating, + widely-working revolution Copernicus effected in cosmology, how he + dislocated the whole fabric upon which Catholic theology rested, how new + and unintelligible his doctrine then seemed, and what vast horizons he + opened for speculation on the destinies of man. Bruno was the first fully + to grasp the importance of the Copernican hypothesis, to perceive its + issues and to adapt it to the formation of a new ontology. Copernicus, + though he proclaimed the central position of the sun in our system, had + not ventured to maintain the infinity of the universe. For him, as for the + elder physicists, there remained a sphere of fixed stars inclosing the + world perceived by our senses within walls of crystal. Bruno broke those + walls, and boldly asserted the now recognized existence of numberless + worlds in space illimitable. His originality lies in the clear and + comprehensive notion he formed of the Copernican discovery, and in his + application of its corollaries to the<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB173" id="pageB173"></a>{173}</span> Renaissance apocalypse of + deified nature and emancipated man. The deductions he drew were so + manifold and so acute that they enabled him to forecast the course which + human thought has followed in all provinces of speculation. + </p> + <p> + This leads us to consider how Bruno is related to modern science and + philosophy. The main point seems to be that he obtained a vivid mental + picture (<i>Vorstellung</i>) of the physical universe, differing but + little in essentials from that which has now come to be generally + accepted. In reasoning from this concept as a starting-point, he formed + opinions upon problems of theology, ontology, biology and psychology, + which placed him out of harmony with medaeival thought, and in agreement + with the thought of our own time. Why this was so, can easily be + explained. Bruno, first of all philosophers, adapted science, in the + modern sense of that term, to metaphysic. He was the first to perceive + that a revolution in our conception of the material universe, so momentous + as that effected by Copernicus, necessitated a new theology and a new + philosophical method. Man had ceased to be the center of all things; this + globe was no longer 'the hub of the universe,' but a small speck floating + on infinity. The Christian scheme of the Fall and the Redemption, if not + absolutely incompatible with the new cosmology was rendered by it less + conceivable in any literal sense. Some of the main points on which the + early Christians based their faith, and which had <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB174" id="pageB174"></a>{174}</span> hardened into dogmas + through the course of centuries—such, for instance, as the Ascension + and the Second Advent—ceased to have their old significance. In a + world where there was neither up nor down, the translation of a corporeal + Deity to some place above the clouds, whence he would descend to judge men + at the last day, had only a grotesque or a symbolic meaning; whereas to + the first disciples, imbued with theories of a fixed celestial sphere, it + presented a solemn and apparently well-founded expectation. The + fundamental doctrine of the Incarnation, in like manner, lost + intelligibility and value, when God had to be thought no longer as the + Creator of a finite cosmos, but as a Being commensurate with infinity. It + was clear to a mind so acute as Bruno's that the dogmas of the Church were + correlated to a view of the world which had been superseded; and he drew + the logical inference that they were at bottom but poetical and popular + adumbrations of the Deity in terms concordant with erroneous physical + notions. Aristotle and Ptolemy, the masters of philosophy and cosmography + based upon a theory of the universe as finite and circumscribed within + fixed limits, lent admirable aid to the theological constructions of the + Middle Ages. The Church, adopting their science, gave metaphysical and + logical consistency to those earlier poetical and popular conceptions of + the religious sense. The <i>naïf</i> hopes and romantic mythologies + of the first Christians stiffened into syllogisms and ossified in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB175" id="pageB175"></a>{175}</span> the huge + fabric of the <i>Summa</i>. But Aristotle and Ptolemy were now dethroned. + Bruno, in a far truer sense than Democritus before him, + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i24">extra<br /> </span> <span>Processit longe flammantia + moenia mundi.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Bolder even than Copernicus, and nearer in his intuition to the truth, he + denied that the universe had 'flaming walls' or any walls at all. That + 'immaginata circonferenza,' 'quella margine immaginata del cielo,' on + which antique science and Christian theology alike reposed, was the object + of his ceaseless satire, his oft-repeated polemic. What, then, rendered + Bruno the precursor of modern thought in its various manifestations, was + that he grasped the fundamental truth upon which modern science rests, and + foresaw the conclusions which must be drawn from it. He speculated boldly, + incoherently, vehemently; but he speculated with a clear conception of the + universe, as we still apprehend it. Through the course of three centuries + we have been engaged in verifying the guesses, deepening, broadening and + solidifying the hypotheses, which Bruno's extension of the Copernican + theory, and his application of it to pure thought, suggested to his + penetrating and audacious intellect, Bruno was convinced that religion in + its higher essence would not suffer from the new philosophy. Larger + horizons extended before the human intellect. The soul expanded in more + exhilarating regions than the old theologies had offered. The sense of the + Divine in Nature, instead of dwindling down <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB176" id="pageB176"></a>{176}</span> to atheism, received fresh + stimulus from the immeasurable prospect of an infinite and living + universe. Bruno, even more than Spinoza, was a God-intoxicated man. The + inebriation of the Renaissance, inspired by golden visions of truth and + knowledge close within man's grasp, inflamed with joy at escaping from + out-worn wearying formula into what appeared to be the simple intuition of + an everlasting verity, pulses through all his utterances. He has the same + cherubic confidence in the renascent age, that charms us in the work of + Rabelais. The slow, painful, often thwarted, ever more dubious elaboration + of modern metaphysic in <i>rapport</i> with modern science—that + process which, after completing the cycle of all knowledge and sounding + the fathomless depth of all ignorance, has left us in grave + disillusionment and sturdy patience—swam before Bruno in a rapturous + vision. The Inquisition and the stake put an end abruptly to his dream. + But the dream was so golden, so divine, that it was worth the pangs of + martyrdom. Can we say the same for Hegel's system, or for Schopenhauers or + for the encyclopaedic ingenuity of Herbert Spencer? + </p> + <p> + Bruno imagined the universe as infinite space, filled with ether, in which + an infinite number of worlds, or solar systems resembling our own, + composed of similar materials and inhabited by countless living creatures, + move with freedom. The whole of this infinite and complex cosmos he + conceived to be animated by a single principle of thought and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB177" id="pageB177"></a>{177}</span> life. + This indwelling force, or God, he described in Platonic phraseology + sometimes as the Anima Mundi, sometimes as the Artificer, who by working + from within molds infinite substance into an infinity of finite modes. + Though we are compelled to think of the world under the two categories of + spirit and matter, these apparently contradictory constituents are forever + reconciled and harmonized in the divine existence, whereof illimitable + activity, illimitable volition, and illimitable potentiality are + correlated and reciprocally necessary terms. In Aristotelian language, + Bruno assumed infinite form and infinite matter as movements of an eternal + process, by which the infinite unity manifests itself in concrete reality. + This being the case, it follows that nothing exists which has not life, + and is not part of God. The universe itself is one immeasurable animal, or + animated Being. The solar systems are huge animals; the globes are lesser + animals; and so forth down to the monad of molecular cohesion. As the + universe is infinite and eternal, motion, place and time do not qualify + it; these are terms applicable only to the finite parts of which it is + composed. For the same reason nothing in the universe can perish. What we + call birth and death, generation and dissolution, is only the passage of + the infinite, and homogeneous entity through successive phases of finite + and differentiated existence; this continuous process of exchange and + transformation being stimulated and sustained by attraction and repulsion, + pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB178" id="pageB178"></a>{178}</span> + perties of the indwelling divine soul aiming at self-realization. + </p> + <p> + Having formed this conception, Bruno supported it by metaphysical + demonstration, and deduced conclusions bearing on psychology, religion, + ethics. Much of his polemic was directed against the deeply-rooted notion + of a finite world derived from Aristotle. Much was devoted to the proof of + the Copernican discovery. Orthodox theology was indirectly combated or + plausibly caressed. There are consequently many pages in his dialogues + which do not interest a modern reader, seeing that we have outlived the + conditions of thought that rendered them important. In the process of his + argument, he established the theory of a philosophical belief, a religion + of religions, or 'religione della mente,' as he phrased it, prior to and + comprehensive of all historical creeds. He speculated, as probabilities, + the transmigration of souls, and the interchangeability of types in living + creatures. He further postulated a concordance between the order of + thought and the order of existence in the universe, and inclined to the + doctrine of necessity in morals. Bruno thus obtained <i>per saltum</i> a + prospect over the whole domain of knowledge subsequently traversed by + rationalism in metaphysics, theology and ethics. In the course of these + demonstrations and deductions he anticipated Descartes' position of the + identity of mind and being. He supplied Spinoza with the substance of his + reasoned pantheism; Leibnitz with his theory <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB179" id="pageB179"></a>{179}</span> of monadism and + pre-established harmony. He laid down Hegel's doctrine of contraries, and + perceived that thought was a dialectic process. The modern theory of + evolution was enunciated by him in pretty plain terms. He had grasped the + physical law of the conservation of energy. He solved the problem of evil + by defining it to be a relative condition of imperfect development. He + denied that Paradise or a Golden Age is possible for man, or that, if + possible, it can be considered higher in the moral scale than organic + struggle toward completion by reconciliation of opposites through pain and + labor. He sketched in outline the comparative study of religions, which is + now beginning to be recognized as the proper basis for theology. Finally, + he had a firm and vital hold upon that supreme speculation of the + universe, considered no longer as the battle-ground of dual principles, or + as the finite fabric of an almighty designer, but as the self-effectuation + of an infinite unity, appearing to our intelligence as spirit and matter—that + speculation which in one shape or another controls the course of modern + thought.<a name="BFNanchor_125_125" id="BFNanchor_125_125"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB180" id="pageB180"></a>{180}</span> It + must not be supposed that Bruno apprehended these points with + distinctness, or that he expressed them precisely in the forms with which + we are familiar. The hackneyed metaphor of a Pisgah view across the + promised land applies to him with singular propriety. Moreover, as an + acute critic has remarked, things old and new are so curiously blended in + his writings that what at first sight appears modern, is often found upon + reflection to be antique, and what is couched in obsolete scholastic + terminology, turns out upon analysis to contain the germs of advanced + theories.<a name="BFNanchor_126_126" id="BFNanchor_126_126"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> The peculiar forms + adapted for the exposition of his thoughts contribute to the difficulty of + obtaining a methodical view of Bruno's philosophy. It has, therefore, been + disputed whether he was a pantheist or an atheist, a materialist or a + spiritualist, a mystic or an agnostic. No one would have contended more + earnestly than Bruno himself, that the sage can hold each and all of these + apparent contradictions together, with the exception of atheism; which + last is a simple impossibility. The fragmentary and impassioned exposition + which Bruno gave to his opinions in a series of Italian dialogues and + Latin poems will not discourage those of his admirers who estimate the + conspicuous failure made by all elaborate system-builders from Aristotle + to Hegel. To fathom the mystery of the world, and to express that mystery + in terms of logic, is clearly beyond the faculty of man. Phil<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB181" id="pageB181"></a>{181}</span> osophies + that aim at universe-embracing, God-explaining, nature-elucidating, + man-illuminating, comprehensiveness, have justly, therefore, become + objects of suspicion. The utmost that man can do, placed as he is at + obvious disadvantages for obtaining a complete survey of the whole, is to + whet his intelligence upon confessedly insoluble problems, to extend the + sphere of his practical experience, to improve his dominion over matter, + to study the elevation of his moral nature, and to encourage himself for + positive achievements by the indulgence in those glorious dreams from + which regenerative creeds and inspiring philosophies have sprung— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Still climbing after knowledge infinite,<br /> </span> <span>And + ever moving as the restless spheres.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Faith and poetry are the highest regions in which his spirit can + profitably move. The study of government, law, and social ethics, the + analysis of physical conditions to which he is subject, and over which he + has an undefined, though limited, control, form the practical sphere of + his intelligence. Bruno traversed these regions; and, forasmuch as the + outcome of his exploration was no system, but a congeries of poetic + visions, shrewd guesses, profound intuitions, and passionate enthusiasms, + bound together and sustained by a burning sense of the Divine unity in + nature and in man, we may be permitted to regard him as more fortunate + than those cloud-castle-builders whose classifications of absolute + existences are successively proved by the advance of relative know<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB182" id="pageB182"></a>{182}</span> ledge to + be but catalogues of some few objects apprehended by the vision of each + partially-instructed age. We have, indeed, reason to marvel how many of + Bruno's intuitions have formed the stuff of later, more elaborated + systems, and still remain the best which these contain. We have reason to + wonder how many of his divinations have worked themselves into the common + fund of modern beliefs, and have become philosophical truisms. + </p> + <p> + It is probable that if Bruno's career had not been cut short by the + dungeon and the stake at the early age of thirty-four, he might have + produced some final work in which his theories would have assumed a formal + shape. It is possible that the Vatican even now contains the first sketch + for such a studied exposition in the treatise on the Seven Arts, which + Giovanni Mocenigo handed over to the Inquisition, and which the + philosopher intended to dedicate to Clement VIII. But the loss of this + elaborated system is hardly to be regretted, except for the clearer light + it must have thrown upon the workings of the most illuminated intellect in + the sixteenth century. We know that it could not have revealed to us the + secret of things. + </p> + <p> + Bruno cast his thoughts in two molds: the dialogue, and Latin hexameters. + He was attracted to the latter by his early study of Parmenides and + Lucretius. The former seems to have been natural to the man. We must not + forget that he was a Neapolitan, accustomed from childhood to <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB183" id="pageB183"></a>{183}</span> the + farces of his native land, vividly alive to the comic aspects of + existence, and joyously appreciative of reality. His first known + composition was a comedy, <i>Il Candelajo</i>; and something of the drama + can be traced in all those Italian compositions which distinguish the + period of his activity as an author in London. Lucian rather than Plato or + Cicero determined the form of his dialogue. An element of the burlesque + distinguishes his method of approaching religious and moral problems in + the <i>Spaccio della Bestia</i>, and the <i>Cavallo Pegaseo</i>. And + though he exchanged the manner of his model for more serious exposition in + the trio of metaphysical dialogues, named <i>La Cena delle Ceneri, Della + Causa</i>, and <i>Dell' Infinito Universo</i>, yet the irresistible + tendency to dramatic satire emerges even there in the description of + England and in the characters of the indispensable pedant buffoon. His + dialogue on the <i>Eroici Furori</i> is sustained at a high pitch of + aspiring fervor. Mystical in its attempt to adumbrate the soul's thirst + for truth and beauty, it adopts the method of a running commentary upon + poems, in the manner of a discursive and fantastic <i>Vita Nuova</i>. In + his Italian style, Bruno owed much to the fashion set by Aretino. The + study of Aretino's comedies is apparent in <i>Il Candelajo</i>. The + stringing together of words and ideas in triplets, balanced by a second + set of words and ideas in antithetical triplets—this trick of + rhetoric, which wearies a modern reader of his prose, seems to have been + copied straight from<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB184" id="pageB184"></a>{184}</span> + Aretino. The coinage of fantastic titles, of which <i>Lo Spaccio della + Bestia Trionfante</i> contributed in some appreciable degree to Bruno's + martyrdom, should be ascribed to the same influence. The source of these + literary affectations was a bad one. Aretino, Doni, and such folk were no + fit masters for Giordano Bruno even in so slight a matter as artistic + form. Yet, in this respect, he shared a corrupt taste which was common to + his generation, and proved how fully he represented the age in which he + lived. It is not improbable that the few contemporary readers of his + works, especially in euphuistic England, admired the gewgaws he so + plentifully scattered and rendered so brilliant by the coruscations of his + wit. When, however, the real divine oestrum descends upon him, he discards + those follies. Then his language, like his thought, is all his own: + sublime, impassioned, burning, turbid; instinct with a deep volcanic fire + of genuine enthusiasm. The thought is simple; the diction direct; the + attitude of mind and the turn of expression are singularly living, + surprisingly modern. We hear the man speak, as he spoke at Fulke + Greville's supper-party, as he spoke at Oxford, as he spoke before the + Sorbonne, as he might be speaking now. There is no air of literary effort, + no tincture of antiquated style, in these masculine utterances. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB185" id="pageB185"></a>{185}</span> + </p> + <h4> + FRA PAOLO SARPI + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Sarpi's Position in the History of Venice—Parents and Boyhood—Entrance + into the Order of the Servites—His Personal Qualities—Achievements + as a Scholar and Man of Science—His Life among the Servites—In + Bad Odor at Rome—Paul V. places Venice under Interdict—Sarpi + elected Theologian and Counselor of the Republic—His Polemical + Writings—Views on Church and State—The Interdict Removed—Roman + Vengeance—Sarpi attacked by Bravi—His Wounds, Illness, + Recovery—Subsequent History of the Assassins—Further + Attempts on Sarpi's Life—Sarpi's Political and Historical Works—History + of the Council of Trent—Sarpi's Attitude toward Protestantism—His + Judgment of the Jesuits—Sarpi's Death—The Christian Stoic. + </p> + </div> + <p> + Fra Paolo was the son of Francesco Sarpi and Isabella Morelli, Venetians + of the humbler middle class. He was born in 1552, christened Pietro, and + nicknamed Pierino because of his diminutive stature. On entering the Order + of the Servites he adopted the religious name of Paolo, which he + subsequently rendered famous throughout Europe. Since he died in 1623, + Sarpi's life coincided with a period of supreme interest and manifold + vicissitudes in the decline of Venice. After the battle of Lepanto in + 1571, he saw the nobles of S. Mark welcome their victorious admiral + Sebastiano Veniero and confer on him the honors of the Dogeship. In 1606, + he aided the Republic to withstand the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB186" id="pageB186"></a>{186}</span> thunders of the Vatican and + defy the excommunication of a Pope. Eight years later he attended at those + councils of state which unmasked the conspiracy, known as Bedmar's, to + destroy Venice. In his early manhood Cyprus had been wrested from the + hands of S. Mark; and inasmuch as the Venetians alone sustained the cause + of Christian civilization against Turk and pirate in the Eastern seas, he + was able before his death to anticipate the ruin which the war of Candia + subsequently brought upon his country. During the last eighteen years of + his existence Sarpi was the intellect of the Republic; the man of will and + mind who gave voice and vigor to her policy of independence; the statesman + who most clearly penetrated the conditions of her strength and weakness. + This friar incarnated the Venetian spirit at a moment when, upon the verge + of decadence, it had attained self-consciousness; and so instinctively + devoted are Venetians to their State that in his lifetime he was + recognized by them as hero, and after his death venerated as saint. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had the dispute with Paul V. been compromised, than Sarpi + noticed how the aristocracy of Venice yielded themselves to sloth and + political indifference. The religious obsequiousness to Rome and the + 'peace or rather cowardice of slaves,' which were gradually immersing + Italy in mental torpor and luxurious idleness, invaded this last + stronghold of freedom. Though Sarpi's Christian Stoicism and <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB187" id="pageB187"></a>{187}</span> + practical sagacity saved him from playing the then futile part of public + agitator, his private correspondence shows how low his hope had sunk for + Italy. Nothing but a general war could free her from the yoke of arrogant + Rome and foreign despotism. Meanwhile the Papal Court, Spain and the House + of Austria, having everything to lose by contest, preserved the peace of + Italy at any cost. Princes whose petty thrones depended on Spanish and + Papal good-will, dreaded to disturb the equilibrium of servitude; the + population, dulled by superstition, emasculated by Jesuitical corruption + and intimidated by Church tyranny, slumbered in the gross mud-honey of + slavish pleasures. From his cell in the convent of the Servites Sarpi + swept the whole political horizon, eagerly anticipating some dawn-star of + deliverance. At one time his eyes rested on the Duke of Savoy, but that + unquiet spirit failed to steer his course clear between Spanish and French + interests, Roman jealousies, and the ill-concealed hostilities of Italian + potentates. At another time, like all lovers of freedom throughout Europe, + he looked with confidence to Henri IV. But a fanatic's dagger, sharpened + by the Jesuits, cut short the monarch's life and gave up France to the + government of astute Florentine adventurers. Germany was too distracted by + internal dissensions, Holland too distant and preoccupied with her own + struggle for existence, to offer immediate aid. It was in vain that Sarpi + told his foreign correspondents that the war of liberty <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB188" id="pageB188"></a>{188}</span> in + Europe must be carried into the stronghold of absolutism. To secure a + victory over the triple forces of Spain, the Papal Court and Jesuitry, + Rome had to be attacked in Italy. His reasoning was correct. But peoples + fighting for freedom on their native soil could not risk an adventure + which only some central power of the first magnitude like France might + have conducted with fair prospect of success. In the meantime what Sarpi + called the Diacatholicon, that absolutist alliance of Rome, Spain and + Austria, supported by the Inquisition and the Jesuits, accepted by the + states of Italy and firmly rooted in some parts of Germany, invaded even + those provinces where the traditions of independence still survived. After + 1610 the Jesuits obtained possession of France; and though they did not + effect their re-entrance into Venice, the ruling classes of the Republic + allowed themselves to be drugged by the prevalent narcotic. Venice, too, + was fighting for her life in the Adriatic and the Levant, while her nobles + became daily more supine in aristocratic leisure, more papalizing in their + private sympathies. Thus the last years of Sarpi's life were overclouded + by a deep discouragement, which did not, indeed, extinguish his trust in + the divine Providence or his certain belief that the right would + ultimately prevail, but which adds a tragic interest to the old age of + this champion of political and moral liberty fallen on evil days. + </p> + <p> + I have thought it well to preface what I have to say about Sarpi with this + forecast of his final attitude.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB189" + id="pageB189"></a>{189}</span> As the Italian who most clearly + comprehended the full consequences of the Catholic Revival, and who + practically resisted what was evil for his nation in that reactionary + movement, he demands a prominent place in this book. On his claims to + scientific discoveries and his special service rendered to the Venetian + Republic it will suffice to touch but lightly. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi's father was short of stature, brown-complexioned, choleric and + restless. His mother was tall, pale, lymphatic, devoted to religious + exercises and austerities. The son of their ill-assorted wedlock inherited + something of both temperaments. In his face and eyes he resembled his + mother; and he derived from her the piety which marked his course through + life. His short, spare person, his vivid, ever-active intellect testified + to the paternal impress. This blending of two diverse strains produced in + him a singular tenacity of fiber. Man's tenement of clay has rarely lodged + a spirit so passionless, so fine, so nearly disembodied. Of extreme + physical tenuity, but gifted with inexhaustible mental energy, + indefatigable in study, limitless in capacity for acquiring and retaining + knowledge, he accentuated the type which nature gave him by the sustained + habits of a lifetime. In diet he abstained from flesh and abhorred wine. + His habitual weaknesses were those of one who subdues the body to mental + government. As costive as Scaliger,<a name="BFNanchor_127_127" + id="BFNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#BFootnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> + Sarpi suffered from hepa<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB190" + id="pageB190"></a>{190}</span> tic hemorrhage, retention of urine, + prolapsus recti, and hemorrhoids. Intermittent fevers reduced his + strength, but rarely interfered with his activity. He refused to treat + himself as an invalid, never altered his course of life for any illness, + and went about his daily avocations when men of laxer tissue would have + taken to their bed. His indifference to danger was that of the Stoic or + the Mussulman. During a period of fifteen years he knew that restless foes + were continually lying in wait to compass his death by poison or the + dagger. Yet he could hardly be persuaded to use the most ordinary + precautions. 'I am resolved,' he wrote, in 1609, 'to give no thought + whatever to these wretchednesses. He who thinks too much of living knows + not how to live well. One is bound to die once; to be curious about the + day or place or manner of dying is unprofitable. Whatsoever is God's will + is good.'<a name="BFNanchor_128_128" id="BFNanchor_128_128"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> As fear had no hold + upon his nature, so was he wholly free from the dominion of the senses. A + woman's name, if we except that of the Queen of France, is, I think, not + once mentioned in his correspondence. Even natural affections seem to have + been obliterated; for he records nothing of his mother or his father or a + sister who survived their deaths. One suit of clothes sufficed him; and + his cell was furnished with three hour-glasses, a picture of Christ in the + Garden, and a crucifix raised above a human skull. + </p> + <p> + His physical sensitiveness, developed by austerity of life, was <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB191" id="pageB191"></a>{191}</span> of the + highest acuteness. Sight, touch, and taste in him acquired the most + exquisite delicacy. He was wont to say that he feared no poison in his + food, since he could discriminate the least adulteration of natural + flavors. His mental perspicacity was equally subtle. As a boy he could + recite thirty lines of Virgil after hearing them read over once. Books + were not so much perused by him as penetrated at a glance; and what he had + but casually noticed, never afterwards escaped his memory. In the vast + Venetian archives he could lay his hand on any document without referring + to registers or catalogues. The minutest details of houses visited or + places passed through, remained indelibly engraved upon his memory. The + characters of men lay open to his insight through their physiognomy and + gestures. When new scientific instruments were submitted to his curiosity, + he divined their uses and comprehended their mechanism without effort. + Thus endowed with a rare combination of physical and intellectual + faculties, it is no wonder that Sarpi became one of the most learned men + of his age or of any age. He was an excellent Greek, Latin, and Hebrew + scholar; an adequate master of the French and Spanish languages; + profoundly versed in canon and civil law; accomplished in the erudition of + classical and scholastic philosophy; thoroughly acquainted with secular + and ecclesiastical history. Every branch of mathematics and natural + science had been explored by him with the enthusiasm of a <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB192" id="pageB192"></a>{192}</span> pioneer. + He made experiments in chemistry, mechanics, mineralogy, metallurgy, + vegetable and animal physiology. His practical studies in anatomy were + carried on by the aid of vivisection. Following independent paths, he + worked out some of Gilbert's discoveries in magnetism, and of Da Porta's + in optics, demonstrated the valves of the veins, and the function of the + uvea in vision, divined the uses of the telescope and thermometer. When he + turned his attention to astronomy, he at once declared the futility of + judicial astrology; and while recognizing the validity of Galileo's + system, predicted that this truth would involve its promulgator in serious + difficulties with the Roman Inquisition. In his treatises on psychology + and metaphysics, he originated a theory of sensationalism akin to that of + Locke. There was, in fact, no field of knowledge which he had not + traversed with the energy of a discoverer. Only to poetry and <i>belles + lettres</i> he paid but little heed, disdaining the puerilities of + rhetoric then in vogue, and using language as the simplest vehicle of + thought. In conversation he was reticent, speaking little, but always to + the purpose, and rather choosing to stimulate his collocutors than to make + display of eloquence or erudition. Yet his company was eagerly sought, and + he delighted in the society, not only of learned men and students, but of + travelers, politicians, merchants, and citizens of the world. His favorite + places of resort were the saloons of Andrea Morosini, and the shop of the + Secchini at the sign of the Nave <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB193" + id="pageB193"></a>{193}</span> d'Oro. Here, after days spent in religious + exercises, sacerdotal duties, and prolonged studies, he relaxed his mind + in converse with the miscellaneous crowd of eminent persons who visited + Venice for business or pleasure. A certain subacid humor, combining irony + without bitterness, and proverbial pungency without sententiousness, added + piquancy to his discourse. We have, unfortunately, no record of the + wit-encounters which may have taken place under Morosini's or Secchini's + roof between this friar, so punctual in his religious observances, so + scrupulously pure in conduct, so cold in temperament, so acute in + intellect, so modest in self-esteem, so cautious, so impermeable, and his + contemporary, Bruno, the unfrocked friar of genius more daring but less + sure, who was mentally in all points, saving their common love of truth + and freedom, the opposite to Sarpi. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi entered the Order of the Servi, or Servants of the Blessed Virgin, + at the age of fourteen, renewed his vows at twenty, and was ordained + priest at twenty-two.<a name="BFNanchor_129_129" id="BFNanchor_129_129"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> His great worth + brought him early into notice, and he filled posts of considerable + importance in his Order. Several years of his manhood were spent in Rome, + transacting the business and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB194" + id="pageB194"></a>{194}</span> conducting the legal causes of the Fathers. + At Mantua he gained the esteem of Guglielmo Gonzaga. At Milan he was + admitted to familiar intimacy with the sainted Carlo Borromeo, who + consulted him upon matters of reform in the diocese, and insisted on his + hearing confessions. This duty was not agreeable to Sarpi; and though he + habitually in after life said Mass and preached, he abstained from those + functions of the priesthood which would have brought him into close + relation with individuals. The bent of his mind rendered him averse to all + forms of superstition and sacerdotal encroachments upon the freedom of the + conscience. As he fought the battle of political independence against + ecclesiastical aggression, so he maintained the prerogatives of personal + liberty. The arts whereby Jesuits gained hold on families and individuals, + inspired in him no less disgust than the illegal despotism of the Papacy. + This blending of sincere piety and moral rectitude with a passion for + secular freedom and a hatred of priestly craft, has something in it + closely akin to the English temperament. Sarpi was a sound Catholic + Christian in religion, and in politics what we should call a staunch Whig. + So far as it is now possible to penetrate his somewhat baffling + personality, we might compare him to a Macaulay of finer edge, to a Dean + Stanley of more vigorous build. He was less commonplace than the one, more + substantial than the other. But we must be cautious in offering any + interpretation of his real opinions. It was <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB195" id="pageB195"></a>{195}</span> not for nothing that he + dedicated himself to the monastic life in boyhood, and persevered in it to + the end of his long career. The discipline of the convent renders every + friar inscrutable; and Sarpi himself assured his friends that he, like all + Italians of his day, was bound to wear a mask.<a name="BFNanchor_130_130" + id="BFNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#BFootnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> + </p> + <p> + Be this as it may, Sarpi was not the man to work his way by monkish + intrigue or courtly service into high place either in his Order or the + Church. Long before he unsheathed the sword in defense of Venetian + liberties, he had become an object of suspicion to Rome and his superiors. + Some frank words which escaped him in correspondence, regarding the + corruption of the Papal Curia, closed every avenue to office. Men of less + mark obtained the purple. The meanest and poorest bishoprics were refused + to Sarpi. He was thrice denounced, on frivolous charges, to the + Inquisition; but on each occasion the indictment was dismissed without a + hearing. The General of the Servites accused him of wearing cap and + slippers uncanonical in cut, and of not reciting the <i>Salve Regina</i>. + After a solemn trial, Sarpi was acquitted; and it came to be proverbially + whispered that 'even the slippers of the incorruptible Fra Paolo had been + canonized.' Being a sincere Catholic at heart, as well as a man of + profound learning and prudent speech, his papalistic enemies could get no + grip upon him. Yet they instinctively hated and dreaded one whom they felt + to be opposed, in his strength, fear<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB196" id="pageB196"></a>{196}</span> lessness and freedom of + soul, to their exorbitant pretensions and underhand aggressions upon + public liberties. His commerce with heretics both in correspondence with + learned Frenchmen and in conversation with distinguished foreigners at + Venice, was made a ground of accusation, and Clement VIII. declared that + this alone sufficed to exclude him from any dignity in the Church. + </p> + <p> + It does not appear that Sarpi troubled his head about these things. Had he + cared for power, there was no distinction to which he might not have + aspired by stooping to common arts and by compromising his liberty of + conscience. But he was indifferent to rank and wealth. Public business he + discharged upon occasion from a sense of duty to his Order. For the rest, + so long as he was left to pursue his studies in tranquillity, Sarpi had + happiness enough; and his modesty was so great that he did not even seek + to publish the results of his discoveries in science. For this reason they + have now been lost to the world; only the memory of them surviving in the + notes of Foscarini and Grisellini, who inspected his MSS. before they were + accidentally destroyed by fire in 1769. + </p> + <p> + Though renowned through Europe as the <i>orbis terrae ocellus</i>, the man + sought out by every visitor to Venice as the rarest citizen of the + Republic, Sarpi might have quitted this earthly scene with only the faint + fame of a thinker whose eminent gifts blossomed in obscurity, had it not + been for a public opportunity which forced him to forsake his studies and + his cell <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB197" id="pageB197"></a>{197}</span> + for a place at the Council-board and for the functions of a polemical + writer. That robust manliness of mind, which makes an Englishman hail + English virtues in Sarpi, led him to affirm that 'every man of excellence + is bound to pay attention to politics.'<a name="BFNanchor_131_131" + id="BFNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#BFootnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> + Yet politics were not his special sphere. Up to the age of fifty-four he + ripened in the assiduous studies of which I have made mention, in the + discharge of his official duties as a friar, and his religious duties as a + priest. He had distinguished himself amid the practical affairs of life by + judicial acuteness, unswerving justice, infallible perspicacity, and + inexhaustible stores of erudition brought to bear with facility on every + detail of any matter in dispute. But nature and inclination seemed to mark + him out through early manhood for experimental and speculative science + rather than for action. Now a demand was made on his deep fount of energy, + which evolved the latent forces of a character unique in many-sided + strength. He had dedicated himself to religion and to the pursuit of + knowledge. But he was a Venetian of the Venetians, the very soul of + Venice. After God, his Prince and the Republic claimed obedience; and when + S. Mark called, Sarpi abandoned science for the service of his country. + 'Singularly composed of active and contemplative energies was the life of + our Father; yielding to God that which he was able, to his Prince that + which duty dictated, and to the domain of Venice more than any law but + that of love demanded.'<a name="BFNanchor_132_132" id="BFNanchor_132_132"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB198" id="pageB198"></a>{198}</span> + </p> + <p> + Paul V. assumed the tiara with the fixed resolve of making good the Papal + claims to supremacy. Between Venice and the Holy See numerous disputed + points of jurisdiction, relating to the semi-ecclesiastical fief of + Ceneda, the investiture of the Patriarch, the navigation of the Po, and + the right of the Republic to exercise judgment in criminal cases affecting + priests, offered this Pope opportunities of interference. The Venetians + maintained their customary prerogatives; and in April 1606 Paul laid them + under interdict and excommunication. The Republic denied the legitimacy of + this proceeding. The Doge, Leonardo Donato, issued a proclamation to the + clergy of all degrees within the domain, appealing to their loyalty and + enjoining on them the discharge of their sacerdotal duties in spite of the + Papal interdict. Only Jesuits at first disobeyed the ducal mandate. When + they refused to say Mass in the excommunicated city, they were formally + expelled as contumacious subjects; and the fathers took ship amid the + maledictions of the populace: '<i>Andate in malora</i>.' Their example was + subsequently followed by the reformed Capuchins and the Theatines. + Otherwise the Venetian clergy, like the people, remained firm in their + allegiance to the state. 'We are Venetians first, Christians afterwards,' + was a proverb dating from this incident. Venice, conscious of the justice + of her cause, prepared to resist the Pope's arrogant demands if need were + with arms, and to exercise religious rites within her towns in spite of + Camillo Borghese's <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB199" id="pageB199"></a>{199}</span> + excommunication. The Senate, some time before these events happened, had + perceived the advantage which would accrue to the Republic from the + service of a practised Canonist and jurisprudent in ecclesiastical + affairs. Sarpi attracted their attention at an early stage of the dispute + by a memorial which he drew up and presented to the Doge upon the best + means of repelling Papal aggression. After perusing his report, in the + month of January 1606, they appointed him Theologian and Canonist to the + Republic, with a yearly salary of 200 ducats. This post he occupied until + his death, having at a later period been raised to the still more + important office of Counselor of State, which eventually he filled alone + without a single coadjutor. + </p> + <p> + From the month of January 1606, for the remaining seventeen years of his + life, Sarpi was intellectually the most prominent personage of Venice, the + man who for the world at large represented her policy of moderate but firm + resistance to ecclesiastical tyranny. Greatness had been thrust upon the + modest and retiring student; and Father Paul's name became the watchword + of political independence throughout Europe. + </p> + <p> + The Jesuists acting in concert with Spain, as well-informed historians + held certain, first inspired Camillo Borghese with his ill-considered + attempt upon the liberties of Venice.<a name="BFNanchor_133_133" + id="BFNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#BFootnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> + It was now the Jesuits, after <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB200" + id="pageB200"></a>{200}</span> their expulsion from the Republic, who + opened the batteries of literary warfare against the Venetian government. + They wrote and published manifestoes through the Bergamasque territory, + which province acknowledged the episcopal jurisdiction of Milan, though it + belonged to the Venetian domain. In these writings it was argued that, so + long as the Papal interdict remained in force, all sacraments would be + invalid, marriages null, and offspring illegitimate. The population, + trained already in doctrines of Papal supremacy, were warned that should + they remain loyal to a contumacious State, their own souls would perish + through the lack of sacerdotal ministrations, and their posterity would + roam the world as bastards and accursed. To traverse this argument of + sarcerdotal tyranny, exorbitant in any age of the Latin Church, but + preposterous after the illumination of the sixteenth century in Europe, + was a citizen's plain duty. Sarpi therefore supplied an elegant Italian + stylist, Giambattista Leoni, with material for setting forth a statement + of the controversy between Venice and Rome. It would have been well if he + had taken up the pen with his own hand. But at this early period of his + career as publicist, he seems to have been diffident about his literary + powers. The result was that Leoni's main defense of the Republic fell + flat; and the war was waged for a while upon side issues. Sarpi drew a + treatise by Gerson, the learned French champion of Catholic independence, + forth from the dust of libraries, trans<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB201" id="pageB201"></a>{201}</span> lated it into Italian, and + gave it to the press accompanied by an introductory letter which he + signed.<a name="BFNanchor_134_134" id="BFNanchor_134_134"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> Cardinal Bellarmino + responded from Rome with an attack on Sarpi's orthodoxy and Gerson's + authority. Sarpi replied in an Apology for Gerson. Then, finding that + Leoni's narrative had missed its mark, he poured forth pamphlet upon + pamphlet, penning his own <i>Considerations on the Censures</i>, inspiring + Fra Fulgenzio Micanzi with a work styled <i>Confirmations</i>, and finally + reducing the whole matter of the controversy into a book entitled a <i>Treatise + on the Interdict</i>, which he signed together with six brother + theologians of the Venetian party. It is not needful in this place to + institute a minute investigation into the merits of this pamphlet warfare. + In its details, whether we regard the haughty claims of delegated + omnipotence advanced by Rome, or the carefully studied historical and + canonistic arguments built up by Sarpi, the quarrel has lost actuality. + Common sense and freedom have so far conquered in Europe that Sarpi's + opinions, then denounced as heresies, sound now like truisms; and his + candid boast that he was the first to break the neck of Papal + encroachments upon secular prerogative, may pass for insignificant in an + age which has little to fear from ecclesiastical violence. + </p> + <p> + Yet we must not forget that, during the first <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB202" id="pageB202"></a>{202}</span> years of the seventeenth + century, the Venetian conflict with Papal absolutism, considered merely as + a test-case in international jurisprudence, was one of vitally important + interest. When we reflect how the Catholic Alliance was then engaged in + rolling back the tide of Reformation, how the forces of Rome had been + rallied by the Tridentine Council, and how the organism of the Jesuits had + been created to promulgate new dogmas of Papal almightiness in Church and + State, this resistance of Venice, stoutly Catholic in creed, valiant in + her defense of Christendom against the Moslem, supported by her faithful + churchman and accomplished canonist, was no inconsiderable factor in the + European strife for light and liberty. The occasion was one of crucial + gravity. Reconstituted Rome had not as yet been brought into abrupt + collision with any commonwealth which abode in her communion. Had Venice + yielded in that issue, the Papacy might have augured for itself a general + victory. That Venice finally submitted to Roman influence, while + preserving the semblance of independence, detracts, indeed, from the + importance of this Interdict-affair considered as an episode in the + struggle for spiritual freedom. Moreover, we know now that the + presumptuous pretensions of the Papacy at large were destined, before many + years had passed, to be pared down, diminished and obliterated by the mere + advance of intellectual enlightenment. Yet none of these considerations + diminish Sarpi's claim to rank as hero in <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB203" id="pageB203"></a>{203}</span> the forefront of a battle + which in his time was being waged with still uncertain prospects.<a + name="BFNanchor_135_135" id="BFNanchor_135_135"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> In their + comparatively narrow spheres Venice and Sarpi, not less than Holland, + England, Sweden and the Protestants of Germany, on their wider platform at + a later date, were fighting for a principle upon which the liberty of + States depended. And they were the first to fight for it upon the ground + most perilous to the common adversary. In all his writings Sarpi sought to + prove that men might remain sound Catholics and yet resist Roman + aggression; that the Roman Court and its modern champions had introduced + new doctrine, deviating from the pristine polity of Christendom; that the + post-Tridentine theory of Papal absolutism was a deformation of that order + which Christ founded, which the Apostles edified, and which the Councils + of a purer age had built into the living temple of God's Church on earth. + </p> + <p> + A passage from Sarpi's correspondence may be cited, as sounding the + keynote to all his writings in this famous controversy. 'I imagine,' he + writes to Jacques Gillot in 1609, 'that the State and the Church are two + realms, composed, however, of the same human beings. The one is wholly + heavenly, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB204" id="pageB204"></a>{204}</span> + the other earthly. Each has its own sovereignty, defended by its own arms + and fortifications. Nothing is held by them in common, and there should be + no occasion for the one to declare war upon the other. Christ said that he + and his disciples were not of this world. S. Paul affirms that our city is + in the heavens. I take the word Church to signify an assembly of the + faithful, not of priests only; for when we regard it as confined to those, + it ceases to be Christ's kingdom, and becomes a portion of the + commonwealth in this world, subject to the highest authority of State, as + also are the laity.<a name="BFNanchor_136_136" id="BFNanchor_136_136"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> This emphatic + distinction between Church and State, both fulfilling the needs of + humanity but in diverse relations, lay at the root of Sarpi's doctrine. He + regarded the claim of the Church to interfere in State management, not + only as an infringement of the prince's prerogative, but also as patent + rebellion against the law of God which had committed the temporal + government of nations in sacred trust to secular rulers. As the State has + no call to meddle in the creation and promulgation of dogmas, or to impose + its ordinances on the religious conscience of its subjects, so the Church + has no right to tamper with affairs of government, to accumulate wealth + and arrogate secular power, or to withdraw its ministers from the + jurisdiction of the prince in matters which concern the operation of + criminal and civil legislature. The ultramontanism of the Jesuits appeared + to him destructive of social <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB205" + id="pageB205"></a>{205}</span> order; but, more than this, he considered + it as impious, as a deflection from the form of Christian economy, as a + mischievous seduction of the Church into a slough of self-annihilating + cupidity and concupiscence. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi's views seemed audacious in his own age. But they have become the + commonplaces of posterity. We can therefore hardly do justice to the + originality and audacity which they displayed at an epoch when only + Protestants at war with Rome advanced the like in deadly hatred—when + the Catholic pulpits of Europe were ringing with newly-promulgated + doctrines of Papal supremacy over princes and peoples, of national rights + to depose or assassinate excommunicated sovereigns, and of blind + unreasoning obedience to Rome as the sole sure method of salvation. Upon + the path of that Papal triumph toward the Capitol of world-dominion, + Sarpi, the puny friar from his cell at Venice, rose like a specter + announcing certain doom with the irrefragable arguments of reason. The + minatory words he uttered were all the more significant because neither he + nor the State he represented sought to break with Catholic traditions. His + voice was terrible and mighty, inasmuch as he denounced Rome by an + indictment which proclaimed her to be the perturbing power in Christendom, + the troubler of Israel, the whore who poured her cup of fornications forth + to sup with princes. + </p> + <p> + After sixteen months, the quarrel of the interdict <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB206" id="pageB206"></a>{206}</span> was compromised. Venice, in + duel with Islam, could ill afford to break with Rome, even if her national + traditions of eight centuries, intertwined with rites of Latin piety, had + not forbidden open rupture. The Papal Court, cowed into resentful silence + by antagonism which threatened intellectual revolt through Europe, waived + a portion of its claims. Three French converts from Huguenot opinions to + Catholicism, Henri IV., the Cardinal du Perron, and M. de Canaye, adjusted + matters. The interdict was dismissed from Venice rather than removed—in + haughty silence, without the clashing of bells from S. Pietro di Castello + and S. Marco, without manifestation of joy in the city which regarded + Papal interdicts as illegitimate, without the parade of public absolution + by the Pope. Thus the Republic maintained its dignity of self-respect. But + Camillo Borghese, while proclaiming a general amnesty, reserved <i>in + petto</i> implacable animosity against the theologians of the Venetian + party. Two of these, Marsilio. and Rubetti, died suddenly under suspicion + of poison.<a name="BFNanchor_137_137" id="BFNanchor_137_137"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> A third, Fulgenzio + Manfredi, was lured to Rome, treated with fair show of favor, and finally + hung in the Campo di Fiora by order of the Holy Office.<a + name="BFNanchor_138_138" id="BFNanchor_138_138"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> A fourth, Capello, + abjured his so-called heresies, and was assigned a pittance for the last + days of his failing life in Rome.<a name="BFNanchor_139_139" + id="BFNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#BFootnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> + It remained, if possible, to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB207" + id="pageB207"></a>{207}</span> lay hands on Fra Paolo and his devoted + secretary, Fra Fulgenzio Micanzi, of the Servites. + </p> + <p> + Neither threats nor promises availed to make these friends quit Venice. + During the interdict and afterwards, Fulgenzio Micanzi preached the gospel + there. He told the people that in the New Testament he had found truth; + but he bade them take notice that for the laity this book was even a dead + letter through the will of Rome.<a name="BFNanchor_140_140" + id="BFNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#BFootnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> + Paul V. complained in words like these: Fra Fulgenzio's doctrine contains, + indeed, no patent heresy, but it rests so clearly on the Bible as to + prejudice the Catholic faith.<a name="BFNanchor_141_141" + id="BFNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#BFootnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> + Sarpi informed his French correspondents that Christ and the truth had + been openly preached in Venice by this man.<a name="BFNanchor_142_142" + id="BFNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#BFootnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> + Fulgenzio survived the troubles of those times, steadily devoted to his + master, of whom he has bequeathed to posterity, a faithful portrait in + that biography which combines the dove-like simplicity of the fourteenth + century with something of Roger North's sagacity and humor.<a + name="BFNanchor_143_143" id="BFNanchor_143_143"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> Of Fulgenzio we take + no further notice here, having paid him our debt of gratitude for genial + service rendered in the sympathetic delineation of so eminent a character + as Sarpi's. A side-regret may be expressed that some such simple and + affectionate record <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB208" id="pageB208"></a>{208}</span> + of Bruno as a man still fails us, and alas, must ever fail. Fulgenzio, by + his love, makes us love Sarpi, who otherwise might coldly win our + admiration. But for Bruno, that scapegoat of the spirit in the world's + wilderness, there is none to speak words of worship and affection. + </p> + <p> + The first definite warning that his life was in danger came to Sarpi from + Caspar Schoppe, the publicist. Scioppius (so his contemporaries called + him) was a man of doubtful character and unsteady principles, who, + according as his interests varied, used a fluent pen and limpid Latin + style for or against the Jesuit faction. History would hardly condescend + to notice him but for the singular luck he had of coming at critical + moments into contact with the three chief Italian thinkers of his time. We + know already that a letter of this man is the one contemporary testimony + of an eye-witness to Bruno's condemnation which we possess. He also + deserves mention for having visited Campanella in prison and helped to + procure his liberation. Now in the year 1607, while passing through + Venice, Schoppe sought a private interview with Sarpi, pointed out the + odium which Fra Paolo had gained in Rome by his writings, and concluded by + asserting that the Pope meant to have him alive or to compass his + assassination. If Sarpi wished to make his peace with Paul V., Schoppe was + ready to conduct the reconciliation upon honorable terms, having already + several affairs of like import in his charge. To this proposal Sarpi + replied that the cause he had defended was a just <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB209" id="pageB209"></a>{209}</span> one, that he had done + nothing to offend his Holiness, and that all plots against his liberty or + life he left within the hands of God. To these words he significantly + added that, even in the Pope's grasp, a man was always 'master over his + own life'—a sentence which seems to indicate suicide as the last + resort of self-defense. In September of the same year the Venetian + ambassador at Rome received private information regarding some mysterious + design against a person or persons unknown, at Venice, in which the Papal + Court was implicated, and which was speedily to take effect.<a + name="BFNanchor_144_144" id="BFNanchor_144_144"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> On October 5 Sarpi + was returning about 5 o'clock in the afternoon to his convent at S. Fosca, + when he was attacked upon a bridge by five ruffians. It so happened that + on this occasion he had no attendance but his servant Fra Marino; Fra + Fulgenzio and a man of courage who usually accompanied him, having taken + another route home. The assassins were armed with harquebusses, pistols + and poniards. One of them went straight at Sarpi, while the others stood + on guard and held down Fra Marino. Fifteen blows in all were aimed at + Sarpi, three of which struck him in the neck and face. The stiletto + remained firmly embedded in his cheekbone between the right ear and nose. + He fell to the ground senseless; and a cry being raised by some women who + had witnessed the outrage from a window, the assassins made off, <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB210" id="pageB210"></a>{210}</span> leaving + their victim for dead. It was noticed that they took refuge in the palace + of the Papal Nuncio, whence they escaped that same evening to the Lido <i>en + route</i> for the States of the Church. An old Venetian nobleman of the + highest birth, Alessandro Malipiero, who bore a singular affection for the + champion of his country's liberty, was walking a short way in front of + Sarpi beyond the bridge upon which the assault was perpetrated. He rushed + to his friend's aid, dragged out the dagger from his face, and bore him to + the convent. There Sarpi lay for many weeks in danger, suffering as much, + it seems, from his physicians as from the wounds. Not satisfied with the + attendance of his own surgeon, Alvise Ragoza, the Venetians insisted on + sending all the eminent doctors of the city and of Padua to his bedside. + The illustrious Acquapendente formed one of this miscellaneous <i>cortège</i>; + and when the cure was completed, he received a rich gold chain and + knighthood for his service. Every medical man suggested some fresh + application. Some of them, suspecting poison, treated the wounds with + theriac and antidotes. Others cut into the flesh and probed. Meanwhile the + loss of blood had so exhausted Sarpi's meager frame that for more than + twenty days he had no strength to move or lift his hands. Not a word of + impatience escaped his lips; and when Acquapendente began to medicate the + worst wound in his face, he moved the dozen doctors to laughter by wittily + observing, 'And yet the world main<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB211" + id="pageB211"></a>{211}</span> tains that it was given <i>Stilo Romanae + Curiae</i>.'<a name="BFNanchor_145_145" id="BFNanchor_145_145"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> His old friend + Malipiero would fain have kept the dagger as a relic. But Sarpi suspended + it at the foot of a crucifix in the church of the Servi, with this + appropriate inscription, <i>Dei Filio Liberatori</i>. When he had + recovered from his long suffering, the Republic assigned their Counselor + an increase of pension in order that he might maintain a body of armed + guards, and voted him a house in S. Marco for the greater security of his + person. But Sarpi begged to be allowed to remain among the friars, with + whom he had spent his life, and where his vocation bound him. In the + future he took a few obvious precautions, passing in a gondola to the + Rialto and thence on foot through the crowded Merceria to the Ducal + Palace, and furthermore securing the good offices of his attendants in the + convent by liberal gifts of money. Otherwise, he refused to alter the + customary tenor of his way. + </p> + <p> + The State of Venice resented this attack upon their servant as though it + had been directed against the majesty of the Republic. A proclamation was + immediately issued, offering enormous rewards for the capture or murder of + the criminals, especially so worded as to insinuate the belief that men of + high position in Rome were implicated. The names of <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB212" id="pageB212"></a>{212}</span> the chief conspirators were + as follows: Ridolfo Poma, a broken Venetian merchant; Alessandro Parrasio + of Ancona, outlawed for the murder of his uncle; a priest, Michele Viti of + Bergamo; and two soldiers of adventure, Giovanni di Fiorenza and Pasquale + di Bitonto. Having escaped to the Lido, they took ship for Ravenna and + arrived in due course at Ancona, where they drew 1000 crowns from the + Papal Camera, and proceeded to make triumphal progress through Romagna. + Their joy was dashed by hearing that Fra Paolo had not been killed. The + Venetian <i>bando</i> filled them with fears and mutual suspicions, each + man's hand being now set against his comrade, and every ruffian on the + road having an interest in their capture. Yet after some time they + continued their journey to Rome, and sought sanctuary in the palace of + Cardinal Colonna. Here their reception was not what they had anticipated. + Having failed in the main object and brought scandal on the Church, they + were maintained for some months in obscurity, and then coldly bidden to + depart with scanty recompense. All this while their lives remained exposed + to the Venetian ban. Under these circumstances it is not strange that the + men were half-maddened. Poma raged like a wild beast, worshiping the devil + in his private chamber, planning schemes of piracy and fresh attacks on + Sarpi, even contemplating a last conspiracy against the person of the + Pope. He was seized in Rome by the <i>sbirri</i> of the government, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB213" id="pageB213"></a>{213}</span> + one of his sons perished in the scuffle. Another returned to Venice, and + ended his days there as a vagrant lunatic. Poma himself died mad in the + prison of Cività Vecchia. Viti also died mad in the same prison. + Parrasio died in prison at Rome. One of the soldiers was beheaded at + Perugia, and the other fell a victim to cut-throats on the high road. Such + was the end of the five conspirators against Fra Paolo Sarpi's life.<a + name="BFNanchor_146_146" id="BFNanchor_146_146"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> A priest, Franceschi, + who had aided and abetted their plot, disappeared soon after the + explosion; and we may rest tolerably assured that his was no natural + removal to another world. + </p> + <p> + It is just to add that the instigation of this murderous plot was never + brought home by direct testimony to any members of the Papal Court. But + the recourse which the assassins first had to the asylum of the Nuncio in + Venice, their triumphal progress through cities of the Church, the moneys + they drew on several occasions, the interest taken in them by Cardinal + Borghese when they finally reached Rome, and their deaths in Papal + dungeons, are circumstances of overwhelming cumulative evidence against + the Curia. Sarpi's life was frequently attempted in the following years. + On one occasion, Cardinal Bellarmino, more mindful of private friendship + than of public feud, sent him warning that he must live prepared for fresh + attacks from Rome. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB214" id="pageB214"></a>{214}</span> + Indeed, it may be said that he now passed his days in continual + expectation of poison or the dagger. This appears plainly in Fulgenzio's + biography and in the pages of his private correspondence. The most + considerable of these later conspiracies, of which Fra Fulgenzio gives a + full account, implicated Cardinal Borghese and the General of the Servite + Order.<a name="BFNanchor_147_147" id="BFNanchor_147_147"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> The history seems in + brief to be as follows. One Fra Bernardo of Perugia, who had served the + Cardinal during their student days, took up his residence in Rome so soon + as Scipione Borghese became a profitable patron. In the course of the year + 1609, this Fra Bernardo dispatched a fellow-citizen of his, named Fra + Giovanni Francesco, to Padua, whence he frequently came across to Venice + and tampered with Sarpi's secretary, Fra Antonio of Viterbo. These three + friars were all of them Servites; and it appears that the General looked + with approval on their undertaking. The upshot of the traffic was that Fra + Antonio, having ready access to Sarpi's apartments and person, agreed + either to murder him with a razor or to put poison in his food, or, what + was finally determined on, to introduce a couple of assassins into his + bedchamber at night. An accident revealed the plot, and placed a + voluminous cyphered correspondence in the hands of the Venetian Inquisitor + of State. Fra Fulgenzio significantly adds that of all the persons + incriminated by these letters, none, with the exception of the General of + the Ser<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB215" id="pageB215"></a>{215}</span> + vites, was under the rank of Cardinal. The wording of his sentence is + intentionally obscure, but one expression seems even to point at the Pope.<a + name="BFNanchor_148_148" id="BFNanchor_148_148"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> + </p> + <p> + At the close of this affair, so disgraceful to the Church and to his + Order, Fra Paolo besought the Signory of Venice on his bended knees, as a + return for services rendered by him to the State, that no public + punishment should be inflicted on the culprits. He could not bear, he + said, to be the cause of bringing a blot of infamy upon his religion, or + of ruining the career of any man. Fra Giovanni Francesco afterwards + redeemed his life by offering weighty evidence against his powerful + accomplices. But what he revealed is buried in the oblivion with which the + Council of Ten in Venice chose to cover judicial acts of State-importance. + </p> + <p> + It is worth considering that in all the attempts upon Sarpi's life, + priests, friars, and prelates of high place were the prime agents.<a + name="BFNanchor_149_149" id="BFNanchor_149_149"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> Poor devils like Poma + and Parrasio lay ready to their hands as sanguinary instruments, which, + after work performed, could be broken if occasion served. What, then, was + the religious reformation of which the Roman Court made ostentatious + display when it secured its unexpected triumph in the Council of Trent? + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB216" id="pageB216"></a>{216}</span> We + must reply that in essential points of moral conduct this reformation + amounted to almost nothing, and in some points to considerably less than + nothing. The Church of God, as Sarpi held, suffered deformation rather + than reformation. That is to say, this Church, instead of being brought + back to primitive simplicity and purged of temporal abuses, now lay at the + mercy of ambitious hypocrites who with the Supreme Pontiff's sanction, + pursued their ends by treachery and violence. Its hostility to heretics + and its new-fangled doctrine of Papal almightiness encouraged the spread + of a pernicious casuistry which favored assassination. Kings at strife + with the Catholic Alliance, honest Christians defending the prerogatives + of their commonwealth, erudite historians and jurists who disapproved of + substituting Popes in Rome for God in heaven, might be massacred or + kidnapped by ruffians red with the blood of their nearest relatives and + carrying the condemnation of their native States upon their forehead. + According to the post-Tridentine morality of Rome, that morality which the + Jesuits openly preached and published, which was disseminated in every + prelate's ante-chamber, and whispered in every parish-priest's + confessional, enormous sins could be atoned and eternal grace be gained by + the merciless and traitorous murder of any notable man who savored of + heresy. If the Holy Office had instituted a prosecution against the victim + and had condemned him in his absence, the path was plain. Sentence of + excommunication <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB217" id="pageB217"></a>{217}</span> + and death publicly pronounced on such a man reduced him to the condition + of a wild beast, whose head was worth solid coin and plenary absolution to + the cut-throat. A private minute recorded on the books of the Inquisitors + had almost equal value; and Sarpi was under the impression that some such + underhand proceeding against himself had loosed a score of knives. But + short of these official or semi-judicial preliminaries, it was maintained + upon the best casuistical authority that to take the life of any suspected + heretic, of any one reputed heterodox in Roman circles, should be esteemed + a work of merit creditable to the miscreant who perpetrated the deed, and + certain, even should he die for it, to yield him in the other world the + joys of Paradise. These joys the Jesuits described in language worthy of + the Koran. Dabbled in Sarpi's or Duplessis Mornay's blood, quartered and + tortured like Ravaillac, the desperado of so pious a crime would swim + forever in oceans of ecstatic pleasure. The priest, ambitious for his + hierarchy, fanatical in his devotion to the Church, relying upon privilege + if he should chance to be detected, had a plain interest in promoting and + directing such conspiracies. Men of blood, and bandits up to the hilts in + crimes of violence, rendered reckless by the indiscriminate cruelty of + justice in those days, allured by the double hope of pay and spiritual + benefit, rushed without a back-thought into like adventures. Ready to risk + their lives in an unholy cause, such ruffians were doubly glad to do so + when the bait of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB218" id="pageB218"></a>{218}</span> + heaven's felicity was offered to their grosser understanding. These + considerations explain, but are far indeed from exculpating, the + complicity of clergy and cut-throats in every crime of violence attempted + against foes of Papal Rome. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi's worst enemies could scarcely fix on him the crime of heresy. He + was a staunch Catholic; so profoundly versed both in dogmatic theology and + in ecclesiastical procedure, that to remain within the straitest limits of + orthodoxy, while opposing the presumption of the Papal Court, gave him no + trouble. Yet at the time in which he lived, the bare act of resistance to + any will or whim of Rome, passed with those doctors who were forging new + systems of Pontifical supremacy, for heretical. In this arbitrary and + uncanonical sense of the phrase Sarpi was undoubtedly a heretic. He had + deserved the hatred of the Curia, the Inquisition, the Jesuits, and their + myrmidons. Steadily, with caution and a sober spirit, he had employed his + energies and vast accumulated stores of knowledge in piling up breakwaters + against their pernicious innovations. In all his controversial writings + during the interdict Sarpi used none but solid arguments, drawn from + Scripture, canon law, and the Councils of the early Church, in order to + deduce one single principle: namely that both secular and ecclesiastical + organisms, the State and the Church, are divinely appointed, but with + several jurisdictions and for diverse ends. He pressed this principle home + with hammer-strokes of most con<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB219" + id="pageB219"></a>{219}</span> vincing proof on common sense and reason. + He did so even superfluously to our modern intellect, which is fatigued by + following so elaborate a chain of precedents up to a foregone conclusion. + But he let no word fall, except by way of passing irony, which could bring + contempt upon existing ecclesiastical potentates; and he maintained a + dispassionate temper, while dealing with topics which at that epoch + inflamed the fiercest party strife. His antagonists, not having sound + learning, reason, and the Scripture on their side, were driven to employ + the rhetoric of personal abuse and the stiletto. In the end the badness of + their cause was proved by the recourse they had to conspiracies of pimps, + friars, murderers, and fanatics, in order to stifle that voice of truth + which told them of their aberration from the laws of God. + </p> + <p> + It was not merely by his polemical writings during the interdict, that + Sarpi won the fame of heretic in ultra-papal circles. In his office as + Theologian to the Republic he had to report upon all matters touching the + relations of State to Church; and the treatises which he prepared on such + occasions assumed the proportions, in many instances, of important + literary works. Among these the most considerable is entitled <i>Delle + Materie Beneficiarie</i>. Professing to be a discourse upon ecclesiastical + benefices, it combines a brief but sufficient history of the temporal + power of the Papacy, an inquiry into the arts whereby the Church's + property <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB220" id="pageB220"></a>{220}</span> + had been accumulated, and a critique of various devices employed by the + Roman Curia to divert that wealth from its original objects. In 'this + golden volume,' to use Gibbon's words, 'the Papal system is deeply studied + and freely described.' Speaking of its purport, Hallam observes: 'That + object was neither more nor less than to represent the wealth and power of + the Church as ill-gotten and excessive.' Next in importance is a <i>Treatise + on the Inquisition</i>, which gives a condensed sketch of the origin and + development of the Holy Office, enlarging upon the special modifications + of that institution as it existed in Venice. Here likewise Sarpi set + himself to resist ecclesiastical encroachments upon the domain of secular + jurisdiction. He pointed out how the right of inquiring into cases of + heretical opinion had been gradually wrested from the hands of the bishop + and the State, and committed to a specially-elected body which held itself + only responsible to Rome. He showed how this powerful tribunal was being + used to the detriment of States, by extending its operation into the + sphere of politics, excluding the secular magistracy from participation in + its judgments, and arrogating to itself the cognizance of civil crimes. A + third <i>Discourse upon the Press</i> brought the same system of attack to + bear upon the Index of prohibited books. Sarpi was here able to + demonstrate that a power originally delegated to the bishops of + proscribing works pernicious to morality and religion, was now employed + for the suppression <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB221" id="pageB221"></a>{221}</span> + of sound learning and enlightenment by a Congregation sworn to support the + Papacy. Passing from their proper sphere of theology and ethics, these + ecclesiastics condemned as heretical all writings which denied the + supremacy of Rome over nations and commonwealths, prevented the + publication and sale of books which defended the rights of princes and + republics, and flooded Europe with doctrines of regicide, Pontifical + omnipotence, and hierarchical predominance in secular affairs. These are + the most important of Sarpi's minor works. But the same spirit of liberal + resistance against Church aggression, supported by the same erudition and + critical sagacity, is noticeable in a short tract explaining how the Right + of Asylum had been abused to the prejudice of public justice; in a <i>Discourse + upon the Contributions of the Clergy</i>, distinguishing their real from + their assumed immunities; and in a brief memorandum upon the Greek College + in Rome, exposing the mischief wrought in commonwealths and families by + the Jesuit system of education. + </p> + <p> + In all these writings Sarpi held firmly by his main principle, that the + State, no less than the Church, exists <i>jure divino</i>. The papal + usurpation of secular prerogatives was in his eyes not merely a violation + of the divinely appointed order of government, but also a deformation of + the ecclesiastical ideal. Those, he argued, are the real heretics who + deprave the antique organism of the Church by <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB222" id="pageB222"></a>{222}</span> making the Pope absolute, + who preach the deity of the Roman Pontiff as though he were a second God + equal in almightiness to God in heaven. 'Nay,' he exclaims in a passage + marked by more than usual heat, 'should one drag God from heaven they + would not stir a finger, provided the Pope preserved his vice-divinity or + rather super-divinity. Bellarmino clearly states that to restrict the + Papal authority to spiritual affairs is the same as to annihilate it; + showing that they value the spiritual at just zero.'<a + name="BFNanchor_150_150" id="BFNanchor_150_150"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> Sarpi saw that the + ultra-papalists of his day, by subordinating the State, the family and the + individual to the worldly interests of Rome, by repressing knowledge and + liberty of conscience, preaching immoral and anti-social doctrines, + encouraging superstition and emasculating education, for the maintenance + of those same worldly interests, were advancing steadily upon the path of + self-destruction. The essence of Christianity was neglected in this brutal + struggle for supremacy; while truth, virtue and religion, those sacred + safe-guards of humanity, which the Church was instituted to preserve, ran + no uncertain risk of perishing through the unnatural perversion of its + aims. + </p> + <p> + The work which won for Sarpi a permanent place in the history of + literature, and which in his lifetime did more than any other of his + writings to expose the Papal system, is the history of the Tridentine + Council. It was not published with his name or <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB223" id="pageB223"></a>{223}</span> with his sanction. A + manuscript copy lent by him to Marcantonio de Dominis, Archbishop of + Spalatro, was taken by that waverer between Catholicism and Protestantism + to England, and published in London under the pseudonym of Pietro Soave + Polano—an anagram of Paolo Sarpi Veneto—in the year 1619. That + Sarpi was the real author admits of no doubt. The book bears every stamp + of genuineness. It is written in the lucid, nervous, straightforward style + of the man, who always sought for mathematical precision rather than + rhetorical elegance in his use of language. Sarpi had taken special pains + to collect materials for a History of the Council; and in doing so he had + enjoyed exceptional advantages. Early in his manhood he formed at Mantua a + close friendship with Camillo Olivo, who had been secretary to the Papal + Legate, Cardinal Gonzaga of Mantua, at Trent. During his residence in Rome + between 1585 and 1587 he became intimately acquainted with Cardinal + Castagna, president of the committee appointed for drawing up the decrees + of the Council. In addition to the information afforded by these persons, + officially connected with the transactions of the Council, Sarpi had at + his command the Archives of Venice, including the dispatches of + ambassadors, and a vast store of published documents, not to mention + numerous details which in the course of his long commerce with society he + had obtained from the lips of credible witnesses. All these sources, + grasped in their diversity by his powerful memory and animated with <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB224" id="pageB224"></a>{224}</span> his + vivid intellect, are worked into an even, plain, dispassionate narration, + which, in spite of the dryness of the subject, forms a truly fascinating + whole. That Sarpi was strictly fair in his conception of the Council, can + scarcely be maintained; for he wrote in a spirit of distinct antagonism to + the ends which it achieved. Yet the more we examine the series of events + described by him, the more are we convinced that in its main features the + work is just. When Sir Roger Twysden pronounced it 'to be written with so + great moderation, learning and wisdom, as might deserve a place among the + exactest pieces of ecclesiastic story any age had produced,' he did not + overshoot the mark. Nor has the avowedly hostile investigation to which + Cardinal Pallavicini submitted it, done more than to confirm its credit by + showing that a deadly enemy, with all the arsenal of Roman documents at + his command, could only detect inaccuracies in minor details and express + rage at the controlling animus of the work. + </p> + <p> + It was Sarpi's object to demonstrate that the Council of Trent, instead of + being a free and open Synod of Christians assembled to discuss points at + issue between the Catholic and Protestant Churches, was in reality a + closely-packed conciliabulum, from which Protestants were excluded, and + where Catholics were dominated by the Italian agents of the Roman Court. + He made it clear, and in this he is confirmed by masses of collateral + proofs, that the presiding spirit of the Council was human diplomacy + rather than <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB225" id="pageB225"></a>{225}</span> + divine inspiration, and that Roman intrigue conducted its transactions to + an issue favorable for Papal supremacy by carefully manipulating the + interests of princes and the passions of individuals. 'I shall narrate the + causes,' he remarks, in his exordium, 'and the negotiations of an + ecclesiastical convocation during the course of twenty-two years, for + divers ends and with varied means; by whom promoted and solicited, by whom + impeded and delayed; for another eighteen years, now brought together, now + dissolved; always held with various ends; and which received a form and + accomplishment quite contrary to the design of those who set it going, as + also to the fear of those who took all pains to interrupt it. A clear + monition that man ought to yield his thoughts resignedly to God and not to + trust in human prudence. Forasmuch as this Council, desired and put in + motion by pious men for the reunion of the Church which had begun to break + asunder, hath so established schism and embittered factions that it has + rendered those discords irreconcilable; handled by princes for the reform + of the ecclesiastical system, has caused the greatest deformation that + hath ever been since the name of Christian came into existence; by bishops + with hope expected as that which would restore the episcopal authority, + now in large part absorbed by the sole Roman Pontiff, hath been the reason + of their losing the last vestige of it and of their reduction to still + greater servitude. On the other hand, dreaded and evaded <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB226" id="pageB226"></a>{226}</span> by the + Court of Rome, as an efficient instrument for curbing that exorbitant + power, which from small beginnings hath arrived by various advances to + limitless excess, it has so established and confirmed it over the portion + still left subject to it, as that it never was so vast nor so + well-rooted.' In treating of what he pithily calls 'the Iliad of our age,' + Sarpi promises to observe the truth, and protests that he is governed by + no passion. This promise the historian kept faithfully. His animus is + never allowed to transpire in any direct tirades; his irony emerges rather + in reporting epigrams of others than in personal sarcasms or innuendoes; + his own prepossessions and opinions are carefully veiled. After reading + the whole voluminous history we feel that it would be as inaccurate to + claim Sarpi for Protestantism as to maintain that he was a friend of + ultra-papal Catholicism. What he really had at heart was the restoration + of the Church of God to unity, to purer discipline and to sincere + spirituality. This reconstruction of Christendom upon a sound basis was, + as he perceived, rendered impossible by the Tridentine decrees. Yet, + though the dearest hope of his heart had been thus frustrated, he set + nothing down in malice, nor vented his own disappointment in laments which + might have seemed rebellious against the Divine will. Sarpi's personality + shows itself most clearly in the luminous discourses with which from time + to time he elucidates obscure matters of ecclesiastical history. Those on + episcopal residence, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB227" id="pageB227"></a>{227}</span> + pluralism, episcopal jurisdiction, the censure of books, and the + malappropriation of endowments, are specially valuable.<a + name="BFNanchor_151_151" id="BFNanchor_151_151"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> If no other proof + existed, these digressions would render Sarpi's authorship of the History + unmistakable. They are identical in style and in intention with his + acknowledged treatises, firmly but calmly expressing a sound scholar's + disapproval of abuses which had grown up like morbid excrescences upon the + Church. Taken in connection with the interpolated summaries of public + opinion regarding the Council's method of procedure and its successive + decrees, these discourses betray a spirit of hostility to Rome which is + nowhere openly expressed. Sarpi illustrated Aretino's cynical sentence: + 'How can you speak evil of your neighbor? By speaking the truth, by + speaking the truth!'—without rancor and without passion. Nothing, in + fact, could have been more damaging to Rome than his precise analysis of + her arts in the Council. + </p> + <p> + I have said that the History of the Tridentine Council, though it + confirmed Sarpi's heretical reputation, would not justify us in believing + him at heart a Protestant.<a name="BFNanchor_152_152" + id="BFNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#BFootnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB228" id="pageB228"></a>{228}</span> + Very much depends on how we define the word Protestant. If Sarpi's known + opinions regarding the worldliness of Rome, ecclesiastical abuses, and + Papal supremacy, constitute a Protestant, then he certainly was one. But + if antagonism to Catholic dogma, repudiation of the Catholic Sacraments + and abhorrence of monastic institutions are also necessary to the + definition, then Sarpi was as certainly no Protestant. He seems to have + anticipated the position of those Christians who now are known as Old + Catholics. This appears from his vivid sympathy with the Gallican Church, + and from his zealous defense of those prerogatives and privileges in which + the Venetian Church resembled that of France. We must go to his collected + letters in order to penetrate his real way of thinking on the subject of + reform. The most important of these are addressed to Frenchmen—Ph. + Duplessis Mornay, De l'Isle Groslot, Leschassier, a certain Roux, Gillot, + and Casaubon. If we could be quite sure that the text of these familiar + letters had not been tampered with before publication, their testimony + would be doubly valuable. As it is, no one at all acquainted with Sarpi's + style will doubt that in the main they are trustworthy. Here and there + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB229" id="pageB229"></a>{229}</span> it + may be that a phrase has been inserted or modified to give a stronger + Protestant coloring. The frequent allusion to the Court of Rome under the + title of <i>La Meretrice</i>, especially in letters to Duplessis Mornay, + looks suspicious.<a name="BFNanchor_153_153" id="BFNanchor_153_153"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> Yet Dante, Petrarch + and Savonarola used similar metaphors, when describing the secular + ambition of the Papacy. Having pointed out a weakness in this important + series of documents, I will translate some obviously genuine passages + which illustrate Sarpi's attitude toward reform. + </p> + <p> + Writing to Leschassier upon the literary warfare of James I., he says it + is a pity that the king did not abstain from theology and confine himself + to the defense of his princely prerogatives against the claims of Rome. He + has exposed himself to the imputation of wishing to upset the foundations + of the faith. 'With regard to our own affairs [<i>i.e.</i> in Venice], we + do not seek to mix up heaven and earth, things human and things divine. + Our desire is to leave the sacraments and all that pertains to religion as + they are, believing that we can uphold the secular government in those + rights which Scripture and the teaching of the Fathers confirm.'<a + name="BFNanchor_154_154" id="BFNanchor_154_154"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> In another place he + says: 'I have well considered the reasons which drew Germany and England + into changing the observances of religion; but upon us neither these nor + others of greater weight will exercise any influence. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB230" id="pageB230"></a>{230}</span> It + is better to suffer certain rules and customs that are not in all points + commendable, than to acquire a taste for revolution and to yield to the + temptation of confounding all things in chaos.'<a name="BFNanchor_155_155" + id="BFNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#BFootnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> + His own grievance against the Popes, he adds, is that they are innovating + and destroying the primitive constitution of the Church. With regard to + the possibility of uniting Christendom, he writes that many of the + differences between Catholics and Protestants seem to him verbal; many, + such as could be tolerated in one communion; and many capable of + adjustment. But a good occasion must be waited for.<a + name="BFNanchor_156_156" id="BFNanchor_156_156"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> Nothing can be done + in Italy without a general war, that shall shake the powers of Spain and + Rome.<a name="BFNanchor_157_157" id="BFNanchor_157_157"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> Both Spain and Rome + are so well aware of their peril that they use every means to keep Italy + in peace.<a name="BFNanchor_158_158" id="BFNanchor_158_158"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> If the Protestants of + Europe are bent on victory, they must imitate the policy of Scipio and + attack the Jesuits and Rome in their headquarters.<a + name="BFNanchor_159_159" id="BFNanchor_159_159"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> 'There is no + enterprise of greater moment than to destroy the credit of the Jesuits. + When they are conquered, Rome is taken; and without Rome, religion reforms + itself spontaneously.'<a name="BFNanchor_160_160" id="BFNanchor_160_160"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> 'Changes in State are + inextricably involved in changes of religion;'<a name="BFNanchor_161_161" + id="BFNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#BFootnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> + and Italy will never be free so long as the Diacatholicon lasts. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB231" id="pageB231"></a>{231}</span> + Meanwhile, 'were it not for State policy there would be found hundreds + ready to leap from this ditch of Rome to the summit of Reform.'<a + name="BFNanchor_162_162" id="BFNanchor_162_162"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> The hope of some + improvement at Venice depends mainly upon the presence there of embassies + from Protestant powers—England, Holland and the Grisons.<a + name="BFNanchor_163_163" id="BFNanchor_163_163"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> These give an + opportunity to free religious discussion, and to the dissemination of + Gospel truth. Sarpi is strong in his praise of Fra Fulgenzio for + fearlessly preaching Christ and the truth, and repeats the Pope's + complaint that the Bible is injurious to the Catholic faith.<a + name="BFNanchor_164_164" id="BFNanchor_164_164"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> He led William + Bedell, chaplain to Sir H. Wotton and afterwards Bishop of Kilmore, to + believe that Fra Fulgenzio and himself were ripe for Reform. 'These two I + know,' writes Bedell to Prince Henry, 'as having practiced with them, to + desire nothing so much as the Reformation of the Church, and, in a word, + for the substance of religion they are wholly ours.'<a + name="BFNanchor_165_165" id="BFNanchor_165_165"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> During the interdict + Diodati came from Geneva to Venice, and Sarpi informed him that some + 12,000 persons in the city wished for rupture with Rome; but the + government and the aristocracy being against it, nothing could be done.<a + name="BFNanchor_166_166" id="BFNanchor_166_166"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> + </p> + <p> + Enough has now been quoted to throw some light upon Sarpi's attitude + toward Protestantism. That he most earnestly desired the overthrow of + ultra-papal Catholicism, is apparent. So also are his sympathies with + those reformed nations which <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB232" + id="pageB232"></a>{232}</span> enjoyed liberty of conscience and + independence of ecclesiastical control. Yet his first duty was to Venice; + and since the State remained Catholic, he personally had no intention of + quitting the communion into which he had been born and in which he was an + ordained priest. All Churches, he wrote in one memorable letter to + Casaubon, have their imperfections. The Church of Corinth, in the days of + the Apostles, was corrupt.<a name="BFNanchor_167_167" + id="BFNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#BFootnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> + 'The fabric of the Church of God,' being on earth, cannot expect immunity + from earthly frailties.<a name="BFNanchor_168_168" id="BFNanchor_168_168"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> Such imperfections + and such frailties as the Catholic Church shared with all things of this + world, Sarpi was willing to tolerate. The deformation of that Church by + Rome and Jesuitry he manfully withstood; but he saw no valid reason why he + should abandon her for Protestantism. In his own conscience he remained + free to serve God in spirit and in truth. The mind of the man in fact was + too far-seeing and too philosophical to exchange old lamps for new without + a better prospect of attaining to absolute truth than the dissenters from + Catholicism afforded. His interest in Protestant, as separate from + Catholic Reform, was rather civil and political than religious or + theological. Could those soaring wings of Rome be broken, then and not + till then might the Italians enjoy freedom of conscience, liberty of + discussion and research, purer piety, and a healthier activity as + citizens.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB233" id="pageB233"></a>{233}</span> + </p> + <p> + Side light may be thrown upon Sarpi's judgment of the European situation + by considering in detail what he said about the Jesuits. This company, as + we have seen, lent its support to Papal absolutism; and during the later + years of Sarpi's life it seemed destined to carry the world before it, by + control of education, by devotion to Rome, by adroit manipulation of the + religious consciousness for anti-social ends and ecclesiastical + aggrandizement. + </p> + <p> + The sure sign of being in the right, said Sarpi, is when one finds himself + in contradiction to the Jesuits. They are most subtle masters in + ill-doing, men who, if their needs demand, are ready to commit crimes + worse than those of which they now are guilty. All falsehood and all + blasphemy proceed from them. They have set the last hand at establishing + universal corruption. They are a public plague, the plague of the world, + chameleons who take their color from the soil they squat on, flatterers of + princes, perverters of youth. They not only excuse but laud lying; their + dissimulation is bare and unqualified mendacity; their malice is + inestimable. They have the art so to blend their interests and that of + Rome, seeking for themselves and the Papacy the empire of the world, that + the Curia must needs support them, while it cowers before their + inscrutable authority. They are the ruin of good literature and wholesome + doctrine by their pitiful pretense of learning and their machinery of + false teaching. On ignorance rests their power, and truth is mortal to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB234" id="pageB234"></a>{234}</span> + them. Every vice of which humanity is capable, every frailty to which it + is subject, finds from them support and consolation. If S. Peter had been + directed by a Jesuit confessor he might have arrived at denying Christ + without sin. The use the confessional as an instrument of political and + domestic influence, reciprocating its confidences one with the other in + their own debates, but menacing their penitents with penalties if a word + of their counsel be bruited to the world. Expelled from Venice, they work + more mischief there by their intrigues than they did when they were + tolerated.<a name="BFNanchor_169_169" id="BFNanchor_169_169"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> They scheme to get a + hold on Constantinople and Palestine, in order to establish seminaries of + fanatics and assassins. They are responsible for the murder of Henri IV., + for if they did not instigate Ravaillac, their doctrine of regicide + inspired him. They can creep into any kingdom, any institution, any + household, because they readily accept any terms and subscribe to any + conditions in the certainty that by the adroit use of flattery, humbug, + falsehood, and corruption, they will soon become masters of the situation. + In France they are the real Morbus Gallicus. In Italy they are the soul of + the Diacatholicon. + </p> + <p> + The torrent of Sarpi's indignation against the Jesuits, as perverters of + sound doctrine in the Church, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB235" + id="pageB235"></a>{235}</span> disturbers of kingdoms, sappers of morality + and disseminators of vile customs through society, runs so violently + forward that we are fain to check it, while acknowledging its justice. One + passage only, from the many passages bearing on this topic in his + correspondence, demands special citation, since it deals directly with the + whole material of the present work. Writing to his friend Leschassier, he + speaks as follows: 'Nothing can be of more mischief to you in France than + the dishonesty of bad confessors and their determination to aggrandize + Rome by any means, together with the mistaken zeal of the good sort. We + have arrived at a point where cure of the disease must even be despaired + of. Fifty years ago things went well in Italy. There was no public system + of education for training young men to the profit of the clergy. They were + brought up by their parents in private, more for the advantage of their + families than for that of the hierarchy. In religious houses, where + studies flourished, attention was paid to scholastic logic. The + jurisdiction and the authority of the Pope were hardly touched on; and + while theology was pursued at leisure, the majority passed their years in + contemplation of the Deity and angels. Recently, through the decrees of + the Tridentine Council, schools have been opened in every State, which are + called Seminaries, where education is concentrated on the sole end of + augmenting ecclesiastical supremacy. Furthermore, the prelates of each + district, partly with a view of saving their own <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB236" id="pageB236"></a>{236}</span> pockets, and partly that + they may display a fashionable show of zeal, have committed the charge of + those institutions to Jesuits. This has caused a most important alteration + in the aspect of affairs.'<a name="BFNanchor_170_170" + id="BFNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#BFootnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> + It would be difficult to state the changes effected by the Tridentine + Council and the commission of education to the Jesuits more precisely and + more fairly than in this paragraph. How deeply Sarpi had penetrated the + Jesuitical arts in education, can be further demonstrated from another + passage in his minor works.<a name="BFNanchor_171_171" + id="BFNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#BFootnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> + In a memoir prepared for the Venetian Signory, he says that the Jesuits + are vulgarly supposed to be unrivaled as trainers of youth. But a patent + equivocation lurks under this phrase 'unrivaled.' Education must be + considered with regard to the utility of the State. 'Now the education of + the Jesuits consists in stripping the pupil of every obligation to his + father, to his country, and to his natural prince; in diverting all his + love and fear toward a spiritual superior, on whose nod, beck and word he + is dependent. This system of training is useful for the supremacy of + ecclesiastics and for such secular governments as they are ready to submit + to; and none can deny that the Jesuits are without equals in their + employment of it. Yet in so far as it is advantageous in such cases, so + also is it prejudicial to States, the end whereof is liberty and real + virtue, and with whom the ecclesiastical faction <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB237" id="pageB237"></a>{237}</span> remains in bad accord. From + the Jesuit colleges there never issued a son obedient to his father, + devoted to his country, loyal to his prince. The cause of this is that the + Jesuits employ their best energies in destroying natural affection, + respect for parents, reverence for princes. Therefore they only deserve to + be admired by those whose interest it is to subject family, country and + government to ecclesiastical interests.' + </p> + <p> + The Provincial Letters of Pascal, which Sarpi anticipated in so many + points, suffice to prove that he was justified in this hostility to + ultramontanism backed up by Jesuit artifices. He was writing, be it + remembered, at the very high tide of Papal domination, when Henri IV. had + been assassinated, and when the overwhelming forces of secular interests + combined with intellectual progress had not as yet set limits on + ecclesiastical encroachment. The dread lest Europe should succumb to Rome, + now proved by subsequent events an unsubstantial nightmare, was real + enough for this Venetian friar, who ran daily risk of assassination in + down-trodden servile Italy, with Spanish plots threatening the arsenal, + with France delivered into the hands of Florentines and casuists, with + England in the grip of Stuarts, and with Germany distracted by intrigues. + He could not foresee that in the course of a century the Jesuits would be + discredited by their own arts, and that the Papacy would subside into a + pacific sovereignty bent on securing its own temporal existence by + accommodation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB238" id="pageB238"></a>{238}</span> + </p> + <p> + The end of Sarpi's life consecrated the principles of duty to God and + allegiance to his country which had animated its whole course. He fell + into a bad state of health; yet nothing would divert him from the due + discharge of public business. 'All the signs of the soul's speedy + departure from that age-enfeebled body, were visible; but his + indefatigable spirit sustained him in such wise that he bore exactly all + his usual burdens. When his friends and masters bade him relax his + energies, he used to answer: My duty is to serve and not to live; there is + some one daily dying in his office.<a name="BFNanchor_172_172" + id="BFNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#BFootnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> + When at length the very sources of existence failed, and the firm brain + wandered for a moment, he was once heard to say: 'Let us go to S. Mark, + for it is late.'<a name="BFNanchor_173_173" id="BFNanchor_173_173"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> The very last words + he uttered, frequently repeated, but scarcely intelligible, were: 'Esto + Perpetua.'<a name="BFNanchor_174_174" id="BFNanchor_174_174"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> <i>May Venice last + forever</i>! This was the dying prayer of the man who had consecrated his + best faculties to the service of his country. But before he passed away + into that half slumber which precedes death, he made confession to his + accustomed spiritual father, received the Eucharist and Extreme Unction, + and bade farewell to the superior of the Servites, in the following + sentence: 'Go ye to rest, and I will return to God, from whom I came.' + With these words he closed his lips in silence, crossing his hands upon + his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB239" id="pageB239"></a>{239}</span> + breast and fixing his eyes upon a crucifix that stood before him.<a + name="BFNanchor_175_175" id="BFNanchor_175_175"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>I will return to God from whom I came.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + These words—not the last, for the last were <i>Esto perpetua</i>; + but the last spoken in the presence of his fraternity—have a deep + significance for those who would fain understand the soul of Sarpi. When + in his lifetime he spoke of the Church, it was always as 'the Church of + God.' When he relegated his own anxieties for the welfare of society to a + superior power, it was not to Mary, as Jesuits advised, nor even to + Christ, but invariably to the Providence of God. Sarpi, we have the right + to assume, lived and died a sincere believer in the God who orders and + disposes of the universe; and this God, identical in fact though not in + form with Bruno's, he worshiped through such symbols of ceremony and + religion as had been adopted by him in his youth. An intellect so clear of + insight as this, knew that 'God is a spirit, and they that worship him + must worship him in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB240" id="pageB240"></a>{240}</span> + spirit and in truth.' He knew that 'neither on this mountain nor yet in + Jerusalem,' neither in Protestant communities nor yet in Rome was the + authentic God made tangible; but that a loyal human being, created in + God's image, could serve him and adore him with life-worship under any of + the spiritual shapes which mortal frailty has fashioned for its needs. + </p> + <p> + To penetrate the abyss of any human personality is impossible. No man + truly sees into his living neighbor's, brother's, wife's, nay even his own + soul. How futile, therefore, is the effort which we make to seize and + sketch the vital lineaments of men long dead, divided from us not merely + by the grave which has absorbed their fleshly form and deprived us of + their tone of voice, but also by those differences in thought and feeling + which separate the centuries of culture! Yet this impossible task lies + ever before the historian. Few characters are more patently difficult to + comprehend than that of Sarpi. Ultimately, so far as it is possible to + formulate a view, I think he may be defined as a Christian Stoic, + possessed with two main governing ideas, duty to God and duty to Venice. + His last words were for Venice; the penultimate consigned his soul to God. + For a mind like his, so philosophically tempered, so versed in all the + history of the world to us-wards, the materials of dispute between + Catholic and Protestant must have seemed but trifles. He stayed where he + had early taken root, in his Servite convent at S. Fosca, because he there + could dedicate his life <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB241" + id="pageB241"></a>{241}</span> to God and Venice better than in any + Protestant conventicle. Had Venice inclined toward rupture with Rome, had + the Republic possessed the power to make that rupture with success, Sarpi + would have hailed the event gladly, as introducing for Italy the prospect + of spiritual freedom, purer piety, and the overthrow of Papal-Spanish + despotism. But Venice chose to abide in the old ways, and her Counselor of + State knew better than any one that she had not the strength to cope with + Spain, Rome, Jesuitry and Islam single-handed. Therefore he possessed his + soul in patience, worshiping God under forms and symbols to which he had + from youth been used, trusting the while that sooner or later God would + break those mighty wings of Papal domination. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB242" id="pageB242"></a>{242}</span> + </p> + <h4> + GUARINO, MARINO, CHIABRERA, TASSONI + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Dearth of Great Men—Guarini a Link between Tasso and the + Seventeenth Century—His Biography—The <i>Pastor Fido</i>—Qualities + of Guarini as Poet—Marino the Dictator of Letters—His + Riotous Youth at Naples—Life at Rome, Turin, Paris—Publishes + the <i>Adone</i>—The Epic of Voluptuousness—Character and + Action of Adonis—Marino's Hypocrisy—Sentimental Sweetness—Brutal + Violence—Violation of Artistic Taste—Great Powers of the + Poet—Structure of the <i>Adone</i>—Musical Fluency—Marinism—Marino's + Patriotic Verses—Contrast between Chiabrera and Marino—An + Aspirant after Pindar—Chiabrera's Biography—His Court Life—Efforts + of Poets in the Seventeenth Century to attain to Novelty—Chiabrera's + Failure—Tassoni's Life—His Thirst to Innovate—Origin + of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>—Mock-Heroic Poetry—The Plot of + this Poem—Its Peculiar Humor—Irony and Satire—Novelty + of the Species—Lyrical Interbreathings—Sustained Contrast of + Parody and Pathos—The Poet Testi. + </p> + </div> + <p> + Soon after 1600 it became manifest that lapse of years and ecclesiastical + intolerance had rendered Italy nearly destitute of great men. Her famous + sons were all either dead, murdered or exiled; reduced to silence by the + scythe of time or by the Roman 'arguments of sword and halter.' Bruno + burned, Vanini burned, Carnesecchi burned, Paleario burned, Bonfadio + burned; Campanella banished, after a quarter of a century's imprisonment + with torture; the leaders of free religious thought in exile, scattered + over northern Europe. Tasso, worn out with misery and madness, rested at + length in his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB243" id="pageB243"></a>{243}</span> + tomb on the Janiculan; Sarpi survived the stylus of the Roman Curia with + calm inscrutability at S. Fosca; Galileo meditated with closed lips in his + watch-tower behind Bello Sguardo. With Michelangelo in 1564, Palladio in + 1580, Tintoretto in 1594, the godlike lineage of the Renaissance artists + ended; and what children of the sixteenth century still survived to + sustain the nation's prestige, to carry on its glorious traditions? The + list is but a poor one. Marino, Tassoni, the younger Buonarroti, Boccalini + and Chiabrera in literature. The Bolognese Academy in painting. After + these men expand arid wildernesses of the Sei Cento—barocco + architecture, false taste, frivolity, grimace, affectation—Jesuitry + translated into culture. On one bright point, indeed, the eye rests with + hope and comfort. Palestrina, when he died in 1594, did not close but + opened an age for music. His posterity, those composers, lutists, violists + and singers, from whom the modern art of arts has drawn her being, down to + the sweet fellowship of Pergolese, Marcello and Jomelli, of Guarneri, + Amati and Stradivari, of Farinelli, Caffarielli and La Romanina, were as + yet but rising dimly heralded with light of dawn upon their foreheads. + </p> + <p> + In making the transition from the <i>Gerusalemme</i> to the <i>Adone</i>, + from the last great poem of the Cinque Cento to the epic of the Sei Cento, + it is indispensable that notice should be taken of the <i>Pastor Fido</i> + and its author. Giambattista Guarini forms a link between Vasso and the + poets of the seventeenth century.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB244" + id="pageB244"></a>{244}</span> He belonged less to the Renaissance, more + to the culture of the age created by the Council of Trent, than did Tasso. + His life, in many of its details similar, in others most dissimilar, to + that of Tasso, illustrates and helps us in some measure to explain the + latter. It must therefore form the subject of a somewhat detailed study. + </p> + <p> + Guarini drew his blood on the paternal side from the illustrious humanist + Guarino of Verona, who settled at Ferrara in the fifteenth century as + tutor to Leonello d'Este.<a name="BFNanchor_176_176" id="BFNanchor_176_176"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> By his mother he + claimed descent from the Florentine house of Machiavelli. Born in 1537, he + was seven years older than Torquato Tasso, whom he survived eighteen + years, not closing his long life until 1612. He received a solid education + both at Pisa and Padua, and was called at the early age of eighteen to + profess moral philosophy in the University of Ferrara. Being of noble + birth and inheriting a considerable patrimony, Guarini might have enjoyed + a life of uninterrupted literary leisure, if he had chosen to forego empty + honors and shun the idle distractions of Courts. But it was the fate of + distinguished men in that age to plunge into those quicksands. Guarini had + a character and intellect suited to the conduct of state affairs; and he + shared the delusion prevalent among his contemporaries, that the petty + Italian principalities could offer a field for the exercise of these + talents. 'If our country is reduced to the sole government of a prince,'<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB245" id="pageB245"></a>{245}</span> he + writes, 'the man who serves his prince will serve his country, a duty both + natural and binding upon all.'<a name="BFNanchor_177_177" + id="BFNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#BFootnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> + Accordingly, soon after his marriage to Taddea of the noble Bendedei + family, he entered the service of Alfonso II. This was in 1567. Tasso, in + his quality of gentleman to Cardinal d'Este, had already shed lustre on + Ferrara through the past two years. Guarini first made Tasso's friendship + at Padua, where both were Eterei and house-guests of Scipione Gonzaga. The + two poets now came together in a rivalry which was not altogether + amicable. The genius of Tasso, in the prime of youth and heyday of + Court-favor, roused Guarini's jealousy. And yet their positions were so + different that Guarini might have been well satisfied to pursue his own + course without envy. A married and elder man, he had no right to compete + in gallantry with the brilliant young bachelor. Destined for diplomacy and + affairs of state, he had no cause to grudge the Court poet his laurels. + Writing in 1595, Guarini avers that 'poetry has been my pastime, never my + profession'; and yet he made it his business at Ferrara to rival Tasso + both as a lyrist and as a servant of dames. Like Tasso, he suffered from + the spite of Alfonso's secretaries, Pigna and Montecatino, who seem to + have incarnated the malevolence of courtiers in its basest form. So far, + there was a close parallel between the careers of the two men at Ferrara. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB246" id="pageB246"></a>{246}</span> + But Guarini's wealth and avowed objects in life caused the duke from the + first to employ him in a different kind of service. Alfonso sent him as + ambassador to Venice, Rome, and Turin, giving him the rank of Cavaliere in + order that he might perform his missions with more dignity. At Turin, + where he resided for some time, Guarini conceived a just opinion of the + growing importance of the House of Savoy. Like all the finest spirits of + his age, Tassoni, Sarpi, Chiabrera, Marino, Testi, he became convinced + that if Italy were to recover her independence, it could only be by the + opposition of the Dukes of Savoy to Spain. How nearly the hopes of these + men were being realized by Carlo Emmanuele, and how those hopes were + frustrated by Roman intrigues and the jealousy of Italian despots, is + matter of history. Yet the student may observe with interest that the most + penetrating minds of the sixteenth century already discerned the power by + means of which, after the lapse of nearly three hundred years, the + emancipation of Italy has been achieved. + </p> + <p> + In 1574 Guarini was sent to Poland, to congratulate Henri III. upon his + election to that monarchy. He went a second time in the following year to + conduct more delicate negotiations. The crown of Poland was now thrown + open to candidature; and more than one of the Italian Princes thought + seriously of competing for this honor. The Grand Duke of Tuscany + entertained the notion and abandoned it. But Alfonso II. of Ferrara, who + had <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB247" id="pageB247"></a>{247}</span> + fought with honor in his youth in Hungary, made it a serious object of + ambition. Manolesso, the Venetian envoy in 1575 at Ferrara, relates how + the duke spent laborious hours in acquiring the German language, 'which no + one learns for pleasure, since it is most barbarous, nor quickly, but with + industry and large expenditure of time.' He also writes: 'The duke aspires + to greatness, nor is satisfied with his present State; and therefore he + has entered into the Polish affair, encouraged thereto by his brother the + Cardinal and by his ambassador in Poland.'<a name="BFNanchor_178_178" + id="BFNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#BFootnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> + </p> + <p> + These embassies were a serious drain upon Guarini's resources; for it + appears certain that if he received any appointments, they were inadequate + to the expenses of long journeys and the maintenance of a becoming state. + He therefore returned to Ferrara, considerably burdened with debts; and + this was just the time at which Tasso's mental derangement began to + manifest itself. Between 1575 and 1579, the date of Tasso's imprisonment + at Sant' Anna, the two men lived together at the Court. Guarini's rivalry + induced him at this period to cultivate poetry with such success that, + when the author of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> failed, Alfonso commanded him to + take the vacant place of Court poet. There is an interesting letter extant + from Guarini to his friend Cornelio Bentivoglio, describing the efforts he + made to comply with the Duke's pleasure. 'I strove to transform myself + into another man, and, like a play<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB248" + id="pageB248"></a>{248}</span> actor, to reassume the character, manners + and emotions of a past period. Mature in age, I forced myself to appear + young; exchanged my melancholy for gayety: affected loves I did not feel; + turned my wisdom into folly, and, in a word, passed from philosopher to + poet.'<a name="BFNanchor_179_179" id="BFNanchor_179_179"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> How ill-adapted he + was to this masquerade existence may be gathered from another sentence in + the same letter. 'I am already in my forty-fourth year, burdened with + debts, the father of eight children, two of my sons old enough to be my + judges, and with my daughters to marry.' + </p> + <p> + At last, abandoning this uncongenial strain upon his faculties, Guarini + retired in 1582 to the villa which he had built upon his ancestral estate + in the Polesine, that delightful rustic region between Adige and Po. Here + he gave himself up to the cares of his family, the nursing of his + dilapidated fortune, and the composition of the <i>Pastor Fido</i>. It is + not yet the time to speak of that work, upon which Guarini's fame as poet + rests; for the drama, though suggested by Tasso's <i>Aminta</i>, was not + finally perfected until 1602.<a name="BFNanchor_180_180" + id="BFNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#BFootnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> + Yet we may pause to remark upon the circumstances under which he wrote it. + A disappointed courtier, past the prime of manhood, feeling his true + vocation to be for severe studies and practical affairs, he yet devoted + years of leisure to the slow elaboration of a dramatic masterpiece which + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB249" id="pageB249"></a>{249}</span> is + worthy to rank with the classics of Italian literature. During this period + his domestic lot was not a happy one. He lost his wife, quarreled with his + elder sons, and involved himself in a series of lawsuits.<a + name="BFNanchor_181_181" id="BFNanchor_181_181"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> Litigation seems to + have been an inveterate vice of his maturity, and he bequeathed to his + descendants a coil of legal troubles. Having married one of his daughters, + Anna, to Count Ercole Trotti, he had the misery of hearing in 1596 that + she had fallen an innocent victim to her husband's jealousy, and that his + third son, Girolamo connived at her assassination. In the midst of these + annoyances and sorrows, he maintained a grave and robust attitude, + uttering none of those querulous lamentations which flowed so readily from + Tasso's pen. + </p> + <p> + Tasso had used the Pastoral Drama to idealize Courts. Guarini vented all + the bitterness of his soul against them in his <i>Pastor Fido</i>. He also + wrote from his retirement: 'I am at ease in the enjoyment of liberty, + studies, the management of my household.'<a name="BFNanchor_182_182" + id="BFNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#BFootnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> + Yet in 1585, while on a visit to Turin, he again accepted proposals from + Alfonso. He had gone there in order to superintend the first + representation of his Pastoral, which was dedicated to the Duke of Savoy. + Extremely averse to his old servants taking office under other princes, + the Duke of Ferrara seems to have feared lest Guarini should <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB250" id="pageB250"></a>{250}</span> pass + into the Court of Carlo Emmanuele. He therefore appointed him Secretary of + State; and Guarini entered upon the post in the same year that Tasso + issued from his prison. This reconciliation did not last long. Alfonso + took the side of Alessandro Guarini in a lawsuit with his father; and the + irritable poet retired in indignation to Florence. The Duke of Ferrara, + however, was determined that he should not serve another master. At + Florence, Turin, Mantua and Rome, his attempts to obtain firm foothold in + offices of trust were invariably frustrated; and Coccapani, the Duke's + envoy, hinted that if Guarini were not circumspect, 'he might suffer the + same fate as Tasso.' To shut Guarini up in a madhouse would have been + difficult. Still he might easily have been dispatched by the poniard; and + these words throw not insignificant light upon Tasso's terror of + assassination. + </p> + <p> + The Duke Alfonso died in 1597, and Ferrara reverted to the Holy See. Upon + this occasion, Guarini was free to follow his own inclinations. He + therefore established himself at the Court of the Grand Duke, into whose + confidence he entered upon terms of flattering familiarity. Ferdinando + de'Medici 'fell in love with him as a man may with a fine woman,' says his + son Alessandro in one of his apologetic writings. This, however, meant but + little; for compliments passed freely between princes and their courtiers; + which, when affairs of purse or honor were at stake, soon turned to + discontent and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB251" id="pageB251"></a>{251}</span> + hatred. So it fared with Guarini at Florence. His son, Guarino, made a + marriage of which he disapproved, but which the Grand Duke countenanced. + So slight a disagreement snapped the ties of friendship, and the restless + poet removed to the Court of Urbino. There the last duke of the House of + Rovere, Francesco Maria II., Tasso's schoolfellow and patron, was spending + his widowed years in gloomy Spanish pride. The mortmain of the Church was + soon to fall upon Urbino, as it had already fallen on Ferrara. Guarini + wrote: 'The former Court in Italy is a dead thing. One may see the shadow, + but not the substance of it nowadays. Ours is an age of appearances, and + one goes a-masquerading all the year.' A sad but sincere epitaph, + inscribed by one who had gone the round of all the Courts of Italy, and + had survived the grand free life of the Renaissance. + </p> + <p> + These words close Guarini's career as courtier. He returned to Ferrara in + 1604, and in 1605 carried the compliments of that now Pontifical city to + Paul V. in Rome on his election to the Papacy. Upon this occasion Cardinal + Bellarmino told him that he had inflicted as much harm on Christendom by + his <i>Pastor Fido</i> as Luther and Calvin by their heresies. He retorted + with a sarcasm which has not been transmitted to us, but which may + probably have reflected on the pollution of Christian morals by the + Jesuits. In 1612 Guarini died at Venice, whither he was summoned by one of + his innumerable and interminable lawsuits.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB252" id="pageB252"></a>{252}</span> + </p> + <p> + Bellarmino's censure of the <i>Pastor Fido</i> strikes a modern reader as + inexplicably severe. Yet it is certain that the dissolute seventeenth + century recognized this drama as one of the most potent agents of + corruption. Not infrequent references in the literature of that age to the + ruin of families and reputations by its means, warn us to remember how + difficult it is to estimate the ethical sensibilities of society in + periods remote from our own.<a name="BFNanchor_183_183" + id="BFNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#BFootnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> + In the course of the analysis which I now propose to make of this play, I + shall attempt to show how, coming midway between Tasso's <i>Aminta</i> and + Marino's <i>Adone</i>, and appealing to the dominant musical enthusiasms + of the epoch, Guarini's <i>Pastor Fido</i> may have merited the + condemnation of far-sighted moralists. Not censurable in itself, it was so + related to the sentimental sensuality of its period as to form a link in + the chain of enervation which weighed on Italy. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Pastor Fido</i> is a tragi-comedy, as its author points out with + some elaboration in the critical essay he composed upon that species of + the drama. The scene is laid in Arcadia, where according to Guarini it was + customary to sacrifice a maiden each year to Diana, in expiation of an + ancient curse brought upon the country by a woman's infidelity. An oracle + has declared that when two scions of divine lineage are united in + marriage, and a faithful shepherd atones <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB253" id="pageB253"></a>{253}</span> for woman's faithlessness, + this inhuman rite shall cease. The only youth and girl who fulfill these + conditions of divine descent are the daughter of Titiro named Amarilli, + and Silvio, the son of the high priest Montano. They have accordingly been + betrothed. But Silvio is indifferent to womankind in general, and Amarilli + loves a handsome stranger, Mirtillo, supposed to be the son of Carino. The + plot turns upon the unexpected fulfillment of the prophecy, in spite of + the human means which have been blindly taken to secure its + accomplishment. Amarilli is condemned to death for suspected misconduct + with a lover; and Mirtillo, who has substituted himself as victim in her + place, is found to be the lost son of Montano. This solution of the + intrigue, effected by an anagnorisis like that of the <i>Oedipus Tyrannus</i>, + supplies a series of dramatic scenes and thrilling situations in the last + act. Meanwhile the passion of Dorinda for Silvio, and the accident whereby + he is brought to return her affection at the moment when his dart has + wounded her, form a picturesque underplot of considerable interest. Both + plot and underplot are so connected in the main action and so interwoven + by links of mutual dependency that they form one richly varied fabric. + Regarded as a piece of cunning mechanism, the complicated structure of the + <i>Pastor Fido</i> leaves nothing to be desired. In its kind, this + pastoral drama is a monumental work of art, glittering and faultless like + a polished bas-relief of hard Corinthian <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB254" id="pageB254"></a>{254}</span> bronze. Each motive has + been carefully prepared, each situation amply and logically developed. The + characters are firmly traced, and sustained with consistency. The cold and + eager hunter Silvio contrasts with tender and romantic Mirtillo. Corisca's + meretricious arts and systematized profligacy enhance the pure affection + of Amarilli. Dorinda presents another type of love, so impulsive that it + conquers maidenly modesty. The Satyr is a creature of rude lust, foiled in + its brutal appetite by the courtesan Corisca's wiliness. Carino brings the + corruption of towns into comparison with the innocence of the country. + </p> + <p> + In Carino the poet painted his own experience; and here his satire upon + the Court of Ferrara is none the less biting because it takes the form of + well-weighed and gravely-measured censure, instead of vehement invective. + The following lines may serve as a specimen of Guarini's style in this + species:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>I' mi pensai che ne' reali alberghi<br /> </span> <span>Fossero + tanto più le genti umane,<br /> </span> <span>Quant'esse ban più + di tutto quel dovizia,<br /> </span> <span>Ond' è l'umanità + sì nobil fregio.<br /> </span> <span>Ma mi trovai tutto 'l + contrario, Uranio.<br /> </span> <span>Gente di nome e di parlar cortese,<br /> + </span> <span>Ma d'opre scarsa, e di pietà nemica:<br /> </span> + <span>Gente placida in vista e mansueta,<br /> </span> <span>Ma più + del cupo mar tumida e fera:<br /> </span> <span>Gente sol d'apparenza, in + cui se miri<br /> </span> <span>Viso di carità, mente d'invidia<br /> + </span> <span>Poi trovi, e 'n dritto sguardo animo bieco,<br /> </span> + <span>E minor fede allor che pin lusinga.<br /> </span> <span>Quel + ch'altrove è virtù, quivi e difetto:<br /> </span> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB255" id="pageB255"></a>{255}</span> <span>Dir + vero, oprar non torto, amar non finto,<br /> </span> <span>Pietà + sincera, invïolabil fede,<br /> </span> <span>E di core e di man + vita innocente,<br /> </span> <span>Stiman d'animo vil, di basso ingegno,<br /> + </span> <span>Sciochezza e vanità degna di riso.<br /> </span> + <span>L'ingannare, il mentir, la frode, il furto,<br /> </span> <span>E + la rapina di pietà vestita,<br /> </span> <span>Crescer col danno + e precipizio altrui,<br /> </span> <span>E far a sè dell'altrui + biasimo onore,<br /> </span> <span>Son le virtù di quella gente + infida.<br /> </span> <span>Non merto, non valor, non riverenza<br /> + </span> <span>Nè d'età nè di grado nè di + legge;<br /> </span> <span>Non freno di vergogna, non rispetto<br /> + </span> <span>Nè d'amor nè di sangue, non memoria<br /> + </span> <span>Di ricevuto ben; nè, finalmente,<br /> </span> <span>Cosa + sì venerabile o sì santa<br /> </span> <span>O sì + giusta esser può, ch'a quella vasta<br /> </span> <span>Cupidigia + d'onori, a quella ingorda<br /> </span> <span>Fama d'avere, invïolabil + sia.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The <i>Pastor Fido</i> was written in open emulation of Tasso's <i>Aminta</i>, + and many of its most brilliant passages are borrowed from that play. Such, + for example, is the Chorus on the Golden Age which closes the fourth act. + Such, too, is the long description by Mirtillo of the kiss he stole from + Amarilli (act ii. sc. 1). The motive here is taken from <i>Rinaldo</i> + (canto v.), and the spirit from <i>Aminta</i> (act i. sc. 2). Guarini's + Satyr is a studied picture from the sketch in Tasso's pastoral. The + dialogue between Silvio and Linco (act i. sc. 1) with its lyrical refrain: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Lascia, lascia le selve,<br /> </span> <span>Folle garzon, lascia + le fere, ed ama:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + reproduces the dialogue between Silvia and Dafne (act i. sc. 1) with its + similar refrain:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB256" id="pageB256"></a>{256}</span> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Cangia, cangia consiglio,<br /> </span> <span>Pazzarella che sei.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + In all these instances Guarini works up Tasso's motives into more + elaborate forms. He expands the simple suggestions of his model; and + employs the artifices of rhetoric where Tasso yielded to inspiration. One + example will suffice to contrast the methods of the spontaneous and the + reflective poet. Tasso with divine impulse had exclaimed: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Odi quell'usignuolo,<br /> </span> <span>Che va di ramo in ramo<br /> + </span> <span>Cantando: Io amo, io amo!<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This, in Guarini's hands, becomes: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Quell'augellin, che canta<br /> </span> <span>Si dolcemente, e + lascivetto vola<br /> </span> <span>Or dall'abete al faggio,<br /> </span> + <span>Ed or dal faggio al mirto,<br /> </span> <span>S'avesse umano + spirto,<br /> </span> <span>Direbbe: Ardo d'amore, ardo d'amore.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Here a laborious effort of the constructive fancy has been substituted for + a single flash of sympathetic imagination. Tasso does not doubt that the + nightingale is pouring out her love in song. Guarini says that if the bird + had human soul, it would exclaim, <i>Ardo d'amore</i>. Tasso sees it + flying from branch to branch. Guarini teases our sense of mental vision by + particularizing pine and beech and myrtle. The same is true of Linco's + speech in general when compared with Dafne's on the ruling power of love + in earth and heaven. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB257" id="pageB257"></a>{257}</span> Of + imagination in the true sense of the term Guarini had none. Of fancy, + dwelling gracefully, ingeniously, suggestively, upon externals he had + plenty. The minute care with which he worked out each vein of thought and + spun each thread of sentiment, was that of the rhetorician rather than the + poet. Tasso had made Aminta say: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>La semplicetta Silvia<br /> </span> <span>Pietosa del mio male,<br /> + </span> <span>S'offri di dar aita<br /> </span> <span>Alla finta ferita, + ahi lassole fece<br /> </span> <span>Più cupa, e più + mortale<br /> </span> <span>La mia piaga verace,<br /> </span> <span>Quando + le labbra sue<br /> </span> <span>Giunse alle labbra mie.<br /> </span> + <span>Nè l'api d'alcun fiore<br /> </span> <span>Colgan si dolce + il sugo,<br /> </span> <span>Come fa dolce il mel, ch'allora io colsi<br /> + </span> <span>Da quelle fresche rose.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Now listen to Guarini's Mirtillo: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Amor si stava, Ergasto,<br /> </span> <span>Com'ape suol, nelle due + fresche rose<br /> </span> <span>Di quelle labbra ascoso;<br /> </span> + <span>E mentre ella si stette<br /> </span> <span>Con la baciata bocca<br /> + </span> <span>Al baciar della mia<br /> </span> <span>Immobile e + ristretta,<br /> </span> <span>La dolcezza del mel sola gustai;<br /> + </span> <span>Ma poichè mi s'offerse anch'ella, e porse<br /> + </span> <span>L'una e l'altra dolcissima sua rosa....<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This is enough to illustrate Guarini's laborious method of adding touch to + touch without augmenting th force of the picture.<a + name="BFNanchor_184_184" id="BFNanchor_184_184"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> We find already here + the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB258" id="pageB258"></a>{258}</span> + transition from Tasso's measured art to the fantastic prolixity of Marino. + And though Guarini was upon the whole chaste in use of language, his + rhetorical love of amplification and fanciful refinement not unfrequently + betrayed him into Marinistic conceits. Dorinda, for instance, thus + addresses Silvio (act iv. sc. 9): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>O bellissimo scoglio<br /> </span> <span>Già dall'onda e dal + vento<br /> </span> <span>Delle lagrime mie, de'miei sospiri<br /> </span> + <span>Si spesso invan percosso!<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Sighs are said to be (act i. sc. 2): + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">impetuosi venti<br /> </span> <span>Che spiran + nell'incendio, e 'l fan maggiore<br /> </span> <span>Con turbini d'Amore,<br /> + </span> <span>Ch' apportan sempre ai miserelli amanti<br /> </span> <span>Foschi + nembi di duol, piogge di pianti.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + From this to the style of the <i>Adone</i> there was only one step to be + taken. + </p> + <p> + Though the scene of the <i>Pastor Fido</i> was laid in Arcadia, the play + really represented polite Italian society. In the softness of its + sentiment, its voluptuous verbal melody, and its reiterated descant upon + effeminate love-pleasure, it corresponded exactly to <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB259" id="pageB259"></a>{259}</span> the spirit of its age.<a + name="BFNanchor_185_185" id="BFNanchor_185_185"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> This was the secret + of its success; and this explains its seduction. Not Corisca's wanton + blandishments and professed cynicism, but Mirtillo's rapturous dithyrambs + on kissing, Dorinda's melting moods of tenderness, and Amarilli's delicate + regrets that love must be postponed to honor, justified Bellarmino's + censure. Without anywhere transgressing the limits of decorum, the <i>Pastor + Fido</i> is steeped in sensuousness. The sentiment of love idealized in + Mirtillo and Amarilli is pure and self-sacrificing. <i>Ama l'onesta mia, + s'amante sei</i>, says this maiden to her lover; and he obeys her. Yet, + though the drama is dedicated to virtue, no one can read it without + perceiving the blandishments of its luxurious rhetoric. The sensual + refinement proper to an age of social decadence found in it exact + expression, and it became the code of gallantry for the next two + centuries. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the literary dictator of the seventeenth century was undoubtedly + Marino. On him devolved the scepter which Petrarch bequeathed to Politian,<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB260" id="pageB260"></a>{260}</span> Politian + to Bembo, and Bembo to Torquato Tasso. In natural gifts he was no unworthy + successor of these poets, though the gifts he shared with them were + conspicuously employed by him for purposes below the scope of any of his + predecessors. In artistic achievement he concentrated the less admirable + qualities of all, and brought the Italian poetry of the Renaissance to a + close by exaggerating its previous defects. Yet, as a man, Marino is + interesting, more interesting in many respects than the melancholy + discontented Tasso. He accepted the conditions of his age with genial and + careless sympathy, making himself at once its idol, its interpreter, and + its buffoon. Finally, he illustrates the law of change which transferred + to Neapolitans in this age the scepter which had formerly been swayed by + Tuscans and Lombards.<a name="BFNanchor_186_186" id="BFNanchor_186_186"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> + </p> + <p> + Giovanni Battista Marino was born at Naples in 1569. His father, a jurist + of eminence, bred him for the law. But the attractions of poetry and + pleasure were irresistible by this mobile son of the warm South— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">La lusinga del Genio in me prevalse,<br /> </span> <span>E + la toga deposta, altrui lascisi<br /> </span> <span>Parolette smaltir + mendaci e false.<br /> </span> <span>Nè dubbi testi interpretar + curai,<br /> </span> <span>Nè discordi accordar chiose mi calse,<br /> + </span> <span>Quella stimando sol perfetta legge<br /> </span> <span>Che + de'sensi sfrenati il fren corregge.<br /> </span> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB261" id="pageB261"></a>{261}</span> <span class="i2">Legge + omai più non v' ha la qual per dritto<br /> </span> <span>Punisca + il fallo o ricompensi il merto.<br /> </span> <span>Sembra quando + è fin quì deciso e scritto<br /> </span> <span>D'opinion + confuse abisso incerto.<br /> </span> <span>Dalle calumnie il litigante + afflitto<br /> </span> <span>Somiglia in vasto mar legno inesperto,<br /> + </span> <span>Reggono il tutto con affetto ingordo,<br /> </span> <span>Passion + cieca ed interesse sordo.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Such, in the poet's maturity, was his judgment upon law; and probably he + expressed the same opinion with frankness in his youth. Seeing these + dispositions in his son, the severe parent cast him out of doors, and + young Marino was free to indulge vagabond instincts with lazzaroni and + loose companions on the quays and strands of Naples. In that luxurious + climate a healthy native, full of youth and vigor, needs but little to + support existence. Marino set his wits to work, and reaped too facile + laurels in the fields of Venus and the Muses. His verses speedily + attracted the notice of noble patrons, among whom the Duke of Bovino, the + Prince of Conca, and Tasso's friend the Marquis Manso have to be + commemorated. They took care that so genuine and genial a poet should not + starve. It was in one of Manso's palaces that Marino had an opportunity of + worshiping the singer of Armida and Erminia at a distance. He had already + acquired dubious celebrity as a juvenile Don Juan and a writer of + audaciously licentious lyrics, when disaster overtook him. He assisted one + of his profligate friends in the abduction of a girl. For this breach of + the law both were thrown together into prison, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB262" id="pageB262"></a>{262}</span> and Marino only escaped + justice by the sudden death of his accomplice. His patrons now thought it + desirable that he should leave Naples for a time. Accordingly they sent + him with letters of recommendation to Rome, where he was well received by + members of the Crescenzio and Aldobrandino families. The Cardinal Pietro + Aldobrandino made him private secretary, and took him on a journey to + Ravenna and Turin. From the commencement to the end of his literary career + Marino's march through life was one triumphal progress. At Turin, as + formerly in Naples and Rome, he achieved a notable success. The Duke of + Savoy, Carlo Emmanuele, offered him a place at Court, appointed him + secretary, and dubbed him Knight of S. Maurice. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">Vidi la corte, e nella corte io vidi<br /> </span> <span>Promesse + lunghe e guiderdoni avari,<br /> </span> <span>Favori ingiusti e + patrocini infidi,<br /> </span> <span>Speranze dolci e pentimenti amari,<br /> + </span> <span>Sorrisi traditor, vezzi omicidi,<br /> </span> <span>Ed + acquisti dubbiosi e danni chiari,<br /> </span> <span>E voti vani ed + idoli bugiardi,<br /> </span> <span>Onde il male è sicuro e il ben + vien tardi.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + It was the custom of all poets in that age to live in Courts and to abuse + them, to adulate princes and to vilify these patrons. Marino, however, had + real cause to complain of the treachery of courtiers. He appears to have + been a man of easy-going temper, popular among acquaintances, and + serviceable to the society he frequented. This comradely disposition <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB263" id="pageB263"></a>{263}</span> did not + save him, however, from jealousies and hatreds; for he had, besides, a + Neapolitan's inclination for satire. There was a Genoese poetaster named + Gasparo Murtola established in Court-service at Turin, who had recently + composed a lumbering poem, <i>Il Mondo Creato</i>. Marino made fun of it + in a sonnet; Murtola retorted; and a warfare of invectives began which + equaled for scurrility and filth the duels of Poggio and Valla. Murtola, + seeing that he was likely to be worsted by his livelier antagonist, waited + for him one day round a corner, gun in hand. The gun was discharged, and + wounded, not Marino, but a favorite servant of the duke. For this offense + the assassin was condemned to death; and would apparently have been + executed, but for Marino's generosity. He procured his enemy's pardon, and + was repaid with the blackest ingratitude. On his release from prison + Murtola laid hands upon a satire, <i>La Cuccagna</i>, written some time + previously by his rival. This he laid before the duke, as a seditious + attack upon the government of Savoy. Marino now in his turn was + imprisoned; but he proved, through the intervention of Manso, that the <i>Cuccagna</i> + had been published long before his arrival at Turin. Disgusted by these + incidents, he next accepted an invitation from the French Court, and + journeyed to Paris in 1615, where the Italianated society of that city + received him like a living Phoebus. Maria de Medici, as Regent, with + Concini for her counselor and lover, was then in all her vulgar glory.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB264" id="pageB264"></a>{264}</span> + Richelieu's star had not arisen to eclipse Italian intrigue and to form + French taste by the Academy. D'Urfè and Du Bartas, more marinistic + than Marino, more euphuistic than Euphues, gave laws to literature; and + the pageant pictures by Rubens, which still adorn the Gallery of the + Louvre, marked the full-blown and sensuous splendor of Maria's equipage. + Marino's genius corresponded nicely to the environment in which he now + found himself; the Italians of the French Court discerned in him the poet + who could best express their ideal of existence. He was idolized, glutted + with gold, indulged and flattered to the top of his bent. Yearly + appointments estimated at 10,000 crowns were augmented by presents in + return for complimentary verses or for copies of the poem he was then + composing. This poem was the <i>Adone</i>, the theme of which had been + suggested by Carlo Emmanuele, and which he now adroitly used as a means of + flattering the French throne. First printed at Paris in 1623, its + reception both there and in Italy secured apotheosis in his lifetime for + the poet.<a name="BFNanchor_187_187" id="BFNanchor_187_187"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a> One minor point in + this magnificent first folio edition of <i>Adone</i> deserves notice, as + not uncharacteristic of the age. Only two Cantos out of the twenty are + distinguished by anything peculiar in their engraved decorations. Of these + two, the eleventh displays the shield of France; the thirteenth, which + describes Falsirena's incantations and enchantments, is orna<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB265" id="pageB265"></a>{265}</span> mented + with the symbol of the Jesuits, IHS. For this the publishers alone were + probably responsible. Yet it may stand as a parable of all-pervasive + Jesuitry. Even among the roses and raptures of the most voluptuous poem of + the century their presence makes itself felt, as though to hint that the + <i>Adone</i> is capable of being used according to Jesuitical rules of + casuistry A.M.D.G. One warning voice was raised before the publication of + this epic. Cardinal Bentivoglio wrote from Italy beseeching Marino to + 'purge it of lasciviousness in such wise that it may not have to dread the + lash of our Italian censure.' Whether he followed this advice, in other + words whether the original MS. of the <i>Adone</i> was more openly + licentious than the published poem, I do not know. Anyhow, it was put upon + the Index in 1627. This does not, however, appear to have impaired its + popularity, or to have injured its author's reputation. Soon after the + appearance of <i>Adone</i>, Marino, then past fifty, returned to Naples. + He was desirous of reposing on his laurels, wealthy, honored, and adored, + among the scenes from which he fled in danger and disgrace thirty years + before. His entrance into Naples was an ovation. The Iazzaroni came to + meet his coach, dancing and scattering roses; noblemen attended him on + horse-back; ladies gazed on him from balconies. A banner waving to the + wind announced the advent of 'that ocean of incomparable learning, soul of + lyres, subject for pens, material for ink, most eloquent, most fertile, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB266" id="pageB266"></a>{266}</span> + phoenix of felicity, ornament of the laurel, of swans in their divine + leisure chief and uncontested leader.' At Naples he died in 1625—felicitous + in not having survived the fame which attended him through life and + reached its climax just before his death. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Adone</i> strikes us at first sight as the supreme poem of epicene + voluptuousness. Its smooth-chinned hero, beautiful as a girl, soft as a + girl, sentimental as a girl, with nothing of the man about him—except + that 'Nature, as she wrought him, fell adoting,'—threads a labyrinth + of suggestive adventures, in each of which he is more the patient than the + agent of desire. Mercury introduces him to our attention in a series of + those fables (tales of Narcissus, Ganymede, Cyparissus, Hylas, Atys) by + which antiquity figured the seductiveness of adolescence. Venus woos him, + and Falserina tries to force him. Captured in feminine attire by brigands, + he is detained in a cave as the mistress of their chief, and doted on by + the effeminate companion of his prison. Finally, he contends for the + throne of Cyprus with a band of luxurious youths— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Bardassonacci, paggi da taverna.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + The crown is destined for the physically fairest. The rival charms of the + competitors are minutely noted, their personal blemishes sagaciously + detected, by a council of pleasure-sated worldlings. In his death Adonis + succumbs to the assault of a boar, fatally inflamed with lust, who wounds + the young <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB267" id="pageB267"></a>{267}</span> + man in his groin, dealing destruction where the beast meant only amorous + caresses. Gods and godesses console Venus in her sorrow for his loss, each + of whom relates the tale of similar disasters. Among these legends + Apollo's love for Hyacinth and Phoebus' love for Pampinus figure + conspicuously. Thus Marino's Adonis excites unhealthy interest by the + spectacle of boyhood exposed to the caprices and allurements of both sexes + doting on unfledged virility. + </p> + <p> + What contributes to this effect, in the central motive of the poem, is + that Venus herself is no artless virgin, no innocent Chloe, corresponding + to a rustic Daphnis. She is already wife, mother, adulteress, <i>femme + entretenue</i>, before she meets the lad. Her method of treating him is + that of a licentious queen, who, after seducing page or groom, keeps the + instrument of her pleasures in seclusion for occasional indulgence during + intervals of public business. Vulcan and Mars, her husband and her <i>cicisbeo</i>, + contest the woman's right to this caprice; and when the god of war + compels, she yields him the crapulous fruition of her charms before the + eye of her disconsolate boy-paramour. Her pre-occupation with Court + affairs in Cythera—balls, pageants, sacrifices, and a people's + homage—brings about the catastrophe. Through her temporary neglect, + Adonis falls victim to a conspiracy of the gods. Thus the part which the + female plays in this amorous epic is that of an accomplished courtesan, + highly placed in society.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB268" + id="pageB268"></a>{268}</span> All the pathos, all the attraction of + beauty and of sentiment, is reserved for the adolescent male. + </p> + <p> + This fact, though disagreeable, has to be noted. It is too characteristic + of the wave of feeling at that time passing over Europe, to be ignored. + The morbid strain which touched the Courts alike of Valois, Medici and + Stuarts; which infected the poetry of Marlowe and of Shakespeare; which + cast a sickly pallor even over sainthood and over painting in the school + of Bologna, cannot be neglected. In Marino's <i>Adone</i> it reaches its + artistic climax.<a name="BFNanchor_188_188" id="BFNanchor_188_188"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> + </p> + <p> + This, however, is not the main point about the poem. The <i>Adone</i> + should rather be classed as the epic of voluptuousness in all its forms + and species. If the love-poetry of the Italian Renaissance began with the + sensuality of Boccaccio's <i>Amoroso Visione</i>, it ended, after + traversing the idyl, the novel, the pastoral, the elegy and the romance, + in the more complex sensuality of Marino's <i>Adone</i>; for this, like + the <i>Amoroso Visione</i>, but far more emphatically, proclaims the + beatification of man by sexual pleasure:— + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Tramortiscon di gioia ebbre e languenti<br /> </span> <span>L'anime + stanche, al ciel d'Amor rapite.<br /> </span> <span>Gl'iterati sospiri, i + rotti accenti,<br /> </span> <span>Le dolcissime guerre e le ferite,<br /> + </span> <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB269" id="pageB269"></a>{269}</span> + <span>Narrar non so—fresche aure, onde correnti,<br /> </span> + <span>Voi che il miraste, e ben l'udiste, il dite!<br /> </span> <span>Voi + secretari de'felici amori,<br /> </span> <span>Verdi mirti, alti pini, + ombrosi allori! (Canto viii.)<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Thus voluptuousness has its transcendentalism; and Marino finds even his + prolific vocabulary inadequate to express the mysteries of this heaven of + sensuous delights.<a name="BFNanchor_189_189" id="BFNanchor_189_189"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> + </p> + <p> + It must not be thought that the <i>Adone</i> is an obscene poem. Marino + was too skillful a master in the craft of pleasure to revolt or to regale + his readers with grossness. He had too much of the Neapolitan's frank + self-abandonment to nature for broad indecency in art to afford him + special satisfaction; and the taste of his age demanded innuendo. The + laureate of Courts and cities saturated with licentiousness knew well that + Coan vestments are more provocative than nudity. It was his object to + flatter the senses and seduce the understanding rather than to stimulate + coarse appetite. Refinement was the aphrodisiac of a sated society, and + millinery formed a main ingredient in its love-philters.<a + name="BFNanchor_190_190" id="BFNanchor_190_190"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> Marino, therefore, + took the carnal instincts for granted, and played upon them as a lutist + plays the strings of some lax thrilling instrument. Of moral judg<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB270" id="pageB270"></a>{270}</span> ment, of + antipathy to this or that form of lust, of prejudice or preference in the + material of pleasure, there is no trace. He shows himself equally + indulgent to the passion of Mirra for her father, of Jove for Ganymede, of + Bacchus for Pampinus, of Venus for Adonis, of Apollo for Hyacinth. He + tells the disgusting story of Cinisca with the same fluent ease as the + lovely tale of Psyche; passes with the same light touch over Falserina at + the bedside of Adonis and Feronia in his dungeon; uses the same palette + for the picture of Venus caressing Mars and the struggles of the nymph and + satyr. All he demanded was a basis of soft sensuality, from which, as from + putrescent soil, might spring the pale and scented flower of artful + luxury. + </p> + <p> + In harmony with the spirit of an age reformed or deformed by the Catholic + Revival, Marino parades cynical hypocrisy. The eighth canto of <i>Adone</i> + is an elaborately-wrought initiation into the mysteries of carnal + pleasure. It is a hymn to the sense of touch:<a name="BFNanchor_191_191" + id="BFNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#BFootnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ogni altro senso può ben di leggiero<br /> </span> <span>Deluso + esser talor da falsi oggetti:<br /> </span> <span>Questo sol no, lo qual + sempre è del vero<br /> </span> <span>Fido ministro e padre dei + diletti.<br /> </span> <span>Gli altri non possedendo il corpo intero,<br /> + </span> <span>Ma qualche parte sol, non son perfetti.<br /> </span> <span>Questo + con atto universal distende<br /> </span> <span>Lesue forze per tutto, e + tutto il prende.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB271" id="pageB271"></a>{271}</span> We + are led by subtle gradations, by labyrinthine delays, to the final + beatification of Adonis. Picture is interwoven with picture, each in turn + contributing to the panorama of sensual Paradise. Yet while straining all + the resources of his art, with intense sympathy, to seduce his reader, the + poet drops of set purpose phrases like the following: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Flora non so, non so se Frine o Taide<br /> </span> <span>Trovar + mai seppe oscenita si laide.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Here the ape masked in the man turns around and grins, gibbering vulgar + words to point his meaning, and casting dirt on his pretended decency. + While racking the resources of allusive diction to veil and to suggest an + immodest movement of his hero (Adonis being goaded beyond the bounds of + boyish delicacy by lascivious sights), he suddenly subsides with a knavish + titter into prose: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Così il fanciullo all'inonesto gioco.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + But the end of all this practice is that innocent Adonis has been + conducted by slow and artfully contrived approaches to a wanton's embrace, + and that the spectators of his seduction have become, as it were, parties + to his fall. To make Marino's cynicism of hypocrisy more glaring, he + prefaces each canto with an allegory, declaring that Adonis and Venus + symbolize the human soul abandoned to vice, and the allurements of + sensuality which work its ruin. In the poem itself, meanwhile, the hero + and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB272" id="pageB272"></a>{272}</span> + heroine are consistently treated as a pair of enviable, devoted, and at + last unfortunate lovers.<a name="BFNanchor_192_192" id="BFNanchor_192_192"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> + </p> + <p> + It is characteristic of the mood expressed in the <i>Adone</i> that + voluptuousness should not be passionate, but sentimental. Instead of fire, + the poet gives us honeyed tears to drink, and rocks the soul upon an + ever-rippling tide of Lydian melody. The acme of pleasure, as conceived by + him, is kissing. Twenty-three of the most inspired stanzas of the eighth + canto are allotted to a panegyric of the kiss, in which delight all other + amorous delights are drowned.<a name="BFNanchor_193_193" + id="BFNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#BFootnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> + Tasso's melancholy yearning after forbidden fruit is now replaced by + satiety contemplating the image of past joys with purring satisfaction. + This quality of self-contented sentiment partly explains why the type of + beauty adored is neither womanly nor manly, but adolescent. It has to be + tender, fragile, solicitous, unripe; appealing to sensibility, not to + passion, by feminine charms in nerveless and soulless boyhood. The most + distinctive mark of Adonis is that he has no character, no will, no + intellect. He is all sentiment, sighs, tears, pliability, and sweetness. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB273" id="pageB273"></a>{273}</span> + This emasculate nature displays itself with consummate effect in the + sobbing farewell, followed by the pretty pettishnesses, of the seventeenth + canto. + </p> + <p> + As a contrast to his over-sweet and cloying ideal of lascivious grace, + Marino counterposes extravagant forms of ugliness. He loves to describe + the loathsome incantations of witches. He shows Falserina prowling among + corpses on a battle-field, and injecting the congealed veins of her + resuscitated victim with abominable juices. He crowds the Cave of Jealousy + with monsters horrible to sight and sense; depicts the brutality of + brigands; paints hideous portraits of eunuchs, deformed hags, unnameable + abortions. He gloats over cruelty, and revels in violence.<a + name="BFNanchor_194_194" id="BFNanchor_194_194"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> When Mars appears + upon the scene, the orchestra of lutes and cymbals with which we had been + lulled to sleep, is exchanged for a Corybantic din of dissonances. + Orgonte, the emblem of pride, outdoes the hyperboles of Rodomonte and the + lunes of Tamburlaine. Nowhere, either in his voluptuousness or in its + counterpart of disgust, is there moderation. The Hellenic precept, + 'Nothing overmuch,' the gracious Greek virtue of temperate restraint, + which is for art what training is for athletes, discipline for soldiers, + and pruning for orchard trees, has been violated in every canto, each + phrase, the slightest motive of this poem. Sensuality can bear such + violation better than sublimity; therefore the perfume of voluptuousness + in the <i>Adone</i>, though <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB274" + id="pageB274"></a>{274}</span> excessive, is both penetrating and + profound; while those passages which aim at inspiring terror or dilating + the imagination, fail totally of their effect. The ghastly, grotesque, + repulsive images are so overcharged that they cease even to offend. We + find ourselves in a region where tact, sense of proportion, moral + judgment, and right adjustment of means to ends, have been wantonly + abandoned. Marino avowed that he only aimed at surprising his readers: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>È del poeta il fin la meraviglia.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + But 45,000 lines of sustained astonishment, of industrious and + indefatigable appeals to wonder by devices of language, devices of + incident, devices of rhodomontade, devices of innuendo, devices of <i>capricci</i> + and <i>concetti</i>, induce the stolidity of callousness. We leave off + marveling, and yield what is left of our sensibility to the fascination of + inexhaustible picturesqueness. For, with all his faults, Marino was a + master of the picturesque, and did possess an art of fascination. The + picturesque, so difficult to define, so different from the pictorial and + the poetical, was a quality of the seventeenth century corresponding to + its defects of bad taste. And this gift no poet shared in larger measure + than Marino. + </p> + <p> + Granted his own conditions, granted the emptiness of moral and + intellectual substance in the man and in his age, we are compelled to + acknowledge <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB275" id="pageB275"></a>{275}</span> + that his literary powers were rich and various. Few writers, at the same + time, illustrate the vices of decadence more luminously than this Protean + poet of vacuity. Few display more clearly the 'expense of spirit in a + waste of shame.' None teach the dependence of art upon moralized and + humane motives more significantly than this drunken Helot of genius. His + indifference to truth, his defiance of sobriety, his conviction that the + sole end of art is astonishment, have doomed him to oblivion not wholly + merited. The critic, whose duty forces him to read through the <i>Adone</i>, + will be left bewildered by the spectacle of such profuse wealth so + wantonly squandered.<a name="BFNanchor_195_195" id="BFNanchor_195_195"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a> In spite of fatigue, + in spite of disgust, he will probably be constrained to record his opinion + that, while Tasso represented the last effort of noble poetry struggling + after modern expression under out-worn forms of the Classical Revival, it + was left for Marino in his levity and license to evoke a real and novel + though <i>rococo</i> form, which nicely corresponded <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB276" id="pageB276"></a>{276}</span> to the temper of his times, + and determined the immediate future of art. For this reason he requires + the attention which has here been paid him. + </p> + <p> + But how, it may be asked, was it possible to expand the story of Venus and + Adonis into an epic of 45,000 lines? The answer to this question could + best be given by an analysis of the twenty cantos: and since few living + students have perused them, such a display of erudition would be + pardonable. Marini does not, however, deserve so many pages in a work + devoted to the close of the Italian Renaissance. It will suffice to say + that the slender narrative of the amour of Venus and her boyish idol, his + coronation as king of Cyprus, and his death by the boar's tusk, is + ingeniously interwoven with a great variety of episodes. The poet finds + occasion to relate the principal myths of Hellenic passion treating these + in a style which frequently reminds us of Ovid's Metamorphoses; he borrows + tales from Apuleius, Lucian, and the pastoral novelists; he develops the + theme of jealousy in Mars and Vulcan, introduces his own autobiography, + digresses into romantic adventures by sea and land, creates a rival to + Venus in the sorceress Falserina, sketches the progress of poetry in one + canto and devotes another to a panegyric of Italian princes, extols the + House of France and adulates Marie de Medicis, surveys the science of the + century, describes fantastic palaces and magic gardens, enters with + curious minuteness into the several delights of the five senses, dis<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB277" id="pageB277"></a>{277}</span> courses + upon Courts, ambition, avarice and honor, journeys over the Mediterranean, + conducts a game of chess through fifty brilliant stanzas; in brief, while + keeping his main theme in view, is careful to excite and sustain the + attention of his readers by a succession of varied and ingeniously + suggested novelties. Prolixity, indefatigable straining after sensational + effect, interminable description, are the defects of the <i>Adone</i>; but + they are defects related to great qualities possessed by the author, to + inexhaustible resources, curious knowledge, the improvisatore's facility, + the trained rhetorician's dexterity in the use of language, the artist's + fervid delight in the exercise of his craft. + </p> + <p> + Allowing for Marino's peculiar method, his <i>Adone</i> has the excellence + of unity which was so highly prized by the poets of his age and nation. + Critics have maintained that the whole epic is but a development of the + episode of Rinaldo in Armida's garden. But it is more than this. It + contains all the main ingredients of the Italian Romance, with the + exception of chivalry and war. There is a pastoral episode corresponding + to that of Erminia among the shepherds, a magnificent enchantress in the + manner of Alcina, an imprisonment of the hero which reminds us of Ruggiero + in Atlante's magic castle, a journey like Astolfo's to the moon, a + conflict between good and evil supernatural powers, a thread of allegory + more or less apparent, a side glance at contemporary history; and these + elements <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB278" id="pageB278"></a>{278}</span> + are so combined as to render the <i>Adone</i> one of the many poems in the + long romantic tradition. It differs mainly from its predecessors in the + strict unity of subject, which subordinates each episode and each + digression to the personal adventures of the heroine and hero; while the + death and obsequies of Adonis afford a tragic close that is lacking to + previous poems detached from the Carolingian cycle. Contemporary writers + praised it as a poem of peace. But it is the poem of ignoble peace, of + such peace as Italy enjoyed in servitude, when a nation of <i>cicisbei</i> + had naught to occupy their energies but sensual pleasure. Ingenious as + Marino truly was in conducting his romance upon so vast a scheme through + all its windings to one issue, we feel that the slender tale of a boy's + passion for the queen of courtesans and his metamorphosis into the scarlet + windflower of the forest supplied no worthy motive for this intricate + machinery. The metaphor of an alum basket crystallized upon a petty frame + of wire occurs to us when we contemplate its glittering ornaments, and + reflect upon the poverty of the sustaining theme. It might in fact stand + for a symbol of the intellectual vacancy of the age which welcomed it with + rapture, and of the society which formed a century of taste upon its + pattern. + </p> + <p> + In another and higher literary quality the <i>Adone</i> represents that + moment of Italian development. A foreigner may hardly pass magisterial + judgment on its diction. Yet I venture to remark that Marino <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB279" id="pageB279"></a>{279}</span> only at + rare intervals attains to purity of poetic style; even his best passages + are deformed, not merely by conceits to which the name of <i>Marinism</i> + has been given, but also by gross vulgarities and lapses into trivial + prose. Notwithstanding this want of distinction, however, he has a melody + that never fails. The undulating, evenly on-flowing <i>cantilena</i> of + his verbal music sustains the reader on a tide of song. That element of + poetry, which, as I have observed, was developed with remarkable success + by Tasso in some parts of the <i>Gerusalemme</i> is the main strength of + the <i>Adone</i>. With Marino the <i>Chant d'Amour</i> never rises so + high, thrills so subtly, touches the soul so sweetly and so sadly, as it + does in Tasso's verse. But in all those five thousand octave stanzas it is + rarely altogether absent. The singing faculty of the Neapolitan was given + to this poet of voluptuousness; and if the song is neither deep nor + stirring, neither stately nor sublime, it is because his soul held nothing + in its vast vacuity but sensuous joy.<a name="BFNanchor_196_196" + id="BFNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#BFootnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> + A musical Casanova, an unmalignant Aretino, he sang as vulgar nature + prompted; but he always kept on singing. His partiality for detonating + dissonances, squibs and crackers of pyrotechnical rhetoric, braying + trumpets and exploding popguns, which deafen and distract our ears attuned + to the suave cadence of the <i>cantilena</i>, is no less characteristic of + the Neapolitan. Marino had the impro<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB280" id="pageB280"></a>{280}</span> visatory exuberance, the + impudence, the superficial passion, the luxurious delight in life, and the + noisiness of his birthplace. He also shared its love of the grotesque as + complement and contrast to pervading beauty. + </p> + <p> + A serious fault to be found with Marino's style is its involved + exaggeration in description. Who, for instance, can tolerate this picture + of a young man's foot shod with a blue buskin? + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>L'animato del piè molle alabastro<br /> </span> <span>Che + oscura il latte del sentier celeste<br /> </span> <span>Stretto alla + gamba con purpureo nastro<br /> </span> <span>Di cuoio azzurro un + borsacchin gli veste.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Again he carries to the point of lunacy that casuistical rhetoric, + introduced by Ariosto and refined upon by Tasso, with which luckless + heroines or heroes <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB281" id="pageB281"></a>{281}</span> + announce their doubts and difficulties to the world in long soliloquies. + The ten stanzas which set forth Falserina's feelings after she has felt + the pangs of love for Adonis, might pass for a parody: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Ardo, lassa, o non ardo! ahì qual io sento<br /> </span> + <span>Stranio nel cor non conosciuto affetto!<br /> </span> <span>E forse + ardore? ardor non è, chè spento<br /> </span> <span>L'avrei + col pianto; è ben d'ardor sospetto!<br /> </span> <span>Sospetto + no, piuttosto egli è tormento.<br /> </span> <span>Come tormento + fia, se da diletto?<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + And so forth through eighty lines in which every conceivable change is + rung upon <i>Amo o non amo?_._._._Io vivo e moro pur_._._._Io non ho core + e lo mio cor n'ha dui</i>. With all this effort no one is convinced of + Falserina's emotion, and her long-winded oration reads like a schoolboy's + exercise upon some line of the fourth Aeneid. Yet if we allow the sense of + rhythmical melody to intervene between our intellectual perception and + Marino's language, we shall still be able to translate these outpourings + into something which upon the operatic stage would keep its value. False + rhetoric and the inability to stop when enough and more than enough has + been said upon any theme to be developed, are the incurable defects of + Marino. His profuse <i>fioriture</i> compared with the simpler descant of + Ariosto or Tasso remind us of Rossini's florid roulades beside the grace + of Pergolese's or the majesty of Marcello's song. + </p> + <p> + The peculiar quality of bad taste which is known in Italy as <i>Marinismo</i>, + consisted in a perpetual <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB282" + id="pageB282"></a>{282}</span> straining after effect by antitheses, + conceits, plans on words degenerating into equivocation, and such-like + rhetorical grimaces. Marino's <i>ars poetica</i> was summed up in this + sentence: 'Chi non sa far stupir, vada alia striglia.' Therefore, he finds + periphrases for the simplest expressions. He calls the nightingale <i>sirena + de'boschi</i>, gunpowder <i>l'irreparabil fulmine terreno</i>, Columbus <i>il + ligure Argonauta</i>, Galileo <i>il novello Endimione</i>. In these + instances, what might have been expanded into a simile, is substituted for + the proper word in order to surprise the reader. When he alludes to Dante, + he poses a conundrum on that poet's surname: <i>Ben sull'ali liggier tre + mondi canta</i>. The younger Palma is complimented on wresting the <i>palm</i> + from Titian and Veronese. Guido Reni is apostrophized as: <i>Reni onde il + maggior Reno all'altro cede</i><a name="BFNanchor_197_197" + id="BFNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#BFootnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> + We are never safe in reading his pages from the whirr and whistle of such + verbal fireworks. And yet it must be allowed that Marino's style is on the + whole freer from literary affectations than that of our own Euphuists. It + is only at intervals that the temptation to make a point by clever + trickery seems irresistible. When he is seriously engaged upon a topic + that stirs his nature to the depth, as in the eighth canto, description + flows on for stanza after stanza with limpid swiftness. Another kind of + artifice to which he has resort, is the repetition of a dominant word: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB283" id="pageB283"></a>{283}</span> + <span>Con tai lusinghe il lusinghiero amante<br /> </span> <span>La + lusinghiera Dea lusinga e prega.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 45%;" /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Godiamci, amiamei. Amor d'amor mercede,<br /> </span> <span>Degno + cambio d'amore è solo amore.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This play on a word sometimes passes over into a palpable pun, as in the + following pretty phrase: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>O mia dorata ed adorata Dea.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Still we feel that Shakespeare was guilty of precisely the same verbal + impertinences. It is only intensity of feeling which prevents such lines + as: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all;<br /> </span> <span>What + hast thou then more than thou hadst before?<br /> </span> <span>No love, + my love, that thou may'st true love call:<br /> </span> <span>All mine + was thine, before thou hadst this more:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + from being Marinistic. But it must be added that this intensity of feeling + renders the artifice employed sublimely natural. Here we lay our finger on + the crucial point at issue in any estimate of literary mannerism. What is + the force of thought, the fervor of emotion, the acute perception of truth + in nature and in man, which lies behind that manneristic screen? If, as in + the case of Shakespeare, sufficiency or superabundance of these essential + elements is palpable, we pardon, we ignore, the euphuism. But should the + quality of substance fail, then we repudiate it and despise it. Therefore + Marino, who is certainly not more euphuistic than Shakespeare, but who has + immeasurably less of potent stuff in him, wears the motley of his barocco + style in limbo bordering upon oblivion, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB284" id="pageB284"></a>{284}</span> while the Swan of Avon + parades the same literary livery upon both summits of Parnassus. So true + it is that poetry cannot be estimated apart from intellectual and moral + contents. Had Marino written: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + or: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">'twould anger him<br /> </span> <span>To raise a spirit + in his mistress' circle<br /> </span> <span>Of some strange nature, + letting it there stand<br /> </span> <span>Till she had laid it and + conjured it down:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + or: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>The bawdy hand of the dial is now upon<br /> </span> <span>The + prick of noon:<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + he would have furnished his accusers with far stronger diatribes against + words of double meaning and licentious conceits than his own pages offer. + But since it was out of the fullness of world-wisdom that Shakespeare + penned those phrases for Mercutio, and set them as pendants to the + impassioned descants upon love and death which he poured from the lips of + Romeo, they pass condoned and unperceived. + </p> + <p> + Only poverty of matter and insincerity of fancy damn in Marino those + literary affectations which he held in common with a host of writers—with + Gorgias, Aeschylus, Chaeremon, Philostratus, among Greeks; with Petrarch, + Boccaccio, Bembo, Aretino, Tasso, Guarini, among Italians; with Calderon + and Cervantes, not to mention Gongora, among Spaniards; with the foremost + French and English writers of the Renaissance; with all verbal artists in + any age, who have sought unduly to refine upon their material of <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB285" id="pageB285"></a>{285}</span> + language. In a word, Marino is not condemned by his so-called Marinism. + His true stigma is the inadequacy to conceive of human nature except under + a twofold mask of sensuous voluptuousness and sensuous ferocity. It is + this narrow and ignoble range of imagination which constitutes his real + inferiority, far more than any poetical extravagance in diction. The same + mean conception of humanity brands with ignominy the four generations over + which he dominated—that brood of eunuchs and courtiers, churchmen + and <i>Cavalieri serventi</i>, barocco architects and brigands, casuists + and bravi, grimacers, hypocrites, confessors, impostors, bastards of the + spirit, who controlled Italian culture for a hundred years. + </p> + <p> + At a first glance we shall be astonished to find that this poet, who may + justly be regarded as the corypheus of Circean orgies in the seventeenth + century, left in MS. a grave lament upon the woes of Italy. Marino's <i>Pianto + d'Italia</i> has no trace of Marinism. It is composed with sobriety in a + pedestrian style of plainness, and it tells the truth without reserve. + Italy traces her wretchedness to one sole cause, subjection under Spanish + rule. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Lascio ch'un re che di real non tiene<br /> </span> <span>Altro che + il nome effemminato e vile<br /> </span> <span>A sua voglia mi reggi, e + di catene<br /> </span> <span>Barbare mi circondi il piè servile.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + This tyrant foments jealousy and sows seeds of discord between the Italian + states. His viceroys <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB286" id="pageB286"></a>{286}</span> + are elected from the cruelest, the most unjust, the most rapacious, and + the most luxurious of the courtiers crawling round his throne. The College + of Cardinals is bought and sold. No prince dares move a finger in his + family or state without consulting the Iberian senate; still less can he + levy troops for self-defense. Yet throughout Europe Spanish victories have + been obtained by Italian generals; the bravest soldiers in foreign armies + are Italian exiles. Perhaps it may be argued that the empty titles which + abound in every petty city, the fulsome promises on which those miserable + vassals found their hopes, are makeweights for such miseries. Call them + rather chains to bind the nation, lures and birdlime such as snarers use. + There is but one quarter to which the widowed and discrowned Queen of + Nations can appeal for succor. She turns to Carlo Emmanuele, Duke of + Savoy, to the hills whence cometh help. It was not, however, until two + centuries after Marino penned these patriotic stanzas, that her prayer was + answered. And the reflection forced upon us when we read the <i>Pianto + d'Italia</i>, is that Marino composed it to flatter a patron who at that + moment entertained visionary schemes of attacking the Spanish hegemony. + </p> + <p> + To make any but an abrupt transition from Marino to Chiabrera would be + impossible. It is like passing from some luxurious grove of oranges and + roses to a barren hill-top without prospect over sea or champaign. We are + fortunate in possessing a few <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB287" + id="pageB287"></a>{287}</span> pages of autobiography, from which all that + is needful to remember of Gabriello Chiabrera's personal history may be + extracted. He was born in 1552 at Savona, fifteen days after his father's + death. His mother made a second marriage, and left him to the care of an + uncle, with whom at the age of nine he went to reside in Rome. In the + house of this bachelor uncle the poor little orphan pined away. Fever + succeeded fever, until his guardian felt that companionship with boys in + play and study was the only chance of saving so frail a life as + Gabriello's. Accordingly he placed the invalid under the care of the + Jesuits in their Collegio Romano. Here the child's health revived, and his + education till the age of twenty throve apace. The Jesuits seem to have + been liberal in their course of training; for young Chiabrera benefited by + private conversation with Paolo Manuzio and Sperone Speroni, while he + attended the lectures of Muretus in the university. + </p> + <p> + How different was this adolescence from that of Marino! Both youths grew + to manhood without domestic influences; and both were conspicuous in after + life for the want of that affection which abounds in Tasso. But here the + parallel between them ends. Marino, running wild upon the streets of + Naples, taking his fill of pleasure and adventure, picking up ill-digested + information at hap-hazard, and forming his poetic style as nature + prompted; Chiabrera, disciplined in piety and morals by Jesuit directors, + imbued with erudition by an arid scholar, a formal <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB288" id="pageB288"></a>{288}</span> pedant and an accomplished + rhetorician, the three chief representatives of decadent Italian humanism: + no contrast can be imagined greater than that which marked these two lads + out for diverse paths in literature. The one was formed to be the poet of + caprice and license, openly ranking with those + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Che la ragion sommettono al talento,<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + and making <i>s'ei piace ei lice</i> his rule of conduct and of art. The + other received a rigid bent toward decorum, in religious observances, in + ethical severity, and in literature of a strictly scholastic type. + </p> + <p> + Yet Chiabrera was not without the hot blood of Italian youth. His uncle + died, and he found himself alone in the world. After spending a few years + in the service of Cardinal Cornaro, he quarreled with a Roman gentleman, + vindicated his honor by some act of violence, and was outlawed from the + city. Upon this he retired to Savona; and here again he met with similar + adventures. Wounded in a brawl, he took the law into his own hands, and + revenged himself upon his assailant. This punctilio proved him to be a + true child of his age; and if we may credit his own account of both + incidents, he behaved himself as became a gentleman of the period. It + involved him, however, in serious annoyances both at Rome and Savona, from + which he only extricated himself with difficulty and which impaired his + fortune. Up to the age of fifty he remained unmarried, and then took a + wife by whom he had no <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB289" + id="pageB289"></a>{289}</span> children. He lived to the ripe age of + eighty-four, always at Savona, excepting occasional visits to friends in + Italian cities, and he died unmolested by serious illness after his first + entrance into the Collegio Romano. How he occupied the leisure of that + lengthy solitude may be gathered from his published works—two or + three thick volumes of lyrics; four bulky poems of heroic narrative; + twelve dramas, including two tragedies; thirty satires or epistles; and + about forty miscellaneous poems in divers meters. In a word, he devoted + his whole life to the art of poetry, for which he was not naturally + gifted, and which he pursued in a gravely methodical spirit. It may be + said at once that the body of his work, with the exception of some simple + pieces of occasion, and a few chastely written epistles, is such as nobody + can read without weariness. + </p> + <p> + Before investigating Chiabrera's claim to rank among Italian poets, it may + be well to examine his autobiography in those points which touch upon the + temper of society. Short as it is, this document is precious for the light + it casts upon contemporary custom. As a writer, Chiabrera was + distinguished by sobriety of judgment, rectitude, piety, purity of + feeling, justice toward his fellow-workers in literature, and an earnest + desire to revive the antique virtues among his countrymen. There is no + reason to suppose that these estimable qualities did not distinguish him + in private life. Yet eight out of the eighteen pages of his biography are + devoted to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB290" id="pageB290"></a>{290}</span> + comically solemn details regarding the honors paid him by Italian princes. + The Grand Duke of Florence, Ferdinand I., noticed him standing with + uncovered head at a theatrical representation in the Pitti Palace. He bade + the poet put his cap on and sit down. Cosimo, the heir apparent, showed + the same condescending courtesy. When he was at Turin, Carlo Emmanuele, + Duke of Savoy, placed a coach and pair at his disposal, and allowed him + 300 lire for traveling expenses to and from Savona. But this prince + omitted to appoint him lodgings in the palace, nor did he invite him to + cover in the presence. This perhaps is one reason why Chiabrera refused + the duke's offer of a secretaryship at Court. Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of + Mantua, on the contrary, allotted him rooms and always suffered him to + keep his hat on. The Pope, who was an old college friend of Chiabrera, + made him handsome presents, and on one delightful occasion allowed him to + hear a sermon in the Papal pew. The Doge of Genoa, officially particular + in points of etiquette, always took care to bid him cover, although he was + a subject born of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + Basely insignificant as are these details, they serve to show what value + was then ascribed even by men of real respectability to trifling princely + favors. The unction with which Chiabrera relates them, warming his cold + style into a glow of satisfaction, is a practical satire upon his endeavor + to resuscitate the virtues of antique republics in that Italy. To <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB291" id="pageB291"></a>{291}</span> do this + was his principal aim as a moralist; to revive the grand style of Pindar + was his object as an artist. Each attempt involved impossibility, and + argued a visionary ambition dimly conscious of its scope. Without freedom, + without the living mythology of Hellas, without a triumphant national + cause, in the very death of independence, at the end of a long age of + glorious but artificial culture, how could Chiabrera dare to pose as + Pindar? Instead of the youth of Greece ascending with free flight and all + the future of the world before it, decrepit Italy, the Italy so rightly + drawn by Marino in his <i>Pianto</i>, lay groveling in the dust of + decaying thrones. Her lyrist had to sing of pallone-matches instead of + Panhellenic games; to celebrate the heroic conquest of two Turkish galleys + by a Tuscan fleet, instead of Marathon and Salamis; to praise S. Lucy and + S. Paul with tepid fervor, instead of telling how Rhodes swam at her god's + bidding upward from the waves. + </p> + <p> + One example will serve as well as many to illustrate the false attitude + assumed by Chiabrera when he posed as a new Pindar in the midst of + seventeenth-century Italians. I will select the Ode to Don Cesare d'Este. + There is something pathetically ridiculous, in this would-be swan of the + Dircean fount, this apostle of pagan virtues, admonishing the heir of + Alfonso II to prove himself an obedient son of the Church by relinquishing + his Duchy of Ferrara to the Holy See. The poet asks him, in <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB292" id="pageB292"></a>{292}</span> fine + classic phrases, whether he could bear to look on desecrated altars, + confessionals without absolving priests, chapels without choristers, a + people barred with bolt and lock from Paradise. How trivial are earthly + compared with heavenly crowns! How vulgar is the love of power and gold! + The exhortation, exquisite enough in chastened style, closes with this + hypocritical appeal to Cesare's aristocratic prejudices: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Parli la plebe a suo volere, e pensi—<br /> </span> <span>Non + con la plebe hanno da gir gli Estensi.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + That is to say, nobility demands that the House of Este should desert its + subjects, sacrifice its throne, crawl at a Pontiff's feet, and starve + among a crowd of disthroned princes, wrapping the ragged purple of its + misery around it till it, too, mixes with the people it contemns. + </p> + <p> + Hopeless as the venture was, Chiabrera made it the one preoccupation of + his life, in these untoward circumstances, to remodel Italian poetry upon + the Greek pattern. It was a merit of the Sei Cento, a sign of grace, that + the Italians now at last threw orthodox aesthetic precepts to the winds, + and avowed their inability to carry the Petrarchistic tradition further. + The best of them, Campanella and Bruno, molded vulgar language like metal + in the furnace of a vehement imagination, making it the vehicle of + fantastic passion and enthusiastic philosophy. From their crucible the + Sonnet and the Ode emerged with no resemblance to academical <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB293" id="pageB293"></a>{293}</span> + standards. Grotesque, angular, gnarled, contorted, Gothic even, these + antiquated forms beneath their wayward touch were scarcely recognizable. + They had become the receptacles of burning, scalding, trenchant realities. + Salvator Rosa, next below the best, forced indignation to lend him wings, + and scaled Parnassus with brass-bound feet and fury. Marino, bent on + riveting attention by surprises, fervid with his own reality of lust, + employed the octave stanza as a Turkish Bey might use an odalisque. 'The + only rule worth thinking of,' he said, 'is to know how and when and where + to break all rules, adapting ourselves to current taste and the fashions + of the age.' His epic represents a successful, because a vivid, reaction + against conventionality. The life that throbs in it is incontestable, even + though that life may be nothing better than ephemeral. With like brutality + of instinct, healthy because natural, the barocco architects embraced + ugliness, discord, deformity, spasm, as an escape from harmony and + regularity with which the times were satiated. Prose-writers burst the + bonds of Bembo, trampled on Boccaccio, reveled in the stylistic + debaucheries of Bartolo. Painters, rendered academic in vain by those + Fabii of Bologna who had striven to restore the commonwealth of art by + temporizing, launched themselves upon a sea of massacre and murder, blood + and entrails, horrors of dark woods and Bacchanalia of chubby Cupids. The + popular Muse of Italy meanwhile emerged with furtive <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB294" id="pageB294"></a>{294}</span> grace and inexhaustible + vivacity in dialectic poems, dances, Pulcinello, Bergamasque Pantaloon, + and what of parody and satire, Harlequinades, and carnival diversions, any + local soil might cherish.<a name="BFNanchor_198_198" id="BFNanchor_198_198"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> All this revolt + against precedent, this resurrection of primeval instinct, crude and + grinning, took place, let us remember, under the eyes of the Jesuits, + within the shadow of the Inquisition, in an age reformed and ordered by + the Council of Trent. Art was following Aretino, the reprobate and rebel. + He first amid the languors of the golden age—and this is Aretino's + merit—discerned that the only escape from its inevitable exhaustion + was by passing over into crudest naturalism. + </p> + <p> + But for Chiabrera, the excellent gentleman, the patronized of princes, + scrupulous upon the point of honor, pupil of Jesuits, pious, twisted back + on humanism by his Roman tutors, what escape was left for him? Obey the + genius of his times he must. Innovate he must. He chose the least + indecorous sphere at hand for innovation; and felt therewith most + innocently happy. Without being precisely conscious of it, he had + discovered a way of adhering to time-honored precedent while following the + general impulse to discard precedent. He threw Petrarch overboard, but he + took on Pindar for his pilot. 'When I see anything eminently beautiful, or + hear something, or taste something that <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB295" id="pageB295"></a>{295}</span> is excellent, I say: It is + Greek Poetry.' In this self-revealing sentence lies the ruling instinct of + the man as scholar. The highest praise he can confer upon Italian matters, + is to call them Greek Poetry. 'When I have to express my aims in verse, I + compare myself to Columbus, who said that he would discover a new world or + drown.' Again, in this self-revealing sentence, Chiabrera betrays the + instinct which in common with his period he obeyed. He was bound to + startle society by a discovery or to drown. For this, be it remembered, + was the time in which Pallavicino, like Marino, declared that poetry must + make men raise their eyebrows in astonishment. For Chiabrera, educated as + he had been, that new world toward which he navigated was a new Hellenic + style of Italian poetry; and the Theban was to guide him toward its + shores. But on the voyage Chiabrera drowned: drowned for eternity in + hyper-atlantic whirlpools of oblivion. Some critics, pitying so lofty, so + respectable an ambition, have whispered that he found a little Island of + the Blest and there planted modest myrtles of mediocre immortality. Yet + this is not the truth. On such a quest there was only failure or success. + He did not succeed. His cold mincemeat from Diocean tables, tepid historic + parallels, artificially concocted legends, could not create Greek poetry + again beneath the ribs of death. The age was destined to be saved by + music. License was its only liberty, as the <i>Adone</i> taught. Unmusical + Chiabrera, buckram'd <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB296" id="pageB296"></a>{296}</span> + up by old mythologies and sterling precepts, left its life untouched. His + antique virtues stood, like stucco gods and goddesses, on pedestals in + garden groves, and moldered. His Pindaric flights were such as a sparrow, + gazing upward at a hawk, might venture on. Those abrupt transitions, + whereby he sought to simulate the lordly <i>sprezzatura</i> of the Theban + eagle, 'soaring with supreme dominion in the azure depths of air,' remind + us mainly of the hoppings of a frog. Chiabrera failed: failed all the more + lamentably because he was so scholarly, so estimable. He is chiefly + interesting now as the example of a man devoted to the Church, a pupil of + Jesuits, a moralist, and a humanist, in some sense also a patriot, who + felt the temper of his time, and strove to innovate in literature. Devoid + of sincere sympathy with his academically chosen models, thinking he had + discovered a safe path for innovation, he fell flat in the slime and + perished. + </p> + <p> + Marino had human life and vulgar nature, the sensualities and frivolities + of the century, to help him. Chiabrera claimed none of these advantages. + What had Tassoni for his outfit? Sound common sense, critical acumen, the + irony of humor, hatred of tyrants and humbug, an acrid temper mollified by + genial love of letters, a manly spirit of independence. Last, but not + least, he inherited something of the old Elysian smile which played upon + the lips of Ariosto, from which Tasso's melancholy shrank discomfited, + which Marino smothered in the kisses of his courtesans, and<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB297" id="pageB297"></a>{297}</span> + Chiabrera banned as too ignoble for Dircean bards. This smile it was that + cheered Tassoni's leisure when, fallen on evil days, he penned the <i>Socchia + Rapita</i>. + </p> + <p> + Alessandro Tassoni was born in 1565 of a noble Modenese family. Before + completing his nineteenth year he won the degree of Doctor of Laws, and + afterwards spent twelve years in studying at the chief universities of + Lombardy. Between 1599 and 1603 he served the Cardinal Ascanio Colonna + both in Spain and Rome, as secretary. The insight he then gained into the + working of Spanish despotism made him a relentless enemy of that already + decadent monarchy. When Carlo Emmanuele, Duke of Savoy, sent back his + Collar of the Golden Fleece in 1613 and drew the sword of resistance + against Philip III., Tassoni penned two philippics against Spaniards, + which are the firmest, most embittered expression of patriotism as it then + existed. He had the acuteness to perceive that the Spanish state was no + longer in its prime of vigor, and the noble ingenuousness to dream that + Italian princes might be roused to sink their rancors in a common effort + after independence. As a matter of fact, Estensi, Medici, Farnesi, + Gonzaghi, all the reigning houses as yet unabsorbed by Church or Spain, + preferred the predominance of a power which sanctioned their local + tyrannies, irksome and degrading as that overlordship was, to the hegemony + of Piedmontese Macedon. And like all Italian patriots, strong in mind, + feeble in muscle, he failed to reckon with the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB298" id="pageB298"></a>{298}</span> actual soldierly + superiority of Spaniards. Italy could give generals at this epoch to her + masters; but she could not count on levying privates for her own defense. + Carlo Emmanuele rewarded the generous ardor of Tassoni by grants of + pensions which were never paid, and by offices at Court which involved the + poet-student in perilous intrigue. 'My service with the princes of the + House of Savoy,' so he wrote at a later period, 'did not take its origin + in benefits or favors received or expected. It sprang from a pure + spontaneous motion of the soul, which inspired me with love for the noble + character of Duke Charles.' When he finally withdrew from that service, he + had his portrait painted. In his hands he held a fig, and beneath the + picture ran a couplet ending with the words, 'this the Court gave me.' + Throughout his life Tassoni showed an independence rare in that century. + His principal works were published without dedications to patrons. In the + preface to his <i>Remarks on Petrarch</i> he expressed his opinion thus: + 'I leave to those who like them the fruitless dedications, not to say + flatteries, which are customary nowadays. I seek no protection; for a lie + does not deserve it, and truth is indifferent to it. Let such as opine + that the shadow of great personages can conceal the ineptitude of authors, + make the most of this advantage.' Believing firmly in astrology, he judged + that his own horoscope condemned him to ill-success. It appears that he + was born under the influence of Saturn, when the sun <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB299" id="pageB299"></a>{299}</span> and moon were in + conjunction; and he held that this combination of the heavenly bodies + boded 'things noteworthy, yet not felicitous.' It was, however, difficult + for a man of Tassoni's condition in that state of society to draw breath + outside the circle of a Court. Accordingly, in 1626, he entered the + service of the Pope's nephew, Cardinal Lodovisio. He did not find this + much to his liking: 'I may compare myself to P. Emilius Metellus, when he + was shod with those elegant boots which pinched his feet. Everybody said, + Oh what fine boots, how well they fit! But the wretch was unable to walk + in them.' On the Cardinal's death in 1632 Tassoni removed to the Court of + Francesco I. of Modena, and died there in 1635. + </p> + <p> + As a writer, Tassoni, in common with the best spirits of his time, aimed + at innovation. It had become palpable to the Italians that the Renaissance + was over, and that they must break with the traditions of the past. This, + as I have already pointed out, was the saving virtue of the early + seventeenth century; but what good fruits it might have fostered, had not + the political and ecclesiastical conditions of the age been adverse, + remains a matter for conjecture. 'It is my will and object to utter new + opinions,' he wrote to a friend; and acting upon this principle, he + attacked the chief prejudices of his age in philosophy and literature. One + of his earliest publications was a miscellaneous collection of <i>Divers + Thoughts</i>, in which he derided Aristotle's Physics <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB300" id="pageB300"></a>{300}</span> and propounded speculations + similar to those developed by Gassendi. He dared to cast scorn on Homer, + as rude and barbarous, poor in the faculty of invention, taxable with at + least five hundred flagrant defects. How little Tassoni really + comprehended Homer may be judged from his complacent assertion that the + episode of Luna and Endymion (<i>Secchia Rapita</i>, canto viii.) was + composed in the Homeric manner. In truth he could estimate the Iliad and + Odyssey no better than Chiabrera could the Pythians and Olympians of + Pindar. A just sense of criticism failed the scholars of that age, which + was too remote in its customs, too imperfect in its science of history, to + understand the essence of Greek art. With equally amusing candor Tassoni + passed judgments upon Dante, and thought that he had rivaled the Purgatory + in his description of the Dawn (<i>Secchia Rapita</i>, viii. 15, the + author's note). We must, however, be circumspect and take these criticisms + with a grain of salt; for one never knows how far Tassoni may be laughing + in his sleeve. There is no doubt, however, regarding the sincerity of his + strictures upon the Della Cruscan Vocabulary of 1612, or the more famous + inquiry into Petrarch's style. The <i>Considerazioni sopra le Rime del + Petrarca</i> were composed in 1602-3 during a sea voyage from Genoa to + Spain. They told what now must be considered the plain truth of common + sense about the affectations into which a servile study of the <i>Canzoniere</i> + had betrayed generations of Italian <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB301" id="pageB301"></a>{301}</span> rhymesters. Tassoni had in + view Petrarch's pedantic imitators rather than their master; and when the + storm of literary fury, stirred up by his work, was raging round him, he + thus established his position: 'Surely it is allowable to censure + Petrarch's poems, if a man does this, not from malignant envy, but from a + wish to remove the superstitions and abuses which beget such evil effects, + and to confound the sects of the Rabbins hardened in their perfidy of + obsolete opinion, and in particular of such as think they cannot write + straight without the <i>falsariga</i> of their model.' I may observe in + passing that the points in this paragraph are borrowed from a sympathizing + letter which Marino addressed to the author on his essay. In another place + Tassoni stated, 'It was never my intention to speak evil of this poet + [Petrarch], whom I have always admired above any lyrist of ancient or + modern times.' + </p> + <p> + So independent in his conduct and so bold in his opinions was the author + of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>. The composition of this poem grew out of the + disputes which followed Tassoni's <i>Remarks on Petrarch</i>. He found + himself assailed by two scurrilous libels, which were traced to the Count + Alessandro Brusantini, feudal lord of Culagna and Bismozza. Justice could + not be obtained upon the person of so eminent a noble. Tassoni, with true + Italian refinement, resolved to give himself the unique pleasure of + ingenious vengeance. The name of the Count's fief supplied him with a + standing dish of sarcasm. He <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB302" + id="pageB302"></a>{302}</span> would write a satiric poem, of which the + Conte Culagna should be the burlesque hero. After ten months' labor, + probably in the year 1615, the <i>Secchia Rapita</i> already went abroad + in MS.<a name="BFNanchor_199_199" id="BFNanchor_199_199"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> Tassoni sought to + pass it off as a product of his youth; but both the style and the + personalities which it contained rendered this impossible. Privately + issued, the poem had a great success. 'In less than a year,' writes the + author, 'more MS. copies were in circulation than are usually sent forth + from the press in ten years of the most famous works.' One professional + scribe made 200 ducats in the course of a few months by reproducing it; + and the price paid for each copy was eight crowns. It became necessary to + publish the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>. But now arose innumerable difficulties. + The printers of Modena and Padua refused; Giuliano Cassiani had been sent + to prison in 1617 for publishing some verses of Testi against Spain. The + Inquisition withheld its <i>imprimatur</i>. Attempts were made to have it + printed on the sly at Padua; but the craftsman who engaged to execute this + job was imprisoned. At last, in 1622, Tassoni contrived to have the poem + published in Paris. The edition soon reached Italy. In Rome it was + prohibited, but freely sold; and at last Gregory XV. allowed it to be + reprinted with some canceled passages. There is, in truth, nothing + prejudicial either to the Catholic creed or to general morality in the <i>Secchia + Rapita</i>. We note, meanwhile, with interest, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB303" id="pageB303"></a>{303}</span> that it first saw the light + at Paris, sharing thus the fortunes of the <i>Adone</i>, which it preceded + by one year. If the greatest living Italians at this time were exiles, it + appears that the two most eminent poems of their literature first saw the + light on foreign shores. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Secchia Rapita</i> is the first example of heroico-comic poetry. + Tassoni claims in print the honor of inventing this new species, and tells + his friends that 'though he will not pique himself on being a poet, still + he sets some store on having discovered a new kind of poem and occupied a + vacant seat.' The seat—and it was no Siege Perilous—stood + indeed empty and ready to be won by any free-lance of letters. Folengo had + burlesqued romance. But no one as yet had made a parody of that which + still existed mainly as the unaccomplished hope of literature. Trissino + with his <i>Italia Liberata</i>, Tasso with his <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, + tried to persuade themselves and the world that they had succeeded in + delivering Italy in labor of an epic. But their maieutic ingenuity was + vain. The nation carried no epic in her womb. Trissino's <i>Italia</i> was + a weazened changeling of erudition, and Tasso's <i>Gerusalemme</i> a + florid bastard of romance. Tassoni, noticing the imposition of these two + eminent and worthy writers, determined to give his century an epic or + heroic poem in the only form which then was possible. Briefly, he produced + a caricature, modeled upon no existing work of modern art, but + corresponding to the lineaments of that Desired of the Nation <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB304" id="pageB304"></a>{304}</span> which + pedants had prophesied. Unity of action celestial machinery, races in + conflict, contrasted heroes, the wavering chance of war, episodes, bards, + heroines, and love subordinated to the martial motive—all these + features of the epic he viewed through the distorting medium of his comic + art. + </p> + <p> + In the days of the second Lombard League, when Frederick II. was fighting + a losing battle with the Church, Guelf Bologna came into grim conflict + with her Ghibelline neighbor Modena. The territory of these two cities + formed the <i>champ clos</i> of a duel in which the forces of Germany and + nearly all Italy took part; and in one engagement, at Fossalta, the + Emperor's heir, King Enzo of Sardinia, was taken captive. How he passed + the rest of his days, a prisoner of the Bolognese, and how he begat the + semi-royal brood of Bentivogli, is matter of history and legend. During + this conflict memorable among the many municipal wars of Italy in the + middle ages, it happened that some Modenese soldiers, who had pushed their + way into the suburbs of Bologna, carried off a bucket and suspended it as + a trophy in the bell-tower of the cathedral, where it may still be seen. + One of the peculiarities of those mediaeval struggles which roused the + rivalry of towns separated from each other by a few miles of fertile + country, and which raged through generations till the real interests at + issue were confounded in blind animosity of neighbor against neighbor—was + the sense of humor and of sarcasm they encouraged. To hurl <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB305" id="pageB305"></a>{305}</span> dead + donkey against your enemy's town-wall passed for a good joke, and + discredited his honor more than the loss of a hundred fighting men in a + pitched battle. Frontier fortresses received insulting names, like the + Perugian <i>Becca di questo</i>, or like the Bolognese <i>Grevalcore</i>. + There was much, in fact, in these Italian wars which reminds one of the + hostilities between rival houses in a public school. + </p> + <p> + Such being the element of humor ready to hand in the annals of his + country, Tassoni chose the episode of the Bolognese bucket for the theme + of a mock-heroic epic. He made what had been an insignificant incident the + real occasion of the war, and grouped the facts of history around it by + ingenious distortions of the truth. The bucket is the Helen of his Iliad:<a + name="BFNanchor_200_200" id="BFNanchor_200_200"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Vedrai s'al cantar mio porgi l'orecchia,<br /> </span> <span>Elena + trasformarsi in una secchia.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + A mere trifle thus becomes a point of dispute capable of bringing gods, + popes, emperors, kings, princes, cities, and whole nations into conflict. + At the same time the satirist betrays his malice by departing as little as + possible from the main current of actual events. History lends + verisimilitude to the preposterous assumption that heaven and earth were + drawn into a squabble about a bucket: and if there is any moral to be + derived from the <i>Secchia Rapita</i> we have it here. At the end of the + conten<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB306" id="pageB306"></a>{306}</span> + tion, when both parties are exhausted, it is found that the person of a + king weighs in the scale of nations no more than an empty bucket:<a + name="BFNanchor_201_201" id="BFNanchor_201_201"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Riserbando ne' patti a i Modanesi<br /> </span> <span>La secchia, e + 'l re de'Sardi ai Bolognesi.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + Such is the main subject of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>; and such is + Tassoni's irony, an irony worthy of Aristophanes in its far-reaching + indulgent contempt for human circumstance. But the poem has another + object. It was written to punish Count Alessandro Brusantini. The leading + episode, which occupies about three cantos of the twelve, is an elaborate + vilification of this personal enemy travestied as the contemptible Conte + di Culagna. + </p> + <p> + Tassoni's method of art corresponds to the irony of his inspiration. We + find his originality in a peculiar blending of serious and burlesque + styles, in abrupt but always well-contrived transitions from heroical + magniloquence to plebeian farce and from scurrility to poetic elevation, + finally in a frequent employment of the figure which the Greeks called + [Greek: para prosdokian]. His poem is a parody of the Aristophanic type. + 'Like a fantastically ironical magic tree, the world-subversive idea which + lies at the root of it springs up with blooming ornament of thoughts, with + singing nightingales and climbing chattering apes.'<a + name="BFNanchor_202_202" id="BFNanchor_202_202"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> To seek a central + motive or a sober <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB307" id="pageB307"></a>{307}</span> + meaning in this caprice of the satirical imagination would be idle. + Tassoni had no intention, as some critics have pretended, to exhibit the + folly of those party wars which tore the heart of Italy three centuries + before his epoch, to teach the people of his day the miseries of foreign + interference, or to strike a death-blow at classical mythology. The lesson + which can be drawn from his cantos, that man in warfare disquiets himself + in vain for naught, that a bucket is as good a <i>casus belli</i> as + Helen, the moral which Southey pointed in his ballad of the Battle of + Blenheim, emerges, not from the poet's design, but from the inevitable + logic of his humor. Pique inspired the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>, and in the + despicable character of Count Culagna he fully revenged the slight which + had been put upon him. The revenge is savage, certainly; for the Count + remains 'immortally immerded' in the long-drawn episode which brought to + view the shame of his domestic life. Yet while Tassoni drew blood, he + never ceased to smile; and Count Culagna remains for us a personage of + comedy rather than of satire. + </p> + <p> + In the next place, Tassoni meant to ridicule the poets of his time. He + calls the <i>Secchia Rapita</i> 'an absurd caprice, written to burlesque + the modern poets.' His genius was nothing if not critical, and literature + afforded him plenty of material for fun. Romance-writers with their jousts + and duels and armed heroines, would-be epic poets with their extra-mundane + machinery and pomp of phrase,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB308" + id="pageB308"></a>{308}</span> Marino and his hyperbolical conceits, + Tuscan purists bent on using only words of the Tre Cento, Petrarchisti + spinning cobwebs of old metaphors and obsolete periphrases, all felt in + turn the touch of his light lash. The homage paid to Petrarch's stuffed + cat at Arquà supplied him with a truly Aristophanic gibe.<a + name="BFNanchor_203_203" id="BFNanchor_203_203"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> Society comes next + beneath his ferule. There is not a city of Italy which Tassoni did not + wring in the withers of its self-conceit. The dialects of Ferrara, + Bologna, Bergamo, Florence, Rome, lend the satirist vulgar phrases when he + quits the grand style and, taking Virgil's golden trumpet from his lips, + slides off into a <i>canaille</i> drawl or sluice of Billingsgate. Modena + is burlesqued in her presiding Potta, gibbeted for her filthy streets. The + Sienese discover that the world accounts them lunatics. The Florentines + and Perugians are branded for notorious vice. Roman foppery, fantastical + in feminine pretentiousness, serves as a foil to drag Culagna down into + the ditch of ignominy. Here and there, Tassoni's satire is both venomous + and pungent, as when he paints the dotage of the Empire, stabs Spanish + pride of sovereignty, and menaces the Papacy with insurrection. But for + the most part, like Horace in the phrase of Persius, he plays about the + vitals of the victims who admit him to their confidence—<i>admissus + circum praecordia ludit</i>. + </p> + <p> + We can but regret that so clear-sighted, so <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB309" id="pageB309"></a>{309}</span> urbane and so truly + Aristophanic a satirist had not a wider field to work in. + Seventeenth-century Italy was all too narrow for his genius; and if the <i>Secchia + Rapita</i> has lost its savor, this is less the poet's fault than the + defect of his material. He was strong enough to have brought the Athens of + Cleon, the France of Henri III., or the England of James I. within the + range of his distorting truth-revealing mirror. Yet, even as it was, + Tassoni opened several paths for modern humorists. Rabelais might have + owned that caricature of Mars and Bacchus rioting in a tavern bed with + Venus travestied as a boy, and in the morning, after breakfasting divinely + on two hundred restorative eggs, escaping with the fear of a scandalized + host and the police-court before their eyes. Yet Rabelais would hardly + have brought this cynical picture of crude debauchery into so fine a + contrast with the celestial environment of gods and goddesses. True to his + principle of effect by alternation, Tassoni sometimes sketches the deities + whom he derides, in the style of Volpato engravings after Guido. They move + across his canvas with ethereal grace. What can be more charming than + Diana visiting Endymion, and confessing to the Loves that all her past + career as huntress and as chaste had been an error? Venus, too, when she + takes that sensuously dreamy all-poetic journey across the blue + Mediterranean to visit golden-haired King Enzo in his sleep, makes us + forget her entrance into Modena disguised as a lad trained to play female + parts upon the stage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB310" id="pageB310"></a>{310}</span> + This blending of true elegance with broad farce is a novelty in modern + literature. We are reminded of the songs of the Mystae on the meadows of + Elysium in the <i>Frogs</i>. Scarron and Voltaire, through the French + imitators of Tassoni, took lessons from his caricature of Saturn, the old + diseased senator traveling in a sedan chair to the celestial parliament, + with a clyster-pipe in front of him and his seat upon a close stool. Molière + and Swift, votaries of Cloacina, were anticipated in the climax of Count + Culagna's attempt to poison his wife, and in the invention of the + enchanted ass so formidable by Parthian discharges on its adversary. Over + these births of Tassoni's genius the Maccaronic Muse of Folengo and his + Bolognese predecessors presided. There is something Lombard, a smack of + sausage in the humor. But it remained for the Modenese poet to bring this + Mafelina into the comity of nations. We are not, indeed, bound to pay her + homage. Yet when we find her inspiring such writers as Swift, Voltaire, + Sterne and Heine, it is well to remember that Tassoni first evoked her + from Mantuan gutters and the tripe-shops of Bologna. + </p> + <p> + 'The fantastically ironical magic tree' of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i> + spread its green boughs not merely for chattering baboons. Nightingales + sang there. The monkey-like Culagna, with his tricks and antics, + disappears. Virtuous Renoppia, that wholesome country lass, the <i>bourgeois</i> + counterpart of Bradamante, withholds her slipper from the poet's head + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB311" id="pageB311"></a>{311}</span> + when he is singing sad or lovely things of human fortune. Our eyes, + rendered sensitive by vulgar sights, dwell with unwonted pleasure on the + chivalrous beauty of King Enzo. Ernesto's death touches our sympathy with + pathos, in spite of the innuendo cast upon his comrade Jaconìa. + Paolo Malatesta rides with the shades of doom, the Dantesque cloud of love + and destiny, around his forehead, through that motley mock-heroic band of + burghers. Manfredi, consumed by an unholy passion for his sister, burns + for one moment, like a face revealed by lightning, on our vision and is + gone. Finally, when the mood seizes him (for Tassoni persuades us into + thinking he is but the creature of caprice), he tunes the soft idyllic + harp and sings Endymion's love-tale in strains soft as Marino's, sweet as + Tasso's, outdoing Marino in delicacy, Tasso in reserve. This episode moved + rigid Alfieri to admiration. It remains embedded in a burlesque poem, one + of the most perfectly outlined triumphs of refined Italian romantic art. + Yet such was the strength of the master's hand, so loyal was he to his + principle of contrast, that he cuts the melodious idyl short with a twang + of the guitar-strings, and strikes up a tavern ballad on Lucrezia. The + irony which ruled his art demanded this inversion of proprieties. Cynthia + wooing Endymion shows us woman in her frailty; Lucrece violated by Tarquin + is woman in her dignity. The ironical poet had to adorn the first story + with his choicest flowers of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB312" + id="pageB312"></a>{312}</span> style and feeling, to burlesque the second + with his grossest realism. + </p> + <p> + This antithesis between sustained poetry and melodiously-worded slang, + between radiant forms of beauty and grotesque ugliness, penetrates the <i>Secchia + Rapita</i> in every canto and in every detail. We pass from battle-scenes + worthy of Ariosto and Tasso at their best into ditches of liquid dung. + Ambassadors are introduced with touches that degrade them to the rank of + <i>commis voyageurs</i>. Before the senate the same men utter orations in + the style of Livy. The pomp of war is paraded, its machinery of catapults + is put in motion, to discharge a dead ass into a besieged town; and when + the beleagured garrison behold it flying through the air, they do not take + the donkey for a taunt, but for a heavenly portent. A tournament is held + and very brave in their attire are all the combatants. But according to + its rules the greatest sluggard wins the crown of honor. Even in the + similes, which formed so important an element of epic decoration, the same + principle of contrast is maintained. Fine vignettes from nature in the + style consecrated by Ariosto and Tasso introduce ludicrous incidents. + Vulgar details picked up from the streets prepare us for touches of pathos + or poetry. + </p> + <p> + Tassoni takes high rank as a literary artist for the firmness with which + he adhered to his principle of irony, and for the facility of vigor which + conceals all traces of effort in so difficult a task. I may be thought to + have pitched his praise too high. But <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB313" id="pageB313"></a>{313}</span> those will forgive me who + enjoy the play of pure sharp-witted fancy, or who reflect upon the sadness + of the theme which occupies my pen in these two volumes. + </p> + <p> + Of the four poets to whom this chapter is devoted, Guarini, Marino, and + Tassoni were successful, Chiabrera was a respectable failure. The reason + of this difference is apparent. In the then conditions of Italian society, + at the close of a great and glorious period of varied culture, beneath the + shadow of a score of Spaniardizing princelings, with the spies of the + Inquisition at every corner, and the drill of the Tridentine Council to be + gone through under Jesuitical direction, there was no place for a second + Pindar. But there was scope for decorative art, for sensuous indulgence, + and for genial irony. Happy the man who paced his vineyards, dreaming + musically of Arcadia! Happy the man who rolled in Circe's pigsty! Happy + the man who sat in his study and laughed! Therefore the most meritorious + productions of the time, Boccalini's <i>Ragguagli di Parnaso</i>, + Bracciolini's <i>Scherno degli Dei</i>, have a touch of Tassoni's humor in + them; while Achillini and Preti limp somewhat feebly after Marino's + Alcibidean swagger, and endless pastorals pullulate from Guarini's + tragi-comedy. We need not occupy our minds with these secondary writers, + nor do more than indicate the scholarly niceness with which Filicaja in + the second half of the seventeenth century continued Chiabrera's + tradition. But one word <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB314" + id="pageB314"></a>{314}</span> must be said in honor of Fulvio Testi, the + Modenese poet and statesman, who paid for the fame of a Canzone with his + head. He has a double interest for us: first, because Leopardi esteemed + him the noblest of Italian lyrists after Petrarch; secondly, because his + fate proved that Tasso's dread of assassination was not wholly an + illusion. Reading the ode addressed to Count Raimondo Montecuccoli, <i>Ruscelletto + orgoglioso</i>, the ode which brought Testi to the block in a dungeon of + the Estensi, we comprehend what Leopardi meant by his high panegyric. It + is a piece of poetry, lofty in style, grave in movement, pregnant with + weighty thought, stern and rugged, steeped in a sublimity of gloom and + Stoicism which remind us of the author of <i>La Ginestra</i>. The century + produced little that bore a stamp so evident of dignity and greatness. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB315" id="pageB315"></a>{315}</span> + </p> + <h4> + PALESTRINA AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN MUSIC + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Italy in Renaissance produces no National School of Music—Flemish + Composers in Rome—Singers and Orchestra—The Chaotic + Indecency of this Contrapuntal Style—Palestrina's Birth and Early + History—Decrees of the Tridentine Council upon Church Music—The + Mass of Pope Marcello—Palestrina Satisfies the Cardinals with his + New Style of Sacred Music—Pius IV. and his Partiality for Music—Palestrina + and Filippo Neri—His Motetts—The Song of Solomon set to + Melody—Palestrina, the Saviour of Music—The Founder of the + Modern Style—Florentine Essays in the Oratorio. + </p> + </div> + <p> + It is a singular fact that while Italy led all the European races in + scholarship and literature, in the arts of sculpture and painting, in + commerce and the sciences of life, she had developed no national school of + music in the middle of the sixteenth century. Native melody might indeed + be heard in abundance along her shores and hillsides, in city streets and + on the squares where men and girls danced together at evening. But such + melody was popular; it could not be called artistic or scientific. The + music which resounded through the Sistine Chapel, beneath the Prophets of + Michel Angelo, on high days and festivals, was not Italian. The composers + of it came for the most part from Flemish or French provinces, bearing the + names of Josquin Deprès, of Andrew<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB316" id="pageB316"></a>{316}</span> Willaert, of Eleazar Genet, + of James Arkadelt, of Claude Gondimel; and the performers were in like + manner chiefly ultramontanes. Julius II. in 1513 founded a chapel in the + Vatican Basilica called the Cappella Giulia for the maintenance of twelve + male singers, twelve boys, and two masters of the choristers. In doing so + it was his object to encourage a Roman school of music and to free the + Chapter of S. Peter's from the inconvenience of being forced to engage + foreign choir-men. His scheme, however, had been only partially + successful. As late as 1540, we find that the principal composers and + musicians in Rome were still foreigners. To three Italians of repute, + there were five Flemings, three Frenchmen, three Spaniards, one German, + and one Portuguese.<a name="BFNanchor_204_204" id="BFNanchor_204_204"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> + </p> + <p> + The Flemish style of contrapuntal or figured harmony, which had enchanted + Europe by its novelty and grace when Josquin Deprès, in the last + quarter of the fifteenth century, brought it into universal vogue, was + still dominant in Italy. But this style already showed unmistakable signs + of decadence and dissolution. It had become unfit for ecclesiastical uses, + and by the exaggeration of its qualities it was tending to anarchy. The + grand defect of Flemish music, considered as an art of expression, was + that it ignored propriety and neglected the libretto. Instead of + exercising original invention, instead of suiting melodies to words by + appropriate <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB317" id="pageB317"></a>{317}</span> + combinations of sound and sense, the composers chose any musical themes + that came to hand, and wrought them up into elaborate contrapuntal + structures without regard for their book. The first words of a passage + from the Creed, for instance, were briefly indicated at the outset of the + number: what followed was but a reiteration of the same syllables, and + divided in the most arbitrary manner to suit the complicated descant which + they had to serve. The singers could not adapt their melodic phrases to + the liturgical text, since sometimes passages of considerable length fell + upon a couple of syllables, while on the contrary a long sentence might + have no more than a bar or even less assigned to it. They were + consequently in the habit of drawling out or gabbling over the words, + regardless of both sense and sentiment. Nor was this all. The composers of + the Flemish school prided themselves on overloading their work with every + kind of intricate and difficult ornament, exhibiting their dexterity by + canons of many types, inversions, imitations, contrapuntal devices of + divers ingenious and distracting species. The verbal theme became a mere + basis for the utterance of scientific artifices and the display of vocal + gymnastics. The singers, for their part, were allowed innumerable + licenses. While the bass sustained the melody, the other voices indulged + in extempore descant (<i>composizione alla mente</i>) and in extravagances + of technical execution (<i>rifiorimenti</i>), regardless of the style of + the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB318" id="pageB318"></a>{318}</span> + main composition, violating time, and setting even the fundamental tone at + defiance. + </p> + <p> + The composers, to advance another step in the analysis of this strange + medley, took particular delight in combining different sets of words, + melodies of widely diverse character, antagonistic rhythms and divergent + systems of accentuation in a single piece. They assigned these several + ingredients to several parts; and for the further exhibition of their + perverse skill, went even to the length of coupling themes in the major + and the minor. + </p> + <p> + The most obvious result of such practice was that it became impossible to + understand what words were being sung, and that instead of concord and + order in the choir, a confused discord and anarchy of dinning sounds + prevailed. What made the matter from an ecclesiastical point of view still + worse, was that these scholastically artificial compositions were + frequently based on trivial and vulgar tunes, suggesting the tavern, the + dancing-room, or even worse places, to worshipers assembled for the + celebration of a Sacrament. Masses bore titles adopted from the popular + melodies on which they were founded: such, for example, as 'Adieu mes + amours,' 'A l'ombre d'un buissonnet,' 'Baise-moi,' 'L'ami baudichon + madame,' 'Le vilain jaloux.' Even the words of love-ditties and obscene + ballads in French, Flemish, and Italian, were being squalled out by the + tenor while the bass gave utterance to an <i>Agnus</i> or a <i>Benedictus</i>, + and the soprano was engaged upon the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB319" id="pageB319"></a>{319}</span> verses of a Latin hymn. + Baini, who examined hundreds of these Masses and motetts in MS., says that + the words imported into them from vulgar sources 'make one's flesh creep + and one's hair stand on end.' He does not venture to do more than indicate + a few of the more decent of these interloping verses; but mentions one <i>Kyrie</i>, + in which the tenor sang <i>Je ne vis oncques la pareille</i>; a <i>Sanctus</i>, + in which he had to utter <i>gracieuse gente mounyere</i>; and a <i>Benedictus</i>, + where the same offender was employed on <i>Madame, faites moy sçavoir</i>. + As an augmentation of this indecency, numbers from a Mass or motett which + started with the grave rhythm of a Gregorian tone, were brought to their + conclusion on the dance measure of a popular <i>ballata</i>, so that <i>Incarnatus + est</i> or <i>Kyrie eleison</i> went jigging off into suggestions of + Masetto and Zerlina at a village ball. + </p> + <p> + To describe all the impertinences to which the customs of vocal execution + then in vogue gave rise, by means of flourishes, improvisations, + accelerations of time and multitudinous artifices derived from the <i>ad + libitum</i> abuses of the fugal machinery, would serve no purpose. But it + may be profitably mentioned that the mischief was not confined to the + vocal parts. Organ and orchestra of divers instruments were allowed the + same liberty of improvising on the given theme, embroidering these with + fanciful <i>capricci</i>, and indulging their own taste in symphonies + connected with the main structure by slight and artificial links. + Instrumental music had not yet <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB320" + id="pageB320"></a>{320}</span> taken an independent place in art. The + lute, the trumpet, or the stops of the organ, followed and imitated the + voice; and thus in this confusion a choir of stringed and wind instruments + was placed in competition with the singing choir.<a + name="BFNanchor_205_205" id="BFNanchor_205_205"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> It would appear that + the composer frequently gave but a ground-sketch of his plan, without + troubling himself to distribute written parts to the executants. The + efflorescences, excursuses and episodes to which I have alluded, were + supplied by artists whom long training in this kind of music enabled to + perform their separate sallies and to execute their several antics within + certain limits of recognized license. But since each vied with the other + to produce striking effects, the choir rivaling the orchestra, the tenor + competing with the bass, the organ with the viol, it followed that the din + of their accumulated efforts was not unjustly compared to that made by a + 'sty of grunting pigs,' the builders of the Tower of Babel, or the + 'squalling of cats in January.'<a name="BFNanchor_206_206" + id="BFNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#BFootnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> + 'All their happiness,' writes a contemporary critic, 'consisted in keeping + the bass singer to the fugue, while at the same time one voice was + shouting out <i>Sanctus</i>, another <i>Sabaoth</i>, a third <i>gloria tua</i>, + with howlings, bellowings and squealings that cannot be described.'<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB321" id="pageB321"></a>{321}</span> + </p> + <p> + It must not be thought that this almost unimaginable state of things + indicated a defect either of intellectual capacity or of artistic skill. + It was due rather to the abuse of science and of virtuosity, both of which + had attained to a high degree of development. It manifested the decadence + of music in its immaturity, through over-confident employment of exuberant + resources on an end inadequate for the fulfillment of the art. Music, it + must be remembered, unlike literature and plastic art, had no antique + tradition to assimilate, no masterpieces of accomplished form to study. In + the modern world it was an art without connecting links to bind it to the + past. And this circumstance rendered it liable to negligent treatment by a + society that prided itself upon the recovery of the classics. The + cultivated classes abandoned it in practice to popular creators of melody + upon the one hand, and to grotesque scholastic pedants on the other. And + from the blending of those ill-accorded elements arose the chaos which I + have attempted to describe. + </p> + <p> + Learned composers in the style developed by the Flemish masters had grown + tired of writing simple music for four voices and a single choir. They + reveled in the opportunity of combining eight vocal parts and bringing + three choirs with accompanying orchestras into play at the same time. They + were proud of proving how by counterpoint the most dissimilar and + mutually-jarring factors could be wrought into a whole, intelligible to + the scientific <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB322" id="pageB322"></a>{322}</span> + musician, though unedifying to the public. In the neglect of their art, + considered as an art of interpretation and expression, they abandoned + themselves to intricate problems and to the presentation of incongruous + complexities. + </p> + <p> + The singers were expert in rendering difficult passages, in developing + unpromising motives, and in embroidering the arras-work of the composer + with fanciful extravagances of vocal execution. The instrumentalists were + trained in the art of copying effects of fugue or madrigal by lutes and + viols in concerted pieces. The people were used to dance and sing and + touch the mandoline together; in every house were found amateurs who could + with voice and string produce the studied compositions of the masters. + </p> + <p> + What was really lacking, amid this exuberance of musical resources, in + this thick jungle of technical facilities, was a controlling element of + correct taste, a right sense of the proper function of music as an + interpretative art. On the very threshold of its modern development, music + had fallen into early decay owing to the misapplication of the means so + copiously provided by nature and by exercise. A man of genius and of + substantial intuition into the real ends of vocal music was demanded at + this moment, who should guide the art into its destined channel. And in + order to elicit such a creator of new impulses, such a Nomothetes of the + disordered state, it was requisite that external pressure should <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB323" id="pageB323"></a>{323}</span> be + brought to bear upon the art. An initiator of the right caliber was found + in Palestrina. The pressure from without was supplied by the Council of + Trent. + </p> + <p> + It may here be parenthetically remarked that music, all through modern + history, has needed such legislators and initiators of new methods. + Considered as an art of expression, she has always tended to elude + control, to create for herself a domain extraneous to her proper function, + and to erect her resources of mere sound into self-sufficingness. What + Palestrina effected in the sixteenth century, was afterwards accomplished + on a wider platform by Gluck in the eighteenth, and in our own days the + same deliverance has been attempted by Wagner. The efforts of all these + epoch-making musicians have been directed toward restraining the + tendencies of music to assert an independence, which for herself becomes + the source of weakness by reducing her to co-operation with insignificant + words, and which renders her subservient to merely technical dexterities. + </p> + <p> + Giovanni Pier Luigi, called Palestrina from his birthplace in one of the + Colonna fiefs near Rome, the ancient Praeneste, was born of poor parents, + in the year 1524, He went to Rome about 1540, and began his musical career + probably as a choir-boy in one of the Basilicas. Claude Goudimel, the + Besançon composer, who subsequently met a tragic death at Lyons in + a massacre of Huguenots, had <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB324" + id="pageB324"></a>{324}</span> opened a school of harmony in Rome, where + Palestrina learned the first rudiments of that science. What Palestrina + owed to Goudimel, is not clear. But we have the right to assume that the + Protestant part-songs of the French people which Goudimel transferred to + the hymn-books of the Huguenots, had a potent influence upon the formation + of his style. They may have been for him what the Chorales of Germany were + for the school of Bach.<a name="BFNanchor_207_207" id="BFNanchor_207_207"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> Externally, + Palestrina's life was a very uneventful one, and the records collected + with indefatigable diligence by his biographer have only brought to light + changes from one post to another in several Basilicas, and unceasing + industry in composition. The vast number of works published by Palestrina + in his lifetime, or left in MS. at his death, or known to have been + written and now lost, would be truly astonishing were it not a fact that + very eminent creative genius is always copious, and in no province of the + arts more fertile than in that of music. Palestrina lived and died a poor + man. In his dedications he occasionally remarks with sober pathos on the + difficulty of pursuing scientific studies in the midst of domestic + anxiety. His pay was very small, and the expense of publishing his works, + which does not seem to have been defrayed by patrons, was at that time + very great. Yet he enjoyed an uncontested reputa<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB325" id="pageB325"></a>{325}</span> tion as the first of living + composers, the saviour of Church music, the creator of a new style; and on + his tomb, in 1594, was inscribed this title: <i>Princeps Musicae</i>. + </p> + <p> + The state of confusion into which ecclesiastical music had fallen, + rendered it inevitable that some notice of so grave a scandal should be + taken by the Fathers of the Tridentine Council in their deliberations on + reform of ritual. It appears, therefore, that in their twenty-second + session (September 17, 1562) they enjoined upon the Ordinaries to 'exclude + from churches all such music as, whether through the organ or the singing, + introduces anything of impure or lascivious, in order that the house of + God may truly be seen to be and may be called the house of prayer.'<a + name="BFNanchor_208_208" id="BFNanchor_208_208"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> In order to give + effect to this decree of the Tridentine Council, Pius IV. appointed a + congregation of eight Cardinals upon August 2, 1564, among whom three + deserve especial mention—Michele Ghislieri, the Inquisitor, who was + afterwards Pope Pius V.; Carlo Borromeo, the sainted Archbishop of Milan; + and Vitellozzo Vitellozzi. It was their business, among other matters of + reform, to see that the Church music of Rome was instantly reduced to + proper order in accordance with the decree of the Council. Carlo Borromeo + was nephew and chief minister of the reigning Pope. Vitellozzo Vitellozzi + was a young man of thirty-three years, who possessed a singular passion + for music. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB326" id="pageB326"></a>{326}</span> To + these two members of the congregation, as a sub-committee, was deputed the + special task of settling the question of ecclesiastical music, it being + stipulated that they should by all means see that sufficient clearness was + introduced into the enunciation of the liturgical words by the singers. + </p> + <p> + I will here interrupt the thread of the narration, in order to touch upon + the legendary story which connects Palestrina incorrectly with what + subsequently happened. It was well known that on the decisions of the + sub-committee of the congregation hung the fate of Church music. For some + while it seemed as though music might be altogether expelled from the + rites of the Catholic Ecclesia. And it soon became matter of history that + Palestrina had won the cause of his art, had maintained it in its eminent + position in the ritual of Rome, and at the same time had opened a new + period in the development of modern music by the production of his Mass + called the <i>Mass of Pope Marcellus</i> at this critical moment. These + things were true; and when the peril had been overpassed, and the actual + circumstances of the salvation and revolution of Church music had been + forgotten, the memory of the crisis and the title of the victorious Mass + remained to form a mythus. The story ran that the good Pope Marcellus, who + occupied the Holy See for only twenty-two days, in the year 1555, + determined on the abolition of all music but Plain Song in the Church; + hearing of which resolve,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB327" + id="pageB327"></a>{327}</span> Palestrina besought him to suspend his + decree until he had himself produced and presented a Mass conformable to + ecclesiastical propriety. Marcello granted the chapel-master this request; + and on Easter Day, the Mass, which saved Church music from destruction, + was performed with the papal approval and the applause of Rome. It is not + necessary to point out the many impossibilities and contradictions + involved in this legend, since the real history of the Mass which wrought + salvation for Church music, lies before us plainly written in the prolix + pages of Baini. Yet it would have vexed me to pass by in silence so + interesting and instructive an example of the mode by which the truth of + history is veiled in legend. + </p> + <p> + Truth is always more interesting than fiction, and the facts of this + important episode in musical history are not without their element of + romance. There is no doubt that there was a powerful party in the Catholic + Church imbued with a stern ascetic or puritanical spirit, who would gladly + have excluded all but Plain Song from her services. Had Michele Ghislieri + instead of the somewhat worldly Angelo de'Medici been on the Papal throne, + or had the decision of the musical difficulty been delegated to him by the + congregation of eight Cardinals in 1564, Palestrina might not have + obtained that opportunity of which he so triumphantly availed himself. But + it happened that the reigning Pope was a lover of the art, and had a + special reason for being almost <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB328" + id="pageB328"></a>{328}</span> superstitiously indulgent to its + professors. While he was yet a Cardinal, in the easy-going days of Julius + III., Angelo de'Medici had been invited with other princes of the Church + to hear the marvelous performances upon the lute and the incomparable + improvisations of a boy called Silvio Antoniano. The meeting took place at + a banquet in the palace of the Venetian Cardinal Pisani. When the guests + were assembled, the Cardinal Rannuccio Farnese put together a bouquet of + flowers, and presenting these to the musician, bade him give them to that + one of the Cardinals who should one day be chosen Pope. Silvio without + hesitation handed the flowers to Angelo de'Medici, and taking up his lute + began to sing his praises in impassioned extempore verse. After his + election to the Papacy, with the title of Pius IV., Angelo de'Medici took + Silvio into his service, and employed him in such honorable offices that + the fortunate youth was finally advanced to the dignity of Cardinal under + the reign of Clement VIII., in 1598.<a name="BFNanchor_209_209" + id="BFNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#BFootnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> + </p> + <p> + It was therefore necessary for the congregation of musical reform to take + the Pope's partiality for this art into consideration; and they showed + their good will by choosing his own nephew, together with a notorious + amateur of music, for their sub-committee. The two Cardinals applied to + the College of Pontifical Singers for advice; and these <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB329" id="pageB329"></a>{329}</span> deputed + eight of their number—three Spaniards, one Fleming, and four + Italians—to act as assistants in the coming deliberations. It was + soon agreed that Masses and motetts in which different verbal themes were + jumbled, should be prohibited; that musical motives taken from profane + songs should be abandoned; and that no countenance should be given to + compositions or words invented by contemporary poets. These three + conditions were probably laid down as indispensable by the Cardinals in + office before proceeding to the more difficult question of securing a + plain and intelligible enunciation of the sacred text. When the Cardinals + demanded this as the essential point in the proposed reform, the singers + replied that it would be impossible in practice. They were so used to the + complicated structure of figured music, with its canons, fugal + intricacies, imitations and inversions, that they could not even imagine a + music that should be simple and straightforward, retaining the essential + features of vocal harmony, and yet allowing the words on which it was + composed to be distinctly heard. The Cardinals rebutted these objections + by pointing to the Te Deum of Costanzo Festa (a piece which has been + always sung on the election of a new Pope from that day to our own times) + and to the Improperia of Palestrina, which also holds its own in the + service of the Sistine. But the singers answered that these were + exceptional pieces, which, though they might fulfill the requirements of + the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB330" id="pageB330"></a>{330}</span> + Congregation of Reform, could not be taken as the sole models for + compositions involving such variety and length of execution as the Mass. + Their answer proved conclusively to what extent the contrapuntal style had + dissociated itself from the right object of all vocal music, that of + interpreting, enforcing, and transfiguring the words with which it deals, + and how it had become a mere art for the scientific development of + irrelevant and often impertinent melodic themes. + </p> + <p> + In order to avoid an absolute deadlock, which might have resulted in the + sacrifice of ecclesiastical harmony, and have inflicted a death-blow on + modern music, the committee agreed to refer their difficulties to + Palestrina. On the principle of <i>solvitur ambulando</i>, he was invited + to study the problem, and to produce a trial piece which should satisfy + the conditions exacted by the Congregation as well as the requirements of + the artists. Literally, he received commission to write a Mass in sober + ecclesiastical style, free from all impure and light suggestions in the + themes, the melodies and the rhythms, which should allow the sacred words + in their full sense to be distinctly heard, without sacrificing vocal + harmony and the customary interlacing of fugued passages. If he succeeded, + the Cardinals promised to make no further innovation; but if he failed, + Carlo Borromeo warned him that the Congregation of Reform would disband + the choral establishments of the Pontifical Chapel and the Ro<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB331" id="pageB331"></a>{331}</span> man + churches, and prohibit the figured style in vogue, in pursuance of the + clear decision of the Tridentine Council. + </p> + <p> + This was a task of Hercules imposed on Palestrina. The art to which he had + devoted his lifetime, the fame which he had acquired as a composer, the + profession by which he and all his colleagues gained their daily bread, + depended on his working out the problem. He was practically commanded to + discover a new species of Church music, or to behold the ruin of himself + and his companions, the extinction of the art and science he so + passionately loved. Truly may his biographer remark: 'I am deliberately of + opinion that no artist either before or since has ever found himself in a + parallel strait.' + </p> + <p> + We have no exact record of the spirit in which he approached this labor.<a + name="BFNanchor_210_210" id="BFNanchor_210_210"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> But he was a man of + sincere piety, a great and enthusiastic servant of art. The command he had + received came from a quarter which at that period and in Rome had almost + divine authority. He knew that music hung trembling in the balance upon + his failure or success. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB332" id="pageB332"></a>{332}</span> + And these two motives, the motive of religious zeal and the motive of + devotion to art, inspired him for the creation of a new musical world. + Analysis of his work and comparison of it with the style which he was + called on to supersede, show pretty clearly what were the principles that + governed him. With a view to securing the main object of rendering the + text intelligible to the faithful, he had to dispense with the complicated + Flemish system of combined melodies in counterpoint, and to employ his + scientific resources of fugue and canon with parsimony, so that in future + they should subserve and not tyrannize over expression. He determined to + write for six voices, two of which should be bass, in order that the + fundamental themes should be sustained with dignity and continuity. But + what he had principally in view, what in fact he had been called on to + initiate, was that novel adaptation of melody and science to verbal phrase + and sense, whereby music should be made an art interpretative of religious + sentiment, powerful to clothe each shade of meaning in the text with + appropriate and beautiful sound, instead of remaining a merely artificial + and mechanical structure of sounds disconnected from the words employed in + giving them vocal utterance. + </p> + <p> + Palestrina set to work, and composed three Masses, which were performed + upon April 28, 1565, before the eight Cardinals of the congregation in the + palace of Cardinal Vitellozzi. All three were <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB333" id="pageB333"></a>{333}</span> approved of; but the first + two still left something to be desired. Baini reports that they preserved + somewhat too much of the cumbrous Flemish manner; and that though the + words were more intelligible, the fugal artifices overlaid their clear + enunciation. In the third, however, it was unanimously agreed that + Palestrina had solved the problem satisfactorily. 'Its style is always + equal, always noble, always alive, always full of thought and sincere + feeling, rising and ascending to the climax; not to understand the words + would be impossible; the melodies combine to stimulate devotion; the + harmonies touch the heart; it delights without distracting; satisfies + desire without tickling the senses; it is beautiful in all the beauties of + the sanctuary.' So writes Palestrina's enthusiastic biographer; so + apparently thought the Cardinals of the congregation; and when this Mass + (called the <i>Mass of Pope Marcellus</i>, out of grateful tribute to the + Pontiff, whose untimely death had extinguished many sanguine expectations) + was given to the world, the whole of Italy welcomed it with a burst of + passionate applause. Church music had been saved. Modern music had been + created. A new and lovely-form of art had arisen like a star. + </p> + <p> + It was not enough that the <i>Mass of Pope Marcellus</i> should have + satisfied the congregation. It had next to receive the approval of the + Pope, who heard it on June 19. On this occasion, if the Court Chronicle be + correct, Pius made a pretty speech, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB334" id="pageB334"></a>{334}</span> declaring that 'of such + nature must have been the harmonies of the new song heard by John the + Apostle in the heavenly Jerusalem, and that another John had given us a + taste of them in the Jerusalem of the Church Militant.' He seems, indeed, + to have been convinced that the main problem of preserving clearness of + enunciation in the uttered words had been solved, and that there was now + no reason to deprive the faithful of the artistic and devotional value of + melodious music. He consequently appointed Palestrina to the post of + composer for the Papal Chapel, and created a monopoly for the performance + of his works. This measure, which roused considerable jealousy among + musicians at the moment, had the salutary effect of rendering the new + style permanent in usage. + </p> + <p> + Of Palestrina's voluminous compositions this is not the place to speak. It + is enough to have indicated the decisive part which he took in the + reformation of Church music at a moment when its very existence was + imperiled, and to have described the principles upon which he laid down + new laws for the art. I must not, however, omit to dwell upon his + subsequent connection with S. Filippo Neri, since the music he composed + for the Oratory of that saint contributed much toward the creation of a + semi-lyrical and semi-dramatic style to which we may refer the origins of + the modern Oratorio. Filippo Neri was the spiritual director of + Palestrina, and appointed him composer to his devout confraternity.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB335" id="pageB335"></a>{335}</span> For the + use of that society the master wrote a series of <i>Arie Divote</i> on + Italian words. They were meant to be sung by the members, and to supersede + the old usages of Laud-music, which had chiefly consisted in adapting + popular street-tunes to sacred words.<a name="BFNanchor_211_211" + id="BFNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#BFootnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> + </p> + <p> + To the same connection with the Oratory we owe one of the most remarkable + series of Palestrina's compositions. These were written upon the words of + an Italian Canzone in thirty octave stanzas, addressed as a prayer to the + Virgin. Palestrina set each stanza, after the fashion of a Madrigal, to + different melodies; and the whole work proved a manual of devotional + music, in the purest artistic taste, and the most delicately sentimental + key of feeling. Together with this collection of spiritual songs should be + mentioned Palestrina's setting of passages from the Song of Solomon in a + series of motetts; which were dedicated to Gregory XIII., in 1584. They + had an enormous success. Ten editions between that date and 1650 were + poured out from the presses of Rome and Venice, to satisfy the impatience + of thousands who desired to feed upon 'the nectar of their sweetness.' + Palestrina chose for the motives of his compositions such voluptuous + phrases of the Vulgate as the following: <i>Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus + meus mihi.</i> <i>Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore + langueo.</i> <i>Vulnerasti cor meum, soror, sponsa mea.</i> This was the + period <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB336" id="pageB336"></a>{336}</span> + when Italy was ringing with the secular sweetnesses of Tasso's <i>Aminta</i> + and of Guarini's <i>Pastor fido</i>; when the devotion of the cloister was + becoming languorous and soft; when the cult of the Virgin was assuming the + extravagant proportions satirized by Pascal; finally, when manners were + affecting a tone of swooning piety blent with sensuous luxuriousness. + Palestrina's setting of the Canticle and of the Hymn to Mary provided the + public with music which, according to the taste of that epoch, transferred + terrestrial emotions into the regions of paradisal bliss, and justified + the definition of music as the <i>Lamento dell'amore o la preghiera agli + dei</i>. The great creator of a new ecclesiastical style, the 'imitator of + nature,' as Vincenzo Galilei styled him, the 'prince of music,' as his + epitaph proclaimed him, lent his genius to an art, vacillating between + mundane sensuality and celestial rapture, which, however innocently + developed by him in the sphere of music, was symptomatic of the most + unhealthy tendencies of his race and age. While singing these madrigals + and these motetts the youth of either sex were no longer reminded, it is + true, of tavern ditties or dance measures. But the emotions of luxurious + delight or passionate ecstasy deep in their own natures were drawn forth, + and sanctified by application to the language of effeminate devotion. + </p> + <p> + I have dwelt upon these two sets of compositions, rather than upon the + masses of strictly and severely <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB337" + id="pageB337"></a>{337}</span> ecclesiastical music which Palestrina + produced with inexhaustible industry, partly because they appear to have + been extraordinarily popular, and partly because they illustrate those + tendencies in art and manners which the sentimental school of Bolognese + painters attempted to embody. They belong to that religious sphere which + the Jesuit Order occupied, governed, and administered upon the lines of + their prescribed discipline. These considerations are not merely + irrelevant. The specific qualities of Italian music for the next two + centuries were undoubtedly determined by the atmosphere of sensuous + pietism in which it flourished, at the very time when German music was + striking far other roots in the Chorales of the Reformation epoch. What + Palestrina effected was to substitute in Church music the clear and + melodious manner of the secular madrigal for the heavy and scholastic + science of the Flemish school, and to produce masterpieces of religious + art in his motetts on the Canticles which confounded the lines of + demarcation between pious and profane expression. He taught music to utter + the emotions of the heart; but those emotions in his land and race were + already tending in religion toward the sentimental and voluptuous. + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that the peril to which music was exposed at the time of + the Tridentine Council was a serious and real one. When we remember how + intimate was the connection between the higher kinds of music and the + ritual of the Church, this <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB338" + id="pageB338"></a>{338}</span> will be apparent. Nor is it too much to + affirm that the art at that crisis, but for the favor shown to it by Pius + IV. and for Palestrina's intervention, might have been well-nigh + extinguished in Italy. How fatal the results would then have been for the + development of modern music, can be estimated by considering the decisive + part played by the Italians in the formation of musical style from the end + of the sixteenth century onwards to the age of Gluck, Handel, Haydn and + Mozart. Had the music of the Church in Italy been confined at that epoch + to Plain Song, as the Congregation of Reform threatened, the great Italian + school of vocalization would not have been founded, the Conservatories of + Naples and the Scuole of Venice would have been silent, and the style upon + which, dating from Palestrina's inventions, the evolution of all species + of the art proceeded, would have passed into oblivion. + </p> + <p> + That this proposition is not extravagant, the history of music in England + will suffice to prove. Before the victory of Puritan principles in Church + and State, the English were well abreast of other races in this art. + During the sixteenth century, Tallis, Byrd, Morland, Wilbye, Dowland and + Orlando Gibbons could hold their own against Italian masters. The musical + establishments of cathedrals, royal and collegiate chapels, and noble + houses were nurseries for artists. Every English home, in that age, like + every German home in the eighteenth century, abounded in amateurs who were + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB339" id="pageB339"></a>{339}</span> + capable of performing part-songs and concerted pieces on the lute and viol + with correctness. Under the <i>régime</i> of the Commonwealth this + national growth of music received a check from which it never afterwards + recovered. Though the seventeenth century witnessed the rising of one + eminent composer, Purcell; though the eighteenth was adorned with + meritorious writers of the stamp of Blow and Boyce; yet it is obvious that + the art remained among us unprogressive, at a time when it was making + gigantic strides in Italy and Germany. It is always dangerous to attribute + the decline of art in a nation to any one cause. Yet I think it can + scarcely be contested that the change of manners and of temperament + wrought in England by the prevalence of Puritan opinion, had much to + answer for in this premature decay of music. We may therefore fairly argue + that if the gloomy passion of intolerant fanaticism which burned in men + like Caraffa and Ghislieri had prevailed in Italy—a passion + analogous in its exclusiveness to Puritanism—or if no composer, in + the place of Palestrina, had satisfied the requirements of the Council and + the congregation, the history of music in Italy and Europe to us-wards + would have been far different. + </p> + <p> + These considerations are adduced to justify the importance attached by me + to the episode of which Palestrina was the hero. Yet it should not be + forgotten that other influences were at work at the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB340" id="pageB340"></a>{340}</span> same time in Italy, which + greatly stimulated the advance of music. If space permitted, it would be + interesting to enlarge upon the work of Luca Marenzio, the prince of + madrigal-writers, and on the services rendered by Vincenzo Galileo, father + of the greatest man of science in his age, in placing the practice of + stringed instruments on a sound basis. It should also be remembered that + in the society of Filippo Neri at Rome, the Oratorio was taking shape, and + emerging from the simple elements of the Spiritual Laud and <i>Aria Divota</i>. + This form, however, would certainly have perished if the austere party in + the Church had prevailed against the lenient for the exclusion of figured + music, from religious exercises. + </p> + <p> + There was, moreover, an interesting contemporary movement at Florence, + which deserves some detailed mention. A private academy of amateurs and + artists formed itself for the avowed purpose of reviving the musical + declamation of the Greeks. As the new ecclesiastical style created by + Palestrina grew out of the Counter-Reformation embodied in the decrees of + the Tridentine Council, so this movement, which eventually resulted in the + Opera, attached itself to the earlier enthusiasms of the Classical + Revival. The humanists had restored Latin poetry; the architects had + perfected a neo-Latin manner; sculptors and painters had profited by the + study of antique fragments, and had reproduced the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB341" id="pageB341"></a>{341}</span> bas-reliefs and arabesques + of Roman palaces. It was now, much later in the day, the turn of the + musicians to make a similar attempt. Their quest was vague and visionary. + Nothing remained of Greek or Roman music. To guide these explorers, there + was only a dim instinct that the ancients had declaimed dramatic verse + with musical intonation. But, as the alchemists sought the philosopher's + stone, and founded modern chemistry; as, according to an ancient proverb, + they who search for silver find gold; so it happened that, from the + pedantic and ill-directed attempts of this academy proceeded the system on + which the modern Oratorio and Opera were based. What is noticeable in + these experiments is, that a new form of musical expression, declamatory + and continuous, therefore dramatic, as opposed to the lyrical and fugal + methods of the contrapuntists, was in process of elaboration. Claudio + Monteverde, who may be termed the pioneer of <i>recitativo</i>, in his + opera of <i>Orfeo</i>; Giacomo Carissimi, in whose <i>Jephtha</i> the form + of the Oratorio it already outlined, were the most eminent masters of the + school which took its origin in the Florentine Academy of the Palazzo + Vernio. + </p> + <p> + To pursue the subject further, would be to transgress the chronological + limits of my subject. It is enough to have attempted in this chapter to + show how the destinies of Italian music were secured and its species + determined in the last quarter of the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB342" id="pageB342"></a>{342}</span> sixteenth century. How that + art at its climax in the eighteenth century affected the manners, + penetrated the whole life, and influenced the literature of the Italians, + may be read in an English work of singular ability and originality.<a + name="BFNanchor_212_212" id="BFNanchor_212_212"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB343" id="pageB343"></a>{343}</span> + </p> + <h4> + THE BOLOGNESE SCHOOL OF PAINTERS + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + Decline of Plastic Art—Dates of the Eclectic Masters—The + Mannerists—Baroccio—Reaction started by Lodovico Caracci—His + Cousins Annibale and Agostino—Their Studies—Their Academy at + Bologna—Their Artistic Aims—Dionysius Calvaert—Guido + Reni—The Man and His Art—Domenichino—Ruskin's + Criticism—Relation of Domenichino to the Piety of His Age—Caravaggio + and the Realists—Ribera—Lo Spagna—Guercino—His + qualities as Colorist—His Terribleness—Private Life—Digression + upon Criticism—Reasons why the Bolognese Painters are justly now + neglected. + </p> + </div> + <p> + After tracing the origin of modern music at its fountain head in + Palestrina, it requires some courage to approach the plastic arts at this + same epoch. + </p> + <p> + Music was the last real manifestation of the creative genius in Italy. + Rarefied to evanescent currents of emotional and sensuous out-breathings, + the spirit of the race exhaled itself in song from human throats, in + melody on lute and viol, until the whole of Europe thrilled with the + marvel and the mystery of this new language of the soul. Music was the + fittest utterance for the Italians of the Counter-Reformation period. + Debarred from political activity, denied the liberty of thought and + speech, that gifted people found an inarticulate vehicle of expression in + tone; tone which conveys all mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB344" + id="pageB344"></a>{344}</span> ings to the nerves that feel, advances + nothing to the mind that reasons, says everything without formulating a + proposition. + </p> + <p> + Only a sense of duty to my subject, which demands completion, makes me + treat of painting in the last years of the sixteenth century. The great + Italian cycle, rounded by Lionardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo, Correggio and + Tiziano, was being closed at Venice by Tintoretto. After him invention + ceased. But there arose at Bologna a school, bent on resuscitating the + traditions of an art which had already done its utmost to interpret mind + to mind through mediums of lovely form and color. The founders of the + Bolognese Academy, like Medea operating on decrepit Aeson, chopped up the + limbs of painting which had ceased to throb with organic life, recombined + them by an act of intellect and will, and having pieced them together, set + the composite machine in motion on the path of studied method. Their aim + was analogous to that of the Church in its reconstitution of Catholicism; + and they succeeded, in so far as they achieved a partial success, through + the inspiration which the Catholic Revival gave them. These painters are + known as the Eclectics and this title sufficiently indicates their effort + to revive art by recomposing what lay before them in disintegrated + fragments. They did not explore new territory or invent fresh vehicles of + expression. They sought to select the best points of Graeco-Roman and + Italian style, unconscious that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB345" + id="pageB345"></a>{345}</span> the physical type of the Niobids, the + voluptuous charm of Correggio, the luminous color of Titian, the + terribleness of Michelangelo, and the serenity of Raphael, being the + ultimate expressions of distinct artistic qualities, were incompatible. A + still deeper truth escaped their notice—namely, that art is + valueless unless the artist has something intensely felt to say, and that + where this intensity of feeling exists, it finds for itself its own + specific and inevitable form. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>'Poems distilled from other poems pass away,<br /> </span> <span>The + swarms of reflectors and the polite pass, and leave ashes;<br /> </span> + <span>Admirers, importers, obedient persons,<br /> </span> <span>make but + the soil of literature.'<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + These profound sentences are the epitaph, not only of imitative poetry, + but also of such eclectic art as the Caracci instituted. Very little of it + bears examination now. We regard it with listlessness or loathing. We turn + from it without regret. We cannot, or do not, wish to keep it in our + memory. + </p> + <p> + Yet no student of Italian painting will refuse the Caracci that tribute of + respect which is due to virile effort. They were in vital sympathy with + the critical and analytical spirit of their age—an age mournfully + conscious that its scepter had departed—that + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>'Nothing can bring back the hour<br /> </span> <span>Of splendor in + the grass, of glory in the flower;'<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + an age incapable as yet of acquiescing in this gloom, strenuously eager by + study and by labor to regain <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB346" + id="pageB346"></a>{346}</span> the kingdom which belongs alone to + inspiration. Science and industry enabled them to galvanize the corpse of + art; into this they breathed the breath of the religion <i>à la + mode</i>, of fashionable sensuousness and prevalent sentimentality. + </p> + <p> + Michelangelo died in 1564, Paolo Veronese in 1588, Tintoretto in 1594. + These were the three latest survivors of the great generation, and each of + them had enjoyed a life of activity prolonged into extreme old age. Their + intellectual peers had long ago departed; Lionardo in 1520, Raphael in + 1522, Correggio in 1534. + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>'Theirs was the giant race, before the flood.'<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <p> + These dates have to be kept in mind; for the painters of the Bolognese + School were all born after 1550, born for the most part at that decisive + epoch of the Tridentine Council which might be compared to a watershed of + time between the Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation—Lodovico + Caracci in 1555, Agostino in 1558, Annibale in 1560, Guido Reni in 1574, + Lionello Spada in 1576, Francesco Albani in 1578, Domenichino in 1581, + Guercino in 1590.<a name="BFNanchor_213_213" id="BFNanchor_213_213"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> With the last of + these men the eclectic impulse was exhausted; and a second generation, + derived in part from them, linked the painters of the Renaissance <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB347" id="pageB347"></a>{347}</span> to those + of modern times. It is sufficient to mention Nicholas and Gaspar Poussin, + Claude Lorraine, Salvator Rosa, Luca Giordano, and Canaletto as chief + representatives of this secondary group.<a name="BFNanchor_214_214" + id="BFNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#BFootnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> + </p> + <p> + On examining the dates which I have given, it will be noticed that the + Bolognese Eclectics, intervening between the age of Michelangelo and the + age of Nicholas Poussin, worked during the first fervor of the Catholic + Revival. Their art may therefore be taken as fairly representative of the + religious temper and the profane culture of the Italians in the period + influenced by the Council of Trent. It represents that temper and that + culture before the decline of the same influence, when the Counter + Reformation was in active progress and the Papal pretensions to absolute + dominion had received no check. + </p> + <p> + We should be wrong, however, to treat the Eclectics as though they + succeeded without interruption to that 'giant race, before the flood.' + Their movement was emphatically one of revival; and revival implies + decadence. After 1541, when Michelangelo finished the Last Judgment, and + before 1584, when the Caracci were working on their frescoes in the + Palazzo Fava at Bologna—that is to say, between the last of the + genuine Renaissance paintings and the first of the Revival—nearly + half a century elapsed, during which art sank into a <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB348" id="pageB348"></a>{348}</span> slough of slovenly and + soulless putrescence.<a name="BFNanchor_215_215" id="BFNanchor_215_215"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> Every city of Italy + swarmed with artists, adequately educated in technical methods, and apt at + aping the grand style of their masters. But in all their work there is + nothing felt, nothing thought out, nothing expressed, nothing imagined. It + is a vast vacuity of meaningless and worthless brush-play, a wilderness of + hollow trickery and futile fumbling with conventional forms. The + Mannerists, as they were called, covered acres of palace and church walls + with allegories, histories, and legends, carelessly designed, rapidly + executed, but pleasing the eye with crowds of figures and with gaudy + colors. Their colors are now faded. Their figures are now seen to be + reminiscences of Raphael's, Correggio's, Buonarroti's draughtsmanship. Yet + they satisfied the patrons of that time, who required hasty work, and had + not much money wherewith to reward the mature labors of a conscientious + student. In relation, moreover, to the spiritless and insincere + architecture then coming into vogue, this art of the Mannerists can + scarcely be judged out of place. When I divulge the names of Giorgio + Vasari, Giuseppe Cesari (Cav. d'Arpino), Tempesta, Fontana, Tibaldi, the + Zuccari, the Procaccini, the Campi of Cremona, the scholars of Perino del + Vaga, I shall probably call up before the reluctant eyes of many of my + readers visions of dreary wanderings through weariful saloons <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB349" id="pageB349"></a>{349}</span> and of + disconsolate starings up at stuccoed cupolas in Rome and Genoa, in + Florence and Naples, and in all the towns of Lombardy.<a + name="BFNanchor_216_216" id="BFNanchor_216_216"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> + </p> + <p> + In an earlier volume I briefly sketched the development of this pernicious + mannerism, which now deluged the arts of Italy. Only one painter, outside + Venice, seems to have carried on a fairly good tradition. This was + Federigo Baroccio (1528-1612), who feebly continued the style of + Correggio, with a certain hectic originality, infusing sentimental pietism + into that great master's pagan sensuousness. The mixture is disagreeable; + and when one is obliged to mention Baroccio as the best in a bad period, + this accentuates the badness of his contemporaries. He has however, + historical value from another point of view, inasmuch as nothing more + strongly characterizes the eclecticism of the Caracci than their + partiality for Correggio.<a name="BFNanchor_217_217" id="BFNanchor_217_217"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> Though I have no + reason to suppose that Baroccio, living chiefly as he did at Urbino, + directly influenced their style, the similarity between his ideal and + theirs is certainly striking. It seems to point at something inevitable in + the direction taken by the Eclectics. + </p> + <p> + Such was the state of art in Italy when Lodovico Caracci, the son of a + Bolognese butcher, conceived <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB350" + id="pageB350"></a>{350}</span> his plan of replacing it upon a sounder + system.<a name="BFNanchor_218_218" id="BFNanchor_218_218"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a> Instinct led him to + Venice, where painting was still alive. The veteran Tintoretto warned him + that he had no vocation. But Lodovico obstinately resolved to win by + industry what nature seemed to have denied him. He studied diligently at + Florence, Parma, Mantua, and Venice, founding his style upon those of + Andrea del Sarto, Correggio, Titian, Parmigiano, Giulio Romano, and + Primaticcio. When he again settled at Bologna, he induced his two cousins, + Agostino and Annibale, the sons of a tailor, to join him in the serious + pursuit of art. Agostino was a goldsmith by trade, already expert in the + use of the burin, which he afterwards employed more frequently than the + brush.<a name="BFNanchor_219_219" id="BFNanchor_219_219"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> Of the three Caracci + he was the most versatile, and perhaps the most gifted. There is a note of + distinction and attainment in his work. Annibale, the youngest, was a + rough, wild, hasty, and hot-tempered lad, of robust build and vigorous + intellect, but boorish in his manners, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB351" id="pageB351"></a>{351}</span> fond of low society, and + eaten up with jealousy. They called him the <i>ragazzaccio</i>, or 'lout + of a boy,' when he began to make his mark at Bologna. Agostino presented a + strong contrast to his brother, being an accomplished musician, an + excellent dancer, a fair poet, fit to converse with noblemen, and + possessed of very considerable culture. Lodovico, the eldest of the + cousins, acted as mentor and instructor to the others. He pacified their + quarrels, when Annibale's jealousy burst out; set them upon the right + methods of study, and passed judgment on their paintings. + </p> + <p> + Like Lodovico, the brothers served their first apprenticeship in art at + Parma and Venice. Annibale's letters from the former place show how + Correggio subdued him, and the large copies he there made still preserve + for us some shadows of Correggio's time-ruined frescoes. At Venice he + executed a copy of Titian's Peter Martyr. This picture, the most dramatic + of Titian's works, and the most elaborate in its landscape, was destined + to exercise a decisive influence over the Eclectic school. From the + Caracci to Domenichino we are able to trace the dominant tone and + composition of that masterpiece. No less decisive, as I have already + observed, was the influence of Correggio's peculiar style in the choice of + type, the light and shade, and the foreshortenings of the Bolognese + painters. In some degree, the manner of Paolo Veronese may also be + discerned. The Caracci avoided Tintoretto, and <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB352" id="pageB352"></a>{352}</span> at the beginning of their + career they derived but little from Raphael or Michelangelo. Theirs was at + first a mainly Veneto-Lombardic eclecticism, dashed with something + absorbed from Giulio Romano and something from the later Florentines. It + must not however, be supposed that they confined their attention to + Italian painters. They contrived to collect casts from antique marbles, + coins, engravings of the best German and Italian workmanship, books on + architecture and perspective, original drawings, and similar academical + appliances. Nor were they neglectful of drawing from the nude, or of + anatomy. Indeed, their days and nights were spent in one continuous round + of study, which had for its main object the comparison of dead and living + nature with the best specimens of art in all ages. It may seem strange + that this assiduity and thoroughness of method did not produce work of + higher quality. Yet we must remember that even enthusiastic devotion to + art will not give inspiration, and that the most thorough science cannot + communicate charm. Though the Caracci invented fresh attitudes and showed + complete mastery of the human form, their types remained commonplace. + Though their chiaroscuro was accurately based on that of Correggio, it + lacked his aërial play of semitones. Though they went straight to + Titian for color, they never approached Venetian lucidity and glow. There + was something vulgar in their imagination, prosaic in their feeling, + leaden in their frigid touch on legend.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB353" id="pageB353"></a>{353}</span> Who wants those countless + gods and goddesses of the Farnese Gallery, those beblubbered saints and + colossal Sibyls of the Bolognese Pinacoteca, those chubby cherubs and + buxom nymphs, those Satyrs and S. Sebastians, to come down from the walls + and live with us? The grace of Raphael's Galatea, the inspiration of + Michelangelo's Genii of the Sistine, the mystery of Lionardo's Faun-S. + John, the wilding grace of Correggio's Diana, the voluptuous fascination + of Titian's Venus, the mundane seductiveness of Veronese's Europa, the + golden glory of Tintoretto's Bacchus,—all have evanesced, and in + their place are hard mechanic figures, excellently drawn, correctly posed, + but with no touch of poetry. Where, indeed, shall we find 'the light that + never was on sea or land' throughout Bologna?<a name="BFNanchor_220_220" + id="BFNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#BFootnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> + </p> + <p> + Part of this failure must be ascribed to a radically false conception of + the way to combine studies of nature with studies of art. The Eclectics in + general started with the theory that a painter ought to form mental ideals + of beauty, strength, dignity, ferocity, and so forth, from the observation + of characteristic individuals and acknowledged master<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB354" id="pageB354"></a>{354}</span> pieces. These ideal types + he has to preserve in his memory, and to use living persons only as + external means for bringing them into play. Thus, it was indifferent who + sat to him as model. He believed that he could invest the ugliest lump of + living flesh with the loveliest fancy. Lodovico supplied Annibale Caracci + with the fleshy back of a naked Venus. Guido Reni painted his Madonna's + heads from any beardless pupil who came handy, and turned his deformed + color-grinder—a man 'with a muzzle like a renegado'—into the + penitent Magdalen.<a name="BFNanchor_221_221" id="BFNanchor_221_221"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> It was inevitable + that forms and faces thus evolved should bear the stamp of mediocrity, + monotony, and dullness on them. Few, very few, painters—perhaps only + Michelangelo—have been able to give to purely imagined forms the + value and the individuality of persons; and he succeeded best in this + perilous attempt when he designed the passionate Genii of the Sistine + frescoes. Such flights were far beyond the grasp of the Eclectics. Seeking + after the 'grand style,' they fell, as I shall show in the sequel of this + chapter, into commonplace vacuity, which makes them now insipid.<a + name="BFNanchor_222_222" id="BFNanchor_222_222"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a><span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB355" id="pageB355"></a>{355}</span> + </p> + <p> + There was at this time a native of Antwerp named Dionysius Calvaert, a + coarse fellow of violent manners, who kept open school in Bologna. The + best of the Caracci's pupils—Guido Reni, Domenichino and Albani—emigrated + to their academy from this man's workshop. Something, as it seems to me, + peculiar in the method of handling oil paint, which all three have in + common, may perhaps be ascribed to early training under their Flemish + master. His brutality drove them out of doors; and, having sought the + protection of Lodovico Caracci, they successively made such progress in + the methods of painting as rendered them the most distinguished + representatives of the Bolognese Revival. All three were men of immaculate + manners. Guido Reni, beautiful as a Sibyl in youth, with blonde hair, blue + eyes, and fair complexion, was, to the end of his illustrious career, + reputed a virgin. Albani, who translated into delicate oil-painting the + sensuousness of the <i>Adone</i>, studied the forms of Nymphs and Venuses + from his lovely wife, and the limbs of Amorini from the children whom she + bore him regularly every year. Domenichino, a man of shy, retiring habits, + preoccupied with the psychological problems which he strove to translate + into dramatic pictures, doted on one woman, whom he married, and who lived + to deplore his death (as she believed) by poison. Guido was specially + characterized by devotion to Madonna. He was a singular child. On every + Christmas eve, for seven successive years, <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB356" id="pageB356"></a>{356}</span> ghostly knockings were + heard upon his chamber door; and, every night, when he awoke from sleep, + the darkness above his bed was illuminated by a mysterious egg-shaped + globe of light.<a name="BFNanchor_223_223" id="BFNanchor_223_223"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> His eccentricity in + later life amounted to insanity, and at last he gave himself up wholly to + the demon of the gaming-table. Domenichino obeyed only one passion, if we + except his passion for the wife he loved so dearly, and this was music. He + displayed some strangeness of temperament in a morbid dislike of noise and + interruptions. Otherwise, nothing disturbed the even current of an + existence dedicated to solving questions of art. Albani mixed more freely + in the world than Domenichino, enjoyed the pleasures of the table and of + sumptuous living, but with Italian sobriety, and expatiated in those + spheres of literature which supplied him with motives for his coldly + sensual pictures. Yet he maintained the credit of a thoroughly domestic, + soundly natured, and vigorously wholesome man. + </p> + <p> + I have thought it well thus to preface what I have to say about these + masters, partly because critics of the modern stamp, trusting more to + their subjective impressions than to authoritative records, have painted + the moral characters of Guido and Domenichino in lurid colors, and also + because there is cer<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB357" id="pageB357"></a>{357}</span> + tainly something in their work which leaves a painful memory of unhealthy + sentiment, impassiveness to pain, and polished carnalism on the mind. It + may incidentally be recorded that Lodovico Caracci, Guido Reni, and + Francesco Albani are all of them, on very good authority, reported to have + been even prudishly modest in their use of female models. They never + permitted a woman to strip entirely, and Guido carried his reserve to such + a pitch that he preferred to leave his studio door open while drawing from + a woman.<a name="BFNanchor_224_224" id="BFNanchor_224_224"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> Malevolence might + suggest that this was only part and parcel of post-Tridentine hypocrisy; + and probably there is truth in the suggestion. I certainly do not reckon + such solicitous respect for garments entirely to their credit. But it + helps us to understand the eccentric compound of sentiment, sensuality, + piety, and uneasy morality which distinguished the age, and which is + continually perplexing the student of its art. + </p> + <p> + Of these three men, Guido was the most genially endowed. He alone derived + a true spark from the previous age of inspiration. He wearies us indeed + with his effeminacy, and with the reiteration of a physical type + sentimentalized from the head and bust of Niobe. But thoughts of real + originality and grace not seldom visited his meditations; and he alone + deserved the name of colorist among the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB358" id="pageB358"></a>{358}</span> painters I have as yet + ascribed to the Bolognese School.<a name="BFNanchor_225_225" + id="BFNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#BFootnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> + Guido affected a cool harmony of blue, white, and deadened gold, which in + the best pictures of his second manner—the Fortune, the Bacchus and + Ariadne of S. Luke's in Rome, the Crucifixion at Modena—has a charm + akin to that of Metastasio's silvery lyrics. The samson at Bologna rises + above these works both in force of conception and glow of color. The + Aurora of the Rospigliosi Casino attempts a wider scheme of hues, and is + certainly, except for some lack of refinement in the attendant Hours, a + very noble composition. The S. Michael of the Cappuccini is seductive by + its rich bravura style; and the large Pietà in the Bolognese + Gallery impresses our mind by a monumental sadness and sobriety of tone. + The Massacre of the Innocents, though one of Guido's most ambitious + efforts, and though it displays an ingenious adaptation of the Niobe to + Raphael's mannerism, fails by falling between two aims—the aim to + secure dramatic effect, and the aim to treat a terrible subject with + harmonious repose. + </p> + <p> + Of Albani nothing need be said in detail. Most people knew his pictures of + the Four Elements, so neatly executed in a style adapting Flemish + smoothness of surface to Italian suavity of line. This sort of art + delighted the cardinals and Monsignori of the <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB359" id="pageB359"></a>{359}</span> seventeenth century. But it + has nothing whatsoever to say to and human soul. + </p> + <p> + On Domenichino's two most famous pictures at Bologna Mr. Ruskin has + written one of his over-poweringly virulent invectives.<a + name="BFNanchor_226_226" id="BFNanchor_226_226"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> It is worth inserting + here at length. More passionate words could hardly be chosen to express + the disgust inspired in minds attuned to earlier Italian art by these once + worshiped paintings. Mr. Ruskin's obvious injustice, intemperance, and + ostentatious emphasis will serve to point the change of opinion which has + passed over England since Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote. His denunciation of + the badness of Domenichino's art, though expressed with such a clangor of + exaggeration, fairly represents the feeling of modern students. 'The man,' + he says, 'who painted the Madonna del Rosario and Martyrdom of S. Agnes in + the gallery of Bologna, is palpably incapable of doing anything good, + great, or right in any field, way, or kind whatsoever.... This is no rash + method of judgment, sweeping and hasty as it may appear. From the + weaknesses of an artist, or failures, however numerous, we have no right + to conjecture his total inability; a time may come when he shall rise into + sudden strength, or an instance occur when his efforts shall be + successful. But there are some pictures which rank not under the head of + failures, but of perpetrations or commissions; some things which a man + cannot do or say without seal<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB360" + id="pageB360"></a>{360}</span> ing forever his character and capacity. The + angel holding the cross with his finger in his eye, the roaring, red-faced + children about the crown of thorns, the blasphemous (I speak deliberately + and determinedly) head of Christ upon the handkerchief, and the mode in + which the martyrdom of the saint is exhibited (I do not choose to use the + expressions which alone could characterize it), are perfect, sufficient, + incontrovertible proofs that whatever appears good in any of the doings of + such a painter must be deceptive, and that we may be assured that our + taste is corrupted and false whenever we feel disposed to admire him. I am + prepared to support this position, however uncharitable it may seem; a man + may be tempted into a gross sin by passion, and forgiven; and yet there + are some kinds of sins into which only men of a certain kind can be + tempted, and which cannot be forgiven. It should be added, however, that + the artistical qualities of these pictures are in every way worthy of the + conceptions they realize. I do not recollect any instance of color or + execution so coarse and feelingless.' + </p> + <p> + We have only to think of the S. Agnes by Tintoretto, or of Luini's St. + Catherine, in order to be well aware how far Domenichino, as a painter, + deviated from the right path of art.<a name="BFNanchor_227_227" + id="BFNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#BFootnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB361" id="pageB361"></a>{361}</span> + Yet we are bound to acquit him, as a man, of that moral obliquity which + Mr. Ruskin seems to impute. Indeed, we know Domenichino to have been an + unaffectedly good fellow. He was misled by his dramatic bias, and also by + the prevalent religious temper of his age. Jesuitry had saturated the + Italian mind; and in a former chapter I have dwelt upon the concrete + materialism which formed the basis of the Jesuitical imagination. In + portraying the martyrdom of S. Agnes as he has done, Domenichino was only + obeying the rules of Loyola's <i>Exercitia</i>. That he belonged to a + school which was essentially vulgar in its choice of type, to a city never + distinguished for delicacy of taste, and to a generation which was rapidly + losing the sense of artistic reserve, suffices to explain the crude + brutality of the conceptions which he formed of tragic episodes.<a + name="BFNanchor_228_228" id="BFNanchor_228_228"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> The same may be said + about all those horrible pictures of tortures, martyrdoms, and acts of + violence which were produced by the dozen in Italy at this epoch. We turn + from them with loathing. They inspire neither terror nor pity, only the + sickness of the shambles. And yet it would be unjust to ascribe their + unimaginative ghastliness to any special love of cruelty. This evil + element may be rationally deduced from false dramatic instinct and + perverted habits of brooding sensuously on our Lord's Passion, in minds + deprived of the right feeling for artistic beauty. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB362" id="pageB362"></a>{362}</span> + Probably Domenichino thought that he was surpassing Titian's Peter Martyr + when he painted his hard and hideous parody of that great picture. Yet + Titian had already touched the extreme verge of allowable realization, and + his work belonged to the sphere of higher pictorial art mainly by right of + noble treatment. Of this noble treatment, and of the harmonious coloring + which shed a sanctifying splendor over the painful scene, Domenichino + stripped his master's design. What he added was grimace, spasm, and the + expression of degrading physical terror. + </p> + <p> + That Domenichino could be, in his own way, stately, is proved by the + Communion of S. Jerome, in which he rehandled Agostino Caracci's fine + conception. Though devoid of charm, this justly celebrated painting + remains a monument of the success which may be achieved by the vigorous + application of robust intellectual powers to the working out of a + well-conceived and fully developed composition. Domenichino's gigantic + saints and Sibyls, with their fleshy limbs, red cheeks, and upturned eyes, + though famous enough in the last century, do not demand a word of comment + now.<a name="BFNanchor_229_229" id="BFNanchor_229_229"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> So strangely has + taste altered, that to our eyes they seem scarcely decorative. + </p> + <p> + While the Caracci were reviving art at Bologna in the way that I have + described, Caravaggio in Rome opposed the Mannerists after his own and a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB363" id="pageB363"></a>{363}</span> + very different fashion.<a name="BFNanchor_230_230" id="BFNanchor_230_230"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> The insipidities of + men like Cesari drove him into a crude realism. He resolved to describe + sacred and historical events just as though they were being enacted in the + Ghetto by butchers and fishwives. This reaction against flimsy emptiness + was wholesome; and many interesting studies from the taverns of Italy, + portraits of gamesters, sharpers, <i>bravi</i> and the like, remain to + prove Caravaggio's mastery over scenes of common life.<a + name="BFNanchor_231_231" id="BFNanchor_231_231"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> But when he applied + his principles to higher subjects, their vulgarity became apparent. Only + in one picture, the Entombment in the Vatican, did he succeed in affecting + imagination forcibly by the evident realization of a tragic scene. His + martyrdoms are inexpressibly revolting, without appeal to any sense but + savage blood-lust. It seems difficult for realism, either in literature or + art, not to fasten upon ugliness, vice, pain, and disease, as though these + imperfections of our nature were more real than beauty, goodness, + pleasure, and health. Therefore Caravaggio, the leader of a school which + the Italians christened Naturalists, may be compared to Zola. + </p> + <p> + A Spaniard, settled at Naples—Giuseppe Ribera, nicknamed Lo + Spagnoletto—carried on Caravaggio's tradition. Spagnoletto surpassed + his master in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB364" id="pageB364"></a>{364}</span> + the brutally realistic expression of physical anguish. His Prometheus + writhing under the beak of the vulture, his disembowelled martyrs and + skinless S. Bartholomews, are among the most nauseous products of a + masculine nature blessed with robust health. Were they delirious or + hysterical, they would be less disgusting. But no; they are merely + vigorous and faithful representations of what anybody might have + witnessed, when a traitor like Ravaillac or a Lombard <i>untore</i> was + being put to death in agony. His firm mental grip on cruelty, and the + somber gloom with which he invested these ghastly transcripts from the + torture-chamber, prove Ribera true to his Spanish origin. Caravaggio + delighted in color, and was indeed a colorist of high rank, considering + the times in which he lived. Spagnoletto rejoiced in somber shadows, as + though to illustrate the striking sonnet I have quoted in another place + from Campanella.<a name="BFNanchor_232_232" id="BFNanchor_232_232"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> + </p> + <p> + This digression upon the Naturalists was needed partly to illustrate the + nature of the attempted revival of the art of painting at this epoch, and + partly to introduce two notable masters of the Bolognese school. Lionello + Spada, a street-arab of Bologna, found his way into the studio of the + Caracci, where he made himself a favorite by roguish ways and ready wit. + He afterwards joined Caravaggio, and, when he reappeared in Lombardy, he + had formed a manner of his own, more resplen<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB365" id="pageB365"></a>{365}</span> dent in color and more + naturalistic than that of the Caracci, but with less of realism than his + Roman teacher's. If I could afford space for anecdotical details, the + romance of Spada's life would furnish much entertaining material. But I + must press on toward Guercino, who represents in a more famous personality + this blending of the Bolognese and Naturalistic styles. Giovanni Francesco + Barbieri got his nickname of Il Guercino, or the 'Squintling,' from an + accident which distorted his right eye in babyhood. Born of poor parents, + he was apprenticed to indifferent painters in Bologna at an early age, his + father agreeing to pay for the boy's education by a load of grain and a + vat of grapes delivered yearly. Thus Guercino owed far less to academical + studies than to his own genius. Being Lodovico Caracci's junior by + thirty-five years, and Annibale's by thirty, he had ample opportunities + for studying the products of their school in Bologna, without joining the + Academy. A generation lay between him and the first Eclectics. Nearly the + same space of time separated Guercino from the founder of the Naturalists, + and it was universally admitted in his lifetime that he owed to Caravaggio + in coloring no less than he derived from the Caracci in sobriety and + dignity of conception. These qualities of divergent schools Guercino + combined in a manner marked by salient individuality. As a colorist, he + approached the Tenebrosi—those lovers of surcharged shadows and + darkened hues, whose gloom culminated in<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB366" id="pageB366"></a>{366}</span> Ribera. But we note a fat + and buttery <i>impasto</i> in Guercino, which distinguishes his work from + the drier and more meager manner of the Roman-Neapolitan painters. It is + something characteristic of Bologna, a richness which we might flippantly + compare to sausage, or a Flemish smoothness, indicating Calvaert's + influence. More than this, Guercino possessed a harmony of tones peculiar + to himself, and strongly contrasted with Guido's silver-gray gradations. + Guido's coloring, at its best, often reminds one of olive branches set + against a blue sea and pale horizon in faintly amber morning light. The + empurpled indigoes, relieved by smouldering Venetian red, which Guercino + loved, suggest thunder-clouds, dispersed, rolling away through dun subdued + glare of sunset reflected upward from the west. And this scheme of color, + vivid but heavy, luminous but sullen, corresponded to what contemporaries + called the Terribilità of Guercino's conception. Terribleness was a + word which came into vogue to describe Michelangelo's grand manner. It + implied audacity of imagination, dashing draughtsmanship, colossal scale, + something demonic and decisive in execution.<a name="BFNanchor_233_233" + id="BFNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#BFootnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> + The terrible takes in Guercino's work far lower flights than in the + Sistine Chapel. With Michelangelo it soared like an eagle; with Guercino + it flitted like a bat. His brawny saints are ponderous, not awe-inspiring. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB367" id="pageB367"></a>{367}</span> + Yet we feel that the man loved largeness, massiveness, and volume; that he + was preoccupied with intellectual problems; planning deeply, and + constructing strongly, under conditions unfavorable to spiritual freedom. + </p> + <p> + Guercino lived the life of an anchorite, absorbed in studies, unwived, + sober, pious, truthful, sincere in his commerce with the world, + unaffectedly virtuous, devoted to his art and God. Some of his pictures + bring forcibly before our minds the religious <i>milieu</i> created by the + Catholic Revival. I will take the single instance of a large oil-painting + in the Bolognese Gallery. It represents the reception of a Duke of + Aquitaine into monastic orders by S. Bernard. The knightly quality of the + hero is adequately portrayed; his piety is masculine. But an accessory to + the main subject of the composition arrests attention. A monk, earnestly + pleading, emphatically gesticulating, addresses himself to the task of + converting a young squire. Perugino, or even Raphael, would have brought + the scene quite otherwise before us. The Duke's consecration would of + course have occupied a commanding place in the picture. But the episodes + would have been composed of comely groups or animated portraits. Guercino, + obedient to the religious spirit of the Counter-Reformation, compels + sympathy with ecclesiastical propaganda. + </p> + <p> + Guido exercised a powerful influence over his immediate successors. + Guercino felt it when he painted that soulless picture of Abraham and<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB368" id="pageB368"></a>{368}</span> Hagar, + in the Brera—the picture which excited Byron's admiration, which has + been praised for its accurate delineation of a teardrop, and which, when + all is reckoned, has just nothing of emotion in it but a frigid + inhumanity. He competed with Guido in the fresco of the Lodovisi Aurora, a + substantial work certainly, yet one that lacks the saving qualities of the + Rospigliosi ceiling—grace and geniality of fancy. + </p> + <p> + In the history of criticism there are few things more perplexing than the + vicissitudes of taste and celebrity, whereby the idols of past generations + crumble suddenly to dust, while the despised and rejected are lifted to + pinnacles of glory. Successive waves of aesthetical preference, following + one upon the other with curious rapidity, sweep ancient fortresses of fame + from their venerable basements, and raise upon the crests of wordy foam + some delicate seashell that erewhile lay embedded in oblivious sand. + During the last half-century, taste has been more capricious, + revolutionary, and apparently anarchical than at any previous epoch. The + unity of orthodox opinion has broken up. Critics have sought to display + originality by depreciating names famous in former ages, and by exalting + minor stars to the rank of luminaries of the first magnitude. A man, yet + in middle life, can remember with what reverence engravings after Raphael, + the Caracci, and Poussin were treated in his boyhood; how Fra Angelico and + Perugino ruled at a somewhat later period; how one set of eloquent writers + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB369" id="pageB369"></a>{369}</span> + discovered Blake, another Botticelli, and a third Carpaccio; how + Signorelli and Bellini and Mantegna received tardy recognition; and now, + of late years, how Tiepolo has bidden fair to obtain the European <i>grido</i>. + He will also bear in mind that the conditions of his own development—studies + in the Elgin marbles, the application of photography to works of art, the + publications of the Arundel Society, and that genius of new culture in the + air which is more potent than all teaching, rendered for himself each + oracular utterance interesting but comparatively unimportant—as it + were but talk about truths evident to sight. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, amid this gabble of 'sects and schisms,' this disputation which + makes a simple mind take refuge in the epigram attributed to Swift on + Handel and Bononcini,<a name="BFNanchor_234_234" id="BFNanchor_234_234"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> criticism and popular + intelligence have been unanimous upon two points, first, in manifesting a + general dislike for Italian art after the date of Raphael's third manner, + and a particular dislike for the Bolognese painters; secondly, in an + earnest effort to discriminate and exhibit what is sincere and beautiful + in works to which our forefathers were unintelligibly irresponsive. A + wholesome reaction, in one word, has taken place against academical + dogmatism; and the study of art has been based upon appreciably better + historical and aesthetical principles.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB370" id="pageB370"></a>{370}</span> + </p> + <p> + The seeming confusion of the last half-century ought not, therefore, to + shake our confidence in the possibility of arriving at stable laws of + taste. Radical revolutions, however salutary, cannot be effected without + some injustice to ideals of the past and without some ill-grounded + enthusiasm for the ideals of the moment. Nor can so wide a region as that + of modern European art be explored except by divers pioneers, each biassed + by personal predilections and peculiar sensibilities, each liable to + changes of opinion under the excitement of discovery, each followed by a + coterie sworn to support their master's <i>ipse dixit</i>. + </p> + <p> + The chief thing is to obtain a clear conception of the mental atmosphere + in which sound criticism has to live and move and have its being. 'The + form of this world passes; and I would fain occupy myself only with that + which constitutes abiding relations.' So said Goethe; and these words have + much the same effect as that admonition of his 'to live with steady + purpose in the Whole, the Good, the Beautiful.' The true critic must + divert his mind from what is transient and ephemeral, must fasten upon + abiding relations, <i>bleibende Verhältnisse</i>. He notes that one + age is classical, another romantic; that <i>this</i> swears by Giotto, <i>that</i> + by the Caracci. Meanwhile, he resolves to maintain that classics and + romantics, the Caracci and Giotto, are alike only worthy of regard in so + far as they exemplify the qualities which bring art into the sphere of + abiding relations. One writer <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB371" + id="pageB371"></a>{371}</span> is eloquent for Fra Angelico, another for + Rubens; the one has personal sympathy for the Fiesolan monk, the other for + the Flemish courtier. Our true critic renounces idiosyncratic whims and + partialities, striving to enter with firm purpose into the understanding + of universal goodness and beauty. In so far as he finds truth in Angelico + and Rubens, will he be appreciative of both. + </p> + <p> + Aristotle laid it down as an axiom that the ultimate verdict in matters of + taste is 'what the man of enlightened intelligence would decide.' The + critic becomes a man of enlightened intelligence, a [Greek: phronimos], by + following the line of Goethe's precepts. In working out self-culture, he + will derive assistance by the way from the commanding philosophical + conception of our century. All things with which we are acquainted are in + evolutionary process. Everything belonging to human nature is in a state + of organic transition—passing through necessary phases of birth, + growth, decline, and death. Art, in any one of its specific manifestations—Italian + painting for example—avoids this law of organic evolution, arrests + development at the fairest season of growth, averts the decadence which + ends in death, no more than does an oak. The oak, starting from an acorn, + nourished by earth, air, light, and water, offers indeed a simpler problem + than so complex an organism as Italian painting, developed under + conditions of manifold diversity. Yet the dominant law controls both + equally.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB372" id="pageB372"></a>{372}</span> + </p> + <p> + It is not, however, in evolutions that we must seek the abiding relations + spoken of by Goethe. The evolutionary conception does not supply those to + students of art, though it unfolds a law which is permanent and of + universal application in the world at large. It forces us to dwell on + necessary conditions of mutability and transformation. It leads the critic + to comprehend the whole, and encourages the habit of scientific tolerance. + We are saved by it from uselessly fretting ourselves because of the + ungodly and the inevitable; from mourning over the decline of Gothic + architecture into Perpendicular aridity and flamboyant feebleness, over + the passage of the scepter from Sophocles to Euripides or from Tasso to + Marino, over the chaos of Mannerism, Eclecticism and Naturalism into which + Italian painting plunged from the height of its maturity. This toleration + and acceptance of unavoidable change need not imply want of discriminative + perception. We can apply the evolutionary canon in all strictness without + ignoring that adult manhood is preferable to senile decrepitude, that + Pheidias surpasses the sculptors of Antinous, that one Madonna of Gian + Bellini is worth all the pictures of the younger Palma, and that Dossi's + portrait of the Ferrarese jester is better worth having than the whole of + Annibale Caracci's Galleria Farnesina.<a name="BFNanchor_235_235" + id="BFNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#BFootnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> + It will even lead us to select for models those works which bear <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB373" id="pageB373"></a>{373}</span> the mark + of adolescence or vigorous maturity, as supplying more fruitful sources + for our own artistic education. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, not in evolution, but in man's soul, his intellectual and + moral nature, must be sought those abiding relations which constitute + sound art, and are the test of right aesthetic judgment. These are such as + truth, simplicity, sobriety, love, grace, patience, modesty, + thoughtfulness, repose, health, vigor, brain-stuff, dignity of + imagination, lucidity of vision, purity, and depth of feeling. Wherever + the critic finds these—whether it be in Giotto at the dawn or in + Guido at the evensong of Italian painting, in Homer or Theocritus at the + two extremes of Greek poetry—he will recognize the work as ranking + with those things from which the soul draws nourishment. At the same time, + he may not neglect the claims of craftsmanship. Each art has its own + vehicle of expression, and exacts some innate capacity for the use of that + vehicle from the artist. Therefore the critic must be also sufficiently + versed in technicalities to give them their due value. It can, however, be + laid down, as a general truth, that while immature or awkward workmanship + is compatible with aesthetic excellence, technical dexterity, however + skillfully applied, has never done anything for a soulless painter. + </p> + <p> + Criticism, furthermore, implies judgment; and that judgment must be + adjusted to the special nature of the thing criticised. Art is different + from ethics, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB374" id="pageB374"></a>{374}</span> + from the physical world, from sensuality, however refined. It will not, + therefore, in the long run do for the critic of an art to apply the same + rules as the moralist, the naturalist, or the hedonist. It will not do for + him to be contented with edification, or differentiation of species, or + demonstrable delightfulness as the test-stone of artistic excellence. All + art is a presentation of the inner human being, his thought and feeling, + through the medium of beautiful symbols in form, color, and sound. Our + verdict must therefore be determined by the amount of thought, the amount + of feeling, proper to noble humanity, which we find adequately expressed + in beautiful aesthetic symbols. And the man who shall pronounce this + verdict is, now as in the days of Aristotle, the man of enlightened + intelligence, sound in his own nature and open to ideas. Even his verdict + will not be final; for no one is wholly free from partialities due to the + age in which he lives, and to his special temperament. Still, a consensus + of such verdicts eventually forms that voice of the people which, + according to an old proverb, is the voice of God. Slowly, and after many + successive siftings, the cumulative votes of the <i>phronimoi</i> decide. + Insurgents against their judgment, in the case of acknowledged masters + like Pheidias, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, are doomed to final defeat, + because this judgment is really based upon abiding relations between art + and human nature. + </p> + <p> + Our hope with regard to the unity of taste in the future then is, that, + all sentimental or academical <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB375" + id="pageB375"></a>{375}</span> seekings after the ideal having been + abandoned, momentary theories founded upon idiosyncratic or temporary + partialities exploded, and nothing accepted but what is solid and + positive, the scientific spirit shall make men progressively more and more + conscious of those <i>bleibende Verhältnisse</i>, more and more + capable of living in the whole; also that, in proportion as we gain a + firmer hold upon our own place in the world, we shall come to comprehend + with more instinctive certitude what is simple, natural, and honest, + welcoming with gladness all artistic products that exhibit these + qualities. The perception of the enlightened man will then be the taste of + a healthy person who has made himself acquainted with the laws of + evolution in art and in society, and is able to test the excellence of + work in any stage, from immaturity to decadence, by discerning what there + is of truth, sincerity, and natural vigor in it. + </p> + <p> + This digression was forced upon me by the difficulty of properly + appreciating the Bolognese Eclectics now. What would be the amused + astonishment of Sir Joshua Reynolds, if he returned to London at the + present moment, and beheld the Dagon of his esteemed Caracci dashed to + pieces by the ark of Botticelli—Carpaccio enthroned—Raffaello + stigmatized as the stone of stumbling and the origin of evil? Yet Reynolds + had as good a right to his opinion as any living master of the brush, or + any living masters of language. There is no doubt that the Bolognese + painters sufficed for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB376" + id="pageB376"></a>{376}</span> eighteenth century, whose taste indeed they + had created.<a name="BFNanchor_236_236" id="BFNanchor_236_236"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> There is equally no + doubt that for the nineteenth they are insufficient.<a + name="BFNanchor_237_237" id="BFNanchor_237_237"></a><a + href="#BFootnote_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> The main business of + a critic is to try to answer two questions: first why did the epoch + produce such art, and why did it rejoice in it?—secondly, has this + art any real worth beyond a documentary value for the students of one + defined historical period; has it enduring qualities of originality, + strength, beauty, and inspiration? To the first of these questions I have + already given some answer by showing under what conditions the Caracci + reacted against mannerism. In the due consideration of the second we are + hampered by the culture of our period, which has strongly prejudiced all + minds against the results of that reaction. + </p> + <p> + The painting of the Eclectics was not spontaneous art. It was art + mechanically revived during a period of critical hesitancy and declining + enthusiasms. It was produced at Bologna, 'la dotta' or 'la grassa,' by + Bolognese craftsmen. This is worth remember<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB377" id="pageB377"></a>{377}</span> ing; for except Guido + Guinicelli and Francesco Raibolini, no natives of Bologna were eminently + gifted for the arts. And Bologna was the city famous for her ponderous + learning, famous also for the good cheer of her table, neither erudition + nor savory meats being essential to the artist's temperament. The painting + which emerged there at the close of the sixteenth century embodied + religion and culture, both of a base alloy. The Christianity of the age + was not naïve, simple, sincere, and popular, like that of the + thirteenth century; but hysterical, dogmatic, hypocritical, and + sacerdotal. It was not Christianity indeed, but Catholicism galvanized by + terror into reactionary movement. The culture of the age was on the wane. + Men had long lost their first clean perception of classical literature, + and the motives of the mediaeval past were exhausted. Therefore, though + the Eclectics went on painting the old subjects, they painted all alike + with frigid superficiality. If we examine the lists of pictures turned out + by the Caracci and Guercino, we shall find a pretty equal quantity of + saints and Susannas, Judiths and Cleopatras, Davids and Bacchuses, + Jehovahs and Jupiters, anchorites and Bassarids, Faiths and Fortunes, + cherubs and Cupids. Artistically, all are on the same dead level of + inspiration. Nothing new or vital, fanciful or imaginative, has been + breathed into antique mythology. What has been added to religious + expression is repellent. Extravagantly ideal in ecstatic Magdalens and + Maries, extravagantly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB378" + id="pageB378"></a>{378}</span> realistic in martyrdoms and torments, + extravagantly harsh in dogmatic mysteries and the ecclesiastical parade of + power, extravagantly soft in sentimental tenderness and tearful piety, + this new religious element, the element of the Inquisition, the Tridentine + Council, and the Jesuits, contradicts the true gospel of Christ. The + painting which embodies it belongs to a spirit at strife with what was + vital and progressive in the modern world. It is therefore naturally + abhorrent to us now; nor can it be appreciated except by those who yearn + for the triumph of ultramontane principles. + </p> + <p> + If we turn from the intellectual content of this art to its external + manifestation, we shall find similar reasons for its failure to delight or + satisfy. The ambition of the Caracci was to combine in one the salient + qualities of earlier masters. This ambition doomed their style to the + sterility of hybrids. Moreover, in selecting, they omitted just those + features which had given grace and character to their models. The + substitution of generic types for portraiture, the avoidance of + individuality, the contempt for what is simple and natural in details, + deprived their work of attractiveness and suggestion. It is noticeable + that they never painted flowers. While studying Titian's landscapes, they + omitted the iris and the caper-blossom and the columbine which star the + grass beneath Ariadne's feet. The lessons of the rocks and chestnut-trees + of his S. Jeromes Solitude were lost on them. They began the false <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB379" id="pageB379"></a>{379}</span> system + of depicting ideal foliage and ideal precipices—that is to say, + trees which are not trees, and cliffs which cannot be distinguished from + cork or stucco. In like manner, the clothes wherewith they clad their + personages were not of brocade or satin or broadcloth, but of that empty + lie called drapery. The purpled silks of Titian's Lilac Lady, in the + Pitti, the embroidered hems of Boccaccini da Cremona, the crimson velvet + of Raphael's Joanna of Aragon, Veronese's cloth of silver and shot + taffety, are replaced by one monotonous nondescript stuff, differently + dyed in dull or glaring colors, but always shoddy. Characteristic costumes + have disappeared. We shall not find in any of their Massacres of the + Innocents a soldier like Bonifazio's Dall'Armi. In lieu of gems with + flashing facets, or of quaint jewels from the Oreficeria, they adorn their + kings and princesses with nothing less elevated than polished gold and + ropes of pearls. After the same fashion, furniture, utensils, houses, + animals, birds, weapons, are idealized—stripped, that is to say, of + what in these things is specific and vital. + </p> + <p> + It would be incorrect to say that there are no exceptions in Eclectic + painting to this evil system. Yet the sweeping truth remains that the + Caracci returned, not to what was best in their predecessors, but to what + was dangerous and misleading. + </p> + <p> + The 'grand style,' in Sir Joshua's sense of that phrase, denoting style + which eliminates specific and characteristic qualities from objects, + replacing them <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB380" id="pageB380"></a>{380}</span> + by so-called 'ideal' generalities, had already made its appearance in + Raphael, Correggio, and Buonarroti We even find it in Da Vinci's Last + Supper. Yet in Raphael it comes attended with divine grace; in Correggio + with faun-like radiancy of gladness; in Buonarroti with Sinaitic + sublimity; in Da Vinci with penetrative force of psychological + characterization. The Caracci and their followers, with a few exceptions—Guido + at his best being the notablest—brought nothing of these saving + virtues to the pseudo-grand style. + </p> + <p> + It was this delusion regarding nobility and elevation in style which + betrayed so genial a painter as Reynolds into his appreciation of the + Bolognese masters. He admired them; but he admired Titian, Raphael, + Correggio, and Buonarroti more. And he admired the Eclectics because they + developed the perilous part of the great Italian tradition. Just as + Coleridge recommended young students of dramatic verse to found their + style at first on Massinger rather than on Shakespeare, so Reynolds + thought that the Caracci were sound models for beginners in the science of + idealization. Shakespeare and Michelangelo are inimitable; Massinger and + the Caracci exhibit the one thing needful to be learned, upon a scale not + wholly unattainable by industry and talent. That was the line of argument; + and, granted that the pseudo-grand style is a <i>sine quâ non</i> of + painting, Reynolds's position was logical.<a name="BFNanchor_238_238" + id="BFNanchor_238_238"></a><a href="#BFootnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a><span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB381" id="pageB381"></a>{381}</span> + </p> + <p> + The criticism and the art-practice of this century have combined to shake + our faith in the grand style. The spirit of the Romantic movement, + penetrating poetry first, then manifesting itself in the reflective + writings of Rio and Lord Lindsay, Ruskin and Gautier, producing the + English landscape-painters and pre-Raphaelites, the French Realists and + Impressionists, has shifted the center of gravity in taste. Science, too, + contributes its quota. Histories of painting, like Kugler's, and Crowe and + Cavalcaselle's, composed in an impartial and searching spirit of + investigation, place students at a point of view removed from prejudice + and academical canons of perfection. Only here and there, under special + reactionary influences, as in the Dusseldorf and Munich schools of + religious purists, has anything approaching to the eighteenth-century + 'grand style' delusion reappeared. + </p> + <p> + Why, therefore, the Eclectics are at present pining in the shade of + neglect is now sufficiently apparent. We dislike their religious + sentiments. We repudiate their false and unimaginative ideality. We + recognize their touch on antique mythology to be cold and lifeless. + Superficial imitations of Niobe and the Belvedere Apollo have no + attraction for a generation educated by the marbles of the Parthenon. Dull + reproductions of Raphael's manner at his worst cannot delight men satiated + with Raphael's manner <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB382" + id="pageB382"></a>{382}</span> at his best. Whether the whirligig of time + will bring about a revenge for the Eclectics yet remains to be seen. Taste + is so capricious, or rather the conditions which create taste are so + complex and inscrutable, that even this, which now seems impossible, may + happen in the future. But a modest prediction can be hazarded that nothing + short of the substitution of Catholicism for science and of Jesuitry for + truth in the European mind will work a general revolution in their favor. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB383" id="pageB383"></a>{383}</span> + </p> + <h4> + CONCLUSION + </h4> + <div class="blockquot"> + <p> + The main Events of European History—Italy in the Renaissance—Germany + and Reformation—Catholic Reaction—Its Antagonism to + Renaissance and Reformation—Profound Identity of Renaissance and + Reformation—Place of Italy in European Civilization—Want of + Sympathy between Latin and Teutonic Races—Relation of Rome to + Italy—Macaulay on the Roman Church—On Protestantism—Early + Decline of Renaissance Enthusiasms—Italy's Present and Future. + </p> + </div> + <p> + I. + </p> + <p> + The four main events of European history since the death of Christ are the + decline of Graeco-Roman civilization, the triumph of Christianity as a new + humanizing agency, the intrusion of Teutonic and Slavonic tribes into the + comity of nations, and the construction of the modern world of thought by + Renaissance and Reformation. + </p> + <p> + As seems to be inevitable in the progress of our species, each of these + changes involved losses, compensated by final gains; for humanity moves + like a glacier, plastically, but with alternating phases of advance and + retreat, obeying laws of fracture and regelation. + </p> + <p> + It would thus be easy to deplore the collapse of that mighty and + beneficent organism which we call <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB384" + id="pageB384"></a>{384}</span> the Roman Empire. Yet without this collapse + how could the Catholic Church have supplied inspiration to peoples gifted + with fresh faculties, endowed with insight differing from that of Greeks + and Romans? + </p> + <p> + It is tempting to lament the extinction of arts letters, and elaborated + habits of civility, which followed the barbarian invasions. Yet without + such extinction, how can we imagine to ourselves the growth of those new + arts, original literatures, and varied modes of social culture, to which + we give the names of mediaeval, chivalrous, or feudal? + </p> + <p> + It is obvious that we can quarrel with the Renaissance for having put an + end to purely Christian arts and letters by imposing a kind of pagan + mannerism on the spontaneous products of the later mediaeval genius. But + without this reversion to the remaining models of antique culture, how + could the European races have become conscious of historical continuity; + how could the corrupt system of Papal domination have been broken by + Reform; how, finally, could Science, the vital principle of our present + civilization, have been evolved? + </p> + <p> + In all these instances it appears that the old order must yield place to + the new, not only because the new is destined to incorporate and supersede + it, but also because the old has become unfruitful. Thus, the Roman + Empire, having discharged its organizing function, was decrepit, and + classical civilization, after exhibiting its strength in season, was + decaying when the Latin priesthood and the bar<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB385" id="pageB385"></a>{385}</span> barians entered that closed + garden of antiquity, and trampled it beneath their feet. Mediaeval + religion and modes of thought, in like manner, were at the point of + ossifying, when Humanism intervened to twine the threads of past and + present into strands that should be strong as cables for the furtherance + of future energy. + </p> + <p> + It is incontestable that the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, each + of them on different grounds antagonistic to the Renaissance, appear to + have retarded that emancipation of the reason, begun by Humanism, which is + still in progress. Nevertheless, the strife of Protestantism and + Catholicism was needed for preserving moral and religious elements which + might have been too lightly dropped, and for working these into the staple + of the modern consciousness. The process of the last three centuries, + attended as it has been by serious drawbacks to the Spanish and Italian + peoples, and by a lamentable waste of vigor to the Teutonic nations, has + yet resulted in a permeation of the modern compost with the leaven of + Christianity. Unchecked, it is probable that the Renaissance would have + swept away much that was valuable and deserved to be permanent. Nor, + without the flux and reflux of contending principles by which Europe was + agitated in the Counter-Reformation period, could the equipoise of + reciprocally attracting and repelling States, which constitutes the modern + as different from the ancient or the mediaeval groundwork of political + existence, have been so efficiently established.<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB386" id="pageB386"></a>{386}</span> + </p> + <p> + II. + </p> + <p> + Permanence and homogeneity are not to be predicated of 'anything that's + merely ours and mortal.' We have missed the whole teaching of history if + we wail aloud because Greek and Roman culture succumbed to barbarism, out + of which mediaeval Christianity emerged; because the revival of learning + diverted arts and letters in each Occidental nation from their home-plowed + channels; because Protestant theologians and Spanish Jesuits impeded that + self-evolution of the reason which Italian humanists inaugurated. No less + futile were it to waste declamatory tears upon the strife of absolutism + with new-fledged democracy, or to vaticinate a reign of socialistic terror + for the immediate future. We have to recognize that man cannot be other + than what he makes himself; and he makes himself in obedience to immutable + although unwritten laws, whereof he only of late years became dimly + conscious. It is well, then, while reflecting on the lessons of some + deeply studied epoch in world-history, to regard the developments with + which we have been specially occupied, no less than the ephemeral activity + of each particular individual, as factors in a universal process, whereof + none sees the issue, but which, willing or unwilling, each man helps to + further. We shall then acknowledge that a contest between Conservatism and + Liberalism, between established order and the order that is destined to + replace it, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB387" id="pageB387"></a>{387}</span> + between custom and innovation, constitutes the essence of vitality in + human affairs. The nations by turns are protagonists in the drama of + progress; by turns are doomed to play the part of obstructive agents. + Intermingled in conflict which is active life, they contribute by their + phases of declension and resistance, no less than by their forward + movements, to the growth of an organism which shall probably in the far + future be coextensive with the whole human race. + </p> + <p> + III. + </p> + <p> + These considerations are suggested to us by the subject I have handled in + this work. The first five volumes were devoted to showing how Italy, in + the Renaissance, elaborated a new way of regarding man and the world, a + new system of education, new social manners, and a new type of culture for + herself and Europe. This was her pioneer's work in the period of + transition from the middle ages; and while she was engaged in it, all + classes, from popes and princes down to poetlings and pedants, seemed for + a while to have lost sight of Catholic Christianity. They were equally + indifferent to that corresponding and contemporary movement across the + Alps, which is known as Reformation. They could not discern the close link + of connection which binds Renaissance to Reformation. Though at root + identical in tendency towards freedom, these stirrings of the modern <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB388" id="pageB388"></a>{388}</span> spirit + assumed externally such diverse forms as made them reciprocally repellent. + Only one European nation received both impulses simultaneously. That was + England, which adopted Protestantism and produced the literature of + Spenser, Bacon, and Shakespeare at the same epoch. France, earlier than + England, felt Renaissance influences, and for some while seemed upon the + point of joining the Reformation. But while the French were hesitating, + Spain proclaimed herself the uncompromising enemy of Protestantism, and + Rome, supported by this powerful ally, dragged Italy into the Catholic + reaction. That effort aimed at galvanizing a decrepit Church into the + semblance of vital energy, and, while professing the reformation of its + corrupt system, stereotyped all that was antagonistic in its creed and + customs to the spirit of the modern world. The Catholic Revival + necessitated vigorous reaction, not only against Protestantism, but also + against the Liberalism of the Renaissance and the political liberties of + peoples. It triumphed throughout Southern Europe chiefly because France + chose at length the Catholic side. But the triumph was only partial, + condemning Spain and Italy indeed to intellectual barrenness for a season, + but not sufficing to dominate and suppress the development of rationalism. + The pioneer's work of Italy was over. She joined the ranks of + obscurantists and obstructives. Germany, having failed to accomplish the + Reformation in time, was distracted by the Catholic reaction, which <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB389" id="pageB389"></a>{389}</span> plunged + her into a series of disastrous wars. It remained for England and Holland, + not, however, without similar perturbations in both countries, to lead the + van of progress through two centuries; after which this foremost post was + assigned to France and the United States. + </p> + <p> + IV. + </p> + <p> + The views which I have maintained throughout my work upon the Renaissance + will be found, I think, to be coherent. They have received such varied + illustrations that it is difficult to recapitulate the principles on which + they rest, without repetition. The main outline of the argument, however, + is as follows. During the middle ages, Western Christendom recognized, in + theory at least, the ideal of European unity under the dual headship of + the Papacy and Empire. There was one civil order and one Church. Emperor + and Pope, though frequently at strife, were supposed to support each other + for the common welfare of Christendom. That mediaeval conception has now, + in the centuries which we call modern, passed into oblivion; and the + period in which it ceased to have effective value we denote as the period + of the Renaissance and the Reformation. So long as the ideal held good, it + was possible for the Papacy to stamp out heresies and to stifle the + earlier stirrings of antagonistic culture. Thus the precursory movements + to which<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB390" id="pageB390"></a>{390}</span> + I alluded in the first chapter of my 'Age of the Despots,' seemed to be + abortive; and no less apparently abortive were the reformatory efforts of + Wyclif and Huss. Yet Europe was slowly undergoing mental and moral + changes, which announced the advent of a new era. These changes were more + apparent in Italy than elsewhere, through the revival of arts and letters + early in the fourteenth century. Cimabue, Giotto, and the Pisani, Dante, + Petrarch, and Boccaccio, set culture forward on fresh paths divergent from + previous mediaeval tradition. The gradual enfeeblement of the Empire and + the distraction of the Church during the Great Schism prepared the means + whereby both Renaissance and Reformation were eventually realized. The + Council of Constance brought the Western nations into active diplomatical + relations, and sowed seeds of thought which afterwards sprang up in + Luther. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile a special nidus had been created in the South. The Italian + communes freed themselves from all but titular subjection to the Empire, + and were practically independent of the Papacy during its exile in + Avignon. They succumbed to despots, and from Italian despotism emerged the + Machiavellian conception of the State. This conception, modified in + various ways, by Sarpi's theory of Church and State, by the Jesuit theory + of Papal Supremacy, by the counter-theory of the Divine Right of Kings, by + theories of Social Contract and the Divine Right of Nations, superseded + the elder ideal of Universal<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB391" + id="pageB391"></a>{391}</span> Monarchy. It grew originally out of the + specific conditions of Italy in the fifteenth century, and acquired force + from that habit of mind, fostered by the Classical Revival, which we call + humanism. Humanism had flourished in Italy since the days of Petrarch, and + had been communicated by Italian teachers to the rest of Europe. As in the + South it generated the new learning and the new culture which I have + described in the first five volumes of my work, and acted as a solvent on + the mediaeval idea of the Empire, so in the North it generated a new + religious enthusiasm and acted as a solvent on the mediaeval idea of the + Church. All through the middle ages, nothing seemed more formidable to the + European mind than heresy. Any sacrifices were willingly made in order to + secure the unity of the Catholic Communion. But now, by the Protestant + rebellion, that spell was broken, and the right of peoples to choose their + faith, in dissent from a Church declared corrupt, was loudly proclaimed. + </p> + <p> + So long as we keep this line of reasoning in view, we shall recognize why + it is not only uncritical, but also impossible, to separate the two + movements severally called Renaissance and Reformation. Both had a common + root in humanism, and humanism owed its existence on the one hand to the + recovery of antique literature, on the other to the fact that the Papacy, + instead of striving to stamp it out as it had stamped out Provençal + civilization, viewed it at first with approval. The new learning, as our + an<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB392" id="pageB392"></a>{392}</span> + cestors were wont to call it, involved, in Michelet's pregnant formula, + the discovery of the world and man, and developed a spirit of revolt + against mediaevalism in all its manifestations. Its fruits were speedily + discerned in bold exploratory studies, sound methods of criticism, + audacious speculation, and the free play of the intellect over every field + of knowledge. This new learning had time and opportunity for full + development in Italy, and for adequate extension to the Northern races, + before its real tendencies were suspected. When that happened, the + transition from the mediaeval to the modern age had been secured. The + Empire was obsolete. The Church was forced into reaction. Europe became + the battle-field of progressive and retrogressive forces, the scene of a + struggle between two parties which can best be termed Liberalism and + Conservatism. + </p> + <p> + Stripping the subject of those artistic and literary associations which we + are accustomed to connect with the word Renaissance, these seem to me the + most essential points to bear in mind about this movement. Then, when we + have studied the diverse antecedent circumstances of the German and + Italian races, when we take into account their national qualities, and + estimate the different aims and divergent enthusiasms evoked in each by + humanistic ardor, we shall perceive how it came to pass that Renaissance + and Reformation clashed together in discordant opposition to the Catholic + Revival.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB393" id="pageB393"></a>{393}</span> + </p> + <p> + V. + </p> + <p> + Italy, through the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, and the Roman Church, + gave discipline, culture, and religion to the Western world. But, during + the course of this civilizing process, a force arose in Northern Europe + which was destined to transfer the center of gravity from the + Mediterranean basin northwards. The Teutonic tribes effaced the Western + Empire, adopted Christianity, and profoundly modified what still survived + of Latin civility among the Occidental races. A new factor was thus + introduced into the European community, which had to be assimilated to the + old; and the genius of the Italian people never displayed itself more + luminously than in the ability with which the Bishops of Rome availed + themselves of this occasion. They separated the Latin from the Greek + Church, and, by the figment of the Holy Roman Empire, cemented Southern + and Northern Europe into an apparently cohesive whole. After the year A.D. + 800, Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, acknowledged a dual + headship; Papacy and Empire ranking as ideals under which the unity of + Christendom subsisted in a multiplicity of separate and self-evolving + nations. + </p> + <p> + The concordat between Latin Church and German Empire, the one representing + traditions of antique intelligence and southern habits of State + organization, the other introducing the young energies of half-cultivated + peoples and the chivalry of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB394" + id="pageB394"></a>{394}</span> the North, was never perfect. Yet, + incomplete as the fusion between Roman and Teuton actually was, it had a + common basis in religion, and it enabled the federated peoples to maintain + recognized international relations. What we now call Renaissance and + Reformation revealed still unreconciled antagonisms between Southern and + Northern, Latin and German, factors in this mediaeval Europe. Italy, freed + for a while from both Papacy and Empire, expressed her intellectual energy + in the Revival of Learning, developing that bold investigating spirit to + which the names of Humanism or of Rationalism may be given. The new + learning, the new enthusiasm for inquiry, the new study of the world and + man, as subjects of vital interest irrespective of our dreamed-of life + beyond the grave, stimulated in Italy what we know as Renaissance; while + in Germany it led to what we know as Reformation. The Reformation must be + regarded as the Teutonic counterpart to the Italian Renaissance. It was + what emerged from the core of that huge barbarian factor, which had sapped + the Roman Empire, and accepted Catholicism; which lent its vigor to the + mediaeval Empire, and which now participated in the culture of the + classical Revival. As Italy restored freedom to human intelligence and the + senses by arts and letters and amenities of refined existence, so Germany + restored freedom to the soul and conscience by strenuous efforts after + religious sincerity and political independence. The one people aim<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB395" id="pageB395"></a>{395}</span> ing at a + restoration of pagan civility beneath the shadow of Catholicism, the other + seeking after a purer Christianity in antagonism to the Papal hierarchy, + initiated from opposite points of view that complete emancipation of the + modern mind which has not yet been fully realized. + </p> + <p> + If we inquire why the final end to which both Renaissance and Reformation + tended—namely, the liberation of the spirit from mediaeval + prepossessions and impediments—has not been more perfectly attained, + we find the cause of this partial failure in the contradictory conceptions + formed by South and North of a problem which was at root one. Both + Renaissance and Reformation had their origin in the revival of learning, + or rather in that humanistic enthusiasm which was its vital essence. But + the race-differences involved in these two movements were so + irreconcilable, the objects pursued were so divergent, that Renaissance + and Reformation came into the conflict of chemical combination, producing + a ferment out of which the intellectual unity of Europe has not as yet + clearly emerged. The Latin race, having created a new learning and a new + culture, found itself at strife with the Teutonic race, which at the same + period developed new religious conceptions and new political energies. + </p> + <p> + The Church supplied a battle-field for these hostilities. The Renaissance + was by no means favorable to the principles of Catholic orthodoxy; and the + Italians showed themselves to be Christians <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB396" id="pageB396"></a>{396}</span> by convention and tradition + rather than by conviction in the fifteenth century. Yet Italy was well + content to let the corrupt hierarchy of Papal Rome subsist, provided Rome + maintained the attitude which Leo X. had adopted toward the liberal spirit + of the Classical Revival. The Reformation, on the other hand, was openly + antagonistic to the Catholic Church. Protestantism repudiated the + toleration professed by skeptical philosophers and indulgent free-thinkers + in the South, while it repelled those refined persons by theological + fervor and moral indignation which they could not comprehend. Thus the + Italian and the German children of humanism failed to make common cause + against Catholicism, with which the former felt no sympathy and which the + latter vehemently attacked. Meanwhile the Church awoke to a sense of her + peril. The Papacy was still a force of the first magnitude; and it only + required a vigorous effort to place it once more in an attitude of + domination and resistance. This effort it made by reforming the + ecclesiastical hierarchy, defining Catholic dogma, and carrying on a war + of extermination against the twofold Liberalism of Renaissance and + Reformation. + </p> + <p> + That reactionary movement against the progress of free thought which + extinguished the Italian Renaissance and repelled the Reformation, has + formed the subject of the two preceding volumes of my work. It could not + have been conducted by the Court of Rome without the help of Spain. The + Spanish nation, at this epoch paramount in Europe, declared <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB397" id="pageB397"></a>{397}</span> itself + fanatically and unanimously for the Catholic Revival. In Italy it lent the + weight of arms and overlordship to the Church for the suppression of + popular liberties. It provided the Papacy with a spiritual militia + specially disciplined to meet the exigencies of the moment. Yet the center + of the reaction was still Rome; and the Spanish hegemony enabled the Roman + hierarchy to consolidate an organism which has long survived its own + influence in European affairs. + </p> + <p> + VI. + </p> + <p> + After the close of the Great Schism Rome began to obey the national + impulses of the Italians, entered into their confederation as one of the + five leading powers, and assumed externally the humanistic culture then in + vogue. But the Church was a cosmopolitan institution. Its interests + extended beyond the Alps, beyond the Pyrenees, beyond the oceans traversed + by Portuguese and Spanish navigators. The Renaissance so far modified its + structure that the Papacy continued politically to rank as an Italian + power. Its headquarters could not be removed from the Tiber, and by the + tacit consent of Latin Catholicism the Supreme Pontiff was selected from + Italian prelates. Yet now, in 1530, it began to play a new part more + consonant with its mediaeval functions and pretensions. Rome indeed had + ceased to be the imperial capital of Europe, where the secular head of + Christendom assumed the crown of Empire <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB398" id="pageB398"></a>{398}</span> from his peer the spiritual + chieftain. The Eternal City in this new phase of modern history, which + lasted until Vittorio Emmanuele's entrance into the Quirinal in 1870, gave + the Pope a place among Catholic sovereigns. From his throne upon the seven + hills he conducted with their approval and assistance the campaign of the + Counter-Reformation. Instead of encouraging and developing what yet + remained of Renaissance in Italy, instead of directing that movement of + the self-emancipating mind beyond the stage of art and humanism into the + stage of rationalism and science, the Church used its authority to bring + back the middle ages and to repress national impulses. It made common + cause with Spain for a common object—the maintenance of Italy in a + state of political and intellectual bondage, and the subjugation of such + provinces in Europe as had not been irretrievably lost to the Catholic + cause. The Italians, as a nation, remained passive, but not altogether + unwilling or unapproving spectators of the drama which was being enacted + under Papal leadership beyond their boundaries. Once again their activity + was merged in that of Rome—in the action of that State which had + first secured for them the Empire of the habitable globe, and next the + spiritual hegemony of the Western races, and from the predominance of + which they had partially disengaged themselves during the fourteenth and + fifteenth centuries. It was the Papacy's sense of its own danger as a + cosmopolitan institution, combined <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB399" + id="pageB399"></a>{399}</span> with the crushing superiority of Spain in + the peninsula, which determined this phase of Italian history. + </p> + <p> + The Catholic Revival, like the Renaissance, may in a certain sense be + viewed as a product of Italian genius. This is sufficiently proved by the + diplomatic history of the Tridentine Council, and by the dedication of the + Jesuits to Papal service. It must, however, be remembered that while the + Renaissance emanated from the race at large, from its confederation of + independent republics and tyrannies, the Catholic Revival emanated from + that portion of the race which is called Rome, from the ecclesiastical + hierarchy imbued with world-wide ambitions in which national interests + were drowned. There is nothing more interesting to the biographer of the + Italians than the complicated correlation in which they have always stood + to the cosmopolitan organism of Rome, itself Italian. In their antique + days of greatness Rome subdued them, and by their native legions won the + overlordship of the world. After the downfall of the Empire the Church + continued Roman traditions in an altered form, but it found itself unable + to dispense with the foreign assistance of Franks and Germans. The price + now paid by Italy for spiritual headship in Europe was subjection to + Teutonic suzerains and perpetual intriguing interference in her affairs. + During the Avignonian captivity and the Great Schism, Italy developed + intellectual and confederative unity, imposing her laws of culture and of + state-craft even on the Papacy when it returned to Rome.<span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB400" id="pageB400"></a>{400}</span> But + again at the close of the Renaissance, when Italian independence had + collapsed, the Church aspired to spiritual supremacy; and at this epoch + she recompensed her Spanish ally by aiding and abetting in the enslavement + of the peninsula. Still the Roman Pontiff, who acted as generalissimo of + the Catholic armies throughout Europe, was now more than ever recognized + as an Italian power. + </p> + <p> + VII. + </p> + <p> + In his review of Ranke's <i>History of the Popes</i> Lord Macaulay insists + with brilliant eloquence upon the marvelous vitality and longevity of the + Roman Catholic Church. He describes the insurrection of the intellect + against her rule in Provence, and her triumph in the Crusade which + sacrificed a nation to the conception of mediaeval religious unity. He + dwells on her humiliation in exile at Avignon, her enfeeblement during the + Great Schism, and her restoration to splendor and power at the close of + the Councils. Then he devotes his vast accumulated stores of learning and + his force of rhetoric to explain the Reformation, the Catholic Revival, + and the Counter-Reformation. He proves abundantly what there was in the + organism of the Catholic Church and in the temper of Papal Rome, which + made these now reactionary powers more than a match for Protestantism. 'In + fifty years from the day on which Luther publicly renounced communion with + the Papacy, and burned the bull of Leo before <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB401" id="pageB401"></a>{401}</span> the gates of Wittenberg, + Protestantism attained its highest ascendency, an ascendency which it soon + lost, and which it never regained.' This sentence forms the theme for Lord + Macaulay's survey of the Catholic Revival. Dazzling and fascinating as + that survey is, it fails through misconception of one all-important point. + Lord Macaulay takes for granted that conflict in Europe, since the + publication of Luther's manifesto against Rome, has been between + Catholicism and Protestantism. Even after describing the cataclysm of the + French Revolution, he winds up his argument with these words: 'We think it + a most remarkable fact that no Christian nation, which did not adopt the + principles of the Reformation before the end of the sixteenth century, + should ever have adopted them. Catholic communities have, since that time, + become infidel and Catholic again; but none has become Protestant.' This + is tantamount to regarding Protestantism as something fixed and final in + itself, as a permanent and necessary form of Christianity. Here lies the + fallacy which makes his reasoning, in spite of all its eloquence, but + superficial. Protestantism, in truth, has never been more than a half-way + house or halting-place between Catholicism and what may variously be + described as free thought or science or rationalism. Being in its origin + critical—being, as its name implies, a protest and an opposition—Protestantism + was doomed to sterility, whenever it hardened into one or other of its + dogmatic forms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB402" id="pageB402"></a>{402}</span> + As critics and insurgents, Luther and Calvin rank among the liberators of + the modern intellect. As founders of intolerant and mutually hostile + Christian sects, Luther and Calvin rank among the retarders of modern + civilization. In subsequent thinkers of whom both sects have disapproved, + we may recognize the veritable continuators of their work in its best + aspect. The Lutheran and Calvinist Churches are but backwaters and + stagnant pools, left behind by the subsidence of rivers in flood, + separated from the tidal stress of cosmic forces. Macaulay's misconception + of the true character of Protestantism, which is to Catholicism what the + several dissenting bodies are to the English Establishment, has diverted + his attention from the deeper issues involved in the Counter-Reformation. + He hardly touches upon Rome's persecution of free thought, upon her + obstinate opposition to science. Consequently, he is not sufficiently + aware that Copernicus and Bruno were, even in the sixteenth century, far + more dangerous foes to Catholicism than were the leaders of the Reformed + Churches. Copernicus and Bruno, the lineal ancestors of Helmholtz and + Darwin, headed that opposition to Catholicism which has been continuous + and potent to the present day, which has never retreated into backwaters + or stagnated in slumbrous pools. From this opposition the essence of + Christianity, the spirit which Christ bequeathed to his disciples, has + nothing to fear. But Catholicism and<span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB403" id="pageB403"></a>{403}</span> Protestantism alike, in so + far as both are dogmatic and reactionary, clinging to creeds which will + not bear the test of scientific investigation, to myths which have lost + their significance in the light of advancing knowledge, and to methods of + interpreting the Scriptures at variance with the canons of historical + criticism, have very much to fear from this opposition. Lord Macaulay + thinks it a most remarkable fact that no Christian nation has adopted the + principles of the Reformation since the end of the sixteenth century. He + does not perceive that, in every race of Europe, all enlightened thinkers, + whether we name Bacon or Descartes, Spinoza or Leibnitz, Goethe or + Mazzini, have adopted and carried forward those principles in their + essence. That they have not proclaimed themselves Protestants unless they + happened to be born Protestants, ought not to arouse his wonder, any more + than that Washington and Heine did not proclaim themselves Whigs. For + Protestantism, when it became dogmatic and stereotyped itself in sects, + ceased to hold any vital relation to the forward movement of modern + thought. The Reformation, in its origin, was, as I have tried to show, the + Northern and Teutonic manifestation of that struggle after intellectual + freedom, which in Italy and France had taken shape as Renaissance. But + Calvinism, Lutheranism, Zwinglianism, and Anglicanism renounced that + struggle only less decidedly than Catholicism; and in some of their + specific phases, in Puritanism <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB404" + id="pageB404"></a>{404}</span> for example, they showed themselves even + more antagonistic to liberal culture and progressive thought than did the + Roman Church. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be thought about the future of Catholicism (and no prudent + man will utter prophecies upon such matters), there can be no doubt that + the universal mind of the Christian races, whether Catholic or Protestant, + has been profoundly penetrated and permeated with rationalism, which, + springing simultaneously in Reformation and Renaissance out of humanism, + has supplied the spiritual life of the last four centuries. This has + created science in all its branches. This has stimulated critical and + historical curiosity. This has substituted sound for false methods of + inquiry, the love of truth for attachment to venerable delusion. This has + sustained the unconquerable soul of man in its persistent effort after + liberty and its revolt against the tyranny of priests and princes. At + present, civilization seems threatened by more potent foes than the Roman + Church, nor is it likely that these foes will seek a coalition with + Catholicism. + </p> + <p> + As a final remark upon this topic, it should be pointed out that + Protestantism, in spite of the shortcomings I have indicated, has, on the + whole, been more favorable to intellectual progress than Catholicism. For + Protestantism was never altogether oblivious of its origin in revolt + against unjust spiritual domination, while Catholicism has steadily <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB405" id="pageB405"></a>{405}</span> + maintained its conservative attitude of self-defense by repression. This + suffices to explain another point insisted on by Lord Macaulay—namely, + that those nations in which Protestantism took root have steadily + advanced, while the decay of Southern Europe can be mainly ascribed to the + Catholic Revival. The one group of nations have made progress, not indeed + because they were Protestants, but because they were more obedient to the + Divine Mind, more in sympathy with the vital principle of movement, more + open to rationalism. The other group of nations have declined, because + Catholicism after the year 1530, wilfully separated itself from truth and + liberty and living force, and obstinately persisted in serving the false + deities of an antiquated religion. + </p> + <p> + VIII. + </p> + <p> + Few periods in history illustrate the law of reaction and retrogression, + to which all processes of civil progress are subject, more plainly and + more sadly than the one with which I have been dealing in these volumes. + The Renaissance in Italy started with the fascination of a golden dream; + and like the music of a dream, it floated over Europe. But the force which + had stimulated humanity to this delightful reawakening of senses and + intelligence, stirred also the slumbering religious conscience, and a + yearning after personal emancipation. Protestantism arose like a stern + reality, plunging the nations into <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB406" + id="pageB406"></a>{406}</span> confused and deadly conflict, arousing + antagonisms in established orders, unleashing cupidities and passions + which had lurked within the breasts of manifold adventurers. The fifteenth + century closed to a solemn symphony. After the middle of the sixteenth, + discord sounded from every quarter of the Occidental world. Italy lay + trampled on and dying. Spain reared her dragon's crest of menacing + ambition and remorseless fanaticism. France was torn by factions and + devoured by vicious favorites of corrupt kings. Germany heaved like a huge + ocean in the grip of a tumultuous gyrating cyclone. England passed through + a complex revolution, the issue of which, under the sway of three Tudor + monarchs, appeared undecided, until the fourth by happy fate secured the + future of her people. It is not to be wondered that, in these + circumstances, a mournful discouragement should have descended on the age; + that men should have become more dubitative; that arts and letters should + have seemed to pine upon unfertile ground. The nutriment they needed was + absorbed by plants of fiercer and ranker growth, religious hatreds, + political greeds, relentless passions burning in the hearts of princes and + of populations. + </p> + <p> + IX. + </p> + <p> + Italy had already given so much of mental and social civilization to + Europe, that her quiescence at this epoch can scarcely supply a + substantial theme for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB407" + id="pageB407"></a>{407}</span> rhetorical lamentations. Marino and Guido + Reni prove that the richer veins of Renaissance art and poetry had been + worked out. The lives of Aldus the younger and Muretus show that humanism + was well-nigh exhausted on its native soil. This will not, however, + prevent us from deploring the untimely frost cast by persecution on + Italy's budding boughs of knowledge. While we rejoice in Galileo, we must + needs shed tears of fiery wrath over the passion of Campanella and the + stake of Bruno. Meanwhile the tree of genius was ever green and vital in + that Saturnian land of culture. Poetry, painting, sculpture, and + architecture, having borne their flowers and fruits, retired to rest. + Scholarship faded; science was nipped in its unfolding season by unkindly + influences. But music put forth lusty shoots and flourished, yielding a + new paradise of harmless joy, which even priests could grudge not to the + world, and which lulled tyranny to sleep with silvery numbers. + </p> + <p> + Thanks be to God that I who pen these pages, and that you who read them, + have before us in this year of grace the spectacle of a resuscitated + Italy! In this last quarter of the nineteenth century, the work of her + heroes, Vittorio Emmanuele, Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour, stands firmly + founded. The creation of united Italy, that latest birth of the Italian + genius, that most impossible of dreamed-of triumphs through long ages of + her glory and greatness, compensates for all that she has borne in these + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB408" id="pageB408"></a>{408}</span> + three hundred years. Now that Rome is no longer the seat of a cosmopolitan + theocracy, but the capital of a regenerated people; now that Venice joins + hands with Genoa, forgetful of Curzola and Chioggia; now that Florence and + Pisa and Siena stand like sisters on the sacred Tuscan soil, while Milan + has no strife with Naples, and the Alps and sea-waves gird one harmony of + cities who have drowned their ancient spites in amity,—the student + of the splendid and the bitter past may pause and bow his head in + gratitude to Heaven and swear that, after all, all things are well. + </p> + <p> + X. + </p> + <p> + There is no finality in human history. It is folly to believe that any + religions, any social orders, any scientific hypotheses, are more than + provisional, and partially possessed of truth. Let us assume that the + whole curve of human existence on this planet describes a parabola of some + twenty millions of years in duration.<a name="BFNanchor_239_239" + id="BFNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#BFootnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> + Of this we have already exhausted unreckoned centuries in the evolution of + pre-historic man, and perhaps five thousand years in the ages of historic + records. How much of time remains in front? Through that past period of + five thousand years preserved for purblind retrospect in records, what + changes of opinion, what peripeties of empire, may we not observe and + ponder! How many theologies, cosmological conceptions, polities, moralities, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB409" id="pageB409"></a>{409}</span> + dominions, ways of living and of looking upon life, have followed one upon + another! The space itself is brief; compared with the incalculable + longevity of the globe, it is but a bare 'scape in oblivion.' And, however + ephemeral the persistence of humanity may be in this its earthly + dwelling-place, the conscious past sinks into insignificance before those + aeons of the conscious future, those on-coming and out-rolling waves of + further evolution which bear posterity forward. Has any solid gain of man + been lost on the stream of time to us-ward? We doubt that. Has anything + final and conclusive been arrived at? We doubt that also. The river + broadens, as it bears us on. But the rills from which it gathered, and the + ocean whereto it tends, are now, as ever in the past, inscrutable. It is + therefore futile to suppose, at this short stage upon our journey, while + the infant founts of knowledge are still murmuring to our ears, that any + form of faith or science has been attained as permanent; that any Pillars + of Hercules have been set up against the Atlantic Ocean of experience and + exploration. Think of that curve of possibly twenty million years, and of + the five thousand years remembered by humanity! How much, how incalculably + much longer is the space to be traversed than that which we have left + behind! It seems, therefore, our truest, as it is our humblest, wisdom to + live by faith and love. 'And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these + three; but the greatest of these is charity.' Love <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB410" id="pageB410"></a>{410}</span> is the greatest; and + against love man has sinned most in the short but blood-bedabbled annals + of his past. Hope is the virtue from which a faithful human being can best + afford to abstain, unless hope wait as patient handmaid upon faith. Faith + is the steadying and sustaining force, holding fast by which each one of + us dares defy change, and gaze with eyes of curious contemplation on the + tide which brought us, and is carrying, and will bear us where we see not. + 'I know not how I came of you and I know not where I go with you; but I + know I came well and I shall go well.' Man can do no better than live in + Eternity's Sunrise, as Blake put it. To live in the eternal sunrise of + God's presence, ever rising, not yet risen, which will never reach its + meridian on this globe, seems to be the destiny, as it should also be the + blessing, of mankind. + </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <h2> + <a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX + </h2> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB411" id="pageB411"></a>{411}</span> + </p> + <p> + A<br /> <br /> ACADEMIES, Italian, the flourishing time of, i.<a + href="#pageA52">52</a>.<br /> <br /> ACCIAIUOLI, Roberto, i.<a + href="#pageB33"></a><a href="#pageB33">33</a>.<br /> <br /> ACCOLTI, + Benedetto, conspirator against Pius IV., i. <a href="#pageA132"></a>.<br /> + <br /> ACCORAMBONI, Claudio (father of Vittoria), i.<a href="#pageA356"></a>356.<br /> + <br /> ---Marcello (brother of Vittoria):<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">intrigues for the marriage of his sister with + the</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Duke of Bracciano, i. <a + href="#pageA358">358</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">procures the murder of her husband, <a + href="#pageA362"></a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">employs + a Greek enchantress to brew love-philters, <a href="#pageA365">365</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#pageA372">372</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ---Tarquinia (mother of Vittoria), i. <a href="#pageA356">356</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Vittoria, the story of, i. <a href="#pageA355">355</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her birth and parentage, <a + href="#pageA356">356</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">marriage + with Felice Peretti, <a href="#pageA357">357</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">intrigue with the Duke of Bracciano, <a + href="#pageA360">360</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + murder of her husband, <a href="#pageA362">362</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">her marriage with Bracciano, <a href="#pageA364">364</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">annulled by the Pope, <a href="#pageB364">364</a>, + <a href="#pageA366">366</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + union renounced by the Duke, <a href="#pageA365">365</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">put on trial for the murder of Peretti, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their union publicly ratified by the Duke, + <a href="#pageA366">366</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight + from Rome, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">death + of Bracciano, <a href="#pageA367">367</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">her murder procured by Lodovico Orsini, <a + href="#pageA369">369</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'ACTS of Faith,' i. <a + href="#pageA107">107</a>, <a href="#pageA176">176</a>, <a href="#pageA187">187</a>.<br /> + <br /> ADMINISTRATOR, the (Jesuit functionary), i. <a href="#pageA273">273</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'ADONE,' Marino's:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + publication, ii. <a href="#pageB264">264</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">critique of the poem, <a href="#pageB266">266</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> ALBANI, Francesco, Bolognese painter, ii. <a + href="#pageB355">355</a>, <a href="#pageB358">358</a>.<br /> <br /> + ALEXANDER VI., Pope, parallel between, and Pope Paul IV., i. <a + href="#pageA106">106</a>.<br /> <br /> ALFONSO II., Duke of Ferrara:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sketch of his Court, ii. <a href="#pageB28">28</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his second + marriage, <a href="#pageB30">30</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of Tasso, <a href="#pageB38">38</a>, + <a href="#pageB51">51</a>, <a href="#pageB53">53</a>, <a href="#pageB58">58</a>, + <a href="#pageB60">60</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his third marriage, <a href="#pageB66">66</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate of the reasons why he imprisoned + Tasso, <a href="#pageB66">66</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> ALFONSO the + Magnanimous:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrangements under his + will, i. <a href="#pageA4">4</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ALIDOSI, Cardinal + Francesco, murder of, i. <a href="#pageA36">36</a>.<br /> <br /> ALLEGORY, + hypocrisy of the, exemplified in Tasso, ii. + +<a href="#pageB44">44</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Marino, + + +<a href="#pageA119">119</a> <i>n.</i><br /> + <br /> ALVA, Duke of, defeat of the Duke of Guise by, i. + +<a href="#pageA103">103</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'AMADIS of Gaul,' the favorite book of Loyola in his youth, i. <a + href="#pageA232">232</a>.<br /> <br /> AMIAS, Beatrice, mother of Francesco + Cenci, i. <a href="#pageA346">346</a>.<br /> <br /> 'AMINTA,' Tasso's + pastoral drama, first production of, ii. <a href="#pageB39">39</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its style, <a href="#pageB114">114</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ANGELUZZO, Giovanni, Tasso's first teacher, ii. <a href="#pageB12">12</a>.<br /> + <br /> ANIMA Mundi, Bruno's doctrine of, ii. <a href="#pageB177">177</a>.<br /> + <br /> ANTONIANO, a censor of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, ii. <a + href="#pageB43">43</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Silvio, a boy <i>improvvisatore</i>, + anecdote of, ii. <a href="#pageB328">328</a>.<br /> <br /> AQUAVIVA, the + fifth General of the Jesuits, i. <a href="#pageA248">248</a>.<br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB412" id="pageB412"></a>{412}</span><br /> + AQUITAINE, Duke of, Guercino's painting of in Bologna, ii. <a + href="#pageB367">367</a>.<br /> <br /> ARAGONESE Dynasty, the, in Italy, i. + <a href="#pageA4">4</a>.<br /> <br /> ARBUES, Peter, Saint of the + Inquisition in Aragon, i. <a href="#pageA161">161</a>, <a href="#pageA178">178</a>.<br /> + <br /> ARETINO, Pietro, i. <a href="#pageA42">42</a>, <a href="#pageB70">70</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">satire of on Paul IV., <a href="#pageA108">108</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> 'ARIE Divote,' Palestrina's, ii. <a href="#pageB335">335</a>.<br /> + <br /> ARISTOTLE'S Axiom on Taste, ii. <a href="#pageB371">371</a>, <a + href="#pageB374">374</a>.<br /> <br /> ARMADA, Spanish, i. <a + href="#pageA149">149</a>.<br /> <br /> ARMI, Lodovico dall', a <i>bravo</i> + of noble family, i. <a href="#pageA409">409</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">accredited at Venice as Henry VIII.'s 'Colonel,' + <a href="#pageA410">410</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + career of secret diplomacy, <a href="#pageA411">411</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiations between Lord Wriothesley and Venice + regarding</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the ban issued + against him, <a href="#pageA412">412</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his downfall, <a href="#pageA413">413</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">personal appearance, <a href="#pageA414">414</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">execution, <a href="#pageB415">415</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ARNOLFINI, Massimiliano, paramour of Lucrezia Buonvisi, i. <a + href="#pageA331">331</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">procures + the assassination of her husband, <a href="#pageA332">332</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight from justice, <a href="#pageA332">332</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">outlawed, <a href="#pageA336">336</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his wanderings and wretched end, <a + href="#pageA339">339</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ART of Memory, Bruno's, ii. <a + href="#pageB139">139</a>.<br /> <br /> ART of Poetry, Tasso's Dialogues on + the, ii. <a href="#pageB22">22</a>, <a href="#pageB24">24</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of its theory on Tasso's own work, <a + href="#pageB25">25</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ASSISTANTS, the (Jesuit + functionaries), i. <a href="#pageA273">273</a>.<br /> <br /> ASTORGA, + Marquis of, i. <a href="#pageA22">22</a>.<br /> <br /> AURORA, the Ludovisi + fresco of, ii. <a href="#pageB368">368</a>.<br /> <br /> AVILA, Don Luigi + d', i. <a href="#pageA128">128</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> B<br /> <br /> + BAGLIONI, Malatesta, i. <a href="#pageA46">46</a>.<br /> <br /> BAINI'S <i>Life + of Palestrina</i>, ii. <a href="#pageB316">316</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> + BALBI, Cesare, on Italian decadence, ii. <a href="#pageB3">3</a>.<br /> + <br /> BANDITTI, tales illustrative of, i. <a href="#pageA388">388</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> 'BANDO' (of outlawry), recitation of the terms of a, i. <a + href="#pageA328">328</a>.<br /> <br /> BARBIERI, Giovanni Francesco, <i>see</i> + IL GUERCINO.<br /> <br /> BARCELONA, the Treaty of, i. <a href="#pageA15">15</a>.<br /> + <br /> BARNABITES, Order of the:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their + foundation, i. <a href="#pageA80">80</a>.</span><br /> <br /> BAROCCIO, + Federigo, ii. <a href="#pageB349">349</a>.<br /> <br /> BAROZZA, a Venetian + courtezan, i. <a href="#pageA394">394</a>, <a href="#pageA396">396</a>.<br /> + <br /> BASEL, Council of, i. <a href="#pageA94">94</a>.<br /> <br /> BEARD, + unshorn, worn in sign of mourning, i. <a href="#pageA36">36</a>.<br /> + <br /> BEDELL, William (Bishop of Kilmore), on Fra Paolo and<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Fra Fulgenzio, ii. <a href="#pageB231">231</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> BEDMAR'S conspiracy, ii. <a href="#pageB186">186</a>.<br /> <br /> + BELLARMINO, Cardinal, on the inviolability of the Vulgate, i. <a + href="#pageA212">212</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations + of, with Fra Paolo Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB213">213</a>, <a + href="#pageB222">222</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + censure of the <i>Pastor Fido</i>, <a href="#pageB251">251</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> BELRIGUARDO, the villa of, Tasso at, ii. <a href="#pageB53">53</a>.<br /> + <br /> BEMBO, Pietro, i. <a href="#pageA30">30</a>, <a href="#pageB41">41</a>.<br /> + <br /> BENDEDEI, Taddea, wife of Guarini, ii. <a href="#pageB245">245</a>.<br /> + <br /> BENTIVOGLI, the semi-royal offspring of King Enzo of Sardinia, ii. + <a href="#pageB304">304</a>.<br /> <br /> BIBBONI, Cecco:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his account of how he murdered Lorenzino + de'Medici, i. <a href="#pageA388">388</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his associate, Bebo, details of the life of a <i>bravo</i>, + <a href="#pageA389">389</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">tracking + an outlaw, <a href="#pageA392">392</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the wages of a tyrannicide, <a href="#pageA394">394</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>bravo's</i> patient watching, <a + href="#pageA395">395</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + murder, <a href="#pageB397">397</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">flight of the assassins, <a href="#pageA399">399</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their reception by Count Collalto, <a + href="#pageA401">401</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">they + seek refuge at the Spanish embassy, <a href="#pageA402">402</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">protected by Charles V.'s orders, <a + href="#pageA403">403</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">conveyed + to Pisa, <a href="#pageA404">404</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">well provided for their future life, <i>ib.</i></span><br /> + <br /> BITONTO. Pasquale di, one of the assassins of Sarpi, ii. <a + href="#pageB212">212</a>.<br /> <br /> BLACK garments of Charles V., the, i. + <a href="#pageA43">43</a>.<br /> <br /> BLACK Pope, the, i. <a + href="#pageA275">275</a>.<br /> <br /> BLOIS, Treaty of, i. <a + href="#pageA12">12</a>.<br /> <br /> BOBADILLA, Nicholas, associate of + Ignatius Loyola, i. <a href="#pageA240">240</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as a Jesuit in Bavaria, <a + href="#pageA258">258</a>.</span><br /> <br /> BOLOGNA and Modena, humors of + the conflict between, ii. <a href="#pageB304">304</a>.<br /> <br /> + BOLOGNESE school of painters, the, ii. <a href="#pageB343">343</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">why their paintings are now neglected, <a + href="#pageB375">375</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">mental condition of Bolognese art, <a + href="#pageB376">376</a>.</span><br /> <br /> BONELLI, Michele, nephew of + Pius V., i. <a href="#pageA147">147</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB413" id="pageB413"></a>{413}</span><br /> BONIFAZIO of + Montferrat, Marquis, one of the Paleologi, i. <a href="#pageA23">23</a>.<br /> + <br /> BORGIA, Francis (Duke of Gandia), third General of the Jesuits, i. + <a href="#pageA256">256</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">prevented + by Loyola from accepting a Cardinal's hat, <a href="#pageB260">260</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> BORROMEO, Carlo:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his character, + i. <a href="#pageA115">115</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a + possible successor to Pius IV., <a href="#pageA135">135</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">ruled in Rome by the Jesuits, <a + href="#pageA142">142</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + intimacy with Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageA194">194</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + ---Federigo, i. <a href="#pageA115">115</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">letter of, forbidding soldiers' visits to + convents, <a href="#pageA316">316</a> <i>n.</i></span><br /> <br /> + BRANCACCIO, Diana, treachery of, towards the Duchess of Palliano, i. <a + href="#pageA378">378</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her murder, + <a href="#pageA379">379</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'BRAVI,' maintenance of by + Italian nobles, i. <a href="#pageA313">313</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">tales illustrative of, <a href="#pageA388">388</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations of + trust between <i>bravi</i> and foreign Courts, <a href="#pageA409">409</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> BRIGANDAGE in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA416">416</a>.<br /> <br /> + BROWN, Mr. H.F., his researches in the Venetian archives, i. <a + href="#pageA189">189</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> BRUCCIOLI, Antonio, + translator of the Bible into Italian, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>.<br /> + <br /> BRUNO, Giordano:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth, and + training as a Dominican, ii. <a href="#pageB129">129</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">early speculative doubts, <a + href="#pageB130">130</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Il + Candelajo</i>, <a href="#pageB131">131</a>, <a href="#pageB183">183</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">early studies, <a href="#pageB133">133</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">prosecution for heresy, <a href="#pageB134">134</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a wandering student, <a href="#pageB135">135</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Geneva, <a href="#pageB136">136</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Toulouse, <a href="#pageB137">137</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the Sorbonne, <a href="#pageB138">138</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Art of Memory, <a href="#pageB139">139</a>, + <a href="#pageB154">154</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>De + Umbris Idearum</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations + with Henri III., <a href="#pageB140">140</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno's person and conversation, <a + href="#pageB141">141</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in + England, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">works + printed in London, <a href="#pageB142">142</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">descriptions of London life, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">opinion of Queen Elizabeth, <a + href="#pageB143">143</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">lecturer + at Oxford, <a href="#pageB144">144</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">address to the Vice-Chancellor, <a + href="#pageB146">146</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">academical + opposition, <a href="#pageB147">147</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Ash-Wednesday Supper, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the family of Castelnau, <a + href="#pageB148">148</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in + Germany, <a href="#pageB149">149</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno's opinion of the Reformers, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>De Monade</i> and <i>De Triplici + Minimo</i>, <a href="#pageB150">150</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno in a monastery at Frankfort, <a + href="#pageB151">151</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">invited + to Venice, <a href="#pageB153">153</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">a guest of Mocenigo there, <a href="#pageB154">154</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his occupations, <a href="#pageB156">156</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">denounced by Mocenigo and imprisoned by + the Inquisition, <a href="#pageB157">157</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the heads of the accusation, <a href="#pageB157">157</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">trial, <a + href="#pageB159">159</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">recantation, + <a href="#pageB160">160</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate + of Bruno's apology, <a href="#pageB161">161</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his removal to and long imprisonment at Rome, <a + href="#pageB163">163</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + execution, <a href="#pageB164">164</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">evidence of his martyrdom, <a href="#pageB164">164</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Schoppe's + account, <a href="#pageB165">165</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">details of Bruno's treatment in Rome, <a + href="#pageB167">167</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + burning at the stake, <a href="#pageB167">167</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno a martyr, <a href="#pageB168">168</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast with Tasso, <a href="#pageB169">169</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno's mental attitude, <a + href="#pageB170">170</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his championship of the Copernican system, <a + href="#pageB172">172</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + relation to modern science and philosophy, <a href="#pageB173">173</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">conception of the universe, <a + href="#pageB173">173</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his theology, <a href="#pageB175">175</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Anima Mundi</i>, <a href="#pageB177">177</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">anticipations of modern thought, <a + href="#pageB178">178</a>, <a href="#pageB182">182</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his want of method, <a href="#pageB180">180</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the treatise on the Seven Arts, <a + href="#pageB182">182</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno's + literary style, <a href="#pageB182">182</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his death contrasted with that of Sarpi, <a + href="#pageB239">239</a> <i>n.</i></span><br /> <br /> BRUSANTINI, Count + Alessandro (Tassoni's 'Conte Culagna'), ii. <a href="#pageB301">301</a>, + <a href="#pageB306">306</a>.<br /> <br /> BUCKET, the Bolognese, ii. <a + href="#pageB305">305</a>.<br /> <br /> BUONCOMPAGNO, Giacomo, bastard, son + of Gregory XIII., i. <a href="#pageA150">150</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Ugo, <i>see</i> + GREGORY XIII.<br /> <br /> BUONVISI, Lucrezia, story of, i. <a + href="#pageA330">330</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">intrigue + with Arnolfini, <a href="#pageA331">331</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">murder of her husband, <a href="#pageA332">332</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lucrezia suspected of complicity, <a + href="#pageA334">334</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes + a nun (Sister Umilia), <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the case against her, <a href="#pageA338">338</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">amours of inmates of her convent, <a + href="#pageA340">340</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Umilia's + intrigue with Samminiati, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">discovery of their correspondence, <a + href="#pageA341">341</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">trial + and sentences of the nuns, <a href="#pageA344">344</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Umilia's last days, <a href="#pageA345">345</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ---Lelio, assassination of, i. <a href="#pageA332">332</a>.<br /> + <br /> BURGUNDIAN diamond of Charles the Bold, the, i. <a href="#pageA38">38</a>.<br /> + <br /> <br /> C<br /> <br /> CALCAGNINI, Celio, letter of, on religious + controversies, i. <a href="#pageA74">74</a>.<br /> <br /> CALVAERT, + Dionysius, a Flemish painter in Bologna, ii. <a href="#pageB355">355</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB414" id="pageB414"></a>{414}</span><br /> + CALVETTI, Olimpio (one of the assassins of Francesco Cenci), i. <a + href="#pageA350">350</a>.<br /> <br /> CALVIN, i. <a href="#pageA73">73</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to modern civilization, ii. + <a href="#pageB402">402</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CAMBRAY, Treaty of (the + Paix des Dames), i. <a href="#pageB9">9</a>, <a href="#pageA15">15</a>.<br /> + <br /> CAMERA Apostolica, the, venality of, i. <a href="#pageA140">140</a>.<br /> + <br /> CAMERINO, Duchy of, i. <a href="#pageA86">86</a>.<br /> <br /> + CAMPANELLA, on the black robes of the Spaniards in Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA44">44</a>.<br /> <br /> CAMPEGGI, Cardinal Lorenzo, i. <a + href="#pageA21">21</a>.<br /> <br /> CAMPIREALI, Elena, the tale of, i. <a + href="#pageA428">428</a>.<br /> <br /> CANELLO, U.A., on Italian society in + the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA304">304</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> + CANISIUS, lieutenant of Loyola in Austria, i. <a href="#pageA259">259</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed to the administration of the see + of Vienna, <a href="#pageA260">260</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CANOSSA, + Antonio, conspirator against Pius IV., i. <a href="#pageA132">132</a>.<br /> + <br /> CAPELLO, Bianca, the story of, i. <a href="#pageA382">382</a>.<br /> + <br /> CAPPELLA, Giulia (Rome), school for training choristers, ii. <a + href="#pageB316">316</a>.<br /> <br /> CARACCI, the, Bolognese painters, ii. + <a href="#pageB345">345</a>, <a href="#pageB349">349</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> CARAFFA, Cardinal, condemned to death by Pius IV., i. <a + href="#pageA115">115</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Giovanni Pietro (afterwards Pope + Paul IV.),<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">causes the rejection of + Contarini's</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrangement with + the Lutherans, i. <a href="#pageA78">78</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">helps to found the Theatines, <a href="#pageA79">79</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">made Cardinal by Paul III., <a + href="#pageA88">88</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">hatred + of Spanish ascendency, <a href="#pageA89">89</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes Pope Paul IV., <a href="#pageA102">102</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">quarrel with Philip II., <a + href="#pageB102">102</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">opens negotiations with Soliman, <a + href="#pageA103">103</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">reconciliation + with Spain, <a href="#pageA104">104</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">nepotism, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">indignation against the misdoings of his + relatives, <a href="#pageA106">106</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">ecclesiastical reforms, <a href="#pageA107">107</a> + <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">zeal for the Holy + Office, <a href="#pageA107">107</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">personal character, <a href="#pageA108">108</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his earlier relations with Ignatius Loyola, <a + href="#pageA242">242</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CARAFFESCHI, evil character of + the, i. <a href="#pageA105">105</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">four + condemned to death by Pius IV., <a href="#pageA115">115</a>, <a + href="#pageA318">318</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CARAVAGGIO, Michelangelo + Amerighi da, Italian Realist painter, ii. <a href="#pageB363">363</a> <i>n.</i><br /> + <br /> CARDINE, Aliffe and Leonardo di (Caraffeschi),<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">condemned to death by Pius IV., i. <a + href="#pageA115">115</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CARDONA, Violante de (Duchess + of Palliano), story of, i. <a href="#pageA373">373</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her accomplishments, <a href="#pageA374">374</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">character, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">passion of Marcello Capecce for her, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her character compromised through Diana + Brancaccio, <a href="#pageA378">378</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">murder of Marcello and Diana by the Duke, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of Violante at the hands of her + brother, <a href="#pageA380">380</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CARLI, Orazio:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of his being put to the + torture, i. <a href="#pageA333">333</a> <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> CARLO + Emmanuele of Savoy, Italian hopes founded on, ii. <a href="#pageB246">246</a>, + <a href="#pageB286">286</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">friend + of Marino, <a href="#pageB262">262</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">kindness to Chiabrera, <a href="#pageB290">290</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of Tassoni, <a href="#pageB298">298</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> CARNESECCHI, condemned by the Roman Inquisition to be burned, i. <a + href="#pageA145">145</a>.<br /> <br /> CARPI, attached to Ferrara, i. <a + href="#pageA40">40</a>.<br /> <br /> CARRANZA, Archbishop of Toledo, + condemned by the<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Roman Inquisition to + be burned, i. <a href="#pageA145">145</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CASA, + Giovanni della (author of the <i>Capitolo del Forno</i>), i. <a + href="#pageA393">393</a>, <a href="#pageB395">395</a>.<br /> <br /> + CASTELNAU, Michel de, kindness of towards Giordano Bruno, ii. <a + href="#pageB141">141</a>, <a href="#pageB148">148</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Marie + de, Bruno's admiration for, ii. <a href="#pageB148">148</a>.<br /> <br /> + ---Pierre de, the first Saint of the Inquisition, i. <a href="#pageA161">161</a>.<br /> + <br /> CATALANI, Marzio (one of the assassins of Francesco Cenci), i. <a + href="#pageA350">350</a>.<br /> <br /> CATEAU Cambrésis, the Peace + of, i. <a href="#pageA48">48</a>.<br /> <br /> CATHOLIC Revival, the + inaugurators of, at Bologna, i. <a href="#pageA16">16</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">transition from the Renaissance to, <a + href="#pageA65">65</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">new + religious spirit in Italy, <a href="#pageA67">67</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Popes and the Council of Trent, <a + href="#pageA96">96</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">a Papal triumph, <a href="#pageA130">130</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Catholic Reaction generated the + Counter-Reformation, <a href="#pageA133">133</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its effect on social and domestic morals, <a + href="#pageA301">301</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> CELEBRITY, + vicissitudes of, ii. <a href="#pageB368">368</a>.<br /> <br /> CELIBACY, + clerical, the question of, at Trent, i. <a href="#pageA123">123</a>.<br /> + <br /> CELLANT, Contessa di, the model of Luini's S. Catherine, ii. <a + href="#pageB360">360</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB415" id="pageB415"></a>{415}</span><br /> 'CENA delle Ceneri, + La,' Bruno's, i. <a href="#pageA85">85</a> <i>n.</i>; ii. <a + href="#pageA140">140</a>, <a href="#pageA142">142</a>, <a href="#pageA183">183</a>.<br /> + <br /> CENCI, Beatrice, examination of the legend of, i. <a href="#pageA351">351</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> ---Francesco: bastard son of Cristoforo Cenci, i. + <a href="#pageB346">346</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + early life, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">disgraceful + charges against him, <a href="#pageA348">348</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">compounds by heavy money payment for his crimes, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">violent deaths of + his sons, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">severity + towards his children, <a href="#pageA349">349</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his assassination procured by his wife and three + children, <a href="#pageA350">350</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the murderers denounced, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their trial and punishments, <a + href="#pageA351">351</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Msgr. Christoforo, father + of Francesco Cenci, i. <a href="#pageA346">346</a>.<br /> <br /> CENTINI, + Giacomo: story of his attempts by sorcery on the<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">life of Urban VIII., i. <a href="#pageA425">425</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> CESI, Msgr., invites Tasso to Bologna, ii. <a href="#pageB22">22</a>.<br /> + <br /> CHARLES V., his compact with Clement VII., i. <a href="#pageA15">15</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Emperor Elect, <a href="#pageA16">16</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations with Andrea Doria, <a + href="#pageA17">17</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at + Genoa, <a href="#pageA18">18</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his journey to Bologna, <a href="#pageA20">20</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his reception there, <a href="#pageA22">22</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the meeting with Clement, <a + href="#pageA23">23</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mustering + of Italian princes, <a href="#pageA25">25</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiations on Italian affairs, <a + href="#pageA26">26</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">a treaty of peace signed, <a href="#pageA31">31</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the difficulty with Florence, <a + href="#pageA32">32</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + question of the two crowns, <a href="#pageA34">34</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of the coronation, <a + href="#pageA37">37</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the events that followed, <a href="#pageA39">39</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the net results + of Charles's administration of Italian affairs, <a href="#pageA45">45</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relations + with Paul III., <a href="#pageA100">100</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his abdication, <a href="#pageA102">102</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">he protects the assassins of Lorenzino + de'Medici, <a href="#pageA403">403</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CHARLES VIII., + of France: his invasion of Italy, i. <a href="#pageA8">8</a>.<br /> <br /> + CHIABRERA, Gabriello: his birth, ii. <a href="#pageB287">287</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">educated by the Jesuits, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his youth, <a href="#pageB288">288</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the occupations of a long life, <a + href="#pageB289">289</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">courtliness, + <a href="#pageB290">290</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">ode + to Cesare d'Este, <a href="#pageB291">291</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Chiabrera's aim to remodel Italian poetry on a + Greek pattern. <a href="#pageB292">292</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">would-be Pindaric flights, <a href="#pageB296">296</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">comparison with Marino and Tassoni, <i>ib.</i></span><br /> + <br /> CIOTTO, Giambattista, relations of, with Giordano Bruno, ii. <a + href="#pageB152">152</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> CISNEROS, Garcia de, + author of a work which suggested<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. + Ignatius's <i>Exercitia</i>, i. <a href="#pageA236">236</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> CLEMENT VII.: a prisoner in S. Angelo, i. <a href="#pageA14">14</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">compact with Charles V., <a href="#pageA15">15</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their meeting at Bologna, <a + href="#pageA16">16</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiations with the Emperor Elect, <a + href="#pageA26">26</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">peace signed, <a href="#pageA31">31</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> CLEMENT VIII.: his Concordat with Venice, i. <a href="#pageA193">193</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Index of Prohibited Books issued by him, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his rules for the + censorship of books, <a href="#pageA198">198</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">he confers a pension on Tasso, ii. <a + href="#pageA76">76</a>.</span><br /> <br /> CLOUGH, Mr., lines of, on + 'Christianized' monuments in Papal Rome, i. <a href="#pageA154">154</a>.<br /> + <br /> COADJUTORS, Temporal and Spiritual (Jesuit grades), i. <a + href="#pageA271">271</a>.<br /> <br /> COLLALTO, Count Salici da, patron of + the <i>bravo</i> Bibboni, i. <a href="#pageA400">400</a>.<br /> <br /> + COLONNA, the, reduced to submission to the Popes, i. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Vespasiano, Duke of Palliano, i. <a href="#pageA77">77</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Vittoria, i. <a href="#pageA77">77</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, from Tasso in his childhood, ii. <a + href="#pageB15">15</a>.</span><br /> <br /> COMANDINO, Federigo, Tasso's + teacher, ii. <a href="#pageB19">19</a>.<br /> <br /> COMPANY OF JESUS, <i>see</i> + JESUITS.<br /> <br /> CONCLAVES, external influences on, in the election of + Popes, i. <a href="#pageA134">134</a>.<br /> <br /> CONFEDERATION between + Clement VII. and Charles V., i. <a href="#pageA31">31</a>.<br /> <br /> + 'CONFIRMATIONS,' Fra Fulgenzio's, ii. <a href="#pageB201">201</a>.<br /> + <br /> CONSERVATISM and Liberalism, necessary contest between, ii. <a + href="#pageB386">386</a>.<br /> <br /> 'CONSIDERATIONS on the Censures,' + Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB201">201</a>.<br /> <br /> CONSTANCE, Council + of, i. <a href="#pageA92">92</a>.<br /> <br /> CONTARINI, Gasparo: his + negotiations between Catholics<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">and + Protestants, i. <a href="#pageA30">30</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of his writings by Inquisitors, <a + href="#pageA31">31</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">suspected + of heterodoxy, <a href="#pageA72">72</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">intimacy with Gaetano di Thiene, <a + href="#pageA76">76</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + concessions to the Reformers repudiated by the Curia, <a href="#pageA78">78</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">memorial on ecclesiastical abuses, <a + href="#pageA79">79</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Simeone: his account of a + plague at Savigliano, i. <a href="#pageA419">419</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB416" id="pageB416"></a>{416}</span><br /> + 'CONTRIBUTIONS of the Clergy, Discourse upon the,' Sarpi's, ii. <a + href="#pageB221">221</a>.<br /> <br /> COPERNICAN system, the, Bruno's + championship of, ii. <a href="#pageB172">172</a>.<br /> <br /> COREGLIA, one + of the assassins of Lelio Buonvisi, i. <a href="#pageA333">333</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> CORONATION of Charles V., description of, i. <a href="#pageA34">34</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">notable people present + at, <a href="#pageA39">39</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> CORSAIRS, + Tunisian and Algerian, raids of, on Italian coasts, i. <a href="#pageA417">417</a>.<br /> + <br /> COSCIA, Giangiacopo, guardian of Tasso's sister, ii. <a + href="#pageB16">16</a>.<br /> <br /> COSIMO I. of Tuscany, the rule of, i. + <a href="#pageA46">46</a>, <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> <br /> + COSTANTINI, Antonio, Tasso's last letter written to, ii. <a href="#pageB77">77</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sonnet on the poet, <a href="#pageB78">78</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> COTERIES, religious, in Rome, Venice, Naples, i. <a href="#pageA75">75</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> COUNTER-REFORMATION: its intellectual and moral + character, i. <a href="#pageA63">63</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the term defined, <a href="#pageA64">64</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">decline of Renaissance impulse, <a + href="#pageA65">65</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">criticism + and formalism in Italy, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast with the development of other European + races, <a href="#pageA66">66</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">transition to the Catholic Revival, <a + href="#pageA67">67</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">attitudes + of Italians towards the German Reformation, <a href="#pageA71">71</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">free-thinkers, <a href="#pageA73">73</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Oratory of Divine Love, <a + href="#pageA76">76</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Moderate Reformers, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gasparo + Contarini, <a href="#pageA78">78</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">new Religious Orders, <a href="#pageA79">79</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Council of Trent, <a href="#pageB97">97</a>, + <a href="#pageA119">119</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tridentine + Reforms, <a href="#pageB107">107</a>, <a href="#pageB134">134</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">asceticism fashionable in Rome, <a + href="#pageA108">108</a>, <a href="#pageA142">142</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">active hostilities against Protestantism, <a + href="#pageA148">148</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + new spirit of Roman polity, <a href="#pageA149">149</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">work of the Inquisition, <a + href="#pageB159">159</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Index, <a href="#pageA195">195</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">twofold aim of Papal policy, <a + href="#pageA226">226</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Jesuits, <a href="#pageA229">229</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">an estimate of the results of the Reformation</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">and of the Counter-Reformation, ii. <a + href="#pageA385">385</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> COURIERS, daily + post of, between the Council of Trent<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">and + the Vatican, i. <a href="#pageA121">121</a>.</span><br /> <br /> COURT life + in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA20">20</a>, <a href="#pageA37">37</a>, <a + href="#pageA41">41</a>, <a href="#pageA51">51</a>; ii. <a href="#pageA17">17</a>, + <a href="#pageA29">29</a>, <a href="#pageA65">65</a>, <a href="#pageA201">201</a>, + <a href="#pageA251">251</a>.<br /> <br /> CRIMES of violence, in Italy in + the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA304">304</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> CRIMINAL procedure, of Italian governments in the sixteenth<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">century, i. <a href="#pageA308">308</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> + <br /> CRITICISM, fundamental principles of, ii. <a href="#pageB370">370</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the future of, <a href="#pageB374">374</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> CROWNS, the iron and the golden, of the Emperor, i. <a + href="#pageA34">34</a>.<br /> <br /> CULAGNA, Conte di, <i>see</i> + BRUSANTINI.<br /> <br /> CURIA, the, complicity of, with the attempts on + Sarpi's life, ii. <a href="#pageB213">213</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> D<br /> + <br /> 'DATATARIO:' amount and sources of its income, i. <a href="#pageA140">140</a>.<br /> + <br /> DATI, Giovanbattista, amount of, with nuns, i. <a href="#pageA341">341</a> + <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> 'DECAMERONE,' Boccaccio's expurgated editions of, + issued<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Rome, i. <a href="#pageA224">224</a> + <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> DELLA CRUSCANS, the, attack of, on Tasso's + poetry, ii. <a href="#pageB35">35</a>, <a href="#pageB72">72</a>, <a + href="#pageB117">117</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> 'DE Monade,' Bruno's, ii. <a + href="#pageB150">150</a>, <a href="#pageB152">152</a> <i>n.</i>, <a + href="#pageB167">167</a>.<br /> <br /> DEPRES, Josquin, the leader of the + contrapuntal style in music, ii. <a href="#pageB316">316</a>.<br /> <br /> + 'DE Triplici Minimo,' Bruno's, ii. <a href="#pageB150">150</a>, <a + href="#pageB152">152</a> <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageB167">167</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'DE Umbris Idearum,' Bruno's, ii. <a href="#pageB139">139</a>.<br /> + <br /> DEZA, Diego, Spanish Inquisitor, i. <a href="#pageA182">182</a>.<br /> + <br /> DIACATHOLICON, the, meaning of the term as used by Sarpi, i. <a + href="#pageA231">231</a>; ii. <a href="#pageA202">202</a>.<br /> <br /> + DIALOGUES, Tasso's, ii. <a href="#pageB22">22</a>, <a href="#pageB112">112</a>.<br /> + <br /> DIRECTORIUM, the (Lainez' commentary on the constitution<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Jesuits), i. <a href="#pageA249">249</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> DIVINE Right of sovereigns, the: why it found favor<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">among Protestants, i. <a href="#pageA296">296</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> DOMENICHINO, Bolognese painter, ii. <a href="#pageB355">355</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique of Mr. Ruskin's invectives + against his work, <a href="#pageB359">359</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> + <br /> DOMINICANS, the, ousted as theologians by the Jesuits at Trent, i. + <a href="#pageA101">101</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their + reputation for learning, ii. <a href="#pageB130">130</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> DOMINIS, Marcantonio de, publishes in England<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's <i>History of the Council of Trent</i>, + ii. <a href="#pageB223">223</a>.</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB417" id="pageB417"></a>{417}</span><br /> DONATO, Leonardo, Doge + of Venice, ii. <a href="#pageB198">198</a>.<br /> <br /> DORIA, Andrea:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relations with Charles V., i. <a + href="#pageA18">18</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Cardinal Girolamo, i. <a + href="#pageA21">21</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> E<br /> <br /> ECLECTICISM in + painting, ii. <a href="#pageB345">345</a> <i>sqq.</i>, <a href="#pageA375">375</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> ECONOMICAL stagnation in Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA423">423</a>.<br /> <br /> ELIZABETH, Queen (of England), + Bruno's admiration of, ii. <a href="#pageB143">143</a>.<br /> <br /> + EMANCIPATION of the reason, retarded by both the Reformation and the<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Counter-Reformation, ii. <a + href="#pageB385">385</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> EMIGRANTS from + Italy, regulations of the Inquisition regarding, i. <a href="#pageA227">227</a>.<br /> + <br /> ENZO, King (of Sardinia), a prisoner at Bologna, ii. <a + href="#pageB304">304</a>.<br /> <br /> EPIC poetry, Italian speculations on, + ii. <a href="#pageB24">24</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's + Dialogues on, <a href="#pageB26">26</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'EROICI Furori, + Gli,' Bruno's, ii. <a href="#pageB142">142</a>, <a href="#pageB183">183</a>.<br /> + <br /> ESPIONAGE, system of among the Jesuits, i. <a href="#pageA273">273</a>.<br /> + <br /> ESTE, Alfonso d' (Duke of Ferrara), relations of, with Charles V., + i. <a href="#pageA40">40</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Cardinal Ippolito d', i. <a + href="#pageA127">127</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> ---Cardinal Luigi d', Tasso + in the service of, ii. <a href="#pageB12">12</a>, <a href="#pageB27">27</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Don Cesare d', Chiabrera's Ode to, ii. <a href="#pageB291">291</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---House of, their possessions in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA45">45</a>. + <a href="#pageA48">48</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Isabella d', at the coronation of + Charles V., i. <a href="#pageA21">21</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Leonora d', the + nature of Tasso's attachment to, ii. <a href="#pageB31">31</a> <i>sqq.</i>, + <a href="#pageB36">36</a>, <a href="#pageB40">40</a>,<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 2em;"><a href="#pageB51">51</a>, <a href="#pageB54">54</a> + <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageB56">56</a>, <a href="#pageB68">68</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#pageB71">71</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ---Lucrezia d', Tasso's attachment to, ii. <a href="#pageB32">32</a>, + <a href="#pageB39">39</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her + marriage, <a href="#pageB35">35</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#pageB40">40</a> <i>n.</i></span><br /> + <br /> EVOLUTION in relation to Art, ii. <a href="#pageB371">371</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> 'EXERCITIA Spiritualia' (Loyola's), i. <a href="#pageA236">236</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">manner of their use, <a href="#pageA267">267</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> EXTINCTION of republics in Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA45">45</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> <br /> F<br /> <br /> FABER, + Peter, associate of Loyola, i. <a href="#pageA239">239</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as a Jesuit in Spain, <a + href="#pageA258">258</a>.</span><br /> <br /> FARNESE, Alessandro, <i>see</i> + PAUL III.<br /> <br /> ---Giulia, mistress of Alexander VI., i. <a + href="#pageA81">81</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Ottavio (grandson of Paul III.), + Duke of Camerino, i. <a href="#pageA86">86</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Pier Luigi + (son of Paul III.), Duke of Parma, i. <a href="#pageA86">86</a>.<br /> + <br /> FEDERATION, Italian, the five members of the, i. <a href="#pageA3">3</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">how it was broken up, <a + href="#pageA11">11</a>.</span><br /> <br /> FERDINAND, Emperor, successor of + Charles V., i. <a href="#pageA102">102</a>, <a href="#pageA118">118</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relations with Canisius and the + Jesuits, <a href="#pageA259">259</a>.</span><br /> <br /> FERRARA, i. <a + href="#pageA7">7</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">settlement of + the Duchy of, by Charles V., i. <a href="#pageA40">40</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">life at the Court of, ii. <a + href="#pageB29">29</a>, <a href="#pageB65">65</a>, <a href="#pageB247">247</a>, + <a href="#pageB251">251</a>.</span><br /> <br /> FERRUCCI, Francesco, i. <a + href="#pageA46">46</a>.<br /> <br /> FESTA, Costanzo, the <i>Te Deum</i> of, + ii. <a href="#pageB329">329</a>.<br /> <br /> FINANCES of the Papacy under + Sixtus V., i. <a href="#pageA152">152</a>.<br /> <br /> FIORENZA, Giovanni + di, one of the assassins of Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB212">212</a>.<br /> + <br /> FLAMINIO, Marcantonio, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>.<br /> <br /> + FLEMISH musicians in Rome, ii. <a href="#pageB316">316</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> FLORENCE:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">condition of the + Republic in 1494, i. <a href="#pageA10">10</a>.</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Siege of the town (1530), <a href="#pageA30">30</a> + <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">capitulation, <a + href="#pageA46">46</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">under + the rule of Spain, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">extinction + of the Republic, <a href="#pageA47">47</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the rule of Cosimo I., <a href="#pageA49">49</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> FORMALISM, the development of, i. <a href="#pageA66">66</a>.<br /> + <br /> FOSCARI, Francesco, the dogeship of, i. <a href="#pageA9">9</a>.<br /> + <br /> FRANCIS I.: his capture at Pavia, i. <a href="#pageA9">9</a>, <a + href="#pageA13">13</a>.<br /> <br /> FRECCI, Maddalò de', the + betrayer of Tasso's love-affairs, ii. <a href="#pageB51">51</a>.<br /> + <br /> FREDERICK II., Emperor: his edicts against heresy, i. <a + href="#pageA163">163</a>.<br /> <br /> FREETHINKERS, Italian, i. <a + href="#pageA73">73</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> FULGENZIO, Fra, the preaching + of at Venice, ii. <a href="#pageB207">207</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his biography of Sarpi, <i>ib.</i></span><br /> + <br /> FULKE GREVILLE, a supper at the house of, described<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">by Giordano Bruno, ii. <a href="#pageB142">142</a>, + <a href="#pageB147">147</a>.</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB418" id="pageB418"></a>{418}</span><br /> <br /> G<br /> <br /> + GALLICAN CHURCH, the: its interests in the Council of Trent, i. <a + href="#pageA126">126</a>.<br /> <br /> GALLUZZI'S record of Jesuit attempts + to seduce youth, i. <a href="#pageA284">284</a>.<br /> <br /> GATTINARA, + Cardinal, Grand Chancellor of the Empire, i. <a href="#pageA31">31</a>.<br /> + <br /> GAMBARA, Veronica, i. <a href="#pageA41">41</a>.<br /> <br /> GENERAL + Congregation of the Jesuits, functions of the, i. <a href="#pageA273">273</a>.<br /> + <br /> GENERAL of the Jesuits, position of, in regard to the Order, i. <a + href="#pageA272">272</a>.<br /> <br /> GENOA, becomes subject to Spain, i. + <a href="#pageA18">18</a>.<br /> <br /> GENTILE, Valentino, i. <a + href="#pageA73">73</a>.<br /> <br /> GERSON'S <i>Considerations upon Papal + Excommunications</i>,<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">translated by + Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB200">200</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'GERUSALEMME + Conquistata,' Tasso's, ii. <a href="#pageB75">75</a>, <a href="#pageB114">114</a> + <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#pageB124">124</a>.<br /> <br /> 'GERUSALEMME + Liberata:' at first called <i>Gottifredo</i>, ii. <a href="#pageB35">35</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its dedication, <a href="#pageB38">38</a>, + <a href="#pageB47">47</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">submitted by Tasso to censors, <a href="#pageB43">43</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their criticisms, <a href="#pageB43">43</a> + <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#pageB50">50</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">successful publication of the poem, <a + href="#pageB71">71</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + subject-matter, <a href="#pageB92">92</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the romance of the epic, <a href="#pageB93">93</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tancredi, the hero, <a href="#pageB94">94</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">imitations of Dante and Virgil, <a + href="#pageB95">95</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">artificiality, <a href="#pageB100">100</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">pompous cadences, <a href="#pageB101">101</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">oratorical dexterity, <a href="#pageB102">102</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the similes and metaphors, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Armida, the heroine, <a href="#pageB106">106</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> GHISLIERI, Michele, <i>see</i> PIUS V.<br /> <br /> ---Paolo, a + relative of Pius V., i. <a href="#pageA147">147</a>.<br /> <br /> GIBERTI, + Gianmatteo, Bishop of Verona, i. <a href="#pageA19">19</a>.<br /> <br /> + GILLOT, Jacques, letter from Sarpi to, on the relations<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">of Church and State, ii. <a href="#pageB203">203</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> GIOVANNI FRANCESCO, Fra, an accomplice in the attacks on Sarpi, ii. + <a href="#pageB214">214</a>.<br /> <br /> 'GLI ETEREI,' Academy of, at + Padua, ii. <a href="#pageB26">26</a>.<br /> <br /> GOLDEN crown, the, + significance of, i. <a href="#pageA34">34</a>.<br /> <br /> GONGORISM, i. <a + href="#pageA66">66</a>.<br /> <br /> GONZAGA, Cardinal Ercole, ambassador + from Clement VII.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">to Charles V., i. + <a href="#pageA19">19</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Cardinal Scipione, a + friend of Tasso, ii. <a href="#pageB26">26</a>, <a href="#pageB42">42</a>, + <a href="#pageB46">46</a>, <a href="#pageB67">67</a>, <a href="#pageB73">73</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Don Ferrante, i. <a href="#pageA25">25</a>.<br /> <br /> + ---Eleanora Ippolita, Duchess of Urbino, i. <a href="#pageA37">37</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Federigo, Marquis of Mantua, i. <a href="#pageA26">26</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Vincenzo, obtains Tasso's release, ii. <a href="#pageB73">73</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the circumstances of his marriage, i. <a + href="#pageB386">386</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'GOTTIFREDO.' Tasso's first + title for the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, ii. <a href="#pageB35">35</a>.<br /> + <br /> GOUDIMEL, Claude: his school of music at Rome, ii. <a + href="#pageB323">323</a>.<br /> <br /> GRANADA, Treaty of, i. <a + href="#pageA12">12</a>.<br /> <br /> GRAND style (in art), the so-called, + ii. <a href="#pageB379">379</a>.<br /> <br /> GREGORY XIII., Pope (Ugo + Buoncompagno): his early career<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">and + election, i. <a href="#pageA149">149</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">manner of life, <a href="#pageA150">150</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of his relatives, <a + href="#pageA151">151</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">revival + of obsolete rights of the Church, <a href="#pageA152">152</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">consequent confusion in the Papal States, + <i>ib.</i></span><br /> <br /> GRISON mercenaries in Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA103">103</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> GUARINI, on the death of + Tasso, ii. <a href="#pageB69">69</a> <i>n.</i>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">publishes a revised edition of Tasso's lyrics, + <a href="#pageB72">72</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Guarini's + parentage, <a href="#pageB244">244</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">at the Court of Alfonso II. of Ferrara, <a + href="#pageB245">245</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a + rival of Tasso, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">engaged + on foreign embassies, <a href="#pageB246">246</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Court poet, <a href="#pageB247">247</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">domestic troubles, <a href="#pageB249">249</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his last years, <a href="#pageB251">251</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">argument of the <i>Pastor Fido</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">satire upon the Court of Ferrara, <a + href="#pageB254">254</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique + of the poem, <a href="#pageB255">255</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its style, <a href="#pageB256">256</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">comparison with Tasso's <i>Aminta</i>, <a + href="#pageB275">275</a>.</span><br /> <br /> GUELF and Ghibelline + contentions: how they ended in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA57">57</a>.<br /> + <br /> GUICCIARDINI, Francesco, i. <a href="#pageA33">33</a>.<br /> <br /> + GUISE, Duke of: his defeat by Alva, i. <a href="#pageA103">103</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his murder, <a href="#pageA129">129</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> GUZMAN, Domenigo de (S. Dominic), founder of the Dominican Order, i. + <a href="#pageA162">162</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> H<br /> <br /> HEGEMONY, + Spanish, economical and social condition of<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Italians under, i. <a href="#pageA50">50</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the evils of, <a href="#pageB61">61</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> HENCHENEOR, Cardinal William, i. <a href="#pageA36">36</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB419" id="pageB419"></a>{419}</span><br /> + HENRI III., favor shown to Giordano Bruno by, ii. <a href="#pageB139">139</a>.<br /> + <br /> HENRI IV., the murder of, i. <a href="#pageA297">297</a>.<br /> <br /> + HENRY VIII.: his divorce from Katharine of Aragon, i. <a href="#pageA44">44</a>.<br /> + <br /> HEROICO-comic poetry, Tassoni's <i>Secchia Rapita</i>,<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the first example of, ii. <a href="#pageB303">303</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> 'HISTORY of the Council of Trent,' Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB222">222</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> HOLY Office, <i>see</i> INQUISITION.<br /> <br /> + HOLY Roman Empire, the, ii. <a href="#pageB393">393</a>.<br /> <br /> + HOMATA, Benedetta, attempted murder of by Gianpaolo Osio, i. <a + href="#pageA323">323</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> HOMICIDE, lax morality of + the Jesuits in regard to, i. <a href="#pageA306">306</a> <i>n.</i><br /> + <br /> HOSIUS, Cardinal, legate at Trent, i. <a href="#pageA118">118</a>.<br /> + <br /> HUMANISM, the work of, ii. <a href="#pageB385">385</a>, <a + href="#pageB391">391</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">what it + involved, <a href="#pageB392">392</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Rationalism, its offspring, <a href="#pageB404">404</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> HUMANITY, the past and future of, ii. <a href="#pageB408">408</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> <br /> I<br /> <br /> IL BORGA, a censor of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, + ii. <a href="#pageB43">43</a>.<br /> <br /> 'IL Candelajo,' Giordano Bruno's + comedy, ii. <a href="#pageB131">131</a>, <a href="#pageB183">183</a>.<br /> + <br /> IL GUERCINO (G.F. Barbieri), Bolognese painter, ii. <a + href="#pageB365">365</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + masterpieces, <a href="#pageB367">367</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'IL PADRE di + Famiglio,' Tasso's Dialogue, ii. <a href="#pageB63">63</a>.<br /> <br /> 'IL + Pentito,' Tasso's name as one of Gli Eterei, ii. <a href="#pageB26">26</a>.<br /> + <br /> INGEGNERI, Antonio, a friend of Tasso, ii. <a href="#pageB64">64</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">publishes the <i>Gerusalemme</i>, <a + href="#pageB71">71</a>.</span><br /> <br /> INDEX Expurgatorius:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its first publication at Venice, i. <a + href="#pageA192">192</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">effects + on the printing trade there, <a href="#pageA193">193</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Index in concert with the Inquisition, + <a href="#pageA194">194</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin + of the Index, <a href="#pageA195">195</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">local lists of prohibited books, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishment of the Congregation of the + Index, <a href="#pageA197">197</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Index of Clement VIII., <a href="#pageA198">198</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its preambles, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">regulations, <a href="#pageB199">199</a> + <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">details of the + censorship and correction of books, <a href="#pageB201">201</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rules as to printers, publishers, and + booksellers, <a href="#pageB203">203</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">responsibility of the Holy Office, <a + href="#pageA204">204</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">annoyances + arising from delays and ignorance on the part of censors, <a + href="#pageB205">205</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">spiteful + delators of charges of heresy, <a href="#pageA207">207</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">extirpation of books, <a href="#pageA208">208</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">proscribed literature, <a href="#pageA209">209</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">garbled works by Vatican students, <a + href="#pageA210">210</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">effect + of the Tridentine decree about the Vulgate, <a href="#pageB212">212</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of the Index on schools and + lecture-rooms, <a href="#pageB213">213</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">decline of humanism, <a href="#pageA218">218</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the statutes on the <i>Ratio Status</i>, + <a href="#pageA220">220</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their + object and effect, <a href="#pageA221">221</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the treatment of lewd and obscene publications, + <a href="#pageA223">223</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">expurgation + of secular books, <a href="#pageA224">224</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + INQUISITION, the, i. <a href="#pageA159">159</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the first germ of the Holy Office, <a + href="#pageA161">161</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">developed + during the crusade against the Albigenses, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">S. Dominic its founder, <a href="#pageA162">162</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">introduced into Lombardy, etc., <a + href="#pageA164">164</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + stigma of heresy, <a href="#pageA165">165</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">three types of Inquisition, <a href="#pageA166">166</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the number of victims, <a href="#pageB166">166</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the crimes of which + it took cognizance, <a href="#pageA167">167</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the methods of the Apostolical Holy Office, <a + href="#pageA168">168</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment + of the New Christians in Castile, <a href="#pageA169">169</a>, <a + href="#pageB171">171</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin + of the Spanish Holy Office, <a href="#pageA170">170</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">opposition of Queen Isabella, <a href="#pageA171">171</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">exodus of New Christians, <a + href="#pageA172">172</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + punishments inflicted, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">futile appeals to Rome, <a href="#pageA173">173</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">constitution of the Inquisition, <a + href="#pageA174">174</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + two most formidable features, <a href="#pageA175">175</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">method of its judicial proceedings, <a + href="#pageA176">176</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + sentence and its execution, <a href="#pageA177">177</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the holocausts and their pageant, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Torquemada's insolence, <a href="#pageA179">179</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the body-guard of the Grand Inquisitor, <a + href="#pageA180">180</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">number + of Torquemada's victims, <a href="#pageA181">181</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">exodus of Moors from Castile, <a href="#pageA182">182</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">victims under Torquemada's successors, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">an Aceldama at Madrid, <a href="#pageA184">184</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Roman Holy Office, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">remodelled by Giov. Paolo Caraffa, <a + href="#pageA185">185</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Acts + of Faith' in Rome, <a href="#pageA186">186</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">numbers of the victims, <a href="#pageA187">187</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in other parts of Italy, <a + href="#pageA188">188</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Venetian Holy Office, <a href="#pageA190">190</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">dependent on</span><br /> the State, <i>ib.</i>;<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB420" id="pageB420"></a>{420}</span> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's dread of the Inquisition, ii. <a + href="#pageB42">42</a>, <a href="#pageB45">45</a>, <a href="#pageB49">49</a>, + <a href="#pageB51">51</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + case of Giordano Bruno, <a href="#pageB134">134</a>, <a href="#pageB157">157</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi denounced + to the Holy Office, <a href="#pageB195">195</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + INTELLECTUAL and social activity in Italian cities, i. <a href="#pageA51">51</a>.<br /> + <br /> INTERDICT of Venice (1606), ii. <a href="#pageB198">198</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the compromise, <a href="#pageB205">205</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> INVASION, wars of, in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA11">11</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> IRON crown, the, sent from Monza to Bologna, i. <a href="#pageA36">36</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'ITALIA Liberata,' Trissino's, ii. <a href="#pageB24">24</a>, <a + href="#pageB303">303</a>.<br /> <br /> ITALIA Unita, ii. <a href="#pageB407">407</a>.<br /> + <br /> ITALY:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its political conditions + in 1494, i. <a href="#pageA2">2</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the five members of its federation, <a + href="#pageA3">3</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">how the + federation was broken up, <a href="#pageA11">11</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the League between Clement VII. and Charles V., + <a href="#pageA31">31</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">review + of the settlement of Italy effected by Emperor</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">and Pope, <a href="#pageB45">45</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">extinction of republics, <a href="#pageA47">47</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">economical and social condition of the + Italians under</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spanish + hegemony, <a href="#pageA48">48</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">intellectual life, <a href="#pageA51">51</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">predominance of Spain and Rome, <a + href="#pageA53">53</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Italian servitude, <a href="#pageA58">58</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the evils of Spanish rule, <a + href="#pageB59">59</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">seven Spanish devils in Italy, <a href="#pageA61">61</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">changes wrought by the + Counter-Reformation, <a href="#pageA64">64</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">criticism and formalism, <a href="#pageA65">65</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">transition from the Renaissance to the + Catholic Revival, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">attitude + of Italians towards the German Reformation, <a href="#pageA71">71</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> <br /> J<br /> <br /> JESUITS, Order of:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its importance in the Counter-Reformation, i. <a + href="#pageA229">229</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Diacatholicon, <a href="#pageA231">231</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">works on the history of the Order, <a + href="#pageA231">231</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sketch of the life of Ignatius Loyola, <a + href="#pageA231">231</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the first foundation of the <i>Exercitia</i>, <a + href="#pageA236">236</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Peter + Faber and Francis Xavier, <a href="#pageA239">239</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the vows taken by Ignatius and his neophytes at + Paris, <a href="#pageB240">240</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their proposed mission to the Holy Land, <a + href="#pageA241">241</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their + visits to Venice and Rome, <a href="#pageA242">242</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the name of the Order, <a href="#pageA244">244</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiations in Rome, <a href="#pageA245">245</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the fourth vow, <a href="#pageA246">246</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the constitutions approved by Paul III., + <a href="#pageA247">247</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Directorium of Lainez, <a href="#pageA249">249</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the original limit of the number of members, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Loyola's administration, <a + href="#pageA250">250</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">asceticism + deprecated, <a href="#pageA251">251</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">worldly wisdom of the founder, <a + href="#pageA253">253</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rapid + spread of the Order, <a href="#pageA254">254</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Collegium Romanum, <a href="#pageA255">255</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Collegium Germanicum, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Order deemed rivals by the Dominicans + in Spain, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">successes + in Portugal, <a href="#pageA256">256</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">difficulties in France, <a href="#pageA257">257</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the Low Countries, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Bavaria and Austria, <a href="#pageA258">258</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Loyola's dictatorship, <a href="#pageA259">259</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his adroitness in managing distinguished + members of his Order, <a href="#pageB260">260</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">statistics of the Jesuits at Loyola's death, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the autocracy of the General, <a + href="#pageA261">261</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jesuit + precepts on obedience, <a href="#pageA263">263</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">addiction to Catholicism, <a + href="#pageA266">266</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + spiritual drill of the <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>, <a href="#pageB267">267</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">materialistic imagination, <a + href="#pageA268">268</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">psychological + adroitness of the method, <a href="#pageA269">269</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">position and treatment of the novice, <a + href="#pageA270">270</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Jesuit Hierarchy, <a href="#pageA271">271</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the General, <a href="#pageA272">272</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">five sworn spies to watch him, <a + href="#pageA273">273</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a + system of espionage through the Order, <a href="#pageA274">274</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">position of a Jesuit, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Black Pope, <a href="#pageA275">275</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the working of the Jesuit vow of poverty, + <a href="#pageA275">275</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">revision of the Constitutions by Lainez, <a + href="#pageA277">277</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + question about the <i>Monita Secreta</i>, <a href="#pageA277">277</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate of the historical importance of + the Jesuits, <a href="#pageA280">280</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their methods of mental tyranny, <a + href="#pageA281">281</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jesuitical + education, <a href="#pageA282">282</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">desire to gain the control of youth, <a + href="#pageA283">283</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their + general aim the aggrandizement of the Order, <a href="#pageB284">284</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of <i>études fortes</i>, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">admixture of + falsehood and truth, <a href="#pageA285">285</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sham learning and sham art, <a href="#pageA286">286</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jesuit morality, <a href="#pageA287">287</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">manipulation of the conscience, <a + href="#pageA288">288</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">casuistical + ethics, <a href="#pageA290">290</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">system of confession and direction, <a + href="#pageA293">293</a>;</span><br /> political intrigues and doctrines, + <a href="#pageA294">294</a> <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB421" id="pageB421"></a>{421}</span> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the theory of the sovereignty of the people, <a + href="#pageA296">296</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jesuit + connection with political plots, <a href="#pageA297">297</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">suspected in regard to the deaths of + Popes, <a href="#pageA298">298</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Order expelled from various countries, <a + href="#pageA299">299</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">relations of Jesuits to Rome, <a href="#pageA299">299</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their lax morality in regard to homicide, + <a href="#pageA306">306</a> <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageB314">314</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">their support of the Interdict of Venice, + ii. <a href="#pageB198">198</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> JEWS, + Spanish, wealth and influence of, i. <a href="#pageA169">169</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">adoption of Christianity, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacked by the Inquisition, <a + href="#pageA170">170</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + edict for their expulsion, <a href="#pageA171">171</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its results, <a href="#pageA172">172</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> JULIUS II.:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">results of his + martial energy, i. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---III., + Pope (Giov. Maria del Monte), i. <a href="#pageA101">101</a>.<br /> <br /> + <br /> K<br /> <br /> KEPLER, high opinion of Bruno's speculations held by, + ii. <a href="#pageB164">164</a>.<br /> <br /> KINGDOMS and States of Italy + in 1494, enumeration of, i. <a href="#pageB3">3</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> L<br /> + <br /> 'LA Cuccagna,' a satire by Marino, ii. <a href="#pageB263">263</a>.<br /> + <br /> LAINEZ, James, associate of Ignatius Loyola, i. <a href="#pageA240">240</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his influence on the development of the + Jesuits, <a href="#pageA248">248</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his commentary on the Constitutions (the + Directorium), <a href="#pageA249">249</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his work in Venice, etc., <a href="#pageA254">254</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">abject submission to Loyola, <a + href="#pageA262">262</a>.</span><br /> <br /> LATERAN, Council of the, i. <a + href="#pageA95">95</a>.<br /> <br /> LATIN and Teutonic factors in European + civilization, ii. <a href="#pageB393">393</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> + LATINI, Latino, on the extirpation of books by the Index, i. <a + href="#pageA208">208</a>.<br /> <br /> LEGATES, Papal, at Trent, i. <a + href="#pageA97">97</a> <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageA119">119</a>.<br /> <br /> + LE JAY, Claude, associate of Ignatius Loyola, i. <a href="#pageA240">240</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as a Jesuit at Ferrara, <a + href="#pageA254">254</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in + Austria. <a href="#pageA258">258</a>.</span><br /> <br /> LEONI, + Giambattista, employed by Sarpi to write against<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Jesuits, ii. <a href="#pageB200">200</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> LEPANTO, battle of, i. <a href="#pageA149">149</a>.<br /> <br /> + LESCHASSIER, Sarpi's letters to, ii. <a href="#pageB229">229</a>, <a + href="#pageB235">235</a>.<br /> <br /> 'LE Sette Giornate,' Tasso's, ii. <a + href="#pageB75">75</a>, <a href="#pageB115">115</a>, <a href="#pageB124">124</a>.<br /> + <br /> LEYVA, Antonio de, at Bologna, i. <a href="#pageA22">22</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Virginia Maria de (the Lady of Monza):<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">birth and parentage, i. <a href="#pageA317">317</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a nun in a convent of the Umiliate, <a + href="#pageA318">318</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her + seduction by Gianpaolo Osio, <a href="#pageA318">318</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">birth of her child, <a href="#pageA321">321</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">murder of her waiting-woman by Osio, <a + href="#pageA322">322</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + intrigue discovered, <a href="#pageA323">323</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">attempted murder by Osio of two of her + associates, <a href="#pageA324">324</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Virginia's punishment and after-life, <a + href="#pageA329">329</a>.</span><br /> <br /> LONDON, Bruno's account of the + life of the people of, ii. <a href="#pageB142">142</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">social life in, <a href="#pageB143">143</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> LORENTE'S History of the Inquisition, cited, <a href="#pageB171">171</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his account of the + number of victims of the Holy Office, i. <a href="#pageA181">181</a>, <a + href="#pageB183">183</a> <i>n.</i></span><br /> <br /> LORRAINE, Cardinal:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his influence in the Council of Trent, i. + <a href="#pageA125">125</a> <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> LO SPAGNOLETTO + (Giuseppe Ribera), Italian Realist painter, ii. <a href="#pageB363">363</a>.<br /> + <br /> LOUISA of Savoy, one of the arrangers of the Paix des Dames, i. <a + href="#pageA16">16</a>.<br /> <br /> LOUIS XII.: his descent into Lombardy, + and its results, i. <a href="#pageA9">9</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">allied with the Austrian Emperor and the King of + Spain, i. <a href="#pageA12">12</a>.</span><br /> <br /> LOYOLA, Ignatius, + founder of the Jesuits:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth and + childhood, i. <a href="#pageA231">231</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his youth and early training, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">illness at Pampeluna, <a href="#pageA232">232</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">pilgrimage to Montserrat, <a + href="#pageA234">234</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">retreat + at Manresa, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + romance and discipline, <a href="#pageA235">235</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">journey to the Holy Land, <a href="#pageA237">237</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his apprenticeship to his future calling, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">imprisoned by the + Inquisition, <a href="#pageA238">238</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">studies theology in Paris, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">gains disciples there, <a href="#pageA239">239</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his methods with them, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">with ten companions takes the vows of + chastity and poverty, <a href="#pageA240">240</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Ignatius at Venice, <a href="#pageA241">241</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relations with Caraffa and the + Theatines, <a href="#pageA242">242</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">in Rome, <a href="#pageB243">243</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the name of the new Order, <a + href="#pageA244">244</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + military organization, <a href="#pageA245">245</a>;</span><br /> the + project favored by Paul III., <i>ib.</i>;<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB422" id="pageB422"></a>{422}</span> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Constitution approved by the Pope, <a + href="#pageA247">247</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + worldly wisdom, <a href="#pageA248">248</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Loyola's creative force, <a href="#pageA249">249</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his administration, <a href="#pageA250">250</a> + <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">dislike of the + common forms of monasticism, <a href="#pageA251">251</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his aims and principles, <a + href="#pageA252">252</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">comparison + with Luther, <a href="#pageA253">253</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">rapid spread of the Order, <a href="#pageA254">254</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">special desire of Ignatius to get a firm + hold on Germany, <a href="#pageB258">258</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his dictatorship, <a href="#pageA259">259</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">adroitness in managing his subordinates, + <a href="#pageA260">260</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">autocratic + administration, <a href="#pageA261">261</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">insistence on the virtue of obedience, <a + href="#pageA263">263</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">devotion + to the Roman Church, <a href="#pageA265">265</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Exercitia Spiritualia</i>, <a + href="#pageA267">267</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Loyola's dislike of asceticism, <a + href="#pageA270">270</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + interpretation of the vow of poverty, <a href="#pageA275">275</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his instructions as to the management of + consciences, <a href="#pageB287">287</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his doctrine on the fear of God, <a + href="#pageA304">304</a> <i>n.</i></span><br /> <br /> LUCERO EL TENEBROSO, + the Spanish Inquisitor, i. <a href="#pageA180">180</a>.<br /> <br /> LUINI'S + picture of S. Catherine, ii. <a href="#pageB360">360</a>.<br /> <br /> + LULLY, Raymond:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his Art of Memory and + Classification of the Sciences,</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">adapted + by Giordano Bruno, ii. <a href="#pageB139">139</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + LUNA, Don Juan de, i. <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> <br /> LUTHER, + Bruno's high estimate of, ii. <a href="#pageB149">149</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to modern civilization, <a + href="#pageB402">402</a>.</span><br /> <br /> LUTHERAN soldiers in Italy, i. + <a href="#pageA44">44</a>.<br /> <br /> LUTHERANISM in Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA185">185</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> M<br /> <br /> MACAULAY, Lord, on + Sarpi's religious opinions, ii. <a href="#pageB227">227</a> <i>n.</i>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique of his survey of the Catholic + Revival, <a href="#pageB400">400</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> MAIN + events in modern history, the, ii. <a href="#pageB383">383</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> MALATESTA, Roberto, leader of bandits in the Papal States, i. <a + href="#pageA152">152</a>.<br /> <br /> MALIPIERO, Alessandro, a friend of + Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB210">210</a>.<br /> <br /> MALVASIA, Count C.C., + writings of, on the Bolognese painters, ii. <a href="#pageB350">350</a> <i>n.</i><br /> + <br /> MANRESA, Ignatius Loyola at, i. <a href="#pageA234">234</a>.<br /> + <br /> MANRIQUE, Thomas, Master of the Sacred Palace, an expurgated<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">edition of the <i>Decamerone</i> issued + by, i. <a href="#pageA224">224</a>.</span><br /> <br /> MANSO, Marquis:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his <i>Life of Tasso</i>, ii. <a + href="#pageB54">54</a>, <a href="#pageB56">56</a>, <a href="#pageB58">58</a>, + <a href="#pageB64">64</a>, <a href="#pageB70">70</a>, <a href="#pageB115">115</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">friend of Marino in his youth, <a + href="#pageB261">261</a>.</span><br /> <br /> MANTUA, raised to the rank of + a duchy, i. <a href="#pageA27">27</a>.<br /> <br /> MANUZIO, Aldo (the + younger), ill-treatment of, in Rome, i. <a href="#pageA217">217</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> + <br /> ---Paolo:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">works produced at his + press in Rome, i. <a href="#pageA220">220</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">a friend of Chiabrera, ii. <a href="#pageB287">287</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> MARCELLUS II., Pope (Marcello Cervini), i. <a href="#pageA97">97</a>, + <a href="#pageA101">101</a>.<br /> <br /> MARGARET of Austria, one of the + arrangers of the Paix des Dames, i. <a href="#pageA16">16</a>.<br /> <br /> + MARIANAZZO, a robber chief, refusal of pardon by, i. <a href="#pageA309">309</a>.<br /> + <br /> MARIGNANO, Marquis of (Gian Giacomo Medici), i. <a href="#pageA109">109</a>, + <a href="#pageA115">115</a>.<br /> <br /> MARINISM, i. <a href="#pageA66">66</a>; + ii. <a href="#pageB299">299</a>, <a href="#pageB302">302</a>.<br /> <br /> + MARINO, Giovanni Battista:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth + and parentage, ii. <a href="#pageB260">260</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">escapades of his youth in Naples, <a + href="#pageB261">261</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at + the Court of Carlo Emanuele, <a href="#pageB262">262</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his life in Turin, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the Court of Maria de'Medici, <a + href="#pageB263">263</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">successful + publication of the <i>Adone</i>, <a href="#pageB264">264</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">return to Naples, <a href="#pageB265">265</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique of the <i>Adone</i>, <a + href="#pageB266">266</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Epic of Voluptuousness, <a href="#pageB268">268</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its effeminate sensuality, <a + href="#pageB268">268</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">cynical hypocrisy, <a href="#pageB270">270</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the character of Adonis, <a + href="#pageB272">272</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">ugliness + and discord, <a href="#pageB273">273</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Marino's poetic gifts, <a href="#pageB274">274</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">great variety of episodes, <a + href="#pageB276">276</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">unity + of theme, <a href="#pageB277">277</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">purity of poetic style rarely attained, <a + href="#pageB279">279</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">false + rhetoric, <a href="#pageB280">280</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Marinism, <a href="#pageB281">281</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">verbal fireworks, <a href="#pageB282">282</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Marino's real inadequacy, <a + href="#pageB285">285</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + <i>Pianto d'Italia</i>, <a href="#pageB286">286</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">comparison of Marino with Chiabrera, <a + href="#pageB296">296</a>.</span><br /> <br /> MARTELLI, Giovan Battista, a + <i>bravo</i> attendant on<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lorenzino + de'Medici, i. <a href="#pageA396">396</a>.</span><br /> <br /> <span + class="pagenum"><a name="pageB423" id="pageB423"></a>{423}</span> + MARTUCCIA, a notorious Roman courtesan, i. <a href="#pageA375">375</a>.<br /> + <br /> MASANIELLO, cause of the rising of, in Naples, i. <a href="#pageA49">49</a>.<br /> + <br /> MASSACRE of S. Bartholomew, i. <a href="#pageA55">55</a>, <a + href="#pageA149">149</a>.<br /> <br /> MASSIMI, Eufrosina (second wife of + Lelio Massimi), the<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">murder of, i. <a + href="#pageA354">354</a> <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> ---Lelio: violent + deaths of the five sons whom he cursed, i. <a href="#pageA355">355</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> + <br /> 'MATERIE Beneficiarie, Delle,' Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB219">219</a>.<br /> + <br /> MAXIMILIAN, Emperor, allied against Venice with Louis XII., i. <a + href="#pageA12">12</a>.<br /> <br /> MAZZOLA, Francesco (Il Parmigianino), + i. <a href="#pageA42">42</a>.<br /> <br /> MEDA, Caterina da (waiting-woman + of Virginia de Leyva), murder of, i. <a href="#pageA322">322</a>.<br /> + <br /> MEDIAEVAL habits, survival of, in Italy in the sixteenth century, i. + <a href="#pageA306">306</a>.<br /> <br /> MEDICI, de', family of:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their advances towards Despotism, i. <a + href="#pageA10">10</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">violent + deaths of members, <a href="#pageA382">382</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">eleven murdered in a half-century, <a + href="#pageA387">387</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Alessandro, Duke of + Florence, i. <a href="#pageA19">19</a>, <a href="#pageA46">46</a>, <a + href="#pageA388">388</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Cosimo, i. <a href="#pageA46">46</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">made Grand Duke of Tuscany, <a + href="#pageA47">47</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Giovanni, i. <a + href="#pageA11">11</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Ippolito, i. <a href="#pageA19">19</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Lorenzino, assassination of his cousin Alessandro<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">(Duke of Florence) by, i. <a href="#pageA388">388</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">details of his own murder, <a + href="#pageA389">389</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> ---Lorenzo, i. <a + href="#pageA10">10</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Maria, the Court of, as Regent of + France, ii. <a href="#pageB263">263</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Piero, i. <a + href="#pageA10">10</a>.<br /> <br /> MEDICI, Gian Giacomo (brother of Pius + IV.), i. <a href="#pageA50">50</a>, <a href="#pageA109">109</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Giovanni Angelo, <i>see</i> PIUS IV.<br /> <br /> ---Margherita + (sister of Pius IV.), mother of Carlo Borromeo, i. <a href="#pageA115">115</a> + <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> MENDOZA, Don Hurtado de, i. <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> + <br /> MERSENNE, evidence of, as to the burning of Giordano Bruno, ii. <a + href="#pageB164">164</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> METAPHYSICAL speculators in + Italy, i. <a href="#pageA73">73</a>.<br /> <br /> METAURUS, the, Tasso's ode + to, ii. <a href="#pageB63">63</a>.<br /> <br /> METEMPSYCHOSIS, Bruno's + doctrine of, ii. <a href="#pageB160">160</a>.<br /> <br /> MEXICO, the early + Jesuits in, i. <a href="#pageA260">260</a>.<br /> <br /> MIANI, Girolamo, + founder of the congregation of the Somascans, i. <a href="#pageA79">79</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relations with Loyola, <a + href="#pageA242">242</a>.</span><br /> <br /> MICANZI, Fulgenzio, <i>see</i> + FULGENZIO, FRA.<br /> <br /> MILAN, Duchy of:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its state in 1494, i. <a href="#pageA8">8</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> MOCENIGO, Giovanni:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + character, ii. <a href="#pageB152">152</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">invites Giordano Bruno to Venice, <a + href="#pageB153">153</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + object of the invitation, <a href="#pageB154">154</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their intercourse, <a href="#pageB155">155</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno denounced to the Inquisition by + Mocenigo, <a href="#pageB157">157</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Luigi, on the + relations between Pius IV. and Cardinal Morone, i. <a href="#pageA110">110</a> + <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> MODENA and Bologna, humors of the conflict between, + ii. <a href="#pageB304">304</a>.<br /> <br /> MONOPOLIES, system of, in + Italy, i. <a href="#pageA49">49</a>.<br /> <br /> MONTALTO, Cardinal, nephew + of Sixtus V., i. <a href="#pageA157">157</a>.<br /> <br /> MONTEBELLO, + Baron, the tale of, i. <a href="#pageA428">428</a>.<br /> <br /> + MONTECATINO, Antonio, an enemy of Tasso at Ferrara, ii. <a href="#pageB48">48</a>, + <a href="#pageB50">50</a>, <a href="#pageB60">60</a>, <a href="#pageB62">62</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his downfall, <a href="#pageB66">66</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> MONTE OLIVETO, the monastery of, Tasso at, ii, <a href="#pageB74">74</a>.<br /> + <br /> MONZA, the Lady of, <i>see</i> LEYVA, VIRGINIA MARIA DE.<br /> <br /> + MORALS, social and domestic, in Italy, effect of the<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Catholic Revival on, i. <a href="#pageA301">301</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">outcome of the + Tridentine decrees, <a href="#pageA302">302</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">hypocrisy and ceremonial observances, <a + href="#pageA303">303</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sufferings + of the lower classes, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">increase of crimes of violence, <a + href="#pageA304">304</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mistrust + between the aristocracy and the <i>bourgeoisie</i>, <a href="#pageA306">306</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">survival of mediaeval habits, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">brigandage, <a href="#pageA307">307</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">criminal procedure, <a href="#pageA308">308</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mutual jealousy of States afforded + security to refugee homicides, <a href="#pageA309">309</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">toleration of outlaws, <a href="#pageA310">310</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Lucchese army of bandits, <a + href="#pageA311">311</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">honorable + murder, <a href="#pageA312">312</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">maintenance of <i>bravi</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + social violence countenanced by the Church, <a href="#pageA314">314</a>;<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB424" id="pageB424"></a>{424}</span> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sexual morality, <a href="#pageA315">315</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">state of convents, <a href="#pageA316">316</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">profligate fanaticism, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">convent intrigues, <a href="#pageA318">318</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> MORATO, Peregrino, letter from Celio + Calcagnini to, i. <a href="#pageA74">74</a>.<br /> <br /> MORNAY, Duplessis, + Sarpi's letters to, ii. <a href="#pageB229">229</a>.<br /> <br /> MORONE, + Cardinal, i. <a href="#pageA26">26</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Papal legate at Trent, <a href="#pageA97">97</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">imprisoned by Paul + IV., <a href="#pageA110">110</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">relations with Pius IV., <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">liberal thinkers among his associates, <a + href="#pageA111">111</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his work in connection with the Council of + Trent, <a href="#pageA127">127</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Girolamo, i. <a + href="#pageA26">26</a>, <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.<br /> <br /> MUNICIPAL + wars, Italian, ii. <a href="#pageB304">304</a>.<br /> <br /> MURDERS in + Italy in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA305">305</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> MURETUS:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his difficulties as a + professor in Rome, i. <a href="#pageA214">214</a>, <a href="#pageB216">216</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> MURTOLA, Gasparo, attempted assassination of the poet Marino by, ii. + <a href="#pageB263">263</a>.<br /> <br /> MUSIC, Italian, decadence of, in + the sixteenth century, ii. <a href="#pageB315">315</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">foreign musicians in Rome, <a href="#pageB316">316</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the contrapuntal style, <a href="#pageB317">317</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">licenses allowed to performers, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the medleys prepared by composers, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">disgraceful condition of Church music, <a + href="#pageB318">318</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">orchestral + <i>ricercari</i>, <a href="#pageB320">320</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Savonarola's opinion of the Church music of his + time, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">musical + aptitude of the people, <a href="#pageB322">322</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">lack of a controlling element of correct taste, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">advent of + Palestrina, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Congregation for the Reform of Music, <a href="#pageB325">325</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rise of the Oratorio, <a href="#pageB334">334</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">music in England in the sixteenth century, + <a href="#pageB338">338</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rise + of the Opera, <a href="#pageB340">340</a>.</span><br /> <br /> MUSICIANS, + Italian, of the seventeenth cenutry, ii. <a href="#pageB243">243</a>.<br /> + <br /> <br /> N<br /> <br /> NAPLES, kingdom of, separated from Sicily, i. <a + href="#pageA4">4</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its extent, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the hands of Spain, <a href="#pageA12">12</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> NASSAU, Count of, i. <a href="#pageA38">38</a>.<br /> <br /> NATURE, + the study of, among Italian philosophers, ii. <a href="#pageB128">128</a>.<br /> + <br /> NEPOTISM, Papal:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Caraffas, + i. <a href="#pageA104">104</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Borromeos, <a href="#pageA115">115</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Ghislieri, <a href="#pageA147">147</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gregory XIII.'s relatives, <a + href="#pageA151">151</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate + of the incomes of Papal nephews, <a href="#pageA156">156</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> + <br /> NEW Christians, the, in Spain, <i>see</i> JEWS.<br /> <br /> NOBILI, + Flaminio de', a censor of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, ii. <a + href="#pageB43">43</a>.<br /> <br /> NOLA, survival of Greek customs in, ii. + <a href="#pageB132">132</a>.<br /> <br /> NOVICES, Jesuit, position of, i. + <a href="#pageA271">271</a>.<br /> <br /> NUNNERIES, state of, in the + sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA315">315</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> + <br /> O<br /> <br /> OMERO, Fuggiguerra, sobriquet chosen by Tasso in his + wanderings, ii. <a href="#pageB64">64</a>.<br /> <br /> OPERA, rise of the, + in Florence, ii. <a href="#pageB341">341</a>.<br /> <br /> ORANGE, Prince + of, leader of the Spanish army in<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + siege of Florence, i. <a href="#pageA18">18</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + ORATORIO (Musical), the:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its origins + in Rome, ii. <a href="#pageB334">334</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ORATORY of + Divine Love, the, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>.<br /> <br /> ORSINI, the, + reduced to submission to the Popes, i. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> <br /> + ---Paolo Giordano (Duke of Bracciano):<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + passion for Vittoria Accoramboni, i. <a href="#pageA358">358</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his gigantic stature and corpulence, <a + href="#pageA359">359</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">poisons + his first wife, <a href="#pageA360">360</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment by Sixtus V., <a href="#pageA363">363</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">secret marriage with Vittoria, <a + href="#pageA364">364</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">renounces + the marriage, <a href="#pageA365">365</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">ratifies the union by public marriage, <a + href="#pageA366">366</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight + from Rome, <i>ib.</i>:</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">death + of the Duke, <a href="#pageA367">367</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Prince + Lodovico:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">procures the murder of + Vittoria Accoramboni and her brother, i. <a href="#pageA368">368</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">siege of his palace, <a href="#pageA370">370</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his violent death, <a href="#pageA371">371</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ---Troilo, lover of the Duchess of Bracciano, i. <a href="#pageA360">360</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">details of his murder by Ambrogio + Tremazzi, <a href="#pageA405">405</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> OSIO, + Gianpaolo:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his intrigue with Virginia + de Leyva, i. <a href="#pageA318">318</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">murders her waiting-woman, <a href="#pageA322">322</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts to murder two other nuns, <a + href="#pageA324">324</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + letter of defence to Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, <a href="#pageB326">326</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">condemned to death and outlawed, <a + href="#pageA327">327</a>;</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB425" id="pageB425"></a>{425}</span> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">terms of the <i>Bando</i>, <a href="#pageA328">328</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his end, <a href="#pageB329">329</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> OSORIO, Don Alvaro, Grand Marshal of Spain, i. <a href="#pageA22">22</a>.<br /> + <br /> OUTLAWRY in Italy in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA307">307</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> OXFORD, Giordano Bruno's reception at, ii. <a + href="#pageB144">144</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> P<br /> <br /> PACHECO, Cardinal, + the foe of the Caraffeschi, i. <a href="#pageA105">105</a>.<br /> <br /> + PADUAN school of scepictism, the, influence of, on Tasso, ii. <a + href="#pageB20">20</a>.<br /> <br /> PAGANELLO, Conte, assassin of Vittoria + Accoramboni, i. <a href="#pageA371">371</a>.<br /> <br /> PAINTING in the + late years of the sixteenth century, ii. <a href="#pageB344">344</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eclecticism, <a href="#pageB345">345</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of the Tridentine Council, <a + href="#pageB347">347</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Mannerists, <a href="#pageB348">348</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Baroccio, <a href="#pageB349">349</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Caracci, <a href="#pageB350">350</a> + <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">studies of the + Bolognese painters, <a href="#pageB352">352</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">academical ideality, <a href="#pageB354">354</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Guido, Albani, Domenichino, <a + href="#pageB355">355</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">criticism of Domenichino's work, <a + href="#pageB359">359</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + Italian Realists, <a href="#pageB363">363</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lo Spada, <a href="#pageB364">364</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Il Guercino, <a href="#pageB365">365</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critical reaction against the Eclectics, + <a href="#pageB368">368</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">fundamental + principles of criticism, <a href="#pageB370">370</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> + <br /> PAIX des Dames, i. <a href="#pageA9">9</a>, <a href="#pageA16">16</a>.<br /> + <br /> PALAZZO Vernio, Academy (musical) of the, ii. <a href="#pageB340">340</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguished composers of its school, <a + href="#pageB341">341</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PALEARIO, Aonio:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his opinion of the Index, i. <a href="#pageA197">197</a>, + <a href="#pageB214">214</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PALESTRINA, Giovanni Pier + Luigi:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth and early musical + training, ii. <a href="#pageB323">323</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">uneventful life of the <i>Princeps Musicae</i>, + <a href="#pageB324">324</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations + with the Congregation for Musical Reform, <a href="#pageB325">325</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the legend and the facts about</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Missa Papae Marcelli</i>, <a + href="#pageB326">326</a> <i>sqq.</i>, <a href="#pageB331">331</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Palestrina's commission, <a + href="#pageB331">331</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + three Masses in competition, <a href="#pageB332">332</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the award by the Congregation and the + Pope, <a href="#pageB334">334</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Palestrina's connection with S. Filippo Neri, <a + href="#pageB334">334</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Arie + Divote</i> composed for the Oratory, <a href="#pageB335">335</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">character of the new music, <a + href="#pageB335">335</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence + of Palestrina on Italian music, <a href="#pageB336">336</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate of the general benefit derived by + music from him, <a href="#pageB337">337</a> <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> + PALLAVICINI, on Paul IV.'s seal for the Holy Office, i. <a href="#pageA107">107</a> + <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> PALLAVICINO, Matteo, murder of, by Marcello + Accoramboni, i. <a href="#pageA358">358</a>.<br /> <br /> PALLIANO, Duchess + of, <i>see</i> CARDONA, VIOLANTE DE.<br /> <br /> ---Duke of (nephew of Paul + IV.), murders committed by, i. <a href="#pageA379">379</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his execution, <a href="#pageA380">380</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> PANCIROLI, Guido, Tasso's master in the study of law, ii. <a + href="#pageB20">20</a>.<br /> <br /> PAPACY, the, its position after the + sack of Rome, i. <a href="#pageA13">13</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">tyranny of, arising from the instinct of + self-preservation, <a href="#pageA54">54</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">dislike of, for General Councils, <a + href="#pageA90">90</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">manipulation + of the Council of Trent, <a href="#pageA97">97</a> <i>sqq.</i>, <a + href="#pageA119">119</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its supremacy founded by that Council, <a + href="#pageA131">131</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">later + policy of the Popes, <a href="#pageA149">149</a> <i>sqq.</i>, <a + href="#pageA226">226</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PAPAL States, the:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their condition in, i. <a href="#pageA5">5</a></span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts to consolidate them into a + kingdom, <a href="#pageA6">6</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PARMA and Piacenza, + creation of the Duchy of, by Paul III., i. <a href="#pageA86">86</a>.<br /> + <br /> PARMA, Duchy of, added to the States of the Church, i. <a + href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> <br /> PARMIGIANINO, Il, painting of Charles V. + by, i. <a href="#pageA42">42</a>.<br /> <br /> PARRASIO, Alessandro, one of + the assassins of Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB212">212</a>.<br /> <br /> + PART-SONGS, French Protestant, influence of, on Palestrina, ii. <a + href="#pageB324">324</a>.<br /> <br /> PASSARI, Pietro, amours of, with the + nuns of S. Chiara, Lucca, i. <a href="#pageA340">340</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> + <br /> 'PASTOR Fido,' Guarini's, critique of, ii. <a href="#pageB252">252</a> + <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> PAUL III., Pope, sends Contarini to the conference + at Rechensburg, i. <a href="#pageA78">78</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a memorial on ecclesiastical abuses, <a + href="#pageA79">79</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes + the Roman Holy Office, <a href="#pageA80">80</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sanctions the Company of Jesus, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his early life and education, <a + href="#pageA81">81</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">love + of splendor, <a href="#pageA82">82</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">peculiarity of his position, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Pope of the transition, <a + href="#pageA84">84</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">jealous + of Spanish ascendency in Italy, <a href="#pageA85">85</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">creates the Duchy of Parma for his son, <a + href="#pageA86">86</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">members of the moderate reforming party made + Cardinals, <a href="#pageB88">88</a>;</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB426" id="pageB426"></a>{426}</span> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his repugnance to a General Council, <a + href="#pageA90">90</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">indiction + of a Council to be held at Trent, <a href="#pageA97">97</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">difficulties of his position, <a + href="#pageA100">100</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + death, <a href="#pageB101">101</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his connection with the founding of the Jesuit + Order, <a href="#pageB245">245</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PAUL IV., Pope, <i>see</i> + CARAFFA, GIOV. PIETRO.<br /> <br /> PAUL V., Pope:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">details of his nepotism, i. <a href="#pageA157">157</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">places Venice under + an interdict, ii. <a href="#pageB198">198</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PAVIA, + the battle of, <a href="#pageB13">13</a>.<br /> <br /> PELLEGRINI, Cammillo, + panegyrist of Tasso, ii. <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.<br /> <br /> PEPERARA, + Laura, Tasso's relations with, ii. <a href="#pageB31">31</a>.<br /> <br /> + PERETTI, Felice (nephew of Sixtus V.), husband of Vittoria<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Accoramboni, i. <a href="#pageA357">357</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his murder, <a href="#pageB358">358</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> PESCARA, Marquis of, husband of Vittoria Colonna, i. <a + href="#pageA25">25</a>.<br /> <br /> 'PESTE di S. Carlo, La,' i. <a + href="#pageA421">421</a>.<br /> <br /> 'PETRARCA, Considerazioni sopra le + Rime, del,' Tassoni's, ii. <a href="#pageB298">298</a>, <a href="#pageB300">300</a>.<br /> + <br /> PETRONI, Lucrezia, second wife of Francesco Cenci, i. <a + href="#pageA348">348</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> PETRONIO, S., Bologna, + reception of Charles V. by Clement VII. at, i. <a href="#pageA23">23</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Emperor's coronation at, <a + href="#pageA37">37</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> PETRUCCI, Pandolfo, + seduction of two sons of, by the Jesuits, i. <a href="#pageA284">284</a>.<br /> + <br /> PHILIP II. of Spain:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + quarrel with Paul IV., i. <a href="#pageA102">102</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the reconciliation, <a href="#pageA104">104</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> PHILOSOPHERS of Southern Italy in the sixteenth century, ii. <a + href="#pageB126">126</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> PIACENZA, added to the + States of the Church, i. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> <br /> PICCOLOMINI, + Alfonso, leader of bandits in the Papal States, i. <a href="#pageA152">152</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'PIETRO Soave Polano,' anagram of 'Paolo Sarpi Veneto,' ii. <a + href="#pageB223">223</a>.<br /> <br /> PIGNA (secretary to the Duke of + Ferrara), a rival of Tasso, ii. <a href="#pageB34">34</a>, <a + href="#pageB45">45</a>, <a href="#pageB48">48</a>.<br /> <br /> PINDAR, the + professed model of Chiabrera's poetry, ii. <a href="#pageB291">291</a>, <a + href="#pageB294">294</a>.<br /> <br /> PIRATES, raids of, on Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA417">417</a>.<br /> <br /> PISA, first Council of, i. <a + href="#pageA92">92</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the second, + <a href="#pageB95">95</a>.</span><br /> <br /> PIUS IV., Pope (Giov. Angelo + Medici):<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his parentage, i. <a + href="#pageA109">109</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Caraffa's + antipathy to him, <a href="#pageA110">110</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">makes Cardinal Morone his counsellor, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiations with the autocrats of Europe, + <a href="#pageA111">111</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + diplomatic character, <a href="#pageA112">112</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Tridentine decrees, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">keen insight into the political conditions + of his time, <a href="#pageB113">113</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">independent spirit, <a href="#pageA115">115</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of his relatives, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his brother's death helped him to the + Papacy, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + felicity of his life, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the religious condition of Northern Europe in + his reign, <a href="#pageB117">117</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">re-opening of the Council of Trent, <a + href="#pageA119">119</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + management of the difficulties connected with the Council, <a + href="#pageB127">127</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">use of cajoleries and menaces, <a + href="#pageA129">129</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">success + of the Pope's plans, <a href="#pageA130">130</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his Bull of ratification of the Tridentine + decrees, <a href="#pageB131">131</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his last days, <a href="#pageA132">132</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate of the work of his reign, <a + href="#pageA133">133</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his lack of generosity, <a href="#pageA142">142</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">coldness in religious exercises, <a + href="#pageA144">144</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">love + of ease and good companions, <a href="#pageA147">147</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> PIUS V., Pope (Michele Ghislieri):<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his election, i. <a href="#pageA137">137</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of Carlo Borromeo on him, <a + href="#pageA137">137</a>, <a href="#pageB145">145</a>, <a href="#pageA147">147</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascetic virtues, <a href="#pageA145">145</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">zeal for the Holy Office, <a + href="#pageA145">145</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">edict + for the expulsion of prostitutes from Rome, <a href="#pageA146">146</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his exercise of the Papal Supremacy, <a + href="#pageA148">148</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + Tridentine Profession of Faith, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">advocates rigid uniformity, <a href="#pageA148">148</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">promotes attacks on Protestants, <i>ib.</i></span><br /> + <br /> PLAGUES:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Venice, i. <a + href="#pageA418">418</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at + Naples and in Savoy, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">statistics of the mortality, <a href="#pageA418">418</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">disease supposed to + be wilfully spread by malefactors, <a href="#pageB420">420</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> POETRY, Heroic, the problem of creating, in Italy, ii. <a + href="#pageB80">80</a>.<br /> <br /> POLAND, the crown of, sought by Italian + princes, ii. <a href="#pageB246">246</a>.<br /> <br /> POLE, Cardinal + Reginald, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Papal legate at Trent, <a href="#pageA97">97</a> + <i>n.</i></span><br /> <br /> POMA, Ridolfo, one of the assassins of Sarpi, + ii. <a href="#pageB212">212</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB427" id="pageB427"></a>{427}</span><br /> POMPONIUS LAETUS, the + teacher of Paul III., i. <a href="#pageA81">81</a>, <a href="#pageA82">82</a>.<br /> + <br /> POPULAR melodies employed in Church music in the<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sixteenth century, ii. <a href="#pageB318">318</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> PORTRAIT of Charles V. by Titian, i. <a href="#pageA42">42</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'PRESS, Discourse upon the,' Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB220">220</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'PRINCEPS Musicae,' the title inscribed on Palestrina's tomb, ii. <a + href="#pageB325">325</a>.<br /> <br /> PRINTING:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">effects of the Index Expurgatorius on the trade + in Venice, i. <a href="#pageA192">192</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">firms denounced by name by Paul IV., <a + href="#pageA198">198</a>, <a href="#pageA208">208</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + PROFESSED of three and of four vows (Jesuit grades), i. <a href="#pageA271">271</a> + <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> PROLETARIATE, the Italian, social morality of in the<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA224">224</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> PROSTITUTES, Roman, expulsion of by Pius V., + i. <a href="#pageA146">146</a>.<br /> <br /> PROTESTANT Churches in Italy, + persecution of, i. <a href="#pageA186">186</a>.<br /> <br /> PROTESTANTISM + in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA71">71</a>.<br /> <br /> PROVINCES, Jesuit, + enumeration of the, i. <a href="#pageA161">161</a>.<br /> <br /> PUNCTILIO + in the Sei Cento, ii. <a href="#pageB288">288</a>.<br /> <br /> PURISTS, + Tuscan, Tassoni's ridicule of, ii. <a href="#pageB308">308</a>.<br /> <br /> + PUTEO, Cardinal, legate at Trent, i. <a href="#pageA119">119</a>.<br /> + <br /> <br /> Q<br /> <br /> QUEMADERO, the Inquisition's place of punishment + at Seville, i. <a href="#pageA178">178</a>.<br /> <br /> QUENTIN, S., battle + of, i. <a href="#pageA103">103</a>.<br /> <br /> QUERRO, Msgr., an associate + of the Cenci family, i. <a href="#pageA349">349</a>, <a href="#pageA350">350</a>, + <a href="#pageA352">352</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> R<br /> <br /> 'RAGGUAGLI di + Parnaso,' Boccalini's, ii. <a href="#pageB313">313</a>.<br /> <br /> + RANGONI, the, friends of Tasso and of his father, ii. <a href="#pageB6">6</a>, + <a href="#pageB23">23</a>.<br /> <br /> 'RATIO Status,' statutes of the + Index on the, i. <a href="#pageA220">220</a>.<br /> <br /> RATIONALISM, the + real offspring of Humanism, ii. <a href="#pageB404">404</a>.<br /> <br /> + RAVENNA, exarchate of, i. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> <br /> REALISTS, + Italian school of painters, ii. <a href="#pageB363">363</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> RECHENSBURG, the conference at, i. <a href="#pageA78">78</a>, 88<br /> + <br /> 'RECITATIVO,' Claudio Monteverde the pioneer of, ii. <a + href="#pageB341">341</a>.<br /> <br /> REFORMATION, the: position of + Italians towards its doctrines, i. <a href="#pageA72">72</a>.<br /> <br /> + REFORMING theologians in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> + <br /> RELIGIOUS Orders, new, foundation of, in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA79">79</a> + <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> RELIGIOUS spirit of the Italian Church in the + sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageA71">71</a>.<br /> <br /> RENAISSANCE + and Reformation: the impulses of both<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">simultaneously + received by England, ii. <a href="#pageB388">388</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + RENÉE of France, Duchess of Ferrara, i. <a href="#pageA77">77</a>.<br /> + <br /> RENI, Guido, Bolognese painter, ii. <a href="#pageB355">355</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his masterpieces, <a href="#pageB358">358</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> REPUBLICAN governments in Italy, i. <a href="#pageA5">5</a>.<br /> + <br /> RETROSPECT over the Renaissance, ii. <a href="#pageB389">389</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> REYNOLDS, Sir Joshua, admiration of, for the Bolognese<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">painters, ii. <a href="#pageB359">359</a>, <a + href="#pageB375">375</a>.</span><br /> <br /> RIBERA, Giuseppe, <i>see</i> + LO SPAGNOLETTO.<br /> <br /> RICEI, Ottavia, attempted murder of, by + Gianpaolo Osio, i. <a href="#pageA323">323</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> + 'RICERCARI,' employment of, in Italian music, ii. <a href="#pageB343">343</a>.<br /> + <br /> RINALDO, Tasso's, first appearance of, ii. <a href="#pageB22">22</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its preface, <a href="#pageB82">82</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its subject-matter, <a href="#pageB84">84</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its religious motive, <a href="#pageB86">86</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its style, <a href="#pageB86">86</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> + <br /> RODRIGUEZ d'Azevedo, Simon, associate of Ignatius Loyola, i. <a + href="#pageA240">240</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as + a Jesuit in Portugal, <a href="#pageA256">256</a>, <a href="#pageB262">262</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ROMAN University, the, degraded condition of, in the sixteenth<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">century, i. <a href="#pageA216">216</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ROME, fluctuating population of, i. <a href="#pageA137">137</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">eleemosynary paupers, <a href="#pageA139">139</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">reform of Roman manners after the Council + of Trent, <a href="#pageA141">141</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">expulsion of prostitutes, <a href="#pageA146">146</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Roman society in Gregory XIII.'s reign, <a + href="#pageA152">152</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + headquarters of Catholicism, ii. <a href="#pageA397">397</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations with the Counter-Reformation, <a + href="#pageA398">398</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + complicated correlation of Italians with Papal Rome, <a href="#pageA399">399</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the capital of a regenerated people, <a + href="#pageA408">408</a>.</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB428" id="pageB428"></a>{428}</span><br /> RONDINELLI, Ercole, + Tasso's instructions to, in regard to his MSS., ii. <a href="#pageB35">35</a>.<br /> + <br /> ROSSI, Bastiano de', a critic of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, + ii. <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Porzia de' (mother of + Torquato Tasso):<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her parentage, ii. + <a href="#pageB5">5</a>, <a href="#pageB7">7</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">her marriage, <a href="#pageB7">7</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, probably by poison, <a + href="#pageB9">9</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">her + character, <a href="#pageB12">12</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Torquato's love for her, <a href="#pageB15">15</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> ---Vittorio de':<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + description of the ill-treatment of Aldo Manuzio in Rome, i. <a + href="#pageA217">217</a> <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> ROVERE, Francesco + della (Duke of Urbino), account of, i. <a href="#pageA36">36</a>.<br /> + <br /> RUBBIERA, a fief of the Empire, i. <a href="#pageA40">40</a>.<br /> + <br /> RUSKIN, Mr., on the cause of the decline of Venice, i. <a + href="#pageA423">423</a> <i>n.</i>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">invectives + of, against Domenichino's work, ii. <a href="#pageB359">359</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> <br /> S<br /> <br /> SACRED Palace, the Master of the:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">censor of books in Rome, i. <a href="#pageA201">201</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> SALMERON, Alfonzo, associate of Ignatius Loyola, i. <a + href="#pageA240">240</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Naples + and Sicily, <a href="#pageA254">254</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SALUZZO ceded + to Savoy, i. <a href="#pageA56">56</a>.<br /> <br /> SALVIATI, Leonardo, a + critic of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, ii. <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.<br /> + <br /> SAMMINIATI, Tommaso, intrigue and correspondence of, with<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Sister Umilia (Lucrezia Buonvisi), i. <a + href="#pageA341">341</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">banished from Lucca, <a href="#pageA344">344</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> S. ANNA, the hospital of, Tasso's confinement at, ii. <a + href="#pageB66">66</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> SAN BENITO, the costume of + persons condemned by the Inquisition, i. <a href="#pageA177">177</a>.<br /> + <br /> SANSEVERINO, Amerigo, a friend of Bernardo Tasso, ii. <a + href="#pageB14">14</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Ferrante di, Prince of Salerno, i. + <a href="#pageA38">38</a>; ii. <a href="#pageB6">6</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> SANTA CROCE, Ersilia di, first wife of Francesco Cenci, i. <a + href="#pageA347">347</a>.<br /> <br /> SANVITALE, Eleonora, Tasso's + love-affair with, ii. <a href="#pageB48">48</a>.<br /> <br /> SARDINIA, the + island of, a Spanish province, i. <a href="#pageA45">45</a>.<br /> <br /> + SARPI, Fra Paolo:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth and + parentage, ii. <a href="#pageB185">185</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his position in the history of Venice, <a + href="#pageB186">186</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + physical constitution, <a href="#pageB189">189</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">moral temperament, <a href="#pageB190">190</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mental perspicacity, <a href="#pageB191">191</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">discoveries in magnetism and optics, <a + href="#pageB192">192</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">studies + and conversation, <a href="#pageB193">193</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">early entry into the Order of the Servites, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his English type of character, <a + href="#pageB194">194</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">denounced + to the Inquisition, <a href="#pageB195">195</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his independent attitude, <a href="#pageB196">196</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his great love for Venice, <a + href="#pageB197">197</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + interdict of 1606, href='#pageB198'>198 <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's defence of Venice against the Jesuits, + <a href="#pageB199">199</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">pamphlet warfare, <a href="#pageB201">201</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">importance of this episode, <a + href="#pageB202">202</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's + theory of Church and State, <a href="#pageB203">203</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">boldness of his views, <a href="#pageB205">205</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">compromise of the quarrel of the + interdict, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's + relations with Fra Fulgenzio, <a href="#pageB207">207</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi warned by Schoppe of danger to his + life, <a href="#pageB208">208</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">attacked by assassins, <a href="#pageB209">209</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Stilus Romanae Curiae</i>, <a + href="#pageB211">211</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">history + of the assassins, <a href="#pageB212">212</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">complicity of the Papal Court, <a + href="#pageB213">213</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">other + attempts on Sarpi's life, <a href="#pageB214">214</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his opinion of the instigators, <a + href="#pageB216">216</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + so called heresy, <a href="#pageB218">218</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as Theologian to the Republic, <a + href="#pageB219">219</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + minor writings, <a href="#pageB221">221</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his opposition to Papal Supremacy, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>History of the Council of Trent</i>, + <a href="#pageB222">222</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + sources, <a href="#pageB223">223</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its argument, <a href="#pageB224">224</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">deformation, not reformation, wrought by + the Council, <a href="#pageB225">225</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's impartiality, <a href="#pageB226">226</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">was Sarpi a Protestant? <a href="#pageB228">228</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his religious opinions, <a href="#pageB229">229</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">views on the possibility of uniting + Christendom, <a href="#pageB230">230</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">hostility to ultra-papal Catholicism, <a + href="#pageB231">231</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique + of Jesuitry, <a href="#pageB233">233</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">of ultramontane education, <a href="#pageB235">235</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Tridentine Seminaries, <a + href="#pageB235">235</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's + dread lest Europe should succumb to Rome, <a href="#pageB237">237</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his last days, <a href="#pageB238">238</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death contrasted with that of Giordano + Bruno, <a href="#pageB239">239</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his creed, <a href="#pageB239">239</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi a Christian Stoic, <a + href="#pageB240">240</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SARPI, citations from his + writings, on the Papal<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">interpretation + of the Tridentine decrees, i. <a href="#pageA131">131</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">details of the nepotism of the Popes, <a + href="#pageA156">156</a> <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageB157">157</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + denunciation of the Index, <a href="#pageB197">197</a> <i>n.</i>, <a + href="#pageA206">206</a>, <a href="#pageB208">208</a> <i>n.</i>;<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB429" id="pageB429"></a>{429}</span> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the revival of polite learning, <a + href="#pageA215">215</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on + the political philosophy of the statutes of the Index, <a href="#pageB221">221</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the Inquisition rules regarding + emigrants from Italy, <a href="#pageB227">227</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his invention of the name 'Diacatholicon,' + <a href="#pageA231">231</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on + the deflection of Jesuitry from Loyola's spirit and intention, <a + href="#pageB248">248</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on + the secret statutes of the Jesuits, <a href="#pageA278">278</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">denunciations of Jesuit morality, <a + href="#pageA289">289</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">on the murder of Henri IV., <a href="#pageA297">297</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the instigators + of the attempts on his own life, ii. <a href="#pageB215">215</a> <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the attitude of the Roman Court towards + murder, <a href="#pageB216">216</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">on the literary polemics of James I., <a + href="#pageA229">229</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on + Jesuit education and the Tridentine Seminaries, <a href="#pageB237">237</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> SAVONAROLA'S opinion of the Church music of his time, ii. <a + href="#pageB320">320</a> <i>n.</i><br /> <br /> SAVOY, the house of:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its connection with important events in + Italy, i. <a href="#pageA16">16</a> <i>n.</i>, <a href="#pageB38">38</a>, + <a href="#pageA56">56</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes + an Italian dynasty, <a href="#pageA58">58</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'SCHERNO + DEGLI DEI,' Bracciolini's, ii. <a href="#pageB313">313</a>.<br /> <br /> + SCHOLASTICS (Jesuit grade), i. <a href="#pageA271">271</a>.<br /> <br /> + SCHOPPE (Scioppius), Gaspar:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">sketch + of his career, ii. <a href="#pageB165">165</a>, <a href="#pageB208">208</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his account of Bruno's heterodox opinions, + <a href="#pageB166">166</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">description + of the last hours of Bruno, <a href="#pageB167">167</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + 'SECCHIA RAPITA, LA,' Tassoni's, ii. <a href="#pageB301">301</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> + <br /> SECONDARY writers of the Sei Cento, ii. <a href="#pageB313">313</a>.<br /> + <br /> SEI CENTO, the, decline of culture in Italy in, ii. <a + href="#pageB242">242</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + musicians, <a href="#pageB243">243</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SEMINARIES, + Tridentine, ii. <a href="#pageB235">235</a>.<br /> <br /> SERIPANDO, + Cardinal, legate at Trent, i. <a href="#pageA118">118</a>.<br /> <br /> + SERSALE, Alessandro and Antonio, Tasso's nephews, ii. <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Cornelia (sister of Tasso), ii. <a href="#pageB7">7</a>, <a + href="#pageB9">9</a>, <a href="#pageB15">15</a> <i>sq.</i>, <a + href="#pageB55">55</a>, <a href="#pageB64">64</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">her children, <a href="#pageB72">72</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> SERVITES, General of the, complicity of, in the attempts on<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sarpi's life, ii. <a href="#pageB214">214</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> SETTLEMENT of Italy effected by Charles V. and Clement VII.,<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">net results of, i. <a href="#pageA45">45</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> 'SEVEN Liberal Arts, On the,' a lost + treatise by Giordano<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bruno, ii. <a + href="#pageB156">156</a>, <a href="#pageB182">182</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + SFORZA, Francesco Maria, his relations with Charles V., i. <a + href="#pageA28">28</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Lodovico (Il Moro, ruler of Milan), + invites Charles VIII.<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">into Italy, i. + <a href="#pageA8">8</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SICILY, separated from Naples, + i. <a href="#pageA4">4</a>.<br /> <br /> SIENA, republic of, subdued by + Florence, i. <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> <br /> 'SIGNS of the Times, + The,' a lost work by Giordano Bruno, ii. <a href="#pageB136">136</a>.<br /> + <br /> SIGONIUS: his <i>History of Bologna</i> blocked by the Index, i. <a + href="#pageA207">207</a>.<br /> <br /> SIMONETA, Cardinal, legate at Trent, + i. <a href="#pageA118">118</a>, <a href="#pageA118">121</a>.<br /> <br /> + SIXTUS V., Pope:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">short-sighted + hoarding of treasure by, i. <a href="#pageA153">153</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his enactments against brigandage, <a + href="#pageA152">152</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">accumulation + of Papal revenues, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">public + works, <a href="#pageA153">153</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">animosity against pagan art, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">works on and about S. Peter's, <a + href="#pageA154">154</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">methods + of increasing revenue, <a href="#pageA155">155</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">nepotism, <a href="#pageB157">157</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">development of the Papacy in his reign, <a + href="#pageA158">158</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + death predicted by Bellarmino, <a href="#pageA298">298</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his behavior after the murder of his + nephew (Felice Peretti), <a href="#pageA362">362</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + SODERINI, Alessandro, assassinated together with his nephew<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Lorenzino de'Medici, i. <a href="#pageA398">398</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> SOLIMAN, Paul IV.'s negotiations with, i. <a href="#pageA103">103</a>.<br /> + <br /> SOMASCAN Fathers, Congregation of the, i. <a href="#pageA79">79</a>.<br /> + <br /> S. ONOFRIO, Tasso's death at, ii. <a href="#pageB78">78</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the mask of his face at, <a + href="#pageB116">116</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SORANZO, on the character of + Pius IV., i. <a href="#pageA111">111</a> <i>n.</i>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">on Carlo Borromeo, <a href="#pageA116">116</a> + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the changes in + Roman society in 1565, <a href="#pageA143">143</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + 'SPACCIO della Bestia Trionfante, Lo,' Giordano Bruno's,<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">ii. <a href="#pageB132">132</a> <i>n.</i>, <a + href="#pageB140">140</a>, <a href="#pageB165">165</a>, <a href="#pageB183">183</a> + <i>sq.</i></span><br /> <br /> SPADA, Lionello, Bolognese painter, ii. <a + href="#pageB364">364</a>.<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a name="pageB430" + id="pageB430"></a>{430}</span><br /> SPAIN:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its position in Italy after the battle of Pavia, + i. <a href="#pageB14">14</a>.</span><br /> <br /> SPANIARDS of the sixteenth + century, character of, i. <a href="#pageA59">59</a>.<br /> <br /> SPERONI, + Sperone:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his criticism of Tasso's <i>Gerusalemme</i>, + ii. <a href="#pageB44">44</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">a + friend of Chiabrera, <a href="#pageB287">287</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + SPHERE, the, Giordano Bruno's doctrine of, ii. <a href="#pageB135">135</a>, + <a href="#pageB144">144</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> STENDHAL, De (Henri + Beyle):<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his <i>Chroniques et + Nouvelles</i> cited:</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 2em;">on the + Cenci, i. <a href="#pageA351">351</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 2em;">the Duchess of Palliano, <a href="#pageA373">373</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> STERILITY of Protestantism, ii. <a href="#pageB401">401</a>.<br /> + <br /> STROZZI, Filippo, i. <a href="#pageA46">46</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Piero, + i. <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> T<br /> <br /> TASSO, + Bernardo (father of Torquato), i. <a href="#pageA38">38</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth and parentage, ii. <a href="#pageA5">5</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Amadigi</i>, <a href="#pageB7">7</a>, + <a href="#pageA11">11</a>, <a href="#pageB18">18</a>, <a href="#pageA35">35</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his youth and marriage, <a href="#pageA7">7</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">misfortunes, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">exile and poverty, <a href="#pageA8">8</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of his wife, <a href="#pageA9">9</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#pageB10">10</a>, <a + href="#pageA35">35</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + character, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his <i>Floridante</i>, + <a href="#pageA35">35</a>.</span><br /> <br /> ---Christoforo (cousin of + Torquato), ii. <a href="#pageB14">14</a>.<br /> <br /> ---Torquato:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to his epoch, ii. <a + href="#pageB2">2</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">to the + influences of Italian decadence, <a href="#pageB4">4</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his father's position, <a href="#pageB6">6</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Torquato's birth, <a href="#pageB7">7</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the death of his mother, <a href="#pageB9">9</a>, + <a href="#pageB15">15</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">what + Tasso inherited from his father, <a href="#pageB11">11</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bernardo's treatment of his son, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's precocity as a child, <a + href="#pageB12">12</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + early teachers, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">pious + ecstasy in his ninth year, <a href="#pageB13">13</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">with his father in Rome, <a href="#pageB14">14</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his first extant letter, <a href="#pageB15">15</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his education, <a href="#pageB16">16</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">with his father at the Court of Urbino, <a + href="#pageB17">17</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mode + of life here, <a href="#pageB18">18</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">acquires familiarity with Virgil, <a + href="#pageB19">19</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">studies + and annotates the <i>Divina Commedia</i>, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">metaphysical studies and religious doubts, <a + href="#pageB20">20</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">reaction, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the appearance of + the <i>Rinaldo</i>, <a href="#pageB21">21</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">leaves Padua for Bologna, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dialogues on the Art of Poetry, <a + href="#pageB22">22</a>, <a href="#pageB24">24</a>, <a href="#pageB26">26</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight to Modena, <a href="#pageB22">22</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">speculations upon Poetry, <a + href="#pageB23">23</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's + theory of the Epic, <a href="#pageB24">24</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">he joins the Academy 'Gli Eterei' at Padua, as + 'Il Pentito,' <a href="#pageB26">26</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">enters the service of Luigi d'Este, <a + href="#pageB27">27</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">life + at the Court of Ferrara, <a href="#pageB28">28</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's love-affairs, <a href="#pageB31">31</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the problem of his relations with Leonora + and Lucrezia</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">d'Este, <a + href="#pageB32">32</a> <i>sqq.</i>, <a href="#pageB48">48</a>, <a + href="#pageB51">51</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">quarrel + with Pigna, <a href="#pageB34">34</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his want of tact, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">edits his <i>Floridante</i>, <a href="#pageB35">35</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">visit to Paris, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Gottifredo</i> (<i>Gerusalemme + Liberata</i>), <a href="#pageB35">35</a>, <a href="#pageB38">38</a>, <a + href="#pageB42">42</a>, <a href="#pageB48">48</a>, <a href="#pageB50">50</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his instructions to Rondinelli, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">life at the Court of Charles IX., <a + href="#pageB36">36</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rupture + with Luigi d'Este, <a href="#pageB38">38</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">enters the service of Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, + <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">renewed relations + with Leonora, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">production + and success of <i>Aminta</i>, <a href="#pageB39">39</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">relations with Lucrezia d'Este (Duchess of + Urbino), <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + letters to Leonora, <a href="#pageB41">41</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his triumphant career, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">submits the <i>Gerusalemme</i> to seven + censors, <a href="#pageB43">43</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">their criticisms, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">literary annoyances, <a href="#pageB44">44</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">discontent with Ferrara, <a href="#pageB45">45</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's sense of his importance, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the beginning of his ruin, <a + href="#pageB46">46</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">he + courts the Medici, <a href="#pageB47">47</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">action of his enemies at Ferrara, <a + href="#pageB48">48</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">doubts + as to his sanity, <a href="#pageB49">49</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his dread of the Inquisition, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">persecution by the courtiers, <a + href="#pageB50">50</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">revelation + of his love affairs by Maddalò de'Frecci, <a href="#pageB51">51</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso's fear of being poisoned, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">outbreak of mental malady, <a + href="#pageB52">52</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">temporary + imprisonment, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate + of the hypothesis that Tasso feigned madness, <a href="#pageB53">53</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his escape from the Convent of S. Francis, + <a href="#pageB54">54</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">with + his sister at Sorrento, <a href="#pageB55">55</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">hankering after Ferrara, <a href="#pageB56">56</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attachment to the House of Este, <a + href="#pageB57">57</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">terms + on which he is received back, <a href="#pageB58">58</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">second flight from Ferrara, <a href="#pageB61">61</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Venice, Urbino, Turin, <a + href="#pageB63">63</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Omero + Fuggiguerra,' <a href="#pageB64">64</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">recall to Ferrara, <a href="#pageB65">65</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">imprisoned at S. Anna, <a href="#pageB66">66</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">reasons for his arrest, <a href="#pageB67">67</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">nature of his malady, <a href="#pageB69">69</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">life in the hospital, <a href="#pageB71">71</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">release and wanderings, <a href="#pageB73">73</a>;</span><br /> + the <i>Torrismondo</i>, <i>ib.</i>;<br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB431" id="pageB431"></a>{431}</span> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">work on the <i>Gerusalemme Conquistata</i> and</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Sette Giornate</i>, <a + href="#pageB75">75</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">last + years at Naples and Rome, <a href="#pageB76">76</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">at S. Onofrio, <a href="#pageB76">76</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#pageB78">78</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">imaginary Tassos, <a href="#pageB79">79</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">condition of romantic and heroic poetry in + Tasso's youth, <a href="#pageB80">80</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his first essay in poetry, <a href="#pageB81">81</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the preface to <i>Rinaldo</i>, <a + href="#pageB82">82</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">subject-matter + of the poem, <a href="#pageB84">84</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its religious motive, <a href="#pageB86">86</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Latinity of diction, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">weak points of style, <a href="#pageB88">88</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">lyrism and idyll, <a href="#pageB89">89</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">subject of the <i>Gerusalemme Liberata</i>, + <a href="#pageB92">92</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its + romance, <a href="#pageB94">94</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">imitation of Virgil, <a href="#pageB97">97</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Dante, <a href="#pageB97">97</a>, <a + href="#pageB99">99</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">rhetorical + artificiality, <a href="#pageB100">100</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sonorous verses, <a href="#pageB101">101</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">oratorical dexterity, <a href="#pageB102">102</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">similes and metaphors, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">majestic simplicity, <a href="#pageB104">104</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the heroine, <a href="#pageB106">106</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso, the poet of Sentiment, <a + href="#pageB108">108</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + <i>Non so che</i>, <a href="#pageB109">109</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sofronia, Erminia, Clorinda, <a + href="#pageB109">109</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the Dialogues and the tragedy <i>Torrismondo</i>, + <a href="#pageB113">113</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + <i>Gerusalemme Conquistata</i> and</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Le Sette Giornate</i>, <a href="#pageB115">115</a>, + <a href="#pageB124">124</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">personal + appearance of Tasso, <a href="#pageB115">115</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">general survey of his character, <a + href="#pageB116">116</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to his age, <a href="#pageB120">120</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his mental attitude, <a href="#pageB122">122</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his native genius, <a href="#pageB124">124</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> TASSONI, Alessandro:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his birth, + ii. <a href="#pageB297">297</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment by Carlo Emmanuele, <a href="#pageB298">298</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his independent spirit, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">aim at originality of thought, <a + href="#pageB299">299</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + criticism of Dante and Petrarch, <a href="#pageB300">300</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>:</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">its origin and motive, <a href="#pageB301">301</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">its circulation in manuscript copies, <a + href="#pageB302">302</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tassoni + the inventor of heroico-comic poetry, <a href="#pageB303">303</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">humor and sarcasm in Italian municipal + wars, <a href="#pageB304">304</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">the episode of the Bolognese bucket, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">irony of the <i>Secchia Rapita</i>, <a + href="#pageB306">306</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">method + of Tassoni's art, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">ridicule + of contemporary poets, <a href="#pageB307">307</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">satire and parody, <a href="#pageB308">308</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">French imitators of Tasso, <a + href="#pageB310">310</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">episodes + of pure poetry, <a href="#pageB311">311</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sustained antithesis between poetry and + melodiously-worded slang, <a href="#pageB312">312</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Tassoni's rank as a literary artist, <i>ib.</i></span><br /> + <br /> TAXATION, the methods of, adopted by Spanish Viceroys in Italy, i. + <a href="#pageB49">49</a>.<br /> <br /> TENEBROSI, the (school of painters), + ii. <a href="#pageB365">365</a>.<br /> <br /> TESTI, Fulvio, Modenese poet, + ii. <a href="#pageB314">314</a>.<br /> <br /> TEUTONIC tribes, relations of + with the Italians, ii. <a href="#pageB393">393</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">unreconciled antagonisms, <a href="#pageB394">394</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">divergence, <a href="#pageB395">395</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Church, the battle-field of + Renaissance and Reformation, <a href="#pageB395">395</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> THEATINES, foundation of the Order of, i. <a href="#pageA79">79</a>.<br /> + <br /> THEORY, Italian love of, in Tasso's time, ii. <a href="#pageB25">25</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">critique of Tasso's theory of poetry, <a + href="#pageB26">26</a>, <a href="#pageB42">42</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + THIENE, Gaetano di, founder of the Theatines, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>.<br /> + <br /> THIRTY Divine Attributes, Bruno's doctrine of, ii. <a + href="#pageB139">139</a>.<br /> <br /> TINTORETTO'S picture of S. Agnes, ii. + <a href="#pageB361">361</a>.<br /> <br /> TITIAN, portrait of Charles V. by, + i. <a href="#pageA42">42</a>.<br /> <br /> TOLEDO, Don Pietro di, Viceroy of + Naples, i. <a href="#pageA38">38</a>; ii. <a href="#pageA7">7</a>.<br /> + <br /> ---Francesco da, confessor of Gregory XIII., i. <a href="#pageA150">150</a>.<br /> + <br /> TORQUEMADA, the Spanish Inquisitor, i. <a href="#pageA173">173</a>, + <a href="#pageA179">179</a>, <a href="#pageA181">181</a>.<br /> <br /> + TORRE, Delia, the family of, ancestors, of the Tassi, ii. <a href="#pageB5">5</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'TORRISMONDO,' Tasso's tragedy of, ii. <a href="#pageB73">73</a>, <a + href="#pageB113">113</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> TORTURE, cases of witnesses + put to, i. <a href="#pageA333">333</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> TOUCH, the + sense of, Marino's praises of, ii. <a href="#pageB270">270</a>.<br /> <br /> + TOULOUSE, power of the Inquisition in, ii. <a href="#pageB137">137</a>.<br /> + <br /> TRAGIC narratives circulated in manuscript in the<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, i. <a + href="#pageA372">372</a>.</span><br /> <br /> 'TREATISE on the Inquisition,' + Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB220">220</a>.<br /> <br /> ---'on the + Interdict,' Sarpi's, ii. <a href="#pageB201">201</a>.<br /> <br /> TREMAZZI, + Ambrogio:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his own report of how he + wrought the murder of Troilo</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Orsini, + i. <a href="#pageA405">405</a> <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">his notions about his due reward, <a + href="#pageA406">406</a>.</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB432" id="pageB432"></a>{432}</span><br /> TRENT, Council of:<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Indiction of, by Paul III., i. <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>97;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">numbers + of its members, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>97 <i>n.</i>, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>119 <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">diverse objects of the Spanish, French, and + German</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">representatives, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>98, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>122;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the articles which it confirmed, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>98;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">method + of procedure, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>99, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>120;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Council transferred to Bologna, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>100;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Paul + IV.'s measures of ecclesiastical reform, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>107;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Council's decrees actually settled in + the four Courts, <a href="#pageB112">112</a>, <a href="#pageB119">119</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">its organization by Pius IV., <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>118 <i>sqq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">inauspicious commencement, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>119;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the privileges of the Papal legates, <a + href="#pageA120">120</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">daily + post of couriers to the Vatican, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>121;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">arts of the Roman Curia, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>122;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spanish, + French, Imperial Opposition, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>123;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">clerical celibacy and Communion under both + forms, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">packing the + Council with Italian bishops, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>125;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the interests of the Gallican Church, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>126;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">interference + of the Emperor Ferdinand, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">confusion in the Council, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>126 + <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">envoys to France + and the Emperor, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>127;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">cajoleries and menaces, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>129;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">action of the Court of Spain, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>130;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">firmness + of the Spanish bishops, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>130 <i>n.</i>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Papal Supremacy decreed, <a + href="#pageA116">116</a>131;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">reservation + in the Papal Bull of ratification, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>131 <i>and + note</i>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tridentine + Profession of Faith (Creed of Pius V.), <a href="#pageA116">116</a>148.</span><br /> + <br /> TUSCANY, creation of the Grand Duchy of, i. <a href="#pageA47">47</a>.<br /> + <br /> TWO SICILIES, the kingdom of the, i. <a href="#pageA45">45</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'TYRANNY of the kiss,' the, exemplified in the <i>Rinaldo</i>, ii. + <a href="#pageB90">90</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the <i>Pastor + Fido</i>, <a href="#pageB255">255</a>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">in the <i>Adone</i>, <a href="#pageB272">272</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> <br /> U<br /> <br /> UNIVERSAL Monarchy, end of the belief in, i. <a + href="#pageA34">34</a>.<br /> <br /> UNIVERSE, Bruno's conception of the, + ii. <a href="#pageB173">173</a> <i>sqq.</i><br /> <br /> UNIVERSITIES, + Italian, i. <a href="#pageA51">51</a>.<br /> <br /> 'UNTORI, La Peste + degli,' i. <a href="#pageA421">421</a>;<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">trial of the <i>Untoti</i>, <a href="#pageA116">116</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> URBAN VIII., fantastic attempt made against the life of, i. <a + href="#pageA426">426</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> URBINO, the Court of, life + at, ii. <a href="#pageB17">17</a> <i>sq.</i><br /> <br /> <br /> V<br /> <br /> + VALDES, Juan:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his work <i>On the + Benefits of Christ's Death</i>, i. <a href="#pageA76">76</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> VALORI, Baccio, i. <a href="#pageA33">33</a>.<br /> <br /> VASTO, + Marquis of, i. <a href="#pageA25">25</a>.<br /> <br /> VENETIAN ambassadors' + despatches cited:<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the manners of + the Roman Court in 1565, i. <a href="#pageA142">142</a>, <a + href="#pageB147">147</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + expulsion of prostitutes from Rome, <a href="#pageA146">146</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> VENICE, the Republic of, its possessions in the fifteenth century, + i. <a href="#pageA9">9</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations + with Spain in 1530, href='#pageA45'>45;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">rise of a contempt for commerce in, <a + href="#pageA49">49</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">the + constitution of its Holy Office, <a href="#pageA190">190</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Concordat with Clement VIII., <a + href="#pageA193">193</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tasso + at, ii. <a href="#pageB19">19</a> <i>sq.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">its condition in Sarpi's youth, <a + href="#pageA185">185</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">political + indifference of its aristocracy, <a href="#pageA186">186</a>;</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">put under interdict by Paul V., <a + href="#pageA198">198</a>.</span><br /> <br /> VENIERO, Maffeo, on Tasso's + mental malady, ii. <a href="#pageB52">52</a>, <a href="#pageB63">63</a>.<br /> + <br /> VERONA, Peter of (Peter Martyr), Italian Dominican Saint<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Inquisition, i. <a href="#pageA161">161</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> VERVINS, the Treaty of, i. <a href="#pageA48">48</a>, <a + href="#pageB56">56</a>.<br /> <br /> VETTORI, Francesco, i. <a + href="#pageA33">33</a>.<br /> <br /> VIRGIL, Tasso's admiration of, ii. <a + href="#pageB25">25</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">translations + and adaptations from, <a href="#pageB98">98</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + VISCONTI, the dynasty of, i. <a href="#pageA8">8</a>.<br /> <br /> + ---Valentina, grandmother of Louis XII. of France, i. <a href="#pageA8">8</a>.<br /> + <br /> VITELLI, Alessandro, i. <a href="#pageA46">46</a>.<br /> <br /> + VITELLOZZI, Vitellozzo, influence of, in the reform of<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Church music, ii. <a href="#pageB325">325</a>.</span><br /> + <br /> VITI, Michele, one of the assassins of Sarpi, ii. <a href="#pageB212">212</a>.<br /> + <br /> 'VOCERO,' the, i. <a href="#pageA332">332</a>.<br /> <br /> VOLTERRA, + Bebo da, associate of Bibboni in the murder of<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">Lorenzino de'Medici, i. <a href="#pageB390">390</a> + <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> VULGATE, the:<br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">results of its being declared inviolable, i. <a + href="#pageA210">210</a>.</span><br /> <span class="pagenum"><a + name="pageB433" id="pageB433"></a>{433}</span><br /> <br /> W<br /> <br /> + WALDENSIANS in Calabria, the, i. <a href="#pageB188">188</a>.<br /> <br /> + WITCHCRAFT, chiefly confined to the mountain regions of Italy, i. <a + href="#pageA425">425</a>;<br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">mainly used + as a weapon of malice, <i>ib.</i>;</span><br /> <span + style="margin-left: 1em;">details of the sorcery practised by Giacomo + Centini, <a href="#pageB425">425</a> <i>sqq.</i></span><br /> <br /> + WIFE-MURDERS in Italy in the sixteenth century, i. <a href="#pageB380">380</a> + <i>sq.</i>, <a href="#pageB385">385</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> X<br /> <br /> + XAVIER, Francis, associate of Ignatius Loyola, i. <a href="#pageB239">239</a>;<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his work as a Jesuit in Portugal, <a + href="#pageA256">256</a>;</span><br /> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">his + mission to the Indies, <a href="#pageA260">260</a>.</span><br /> <br /> + XIMENES, Cardinal, as Inquisitor General, i. <a href="#pageB182">182</a>.<br /> + <br /> <br /> Z<br /> <br /> ZANETTI, Guido, delivered over to the Roman + Inquisition, i. <a href="#pageA145">145</a>.<br /> + </p> + <h2> + <a id="BFOOTNOTES" name="BFOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES + </h2> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_1_1" id="BFootnote_1_1"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_1_1"><span + class="label">[1]</span></a> This is doubtful. Serrassi believed that + Bernardo's mother was also a Tasso. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_2_2" id="BFootnote_2_2"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_2_2"><span + class="label">[2]</span></a> He speaks in his letters of the difficulty + 'di sottrarre il collo all difficile noioso arduo giogo della servitù + dei Principi.' <i>Lettere Ined.</i> Bologna, Romagnoli, p. 34. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_3_3" id="BFootnote_3_3"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_3_3"><span + class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Lett. Ined</i>. p. 100 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_4_4" id="BFootnote_4_4"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_4_4"><span + class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Letter di Torquato Tasso</i>, February + 15, 1556, vol. II. p. 157. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_5_5" id="BFootnote_5_5"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_5_5"><span + class="label">[5]</span></a> 'Sentendo in me non so qual nuova insolita + contentezza,' 'non so qual segreta divozione.' <i>Lettere</i>, vol. ii. + p. 90. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_6_6" id="BFootnote_6_6"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_6_6"><span + class="label">[6]</span></a> Bernardo's <i>Letter to Cav. Giangiacopo + Tasso</i>, December 6, 1554. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_7_7" id="BFootnote_7_7"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_7_7"><span + class="label">[7]</span></a> Dated February 13, 1556. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_8_8" id="BFootnote_8_8"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_8_8"><span + class="label">[8]</span></a> See <i>Opere</i>, vol. iv. p. 100, for + Tasso's description of the farewell to his mother, which he remembered + deeply, even in later life. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_9_9" id="BFootnote_9_9"></a><a href="#BFNanchor_9_9"><span + class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, vol. i. p. 6. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_10_10" id="BFootnote_10_10"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Cardinal + Ferdinando de'Medici succeeded in a like position to the Grand Duchy of + Tuscany. But Luigi d'Este did not survive his brother. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_11_11" id="BFootnote_11_11"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 80: to Giacomo Buoncompagno. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_12_12" id="BFootnote_12_12"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> 'Egli mi + disse, allor che suo mi fece: Tu canta, or che se' 'n ozio.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_13_13" id="BFootnote_13_13"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> This is how + he wrote in his Diary about Lucrezia. 'Finally the Duke decided upon his + marriage with Donna Lucrezia d'Este, which took place, though little to + his taste, for she was old enough to have been his mother.' 'The Duchess + wished to return to Ferrara, where she subsequently chose to remain, a + resolution which gave no annoyance to her husband; for, as she was + unlikely to bring him a family, her absence mattered little.' 'February + 15, 1598. Heard that Madame Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of Urbino, my wife, + died at Ferrara during the night of the 11th.' (Dennistoun's <i>Dukes of + Urbino</i>, vol. iii. pp. 127, 146, 156.) Francesco Maria had been + attached in Spain to a lady of unsuitable condition, and his marriage + with Lucrezia was arranged to keep him out of a <i>mésalliance</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_14_14" id="BFootnote_14_14"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i, p. 47. The sonnet begins, 'Sdegno, debil guerrier.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_15_15" id="BFootnote_15_15"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Tasso + consulted almost every scholar he could press into his service. But the + official tribunal of correction was limited to the above named four + acting in concert with Scipione Gonzaga. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_16_16" id="BFootnote_16_16"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 114. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_17_17" id="BFootnote_17_17"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>Ib</i>. + vol. i. p. 192. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_18_18" id="BFootnote_18_18"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Vol. i. pp. + 55-215. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_19_19" id="BFootnote_19_19"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iii. p. 41, iv. p. 332. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_20_20" id="BFootnote_20_20"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iii. p. 164, v. p. 6. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_21_21" id="BFootnote_21_21"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. iii. pp. 85, 86, 88, 163, iv. pp. 8, 166, v. p. 87. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_22_22" id="BFootnote_22_22"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Letter to + Fabio Gonzaga in 1590 (vol. iv. p. 296). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_23_23" id="BFootnote_23_23"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iii. p. viii. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_24_24" id="BFootnote_24_24"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iii. p. xxx. note 34. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_25_25" id="BFootnote_25_25"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Guarino, in + a sonnet, hinted at the second supposition. See Rosini's <i>Saggio sugli + Amori</i>, &c. vol. xxxiii. of his edition of Tasso, p. 51. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_26_26" id="BFootnote_26_26"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iii. p. xxxi. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_27_27" id="BFootnote_27_27"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 139. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_28_28" id="BFootnote_28_28"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 228. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_29_29" id="BFootnote_29_29"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> This is + Rosini's hypothesis in the Essay cited above. The whole of his elaborate + and ingenious theory rests upon the supposition that Alfonso at + Belriguardo extorted from Tasso an acknowledgment of his <i>liaison</i> + Leonora, and spared his life on the condition of his playing a fool's + part before the world. But we have no evidence whatever adequate to + support the supposition. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_30_30" id="BFootnote_30_30"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. 257-262. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_31_31" id="BFootnote_31_31"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Those who + adhere to the belief that all Tasso's troubles came upon him through his + <i>liaison</i> with Leonora, are here of course justified in arguing + that on <i>this</i> point he could not write openly to the Duke. Or they + may question the integrity of the document. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_32_32" id="BFootnote_32_32"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Rosini's + edition of Tasso, vol. xxx. p. 144. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_33_33" id="BFootnote_33_33"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Manso, <i>ib.</i> + p. 46. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_34_34" id="BFootnote_34_34"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Manso, <i>ib.</i> + p. 147. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_35_35" id="BFootnote_35_35"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 275. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_36_36" id="BFootnote_36_36"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 278, ii. p. 26. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_37_37" id="BFootnote_37_37"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Manso, p. + 147. Here again the believers in the Leonora <i>liaison</i> may argue + that by prison he meant love-bondage, hopeless servitude to the lady + from whom he could expect nothing now that her brother was acquainted + with the truth. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_38_38" id="BFootnote_38_38"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 233. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_39_39" id="BFootnote_39_39"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + i. pp. 271-290. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_40_40" id="BFootnote_40_40"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + ibid. p. 289. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_41_41" id="BFootnote_41_41"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + ibid. p. 233. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_42_42" id="BFootnote_42_42"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Tasso + declares his inability to live outside the Court. 'Se fra i mali de + l'animo, uno de'più gravi è l'ambizione, egli ammalò + di questo male già molti anni sono, nè mai è + risanato in modo ch'io abbia potuto sprezzare affatto i favori e gli + onori del mondo, e chi può dargli' (<i>Lettere</i>, vol. iii. p. + 56). 'Io non posso acquetarmi in altra fortuna di quella ne la quale già + nacqui' (<i>Ibid.</i> p. 243). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_43_43" id="BFootnote_43_43"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> It is + addressed to the Metaurus, and begins: 'O del grand, Apennino.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_44_44" id="BFootnote_44_44"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i> + p. 143. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_45_45" id="BFootnote_45_45"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 268. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_46_46" id="BFootnote_46_46"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> From the + sonnet, <i>Sposa regal</i> (<i>Opere</i> vol. iii. p. 218). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_47_47" id="BFootnote_47_47"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 67. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_48_48" id="BFootnote_48_48"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. 34. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_49_49" id="BFootnote_49_49"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + pp. 7-62, 80-93. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_50_50" id="BFootnote_50_50"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> We are met + here as elsewhere in the perplexing problem of Tasso's misfortunes with + the difficulty of having to deal with mutilated documents. Still the + mere fact that Tasso was allowed to correspond freely with friends and + patrons, shows that Alfonso dreaded no disclosures, and confirms the + theory that he only kept Tasso locked up out of harm's way. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_51_51" id="BFootnote_51_51"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> A letter + written by Guarini, the old friend, rival and constant Court-companion + of Tasso at Ferrara, upon the news of his death in 1595, shows how a man + of cold intellect judged his case. 'The death by which Tasso has now + paid his debt to nature, seems to me like the termination of that death + of his in this world which only bore the outer semblance of life.' See + Casella's <i>Pastor Fido</i>, p. xxxii. Guarini means that when Tasso's + mind gave way, he had really died in his own higher self, and that his + actual death was a release. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_52_52" id="BFootnote_52_52"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Tasso's own + letters after the beginning of 1579, and Manso's Life (<i>op. cit.</i> + pp. 156-176), are the authorities for the symptoms detailed above. Tasso + so often alludes to his infirmities that it is not needful to accumulate + citations. I will, however, quote two striking examples. 'Sono infermo + come soleva, e stanco della infermita, la quale è <i>non sol + malattia del corpo ma de la mente</i>' (<i>Lettere</i>, vol. iii. p. + 160). 'Io sono poco sano e tanto maninconico che <i>sono riputato matto + da gli altri e da me stesso</i>' (<i>Ib.</i> p. 262). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_53_53" id="BFootnote_53_53"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i> + p. 155. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_54_54" id="BFootnote_54_54"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>Lacrime + di diversi poeti volgari</i>, &c. (Vicenza, 1585). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_55_55" id="BFootnote_55_55"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 103. The significance of this message to Panigarola is + doubtful. Did Tasso mean that the contrast between past and present was + too bitter? 'Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_56_56" id="BFootnote_56_56"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> All the + letters written from Mantua abound in references to this neglect of + duty. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_57_57" id="BFootnote_57_57"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iv. p. 147. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_58_58" id="BFootnote_58_58"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 229. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_59_59" id="BFootnote_59_59"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. iv. p. 315. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_60_60" id="BFootnote_60_60"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Yet he now + felt that his genius had expired. 'Non posso più fare un verso: + la vena è secca, e l'ingegno è stanco' (<i>Lettere</i>, + vol. v. p. 90). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_61_61" id="BFootnote_61_61"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> During the + whole period of his Roman residence, Tasso, like his father in similar + circumstances, hankered after ecclesiastical honors. His letters refer + frequently to this ambition. He felt the parallel between himself and + Bernardo Tasso: 'La mia depressa condizione, e la mia infelicità, + quasi ereditaria' (vol. iv. p. 288). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_62_62" id="BFootnote_62_62"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Manso <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 215. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_63_63" id="BFootnote_63_63"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> This letter + proves conclusively that, whatever was the nature of Tasso's malady, and + however it had enfeebled his faculties as poet, he was in no vulgar + sense a lunatic. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_64_64" id="BFootnote_64_64"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Canto i. 17. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_65_65" id="BFootnote_65_65"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Canto vi. + 64-9. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_66_66" id="BFootnote_66_66"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Canto iii. + 40, 45. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_67_67" id="BFootnote_67_67"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Canto ii. + 22, iv. 28, 33. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_68_68" id="BFootnote_68_68"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> <i>Rinaldo</i>, + cantos x. vii. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_69_69" id="BFootnote_69_69"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Canto i. 25, + 31, 41, 64. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_70_70" id="BFootnote_70_70"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <i>Rinaldo</i>, + Canto ii. 28, 44. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_71_71" id="BFootnote_71_71"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Canto ii. + 3-11. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_72_72" id="BFootnote_72_72"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Canto vii. + 16-51. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_73_73" id="BFootnote_73_73"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Canto vii. + 3-11. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_74_74" id="BFootnote_74_74"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Canto iv. + 47. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_75_75" id="BFootnote_75_75"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Canto v. + 12-57. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_76_76" id="BFootnote_76_76"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> I may + incidentally point out how often this motive has supplied the plot to + modern ballets. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_77_77" id="BFootnote_77_77"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Giov. + Imperiale in the <i>Museum Historicum</i> describes him thus: 'Perpetuo + moerentis et altius cogitantis gessit aspectum, <i>gracili mento</i>, + facie decolori, conniventibus cavisque oculis.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_78_78" id="BFootnote_78_78"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> 'La mia + fiera malinconia' is a phrase which often recurs in his letters. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_79_79" id="BFootnote_79_79"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> 'Questo + segno mi ho proposto: piacere ed onore' (<i>Lettere</i>, vol. v. p. 87). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_80_80" id="BFootnote_80_80"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> It should be + said that as a man of letters he bore with fools gladly, and showed a + noble patience. Of this there is a fine example in his controversy with + Della Cruscans. He was not so patient with the publishers and pirates of + his works. No wonder, when they robbed him so! + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_81_81" id="BFootnote_81_81"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Tasso's + diffuse paraphrase of the <i>Stabat Mater</i> might be selected to + illustrate the sentimental tenderness rather than strength of his + religious feeling. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_82_82" id="BFootnote_82_82"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> The numerous + plaintive requests for a silver cup, a ring, a silk cloak and such + trifles in his later letters indicate something quite childish in his + pre-occupations. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_83_83" id="BFootnote_83_83"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Carducci, in + his essay <i>Dello Svolgimento della Letteratura Nazionale</i>, and + Quinet, in his <i>Révolutions d'ltalie</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_84_84" id="BFootnote_84_84"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> The final + case drawn up against Bruno as heresiarch makes it appear that his + record included even these boyish errors. See the letter of Gaspar + Schopp in Berti. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_85_85" id="BFootnote_85_85"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> See 'Vita di + Don Pietro di Toledo' <i>(Arch. Stov.</i> vol. ix. p. 23) + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_86_86" id="BFootnote_86_86"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> See the + passage on polygamy in the <i>Spaccio della Bestia</i>. I may here + remark that Campanella, though more orthodox than Bruno, published + opinions upon the relations of the sexes analogous to those of Plato's + Republic in his <i>Citta del Sole</i>. He even recommended the + institution of brothels as annexes to schools for boys, in order to + avoid the worse evil of unnatural vice in youth. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_87_87" id="BFootnote_87_87"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> On the city, + university and Inquisition of Toulouse in the sixteenth century see + Christie's <i>Etiennne Dolet</i>—a work of sterling merit and + sound scholarship. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_88_88" id="BFootnote_88_88"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> The 'Cena + delle Ceneri,' <i>Op. It.</i> vol. i. pp. 137-151 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_89_89" id="BFootnote_89_89"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Signor Berti + conjectures that Bruno may have met Sidney first at Milan. But Bruno + informs us that he did not become acquainted with him till he came to + London: 'Tra' quali è tanto conosciuto, per fama prima quanbo + eravamo in Milano et in Francia, e poi per experienza or che siamo ne la + sua patria' (<i>Op. It.</i> vol. i. p. 145). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_90_90" id="BFootnote_90_90"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Preface to + 'Lo Spaccio della Bestia' (<i>Op. It.</i> vol. ii. p. 108). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_91_91" id="BFootnote_91_91"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> <i>Op. It.</i> + vol. i. p. 150. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_92_92" id="BFootnote_92_92"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> <i>Op. It.</i> + vol. i. p. 123. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_93_93" id="BFootnote_93_93"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> See Wood, <i>Ath. + Oxon.</i> p. 300. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_94_94" id="BFootnote_94_94"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> <i>Op. It.</i> + vol. i. p. 179. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_95_95" id="BFootnote_95_95"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Printed in + the <i>Explicatio triginta Sigillarum</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_96_96" id="BFootnote_96_96"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> <i>Op. It.</i> + vol. i. p. 267. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_97_97" id="BFootnote_97_97"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> <i>Loc. cit.</i> + p. 267. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_98_98" id="BFootnote_98_98"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> It is a + curious fact that the single copy of Campanella's poems on which Orelli + based his edition of 1834, came from Wolfenbüttel. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_99_99" id="BFootnote_99_99"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> They were + published at Frankfort, and dedicated to the friendly Prince of Wolfenbüttel. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_100_100" id="BFootnote_100_100"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> + Britanno's Deposition, Berti's <i>Vita di G.B.</i> p. 337. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_101_101" id="BFootnote_101_101"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Sarpi + mentions the return of Ciotto from the fair (<i>Lettere</i>, vol. i. p. + 527). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_102_102" id="BFootnote_102_102"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Ciotto, + before the Inquisition, called the book <i>De Minimo Magno et Mensura</i>. + It may therefore have been the <i>De Triplici Minimo et Mensura</i>, and + not the <i>De Monade</i> (<i>Vita di G.B.</i> p. 334). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_103_103" id="BFootnote_103_103"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Mocenigo + told Ciotto: I wish first to see what I can get from him of those things + which he promised me, so as not wholly to lose what I have given him, + and afterwards I mean to surrender him to the censure of the Holy + Office' (Berti, p. 335). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_104_104" id="BFootnote_104_104"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Mere + correspondence with heretics exposed an Italian to the Inquisition. + Residence in heretical lands, except with episcopal license, was + forbidden. The rules of the Index proscribed books in which the name of + a heretic was cited with approval. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_105_105" id="BFootnote_105_105"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Bruno + speaks himself of 'arte della memoria et inventiva' (<i>op. cit.</i> p. + 339). Ciotto mentions 'la memoria et altre scientie' (<i>ib.</i> p. + 334). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_106_106" id="BFootnote_106_106"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> <i>Op. + cit.</i> p. 335. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_107_107" id="BFootnote_107_107"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> They + remind us of the blasphemies imputed to Christopher Marlowe. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_108_108" id="BFootnote_108_108"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> <i>Op. + cit.</i> p. 352. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_109_109" id="BFootnote_109_109"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 355. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_110_110" id="BFootnote_110_110"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 362. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_111_111" id="BFootnote_111_111"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> <i>Op. + cit.</i> p. 349 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_112_112" id="BFootnote_112_112"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 384 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_113_113" id="BFootnote_113_113"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 364 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_114_114" id="BFootnote_114_114"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 363 + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_115_115" id="BFootnote_115_115"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> <i>Op. + cit.</i> p. 378. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_116_116" id="BFootnote_116_116"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> These + years were not all spent at Rome. From the Records of the Inquisition, + it appears that he arrived in Rome on February 27, 1598, and that his + trial in form began in February 1599. The Pope ratified his sentence of + death on January 20, 1600; this was publicly promulgated on February 8, + and carried into effect on the subsequent 17th. Where Bruno was + imprisoned between January 1593, and February 1598 is not known. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_117_117" id="BFootnote_117_117"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Doubts + have recently been raised as to whether Bruno was really burned. But + these are finally disposed of by a succinct and convincing exposition of + the evidence by Mr. R.C. Christie, in <i>Macmillan's Magazine</i>, + October 1885. In addition to Schoppe and Kepler, we have the reference + to Bruno's burning published by Mersenne in 1624; but what is far more + important, the <i>Avviso di Roma</i> for February 19,1600, records this + event as having occurred upon the preceding Thursday. To Signor Berti's + two works, <i>Documenti intorno a G. Bruno</i> (Roma, 1880), and <i>Copernico + e le vicende</i>, etc. (Roma, 1876), we owe most of the material which + has been lucidly sifted by Mr. R.C. Christie. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_118_118" id="BFootnote_118_118"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> 'Londinam + perfectus, libellum istic edit de Bestia triumphante, h.e. de Papa. quem + vestri honoris causa bestiam appellare solent.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_119_119" id="BFootnote_119_119"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> We may + remember that while a novice at Naples, he first got into trouble by + keeping the crucifix as the only religious symbol which he respected, + when he parted with images of saints. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_120_120" id="BFootnote_120_120"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> These + pregnant words are in Berti's <i>Vita di G.B.</i> p. 299. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_121_121" id="BFootnote_121_121"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> He well + deserves this name, in spite of his recantation at Venice; for it seems + incredible that he could not by concessions have purchased his life. As + Breugger wrote with brutal crudity to Kepler: 'What profit did he gain + by enduring such torments? If there were no God to punish crimes, as he + believed, could he not have pretended any thing to save his life?' We + may add that the alternative to death for a relapsed apostate was + perpetual incarceration; and seven years of prison may well have made + Bruno prefer death with honor. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_122_122" id="BFootnote_122_122"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> <i>op. + cit.</i> p. 70. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_123_123" id="BFootnote_123_123"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Both + Berti and Quinet have made similar remarks, which, indeed, force + themselves upon a student of the sixteenth century. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_124_124" id="BFootnote_124_124"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> This + theological conception of history inspired the sacred drama of the + Middle Ages, known to us as Cyclical Miracle Plays. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_125_125" id="BFootnote_125_125"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> It was my + intention to support the statements in this paragraph by translating the + passages which seem to me to justify them; and I had gone so far as to + make English versions of some twenty pages in length, when I found that + this material would overweight my book. A study of Bruno as the great + precursor of modern thought in its more poetical and widely synthetic + speculation must be left for a separate essay. Here I may remark that + the most faithful and pithily condensed abstract of Bruno's philosophy + is contained in Goethe's poem <i>Proemium zu Gott und Welt</i>. Yet this + poem expresses Goethe's thought, and it is doubtful whether Goethe had + studied Bruno except in the work of his disciple Spinoza. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_126_126" id="BFootnote_126_126"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Spaventa + in his <i>Saggi di Critica</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_127_127" id="BFootnote_127_127"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> We may + remind our readers of Henri IV.'s parting words to Joseph Scaliger: + 'Est-il vrai que vous avez été de Paris à Dijon + sans aller à la selle?' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_128_128" id="BFootnote_128_128"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 239. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_129_129" id="BFootnote_129_129"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> It was + under the supervision of the Servites that Sarpi gained the first + rudiments of education. Thirst for knowledge may explain his early + entrance into their brotherhood. Like Virgil and like Milton, he + received among the companions of his youthful studies the honorable + nickname of 'The Maiden.' Gross conversation, such as lads use, even in + convents, ceased at his approach. And yet he does not seem to have lost + influence among his comrades by the purity which marked him out as + exceptional. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_130_130" id="BFootnote_130_130"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 237. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_131_131" id="BFootnote_131_131"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii, p. 80. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_132_132" id="BFootnote_132_132"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Sarpi's + <i>Life</i> by Fra Fulgenzio, p. 64. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_133_133" id="BFootnote_133_133"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Fra + Fulgenzio's <i>Vita di F. Paolo</i>, p. 42. Venetian Dispatches in + Mutinelli's <i>Storia Arcana</i>, vol. iii. p. 67. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_134_134" id="BFootnote_134_134"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> The + treatise which Sarpi translated was Gerson's <i>Considerations upon + Papal Excommunications</i>. Gerson's part in the Council of Constance + will be remembered. See Creighton's <i>History of the Papacy</i>, vol. + i. p. 211. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_135_135" id="BFootnote_135_135"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Sarpi's + correspondence abundantly proves how very grave was the peril of Papal + Absolutism in his days. The tide had not begun to turn with force + against the Jesuit doctrines of Papal Supremacy. See Ranke, vol. ii. pp. + 4-12, on these doctrines and the counter-theories to which they gave + rise. We must remember that the Papal power was now at the height of its + ascension; and Sarpi can be excused for not having reckoned on the + inevitable decline it suffered during the next century. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_136_136" id="BFootnote_136_136"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 312. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_137_137" id="BFootnote_137_137"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Sarpi's + <i>Letters</i>, vol. ii. pp. 179, 284. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_138_138" id="BFootnote_138_138"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + pp. 100-102. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_139_139" id="BFootnote_139_139"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Bianchi + Giovini, <i>Vita di Fra P. Sarpi</i>, vol. ii. p. 49. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_140_140" id="BFootnote_140_140"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> A.G. + Campbell's <i>Life of Sarpi</i>, p. 174. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_141_141" id="BFootnote_141_141"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Sarpi's + <i>Letters</i>, vol. i. pp. 231, 239. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_142_142" id="BFootnote_142_142"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + pp. 220, 222, 225. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_143_143" id="BFootnote_143_143"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> <i>Vita + del Padre F. Paolo Sarpi</i>, Helmstat, per Jacopo Mulleri, MDCCXXXXX. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_144_144" id="BFootnote_144_144"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Dispatch + to Fr. Contarini under date September 25, 1607, quoted in Campbell's <i>Life + of Sarpi</i>, p. 145. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_145_145" id="BFootnote_145_145"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> + Fulgenzio's <i>Life</i>, p. 61. A.G. Campbell asserts that this + celebrated <i>mot</i> of Sarpi's is not to be found in Fulgenzio's MS. + It occurs, however, quite naturally in the published work. The first + edition of the <i>Life</i> appeared in 1646, eight years before + Fulgenzio's death. The discrepancies between it and the MS. may + therefore have been intended by the author. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_146_146" id="BFootnote_146_146"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> A full + account of them is given by Bianchi Giovini in his <i>Biografia</i>, + chap. xvii. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_147_147" id="BFootnote_147_147"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> <i>Vita + di F. Paolo</i>, pp. 67-70. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_148_148" id="BFootnote_148_148"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> <i>Vita + di F. Paolo</i>, p. 68: 'Le cose che vennero a pubblica notizia e certe + sono: che molte persone nominate in quella cifra, di <i>Padre</i>, + fratelli, e cugini, per le contracifre constò, dal Generale de' + Servi in fuori, niuna esser di dignità inferiore alia + Cardinalizia.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_149_149" id="BFootnote_149_149"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Sarpi + says that no crime happened in Venice without a friar or priest being + mixed in it (<i>Lettere</i>, vol. i. 351). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_150_150" id="BFootnote_150_150"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 169. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_151_151" id="BFootnote_151_151"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> <i>Opere + di Paolo Sarpi</i>, Helmstädt, 1761, vol. i. pp. 200, 233, 311; + vol. ii. pp. 89, 187. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_152_152" id="BFootnote_152_152"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> This + contradicts the opinion of Hallam and Macaulay, both of whom were + convinced that Sarpi was a Protestant at heart. Macaulay wishes that he + had thrown off the friar's frock. In a certain sense Sarpi can be + classified with the larger minds among the Reformed Churches of his age. + But to call him a Protestant who concealed his real faith, argues + coarseness of perception, incapacity for comprehending any attitude + above and beyond belligerent Catholicism and Protestantism, or of + sympathizing with the deeply-religious feelings of one who, after + calculating all chances and surveying all dogmatic differences, thought + that he could serve God as well and his country better in that communion + which was his by birthright. To an illuminated intellect there was not + in the seventeenth century much reason to prefer one of the Reformed + Churches to Catholicism, except for the sake of political freedom. It + being impossible to change the State-religion in Venice, Sarpi had no + inducement to leave his country and to pass his life in exile among + prejudiced sectarians. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_153_153" id="BFootnote_153_153"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. pp. 3, 18, 96, 109, and elsewhere. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_154_154" id="BFootnote_154_154"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. ii. p. 6. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_155_155" id="BFootnote_155_155"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 237. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_156_156" id="BFootnote_156_156"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 268. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_157_157" id="BFootnote_157_157"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. ii. pp. 29, 48, 59, 60, 125. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_158_158" id="BFootnote_158_158"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 120, 124. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_159_159" id="BFootnote_159_159"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 226. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_160_160" id="BFootnote_160_160"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 217. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_161_161" id="BFootnote_161_161"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 427. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_162_162" id="BFootnote_162_162"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 283. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_163_163" id="BFootnote_163_163"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 110, 311. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_164_164" id="BFootnote_164_164"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. i. pp. 220, 222, 225, 231, 239. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_165_165" id="BFootnote_165_165"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> + Campbell's <i>Life</i>, p. 132. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_166_166" id="BFootnote_166_166"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + p. 133, 135. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_167_167" id="BFootnote_167_167"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. ii. p. 86. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_168_168" id="BFootnote_168_168"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i> + vol. i. p. 283. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_169_169" id="BFootnote_169_169"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> It is + worthy of notice, as a stern Venetian joke, that when the Jesuits + eventually returned to Rialto, they were bade walk in processions upon + ceremonial occasions between the Fraternities of S. Marco and S. Teodoro—saints + amid whose columns on the Molo criminals were executed. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_170_170" id="BFootnote_170_170"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + vol. i. p. 126; <i>Opere</i>, vol. vi. p. 40. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_171_171" id="BFootnote_171_171"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> <i>Opere</i>, + vol. vi. p. 145. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_172_172" id="BFootnote_172_172"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> + Fulgenzio's <i>Life</i>, p. 98. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_173_173" id="BFootnote_173_173"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + p. 105. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_174_174" id="BFootnote_174_174"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_175_175" id="BFootnote_175_175"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Letter of + the Superior to the Venetian Senate, printed in the <i>Lettere</i>, vol. + ii. pp. 450-453. It is worth meditating on the contrast between Sarpi's + and Bruno's deaths. Sarpi died with the consolations of religion on his + bed in the convent which had been his life-long home. Bruno was burned + alive, with eyes averted from the crucifix in bitter scorn, after seven + and a half years spent in the prisons of the Inquisition. Sarpi exhaled + his last breath amid sympathizing friends, in the service of a grateful + country. Bruno panted his death-pangs of suffocation and combustion out, + surrounded by menacing Dominicans, in the midst of hostile Rome + celebrating her triumphant jubilee. Sarpi's last thoughts were given to + the God of Christendom and the Republic. Bruno had no country; the God + in whom he trusted at that grim hour, was the God within his soul, + unrealized, detached by his own reason from every Church and every + creed. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_176_176" id="BFootnote_176_176"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> See <i>Renaissance + in Italy</i>, vol. ii. pp. 299, 300. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_177_177" id="BFootnote_177_177"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> <i>Lettere + del Guarini</i>, Venezia, 1596, p. 2. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_178_178" id="BFootnote_178_178"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> Alberi, + <i>Relazioni</i>, series 2, vol. ii. pp. 423-425. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_179_179" id="BFootnote_179_179"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + p. 195. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_180_180" id="BFootnote_180_180"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> In this + year it was published with the author's revision by Ciotto at Venice. It + had been represented at Turin in 1585, and first printed at Venice in + 1590. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_181_181" id="BFootnote_181_181"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Guarini + may be compared with Trissino in these points of his private life. See + <i>Renaissance in Italy</i>, vol. v. 303-305. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_182_182" id="BFootnote_182_182"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> <i>Lettere</i>, + p. 196. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_183_183" id="BFootnote_183_183"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> <i>Il + Pastor Fido</i>, per cura di G. Casella (Firenze, Barbéra, 1866), + p. liv. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_184_184" id="BFootnote_184_184"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> I might + have further illustrated this point by quoting the thirty-five lines in + which Titiro compares a maiden to the rose which fades upon the spray + after the fervors of the noon have robbed its freshness (act i. sc. 4). + To contest the beauty of the comparison would be impossible. Yet when we + turn to the two passages in Ariosto (<i>Orl. Fur.</i> i. 42, 43, and + xxiv. 80) on which it has been modeled, we shall perceive how much + Guarini lost in force by not writing with his eye upon the object or + with the authenticity of inward vision, but with a self-conscious effort + to improve by artifices and refinements upon something he has read. See + my essay on 'The Pathos of the Rose in Time,' April, 1886. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_185_185" id="BFootnote_185_185"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> Even + Silvio, the most masculine of the young men, whose heart is closed to + love, appears before us thus: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Oh Silvio, Silvio! a che ti die Natura<br /> </span> <span>Ne' più + begli anni tuoi<br /> </span> <span>Fior di beltà si delicato e + vago,<br /> </span> <span>Se tu se' tanto a calpestarlo intento?<br /> + </span> <span>Che s'avess'io cotesta tua sì bella<br /> </span> + <span>E sì fiorita guancia,<br /> </span> <span>Addio selve, + direi:<br /> </span> <span>E seguendo altre fere,<br /> </span> <span>E + la vita passando in festa e'n gioco,<br /> </span> <span>Farei la state + all'ombra, e 'l verno al foco.<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <br /> <br /> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_186_186" id="BFootnote_186_186"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> Telesio, + Bruno, Campanella, Salvator Rosa, Vico, were, like Marino, natives of + the Regno. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_187_187" id="BFootnote_187_187"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> It is + worth noting that Shakespeare's <i>Venus and Adonis</i> was first + printed in 1593, thirty years previously. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_188_188" id="BFootnote_188_188"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Ferrari, + in his <i>Rivolnzioni d'Italia</i>, vol. iii. p. 563, observes: 'Una + Venere sospetta versa lagrime forse maschili sul bellissimo Adonide,' + etc. Shakespeare's <i>Venus and Adonis</i>, in like manner, is so + written as to force the reader to feel with Venus the seduction of + Adonis. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_189_189" id="BFootnote_189_189"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> With the + stanza quoted above Marino closes the cycle which Boccaccio in the <i>Amoroso + Visione</i> (canto xlix.) had opened. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_190_190" id="BFootnote_190_190"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> On this + point I may call attention to the elaborate portraits drawn by Marino + (canto xvi.) of the seven young men who contend with Adonis for the + prize of beauty and the crown of Cyprus. Quite as many words are + bestowed upon their costumes, jewelry and hair-dressing as upon their + personal charms. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_191_191" id="BFootnote_191_191"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> I have + pleasure in inviting my readers to study the true doctrine regarding the + place of touch among the senses as laid down by Ruskin in <i>Modern + Painters</i>, part iii. sec. 1, chap. ii. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_192_192" id="BFootnote_192_192"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> The + hypocrisy of the allegory is highly significant for this phase of + Italian culture. We have seen how even Tasso condescended to apply it to + his noble epic, which needed no such miserable pretense. Exquisitely + grotesque was the attempt made by Centorio degli Ortensi to sanctify + Bandello's <i>Novelle</i> by supplying each one of them with a moral + interpretation (ed. Milano: Gio. Antonio degli Antoni, 1560, See + Passano's <i>Novellieri in Prosa</i>, p. 28). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_193_193" id="BFootnote_193_193"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> What I + have elsewhere, called 'the tyranny of the kiss' in Italian poetry, + begins in Tasso's <i>Rinaldo</i>, acquires vast proportions in Guarino's + <i>Pastor Fido</i>, and becomes intolerable in Marino's <i>Adone</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_194_194" id="BFootnote_194_194"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> See the + climax to the episode of Filauro and Filora. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_195_195" id="BFootnote_195_195"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> In + support of this opinion upon Marino's merit as a poet, I will cite the + episode of Clizio (canto i. p. 17); the tale of Psyche (iv. 65); the + tale of the nightingale and the boy—which occurs both in Ford and + Crashaw, by the way (vii. 112); the hymn to pleasure (vii. 116); the + passage of Venus and Adonis to the bath (viii. 133); the picture of the + nymph and satyr (viii. 135); the personification of the Court (x. 167); + the Cave of Jealousy (xii. 204-206); the jewel-garden of Falserina (xii. + 218); Falserina watching Adonis asleep (xii. 225); Falserina's + incantations (xiii. 233); Mars in the lap of Venus surrounded by the + loves (xiii. 245); Venus disguised as a gypsy (xv. 290); the game of + chess (xv. 297); the leave-taking of Venus and Adonis (xvii. 332); the + phantom of dead Adonis (xviii. 357); the grief of Venus (xviii. + 358-362); the tales of Hyacinth and Pampinus (xix. 372-378). The + references are to ed. Napoli, Boutteaux, 1861. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_196_196" id="BFootnote_196_196"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> There are + passages of pure <i>cantilena</i> in this poem, where sense is + absolutely swallowed up in sound, and words become the mere vehicle for + rhythmic melody. Of this verbal music the dirge of the nymphs for Adonis + and the threnos of Venus afford excellent examples (xix. pp. 358-361). + Note especially the stanza beginning: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Adone, Adone, o bell'Adon, tu giaci,<br /> </span> <span>Nè + senti i miei sospir, nè miri il pianto!<br /> </span> <span>O + bell'Adone, o caro Adon, tu taci,<br /> </span> <span>Nè + rispondi a colei che amasti tanto!<br /> </span> + </div> + </div> + <br /> <br /> + <p> + There is nothing more similar to this in literature than Fra Jacopone's + delirium of mystic love: + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>Amor amor Jesu, son giunto a porto;<br /> </span> <span>Amor amor + Jesu, tu m'hai menato;<br /> </span> <span>Amor amor Jesu, dammi + conforto;<br /> </span> <span>Amor amor Jesu, si m'hai enfiamato.<br /> + </span> + </div> + </div> + <br /> <br /> + <p> + Only the one is written in a Mixo-Lydian, the other in a Hyper-Phrygian + mood. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_197_197" id="BFootnote_197_197"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> There is + a streamlet called Reno near Bologna. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_198_198" id="BFootnote_198_198"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> See + Scherillo's two books on the <i>Commedia dell'Arte</i> and the <i>Opera + Buffa</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_199_199" id="BFootnote_199_199"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> For the + date 1615 see Carducci's learned essay prefixed to his edition of the <i>Secchia + Rapita</i> (Barbera, 1861). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_200_200" id="BFootnote_200_200"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> Canto i. + 2. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_201_201" id="BFootnote_201_201"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> Canto + xii. 77. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_202_202" id="BFootnote_202_202"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> So Heine + wrote of Aristophanes. See my essay in <i>Studies of the Greek Poets</i>. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_203_203" id="BFootnote_203_203"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Canto + viii. 33, 34. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_204_204" id="BFootnote_204_204"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> See + Baini, <i>Life of Palestrina</i>, vol. ii. p. 20. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_205_205" id="BFootnote_205_205"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> While the + choir was singing, the orchestra was playing concerted pieces called <i>ricercari</i>, + in which the vocal parts were reproduced. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_206_206" id="BFootnote_206_206"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> See the + original passages from contemporary writers quoted by Baini, vol. i. pp. + 102-104. Savonarola went so far as to affirm: 'Che questo canto figurato + l'ha trovato Satanasso,' a phrase quite in the style of a Puritan + abusing choirs and organs. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_207_207" id="BFootnote_207_207"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> See + Michelet, <i>Histoire de France</i>, vol. xi. pp. 76, 101, vol. xii. p. + 383 (Paris: Lacroix, 1877). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_208_208" id="BFootnote_208_208"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Baini, i. + p. 196. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_209_209" id="BFootnote_209_209"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> It will + be remembered that this Silvio Antoniano was one of the revisers of + Tasso's poem, and the one who gave him most trouble. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_210_210" id="BFootnote_210_210"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> In the + Dedication of the <i>Mass of Pope Marcello</i> to Philip II. in 1567 + Palestrina only says that he had been constrained by the order of men of + the highest gravity and most approved piety to apply himself <i>ad + sanctissimum Missae sacrificium novo modorum genere decorandum</i>, and + that he had performed his task with indefatigable pains and industry + (Baini, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. i. p. 280). But it is noteworthy that of + the three Masses furnished for the approval of the congregation, the + first was entitled <i>Illumina oculos meos</i>, and that an anecdote + referring to this title relates Palestrina's earnest prayers for grace + and inspiration during the execution of the work (<i>ibid.</i> p. 223, + note.) + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_211_211" id="BFootnote_211_211"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> See <i>Renaissance + in Italy</i>, vol. iv. pp. 263, 305. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_212_212" id="BFootnote_212_212"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> <i>Studies + of the Eighteenth Century in Italy</i>, by Vernon Lee. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_213_213" id="BFootnote_213_213"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> The three + founders of the school were thus born precisely during the most critical + years of the Council. They felt the Catholic reaction least. That + expressed itself most markedly in Domenichino, born seventeen years + after its close. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_214_214" id="BFootnote_214_214"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> Nich. + Poussin, b. 1594; Claude, 1600; Gaspar Poussin, 1613; Salvator Rosa, + 1615; Luca Giordano, 1632; Canaletto, 1697. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_215_215" id="BFootnote_215_215"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> I of + course except Venice, for reasons which I have sufficiently set forth in + <i>Renaissance in Italy</i>, vol. iii. p. 347. Long after other schools + of Italy the Venetian was still only adolescent. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_216_216" id="BFootnote_216_216"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> I have + not thought it worth while to write down more than a very few names of + the Mannerists. Notice how often they worked in whole families and + indistinguishable coteries. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_217_217" id="BFootnote_217_217"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> Everyone + familiar with European picture-galleries will remember cabinet pieces by + the Caracci, especially Ecce Homos, Pietàs, Agonies in the + Garden, which look like copies from Correggio with a dash of added + sentimentalism. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_218_218" id="BFootnote_218_218"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> I have + mainly used the encyclopedic work entitled <i>Felsina Pittrice</i> + (Bologna, 1841, 2 vols.) for my study of the Eclectics. This is based + upon the voluminous writings of the Count C.C. Malvasia, who, having + been born in 1616, and having enjoyed personal intercourse with the + later survivors of the Bolognese Academy, was able to bequeath a vast + mass of anecdotical and other material to posterity. The collection + contains critical annotations and additions by the hand of Zanotti and + later art students, together with many illustrative documents of the + highest value. Reading this miscellaneous repertory, we are forced to + regret that the same amount of characteristic and authentic information + has not been preserved about one of the greater schools of Italy—the + Venetian, for example. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_219_219" id="BFootnote_219_219"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> He + acquired a somewhat infamous celebrity by his obscene engravings in the + style of Giulio Romano. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_220_220" id="BFootnote_220_220"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> Malvasia + has preserved, in his <i>Life of Primaticcio</i>, a sonnet written by + Agostino Caracci, in which the aims of the Eclectics are clearly + indicated. The good painter must have at his command Roman or classic + design, Venetian movement and shadow, Lombard coloring, the sublimity of + Michelangelo, the truth to nature of Titian, the pure and sovereign + style of Correggio, Raphael's symmetry, Tibaldi's fitness and solidity, + Primaticcio's erudite invention, with something of Parmigianino's grace + (<i>Fels. Pittr.</i> vol. i. p. 129). Zanotti adds: 'This sonnet is + assuredly one which every painter ought to learn by heart and observe in + practice.' + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_221_221" id="BFootnote_221_221"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> See + Malvasia, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. i. p. 277; vol. ii. p. 57. The odd thing + is that Malvasia tells these stories of the Lodovico-Aphrodite and the + color-grinder-Magdalen with applause, as though they proved the mastery + of Annibale Caracci and Guido. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_222_222" id="BFootnote_222_222"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> The later + Eclectics—Spada, Domenichino, Guercino—were to some extent + saved by the influences they derived from Caravaggio and the + Naturalisti. But they had not the tact to see where the finer point of + naturalistic art lies for a delicately minded painter. They added its + brutality, as employed by Caravaggio, to the insipidities of the + Caracci, and produced such horrors as Domenichino's Martyrdom of S. + Agnes. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_223_223" id="BFootnote_223_223"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> This + tradition of Guido's childhood I give for what it is worth, from + Malvasia, <i>op. cit.</i> vol. ii. p. 53. In after life, beside being + piously addicted to Madonna-worship, he had a great dread of women in + general and witches in particular. What some will call spiritual, others + effeminate, in his mature work, may be due to the temperament thus + indicated. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_224_224" id="BFootnote_224_224"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> Malvasia, + <i>op. cit.</i> p. 53, p. 178. The latter passage is preceded by a + discussion of the nude in art which shows how Malvasia had imbibed + Tridentine morality in the middle of Italy glowing with Renaissance + masterpieces. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_225_225" id="BFootnote_225_225"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> Lo Spada + and Guercino, afterwards to be mentioned, were certainly colorists. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_226_226" id="BFootnote_226_226"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> <i>Modern + Painters</i>, vol. i. p. 87. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_227_227" id="BFootnote_227_227"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> I allude + to the Tintoretto in S. Maria dell'Orto at Venice, and to the Luini in + the Monastero Maggiore at Milan. Yet the model of Luini's S. Catherine + was the infamous Contessa di Cellant, who murdered her husband and some + lovers, and was beheaded for her crimes in Milan. This fact demonstrates + the value of the model in the hands of an artist capable of using it. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_228_228" id="BFootnote_228_228"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> When I + assert that the age was losing the sense of artistic reserve, I wish to + refer back to what I have written about Marino, the dictator of the age + in matters of taste. See above, pp. 273, 274. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_229_229" id="BFootnote_229_229"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> Go to S. + Andrea nella Valle in Rome, to study the best of them. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_230_230" id="BFootnote_230_230"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> + Michelangelo Amerighi da Caravaggio (1569-1609). + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_231_231" id="BFootnote_231_231"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> For the + historian of manners in seventeenth-century Italy those pictures have a + truly precious value, as they are executed with such passion as to raise + them above the more careful but more lymphatic transcripts from + beer-cellars in Dutch painting. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_232_232" id="BFootnote_232_232"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> See + above, part I. p. 47. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_233_233" id="BFootnote_233_233"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> But the + men who used the word failed to perceive that what justified these + qualities in Michelangelo's work was piercing, poignant, spiritual + passion, of which their age had nothing. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_234_234" id="BFootnote_234_234"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> + </p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span>'Strange that such difference should be</span><br /> <span> + 'Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee.'</span> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_235_235" id="BFootnote_235_235"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> The great + picture by Dosso Dossi, to which I have alluded, is in the Modenese + gallery. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_236_236" id="BFootnote_236_236"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> The + passage from Lodovico Caracci through Poussin to Reynolds is direct and + unbroken. 'Poussin,' says Lanzi, 'ranked Domenichino directly next to + Raffaello.' <i>History of Painting in Italy</i>, Engl. Tr. vol. iii. p. + 84. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_237_237" id="BFootnote_237_237"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> Perhaps a + generation will yet arise which shall take the Caracci and their + scholars into favor, even as people of refinement in our own days find a + charm in patches, powder, perukes, sedan-chairs, patchouli, and other + lumber from the age despised by Keats. I remember visiting a noble + English lady at her country seat. We drank tea in her room, decorated by + a fashionable 'Queen Anne' artist. She told us that the quaintly pretty + furniture of the last century which adorned it had recently been brought + down from the attic, whither her fore bears had consigned it as + tasteless—Gillow in their minds superseding Chippendale. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_238_238" id="BFootnote_238_238"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> It is + only because I am an Englishman, writing a popular book for English + folk, that I thus spend time in noticing the opinions of Joshua + Reynolds. Addressing a European audience in this year grace, I should + not have thought of eddying about his obsolete doctrine. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="BFootnote_239_239" id="BFootnote_239_239"></a><a + href="#BFNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> Twenty + millions of years is of course a mere symbol, <i>x</i> or <i>y</i>. + </p> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2 +by John Addington Symonds + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RENAISSANCE IN ITALY *** + +***** This file should be named 16504-h.htm or 16504-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/0/16504/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Chuck Greif and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + +HTML file revised by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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