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diff --git a/old/67799-0.txt b/old/67799-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 56c6726..0000000 --- a/old/67799-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,22750 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of the Courtier, by Baldesar -Castiglione - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Book of the Courtier - -Authors: Baldesar Castiglione - Leonard Eckstein Opdycke - -Release Date: April 8, 2022 [eBook #67799] - -Language: English - -Produced by: KD Weeks, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE -COURTIER *** - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Supercripted -characters are prefixed with ‘^’. - -The notes were printed as endnotes organized by chapters. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - - - - - THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR - CASTIGLIONE - - - - -[Illustration: - - BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - COUNT OF NOVILLARA - 1478-1529 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 11.505) of the portrait in the - Louvre, painted in 1516 by Raphael (1483-1520). The original - belonged to Charles I of England, after whose death it was bought by - a Dutch collector and copied by Rubens. Later it became the property - of Cardinal Mazarin, from whose heirs it was acquired for Louis XIV - of France. - -The medallion on the title-page is from a photograph, specially made by - Mansell, of a cast, kindly furnished by T. Whitcombe Greene, Esq., - of an anonymous medal in his collection at Chandler’s Ford, - Hampshire. See the late Alfred Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, - ii, 100, no. 10. - - - THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR - CASTIGLIONE - - (1528) - -[Illustration] - - TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN AND ANNOTATED - BY LEONARD ECKSTEIN OPDYCKE - - - - - WITH SEVENTY-ONE PORTRAITS AND FIFTEEN AUTOGRAPHS - REPRODUCED BY EDWARD BIERSTADT - - - LONDON - DUCKWORTH & CO. - - NEW YORK - CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS - 1902 - - - - -[Illustration: THE DE VINNE PRESS] - - - - - Copyright 1901, by - LEONARD ECKSTEIN OPDYCKE - - - - -THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER was written, partly at Urbino and partly at - Rome, between the years 1508 and 1516, and was first printed at the - Aldine Press, Venice, in the month of April, 1528. - -There have since been published more than one hundred and forty - editions, a list of which will be found at page 417 of this volume. - The first Spanish version, by JUAN BOSCAN ALMOGAVER, was issued at - Barcelona in 1534; the first French version, by JACQUES COLIN, was - issued at Paris in 1537; the first English version, by THOMAS HOBY, - was issued at London in 1561; the first Latin version, by HIERONYMUS - TURLER, was issued at Wittenberg in 1561; the first German version, - by LORENZ KRATZER, was issued at Munich in 1566. - - The present edition consists of five hundred numbered copies, of - which this is No. - - - TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE - - -The popularity long enjoyed by this old book, the place that it holds in -Italian literature, and the fact that it is almost inaccessible to -English readers, seem to furnish sufficient reason for a new -translation. - -The art of the Italian Renaissance delights us by its delicate and -gentle beauty, and yet we know that life during this period was often -gross and violent. To understand this, we must remember that art is more -the expression of the ideal than of the actual, and that men’s ideals -are loftier than their practice. Castiglione gives utterance to the -finest aspirations of his time. His pages will lack interest only when -mankind ceases to be interesting to man, and will reward study so long -as the past shall continue to instruct the present and the future. - -The few deviations that the present translator has ventured to make from -the letter of the Italian text are merely verbal, and were deemed -needful to render its meaning clear. The notes that he offers are -intended to explain obscure passages and to relieve the reader from the -tedium of searching in books of reference. Perhaps no one will regard it -as inopportune to be reminded of what all may have known but few are -able to remember with precision. Students who may wish to learn from -what Greek and Latin sources Castiglione derived material are referred -to Professor Vittorio Cian’s admirable edition. - -The translator desires to express his thanks for the friendly -encouragement that he has received from Miss Grace Norton, at whose -suggestion his task was undertaken. He is indebted to Dr. Luigi Roversi -and Signor Leopoldo Jung for their patient aid, and to Signor Alessandro -Luzio and many other scholars, in Italy and elsewhere, for the kindness -with which they have helped him to gather portraits and bibliographical -data. He gratefully acknowledges, also, his frequent use of Professor -Cian’s erudite labours, of John Addington Symonds’s RENAISSANCE IN -ITALY, and of James Dennistoun’s MEMOIRS OF THE DUKES OF URBINO. - - - - - CONTENTS - - (The Arabic numerals given below refer to the numbered paragraphs - into which it has long been customary to divide the work) - - Page - LIST OF PLATES xi - INTERLOCUTORS xiv - THE AUTHOR’S DEDICATORY LETTER 1 - Reasons for writing the book, and for at first delaying and - afterwards hastening its publication. Lament at the recent - death of several persons mentioned in the book. Answer to three - objections: that the book was not written in the language of - Boccaccio; that, as it is impossible to find a perfect - Courtier, it was superfluous to describe one; and that the - author presumed to paint his own portrait. - THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER 7 - 1: The book written at the instance of Alfonso Ariosto and in - dialogue form, in order to record certain discussions held at - the court of Urbino. 2-3: Description and praise of Urbino and - its lords; Duke Federico and his son Guidobaldo. 4-5: The - Urbino court and the persons taking part in the discussions. 6: - Circumstances that led to the discussions; visit of Pope Julius - II. 7-11: Various games proposed. 12: Game finally chosen: to - describe a perfect Courtier. 13-6: Canossa begins the - discussion by enumerating some of the conditions essential to - the Courtier,—especially gentle birth. 17-8: Arms the true - profession of the Courtier, who must, however, avoid arrogance - and boasting. 19-22: Physical qualities and martial exercises. - 23: Short bantering digression. 24-6: Grace. 27-8: Affectation. - 29-39: Literary and conversational style. 40: Women’s - affectations. 41: Moral qualities. 42-6: Literary - accomplishments; arms vs. letters. 47-8: Music. 49: Painting. - 50-3: Painting vs. sculpture. 54-6: Arrival of the youthful - Francesco Maria della Rovere; the evening’s entertainment ends - with dancing. - THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER 75 - 1-4: Reasons why the aged are wont to laud the past and to - decry the present; defence of the present against such - aspersions; praise of the court of Urbino. 5-6 Federico Fregoso - begins the discussion on the way and time of employing the - qualities and accomplishments described by Canossa: utility of - such discussion. 7-8: General rules: to avoid affectation, to - speak and act discreetly and opportunely, to aim at honour and - praise in martial exercises, war, and public contests, 9-10: - Other physical exercises. 11: Dancing and masquerading. 12-3: - Music of various kinds, when to be practised. 14: Aged - Courtiers not to engage publicly in music and dancing. 15-6: - Duty of aged and youthful Courtiers to moderate the faults - peculiar to their years. 17-25: Conversation, especially with - superiors; how to win favours worthily. 26-8: Dress and - ornament; lamentable lack of fashions peculiarly Italian. - 29-30: Choice and treatment of friends. 31: Games of cards and - chess. 32-5: Influence of preconceived opinions and first - impressions; advantage of being preceded by good reputation. - 36: Danger of going beyond bounds in the effort to be amusing. - 37: French and Spanish manners. 38: Tact, modesty, kindness, - readiness; taking advantage of opportunities; confession of - ignorance. 39-41: Self-depreciation, deceit, moderation. 42-83: - Pleasantries and witticisms expounded by Bibbiena. 84-97: - Practical jokes; to be used discreetly, particularly where - women are concerned; use of trickery and artifice in love; - dignity and nobility of women. 98-100: Giuliano de’Medici - chosen to describe the perfect Court Lady. - THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER 171 - 1: Excellence of the court of Urbino to be estimated in much - the same way in which Pythagoras calculated the stature of - Hercules. 2-3: Bantering preliminaries to the discussion on the - Court Lady. 4: Qualities common to the Courtier and to the - Court Lady. 5-6: The Court Lady to be affable, modest and - decorous; to follow a middle course between prudishness and - over-freedom; to avoid scandal-mongering; her conversation to - have variety. 7-9: Physical and mental exercises of the Court - Lady; her dress. 10-8: Women’s importance; certain aspersions - refuted. 19-20: Examples of saintly women contrasted with - hypocritical friars. 21-7: Examples of women famous for virtue, - manly courage, constancy in love, pudicity. 28-33: Examples of - women who in ancient times did good service to the world in - letters, in the sciences, in public life, in war. 34-6: More - recent examples of women noted for their virtue. 37-49: - Chastity and continence. 50: Dangers to which womanly virtue is - exposed. 51-2: Further praise of women. 53-5: The Court Lady’s - demeanour in love talk. 56-9: Her conduct in love. 60-73: The - way to win and keep a woman’s love; its effects and signs; - secrecy in love. 74-5: Pallavicino’s aspersions against women. - 76-7: Ottaviano Fregoso is deputed to expound the other - qualities that add to the Courtier’s perfections. - - THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COURTIER 243 - 1-2: Eulogy of several other interlocutors whose death had - recently occurred. 3-6: Ottaviano Fregoso resumes the - interrupted discussion, considers the Courtier’s relations with - his prince, and urges the duty of employing his qualities and - accomplishments so that his prince may be led to seek good and - shun evil. 7-10: Princes’ need to know the truth, their - difficulty in finding it, and the Courtier’s duty to encourage - them in the path of virtue. 11-2: Virtue not wholly innate, but - susceptible of cultivation. 13-6: Ignorance the source of - nearly all human errour. 17-8: Temperance the perfect virtue, - because it is the fountain of virtues. 19-24: Monarchy vs. - commonwealth. 25-6: Whether a contemplative or an active life - is more befitting a prince. 27-8: Peace the aim of war; the - virtues befitting each. 29: Right training of princes to begin - in habit and to be confirmed by reason. 30: Humourous - digression. 31: _Governo misto_. 32-5: Attributes of a good - prince: justice, devoutness, love of his subjects, and mild - sway. 36-9: Grand public works; the Crusades; eulogy of several - young princes. 40: Princes must avoid certain extremes. 41: - Princes must attend to details personally. 42: Eulogy of the - youthful Federico Gonzaga. 43-8: Arguments supporting the - theory that the Courtier’s highest aim is the instruction of - his prince. 49-52: Whether the Courtier ought to be in love; - Bembo appointed to discourse on love and beauty. 53-4: Evils - and perils of sensual love. 55-6: Digression concerning the - love of old men. 57-60: True beauty, the reflection of - goodness. 61-4: In what manner the unyouthful Courtier ought to - love; rational love contrasted with sensual love. 65-7: - Contemplation of abstract beauty. 68-9: Contemplation of divine - beauty. 70-1: Bembo’s invocation to the Holy Spirit. 72: - Instances in which a vision of divine beauty has been granted - to mortals. 73: Termination of the discussion at dawn. - PRELIMINARY NOTES,—Life of the Author, etc. 313 - NOTES TO THE DEDICATORY LETTER 317 - NOTES TO THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER 325 - NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER 355 - NOTES TO THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER 387 - NOTES TO THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COURTIER 407 - LIST OF EDITIONS OF THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER 417 - - INDEX 423 - - - LIST OF PLATES - - 1 BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE, Count of Novillara; Raphael; Frontispiece - - 2 BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE; anonymous medal; Title-page - - Facing page - - 3 FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, Duke of Urbino; 1 - Titian; - - 4 GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, Duke of Urbino; 9 - Giovanni Santi (?); - - 5 EMILIA PIA; medal by Giancristoforo Romano (?); 11 - - 6 ELISABETTA GONZAGA, Duchess of Urbino; Mantegna 12 - (?); - - 7 BERNARDO ACCOLTI, the “Unico Aretino;” Vasari; 16 - - 8 COUNT LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA; anonymous; 20 - - 9 CARDINAL IPPOLITO D’ESTE; anonymous medal; 22 - - 10 GALEAZZO SANSEVERINO; anonymous; 34 - - 11 ANGELO AMBROGINI, “Poliziano;” Ghirlandajo; 51 - - 12 MONSEIGNEUR D’ANGOULÊME, Francis I of France; 57 - anonymous medal; - - 13 MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI; Daniele da Volterra (?); 67 - - 14 BORSO D’ESTE, Duke of Ferrara; Francesco Cossa; 77 - - 15 AUTOGRAPHS; 89 - - 16 AUTOGRAPHS; 96 - - 17 GIACOPO SANNAZARO; Vasari; 113 - - 18 LEONARDO DA VINCI; autograph drawing; 117 - - 19 BERNARDO DOVIZI DA BIBBIENA; Raphael (?); 123 - - 20 POPE ALEXANDER VI; Pinturicchio; 126 - - 21 ERCOLE D’ESTE, Duke of Ferrara; anonymous relief; 129 - - 22 GALEOTTO MARZI DA NARNI; anonymous medal; 136 - - 23 TOMMASO INGHIRAMI, “Fedra;” Raphael (?); 138 - - 24 PRINCE DJEM; Pinturicchio; 141 - - 25 AGOSTINO BEVAZZANO; Raphael; 144 - - 26 OTTAVIANO UBALDINI; Melozzo da Forli; 147 - - 27 RAPHAEL; Sebastiano del Piombo; 149 - - 28 FRANCESCO ALIDOSI, Cardinal of Pavia; anonymous 151 - relief; - - 29 POPE LEO X; Raphael; 152 - - 30 AUTOGRAPHS; 169 - - 31 GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI, “My lord Magnifico;” 175 - Alessandro Allori; - - 32 ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC; Miguel Zittoz (?); 203 - - 33 ISABELLA D’ESTE, Marchioness of Mantua; Titian; 204 - - 34 LUDOVICO GONZAGA, Bishop of Mantua; Mantegna; 215 - - 35 FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC; Miguel Zittoz (?); 219 - - 36 ELEANORA GONZAGA, Duchess of Urbino; Titian; 244 - - 37 POPE JULIUS II; Raphael; 274 - - 38 PRINCE HENRY OF WALES, Henry VIII; anonymous; 276 - - 39 FEDERICO GONZAGA, Marquess and Duke of Mantua; 279 - anonymous medal; - - 40 CARDINAL PIETRO BEMBO; medal by Benvenuto Cellini 288 - (?); - - 41 BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE, Count of Novillara; 313 - anonymous; - - 42 CASTIGLIONE’S TOMB, near Mantua; Giulio Romano; 314 - - 43 VITTORIA COLONNA, Marchioness of Pescara; 320 - anonymous medal; - - 44 FEDERICO GONZAGA, Marquess of Mantua; Mantegna; 322 - - 45 FEDERICO DI MONTEFELTRO, Duke of Urbino; Mino da 325 - Fiesole (?); - - 46 ALFONSO II OF NAPLES; medal by Guazzalotti; 327 - - 47 FERDINAND II OF NAPLES; anonymous bronze bust; 328 - - 48 GIACOMO SADOLETO; Vasari; 331 - - 49 LOUIS XII OF FRANCE; anonymous pen-drawing; 332 - - 50 MATTHIAS CORVINUS OF HUNGARY; anonymous medal; 336 - - 51 ANDREA MANTEGNA; anonymous bronze relief; 341 - - 52 LORENZO DE’ MEDICI, “the Magnificent;” medal by 345 - Pollaiuolo; - - 53 BEATRICE D’ESTE, Duchess of Milan; Piero della 352 - Francesca (?); - - 54 FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI, Duke of Milan; Pisanello; 355 - - 55 NICCOLÒ PICCININO; Pisanello; 356 - - 56 MAXIMILIAN I OF GERMANY; Ambrogio da Predis; 359 - - 57 CHARLES VIII OF FRANCE; anonymous bust; 360 - - 58 POPE NICHOLAS V; medal by Guazzalotti; 362 - - 59 GIROLAMO DONATO; anonymous relief; 365 - - 60 GIOVANNI CALFURNIO; anonymous relief; 366 - - 61 CONSALVO DE CORDOBA, “the Great Captain;” medal by 368 - Annibal; - - 62 COSIMO DE’ MEDICI, “Pater Patriæ;” medal by 370 - Niccolò Fiorentino; - - 63 BAJAZET II OF TURKEY; anonymous print; 372 - - 64 ALFONSO I OF NAPLES; Pisanello; 375 - - 65 CESARE BORGIA, Duke of Valentinois; Beccaruzzi 377 - (?); - - 66 LUDOVICO SFORZA, Duke of Milan; Cristoforo Solari; 381 - - 67 ANNE OF BRITTANY; medal by Jean Perreal; 393 - - 68 MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA; anonymous; 395 - - 69 BEATRICE OF ARAGON, Queen of Hungary; anonymous 397 - bust; - - 70 ISABELLA OF ARAGON, Duchess of Milan; medal by 398 - Giancristoforo Romano; - - 71 FEDERICO III OF NAPLES; anonymous medal; 400 - - 72 ELEANORA OF ARAGON, Duchess of Ferrara; anonymous 402 - relief; - - 73 GIANFRANCESCO GONZAGA, Marquess of Mantua; 409 - Francesco Bonsignori (?); - - 74 HENRY VII OF ENGLAND; anonymous; 412 - - 75 DON CARLOS, Prince of Spain; Bernhard Strigel (?); 414 - - 76 REVERSE OF MEDAL ON TITLE-PAGE; End piece - - - - - INTERLOCUTORS - - ELISABETTA GONZAGA, wife of Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. - Aged 46. - EMILIA PIA, friend and companion of the Duchess, and widow of the - Duke’s half-brother. Aged about 30. - MARGARITA GONZAGA, young niece and companion of the Duchess. - COSTANZA FREGOSA, young half-niece of the Duke. - FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, nephew and adopted heir of the Duke. Aged - 17. - Count LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA, a kinsman of the author, afterwards made - Bishop of Bayeux. aged 31. - FEDERICO FREGOSO, half-nephew of the Duke, afterwards made a cardinal. - Aged 27. - GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI, an exile from Florence, known at Urbino as “My - lord Magnifico,” and afterwards made Duke of Nemours. Aged 29. - BERNARDO DOVIZI, better known as BIBBIENA, an adherent of the Medici, - afterwards made a cardinal. Aged 37. - OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, elder brother of Costanza and Federico, afterwards - Doge of Genoa. - PIETRO BEMBO, a Venetian scholar and poet, afterwards made a cardinal. - Aged 37. - CESARE GONZAGA, a kinsman of the Duchess, and cousin as well as close - friend of the author. Aged about 32. - BERNARDO ACCOLTI, better known as the UNICO ARETINO, a courtier-poet - and popular extemporizer. Aged about 42. - Count GASPAR PALLAVICINO. Aged 21. - GIANCRISTOFORO ROMANO, a sculptor, medallist, etc. Aged about 42. - COLLO VINCENZO CALMETA, a courtier-poet. - LUDOVICO PIO, a brave young soldier, and kinsman of Emilia Pia. - SIGISMONDO MORELLO DA ORTONA, an elderly courtier. - Fra SERAFINO, a jester. - - Time: March 1507. - - Place: The Palace of Urbino. - -[Illustration: - - FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE. - DUKE OF URBINO - 1490-1538 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 40.605) of the portrait, in the - Uffizi Gallery at Florence, by Titian (1477-1576). - - - - - TO THE REVEREND AND ILLUSTRIOUS - LORD DOM MIGUEL DE SILVA,[1] - BISHOP OF VISEU - - -1.—When my lord Guidobaldo di Montefeltro,[2] Duke of Urbino, passed -from this life, I, together with several other cavaliers who had served -him, remained in the service of Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere,[3] -his heir and successor in the State. And as the recollection of Duke -Guido’s character was fresh in my mind, and the delight I had during -those years in the kind companionship of the notable persons who at that -time frequented the Court of Urbino, I was moved by their memory to -write these books of the Courtier, which I did in a few days,[4] -purposing in time to correct those errours that arose from the wish to -pay this debt speedily. But for many years past fortune has burdened me -with toil so constant that I never could find leisure to make the book -such as would content even my poor judgment. - -Now being in Spain,[5] and learning from Italy that my lady Vittoria -della Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara,[6] to whom I gave a copy of the -book, had against her word caused a large part of it to be transcribed, -I could not but feel some annoyance, fearing the many inconveniences -that may befall in such cases. Still, I relied upon the wit and good -sense of this lady (whose character I have always held in veneration as -a thing divine) to prevent any mischief coming to me from having obeyed -her wishes. Finally I was informed that this part of the book was in the -hands of many people at Naples; and as men are always eager for anything -new, it seemed likely that someone might try to have it printed.[7] -Alarmed at this peril, then, I resolved to revise the book at once so -far as I had time, with intent to publish it; for I thought better to -let it be seen imperfectly corrected by my own hand than grievously -mutilated by the hand of others. - -And so, to carry out this plan, I began to read the book again; and -touched at the very outset by the title, I was saddened not a little, -and far more so as I went on, by the thought that most of the personages -introduced in the discussion were already dead; for besides those -mentioned in the proem of the last Book, messer Alfonso Ariosto[8] (to -whom the work is dedicated) is also dead, a gracious youth, considerate, -of the highest breeding, and apt in everything proper to a man who lives -at court. Likewise Duke Giuliano de’ Medici,[9] whose kindness and noble -courtesy deserved to be enjoyed longer by the world. Messer -Bernardo,[10] Cardinal of Santa Maria in Portico, who for his keen and -playful readiness of wit was most delightful to all that knew him, he, -too, is dead. Dead also is my lord Ottaviano Fregoso,[11] a man very -rare in our times: magnanimous, devout, full of kindness, talent, good -sense, and courtesy, a true lover of honour and merit, and so worthy of -praise that his very enemies were ever forced to praise him; and the -misadventures that he bore so bravely were enough to prove that fortune -is still, as always, adverse to merit. And of those mentioned in my book -many more besides are dead, to whom nature seemed to promise very long -life. - -But what should not be told without tears is that my lady Duchess,[12] -too, is dead. And if my heart mourns the loss of so many friends and -patrons, who have left me in this life as in a solitude full of sorrows, -it is meet that I grieve more bitterly for the death of my lady Duchess -than of all the others; for she was more precious than they, and I more -bound to her than to all the others. Not to delay, then, the tribute -that I owe the memory of so excellent a Lady and of the others who are -no more, and moved also by the danger to my book, I have had it printed -and published in such state as the shortness of time permitted. - -And since you had no knowledge in their lifetime either of my lady -Duchess or of the others who are dead (except Duke Giuliano and the -Cardinal of Santa Maria in Portico), in order to give you that knowledge -after their death as far as I can, I send you this book as a picture of -the Court of Urbino, not by the hand of Raphael[98] or Michelangelo,[99] -but of a humble painter, who knows only how to trace the chief lines, -and cannot adorn truth with bright colouring, or by perspective art make -that which is not seem to be. And although I tried to show forth in -their discourse the qualities and character of my personages, I own I -failed to express or even to suggest the excellences of my lady Duchess, -not only because my style is inadequate to describe them, but because my -intelligence fails even to conceive of them;[13] and if I be censured -for this or any other matter worthy of censure (for I well know that my -book contains many such), I shall not gainsay the truth. - -2.—But as men sometimes so delight in finding fault that they reprehend -even that which does not merit reprehension, to such as blame me because -I did not imitate Boccaccio[14] or conform to the usages of present -Tuscan speech, I shall not refrain from saying that while, for his time, -Boccaccio had a charming faculty and often wrote with care and -diligence, yet he wrote far better when he followed only the guidance of -his natural wit and instinct, without further thought or care to polish -his writings, than when he strove industriously and laboriously to be -more refined and correct. For this reason even his followers declare -that he greatly erred in judgment concerning his own works, holding -cheap what did him honour[15] and prizing what was worthless. Therefore, -if I had imitated that manner of writing which in Boccaccio is censured -by those who elsewise praise him, I should not have been able to escape -those same aspersions that were cast on him in this regard; and I should -have more deserved them, because he committed his faults thinking he was -doing well, while I should have known I was doing ill. Again, if I had -imitated the style now admired by many but less esteemed by him, it -seemed to me that by such imitation I should show myself at variance -with him whom I was imitating, a thing I deemed unseemly. And again, if -this consideration had not moved me, I was not able to imitate him in my -subject-matter, for he never wrote anything at all in the manner of -these books of the Courtier; and I thought I ought not to imitate him in -language, because the power and true law of good speech consist rather -in usage than in aught else, and it is always a bad habit to employ -words not in use. Therefore it was not meet for me to borrow many of -Boccaccio’s words that were used in his day, but are not now used even -by the Tuscans themselves. - -Nor was I willing to limit myself to the Tuscan usage of to-day, because -intercourse between different nations has always had the effect to -transport, as it were like merchandise, new forms of speech from one to -the other; and these endure or fail according as custom accepts or -rejects them. Besides being attested by the ancients, this is clearly -seen in Boccaccio, who used so many French, Spanish, and Provençal words -(some of them perhaps not very intelligible to modern Tuscans) that if -they were all omitted his work would be far shorter. - -And since, in my opinion, we ought not to despise the idiom of the other -noble cities of Italy, whither men resort who are wise, witty, and -eloquent, wont to discourse on weighty matters of statecraft, letters, -war, and commerce, I think that, of the words used in the speech of -these places, I could fitly use in writing such as are graceful in -themselves, elegant to pronounce, and commonly deemed good and -expressive, although they might not be Tuscan or even of Italian origin. -Moreover, in Tuscany, many words are used which are plainly corruptions -of the Latin, but which in Lombardy and other parts of Italy have -remained pure and unchanged, and are so generally employed by everyone -that they are accepted by the gentle and easily understood by the -vulgar. Hence I think I did not err if in writing I used some of these -words, or preferred what is whole and true speech of my own country -rather than what is corrupt and mutilated from abroad. - -Neither do I regard as sound the maxim laid down by many, that our -common speech is the more beautiful the less it is like Latin; nor do I -understand why one fashion of speech should be accorded so much greater -authority than another, that, if the Tuscan tongue can ennoble debased -and mutilated Latin words and lend them such grace that, mutilated as -they are, they may be used by anyone without reproach (which is not -denied), the Lombard or any other tongue may not support these same -Latin words, pure, whole, precise, and quite unchanged, so that they be -tolerable. And truly, just as to undertake, in spite of usage, to coin -new words or to preserve old ones may be called bold presumption, so -also, besides being difficult, it seems almost impious to undertake, -against the force of that same usage, to suppress and bury alive, as it -were, words that have already endured for many centuries, protected by -the shield of custom against the envy of time, and have maintained their -dignity and splendour through the changes in language, in buildings, in -habits and in customs, wrought by the wars and disasters of Italy. - -Hence if in writing I have chosen not to use those words of Boccaccio -that are no longer used in Tuscany, nor to conform to the rule of those -who deem it not permissible to use any words that the Tuscans of to-day -do not use, I seem to myself excusable. And I think that both in the -matter and in the language of my book (so far as one language can aid -another), I have followed authors as worthy of praise as is Boccaccio. -Nor do I believe that it ought to be counted against me as a fault that -I have elected to make myself known rather as a Lombard speaking -Lombard, than as a non-Tuscan speaking Tuscan too precisely, in order -that I might not resemble Theophrastus, who was detected as non-Athenian -by a simple old woman, because he spoke the Athenian dialect with excess -of care.[16] - -But as this subject is sufficiently treated of in my first Book,[17] I -shall say no more, except that, to prevent all possible discussion, I -grant my critics that I do not know this Tuscan dialect of theirs, which -is so difficult and recondite. And I declare that I have written in my -own dialect, just as I speak and for those who speak as I do; and in -this I think I have wronged no man, because it seems to me that no one -is forbidden to write and speak in his own language; nor is anyone bound -to read or listen to what does not please him. Therefore if these folk -do not care to read my Courtier, I shall not hold myself in the least -wronged by them. - -3.—Others say that since it is so very hard and well nigh impossible to -find a man as perfect as I wish the Courtier to be, it was superfluous -to write of him, because it is folly to teach what cannot be learned. To -these I make answer that I am content to have erred in company with -Plato, Xenophon and Marcus Tullius, leaving on one side all discussion -about the Intelligible World and Ideals; among which, just as are -included (according to those authors) the ideal of the perfect State, of -the perfect King and of the perfect Orator,[18] so also is the ideal of -the perfect Courtier. And if in my style I have failed to approach the -image of this ideal, it will be so much the easier for courtiers to -approach in deeds the aim and goal that I have set them by my writing; -and even if they fail to attain the perfection, such as it is, that I -have tried to express, he that approaches nearest to it will be the most -perfect; just as when many archers shoot at a target and none hit the -very mark, surely he that comes nearest to it is better than the rest. - -Still others say that I thought to paint my own portrait, as if I were -convinced that I possessed all the qualities that I attribute to the -Courtier.[19] To these I shall not indeed deny having essayed everything -that I should wish the Courtier to know; and I think that a man, however -learned, who did not know something of the matters treated of in the -book, could not well have written of them; but I am not so lacking in -self-discernment as to fancy that I know everything I have the wit to -desire. - -My defence then against these and perhaps many other accusations, I -leave for the present to the verdict of public opinion; for while the -many may not perfectly understand, yet oftener than not they scent by -natural instinct the savour of good and bad, and without being able to -explain why, they relish one thing and like it, and reject another and -hate it. Therefore if my book wins general favour, I shall think it must -be good and ought to live;[20] but if it fails to please, I shall think -it must be bad and soon to be forgot. And if my censors be not satisfied -with the common verdict of opinion, let them rest content with that of -time, which in the end reveals the hidden defects of everything, and -being father of truth and judge without passion, ever passes on men’s -writings just sentence of life or death. - - BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE. - - - - - THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - - TO MESSER ALFONSO ARIOSTO - - -1.—Within myself I have long doubted, dearest messer Alfonso, which of -two things were the harder for me: to deny you what you have often -begged of me so urgently, or to do it. For while it seemed to me very -hard to deny anything (and especially a thing in the highest degree -laudable) to one whom I love most dearly and by whom I feel myself to be -most dearly loved, yet to set about an enterprise that I was not sure of -being able to finish, seemed to me ill befitting a man who esteems just -censure as it ought to be esteemed. At last, after much thought, I am -resolved to try in this matter how much aid my assiduity may gain from -that affection and intense desire to please, which in other things are -so wont to stimulate the industry of man. - -You ask me then to write what is to my thinking the form of -Courtiership[21] most befitting a gentleman who lives at the court of -princes, by which he may have the ability and knowledge perfectly to -serve them in every reasonable thing, winning from them favour, and -praise from other men; in short, what manner of man he ought to be who -may deserve to be called a perfect Courtier without flaw. Wherefore, -considering your request, I say that had it not seemed to me more -blameworthy to be reputed somewhat unamiable by you than too conceited -by everyone else, I should have avoided this task, for fear of being -held over bold by all who know how hard a thing it is, from among such a -variety of customs as are in use at the courts of Christendom, to choose -the perfect form and as it were the flower of Courtiership. For custom -often makes the same thing pleasing and displeasing to us; whence it -sometimes follows that customs, habits, ceremonies and fashions that -once were prized, become vulgar, and contrariwise the vulgar become -prized. Thus it is clearly seen that use rather than reason has power to -introduce new things among us, and to do away with the old; and he will -often err who seeks to determine which are perfect. Therefore being -conscious of this and many other difficulties in the subject set before -me to write of, I am constrained to offer some apology, and to testify -that this errour (if errour it may indeed be called) is common to us -both, to the end that if I be blamed for it, the blame maybe shared by -you also; for your offence in setting me a task beyond my powers should -not be deemed less than mine in having accepted it. - -So now let us make a beginning of our subject, and if possible let us -form such a Courtier that any prince worthy to be served by him, -although of but small estate,[22] might still be called a very great -lord. - -In these books we shall follow no fixed order or rule of distinct -precepts, such as are usually employed in teaching anything whatever; -but after the fashion of many ancient writers, we shall revive a -pleasant memory and rehearse certain discussions that were held between -men singularly competent in such matters; and although I had no part in -them personally, being in England at the time they took place,[23] yet -having received them soon after my return, from one who faithfully -reported them to me, I will try to recall them as accurately as my -memory will permit, so that you may know what was thought and believed -on this subject by men who are worthy of highest praise, and to whose -judgment implicit faith may be given in all things. Nor will it be amiss -to tell the cause of these discussions, so that we may reach in orderly -manner the end to which our discourse tends. - -[Illustration: - - GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO - DUKE OF URBINO - 1472-1508 -] - -From Alinari’s photograph (no. 7351) of the portrait, in the Colonna - Gallery at Rome, variously attributed to Raphael’s father, Giovanni - Santi (1440?-1494), and (by Morelli) to Melozzo degli Ambrosi da - Forli (1438-1494). Schmarzow’s iconographical identification of this - portrait (formerly supposed to represent Raphael as a boy) is - confirmed by its close resemblance to the young duke’s features as - shown on coins issued in the early years of his reign. - -2.—On the slopes of the Apennines towards the Adriatic sea, almost in -the centre of Italy, there lies (as everyone knows) the little city of -Urbino. Although amid mountains, and less pleasing ones than perhaps -some others that we see in many places, it has yet enjoyed such favour -of heaven that the country round about is very fertile and rich in -crops; so that besides the wholesomeness of the air, there is great -abundance of everything needful for human life. But among the greatest -blessings that can be attributed to it, this I believe to be the chief, -that for a long time it has ever been ruled by the best of lords;[24] -although in the calamities of the universal wars of Italy, it was for a -season deprived of them.[25] But without seeking further, we can give -good proof of this by the glorious memory of Duke Federico,[26] who in -his day was the light of Italy; nor is there lack of credible and -abundant witnesses, who are still living, to his prudence, humanity, -justice, liberality, unconquered courage,—and to his military -discipline, which is conspicuously attested by his numerous victories, -his capture of impregnable places, the sudden swiftness of his -expeditions, the frequency with which he put to flight large and -formidable armies by means of a very small force, and by his loss of no -single battle whatever;[27] so that we may not unreasonably compare him -to many famous men of old. - -Among his other praiseworthy deeds, he built on the rugged site of -Urbino a palace regarded by many as the most beautiful to be found in -all Italy; and he so well furnished it with everything suitable that it -seemed not a palace but a city in the form of a palace; and not merely -with what is ordinarily used,—such as silver vases, hangings of richest -cloth-of-gold and silk, and other similar things,—but for ornament he -added countless antique statues in marble and bronze, pictures most -choice, and musical instruments of every sort, nor would he admit -anything there that was not very rare and excellent. Then at very great -cost he collected a goodly number of most excellent and rare books in -Greek, Latin and Hebrew, all of which he adorned with gold and with -silver, esteeming this to be the chiefest excellence of his great -palace.[28] - -3.—Following then the course of nature, and already sixty-five years -old,[29] he died gloriously, as he had lived; and he left as his -successor a motherless little boy of ten years, his only son Guidobaldo. -Heir to the State, he seemed to be heir also to all his father’s -virtues, and soon his noble nature gave such promise as seemed not -permissible to hope for from mortal man; so that men esteemed none among -the notable deeds of Duke Federico to be greater than to have begotten -such a son. But envious of so much virtue, fortune thwarted this -glorious beginning with all her power; so that before Duke Guido reached -the age of twenty years, he fell ill of the gout,[30] which grew upon -him with grievous pain, and in a short space of time so crippled all his -members that he could neither stand upon his feet nor move; and thus one -of the fairest and most promising forms in the world was distorted and -spoiled in tender youth. - -And not content even with this, fortune was so contrary to him in all -his purposes, that he could seldom carry into effect anything that he -desired; and although he was very wise of counsel and unconquered in -spirit, it seemed that what he undertook, both in war and in everything -else whether small or great, always ended ill for him. And proof of this -is found in his many and diverse calamities, which he ever bore with -such strength of mind, that his spirit was never vanquished by fortune; -nay, scorning her assaults with unbroken courage, he lived in illness as -if in health and in adversity as if fortunate, with perfect dignity and -universal esteem; so that although he was thus infirm of body, he fought -with most honourable rank in the service of their Serene Highnesses the -Kings of Naples, Alfonso[31] and Ferdinand the Younger;[32] later with -Pope Alexander VI,[33] and with the Venetian and Florentine signories. - -Upon the accession of Julius II[34] to the pontificate, he was made -Captain of the Church; at which time, following his accustomed habit, -above all else he took care to fill his household with very noble and -valiant gentlemen, with whom he lived most familiarly, delighting in -their intercourse: wherein the pleasure he gave to others was not less -than that he received from others, he being well versed in both the -[learned][35] languages, and uniting affability and pleasantness[36] to -a knowledge of things without number. And besides this, the greatness of -his spirit so set him on, that although he could not practise in person -the exercises of chivalry, as he once had done, yet he took the utmost -pleasure in witnessing them in others; and by his words, now correcting -now praising every man according to desert, he clearly showed his -judgment in those matters; wherefore, in jousts and tournaments, in -riding, in the handling of every sort of weapon, as well as in pastimes, -games, music,—in short, in all the exercises proper to noble -cavaliers,—everyone strove so to show himself, as to merit being deemed -worthy of such noble fellowship. - -[Illustration: - - EMILIA PIA - Died 1528 -] - -Enlarged from a photograph, specially made by Mansell, of a cast, kindly - furnished by T. Whitcombe Greene, Esq., of a medal in his collection - at Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, possibly the work of Giancristoforo - Romano (1465?-1512). See Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, iii, - 202. - -4.—Thus all the hours of the day were assigned to honourable and -pleasant exercises as well for the body as for the mind; but since my -lord Duke was always wont by reason of his infirmity to retire to sleep -very early after supper, everyone usually betook himself at that hour to -the presence of my lady Duchess, Elisabetta Gonzaga; where also was ever -to be found my lady Emilia Pia,[37] who was endowed with such lively wit -and judgment that, as you know, it seemed as if she were the Mistress of -us all, and as if everyone gained wisdom and worth from her. Here then, -gentle discussions and innocent pleasantries were heard, and on the face -of everyone a jocund gaiety was seen depicted, so that the house could -truly be called the very abode of mirth: nor ever elsewhere, I think, -was so relished, as once was here, how great sweetness may flow from -dear and cherished companionship; for not to speak of the honour it was -to each of us to serve such a lord as he of whom I have just spoken, -there was born in the hearts of all a supreme contentment every time we -came into the presence of my lady Duchess; and it seemed as if this were -a chain that held us all linked in love, so that never was concord of -will or cordial love between brothers greater than that which here was -between us all. - -The same was it among the ladies, with whom there was intercourse most -free and honourable; for everyone was permitted to talk, sit, jest and -laugh with whom he pleased; but such was the reverence paid to the wish -of my lady Duchess, that this same liberty was a very great check;[38] -nor was there anyone who did not esteem it the utmost pleasure he could -have in the world, to please her, and the utmost pain to displease her. -And thus, most decorous manners were here joined with greatest liberty, -and games and laughter in her presence were seasoned not only with witty -jests, but with gracious and sober dignity; for that modesty and -loftiness which governed all the acts, words and gestures of my lady -Duchess, bantering and laughing, were such that she would have been -known for a lady of noblest rank by anyone who saw her even but once. -And impressing herself thus upon those about her, she seemed to attune -us all to her own quality and tone; accordingly every man strove to -follow this pattern, taking as it were a rule of beautiful behaviour -from the presence of so great and virtuous a lady; whose highest -qualities I do not now purpose to recount, they not being my theme and -being well known to all the world, and far more because I could not -express them with either tongue or pen; and those that perhaps might -have been somewhat hid, fortune, as if wondering at such rare virtue, -chose to reveal through many adversities and stings of calamity, so as -to give proof that in the tender breast of woman, in company with -singular beauty, there may abide prudence and strength of soul, and all -those virtues that even among stern men are very rare.[39] - -5.—But leaving this aside, I say that the custom of all the gentlemen of -the house was to betake themselves straightway after supper to my lady -Duchess; where, among the other pleasant pastimes and music and dancing -that continually were practised, sometimes neat questions were proposed, -sometimes ingenious games were devised at the choice of one or another, -in which under various disguises the company disclosed their thoughts -figuratively to whom they liked best. Sometimes other discussions arose -about different matters, or biting retorts passed lightly back and -forth. Often “devices” (_imprese_), as we now call them, were -displayed;[40] in discussing which there was wonderful diversion, the -house being (as I have said) full of very noble talents; among whom (as -you know) the most famous were my lord Ottaviano Fregoso, his brother -messer Federico,[41] the Magnifico Giuliano de’ Medici, messer Pietro -Bembo,[42] messer Cesare Gonzaga,[43] Count Ludovico da Canossa,[44] my -lord Gaspar Pallavicino,[45] my lord Ludovico Pio,[46] my lord Morello -da Ortona,[47] Pietro da Napoli, messer Roberto da Bari,[48] and -countless other very noble cavaliers. Moreover there were many, who, -although usually they did not dwell there constantly, yet spent most of -the time there: like messer Bernardo Bibbiena, the Unico Aretino,[49] -Giancristoforo Romano,[50] Pietro Monte,[51] Terpandro,[52] messer -Niccolò Frisio;[53] so that there always flocked thither poets, -musicians and all sorts of agreeable[54] men, and in every walk the most -excellent that were to be found in Italy. - -[Illustration: - - ELISABETTA GONZAGA - DUCHESS OF URBINO - 1471-1526 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 41.121) of the portrait in the - Uffizi Gallery at Florence, variously ascribed to Andrea Mantegna - (1431-1506), to Lorenzo Costa (1460-1535), and to Francesco - Bonsignori (1455-1519). - -6.—Now Pope Julius II, having by his presence and the aid of the French -brought Bologna under subjection to the apostolic see in the year 1506, -and being on his way back to Rome, passed through Urbino; where he was -received with all possible honour and with as magnificent and splendid -state as could have been prepared in any other noble city of Italy: so -that besides the pope, all the lord cardinals and other courtiers were -most highly gratified. And some there were, attracted by the charm of -this society, who tarried at Urbino many days after the departure of the -pope and his court; during which time not only were the ordinary -pastimes and diversions continued in the usual manner, but every man -strove to contribute something new, and especially in the games, to -which almost every evening was devoted. And the order of them was such -that immediately after reaching the presence of my lady Duchess, -everyone sat down in a circle as he pleased or as chance decided; and in -sitting they were arranged alternately, a man and a woman, as long as -there were women, for nearly always the number of men was by far the -greater; then they were governed as seemed best to my lady Duchess, who -for the most part left this charge to my lady Emilia. - -So, the day after the pope’s departure,[55] the company being assembled -at the wonted hour and place, after much pleasant talk, my lady Duchess -desired my lady Emilia to begin the games; and she, after having for a -time refused the task, spoke thus: - -“My Lady, since it pleases you that I shall be the one to begin the -games this evening, not being able in reason to fail to obey you, I will -propose a game in which I think I ought to have little blame and less -labour; and this shall be for everyone to propose after his liking a -game that has never been given; and then we will choose the one that -seems best worthy to be played in this company.” - -And so saying, she turned to my lord Gaspar Pallavicino, requiring him -to tell his choice; and he at once replied: - -“It is for you, my Lady, first to tell your own.” - -“But I have already told it,” said my lady Emilia; “now do you, my lady -Duchess, bid him be obedient.”[56] - -Then my lady Duchess said, smiling: - -“To the end that everyone may be bound to obey you, I make you my deputy -and give you all my authority.” - -7.—“It is a remarkable thing,” replied my lord Gaspar, “that women -should always be allowed this exemption from toil, and it certainly -would not be unreasonable to wish in some way to learn the reason why; -but not to be the first to disobey, I will leave this for another time, -and will tell what is required of me;” and he began: “It seems to me -that in love, as in everything else, our minds judge diversely; and thus -it often happens that what is very delightful to one man, is very -hateful to another; but none the less we all are ever alike in this, -that every man holds his beloved very dear; so that the over fondness of -lovers often cheats their judgment to such a degree, that they esteem -the person whom they love to be the only one in the world adorned with -every excellent virtue and wholly without defect; but since human nature -does not admit such complete perfection, and since there is no one to be -found who does not lack something, it cannot be said that such men do -not cheat themselves, and that the lover does not become blind -concerning the beloved. I would therefore that this evening our game -might be that each of us should tell what virtue above others he would -have the person whom he loves adorned with; and then, as all must have -some blemish, what fault he would have in her; in order that we may see -who can find the most praiseworthy and useful virtues, and the most -excusable faults and least harmful to lover and beloved.” - -My lord Gaspar having spoken thus, my lady Emilia made sign to madonna -Costanza Fregosa[57] to follow after, because she sat next in order, and -she was preparing to speak; but my lady Duchess said quickly: - -“Since my lady Emilia will not make the effort to invent a game, it were -only fair that the other ladies share this ease and that they too be -exempt from such exertion for this evening, especially as there are here -so many men that there is no danger of lack of games.” - -“So be it,” replied my lady Emilia; and imposing silence on madonna -Costanza, she turned to messer Cesare Gonzaga, who sat next, and bade -him speak; and he began thus: - -8.—“Whoso will carefully consider all our actions, will ever find -various defects in them; the reason whereof is that nature, variable in -this as in other things, has given to one man the light of reason in one -thing, to another man in another thing; and so it happens that, the one -knowing what the other does not know and being ignorant of what the -other understands, each readily perceives his neighbour’s fault and not -his own, and we all seem to ourselves very wise and perhaps most of all -in that wherein we most are foolish. Thus we have seen it happen in this -house that many, at first accounted very wise, were in course of time -recognized as very foolish, which came about from nothing else but our -own watchfulness. For, as they say that in Apulia musical instruments -are used for those bitten by the tarantula,[58] and various tunes are -tried until the humour that causes the malady (through a certain -affinity it has for some one of those tunes) is suddenly stirred by the -sound, and so excites the sick man that he is restored to health by -virtue of that excitement: so when we have perceived a hidden touch of -folly, we have stimulated it so artfully and with such various -persuasions and diverse means, that at length we have learned whither it -tended; then, the humour once recognized, so well have we excited it -that it has always reached the perfection of open folly. Thus one man -has waxed foolish over poetry, another over music, another over love, -another over dancing, another over inventing mimes,[59] another over -riding, another over fencing,—each according to the native quality of -his metal; whence, as you know, great amusement has been derived. I hold -it then as certain that there is some grain of folly in each of us, -which being quickened can multiply almost infinitely. - -“Therefore I would that this evening our game might be a discussion upon -this subject, and that each one tell with what kind of folly, and about -what thing, he thinks I should make a fool of myself if I had to make a -fool of myself openly, judging of this outburst by the sparks of folly -that are daily seen to issue from me. Let the same be told of all the -rest, keeping to the order of our games, and let each one try to found -his opinion upon some actual sign and argument. And thus we shall each -derive from our game the advantage of learning our defects, and so shall -be better able to guard against them; and if the vein of folly that is -discovered proves so rich that it seems incurable, we will assist it, -and according to fra Mariano’s[60] teaching, we shall have saved a soul, -which will be no small gain.” - -There was much laughter at this game, nor were there any who could keep -from talking; one said, “I should make a fool of myself over thinking;” -another, “Over looking;” another said, “I have already made a fool of -myself over loving;” and the like. - -9.—Then fra Serafino[61] said, laughing after his manner: - -“That would take too long; but if you want a fine game, let everyone -give his opinion why it is that nearly all women hold rats in hatred, -and are fond of snakes; and you will see that no one will guess the -reason except myself, who learned this secret in a strange way.” And he -began to tell his stories; but my lady Emilia bade him be silent, and -passing over the lady who sat next, made sign to the Unico Aretino whose -turn it was; and he, without waiting for further command, said: - -“I would I were a judge with power to search the heart of evil-doers by -every sort of torture; and this that I might fathom the deceits of an -ingrate with angel eyes and serpent heart, who never lets her tongue -reveal her soul, and with deceitful pity feigned has no thought but of -dissecting hearts. Nor is there in sandy Libya to be found a serpent so -venomous and eager for human blood as is this false one; who not only in -the sweetness of her voice and honeyed words, but in her eyes, her -smiles, her aspect and in all her ways, is a very siren. - -“But since I am not suffered, as I would I were, to use chains, rope and -fire to learn a certain truth, I fain would learn it by a game,—which is -this: let each one tell what he believes to be the meaning of that -letter S which my lady Duchess wears upon her brow;[62] for, although -this too is surely an artful veil to aid deceit, perchance there will be -given it some interpretation unthought of by her perhaps, and it will be -found that fortune, compassionate spectatress of men’s martyrdoms, has -led her against her will to disclose by this small token her secret wish -to slay and bury alive in calamity everyone who beholds her or serves -her.” - -[Illustration: - - BERNARDO ACCOLTI - THE UNICO ARETINO - 1465?-1535 -] - -Head enlarged from a photograph, specially made by Alinari, of a part of - the fresco, “Leo X’s Entry into Florence,” in the Palazzo Vecchio at - Florence, by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). See Milanesi’s edition of - Vasari’s _Opere_, viii, 142. - -My lady Duchess laughed, and the Unico, seeing that she wished to defend -herself against this imputation, said: - -“Nay, my Lady, do not speak, for it is not now your turn to speak.” - -My lady Emilia then turned and said: - -“Sir Unico, there is no one of us here who does not yield to you in -everything, but above all in knowledge of my lady Duchess’s mind; and -since you know it better than the others (thanks to your divine genius), -you love it better than the others, who like those weak-sighted birds -that fix not their eyes upon the sun’s orb, cannot so justly know how -perfect it is; wherefore every effort to clear this doubt would be vain, -save your own judgment. To you alone then be left this task, as to him -who alone can perform it.” - -The Unico remained silent for a while, then being urged to speak, at -last recited a sonnet upon the aforesaid subject, declaring what that -letter S meant; which was by many believed to be done impromptu, but as -it was more ingenious and finished than seemed to accord with the -shortness of the time, it was thought rather to have been prepared.[62] - -10.—Then having bestowed a merry plaudit in praise of the sonnet, and -talked of it awhile, my lord Ottaviano Fregoso, whose turn it was, -smilingly began as follows: - -“My Lords, if I were to affirm that I had never felt the passion of -love, I am sure that my lady Duchess and my lady Emilia would feign to -believe it even though they believed it not, and would say that it was -because I mistrusted ever being able to prevail upon any woman to love -me; whereof indeed I have not made trial hitherto with such persistence -as reasonably to despair of being able sometime to succeed. But yet I -have not refrained because I rate myself so high, or women so low, that -I do not deem many of them worthy to be loved and served by me; but made -timourous rather by the continual laments of some lovers, who—pallid, -gloomy and taciturn—seem always to wear their unhappiness depicted in -their eyes; and if they speak, they accompany every word with triple -sighs, and discourse of nothing but tears, torments, despairings and -longings for death; so that if an amourous spark has sometimes kindled -in my heart, I have at once striven with all my might to quench it, not -from any hate I bear to women as these ladies think, but for my own -good. - -“I have also known some others quite different from these dolourous -souls,—lovers who not only give thanks and praise for the kind looks, -tender words and gentle bearing of their mistresses, but flavour all -evils with sweetness, so that they call their ladies’ warrings, anger -and disdain, most sweet. Wherefore such as these seem to me far more -than happy. For if they find such sweetness in lovers’ quarrels, which -those others deem far more bitter than death, I think that in loving -endearments they must enjoy that supreme beatitude which we vainly seek -in this world. So I would that this evening our game might be, that each -man tell, if she whom he loves must needs be angry with him, by what -cause he would have her anger roused. Because if there be any here who -have enjoyed this sweet anger, I am sure that out of courtesy they will -choose one of those causes that make it so sweet; and perhaps I shall -take courage to advance a little farther in love, hoping that I too may -find this sweetness where some find bitterness; and then these ladies -will be no longer able to cast shame upon me because I do not love.” - -11.—This game found much favour and everyone made ready to speak upon -the subject, but as my lady Emilia made no further mention of it, messer -Pietro Bembo, who sat next in order, spoke thus: - -“My Lords, no small uncertainty has been awakened in my mind by the game -proposed by my lord Ottaviano in his discourse about love’s anger: the -which, however varied it be, has in my case always been most bitter, nor -do I believe that any seasoning could be learned from me that would -avail to sweeten it; but perhaps it is more or less bitter according to -the cause from which it springs.[63] For I remember once to have seen -the lady whom I served wrought up against me, either by some idle -suspicion that she had herself conceived as to my loyalty, or by some -other false notion awakened in her by what others had said to my injury; -insomuch that I believed no pain could equal mine, and it seemed to me -that the greatest suffering I felt was to endure that which I had not -deserved, and to have this affliction come upon me not from my fault but -from her lack of love. At other times I saw her angered by some errour -of mine, and knew her ire to proceed from my fault; and then I deemed -that my former woe was very light compared with that which now I felt; -and it seemed to me that to have displeased, and through my own guilt, -the person whom alone I desired and so zealously strove to please, was -the greatest torment and above all others. I would therefore that our -game might be that each man tell, if she whom he loves must needs be -angry with him, from which of the two he would have her anger spring, -from her or from himself; so that we may know which is the greater -suffering, to give displeasure to her who is loved, or to receive it -from her who is loved.” - -12.—Everyone waited for my lady Emilia to reply; but she, saying nothing -more to Bembo, turned and made sign to messer Federico Fregoso that he -should tell his game; and he at once began as follows: - -“My Lady, I would it were permitted me, as it sometimes is, to assent to -another’s proposal; since for my part I would readily approve any of the -games proposed by these gentlemen, for I really think that all of them -would be amusing. But not to break our rule, I say that anyone who -wished to praise our court,—laying aside the merit of our lady Duchess, -which with her divine virtue would suffice to lift from earth to heaven -the meanest souls that are in the world,—might well say without -suspicion of flattery, that in all Italy it would perhaps be hard to -find so many cavaliers so singularly admirable and so excellent in -divers other matters besides the chief concerns of chivalry, as are now -to be found here: wherefore if anywhere there be men who deserve to be -called good Courtiers and who are able to judge of what pertains to the -perfection of Courtiership, it is reasonable to believe that they are -here. So, to repress the many fools who by impudence and folly think to -win the name of good Courtier, I would that this evening’s game might -be, that we select some one of the company and give him the task of -portraying a perfect Courtier, explaining all the conditions and special -qualities requisite in one who deserves this title; and as to those -things that shall not appear sound, let everyone be allowed to -contradict, as in the schools of the philosophers it is allowed to -contradict anyone who proposes a thesis.” - -Messer Federico was continuing his discourse still further, when my lady -Emilia interrupted him and said: - -“This, if it pleases my lady Duchess, shall for the present be our -game.” - -My lady Duchess answered: - -“It does please me.” - -Then nearly all those present began to say, both to my lady Duchess and -among themselves, that this was the finest game that could possibly be; -and without waiting for each other’s answer, they entreated my lady -Emilia to decide who should begin. She turned to my lady Duchess and -said: - -“Command, my Lady, him who it best pleases you should have this task; -for I do not wish, by selecting one rather than another, to seem to -decide whom I think more competent in this matter than the rest, and so -do wrong to anyone.” - -My lady Duchess replied: - -“Nay, make this choice yourself, and take heed lest by not obeying you -give an example to the others, so that they too prove disobedient in -their turn.” - -13.—At this my lady Emilia laughed and said to Count Ludovico da -Canossa: - -“Then not to lose more time, you, Count, shall be the one to take this -enterprise after the manner that messer Federico has described; not -indeed because we account you so good a Courtier that you know what -befits one, but because, if you say everything wrong as we hope you -will, the game will be more lively, for everyone will then have -something to answer you; while if someone else had this task who knew -more than you, it would be impossible to contradict him in anything, -because he would tell the truth, and so the game would be tedious.” - -The Count answered quickly: - -“Whoever told the truth, my Lady, would run no risk of lacking -contradiction, so long as you were present;” and after some laughter at -this retort, he continued: “But truly I would fain escape this burden, -it seeming to me too heavy, and I being conscious that what you said in -jest is very true; that is, that I do not know what befits a good -Courtier: and I do not seek to prove this with further argument, -because, as I do not practise the rules of Courtiership, one may judge -that I do not know them; and I think my blame may be the less, for sure -it is worse not to wish to do well than not to know how. Yet, since it -so happens that you are pleased to have me bear this burden, I neither -can nor will refuse it, in order not to contravene our rule and your -judgment, which I rate far higher than my own.” - -[Illustration: - - COUNT LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA - 1476-1532 -] - -Reduced from a photograph, specially made through the courtesy of the - Bishop of Bayeux, of an anonymous portrait in his possession. The - sadly injured condition of the original rendered it necessary to - retouch the negative, in which process recourse was had to a small - photograph, kindly furnished by the Marquess Ottavio di Canossa, of - his copy of the Bayeux portrait. - -Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“As the early evening is now spent and many other kinds of entertainment -are ready, perhaps it will be well to put off this discussion until -to-morrow and give the Count time to think of what he has to say; for it -is difficult indeed to speak unprepared on such a subject.” - -The Count replied: - -“I do not wish to be like the fellow who, when stripped to his shirt, -vaulted less well than he had done in his doublet; hence it seems to me -good fortune that the hour is late, for I shall be obliged by the -shortness of the time to say but little, and my not having taken thought -will excuse me, so that I shall be allowed to say without blame whatever -first comes to my lips. - -“Therefore, not to carry this burden of duty longer on my shoulders, I -say that in everything it is so hard to know the true perfection as to -be well nigh impossible; and this because of the variety of opinions. -Thus there are many that will like a man who speaks much, and will call -him pleasing; some will prefer modesty; some others, an active and -restless man; still others, one who shows calmness and deliberation in -everything; and so every man praises or decries according to his mind, -always clothing vice with the name of its kindred virtue, or virtue with -the name of its kindred vice; for example, calling an impudent man -frank, a modest man dull, an ignorant man good, a knave discreet; and so -in all things else. Yet I believe that there exists in everything its -own perfection, although concealed; and that this can be determined -through rational discussion by any having knowledge of the thing in -hand. And since, as I have said, the truth often lies concealed, and I -do not profess to have this knowledge, I can only praise the kind of -Courtier that I most esteem, and approve him who seems to me nearest -right, according to my poor judgment; the which you will follow if you -find it good, or you will hold to your own if it differs from mine. Nor -shall I at all insist that mine is better than yours; not only because -you may think one thing and I another, but I myself may sometimes think -one thing, and sometimes another. - -14.—“I wish, then, that this Courtier of ours should be nobly born and -of gentle race; because it is far less unseemly for one of ignoble birth -to fail in worthy deeds, than for one of noble birth, who, if he strays -from the path of his predecessors, stains his family name, and not only -fails to achieve but loses what has been achieved already; for noble -birth is like a bright lamp that manifests and makes visible good and -evil deeds, and kindles and stimulates to virtue both by fear of shame -and by hope of praise. And since this splendour of nobility does not -illumine the deeds of the humbly born, they lack that stimulus and fear -of shame, nor do they feel any obligation to advance beyond what their -predecessors have done; while to the nobly born it seems a reproach not -to reach at least the goal set them by their ancestors. And thus it -nearly always happens that both in the profession of arms and in other -worthy pursuits the most famous men have been of noble birth, because -nature has implanted in everything that hidden seed which gives a -certain force and quality of its own essence to all things that are -derived from it, and makes them like itself: as we see not only in the -breeds of horses and of other animals, but also in trees, the shoots of -which nearly always resemble the trunk; and if they sometimes -degenerate, it arises from poor cultivation. And so it is with men, who -if rightly trained are nearly always like those from whom they spring, -and often better; but if there be no one to give them proper care, they -become like savages and never reach perfection. - -“It is true that, by favour of the stars or of nature, some men are -endowed at birth with such graces that they seem not to have been born, -but rather as if some god had formed them with his very hands and -adorned them with every excellence of mind and body. So too there are -many men so foolish and rude that one cannot but think that nature -brought them into the world out of contempt or mockery. Just as these -can usually accomplish little even with constant diligence and good -training, so with slight pains those others reach the highest summit of -excellence. And to give you an instance: you see my lord Don Ippolito -d’Este,[64] Cardinal of Ferrara, who has enjoyed such fortune from his -birth, that his person, his aspect, his words and all his movements are -so disposed and imbued with this grace, that—although he is young—he -exhibits among the most aged prelates such weight of character that he -seems fitter to teach than to be taught; likewise in conversation with -men and women of every rank, in games, in pleasantry and in banter, he -has a certain sweetness and manners so gracious, that whoso speaks with -him or even sees him, must needs remain attached to him forever. - -[Illustration: - - IPPOLITO D’ESTE - 1479-1520 -] - -Enlarged from a cast, courteously furnished by the Austrian authorities, - of an anonymous medal in the Imperial Museum at Vienna. See Armand’s - _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, iii, 169, G. - -“But to return to our subject: I say that there is a middle state -between perfect grace on the one hand and senseless folly on the other; -and those who are not thus perfectly endowed by nature, with study and -toil can in great part polish and amend their natural defects. Besides -his noble birth, then, I would have the Courtier favoured in this regard -also, and endowed by nature not only with talent and beauty of person -and feature, but with a certain grace and (as we say) air that shall -make him at first sight pleasing and agreeable to all who see him; and I -would have this an ornament that should dispose and unite all his -actions, and in his outward aspect give promise of whatever is worthy -the society and favour of every great lord.” - -15.—Here, without waiting longer, my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“In order that our game may have the form prescribed, and that we may -not seem to slight the privilege given us to contradict, I say that this -nobility of birth does not appear to me so essential in the Courtier; -and if I thought I were saying what was new to any of us, I should cite -instances of many men born of the noblest blood who have been full of -vices; and on the other hand, of many men among the humbly born who by -their virtue have made their posterity illustrious. And if what you just -said be true, namely that there is in everything this occult influence -of the original seed, then we should all be in the same case, because we -had the same origin, nor would any man be more noble than another. But -as to our differences and grades of eminence and obscurity, I believe -there are many other causes: among which I rate fortune to be chief; for -we see her holding sway in all mundane affairs, often amusing herself by -lifting to heaven whom she pleases (although wholly without merit), and -burying in the depths those most worthy to be exalted. - -“I quite agree with what you say as to the good fortune of those endowed -from birth with advantages of mind and body: but this is seen as well -among the humbly born as among the nobly born, since nature has no such -subtle distinctions as these; and often, as I said, the highest gifts of -nature are found among the most obscure. Therefore, since this nobility -of birth is won neither by talent nor by strength nor by craft, and is -rather the merit of our predecessors than our own, it seems to me too -extravagant to maintain that if our Courtier’s parents be humbly born, -all his good qualities are spoiled, and that all those other -qualifications that you mentioned do not avail to raise him to the -summit of perfection; I mean talent, beauty of feature, comeliness of -person, and that grace which makes him always charming to everyone at -first sight.” - -16.—Then Count Ludovico replied: - -“I do not deny that the same virtues may rule the low-born and the -noble: but (not to repeat what we have said already or the many other -arguments that could be adduced in praise of noble birth, which is -honoured always and by everyone, it being reasonable that good should -beget good), since we have to form a Courtier without flaw and endowed -with every praiseworthy quality, it seems to me necessary to make him -nobly born, as well for many other reasons as for universal opinion, -which is at once disposed in favour of noble birth. For if there be two -Courtiers who have as yet given no impression of themselves by good or -evil acts, as soon as the one is known to have been born a gentleman and -the other not, he who is low-born will be far less esteemed by everyone -than he who is high-born, and will need much effort and time to make -upon men’s minds that good impression which the other will have achieved -in a moment and merely by being a gentleman. And how important these -impressions are, everyone can easily understand: for in our own case we -have seen men present themselves in this house, who, being silly and -awkward in the extreme, yet had throughout Italy the reputation of very -great Courtiers; and although they were detected and recognized at last, -still they imposed upon us for many days, and maintained in our minds -that opinion of them which they first found impressed there, although -they conducted themselves after the slightness of their worth. We have -seen others, held at first in small esteem, then admirably successful at -the last. - -“And of these mistakes there are various causes: and among others, the -regard of princes, who in their wish to perform miracles sometimes -undertake to bestow favour on a man who seems to them to merit -disfavour. And often too they are themselves deceived; but since they -always have a host of imitators, their favour begets very great fame, -which chiefly guides our judgments: and if we find anything that seems -contrary to common opinion, we suspect that it is we ourselves who are -wrong, and always seek for something hidden: because it seems that these -universal opinions must after all be founded on fact and spring from -rational causes; and because our minds are very prone to love and hate, -as is seen in battle-shows and games and every other sort of contest, -wherein the spectators without apparent cause become partisans of one -side, with eager wish that it may win and the other lose. In our opinion -of men’s character also, good or evil fame sways our minds to one of -these two passions from the start; and thus it happens that we usually -judge with love or hate. You see then how important this first -impression is, and how he ought to strive to make a good one at the -outset, who thinks to hold the rank and name of good Courtier. - -17.—“But to come to some details, I am of opinion that the principal and -true profession of the Courtier ought to be that of arms; which I would -have him follow actively above all else, and be known among others as -bold and strong, and loyal to whomsoever he serves. And he will win a -reputation for these good qualities by exercising them at all times and -in all places, since one may never fail in this without severest -censure. And just as among women, their fair fame once sullied never -recovers its first lustre, so the reputation of a gentleman who bears -arms, if once it be in the least tarnished with cowardice or other -disgrace, remains forever infamous before the world and full of -ignominy. Therefore the more our Courtier excels in this art, the more -he will be worthy of praise; and yet I do not deem essential in him that -perfect knowledge of things and those other qualities that befit a -commander; since this would be too wide a sea, let us be content, as we -have said, with perfect loyalty and unconquered courage, and that he be -always seen to possess them. For the courageous are often recognized -even more in small things than in great; and frequently in perils of -importance and where there are many spectators, some men are to be -found, who, although their hearts be dead within them, yet, moved by -shame or by the presence of others, press forward almost with their eyes -shut, and do their duty God knows how. While on occasions of little -moment, when they think they can avoid putting themselves in danger -without being detected, they are glad to keep safe. But those who, even -when they do not expect to be observed or seen or recognized by anyone, -show their ardour and neglect nothing, however paltry, that may be laid -to their charge,—they have that strength of mind which we seek in our -Courtier. - -“Not that we would have him look so fierce, or go about blustering, or -say that he has taken his cuirass to wife, or threaten with those grim -scowls that we have often seen in Berto;[65] because to such men as -this, one might justly say that which a brave lady jestingly said in -gentle company to one whom I will not name at present;[66] who, being -invited by her out of compliment to dance, refused not only that, but to -listen to the music, and many other entertainments proposed to -him,—saying always that such silly trifles were not his business; so -that at last the lady said, ‘What is your business, then?’ He replied -with a sour look, ‘To fight.’ Then the lady at once said, ‘Now that you -are in no war and out of fighting trim, I should think it were a good -thing to have yourself well oiled, and to stow yourself with all your -battle harness in a closet until you be needed, lest you grow more rusty -than you are;’ and so, amid much laughter from the bystanders, she left -the discomfited fellow to his silly presumption. - -“Therefore let the man we are seeking, be very bold, stern, and always -among the first, where the enemy are to be seen; and in every other -place, gentle, modest, reserved, above all things avoiding ostentation -and that impudent self-praise by which men ever excite hatred and -disgust in all who hear them.” - -18.—Then my lord Gaspar replied: - -“As for me, I have known few men excellent in anything whatever, who do -not praise themselves; and it seems to me that this may well be -permitted them; for when anyone who feels himself to be of worth, sees -that he is not known to the ignorant by his works, he is offended that -his worth should lie buried, and needs must in some way hold it up to -view, in order that he may not be cheated of the fame that is the true -reward of worthy effort. Thus among the ancient authors, whoever carries -weight seldom fails to praise himself. They indeed are insufferable who -do this without desert, but such we do not presume our Courtier to be.” - -The Count then said: - -“If you heard what I said, it was impudent and indiscriminate -self-praise that I censured: and as you say, we surely ought not to form -a bad opinion of a brave man who praises himself modestly, nay we ought -rather to regard such praise as better evidence than if it came from the -mouth of others. I say, however, that he, who in praising himself runs -into no errour and incurs no annoyance or envy at the hands of those -that hear him, is a very discreet man indeed and merits praise from -others in addition to that which he bestows upon himself; because it is -a very difficult matter.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“You must teach us that.” - -The Count replied: - -“Among the ancient authors there is no lack of those who have taught it; -but to my thinking, the whole art consists in saying things in such a -way that they shall not seem to be said to that end, but let fall so -naturally that it was impossible not to say them, and while seeming -always to avoid self-praise, yet to achieve it; but not after the manner -of those boasters, who open their mouths and let the words come forth -haphazard. Like one of our friends a few days ago, who, being quite run -through the thigh with a spear at Pisa, said he thought it was a fly -that had stung him; and another man said he kept no mirrour in his room -because, when angry, he became so terrible to look at, that the sight of -himself would have frightened him too much.” - -Everyone laughed at this, but messer Cesare Gonzaga added: - -“Why do you laugh? Do you not know that Alexander the Great, on hearing -the opinion of a philosopher[67] to be that there was an infinite number -of worlds, began to weep, and being asked why he wept, replied, ‘Because -I have not yet conquered one of them;’ as if he would fain have -vanquished all? Does not this seem to you a greater boast than that -about the fly-sting?” - -Then the Count said: - -“Yes, and Alexander was a greater man than he who made the other speech. -But extraordinary men are surely to be pardoned when they assume much; -for he who has great things to do must needs have daring to do them, and -confidence in himself, and must not be abject or mean in spirit, yet -very modest in speech, showing less confidence in himself than he has, -lest his self-confidence lead to rashness.” - -19.—The Count now paused a little, and messer Bernardo Bibbiena said, -laughing: - -“I remember what you said earlier, that this Courtier of ours must be -endowed by nature with beauty of countenance and person, and with a -grace that shall make him so agreeable. Grace and beauty of countenance -I think I certainly possess, and this is the reason why so many ladies -are ardently in love with me, as you know; but I am rather doubtful as -to the beauty of my person, especially as regards these legs of mine, -which seem to me decidedly less well proportioned than I should wish: as -to my bust and other members however, I am quite content. Pray, now, -describe a little more in particular the sort of body that the Courtier -is to have, so that I may dismiss this doubt and set my mind at rest.” - -After some laughter at this, the Count continued: - -“Of a certainty that grace of countenance can be truly said to be yours, -nor need I cite further example than this to show what manner of thing -it is, for we unquestionably perceive your aspect to be most agreeable -and pleasing to everyone, albeit the lineaments of it are not very -delicate. Still it is of a manly cast and at the same time full of -grace; and this characteristic is to be found in many different types of -countenance. And of such sort I would have our Courtier’s aspect; not so -soft and effeminate as is sought by many, who not only curl their hair -and pluck their brows, but gloss their faces with all those arts -employed by the most wanton and unchaste women in the world; and in -their walk, posture and every act, they seem so limp and languid that -their limbs are like to fall apart; and they pronounce their words so -mournfully that they appear about to expire upon the spot: and the more -they find themselves with men of rank, the more they affect such tricks. -Since nature has not made them women, as they seem to wish to appear and -be, they should be treated not as good women but as public harlots, and -driven not merely from the courts of great lords but from the society of -honest men. - -20.—“Then coming to the bodily frame, I say it is enough if this be -neither extremely short nor tall, for both of these conditions excite a -certain contemptuous surprise, and men of either sort are gazed upon in -much the same way that we gaze on monsters. Yet if we must offend in one -of the two extremes, it is preferable to fall a little short of the just -measure of height than to exceed it, for besides often being dull of -intellect, men thus huge of body are also unfit for every exercise of -agility, which thing I should much wish in the Courtier. And so I would -have him well built and shapely of limb, and would have him show -strength and lightness and suppleness, and know all bodily exercises -that befit a man of war: whereof I think the first should be to handle -every sort of weapon well on foot and on horse, to understand the -advantages of each, and especially to be familiar with those weapons -that are ordinarily used among gentlemen; for besides the use of them in -war, where such subtlety in contrivance is perhaps not needful, there -frequently arise differences between one gentleman and another, which -afterwards result in duels often fought with such weapons as happen at -the moment to be within reach: thus knowledge of this kind is a very -safe thing. Nor am I one of those who say that skill is forgotten in the -hour of need; for he whose skill forsakes him at such a time, indeed -gives token that he has already lost heart and head through fear. - -21.—“Moreover I deem it very important to know how to wrestle, for it is -a great help in the use of all kinds of weapons on foot. Then, both for -his own sake and for that of his friends, he must understand the -quarrels and differences that may arise, and must be quick to seize an -advantage, always showing courage and prudence in all things.[68] Nor -should he be too ready to fight except when honour demands it; for -besides the great danger that the uncertainty of fate entails, he who -rushes into such affairs recklessly and without urgent cause, merits the -severest censure even though he be successful. But when he finds himself -so far engaged that he cannot withdraw without reproach, he ought to be -most deliberate, both in the preliminaries to the duel and in the duel -itself, and always show readiness and daring. Nor must he act like some, -who fritter the affair away in disputes and controversies, and who, -having the choice of weapons, select those that neither cut nor pierce, -and arm themselves as if they were expecting a cannonade; and thinking -it enough not to be defeated, stand ever on the defensive and -retreat,—showing therein their utter cowardice. And thus they make -themselves a laughing-stock for boys, like those two men of Ancona who -fought at Perugia not long since, and made everyone laugh who saw them.” - -“And who were they?” asked my lord Gaspar Pallavicino. - -“Two cousins,” replied messer Cesare. - -Then the Count said: - -“In their fighting they were as like as two brothers;” and soon -continued: “Even in time of peace weapons are often used in various -exercises, and gentlemen appear in public shows before the people and -ladies and great lords. For this reason I would have our Courtier a -perfect horseman in every kind of seat; and besides understanding horses -and what pertains to riding, I would have him use all possible care and -diligence to lift himself a little beyond the rest in everything, so -that he may be ever recognized as eminent above all others. And as we -read of Alcibiades that he surpassed all the nations with whom he lived, -each in their particular province, so I would have this Courtier of ours -excel all others, and each in that which is most their profession. And -as it is the especial pride of the Italians to ride well with the rein, -to govern wild horses with consummate skill, and to play at tilting and -jousting,—in these things let him be among the best of the Italians. In -tourneys and in the arts of defence and attack, let him shine among the -best in France.[69] In stick-throwing, bull-fighting, and in casting -spears and darts, let him excel among the Spaniards. But above -everything he should temper all his movements with a certain good -judgment and grace, if he wishes to merit that universal favour which is -so greatly prized. - -22.—“There are also many other exercises, which although not immediately -dependent upon arms, yet are closely connected therewith, and greatly -foster manly sturdiness; and one of the chief among these seems to me to -be the chase, because it bears a certain likeness to war: and truly it -is an amusement for great lords and befitting a man at court, and -furthermore it is seen to have been much cultivated among the ancients. -It is fitting also to know how to swim, to leap, to run, to throw -stones, for besides the use that may be made of this in war, a man often -has occasion to show what he can do in such matters; whence good esteem -is to be won, especially with the multitude, who must be taken into -account withal. Another admirable exercise, and one very befitting a man -at court, is the game of tennis, in which are well shown the disposition -of the body, the quickness and suppleness of every member, and all those -qualities that are seen in nearly every other exercise. Nor less highly -do I esteem vaulting on horse, which although it be fatiguing and -difficult, makes a man very light and dexterous more than any other -thing; and besides its utility, if this lightness is accompanied by -grace, it is to my thinking a finer show than any of the others.[70] - -“Our Courtier having once become more than fairly expert in these -exercises, I think he should leave the others on one side: such as -turning summersaults, rope-walking, and the like, which savour of the -mountebank and little befit a gentleman. - -“But since one cannot devote himself to such fatiguing exercises -continually, and since repetition becomes very tiresome and abates the -admiration felt for what is rare, we must always diversify our life with -various occupations. For this reason I would have our Courtier sometimes -descend to quieter and more tranquil exercises, and in order to escape -envy and to entertain himself agreeably with everyone, let him do -whatever others do, yet never departing from praiseworthy deeds, and -governing himself with that good judgment which will keep him from all -folly; but let him laugh, jest, banter, frolic and dance, yet in such -fashion that he shall always appear genial and discreet, and that -everything he may do or say shall be stamped with grace.” - -23.—Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“We certainly ought on no account to hinder the course of this -discussion; but if I were to keep silence, I should be neglectful both -of the right I have to speak and of my desire to know one thing: and let -me be pardoned if I ask a question instead of contradicting; for this I -think may be permitted me, after the precedent of messer Bernardo here, -who in his over desire to be held comely, broke the rules of our game by -asking a question instead of contradicting.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“You see how one errour begets many. Therefore he who transgresses and -sets a bad example, like messer Bernardo, deserves to be punished not -only for his own transgression but also for the others’.” - -Then messer Cesare replied: - -“In that case, my Lady, I shall be exempt from penalty, since messer -Bernardo is to be punished for his own fault as well as mine.” - -“Nay,” said my lady Duchess, “you both ought to have double punishment: -he for his own transgression and for leading you to transgress; you for -your own transgression and for imitating him.” - -“My Lady,” replied messer Cesare, “as yet I have not transgressed; so, -to leave all this punishment to messer Bernardo alone, I will keep -silence.” - -And indeed he remained silent; when my lady Emilia laughed and said: - -“Say whatever you like, for under leave of my lady Duchess I pardon him -that has transgressed and him that shall transgress, in so small a -degree.” - -“I consent,” continued my lady Duchess. “But take care lest perchance -you fall into the mistake of thinking to gain more by being merciful -than by being just; for to pardon him too easily that has transgressed -is to wrong him that transgresses not. Yet I would not have my severity -reproach your indulgence, and thus be the cause of our not hearing this -question of messer Cesare.” - -And so, being given the signal by my lady Duchess and by my lady Emilia, -he at once said: - -24.—“If I remember rightly, Sir Count, I think you have repeated several -times this evening that the Courtier must accompany his actions, -gestures, habits, in short his every movement, with grace; and this you -seem to regard as an universal seasoning, without which all other -properties and good qualities are of little worth. And indeed I think -that in this everyone would allow himself to be persuaded easily, since -from the very force of the word, it may be said that he who has grace -finds grace.[71] But since you said that this is oftentimes the gift of -nature and of heaven and, even when not thus perfect, can with care and -pains be made much greater,—those men who are born so fortunate and so -rich in this treasure as are some we see, seem to me in this to have -little need of other master; because that benign favour of heaven almost -in despite of themselves leads them higher than they will, and makes -them not only pleasing but admirable to all the world. Therefore I do -not discuss this, it not being in our power to acquire it of ourselves. -But they who have received from nature only so much, that they are -capable of becoming graceful by pains, industry and care,—I long to know -by what art, by what training, by what method, they can acquire this -grace, as well in bodily exercises (in which you esteem it to be so -necessary) as also in everything else that they may do or say. -Therefore, since by much praise of this quality you have aroused in all -of us, I think, an ardent thirst to pursue it, you are further bound, by -the charge that my lady Emilia laid upon you, to satisfy that thirst by -teaching us how to attain it.” - -25.—“I am not bound,” said the Count, “to teach you how to become -graceful, or anything else; but only to show you what manner of man a -perfect Courtier ought to be. Nor would I in any case undertake the task -of teaching you this perfection; especially having said a little while -ago that the Courtier must know how to wrestle, vault, and do many other -things, which I am sure you all know quite as well as if I, who have -never learned them, were to teach you. For just as a good soldier knows -how to tell the smith what fashion, shape and quality his armour ought -to have, but cannot show how it is to be made or forged or tempered; so -I perhaps may be able to tell you what manner of man a perfect Courtier -ought to be, but cannot teach you what you must do to become one. - -“Yet to comply with your request as far as is within my power,—although -it is almost a proverb that grace is not to be learned,—I say that -whoever would acquire grace in bodily exercises (assuming first that he -be by nature not incapable), ought to begin early and learn the -rudiments from the best masters. And how important this seemed to King -Philip of Macedon, may be seen from the fact that he chose Aristotle, -the famous philosopher and perhaps the greatest that has ever been in -the world, to teach his son Alexander the first elements of letters. And -of the men whom we know at the present day, consider how well and how -gracefully my lord Galeazzo Sanseverino,[72] Grand Equerry of France, -performs all bodily exercises; and this because in addition to the -natural aptitude of person that he possesses, he has taken the utmost -pains to study with good masters, and always to have about him men who -excel and to select from each the best of what they know: for just as in -wrestling, vaulting and in the use of many sorts of weapons, he has -taken for his guide our friend messer Pietro Monte, who (as you know) is -the true and only master of every form of trained strength and -agility,—so in riding, jousting and all else, he has ever had before his -eyes the most proficient men that were known in those matters. - -[Illustration: - - GALEAZZO SANSEVERINO - Married 1489 -] - -Reduced from Anderson’s photograph (no. 11129) of an anonymous and - unfinished portrait in the Ambrosiana Gallery at Milan. By some - critics attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, and by others to his pupil - Ambrogio da Predis, the picture was by Morelli regarded as having - nothing to do with either painter. It was formerly supposed to be a - portrait of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan; for iconographical - identification, see Paul Müller-Walde’s article in the _Jahrbuch der - Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen_ for 1897, p. 110. - -26.—“Therefore he who wishes to be a good pupil, besides performing his -tasks well, must put forth every effort to resemble his master, and, if -it were possible, to transform himself into his master. And when he -feels that he has made some progress, it will be very profitable to -observe different men of the same calling, and governing himself with -that good judgment which must ever be his guide, to go about selecting -now this thing from one and that thing from another. And as the bee in -the green meadows is ever wont to rob the flowers among the grass, so -our Courtier must steal this grace from all who seem to possess it, -taking from each that part which shall most be worthy praise; and not -act like a friend of ours whom you all know, who thought he greatly -resembled King Ferdinand the Younger[32] of Aragon, and made it his care -to imitate the latter in nothing but a certain trick of continually -raising the head and twisting one side of the mouth, which the king had -contracted from some infirmity. And there are many such, who think they -gain a point if only they be like a great man in some thing; and -frequently they devote themselves to that which is his only fault. - -“But having before now often considered whence this grace springs, -laying aside those men who have it by nature, I find one universal rule -concerning it, which seems to me worth more in this matter than any -other in all things human that are done or said: and that is to avoid -affectation to the uttermost and as it were a very sharp and dangerous -rock; and, to use possibly a new word, to practise in everything a -certain nonchalance[73] that shall conceal design and show that what is -done and said is done without effort and almost without thought. From -this I believe grace is in large measure derived, because everyone knows -the difficulty of those things that are rare and well done, and -therefore facility in them excites the highest admiration; while on the -other hand, to strive and as the saying is to drag by the hair, is -extremely ungraceful, and makes us esteem everything slightly, however -great it be. - -“Accordingly we may affirm that to be true art which does not appear to -be art; nor to anything must we give greater care than to conceal art, -for if it is discovered, it quite destroys our credit and brings us into -small esteem. And I remember having once read that there were several -very excellent orators of antiquity, who among their other devices -strove to make everyone believe that they had no knowledge of letters; -and hiding their knowledge they pretended that their orations were -composed very simply and as if springing rather from nature and truth -than from study and art; the which, if it had been detected, would have -made men wary of being duped by it. - -“Thus you see how the exhibition of art and study so intense destroys -the grace in everything. Which of you is there who does not laugh when -our friend messer Pierpaolo dances in his peculiar way, with those -capers of his,—legs stiff to the toe and head motionless, as if he were -a stick, and with such intentness that he actually seems to be counting -the steps? What eye so blind as not to see in this the ungracefulness of -affectation,—and in many men and women who are here present, the grace -of that nonchalant ease (for in the case of bodily movements many call -it thus), showing by word or laugh or gesture that they have no care and -are thinking more of everything else than of that, to make the onlooker -think they can hardly go amiss?” - -27.—Messer Bernardo Bibbiena here said, without waiting: - -“Now at last our friend messer Roberto[48] has found someone to praise -the manner of his dancing, as all the rest of you seem to value it -lightly; because if this merit consists in nonchalance, and in appearing -to take no heed and to be thinking more of everything else than of what -you are doing, messer Roberto in dancing has no peer on earth; for to -show plainly that he is not thinking about it, he often lets the cloak -drop from his shoulders and the slippers from his feet, and still goes -on dancing without picking up either the one or the other.” - -Then the Count replied: - -“Since you insist on my talking, I will speak further of our faults. Do -you not perceive that what you call nonchalance in messer Roberto, is -really affectation? For it is clearly seen that he is striving with all -his might to seem to be taking no thought, and this is taking too much -thought; and since it passes the true limits of moderation, his -nonchalance is affected and unbecoming; and it is a thing that works -precisely the reverse of the effect intended, that is the concealment of -art. Thus in nonchalance (which is praiseworthy in itself), I do not -think that it is less a vice of affectation to let the clothes fall from -one’s back, than in care of dress (which also is praiseworthy in itself) -to hold the head stiff for fear of disarranging one’s locks, or to carry -a mirrour in the peak of one’s cap and a comb in one’s sleeve, and to -have a valet follow one about the streets with sponge and brush: for -such care in dress and such nonchalance both touch upon excess, which is -always offensive and contrary to that pure and charming simplicity which -is so pleasing to the human mind. - -“You see how ungraceful a rider is who strives to sit bolt upright in -the saddle after the manner we are wont to call Venetian,[74]—as -compared with another who seems not to be thinking about it, and sits -his horse as free and steady as if he were afoot. How much more pleasing -and how much more praised is a gentleman who carries arms, if he be -modest, speak little and boast little, than another who is forever -sounding his own praises, and with blasphemy and bluster seems to be -hurling defiance at the world! This too is naught but affectation of -wishing to appear bold. And so it is with every exercise, nay with -everything that can be done or said in the world.” - -28.—Then my lord Magnifico[9] said: - -“This is true also with music, wherein it is a very great fault to place -two perfect consonances one after the other, so that our very sense of -hearing abhors it and often enjoys a second or seventh, which in itself -is a harsh and intolerable discord. And the reason is that repetition of -perfect consonances begets satiety and exhibits a too affected harmony; -which is avoided by introducing imperfect consonances, and thus a kind -of contrast is given, whereby our ears are held more in suspense, and -more eagerly await and enjoy the perfect consonances, and sometimes -delight in that discord of the second or seventh, as in something -unpremeditated.” - -“You see then,” replied the Count, “the harmful effect of affectation in -this as in other things. It is said also to have been proverbial among -some very excellent painters of antiquity, that over diligence is -harmful, and Protogenes is said to have been censured by Apelles because -he did not know when to take his hand from the tablet.”[75] - -Then messer Cesare said: - -“Methinks our friend fra Serafino has this same fault, of not knowing -when to take his hands from the table, at least until all the food has -been taken from it too.”[76] - -The Count laughed, and continued: - -“Apelles meant that in his painting Protogenes did not know when he had -finished, which was the same thing as reproving him for being affected -in his work. Thus this excellence, which is the opposite of affectation -and which for the present we call nonchalance, besides being the true -fountain from which grace springs, carries with it another ornament, -which, in accompanying any human action whatever and however trifling it -be, not only at once reveals the knowledge of him who performs it, but -often leads us to rate his knowledge as much greater than in fact it is; -because it impresses upon the minds of the bystanders the idea that he -who does well so easily, knows much more than he does, and that if he -were to use care and effort in what he did, he could do it far better. - -“And to multiply like examples, here is a man who handles weapons, -either about to throw a dart or holding a sword in his hand or other -weapon; if he nimbly and without thinking puts himself in an attitude of -readiness, with such ease that his body and all his members seem to fall -into that posture naturally and quite without effort,—although he do no -more, he will prove himself to everyone to be perfect in that exercise. -Likewise in dancing, a single step, a single movement of the person that -is graceful and not forced, soon shows the knowledge of the dancer. A -musician who in singing utters a single note ending with sweet tone in a -little group of four notes with such ease as to seem spontaneous, shows -by that single touch that he can do much more than he is doing. Often -too in painting, a single line not laboured, a single brush-stroke -easily drawn, so that it seems as if the hand moves unbidden to its aim -according to the painter’s wish, without being guided by care or any -skill, clearly reveals the excellence of the craftsman, which every man -appreciates according to his capacity for judging. And the same is true -of nearly everything else. - -“Our Courtier then will be esteemed excellent and will attain grace in -everything, particularly in speaking, if he avoids affectation; into -which fault many fall, and often more than others, some of us Lombards; -who, if they have been a year away from home, on their return at once -begin to speak Roman, sometimes Spanish or French, and God knows how. -And all this comes from over zeal to appear widely informed; in such -fashion do men devote care and assiduity to acquiring a very odious -fault. And truly it would be no light task for me, if I were to try in -these discussions of ours to use those antique Tuscan words that are -quite rejected by the usage of the Tuscans of to-day; and besides I -think everyone would laugh at me.” - -29.—Then messer Federico said: - -“Of course in discussing among ourselves as we now are doing, perhaps it -would be amiss to use those antique Tuscan words, since (as you say) -they would be fatiguing to him who uttered them and to him who listened -to them, and by many would not be understood without difficulty. But if -one were writing, I should certainly think he would be wrong not to use -them, because they add much grace and authority to writing, and from -them there results a style more grave and full of majesty than from -modern words.” - -“I do not know,” replied the Count, “that writings can gain grace and -authority from those words that ought to be avoided, not merely in such -talk as we are now engaged in (which you yourself admit), but also under -every other circumstance that can be imagined. For if any man of good -judgment should chance to make a speech on serious matters before the -very senate of Florence, which is the capital of Tuscany, or even to -converse privately with a person of weight in that city about important -business, or with his closest friend about affairs of pleasure, with -ladies or gentlemen about love, or joking or jesting at feasts, games, -and where you will,—or whatever the time, place or matter,—I am sure he -would avoid using those antique Tuscan words; and if he did use them, -besides exciting ridicule, he would give no little annoyance to everyone -who listened to him. - -“It seems to me then a very strange thing to use as good in writing -those words that are avoided as faulty in every sort of speaking, and to -insist that what is never proper in speaking, is the most proper style -that can be used in writing. For in my opinion writing is really nothing -but a form of speech, which still remains after we have spoken, as it -were an image or rather the life of our words: and thus in speech, which -is lost as soon as the sound has gone forth, some things are bearable -perhaps that are not in writing, because writing preserves the words and -subjects them to the judgment of the reader and gives time to consider -them advisedly. Hence in writing it is reasonable to take greater pains -to make it more refined and correct; not however in such wise that the -written words may be unlike the spoken, but that, in writing, choice be -made of the most beautiful that are used in speaking. And if that were -allowed in writing which is not allowed in speaking, I think a very -great inconvenience would arise: which is that greater license could be -taken in that respect wherein greater care ought to be taken; and the -industry bestowed on writing would work harm instead of good. - -“Therefore it is certain that what is proper in writing, is proper also -in speaking, and that manner of speaking is most beautiful which is like -beautiful writing. Moreover I think it is far more necessary to be -understood in writing than in speaking, because those who write are not -always present before those who read, as those who speak are present -before those who hear.[77] But I should praise him, who besides avoiding -many antique Tuscan words, acquired facility, both writing and speaking, -in the use of those that are to-day familiar in Tuscany and in the other -parts of Italy, and that have comeliness of sound. And I think that -whoever imposes other rule upon himself, is not very sure of escaping -that affectation which is so much censured and of which we were speaking -earlier.” - -30.—Then messer Federico said: - -“Sir Count, I cannot gainsay you that writing is a kind of speech. -Indeed, I say that if words that are spoken have any obscurity in them, -the meaning does not penetrate the mind of him who hears, and passing -without being understood, comes to naught: which does not occur in -writing, because if the words that the writer uses carry with them a -little, I will not say difficulty, but subtlety that is recondite and -thus not so familiar as are the words that are commonly used in -speaking,—they give a certain greater authority to the writing, and -cause the reader to proceed more cautiously and collectedly, to consider -more, and to enjoy the genius and learning of him who writes; and by -judiciously exerting himself a little, he tastes that delight which is -found in the pursuit of difficult things. And if the ignorance of him -who reads is so great that he cannot overcome those difficulties, it is -not the fault of the writer, nor on this account ought that style to be -deemed unbeautiful. - -“Therefore in writing, I believe it is proper to use Tuscan words used -only by the ancient Tuscans, because that is great proof and tested by -time, that they are good and effective to express the sense in which -they are used. And besides this, they have that grace and venerableness -which age lends not only to words, but to buildings, to statues, to -pictures, and to everything that is able to attain it, and often merely -by their splendour and dignity they make diction beautiful, by virtue -whereof (and of grace) every theme, however mean it be, can be so -adorned as to merit very high praise. But this custom of yours, by which -you set such store, seems to me very dangerous, and often it may be bad; -and if some fault of speech is found widely prevalent among the ignorant -many, methinks it ought not on this account to be taken as a rule and -followed by other men. Moreover customs are very diverse, nor is there a -noble city of Italy that has not a different manner of speaking from all -the others. But as you do not limit yourself to declaring which is the -best, a man might as well adopt the Bergamasque as the Florentine, and -according to you it would be no errour.[78] - -“Therefore I think that whoever wishes to avoid all doubt and be quite -safe, must needs select as model someone who by consent of all is rated -good, and must take him as a constant guide and shield against any -possible adverse critic. And this model (in the vernacular, I mean) I do -not think should be other than Petrarch[79] and Boccaccio; and whoever -departs from these two, gropes like one who walks in the dark without a -light and thus often mistakes the road. But we are so daring that we do -not deign to do that which the good writers of old did,—that is, devote -themselves to imitation, without which I think a man cannot write -well.[80] And methinks good proof of this is shown us by Virgil, who by -his genius and judgment so divine took from all posterity the hope of -ever being able to imitate him well, yet fain would imitate Homer.” - -31.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“This discussion about writing is certainly well worth listening to: -still it would be more to our purpose if you were to teach us in what -manner the Courtier ought to speak, for I think he has greater need of -it and more often has occasion to employ speaking than writing.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“Nay, for a Courtier so excellent and so perfect there is no doubt but -it is necessary to know both the one and the other, and that without -these two accomplishments perhaps all the rest would not be very worthy -of praise. So if the Count wishes to perform his duty, he will teach the -Courtier not only how to speak, but also how to write well.” - -Then the Count said: - -“My lord Magnifico, that task I will on no account accept; for great -folly would be mine to pretend to teach others that which I do not -myself know, and (even if I did know it) to think myself able to do in -only a few words that which with so much care and pains has hardly been -done by most learned men,—to whose works I should refer our Courtier, if -I were indeed bound to teach him how to write and speak.” - -Messer Cesare said: - -“My lord Magnifico means speaking and writing the vernacular [Italian], -and not Latin; so those works by learned men are not to our purpose. But -in this matter there is need for you to tell us what you know about it, -because for the rest we will hold you excused.” - -The Count replied: - -“I have told you that already; but as we are speaking of the Tuscan -tongue, perhaps it would be, more than any other man’s, my lord -Magnifico’s office to give an opinion on it.” - -The Magnifico said: - -“I cannot and in reason ought not to contradict any man who says that -the Tuscan tongue is more beautiful than the others.[81] It is very true -that in Petrarch and in Boccaccio are found many words that are now -discarded by the custom of to-day; and these I for my part would never -use either in speaking or in writing; and I believe that they -themselves, if they had survived until now, would no longer use those -words.” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“Indeed they would. And you Tuscan gentlemen ought to keep up your -mother tongue, and not suffer it to decay, as you do,—so that now one -may say that there is less knowledge of it in Florence than in many -other parts of Italy.” - -Then messer Bernardo said: - -“These words that are no longer used in Florence have survived among the -country folk, and are rejected by the gentle as corrupt and spoiled with -age.” - -32.—Then my lady Duchess said: - -“Let us not wander from our main purpose, but have Count Ludovico teach -the Courtier how to speak and write well, whether it be in the Tuscan or -any other dialect.” - -“My Lady,” replied the Count, “I have already told what I know about it; -and I hold that the same rules which serve to teach the one, serve also -to teach the other. But since you require it of me, I will make such -response as I may to messer Federico, who has a different opinion from -mine; and perhaps I shall have need to discuss the matter somewhat more -diffusely than is right. However, it shall be all I can tell. - -“And first I say that in my judgment this language of ours, which we -call vulgar, is still tender and new, although it be already long in -use. For since Italy was not only vexed and ravaged but long inhabited -by the barbarians, the Latin language was corrupted and spoiled by -contact with those nations, and from that corruption other languages -were born: and like rivers that from the crest of the Apennines separate -and flow down into the two seas, so also these languages divided, and -some of them tinged with Latinity reached by diverse paths, one this -country and one that; and one of them remained in Italy tinged with -barbarism. Thus our language was long unformed and various, from having -had no one to bestow care upon it or write in it or try to give it -splendour or grace: but afterwards it was somewhat more cultivated in -Tuscany than in the other parts of Italy. And so its flower seems to -have remained there even from those early times, because that nation -more than the others preserved a sweet accent and a proper grammatical -order, and have had three noble writers[82] who expressed their thoughts -ingeniously and in those words and terms that the custom of their times -permitted: wherein I think Petrarch succeeded more happily than the -others in amourous subjects. - -“Afterwards from time to time, not only in Tuscany but in all Italy, -among noble men and those well versed in courts and arms and letters, -there arose some desire to speak and write more elegantly than had been -done in that rude and uncultivated age, when the blaze of the calamities -inflicted by the barbarians was not yet quenched. Many words were laid -aside, as well in the city of Florence itself and in all Tuscany as in -the rest of Italy, and instead of them others were taken up; and herein -there thus occurred that change which takes place in all human affairs -and has always happened in the case of the other languages also. For if -those earliest writings in ancient Latin had survived until now, we -should see that Evander and Turnus[83] and the other Latins of that age -spoke differently from the last Roman kings and the first consuls. See -how the verses that the Salian priests chaunted were hardly understood -by posterity;[84] but being established in that form by the first -founders, out of religious reverence they were not changed. Likewise the -orators and poets continued one after another to lay aside many words -used by their predecessors: thus Antonius, Crassus, Hortensius and -Cicero avoided many of Cato’s words, and Virgil avoided many of -Ennius’s;[85] and the others did the same. For although they had -reverence for antiquity, yet they did not esteem it so highly as to -consent to be bound by it in the way you would have us bound by it now. -Nay they criticised it where they saw fit, as did Horace, who says that -his forefathers lauded Plautus foolishly, and thinks he has a right to -gather in new words.[86] And in sundry places Cicero reprehends many of -his predecessors, and slightingly affirms that Sergius Galba’s orations -had an antique flavour,[87] and says that Ennius himself disprized his -predecessors in certain things: so that if we would imitate the -ancients, in doing so we shall not imitate them. And Virgil, who (you -say) imitated Homer, did not imitate him in language. - -33.—“Therefore I for my part should always avoid using these antique -words, save however in certain places, and seldom even there; and it -seems to me that whoever uses them otherwise makes a mistake, not less -than he who, in order to imitate the ancients, should wish to feed on -acorns when wheat had been discovered in plenty. And since you say that -by their mere splendour of antiquity, antique words so adorn every -subject, however mean it be, that they can make it worthy of much -praise,—I say that I do not set such store, not only by these antique -words but even by good ones, as to think that they ought in reason to be -prized without the pith of beautiful thoughts; for to divide thought -from words is to divide soul from body, which can be done in neither -case without destruction. - -“So I think that what is chiefly important and necessary for the -Courtier, in order to speak and write well, is knowledge; for he who is -ignorant and has nothing in his mind that merits being heard, can -neither say it nor write it. - -“Next he must arrange in good order what he has to say or write; then -express it well in words, which (if I do not err) ought to be precise, -choice, rich and rightly formed, but above all, in use even among the -masses; because such words as these make the grandeur and pomp of -speech, if the speaker has good sense and carefulness, and knows how to -choose the words most expressive of his meaning, and to exalt them, to -mould them like wax to his will, and to arrange them in such position -and order that they shall at a glance show and make known their dignity -and splendour, like pictures placed in good and proper light. - -“And this I say as well of writing as of speaking: in which however some -things are required that are not needful in writing,—such as a good -voice, not too thin and soft like a woman’s, nor yet so stern and rough -as to smack of the rustic’s,—but sonorous, clear, sweet and well -sounding, with distinct enunciation, and with proper bearing and -gestures; which I think consist in certain movements of the whole body, -not affected or violent, but tempered by a calm face and with a play of -the eyes that shall give an effect of grace, accord with the words, and -as far as possible express also, together with the gestures, the -speaker’s intent and feeling. - -“But all these things would be vain and of small moment, if the thoughts -expressed by the words were not beautiful, ingenious, acute, elegant and -grave,—according to the need.” - -34.—Then my lord Morello said: - -“If this Courtier speaks with so much elegance and grace, I doubt if -anyone will be found among us who will understand him.” - -“Nay, he will be understood by everyone,” replied the Count, “because -facility is no impediment to elegance. - -“Nor would I have him speak always of grave matters, but of amusing -things, of games, jests and waggery, according to the occasion; but -sensibly of everything, and with readiness and lucid fullness; and in no -place let him show vanity or childish folly. And again when he is -speaking on an obscure or difficult subject, I would have him carefully -explain his meaning with precision of both word and thought, and make -every ambiguity clear and plain with a certain touch of unpedantic care. -Likewise, where there is occasion, let him know how to speak with -dignity and force, to arouse those emotions that are part of our nature, -and to kindle them or to move them according to the need. Sometimes, -with that simple candour that makes it seem as if nature herself were -speaking, let him know how to soften them, and as it were to intoxicate -them with sweetness, and so easily withal that the listener shall think -that with very little effort he too could reach that excellence, and -when he tries, shall find himself very far behind. - -“In such fashion would I have our Courtier speak and write; and not only -choose rich and elegant words from every part of Italy, but I should -even praise him for sometimes using some of those French and Spanish -terms that are already accepted by our custom.[88] Thus it would not -displease me if on occasion he were to say, _primor_ (excellence); or -_acertare_ (to succeed), _aventurare_ (to run a risk successfully); or -_ripassare una persona con ragionamento_, meaning to sound a person and -to talk with him in order to gain perfect knowledge of him; or _un -cavalier senza rimproccio_ (a cavalier without reproach), _attilato_ -(elegant), _creato d’un principe_ (a prince’s creature), and other like -terms, provided he might hope to be understood.[89] - -“Sometimes I would have him use a few words in a sense other than that -proper to them, to transpose them aptly, and as it were to graft them, -like the branch of a tree, upon a more appropriate trunk,—so as to make -them more attractive and beautiful, and as it were to bring things -within the range of our vision, and within hand-touch as we say, to the -delight of him who hears or reads. Nor would I have him scruple to form -new words and in new figures of speech, deriving them tastefully from -the Latins, as of old the Latins derived them from the Greeks. - -35.—“Now if among the lettered men of good talent and judgment who -to-day are found in our midst, there were a few who would take care to -write in this language (as I have described) things worthy of being -read, we should soon see it studied and abounding in beautiful terms and -figures, and capable of being written in as well as is any other -whatsoever; and if it were not pure old Tuscan, it would be -Italian,—universal, copious and varied, and in a way like a delightful -garden full of various flowers and fruits. Nor would this be a novel -thing; for from the four dialects that the Greek writers had in use,[90] -they culled words, forms and figures from each as they saw fit, and -thence they brought forth another dialect which was called ‘common,’ and -later they called all five by the single name Greek. And although the -Attic dialect was more elegant, pure and copious than the others, good -writers who were not Athenians by birth did not so affect it as to be -unrecognizable by their style and by the perfume (as it were) and -essence of their native speech. Nor yet were they disprized for this; on -the contrary those who tried to seem too Athenian, were censured for it. -Among the Latin writers too, many non-Romans were highly esteemed in -their day, although there was not found in them that typical purity of -the Roman tongue which men of other race can rarely acquire. Thus Titus -Livius was not at all discarded, although someone professed to have -detected a Paduan flavour in him;[91] nor was Virgil, albeit reproached -with not speaking Roman. Moreover, as you know, many writers of -barbarian race were read and esteemed at Rome. - -“We, on the contrary, much more strict than the ancients, needlessly -impose certain new laws upon ourselves, and with the beaten highways -before our eyes, we seek to go along the by-paths; for in our own -language,—of which, as of all others, the office is to express thought -well and clearly,—we delight ourselves with obscurity; and calling it -the vulgar tongue, we try in speaking it to use words that are -understood neither by the vulgar nor yet by the gentle and lettered, and -are no longer used in any place; unmindful that all the good writers of -old disapproved words discarded by custom. Which to my thinking, you do -not rightly understand; since you say that if some fault of speech is -widely prevalent among the ignorant, it ought not for that reason to be -called custom or accepted as a rule of speech, and from what I have -heard you sometimes say, you would have us use _Campidoglio_ in place of -_Capitolio_; _Girolamo_ for _Hieronymo_; _aldace_ for _audace_; and -_padrone_ for _patrone_, and other words corrupt and spoiled like these; -because they are found written thus by some ignorant old Tuscan, and -because the Tuscan country folk speak thus to-day.[92] - -“Hence I believe that good custom in speech springs from men who have -talent and who have gained good judgment from study and experience, and -who therefore agree and consent to accept the words that to them seem -good, which are recognized by a certain innate judgment and not by any -art or rule. Do you not know that figures of speech, which give so much -grace and splendour to an oration, are all infringements of grammatical -rules, yet accepted and confirmed by usage, because, although unable to -offer other reason, they give pleasure and seem to carry suavity and -sweetness to our very sense of hearing? And this I believe to be good -custom,—of which the Romans, the Neapolitans, the Lombards and the rest, -may be as capable as the Tuscans are. - -36.—“It is very true that in every language certain things are always -good, such as ease, good order, richness, beautiful sentences, -harmonious periods; and on the contrary affectation and other things -opposed to these, are bad. But among words there are some that remain -good for a time, then grow antiquated and wholly lose their grace; -others gain strength and come to be esteemed. For as the seasons of the -year despoil the earth of flowers and fruits and then clothe it anew -with others, so time causes those primal words to decay, and use makes -others to be born again and gives them grace and dignity, until they in -their turn meet their death, consumed by the envious gnawing of time; -for in the end both we and all our concerns are mortal. Consider that we -no longer have any knowledge of the Oscan tongue.[93] The Provençal, -although it may be said to have been but lately celebrated by noble -writers, is not now understood by the inhabitants of that country. Hence -I think, as my lord Magnifico has well said, that if Petrarch and -Boccaccio were alive at this time, they would not use many words that we -find in their writings: therefore it does not seem to me well for us to -copy these words. I applaud very highly those who know how to imitate -that which ought to be imitated, but I do not at all believe that it is -impossible to write well without imitating,—and particularly in this -language of ours, wherein we may be aided by usage: which I should not -dare say of Latin.” - -37.—The messer Federico said: - -“Why would you have usage more esteemed in the vernacular than in -Latin?” - -“Nay,” replied the Count, “I esteem usage as mistress of both the one -and the other. But since those men to whom the Latin tongue was as -natural as the vernacular now is to us, are no longer on earth, we must -needs learn from their writings that which they learned from usage. Nor -does ancient speech mean anything more than ancient usage of speech, and -it would be a silly business to like ancient speech for no other reason -than a wish to speak as men used to speak rather than as they now -speak.” - -“Then,” replied messer Federico, “the ancients did not imitate?” - -“I believe,” said the Count, “that many of them did, but not in -everything. And if Virgil had imitated Hesiod in everything, he would -not have surpassed his master; nor Cicero, Crassus; nor Ennius, his -predecessors. You know Homer is so ancient that many believe he is the -first heroic poet in time as he is also in excellence of diction: and -whom would you think he imitated?” - -“Some other poet,” replied messer Federico, “more ancient than he, of -whom we have no knowledge because of excessive antiquity.” - -“Then whom,” said the Count, “would you say Petrarch and Boccaccio -imitated, who were on earth only three days since, one may say?” - -“I know not,” replied messer Federico; “but we may believe that even -their minds were directed to imitation, although we do not know of -whom.” - -The Count replied: - -“We may believe that they who were imitated, surpassed those who -imitated them; and if they were admirable, it would be too great a -marvel that their name and fame should be so soon extinguished. But I -believe that their real master was aptitude and their own native -judgment; and at this there is no one who ought to wonder, since nearly -always the summit of every excellence may be approached by diverse -roads. Nor is there anything that has not in it many things of the same -sort which are dissimilar and yet intrinsically deserving of equal -praise. - -“Consider music, the harmonies of which are now grave and slow, now very -fast and of novel moods and means; yet all give pleasure, albeit for -different reasons: as is seen in Bidon’s[94] manner of singing, which is -so skilful, ready, vehement, fervid, and of such varied melodies, that -the listener’s spirits are moved and inflamed, and thus entranced seem -to be lifted up to heaven. Nor does our friend Marchetto Cara[95] move -us less by his singing, but with a gentler harmony; because he softens -and penetrates our souls by placid means and full of plaintive -sweetness, gently stirring them to sweet emotion. - -“Again, various things give equal pleasure to our eyes, so that we can -with difficulty decide which are more pleasing to them. You know that in -painting Leonardo da Vinci,[96] Mantegna,[97] Raphael,[98] Michelangelo, -[99] Giorgio da Castelfranco,[100] are very excellent, yet they are all -unlike in their work; so that no one of them seems to lack anything in -his own manner, since each is known as most perfect in his style. - -[Illustration: - - ANGELO AMBROGINI - POLIZIANO - 1454-1494 -] - -Reduced from Anderson’s photograph (no. 8148) of a part of the fresco, - “Zacharias in the Temple,” in the Church of Santa Maria Novella at - Florence, by Domenico Bigordi, better known as Ghirlandajo, - (1449-1494). - -“It is the same with many Greek and Latin poets, who, although different -in their writing, are equal in their fame. The orators, too, have always -had so much diversity among themselves, that almost every age has -produced and prized a type of orator peculiar to its own time; and these -have been different not only from their predecessors and successors, but -from one another: as it is written of Isocrates, Lysias, Æschines,[101] -and many others among the Greeks,—all excellent, yet each resembling no -one but himself. So, among the Latins, Carbo, Lælius, Scipio Africanus, -Galba, Sulpicius, Cotta, Gracchus, Marcus Antonius, Crassus,[102] and so -many others that it would be tedious to name them,—all good and very -different one from another; so that if a man were able to consider all -the orators that have been in the world, he would find as many kinds of -oratory as of orators. I think I remember too that Cicero in a certain -place[103] makes Marcus Antonius say to Sulpicius that there are many -who imitate no man and yet arrive at the highest pitch of excellence; -and he speaks of certain ones who had introduced a new form and figure -of speech, beautiful but not usual among the orators of that time, -wherein they imitated no one but themselves. For that reason he affirms -also that masters ought to consider the pupils’ nature, and taking this -as guide ought to direct and aid them to the path towards which their -aptitude and natural disposition incline them. Hence I believe, dear -messer Federico, that if a man has no innate affinity for any particular -author, it is not well to force him to imitate, because the vigour[104] -of his faculty languishes and is impeded when turned from the channel in -which it would have made progress had that channel not been barred. - -“Therefore I do not see how it can be well, instead of enriching this -language of ours and giving it spirit and grandeur and light, to make it -poor, thin, humble and obscure, and to try to restrict it in such narrow -bounds that everyone shall be forced to imitate Petrarch and Boccaccio -alone; and how, in respect of language, we ought not also to give -credence to Poliziano,[105] to Lorenzo de’ Medici,[106] to Francesco -Diacceto,[107] and to some others who are also Tuscans and perhaps of no -less learning and judgment than were Petrarch and Boccaccio. And great -pity would it be indeed to set a limit, and not to surpass that which -almost the earliest writers achieved, and to deny that so many men of -such noble genius can ever find more than one beautiful form of -expression in this language which is proper and natural to them. But -to-day there are certain scrupulous souls, who so frighten the listener -with the cult and ineffable mysteries of this Tuscan tongue of theirs, -as to put even many a noble and learned man in such fear, that he dare -not open his mouth and confesses that he does not know how to speak the -very language which he learned in swaddling clothes from his nurse. - -“However I think we have said only too much of this; so now let us go on -with our discussion about the Courtier.” - -38.—Then messer Federico replied: - -“I should first like to say one thing more, which is that I do not deny -men’s opinions and aptitudes to be different among themselves. Nor do I -believe that it would be well for a naturally vehement and excitable man -to set himself to write of placid themes, or for another, being severe -and grave, to write jests; for in this matter it seems to me reasonable -that everyone should adapt himself to his own proper instinct. And I -think Cicero was speaking of this when he said that masters ought to -have regard to their pupils’ nature, in order not to act like bad -husbandmen, who will sometimes sow grain in land that is fruitful only -for the vine. - -“Still I cannot get it into my head why, in the case of a particular -language,—which is not proper to all men equally, like speech and -thought and many other functions, but an invention of limited use,—it is -not more rational to imitate those who speak better, than to speak at -random; or why, just as in Latin we ought to try to approach the -language of Virgil and Cicero rather than that of Silius or Cornelius -Tacitus,[108] it is not better in the vernacular also to imitate the -language of Petrarch and Boccaccio than any other’s; yet to express our -thoughts in it well, and thus to give heed to our own natural instinct, -as Cicero teaches. And in this way it will be found that the difference -which you say there is among good orators, consists in sense and not in -language.” - -Then the Count said: - -“I fear we shall be entering on a wide sea, and shall be leaving our -first subject of the Courtier. However, I ask you in what consists the -excellence of this language?” - -Messer Federico replied: - -“In preserving strictly its proprieties, in giving it that sense, and in -using that style and those rhythms, which have been used by all who have -written well.” - -“I should like to know,” said the Count, “whether this style and these -rhythms of which you speak, arise from the thought or from the words.” - -“From the words,” replied messer Federico. - -“Then,” said the Count, “do not the words of Silius and Cornelius -Tacitus seem to you the same that Virgil and Cicero use? and employed in -the same sense?” - -“Certainly they are the same,” replied messer Federico, “but some of -them wrongly applied and turned awry.” - -The Count replied: - -“And if from a book of Cornelius and from one of Silius, all those words -were removed that are used in a sense different from that of Virgil and -Cicero, which would be very few,—would you not then say that Cornelius -was the equal of Cicero in language, and Silius of Virgil, and that it -would be well to imitate their manner of speech?” - -39.—Then my lady Emilia said: - -“Methinks this debate of yours is far too long and tedious; therefore it -were well to postpone it to another time.” - -Messer Federico was about to reply none the less, but my lady Emilia -always interrupted him. At last the Count said: - -“Many men like to pass judgment upon style and to talk about rhythms and -imitation; but they cannot make it at all clear to me what manner of -thing style or rhythm is, or in what imitation consists, or why things -taken from Homer or from someone else are so becoming in Virgil that -they seem illumined rather than imitated. Perhaps this is because I am -not capable of understanding them; but since a good sign that a man -knows a thing, is his ability to teach it, I suspect that they too -understand it but little, and that they praise both Virgil and Cicero -because they hear such praise from many, not because they perceive the -difference that exists between these two and others: for in truth it -does not consist in preserving two or three or ten words used in a way -different from the others. - -“In Sallust, Cæsar, Varro[109] and the other good writers, some terms -are found used differently from the way Cicero uses them; and yet both -ways are proper, for the excellence and force of a language lie in no -such trifling matter: as Demosthenes well said to Æschines, who -tauntingly asked him whether certain words that he had used (although -not Attic) were prodigies or portents; and Demosthenes laughed and -replied that the fortunes of Greece did not hang on such a trifle. So I -too should care little if I were reproved by a Tuscan for having said -_satisfatto_ rather than _sodisfatto_, _honorevole_ for _horrevole_, -_causa_ for _cagione_, _populo_ for _popolo_, and the like.” - -Then messer Federico rose to his feet and said: - -“Hear me these few words, I pray.” - -“The pain of my displeasure,” replied my lady Emilia, laughing, “be upon -him who speaks more of this matter now, for I wish to postpone it to -another evening. But do you, Count, go on with the discussion about the -Courtier,—and show us what a fine memory you have, which I think you -will do in no small measure, if you are able to take up the discussion -where you left it.” - -40.—“My Lady,” replied the Count, “I fear the thread is broken; yet if I -am not wrong, methinks we were saying that the pest of affectation -imparts extreme ungracefulness to everything, while on the other hand -simplicity and nonchalance produce the height of grace: in praise of -which, and in blame of affectation, we might cite many other arguments; -but of these I wish to add only one, and no more. Women are always very -eager to be—and when they cannot be, at least to seem—beautiful. So -where nature is somewhat at fault in this regard, they try to piece it -out by artifice; whence arise that painting of the face with so much -care and sometimes pains, that plucking of the eyebrows and forehead, -and the use of all those devices and the endurance of that trouble, -which you ladies think to keep very secret from men, but which are all -well known.” - -Here madonna Costanza Fregosa laughed and said: - -“It would be far more courteous for you to keep to your discussion, and -tell us of what grace is born, and talk about Courtiership,—than to try -to unveil the weaknesses of women, which are not to the purpose.” - -“Nay, much to the purpose,” replied the Count: “for these weaknesses of -yours I am speaking of, deprive you of grace because they spring from -nothing but affectation, wherein you openly make known to everyone your -over-eagerness to be beautiful. - -“Do you not see how much more grace a lady has who paints (if at all) so -sparingly and so little, that whoever sees her is in doubt whether she -be painted or not; than another lady so plastered that she seems to have -put a mask upon her face and dares not laugh for fear of cracking it, -nor ever changes colour but when she dresses in the morning, and then -stands motionless all the rest of the day like a wooden image, showing -herself only by candle-light, like wily merchants who display their -cloths in a dark place? Again, how much more pleasing than all others is -one (I mean not ill-favoured) who is plainly seen to have nothing on her -face, although it be neither very white nor very red, but by nature a -little pale and sometimes tinged with an honest flush from shame or -other accident,—with hair artlessly unadorned and hardly confined, her -gestures simple and free, without showing care or wish to be beautiful! -This is that nonchalant simplicity most pleasing to the eyes and minds -of men, who are ever fearful of being deceived by art. - -“Beautiful teeth are very charming in a woman, for since they are not so -much in view as the face is, but lie hidden most of the time, we may -believe that less care is taken to make them beautiful than with the -face. Yet if one were to laugh without cause and solely to display the -teeth, he would betray his art, and however beautiful they were, would -seem most ungraceful to all, like Catullus’s Egnatius.[110] It is the -same with the hands; which, if they are delicate and beautiful, and -occasionally left bare when there is need to use them, and not in order -to display their beauty, they leave a very great desire to see more of -them, and especially if covered with gloves again; for whoever covers -them seems to have little care or thought whether they be seen or not, -and to have them thus beautiful more by nature than by any effort or -pains. - -“Have you ever noticed when a woman, in passing through the street to -church or elsewhere, thoughtlessly happens (either in frolic or from -other cause) to lift her dress high enough to show the foot and often a -little of the leg? Does this not seem to you full of grace, when you see -her tricked out with a touch of feminine daintiness in velvet shoes and -neat stockings? I for one delight in it and believe you all do, for -everyone is persuaded that elegance, in matters thus hidden and rarely -seen, is natural and instinctive to the lady rather than forced, and -that she does not think to win any praise by it. - -41.—“In this way we avoid and hide affectation, and you can now see how -opposed and destructive it is to grace in every office as well of the -body as the mind: whereof we have thus far spoken little, and yet we -must not omit it, for since the mind is of far more worth than the body, -it deserves to be more cultivated and adorned. And as to what ought to -be done in the case of our Courtier, we will lay aside the precepts of -the many sage philosophers who write of this matter and define the -properties of the mind and discuss so subtly about their rank,—and -keeping to our subject, we will in a few words declare it to be enough -that he be (as we say) an honest and upright man; for in this are -included prudence, goodness, strength and temperance of mind, and all -the other qualities that are proper to a name so honoured. And I esteem -him alone to be a true moral philosopher, who wishes to be good; and in -this regard he needs few other precepts than that wish. And therefore -Socrates was right in saying that he thought his teachings bore good -fruit indeed whenever they incited anyone to understand and teach -virtue: for they who have reached the goal of desiring nothing more -ardently than to be good, easily acquire knowledge of everything needful -therefor; so we will discuss this no further. - -42.—“Yet besides goodness, I think that letters are for everyone the -true and principal ornament of the mind: although the French recognize -only the nobility of arms and esteem all else as naught. Thus they not -only fail to prize but they abhor letters, and hold all men of letters -most base, and think they speak very basely of any man when they call -him a clerk.” - -[Illustration: - - MONSEIGNEUR D’ANGOULÊME - AFTERWARD FRANCIS I OF FRANCE - 1494-1547 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of an anonymous medal in the National - Museum at Florence. - -Then the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“You say truly, that this fault has long been prevalent among the -French. But if kind fate decrees that Monseigneur d’Angoulême[111] shall -succeed to the crown, as is hoped, I think that just as the glory of -arms flourishes and shines in France, so too ought that of letters to -flourish in highest state; for it is not long since I, being at the -court, saw this prince, and it seemed to me that besides the grace of -his person and the beauty of his face, he had in his aspect such -loftiness, joined however with a certain gracious humanity, that the -realm of France must always seem small for him. I heard afterwards from -many gentlemen, both French and Italian, of his very noble manner of -life, of his loftiness of mind, of his valour and liberality. And among -other things I was told that he loved and esteemed letters especially -and held all men of letters in greatest honour; and he condemned the -French themselves for being so hostile to this profession, especially as -they have within their borders such a noble school as that of Paris, -frequented by all the world.”[112] - -Then the Count said: - -“It is a great marvel that in such tender youth, solely by natural -instinct and against the usage of his country, he has of himself chosen -so worthy a path. And as subjects always copy the customs of their -superiours, it may be that, as you say, the French will yet come to -esteem letters at their true worth: whereto they may easily be -persuaded, if they will but listen to reason; since nothing is by nature -more desirable for men, or more proper to them, than knowledge, which it -is great folly to say or believe is not always a good thing. - -43.—“And if I were speaking with them, or with others who had an opinion -contrary to mine, I should strive to show them how useful and necessary -letters are to our life and dignity, having indeed been granted by God -to men as a crowning gift. Nor should I lack instances of many excellent -commanders of antiquity, who all added the ornament of letters to the -valour of their arms. - -“Thus you know Alexander held Homer in such veneration that he always -kept the Iliad by his bedside; and he devoted the greatest attention not -only to these studies but to philosophical speculation under Aristotle’s -guidance. Alcibiades enlarged his natural aptitudes and made them -greater by means of letters and the teachings of Socrates. The care that -Cæsar gave to study is also attested by the surviving works that he -divinely wrote. It is said that Scipio Africanus always kept in his hand -the works of Xenophon, wherein the perfect king is portrayed under the -name of Cyrus. I could tell you of Lucullus, Sulla, Pompey, Brutus,[113] -and many other Romans and Greeks; but I will merely remind you that -Hannibal, the illustrious commander,—although fierce by nature and a -stranger to all humanity, faithless and a despiser of both men and -gods,—yet had knowledge of letters and was conversant with the Greek -language; and if I mistake not, I once read that he even left a book -composed by him in Greek. - -“However it is superfluous to tell you this, for I well know that you -all see how wrong the French are in thinking that letters are injurious -to arms. You know that glory is the true stimulus to great and hazardous -deeds of war, and whoso is moved thereto by gain or other motive, -besides doing nothing good, deserves not to be called a gentleman, but a -base trafficker. And true glory is that which is preserved in the sacred -treasure-house of letters, as everyone may understand except those -unfortunates who have never enjoyed them. - -“What soul is there so abject, timid and humble, that when he reads of -the deeds of Cæsar, Alexander, Scipio, Hannibal, and many others, is not -inflamed by an ardent desire to be like them, and does not make small -account of this frail two days’ life, in order to win the almost eternal -life of fame, which in spite of death makes him live in far greater -glory than before? But he who does not feel the delight of letters, -cannot either know how great is the glory they so long preserve, and -measures it by the life of one man or two, because his memory runs no -further. Hence he cannot esteem this short-lived glory so much as he -would that almost eternal glory if knowledge of it were unhappily not -denied him, and as he does not esteem it so much, we may reasonably -believe that he will not run such danger to pursue it as one who knew it -would. - -“I should be far from willing to have an antagonist cite instances to -the contrary in refutation of my view, and urge upon me that with all -their knowledge of letters the Italians have for some time since shown -little martial valour,—which is alas only too true.[114] But it very -certainly might be said that the fault of a few has brought not only -grievous harm but eternal obloquy upon all the rest; and from them was -derived the true cause of our ruin and of the decadence if not the death -of valour in our souls: yet it would be far more shameful in us to -publish it, than for the French to be ignorant of letters. Therefore it -is better to pass over in silence that which cannot be recalled without -pain: and avoiding this subject (upon which I entered against my will) -to return to our Courtier. - -44.—“I would have him more than passably accomplished in letters, at -least in those studies that are called the humanities, and conversant -not only with the Latin language but with the Greek, for the sake of the -many different things that have been admirably written therein.[115] Let -him be well versed in the poets, and not less in the orators and -historians, and also proficient in writing verse and prose, especially -in this vulgar tongue of ours;[116] for besides the enjoyment he will -find in it, he will by this means never lack agreeable entertainment -with ladies,[117] who are usually fond of such things. And if other -occupations or want of study prevent his reaching such perfection as to -render his writings worthy of great praise, let him be careful to -suppress them so that others may not laugh at him, and let him show them -only to a friend whom he can trust: because they will at least be of -this service to him, that the exercise will enable him to judge the work -of others. For it very rarely happens that a man who is not accustomed -to write, however learned he may be, can ever quite appreciate the toil -and industry of writers, or taste the sweetness and excellence of style, -and those latent niceties that are often found in the ancients. - -“Moreover these studies will also make him fluent, and as Aristippus -said to the tyrant, confident and assured in speaking with -everyone.[118] Hence I would have our Courtier keep one precept fixed in -mind; which is that in this and everything else he should be always on -his guard, and diffident rather than forward, and that he should keep -from falsely persuading himself that he knows that which he does not -know. For by nature we all are fonder of praise than we ought to be, and -our ears love the melody of words that praise us more than any other -sweet song or sound; and thus, like sirens’ voices, they are often the -cause of shipwreck to him who does not close his ears to such deceptive -harmony. Among the ancient sages this danger was recognized, and books -were written showing in what way the true friend may be distinguished -from the flatterer.[119] But what does this avail, if there be many, nay -a host, of those who clearly perceive that they are flattered, yet love -him who flatters them, and hold him in hatred who tells them the truth? -And often when they find him who praises them too sparing in his words, -they even help him and say such things of themselves, that the flatterer -is put to shame, most impudent though he be. - -“Let us leave these blind ones to their errour, and have our Courtier of -such good judgment that he will not take black for white, or have more -self-confidence than he clearly knows to be well founded; and especially -in those peculiarities which (if you remember) messer Cesare in his game -said we had often used as an instrument to bring men’s folly to light. -On the contrary, even if he well knows the praises bestowed upon him to -be true, let him not err by accepting them too openly or confirming them -without some protest; but rather let him as it were disclaim them -modestly, always showing and really esteeming arms as his chief -profession, and all other good accomplishments as an ornament thereto. -And particularly among soldiers let him not act like those who insist on -seeming soldiers in learning, and learned men among soldiers. In this -way, for the reasons we have alleged, he will avoid affectation, and -even the middling things that he does, shall seem very great.” - -45.—Messer Pietro Bembo here replied: - -“Count, I do not see why you insist that this Courtier, being lettered -and endowed with so many other admirable accomplishments, should hold -everything as an ornament of arms, and not arms and the rest as an -ornament of letters; which without other accompaniment are as superiour -in dignity to arms, as the mind is to the body, for the practice of them -properly pertains to the mind, as that of arms does to the body.” - -Then the Count replied: - -“Nay, the practice of arms pertains to both mind and body. But I would -not have you judge in such a cause, messer Pietro, for you would be too -much suspected of bias by one of the two sides: and as the controversy -has already been long waged by very wise men, there is no need to renew -it; but I regard it as settled in favour of arms, and would have our -Courtier so regard it too, since I may form him as I wish. And if you -are of contrary mind, wait till you hear of a contest wherein he who -defends the cause of arms is allowed to use arms, just as those who -defend letters make use of letters in their defence; for if everyone -avails himself of his proper weapons, you shall see that men of letters -will be worsted.” - -“Ah,” said messer Pietro, “a while ago you blamed the French for prizing -letters little, and told what glorious lustre is shed on man by letters -and how they make him immortal; and now it seems you have changed your -mind. Do you not remember that - - Before the famous tomb of brave Achilles - Thus spake the mighty Alexander, sighing: - ‘O happy youth, who found so clear a trumpet, - And lofty bard to make thy deeds undying!’[120] - -And if Alexander envied Achilles not for his deeds, but for the fortune -that had granted him the happiness of having his exploits celebrated by -Homer, we may conclude that Alexander esteemed Homer’s poems above -Achilles’s arms. For what other judge do you wait then, or for what -other sentence upon the dignity of arms and letters, than that -pronounced by one of the greatest commanders that have ever been?” - -46.—Then the Count replied: - -“I blame the French for thinking that letters are a hindrance to the -profession of arms, and I hold that learning is more proper to no one -than to a warrior; and in our Courtier I would have these two -accomplishments joined and each aided by the other, as is most proper: -nor do I think I have changed my mind in this. But as I said, I do not -wish to discuss which of the two is more worthy of praise. It is enough -that men of letters almost never select for praise any but great men and -glorious deeds, which in themselves merit praise for the mere essential -quality from which they spring; besides this they are very noble -material for writers: which is a great ornament, and in part the cause -of perpetuating writings, which perhaps would not be so much read and -appreciated if they lacked their noble theme, but vain and of little -moment. - -“And if Alexander was envious that Achilles should be praised by Homer, -it does not therefore follow that he esteemed letters above arms; -wherein if he had felt himself as far behind Achilles as he deemed all -those who wrote of him were behind Homer, I am sure he would far rather -have desired fine acts on his part than fine speeches on the part of -others. Hence I believe that saying of his to have been a tacit eulogy -of himself, and that he was expressing a desire for what he thought he -did not possess (that is, the supreme excellence of a writer), and not -for what he believed he already had attained (that is, prowess in arms, -wherein he did not deem Achilles at all his superior). Thus he called -Achilles happy, as if hinting that although his own fame had hitherto -not been so celebrated in the world as Achilles’s, which was made bright -and illustrious by that poem so divine,—it was not because his valour -and merits were less or deserving of less praise, but because fortune -bestowed upon Achilles that miracle of nature as a glorious trumpet for -his achievements. Perhaps also he wished to incite some noble genius to -write about him, by showing that this must be as pleasing to him as were -his love and veneration for the sacred monuments of letters: whereof we -have spoken long enough for the present.” - -“Nay, too long,” replied my lord Ludovico Pio; “for I believe that in -the whole world it would be impossible to find a receptacle large enough -to hold all the things you would have in our Courtier.” - -Then the Count said: - -“Wait a little, for there are many more that he must have.” - -“In that case,” replied Pietro da Napoli, “Grasso de’ Medici would have -a great advantage over messer Pietro Bembo.”[121] - -47.—Here everyone laughed, and the Count began anew and said: - -“My lords, you must know that I am not content with the Courtier unless -he be also a musician and unless, besides understanding and being able -to read notes, he can play upon divers instruments. For if we consider -rightly, there is to be found no rest from toil or medicine for the -troubled spirit more becoming and praiseworthy in time of leisure, than -this; and especially in courts, where besides the relief from tedium -that music affords us all, many things are done to please the ladies, -whose tender and gentle spirit is easily penetrated by harmony and -filled with sweetness. Thus it is no marvel that in both ancient and -modern times they have always been inclined to favour musicians, and -have found refreshing spiritual food in music.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I admit that music as well as many other vanities may be proper to -women and perhaps to some that have the semblance of men, but not to -those who really are men; for these ought not to enervate their mind -with delights and thus induce therein a fear of death.” - -“Say not so,” replied the Count; “for I shall enter upon a vast sea in -praise of music. And I shall call to mind how it was always celebrated -and held sacred among the ancients, and how very sage philosophers were -of opinion that the world is composed of music, that the heavens make -harmony in their moving, and that the soul, being ordered in like -fashion, awakes and as it were revives its powers through music. - -“Thus it is written that Alexander was sometimes excited by it so -passionately, that he was forced almost against his will to leave the -banquet table and rush to arms; and when the musician changed the temper -of the tune, he grew calm again, lay aside his arms, and returned to the -banquet table. Moreover I will tell you that grave Socrates learned to -play the cithern[122] at a very advanced age. And I remember having once -heard that Plato and Aristotle would have the man of culture a musician -also; and they show by a host of arguments that the power of music over -us is very great, and (for many reasons which would be too long to tell -now) that it must needs be taught from childhood, not so much for the -mere melody that we hear, but for the power it has to induce in us a -fresh and good habit of mind and an habitual tendency to virtue, which -renders the soul more capable of happiness, just as bodily exercise -renders the body more robust;[123] and that music is not only no -hindrance in the pursuits of peace and war, but is very helpful therein. - -“Again, Lycurgus[124] approved of music in his harsh laws. And we read -that in their battles the very warlike Lacedemonians and Cretans used -the cithern and other dulcet instruments; that many very excellent -commanders of antiquity, like Epaminondas,[125] practised music; and -that those who were ignorant of it, like Themistocles,[126] were far -less esteemed. Have you not read that music was among the first -accomplishments which the worthy old Chiron taught Achilles in tender -youth,[127] whom he reared from the age of nurse and cradle? and that -the sage preceptor insisted that the hands which were to shed so much -Trojan blood, should be often busied with the cithern? Where is the -soldier who would be ashamed to imitate Achilles,—to say nothing of many -other famous commanders whom I could cite? - -“Therefore seek not to deprive our Courtier of music, which not only -soothes men’s minds, but often tames wild beasts;[128] and he who enjoys -it not, may be sure that his spirit is ill attuned. See what power it -has, to make (as once it did) a fish submit to be ridden by a man upon -the boisterous sea.[129] We find it used in holy temples to render -praise and thanks to God; and we must believe that it is pleasing to Him -and that He has given it to us as most sweet alleviation for our -fatigues and troubles. Wherefore rough toilers of the field under a -burning sun often cheat their weariness with crude and rustic song. With -music the rude peasant lass, who is up before the day to spin or weave, -wards off her drowsiness and makes her toil a pleasure; music is very -cheering pastime for poor sailors after rain, wind and tempest: a solace -to tired pilgrims on their long and weary journeys, and often to -sorrowing captives in their chains and fetters. Thus, as stronger proof -that melody even if rude is very great relief from every human toil and -care, nature seems to have taught it to the nurse as chief remedy for -the continual wailing of frail children, who by the sound of her voice -are brought restful and placid sleep, forgetful of the tears so proper -to them and given us in that age by nature as a presage of our after -life.” - -48.—As the Count now remained silent for a little, the Magnifico -Giuliano said: - -“I do not at all agree with my lord Gaspar. Nay I think, for the reasons -you give and for many others, that music is not only an ornament but a -necessity to the Courtier. Yet I would have you declare in what way this -and the other accomplishments that you prescribe for him, are to be -practised, and at what time and in what manner.[130] For many things -that are praiseworthy in themselves often become very inappropriate when -practised out of season, and on the other hand, some that seem of little -moment are highly esteemed when made use of opportunely.” - -49.—Then the Count said: - -“Before we enter upon that subject, I wish to discuss another matter, -which I deem of great importance and therefore think our Courtier ought -by no means to omit: and this is to know how to draw and to have -acquaintance with the very art of painting. - -“And do not marvel that I desire this art, which to-day may seem to -savour of the artisan and little to befit a gentleman; for I remember -having read that the ancients, especially throughout Greece, had their -boys of gentle birth study painting in school as an honourable and -necessary thing, and it was admitted to the first rank of liberal arts; -while by public edict they forbade that it be taught to slaves. Among -the Romans too, it was held in highest honour, and the very noble family -of the Fabii took their name from it; for the first Fabius was given the -name _Pictor_, because,—being indeed a most excellent painter, and so -devoted to painting that when he painted the walls of the temple of -Health,—he inscribed his own name thereon;[131] for although he was born -of a family thus renowned and honoured with so many consular titles, -triumphs and other dignities, and although he was a man of letters and -learned in the law, and numbered among the orators,—yet he thought to -add splendour and ornament to his fame by leaving a memorial that he had -been a painter. Nor is there lack of many other men of illustrious -family, celebrated in this art; which besides being very noble and -worthy in itself, is of great utility, and especially in war for drawing -places, sites, rivers, bridges, rocks, fortresses, and the like; since -however well we may keep them in memory (which is very difficult), we -cannot show them to others. - -“And truly he who does not esteem this art, seems to me very -unreasonable; for this universal fabric that we see,—with the vast -heaven so richly adorned with shining stars, and in the midst the earth -girdled by the seas, varied with mountains, valleys and rivers, and -bedecked with so many divers trees, beautiful flowers and grasses,—may -be said to be a great and noble picture, composed by the hand of nature -and of God; and whoever is able to imitate it, seems to me deserving of -great praise: nor can it be imitated without knowledge of many things, -as he knows well who tries. Hence the ancients greatly prized both the -art and the artist, which thus attained the summit of highest -excellence; very sure proof of which may be found in the antique marble -and bronze statues that yet are seen.[132] And although painting is -different from sculpture, both the one and the other spring from the -same source, which is good design. Therefore, as the statues are divine, -so we may believe the pictures were also; the more indeed because they -are susceptible of greater skill.” - -50.—Then my lady Emilia turned to Giancristoforo Romano, who was sitting -with the others there, and said: - -“What think you of this opinion? Do you admit that painting is -susceptible of greater skill than sculpture?”[133] - -Giancristoforo replied: - -“I, my Lady, think that sculpture needs more pains, more skill, and is -of greater dignity than painting.” - -The Count rejoined: - -“In that statues are more enduring, perhaps we might say they are of -greater dignity; for being made as memorials, they fulfil better than -painting the purpose for which they are made. But besides serving as -memorials, both painting and sculpture serve also to beautify, and in -this respect painting is much superior; for if less diuturnal (so to -speak) than sculpture, yet it is of very long life, and is far more -charming so long as it endures.” - -Then Giancristoforo replied: - -“I really think that you are speaking against your convictions and that -you are doing so solely for the sake of your friend Raphael; and perhaps -too the excellence you find in his painting seems to you so consummate -that sculpture cannot rival it: but consider that this is praise of an -artist and not of his art.” - -[Illustration: - - MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI - 1475-1564 -] - -Reduced from a photograph, specially made by Soame, of an anonymous and - hitherto unpublished bronze head at Oxford. From a death-mask, - Michelangelo’s pupil Daniele Ricciarelli da Volterra (1500-1566) - prepared a mould, of which this and the similar “Piot” head in the - Louvre are believed to be unchased castings. See C. Drury E. - Fortnum’s article “On the Bronze Portrait Busts of Michelangelo,” - etc., in the Archæological Journal. - -Then he continued: - -“It seems clear to me that both the one and the other are artificial -imitations of nature; but I do not see how you can say that truth, such -as nature makes it, is not better imitated in a marble or bronze -statue,—wherein the members are round, formed and measured, as nature -makes them,—than in a painting, where we see nothing but the surface and -those colours that cheat the eyes; nor will you tell me, surely, that -being is not nearer truth than seeming. Moreover I think sculpture is -more difficult, because if a slip is made, it cannot be corrected (since -marble cannot be patched again), but another statue must be made anew; -which does not happen with painting, for one may change a thousand -times, and add and take away, improving always.” - -51.—The Count said, laughing: - -“I am not speaking for Raphael’s sake; nor ought you to repute me so -ignorant as not to know the excellence of Michelangelo in sculpture, -your own, and others’. But I am speaking of the art, and not of the -artists. - -“You say very truly that both the one and the other are imitations of -nature; but it is not true that painting seems, and sculpture is. For -while statues are round as in life and painting is seen only on the -surface, statues lack many things that paintings do not lack, and -especially light and shade. Thus flesh has one tone and marble another; -and this the painter imitates to the life by chiaroscuro, greater or -less according to the need,—which the sculptor cannot do. And although -the painter does not make his figure round, he presents the muscles and -members rounded in such fashion as so to join the parts which are not -seen, that we can discern very well that the painter knows and -understands these also. And in this, another and greater skill is needed -to represent those members that are foreshortened and grow smaller in -proportion to the distance by reason of perspective; which, by means of -measured lines, colours, lights and shades, shows you foreground and -distance all on the single surface of an upright wall, in such -proportion as he chooses.[134] Do you really think it of small moment to -imitate the natural colours, in representing flesh or stuffs or any -other coloured thing? The sculptor certainly cannot do this, or express -the grace of black eyes or blue, with the splendour of their amourous -beams. He cannot show the colour of fair hair, or the gleam of weapons, -or a dark night, or a storm at sea, or its lightnings and thunderbolts, -or the burning of a city, or the birth of rosy dawn with its rays of -gold and purple. In short, he cannot show sky, sea, earth, mountains, -woods, meadows, gardens, rivers, cities, or houses,—all of which the -painter shows. - -52.—“Therefore painting seems to me nobler and more susceptible of -skill, than sculpture. And I think that it, like other things, reached -the summit of excellence among the ancients: which still is seen in the -few slight remains that are left, especially in the grottoes of -Rome;[135] but much more clearly may it be perceived in the ancient -authors, wherein is such honoured and frequent mention both of works and -of masters, and whereby we learn how highly they were always honoured by -great lords and by commonwealths. - -“Thus we read that Alexander loved Apelles of Ephesus dearly,—so dearly, -that having caused the artist to paint a portrait of his favourite slave -undraped, and hearing that the worthy painter had become most ardently -enamoured of her by reason of her marvellous beauty, he gave her to -Apelles without hesitation:—munificence truly worthy of Alexander, to -sacrifice not only treasure and states but his very affections and -desires; and sign of exceeding love for Apelles, in order to please the -artist, not to hesitate at displeasing the woman he dearly loved, who -(we may believe) was sorely grieved to change so great a king for a -painter. Many other signs also are told of Alexander’s favour to -Apelles; but he very clearly showed how highly he esteemed the painter, -in commanding by public edict that none other should presume to paint -his portrait. - -“Here I could tell you of the rivalries of many noble painters, which -filled nearly the whole world with praise and wonderment. I could tell -you with what solemnity ancient emperors adorned their triumphs with -pictures, and set them up in public places, and how dearly bought them; -and that there were some painters who gave their works as gifts, -esteeming gold and silver inadequate to pay for them; and how a painting -by Protogenes was prized so highly, that when Demetrius[136] laid siege -to Rhodes and could have gained an entrance by setting fire to the -quarter where he knew the painting was, he refrained from giving battle -so that it might not be burned, and thus did not capture the place; and -that Metrodorus,[137] a philosopher and very excellent painter, was sent -by the Athenians to Lucius Paulus[138] to teach his children and to -adorn the triumph that he was about to receive. Moreover many noble -authors have written about this art, which is a great sign of the esteem -in which it was held; but I do not wish to enlarge further upon it in -this discussion. - -“So let it be enough to say that it is fitting for our Courtier to have -knowledge of painting also, as being honourable and useful and highly -prized in those times when men were of far greater worth than now they -are. And if he should never derive from it other use or pleasure than -the help it affords in judging the merit of statues ancient and modern, -of vases, buildings, medals, cameos, intaglios, and the like,—it also -enables him to appreciate the beauty of living bodies, not only as to -delicacy of face but as to symmetry of all the other parts, both in men -and in every other creature. Thus you see how a knowledge of painting is -a source of very great pleasure. And let those think of this, who so -delight in contemplating a woman’s beauty that they seem to be in -paradise, and yet cannot paint; which if they could do, they would have -much greater pleasure, because they would more perfectly appreciate that -beauty which engenders such satisfaction in their hearts.” - -53.—Here messer Cesare Gonzaga laughed, and said: - -“Certainly I am no painter; yet I am sure I have greater pleasure in -looking upon a woman than that admirable Apelles, whom you just -mentioned, would have if he were now come back to life.” - -The Count replied: - -“This pleasure of yours is not derived wholly from her beauty, but from -the affection that perhaps you bear her; and if you will say the truth, -the first time you saw that woman you did not feel a thousandth part of -the pleasure that you did afterwards, although her beauty was the same. -Thus you may see how much more affection had to do with your pleasure, -than beauty had.” - -“I do not deny this,” said messer Cesare; “but just as my pleasure is -born of affection, so is affection born of beauty. Thus it may still be -said that beauty is the cause of my pleasure.” - -The Count replied: - -“Many other causes also inflame our minds, besides beauty: such as -manners, knowledge, speech, gesture, and a thousand other things which -in a way perhaps might also be called beauties; but above all, the -consciousness of being loved. So it is possible to love very ardently -even without that beauty you speak of; but the love that springs from -the outward bodily beauty which we see, will doubtless give far greater -pleasure to him who appreciates it more than to him who appreciates it -less. Therefore, to return to our subject, I think that Apelles enjoyed -the contemplation of Campaspe’s beauty far more than Alexander did:[139] -for we may easily believe that both men’s love sprang only from her -beauty; and perhaps it was partly on this account that Alexander -resolved to give her to him who seemed fitted to appreciate her most -perfectly. - -“Have you not read that those five maidens of Crotona, whom the painter -Zeuxis chose above the others of that city for the purpose of forming -from them all a single type of surpassing beauty, were celebrated by -many poets as having been adjudged beautiful by one who must have been a -consummate judge of beauty?”[140] - -54.—Messer Cesare here seemed ill satisfied and unwilling to admit for a -moment that anyone but himself could taste that pleasure which he felt -in contemplating a woman’s beauty, and he began to speak. But just then -a great tramping of feet was heard, and the sound of loud talking; -whereupon everyone turned, and a glare of torches was seen at the door -of the room, and soon there arrived, with a numerous and noble company, -my lord Prefect,[3] who returned from attending the pope part way on the -journey. At once on entering the palace he had asked what my lady -Duchess was doing, and had learned of what manner the game was that -evening, and the charge imposed on Count Ludovico to speak about -Courtiership. Therefore he came as fast as he could, so as to arrive in -season to hear something. Then, immediately after having made his -reverence to my lady Duchess and bidden the others to be seated (for -everyone had risen when he came in),—he too sat down in the circle with -some of his gentlemen; among whom were the Marquess Febus di Ceva and -his brother Gerardino,[141] messer Ettore Romano,[142] Vincenzo -Calmeta,[143] Orazio Florido,[144] and many others; and as everyone -remained silent, my lord Prefect said: - -“Gentlemen, my coming here would be indeed a pity, if I were to -interrupt such a fine discussion as I think you were just now engaged -in; so do me not this wrong of depriving yourselves and me of such a -pleasure.” - -Then Count Ludovico said: - -“Nay, my Lord, I think we all must be far better pleased to be silent -than to speak; for this burden having fallen more to me than to the -others this evening, I have at last grown weary of speaking, and I think -all the others are weary of listening, for my talk has not been worthy -of this company or adequate to the lofty theme that I was charged with; -in which, having little satisfied myself, I think I have satisfied the -others still less. So you were fortunate, my Lord, to come in at the -end. And for the rest of the discussion, it would indeed be well to -appoint someone else to take my place, because whoever he may be, I know -he will fill it far better than I should even if I were willing to go -on, being now tired as I am.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -55.—“I certainly shall not submit to be cheated of the promise that you -made me, and am sure my lord Prefect too will not be sorry to hear that -part of our discussion.” - -“And what promise was it?” said the Count. - -“To tell us in what way the Courtier must make use of those good -qualities that you have said befit him,” replied the Magnifico. - -Although but a boy, my lord Prefect was wise and sensible beyond what -seemed natural to his tender years, and in his every movement he showed -a loftiness of mind and a certain vivacity of temper that gave true -presage of the high pitch of manliness that he was to attain. So he said -quickly: - -“If all this is to be told, I think I have come just in time; for by -hearing in what way the Courtier must use his good qualities, I shall -hear also what they are, and thus shall come to learn everything that -has been said before. So do not refuse, Count, to fulfil the obligation -of which you have already performed a part.” - -“I should not have so heavy an obligation to fulfil,” replied the Count, -“if the labour were more evenly divided; but the mistake was made of -giving the right of command to a too partial lady;” and then laughing he -turned to my lady Emilia, who quickly said: - -“It is not you who ought to complain of my partiality; but since you do -so without reason, we will give someone else a share of this honour, -which you call labour;” and turning to messer Federico Fregoso, she -said: “You proposed the game of the Courtier, hence it is right that you -should bear some share in it; and this shall be to comply with my lord -Magnifico’s request, by declaring in what way, manner and time, the -Courtier ought to make use of his good qualities and practise those -things which the Count has said it is fitting he should know.” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“My Lady, in trying to separate the way and the time and the manner of -the Courtier’s good qualities and good practice, you try to separate -that which cannot be separated, because these are the very things that -make his qualities good, and his practice good. Therefore, since the -Count has spoken so much and so well, and has touched somewhat upon -these matters and arranged in his mind the rest of what he has to say, -it was only right that he should continue to the end.” - -“Account yourself to be the Count,” said my lady Emilia, “and say what -you think he would say; and thus all will be right.” - -56.—Then Calmeta said: - -“My Lords, since the hour is late, and in order that messer Federico may -have no excuse for not telling what he knows, I think it would be well -to postpone the rest of the discussion until to-morrow, and let the -little time we have left, be spent in some other quiet diversion.” - -As everyone approved, my lady Duchess desired madonna Margarita[145] and -madonna Costanza Fregosa[57] to dance. Whereupon Barletta,[146] a very -charming musician and excellent dancer, who always kept the whole court -in good humour, began to play upon his instruments; and joining hands, -the two ladies danced first a basset and then a _roegarze_,[147] with -consummate grace and to the great delight of those who saw them. Then -the night being already far spent, my lady Duchess rose to her feet, and -so everyone reverently took leave and retired to sleep. - - - - - THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - - TO MESSER ALFONSO ARIOSTO - -1.—I have often considered not without wonder whence arises a fault, -which, as it is universally found among old people, may be believed to -be proper and natural to them. And this is, that they nearly all praise -bygone times and censure the present, inveighing against our acts and -ways and everything which they in their youth did not do; affirming too -that every good custom and good manner of living, every virtue, in short -every thing, is always going from bad to worse. - -And verily it seems quite contrary to reason and worthy to be wondered -at, that ripe age, which in other matters is wont to make men’s judgment -more perfect with long experience, should in this matter so corrupt it -that they do not perceive that if the world were always growing worse, -and if fathers were generally better than children, we should long since -have reached that last grade of badness beyond which it is impossible to -grow worse. And yet we see that not only in our days but in bygone times -this failing has always been peculiar to old age, which is clearly -gathered from the works of many ancient authors, and especially of the -comic writers, who better than the others set forth the image of human -life. - -Now the cause of this wrong judgment among old people I for my part take -to be, that the fleeting years despoil them of many good things, and -among others in great part rob the blood of vital spirits; whence the -complexion changes, and those organs become weak through which the soul -exerts its powers.[148] Thus in old age the sweet flowers of contentment -fall from our hearts, like leaves from a tree in autumn, and in place of -serene and sunny thoughts, comes cloudy and turbid sadness with its -train of thousand ills. So that not the body only but the mind also is -infirm; of bygone pleasures naught is left but a lingering memory and -the image of that precious time of tender youth, in which (when it is -with us) sky and earth and all things seem to us ever making merry and -laughing before our eyes, and the sweet springtide of happiness seems to -blossom in our thought, as in a delightful and lovely garden. - -Therefore in the evening chill of life, when our sun begins to sink to -its setting and steals away those pleasures, we should fare better if in -losing them, we could lose the memory of them also, and as Themistocles -said, find an art that shall teach us to forget. For so deceitful are -our bodily senses, that they often cheat even the judgment of our minds. -Thus it seems to me that old people are in like case with those who keep -their eyes fixed upon the land as they leave port, and think their ship -is standing still and the shore recedes, although it is the other way. -For both the port and also time and its pleasures remain the same, and -one after another we take flight in the ship of mortality upon that -boisterous sea which absorbs and devours everything, and are never -suffered to touch shore again, but always tossed by adverse winds we are -wrecked upon some rock at last. - -Since therefore the senile mind is an unfit subject for many pleasures, -it cannot enjoy them; and just as to men in fever, when the palate is -spoiled by corrupt vapours, all wines seem bitter, however precious and -delicate they be,—so old men, because of their infirmity (which yet does -not deprive them of appetite), find pleasures flat and cold and very -different from those which they remember tasting of old, although the -pleasures are intrinsically the same. Thus they feel themselves -despoiled, and they lament and call the present times bad, not -perceiving that the change lies in themselves and not in the times; and -on the other hand they call to mind their bygone pleasures, and bring -back the time when these were enjoyed and praise it as good, because it -seems to carry with it a savour of what they felt when it was present. -For in truth our minds hold all things hateful that have been with us in -our sorrows, and love those that have been with us in our joys. - -[Illustration: - - BORSO D’ESTE - DUKE OF FERRARA - 1413-1471 -] - -Enlarged from Anderson’s photograph (no. 11375) of a part of the injured - fresco, “Triumph of Minerva,” in the Palazzo Schifanoia at Ferrara, - painted about 1468 by Francesco Cossa (1438?-1480?). See Gustave - Gruyer’s _L’Art Ferrarais_, ii, 581. - -This is why it is sometimes highest bliss for a lover to look at a -window although closed, because he there had once the happiness to gaze -upon the lady of his love; and in the same way to look at a ring, a -letter, a garden or other place, or what you will, which seems to him a -conscious witness of his joys. And on the contrary, a gorgeous and -beautiful room will often be irksome to a man who has been prisoner or -has suffered some other sorrow there. And I once knew some who would not -drink from a cup like that from which in illness they had taken -medicine. For just as to the one the window or ring or letter recalls -the sweet memory that gives him such delight and seems part of his -bygone joy,—so to the other, the room or cup brings his illness or -imprisonment to mind. I believe that the same cause leads old people to -praise bygone times and to censure the present. - -2.—Therefore as they speak of other things, so do they also of courts, -affirming those which they remember, to have been far more excellent and -full of eminent men than those which we see to-day. And as soon as such -discussions are started, they begin to extol with boundless praise the -courtiers of Duke Filippo or Duke Borso;[149] and they narrate the -sayings of Niccolò Piccinino;[150] and they remind us that there were no -murders in those days (or very few at most), no brawls, no ambushes, no -deceits, but a certain frank and kindly good will among all men, a loyal -confidence; and that in the courts of that time such good behaviour and -decorum prevailed, that courtiers were all like monks, and woe to him -who should have spoken insultingly to another, or so much as made a less -than decorous gesture to a woman. And on the other hand they say -everything is the reverse in these days, and that not only have -courtiers lost their fraternal love and gentle mode of life, but that -nothing prevails in courts but envy, malice, immorality and very -dissolute living, with every sort of vice,—the women lascivious without -shame, the men effeminate. They condemn our dress also as indecorous and -too womanish. - -In short they censure an infinity of things, among which many indeed -merit censure, for it cannot be denied that there are many bad and -wicked men among us, or that this age of ours is much fuller of vice -than that which they praise.[151] Yet it seems to me that they ill -discern the cause of this difference, and that they are foolish. For -they would have the world contain all good and no evil, which is -impossible; because, since evil is opposed to good and good to evil, it -is almost necessary, by force of opposition and counterpoise as it were, -that the one should sustain and fortify the other, and that if either -wanes or waxes, so must the other also, since there is no contrary -without its contrary. - -Who does not know that there would be no justice in the world, if there -were no wrongs? No courage, if there were no cowards? No continence, if -there were no incontinence? No health, if there were no infirmity? No -truth, if there were no lying? No good fortune, if there were no -misfortunes? Thus, according to Plato,[152] Socrates well says it is -surprising that Æsop did not write a fable showing that as God had never -been able to join pleasure and pain together, He joined them by their -extremities, so that the beginning of the one should be the end of the -other; for we see that no joy can give us pleasure, unless sorrow -precedes it. Who can hold rest dear, unless he has first felt the -hardship of fatigue? Who enjoys food, drink and sleep, unless he has -first endured hunger, thirst and wakefulness? Hence I believe that -sufferings and diseases were given man by nature not chiefly to make him -subject to them (since it does not seem fitting that she who is mother -of every good should give us such evils of her own determined purpose), -but as nature created health, joy and other blessings,—diseases, sorrows -and other ills followed after them as a consequence. In like manner, the -virtues having been bestowed upon the world by grace and gift of nature, -at once by force of that same bounden opposition, the vices became their -fellows by necessity; so that always as the one waxes or wanes, thus -likewise must needs the other wax or wane. - -3.—So when our old men praise bygone courts for not containing such -vicious men as some that our courts contain, they do not perceive that -their courts did not contain such virtuous men as some that ours -contain; which is no marvel, for no evil is so bad as that which springs -from the corrupted seed of good, and hence, as nature now puts forth far -better wits than she did then, those who devote themselves to good, do -far better than was formerly done, and likewise those who devote -themselves to evil, do far worse. Therefore we must not on that account -say that those who refrained from evil because they did not know how to -do evil, deserved any praise for it; for although they did little harm, -they did the worst they could. And that the wits of those times were -generally inferior to those of our time, can be well enough perceived in -all that we see of those times, both in letters and in pictures, -statues, buildings, and every other thing. - -These old men censure us also for many a thing that in itself is neither -good nor evil, simply because they did not do it. And they say it is not -seemly for young men to ride through the city on horse, still less in -pumps, to wear fur linings or long skirts in winter, or to wear a cap -before reaching at least the age of eighteen years, and the like; -wherein they certainly are wrong, for besides being convenient and -useful, these customs have been introduced by usage and meet universal -favour, just as formerly it was to go about in gala dress with open -breeches and polished pumps, and for greater elegance to carry a -sparrow-hawk on the wrist all day without reason, to dance without -touching the lady’s hand, and to follow many other fashions that now -would be as very clumsy as they then were highly prized. - -Therefore let it be allowed us also to follow the custom of our time -without being slandered by these old men, who in their wish to praise -themselves, often say: “When I was twenty years old, I still slept with -my mother and sisters, nor did I for a long time afterwards know what -women are; while now, boys hardly have hair on their heads before they -know more tricks than grown men did in our time.” Nor do they perceive -that in saying this they acknowledge that our boys have more mind than -their old men had. - -Let them cease then to censure our time as full of vices, for in -removing the vices they would remove the virtues too; and let them -remember that among the worthies of old, in the ages when there lived -those spirits who were glorious and truly divine in every virtue, and -those more than human minds,—there were also to be found many very bad -men; who (if they were living) would be as eminently bad among our bad -men, as the good men of that time would be eminently good. And of this, -all history gives ample proof. - -4.—But I think these old men have now sufficient answer. So we will end -this homily, perhaps already too diffuse but not wholly irrelevant to -our subject; and as it is enough for us to have shown that the courts of -our time were worthy of no less praise than those which old men praise -so highly,—we will pursue the discussion about the Courtier, from which -we may easily understand what rank the court of Urbino held among other -courts, and of what quality were the Prince and Lady to whom such noble -spirits did service, and how fortunate they might hold themselves who -lived in such companionship. - -5.—Now the following day having arrived, there were many and diverse -discussions among the cavaliers and ladies of the court concerning the -debate of the evening before; which in great part arose because my lord -Prefect, eager to know what had been said, questioned nearly everyone -about it, and (as is always wont to be the case) he received different -answers; for some praised one thing and some another, and among many too -there was disagreement as to the Count’s real opinion, since everyone’s -memory did not quite fully retain the things that were said. - -Thus the matter was discussed nearly all day; and as soon as night set -in, my lord Prefect desired that food be served and took all the -gentlemen away to supper. When they had done eating, he repaired to the -room of my lady Duchess, who, on seeing such a numerous company and -earlier than the custom was, said: - -“Methinks, messer Federico, it is a heavy burden that is placed upon -your shoulders, and great the expectation you must satisfy.” - -Then without waiting for messer Federico to reply, the Unico Aretino -said: - -“And what, forsooth, is this great burden? Who is so foolish that when -he knows how to do a thing, does not do it in proper season?” - -So, discoursing of this, everyone sat down in the usual place and order, -with eager expectation for the debate appointed. - -6.—Then messer Federico turned to the Unico, and said: - -“So, my lord Unico, you do not think that a laborious part and a great -burden are imposed on me this evening, having to show in what way, -manner and time the Courtier ought to employ his good accomplishments -and practise those things that have been said to befit him?” - -“It seems to me no great matter,” replied the Unico; “and I think it is -quite enough to say that the Courtier should have good judgment, as the -Count last evening rightly said he must; and this being so, I think that -without other precepts he ought to be able to use what he knows -seasonably and in a well bred way. To try to reduce this to more exact -rules would be too difficult and perhaps superfluous. For I know no man -so stupid as to wish to fence when others are intent on dancing; or to -go through the street dancing a morris-dance, however admirably he might -know how; or in trying to comfort a mother whose child has died, to -begin with pleasantries and witticism. Surely methinks no gentleman -would do this, who was not altogether a fool.” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“It seems to me, my lord Unico, that you run too much to extremes. For -one may sometimes be silly in a way that is not so easily seen, and -faults are not always of the same degree: and it may be that a man will -refrain from public and too patent folly,—such as that would be of which -you tell, to dance a morris-dance about the piazza,—and yet cannot -refrain from praising himself out of season, from displaying a tiresome -conceit, from occasionally saying something to cause laughter, which -falls cold and wholly flat from being said inopportunely. And these -faults are often covered by a kind of veil that does not suffer them to -be seen by him who commits them, unless he searches for them with care; -and although our eyes see little for many reasons, they most of all are -clouded by conceit, since everyone likes to make a show in that wherein -he believes himself proficient, whether his belief be true or false. - -“Therefore it seems to me that the right course in this regard lies in a -certain prudent and judicious choice, and in discerning the more or less -which all things gain or lose by being done opportunely or out of -season. And although the Courtier may possess good enough judgment to -perceive these distinctions, yet I think it would surely be easier for -him to attain what he is seeking, if we were to broaden his mind by a -few precepts, and show him the way and as it were the foundations upon -which he must build,—than if he were to follow generalities only. - -7.—“Last evening the Count spoke about Courtiership so fully and so -beautifully, that he has aroused in me no little fear and doubt whether -I shall be able to satisfy this noble company so well in what I have to -say, as he did in what it fell to him to say. Yet to make myself a -sharer in his fame as far as I can, and to be sure of avoiding this one -mistake at least, I shall contradict him in nothing. - -“Accepting his opinions then, and among others his opinion as to the -Courtier’s noble birth, capacities, bodily form and grace of feature,—I -say that to win praise justly and good opinion from everyone and favour -from the princes whom he serves, I deem it necessary for the Courtier to -know how to dispose his whole life, and to make the most of his good -qualities in intercourse with all men everywhere, without exciting envy -thereby. And how difficult this in itself is, we may infer from the -fewness of those who are seen to reach the goal; for by nature we all -are more ready to censure mistakes than to praise things well done, and -many men, from a kind of innate malignity and although they clearly see -the good, seem to strive with every effort and pains to find either some -hidden fault in us or at least some semblance of fault. - -“Thus it is needful for our Courtier to be cautious in his every action, -and always to mingle good sense with what he says or does. And let him -not only take care that his separate parts and qualities are excellent, -but let him order the tenour of his life in such fashion, that the whole -may be in keeping with these parts and be seen to be always and in -everything accordant with his own self and form one single body of all -these good qualities; so that his every act may be the result and -compound of all his faculties, as the Stoics say is the duty of him who -is wise. - -“Still, although in every action one faculty is always chief, yet all -are so enlinked together, that they make for one end and may all further -and serve every purpose. Hence he must know how to make the most of -them, and by means of contrast and as it were foil to the one, he must -make the other more clearly seen;—like good painters, who display and -show forth the lights of projecting objects by the use of shadow, and -likewise deepen the shadows of flat objects by means of light, and so -assemble their divers colours that both the one and the other are better -displayed by reason of that diversity, and the placing of figures in -opposition one to another aids them to perform that office which is the -painter’s aim. - -“Thus gentleness is very admirable in a man of noble birth who is -valiant and strong. And as his boldness seems greater when accompanied -by modesty, so his modesty is enhanced and set off by his boldness.[153] -Hence to speak little, to do much, and not to boast of praiseworthy -deeds but to conceal them tactfully,—enhances both these attributes in -the case of one who knows how to employ this method with discretion; and -so it is with all other good qualities. - -“Therefore in what our Courtier does or says I would have him follow a -few universal rules, which I think comprise briefly all that I have to -say. And for the first and most important let him above all avoid -affectation, as the Count rightly advised last evening. Next let him -consider well what thing it is that he is doing or saying, the place -where he is doing it, in whose presence, the cause that impels him, his -age, his profession, the object he has in view, and the means that may -conduce thereto; and so, with these precautions let him apply himself -discreetly to whatever he has a mind to do or say.” - -8.—After messer Federico had spoken thus, he seemed to pause a little. -Whereupon my lord Morello da Ortona at once said: - -“These rules of yours teach little, it seems to me; and for my part I -know as much about it now, as I did before you propounded them. Still I -remember having heard them several times before also from the friars to -whom I made confession, and who called them ‘the circumstances,’ I -think.” - -Then messer Federico laughed and said: - -“If you remember rightly, the Count declared last evening that the -Courtier’s chief business should be that of arms, and spoke at length -about the way in which he ought to practise it; therefore we will not -repeat this. Yet among our rules we may also lay it down that when our -Courtier finds himself in a skirmish or action or battle, or in other -such affairs, he ought to arrange discreetly to withdraw from the crowd, -and to perform those glorious and brave deeds that he has to do, with as -little company as he can, and in sight of all the noblest and most -respected men in the army, and especially in the presence and (if it is -possible) before the very eyes of his king or of the prince whom he -serves; for in truth it is very proper to make the most of one’s good -deeds. And I think that just as it is wrong to seek false and unmerited -renown, so it is wrong also to defraud oneself of the honour that is -one’s due, and not to seek that praise which alone is the true reward of -worthy effort. - -“And I remember having in my time known some men who were very stupid in -this regard, although valiant, and who put their lives as much in danger -to capture a flock of sheep, as to be the first to scale the walls of a -beleaguered town; which our Courtier will not do if he bears in mind the -motive that leads him into war, which should be honour only. And again -if he happens to be playing at arms in public shows,—such as jousts, -tourneys, stick-throwing, or any other bodily exercise,—mindful of the -place and presence in which he is, he will contrive to be not less -elegant and graceful than unerring with his weapons, and to feast the -spectators’ eyes with all those things which he thinks may give him an -added grace. He will take care that his horse is bravely caparisoned, -that his attire becomes him, that his mottoes are appropriate and his -devices clever, so that they may attract the eyes of the bystanders as -the loadstone attracts iron. He will never be among the last to show -themselves, knowing that the crowd and especially women gaze much more -attentively upon the first than upon the last; for their eyes and minds, -which at the start are eager for novelty and observe and are impressed -by every trifle, are afterwards not only sated by repetition but even -grow weary. Thus there was an excellent actor of ancient times, who for -this reason always wished to be the first to perform his part in the -play. - -“So too, even in speaking of arms, our Courtier will have regard to the -profession of those with whom he converses, and will govern himself -accordingly,—speaking in one way with men and in another way with women. -And if he wishes to touch on something that is to his credit, he will do -so covertly, as if by chance in passing, and with the discreetness and -caution that Count Ludovico expounded to us yesterday. - -9.—“Does it not seem to you now, my lord Morello, that our rules may -teach something? Does it not seem to you that our friend, of whom I was -telling you a few days since, quite forgot with whom and why he was -speaking, when to entertain a lady he had never seen before, he began -his talk by telling her that he had slain so many men, and that he was a -terrible fellow and knew how to handle a sword with both hands? Nor did -he leave her until he had tried to explain to her how certain blows of -the battle-axe ought to be parried when one is armed and how when -unarmed, and to show the different ways of grasping the handle; so that -the poor soul was on the rack, and thought the hour seemed a thousand -years before she could send him off, almost fearing that he would slay -her like the others. Such are the mistakes committed by those who pay no -regard to the ‘circumstances,’ of which you say you heard from the -friars. - -“Next I say that of bodily exercises there are some that are almost -never practised except in public,—such as jousts, tourneys, -stick-throwing, and all the rest that have to do with arms. Hence when -our Courtier has to take part in these, he must first contrive to be so -well equipped in point of horses, weapons and dress, that he lacks -nothing. And if he does not feel himself well provided with everything, -let him on no account engage, for if he fails to do well, the excuse -cannot be made that these things are not his business. Then he must -carefully consider in whose presence he is seen and of what sort the -company is, for it would not be seemly for a gentleman to honour a -rustic festival with his presence, where the spectators and the company -are of low degree.” - -10.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“In our Lombard country we do not make these distinctions. On the -contrary, there are many young gentlemen who dance all day with peasants -in the sun on holidays, and play with them at throwing the bar, -wrestling, running and leaping. And I do not think it amiss, for there -the rivalry is not of birth, but of strength and agility, wherein -villagers are often quite a match for nobles; and this condescension -seems to have in it a pleasant touch of generosity.” - -Messer Federico replied: - -“This dancing of yours in the sun pleases me not in any way, nor do I -see what gain there is in it. But in my opinion whoever cares to wrestle -or run or leap with peasants, ought to do so as a matter of practice and -out of courtesy as we say, not in rivalry with them. And a man ought to -be almost sure of winning; else let him not engage, because it is too -unseemly and shameful a thing, and beneath his dignity, to see a -gentleman vanquished by a peasant, and especially at wrestling. Hence I -think it is well to abstain, at least in the presence of many, for the -gain of beating is very small and the loss of being beaten is very -great. - -“The game of tennis also is nearly always played in public, and is one -of those sports to which a crowd lends much distinction. Therefore I -would have our Courtier practise this, and all the others except the -handling of arms, as something that is not his profession, and let him -show that he does not seek or expect praise for it, nor let him seem to -devote much care or time to it, although he may do it admirably. Nor let -him be like some men who delight in music, and in speaking with anyone -always begin to sing under their breath whenever there is a pause in the -conversation. Others always go dancing as they pass through streets and -churches. Others, when they meet a friend in the piazza or anywhere -else, at once put themselves in posture as if for fencing or wrestling, -according to their favourite humour.” - -Here messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“A young cardinal we have in Rome does better than that; for out of -pride in his fine bodily frame, he conducts into his garden all who come -to visit him (even although he has never seen them before), and urgently -presses them to strip to the doublet and try a turn with him at -leaping.” - -11.—Messer Federico laughed; then he went on: - -“There are certain other exercises that can be practised in public and -in private, like dancing; and in this I think the Courtier ought to have -a care, for when dancing in the presence of many and in a place full of -people, it seems to me that he should preserve a certain dignity, albeit -tempered with a lithe and airy grace of movement; and although he may -feel himself to be very nimble and a master of time and measure, let him -not attempt those agilities of foot and double steps which we find very -becoming in our friend Barletta, but which perhaps would be little -suited to a gentleman. Yet in a room privately, as we are now, I think -he may try both, and may dance morris-dances and brawls;[154] but not in -public unless he be masked, when it is not displeasing even though he be -recognized by all. - -“Indeed there is no better way of displaying oneself in such matters at -public sports, either armed or unarmed; because disguise carries with it -a certain freedom and licence, which among other things enable a man to -choose a part for which he feels himself qualified, and to use care and -elaboration upon the chief point of the thing wherein he would display -himself, and a certain nonchalance as to that which does not -count,—which greatly enhances the charm: as for a youth to array himself -like an old man, yet in easy dress so as to be able to show his vigour; -a cavalier in the guise of a rustic shepherd or some other like costume, -but with a perfect horse and gracefully bedecked in character;—because -the mind of the spectators is quick to fill out the image of that which -is presented to the eyes at first glance; and then seeing the thing turn -out much better than the costume promised, they are amused and -delighted. - -“But in these sports and shows where masks are worn, it would not be -seemly for a prince to try to enact the part of a prince, because that -pleasure which the spectators find in novelty would be in great measure -lacking, since it is news to no one that the prince is the prince; and -he, conscious that besides being the prince he is trying to play the -prince, loses the freedom to do all those things that are beneath a -prince’s dignity. And if there were any contest in these sports, -especially with arms, he might even make men think that he chose to -impersonate a prince in order not to be beaten but spared by others; -moreover were he to do in sport the same that it behooves him to do in -earnest upon occasion, he would deprive his own proper action of -dignity, and make it almost seem as if that too were sport. But at such -times, if the prince lays aside his character of prince, and mingles -equally with his inferiors yet in such fashion as to be recognizable, by -renouncing his own rank he attains a higher one, in that he prefers to -excel the rest not by authority but by merit, and to show that his worth -is not enhanced by the fact that he is a prince. - -12.—“I say then that in these martial sports the Courtier ought to use -the like discretion, according to his rank. In horseback vaulting too, -in wrestling, running and leaping, I should be well pleased to have him -shun the vulgar crowd, or at most let himself be very rarely seen; for -there is not on earth a thing so excellent but the ignorant will tire of -it and hold it of small account, if they see it often. - -“As to music I hold the same opinion: hence I would not have our -Courtier behave like many, who are no sooner come anywhere (even into -the presence of gentlemen with whom they have no acquaintance), than -without waiting to be urged they set about doing what they know and -often what they do not know; so that it seems as if they had come only -for the purpose of showing themselves, and had that for their chief -profession. Therefore let the Courtier resort to music as a pastime and -almost unwillingly, and not before vulgar people nor very many. And -although he may know and understand that which he is doing, in this too -I would have him hide the study and pains that are necessary in -everything one would do well, and seem to value this accomplishment -lightly in himself, but by practising it admirably make others value it -highly.” - -13.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“There are many kinds of music, vocal as well as instrumental: therefore -I should like to hear which is the best of all, and at what time the -Courtier ought to perform it.”[155] - -Messer Federico replied: - -“I regard as beautiful music, to sing well by note, with ease and in -beautiful style; but as even far more beautiful, to sing to the -accompaniment of the viol,[156] because nearly all the sweetness lies in -the solo part, and we note and observe the fine manner and the melody -with much greater attention when our ears are not occupied with more -than a single voice, and moreover every little fault is more clearly -discerned,—which is not the case when several sing together, because -each singer helps his neighbour. But above all, singing to the viol by -way of recitative seems to me most delightful, which adds to the words a -charm and grace that are very admirable. - -[Illustration] - - ELISABET DE GONZAGA FELTRIA - “My Lady Duchess” - - - EMILIA - “My Lady Emilia” - - - MARGARITA DE GONZAGA - “Madonna Margarita” - - - FRANC^O M^A - “My Lord Prefect” - - - JULIANO DE MEDICI - “My Lord Magnifico” - - AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES OF INTERLOCUTORS - -From negatives, made by Premi and by Signor Lanzoni, from originals - preserved in the Royal State Archives at Mantua and selected by the - Director, Signor Alessandro Luzio. - -“All keyed instruments also are pleasing to the ear, because they -produce very perfect consonances, and upon them one can play many things -that fill the mind with musical delight. And not less charming is the -music of the stringed quartet, which is most sweet and exquisite. The -human voice lends much ornament and grace to all these instruments, with -which I would have our Courtier at least to some degree acquainted, -albeit the more he excels with them, the better,—without troubling -himself much with those that Minerva forbade to Alcibiades, because it -seems that they are ungraceful.[157] - -“Then, as to the time for enjoying these various kinds of music, I think -it is whenever a man finds himself in familiar and beloved companionship -and there are not other occupations. But above all it is fitting where -ladies are present, because their aspect fills the listener’s heart with -sweetness, renders it more sensitive to the tenderness of the music, and -quickens the musician’s soul. - -“As I have already said, it pleases me well that we should avoid the -crowd, and especially the ignoble crowd. But discretion must needs be -the spice of everything, for it would be quite impossible to foresee all -the cases that occur; and if the Courtier rightly understands himself, -he will adapt himself to the occasion and will perceive when the minds -of his hearers are disposed to listen and when not. He will take his own -age into account: for it is indeed unseemly and unlovely in the extreme -to see a man of any quality,—old, hoary and toothless, full of -wrinkles,—playing on a viol and singing in the midst of a company of -ladies, even though he be a passable performer. And the reason of this -is that in singing the words are usually amourous, and love is a -ridiculous thing in old men,—albeit it is sometimes pleased among its -other miracles to kindle frozen hearts in spite of years.” - -14.—Then the Magnifico replied: - -“Do not deprive old men of this pleasure, messer Federico; for in my -time I have known old men who had right perfect voices and hands very -dexterous upon their instruments, far more than some young men.” - -“I do not wish,” said messer Federico, “to deprive old men of this -pleasure, but I do wish to deprive you and these ladies of the pleasure -of laughing at such folly. And if old men wish to sing to the viol, let -them do so in secret and only to drive from their minds those painful -thoughts and grievous troubles with which our life is filled, and to -taste that rapture which I believe Pythagoras and Socrates found in -music.[158] And even although they practise it not, by somewhat -accustoming their minds to it they will enjoy it far more when they hear -it than a man who knows nothing of it. For just as the arms of a smith, -who is weak in his other members, become stronger by exercise than those -of another man who is more robust but unaccustomed to use his arms,—in -like manner ears practised in harmony will perceive it better and more -speedily and will appreciate it with far greater pleasure, than others, -however good and sharp they be, that are not versed in the varieties of -musical consonance; because these modulations do not penetrate ears -unused to hearing them, but pass aside without leaving any savour of -themselves; albeit even the beasts have some enjoyment in melody. - -“This then is the pleasure it is fitting old men should take in music. I -say the like of dancing, for in truth we ought to give up these -exercises before our age forces us to give them up against our will.” - -Here my lord Morello replied with a little heat: - -“So it is better to exclude all old men, and to say that only young men -have a right to be called Courtiers.” - -Then messer Federico laughed, and said: - -“You see, my lord Morello, that they who like these things strive to -seem young when they are not, and hence they dye their hair and shave -twice a week.[159] And this is because nature silently tells them that -such things are proper only to the young.” - -All the ladies laughed, for each one of them felt that these words -fitted my lord Morello; and he seemed rather stung by them. Messer -Federico soon continued: - -15.—“But there are many other ways of entertaining ladies that are -proper to old men.” - -“What are they?” said my lord Morello. “Telling stories?” - -“That is one,” replied messer Federico. “But as you know, every age -brings its own thoughts with it, and has some peculiar virtue and some -peculiar vice. Thus, while old men are ordinarily more prudent than -young men, more continent and wiser, so too they are more garrulous, -miserly, querulous and timid; they are always scolding about the house, -harsh to their children, and wish everyone to follow their way. And on -the contrary young men are spirited, generous, frank, but prone to -quarrel, voluble, loving and hating in an instant, eager in all their -pleasures, unfriendly to him who counsels well. - -“But of all ages, that of manhood is the most temperate, because it has -left the faults of youth behind and has not yet reached those of old -age. Being placed then at the two extremes, young and old must needs -learn from reason how to correct the faults that nature implants in -them. Thus, old men ought to guard against much self-praise and the -other evil habits that we have said are peculiar to them, and to use -that prudence and knowledge which they have gained from long experience, -and to be like oracles consulted of all men; and in telling what they -know, they ought to have the grace to speak to the point and temper the -gravity of their years with a certain mild and sportive humour. In this -way they will be good Courtiers, enjoy their intercourse with men and -with ladies, and be always welcome,—without singing or dancing; and when -need arises they will display their worth in affairs of importance. - -16.—“Let young men use this same care and judgment, not indeed in -copying old men’s ways,—for that which befits the one would not at all -befit the other, and we are wont to say that over wisdom is a bad sign -in the young,—but in correcting their own natural faults. Hence I -greatly like to see a youth, and especially when handling weapons, who -has a touch of the grave and taciturn; who is master of himself, without -those restless manners which are often seen at that age; because such -youths seem to have a certain something in them above the rest. Moreover -this quietness of manner has in it a kind of impressive boldness, -because it seems the result not of anger but of judgment, and governed -more by reason than by passion. This is nearly always found in all men -of high courage, and we see it also among those brute animals that have -more nobility and strength than their fellows,—as in the lion and the -eagle. - -“Nor is this strange; for an impetuous and sudden movement,—which -without words or other signs of wrath abruptly bursts with all its force -at once from the quiet that is its contrary, as it were like the -discharge of a cannon,—is far more violent and furious than that which -increases by degrees and grows hotter little by little. Therefore they -who talk much and move about and cannot stand still, when they have an -enterprise on foot, seem thus to exhaust their powers; and as our friend -messer Pietro Monte well says, they act like boys who sing from fear -when they walk at night, as if to keep up their courage by their -singing. - -“Again, just as calm and thoughtful youthfulness is very praiseworthy in -a young man, because the levity which is the fault peculiar to his age -seems to be tempered and corrected,—so in an old man a green and lively -old age is to be highly esteemed, because his stoutness of heart seems -to be so great as to warm and strengthen his feeble and chill years, and -to keep him in that middle state which is the best part of our life. - -17.—“But in brief not even all these qualities in our Courtier will -suffice to win universal favour of lords, cavaliers and ladies, unless -he has also a gentle and amiable manner in daily talk. And I verily -believe it to be difficult to give any rule for this, because of the -infinite variety of things that arise in conversation, and because among -all the men on earth no two are found who have minds quite alike. So -whoever has to prepare himself for conversation with many, must needs be -guided by his own judgment, and distinguishing the differences between -one man and another, must daily change his style and method according to -the character of the person with whom he has to converse. Nor could I -for my part give other rules in this matter than those already given, -which our friend my lord Morello has learned at the confessional from -his youth up.” - -Here my lady Emilia laughed, and said: - -“You shirk labour too much, messer Federico. But you shall not succeed, -for you must talk on until it is time to go to bed.” - -“And what, my Lady, if I have nothing to say?” replied messer Federico. - -“There you shall show your wit,” said my lady Emilia. “And if what I -once heard be true, that there was a man so clever and eloquent that he -did not lack material to write a book in praise of a fly, others in -praise of the fourth day ague, and another in praise of baldness,—will -you also not have the courage to find something to say about -Courtiership for one evening?”[160] - -“We have already said enough about it to make two books,” replied messer -Federico. “But since my excuse is of no avail, I will talk until you -think I have fulfilled, if not my duty, at least the limit of my powers. - -18.—“I think that the conversation which the Courtier ought most to try -in every way to make acceptable, is that which he holds with his prince; -and although this word ‘conversation’ implies a certain equality that -seems impossible between a lord and his inferior, yet we will call it so -for the present. Therefore, besides daily showing everyone that he -possesses the worth we have already described, I would have the Courtier -strive, with all the thoughts and forces of his mind, to love and almost -to adore the prince whom he serves, above every other thing, and mould -his wishes, habits and all his ways to his prince’s liking.” - -Without waiting for more, Pietro da Napoli here said: - -“We already have enough Courtiers of this kind, for methinks you have in -a few words described for us a noble flatterer.” - -“You are much in errour,” replied messer Federico; “for flatterers love -neither their prince nor their friends, which I tell you I wish chiefly -in our Courtier. - -“Moreover it is possible without flattery to obey and further the wishes -of him we serve, for I am speaking of those wishes that are reasonable -and right, or of those that in themselves are neither good nor evil, -such as would be a liking for play or a devotion to one kind of exercise -above another. And I would have the Courtier bend himself to this even -if he be by nature alien to it, so that on seeing him his lord shall -always feel that he will have something agreeable to say; which will -come about if he has the good judgment to perceive what his prince -likes, and the wit and prudence to bend himself thereto, and a -deliberate purpose to like that which perhaps he by nature dislikes. And -adopting these precautions, he will never be out of humour or melancholy -before his prince, nor so taciturn as many are who seem to bear a grudge -against their patrons, which is a truly odious thing. He will not be -given to evil speaking, especially against his own lords; which often -happens, for in courts there seems to rage a fury[161] of such sort that -those who have been most favoured by their lord and have been raised to -eminence from the lowest state, are always complaining and speaking ill -of him; which is unseemly not only in such as these, but even in those -who chance to have been ill used. - -“Our Courtier will show no foolish presumption; he will not be a bearer -of evil tidings; he will not be thoughtless in sometimes saying things -that offend instead of pleasing as he intends. He will not be obstinate -and disputatious, as some are who seem to delight in nothing but to be -troublesome and disagreeable like flies, and who make a point of -spitefully contradicting everyone without discrimination. He will not be -an idle or untruthful tattler, nor a boaster nor pointless flatterer, -but modest and reserved, always and especially in public showing that -reverence and respect which befit the servant towards the master; and he -will not behave like many, who on meeting any great prince, with whom if -only they have spoken but once, press forward with a certain smiling and -friendly look, as if they wished to caress an equal or show favour to an -inferior. - -“He will very rarely or almost never ask anything of his lord for -himself, lest his lord, being reluctant to deny it to him directly, may -sometimes grant it with an ill grace, which is much worse. Even in -asking for others he will choose his time discreetly and ask proper and -reasonable things; and he will so frame his request, by omitting what he -knows may displease and by skilfully doing away with difficulties, that -his lord shall always grant it, or shall not think him offended by -refusal even if it be denied; for when lords have denied a favour to an -importunate suitor, they often reflect that he who asked it with such -eagerness, must have desired it greatly, and so having failed to obtain -it, must feel ill will towards him who denied it; and believing this, -they begin to hate the man and can never more look upon him with favour. - -19.—“He will not seek to intrude unasked into his master’s chamber or -private retreats, even though he be of great consequence; for when great -lords are in private, they often like a little liberty to say and do -what they please, and do not wish to be seen or heard by any who may -criticise them; and it is very proper. Hence I think those men do ill -who blame great lords for consorting privately with persons who are of -little worth save in matters of personal service, for I do not see why -lords should not have the same freedom to relax their minds that we fain -would have to relax ours. But if a Courtier accustomed to deal with -important matters, chances to find himself in private with his lord, he -must put on another face, postpone grave concerns to another place and -time, and give the conversation a cast that shall amuse and please his -lord, so as not to disturb that repose of mind of which I speak. - -“In this however, as in everything else, let him above all take care not -to weary his lord, and let him wait for favours to be offered him rather -than angle for them so openly as many do, who are so greedy that it -seems as if they must die if they do not get what they seek; and if they -happen to meet any disfavour or to see others favoured, they suffer such -anguish that they can in no wise hide their envy. Thus they make -everyone laugh at them, and often are the cause that leads their master -to bestow favour on the first comer simply to spite them. Then again, if -they find themselves in at all more than common favour, they become so -intoxicated by it that they stand palsied[162] with joy, and seem not to -know what to do with their hands and feet, and they can hardly keep from -calling on the company to come and see and congratulate them as upon -something to which they are quite unused. - -“Of such sort I would not have our Courtier. I am quite willing that he -should like favours, but not that he should value them so highly as to -seem unable to do without them. And when he receives them, let him not -seem unused or strange to them, or marvel that they are offered him; nor -let him refuse them, as some do who refrain from accepting them out of -mere ignorance, and thus seem to the bystanders to be conscious of not -deserving them. - -“Yet a man ought always to be a little more backward than his rank -warrants; to accept not too readily the favours and honours that are -offered him; and to refuse them modestly, showing that he values them -highly, yet in such fashion as to give the donor cause to offer them -again with far more urgency. For the greater the reluctance with which -they are accepted, the more highly will the prince who gives them think -himself esteemed, and the benefit that he bestows will seem the greater, -the more the recipient seems to prize it and to hold himself honoured by -it. Moreover these are the true and solid favours that make a man -esteemed by those who see him from without; for, being unsought, they -are assumed by everyone to be the reward of true worth, the more so when -they are accompanied by modesty.” - -20.—Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“Methinks you have stolen this passage from the Evangelist, where he -says: ‘When thou art bidden to a wedding, go and sit down in the lowest -room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say: Friend, go up -higher: and thus shalt thou have honour in the presence of them that sit -at meat with thee.’”[163] - -Messer Federico laughed, and said: - -“It were too great sacrilege to steal from the Evangelist; but you are -more learned in Holy Writ than I thought;” then he went on: “You see -what great danger those men sometimes run who boldly begin conversation -before a lord without being invited; and to put them down, the lord -often makes no reply and turns his head another way, and even if he -replies to them, everyone sees that he does it with an ill grace. - -[Illustration] - - BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - - - - - CESAR DE GONZAGA - - - - - LUDOVICO CANOSSA - - - - - PIETRO BEMBO - - - - - BERNARDO DE BIBBIENA - - AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES OF THE AUTHOR AND OF - FOUR OF HIS FRIENDS - -From negatives, made by Premi and by Signor Lanzoni, from originals - preserved in the Royal State Archives at Mantua and selected by the - Director, Signor Alessandro Luzio. - -“To have the favour of princes, then, there is no better way than to -deserve it. And when we see another man who is pleasing to a prince for -any reason, we must not think to reach the same height ourselves by -imitating him, for all things are not proper to all men. Thus there will -sometimes be found a man who by nature is so ready at jesting that -whatever he may say carries laughter with it, and he seems to have been -born solely for that; and if another man, who has a sober habit of mind -(however excellently endowed) tries to do the like, it will fall so cold -and flat as to disgust those who hear him, and he will prove exactly -like that ass who tried to copy the dog by frolicking with their -master.[164] Hence every man must understand himself and his own powers, -and govern himself accordingly, and consider what things he ought to -imitate, and what things he ought not.” - -21.—Here Vincenzo Calmeta said: - -“Before you go on, if I heard aright I think you said awhile ago that -the best way to win favours is to deserve them, and that the Courtier -ought to wait for them to be offered him rather than ask for them -presumptuously. I greatly fear this rule is little to the purpose, and I -think experience very clearly teaches us the contrary. For to-day very -few are favoured by their lords, save the presumptuous; and I know you -can give good testimony as to some, who on finding themselves in small -favour with their princes, have made themselves acceptable solely by -their presumption. While as for those who have risen through modesty, I -for my part do not know any, and I even give you time to think about it -and believe you will find few. And if you consider the court of France, -which is to-day one of the noblest in Christendom, you will find that -all men who have universal favour there are somewhat presumptuous, and -not only towards one another but towards the king himself.” - -“Now do not say that,” replied messer Federico; “for in France there are -very modest and courteous gentlemen. It is true that they behave with a -certain freedom and unceremonious familiarity, which are proper and -natural to them; and therefore it ought not to be called presumption, -because in this very manner of theirs, whilst they deride and make sport -of the presumptuous, yet they rate highly those who seem to them to have -worth and modesty.” - -Calmeta replied: - -“Look at the Spaniards, who it seems are our masters in Courtiership, -and consider how many you will find who are not very presumptuous with -ladies and with gentlemen; and even more so than the French, because at -first sight they show the greatest modesty. And in this they are truly -clever, for as I said, the princes of our time all favour only those who -have such manners.” - -22.—Then messer Federico replied: - -“I will by no means suffer you, messer Vincenzo, to cast this reproach -upon the princes of our time. For indeed there are also many who love -modesty, which I do not however say alone suffices to make a man -acceptable; but I do say that when united to high worth, it greatly -honours its possessor. And although it be silent about itself, -praiseworthy deeds speak aloud and are far more admirable than if they -were accompanied by presumption and rashness. I will not indeed deny -that there are many presumptuous Spaniards, but I say that those who are -much esteemed are as a rule very modest. - -“Again, there are also some men who are so reserved that they shun human -company beyond reason, and so far exceed a certain limit of moderation -that they come to be regarded as either too timid or too proud. For -these I have no praise, nor would I have modesty so dry and arid as to -become clownishness; but let the Courtier be fluent on occasion, and -prudent and sagacious in discussing statecraft, and let him have the -good sense to adapt himself to the customs of the nations where he finds -himself; then in lesser matters let him be agreeable and speak well -about everything. - -“But above all, he should make for right; not envious, not evil-tongued: -nor let him ever bring himself to seek grace or favour by foul ways or -dishonourable means.” - -Then Calmeta said: - -“I assure you that all other ways are more uncertain and longer than -this one which you censure. For to repeat, princes at the present day -love only those who tread that path.” - -“Say not so,” then replied messer Federico, “for that would be too clear -an argument that the princes of our time are all vicious and -wicked,—which is not true, since several good ones are to be found. But -if our Courtier should chance to find himself in the service of one who -is vicious and malign, let him depart as soon as he discovers it, lest -he suffer that keen anguish which all good men feel who serve the -wicked.” - -“We must needs pray God,” replied Calmeta, “to send us good masters, for -when we have them, we are forced to endure them such as they are; -because an infinity of reasons constrain a gentleman not to leave the -patron he has once begun to serve; but the misfortune consists in -beginning to serve a bad patron, and Courtiers in this condition are -like those unhappy birds that are hatched in a gloomy valley.” - -“It seems to me,” said messer Federico, “that duty ought to outweigh all -other reasons. And provided a gentleman does not leave his patron when -at war or in adversity,—lest he be thought to have done so to better his -fortunes or because he feared that he might lack opportunity for gain,—I -think that at any other time he rightly may and ought to leave a service -that is like to disgrace him before all good men; for everyone assumes -that whoever serves the good is good, and that whoever serves the wicked -is wicked.” - -23.—Then my lord Ludovico Pio said: - -“I should like to have you clear a doubt that is in my mind; that is, -whether a gentleman in the service of a prince is bound to obey him in -all things that he commands, even if they be dishonourable and -infamous.” - -“In dishonourable things we are not bound to obey any man,” replied -messer Federico. - -“And how,” returned my lord Ludovico, “if I am in the service of a -prince who uses me well and trusts to my doing for him all that can be -done, commanding me to go kill a man or do anything else you -please,—ought I to refuse to do it?” - -“You ought,” replied messer Federico, “to obey your lord in all things -that are advantageous and honourable to him, not in those that bring him -injury and disgrace. Therefore if he were to command you to commit an -act of treachery, not only would you not be bound to do it, but you -would be bound not to do it,—both for your own sake and for the sake of -not being a minister to your lord’s disgrace. True it is that many -things which are evil seem at first sight good, and many seem evil and -yet are good. Hence in our lords’ service it is sometimes permitted to -kill not one man but ten thousand, and to do many other things that -would seem evil to a man who did not rightly consider them, and yet are -not evil.” - -Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino replied: - -“On your faith, I pray you discuss this a little, and teach us how the -really good can be distinguished from that which only seems so.” - -“Pardon me,” said messer Federico; “I am unwilling to enter upon that, -for there would be too much to say; but let the whole matter be left to -your own wisdom.” - -24.—“At least clear another doubt for me,” returned my lord Gaspar. - -“And what doubt?” said messer Federico. - -“It is this,” replied my lord Gaspar. “I should like to know,—my lord -having charged me exactly what I must do in an enterprise or any other -business whatever, if I being engaged upon it think that my doing more -or less or otherwise than I was charged, may make the affair turn out -better and more advantageously for him who gave me the task,—whether I -ought to govern myself by the original plan without exceeding the limits -of my command, or on the contrary to do that which seems to me better.” - -Then messer Federico replied: - -“In this I should give you the precept and example of Manlius Torquatus -(who in like case slew his son, from too stern a sense of duty), if I -thought he deserved much credit, which I do not.[165] And yet I dare not -blame him against the verdict of so many centuries. For without doubt it -is a very perilous thing to deviate from our superiors’ commands, -relying more on our own judgment than on theirs whom we ought in reason -to obey; because if our expectation fails and the affair turns out ill, -we run into the errour of disobedience and ruin that which we have to -do, without any possibility of excuse or hope of pardon. On the other -hand, if the affair turns out according to our wish, we must give the -credit to fortune and be content at that. Moreover in this way a fashion -is set of rating the commands of our superiors lightly; and following -the example of one man who happened to succeed and who perhaps was -prudent and had reasoned well and been aided by fortune too,—a thousand -other ignorant featherheads will make bold to do as they please in the -most important matters, and for the sake of showing that they are -sagacious and have authority, to deviate from their masters’ commands; -which is a very evil thing and often the cause of numberless mistakes. - -“But I think that in such a case the man whom it concerns ought to -consider carefully, and as it were to place in the balance the profit -and advantage that he stands to win by acting contrary to orders, in -case his design turns out according to his hopes; and on the other hand -to weigh the evil and disadvantage that will accrue if the affair -chances to turn out ill through his disobedience of orders. And if he -finds the damage in case of failure to be greater and more serious than -the gain in case of success, he ought to restrain himself and carry out -his orders to the letter; while on the contrary if the gain in case of -success is like to be more serious than the damage in case of failure, I -think he may properly venture to do that which his reason and judgment -dictate, and somewhat disregard the very letter of his orders,—so as to -act like good merchants, who to gain much risk little, but never risk -much to gain little. - -“I strongly approve of the Courtier’s observing above all the character -of the prince whom he serves, and of his governing himself accordingly: -for if it be severe, as is the case with many, I should never advise -anyone who was my friend to change one jot the order given him; lest -that might befall him which is recorded as having befallen a master -engineer of the Athenians, to whom Publius Crassus Mucianus,[166] when -he was in Asia and wished to besiege a fortified place, sent to ask for -one of two ship’s masts that he had seen at Athens, in order to make a -ram wherewith to batter down the wall, and said he wished the larger -one. Being very intelligent, the engineer knew that the larger mast was -unsuitable for the purpose, and as the smaller one was easier to -transport and better adapted for making the machine in question, he sent -it to Mucianus. The latter, hearing how things had gone, sent for the -poor engineer, asked why he had disobeyed his orders, and refusing to -listen to any excuse from him, caused him to be stripped naked and so -flogged and scourged with rods that he died, because it seemed to -Mucianus that instead of obeying, the man had tried to offer advice. So -we had best use great caution with these rigourous men. - -25.—“But now let us leave this subject of intercourse with princes, and -come to conversation with our equals or with those that are nearly so: -for we must pay heed to this also, since it is universally more -practised and a man more often finds himself engaged in it than in -conversation with princes. - -“There are however some simpletons, who, even in the company of the best -friend they have in the world, on meeting a man who is better dressed, -at once attach themselves to him, and then if they happen on one still -better dressed, they do the like to him. And later, when the prince is -passing through the squares or churches or other public places, they -elbow their way past everyone until they reach his side: and even if -they have naught to say to him, they still must talk, and go on -babbling, and laugh and clap their hands and head, to show they have -business of importance, so that the crowd may see them in favour. But -since these fellows deign to speak only with their lords, I would not -have us deign to speak of them.” - -26.—Then the Magnifico Giuliano said: - -“As you have mentioned those who are so fond of the company of well -dressed men, I should like you to show us, messer Federico, in what -manner the Courtier ought to dress, and what costume is suitable to him, -and in what way he ought to govern himself in all matters of bodily -adornment. For in this we find an infinite variety: some who dress after -the French fashion, some after the Spanish, some who wish to appear -German; nor is there lack of those who even dress after the style of -Turks: some who wear their beards, some not. Hence in this medley it -were well to know how to choose the best.” - -Messer Federico said: - -“Indeed I should not know how to give a precise rule about dress, except -that a man ought to follow the custom of the majority; and since (as you -say) this custom is so various, and the Italians are so fond of arraying -themselves after foreign fashions, I think every man may dress as he -pleases. - -“But I do not know by what fate it happens that Italy has not, as it was -wont to have, a costume that should be recognized as Italian: for -although the putting of these new fashions into use may have made the -former ones seem very rude, yet the old ones were perhaps a badge of -freedom, as the new ones have proved an augury of servitude, which I -think is now very clearly fulfilled.[167] And as it is recorded that -when Darius had the Persian sword which he wore at his side fashioned -after the Macedonian style, the year before he fought with Alexander, -this was interpreted by the soothsayers to signify that they into whose -fashion Darius had transformed his Persian sword, should come to rule -over Persia.[168] So our having changed our Italian garb for that of -strangers seems to signify that all those for whose garb we have -exchanged our own must come to conquer us: which has been but too true, -for there is now left no nation that has not made us its prey: so that -little more is left to prey upon, and yet they do not cease preying upon -us. - -27.—“But I do not wish to touch on painful subjects. Therefore it will -be well to speak of our Courtier’s clothes; which I think, provided they -be not out of the common or inappropriate to his profession, may do very -well in other respects if only they satisfy him who wears them. True it -is that I for my part should not like them to be extreme in any wise, as -the French are sometimes wont to be in over amplitude, and the Germans -in over scantiness,—but as they both are, only corrected and improved in -form by the Italians. Moreover I always like them to tend a little -towards the grave and sober rather than the gay. Thus I think black is -more suitable for garments than any other colour is; and if it is not -black, let it at least be somewhat dark. And this I say of ordinary -attire, for there is no doubt that bright and cheerful colours are more -suitable over armour, and for gala use also dress may be fringed, showy -and magnificent; likewise on public occasions, such as festivals, shows, -masquerades, and the like. For such garments carry with them a certain -liveliness and gaiety that accord very well with arms and sports. But -for the rest I would have our Courtier’s dress display that sobriety -which the Spanish nation greatly affect, for things external often bear -witness to the things within.” - -Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“This would give me little concern, for if a gentleman is of worth in -other things, his attire will never enhance or lessen his reputation.” - -“You say truly,” replied messer Federico. “Yet what one of us is there, -who, on seeing a gentleman pass by with a garment on his back quartered -in divers colours, or with a mass of strings and knotted ribbons and -cross lacings, does not take him for a fool or a buffoon?” - -“Neither for a fool,” said messer Pietro Bembo, “nor for a buffoon would -he be taken by anyone who had lived any time in Lombardy, for all men go -about like that.” - -“Then,” said my lady Duchess, laughing, “if all men go about like that, -we must not cast it at them as a fault, since this attire is as fitting -and proper to them as it is for the Venetians to wear puffed -sleeves,[169] or for the Florentines to wear the hood.” - -“I am not speaking,” said messer Federico, “more of Lombardy than of -other places, for both the foolish and the wise are to be found in every -nation. But to say what I think is important in attire, I wish that our -Courtier may be neat and dainty throughout his dress, and have a certain -air of modest elegance, yet not of a womanish or vain style. Nor would I -have him more careful of one thing than of another, like many we see who -take such pains with their hair that they forget the rest; others devote -themselves to their teeth, others to their beard, others to their boots, -others to their bonnets, others to their coifs;[170] and the result is -that these few details of elegance seem borrowed by them, while all the -rest, being very tasteless, is recognized as their own. And this kind of -dress I would have our Courtier shun, by my advice; adding also that he -ought to consider how he wishes to seem and of what sort he wishes to be -esteemed, and to dress accordingly and contrive that his attire shall -aid him to be so regarded even by those who neither hear him speak nor -witness any act of his.” - -28.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“Methinks it is not fitting, or even customary among persons of worth, -to judge men’s quality by their dress rather than by their words and -acts; for many would make mistakes, nor is it without reason that we -have the proverb, ‘dress makes not the monk.’” - -“I do not say,” replied messer Federico, “that fixed opinions of men’s -worth are to be formed only in this way, or that they are not better -known by their words and acts than by their dress: but I do say that -dress is no bad index of the wearer’s fancy, although it may be -sometimes wrong; and not only this, but all ways and manners, as well as -acts and words, are an indication of the qualities of the man in whom -they are seen.” - -“And what things do you find,” replied my lord Gaspar, “from which we -may form an opinion, that are neither words nor acts?” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“You are too subtle a logician. But to tell you what I mean, there are -some acts that still endure after they are performed, such as building, -writing, and the like; others do not endure, such as those I have now in -mind. In this sense, therefore, I do not say that walking, laughing, -looking, and the like, are acts,—and yet all these outward things often -give knowledge of those within. Tell me, did you not judge that friend -of ours, of whom we were speaking only this morning, to be a light and -frivolous man as soon as you saw him walking with that twist of his -head, wriggling about, and with affable demeanour inviting the -by-standers to doff their caps to him? So, too, when you see anyone -gazing too intently with dull eyes after the manner of an idiot, or -laughing as stupidly as those goitrous mutes in the mountains of -Bergamo,[171]—do you not set him down a very simpleton, although he -neither speak nor do aught else? Thus you see that these ways and -manners (which I do not for the present regard as acts) in great measure -make men known to us. - -29.—“But another thing seems to me to give and to take away from -reputation greatly, and this is our choice of the friends with whom we -are to live in intimate relations; for doubtless reason requires that -they who are joined in close amity and fast companionship, shall have -their desires, souls, judgments and minds also in accord. Thus, he who -consorts with the ignorant or wicked, is deemed ignorant or wicked; and -on the contrary, he who consorts with the good, the wise, and the -discreet, is himself deemed to be the like. Because by nature everything -seems to join willingly with its like. Therefore I think we ought to use -great care in beginning these friendships, for he who knows one of two -close friends, at once imagines the other to be of the same quality.” - -Then messer Pietro Bembo replied: - -“I certainly think we ought to take great care to limit ourselves to -friends of like mind with us, as you say, not only because of the gain -or loss of reputation, but because there are to-day very few true -friends to be found, nor do I believe that the world any longer contains -a Pylades and Orestes, a Theseus and Pirithous, or a Scipio and -Lælius.[172] On the contrary, by some fatality it happens every day that -two friends, who have lived in very cordial love for many years, yet in -some way cheat each other at last, either through malice, or jealousy, -or fickleness, or some other evil cause: and each gives the other the -blame which perhaps both deserve. - -“Therefore, since it has more than once happened to me to be deceived by -him whom I most loved above every other person, and by whom I was sure I -was loved,—I have sometimes thought to myself that it would be well for -us never to trust anyone in the world, nor so to give ourselves up to -any friend (however dear and loved he be) as to reveal all our thoughts -to him, as we should to ourselves; for there are so many dark corners -and recesses in our minds that it is impossible for human wit to -penetrate the deceptions they conceal. Hence I think it were well to -love and serve one more than another according to merit and worth; yet -never to be so sure of friendship’s sweet enticement, that we at last -have cause to rue our trust.” - -30.—Then messer Federico said: - -“Verily the loss would be far greater than the gain, if human -intercourse were to be deprived of that highest pitch of friendship -which in my opinion gives us all the good our life has in it; and -therefore I will in no wise admit that what you say is reasonable, nay -rather I venture to assert, and for the clearest reasons, that without -this perfect friendship men would be far unhappier than all other -creatures. And if some profanely stain this sacred name of friendship, -we ought not on that account to uproot it from our hearts, and for the -guilt of the wicked deprive the good of such felicity. And for my part I -think there are here among us more than one pair of friends, whose love -is steadfast and without deceit and lasting unto death with like -desires, no less than if they were those ancients whom you mentioned -awhile ago; and it happens thus when a man chooses a friend, not only -from heaven-born impulse, but like himself in character. And in all this -I am speaking of the good and virtuous, for the friendship of the wicked -is not friendship. - -“I am well pleased that so close a tie as this should not join or bind -more than two, for otherwise perhaps it would be dangerous; because, as -you know, it is harder to attune three musical instruments together, -than two. Therefore, I would that our Courtier might have one special -and hearty friend, if possible, of the kind we have described; then that -he might love, honour and respect all others according to their worth -and merits, and always contrive to consort more with such as are in high -esteem and noble and of known virtue, than with the ignoble and those of -little worth; in such wise that he may be loved and honoured by them -also. And he will accomplish this if he be courteous, kind, generous, -affable and mild with others, zealous and active to serve and guard his -friends’ welfare and honour both absent and present, enduring such of -their natural defects as are endurable, without breaking with them for -slight cause, and correcting in himself those that are kindly pointed -out; never thrusting himself before others to reach the first and most -honoured places; nor acting like some, who seem to despise the world and -insist with a kind of tiresome preciseness on laying down the law for -everyone, and who, besides being unseasonably contentious in every -little thing, censure that which they do not do themselves, and are -always seeking occasion for complaint against their friends,—which is a -very odious thing.” - -31.—Messer Federico pausing here, my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“I should like to have you speak a little more in detail than you do -about this matter of converse with our friends; for in truth you keep -much to generalities, and show us things in passing, as it were.” - -“How ‘in passing’?” replied messer Federico. “Perhaps you would have me -tell the very words that you must use? Do you not think we have talked -enough about this?” - -“Enough I think,” replied my lord Gaspar. “Yet I should like to hear a -few more details about the manner of intercourse with men and women; for -the thing seems to me of great importance, seeing that most of our time -at courts is given to it; and if it were always the same, it would soon -become tedious.” - -“I think,” replied messer Federico, “we have given the Courtier -knowledge of so many things, that he can easily vary his conversation -and adapt himself to the quality of the persons with whom he has to do, -presupposing he has good sense and governs himself by it, and sometimes -turns to grave matters and sometimes to festivals and games, according -to the occasion.” - -“And what games?” said my lord Gaspar. - -Then messer Federico replied, laughing: - -“Let us ask advice of Fra Serafino, who invents new ones every day.” - -“Jesting apart,” answered my lord Gaspar, “do you think it would be a -vice in the Courtier to play at cards and dice?” - -“Not I,” said messer Federico, “unless he did so too constantly and -neglected more important matters for them, or indeed unless he played -for nothing else but to win money, and cheated the company, and showed -such grief and vexation at losing as to argue himself a miser.” - -“And what,” replied my lord Gaspar, “do you say of the game of chess?” - -“It is certainly a pleasant and ingenious amusement,” said messer -Federico. “But I think there is one defect in it. And that is, there is -too much to know, so that whoever would excel in the game of chess must -spend much time on it, methinks, and give it as much study as if he -would learn some noble science or do anything else of importance you -please; and yet in the end with all his pains he has learned nothing but -a game. Therefore I think a very unusual thing is true of it, namely -that mediocrity is more praiseworthy than excellence.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“Many Spaniards excel in this and divers other games, yet without giving -them much study or neglecting other things.” - -“Believe me,” replied messer Federico, “they do give much study thereto, -although covertly. But those other games you speak of, besides chess, -are perhaps like many I have seen played (although of little moment), -which serve only to make the vulgar marvel; wherefore methinks they -deserve no other praise or reward than that which Alexander the Great -gave the fellow who at a good distance impaled chick-peas on the point -of a needle.[173] - -32.—“But since it appears that fortune exerts immense power over men’s -opinions as over many other things, we sometimes see that a gentleman, -however well conditioned he may be and endowed with many graces, is -unacceptable to a prince, and goes against the grain as we say;[174] and -this without any apparent reason, so that as soon as he comes into the -prince’s presence and before he is known by the others, although he be -keen and ready with retorts, and display himself to advantage in -gestures, manners, words, and all else that is becoming,—the prince will -show small esteem for him, nay will soon put some affront upon him. And -thus it will come about that the others will follow the prince’s lead, -and everyone will regard the man as of little worth, nor will there be -any to prize or esteem him, or laugh at his amusing talk or hold him in -any respect; nay, all will begin to deride and persecute him. Nor will -it be enough for the poor man to make good retorts or take things as if -said in jest, for the very pages will set upon him, so that even if he -were the sturdiest man in the world, he must perforce remain foiled and -ridiculed. - -“And on the other hand, if the prince shows favour to a very dolt, who -knows neither how to speak nor how to act,—his manners and ways (however -silly and uncouth they be) will often be praised by everyone with -exclamations and astonishment, and the whole court will seem to admire -and respect him, and everyone will appear to laugh at his jests and at -certain rustic and stupid jokes that ought to excite rather disgust than -laughter: to such degree are men firm and fixed in the opinions that are -engendered by the favour and disfavour of lords. - -“Therefore I would have our Courtier set off his worth as best he can, -with cleverness and skill, and whenever he has to go where he is strange -and unknown, let him take care that good opinion of him precedes him, -and see to it that men there shall know of his being highly rated in -other places, among other lords, ladies and gentlemen; for that fame -which seems to spring from many judgments, begets a kind of firm belief -in a man’s worth, which, in minds thus disposed and prepared, is then -easily maintained and increased by his conduct: moreover he escapes that -annoyance which I feel when asked who I am and what my name is.” - -33.—“I do not see how this can help,” replied messer Bernardo Bibbiena; -“for it has several times happened to me, and I think to many others, -that having been led by the word of persons of judgment to imagine -something to be of great excellence before I saw it,—on seeing it I -found it paltry and was much disappointed of what I expected. And the -reason was simply that I had put too much trust in report and formed in -my mind so high an expectation, that although the real thing was great -and excellent, yet when afterwards measured by the fact, it seemed very -paltry by comparison with what I had imagined. And I fear it may be so -with our Courtier too. Therefore I do not see the advantage of raising -such expectations and sending our fame before us; for the mind often -imagines things that it is impossible to fulfil, and thus we lose more -than we gain.” - -Here messer Federico said: - -“The things that you and many others find inferior to their reputation, -are for the most part of such sort that the eye can judge of them at a -glance,—as if you had never been at Naples or Rome, and from hearing -them so much talked of, you were to imagine something far beyond what -they afterwards proved to be when seen; but such is not the case with -men’s character, because that which is outwardly seen is the least part. -Thus, on first hearing a gentleman speak, if you should not find in him -that worth which you had previously imagined, you would not at once -reverse your good opinion of him, as you would in those matters whereof -the eye is instant judge, but you would wait from day to day to discover -some other hidden virtue, still holding fast to the good impression you -had received from so many lips; and later, if he were thus richly -endowed (as I assume our Courtier to be), your confidence in his -reputation would be hourly confirmed, because his acts would justify it, -and you would be always imagining something more than you saw. - -34.—“And surely it cannot be denied that these first impressions have -very great weight, and that we ought to be very careful regarding them. -And to the end that you may see how important they are, I tell you that -in my time I knew a gentleman, who, while he was of very gentle aspect -and modest manners and also valiant in arms, yet did not so greatly -excel in any of these things but that he had many equals and even -superiors. However, fate so willed that a lady chanced to fall most -ardently in love with him, and her love increasing daily with the signs -that the young man gave of loving her in return, and there being no way -for them to speak together, she was moved by excess of passion to reveal -her desires to another lady through whom she hoped to secure some -assistance. This lady was in no wise inferior to the first in rank or -beauty; whence it came to pass, that on hearing the young man (whom she -had never seen) spoken of so tenderly, and perceiving that he was -extravagantly loved by her friend (whom she knew to be very discreet and -of excellent judgment), she straightway imagined him to be the -handsomest and wisest and most discreet and in short the most lovable -man in the world. And thus, without having seen him, she became so -passionately enamoured of him, that she began making every effort to -secure him, not for her friend but for herself, and inducing him to -return her love: which she succeeded in doing with little effort, for in -truth she was a lady rather to be wooed than to woo others. - -“Now hear the end of my tale. Not long afterwards it happened that a -letter, which this second lady had written to her lover, fell into the -hands of still another lady, also very noble and of good character and -rarest beauty,—who, being like most ladies curious and eager to learn -secrets and especially other ladies’, opened this letter, and on reading -it saw that it was written with the fervour of ardent love. And the -sweet, impassioned words that she read first moved her to compassion for -that lady, for she well knew from whom the letter came and to whom it -was going; then they gained such power, that as she turned them over in -her mind and considered what sort of man he must be who could arouse -such love in the lady, she too straightway fell in love with him; and -the letter had perhaps a greater effect than if it had been sent by the -young man to her. And as it sometimes happens that a poisoned dish, -intended for a prince, kills the first comer who tastes it, so in her -over greediness this poor lady drank the love poison that had been -prepared for another. - -“What more shall I say? The affair became well known, and spread abroad -so that many other ladies besides these, partly to spite the others and -partly to imitate them, used every effort and pains to possess -themselves of the man’s love, and contended for it with one another as -boys contend for cherries. And all this began with the first impression -of that lady who saw him so beloved by another.” - -35.—Here my lord Gaspar Pallavicino replied, laughing: - -“To give reasons in support of your opinion, you cite the doings of -women, who for the most part are quite unreasonable. And if you cared to -tell the whole truth, this favourite of so many women must have been a -dunce and at bottom a man of little worth. For their way is always to -favour the meanest, and like sheep to do what they see others doing, -whether it be good or evil. Moreover they are so jealous among -themselves, that even if the man had been a monster, they would have -tried to steal him from one another.” - -Here many began to speak, and nearly everyone wanted to contradict my -lord Gaspar; but my lady Duchess imposed silence on all, and then said, -laughing: - -“If the evil you say of women were not so far from the truth, that the -saying of it casts blame and shame on him who says it rather than on -them, I should allow you to be answered. But I am not willing that, by -being confronted with the arguments which it is possible to cite, you -should be cured of this evil habit, in order that you may suffer very -grievous punishment for your fault: which shall be the bad opinion -wherein you will be held by all who hear you argue in such fashion.” - -[Illustration: - - GIACOPO SANNAZARO - 1458-1530 -] - -Head enlarged from a photograph, specially made by Alinari, of a part of - the fresco, “Leo X’s Entry into Florence,” in the Palazzo Vecchio at - Florence, by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). See Milanesi’s edition of - Vasari’s _Opere_, viii, 142. - -Then messer Federico replied: - -“My lord Gaspar, do not say that women are so very unreasonable, even if -they are sometimes moved to love by others’ judgment rather than by -their own; for gentlemen and many wise men do the same. And if I may say -the truth, you yourself and all the rest of us here do often and even -now trust more to the opinion of others than to our own. And in proof of -this, it is not long ago that certain verses, handed about this court -under the name of Sannazaro,[175] seemed very excellent to everyone and -were praised with wonder and applause; then, it being known for certain -that they were by another hand, they promptly sank in reputation and -were thought less than mediocre. And a certain motet,[176] which was -sung before my lady Duchess, found no favour and was not thought good -until it was known to be the work of Josquin de Près.[177] - -“What clearer proof of the weight of opinion would you have? Do you not -remember that in drinking a certain wine, you at one time pronounced it -perfect, and at another most insipid? And this because you believed -there were two kinds of wine, one from the Genoese Riviera, and the -other from this country; and even when the mistake was discovered, you -would not at all believe it,—so firmly fixed in your mind was that wrong -opinion, although you had received it from the report of others. - -36.—“Hence the Courtier ought to take great care to make a good -impression at the start, and to consider how mischievous and fatal a -thing it is to do otherwise. And they of all men run this danger, who -pride themselves on being very amusing and on having acquired by these -pleasantries of theirs a certain freedom that makes it proper and -permissible for them to do and say whatever occurs to them, without -taking thought about it. Thus they often begin a thing they know not how -to finish, and then try to help matters by raising a laugh; and yet they -do this so clumsily that it does not succeed, insomuch that they rouse -the utmost disgust in him who sees or hears them, and fail most -lamentably. - -“Sometimes, thinking it to be droll and witty, they say the foulest and -most indecent things before and even to honourable ladies; and the more -they make these ladies blush, the more they rate themselves good -Courtiers, and they laugh and pride themselves on having such a fine -accomplishment, as they deem it. Yet they commit all this folly with no -other aim than to be esteemed jovial fellows: this is the one name which -seems to them worthy of praise and of which they boast more than of any -other; and to acquire it, they utter the grossest and most shameful -vileness in the world. Often they throw one another down-stairs, clap -billets of wood and bricks on one another’s backs, cast handfulls of -dust in one another’s eyes, make one another’s horses run into ditches -or down some hill; then at table they throw soups, sauces, jellies and -every kind of thing in one another’s faces:[178] and then they laugh. -And he who can excel the others in these things, esteems himself to be -the best Courtier and the most gallant, and thinks he has won great -glory. And if they sometimes invite a gentleman to these carouses of -theirs, and he does not choose to join in their unmannerly jokes, they -at once say he stands too much on his dignity, and holds himself aloof, -and is not a jovial fellow. But I have worse to tell you. There are some -who rival one another and award the palm to him who can eat and drink -the vilest and most offensive things; and they devise dishes so -abhorrent to human sense that it is impossible to recall them without -extreme disgust.” - -37.—“And what may these be?” said my lord Ludovico Pio. - -Messer Federico replied: - -“Ask the Marquess Febus, who has often seen them in France, and perhaps -has taken part.” - -The Marquess Febus replied: - -“I have seen none of these things done in France that are not done in -Italy as well. But what is good among the Italians in dress, sports, -banquets, handling arms, and in everything else that befits a -Courtier,—all comes from the French.” - -Messer Federico replied: - -“I do not say that very noble and modest cavaliers are not also to be -found among the French, and I myself have known many who were truly -worthy of every praise. But some are little circumspect, and generally -speaking it seems to me that as regards breeding the Spaniards have more -in common with the Italians than the French have; because that grave -reserve peculiar to the Spaniards befits us far more than the quick -vivacity which among the French we see in almost every movement, and -which is not unseemly in them, nay is charming, for it is so natural and -proper to them as not to seem at all affected. There are very many -Italians who earnestly strive to copy this manner; and they can only -shake their heads in speaking and make clumsy crosswise bows, and walk -so fast that their lackeys cannot keep up with them when they pass -through the city. And with these ways they seem to themselves to be good -Frenchmen and to have the same freedom of manner, which in truth rarely -happens save with those who have been bred in France and have acquired -the manner in their youth. - -“The same is true of knowing many languages; which I approve highly in -the Courtier, especially Spanish and French, because the intercourse of -both these nations with Italy is very frequent, and they have more in -common with us than any of the others have; and their two princes,[179] -being very powerful in war and very glorious in peace, always have their -courts full of noble cavaliers, who spread throughout the world; and it -is necessary for us also to converse with them. - -38.—“I do not care at present to go more into detail in speaking of -things that are too well known, such as that our Courtier ought not to -avow himself a great eater or drinker, or given to excess in any evil -habit, or vile and ungoverned in his life, with certain peasant ways -that recall the hoe and plough a thousand miles away; because a man of -this kind not only may not hope to become a good Courtier, but can be -set to no more fitting business than feeding sheep. - -“And finally I say it were well for the Courtier to know perfectly that -which we have said befits him, so that every possible thing may be easy -to him, and everyone may marvel at him,—he at no one. But be it -understood that there ought not to be in him that lofty and ungenial -indifference which some men have who show they are not surprised at what -others do because they imagine they can do it better, and who disparage -it by silence as not worth speaking of; and they almost seem to imply -that no one is their equal or even able to fathom the profundity of -their knowledge. Wherefore the Courtier ought to shun these odious ways, -and to praise the fine achievements of other men with kindness and good -will; and although he may feel that he is admirable and far superior to -all, yet he ought to appear not to think so. - -“But since such complete perfection as this is very rarely and perhaps -never found in human nature, a man who is conscious of being lacking in -some particular, ought not to despond thereat or lose hope of reaching a -high standard, even though he cannot attain that perfect and supreme -excellence to which he aspires. For in every art there are many grades -that are honourable besides the highest, and whoever aims at the highest -will seldom fail to rise more than half-way. Therefore if our Courtier -excels in anything besides arms, I would have him get profit and esteem -from it in fine fashion; and I would have him so discreet and sensible -as to be able with skill and address to attract men to see and hear that -wherein he thinks he excels, always appearing not to do it from -ostentation, but by chance and at others’ request rather than by his own -wish. And in everything he has to do or say, let him if possible come -ready and prepared, yet appearing to act impromptu throughout. In those -things, however, wherein he feels himself to be mediocre, let him touch -in passing, without dwelling much upon them, albeit in such fashion that -he may be thought to know more about them than he shows himself to know: -like certain poets, who sometimes touched lightly upon the profoundest -depths of philosophy and other sciences, of which perhaps they -understood little. Then, in that of which he knows he is wholly -ignorant, I would never have him make any pretence or seek to win any -fame; nay if need be, let him frankly confess his ignorance.” - -[Illustration: - - LEONARDO DA VINCI - “...ONE OF THE FIRST PAINTERS OF THE WORLD...” - 1452-1519 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 79.207) of Leonardo’s drawing in - the Royal Library at Windsor. For an account of this and other less - authentic portraits, see Müntz’s life of Leonardo da Vinci (London: - 1898), ii, 225 _et seq._ - -39.—“That,” said Calmeta, “is not what Nicoletto[180] would have done, -who was a very excellent philosopher but knew no more about law than -about flying. When a Podestà[181] of Padua had decided to give him a -lectureship in law, he was never willing (although urged thereto by many -scholars) to undeceive the Podestà and confess his ignorance,—always -saying that he did not agree with the opinion of Socrates in this -matter, and that it was not seemly for a philosopher ever to say that he -was ignorant of anything.” - -Messer Federico replied: - -“I do not say that of his own notion and unasked by others, the Courtier -should volunteer to tell his ignorance; for I too dislike this folly of -self-accusal and depreciation. And therefore I sometimes inwardly laugh -at certain men, who needlessly and of their own accord narrate things -that perhaps occurred without their fault but yet imply a shade of -disgrace; like a cavalier whom you all know, and who, whenever he heard -mention made of the battle that was fought against King Charles in the -Parmesan,[182] at once began to tell the manner of his flight, nor -seemed to have seen or heard aught else that day; again, speaking of a -certain famous joust, he always described how he had fallen, and in his -conversation he often seemed to seek an opportunity to tell how he had -received a sound cudgelling one night as he was on his way to meet a -lady. - -“I would not have our Courtier tell such follies. It seems to me, -however, that when occasion offers for displaying himself in something -of which he is quite ignorant, he ought to avoid it; and if compelled by -necessity, he ought to confess his ignorance frankly rather than put -himself to that risk. And in this way he will escape the censure that -many nowadays deserve, who from some perverse instinct or unreasonable -design always set themselves to do that which they do not know, and -forsake that which they do know. And as an instance of this, I know a -very excellent musician, who, having abandoned music, gave himself up -wholly to composing verses, and thinks himself very great therein, and -makes all men laugh at him; and now he has lost even his music. - -“Another man, one of the first painters of the world, despises the art -wherein he is most rare, and has set himself to study philosophy; in -which he has such strange conceptions and new chimeras, that he could -not with all his painter’s art depict them.[183] And of such as these, a -countless number could be found. - -“Some indeed there are who know they excel in one thing and yet make -their chief business of another, of which they are not ignorant either; -but every time they have occasion to display themselves in that wherein -they feel themselves proficient, they do it gallantly. And it sometimes -comes to pass that the company, seeing them do well in that which is not -their profession, think they can do far better in that which they make -their profession. This art, if it be accompanied by good judgment, is by -no means unpleasing to me.” - -40.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino replied: - -“This seems to me not art but mere deceit; nor do I think it fitting for -him who would be a man of honour, ever to deceive.” - -“It is an embellishment, which graces what he does,” said messer -Federico, “rather than deceit; and even if it be deceit, it is not to be -censured. Will you not also say that of two men fencing, the one who -touches the other, deceives him? And this is because the one has more -art than the other. And if you have a jewel that is beautiful without -setting, and it afterwards comes into the hands of a good goldsmith, who -by skilful setting makes it look far more beautiful, will you not say -that this goldsmith deceives the eyes of anyone who sees it? And yet he -deserves praise for his deceit, for with good judgment and art his -master hand often adds grace and beauty to ivory or silver, or to a -beautiful stone by encircling it with fine gold. Therefore let us not -say that art,—or such deceit as this, if you will call it so,—deserves -any censure. - -“Nor is it unseemly for a man who is conscious of doing something well, -dexterously to seek occasion for showing himself therein, and at the -same time to conceal what he thinks undeserving of praise,—but always -with a touch of wary dissimulation. Do you not remember that without -appearing to seek them, King Ferdinand[32] found opportunities now and -then to go about in his doublet? and this because he felt himself to be -very agile; and that, as his hands were not over good, he rarely or -almost never took off his gloves? And there were very few that perceived -his cunning. Moreover I think I have read that Julius Cæsar liked to -wear the laurel wreath to hide his baldness.[184] But in all these -matters it is needful to be very cautious and to use good judgment, in -order not to go beyond bounds; for in avoiding one errour a man often -runs into another, and in his wish to win praise, receives censure. - -41.—“Hence in our mode of life and conversation, it is a very safe thing -to govern ourselves with a certain decorous discretion, which in truth -is a very great and very strong shield against envy, which we ought to -avoid as much as possible. Moreover I wish our Courtier to guard against -getting the name of a liar or a boaster, which sometimes befalls even -those who do not deserve it. Therefore in his talk let him always take -care not to go beyond the probable, and also not to tell too often those -truths that have the look of falsehood,[185]—like many who never speak -save of miracles, and wish to carry such authority that every incredible -thing shall be believed from them. Others, at the beginning of a -friendship and in order to gain favour with their new friend, swear the -first day they speak with him that there is no one in the world whom -they love more than him, and that they would gladly die to do him -service, and like things beyond reason. And when they part from him, -they pretend to weep and to be unable to speak a word from grief. Thus, -in their wish to be thought very loving, they come to be esteemed liars -and silly flatterers. - -“But it would be too long and tedious to recount all the faults that may -be committed in our manner of conversation. Hence as regards what I -desire in the Courtier, let it suffice to say, besides the things -already said, that he should be of such sort as never to be without -something to say that is good and well suited to those with whom he is -speaking, and that he should know how to refresh the minds of his -hearers with a certain sweetness, and by his amusing witticisms and -pleasantries to move them cleverly to mirth and laughter, so that -without ever becoming tedious or producing satiety, he may give pleasure -continually. - -42.—“At last I think my lady Emilia will give me leave to be silent. And -if she refuse me, I shall by my own talk stand convicted of not being -the good Courtier whereof I have spoken for not only does good talk -(which perhaps you have neither now nor ever heard from me), but even -such talk as I usually have at command (whatever that may be worth), -quite fail me.” - -Then my lord Prefect said, laughing: - -“I am not willing to let this false opinion,—that you are not a most -admirable Courtier,—rest in the mind of any of us; for it is certain -that your desire to be silent proceeds rather from a wish to escape -labour than from lack of something to say. So, to the end that nothing -may seem to be neglected in such worthy company as this and such -admirable talk, be pleased to teach us how we must employ the -pleasantries that you have just mentioned, and to show us the art that -pertains to all this kind of amusing talk, so as to excite laughter and -mirth in gentle fashion; for indeed methinks it is very important and -well befitting the Courtier.” - -“My Lord,” replied messer Federico, “pleasantries and witticisms are the -gift and grace of nature rather than of art; but in this matter certain -nations are to be found more ready than others, like the Tuscans, who in -truth are very clever. It seems to me that the use of witticism is very -natural to the Spaniards too. Yet there are many, both of these and of -all other nations, who from over loquacity sometimes go beyond bounds -and become silly and pointless, because they do not consider the kind of -person with whom they are speaking, the place where they are, the -occasion, or the soberness and modesty which they ought above all things -to maintain.” - -43.—Then my lord Prefect replied: - -“You deny that there is any art in pleasantries, and yet by speaking ill -of those who use them not with modesty and soberness and who regard not -the occasion and the persons with whom they are speaking, methinks you -show that even this can be taught and has some method in it.” - -“These rules, my Lord,” replied messer Federico, “are so universal that -they fit and apply to everything. But I said there is no art in -pleasantries, because I think there are only two kinds of them to be -found: one of which stretches out in long and continuous talk, as we see -in the case of certain men who narrate and describe so gracefully and -amusingly something that has happened to them or that they have seen or -heard, that they set it before our eyes with gestures and words and -almost make us touch it with the hand; and for lack of other word, we -may perhaps call this the humourous or urbane manner. The other kind of -witticism is very short, and consists solely in sayings that are quick -and sharp, such as are often heard among us, or biting; nor are they -acceptable unless they sting a little. By the ancients also they were -called apothegms: at present some call them _arguzie_.[186] - -“So I say that in the first kind, which is humourous narrative, there is -no need of any art, because nature herself creates and fashions men -fitted to narrate amusingly, and gives them features, gestures, voice -and words proper to imitate what they will. In the other kind, that of -_arguzie_, what can art avail? For whatever it be, a pungent saying must -dart forth and hit the mark before he who utters it shall seem to have -given it a thought; otherwise it is flat and has no savour. Therefore I -think it is all the work of intellect and nature.” - -Then messer Pietro Bembo took up the talk, and said: - -“My lord Prefect does not deny what you say, that nature and intellect -play the chief part, especially as regards conception. Still it is -certain that every man’s mind, however fine his intellect may be, -conceives both good things and bad, and more or less; yet judgment and -art then polish and correct them, and cull out the good and reject the -bad. So lay aside what pertains to intellect, and explain to us what -consists in art; that is, of the pleasantries and witticisms that excite -laughter, tell us what are befitting the Courtier and what are not, and -in what time and way they should be used; for this is what my lord -Prefect asks of you.” - -44.—Then messer Federico said laughingly: - -“There is no one of us here to whom I do not yield in everything, and -especially in being jocular; unless perhaps nonsense, which often makes -others laugh more than bright sayings, be also counted as pleasantry.” -And then turning to Count Ludovico and to messer Bernardo Bibbiena, he -said: “Here are the masters of witticism, from whom I must first learn -what to say if I am to speak of jocose sayings.”[187] - -Count Ludovico replied: - -“Methinks you are already beginning to practise what you say you know -nothing of, I mean in that you try to make these gentlemen laugh by -ridiculing messer Bernardo and me; for every one of them knows you far -excel us in that for which you praise us. If you are fatigued, then, you -had better beg my lady Duchess to postpone the rest of our talk until -to-morrow, instead of trying to escape fatigue by subterfuge.” - -Messer Federico began to make answer, but my lady Emilia quickly -interrupted him and said: - -“It is not in order for the discussion to spend itself in your praises; -it is enough that you are all well known. But as I remember, Sir Count, -that you accused me last evening of not distributing the labour equally, -it were well to let messer Federico rest awhile, and to give messer -Bernardo Bibbiena the task of speaking about pleasantries, because we -not only know him to be very amusing in continuous talk, but we remember -that he has several times promised us to try to write upon this subject, -and hence we may believe that he has already thought much about it, and -therefore ought to satisfy us fully. Afterwards, when we have finished -discussing pleasantries, messer Federico shall go on with what he has -left to say about the Courtier.” - -Thereupon messer Federico said: - -“My Lady, I do not know what I have left to say; but like the wayfarer -at noon, weary with the fatigue of his long journey, I will refresh -myself with messer Bernardo’s talk and the sound of his words, as if -under some delightful and shady tree, with the soft murmur of a plashing -spring. Then perhaps, being revived a little, I shall be able to say -something more.” - -Messer Bernardo replied, laughing: - -“If I show you my head, you shall see what shade is to be expected from -the leafage of my tree.[188] As for listening to the murmur of that -plashing spring, perhaps you may; for I was once turned into a spring, -not by any of the ancient gods but by our friend Fra Mariano,[60] and I -have never stood in need of water from then till now.” - -Then everyone began to laugh, for this pleasantry referred to by messer -Bernardo happened at Rome in the presence of Cardinal Galeotto of San -Pietro ad Vincula,[189] and was well known to all. - -45.—The laughter having ceased, my lady Emilia said: - -“Now stop making us laugh by your use of pleasantries, and teach us how -we are to use them, and from what they are derived, and all you know -about the subject. And to lose no more time, begin at once.” - -[Illustration: - - BERNARDO DOVIZI DA BIBBIENA - 1470-1520 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 42.158) of the portrait, in the - Pitti Gallery at Florence, long attributed to Raphael (1483-1520), - but regarded by Morelli as the work of a pupil. - -“I fear,” said messer Bernardo, “that the hour is late; and to the end -that my talk about pleasantries may not itself lack pleasantry and be -tedious, perhaps it will be well to postpone it until to-morrow.” - -Here many replied together that it was still far from the usual hour for -ending the discussion. Then, turning to my lady Duchess and to my lady -Emilia, messer Bernardo said: - -“I do not wish to escape this task; although, just as I am wont to -marvel at the presumption of those who venture to sing to the viol -before our friend Giacomo Sansecondo,[190] so I ought not to talk about -pleasantries before an audience who understand what I should say far -better than I. - -“However, not to give any of these gentlemen a pretext for refusing the -charge that may be laid upon them, I will tell as briefly as I can what -occurs to me concerning the causes that excite laughter; which is so -peculiar to us that in defining man we are wont to say that he is a -laughing animal. For laughter is found only among men, and is nearly -always the sign of a certain hilarity felt inwardly in the mind, which -is by nature drawn towards amusement and longs for repose and -recreation; wherefore we see many things devised by men to this end, -such as festivals and different kinds of shows. And since we love those -who furnish us this recreation, it was the custom of ancient rulers -(Roman, Athenian and many others), in order to gain the people’s good -will and to feast the eyes and minds of the multitude, to erect great -theatres and other public edifices, and therein to exhibit new sports, -horse and chariot races, combats, strange beasts, comedies, tragedies -and mimes. Nor were such shows eschewed by grave philosophers, who in -sports of this kind and banquets often relaxed their minds when fatigued -by lofty discourse and spiritual meditation; which thing all kinds of -men also like to do: for not only toilers in the field, sailors, and all -those who perform hard and rough labour with their hands, but holy -priests, and prisoners awaiting death from hour to hour, all seek -continually some remedy and solace for their refreshment. Hence -everything that moves to laughter, cheers the mind and gives pleasure, -and for the moment frees us from the memory of those weary troubles of -which our life is full. So laughter, as you see, is very delightful to -all, and greatly to be praised is he who excites it reasonably and in a -graceful way. - -“But what laughter is, and where it abides, and how it sometimes seizes -upon our veins, eyes, mouths and sides, and seems as if it would make us -burst, so that with all our effort it cannot be restrained,—I will leave -Democritus to tell, who could not even if he were to promise.[191] - -46.—“Now the occasion and as it were the source from which the laughable -springs, lies in a kind of distortion; for we laugh only at those things -that have incongruity in them and that seem amiss without being so. I -know not how to explain it otherwise; but if you think of it yourselves, -you will see that what we laugh at is nearly always something that is -incongruous and yet is not amiss. - -“Next I will try to tell you, as far as my judgment shall show me, what -the means are that the Courtier ought to use for the purpose of exciting -laughter, and within what bounds; because it is not seemly for the -Courtier to be always making men laugh, nor yet by those means that are -made use of by fools or drunken men, by the silly, the nonsensical, and -likewise by buffoons. And although these kinds of men seem to be in -demand at courts, yet they deserve not to be called Courtiers, but each -by his own name, and to be held for what they are. - -“Moreover we must diligently consider the bounds and limits of exciting -laughter by derision, and who it is we deride; for laughter is not -aroused by jeering at a poor unfortunate nor yet at an open rascal and -blackguard, because the latter seems to merit greater punishment than -that of being ridiculed, and the mind of man is not prone to flout the -wretched, unless they boast of their wretchedness and are proud and -saucy. We ought also to treat with respect those who are universal -favourites and beloved by all and powerful, for by jeering at these -persons a man may sometimes bring dangerous enmities upon himself. Yet -it is proper to flout and laugh at the vices of those who are neither so -wretched as to excite pity, nor so wicked as to seem worthy of capital -punishment, nor so great that a touch of their wrath can do much harm. - -47.—“Again, you must know that from the same occasion whence we draw our -laughable witticisms, we may likewise draw serious phrases of praise or -censure, and sometimes by using the same words. Thus in praising a -generous man who shares all he has with his friends, we are wont to say -that what he has is not his own; the same may be said in censuring a man -who has stolen or by other evil means acquired what he possesses. Also -we say, ‘That lady is of great price,’ meaning to praise her for -discretion and goodness; the same thing might be said in dispraise of -her, implying that anyone may have her. - -“But for this purpose we have a chance to use the same situations -oftener than the same words. Thus recently a lady being at mass in -church with three cavaliers, one of whom served her in love,[192] a poor -beggar came up and taking his stand before the lady began to beg alms of -her; and he repeated his petition several times to her with much -importunity and pitiful groaning; yet for all that she gave him no alms, -nor still did she refuse it to him with a sign to go in peace, but -continued to stand abstracted as if she were thinking of something else. -Then the cavalier in love said to his two companions: - -“‘You see what I have to expect from my lady, who is so hard-hearted -that she not only gives no alms to that naked starving wretch who is -begging it of her so eagerly and often, but she will not even send him -away. So much does she delight to see a man languishing in misery before -her and vainly imploring her pity.’ - -“One of his two friends replied: - -“‘This is not hardness of heart, but a silent lesson from the lady to -teach you that she is never pleased with an importunate suitor.’ - -“The other replied: - -“‘Nay, it is a warning to him that while she never grants what is asked -of her, still she likes to be entreated for it.’ - -“You see how the lady’s failure to send the poor man away, gave rise to -one saying of grave censure, one of moderate praise, and another of -biting satire. - -48.—“Proceeding now to declare the kinds of pleasantries that are -pertinent to our subject, I say that in my opinion there are three -varieties, although messer Federico mentioned only two: namely, that -which consists in rendering the effect of a thing by means of urbane and -amusing long narrative, and that which consists in the swift and keen -readiness of a single phrase. But we will add a third sort called -practical joking, in which long narratives and short sayings have place, -and also some action. - -“Now the first, which consists in continuous talk, is of such sort as -almost to amount to story-telling. And to give you an instance: just at -the time when Pope Alexander the Sixth died and Pius the Third was -created pope,[193] your fellow Mantuan, my lady Duchess, messer Antonio -Agnello,[194] being at Rome and in the palace, happened to speak of the -death of the one pope and of the other’s creation, and in discussing -this with some of his friends, he said: - -“‘My Lords, even in the days of Catullus[195] doors began to speak -without a tongue and to listen without ears, and thus to reveal -adulteries. Now, although men are not of such worth as they were in -those times, it may be that the doors (many of which are made of antique -marbles, at least here in Rome) have the same powers that they then had; -and for my part I believe that these two here could clear away all our -doubts if we cared to learn from them.’ - -“Then the gentlemen present were very curious, and waited to see how the -affair was going to end. Whereupon messer Antonio, continuing to walk up -and down, raised his eyes as if by chance to one of the two doors of the -hall in which they were strolling, stopped a moment, and pointed out to -his companions the inscription over it, which was the name of Pope -Alexander, followed by a V and an I, signifying Sixth as you know; and -he said: - -“‘See what the door says: _Alessandro Papa vi_, which means that he -became pope by the violence that he used, and that he accomplished more -by violence than by reason. Now let us see if from the other we can -learn anything about the new pope.’ And turning to the other door as if -by accident, he showed the inscription, N PP V, which signified -_Nicolaus Papa Quintus_;[196] and he at once said: ‘Alas, bad news; this -one says, _Nihil Papa Valet_.’ - -[Illustration: - - POPE ALEXANDER VI - RODERIGO LENZUOLI (BORGIA) - 1431-1503 -] - -Reduced from Alinari’s photograph (no. 17412) of a part of the fresco, - “The Resurrection,” in the Borgian Apartments in the Vatican, by - Bernardino di Betto di Biagio, better known as Pinturicchio, - (1454-1513). - -49.—“Now you see how elegant and admirable this kind of pleasantry is, -and how becoming to a Courtier, whether the thing that is said be true -or not; because in such a case it is allowable for a man to fabricate as -much as he pleases, without blame; and in speaking the truth, to adorn -it with a little falsity, overstating or understating as the occasion -requires. But in these matters perfect grace and true cleverness consist -in picturing forth what we wish to say, with both word and gesture, so -well and with such ease that they who hear may seem to see before their -eyes the thing we tell them. And this graphic method is so effective -that it sometimes adorns and makes highly amusing a thing that in itself -is neither very jocular nor clever. - -“And although this kind of narrative requires gesture and the aid of the -speaking voice, its quality is sometimes found in written compositions -also. Who does not laugh, when, in the Eighth Day of his Decameron,[197] -Giovanni Boccaccio tells how the priest of Varlungo tried to chant a -_Kyrie_ and a _Sanctus_ on discovering that his Belcolore was in the -church. There are amusing narratives also in his stories of -Calandrino,[198] and in many others. Of the same sort seems to be the -raising of a laugh by mimicry or imitation, as we say,—wherein I have -thus far seen no one more admirable than our friend messer Roberto da -Bari.”[48] - -50.—“This would be no small praise,” said messer Roberto, “if it were -true; because I should of course try to imitate the good rather than the -bad, and if I could make myself like some men I know, I should deem -myself very fortunate. I fear, however, that I know how to imitate only -those things which excite laughter, and which you just now said consist -essentially in the imperfect.” - -Messer Bernardo replied: - -“Imperfect, yes; but not unpleasantly so. And you must know that this -imitation of which we are speaking, cannot be without cleverness; for -besides the way of governing words and gestures and setting before our -hearers’ eyes the face and manners of the man we are speaking of, we -must needs be discreet, and pay great heed to the place and time, and to -the persons with whom we are speaking, and not descend to buffoonery or -go beyond bounds;—which rules you observe admirably and therefore know -them all, I think. For in truth it would little befit a gentleman to -make faces, to weep and laugh, and mimic voices, to wrestle with himself -as Berto[65] does, or dress like a clown before everyone, like -Strascino,[199]—and things of that kind, which are very fitting in those -men because it is their profession. - -“But for us it is needful to give only a fleeting and covert imitation, -always preserving the dignity of a gentleman, without uttering foul -words or performing acts that are less than seemly, without contorting -the face or person beyond measure; but to order our movements in such -fashion that whoever hears and sees us may from our words and gestures -imagine far more than what he sees and hears, and so be moved to -laughter. - -“Moreover in our imitation we ought to avoid too stinging jibes, -especially at deformities of face or person; for while bodily defects -often furnish excellent material for laughter to a man who uses them -with discretion, yet to employ this method too bitterly is the act not -only of a buffoon but of an enemy. So, although it be difficult, in this -regard we must, as I have said, keep to the manner of our friend messer -Roberto, who mimics all men and not without marking their defects -sharply even to their face, and yet no one is annoyed or seems to take -it amiss. And I will give no instance of this, because in him we see -countless examples of it every day. - -51.—“Another thing excites much laughter, although it is included under -the head of narration; and that is to describe gracefully certain -defects of others,—unimportant ones however and undeserving greater -punishment, such as follies, sometimes mere absurdities or sometimes -accompanied by a quick and pungent dash of liveliness; likewise certain -extreme affectations; sometimes a huge and well-constructed lie. As -when, a few days since, our friend Cesare told of a delightful -absurdity, which was that finding himself before the Podestà of this -place,[200] he saw a peasant come in to complain of being robbed of a -donkey. The fellow told of his poverty and of the trick played upon him -by the thief, and then, to make out his loss the heavier, he said: -‘Masters, if you had seen my donkey, you would have better understood -how much cause I have to grieve; for when he had his pack on, he looked -like a very Tullius.’[201] - -[Illustration: - - ERCOLE D’ESTE - DUKE OF FERRARA - 1431-1505 -] - -Reduced from a photograph, specially made by Mansell, of an anonymous - bas-relief in the South Kensington Museum,—possibly the work of - Sperandio di Bartolommeo de’ Savelli (1425?-1500?). - -“And one of our friends, meeting a flock of goats with a great he-goat -at their head, stopped and said with a look of admiration: ‘See what a -he-goat! He looks like a Saint Paul.’[202] - -“My lord Gaspar tells of having known an old servant of Duke Ercole of -Ferrara,[203] who offered the duke his two sons as pages; but before -they could begin their service, both the boys died. When the duke heard -this, he condoled with the father kindly, saying that he was very sorry, -for the only time when he had seen them, they had seemed to him very -pretty and gentle boys. The father replied: ‘My Lord, you saw nothing; -for within the last few days they had grown far handsomer and more -virtuous than I could possibly have believed, and already they sang -together like two sparrow-hawks.’ - -“And not long since one of our doctors stood looking at a man who had -been condemned to be flogged about the piazza, and taking pity on him, -because (although his shoulders were bleeding freely) the poor wretch -walked as slowly as if he had been out for a stroll to pass the time, -the doctor said to him: ‘Step out, poor fellow, and make haste to be -done with your pain.’ Whereat the goodman turned, and gazing at the -doctor as if amazed, he stood awhile without speaking, and then said: -‘When you come to be flogged, you will go your own gait; so I choose to -go mine now.’ - -“You surely must still remember that absurd story which my lord Duke[2] -lately told of a certain abbot, who, being present one day when Duke -Federico[26] was discussing what to do with the great mass of earth that -had been excavated to lay the foundations of this palace, which was then -building, said: ‘My Lord, I have thought of an excellent place to put -it. Give orders to have an immense pit made, and it can be put in -without further difficulty.’ Duke Federico replied, not without -laughter: ‘And where shall we put the earth to be dug out of this pit of -yours?’ The abbot continued: ‘Have it made large enough to hold both.’ -And so, for all the duke repeated several times that the larger the pit -was made, the more earth would be dug out of it, the man could never get -it into his brain that it could not be made large enough to hold both, -and kept replying: ‘Make it so much the larger.’ Now you see what good -judgment this abbot had.” - -52.—Then messer Pietro Bembo said: - -“And why do you not tell the story of your friend the Florentine -commander who was besieged in Castellina[204] by the Duke of Calabria? -Finding one day some poisoned crossbow missiles that had been shot in -from the camp, he wrote to the duke that if the warfare was to be -carried on so barbarously, he too would have medicine put on his cannon -shot, and then woe to the one who had the worst of it.”[205] - -Messer Bernardo laughed, and said: - -“Messer Pietro, if you do not hold your peace, I will tell all the -things I have seen and heard about your dear Venetians (which are not -few), and especially when they try to play the horseman.” - -“Do not so, I beg of you,” replied messer Pietro, “and I will keep quiet -about two other delightful tales that I know of the Florentines.”[206] - -Messer Bernardo said: - -“They must have rather been Sienese, who often slip in this way; as was -recently the case with one, who, on hearing some letters read in council -wherein the phrase ‘the aforesaid’ was used (to avoid such frequent -repetition of the name of the man who was spoken of), said to the man -who was reading: ‘Stop there a moment and tell me, is this Aforesaid a -friend to our commune?’” - -Messer Pietro laughed, then said: - -“I am speaking of Florentines, not of Sienese.” - -“Speak out freely then,” added my lady Emilia, “and do not stand so much -on ceremony.” - -Messer Pietro continued: - -“When the Florentine Signory was waging war against the Pisans,[207] -they sometimes found their money exhausted by their great expenses; and -the method of finding money for daily needs being discussed in council -one day, after many ways had been proposed, one of the oldest citizens -said: ‘I have thought of two methods whereby we could soon get a goodly -sum of money without much trouble. And one of these is, that since we -have no revenue greater than from the customs levied at the gates of -Florence, and since we have eleven gates, let us at once have eleven -more made, and thus we shall double our revenue. The other method is to -give orders that the mints be forthwith opened in Pistoia and -Prato,[208] just the same as in Florence, and that nothing be done there -day and night but mint money, and that all the money be ducats of gold; -and in my judgment this course is the quicker and the less costly.’” - -53.—There was much laughter at this citizen’s keen sagacity: and the -laughter being quieted, my lady Emilia said: - -“Messer Bernardo, will you allow messer Pietro to ridicule the -Florentines in this fashion, without returning blow for blow?” - -“I forgive him this affront,” replied messer Bernardo, still laughing, -“for if he has displeased me by ridiculing the Florentines, he has -pleased me by obeying you, as I also would always do.” - -Then messer Cesare said: - -“I heard a delightful blunder made by a Brescian who had been at Venice -this year for the feast of the Ascension, and in my presence was -describing to some of his companions the fine things that he had seen -there; and how much merchandise there was, and how much silverware, -spices, cloth and stuffs; then the Signory went forth with great pomp to -wed the sea in the Bucentaur,[209] on board of which there were so many -finely dressed gentlemen, so much music and singing, that it seemed a -paradise. And on being asked by one of his companions which kind of -music he liked best among those that he had heard, he said: ‘They all -were good; but among the rest I saw a man playing on a certain strange -trumpet, which he thrust down his throat more than two palms at every -flourish, and then he straightway drew it out and thrust it down again; -so that you never saw a greater marvel.’” - -Then everyone laughed, perceiving the silly mistake of the man, who had -imagined that the player thrust down his throat that part of the -trombone which disappears by sliding into itself. - -54.—Messer Bernardo then continued: - -“Moreover common affectations are tedious, but they excite much laughter -when they are beyond measure: like those we sometimes hear from certain -mouths regarding greatness or courage or nobility; or sometimes from -women, regarding beauty or fastidiousness. As was not long since the -case with a lady who remained sad and abstracted at some great festival; -and when asked what she was thinking about that should make her so -gloomy, she replied: ‘I was thinking of a matter that troubles me -greatly whenever it occurs to me, nor can I lift it from my heart; and -this is, that on the universal Judgment Day, when all men’s naked bodies -must rise and appear before the tribunal of Christ, I cannot endure the -distress I feel at the thought that my body will have to be seen -unclothed among the rest.’ Being extravagant, such affectations as these -cause laughter rather than tedium. - -“You all are familiar with those splendid lies so well composed that -they move to laughter. A very excellent one was but lately told me by a -friend of ours who never suffers us to be without them.” - -55.—Then the Magnifico Giuliano said: - -“Be that as it may, it cannot be more excellent or more ingenious than -one which a fellow-Tuscan of ours, a merchant of Lucca, affirmed the -other day as a positive fact.” - -“Tell it to us,” added my lady Duchess. - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied, laughing: - -“This merchant, so he tells the story, once finding himself in Poland, -decided to buy a quantity of sables with the intention of carrying them -into Italy and making great profit thereby. And after much effort, being -unable to enter Muscovy himself (by reason of the war that was then -waging between the King of Poland and the Duke of Muscovy), he arranged -with the help of some people of the country, that on an appointed day -certain Muscovite merchants should come with their sables to the -frontier of Poland, and he promised to be there in order to strike the -bargain. Accordingly, proceeding with his companions towards Muscovy, -the man of Lucca reached the Dnieper, which he found all frozen as hard -as marble, and saw that the Muscovites (who on account of the war were -themselves suspicious of the Poles) were already on the other bank, but -approached no nearer than the width of the river. So, having recognized -each other, the Muscovites after some signalling began to speak with a -loud voice, and to ask the price that they wished for their sables; but -such was the extreme cold that they were not heard, for before reaching -the other bank (where the man of Lucca and his interpreters were) the -words froze in the air, and remained there frozen and caught in such -manner that the Poles, who knew the custom, set about making a great -fire in the very middle of the river; because to their thinking that was -the limit reached by the warm voice before it was stopped by freezing, -and the river was quite solid enough to bear the fire easily. So, when -this was done, the words (which had remained frozen for the space of an -hour) in due course began to melt and to fall in a murmur, like snow -from the mountains in May; and thus they were at once heard very well, -although the men had already gone. But as the merchant thought that the -words asked too high a price for the sables, he would not accept the -offer and so returned without them.”[210] - -56.—Thereupon everyone laughed, and messer Bernardo said: - -“Of a truth the story I wish to tell you is not so ingenious; however it -is a fine one, and runs as follows: - -“Speaking a few days since of the country or World recently discovered -by the Portuguese mariners,[211] and of the various animals and other -things which they bring back to Portugal, that friend of whom I told you -affirmed that he had seen a monkey of a form very different from those -we are accustomed to see, which played chess most admirably. And among -other occasions, the gentleman who had brought her, being one day before -the King of Portugal[212] and engaged in a game of chess with her, the -monkey made several moves so skilfully as to press him hard and at last -checkmated him. Being vexed, as all are wont to be who lose at that -game, the gentleman took up the king-piece (which was very large, such -as the Portuguese use) and gave the monkey a smart blow upon the head; -whereupon she leaped aside crying loudly, and seemed to ask justice of -the king for the wrong that had been done her. Then the gentleman -invited her to play again; and after refusing awhile by means of signs, -she finally began to play once more, and, as she had done the first -time, she again had the better of him. At last, seeing that she would be -able to checkmate the gentleman, the monkey tried a new trick to guard -against being struck again; and without showing what she was at, she -quietly put her right paw under the gentleman’s left elbow, which was -luxuriously resting on a taffety[213] cushion, and (quickly snatching -the cushion) with her left paw she at the same time checkmated him with -a pawn, while with her right she held the cushion over her head as a -shield against his blows; she then leaped joyfully to the king as if to -parade her victory. Now you see how wise, wary and discreet the monkey -was.” - -Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“It must be that this was a doctor among monkeys, and of great -authority; and I think that the Republic of Indian Monkeys sent her to -Portugal to make a name in a foreign land.” - -Thereupon everyone laughed, both at the story and at the addition given -to it by messer Cesare. - -57.—So, continuing the discussion, messer Bernardo said: - -“You have now heard what occurs to me concerning those pleasantries that -render the effect of a thing by continuous talk; therefore it is now -well to speak of those that consist in a single saying and have a quick -keenness compressed into a phrase or word. And just as in the first -kind,—that of humourous talk,—we must in our narrative and mimicry avoid -resembling buffoons and parasites and those who make others laugh by -their sheer absurdities, so in these short sayings the Courtier must -take care not to appear malicious and spiteful, and not to utter -witticisms and _arguzie_ solely to annoy and cut to the quick; because -for the sin of their tongue such men often suffer in all their members. - -58.—“Now of the ready pleasantries that are contained in a short saying, -those are keenest that arise from ambiguity. Yet they do not always move -to laughter, for they are oftener applauded as ingenious than as comic. -As was said a few days since by our friend messer Annibal Paleotto[214] -to someone who was recommending a tutor to teach his sons grammar, and -who, after praising the tutor as very learned, said that by way of -stipend the man desired not only money but a room furnished for living -and sleeping, because he had no _letto_ (bed): whereupon messer Annibal -at once replied: ‘And how can he be learned if he has not _letto_ -(read)?’ You see how well he played upon the double meaning of the -phrase, _non aver letto_ [to have no bed, or, not to have read]. - -“But while this punning witticism has much sharpness, where a man takes -words in a sense different from that in which everyone else takes them, -it seems (as I have said) to excite wonderment rather than laughter, -except when it is combined with some other kind of saying. - -“Now that kind of witticism which is most used to excite laughter, is -when we are prepared to hear one thing and the speaker says another, and -it is called ‘the unexpected.’ And if punning be combined with this, the -witticism becomes most spicy: as the other day, when there was a -discussion about making a fine brick floor (_un bel mattonato_) for my -lady Duchess’s closet, after much talk you, Giancristoforo, said: ‘If we -could fetch the Bishop of Potenza[215] and flatten him out well, it -would be the very thing, for he is the craziest creature born (_il più -bel matto nato_).’ Everyone laughed heartily, for by dividing the word -_matto-nato_ you made the pun. Moreover saying that it would be well to -flatten out a bishop and lay him in the floor of a room, was unexpected -to the listener; and so the sally was very keen and laughable. - -59.—“But of punning witticisms there are many kinds; therefore we must -be careful and play very lightly with our words, and avoid those that -make the sally flat or that seem forced; and also those (as we have -said) that are too biting. As where several companions found themselves -at the house of one of their friends who was blind of one eye, and the -blind man bade the company stay to dinner, all took their leave save -one, who said: ‘I will stay with you because I see you have a vacant -place for one;’ and at the same time he pointed with his finger to the -empty socket. You see this is too bitter and rude, for it wounded -without cause, and the speaker had not first been stung himself. -Moreover he said that which might be said of all blind men; and such -universal things give no pleasure, because it seems possible that they -may have been thought out beforehand. And of this kind was that gibe at -a man without nose: ‘And where do you hang your spectacles?’[216] or -‘With what do you smell the roses in their season?’ - -60.—“But among other witticisms those have very good grace that are made -by taking the very words and sense from another man’s taunt and turning -them against him and striking him with his own weapons; as where a -litigant—whose adversary had said to him in the judge’s presence: ‘Why -do you bark so?’—at once replied: ‘Because I see a thief.’ - -“And another instance of this was when Galeotto da Narni,[217] on his -way through Siena, stopped in the street to ask for the inn; and a -Sienese, seeing how fat he was, said, laughing: ‘Other men carry their -wallets behind, but this one carries his in front.’ Galeotto at once -replied: ‘That is the way we do in a land of thieves.’ - -61.—“There is still another kind, which we call playing on words,[218] -and this consists in changing a word by either adding or omitting a -letter or a syllable; as when someone said: ‘You are better versed in -the Lat_r_in tongue than in the Greek.’ And you, my Lady, had a letter -addressed to you, ‘To my lady Emilia _Im_pia.’[219] - -“Moreover it is a pleasant thing to quote a verse or two, applying it to -a purpose different from that which the author intends, or some other -familiar saw; sometimes to the same purpose, but changing some word. As -when a gentleman, who had an ugly and disagreeable wife, was asked how -he was, he replied: ‘Judge yourself of my state, when _Furiarum maxima -juxta me cubat_.’[220] And messer Geronimo Donato,[221] while going the -rounds of the _Stazioni_[222] at Rome in Lent with several other -gentlemen, met a bevy of beautiful Roman ladies; and one of the -gentlemen saying: ‘_Quot coelum stellas, tot habet tua Roma -puellas_,’[223] he at once replied: _Pascua quotque haedos, tot habet -tua Roma cinaedos_,[224] pointing to a company of young men who were -coming from the other direction. - -[Illustration: - - GALEOTTO MARZI DA NARNI - 1427?-1490? -] - -Enlarged from a cast, kindly furnished by M. Pierre Valton, of an - anonymous medal in his collection at Paris. See Armand’s _Les - Médailleurs Italiens_, ii, 35, no. 25. - -“In like fashion messer Marcantonio della Torre[225] addressed the -Bishop of Padua. There being a nunnery at Padua in charge of a friar -reputed to be of very pure life and learned as well, it came to pass -that, as the friar frequented the convent familiarly and often confessed -the nuns, five of them (more than half of all there were) became -pregnant; and the affair being discovered, the friar wished to flee but -knew not how. The bishop had him taken into custody, and he soon -confessed that he had brought the five nuns to this pass, being tempted -of the devil; wherefore the bishop was firmly resolved to punish him -roundly. But as the man was learned, he had many friends who all tried -to help him, and along with the rest messer Marcantonio went to the -bishop to implore some measure of pardon for him. The bishop would in no -wise listen to them; and after they had pleaded hard, and recommended -the culprit, and urged in excuse the opportunities of his position, the -frailty of human nature, and many other things,—at last the bishop said: -‘I will do nothing for him, because I shall have to render God an -account of the matter.’ And when they repeated their arguments, the -bishop said: ‘What answer shall I make to God on the Day of Judgment, -when he says to me, _Give an account of thy stewardship_?’[226] Then -messer Marcantonio at once said: ‘My Lord, say that which the Evangelist -says: _Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold I have gained -besides them five talents more_.’[227] Whereupon the bishop could not -keep from laughing, and greatly softened his anger and the punishment -intended for the offender. - -62.—“It is also amusing to interpret names, and to pretend some reason -why the man who is spoken of bears such a name, or why something is -done. As a few days ago, when Proto da Lucca[228] (who is very amusing, -as you know) asked for the bishopric of Caglio, the Pope replied: -‘Knowest thou not that in the Spanish tongue _caglio_ means _I keep -silence_? And thou art a babbler; wherefore it would be unseemly for a -bishop never to be able to repeat his title without telling an untruth. -So be thou silent (_caglia_) now.’ Here Proto made a reply, which, -although it was not of this sort, yet was not less to the point; for -having several times repeated his request, and seeing that it was of no -avail, at last he said: ‘Holy Father, if your Holiness grant me this -bishopric, it will not be without advantage, for I shall leave your -Holiness two offices (_ufficii_).’ ‘And what offices have you to leave?’ -said the Pope. Proto replied: ‘The full office (_ufficio grande_), and -the Madonna’s office (_ufficio della Madonna_).’[229] Then the Pope -could not keep from laughing, although he was a very grave man. - -“Still another man at Padua said that Calfurnio[230] was so named -because he was accustomed to heat (_s_cal_dare_) ovens (_forni_). And -when I one day asked Fedra[231] why it was that on Good Friday, while -the Church offered prayer not only for Christians but even for pagans -and Jews, no mention is made of cardinals along with bishops and other -prelates,—he answered me that cardinals were included in that prayer -which says: ‘Let us pray for heretics and schismatics.’ - -“And our friend Count Ludovico said that the reason why I censured a -lady for using a certain cosmetic that gave a high polish, was because I -saw myself in her face, when it was painted, as in a mirrour; and being -ill favoured I could have no wish to see myself. - -“Of this kind was that retort of messer Camillo Paleotto[232] to messer -Antonio Porcaro,[233] who, in speaking of a companion who told the -priest at confession that he fasted zealously, attended mass and the -sacred offices, and did all the good in the world, said: ‘The man -praises himself instead of owning his sins;’ to which messer Camillo -replied: ‘Nay, he confesses these things because he thinks it a great -sin to do them.’ - -“Do you not remember what a good thing my lord Prefect said the other -day? When Giantommaso Galeotto[234] was surprised at a man’s asking two -hundred ducats for a horse, because, as Giantommaso said, it was not -worth a farthing and among other defects was so afraid of weapons that -no one could make it come near them,—my lord Prefect (wishing to twit -the man with cowardice) said: ‘If the horse has this trick of running -away from weapons, I wonder that he does not ask a thousand ducats for -it.’ - -63.—“Moreover the very same word is sometimes employed, but in a sense -different from the usual one. As when my lord Duke,[2] being about to -cross a very rapid river, said to a trumpeter: ‘Cross over’ (_passa_); -and the trumpeter turned cap in hand, and said respectfully: ‘After your -Lordship’ (_passi la Signoria Vostra_). - -[Illustration: - - TOMMASO INGHIRAMI - “FEDRA” - 1470?-1516 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 42.171) of the portrait, in the - Pitti Gallery at Florence, long attributed to Raphael (1483-1520), - but pronounced by Morelli to be a copy, by a non-Italian painter, of - the original Raphael owned by the Inghirami family at Volterra and - now ruined by restoration. - -“Another amusing kind of banter is where a man takes the speaker’s words -but not his sense. As was the case this year when a German at Rome, -meeting one evening with our friend messer Filippo Beroaldo,[235] whose -pupil he was, said: _Domine magister, Deus det vobis bonum sero_;[236] -and Beroaldo at once replied: _Tibi malum cito_.[237] - -“Again, Diego de Chignones[238] being at the Great Captain’s[239] table, -another Spaniard, who was eating with them, said: ‘_Vino_,‘ meaning to -ask for drink; Diego replied: ’_Y no lo conocistes_,’[240] meaning to -taunt the man with being a heretic.[241] - -“Another time messer Giacomo Sadoleto[242] asked Beroaldo,[235] who was -saying how much he wished to go to Bologna: ‘What is it that so presses -you at this time to leave Rome, where there are so many pleasures, to go -to Bologna, which is full of turmoil?’ Beroaldo replied: ‘On three -counts I am forced to go to Bologna,’ and lifted three fingers of his -left hand to enumerate three reasons for his going; when messer Giacomo -quickly interrupted him and said: ‘These three Counts that make you go -to Bologna are: first, Count Ludovico da San Bonifacio; second, Count -Ercole Rangone; third, the Count of Pepoli.’ Whereupon everyone laughed, -because these three Counts had been pupils of Beroaldo, and were fine -youths studying at Bologna.[243] - -“Now we laugh heartily at this kind of witticism, because it carries -with it a response different from the one we are expecting to hear, and -in such matters we are naturally amused by our very mistake and laugh to -find ourselves cheated of what we expect. - -64.—“But the modes of speech and the figures that are graceful in grave -and serious talk, are nearly always becoming in pleasantries and games -as well. You see that words set in opposition produce much grace, when -one contrasting clause is balanced by another. The same method is often -very witty. Thus a Genoese, who was very prodigal in spending, was -reproached by a very miserly usurer, who said to him: ‘When will you -ever cease throwing away your riches?’ And he replied: ‘When you cease -stealing other men’s.’ - -“And since, as we have said, the same situations that give opportunity -for biting pleasantries may also give opportunity for serious words of -praise,—it is a very graceful and becoming method in either case for a -man to admit or confirm what another speaker says, but to interpret it -in a manner different from what was intended. Thus a village priest was -saying mass to his flock not long since, and after he had announced the -festivals of the week, he began the general confession in the people’s -name, saying: ‘I have sinned by doing evil, by saying evil, by thinking -evil,’ and so forth, making mention of all the deadly sins. Whereupon a -friend and close familiar of the priest, in order to make sport of him, -said to the bystanders: ‘Bear witness all of you to what by his own -mouth he confesses he has done, for I mean to report him to the bishop.’ - -“This same method was used by Sallaza dalla Pedrada[244] in -complimenting a lady with whom he was speaking. First he praised her for -her virtuous qualities and then for still being beautiful; and she -replying that she did not deserve such praise because she was already -old, he said to her: ‘My Lady, your only sign of age is your resemblance -to the angels, who were the first and oldest creatures that God ever -made.’ - -65.—“Just as serious sayings are useful for praising, in like fashion we -find great utility also in jocose sayings for taunting, and in well -arranged metaphors, especially if they take the form of repartee, and if -he who replies preserves the same metaphor used by his interlocutor. And -of this kind was the answer made to messer Palla degli Strozzi,[245] who -being exiled from Florence, sent back a servant on a certain matter of -business and said to him rather threateningly: ‘Thou wilt tell Cosimo -de’ Medici from me that the hen is hatching.’[246] The messenger did the -errand commanded him, and Cosimo at once replied without hesitation: -‘And thou wilt tell messer Palla from me that hens cannot hatch well -away from their nests.’ - -[Illustration: - - DJEM OTHMAN - 1459-1495 -] - -Enlarged from Anderson’s photograph (no. 4268) of a part of the fresco, - “The Dispute of St. Catherine,” in the Borgian Apartments in the - Vatican, by Bernardino di Betto di Biagio, better known as - Pinturicchio, (1454-1513). For the iconographical identification of - this head, the translator is indebted to Professor Adolfo Venturi. - -“Again, with a metaphor messer Camillo Porcaro[247] gracefully praised -my lord Marcantonio Colonna;[248] who, having heard that messer Camillo -had been extolling in an oration certain Italian gentlemen famous as -warriors, and had spoken very highly of him among the rest, he expressed -his thanks and said: ‘Messer Camillo, you have treated your friends as -some merchants treat their money when it is found to contain a false -ducat; for in order to be rid of it, they put the piece among many good -ones, and in this way pass it on. So you, to do me honour (although I am -of little worth), have put me in company with such worthy and excellent -cavaliers, that by virtue of their merit I shall perhaps pass as good.’ -Then messer Camillo replied: ‘Those who forge ducats are wont to gild -them so well that they seem to the eye much finer than the good ones; -so, if there were forgers of men as there are of ducats, we should have -reason to suspect that you were false, being as you are of far finer and -brighter metal than any of the rest.’ - -“You see that this situation gave opportunity for both kinds of -witticism; and so do many others, of which countless instances could be -given and especially in serious sayings. Like the one uttered by the -Great Captain, who, being seated at table and all the places being -already taken, saw that there remained standing two Italian cavaliers -who had served very gallantly in the war; and he at once rose himself -and caused all the others to rise and make room for these two, saying: -‘Allow these cavaliers to sit at their meat, for had it not been for -them, the rest of us should now have no meat to eat.’ Another time he -said to Diego Garzia,[249] who was urging him to retire from a dangerous -position where the cannon shot were falling: ‘Since God hath put no fear -in your heart, do not try to put any in mine.’ - -“And King Louis,[250] who is to-day king of France, being told soon -after his accession that then was the time to punish his enemies who had -so grievously wronged him while he was Duke of Orleans, replied that it -was not seemly for the King of France to avenge the wrongs of the Duke -of Orleans. - -66.—“Taunts are also often humourously uttered with a grave air and -without exciting laughter. As when Djem Othman,[251] brother to the -Grand Turk,[252] being a captive at Rome, said that jousting as we -practise it in Italy seemed to him too great a matter for play and too -paltry for earnest. And on being told how agile and active King -Ferdinand the Younger was in running, leaping, vaulting, and the -like,—he said that in his country slaves practised these exercises, -while gentlemen studied the liberal arts from boyhood, and prided -themselves thereon. - -“Almost of the same kind, too, but somewhat more laughable, was what the -Archbishop of Florence said to the Alexandrian cardinal:[253] that men -have only their goods, their body, and their soul; their goods are put -in peril by the lawyers, their body by the physicians, and their soul by -the theologians.” - -Then the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“To this you might add what Nicoletto[254] said: that we seldom find a -lawyer who goes to law, a physician who takes physic, or a theologian -who is a good Christian.” - -67.—Messer Bernardo laughed, then went on: - -“Of these there are countless instances, uttered by great lords and very -weighty men. But we often laugh at similes also, such as the one that -our friend Pistoia[255] wrote to Serafino: ‘Send back the wallet that -looks like you;’ because, if you remember rightly, Serafino looked very -like a wallet. - -“Moreover there are some who delight to liken men and women to horses, -dogs, birds, and often to chests, stools, carts, candle-sticks; which is -sometimes good and sometimes very flat. Therefore in this it is needful -to consider time, place, persons, and the other things that we have -mentioned so many times.” - -Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“An amusing comparison was the one that our friend my lord Giovanni -Gonzaga[256] made between Alexander the Great and his own son -Alessandro.”[257] - -“I do not know it,” replied messer Bernardo. - -My lord Gaspar said: - -“My lord Giovanni was playing with three dice, and as was his wont had -lost many ducats and was still losing; and his son my lord Alessandro -(who, although only a lad, is as fond of play as the father is) stood -looking at him with great attention and seemed very sad. Count -Pianella,[258] who was present with many other gentlemen, said: ‘You -see, my Lord, that my lord Alessandro is little pleased at your losing, -and is waiting anxiously for you to win so that he may have some of your -winnings. Therefore put him out of his misery, and before you lose -everything give him at least a ducat, in order that he too may go and -play with his fellows.’ Then my lord Giovanni said: ‘You are wrong, for -Alessandro is not thinking of any such trifle. But as it is written that -when he was a boy, Alexander the Great began to weep on hearing that his -father Philip[259] had won a great battle and subdued some kingdom, and -when he was asked why he wept, he replied that it was because he feared -his father would subdue so many lands as to leave nothing for him to -subdue; in the same way my son Alessandro is now grieving and about to -weep, seeing that I his father am losing, because he fears I am losing -so much that I shall leave nothing for him to lose.’” - -68.—After some laughter at this, messer Bernardo continued: - -“Moreover we must avoid impiety in our witticism, (because from this it -is only a step to try to be jocular by blaspheming and to invent new -forms of blasphemy); otherwise we seem to seek applause by that for -which we deserve not only blame but heavy punishment, which is an -abominable thing. And therefore those of us who like to show their -pleasantry by little reverence to God, deserve to be chased from the -society of every gentleman. - -“And they, no less, who are indecent and foul of speech, and show no -respect for ladies’ presence and seem to have no other pleasure than to -make them blush with shame, and who to that end are continually seeking -witticisms and _arguzie_. As in Ferrara this year at a banquet attended -by many ladies, there were a Florentine and a Sienese, who are usually -hostile, as you know. To taunt the Florentine, the Sienese said: ‘We -have married Siena to the Emperor and have given him Florence for -dowry.’ He said this because it was reported at the time that the -Sienese had given the Emperor a certain sum of money and that he had -taken their city under his protection. The Florentine quickly retorted: -‘Siena will first be possessed’ (he used the Italian word, but with the -French meaning); ‘then the dowry will be disputed at leisure.’[260] You -see that the retort was clever, but, being made in the presence of -ladies, it became indecent and unseemly.” - -69.—Then my lord Gaspar Pallavicino said: - -“Women delight to hear nothing else; and you would deprive them of it. -Moreover for my part I have found myself blushing with shame at words -uttered by women far oftener than by men.” - -“Of such women I was not speaking,” said messer Bernardo; “but of -virtuous ladies, who deserve reverence and honour from every gentleman.” - -My lord Gaspar said: - -“We should have to invent a subtle rule by which to distinguish them, -for most often those who are seemingly the best, in fact are quite the -contrary.” - -Then messer Bernardo said, laughing: - -“If we had not present here my lord Magnifico, who is everywhere -accounted the champion of women, I should undertake to answer you; but I -am unwilling to do him wrong.” - -Here my lady Emilia said, also laughing: - -“Women have need of no champion against an accuser of so little weight. -So leave my lord Gaspar in his perverse opinion,—which arises from his -never having found a lady to look at him, rather than from any fault on -their part,—and go on with your talk about pleasantries.” - -70.—Then messer Bernardo said: - -“In truth, my Lady, methinks I have told of many situations from which -we can derive sharp witticisms, which then have the more grace the more -they are accompanied by fine narrative. Still many others might be -mentioned. As when, by overstatement or understatement, we say things -that outrageously exceed the probable; and of this sort was what Mario -da Volterra[261] said of a prelate, that he held himself so great a man -that when he entered St. Peter’s, he stooped in order not to strike his -head against the architrave of the portal. Again, our friend here the -Magnifico said that his servant Galpino was so lean and light that in -blowing the fire to kindle it one morning, the fellow had been carried -by the smoke all the way up the chimney to the very top; but happening -to be brought crosswise against one of the openings, he had the good -luck not to be blown away with the smoke. - -“Another time messer Agostino Bevazzano[262] said that a miser, who had -been unwilling to sell his grain while it was dear, afterwards hanged -himself in despair from a rafter of his bedroom when he found that the -price had greatly fallen; and one of his servants ran in on hearing the -noise, saw the miser hanging, and quickly cut the rope and thus rescued -him from death. Then, having come to himself, the miser insisted that -his servant should pay him for the rope that had been cut. - -[Illustration: - - AGOSTINO BEVAZZANO - _Flor._ 1500 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 43.161) of a part of the double - portrait once owned by Bembo and now in the Doria Gallery at Rome. - Although by some critics regarded as an old copy, the picture is - affirmed by both Morelli and Berenson to be the work of Raphael - (1483-1520), probably painted in April 1516. - -“Of the same sort also seems to be what Lorenzo de’ Medici said to a -dull buffoon: ‘You would not make me laugh if you tickled me.’ And in -like fashion he answered another simpleton who had found him abed very -late one morning, and who had reproved him for sleeping so late, saying: -‘I have already been at the New Market and the Old, then outside the San -Gallo gate and around the walls for exercise, and have done a thousand -things besides; and you are still asleep?’ Then Lorenzo said: ‘What I -dreamed in one hour is worth more than what you accomplished in four.’ - -71.—“It is also fine when in a retort we censure something without -apparently meaning to censure it. For instance, the Marquess Federico of -Mantua,[263] father to our lady Duchess, being at table with many -gentlemen, one of them said after eating an entire bowl of stew: ‘Pardon -me, my lord Marquess;’ and so saying he began to gulp down the broth -that remained. Then the Marquess said quickly: ‘Ask pardon rather of the -swine, for you do me no wrong at all.’ - -“Again, to censure a tyrant who was falsely reputed to be generous, -messer Niccolò Leonico[264] said: ‘Think what generosity rules him, for -he gives away not his own things only, but other men’s as well!’ - -72.—“Another very pretty form of pleasantry is that which consists in a -kind of innuendo, when we say one thing and tacitly imply another. Of -course I do not mean another thing of a completely different kind, like -calling a dwarf gigantic and a negro white or a very ugly man handsome, -for the difference is too obvious,—although even these sometimes cause -laughter; but I mean when with stern and serious air we humourously say -something in jest which is not our real thought. For instance, when a -gentleman told a palpable lie to messer Agostino Foglietta[265] and -affirmed it stoutly on seeing that he had much difficulty in believing -it, messer Agostino said at last: ‘Fair sir, if I may ever hope to -receive kindness from you, do me the favour to be content even if I do -not believe anything you say.’ But as the other repeated, and under -oath, that it was the truth, he finally said: ‘Since you will have it -so, I will believe it for your sake, for indeed I would do even a -greater thing than this for you.’ - -“Don Giovanni di Cardona[266] said something nearly of this sort about a -man who wished to leave Rome: ‘To my thinking the fellow is ill advised, -for he is so great a rascal that by staying on at Rome he might in time -become a cardinal.’ Of this sort also is what was said by Alfonso -Santacroce,[267] who had shortly before suffered some outrage from the -Cardinal of Pavia.[268] While strolling with several gentlemen near the -place of public execution outside Bologna, he saw a man who had recently -been hanged, and turning towards the body with a thoughtful air, he said -loud enough for everyone to hear him: ‘Happy thou, who hast naught to do -with the Cardinal of Pavia.’ - -73.—“And this sort of pleasantry which is tinged with irony seems very -becoming to great men, because it is dignified and sharp, and can be -used in jocose as well as in serious matters. Hence many ancients (and -those among the most esteemed) have used it, like Cato and Scipio -Africanus the Younger; but above all men, the philosopher Socrates is -said to have excelled in it. And in our own times King Alfonso I of -Aragon,[269] who, being about to eat one morning, took off the many -precious rings that he had on his fingers, in order not to wet them in -washing his hands, and so gave them to the first person he happened on, -almost without looking to see who it was. This servant supposed that the -king had taken no notice who received them, and by reason of weightier -cares would easily forget them altogether; and in this he was the more -confirmed, seeing that the king did not ask for them again; and as he -saw days, weeks and months pass without hearing a word about them, he -thought he was surely safe. Accordingly, nearly a year after this had -happened, he presented himself again one morning as the king was about -to eat, and held out his hand to receive the rings; whereupon the king -bent close to his ear and said to him: ‘Let the first ones suffice thee, -because these will do for someone else.’ You see how biting, clever and -dignified the sally was, and how truly worthy the exalted spirit of an -Alexander. - -[Illustration: - - OTTAVIANO UBALDINI - Died 1498 -] - -Enlarged from Braun’s photograph (no. 19.553) of the painting, - “Astronomy,” by Melozzo degli Ambrosi da Forli (1438-1494). The - picture, of which this head is a detail, was one of a series of - panels painted to decorate Duke Federico di Montefeltro’s library in - the palace of Urbino, but is now in the Royal Museum at Berlin. For - iconographical identification, see Schmarzow’s _Melozzo da Forli, - ein Beitrag zur Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte Italiens im XV - Jahrhundert_ (Berlin: 1886), p. 84. - -74.—“Similar to this manner (which savours of the ironical) is another -method, that of describing an evil thing in polite terms. As the Great -Captain said to one of his cavaliers, who, after the battle of -Cerignola,[270] when the danger was over, came forward in the richest -armour possible to describe, accoutered as if for battle. And then the -Great Captain turned to Don Ugo di Cardona[271] and said: ‘Have no more -fear of storm, for Saint Elmo has appeared;’ and with this polite speech -he stung the man to the quick, because you know that Saint Elmo[272] -always appears to mariners after the tempest and gives token of fair -weather; and thus the Great Captain meant that this cavalier’s -appearance was a token that the danger was quite passed. - -“Another time my lord Ottaviano Ubaldini,[273] being at Florence in the -company of some citizens of great influence, and the talk being about -soldiers, one of them asked him if he knew Antonello da Forli,[274] who -had at that time fled from Florentine territory. My lord Ottaviano -replied: ‘I do not know him, but have always heard him spoken of as a -prompt soldier.’ Whereupon another Florentine said: ‘You see how prompt -he is, when he takes his departure without asking leave.’ - -75.—“Those witticisms also are very clever in which we take from our -interlocutor’s lips something that he does not mean. And of this kind, -methinks, was my lord Duke’s reply to the castellan who lost San -Leo[275] when this duchy was taken by Pope Alexander and given to Duke -Valentino;[276] and it was this: my lord Duke being in Venice at the -time I have mentioned, many of his subjects came continually to give him -secret news how things were faring in his state; and among the rest came -this castellan, who, after having excused himself as best he could, -ascribing the blame to mischance, said: ‘Have no anxiety, my Lord, -because I still have heart to take measures for the recovery of San -Leo.’ Then my lord Duke replied: ‘Trouble yourself no more about the -matter, for the mere loss of it was a measure that rendered its recovery -possible.’ - -“There are certain other sayings when a man known to be clever says -something that seems to proceed from foolishness. For instance, messer -Camillo Paleotto[232] said of someone the other day: ‘He was such a fool -that he died as soon as he began to grow rich.’ - -“Of like kind with this is a spicy and keen dissimulation, where a man -(discreet, as I have said) pretends not to understand something that he -does understand. Like what was said by the Marquess Federico of Mantua, -who,—being pestered by a tiresome fellow who complained that some of his -neighbours were snaring doves out of his dovecote, and all the while -held one of them in his hand, hanging dead just as he had found it with -its foot caught in the snare,—replied that the matter should be looked -to. The fellow repeated the story of his loss not once only but many -times, always displaying the dove that had been hanged, and saying: ‘And -what, my Lord, do you think ought to be done in this case?’ At last the -Marquess said: ‘I think the dove ought on no account to be buried in -church, for having hanged itself, it must be believed to have committed -suicide.’[277] - -“Somewhat of the same fashion was the retort made by Scipio Nasica[278] -to Ennius. Once when Scipio went to Ennius’s house to speak with him and -called him down from the street, one of his maids replied that he was -not at home; and Scipio distinctly heard Ennius himself tell the maid to -say he was not at home, and so went away. Not long afterwards Ennius -came to Scipio’s house and likewise called to him from below; whereupon -Scipio himself replied in a loud voice that he was not at home. Then -Ennius replied: ‘How? Do I not know thy voice?’ Scipio said: ‘Thou art -too rude. The other day I believed thy maid when she said thou wert not -at home, and now thou wilt not believe the like from me in person.’ - -76.—“It is also a fine thing when a man is struck in the very same place -where he first struck his fellow. As in the case of messer Alonso -Carillo,[279] who, being at the Spanish court and having committed some -youthful peccadilloes of no great importance, was put in prison by the -king’s order and left there overnight. The next day he was taken out, -and so going to the palace in the morning, he reached the hall where -there were many cavaliers and ladies. And as they were laughing at his -imprisonment, my lady Boadilla[280] said: ‘Signor Alonso, your mishap -weighed on me heavily, for all your acquaintance thought the king would -have you hanged.’ Then Alonso said quickly: ‘My Lady, I was much afraid -of it myself; but then I had hope that you would ask me to be your -husband.’ You see how sharp and clever this was, because in Spain (as in -many other countries too) the custom is that when a man is led to the -gallows, his life is given him if a public courtesan begs him for her -husband. - -[Illustration: - - RAPHAEL - 1483-1520 -] - -Enlarged from a part of Weinwurm’s photograph (no. 1384) of the - portrait, in the National Gallery at Buda-Pest, by Sebastiano - Luciani “del Piombo” (1485-1547). In the Scarpia collection at La - Motta di Livenza, this picture passed for years as a portrait by - Raphael of the Ferrarese courtier-poet Antonio Tebaldeo. On purely - intrinsic evidence, both Morelli and Berenson identify it as a - portrait of Raphael at the age of 26 or 27 years. - -“In this manner also the painter Raphael replied to two cardinals with -whom he was on familiar terms, and who (to make him talk) were finding -fault in his presence with a picture that he had painted,—in which St. -Peter and St. Paul were represented,—saying that these two figures were -too red in the face. Then Raphael at once said: ‘My Lords, be not -concerned; because I painted them so with full intention, since we have -reason to believe that St. Peter and St. Paul are as red in Heaven as -you see them here, for shame that their Church should be governed by -such men as you.’[281] - -77.—“Very keen also are those witticisms that have a certain latent -spice of fun in them. As where a husband was making great lament and -weeping for his wife, who had hanged herself on a fig-tree, another man -approached him and plucking him by the robe, said: ‘Brother, might I as -a great favour have a small branch of that fig-tree to graft upon some -tree in my garden?’ - -“Some other witticisms need an air of patience and are slowly uttered -with a certain gravity. As where a rustic, who was carrying a box on his -shoulders, jostled it against Cato, and then said: ‘Have a care.’ Cato -replied: ‘Hast thou aught else but that chest upon thy shoulders?’[282] - -“Moreover we laugh when a man has made a blunder, and to mend it says -something of set purpose that seems silly and yet tends to the object he -has in view, and thus keeps himself in countenance. For instance, in the -Florentine Council not long ago there were (as often happens in these -republics) two enemies, and one of them, who was of the Altoviti family, -fell asleep. And although his adversary, who was of the Alamanni family, -was not speaking and had not spoken, yet to raise a laugh the man who -sat next Altoviti woke him with a touch of the elbow, and said: ‘Do you -not hear what So and So says? Make answer, as the Signors are asking for -your opinion.’ Thereupon Altoviti rose to his feet all drowsy as he was, -and said without stopping to think: ‘My Lords, I say just the opposite -of what Alamanni said.’ Alamanni replied: ‘But I said nothing.’ ‘Then,’ -said Altoviti at once, ‘the opposite of whatever you may say.’ - -“Of this kind also was what your Urbino physician, master Serafino, said -to a rustic, who had received a hard blow in the eye so that it was -forced quite out, yet decided to seek aid from master Serafino. On -seeing him, although aware that it was impossible to cure him, still in -order to force money from his hands (just as the blow had forced the eye -from his head), the doctor readily promised to cure him, and accordingly -demanded money from him every day, affirming that he would begin to -recover his sight within five or six days. The poor rustic gave what -little he had; then, seeing that the affair was progressing slowly, he -began to complain of the physician, and to say that he felt no benefit -at all and saw no more with that eye than as if he had it not in his -head. At last master Serafino, seeing that he would be able to extort -little more from the man, said: ‘Brother, you must have patience. You -have lost your eye and there is no longer any help for it; and may God -grant that you do not lose your other eye as well.’ On hearing this, the -rustic began to weep and complain loudly, and said: ‘Master, you have -ruined me and stolen my money. I will complain to my lord Duke;’ and he -made the greatest outcry in the world. Then, to clear himself, master -Serafino said angrily: ‘Ah, wretched traitor! So you would have two -eyes, as city-folk and rich men have? To perdition with you!’ and -accompanied these words with such fury that the poor rustic was -frightened into silence and quietly went his way in peace, believing -himself to be in the wrong. - -78.—“It is also fine to explain or interpret a thing jocosely. As when -at the court of Spain there appeared one morning in the palace a -cavalier who was very ugly, and his wife who was very beautiful, both -dressed in white damask (_damasco_),—the queen[283] said to Alonso -Carillo: ‘What think you of these two, Alonso?’ ‘My Lady,’ replied -Alonso, ‘I think she is the _dama_ (lady), and he is the _asco_,’ which -means monster. - -[Illustration: - - FRANCESCO ALIDOSI - CARDINAL OF PAVIA - Died 1511 -] - -Reduced from Giraudon’s photograph (no. 1528) of an anonymous bas-relief - in the Louvre. The features strikingly resemble those of Francesco - Francia’s medal of Alidosi, but are very unlike those shown in a - picture by Raphael (in the Prado Gallery at Madrid), which M. Müntz - regards as a portrait of the same personage. See _L’Archivio Storico - dell’Arte_ for 1891, pp. 328-32. - -“Another time Rafaello de’ Pazzi[284] saw a letter which the Prior of -Messina[285] had written to a lady of his acquaintance, the -superscription of which read, ‘This missive is to be delivered to the -author of my woes.’ ‘Methinks,’ said Rafaello, ‘this letter is intended -for Paolo Tolosa.’[286] Imagine how the bystanders laughed, when -everyone knew that Paolo Tolosa had lent the Prior ten thousand ducats, -and that he, being a great spendthrift, found no means to repay them. - -“Akin to this is the giving of friendly admonition in the form of -advice, yet covertly. As Cosimo de’ Medici did to one of his friends, -who was very rich but of moderate education and who had secured through -Cosimo a mission away from Florence. When on setting out the man asked -Cosimo what course he thought ought to be taken in order to do well in -the mission, Cosimo replied: ‘Wear rose-colour,[287] and say little.’ Of -the same kind was what Count Ludovico said to a man who wished to travel -incognito through a certain dangerous place and knew not how to disguise -himself; and being asked about it, the count replied: ‘Dress like a -doctor or some other man of sense.’ Again, Gianotto de’ Pazzi[288] said -to someone who wished to make a jerkin of as varied colours as he could -find: ‘Imitate the Cardinal of Pavia in word and deed.’ - -79.—“We laugh also at some things that have no connection. As when -someone said the other day to messer Antonio Rizzo[289] about a certain -man from Forli: ‘You may know he is a fool, for his name is -Bartolommeo.’ And another: ‘You are looking for a Master Stall, and have -no horses!’ And: ‘All the fellow lacks is money and brains.’ - -“And we laugh at certain other things that seem to have sequence. As -recently, when a friend of ours was suspected of having had the -renunciation[290] of a benefice forged, upon another priest’s falling -sick, Antonio Torello[291] said to our friend: ‘Why do you delay to send -for that notary of yours and see about filching this other benefice?’ -Likewise at some things that have no sequence. As the other day, when -the pope sent for messer Gianluca da Pontremolo and messer Domenico -dalla Porta (who are both hunchbacks as you know),[292] and made them -auditors, saying that he wished to set the Wheel right,—messer Latino -Giovenale[293] said: ‘His Holiness is in errour if he thinks to make the -Wheel right with two wrongs (_due torti_).’ - -80.—“We often laugh also when a man admits everything that is said to -him and more too, but pretends to take it in a different sense. As when -Captain Peralta was brought out to fight a duel with Aldana, and Captain -Molart[294] (who was Aldana’s second) asked Peralta on his oath if he -wore any amulets or charms to keep him from being wounded; Peralta swore -that he wore no amulets or charms or relics or objects of devotion in -which he had faith. Whereupon, to taunt him with being a heretic, Molart -said: ‘Do not trouble yourself about it, for without your oath I believe -you have no faith in Christ himself.’[295] - -“Moreover it is a fine thing to use metaphors seasonably in such cases. -As when our friend master Marcantonio said to Bottone da Cesena,[296] -who was goading him with words: ‘Bottone, Bottone, you will one day be -the button (_bottone_), and your button-hole will be the halter.’ -Another time, master Marcantonio having composed a very long comedy in -several acts, this same Bottone said to master Marcantonio: ‘To play -your comedy, all the timber there is in Slavonia will be needed for the -setting.’ Master Marcantonio replied: ‘While for the setting of your -tragedy, three sticks will be quite enough.’[297] - -81.—“We often use a word in which there is a hidden meaning remote from -the one we seem to intend. As was done by my lord Prefect here, on -hearing mention of a certain captain who in his time had for the most -part been defeated but just then had chanced to win. And the speaker -telling that when the captain made his entry into the place in question, -he had on a very beautiful crimson velvet doublet, which he always wore -after his victories, my lord Prefect said: ‘It must be new.’ - -“Nor is there less laughter when we reply to something that our -interlocutor has not said, or pretend to believe he has done something -that he has not but ought to have done. As when Andrea Coscia,[298] -having gone to visit a gentleman who rudely kept his seat and left his -guest to stand, said: ‘Since your Lordship commands me, I will sit down -to obey you;’ and so sat down.[299] - -[Illustration: - - POPE LEO X - GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI - “MY LORD CARDINAL” - 1475-1521 -] - -Reduced from the central part of Braun’s photograph (no. 42.040) of the - triple portrait, in the Pitti Gallery at Florence, painted between - 1517 and 1519 by Raphael (1483-1520) with the assistance of his - pupil Giulio Pippi, better known as Giulio Romano, (1492-1546). - -82.—“We laugh also when a man accuses himself of some fault humourously. -As when I told my lord Duke’s chaplain the other day that my lord -Cardinal[300] had a chaplain who said mass faster than he, he answered -me: ‘It is not possible;’ and coming close to my ear, he said: ‘You must -know, I do not recite a third of the silent prayers.’ - -“Again, a priest at Milan having died, Biagino Crivello[301] begged his -benefice of the Duke,[302] who however was minded to give it to someone -else. At last Biagino saw that further argument was of no avail, and -said: ‘What! After I have had the priest killed, why will you not give -me his benefice?’ - -“It is often amusing also to express desire for those things that cannot -be. As the other day, when one of our friends saw all these gentlemen -playing at fence while he was lying on his bed, and said: ‘Ah, how glad -I should be if this too were a fitting exercise for a strong man and a -good soldier!’ - -“Moreover it is an amusing and spicy style of talk, and especially for -grave and dignified persons, to reply the opposite of what the person -spoken to desires, but slowly and with a little air of doubtful and -hesitating deliberation. As was once the case with King Alfonso I of -Aragon,[269] who gave a servant weapons, horses and clothes, because the -fellow said he had the night before dreamed that his Highness had given -him all these things; and again not long afterwards the same servant -said he had that night dreamed that the king gave him a goodly sum of -gold florins, whereupon the king replied: ‘Put no trust in dreams -henceforth, because they are not true.’ Of like sort also was the pope’s -reply to the Bishop of Cervia,[303] who said to him in order to sound -his purpose: ‘Holy Father, it is said all over Rome, and the palace too, -that your Holiness is making me governor.’ Then the pope replied: ‘Let -them talk,—they are only knaves. Have no fear there is any truth in it.’ - -83.—“Perhaps, my Lords, I might collect still many other occasions that -give opportunity for humourous sallies: such as things said with -shyness, with admiration, with threats, out of season, with excessive -anger; besides these, certain other conditions that provoke laughter -when they occur: sometimes a kind of wondering taciturnity, sometimes -mere laughter itself when untimely. But methinks I have now said enough, -for I believe that pleasantry which takes the form of words does not -exceed the limits we have discussed. - -“Then, as to that which is shown in action, although it has numberless -forms, it still is comprised under a few heads. But in both kinds the -main thing is to cheat expectation and reply otherwise than the hearer -looks for; and if the pleasantry is to find favour, it must needs be -seasoned with deceit or dissimulation or ridicule or censure or simile, -or whatever other style a man chooses to employ. And while pleasantries -provoke laughter, yet with this laughter they produce divers other -effects: for some contain a certain elegance and modest pleasantness, -others a hidden or an open sting, others have a taint of grossness, -others move to laughter as soon as they are heard, others the more they -are thought of, others make us blush as well as laugh, others rouse a -little anger. But in all methods we must consider our hearers’ state of -mind, for to the afflicted jocosity often brings greater affliction, and -there are certain maladies that are aggravated the more medicine is -employed. - -“Hence if the Courtier pays heed to time, persons and his own rank, in -his banter and amusing talk, and uses them not too often (for in truth -it begets tedium to be harping on this all day, in all kinds of -converse, in season and out), he may be called a man of humour; taking -care also not to be so sharp and biting as to be thought spiteful, -assailing causelessly or with evident rancour: either those who are too -powerful, which is imprudent; or those who are too weak, which is cruel; -or those who are too wicked, which is useless; or saying things to -offend those he would not offend, which is ignorance. Yet there are some -who feel bound to speak and assail recklessly whenever they can, let the -consequence be what it may. And among these last, some there are who do -not scruple to tarnish the honour of a noble lady, for the sake of -saying something humourous; which is a very evil thing and worthy the -heaviest punishment, for in this regard ladies are to be numbered among -the weak, and so ought not to be assailed, since they have no weapons to -defend them. - -“Besides these things, he who would be agreeable and amusing must have a -certain natural aptitude for all kinds of fun, and must adapt his -behaviour, gestures and face accordingly; and the graver and more -serious and impassive his face is, the more spicy and keen will he make -his sallies seem. - -84.—“But you, messer Federico, who thought to take your ease under this -leafless tree and in my arid talk, I am sure you have repented of it and -think you have found your way to the Montefiore Inn.[304] Therefore it -will be well for you, like a practised postman, to rise somewhat earlier -than usual and take up your journey, in order to escape from a bad inn.” - -“Nay,” replied messer Federico, “I have come to so good an inn that I -mean to tarry in it longer than I first intended. So I shall go on -taking my ease until you have finished the whole discourse appointed, of -which you have left out one part that you mentioned in the -beginning—that is, practical jokes; and it is not right for you to cheat -the company of this. But as you have taught us many fine things about -pleasantries, and have made us bold to use them by the example of so -many singular geniuses, great men, princes, kings, and popes,—so too in -practical jokes I think you will give us such daring that we shall -venture to try some even upon you.” - -Then messer Bernardo said, laughing: - -“You will not be the first; but perhaps you may not succeed, for I have -already endured so many of them that I am on my guard against -everything, like dogs who are afraid of cold water after once being -scalded with hot. However, since you will have me speak of this also, I -think I can despatch it in a few words. - -85.—“It seems to me that practical joking is naught else but friendly -deceit in things that do not offend or that offend only a little. And -just as in pleasantry it arouses laughter to say something contrary to -expectation, so in practical joking it arouses laughter to do something -contrary to expectation. And the cleverer and more discreet these jokes -are, the more they please and are applauded; for he often gives offence -who tries to play a practical joke recklessly, and afterwards quarrels -and serious enmities arise in consequence. - -“But the occasions that give opportunity for practical jokes are nearly -the same as in the case of pleasantries. So not to repeat them, I will -merely say that practical jokes are of two kinds, each of which kinds -might be further divided into classes. One kind is where anyone is -cleverly tricked in a fine and amusing manner; the other is where a net -is cast, as it were, and a little bait is offered, so that the victim -himself hastens to be tricked. - -“Of the first kind was the joke that two great ladies, whom I do not -wish to name, lately had played upon them by means of a Spaniard called -Castillo.”[305] - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“And why do you not wish to name them?” - -Messer Bernardo replied: - -“I would not have them take offence.” - -My lady Duchess answered, laughing: - -“It is not amiss to play jokes now and then even upon great lords. -Indeed I have heard of many being played upon Duke Federico, upon King -Alfonso of Aragon, upon Queen Isabella of Spain, and upon many other -great princes; and they not only did not take offence, but rewarded the -perpetrators liberally.” - -Messer Bernardo replied: - -“Not even for the hope of reward will I name those ladies.” - -“As you please,” answered my lady Duchess. - -Then messer Bernardo went on to say: - -“It is not long since there arrived at the court (of I know whom) a -Bergamasque rustic on business for a courtier gentleman; and this rustic -was so well attired and elegantly appointed that, although he had been -only used to tend cattle and knew no other trade, anyone who did not -hear him speak would have taken him for a gallant cavalier. Now, being -told that a Spanish follower of Cardinal Borgia[306] had arrived, and -that he was called Castillo and was exceedingly clever, a musician, a -dancer, a _ballatore_,[307] and the most accomplished Courtier in all -Spain,—these two ladies were filled with extreme desire to speak with -him, and straightway sent for him. And after receiving him with -ceremony, they made him sit down and began to speak to him with the -greatest distinction before all the company; and there were few of those -present who did not know that the fellow was a Bergamasque cow-herd. So -when these ladies were seen entertaining him with so much respect and -honouring him so signally, the laughter was very hearty, the more so as -the good man spoke his native Bergamasque dialect all the while.[308] -But the gentlemen who played the trick had told these ladies in the -beginning that he was among other things a great joker, and spoke all -languages admirably and especially rustic Lombard. Thus they continually -imagined that he was pretending, and they often turned to each other -with an air of surprise, and said: ‘Listen to this prodigy, how well he -counterfeits the language!’ In short, the conversation lasted so long -that everyone’s sides ached from laughing; and he himself could not help -giving so many tokens of his gentility that even these ladies were at -last convinced, albeit with great difficulty, that he was what he was. - -86.—“We meet practical jokes of this kind every day; but among the rest -those are amusing which at first excite alarm and turn out well in the -end; for even the victim laughs at himself when he sees that his fears -were groundless. - -“For instance, I was staying at Paglia[309] one night, and in the same -inn where I was there happened to be three companions besides myself -(two from Pistoia and the other from Prato), who sat down to play after -supper, as men often do. They had not been playing long before one of -the two Pistoians lost all he had and was left without a farthing, so -that he began to lament and to curse and swear roundly; and he retired -to sleep blaspheming thus. After gaming awhile, the other two resolved -to play a trick upon the one who had gone to bed. So, making sure that -he was really asleep, they put out all the lights and covered the fire; -then they began to talk loud and to make as much noise as they could, -pretending to quarrel over their play, and one of them said: ‘You’ve -drawn the under card;’ and the other denied it, saying: ‘And you have -wagered on four of a suit; let us deal again;’[310] and the like, with -such an uproar that the sleeper awoke. And perceiving that his friends -were playing and talking as if they saw the cards, he rubbed his eyes a -little, and seeing no light in the room, he said: ‘What the devil do you -mean by shouting all night?’ Then he lay back again as if to go to -sleep. - -“His two friends made no reply, but went on as before; whereat the man -began to wonder (now that he was more awake) and seeing that there was -really no fire or glimmer of any kind, and that still his friends were -playing and quarrelling, he said: ‘And how can you see the cards without -light?’ One of the two replied: ‘You must have lost your sight along -with your money; don’t you see with these two candles we have here?’ The -man who was abed lifted himself upon his arms, and said rather angrily: -‘Either I am drunk or blind, or you are lying.’ The two got up and -groped their way to the bed, laughing and pretending to think that he -was making sport of them; and still he answered: ‘I say I do not see -you.’ Finally the two began to feign great surprise, and one said to the -other: ‘Alas, methinks he speaks the truth. Hand me that candle, and let -us see if perchance there is something wrong with his sight.’ Then the -poor fellow took it for certain that he had become blind, and weeping -bitterly he said: ‘Oh my brothers, I am blind;’ and he at once began to -call on Our Lady of Loreto, and to implore her to pardon the blasphemies -and maledictions that he had heaped upon her for the loss of his money. -His two companions kept comforting him, and said: ‘It can’t be that you -do not see us; ’tis some fancy you’ve got into your head.’ ‘Alas,’ -replied the other, ‘this is no fancy, for I see no more than as if I had -never had any eyes in my head.’ ‘Yet your sight is clear,’ replied the -two, and one said to the other: ‘See how well he opens his eyes! And how -bright they are! Who could believe that he doesn’t see?’ The unhappy man -wept more loudly all the while, and begged mercy of God. - -“At last they said to him: ‘Make a vow to go in penance to Our Lady of -Loreto,[311] barefoot and naked, for this is the best remedy that can be -found; and meanwhile we will go to Acquapendente[312] and those other -places hard by to see some doctor, nor will we fail to do everything we -can for you.’ Then the poor fellow quickly knelt by his bed, and with -endless tears and bitter penitence for his blasphemy he made a solemn -vow to go naked to Our Lady of Loreto, and to offer her a pair of silver -eyes, and to eat no flesh on Wednesday or eggs on Friday, and to fast on -bread and water every Saturday in honour of Our Lady, if she would grant -him the mercy of restoring his sight. His two companions went into -another room, struck a light, and laughing their very loudest, came back -to the unhappy man, who was relieved of his great anguish, as you may -imagine, but was so stunned by the terror that he had passed through, -that he could neither laugh nor even speak; and his two companions did -nothing but tease him, saying that he must fulfil all his vows, because -he had obtained the mercy which he sought. - -87.—“Of the other kind of practical joke, where a man deceives himself, -I shall give no other example than the one that was played on me not -very long ago. - -“During the last carnival, my friend Monsignor of San Pietro ad -Vincula[313] (who knows how fond I am of playing tricks on the friars -when I am masked, and who had carefully arranged beforehand what he -meant to do) came one day with Monsignor of Aragon[314] and a few other -cardinals, to certain windows in the _Banchi_,[315] ostensibly for the -purpose of seeing the maskers pass, as the custom is at Rome. I came -along in my mask, and seeing a friar (somewhat apart) who had a little -air of hesitation, I thought I had found my chance and rushed upon him -like a hungry falcon on its prey. And first having asked him who he was -and received his answer, I pretended to know him, and with many words -began to make him think that the chief constable was out in search of -him (because of certain evil reports that had been received against -him), and to urge him to go with me to the Chancery,[316] where I would -put him in safety. Frightened and trembling from head to foot, the friar -seemed not to know what to do and said he feared being taken if he went -far from San Celso.[317] I said so much to encourage him, however, that -he mounted my crupper; and then I thought I had fully succeeded in my -scheme. So I at once began to make for the _Banchi_, my horse frisking -and kicking the while. Now imagine what a fine sight a friar made on a -masker’s crupper, with cloak flying and head tossed to and fro, and -looking all the time as if he were about to fall. - -“At this fine spectacle those gentlemen began to throw eggs on us from -the windows, as did all the _Banchi_ people and everyone who was -there,—so that hail never fell from heaven with greater violence than -from those windows fell the eggs, most of which came on me. Being masked -as I was, I did not care and thought that all the laughter was for the -friar and not for me; and so I went up and down the _Banchi_ several -times with this fury always at my back, although the friar with tears in -his eyes begged me to let him dismount and not to shame his cloth in -this way. Then the knave had eggs given him on the sly by some lackeys -stationed there for the purpose, and pretending to hold me fast to keep -from falling, he broke them over my breast, often over my head, and -sometimes on my very brow, until I was completely bedaubed. Finally, -when everyone was weary both of laughing and of throwing eggs, he jumped -off my crupper, and pushing back his cowl showed me his long hair, and -said: ‘Messer Bernardo, I am one of the grooms at San Pietro ad Vincula, -and it is I who take care of your little mule.’ - -“I know not which was then greatest, my grief, my anger, or my shame. -However, as the least of evils, I set out fast for home, and dared not -make an appearance the next morning; but the laughter raised by this -trick lasted not only the next day, but nearly until now.” - -88.—And so, after they had again laughed awhile at the story, messer -Bernardo continued: - -“There is another very amusing kind of practical joke, which gives -opportunity for pleasantry as well, when we pretend to think that a man -wishes to do something which in fact he does not wish to do. For -instance, one evening after supper, when I was on the bridge at Lyons -and jesting with Cesare Beccadello[318] as we walked along, we began to -seize each other by the arm as if we were bent on wrestling, for by -chance no one else appeared on the bridge at the time. While we were -standing thus, two Frenchmen came up, and on seeing our dispute they -asked what the matter was, and stopped to try to separate us, thinking -that we were quarrelling in earnest. Then I said quickly: ‘Help me, -Sirs, for this poor gentleman loses his reason at certain changes of the -moon, and you see he is now trying to throw himself off the bridge into -the water.’ Thereupon these two men ran, and with my aid seized Cesare -and held him very tight; and he, telling me all the while that I was -mad, tried harder to free himself from their hands, and they held him -all the tighter. Thus the passers-by gathered to look at the -disturbance, and everyone ran up. And the more poor Cesare struck out -with his hands and feet (for he was now beginning to grow angry), the -more people arrived; and from the great effort that he made, they fully -believed he was trying to jump into the river, and on that account held -him the tighter. So that a great crowd of men carried him bodily to the -inn, all dishevelled, capless, pale with anger and shame; for nothing he -said availed him, partly because the Frenchmen did not understand him, -and also partly because, as I walked along leading them to the inn, I -kept lamenting the poor man’s misfortune in being thus stricken mad. - -89.—“Now, as we have said, it would be possible to talk at length about -practical jokes; but suffice it to repeat that the occasions which give -opportunity for them are the same as in the case of pleasantries. -Moreover we have an infinity of examples because we see them every day. -Among others there are many amusing ones in the _Novelle_ of Boccaccio, -like those which Bruno and Buffalmacco played upon their friend -Calandrino and upon master Simone,[319] and many others played by women, -that are truly clever and fine. - -“I remember having known in my time many other amusing men of this sort, -and among others a certain Sicilian student at Padua, called -Ponzio;[320] who once saw a peasant with a pair of fat capons. And -pretending that he wished to buy them, he struck a bargain, and told the -fellow to come home with him and get some breakfast besides the price -agreed on. So he led the peasant to a place where there was a bell-tower -standing apart from its church[321] so that one could walk around it; -and just opposite one of the four sides of the tower was the end of a -little lane. Here Ponzio, who had already settled what he meant to do, -said to the peasant: ‘I have wagered these capons with one of my -friends, who says that this tower measures quite forty feet around, -while I say it does not. And just before I found you, I had bought this -twine to measure it. Now, before we go home I wish to find out which of -the two has won.’ And so saying, he drew the twine from his sleeve, gave -one end of it to the peasant, and said: ‘Hand them here.’ Thereupon he -took the capons, and holding the other end of the twine as if he were -going to measure, he started to walk around the tower, first making the -peasant stay and hold the twine against that side of it which was -farthest from the one that looked up the little lane. When he reached -this other side, he stuck a nail into the wall, tied the twine to it, -and leaving the man there he quietly went off with the capons up the -little lane. The peasant stood still a long time waiting for Ponzio to -finish the measurement; at last,—after he had several times said: ‘What -are you doing there so long?’—he went to look, and found that it was not -Ponzio who was holding the twine, but a nail stuck in the wall, and that -this was all the pay left him for the capons. Ponzio played numberless -tricks of this sort. - -“There have also been many other men who were amusing in like manner, -such as Gonnella, Meliolo in his day,[322] and at the present time our -friends Fra Mariano[60] and Fra Serafino[61] here, and many whom you all -know. And doubtless this method is well enough for men who have no other -business, but I think the Courtier’s practical jokes ought to be -somewhat farther removed from scurrility. Care must be taken also not to -let practical joking degenerate into knavery, as we see in the case of -many rogues, who go through the world with sundry wiles to get money, -now pretending one thing and now another. Moreover the Courtier’s tricks -must not be too rude; and above all let him pay respect and reverence to -women in this as in all other things, and especially where their honour -may be touched.” - -90.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Indeed, messer Bernardo, you are too partial towards women. And why -would you have men pay more respect to women than women to men? Should -not our honour be as dear to us, forsooth, as theirs to them? Do you -think that women ought to taunt men with words and nonsense without the -least restraint in anything, and that men should quietly endure it and -thank them into the bargain?” - -Then messer Bernardo replied: - -“I do not say that in their pleasantries and practical jokes women ought -not to use towards men the same respect which we have before described; -but I do say they may taunt men with unchastity more freely than men may -taunt them. And this is because we have made unto ourselves a law, -whereby free living is in us neither vice nor fault nor disgrace, while -in women it is such utter infamy and shame that she of whom evil is once -spoken is disgraced forever, whether the imputation[323] cast upon her -be false or true. Wherefore, since speaking of women’s honour brings -such risk of doing them grievous harm, I say we ought to attack them in -some other way, and to abstain from this; because to strike too hard -with our pleasantries and practical jokes, is to exceed the bounds that -we have before said are befitting a gentleman.” - -91.—As messer Bernardo paused a little here, my lord Ottaviano Fregoso -said, laughing: - -“My lord Gaspar might answer you that this law you refer to, which we -have made unto ourselves, is perhaps not so unreasonable as it seems to -you. For since women were very imperfect creatures and of little or no -worth in comparison with men, and since of themselves they were not -capable of performing any worthy act,—it was necessary by fear of shame -and infamy to lay upon them a restraint that might impart some quality -of goodness to them almost against their will. And chastity seemed more -needful for them than any other quality, in order to have certainty as -to our offspring; hence it was necessary to use every possible skill, -art and way to make women chaste, and almost to permit them to be of -little worth in all things else and to do constantly the reverse of what -they ought. Therefore, since they are allowed to commit all other faults -without blame, if we taunt them with those defects which (as we have -said) are all permitted to them and therefore not incongruous in them, -and of which they take no heed,—we shall never arouse laughter; for you -said awhile ago that laughter is aroused by certain things that are -incongruous.” - -92.—Then my lady Duchess said: - -“You speak thus of women, my lord Ottaviano, and then you complain that -they love you not.” - -“I do not complain of this,” replied my lord Ottaviano, “but rather -thank them in that they do not, by loving me, force me to love them. Nor -am I speaking my own mind, but saying that my lord Gaspar might use -these arguments.” - -Messer Bernardo said: - -“Verily it would be a great gain to women if they could conciliate two -such great enemies of theirs as you and my lord Gaspar are.” - -“I am not their enemy,” replied my lord Gaspar, “but you are indeed an -enemy of men; for if you would not have women taunted as to their -honour, you ought also to impose on them a law that they shall not taunt -men for that which is as shameful to us as unchastity is to women. And -why was not Alonso Carillo’s retort to my lady Boadilla (about hoping to -escape with his life by being asked to become her husband) as seemly in -him, as it was for her to say that all who knew him thought the king was -about to have him hanged? And why was it not as allowable for Riciardo -Minutoli to deceive Filippello’s wife and get her to go to that resort, -as for Beatrice to make her husband Egano[324] get out of bed and be -cudgelled by Anichino, after she had long been with the latter? And for -that other woman to tie a string to her toe and make her husband believe -that she was someone else?—since you say that these women’s pranks in -Giovanni Boccaccio are so clever and fine.” - -93.—Then messer Bernardo said, laughing: - -“My Lords, as my task was simply to discuss pleasantries, I do not mean -to go outside my subject. And I think I have already told why it does -not seem to me befitting to attack women in their honour either by word -or deed, and have imposed on them as well a rule that they shall not -touch men in a tender spot. - -“As for the pranks and sallies cited by you, my lord Gaspar, I grant -that although what Alonso said to my lady Boadilla may touch a little on -her chastity, it still does not displease me, because it is very remote, -and is so veiled that it may be taken innocently, and the speaker might -disguise his meaning and declare he had not meant it. He said another -that was to my thinking very unseemly. And it was this: as the -queen[325] was passing my lady Boadilla’s house,[280] Alonso saw the -door all blackened with pictures of those indecencies that are painted -about inns in such variety; and turning to the Countess of -Castagneta,[326] he said: ‘There, my Lady, are the heads of the game -that my lady Boadilla slays in hunting every day.’ You see that while -the metaphor is clever and aptly borrowed from hunters (who take pride -in having many heads of beasts fastened on their doors), yet it is -scurrilous and disgraceful. Besides which, it was not an answer to -anything; for it is far less rude to say a thing by way of retort, -because then it seems to have been provoked and needs must be impromptu. - -“Returning, however, to the subject of tricks played by women, I do not -say they do well to deceive their husbands, but I say that some of those -deceptions (which Giovanni Boccaccio recounts of women) are fine and -very clever, and especially those which you yourself told. But in my -opinion the trick played by Riciardo Minutoli goes too far, and is much -more heartless than the one played by Beatrice; because Riciardo -Minutoli did much greater wrong to Filippello’s wife than Beatrice did -to her husband Egano, for by his deception Riciardo forced the woman’s -will and made her do with herself something that she did not wish to do, -while Beatrice deceived her husband in order that she might do with -herself something that pleased her.” - -94.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Beatrice can be excused on no other plea than that of love, which ought -to be allowed in the case of men as well as in that of women.” - -Then messer Bernardo replied: - -“No doubt the passion of love affords great excuse for every fault. But -for my part I think that a gentleman of worth, who is in love, ought to -be sincere and truthful in this as in all things else; and if it be true -that to betray even an enemy is such a vile act and abominable crime, -consider how much more heinous the offence ought to be deemed when it is -committed against one whom we love. - -“Moreover, I think that every gentle lover endures so many toils, so -many vigils, braves so many perils, sheds so many tears, employs so many -means and ways to please the lady of his love,—not chiefly in order to -possess her person, but to capture the fortress of her mind, and to -shatter those hardest diamonds, to melt that coldest ice, that often are -in the tender breast of woman. This, I think, is the true and sound -pleasure and the purposed goal of every noble heart. For myself, were I -in love, I certainly should prefer to be assured that she whom I served -returned my love from her heart and had given me her mind,—without ever -having any other satisfaction from her,—than to enjoy her to the full -against her will; for in such case I should deem myself the master of a -lifeless body. Hence they who pursue their desires by means of such -trickery, which might perhaps be called treachery rather than trickery, -do injury to others; nor have they yet that bliss which is to be desired -in love, if they possess the body without the will. - -“The same I say of certain others who use enchantments in their love, -charms and sometimes force, sometimes sleeping potions and such like -things. Be assured, too, that gifts much lessen the pleasures of love; -for a man may suspect that he is not loved and that his lady makes a -show of loving him in order to profit by it. Hence you see that great -ladies’ love is prized because it could hardly spring from other source -than real and true affection, nor is it credible that a great lady -should ever pretend to love one of her inferiors unless she loves him -truly.” - -95.—Then my lord Gaspar replied: - -“I do not deny that the purpose, toils and dangers of lovers ought to -have their aim directed chiefly towards the conquest of the mind rather -than of the body of their beloved. But I say that these deceits, which -you call treachery in men and trickery in women, are excellent means of -attaining this aim, for whoever possesses a woman’s person is master of -her mind as well. And if you remember rightly, Filippello’s wife, after -much lament over the deceit practised on her by Riciardo, discovered how -much more delicious than her husband’s were the kisses of her lover, and -her coldness to Riciardo changed to sweet affection, so that from that -day forth she loved him most tenderly. Thus it came about that what his -frequent fond visits, his gifts and countless other tokens shown -unceasingly, could not affect, a taste of his embraces soon -accomplished. You now see that this same trickery, or treachery as you -would call it, was a good way to capture the fortress of her mind.” - -Then messer Bernardo said: - -“You advance a very false premise, for if women always surrendered their -mind to the man who possessed their person, no wife would be found who -did not love her husband more than every other person in the world; the -contrary of which we find to be the case. But Giovanni Boccaccio was -very unjustly hostile to women, as you are also.”[327] - -96.—My lord Gaspar replied: - -“I am not at all hostile to them; but there are very few men of worth -who as a rule make any account of women whatever, although for their own -purposes they sometimes pretend the contrary.” - -Then messer Bernardo replied: - -“You wrong not women only, but also all men who hold them in respect. -However, as I said, I do not wish for the present to go outside my -original subject of practical joking, and enter upon so difficult an -enterprise as would be the defence of women against you, who are a most -redoubtable warrior. So I will make an end of this talk of mine, which -has perhaps been far longer than was necessary, and certainly less -amusing than you expected. And since I see the ladies sit so quiet, -enduring your insults thus patiently as they do, I shall henceforth -regard a part of what my lord Ottaviano said as true, namely, that they -care not what other evil is said of them, provided they be not taunted -with lack of chastity.” - -Then at a signal from my lady Duchess, many of the ladies rose to their -feet, and all ran laughing towards my lord Gaspar, as if to shower blows -upon him and treat him as the bacchants treated Orpheus,[328]—meanwhile -saying: - -“You shall see now whether we care if evil be said of us.” - -97.—Thus, partly because of the laughter and partly because everyone -rose to his feet, the drowsiness that had seized the eyes and mind of -some, seemed to flee away; but my lord Gaspar began to say: - -“You see that being in the wrong, they would fain use force and thus end -the discussion by giving us a Braccesque leave, as the saying is.”[329] - -Then my lady Emilia replied: - -“Nay, that shall not help you; for when you saw messer Bernardo wearied -by his long talk, you began to say all manner of evil about women, -thinking to have no antagonist. But we shall put a fresh champion in the -field to fight you, to the end that your offence may not go long -unpunished.” - -So, turning to the Magnifico Giuliano, who had thus far spoken little, -she said: - -“You are accounted the defender of women’s honour; wherefore the time -has come for you to show that you have not acquired this title falsely. -And if hitherto you have ever found profit in your office, you ought now -to consider that by putting down so bitter an enemy of ours, you will -render all women still more beholden to you, so much so that although -nothing else be ever done but requite you, yet the obligation must -always stand and can never fully be requited.” - -98.—Then the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“My Lady, methinks you do your enemy much honour, and your defender very -little; for so far my lord Gaspar has certainly said nothing against -women that messer Bernardo has not most consummately answered. And I -believe we all know that it is fitting for the Courtier to show women -the greatest reverence, and that he who is discreet and courteous must -never taunt them with lack of chastity, either in jest or in earnest. -Therefore, to discuss such obvious truth as this, is almost to cast -doubt upon that which is undoubted. But indeed I think my lord Ottaviano -went rather too far when he said that women are very imperfect -creatures, incapable of any worthy action, and possessed of little or no -dignity in comparison with men. And as trust is often placed in those -who have great authority, even when they say what is not the exact truth -and also when they speak in jest,—my lord Gaspar suffered himself to be -led by my lord Ottaviano’s words to say that wise men make no account of -women whatever, which is most false. On the contrary, I have known very -few men of merit who did not love and honour women,—whose worth (and so -whose dignity) I regard as in no wise inferior to men’s. - -[Illustration] - - UNICUS ARETINUS - Bernardo Accolti - - - - JO. CHRISTOFANO ROMANO - - - - VINCENTIO CALMETA - - - - NICOLO PHRYSIO - - - - SERAPHINO - - AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES OF INTERLOCUTORS - -From negatives, made by Signor Lanzoni, from originals preserved in the - Royal State Archives at Mantua and selected by the Director, Signor - Alessandro Luzio. - -“Yet if this were to be the subject of dispute, women’s cause would be -at serious disadvantage; because these gentlemen have described a -Courtier so excellent and of such heavenly accomplishments, that whoso -undertook to consider him as they have pictured him, would imagine that -women’s merits could not attain that pitch. But if the contest were to -be fair, we should first need to have someone as clever and eloquent as -Count Ludovico and messer Federico are, to describe a Court Lady with -all the perfections proper to woman, just as they have described the -Courtier with the perfections proper to man. And then, if he who -defended their cause were of only moderate cleverness and eloquence, I -think that with truth for ally, he would clearly prove that women are as -full of virtue as men are.” - -“Nay,” replied my lady Emilia, “far more so; and in proof of this, you -see that virtue (_la virtù_) is feminine, and vice (_il vizio_) is -masculine.”[330] - -99.—Then my lord Gaspar laughed, and turning to messer Niccolò Frisio, -said: - -“What think you of this, Frisio?” - -Frisio replied: - -“I am sorry for my lord Magnifico, who has been beguiled by my lady -Emilia’s promises and soft words into the errour of saying that which I -blush for on his behalf.” - -My lady Emilia replied, still laughing: - -“You will be ashamed rather of yourself, when you see my lord Gaspar -confuted, confessing his own and your errour, and imploring a pardon -that we shall refuse to grant him.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“As the hour is very late, let the whole matter be postponed until -to-morrow; especially since it seems to me wise to follow my lord -Magnifico’s counsel, which is: that before we enter upon this -controversy, a Court Lady be described with all her perfections, just as -these gentlemen have described the perfect Courtier.” - -Then my lady Emilia said: - -“My Lady, God forbid that we chance to entrust this task to any -fellow-conspirator of my lord Gaspar, who will describe us a Court Lady -that can do naught but cook and spin.” - -Frisio said: - -“But this is her proper calling.” - -Then my lady Emilia said: - -“I am willing to trust my lord Magnifico, who will (with the cleverness -and good sense which I know are his) imagine the highest perfection that -can be desired in woman, and will set it forth in beautiful language -too; and then we shall have something to offer against my lord Gaspar’s -false aspersions.” - -100.—“My Lady,” replied the Magnifico, “I am not sure how well advised -you are to impose on me an enterprise of such weight that I really do -not feel myself sufficient for it. Nor am I like the Count and messer -Federico, who have with their eloquence described a Courtier that never -was and perhaps never can be. Still, if it pleases you to have me bear -this burden, at least let it be upon the same conditions as in the case -of these other gentlemen, namely: that everyone may contradict me when -he pleases; for I shall take it, not as contradiction, but as aid; and -perhaps by the correction of my mistakes we shall discover that -perfection of the Court Lady which we seek.” - -“I hope,” replied my lady Duchess, “that your talk will be of such sort -that little may be found in it to contradict. So give your whole mind to -it, and describe for us such a woman that these adversaries of ours -shall be ashamed to say she is not equal in worth to the Courtier; of -whom it will be well for messer Federico to say no more, since the -Courtier has been only too well adorned by him, especially as there is -now need to give him a paragon in woman.” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“My Lady, little or nothing is now left for me to tell about the -Courtier; and what I thought of saying has been driven from my mind by -messer Bernardo’s pleasantries.” - -“If that be so,” said my lady Duchess, “let us come together again early -to-morrow, and we shall have time to attend to both matters.” - -Thereupon all rose to their feet, and having reverently taken leave of -my lady Duchess, everyone went to his own room. - - - - - THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - - - TO MESSER ALFONSO ARIOSTO - -1.—We read that Pythagoras very ingeniously and cleverly discovered the -measure of Hercules’s body; and the way was this: it being known that -the space where the Olympic games were celebrated every five years, -before the temple of Olympian Jove near Elis, in Achaia,[331] had been -measured by Hercules, and a stadium made six hundred and twenty-five -times the length of his own foot; and that the other stadia which were -afterwards established throughout Greece by later generations, were -likewise of the length of six hundred and twenty-five feet, and yet were -somewhat shorter than the first one: by this proportion Pythagoras -easily reckoned how much larger Hercules’s foot was than other human -feet; and thus, knowing the measure of the foot, from this he argued -that the whole body of Hercules was larger than other men’s in the same -proportion that the first stadium bore to the other stadia. - -So you, my dear messer Alfonso, by the same reasoning may clearly see, -from this small part of the whole body, how superior the court of Urbino -was to all others in Italy, considering how much the games that were -devised for the refreshment of minds wearied by the most arduous -labours, were superior to those that were practised in the other courts -of Italy. And if these were of such sort, think what were the other -worthy pursuits to which our minds were bent and wholly given; and of -this I confidently make bold to speak with hope of being believed; for I -am not praising things so ancient that I might be allowed to invent, but -can prove what I affirm by the testimony of many men worthy of faith, -who are still living and personally saw and knew the life and behaviour -that one time flourished in that court: and I hold myself bound, as far -as I can, to strive with every effort to rescue this bright memory from -mortal oblivion, and by my writing to make it live in the hearts of -posterity. - -Wherefore perhaps in the future there will not be lacking some to envy -our century for this also; since no one reads the wonderful exploits of -the ancients, who in his mind does not conceive a somewhat higher -opinion of those that are written of than the books themselves seem able -to express, however divinely they be written. Even so we desire that all -to whose hands this work of ours shall come (if indeed it shall ever be -worthy of such favour as to deserve being seen by noble cavaliers and -virtuous ladies) may assume and take for certain that the court of -Urbino was far more excellent, and adorned by men of singular worth, -than we can express in writing; and if we had as great eloquence as they -had merit, we should have no need of other proof to make our words -believed by those who saw it not. - -2.—Now the company being assembled the next day at the accustomed hour -and place, and seated in silence, everyone turned his eyes to messer -Federico and to the Magnifico Giuliano, waiting to see which of them -would begin the discussion. Wherefore my lady Duchess, having been -silent awhile, said: - -“My lord Magnifico, everyone desires to see this lady of yours well -adorned; and if you do not display her to us in such fashion that all -her beauties may be seen, we shall think that you are jealous of her.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“My Lady, if I deemed her beautiful, I should display her all unadorned -and in the same fashion wherein Paris chose to view the three -goddesses;[332] but if these ladies here, who well know how, do not aid -me to deck her forth, I fear that not only my lord Gaspar and Frisio, -but all these other gentlemen, will have just cause to say ill of her. -So, while still she stands in some repute for beauty, perhaps it will be -better to keep her hidden, and to see what messer Federico has left to -say about the Courtier, which without doubt is far more beautiful than -my Lady can be.” - -“What I had in mind,” replied messer Federico, “is not so necessary to -the Courtier that it may not be omitted without any harm; nay, it is -rather different matter from that which has thus far been discussed.” - -“And what is it, then?” said my lady Duchess. - -Messer Federico replied: - -“I had thought of explaining, as far as I could, the origin of these -companies and orders of knighthood established by great princes under -different ensigns: as that of Saint Michael in the House of France;[333] -that of the Garter, which bears the name of Saint George, in the House -of England;[334] the Golden Fleece in that of Burgundy:[335] and in what -manner these dignities are bestowed, and how they who deserve them are -deprived thereof; whence they arose, who were the founders of them, and -to what end they were established: for even in great courts these -knights are always honoured. - -“I thought too, if I had time enough, to speak not only of the diversity -of customs that are in use at the courts of Christian princes in serving -them, in merry-making and in appearing at public shows, but also to say -something of the Grand Turk’s[252] court, and much more particularly of -the court of the Sophi king of Persia.[336] For having heard, from -merchants who have been long in that country, that the noblemen there -are of great worth and gentle behaviour, and that in their intercourse -with one another, in their service to ladies and in all their actions, -they practise much courtesy and much discretion, and on occasion much -magnificence, much liberality and elegance in their weapons, games and -festivals,—I was glad to learn what ways they most prize in these -things, and in what their pomp and finery of dress and arms consist; in -what they differ from us, and in what they resemble us; what manner of -amusements their ladies practise and with what modesty show favour to -lovers. - -“But indeed it is not fitting to enter upon this discussion now, -especially as there is something else to say, and far more to our -purpose than this.” - -3.—“Nay,” said my lord Gaspar, “both this and many other things are more -to the purpose than to describe this Court Lady; seeing that the same -rules that are set the Courtier, serve also for the Lady; for she, like -the Courtier, ought to have regard to time and place, and (as far as her -stupidity permits) to follow all those other ways that have been so much -discussed. And therefore, in place of this, perhaps it would not have -been amiss to teach some of the details that pertain to the service of -the Prince’s person, for it is well befitting the Courtier to know them -and to show grace in practising them; or indeed to tell of the method to -be pursued in bodily exercises, such as riding, handling weapons and -wrestling, and to tell wherein consists the difficulty of these -accomplishments.” - -Then my lady Duchess said, laughing: - -“Princes do not employ the personal service of so admirable a Courtier -as this: and as for bodily exercises and physical strength and agility, -we will leave to our friend messer Pietro Monte the duty of teaching -them, when he shall deem the season more convenient; for now the -Magnifico must speak of nothing but this Lady, of whom, methinks, you -are already beginning to be afraid, and so would make us wander from our -subject.” - -Frisio replied: - -“Surely it is irrelevant and little to the purpose to speak of women -now, especially when more remains to be said about the Courtier, for we -ought not to mix one thing with another.” - -“You are much in errour,” replied messer Cesare Gonzaga; “for just as no -court, however great it be, can have in it adornment or splendour or -gaiety, without ladies, nor can any Courtier be graceful or pleasing or -brave, or perform any gallant feat of chivalry, unless moved by the -society and by the love and pleasure of ladies: so, too, discussion -about the Courtier is always very imperfect, unless by taking part -therein the ladies add their touch of that grace wherewith they perfect -Courtiership and adorn it.” - -My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: - -“There you have a taste of that bait which makes men fools.” - -[Illustration: - - GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI - “MY LORD MAGNIFICO” - 1479-1516 -] - -From Alinari’s photograph (no. 359) of the portrait, in the Uffizi - Gallery at Florence, painted by Alessandro Allori (1535-1607), and - believed to be a copy of an earlier portrait by Raphael. - -4.—Then my lord Magnifico, turning to my lady Duchess, said: - -“Since so it pleases you, my Lady, I will say what occurs to me, but -with very great fear of not satisfying. And in sooth it would be a far -lighter task to describe a lady worthy to be queen of the world, than a -perfect Court Lady: because of the latter I know not where to take my -model; while for the queen I should not need to go far, and it would be -enough for me to think of the divine accomplishments of a lady whom I -know,[337] and, lost in contemplation, to bend all my thoughts to -express clearly in words that which many see with their eyes; and if I -could do no more, by merely naming her I should have performed my task.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“Do not wander from your subject, my lord Magnifico, but hold to the -order given you and describe the Court Lady, to the end that so noble a -Lady as this may have someone competent to serve her worthily.” - -The Magnifico continued: - -“Then, my Lady, to show that your commands have power to induce me to -essay even that which I know not how to do, I will speak of this -excellent Lady as I would have her; and when I have fashioned her to my -liking, not being able then to have another such, like Pygmalion I will -take her for my own.[338] - -“And although my lord Gaspar has said that the same rules which are set -the Courtier, serve also for the Lady, I am of another mind; for while -some qualities are common to both and as necessary to man as to woman, -there are nevertheless some others that befit woman more than man, and -some are befitting man to which she ought to be wholly a stranger. The -same I say of bodily exercises; but above all, methinks that in her -ways, manners, words, gestures and bearing, a woman ought to be very -unlike a man; for just as it befits him to show a certain stout and -sturdy manliness, so it is becoming in a woman to have a soft and dainty -tenderness with an air of womanly sweetness in her every movement, -which, in her going or staying or saying what you will, shall always -make her seem the woman, without any likeness of a man. - -“Now, if this precept be added to the rules that these gentlemen have -taught the Courtier, I certainly think she ought to be able to profit by -many of them, and to adorn herself with admirable accomplishments, as my -lord Gaspar says. For I believe that many faculties of the mind are as -necessary to woman as to man; likewise gentle birth, to avoid -affectation, to be naturally graceful in all her doings, to be mannerly, -clever, prudent, not arrogant, not envious, not slanderous, not vain, -not quarrelsome, not silly, to know how to win and keep the favour of -her mistress and of all others, to practise well and gracefully the -exercises that befit women. I am quite of the opinion, too, that beauty -is more necessary to her than to the Courtier, for in truth that woman -lacks much who lacks beauty. Then, too, she ought to be more circumspect -and take greater care not to give occasion for evil being said of her, -and so to act that she may not only escape a stain of guilt but even of -suspicion, for a woman has not so many ways of defending herself against -false imputations as has a man. - -“But as Count Ludovico has explained very minutely the chief profession -of the Courtier, and has insisted it be that of arms, methinks it is -also fitting to tell what in my judgment is that of the Court Lady: and -when I have done this, I shall think myself quit of the greater part of -my duty. - -5.—“Laying aside, then, those faculties of the mind that she ought to -have in common with the Courtier (such as prudence, magnanimity, -continence, and many others), and likewise those qualities that befit -all women (such as kindness, discretion, ability to manage her husband’s -property and her house and children if she be married, and all those -capacities that are requisite in a good housewife), I say that in a lady -who lives at court methinks above all else a certain pleasant affability -is befitting, whereby she may be able to entertain politely every sort -of man with agreeable and seemly converse, suited to the time and place, -and to the rank of the person with whom she may speak, uniting with calm -and modest manners, and with that seemliness which should ever dispose -all her actions, a quick vivacity of spirit whereby she may show herself -alien to all indelicacy; but with such a kindly manner as shall make us -think her no less chaste, prudent and benign, than agreeable, witty and -discreet: and so she must preserve a certain mean (difficult and -composed almost of contraries), and must barely touch certain limits but -not pass them. - -“Thus, in her wish to be thought good and pure, the Lady ought not to be -so coy and seem so to abhor company and talk that are a little free, as -to take her leave as soon as she finds herself therein; for it might -easily be thought that she was pretending to be thus austere in order to -hide something about herself which she feared others might come to know; -and such prudish manners are always odious. Nor ought she, on the other -hand, for the sake of showing herself free and agreeable, to utter -unseemly words or practise a certain wild and unbridled familiarity and -ways likely to make that believed of her which perhaps is not true; but -when she is present at such talk, she ought to listen with a little -blush and shame. - -“Likewise she ought to avoid an errour into which I have seen many women -fall, which is that of saying and of willingly listening to evil about -other women. For those women who, on hearing the unseemly ways of other -women described, grow angry thereat and seem to disbelieve it and to -regard it almost monstrous that a woman should be immodest,—they, by -accounting the offence so heinous, give reason to think that they do not -commit it. But those who go about continually prying into other women’s -intrigues, and narrate them so minutely and with such zest, seem to be -envious of them and to wish that everyone may know it, to the end that -like matters may not be reckoned as a fault in their own case; and thus -they fall into certain laughs and ways that show they then feel greatest -pleasure. And hence it comes that men, while seeming to listen gladly, -usually hold such women in small respect and have very little regard for -them, and think these ways of theirs are an invitation to advance -farther, and thus often go such lengths with them as bring them deserved -reproach, and finally esteem them so lightly as to despise their company -and even find them tedious. - -“And on the other hand, there is no man so shameless and insolent as not -to have reverence for those women who are esteemed good and virtuous; -because this gravity (tempered with wisdom and goodness) is as it were a -shield against the insolence and coarseness of the presumptuous. Thus we -see that a word or laugh or act of kindness (however small it be) from a -virtuous woman is more prized by everyone, than all the endearments and -caresses of those who show their lack of shame so openly; and if they -are not immodest, by their unseemly laughter, their loquacity, insolence -and like scurrile manners, they give sign of being so. - -6.—“And since words that carry no meaning of importance are vain and -puerile, the Court Lady must have not only the good sense to discern the -quality of him with whom she is speaking, but knowledge of many things, -in order to entertain him graciously; and in her talk she should know -how to choose those things that are adapted to the quality of him with -whom she is speaking, and should be cautious lest occasionally, without -intending it, she utter words that may offend him. Let her guard against -wearying him by praising herself indiscreetly or by being too prolix. -Let her not go about mingling serious matters with her playful or -humourous discourse, or jests and jokes with her serious discourse. Let -her not stupidly pretend to know that which she does not know, but -modestly seek to do herself credit in that which she does know,—in all -things avoiding affectation, as has been said. In this way she will be -adorned with good manners, and will perform with perfect grace the -bodily exercises proper to women; her discourse will be rich and full of -prudence, virtue and pleasantness; and thus she will be not only loved -but revered by everyone, and perhaps worthy to be placed side by side -with this great Courtier as well in qualities of the mind as in those of -the body.” - -7.—Having so far spoken, the Magnifico was silent and sat quiet, as if -he had ended his discourse. Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Verily, my lord Magnifico, you have adorned this Lady well and given -her excellent qualities. Yet methinks you have kept much to -generalities, and mentioned some things in her so great that I think you -were ashamed to explain them, and have rather desired than taught them, -after the manner of those who sometimes wish for things impossible and -beyond nature. Therefore I would have you declare to us a little better -what are the bodily exercises proper to a Court Lady, and in what way -she ought to converse, and what those many things are whereof you say it -befits her to have knowledge; and whether you mean that she should use -the prudence, the magnanimity, the continence, and the many other -virtues you have named, merely to aid her in the government of her -house, children and family (which however you would not have her chief -profession), or indeed in her conversation and graceful practice of -those bodily exercises; and, by your faith, guard against setting these -poor virtues to such menial duty that they must needs be ashamed of it.” - -The Magnifico laughed, and said: - -“My lord Gaspar, you cannot help showing your ill will towards women. -But in truth I thought I had said enough, and especially before such -hearers; for I am quite sure there is no one here who does not perceive -that in the matter of bodily exercises it does not befit women to handle -weapons, to ride, to play tennis, to wrestle, and to do many other -things that befit men.” - -Then the Unico Aretino said: - -“Among the ancients it was the custom for women to wrestle unclothed -with men; but we have lost this good custom, along with many others.” - -Messer Cesare Gonzaga added: - -“And in my time I have seen women play tennis, handle weapons, ride, go -hunting, and perform nearly all the exercises that a cavalier can.” - -8.—The Magnifico replied: - -“Since I may fashion this Lady as I wish, not only am I unwilling to -have her practise such vigourous and rugged manly exercises, but I would -have her practise even those that are becoming to women, circumspectly -and with that gentle daintiness which we have said befits her; and thus -in dancing I would not see her use too active and violent movements, nor -in singing or playing those abrupt and oft-repeated diminutions which -show more skill than sweetness; likewise the musical instruments that -she uses ought, in my opinion, to be appropriate to this intent. Imagine -how unlovely it would be to see a woman play drums, fifes or trumpets, -or other like instruments; and this because their harshness hides and -destroys that mild gentleness which so much adorns every act a woman -does. Therefore when she starts to dance or make music of any kind, she -ought to bring herself to it by letting herself be urged a little, and -with a touch of shyness which shall show that noble shame which is the -opposite of effrontery. - -“Moreover, she ought to adapt her dress to this intent, and so to clothe -herself that she may not seem vain or frivolous. But since women may and -ought to take more care for beauty than men,—and there are divers sorts -of beauty,—this Lady ought to have the good sense to discern what those -garments are that enhance her grace and are most appropriate to the -exercises wherein she purposes to engage at the time, and to wear them. -And if she is conscious of possessing a bright and cheerful beauty, she -ought to set it off with movements, words and dress all tending towards -the cheerful; so too, another, who feels that her style is gentle and -serious, ought to accompany it with fashions of that sort, in order to -enhance that which is the gift of nature. Thus, if she is a little more -stout or thin than the medium, or fair or dark, let her seek help from -dress, but as covertly as possible; and while keeping herself dainty and -neat, let her always seem to give no thought or heed to it. - -9.—“And since my lord Gaspar further asks what these many things are -whereof she ought to have knowledge, and in what manner she ought to -converse, and whether her virtues ought to contribute to her -conversation,—I say I would have her acquainted with that which these -gentlemen wished the Courtier to know. And of the exercises that we have -said do not befit her, I would have her at least possess such -understanding as we may have of things that we do not practise; and this -in order that she may know how to praise and value cavaliers more or -less, according to their deserts. - -“And to repeat in a few words part of what has been already said, I wish -this Lady to have knowledge of letters, music, painting, and to know how -to dance and make merry; accompanying the other precepts that have been -taught the Courtier with discreet modesty and with the giving of a good -impression of herself. And thus, in her talk, her laughter, her play, -her jesting, in short, in everything, she will be very graceful, and -will entertain appropriately, and with witticisms and pleasantries -befitting her, everyone who shall come before her. And although -continence, magnanimity, temperance, strength of mind, prudence, and the -other virtues, seem to have little to do with entertainment, I would -have her adorned with all of them, not so much for the sake of -entertainment (albeit even there they can be of service), as in order -that she may be full of virtue, and to the end that these virtues may -render her worthy of being honoured, and that her every act may be -governed by them.” - -10.—My lord Gaspar then said, laughing: - -“Since you have given women letters and continence and magnanimity and -temperance, I only marvel that you would not also have them govern -cities, make laws, and lead armies, and let the men stay at home to cook -or spin.” - -The Magnifico replied, also laughing: - -“Perhaps even this would not be amiss.” Then he added: “Do you not know -that Plato, who certainly was no great friend to women, gave them charge -over the city, and gave all other martial duties to the men?[339] Do you -not believe that there are many to be found who would know how to govern -cities and armies as well as men do? But I have not laid these duties on -them, because I am fashioning a Court Lady and not a Queen. - -“I well know you would like to repeat tacitly that false imputation -which my lord Ottaviano cast on women yesterday: namely, that they are -very imperfect creatures, incapable of doing any good act, and of very -little worth and no dignity by comparison with men: but in truth both he -and you would be greatly in the wrong if you were to think this.” - -11.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I do not wish to repeat things already said; but you would fain lead me -to say something to offend these ladies’ feelings in order to make them -my enemies, just as you wish to win their favour by flattering them -falsely. But they are so much above other women in discretion that they -love truth (even if it be little in their favour) more than false -praises; nor do they take it amiss if anyone says that men are of -greater dignity, and will admit that you have recounted great miracles -and ascribed to the Court Lady certain absurd impossibilities, and so -many virtues that Socrates and Cato and all the philosophers in the -world are as nothing by comparison. To tell the plain truth, I marvel -that you were not ashamed to go so far beyond bounds; for it ought to -have been quite enough for you to make this Court Lady beautiful, -discreet, chaste, gracious, and able (without incurring infamy) to -entertain with dancing, music, games, laughter, witticisms, and the -other things which we see used at court every day. But to insist on -giving her knowledge of all the things in the world, and to attribute to -her those virtues that are so rarely seen in men even in past centuries, -is something that cannot be endured or hardly listened to. - -“Now, I am far from willing to affirm that women are imperfect -creatures, and consequently of less dignity than men, and not capable of -those virtues that men are,—because these ladies’ worth would suffice to -prove me wrong:[340] but I do say that very learned men have left it in -writing that since nature always aims and designs to make things most -perfect, she would continually bring forth men if she could; and when a -woman is born, it is a defect or mistake of nature, and contrary to that -which she would wish to do: as is seen also in the case of one who is -born blind or halt or with some other defect; and in trees, many fruits -that never ripen. Thus woman may be said to be a creature produced by -chance and accident; and that this is so, mark a man’s acts and a -woman’s, and judge therefrom the perfection of both. Yet, as these -imperfections of women are the fault of nature who has made them so, we -ought not on that account to hate them or fail to show them that respect -which is their due. But to esteem them above what they are, seems to me -plain errour.” - -12.—The Magnifico Giuliano waited for my lord Gaspar to continue -further, but seeing that he kept silent, said: - -“As to women’s imperfection, methinks you have adduced a very weak -argument; to which, although perhaps it be not timely to enter upon -these subtleties now, I reply (according to the opinion of one who knows -and according to truth) that the substance of anything you please cannot -receive into itself more or less. For just as no one stone can be more -perfectly stone than another as regards the essence of a stone, nor one -piece of wood more perfectly wood than another,—so one man cannot be -more perfectly man than another; and consequently the male will not be -more perfect than the female as regards its essential substance, because -both are included in the species man, and that wherein the one differs -from the other is an accidental matter and not essential. In case you -then tell me that man is more perfect than woman, if not in essence, at -least in non-essentials, I reply that these non-essentials must pertain -either to the body or to the mind; if to the body (as in that man is -more robust, more agile, lighter, or more capable of toil), I say that -this is proof of very slight perfection, because even among men, they -who have these qualities more than others have, are not more esteemed -therefor; and even in wars, where the greater part of the work is -laborious and a matter of strength, the strongest are yet not the most -prized; if to the mind, I say that all the things that men can -understand, the same can women understand too; and where the intellect -of the one penetrates, there also can that of the other penetrate.” - -13.—Having here made a little pause, the Magnifico Giuliano added, -laughing: - -“Do you not know that in philosophy this proposition is maintained, that -those who are tender in flesh are apt in mind? So there is no doubt that -women, being tenderer in flesh, are apter in mind, and of capacity -better fitted for speculation than men are.” Then he continued: - -“But leaving this aside, since you have told me to argue concerning the -perfection of both from their acts, I say that if you will consider the -workings of nature, you will find that she makes women what they are, -not by chance, but adapted to the necessary end: for although she makes -them not strong in body and of placid spirit, with many other qualities -opposed to those of men, yet the characters of both tend to one single -end conducive to the same use. For just as by reason of that feebleness -of theirs women are less courageous, so for the same reason they are -also more cautious: thus the mother nourishes her children, the father -instructs them and with his strength earns abroad that which she with -anxious care preserves at home, which is not the lesser merit. - -“Again, if you examine the ancient histories (albeit men have ever been -very chary of writing women’s praises) and the modern ones, you will -find that worth has continually existed among women as well as among -men; and that there have even been those who waged wars and won glorious -victories therein, governed kingdoms with the highest prudence and -justice, and did everything that men have done. As for the sciences, do -you not remember having read of many women who were learned in -philosophy? Others who were very excellent in poetry? Others who -conducted suits, and accused and defended most eloquently before judges? -Of handicrafts it would be too long to tell, nor is there need to bring -proof regarding that. - -“Therefore, if in essential substance man is not more perfect than -woman, nor in non-essentials either (and of this, quite apart from -argument, the effects are seen), I do not know in what consists this -perfection of his. - -14.—“And since you said that nature’s aim is always to bring forth the -most perfect things, and that she therefore would always bring forth man -if she could, and that the bringing forth of woman is rather an errour -or defect in nature than of purpose,—I reply that this is totally -denied; nor do I see how you can say that nature does not aim to bring -forth women, without whom the human species cannot be preserved, whereof -this same nature is more desirous than of everything else. For by means -of this union of male and female she brings forth children, who repay -the benefits received in childhood by maintaining their parents when -old; then in turn they beget other children of their own, from whom they -look to receive in old age that which they in their youth bestowed upon -their parents; thus nature, moving as it were in a circle, fills out -eternity and in this way grants immortality to mortals. Woman being -therefore as necessary in this as man, I do not see how the one was made -more by chance than the other. - -“It is very true that nature aims always to bring forth the most perfect -things, and hence means to bring forth man after his kind, but not male -rather than female. Nay, if she were always to bring forth male, she -would be working imperfection; for just as from body and soul there -results a compound more noble than its parts, which is man,—so from the -union of male and female there results a compound which preserves the -human species, and without which its members would perish. And hence -male and female are by nature always together, nor can the one exist -without the other; thus that ought not to be called male which has no -female, according to the definition of each; nor female, that which has -no male. And as one sex alone shows imperfection, the theologians of old -attribute both the one and the other to God:[341] wherefore Orpheus said -that Jove was male and female; and we read in Holy Writ that God formed -men male and female in his own likeness; and often the poets, speaking -of the gods, confuse the sex.” - -15.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I would not have us enter upon such subtleties, because these ladies -will not understand us, and although I answer you with excellent -arguments, they will believe (or at least pretend to believe) that I am -wrong, and straightway will pronounce judgment to their liking. Yet -since we are already begun, I will say merely this, that (as you know is -the opinion of very wise men) man resembles form, and woman matter; and -therefore, just as form is more perfect than matter,—nay, gives it its -being,—so man is far more perfect than woman. And I remember having once -heard that a great philosopher says in some of his problems:[342] ‘Why -is it that a woman always naturally loves the man who first tasted the -sweets of love with her? and on the contrary a man holds that woman in -hatred who was the first to give herself to him?’ And adding the reason, -he affirms it to be this: because in this matter the woman receives -perfection from the man, and the man imperfection from the woman; and -therefore everyone naturally loves that thing which makes him perfect, -and hates that which makes him imperfect. And besides this, a great -argument for the perfection of man and for the imperfection of woman is -that every woman universally desires to be a man, by a certain natural -instinct that teaches her to desire her perfection.” - -16.—The Magnifico Giuliano at once replied: - -“The poor creatures do not desire to be men in order to be perfect, but -in order to have liberty and to escape that dominion over them which man -has arrogated to himself by his own authority. And the analogy that you -cite of matter and form does not apply in everything; for woman is not -made perfect by man, as matter by form: because matter receives its -being from form and cannot exist without it; nay, the more matter forms -have, the more they have of imperfection, and are most perfect when -separated from it. But woman does not receive her being from man; nay, -just as she is made perfect by him, she also makes him perfect. Hence -both join in procreation, which neither of them can effect without the -other. - -“Therefore I will assign the cause of woman’s lasting love for the first -man to whom she has given herself, and of man’s hatred for the first -woman, not at all to that which your Philosopher alleges in his -problems, but to woman’s firmness and constancy, and to man’s -inconstancy; nor without natural reason: for being warm, the male -naturally derives from that quality lightness, movement and inconstancy, -while from her frigidity woman on the other hand derives quietness, firm -gravity, and more fixed impressions.” - -17.—Then my lady Emilia turned to my lord Magnifico and said: - -“For the love of Heaven, leave these matters and forms of yours awhile, -and male and female, and speak in such fashion that you may be -understood; for we heard and understood very well the evil that my lord -Ottaviano and my lord Gaspar said of us, but now we do not at all -understand in what manner you are defending us: so it seems to me that -you are straying from the subject and leaving in everyone’s mind that -bad impression which these enemies of ours have given of us.” - -“Do not give us that name, my Lady,” replied my lord Gaspar, “for it -better befits my lord Magnifico, who by bestowing false praises upon -women shows that there are none true of them.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano continued: - -“Do not doubt, my Lady, that answer will be made to everything. But I do -not wish to utter such inordinate abuse of men as they have uttered of -women; and if by chance there were anyone to write down our discussions, -I should not like, in a place where these matters and forms are -understood, to have the arguments and reasons that my lord Gaspar -adduces against you, appear to have been without reply.” - -“I do not see, my lord Magnifico,” my lord Gaspar then said, “how in -this matter you will be able to deny that man is by his natural -qualities more perfect than woman, who is frigid by temperament, and man -warm. And warmth is far nobler and more perfect than cold, because it is -active and productive; and, as you know, the heavens send down only -warmth upon us here, and not cold, which does not enter into the works -of nature. And hence I believe that the frigidity of women’s temperament -is the cause of their abasement and timidity.” - -18.—“So you too,” replied the Magnifico Giuliano, “wish to enter into -subtleties; but you shall see that you will always have the worst of it: -and that this is true, listen. - -“I grant you that warmth is in itself more perfect than cold; but this -is not the case with things mixed and composite; for if it were so, that -body which is warmer would be more perfect, which is false, because -temperate bodies are most perfect. Moreover, I tell you that woman is of -frigid temperament by comparison with man, who by excess of warmth is -far from temperate; but as for her, she is temperate (or at least more -nearly temperate than man is) because she has in her a moisture -proportioned to her natural warmth, which in man usually evaporates by -reason of excessive dryness and is consumed. Furthermore, her coldness -is of the kind that resists and moderates her natural warmth and makes -it more nearly temperate; while in man the surplus warmth soon raises -his natural heat to the highest pitch, which wastes away for lack of -sustenance. And thus, as men lose more in procreation than women do, it -often happens that they are less long lived than women; wherefore this -perfection also may be ascribed to women, that, living longer than men, -they perform better than men that which is the intent of nature. - -“Of the warmth that the heavens shed upon us I do not speak now, because -it is of a different sort from that which we are discussing; for being -preservative of all things under the moon’s orb, warm as well as cold, -it cannot be hostile to cold. But timidity in women, although it shows -some imperfection, yet springs from a praiseworthy source, that is, from -the subtlety and readiness of their wits, which picture images to their -minds quickly and thus are easily disturbed by things external. You will -very often see men who fear neither death nor anything else, and yet -cannot be called courageous, because they do not know the danger and go -like fools where they see the road open, and think no further; and this -proceeds from a certain grossness of dull wits: wherefore we cannot say -that a fool is brave. But true loftiness of mind comes from a due -deliberation and determined resolve to act thus and so, and from -esteeming honour and duty above all the dangers in the world; and from -being of such stout heart and courage (although death be manifest), that -the senses are not clogged or frightened, but perform their office in -speech and thought as if they were most quiet. We have seen and heard -that great men are of this sort; likewise many women, who both in -ancient and in modern times have displayed greatness of spirit and have -wrought upon the world effects worthy of infinite praise, not less than -men have done.” - -19.—Then Frisio said: - -“These effects began when the first woman by her transgression led -others to transgress against God, and left the human race an heritage of -death, sufferings, sorrows, and all the miseries and calamities that are -felt in the world to-day.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“Since you too are pleased to enter upon sacred things, do you not know -that this transgression was repaired by a Woman, who brought us much -greater gain than the other had done us injury, so that the guilt is -called most fortunate which was atoned by such merits? But I do not now -mean to tell you how inferior in dignity all human creatures are to our -Lady the Virgin (in order not to mingle things divine with these light -discussions of ours); nor to recount how many women have, with infinite -constancy, suffered themselves to be cruelly slain by tyrants for -Christ’s name, nor those who by learned disputation have confuted so -many idolaters. And if you told me that this was a miracle and grace of -the Holy Spirit, I say that no virtue merits more praise than that which -is approved by the testimony of God. Many other women also, of whom -there is less talk, you yourself can see,—especially by reading Saint -Jerome, who celebrates certain ones of his time with such admiring -praises as might well suffice for the saintliest man on earth.[343] - -20.—“Then consider how many others there have been, of whom no mention -is made at all, because the poor creatures are kept shut up, without the -lofty pride to seek the name of saint from the rabble, as many accursed -hypocrites do to-day, who,—forgetful or rather regardless of Christ’s -teaching, which requires that when a man fasts he shall anoint his face -in order that he may not seem to fast, and commands that prayers, alms, -and other good works shall be done, not in the market-place nor in -synagogues, but in secret, so that the left hand shall not know of the -right,—affirm that there is no greater good thing in the world than to -give a good example: and so, with averted head and downcast eyes, -noising it abroad that they will not speak to women or eat anything but -raw herbs,—dirty, with cassocks torn, they beguile the simple. Yet they -abstain not from forging wills, setting mortal enmities between man and -wife, and sometimes poison, using sorceries, incantations and every sort -of villainy. And then they cite a certain authority out of their own -head, which says, _si non caste, tamen caute_;[344] and with this they -think to cure every great evil, and with good arguments to persuade -anyone who is not right wary that all sin, however grave it be, is -easily pardoned of God, provided it remain secret and do not give rise -to bad example. Thus, under a veil of sanctity and in secret they often -turn all their thoughts to corrupt the pure mind of some woman; often to -sow hatred between brothers; to govern states; to raise up one and cast -another down; to get men beheaded, imprisoned and proscribed; to be -ministers of the villainies and as it were receivers of the thefts that -many princes commit. - -“Others shamelessly delight to appear dainty and fresh, with well-shaven -crown and garments fine, and in walking lift the cassock to display -their neat hose and their comeliness of person in making salutations. -Others use certain glances and gestures even in saying mass, whereby -they imagine they are graceful and attract attention. Villainous and -wicked men, utter strangers not only to religion but to all good -behaviour; and when they are reproved for their loose living, they make -a jest of it and laugh at him who speaks to them of it, and almost make -a merit of their vices.” - -Then my lady Emilia said: - -“You take such pleasure in speaking ill of friars, that you have entered -upon this subject without rhyme or reason. But you are very wrong to -murmur against ecclesiastics, and you burden your conscience quite -needlessly; since, but for those who pray to God for us, we should have -much greater scourges than we have.” - -Then the Magnifico Giuliano laughed, and said: - -“How did you guess so well, my Lady, that I was speaking of friars, when -I did not name them? But in truth what I do is not called murmuring, for -I speak very openly and plainly; nor am I speaking of the good, but of -the bad and guilty, of whom moreover I do not tell the thousandth part -of what I know.” - -“Do not speak of friars now,” replied my lady Emilia; “because for my -part I esteem it grievous sin to listen to you, and so I shall go away -in order not to listen to you.” - -21.—“I am content,” said the Magnifico Giuliano, “to speak no more of -this; but returning to the praises of women, I say that my lord Gaspar -shall not find me an admirable man, but I will find you a wife or -daughter or sister of equal and sometimes greater merit. Moreover, many -women have been the cause of countless benefits to their men-folk, and -sometimes have corrected many a one of his errours. Wherefore, women -being (as we have shown) naturally capable of the same virtues as men, -and the effects thereof being often seen, I do not perceive why,—in -giving them what it is possible for them to have, what they more than -once have had and still have,—I should be regarded as relating miracles, -whereof my lord Gaspar has accused me; seeing that there have always -been on earth, and now still are, women as like the Court Lady I have -fashioned, as men like the man these gentlemen have fashioned.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Those arguments that have experience against them do not seem to me -good; and certainly if I were to ask you who these great women were that -have been as worthy of praise as the great men whose wives or sisters or -daughters they were, or that have been the cause of any benefit, and who -those were that have corrected the errours of their men-folk,—I think -you would be embarrassed.” - -22.—“Verily,” replied the Magnifico Giuliano, “no other thing could make -me embarrassed save their multitude; and had I time enough, I should -tell you here the story of Octavia,[345] wife of Mark Antony and sister -of Augustus; that of Porcia,[346] Cato’s daughter and wife of Brutus; -that of Caia Cæcilia,[347] wife of Tarquinius Priscus; that of -Cornelia,[348] Scipio’s daughter; and of countless others who are very -celebrated: and not only of our own, but of barbarian nations; as that -of Alexandra,[349] wife of Alexander king of the Jews, who,—after her -husband’s death, when she saw the people kindled with fury and already -up in arms to slay the two children that he had left her, in revenge for -the cruel and grievous bondage in which the father had always kept -them,—so acted that she soon appeased their just wrath, and by her -prudence straightway won over for her children those minds which the -father, by countless injuries during many years, had made very hostile -to his offspring.” - -“At least tell us,” replied my lady Emilia, “how she did it.” - -“Seeing her children in such peril,” said the Magnifico, “she at once -caused Alexander’s body to be cast into the middle of the market-place. -Then, having called the citizens to her, she said that she knew their -minds to be kindled with very just wrath against her husband, because -the cruel injuries that he had iniquitously done them deserved it; and -that, as she had always wished, while he was alive, that she could make -him abstain from such a wicked life, so now she was ready to give proof -of it, and as far as possible to help them punish him after death; and -therefore let them take his body, and give it as food for dogs, and -outrage it in the most cruel ways they could devise: but she prayed them -to have mercy upon her innocent children, who could not have either -guilt or even knowledge of the father’s evil deeds. Of such efficacy -were these words, that the fierce wrath before conceived in the minds of -all that people was quickly softened and turned to a feeling of such -pity, that they not only with one accord chose the children for their -rulers, but also gave most honourable burial to the body of the dead.” - -Here the Magnifico made a little pause; then he added: - -“Do you not know that the wife and daughters of Mithridates showed much -less fear of death than Mithridates?[350] And Hasdrubal’s wife than -Hasdrubal?[351] Do you not know that Harmonia, daughter of Hiero the -Syracusan, chose to perish in the burning of her native city?”[352] - -Then Frisio said: - -“Where obstinacy is concerned, it is certain that some women are -occasionally to be found who never change their purpose; like the one -who being no longer able to say ‘Scissors’ to her husband, made the sign -of them to him with her hands.”[353] - -23.—The Magnifico Giuliano laughed, and said: - -“Obstinacy that tends to a worthy end ought to be called steadfastness; -as was the case of the famous Epicharis, a Roman freedwoman, who, being -privy to a great conspiracy against Nero, was of such steadfastness -that, although racked by all the direst tortures that can be imagined, -she never betrayed one of her accomplices; while in the same peril many -noble knights and senators basely accused brothers, friends and the -dearest and nearest they had in the world.[354] - -“What will you say of that other woman who was called Leæna? In whose -honour the Athenians dedicated a tongueless lioness (_leæna_) in bronze -before the gate of the citadel, to show in her the steadfast virtue of -silence; because being likewise privy to a conspiracy against the -tyrants, she was not dismayed by the death of two great men (her -friends), and although rent by countless most cruel tortures, she never -betrayed one of the conspirators.”[355] - -Then madonna Margarita Gonzaga said: - -“Methinks you narrate too briefly these virtuous deeds done by women; -for these enemies of ours, although having heard and read them, yet -pretend not to know them and fain would have the memory of them lost: -but if you will let us women hear them, we at least shall deem ourselves -honoured by them.” - -24.—Then the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“So be it. I wish to tell you now of one who did what I think my lord -Gaspar himself will admit very few men do;” and he began: “In -Massilia[356] there was once a custom that is believed to have been -brought from Greece, which was that they publicly[357] kept a poison -compounded of hemlock, and allowed anyone to take it who proved to the -Senate that he ought to lay down his life because of any trouble that he -found therein, or for other just cause, to the end that whoever had -suffered a too hostile fortune or had enjoyed a too prosperous fortune, -should not drag on the one or change the other. Now Sextus Pompey, -finding himself—”[358] - -Here Frisio, not waiting for the Magnifico Giuliano to go on, said: - -“Methinks this is the beginning of a long story.” - -Then the Magnifico Giuliano turned to madonna Margarita laughing, and -said: - -“You see that Frisio will not let me speak. I wished to tell you now -about a woman who, having shown to the Senate that she had good reason -to die, cheerfully and fearlessly took the poison in Sextus Pompey’s -presence, with such steadfastness of spirit and with such affectionate -and thoughtful remembrances to her family, that Pompey and all the -others who saw such wisdom and confidence on a woman’s part in the dread -hour of death, were lost in wonderment and tears.” - -25.—Then my lord Gaspar said, laughing: - -“I too remember having read a speech in which an unhappy husband asks -leave of the Senate to die, and proves that he has just cause for it in -that he cannot endure the continual annoyance of his wife’s chatter, and -prefers to drink the poison, which you say was publicly kept for such -purposes, than his wife’s words.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“How many poor women would have just cause for asking leave to die -because they cannot endure, I will not say the evil words, but the very -evil deeds of their husbands! I know several such, who suffer in this -world the pains that are said to be in hell.” - -“Do you not believe,” replied my lord Gaspar, “that there are also many -husbands who have such torment of their wives that they hourly wish for -death?” - -“And what pain,” said the Magnifico, “can wives give their husbands that -is as incurable as are those that husbands give their wives?—who if not -for love, at least for fear, are submissive to their husbands.” - -“Certain it is,” said my lord Gaspar, “that the little good they -sometimes do proceeds from fear, since there are few in the world who in -their secret hearts do not hate their husbands.” - -“Nay, quite the contrary,” replied the Magnifico; “and if you recall -aright what you have read, we see in all the histories that wives nearly -always love their husbands more than husbands love their wives. When did -you ever see or read of a husband showing his wife such a token of love -as did the famous Camma to her husband?” - -“I do not know,” replied my lord Gaspar, “who the woman was, nor what -token she showed.” - -“Nor I,” said Frisio. - -“Listen,” replied the Magnifico; “and do you, madonna Margarita, take -care to keep it in mind. - -26.—“This Camma was a very beautiful young woman, adorned with such -modesty and gentle manners that she was admirable no less for this than -for her beauty; and above other things with all her heart she loved her -husband, who was called Synattus. It happened that another gentleman, -who was of much higher station than Synattus and almost tyrant of the -city where they lived, became enamoured of this young woman; and after -having long tried by every way and means to possess her, and all in -vain, he persuaded himself that the love she bore her husband was the -sole cause that hindered his desires, and had this Synattus slain. - -“So then urging her continually, he was never able to gain other -advantage than he had done at first; wherefore, his love increasing -daily, he resolved to take her for his wife, although she was far -beneath him in station. So, her parents being asked by Sinoris (for thus -the lover was called), they began to persuade her to accept him, showing -her that her consent would be very advantageous, and her refusal -dangerous to her and to them all. After resisting them awhile, she at -last replied that she was willing. - -“Her parents had the news brought to Sinoris, who was happy beyond -measure and arranged that the marriage should be celebrated at once. -Both having accordingly come in state for the purpose to the temple of -Diana, Camma had a certain sweet drink brought which she had prepared; -and so before Diana’s image she drank half of it in the presence of -Sinoris; then with her own hand (for thus it was the custom to do at -marriages) she gave the rest to her spouse, who drank it all. - -“When Camma saw that her plan had succeeded, she knelt all joyful at the -foot of Diana’s image, and said: - -“‘O Goddess, thou who knowest the secrets of my heart, be thou sure -witness for me how hardly I refrained from putting myself to death after -my dear consort died, and with what weariness I bore the sorrow of -remaining in this bitter life, wherein I felt no other good or pleasure -beyond the hope of that vengeance which now I find I have attained. -Joyful and content, then, I go to seek the sweet company of that soul -which in life and in death I have loved more than myself. And thou, -wretch, who thoughtest to be my husband, instead of the marriage bed -give order that thy tomb be made ready for thee, for I offer thee as a -sacrifice to the shade of Synattus.’ - -“Aghast at these words, and already feeling the effect of the poison -stir pain within him, Sinoris tried many remedies; but they were of no -avail, and Camma had such great good fortune (or whatever else it was), -that before dying herself she knew that Sinoris was dead. Learning which -thing, she very contentedly laid herself upon her bed with eyes to -heaven, continually calling the name of Synattus, and saying: - -“‘O sweetest consort, now that I have given both tears and vengeance as -last offerings for thy death, nor see that aught else is left me to do -for thee, I hasten from the world and this life,—cruel without thee and -once dear to me only for thy sake. Come then to meet me, my Lord, and -receive this soul as gladly as it gladly comes to thee.’ - -“And speaking thus, and with arms opened as if she would already embrace -him, she died. Now say, Frisio, what do you think of her?”[359] - -Frisio replied: - -“I think you fain would make these ladies weep. But even supposing this -were true, I tell you that such women are no longer to be found in the -world.” - -27.—“Indeed they are to be found,” said the Magnifico; “and that this is -true, listen: - -“In my time there was a gentleman at Pisa, whose name was messer -Tommaso; I do not remember of what family, although I often heard it -mentioned by my father, who was a great friend of his. Now this messer -Tommaso, crossing one day in a small vessel from Pisa to Sicily on -business, was surprised by some Moorish galleys which had come up so -stealthily that those who commanded the vessel did not suspect it; and -although the men who were in her defended themselves stoutly, yet as -they were few and the enemy many, the vessel fell into the hands of the -Moors, together with all who were in her, both wounded and whole as it -chanced, and among them messer Tommaso, who had carried himself bravely -and slain with his own hand a brother of one of the captains of the -galleys. Wherefore enraged, as you may believe, by the loss of a -brother, the captain claimed him as special prisoner, and beating and -maltreating him every day, carried him to Barbary, having resolved to -keep him there in great misery a captive for life and with grievous -pains. - -“All the others got free after a time, some in one way and some in -another, and returned home and reported to his wife (whose name was -madonna Argentina) and to his children, the hard life and sore -affliction in which messer Tommaso was living and was like to go on -living without hope unless God should aid him miraculously. After she -and they were informed of this and had tried several other means to -deliver him, and when he himself was quite resigned to die, it came to -pass that watchful love so kindled the wit and daring of one of his -sons, who was called Paolo, that the youth took no heed of any kind of -danger and resolved either to die or to free his father; and this thing -was brought about in such sort that the father was conveyed away so -privily that he was in Leghorn before it was discovered in Barbary that -he had departed thence. From here messer Tommaso wrote in safety to his -wife, and informed her of his deliverance and where he was and how he -hoped to see her the next day. Overwhelmed with great and unexpected joy -at being (through the dutifulness and merit of her son) so soon to see -her husband, whom she so dearly loved and firmly believed she would -never see again,—the good and gentle lady raised her eyes to heaven when -she had read the letter, and calling her husband’s name fell dead upon -the ground; nor in spite of all the remedies that were employed upon her -did the departed spirit return again to her body. Cruel spectacle, and -enough to moderate human wishes and restrain their over-longing for too -much joy.” - -28.—Then Frisio said, laughing: - -“How do you know that she did not die of grief at hearing that her -husband was coming home?” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“Because the rest of her life did not comport with this; nay, I think -that her soul, unable to brook delay in seeing him with the eyes of her -body, forsook it, and, drawn by eagerness, quickly flew whither her -thought had flown on reading the letter.” - -My lord Gaspar said: - -“It may be that this lady was too loving, for women always run to -extremes in everything, which is bad; and you see that by being too -loving she wrought evil to herself, and to her husband and children, for -whom she turned to bitterness the joy of his perilous and longed-for -deliverance. So you ought by no means to cite her as one of those women -who have been the cause of such great benefits.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“I cite her as one of those who bear witness that there are wives who -love their husbands; for of those who have been the cause of great -benefits to the world, I could tell you of an endless number, and -discourse to you of some so ancient that they almost seem fabulous, and -of those who among men have been the inventors of such things, that they -deserved to be esteemed as goddesses, like Pallas and Ceres; and of the -Sibyls,[360] by whose mouth God has so often spoken and revealed to the -world events that were to come; and of those who have instructed very -great men, like Aspasia,[361] and like Diotima,[362] who furthermore by -her sacrifices delayed for ten years the time of a pestilence that was -to come upon Athens. I could tell you of Nicostrate,[363] Evander’s -mother, who taught the Latins letters; and of still another woman,[364] -who was preceptress to the lyric poet Pindar;[365] and of Corinna[366] -and of Sappho,[367] who were excellent in poetry; but I do not wish to -seek out matters so far afield. I tell you, however (leaving the rest -apart), that women were perhaps not less the cause of Rome’s greatness -than men.” - -“This,” said my lord Gaspar, “would be fine to hear.” - -29.—The Magnifico replied: - -“Then listen to it. After the fall of Troy many Trojans fled who escaped -that great disaster, some in one direction and some in another; of whom -one part, who were buffeted by many storms, came to Italy at that place -where the Tiber flows into the sea. Landing here in search of -necessaries, they began to roam about the country: the women, who had -remained in the ships, bethought themselves of a good plan that would -put an end to their perilous and long wandering by sea and give them a -new fatherland in place of that which they had lost; and after -consulting together in the absence of the men, they burned the ships; -and the first to begin the work bore the name Roma. Yet fearing the -wrath of the men, who were returning, they went out to meet these; and -embracing and kissing, some their husbands, some their kinsmen, with -tokens of affection, they softened the first impulse of anger; then they -quietly explained to the men the reason of their wise device. Whereupon -the Trojans, either from necessity or from having been kindly received -by the natives, were well pleased with what the women had done, and -dwelt there with the Latins in the place where afterwards was Rome; and -from this arose the ancient custom among the Romans that the women -kissed their kinsfolk when they met.[368] Now you see how much these -women helped to make a beginning of Rome. - -30.—“Nor did the Sabine women contribute less to its increase than the -Trojan women did to its beginning. For Romulus, having excited general -enmity among all his neighbours by the seizure of their women, was -harassed by wars on every side; which (he being a man of ability) were -soon brought to a successful issue, except that with the Sabines, which -was very great because Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, was very -powerful and wise. Wherefore, a severe conflict having taken place -between Romans and Sabines, with very heavy loss on both sides, and a -new and cruel battle making ready, the Sabine women,—clad in black, with -hair loose and torn, weeping, sorrowful, fearless of the weapons that -were already drawn to strike,—rushed in between the fathers and -husbands, imploring them to refrain from defiling their hands with the -blood of fathers-in-law and sons-in-law. And if the men were still -displeased with the alliance, let the weapons be turned against the -women, for it were better for them to die than to live widowed or -fatherless and brotherless, and to remember that their children were -begotten of those who had slain their fathers, or that they themselves -were born of those who had slain their husbands. Lamenting thus and -weeping, many of them carried their little babes in their arms,[369] -some of whom were already beginning to loose the tongue and seemed to -try to call and to make merry with their grandsires; to whom the women -showed the little ones, and said, weeping: ‘Behold your blood, which -with such heat and fury you are seeking to shed with your own hands.’ - -“The women’s dutifulness and wisdom wrought such great effect at this -pass, that not only were lasting friendship and union established -between the two hostile kings, but what was stranger, the Sabines came -to live at Rome, and of the two peoples a single one was made. And thus -this union greatly increased the power of Rome, thanks to those wise and -lofty-minded women, who were rewarded by Romulus in such fashion that in -dividing the people into thirty wards he gave thereto the names of the -Sabine women.” - -31.—Here having paused a little, and seeing that my lord Gaspar did not -speak, the Magnifico Giuliano said: - -“Do you not think that these women were the cause of good to their -men-folk and contributed to the greatness of Rome?” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“No doubt they were worthy of much praise; but had you been as willing -to tell the sins of women as their good works, you would not have -omitted to say that in this war of Titus Tatius a woman betrayed Rome -and showed the enemy the way to seize the Capitol, whereby the Romans -came near being all destroyed.”[370] - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“You tell me of a single bad woman, while I tell you of countless good -ones; and besides those already mentioned, I could show you a thousand -other instances on my side, of benefits done to Rome by women, and could -tell you why a temple was dedicated of old to Venus Armata,[371] and -another to Venus Calva,[372] and how the Festival of the Handmaidens was -instituted in honour of Juno because handmaidens once delivered Rome -from the wiles of the enemy.[373] But leaving all these things aside, -did not that lofty deed—the discovery of Cataline’s conspiracy, whereof -Cicero so vaunts himself—spring chiefly from a vile woman?[374]—who for -this might be said to have been the cause of all the good that Cicero -boasts of having wrought the Roman commonwealth. And had I time enough, -I should further show you that women have often corrected many of men’s -errours; but I fear that this discourse of mine is already too long and -wearisome: so, having performed according to my ability the task imposed -upon me by these ladies, I think it well to give place to someone who -will say things worthier to be listened to than any I can say.” - -32.—Then my lady Emilia said: - -“Do not deprive women of those true praises that are their due; and -remember that if my lord Gaspar, and perhaps my lord Ottaviano as well, -listen to you with weariness, we and all these other gentlemen listen to -you with pleasure.” - -The Magnifico still wished to stop, but all the ladies began begging him -to speak: whereupon he said, laughing: - -“In order not to make my lord Gaspar more my enemy than he is, I will -tell briefly of a few women who occur to my mind, omitting many that I -might mention.” Then he continued: “When Philip, son of Demetrius, was -laying siege to the city of Chios, he issued an edict promising freedom -and their masters’ wives to all slaves who should escape from the city -and come to him. So great was the women’s wrath at this shameful edict -that they rushed to the walls in arms, and fought so fiercely that in a -short time they drove Philip off with disgrace and loss: which their -husbands had not been able to do.[375] - -“When these same women came to Leuconia with their husbands, fathers and -brothers (who were going into exile), they performed a deed no less -glorious than this: the Erythræans,[376] who were there with their -allies, waged war upon these Chiotes, who were unable to resist, and so -bound themselves to quit the city in tunic and shift only. Hearing of -this shameful bargain, the women bewailed and upbraided the men for -abandoning their weapons and going forth almost naked among the enemy; -and the men answering that they were already bound, the women told them -to wear their shields and spears and leave their clothes behind, and to -tell the enemy that this was their attire. And thus, acting upon the -advice of their women, they in great part atoned for the shame that they -could not wholly escape. - -“Again, Cyrus having routed an army of Persians in battle, in fleeing to -their city they met their women outside the gate, who, stopping in the -way, said: ‘Whither do ye flee, base men? Would ye perchance hide -yourselves in us, from whence ye came?’ On hearing these and other like -words, and being sensible how inferior they were in courage to their -women, the men were ashamed, and returning against the enemy, fought -with him anew and routed him.”[377] - -33.—Having thus far spoken, the Magnifico stopped, and turning to my -lady Duchess, said: - -“Now, my Lady, you will give me leave to be silent.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“You will forsooth have to be silent, for you do not know what more to -say.” - -The Magnifico said, laughing: - -“You provoke me so, that you run risk of having to listen to women’s -praises all night; and to hear of many Spartan women who rejoiced in the -glorious death of their children;[378] and of those who disowned or even -slew theirs when seen to behave basely. Then how in the ruin of their -country the Saguntine women took up arms against the forces of -Hannibal;[379] and how, when Marius overcame the army of the Germans, -the women, being unable to get leave to live free at Rome in the service -of the Vestal Virgins, all killed themselves and their little -children;[380] and of a thousand others whereof all the ancient -histories are full.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Ah, my lord Magnifico, but God knows how those things happened; for -that age is so remote from us that many lies can be told and there is -none to refute them.” - -34.—The Magnifico said: - -“If in every age you will compare women’s worth with that of men, you -will find that they have never been and are not now at all inferior to -men in worth; for leaving aside the times that are so ancient, if you -come to the time when the Goths ruled in Italy, you will find that there -was a queen among them, Amalasontha,[381] who long reigned with -admirable wisdom; then Theodolinda,[382] queen of the Lombards, of -singular worth; Theodora,[383] the Greek empress; and in Italy among -many others the Countess Matilda was a most illustrious lady, of whose -praises I will leave Count Ludovico to speak, since she was of his -family.”[384] - -“Nay,” said the Count, “that rests with you, for you know it does not -become a man to praise what is his own.” - -The Magnifico continued: - -“And how many women in times past do you find belonging to this most -noble house of Montefeltro![385] How many of the house of Gonzaga, of -Este, of Pio![386] Then, if we wish to speak of the present times, we -shall have no need to seek very far for instances, because we have them -at home. But I shall not avail myself of those we see before us, lest -you pretend to grant me out of courtesy that which you can in no wise -deny. And to go outside of Italy, remember that we in our day have seen -Queen Anne of France,[387] a very great lady not less in worth than in -state; and if you will compare her in justice and clemency, liberality -and pureness of life, with Kings Charles[388] and Louis[250] (to both of -whom she was consort), you will not find her at all their inferior. You -see madonna Margarita[389] (daughter of the Emperor Maximilian)[390] who -has until now governed and still governs her state with the utmost -wisdom and justice. - -35.—“But laying all others aside, tell me, my lord Gaspar, what king or -what prince has there been in our days, or even for many years past in -Christendom, who deserves to be compared with Queen Isabella of -Spain?”[391] - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“King Ferdinand, her husband.”[392] - -The Magnifico continued: - -“That I shall not deny; for since the queen judged him worthy to be her -husband, and so loved and honoured him, we cannot say that he did not -deserve to be compared with her: yet I believe that the fame he had by -her was a dowry not inferior to the kingdom of Castile.” - -[Illustration: - - ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC - 1451-1504 -] - -Much enlarged from a part of Laurent’s photograph (no. 533) of an - altar-piece, formerly in the royal chapel of the Convent of St. - Thomas de Avila, but now in the Prado Gallery at Madrid. It was - painted about 1491 by order of the Inquisitor Torquemada, and has - been attributed to Miguel Zittoz. - -“Nay,” replied my lord Gaspar, “I think that Queen Isabella had credit -for many of King Ferdinand’s deeds.” - -Then the Magnifico said: - -“Unless the people of Spain,—lords, commons, men and women, poor and -rich,—have all agreed to lie in praise of her, there has not been in our -time on earth a brighter example of true goodness, of lofty spirit, of -wisdom, of piety, of purity, of courtesy, of liberality,—in short, of -every virtue,—than Queen Isabella; and although the fame of that -illustrious lady is very great in every place and among every nation, -those who lived in her company and were witness to her actions, do all -affirm that this fame sprang from her virtue and merits. And whoever -will consider her deeds will easily perceive such to be the truth. For -leaving aside countless things that give proof of this and could be told -if it were our theme, everyone knows that when she came to reign she -found the greater part of Castile usurped by the grandees; yet she -recovered the whole so righteously and in such fashion that the very men -who were deprived of it, remained very devoted to her and content to -give up that which they possessed. - -“A very noted thing also is with what courage and wisdom she always -defended her realms against very powerful enemies; and likewise to her -alone can be given the honour of the glorious conquest of the kingdom of -Granada; for in this long and difficult war against obstinate -enemies,—who were fighting for property, for life, for religion, and (to -their thinking) for God,—she always showed, both in her counsel and in -her very person, such virtue that perhaps few princes in our time have -had the hardihood, I will not say to imitate, but even to envy her. - -“Besides this, all who knew her affirm that she had such a divine manner -of ruling that her mere wish seemed enough to make every man do quietly -that which he ought to do; so that men hardly dared in their own houses -and secretly to do anything they thought would displease her: and in -great part the cause of this was the admirable judgment she had in -discerning and choosing right agents for the duties she meant to employ -them in; and so well did she know how to unite the rigour of justice -with the gentleness of mercy and liberality, that in her day there was -no good man who complained of being ill rewarded, nor any bad man of -being too severely punished. Thus there sprang up among the people an -exceeding great reverence for her, composed of love and fear, which -still remains so implanted in the minds of all, that they almost seem to -think that she looks down upon them from heaven and must bestow praise -or blame upon them from above; and thus those realms are still governed -by her name and the methods she ordained, so that although her life is -at an end, her authority lives,—like a wheel which, long revolved with -force, still turns of itself for a good space, although nothing more -impels it. - -“Consider also, my lord Gaspar, that in our times nearly all the men in -Spain who are great or famous for anything whatever, were made so by -Queen Isabella; and Consalvo Ferdinando, the Great Captain, was far -prouder of this than of all his famous victories, and of those eminent -and worthy deeds which have made him so bright and illustrious in peace -and war, that if fame is not very thankless, she will always herald his -immortal praises to the world, and give proof that we have in our age -had few kings or great princes who have not been surpassed by him in -magnanimity, wisdom, and in every virtue. - -36.—“Returning now to Italy, I say that here too there is no lack of -very admirable ladies; for in Naples we have two remarkable queens;[393] -and a short time since there died at Naples also the other queen of -Hungary,[394] you know how admirable a lady, and worthy to be the peer -of the unconquerable and glorious king, Matthias Corvinus, her -husband.[395] Likewise the Duchess Isabella of Aragon, worthy sister to -King Ferdinand of Naples; who (like gold in the fire) showed her virtue -and worth amid the storms of fortune.[396] - -[Illustration: - - ISABELLA D’ESTE - MARCHIONESS OF MANTUA - 1474-1539 -] - -Reduced from a part of Braun’s photograph (no. 34.093) of the portrait - by Titian (1477-1576) in the Imperial Museum at Vienna. The picture - was painted about 1536 from a portrait painted about 1511 by - Francesco Raibolini, better known as Francia, (1450-1517). See - Alessandro Luzio’s article in the _Emporium_ (Bergamo), nos. 65-6. - -“If you come to Lombardy, you will find my lady Isabella, Marchioness of -Mantua;[397] to whose very admirable virtues injustice would be done in -speaking as soberly as in this place anyone must needs do who would -speak of her at all. I regret, too, that you did not all know her sister -the Duchess Beatrice of Milan, in order that you might never more have -need to marvel at woman’s capacity.[398] And Eleanora of Aragon, Duchess -of Ferrara and mother of both these two ladies whom I have mentioned, -was of such sort that her very admirable virtues bore good witness to -all the world that she not only was a worthy daughter of a king, but -deserved to be queen over a much greater realm than all her ancestors -had possessed.[399] And to tell you of another, how many men do you know -in the world who have borne the cruel blows of fortune as patiently as -Queen Isabella of Naples has done?[400]—who, after the loss of her -kingdom, the exile and death of her husband King Federico[401] and of -two children, and the captivity of her first-born, the Duke of -Calabria,[402] still shows herself to be a queen, and so endures the -grievous burdens of bitter poverty as to give all men proof that -although her fortunes are changed, her rank is not. - -“I refrain from mentioning countless other ladies, and also women of low -degree; like many Pisan women, who in defence of their city against the -Florentines displayed that generous daring, without any fear of death, -which might have been displayed by the most unconquerable souls that -have ever been on earth; wherefore some of them have been celebrated by -many noble poets.[403] - -“I could tell you of some who were very excellent in letters, in music, -in painting, in sculpture; but I do not wish to go on selecting from -among these instances that are perfectly well known to you all. It is -enough that if you reflect upon the women whom you yourselves know, it -is not difficult for you to perceive that they are for the most part not -inferior in worth and merits to their fathers, brothers and husbands; -and that not a few have been the source of good to men and often have -corrected many a one of his errours; and if there are not now to be -found on earth those great queens who march to the conquest of distant -lands, and erect great buildings, pyramids and cities,—like that famous -Tomyris, Queen of Scythia, Artemisia, Zenobia, Semiramis or -Cleopatra,[404]—neither are there men like Cæsar, Alexander, Scipio, -Lucullus and those other Roman commanders.” - -37.—“Say not so,” replied Frisio, laughing; “for now more than ever are -there women to be found like Cleopatra or Semiramis; and if they have -not such great states, power and riches, yet they lack not the good will -to imitate those queens in giving themselves pleasure, and in satisfying -as far as they can all their appetites.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano said: - -“You always wish to go beyond bounds, Frisio; but if there are some -Cleopatras to be found, there is no lack of countless Sardanapaluses, -which is far worse.”[405] - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Do not draw these comparisons, or imagine that men are more incontinent -than women; and even if they were so, it would not be worse, for from -women’s incontinence countless evils result that do not from men’s. -Therefore, as was said yesterday, it is wisely ordained that women are -allowed to fail in all other things without blame, to the end that they -may be able to devote all their strength to keeping themselves in this -one virtue of chastity; without which their children would be uncertain, -and that tie would be dissolved which binds the whole world by blood and -by the natural love of each man for what he has produced. Hence loose -living is more forbidden to women than to men, who do not carry their -children for nine months within them.” - -38.—Then the Magnifico replied: - -“Verily these are fine arguments which you cite, and I do not see why -you do not commit them to writing. - -“But tell me why it is not ordained that loose living is as disgraceful -a thing in men as in women, seeing that if men are by nature more -virtuous and of greater worth, they could all the more easily practise -this virtue of continence also; and their children would be neither more -nor less certain, for although women were unchaste, they could of -themselves merely and without other aid in no wise bear children, -provided men were continent and did not take part in women’s unchastity. -But if you will say the truth, even you know that we men have of our own -authority arrogated to ourselves a licence, whereby we insist that the -same sins are in us very trivial and sometimes praiseworthy, and in -women cannot be sufficiently punished, unless by shameful death or -perpetual infamy at least. - -“Wherefore, since this opinion is prevalent, methinks it were a fitting -thing to punish severely those also who with lies cast infamy on women; -and I think that every noble cavalier is bound always to defend the -truth with arms where there is need, and especially when he knows some -woman to be falsely accused of little chastity.” - -39.—“And I,” replied my lord Gaspar, laughing, “not only affirm that -which you say is the duty of every noble cavalier, but I think that it -is an act of great courtesy and gentleness to conceal the fault a woman -may have committed through mischance or over-love; and thus you may see -that I am more on the side of women, where reason permits it, than you -are. - -“I do not, indeed, deny that men have taken a little liberty; and this -because they know that according to universal opinion loose living does -not bring them the infamy that it does to women; who by reason of the -frailty of their sex are much more inclined towards their appetites than -men are; and if they sometimes refrain from satisfying their desires, -they do so from shame and not because their will is not quite ready. -Therefore men have put the fear of infamy upon them as a bridle to keep -them almost by force to this virtue, without which they were in truth -little to be prized; for the world has no good from women except the -bearing of children. - -“But this is not the case with men, who rule cities and armies, and do -so many other things of importance. Since you will have it so, I do not -care to deny that women can do these things; it is enough that they do -not. And when men have seen fit to set a pattern of continence, they -have excelled women in this virtue as well as in the others also, -although you do not admit it. And as to this I will not rehearse so many -histories and fables as you have done, but merely refer you to the -continence of two very great young lords, and to their victory, which is -wont to make even men of lowest rank insolent. One is that of Alexander -the Great towards the very beautiful women of Darius,—an enemy, and a -vanquished one at that;[406] the other, of Scipio, who having at the age -of twenty-four years taken a city in Spain by force, there was brought -before him a very beautiful and noble young woman, captured along with -many others; and hearing that she was the bride of a gentleman of the -country, Scipio not only abstained from any wanton act towards her, but -restored her unspotted to her husband, bestowing a rich gift upon her -besides.[407] - -“I could tell you of Xenocrates,[408] who was so continent that a very -beautiful woman having laid herself down unclothed beside him, and -employing all the caresses and using all the arts that she knew, whereof -she was an admirable mistress, she had not the power to make him show -the slightest sign of impudicity, although she tried one whole night -long; and of Pericles, who on merely hearing someone praise a boy’s -beauty with overwarmth, reproved him sharply;[409] and of many others -who have been very continent of their own choice, and not from shame or -fear of punishment, which move most women who practise this virtue: who -for all that deserve to be highly praised, and he who falsely casts the -infamy of unchasteness upon them is worthy of the heaviest punishment, -as you have said.” - -40.—Then messer Cesare, who had been silent a long while, said: - -“Think in what fashion my lord Gaspar is wont to speak in blame of -woman, if these are the things that he says in their praise. But if my -lord Magnifico will let me say a few things in his stead by way of reply -to such matters as my lord Gaspar has, to my thinking, said falsely -against women, it were well for both of us; as he will rest awhile and -then be better able to go on to declare some other excellence of the -Court Lady, and I shall hold myself much favoured at having an -opportunity to share with him this duty of a good cavalier—that is, to -defend the truth.” - -“Nay, I pray you do so,” replied my lord Magnifico; “for methinks I have -already fulfilled my duty to the extent of my powers, and this -discussion is now outside my subject.” - -Messer Cesare continued: - -“I am far from wishing to speak of the good that women do in the world -besides the bearing of children, for it has been sufficiently shown how -necessary they are not only to our being, but to our well-being; but I -say, my lord Gaspar, that if they are as you say more inclined to their -appetites than men, and if for all that they abstain therefrom more than -men, which you admit,—they are as much worthier of praise as their sex -is less strong to resist their natural appetites. And if you say they do -it from shame, methinks that in place of a single virtue you give them -two; for if shame is stronger in them than appetite and they for that -reason abstain from evil acts, I think that this shame (which in short -is nothing else but fear of infamy) is a very rare virtue and one -possessed by very few men. And if I could, without infinite disgrace to -men, tell how many of them are plunged in shamelessness (which is the -vice opposed to this virtue), I should pollute these chaste ears that -hear me. These offenders against God and nature are for the most part -men already old, who make a calling, some of the priesthood, some of -philosophy, some of sacred law; and govern public affairs with a -Catonian severity of countenance that gives promise of all the integrity -in the world; and always allege the feminine sex to be very incontinent; -nor do they ever lament anything more than their loss of natural vigor, -which renders them unable to satisfy the abominable desires that still -linger in their thoughts after being denied by nature to their bodies; -and hence they often find ways wherein strength is not necessary. - -41.—“But I do not wish to say more; and it is enough for me that you -grant me that women abstain from unchaste living more than men; and -certain it is that they are restrained by no other bridle than that -which they themselves put on. That this is true, the greater part of -those who are confined with too close care, or beaten by their husbands -or fathers, are less chaste than those who have some liberty. - -“But a great bridle to women generally is their love of true virtue and -their desire for honour, whereof many whom I have known in my time make -more account than of their very life; and if you will say the truth, -every one of us has seen very noble youths, discreet, wise, valiant and -beautiful, spend many years in love, without omitting aught of care, of -gifts, of prayers, of tears, in short, of anything that can be imagined; -and all in vain. And but that I might be told that my qualities have -never made me worthy of ever being loved, I should call myself as -witness, who have more than once been nigh to death because of a woman’s -unchangeable and too stern chastity.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“Marvel not at that: for women who are always wooed refuse to please him -who wooes them; and they who are not wooed, woo others.”[410] - -42.—Messer Cesare said: - -“I have never known these men who are wooed by women; but very many who, -on finding that they have tried in vain and spent time foolishly, resort -to this noble revenge, and say they have had an abundance of that which -they have only imagined, and think it a kind of courtiership to speak -evil and invent tales to the end that slanderous stories of some noble -lady may spring up among the rabble. But such as these, who make vile -boast (whether true or false) of conquering a gentle lady, deserve -punishment or torture most severe; and if they sometimes meet it, we -cannot measure the praise due to those who perform the office. For if -they are telling lies, what villainy can be greater than to steal from a -worthy lady that which she values more than life? And for no other -reason than that which ought to win endless praise for her? Again, if -they are telling the truth, what punishment could suffice for a man who -is so vile as to reward with such ingratitude a woman, who,—vanquished -by false flatteries, by feigned tears, by continual wooing, by laments, -by arts, tricks and perjuries,—has suffered herself to be led into too -great love, and then without reserve has fondly given herself a prey to -such a malign spirit? - -“But to answer you further touching that unheard-of continence of -Alexander and Scipio which you have cited, I say I am unwilling to deny -that both performed an act worthy of much praise; yet to the end that -you may not be able to say that in rehearsing ancient matters I tell you -fables, I wish to cite a woman of low degree in our own times, who -showed far more continence than these two great men. - -43.—“I say, then, that I once knew a beautiful and gentle girl, whose -name I do not tell you lest you give food for slander to many fools, who -conceive a bad opinion of a woman as soon as they hear of her being in -love. Well, this girl having been long loved by a noble and -well-conditioned youth, began to love him with all her mind and heart; -and of this not only I (to whom she voluntarily confided everything as -if I had been, I will not say her brother, but her dearest sister), but -all those who saw her in the presence of the beloved youth, were very -certain of her passion. Loving thus as fervently as a very loving soul -can love, she maintained such continence for two years that she never -gave this youth any token of loving him, except such as she could not -hide; neither would she ever speak to him or receive letters from him or -gifts, although a day never passed but she was besought to do both. And -I well know how she longed for it, because if she was sometimes able to -possess anything secretly that had been the youth’s, she held it so dear -that it seemed to be the source of her life and all her weal; and never -in all that time would she grant him other pleasure than to see him and -let herself be seen, and to dance with him as with the others when she -took part in public festivals. - -“And since they were well suited to each other in condition, the girl -and the youth desired that their great love might end happily, and that -they might be man and wife together. The same was desired by all the -other men and women of their city, except her cruel father, who out of -perverse and strange caprice wished to marry her to another and richer -man; and to this the unhappy girl opposed naught but very bitter tears. -And the ill-starred marriage having been concluded, with much pity from -the people and to the despair of the poor lovers, even this blow of -fortune did not avail to destroy the love so deeply rooted in their -hearts; which still endured for the space of three years, although she -very prudently concealed it and sought in every way to stifle those -desires that now were hopeless. And all this time she kept her stern -resolve of continence; and as she could not honourably possess him whom -alone in the world she adored, she chose not to wish for him in any -wise, and to follow her custom of accepting neither messages nor gifts -nor even glances from him; and in this fixed resolve, the poor girl, -overcome by sharpest anguish and grown very wasted from long passion, -died at the end of three years, preferring to renounce the joys and -pleasures so eagerly desired, and at last her very life, rather than her -honour. Nor was she without ways and means of satisfying herself quite -secretly and without risk of disgrace or any other harm; and yet she -abstained from that which she herself so greatly desired and towards -which she was so urged continually by the person whom alone in the world -she desired to please: nor was she moved therein by fear or any other -motive than mere love of true virtue. - -“What will you say of another, who for six months spent nearly every -night with a dearly cherished lover; yet, in a garden full of sweetest -fruits, invited by her own most ardent longing and by the prayers and -tears of one dearer to her than life itself, she refrained from tasting -them; and although she was caught and held in the fast bonds of those -beloved arms, she never yielded herself vanquished, but preserved the -flower of her chastity immaculate. - -44.—“Do you think, my lord Gaspar, that these acts of continence are -equal to Alexander’s?—who (being most ardently enamoured, not of -Darius’s women, but of that fame and greatness which incited him by -thirst for glory to endure toils and dangers to make himself immortal) -spurned not only other things, but his own life, in order to win renown -above all other men. And do we marvel that with such thoughts at heart -he abstained from something he did not much desire? For since he had -never seen the women before, he could not possibly love them in a -moment, but perhaps even loathed them because of his enemy Darius; and -in that case every wanton act of his towards them would have been -outrage and not love. Hence it is no great thing that Alexander, who -conquered the world no less by magnanimity than by arms, abstained from -doing outrage to women. - -“Scipio’s continence also is much to be praised. Yet if you consider -rightly, it is not to be compared with these two women’s; for he too -likewise abstained from something not desired;—being in a hostile -country, newly in command, at the beginning of a very important -enterprise; having left great expectations of himself at home, and bound -to render an account to very strict judges, who often punished very -small mistakes as well as great, and among whom he knew he had enemies; -conscious also that if he acted otherwise (the lady being very noble and -married to a very noble lord), he might arouse so many enemies and in -such fashion that they might long hinder and perhaps quite snatch away -his success. Hence, for reasons thus many and important, he abstained -from a light and harmful wish, displaying continence and generous -uprightness; which, as it is written, gave him the entire good will of -those nations, and was worth another army to him, wherewith by -gentleness to conquer hearts that perhaps would have been unconquerable -by force of arms.[411] - - . . . . . . - -“Forgive me, my lord Gaspar, if I say the truth, for in short these are -the miraculous continences that men write about themselves while -accusing women of incontinence, in whom we every day see countless -tokens of continence; for in truth, if you consider well, there is no -fortress so impregnable and well defended that, if it were assailed with -a thousandth part of the wiles and tricks that are employed to overcome -the steadfast heart of woman, it would not surrender at the first -assault. - -“How many creatures of great lords,—enriched by them and placed in very -high esteem, entrusted with their castles and fortresses, whereon depend -their whole state, life and weal,—have basely and sordidly surrendered -these to such as had no right thereto, without shame or fear of being -called traitors? And would to God there were so great a dearth of such -men in our days, that we might have no more trouble to find a man who -had done his duty in this regard, than to name those who have failed in -theirs. Do we not see many others who daily go about slaying men in the -forest and scouring the sea solely to steal money? - -“How many prelates sell the property of God’s church! How many lawyers -forge wills! How many perjurers bear false witness only to get money! -How many physicians poison the sick to the same end! Again, how many do -the vilest things from fear of death! And yet a tender and delicate girl -often resists all these sharp and hard encounters; for many have been -found who preferred death rather than lose their chastity.” - -47.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“These, messer Cesare, I believe are not on earth to-day.” - -Messer Cesare replied: - -“I will not cite the ancients now; but I tell you this, that many would -be and are to be found, who in such case do not fear to die. And now I -remember that when Capua was sacked by the French (which was not so long -ago that you cannot recall it very well),[412] a beautiful young Capuan -lady being led out of her house, where she had been captured by a -company of Gascons, when she reached the river that flows through -Capua,[413] she pretended that she wished to tie her shoe, so that he -who was leading her let her go a little, and she suddenly threw herself -into the river. - -“What will you say of a peasant girl, who not many months ago, at -Gazuolo in the Mantuan territory,[414] went with her sister to reap corn -in the fields, and being overcome with thirst, entered a house for a -drink of water; and the master of the house, who was a young man, seeing -that she was very beautiful and alone, took her in his arms, and first -with soft words, and then with threats, sought to persuade her to his -wishes; and she resisting more and more stubbornly, he at last overcame -her with many blows and with force. So, dishevelled and weeping, she -went back to her sister in the field, nor would she for all her sister’s -urgent questioning tell what outrage she had received in that house; but -on the way home, feigning to grow calmer little by little and to speak -quite without agitation, she gave her sister some directions. Then when -she came to the Oglio, which is the river that flows by Gazuolo,[415] -she left her sister a little behind not knowing or imagining what she -meant to do, and suddenly threw herself in. Wailing and weeping her -sister ran after her as fast as possible along the bank of the river, -which was bearing her down-stream very rapidly: and each time the poor -creature rose to the surface, her sister threw her a cord which they had -to bind the corn, and although the cord reached her hands several times -(for she was still near the bank), the steadfast and determined girl -always refused it and put it from her; and thus rejecting every aid that -might save her life, she soon died: nor was she moved by nobility of -birth, nor by fear of most cruel death or of infamy, but solely by grief -for her lost virginity.[416] - -[Illustration: - - LUDOVICO GONZAGA - BISHOP OF MANTUA - 1458-1511 -] - -From a photograph, specially made by Signor Lanzoni, of a part of the - fresco, “The Return of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga,” in the _Sala - degli Sposi_ of the Gonzaga Palace at Mantua, painted not later than - 1474 by Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506). See Woltmann’s _Geschichte der - Malerei_, ii, 268. - -“Now from this you can understand how many other women, who are not -known, perform acts most worthy of praise; for although this one gave -such proof of her virtue only three days since, as one may say, there is -no talk of her and even her name is unknown. But if the death of our -lady Duchess’s uncle, the Bishop of Mantua,[417] had not occurred at -that time, the bank of the Oglio, at the place where she threw herself -in, would have been graced by a very beautiful monument to the memory of -that glorious soul, which deserved so much the brighter fame after -death, because in life it dwelt in a less noble body.” - -48.—Here messer Cesare made a little pause; then he continued: - -“At Rome, in my day, there happened another like case; and it was that a -beautiful and noble Roman girl, being long pursued by one who seemed to -love her much, was never willing to favour him at all, even with a -single look. So, by means of money he corrupted one of her women; who, -desirous of satisfying him in order to get more money from him, -persuaded her mistress to visit the church of San Sebastiano on a -certain day of small solemnity;[418] and having made everything known to -the lover and shown him what he must do, she led the girl to one of -those dark caves which nearly all who go to San Sebastiano are wont to -visit; and in this the young man was already hidden secretly. - -“Finding himself alone with her whom he loved so much, he began in all -ways to beg her as gently as he could to have pity on him and change her -former hardness to love. But after he saw all his prayers to be in vain, -he had resort to threats, which failing too, he began to beat her -cruelly; at last, although firmly resolved to attain his end, by force -if necessary, and therein employing the help of the infamous woman who -had led her thither, he was never able to bring her to consent. Nay, -with both word and deed (although she had little strength), the poor -girl defended herself to the last: so that partly from anger at seeing -that he could not obtain what he desired, partly from fear lest her -relatives might make him suffer for it when they learned the thing, this -wretch, with the help of the servant (who feared the like), strangled -the unhappy girl and left her there; and having fled, he took means not -to be discovered. Blinded by her very crime, the servant could not flee, -and being taken into custody on suspicion, confessed everything and so -was punished as she deserved. - -“The body of the steadfast and noble girl was taken from that cave with -the greatest honour and brought to Rome for burial, with a laurel crown -upon her head, and accompanied by a countless host of men and women; -among whom there was no one who went home without tears in his eyes; and -thus was this rare soul universally mourned as well as praised by all -the people. - -49.—“But to speak to you of those whom you yourselves know, do you not -remember having heard that when my lady Felice della Rovere was -journeying to Savona,[419] and feared that some sails that were sighted -were vessels of Pope Alexander in pursuit of her, she made ready with -fixed resolve to cast herself into the sea, in case they should come up -and there was no remedy by flight: and it is in no wise to be believed -that she acted in this from lightness, for you know as well as any other -with what intelligence and wisdom this lady’s singular beauty was -accompanied. - -“Nor can I refrain from saying a word of our lady Duchess, who having -for fifteen years lived like a widow in company with her husband, not -only was steadfast in never revealing this to anyone in the world, but -when urged by her own people to lay aside her widowhood, she chose -rather to endure exile, poverty and every other sort of hardship, than -to accept that which seemed to all others great favour and blessing of -fortune;”[420] and as messer Cesare was going on to speak of this, my -lady Duchess said: - -“Speak of something else, and go no further with this subject, for you -have many other things to say.” - -Messer Cesare continued: - -“Yet I know you will not deny this, my lord Gaspar, nor you, Frisio.” - -“Indeed no,” replied Frisio; “but one does not make a host.” - -50.—Then messer Cesare said: - -“It is true that such great results as these are met in few women: -still, those also who withstand the assaults of love are all admirable; -and those who are sometimes overcome deserve much pity: for certainly -the urgence of lovers, the arts they use, the snares they spread, are so -many and so continual that it is but too great a wonder that a tender -girl can escape. What day, what hour, ever passes that the persecuted -girl is not besought by the lover with money, gifts and all things that -must please her? When can she ever go to her window, but she shall -always see her persistent lover pass, silent in word but with eyes that -speak, with sad and languid face, with those burning sighs, often with -most abundant tears? When does she ever go forth to church or other -place, but he is always before her, and meets her at every turn of the -street with his melancholy passion depicted in his eyes, as if he were -expecting instant death? I leave aside the fripperies, inventions, -mottoes, devices, festivals, dances, games, masques, jousts, -tourneys!—all which things she knows are made for her. - -“Then at night she can never wake but she hears music, or at least his -unquiet spirit sighing about the house walls and making lamentable -sounds. If by chance she wishes to speak to one of her women, the wench -(already corrupted with money) soon has ready a little gift, a letter, a -sonnet or some such thing to give her on the lover’s behalf, and then -coming in opportunely, makes her understand how the poor man is burning -with love, and in her service cares naught for his own life; and how he -seeks nothing from her that is less than seemly, and only desires to -speak with her. Then remedies are found for all difficulties, false -keys, rope ladders, sleeping potions; the thing is painted as of little -consequence; instances are given of many other women who do far worse. -Thus everything is made so easy that she has no further trouble than to -say, ‘I am willing.’ And even if the poor girl holds back for a time, -they add so many inducements, find so many ways, that with their -continual battering they break down that which stays her. - -“And when they see that blandishments do not avail them, there are many -who have resort to threats and say they will accuse the woman to her -husband of being what she is not. Others bargain boldly with the fathers -and often with the husbands, who for money or to get favours give their -own daughters and wives as an unwilling prey. Others seek by -incantations and sorceries to steal from them that liberty which God has -bestowed upon their souls: whereof startling results are seen. - -“But I could not in a thousand years rehearse all the wiles that men -employ to bring women to their wishes, for the wiles are infinite; and -besides those that every man finds for himself, writers have not been -lacking who have ingeniously composed books and therein taken every -pains to teach how women are to be duped in these matters.[421] Now, -among so many snares, think how there can be any safety for these simple -doves, lured by such sweet bait. And what wonder is it, then, if a woman -(seeing herself thus loved and adored for many years by a beautiful, -noble and accomplished youth, who a thousand times a day puts himself in -danger of death to serve her, nor ever thinks of aught but to please -her) is finally brought to love him by continual wearing (as water wears -the hardest marble), and, conquered by this passion, contents him with -that which you say she in the weakness of her sex desires more than her -lover? Do you think that this errour is so grave that the poor creature -who has been caught by so many flatteries, does not deserve even that -pardon which is often vouchsafed to homicides, thieves, assassins and -traitors? Will you insist that this offence is so heinous that because -you find some woman commits it, womankind ought to be wholly despised -and held universally devoid of continence, without regard to the many -who are found unconquerable, and who are proof against love’s continual -incitements, and firmer in their infinite constancy than rocks against -the surges of the ocean?” - -51.—Messer Cesare having ceased speaking, my lord Gaspar then began to -reply, but my lord Ottaviano said, laughing: - -“For the love of Heaven, pray grant him the victory, for I know you will -profit little; and methinks I see that you will make not only all these -ladies your enemies, but the greater part of the men also.” - -My lord Gaspar laughed, and said: - -“Nay, the ladies have great cause to thank me; for if I had not gainsaid -my lord Magnifico and messer Cesare, all these praises which they have -bestowed upon women would not have been heard.” - -[Illustration: - - FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC - 1452-1516 -] - -Much enlarged from a part of Laurent’s photograph (no. 533) of an - altar-piece, formerly in the royal chapel of the Convent of St. - Thomas de Avila, but now in the Prado Gallery at Madrid. It was - painted about 1491 by order of the Inquisitor Torquemada, and has - been attributed to Miguel Zittoz. - -Then messer Cesare said: - -“The things that my lord Magnifico and I have said in praise of women, -and many others too, were very well known and hence superfluous. - -“Who does not know that without women we can feel no content or -satisfaction throughout this life of ours, which but for them would be -rude and devoid of all sweetness and more savage than that of wild -beasts? Who does not know that women alone banish from our hearts all -vile and base thoughts, vexations, miseries, and those turbid -melancholies that so often are their fellows? and if you will consider -well the truth, we shall also see that in our understanding of great -matters women do not hamper our wits but rather quicken them, and in war -make men fearless and brave beyond measure. And certainly it is -impossible for vileness ever again to rule in a man’s heart where once -the flame of love has entered; for whoever loves desires always to make -himself as lovable as he can, and always fears lest some disgrace befall -him that may make him to be esteemed lightly with her by whom he desires -to be esteemed highly. Nor does he stop at risking his life a thousand -times a day to show himself worthy of her love: hence whoever could form -an army of lovers and have them fight in the presence of the ladies of -their love, would conquer all the world, unless there were opposed to it -another army similarly in love. And be well assured that Troy’s ten -years’ resistance against all Greece proceeded from naught else but a -few lovers, who on sallying forth to battle, armed themselves in the -presence of their women; and often these women helped them and spoke -some word to them at leaving, which inflamed them and made them more -than men. Then in battle they knew that they were watched by their women -from the walls and towers; wherefore it seemed to them that every act of -hardihood they performed, every proof they gave, won them their women’s -praise, which was the greatest reward they could have in the world. - -“There are many who think that the victory of King Ferdinand of Spain -and Queen Isabella against the King of Granada was in great part due to -women; for very often when the Spanish army went out to meet the enemy, -Queen Isabella went out also with all her maids of honour, and in the -army went many noble cavaliers who were in love. These always went -conversing with their ladies until they reached the place where the -enemy were seen, then taking leave each of his own lady, they went on in -this presence to meet the enemy with that fierce spirit which was -aroused in them by their love and by the desire to make their ladies -sensible of being served by men of valour; thus a very few Spanish -cavaliers were often found putting a host of Moors to flight and to -death, thanks to gentle and beloved women. - -“So I do not see, my lord Gaspar, what perversity of judgment has led -you to cast reproach on women. - -52.—“Do you not know that the origin of all the graceful exercises that -give pleasure in the world is to be ascribed to none other than to -women? Who learns to dance and caper gallantly for aught else than to -please women? Who studies the sweetness of music for other cause than -this? Who tries to compose verses, in the vernacular at least, unless to -express those feelings that are inspired by women? Think how many very -noble poems we should be deprived of, both in the Greek tongue and in -the Latin, if women had been lightly esteemed by the poets. But to pass -all the others by, would it not have been a very great loss if messer -Francesco Petrarch, who so divinely wrote his loves in this language of -ours, had turned his mind solely to things Latin, as he would have done -if the love of madonna Laura had not sometimes drawn him from them?[422] -I do not name you the bright geniuses now on earth and present here, who -every day put forth some noble fruit and yet choose their subject only -from the beauties and virtues of women. - -“You see that Solomon, wishing to write mystically of things lofty and -divine, to cover them with a graceful veil composed a fervent and tender -dialogue between a lover and his sweetheart, deeming that he could not -here below find any similitude more apt and befitting things divine than -love for women; and in this way he tried to give us a little of the -savour of that divinity which he both by knowledge and by grace knew -better than the rest.[423] - -“Hence there was no need, my lord Gaspar, to dispute about this, or at -least so wordily: but by gainsaying the truth you have prevented us from -hearing a thousand other fine and weighty matters concerning the -perfection of the Court Lady.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“I believe nothing more is left to say; yet if you think that my lord -Magnifico has not adorned her with enough good qualities, the fault lay -not with him, but with the one who arranged that there are not more -virtues in the world; for the Magnifico gave her all there are.” - -My lady Duchess said, laughing: - -“You shall now see that my lord Magnifico will find still others.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“Indeed, my Lady, methinks I have said enough, and for my part I am -content with this Lady of mine; and if these gentlemen will not have her -as she is, let them leave her to me.” - -53.—Here everyone remaining silent, messer Federico said: - -“My lord Magnifico, to spur you on to say something more, I should like -to put you a question concerning what you would have the chief business -of the Court Lady, and it is this: that I wish to hear how she ought to -conduct herself with respect to one detail which seems to me very -important; for although the excellent qualities wherewith you have -endowed her include genius, wisdom, good sense, ease of bearing, -modesty, and so many other virtues, whereby she ought in reason to be -able to converse with everyone and on every theme, still I think that -more than anything else she needs to know that which belongs to -discussions on love. For as every gentle cavalier uses those noble -exercises, elegances and fine manners that we have mentioned, as a means -to win the favour of women, to this end likewise he employs words; and -not only when he is moved by passion, but often also to do honour to the -lady with whom he is speaking, since he thinks that to give signs of -love for her is a proof that she is worthy of it, and that her beauty -and merits are so great that they compel every man to serve her. - -“Hence I fain would know how this lady ought to converse on such a theme -discreetly, and how reply to him who loves her truly, and how to him who -makes a false pretence thereof; and whether she ought to feign not to -understand, whether to return his love or to refuse, and how conduct -herself.” - -54.—Then my lord Magnifico said: - -“It would be needful to teach her first to distinguish those who pretend -to love and those who love truly; then, as to returning love or not, I -think she ought not to be governed by any others’ wish but her own.” - -Messer Federico said: - -“Then teach her what are the surest and safest signs to discern false -love from true, and with what proof she ought to be content in order to -be sure of the love shown her.” - -The Magnifico replied, laughing: - -“I know not, for men to-day are so cunning that they make false -pretences without end, and sometimes weep when they have great wish to -laugh; hence it were necessary to send them to Isola Ferma under the -True Lovers’ Arch.[424] - -“But to the end that this Lady of mine (of whom it behooves me to take -special care, since she is my creation) may not fall into those errours -wherein I have seen many others fall, I should tell her not to be quick -to believe herself loved, nor act like some who not only do not feign -not to understand when court is paid to them even covertly, but at the -first word accept all the praise that is given them, or decline it with -a certain air that is rather an invitation to love for those with whom -they are speaking, than a refusal. - -“Therefore the course of conduct that I wish my Court Lady to pursue in -love talk, will be to refuse always to believe that whoever pays court -to her for that reason loves her: and if the gentleman shall be as pert -as many are, and speak to her with small respect, she will give him such -answer that he may clearly understand he is causing her annoyance. -Again, if he shall be discreet and use modest phrases and words of love -covertly, with that gentle manner which I think the Courtier fashioned -by these gentlemen will employ, the lady will feign not to understand -and will apply his words in another sense, always modestly trying to -change the subject with that skill and prudence which have been said -befit her. If, again, the talk is such that she cannot feign not to -understand, she will take it all as a jest, pretending to be aware that -it is said to her more out of compliment to her than because it is so, -depreciating her merits and ascribing the praises that he gives her to -the gentleman’s courtesy; and in this way she will win a name for -discretion and be safer against deceit. - -“After this fashion methinks the Court Lady ought to conduct herself in -love talk.” - -55.—Then messer Federico said: - -“My lord Magnifico, you discourse of this matter as if everyone who pays -court to women must needs speak lies and seek to deceive them: if the -which were true, I should say that your teachings were sound; but if -this cavalier who is speaking loves truly and feels that passion which -sometimes so sorely afflicts the human heart, do you not consider in -what pain, in what calamity and mortal anguish you put him by insisting -that the lady shall never believe anything he says on this subject? -Ought his supplications, tears, and many other signs to go for naught? -Have a care, my lord Magnifico, lest it be thought that besides the -natural cruelty which many of these ladies have in them, you are -teaching them still more.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“I spoke not of him who loves, but of him who entertains with amourous -talk, wherein one of the most necessary conditions is that words shall -never be lacking. But just as true lovers have glowing hearts, so they -have cold tongues, with broken speech and sudden silence; wherefore -perhaps it would not be a false assumption to say: ‘Who loves much, -speaks little.’ Yet as to this I believe no certain rule can be given, -because of the diversity of men’s habits; nor could I say anything more -than that the Lady must be very cautious, and always bear in mind that -men can declare their love with much less danger than women can.” - -56.—Then my lord Gaspar said, laughing: - -“Would you not, my lord Magnifico, have this admirable Lady of yours -love in return even when she knows that she is loved truly? For if the -Courtier were not loved in return, it is not conceivable that he should -go on loving her; and thus she would lose many advantages, and -especially that service and reverence with which lovers honour and -almost adore the virtue of their beloved.” - -“As to that,” replied the Magnifico, “I do not wish to give advice; but -I do say that I think love, as you understand it, is proper only for -unmarried women; for when this love cannot end in marriage, the lady -must always find in it that remorse and sting which things illicit give -her, and run risk of staining that reputation for chastity which is so -important to her.” - -Then messer Federico replied, laughing: - -“This opinion of yours, my lord Magnifico, seems to me very austere, and -I think you have learned it from some preacher—one of those who rebuke -women for loving laymen, in order to have themselves the better part -therein. And methinks you impose too hard a rule on married women, for -many of them are to be found whose husbands bear them the greatest -hatred without cause, and affront them grievously, sometimes by loving -other women, sometimes by causing them all the annoyances possible to -devise; some against their will are married by their fathers to old men, -infirm, loathsome and disgusting, who make them live in continual -misery. If such women were allowed to be divorced and separated from -those with whom they are ill mated, perhaps it would not be fitting for -them to love any but their husbands; but when, either by enmity of the -stars or by unfitness of temperament or by other accident, it happens -that the marriage bed, which ought to be a nest of concord and of love, -is strewn by the accursed infernal fury with the seed of its venom, -which then brings forth anger, suspicion and the stinging thorns of -hatred to torment those unhappy souls cruelly bound by an unbreakable -chain until death,—why are you unwilling that the woman should be -allowed to seek some refuge from the heavy lash, and to bestow on others -that which is not only spurned but hated by her husband? I am quite of -the opinion that those who have suitable husbands and are loved by them, -ought not to do them wrong; but the others wrong themselves by not -loving those who love them.” - -“Nay,” replied the Magnifico, “they wrong themselves by loving others -than their husbands. Still, since not to love is often beyond our power, -if this mischance shall happen to the Court Lady (that her husband’s -hate or another’s love brings her to love), I would have her yield her -lover nothing but her spirit; nor ever let her show him any clear sign -of love (either by words or by gestures or by any other means) by which -he may be sure of it.” - -57.—Then messer Roberto da Bari said, laughing: - -“I appeal from this judgment of yours, my lord Magnifico, and think I -shall have many with me; but since you will teach married women this -rusticity, so to speak, do you wish also to have the unmarried equally -cruel and discourteous?—and complaisant to their lovers in nothing -whatever?” - -“If my Court Lady be unmarried,” replied my lord Magnifico, “and must -love, I wish her to love someone whom she can marry; nor shall I account -it an errour if she shows him some sign of love: as to which matter I -wish to teach her one universal rule in a few words, to the end that she -may with little pains be able to bear it in mind; and this is, let her -show him who loves her every token of love except such as may imbue her -lover’s mind with the hope of obtaining something wanton from her. And -it is necessary to give great heed to this, for it is an errour -committed by countless women, who commonly desire nothing more than to -be beautiful: and since to have many lovers seems to them proof of their -beauty, they take every pain] to get as many as they can. Thus they are -often carried into reckless behaviour, and forsaking that temperate -modesty which so becomes them, they employ certain pert looks with -scurrile words and acts full of immodesty, thinking that they are gladly -seen and listened to for this and that by such ways they make themselves -loved: which is false; for the demonstrations that are made to them -spring from desire excited by a belief in their willingness, not from -love. Wherefore I wish that my Court Lady may not by wanton behaviour -seem to offer herself to anyone who wants her and to do her best to lure -the eyes and appetite of all who look upon her, but that by her merits -and virtuous conduct, by her loveliness, by her grace, she may imbue the -mind of all who see her with that true love which is due to all things -lovable, and with that respect which always deprives him of hope who -thinks of any wantonness. - -“Moreover, he who is loved by such a woman ought to content himself with -her every slightest demonstration, and to prize a single loving look -from her more than complete possession of any other woman; and to such a -Lady I should not know how to add anything, unless to have her loved by -so excellent a Courtier as these gentlemen have described, and to have -her love him also, to the end that they may both attain their complete -perfection.” - -58.—Having thus far spoken, my lord Magnifico was silent; whereupon my -lord Gaspar said, laughing: - -“Now, in sooth, you will not be able to complain that my lord Magnifico -has not described a most excellent Court Lady; and henceforth, if such -an one is found, I admit that she deserves to be esteemed the Courtier’s -equal.” - -My lady Emilia replied: - -“I engage to find her, provided you will find the Courtier.” - -Messer Roberto added: - -“Verily it cannot be denied that the Lady described by my lord Magnifico -is most perfect: nevertheless, as to those last conditions of love, -methinks he has made her a little too austere, especially when he would -have her deprive her lover of all hope, by words, gestures and -behaviour, and do all she can to plunge the man in despair. For as -everyone knows, human desires do not spend themselves upon those things -whereof there is not some hope. And although a few women may have indeed -been found, haughty perhaps by reason of their beauty and worth, whose -first word to anyone who paid them court was that he must never expect -to have anything from them that he wished,—yet afterwards they have been -a little more gracious to him in look and manner, so that by their -kindly acts they have somewhat tempered their haughty words. But if this -Lady by acts and words and manner removes all hope, I think our -Courtier, if he is wise, will never love her; and thus she will have the -imperfection of being without a lover.” - -59.—Then the Magnifico said: - -“I do not wish my Court Lady to remove hope of everything, but only of -wanton things, which (if the Courtier be as courteous and discreet as -these gentlemen have described him) he will not only not hope for, but -will not even wish for. Because if the beauty, behaviour, cleverness, -goodness, knowledge, modesty, and the many other worthy qualities that -we have given the Lady, are the cause of the Courtier’s love for her, -the end of his love will necessarily be worthy too: and if nobility, -excellence in arms and letters and music, if gentleness and the -possession of so many graces in speech and conversation, be the means -whereby the Courtier is to win the lady’s love, the end of that love -must needs be of like quality with the means whereby it is attained. - -“Moreover, just as there are divers sorts of beauty in the world, so too -there are divers tastes in men; and thus it happens that when they see a -woman of that serious beauty, which (whether she be going or staying or -joking or jesting or doing what you will) always so tempers her whole -behaviour as to induce a certain reverence in anyone who looks upon -her,—many are abashed and dare not serve her; and lured by hope, they -oftener love attractive and enticing women, so soft and tender as to -display in words and acts and looks a certain languourous passion that -promises easily to pass and be changed into love. - -“To be safe against deceits, some men love another sort of women, who -are so free of eye and word and movement as to do the first thing that -comes into their mind with a certain simplicity which does not hide -their thoughts. Nor are there lacking other generous souls, -who—(esteeming that worth is shown in difficulty, and that it would be a -victory most sweet to conquer what to others seems unconquerable), in -order to give proof that their valour is able to force a stubborn mind -and persuade to love even wills that are contrary and recusant -thereto,—readily turn to love the beauties of those women who by eyes -and words and behaviour show more austere severity than the others. -Wherefore these men who are so self-confident, and who account -themselves secure against being deceived, willingly love certain women -also who by cunning and art seem to conceal a thousand wiles with -beauty; or else some others, who along with their beauty have a -coquettishly disdainful manner of few words and few laughs, with almost -an air of prizing little every man who looks upon them or serves them. - -“Then there are certain other men who deign to love only those women who -in face and speech and every movement carry all elegance, all gentle -manners, all knowledge, and all the graces heaped together,—like a -single flower composed of all the excellences in the world. Thus if my -Court Lady have a dearth of those loves that spring from evil hope, she -will not on that account be left without a lover; for she will not lack -those loves that spring both from her merits and from her lovers’ -confidence in their own worth, whereby they will know themselves to be -worthy of being loved by her.” - -60.—Messer Roberto still objected, but my lady Duchess held him in the -wrong, supporting my lord Magnifico’s argument; then she continued: - -“We have no cause to complain of my lord Magnifico, for I truly think -that the Court Lady described by him may stand on a par with the -Courtier, and even with some advantage; for he has taught her how to -love, which these gentlemen did not do for their Courtier.” - -Then the Unico Aretino said: - -“It is very fitting to teach women how to love, for rarely have I seen -any that knew how: since they nearly all accompany their beauty with -cruelty and ingratitude towards those who serve them most faithfully and -deserve the reward of their love by nobility of birth, gentleness and -worth; and then they often give themselves a prey to men who are very -silly, base, and of small account, and who not only love them not, but -hate them. - -“So, to avoid such grievous errours as these, perhaps it was well to -teach them first how to make choice of a man who shall deserve to be -loved, and then how to love him; which is not needful in the case of -men, who know it but too well of themselves. And here I can be a good -witness; for love was never taught me save by the divine beauty and -divinest behaviour of a Lady whom it was beyond my power not to adore, -wherein I had no need of art or any master;[425] and I think that the -same happens with all who love truly. Hence it were fitting to teach the -Courtier how to make himself loved rather than how to love.” - -61.—Here my lady Emilia said: - -“Then discourse of this now, my lord Unico.” - -The Unico replied: - -“Methinks reason would require that ladies’ favour should be won by -serving and pleasing them; but by what they deem themselves served and -pleased, I think must needs be learned from ladies themselves, who often -desire things so strange that there is no man who would imagine the -same, and sometimes they do not themselves know what they desire. Hence -it is right that you, my Lady, who are a woman and so must surely know -what pleases women, should undertake this task, to do the world so great -a benefit.” - -Then my lady Emilia said: - -“The very great favour that you always find with women is good proof -that you know all the ways by which their grace is won; hence it is -quite fitting that you should teach them.” - -“My Lady,” replied the Unico, “I could give a lover no more useful -warning than to look to it that you have no influence over the lady -whose favour he seeks; for such good qualities as the world once thought -were in me, together with the sincerest love that ever was, have not had -so much power to make me loved as you have to make me hated.” - -62.—Then my lady Emilia replied: - -“My lord Unico, God forbid that I should even think, much less do, -anything to make you hated; for besides doing what I ought not, I should -be esteemed of little sense for attempting the impossible. But since you -urge me thus to speak of that which pleases women, I will speak; and if -you shall be displeased, blame yourself for it. - -“I think, then, that whoever would be loved must love and be lovable; -and that these two things suffice to win women’s favour. - -“Now to answer that which you accuse me of, I say that everyone knows -and sees that you are very lovable; but whether you love as sincerely as -you say, I am very much in doubt, and perhaps the others too. For your -being too lovable has brought it to pass that you have been loved by -many women: and great rivers divided into many parts become little -streams; so love, bestowed upon more than one object, has little -strength. But these continual laments of yours, and complaints of -ingratitude in the women you have served (which is not probable, in view -of your great merits), are a certain sort of mystery to hide the -favours, contentments and pleasures attained by you in love, and to -assure the women who love you and have given themselves to you, that you -will not betray them; and hence also they are content that you should -thus openly display feigned love for others to hide their real love for -you. So, if the women whom you now pretend to love are not so ready to -believe it as you would like, the reason is because this artfulness of -yours in love is beginning to be understood, not because I make you -hated.” - -63.—Then my lord Unico said: - -“I do not wish to try again to confute your words, because I at last -perceive that it is as much my fate not to be believed when I say truth, -as it is yours to be believed when you say untruth.” - -“Say rather, my lord Unico,” replied by lady Emilia, “that you do not -love as you would have us believe; for if you loved, all your desire -would be to please your beloved lady and to wish what she wishes, -because this is the law of love; but your thus complaining of her -denotes some deceit, as I said, or indeed gives proof that you wish what -she does not wish.” - -“Nay,” said my lord Unico, “indeed I wish what she wishes, which is -proof that I love her; but I complain that she does not wish what I -wish, which is a token that she loves me not, according to that same -rule that you have cited.” - -My lady Emilia replied: - -“He who begins to love ought also to begin to please his beloved and -bend himself wholly to her wishes, and govern his by hers; and make his -own desires her slaves, and his very soul like unto an obedient -handmaid, nor ever think of aught but to let it be transformed, if -possible, into that of his beloved, and to account this as his highest -happiness; for they do thus who love truly.” - -“Assuredly,” said my lord Unico, “my highest happiness would be to have -a single wish rule her soul and mine.” - -“It rests with you to have it so,” replied my lady Emilia. - -64.—Then messer Bernardo interrupted and said: - -“Certain it is that he who loves truly bends all his thoughts to serve -and please the lady of his love, without being shown the way by others; -but as these loving services are sometimes not clearly perceived, I -think that besides loving and serving it is further necessary to make -some other demonstration of his love so evident that the lady cannot -hide her knowledge that she is loved; yet with such modesty withal that -he may not seem to have small respect for her. And since you, my Lady, -began to tell how the lover’s soul must be the obedient handmaid of his -beloved, I pray you explain this secret also, which seems to me very -important.” - -Messer Cesare laughed, and said: - -“If the lover is so modest that he is ashamed to tell her of his love, -let him write it to her.” - -My lady Emilia added: - -“Nay, if he is as discreet as becomes him, he ought to be sure of not -offending her before he declares himself to her.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“All women like to be sued in love, even though they mean to refuse that -which they are sued for.” - -The Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“You are very wrong; nor should I advise the Courtier ever to employ -this method, unless he be certain of not being repulsed.” - -65.—“Then what is he to do?” said my lord Gaspar. - -The Magnifico continued: - -“If he must speak or write, let him do it with such modesty and so -warily that his first words shall try her mind, and shall touch so -ambiguously upon her wish as to leave a way and certain loophole that -may enable her to feign not to see that his discourse imports love, to -the end that he may retreat in case of difficulty and pretend that he -spoke or wrote to some other end, in order to enjoy in safety those -intimate caresses and coquetries that a woman often grants to him who -she thinks accepts them in friendship, and then withholds them as soon -as she finds they are received as demonstrations of love. Hence those -men who are too precipitate and venture thus presumptuously with a kind -of fury and stubbornness, often lose these favours, and deservedly; for -every noble lady regards herself as little esteemed by him who rudely -wooes her before having done her service. - -66.—“Therefore in my opinion the way that the Courtier ought to take to -make his love known to the Lady, seems to me to be by showing it to her -in manner rather than in words;—for verily more of love’s affection is -sometimes revealed in a sigh, in reverence, in timidity, than in a -thousand words;—next by making his eyes to be faithful messengers to -bear the embassies of his heart, since they often show the passion that -is within more clearly than the tongue itself or letters or other -couriers: so that they not only disclose thoughts, but often kindle love -in the beloved’s heart. Because those quick spirits that issue from the -eyes, being generated near the heart, enter again by the eyes (whither -they are aimed like an arrow at the mark), and naturally reach the heart -as if it were their abode, and mingling with those other spirits there -and with that subtle quality of blood which they have in them, they -infect the blood near the heart to which they have come, and warm it, -and make it like themselves and ready to receive the impression of that -image which they have brought with them. Travelling thus to and fro over -the road from eyes to heart, and bringing back the tinder and steel of -beauty and grace, little by little these messengers fan with the breath -of desire that fire which glows so ardently and never ceases to burn -because they are always bringing it the fuel of hope to feed on. - -“Hence it may be well said that eyes are the guide in love, especially -if they are kind and soft; black, of a bright and gentle blackness, or -blue; merry and laughing, so gracious and keen of glance, like some -wherein the channels that give the spirits egress seem so deep that -through them we can see the very heart. Then the eyes lie in wait, just -as in war soldiers lurk in ambush; and if the form of the whole body is -fair and well proportioned, it attracts and allures anyone who looks -upon it from afar until he approaches, and, as soon as he is near, the -eyes dart forth and bewitch like sorcerers; and especially when they -send out their rays straight to the eyes of the beloved at a moment when -these are doing the same; because the spirits meet, and in that sweet -encounter each receives the other’s quality, as we see in the case of an -eye diseased, which by looking fixedly into a sound one imparts thereto -its own disease. So methinks in this way our Courtier can in great part -manifest his love for his Lady. - -“True it is that if the eyes are not governed with skill, they often -most disclose a man’s amourous desires to whom he least would do so; for -through them there shines forth almost visibly that ardent passion which -(while wishing to reveal it only to his beloved) the lover often reveals -also to those from whom he most would hide it. Therefore he who has not -lost the bridle of reason, governs himself cautiously and observes time -and place, and abstains when needful from such intent gazing, sweetest -food though it be; for an open love is too difficult a thing.” - -67.—Count Ludovico replied: - -“Sometimes even openness does no harm, for in this case men often think -such a love affair is not tending to the end which every lover desires, -seeing that little care is taken to hide it, nor any heed given whether -it be known or not; and so, by not denying it, a man wins a certain -freedom that enables him to speak openly with his beloved and to be with -her without suspicion; which those do not win who try to be secret, -because they seem to hope for and to be near some great reward that they -would not have others discover. - -“Moreover I have often seen very ardent love spring up in a woman’s -heart towards a man for whom she had at first not had the least -affection, simply from hearing that many deemed them to be in love; and -I think the reason of this was because such an universal opinion as that -seemed to her sufficient proof to make her believe the man worthy of her -love, and it seemed as if report brought her messages from the lover -much truer and worthier of belief than he himself could have sent by -letters and words, or another for him. - -“Thus, this public report not only sometimes does no harm, but helps.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“Love affairs that have report for their minister put a man in great -danger of being pointed at with the finger; and hence he who would -travel this road safely, must feign to have less fire within him than he -has, and content himself with that which seems little to him, and -conceal his desires, jealousies, griefs and joys, and often laugh with -his mouth when his heart is weeping, and feign to be prodigal of that -whereof he most is chary; and these things are so difficult to do, that -they are almost impossible. Therefore if our Courtier would follow my -advice, I should exhort him to keep his love affairs secret.” - -68.—Then messer Bernardo said: - -“There is need, then, for you to teach him how, and methinks it is of no -small importance; for, besides the signals which men sometimes make so -covertly that almost without a motion the person whom they wish reads in -their face and eyes what is in their heart,—I have sometimes heard a -long and free love talk between two lovers, of which, however, those -present could understand clearly no details at all or even be sure that -the talk was about love. And the reason of this lay in the speakers’ -discretion and precaution; for without showing any sign of annoyance at -being listened to, they whispered only those words that signified, and -spoke aloud the rest, which could be construed in different senses.” - -Then messer Federico said: - -“To speak thus minutely about these precautions of secrecy would be a -journey into the infinite; hence I would rather have some little -discussion as to how the lover ought to maintain his lady’s favour, -which seems to me much more necessary.” - -69.—The Magnifico replied: - -“I think that those means which serve to win it serve also to maintain -it; and all this consists in pleasing the lady of our love without ever -offending her. Wherefore it would be difficult to give any fixed rule -for it; since in countless ways he who is not very discreet sometimes -makes mistakes that seem little and yet grievously offend the lady’s -spirit; and this befalls those, more than others, who are overmastered -by passion: like some who, whenever they have means of speaking to the -lady whom they love, lament and complain so bitterly and often wish for -things that are so impossible, that they become wearisome by their very -importunity. Others, when they are stung by any jealousy, allow -themselves to be so carried away by their grief that they heedlessly run -into speaking evil of him whom they suspect, and sometimes without fault -either on his part or on the lady’s, and insist that she shall not speak -to him or even turn her eyes in the direction where he is. And by this -behaviour they often not only offend the lady, but are the cause that -leads her to love the man: because the fear that lovers sometimes -display lest their lady forsake them for another, shows that they are -conscious of being inferior to him in merits and worth, and with this -idea the lady is moved to love him, and perceiving that evil is said of -him to put him out of favour, she believes it not although it be true, -and loves him all the more.” - -70.—Then messer Cesare said, laughing: - -“I own I am not so wise that I could abstain from speaking evil of my -rival, except you were to teach me some other better means of ruining -him.” - -My lord Magnifico replied, laughing: - -“There is a proverb which says that when our enemy is in the water up to -the belt, we must offer him our hand and lift him out of peril; but when -he is in up to the chin, we must set our foot on his head and drown him -outright. Thus there are some who do this with their rival, and as long -as they have no safe way of ruining him, go about dissimulating and -pretend to be rather his friend than otherwise; then if an opportunity -offers—such that they know they can overwhelm him with certain ruin by -saying all manner of evil of him (whether it be true or false),—they do -it without mercy, with craft, deception and all the means they know how -to invent. - -“But since it would never please me to have our Courtier use any deceit, -I would have him deprive his rival of the lady’s favour by no other -craft than by loving and serving her, and by being worthy, valiant, -discreet and modest; in short, by deserving her better than his rival, -and by being in all things wary and prudent, abstaining from all stupid -follies, wherein many dunces fall and in diverse ways. For in the past I -have known some who use Poliphilian words in writing and speaking to -women,[426] and so insist upon the niceties of rhetoric, that the women -are diffident of themselves and account themselves very ignorant, and -think each hour of such discourse a thousand years, and rise before the -end. Others are immoderately boastful. Others often say things that -redound to their own discredit and damage, like some I am wont to laugh -at, who profess to be in love and sometimes say in the presence of -women: ‘I have never found a woman to love me;’ and they do not perceive -that those who hear them at once conclude that this can arise from no -other reason than that they deserve neither love nor the water they -drink, and hold them for men of slight account, and would not love them -for all the gold in the world, thinking that to love them would be to -stand lower than all the other women who loved them not. - -“Still others are so silly that for the purpose of bringing odium upon -some rival of theirs, they say in the presence of women: ‘So and So is -the luckiest man on earth; for although he is not at all handsome, -discreet or valiant, and cannot do or say more than the rest, yet all -the women love him and run after him;’ and thus showing themselves to be -envious of the man’s good luck, they incite belief that (although he -shows himself to be lovable in neither looks nor acts) he has in him -some hidden quality for which he deserves so many women’s love; hence -those who hear him thus spoken of are by this belief even much more -moved to love him.” - -71.—Then Count Ludovico laughed, and said: - -“I assure you that the discreet Courtier will never use these -stupidities to win favour with women.” - -Messer Cesare Gonzaga replied: - -“Nor yet that one which was used in my time by a gentleman of great -repute, whose name for the honour of men I will not mention.” - -My lady Duchess replied: - -“At least tell what he did.” - -Messer Cesare continued: - -“Being loved by a great lady, at her request he came secretly to the -place where she was; and after he had seen her and conversed with her as -long as she and the time allowed, taking his leave with many bitter -tears and sighs, in token of the extreme sorrow that he felt at such a -parting, he besought her to keep him continually in mind; and then he -added that she ought to pay his board and lodging, for as he had been -invited by her, it seemed to him reasonable that he should be at no -charge for his coming.” - -Then all the ladies began to laugh and to say that he was quite unworthy -to be called a gentleman; and many of the men were ashamed, with that -shame which the man himself would have rightly felt if he had at any -time found wit enough to be conscious of such a shameful fault. - -My lord Gaspar then turned to messer Cesare, and said: - -“It was better to refrain from telling this thing for the honour of -women, than to refrain for the honour of men from naming him; for you -can well imagine what good judgment that great lady had in loving such a -senseless animal, and also that of the many who served her perhaps she -had chosen this one as the most discreet, forsaking and misliking men -whose lackey he was unworthy to be.” - -Count Ludovico laughed, and said: - -“Who knows that he was not discreet in other things, and failed only as -to board and lodging? But many times men commit great follies in their -excessive love; and if you will say the truth, perhaps it has befallen -you to commit more than one.” - -72.—Messer Cesare replied, laughing: - -“By your faith, do not expose our errours.” - -“Nay, it is necessary to expose them,” replied my lord Gaspar, “in order -that we may know how to correct them;” then he added: “My lord -Magnifico, now that the Courtier knows how to win and maintain his -lady’s favour and to deprive his rival of it, you must teach him how to -keep his love affairs secret.” - -The Magnifico replied: - -“Methinks I have said enough; so now choose someone else to speak of -this secrecy.” - -Then messer Bernardo and all the others began to urge him anew; and the -Magnifico said, laughing: - -“You wish to tempt me. All of you are too well practised in love: yet if -you would know more, go read it in Ovid.” - -“And how,” said messer Bernardo, “should I hope that his precepts are of -any service in love, when he recommends and says it is a very good thing -that a man should pretend to be drunk in the presence of the -beloved?[427] See what a fine way of winning favour! And he cites as a -fine method of making one’s love known to a lady at a banquet, to dip a -finger in wine and write it on the table.”[428] - -The Magnifico replied, laughing: - -“In those days it was not amiss.” - -“And therefore,” said messer Bernardo, “since such a filthy trick as -this was not offensive to the men of that time, we may believe that they -did not have so gentle a manner of serving women in love as we have. But -let us not forsake our first subject, of teaching how to keep love -secret.” - -73.—Then the Magnifico said: - -“In my opinion, in order to keep love secret it is needful to avoid the -causes that make it public, which are many; but there is one chief -cause, which is the wish to be too secret and not trust any person -whatever. For every lover desires to make his passion known to his -beloved, and being alone he is forced to make many more and stronger -demonstrations than if he were aided by some loving and faithful friend; -because the demonstrations that the lover himself makes arouse much -greater suspicion than those he makes through intermediaries. And since -the human mind is naturally curious to find things out, as soon as a -stranger begins to suspect, he employs such diligence that he learns the -truth, and having learned it, makes no scruple to publish it—nay, -sometimes delights to do so; which is not the case with a friend, who -besides helping with comfort and advice, often repairs those mistakes -which the blind lover commits, and always contrives secrecy and provides -for many things for which he himself cannot provide. Moreover very great -relief is felt in telling our passion and unburdening it to a trusty -friend, and likewise it greatly enhances our joys to be able to impart -them.” - -74.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“Another cause discloses love more than this.” - -“And what is it?” replied the Magnifico. - -My lord Gaspar continued: - -“The vain ambition joined with madness and cruelty of women; who, as you -yourself have said, try to have as great a number of lovers as they can, -and if it were possible would have all of these burn and (once made -ashes) after death return alive to die once more. And even although they -be in love, still they delight in their lover’s torment, because they -think that pain and afflictions and continual calling for death give -good proof that they are loved, and can, by their beauty, make men -wretched and happy, and bestow death and life, as they please. Hence -they feed only on this food, and are so eager for it that (in order not -to be without it) they do not satisfy or ever quite dishearten their -lovers; but to keep these continually in anguish and desire, they use a -certain domineering severity of threats mingled with encouragement, and -fain would have a word, a look, a nod of theirs esteemed as highest -bliss. And to be deemed modest and chaste, not only by their lovers but -by all the rest, they take care to make their harsh and discourteous -behaviour public, to the end that everyone may think that if they thus -maltreat those who are worthy to be loved, they must treat the unworthy -much worse. - -“And in this belief, thinking they thus have artfully made themselves -secure against infamy, they often spend every night with vilest men whom -they scarcely know; and so, to enjoy the calamities and continual -laments of some noble cavalier whom they love, they deny themselves -those pleasures which they might perhaps attain with some excuse; and -they are the cause that forces the poor lover in sheer desperation to -behaviour which brings to light that which every care ought to be taken -to keep most secret. - -“Some others there are, who, if by trickery they succeed in leading many -a man to think himself loved by them, nourish the jealousy of each by -bestowing caresses and favour on one in the presence of another; and -when they see that he too whom they most love is nearly sure of being -loved because of the demonstrations shown him, they often put him in -suspense by ambiguous words and pretended anger, and pierce his heart, -feigning to care nothing for him and to wish to give themselves wholly -to another; whence arise hatreds, enmities and countless scandals and -manifest ruin, for in such a case a man must show the passion that he -feels, even though it result in blame and infamy to the lady. - -“Others, not content with this single torment of jealousy, after the -lover has given all proofs of love and faithful service, and after they -have received the same with some sign of returning it with good will, -they begin to draw back without cause and when it is least expected, and -pretend to believe that he has grown lukewarm, and feigning new -suspicions that they are not loved, they give sign of wishing to break -with him absolutely. And so, because of these obstacles, the poor fellow -is by very force compelled to go back to the start and pay court as if -his service were beginning; and daily to walk the earth, and when the -lady stirs abroad to accompany her to church and everywhere she goes, -never to turn his eyes another way: and now he returns to plaints and -sighs and heaviness of heart, and if he can speak with her, to -supplications, blasphemies, despairings, and all those ragings to which -unhappy lovers are put by these fierce monsters, who have a greater -thirst for blood than tigers have. - -75.—“Such woeful demonstrations as these are but too much seen and -known, and often more by others than by her who occasions them; and thus -in a few days they become so public that not a step can be taken, nor -the least signal given, that is not noted by a thousand eyes. Then it -happens that long before there are any sweets of love between them, they -are believed and judged by all the world; for when women see that the -lover, now nigh to death and overwhelmed by the cruelty and tortures -inflicted on him, is firmly and really resolving to withdraw, they at -once begin to show him that they love him heartily, and to do him all -manner of kindness, and to yield to him, to the end that (his ardent -desire having failed) the fruits of love may be less sweet to him and he -may have less to thank them for, in order to do everything amiss. - -“And their love being now very well known, at the same time all the -results that proceed from it are also very well known; thus the women -are dishonoured, and the lover finds that he has lost time and pains and -has shortened his life in sorrows, without the least advantage or -pleasure; for he attained his desires, not when they would have made him -very happy with their pleasantness, but when he cared little or nothing -for them, because his heart was already so deadened by his cruel passion -that it had no feeling left wherewith to enjoy the delight or -contentment which was offered him.” - -76.—Then my lord Ottaviano said, laughing: - -“You held your peace awhile and refrained from saying evil of women; -then you hit them so hard that it seems as if you were gathering -strength, like those who draw back in order to strike the harder; and -verily you are in the wrong and ought henceforth to be gentler.” - -My lady Emilia laughed, and turning to my lady Duchess, said: - -“You see, my Lady, that our adversaries are beginning to quarrel and -differ among themselves.” - -“Call me not so,” replied my lord Ottaviano, “for I am not your -adversary. This contest has displeased me much, not because I was sorry -to see the victory in favour of women, but because it has led my lord -Gaspar to revile them more than he ought, and my lord Magnifico and -messer Cesare to praise them perhaps a little more than their due; -besides which, owing to the length of the discussion, we have missed -hearing many other fine things that remained to say about the Courtier.” - -“You see,” said my lady Emilia, “that you are our adversary after all; -and for that reason you are displeased with the late discussion, and -fain would not have had so excellent a Court Lady described; not because -you had anything more to say about the Courtier (for these gentlemen -have said all they knew, and I think that neither you nor anyone else -could add anything whatever), but because of the envy that you have of -women’s honour.” - -77.—“Certain it is,” replied my lord Ottaviano, “that besides the things -that have been said about the Courtier, I should like to hear many -others. Still, since everyone is content to have him as he is, I also am -content; nor should I change him in aught else, unless in making him a -little more friendly to women than my lord Gaspar is, albeit perhaps not -so much so as some of these other gentlemen.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“By all means we must see whether your talents are so great that they -can give the Courtier greater perfection than these gentlemen have given -him. So please to say what you have in mind: else we shall think that -even you cannot add anything to what has been said, but that you wished -to detract from the praises of the Court Lady because you think her the -equal of the Courtier, who you would therefore have us believe could be -much more perfect than these gentlemen have described him.” - -My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: - -“The praise and censure that have been bestowed on women beyond their -due have so filled the ears and mind of the company as to leave no room -for anything else to lodge; besides this, in my opinion the hour is very -late.” - -“Then,” said my lady Duchess, “we shall have more time by waiting till -to-morrow; and meanwhile this praise and censure, which you say have -been on both sides bestowed excessively on women, will leave these -gentlemen’s minds, and thus they will better appreciate that truth which -you will tell them.” - -So saying, my lady Duchess rose to her feet, and courteously dismissing -the company, retired to her more private room, and everyone went to -rest. - - - - - THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COURTIER - BY COUNT BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - - - TO MESSER ALFONSO ARIOSTO - -1.—Thinking to write out the discussions that were held on the fourth -evening, after those mentioned in the previous Books, among various -reflections I feel one bitter thought that strikes my heart, and makes -me mindful of human miseries and our deceptive hopes: and how fortune, -often in mid-course and sometimes near the end, shatters our frail and -vain designs, and sometimes wrecks them before the haven can be even -seen afar. - -Thus I recall that not long after these discussions took place, -importunate death deprived our court of three very rare gentlemen while -they were in the flower of robust health and hope of honour. And of -these the first was my lord Gaspar Pallavicino, who being assailed by an -acute disease and more than once brought low, although his courage was -of such vigour that for a season it held spirit and body together in -spite of death, yet ended his natural course far before his time;[429] a -very great loss not only to our court and to his friends and family, but -to his native land and to all Lombardy. - -Not long afterwards died messer Cesare Gonzaga, who to all those who had -acquaintance with him left a bitter and painful memory of his -death;[430] for since nature produces such men as rarely as she does, it -seemed only fitting that she should not so soon deprive us of this one: -because it certainly may be said that messer Cesare was carried off just -when he was beginning to give something more than promise of himself, -and to be esteemed as his admirable qualities deserved; for already, by -many meritorious efforts he had given good proof of his worth, which -shone forth not only in noble birth, but also in the ornament of letters -and of arms, and in every kind of laudable behaviour; so that, by reason -of his goodness, capacity, courage and wisdom, there was nothing so -great that it might not be expected from him. - -No long time passed before the death of messer Roberto da Bari also -inflicted deep sorrow upon the whole court;[48] for it seemed reasonable -that everyone should lament the death of a youth of good behaviour, -agreeable, fair of aspect, and of very rare personal grace, and of as -stout and sturdy temper as could be wished. - -2.—If, then, these men had lived, I think they would have reached such -eminence that they would have been able to give everyone who knew them -clear proof how worthy the court of Urbino was of praise, and how -adorned with noble cavaliers; which nearly all the others have done who -were reared there. For verily the Trojan Horse did not send forth so -many lords and captains as this court has sent forth men singular in -worth and most highly prized by everyone. Thus, as you know, messer -Federico Fregoso was made Archbishop of Salerno; Count Ludovico, Bishop -of Bayeux; my lord Ottaviano, Doge of Genoa; messer Bernardo Bibbiena, -Cardinal of Santa Maria in Portico; messer Pietro Bembo, secretary to -Pope Leo; my lord Magnifico rose to the dukedom of Nemours and to that -greatness where he now is. My lord Francesco Maria della Rovere also, -Prefect of Rome, was made Duke of Urbino:[431] albeit much higher praise -may be accorded to the court where he was nurtured, because he there -became a rare and excellent lord in every quality of worth, as we now -see, than because he attained the dukedom of Urbino; nor do I believe -that a small cause of this was the noble company in whose daily converse -he always saw and heard laudable behaviour. - -However, it seems to me that the cause, whether chance or favour of the -stars, which has so long granted excellent lords to Urbino, still -continues and produces the same results; and hence we may hope that fair -fortune must further so bless these good works, that the welfare of the -house and state shall not only not wane but rather wax from day to day: -and of this many bright auguries are already to be seen, among which I -esteem the chief to be Heaven’s bestowal of such a mistress as is my -lady Eleanora Gonzaga, the new Duchess;[432] for if ever in a single -body there were joined wisdom, grace, beauty, capacity, tact, humanity, -and every other gentle quality,—in her they are so united that they form -a chain which completes and adorns her every movement with all these -qualities at once. - -[Illustration: - - ELEANORA GONZAGA - DUCHESS OF URBINO - 1492-1543 -] - -Reduced from the central part of Braun’s photograph (no. 34.106) of the - picture _Das Mädchen im Pelz_, in the Imperial Museum at Vienna, by - Titian (1477-1576). - -Let us now continue the discussion about our Courtier, in the hope that -after us there ought to be no lack of those who will find bright and -honoured examples of worth in the present court of Urbino, just as we -now do in that of bygone times. - -3.—It seemed, then, as my lord Gaspar Pallavicino used to relate, that -the following day after the discussions contained in the preceding Book, -little was seen of my lord Ottaviano; hence many thought that he had -retired in order that he might without hindrance think carefully of what -he had to say. Thus, the company having betaken themselves to my lady -Duchess at the accustomed hour, search had to be made far and wide for -my lord Ottaviano, who did not appear for a good space; so that many -cavaliers and maids of honour of the court began to dance and engage in -other pastimes, thinking that for that evening there would be no more -talk about the Courtier. And indeed all were busied, some with one thing -and some with another, when my lord Ottaviano arrived, after he had -almost been given up; and seeing that messer Cesare Gonzaga and my lord -Gaspar were dancing, he bowed to my lady Duchess and said, laughing: - -“I quite expected to hear my lord Gaspar say some evil about women again -this evening; but seeing him dance with one, I think that he has made -his peace with all of them; and I am glad that the dispute (or rather -the discussion) about the Courtier has ended thus.” - -“It is by no means ended,” replied my lady Duchess; “for I am no such -enemy of men as you are of women, and therefore I am unwilling that the -Courtier should be deprived of his due honour, and of those ornaments -that you promised him last evening;” and so saying, she directed that as -soon as the dance was finished, everyone should sit down in the usual -order, which was done; and when all were giving close attention, my lord -Ottaviano said: - -“My Lady, since my wish to have the Courtier possess many other good -qualities is taken as a promise to tell what they are, I am content to -speak about them, not with any hope of saying all that might be said, -but merely enough to clear your mind of the charge that was made against -me last evening, to wit: that I spoke as I did rather for the purpose of -detracting from the Court Lady’s praises (by raising a false belief that -other excellences can be ascribed to the Courtier, and by thus artfully -making him her superior), than because what I said was true. Wherefore, -to adapt myself to the hour, which is later than it is wont to be when -we begin our discussions, I shall be brief. - -4.—“So, to pursue these gentlemen’s discourse, which I wholly approve -and confirm, I say that of the things that we call good, there are some -which simply and in themselves are always good, like temperance, -fortitude, health, and all the virtues that bestow tranquillity upon the -mind; others, which are good in various respects and for the object to -which they tend, like law, liberality, riches, and other like things. -Hence I think that the perfect Courtier, such as Count Ludovico and -messer Federico have described, may be a truly good thing and worthy of -praise, not however simply and in himself, but in respect to the end to -which he may be directed. For indeed if by being nobly born, graceful, -agreeable, and expert in so many exercises, the Courtier brought forth -no other fruit than merely being what he is, I should not deem it right -for a man to devote so much study and pains to acquiring this perfection -of Courtiership, as anyone must who wishes to attain it. Nay, I should -say that many of those accomplishments that have been ascribed to him -(like dancing, merry-making, singing and playing) were follies and -vanities, and in a man of rank worthy rather of censure than of praise: -for these elegances, devices, mottoes, and other like things that -pertain to discourse about women and love, although perhaps many other -men think the contrary, often serve only to effeminate the mind, to -corrupt youth, and to reduce it to great wantonness of living; whence -then it comes to pass that the Italian name is brought into opprobrium, -and but few are to be found who dare, I will not say to die, but even to -run into danger. - -“And surely there are countless other things, which, if industry and -study were spent upon them, would be of much greater utility in both -peace and war than this kind of Courtiership in itself merely; but if -the Courtier’s actions are directed to that good end to which they -ought, and which I have in mind, methinks they are not only not harmful -or vain, but very useful and deserving of infinite praise. - -5.—“I think then that the aim of the perfect Courtier, which has not -been spoken of till now, is so to win for himself, by means of the -accomplishments ascribed to him by these gentlemen, the favour and mind -of the prince whom he serves, that he may be able to say, and always -shall say, the truth about everything which it is fitting for the prince -to know, without fear or risk of giving offence thereby; and that when -he sees his prince’s mind inclined to do something wrong, he may be -quick to oppose, and gently to make use of the favour acquired by his -good accomplishments, so as to banish every bad intent and lead his -prince into the path of virtue. And thus, possessing the goodness which -these gentlemen have described, together with readiness of wit and -pleasantness, and shrewdness and knowledge of letters and many other -things,—the Courtier will in every case be able deftly to show the -prince how much honour and profit accrue to him and his from justice, -liberality, magnanimity, gentleness, and the other virtues that become a -good prince; and on the other hand how much infamy and loss proceed from -the vices opposed to them. Therefore I think that just as music, -festivals, games, and the other pleasant accomplishments are as it were -the flower, in like manner to lead or help one’s prince towards right, -and to frighten him from wrong, are the true fruit of Courtiership. - -“And since the merit of well-doing lies chiefly in two things, one of -which is the choice of an end for our intentions that shall be truly -good, and the other ability to find means suitable and fitting to -conduce to that good end marked out,—certain it is that that man’s mind -tends to the best end, who purposes to see to it that his prince shall -be deceived by no one, shall hearken not to flatterers or to slanderers -and liars, and shall distinguish good and evil, and love the one and -hate the other. - -6.—“Methinks, too, that the accomplishments ascribed to the Courtier by -these gentlemen may be a good means of arriving at that end; and this -because among the many faults which to-day we see in many of our -princes, the greatest are ignorance and self-esteem. And the root of -these two evils is none other than falsehood: which vice is deservedly -hateful to God and to men, and more injurious to princes than any other; -because they have greatest lack of that whereof they most need to have -abundance—I mean of someone to tell them the truth and to put them in -mind of what is right: for their enemies are not moved by love to -perform these offices, but are well pleased to have them live wickedly -and never correct themselves; on the other hand, their enemies dare not -accuse them openly, for fear of being punished. Then of their friends -there are few who have free access to them, and those few are chary of -censuring them for their errours as freely as in the case of private -persons, and to win grace and favour often think of nothing but how to -suggest things that may delight and please their fancy, although the -same be evil and dishonourable; thus from being friends these men become -flatterers, and to derive profit from their intimacy, always speak and -act complaisantly, and for the most part make their way by means of -falsehoods, which beget ignorance in the prince’s mind, not only of -outward things but of himself; and this may be said to be the greatest -and most monstrous falsehood of all, for the ignorant mind deceives -itself and lies inwardly to itself. - -7.—“From this it follows that, besides never hearing the truth about -anything whatever, rulers are intoxicated by that licence which dominion -carries with it, and by the abundance of their enjoyments are drowned in -pleasures, and so deceive themselves and have their minds so -corrupted,—always finding themselves obeyed and almost adored with such -reverence and praise, without the least censure or even -contradiction,—that from this ignorance they pass to boundless -self-esteem, so that they then brook no advice or persuasion from -others. And since they think that to know how to rule is a very easy -thing, and that to succeed therein they need no other art or training -than mere force, they bend their mind and all their thoughts to the -maintenance of that power which they have, esteeming that true felicity -lies in being able to do what one likes. - -“Therefore some princes hate reason and justice, thinking that it would -be a kind of bridle and a means of reducing them to bondage, and of -lessening the pleasure and satisfaction which they have in ruling, if -they were willing to follow it; and that their dominion would not be -perfect or complete if they were constrained to obey duty and honour, -because they think that he who obeys is no true ruler. Therefore, -following these principles and allowing themselves to be transported by -self-esteem, they become arrogant, with haughty looks and stern -behaviour, with splendid dress, gold and gems, and by letting themselves -be almost never seen in public they think to win authority among men and -to be held almost as gods. And to my thinking they are like the colossi -that last year were made at Rome the day of the festival in the Piazza -d’Agone,[433] which outwardly showed a likeness to great men and horses -in a triumph, and within were full of tow and rags. But princes of this -sort are much worse, in that the colossi keep upright merely by their -great weight; while the princes, since they are ill balanced within and -placed haphazard on uneven bases, fall to their ruin by reason of their -own weight, and from one errour run into many; for their ignorance, -together with the false belief that they cannot err and that the power -which they have proceeds from their own wisdom, leads them to seize -states boldly by fair means or foul, whenever they can. - -8.—“But if they were resolved to know and to do that which they ought, -they would be as set on not ruling as they are set on ruling; for they -would perceive how monstrous and pernicious a thing it is when subjects, -who are to be governed, are wiser than the princes who are to govern. - -“You see that ignorance of music, of dancing, of horsemanship, is not -harmful to any man; nevertheless, he who is no musician is ashamed and -dares not sing in the presence of others, or dance if he knows not how, -or ride if he has not a good seat. But from not knowing how to govern -people there spring so many woes, deaths, destructions, burnings, -ruins,—that it may be said to be the deadliest pest that is to be found -on earth. And yet some princes who are very ignorant of government are -not ashamed to undertake to govern, I will not say in the presence of -four or of six men, but before all the world, for their rank is set so -high that all eyes gaze on them, and hence not only their great but -their least defects are always noted. Thus it is written that Cimon was -accused of loving wine, Scipio of loving sleep, Lucullus of loving -feasts.[434] But would to God that the princes of our time might couple -their sins with as many virtues as did those ancients; who, although -they erred in some respects, yet did not avoid the reminders and advice -of anyone who seemed to them competent to correct those errours, but -rather sought with all solicitude to order their lives after the -precepts of excellent men: as Epaminondas after that of Lysis the -Pythagorean,[435] Agesilaus after that of Xenophon, Scipio after that of -Panætius, and countless others.[436] - -“But if some of our princes were to happen upon a stern philosopher or -any man who was willing openly and artlessly to show them the frightful -face of true virtue, and to teach them what good behaviour is and what a -good prince’s life ought to be, I am certain that they would loathe him -like an asp, or in sooth deride him as a thing most vile. - -9.—“I say, then, that since princes are to-day so corrupted by evil -customs and by ignorance and mistaken self-esteem, and since it is so -difficult to give them knowledge of the truth and lead them on to -virtue, and since men seek to enter into their favour by lies and -flatteries and such vicious means,—the Courtier, by the aid of those -gentle qualities that Count Ludovico and messer Federico have given him, -can with ease and should try to gain the good will and so charm the mind -of his prince, that he shall win free and safe indulgence to speak of -everything without being irksome. And if he be such as has been said, he -will accomplish this with little trouble, and thus be able always to -disclose the truth about all things with ease; and also to instil -goodness into his prince’s mind little by little, and to teach -continence, fortitude, justice, temperance, by giving a taste of how -much sweetness is hidden by the little bitterness that at first sight -appears to him who withstands vice; which is always hurtful and -displeasing, and accompanied by infamy and blame, just as virtue is -profitable, blithe and full of praise. And thereto he will be able to -incite his prince by the example of the famous captains and other -eminent men to whom the ancients were wont to make statues of bronze and -of marble and sometimes of gold, and to erect the same in public places, -both for the honour of these men and as a stimulus to others, so that -they might be led by worthy emulation to strive to reach that glory too. - -10.—“In this way the Courtier will be able to lead his prince along the -thorny path of virtue, decking it as with shady leafage and strewing it -with lovely flowers to relieve the tedium of the weary journey to one -whose strength is slight; and now with music, now with arms and horses, -now with verses, now with love talk, and with all those means whereof -these gentlemen have told, to keep his mind continually busied with -worthy pleasures, yet always impressing upon him also, as I have said, -some virtuous practice along with these allurements, and playing upon -him with salutary craft; like cunning doctors, who often anoint the edge -of the cup with a sweet cordial, when they wish to give some -bitter-tasting medicine to sick and over-delicate children. - -“If, therefore, the Courtier put the veil of pleasure to such a use, he -will reach his aim in every time and place and exercise, and will -deserve much greater praise and reward than for any other good work that -he could do in the world. For there is no good thing that is of such -universal advantage as a good prince, nor any evil so universally -noxious as a bad prince: hence, too, there is no punishment so harsh and -cruel as to be a sufficient penalty for those wicked courtiers who use -their gentle and pleasant ways and fine accomplishments to a bad end, -and therewith seek their prince’s favour, in order to corrupt him and -entice him from the path of virtue and lead him into vice; for such as -these may be said to taint with deadly poison not a single cup from -which one man alone must drink, but the public fountain used by all -men.” - -11.—My lord Ottaviano was silent, as if he did not wish to say more; but -my lord Gaspar said: - -“It does not seem to me, my lord Ottaviano, that this right-mindedness -and continence, and the other virtues which you wish the Courtier to -show his lord, can be learned; but I think that the men who have them -are given them by nature and by God. And that this is true, you see that -there is no man in the world so wicked and ill conditioned, or so -intemperate and perverse, as to confess that he is so when he is asked; -nay, everyone, however wicked he be, has pleasure in being deemed just, -continent and good: which would not be the case if these virtues could -be learned; for it is no disgrace not to know that to which one has -given no study, but it seems a reproach indeed not to have that -wherewith we ought to be adorned by nature. Hence everyone tries to hide -his natural defects both of mind and of body too; which is seen in the -blind, the halt and the crooked, and in others who are maimed or ugly; -for although these imperfections may be ascribed to nature, still -everyone dislikes to be sensible of them in himself, because he seems by -nature’s own testimony to have that defect as it were for a seal and -token of his wickedness. - -“Moreover my opinion is confirmed by that story which is told of -Epimetheus, who knew so ill how to distribute the gifts of nature among -men that he left them much poorer in everything than all other -creatures: wherefore Prometheus stole from Minerva and from Vulcan that -artful cunning whereby men find the means of living;[437] but still they -did not have the civic cunning to gather together in cities and live -orderly lives, for this was guarded in Jove’s castle by very watchful -warders, who so frightened Prometheus that he dared not approach them; -wherefore Jove had compassion for the misery of men, who were torn by -wild beasts because they could not stand together for lack of civic -faculty, and sent Mercury to earth to bring them justice and shame, to -the end that these two things might adorn their cities and unite the -citizens. And he saw fit that they should not be given to men like the -other arts, wherein one expert suffices for many ignorant (as in the -case of medicine), but that they should be impressed upon each man; and -he ordained a law that all who were without justice and shame should be -exterminated and put to death like public pests. So you see, my lord -Ottaviano, that these virtues are vouchsafed by God to men, and are not -acquired, but natural.” - -12.—Then my lord Ottaviano said, smiling: - -“Do you then insist, my lord Gaspar, that men are so unhappy and -perverse, that they have by industry discovered an art to tame the -natures of wild beasts, bears, wolves, lions, and by it are able to -teach a pretty bird to fly whither they like, and to return willingly -from its woods and natural freedom to cages and captivity,—and yet that -they cannot or will not by the same industry find arts to help -themselves and improve their minds with diligence and study? To my -thinking this would be as if physicians were to study with all diligence -to acquire the mere art of healing sore nails and scurf in children, and -were to leave off curing fevers, pleurisy and other serious maladies; -and how out of all reason this would be, everyone can consider. - -“Therefore I think that the moral virtues are not in us by nature -wholly, for nothing can ever become used to that which is naturally -contrary to it; as we see in the case of a stone, which although it were -thrown upwards ten thousand times would never become used to move -thither of itself; hence if virtue were as natural to us as weight is to -the stone, we should never become used to vice. Nor, on the other hand, -are the vices natural in this sense, for we should never be able to be -virtuous; and it would be too unfair and foolish to chastise men for -those defects that proceed from nature without our fault; and this -errour would be committed by the law, which does not inflict punishment -upon malefactors on account of their past errour (since what is done can -not be undone), but has regard to the future, to the end that he who has -erred may err no more nor be the cause of others erring through his bad -example. And thus the law presumes that the virtues can be learned, -which is very true; for we are born capable of receiving them and the -vices also, and hence custom creates in us the habit of both the one and -the other, so that we first practise virtue or vice, and then are -virtuous or vicious. - -“The contrary is observed in things that are bestowed by nature, which -we first have the power to practise and then do practise: as is the case -with the senses; for first we are able to see, hear and touch, then we -see, hear and touch, although also many of these functions are perfected -by training. Wherefore good masters teach children not only letters, but -also good and seemly manners in eating, drinking, speaking and walking, -with certain appropriate gestures. - -13.—“Therefore as in the other arts, so too in virtue it is necessary to -have a master, who by instruction and good reminders shall arouse and -awake in us those moral virtues whereof we have the seed enclosed and -buried in our soul, and like a good husbandman shall cultivate them and -open the way for them by freeing us from the thorns and tares of -appetite, which often so overshadow and choke our minds as not to let -them blossom or bring forth those happy fruits which alone we should -desire to have spring up in the human heart. - -“In this sense, then, justice and shame, which you say Jove sent upon -earth to all men, are natural in each one of us. But just as a body -without eyes, however strong it be, often fails if it moves towards any -object, so the root of these virtues potentially engendered in our minds -often comes to naught if it be not helped by cultivation. For if it is -to ripen into action and perfect character, nature alone is not enough, -as has been said, but there is need of studied practice and of reason, -to purify and clear the soul by lifting the dark veil of ignorance, from -which nearly all the errours of men proceed,—because if good and evil -were well perceived and understood, everyone would always prefer good -and shun evil. Thus virtue may almost be said to be a kind of prudence -and wit to prefer the good, and vice a kind of imprudence and ignorance -which lead us to judge falsely; for men never prefer evil deeming it to -be evil, but are deceived by a certain likeness that it bears to good.” - -14.—Then my lord Gaspar replied: - -“There are, however, many who know well that they are doing evil, and -yet do it; and this because they have more thought for the present -pleasure which they feel, than for the chastisement which they fear must -come upon them: like thieves, homicides, and other such men.” - -My lord Ottaviano said: - -“True pleasure is always good, and true suffering always evil; therefore -these men deceive themselves in taking false pleasure for true, and true -suffering for false; hence by false pleasures they often run into true -sufferings. Therefore that art which teaches how to discern the true -from the false, may well be learned; and the faculty whereby we choose -that which is truly good and not that which falsely seems so, may be -called true wisdom and more profitable to human life than any other, -because it dispels the ignorance from which, as I have said, all evils -spring.” - -15.—Then messer Pietro Bembo said: - -“I do not know, my lord Ottaviano, whether my lord Gaspar ought to grant -you that all evils spring from ignorance; and that there are not many -who well know that they are sinning when they sin, and do not in the -least deceive themselves as to true pleasure, nor yet as to true -suffering. For it is certain that those who are incontinent judge -reasonably and rightly, and know that to be evil to which they are -prompted by their lusts in spite of duty, and therefore resist and set -reason against appetite, whence arises a conflict of pleasure and pain -against judgment. Conquered at last by too potent appetite, reason -yields, like a ship which resists awhile the buffetings of the sea, but -finally beaten by the too furious violence of the gale, with anchor and -rigging broken, suffers herself to be driven at fortune’s will, without -use of helm or any guidance of compass to save her. - -“Therefore the incontinent commit their errours with a certain doubtful -remorse, and as it were in their own despite; which they would not do if -they did not know that what they are doing is evil, but would follow -appetite without restraint of reason and wholly uncontrolled, and would -then be not incontinent but intemperate, which is much worse. Thus -incontinence is said to be a diminished vice, because it has a grain of -reason in it; and likewise continence is said to be an imperfect virtue, -because it has a grain of passion in it. Therefore in this, methinks, we -cannot say that the errours of the incontinent proceed from ignorance, -or that they deceive themselves and that they do not sin, when they well -know that they are sinning.” - -16.—My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“In truth, messer Pietro, your argument is fine; yet to my thinking it -is specious rather than sound, for although the incontinent sin -hesitatingly, and reason struggles with appetite in their mind, and -although that which is evil seems evil to them,—yet they have no perfect -perception of it, nor do they know it so thoroughly as they need. Hence -they have a vague idea rather than any certain knowledge of it, and thus -allow their reason to be overcome by passion; but if they had true -knowledge of it, doubtless they would not err: since the thing by which -appetite conquers reason is always ignorance, and true knowledge can -never be overcome by passion, which is derived from the body and not -from the mind, and becomes virtue if rightly ruled and governed by -reason; if not, it becomes vice. - -“But reason has such power that it always reduces the senses to -submission and enters in by wonderful means and ways, provided ignorance -does not seize that which it ought to possess. So that although the -spirits and nerves and bones have no reason in them, yet when a movement -of the mind starts in us, as if thought were spurring and shaking the -bridle on our spirits, all our members make ready,—the feet to run, the -hands to take or to do that which the mind thinks; and moreover this is -clearly seen in many who at times unwittingly eat some loathsome and -disgusting food, which to their taste seems very delicious, and then -learning what thing it was, not only suffer pain and distress of mind, -but the body so follows the mental sense, that they must perforce cast -up that food.” - -17.—My lord Ottaviano was continuing his discourse further, but the -Magnifico Giuliano interrupted him and said: - -“If I heard aright, my lord Ottaviano, you said that continence is an -imperfect virtue because it has a grain of passion in it; and when there -is a struggle waging in our minds between reason and appetite, I think -that the virtue which battles and gives reason the victory, ought to be -esteemed more perfect than that which conquers without opposition of -lust or passion; for there the mind seems not to abstain from evil by -force of virtue, but to refrain from doing evil because it has no -inclination thereto.” - -Then my lord Ottaviano said: - -“Which captain would you deem of greater worth, the one who fighting -openly puts himself in danger and yet conquers the enemy, or the one who -by his ability and skill deprives them of their strength, reducing them -to such straits that they cannot fight, and thus conquers them without -any battle or danger whatever?” - -“The one,” said the Magnifico Giuliano, “who more safely conquers is -without doubt more to be praised, provided this safe victory of his do -not proceed from the cowardice of the enemy.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“You have judged rightly; and hence I tell you that continence may be -likened to a captain who fights manfully, and although the enemy be -strong and powerful, still conquers them, albeit not without great -difficulty and danger. While temperance unperturbed is like that captain -who conquers and rules without opposition, and having not only abated -but quite extinguished the fire of lust in the mind where she abides, -like a good prince in time of civil strife, she destroys her seditious -enemies within, and gives reason the sceptre and whole dominion. - -“Thus this virtue does not compel the mind, but infusing it by very -gentle means with a vehement belief that inclines it to righteousness, -renders it calm and full of rest, in all things equal and well measured, -and disposed on every side by a certain self-accord which adorns it with -a tranquillity so serene that it is never ruffled, and becomes in all -things very obedient to reason and ready to turn its every act thereto -and to follow wherever reason may wish to lead it, without the least -unwillingness; like a tender lambkin, which always runs and stops and -walks near its dam, and moves only with her. - -“This virtue, then, is very perfect and especially befitting to princes, -because from it spring many others.” - -18.—Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“I do not know what virtues befitting to a lord can spring from this -temperance, if it is the one which removes the passions from the mind, -as you say. Perhaps this would be fitting in a monk or hermit; but I am -by no means sure whether it would befit a prince (who was magnanimous, -liberal and valiant in arms) never to feel, whatever might be done to -him, either wrath or hate or good will or scorn or lust or passion of -any kind, and whether he could without this wield authority over -citizens or soldiers.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“I did not say that temperance wholly removes and uproots the passions -from the human mind, nor would it be well to do this, for even the -passions contain some elements of good; but it reduces to the sway of -reason that which is perverse in our passions and recusant to right. -Therefore it is not well to extirpate the passions altogether, in order -to be rid of disturbance; for this would be like making an edict that no -one must drink wine, in order to be rid of drunkenness, or forbidding -everyone to run, because in running we sometimes fall. You know that -those who tame horses do not keep them from running and leaping, but -would have them do so seasonably and in obedience to the rider. - -“Thus, when moderated by temperance, the passions are helpful to virtue, -like the wrath that aids strength, hatred of evil-doers aids justice, -and likewise the other virtues are aided by the passions; which, if they -were wholly removed, would leave the reason very weak and languid, so -that it could effect little, like the master of a vessel abandoned by -the winds in a great calm. - -“Now do not marvel, messer Cesare, if I have said that many other -virtues are born of temperance, for when a mind is attuned to this -harmony, it then through the reason easily receives true strength, which -makes it bold, and safe from every peril, and almost superior to human -passions. Nor is this less true of justice (unspotted virgin, friend of -modesty and good, queen of all the other virtues), because she teaches -us to do that which it is right to do, and to shun that which it is -right to shun; and therefore she is most perfect, because the other -virtues perform their works through her, and because she is helpful to -whomsoever possesses her, both to himself and to others: without whom -(as it is said) Jove himself could not rule his kingdom rightly. -Magnanimity also follows these and enhances them all; but she cannot -stand alone, for whoever has no other virtue, cannot be magnanimous. -Then the guide of these virtues is foresight, which consists in a -certain judgment in choosing well. And in this happy chain are joined -liberality, magnificence, thirst for honour, gentleness, pleasantness, -affability and many others which there is not now time to name. - -“But if our Courtier will do that which we have said, he will find them -all in his prince’s mind, and will daily see spring therefrom beautiful -flowers and fruits, such as all the delightful gardens in the world do -not contain; and he will feel within him very great content when he -remembers that he gave his prince, not that which fools give (which is -gold or silver, vases, raiment, and the like, whereof the giver has very -great dearth, and the recipient very great abundance), but that faculty -which of all things human is perhaps the greatest and rarest—that is, -the manner and mode of ruling and reigning rightly: which would of -itself alone suffice to make men happy and to bring back once more to -earth that age of gold which is said to have been when Saturn reigned.” - -19.—My lord Ottaviano having here made a little pause as if to rest, my -lord Gaspar said: - -“Which do you think, my lord Ottaviano, the happier rule, and the more -able to bring back to earth that age of gold which you have -mentioned,—the rule of so good a prince, or the government of a good -republic?” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“I should always prefer the rule of a good prince, because such dominion -is more accordant with nature, and (if it is allowed to compare small -things with infinitely great) more like that of God, who governs the -universe singly and alone. - -“But leaving this aside, you see that in those things that are wrought -by human skill,—such as armies, great fleets, buildings and the -like,—the whole is referred to one man who governs to his liking. So too -in our body all the members labour and are employed at the command of -the heart. Moreover it seems fitting that the people should be ruled by -one prince, as is the case also with many animals, to whom nature -teaches this obedience as a very salutary thing. You know that stags, -cranes and many other birds, when on their flight, always set up a -leader, whom they follow and obey; and the bees obey their king as it -were by process of reason, and with as much reverence as the most -obedient people on earth; and hence all this is very strong proof that -the dominion of princes is more accordant with nature than that of -republics.” - -20.—Then messer Pietro Bembo said: - -“Yet it seems to me that since liberty has been given us by God as a -supreme gift, it is not reasonable that we should be deprived of it, nor -that one man should have a larger share of it than another: which -happens under the dominion of princes, who for the most part hold their -subjects in closest bondage. But in rightly ordered republics this -liberty is fully preserved: besides which, both in judgments and in -councils, it more often happens that one man’s opinion singly is wrong, -than that of many; because disturbance arising from anger or scorn or -lust more easily enters the mind of one man than that of the many, who -are almost like a great body of water, which is less liable to -corruption than a small one. - -“I say, too, that the example of the animals does not seem to me -apposite; for stags, cranes and the rest do not always set up the same -one to follow and obey, but on the contrary change and vary, giving the -dominion over them now to one, now to another, and thus come to be a -kind of republic rather than a monarchy; and this may be called true and -equal liberty, when those who command to-day in turn obey to-morrow. -Neither does the example of the bees seem to me pertinent, for that king -of theirs is not of their own species; and therefore whoever would give -men a truly worthy lord, would need to find one of another species and -of more excellent nature than that of men, if men must of reason obey -him, like the herds which obey not an animal of their own kind but a -herdsman, who is a man and of higher species than theirs. - -“For these reasons, my lord Ottaviano, I think the rule of a republic is -more desirable than that of a king.” - -21.—Then my lord Ottaviano said: - -“Against your opinion, messer Pietro, I wish to cite only one argument; -which is, that of the modes of ruling people well, three kinds only are -to be found: one is monarchy; another, the rule of the good, whom the -ancients called optimates; the other, popular government. And the excess -and opposite extreme, so to speak, wherein each one of the forms of rule -falls to ruin and decay, is when monarchy becomes tyranny; and when the -rule of the optimates changes to government by a few powerful and bad -men; and when popular government is seized by the rabble, which breaks -down distinctions and commits the government of the whole to the caprice -of the multitude. Of these three kinds of bad government, it is certain -that tyranny is the worst of all, as could be proved by many arguments; -then it follows that monarchy is the best of the three kinds of good -government, because it is the opposite of the worst; for, as you know, -the results of opposite causes are themselves opposite. - -“Now as to what you said about liberty, I reply that we ought not to say -that true liberty is to live as we like, but to live according to good -laws. Nor is it less natural and useful and necessary to obey than it is -to command; and some things are born and thus appointed and ordained by -nature to command, as certain others are to obey. True it is that there -are two modes of ruling: the one imperious and violent, like that of -masters towards their slaves, and in this way the soul commands the -body; the other more mild and gentle, like that of good princes by means -of laws over their subjects, and in this way the reason commands the -appetite: and both of these modes are useful, for the body is by nature -created apt for obedience to the soul, and so is appetite for obedience -to reason. Moreover there are many men whose actions have to do only -with the use of the body; and such as these are as far from virtuous as -the soul from the body, and although they are rational creatures, they -have only such share of reason as to recognize it but not to possess or -profit by it. These, therefore, are naturally slaves, and it is better -and more profitable for them to obey than to command.” - -22.—Thereupon my lord Gaspar said: - -“In what mode then are the discreet and virtuous, and those who are not -by nature slaves, to be ruled?” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“With that gentle rule, kingly and civic. And to such men it is well -sometimes to give the charge of those offices for which they are fitted, -to the end that they too may be able to command and govern those less -wise than themselves, but in such manner that the chief rule shall -wholly depend upon the supreme prince. And since you said that it is an -easier thing for the mind of one man to be corrupted than for that of -many, I say that it is also an easier thing to find one good and wise -man than many. And to be good and wise ought to be deemed possible for a -king of noble race, inclined to worthiness by his natural instinct and -by the illustrious memory of his predecessors, and practised in good -behaviour; and if he be not of another species more than human (as you -said of the bee-king), being aided by the teachings and by the education -and skill of so prudent and excellent a Courtier as these gentlemen have -described,—he will be very just, continent, temperate, strong and wise, -full of liberality, magnificence, religion and clemency. In short, he -will be very glorious, and very dear to men and to God (by whose grace -he will attain that heroic worth which will make him exceed the limits -of humanity), and may be called a demigod rather than a mortal man. - -“For God delights in and protects, not those princes who wish to imitate -Him by displaying great power and making themselves adored of men, but -those who, besides the power that makes them mighty, strive to make -themselves like Him in goodness and wisdom, whereby they wish and are -able to do good and to be His ministers, distributing for men’s weal the -benefits and gifts which they receive from Him. Thus, just as in heaven -the sun and moon and other stars show the world as in a mirrour some -likeness of God, so on earth a much liker image of God is found in those -good princes who love and revere Him, and show their people the shining -light of His justice and a reflection of His divine reason and mind; and -with such as these God shares His righteousness, equity, justice and -goodness, and those other happy blessings which I know not how to name, -but which display to the world much clearer proof of divinity than the -sun’s light, or the continual revolving of the heavens and the various -coursing of the stars. - -23.—“Accordingly men have been placed by God under the ward of princes, -who for this reason ought to take diligent care of them, in order to -render Him an account of them like good stewards to their lord, and -ought to love them, and regard as personal to themselves every good and -evil thing that happens to them, and provide for their happiness above -every other thing. Therefore the prince ought not only to be good, but -also to make others good, like that square used by architects, which not -only is straight and true itself, but also makes straight and true all -things to which it is applied. And a very great proof that the prince is -good is when his people are good, because the prince’s life is law and -preceptress to his subjects, and upon his behaviour all the others must -needs depend; nor is it fitting for an ignorant man to teach, nor for an -unordered man to give orders, nor for one who falls to raise up others. - -“Hence if the prince would perform these duties rightly, he must devote -every study and diligence to wisdom; then he must set before himself and -follow steadfastly in everything the law of reason (unwritten on paper -or metal, but graven upon his own mind), to the end that it may be not -only familiar to him, but ingrained in him, and abide with him as a part -of himself; so that day and night, in every place and time, it may -admonish him and speak inwardly to his heart, freeing him from those -disturbances that are felt by intemperate minds, which—because they are -oppressed on the one hand as it were by the very deep sleep of -ignorance, and on the other by the travail which they suffer from their -perverse and blind desires—are tossed by relentless fury, as a sleeper -sometimes is by strange and dreadful visions. - -24.—“Moreover, by adding greater power to evil wish, greater harm is -added also; and when the prince is able to do that which he wishes, then -there is great danger that he will not wish that which he ought. Hence -Bias well said that office shows what men are:[438] for just as vases -with some crack in them cannot easily be detected so long as they are -empty, yet if liquid be poured in they at once show where the flaw -is;—so corrupt and vicious minds seldom disclose their defects except -when they are filled with authority; because then they do not suffice to -bear the heavy weight of power, and hence run all lengths and scatter on -every side the greeds, the pride, the bad temper, the insolence, and -those tyrannical practices, which they have within them. Thus they -recklessly persecute the good and wise and exalt the wicked, and in -their cities they permit neither friendships nor unions nor -understandings among their subjects, but maintain spies, informers and -murderers, in order that they may frighten and make men cowardly, and -sow discords to keep men disunited and weak. And from these ways there -then ensue countless ruin and losses to the unhappy people, and often -cruel death (or at least continual fear) to the tyrants themselves; -because good princes are not afraid for themselves, but for those whom -they rule, while tyrants fear even those whom they rule; hence the -greater the number of people they rule and the more powerful they are, -so much the more do they fear and so many more enemies do they have. - -“How frightened and of what uneasy mind do you think was Clearchus, -tyrant of Pontus,[439] every time he went into the market-place or -theatre, or to a banquet or other public place? who, as it is written, -was wont to sleep shut up in a chest. Or that other tyrant, Aristodemus -the Argive?[440] who made a kind of prison of his bed: for in his palace -he had a little room hung in air, and so high that it could be reached -only by a ladder; and here he slept with one of his women, whose mother -took away the ladder at night and replaced it in the morning. - -“A wholly different life from this, then, ought that of the good prince -to be, free and safe and as dear to his subjects as their very own, and -so ordered as to partake both of the active and of the contemplative, as -much as may comport with his people’s weal.” - -25.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“And which of these two lives, my lord Ottaviano, seems to you more -fitting for the prince?” - -My lord Ottaviano replied, laughing: - -“Perhaps you think I imagine myself to be that excellent Courtier who -ought to know so many things and apply them to that good end which I -have set forth; but remember that these gentlemen have described him -with many accomplishments that are not in me. Therefore let us first -take care to find him, for I leave to him both this and all things else -that belong to a good prince.” - -Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I think that if any of the accomplishments ascribed to the Courtier are -lacking in you, they are music and dancing and others of small -importance, rather than those that belong to the moulding of the prince -and to this end of Courtiership.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“None of those are of small importance that help to win the prince’s -favour, which is necessary (as we have said) before the Courtier risks -trying to teach him virtue; which I think I have proved can be learned, -and in which there is as much profit as there is loss in ignorance, -whence spring all sins, and especially that false esteem which men -cherish of themselves. But methinks I have said enough, and perhaps more -than I promised.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“We shall be the more beholden to your courtesy, the more your -performance outstrips your promise; so do not weary of saying what -occurs to you about my lord Gaspar’s question; and by your faith, tell -us also everything that you would teach your prince if he had need of -instruction, and imagine yourself to have won completely his favour, so -that you are allowed to tell him freely what comes into your mind.” - -26.—My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: - -“If I had the favour of a certain prince whom I know, and were to tell -him freely what I think, I fear that I should soon lose it; moreover, to -teach him, I myself should first need to learn. - -“Yet since it pleases you to have me answer my lord Gaspar further -concerning this, I say that I think princes ought to lead both the two -lives, but more especially the contemplative life, because in their case -this is divided into two parts: one of which consists in perceiving -rightly and in judging; the other in commanding (justly and in those -ways that are fitting) things reasonable and those wherein they have -authority, and in requiring the same of such men as have in reason to -obey, and at appropriate times and places; and of this Duke Federico -spoke when he said that whoever knows how to command is always obeyed. -And as command is always the chief office of princes, they ought often -to see with their own eyes and be present at the execution of their -commands, and ought also sometimes to take part themselves, according to -the time and need; and all this partakes of action: but the aim of the -active life ought to be the contemplative, as peace is that of war, -repose that of toil. - -27.—“Therefore it is also the good prince’s office so to establish his -people, and under such laws and ordinances, that they may live at ease -and peace, without danger and with dignity, and may worthily enjoy this -end of their actions, which ought to be tranquillity. For many republics -and princes are often found that have been very prosperous and great in -war, and as soon as they have had peace they have gone to ruin and lost -their greatness and splendour, like iron laid aside. And this has come -about from nothing else but from their not having been well established -for living at peace, and from their not knowing how to enjoy the -blessing of ease. And to be always at war, without seeking to arrive at -the end of peace, is not permitted: albeit some princes think that their -chief aim ought to be to lord it over their neighbours; and therefore -they train their people to a warlike ferocity for spoil, killing and the -like, and give rewards to excite it, and call it virtue. - -“Thus it was once a custom among the Scythians that whoever had not -slain an enemy might not drink from the bowl which was handed about to -the company at solemn feasts. In other places they used to set up, -around a tomb, as many obelisks as he who was buried there had slain -enemies; and all these things were done to make men warlike, solely in -order to lord it over others: which was almost impossible, because the -undertaking was endless (until the whole world should be subjugated) and -far from reasonable according to the law of nature, which will not have -us pleased with that in others which is displeasing to us in ourselves. - -“Therefore princes ought not to make their people warlike for lust of -rule, but for the sake of being able to defend themselves and their -people against him who would reduce them to bondage or do them wrong in -any wise; or to drive out tyrants and govern those people well who were -ill used, or to reduce to bondage those who are by nature such as to -deserve being made slaves, with the object of governing them well and -giving them ease and rest and peace. To this end also the laws and all -the ordinances of justice ought to be directed, by punishing the wicked, -not from hatred, but in order that they may not be wicked and to the end -that they may not disturb the tranquillity of the good. For in truth it -is a monstrous thing and worthy of blame for men to show themselves -valiant and wise in war (which is bad in itself) and in peace and quiet -(which are good) to show themselves ignorant and of so little worth that -they know not how to enjoy their happiness. - -“Hence, just as in war men ought to apply themselves to the qualities -that are useful and necessary to attain its end, which is peace,—so in -peace, to attain its end also, which is tranquillity, they ought to -apply themselves to the righteous qualities that are the end of the -useful. And thus subjects will be good, and the prince will have much -more to praise and reward than to punish; and dominion will be very -happy for the subjects and for the prince—not imperious, like that of -master over slave, but sweet and gentle, like that of a good father over -a good son.” - -28.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I should much like to know what these virtues are that are useful and -necessary in war, and what ones are righteous in peace.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“All virtues are good and helpful, because they tend to a good end; but -of especial utility in war is that true courage which so frees the mind -from the passions that it not only fears not dangers, but even pays no -heed to them; likewise steadfastness, and that enduring patience, with a -mind staunch and undisturbed by all the shocks of fortune. It is also -fitting in war, and always, to have all the virtues that make for -right,—like justice, continence, temperance; but much more in time of -peace and ease, because men placed in prosperity and ease, when good -fortune smiles upon them, often become unjust, intemperate, and allow -themselves to be corrupted by pleasures: hence those who are in such -case have very great need of these virtues, for ease too readily -engenders evil behaviour in human minds. Therefore it was anciently said -as a proverb, slaves should be given no ease; and it is believed that -the pyramids of Egypt were made to keep the people busy, because it is -very good for everyone to be accustomed to bear toil. - -“There are still many other virtues that are all helpful, but let it -suffice for the present that I have spoken until now; for if I knew how -to teach my prince and instruct him in this kind of worthy education -such as we have planned, merely by so doing I should deem myself to have -attained sufficiently well the aim of the good Courtier.” - -29.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“My lord Ottaviano, since you have highly praised good education, and -seemed almost to think that it is the chief means of making a man -virtuous and good, I should like to know whether this instruction, which -the Courtier must give his prince, ought to be begun with practice and -with daily behaviour as it were, so as to accustom him to right doing -without his perceiving it; or whether a beginning ought to be made by -demonstrating to his reason the quality of good and evil, and by making -him understand, before he sets out, which is the good way and the one to -follow, and which is the bad way and the one to avoid: in short whether -his mind ought to be first imbued and implanted with the virtues through -the reason and intelligence or through practice.” - -My lord Ottaviano said: - -“You start me upon too long a discourse; still, in order that you may -not think I abstain from lack of will to answer your questions, I say -that just as our mind and body are two things, so too the soul is -divided into two parts, of which one has the reason in it, and the other -has the appetite. Then, just as in generation the body precedes the -soul, so the unreasoning part of the soul precedes the reasoning part: -which is clearly perceived in children, in whom anger and lust are seen -almost as soon as they are born, but with the lapse of time reason -appears. Hence care must be taken of the body earlier than of the soul, -and of appetite earlier than of reason; but care of the body with a view -to the soul, and of the appetite with a view to reason: for just as -intellectual worth is perfected by instruction, so is moral worth -perfected by practice. We ought, therefore, first to teach through -habit, which is able to govern the as yet unreasoning appetites and to -direct them towards the good by means of that fair use; next we ought to -establish them through the understanding, which, although it shows its -light more tardily, still furnishes a mode of making the virtues more -perfectly fruitful to one whose mind is well trained by -practice,—wherein, to my thinking, lies the whole matter.” - -30.—My lord Gaspar said: - -“Before you go further, I should like to know what care ought to be -taken of the body, since you said that we ought to take care of it -earlier than of the soul.” - -“As to that,” replied my lord Ottaviano, laughing, “ask those who -nourish their bodies well, and are plump and fresh; for mine, as you -see, is not too well conditioned. Yet of this also it would be possible -to say much, as of the proper time for marriage, to the end that the -children may not be too near or too far from their father’s age; of the -exercises and education to be followed from birth and during the rest of -life, in order to make them handsome, strong and sturdy.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“That which would best please women for making their children handsome -and beautiful, methinks would be that community wherein Plato in his -Republic wishes them to be held, and after that manner.”[441] - -Then my lady Emilia said, laughing: - -“It is not in the compact that you should fall to speaking ill of women -again.” - -“I think,” replied my lord Gaspar, “that I give them great praise in -saying that they wish to bring in a custom approved by so great a man.” - -Messer Cesare Gonzaga said, laughing: - -“Let us see whether this could have place among my lord Ottaviano’s -precepts (I do not know if he has rehearsed them all), and whether it -were well for the prince to make it law.” - -“The few that I have rehearsed,” replied my lord Ottaviano, “might -perhaps suffice to make a prince good, as princes go nowadays; although -if one cared to look into the matter more minutely, he would still have -much more to say.” - -My lady Duchess added: - -“Since it costs us nothing but words, tell us on your faith everything -that it would occur to your mind to teach your prince.” - -31.—My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“Many other things, my Lady, would I teach him, provided I knew them; -and among others, that he should choose from his subjects a number of -the noblest and wisest gentlemen, with whom he should consult on -everything, and that he should give them authority and free leave to -speak their mind to him about all things without ceremony; and that he -should preserve such demeanour towards them, that they all might -perceive that he wished to know the truth about everything and held all -manner of falsehood in hatred. Besides this council of nobles, I should -advise that there be chosen from the people other men of lower rank, of -whom a popular council should be made, to communicate with the council -of nobles concerning the affairs of the city, both public and private. -And in this way there would be made of the prince (as of the head) and -of the nobles and commonalty (as of the members) a single united body, -the government of which would spring chiefly from the prince and yet -include the others also; and this state would thus have the form of the -three good kinds of government, which are Monarchy, Optimates, and -People.[442] - -32.—“Next I should show him that of the cares which belong to the -prince, the most important is that of justice; for the maintenance of -which wise and well-tried men ought to be chosen to office, whose -foresight is true foresight accompanied by goodness, for else it is not -foresight, but cunning; and when this goodness is lacking, the pleaders’ -skill and subtlety always work nothing but ruin and destruction to law -and justice, and the guilt of all their errours must be laid on him who -put them in office. - -“I should tell how justice also fosters that piety towards God which is -the duty of all men, and especially of princes, who ought to love Him -above every other thing and direct all their actions to Him as to the -true end; and as Xenophon said, to honour and love Him always, but much -more when they are in prosperity, so that afterwards they may the more -reasonably have confidence to ask Him for mercy when they are in some -adversity.[443] For it is impossible to govern rightly either one’s self -or others without the help of God; who to the good sometimes sends good -fortune as His minister to relieve them from grievous perils; sometimes -adverse fortune, to prevent their being so lulled by prosperity as to -forget Him or human foresight, which often repairs evil fortune, as a -good player repairs bad throws of the dice by placing his board -well.[444] Moreover I should not cease reminding the prince to be truly -religious—not superstitious or given to the vanities of incantation and -sooth-saying; for by adding divine piety and true religion to human -foresight, he would have good fortune too and a protecting God always to -increase his prosperity in peace and in war. - -33.—“Next I should tell how he ought to love his land and people, not -holding them too much in bondage, lest he make himself odious to them, -from which thing there arise seditions, conspiracies and a thousand -other evils; nor yet in too great freedom, lest he be despised, from -which proceed licentious and dissolute life among his people, rapine, -theft, murder, without any fear of the law; often the ruin and total -destruction of city and realms. Next, how he ought to love those near -him according to their degree, maintaining among all men an even -equality in some things, as in justice and liberty; and in certain other -things a judicious inequality, as in being generous, in rewarding, in -distributing honours and dignities according to the inequality of their -merits, which always ought not to exceed but to be exceeded by their -rewards; and that in this way he would be not merely loved but almost -adored by his subjects. Nor would there be need that he should turn to -aliens for the safeguard of his life, because his own people for their -very profit would guard it with their own, and all men would gladly obey -the laws, when they found that he himself obeyed and was as it were the -guardian and incorruptible minister of the same; and thus he would make -so strong an impression in this matter, that even if he sometimes -chanced to infringe the laws in some particular, everyone would feel -that it was done for a good end, and the same respect and reverence -would be paid to his wish as to the law itself. - -“Thus the minds of his subjects would be so tempered that the good would -not seek for more than they needed, and the bad could not; for excessive -riches are oftentimes the cause of great ruin, as in poor Italy, which -has been and still is exposed as a prey to foreign nations, both because -of bad government and because of the great riches of which it is full. -Hence it were well to have the greater part of the citizens neither very -rich nor very poor, for the over-rich often become insolent and rash; -the poor, base and dishonest; but men of moderate fortune do not lay -snares for others, and live safe from being snared: and being the -greater number, these men of moderate fortune are also more powerful; -and therefore neither the poor nor the rich can conspire against the -prince or other men, nor can they sow seditions; wherefore, in order to -avoid this evil, it is a very wholesome thing to preserve a mean in all -things. - -34.—“I should say then, that the prince ought to employ these and many -other suitable precautions, so that there may not arise in his subjects’ -mind a desire for new things and for a change of government; which they -most often bring to pass either for gain or else for honour which they -hope for, or because of loss or else of shame which they fear. And this -unrest is engendered in their minds sometimes by hatred and anger -driving them to despair, by reason of the wrongs and insults that have -been wrought upon them through the avarice, insolence and cruelty or -lust of their superiors; sometimes by the contempt that is aroused in -them by the neglect and baseness and unworthiness of their princes. -These two errours ought to be avoided by winning the people’s love and -obedience; as is done by benefiting and rewarding the good, and by -prudently and sometimes severely precluding the bad and seditious from -becoming powerful, which is much easier to prevent before they have -become so than to deprive them of power after they have once acquired -it. And I should say that to prevent a subject from running into these -errours, there is no better way than to keep him from evil practices, -and especially from those that spread little by little; for they are -secret pests that infect cities before it is possible to cure or even to -detect them. - -“By such means I should advise that the prince contrive to keep his -subjects in a tranquil state, and to give them the blessings of mind and -body and fortune; but those of the body and of fortune, in order to be -able to exercise those of the mind, which are the more profitable the -greater and more superabundant they are; which is not true of those of -the body and of fortune. If, then, the subjects be good and worthy and -rightly directed towards the goal of happiness, their prince is a very -great lord; for that is a true and great dominion, under which the -subjects are good and well governed and well commanded.” - -35.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I think that he would be a small lord under whom all the subjects were -good, for in every place the good are few.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“If some Circe were to change all the subjects of the King of France -into wild beasts, would he not seem to you a small lord for all he ruled -over so many thousand animals?[445] And on the other hand, if only the -flocks that roam our mountains here for pasture were to become wise men -and worthy cavaliers, would you not think that those herdsmen who -governed them and were obeyed by them, had become great lords instead of -herdsmen? You see then, that it is not the number but the worth of their -subjects that makes princes great.” - -36.—My lady Duchess and my lady Emilia and all the others had been for a -good space very attentive to my lord Ottaviano’s discourse; but since he -now made a little pause, as if he had finished his discourse, messer -Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“Verily, my lord Ottaviano, it cannot be said that your precepts are not -good and useful; nevertheless I should think that if you fashioned your -prince after them, you would rather deserve the name of a good -school-master than of a good Courtier, and he rather that of a good -governor than of a great prince. I am far from saying that the care of -lords should not be to have their people well ruled with justice and -good uses; nevertheless methinks it is enough for them to select good -ministers to dispose of such matters, and that their true office is much -greater. - -“Therefore if I felt myself to be that excellent Courtier which these -gentlemen have described, and to possess the favour of my prince, I -certainly should not lead him into anything vicious; but, to pursue that -good end which you tell of, and which I agree ought to be the fruit of -the Courtier’s toils and actions, I should seek to impress upon his mind -a certain greatness, together with that regal splendour and readiness of -mind and unconquered valour in war which should make him loved and -revered by everyone to such a degree that he should be famous and -illustrious in the world chiefly for this. I should tell him also that -he ought to accompany his greatness with a familiar gentleness, with -that sweet and amiable humanity, and a fine manner of caressing both his -subjects and strangers with discrimination, more or less according to -their merits,—always preserving, however, the majesty suited to his -rank, so as not to allow his authority to abate one jot from -over-condescension, nor on the other hand to excite hatred by too stern -severity; that he ought to be very generous and splendid, and to give to -all men without reserve, because God, as the saying runs, is the -treasurer of generous princes; that he ought to give magnificent -banquets, festivals, games, public shows; to have a great number of -excellent horses (for use in war and for pleasure in time of peace), -falcons, hounds, and all things else that pertain to the pleasures of -great lords and of the people: as in our days we have seen done by my -lord Francesco Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, who in these matters seems -rather King of Italy than lord of a city.[446] - -“I should seek also to induce him to erect great buildings, both to win -honour in his lifetime and to give a memorial of himself to posterity: -as Duke Federico did in the case of this noble palace,[447] and as Pope -Julius is now doing in the case of St. Peter’s Church[448] and of that -street which leads from the Palace to his pleasure pavilion the -Belvedere,[449] and many other buildings: as also the ancient Romans -did, whereof we see so many remains at Rome and at Naples, at Pozzuoli, -at Baja, at Civita Vecchia, at Porto,[450] and out of Italy too, and -many other places,—which are great proof of the worth of those divine -minds.[451] So did Alexander the Great also, for not content with the -fame that he had justly won by having conquered the world with arms, he -built Alexandria in Egypt, Bucephalia in India,[452] and other cities in -other countries; and he thought of reducing Mount Athos to the form of a -man, and of building a very spacious city in its left hand, and in its -right a great basin in which were to be gathered all the rivers that -take their rise there, and from it they were to flow over into the -sea:[453] a truly great thought and one worthy of Alexander the Great. - -“These, my lord Ottaviano, are things which I think befit a noble and -true prince, and make him very glorious in peace and war; and not -setting his mind to so many trifles, and taking care to fight solely in -order to rule or conquer those who deserve to be ruled, or for his -subjects’ profit, or to deprive those of power who wield it ill. For if -the Romans, Alexander, Hannibal and the others had had these aims, they -would not have reached that height of glory to which they did attain.” - -[Illustration: - - POPE JULIUS II - GIULIANO DELLA ROVERE - 1443-1513 -] - -Reduced from a part of Braun’s photograph (no. 42.079) of the portrait, - in the Pitti Gallery at Florence, by Raphael (1483-1520). Of two - similar portraits, one is in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence, and the - other is in the National Gallery at London. Both Passavant and - Morelli affirmed the superior authenticity of the picture here - presented, which is believed to have been painted for the Duke of - Urbino. - -37.—Then my lord Ottaviano replied, laughing: - -“Those who had not these aims, would have done better if they had; -although if you think, you will find many that did, and particularly -those first ancients, like Theseus and Hercules. And do not imagine that -Procrustes and Sciron, Cacus, Diomed, Antæus, Geryon, were other than -cruel and impious tyrants, against whom these lofty-minded heroes waged -perpetual and deadly war.[454] Therefore, for having delivered the world -from such intolerable monsters (for only thus ought tyrants to be -called), temples were raised and sacrifices offered to Hercules, and -divine honours paid to him; since the extirpation of tyrants is a -benefit so profitable to the world that he who confers it deserves much -greater reward than any befitting to a mortal.[455] - -“And of those whom you named, do you not think that by his victories -Alexander did good to the peoples whom he conquered, having taught so -many good customs to those barbarous tribes which he overcame, that out -of wild beasts he made them men? He built so many fine cities in lands -that were ill-inhabited, and introduced right living there, and as it -were united Asia and Europe by the bond of friendship and holy laws, -that those who were conquered by him were happier than the others. For -to some he taught marriage, to others agriculture, to others religion, -others he taught not to kill but to support their fathers when grown -old, others to abstain from union with their mothers, and a thousand -other things that could be told in proof of the benefit which his -victories conferred upon the world. - -38.—“But leaving the ancients aside, what more noble and glorious -enterprise and more profitable could there be than for Christians to -devote their power to subjugating the infidels?[456] Do you not think -that this war, if it succeeded prosperously and were the means of -turning so many thousand men from the false sect of Mahomet to the light -of Christian truth, would be as profitable to the vanquished as to the -victors? And truly, as Themistocles once said to his family, being -banished from his native land and received by the King of Persia and -caressed and honoured with countless and very rich gifts: ‘My friends, -we should have been undone but for our undoing;’[457] so with reason -might the Turks and Moors then say the same, because in their loss would -lie their salvation. - -“Therefore I hope that we shall yet see this happiness, if God grant -life enough for Monseigneur d’Angoulême to attain the crown of -France,[458] who gives such promise of himself as my lord Magnifico told -of four evenings since; and for my lord Henry, Prince of Wales,[459] to -attain that of England, who now is growing up under his great father in -every sort of virtue,[460] like a tender shoot under the shade of an -excellent and fruit-laden tree, to renew it with much greater beauty and -fruitfulness when the time shall be; for as our friend Castiglione -writes thence,[461] and promises to tell more fully on his return, it -seems that nature wished in this lord to show her power by gathering in -a single body enough excellences to adorn a host.” - -Then messer Bernardo Bibbiena said: - -“Very great promise is shown also by Don Carlos, Prince of Spain, who -(although not yet arrived at the tenth year of his age) already shows so -much capacity and such certain signs of goodness, of foresight, of -modesty, of magnanimity and of every virtue, that if the empire of -Christendom shall be (as men think) in his hands, we may believe that he -must eclipse the name of many ancient emperors, and equal the fame of -the most famous that have been on earth.”[462] - -39.—My lord Ottaviano added: - -“I think, then, that such divine princes as these have been sent by God -on earth, and by Him made to resemble one another in youth, in martial -power, in state, in beauty and bodily shape, to the end that they may be -of one accord for this good purpose also. And if there must ever be any -envy or emulation among them, it may be solely in wishing to be each the -first and most fervent and zealous for so glorious an enterprise. - -“But let us leave this discourse and return to our subject. I say, then, -messer Cesare, that the things which you wish the prince to do are very -great and worthy of much praise; but you ought to understand that if he -does not know that which I have said he ought to know, and has not -formed his mind after that pattern and directed it to the path of -virtue, he will hardly know how to be magnanimous, generous, just, -courageous, foreseeing, or to possess any of those other qualities that -are looked for in him. Nor yet would I have him such merely for the sake -of being able to exercise these qualities: for just as those who build -are not all good architects, so those who give are not all generous; -because virtue never harms any man, and there are many who rob in order -to give away, and thus are generous with the property of others; some -give to those they ought not, and leave in misfortune and distress those -to whom they are beholden; others give with a certain bad grace and -almost spite, so that men see they do so on compulsion; others not only -make no secret of it, but call witnesses and almost proclaim their -generosities; others foolishly empty the fountain of their generosity at -a draught, so that it can be no more used again. - -[Illustration: - - PRINCE HENRY OF WALES - AFTERWARDS HENRY VIII OF ENGLAND - 1491-1547 -] - -Reduced from Walker and Boutall’s photograph of an anonymous portrait - (no. 157) in the National Portrait Gallery at London. Painted on - copper, and formerly owned by Mr. Barrett at Lee Priory, Kent, the - picture was acquired by the Gallery from the Messrs. Graves in 1863. - -40.—“Hence in this, as in other things, it is needful to know and to -govern one’s self with that foresight which is the necessary companion -of all the virtues; which being midway are near the two extremes—that -is, the vices; and thus he who does not know, easily runs into them. For -just as it is difficult to find the central point in a circle, which is -the mean, so is it difficult to find the point of virtue set midway -between the two extremes (vicious, the one because of excess, the other -because of deficiency); and to these we are inclined, sometimes to one -and sometimes to the other. We perceive this in the pleasure or -displeasure that we feel within us, for by reason of the one we do that -which we ought not, and by reason of the other we fail to do that which -we ought; but the pleasure is much the more dangerous, because our -judgment allows itself to be easily corrupted by it. - -“But since it is a difficult thing to perceive how far a man is from the -central point of virtue, we ought of our own accord to withdraw step by -step in the direction opposite to the extreme towards which we perceive -ourselves to be inclined, as those do who straighten crooked timbers; -for in such wise we approximate to virtue, which (as I have said) -consists in that central point. Hence it happens that we err in many -ways and perform our office and duty in only one way, just like archers, -who hit the mark by one way only and miss the target by many. Thus, in -his wish to be humane and affable, one prince often does countless -things beneath his dignity, and so abases himself that he is despised; -another, to preserve his grave majesty with becoming authority, becomes -austere and intolerable; another, to be held eloquent, strays into a -thousand strange fashions and long mazes of affected words, listening to -himself to such a degree that others cannot listen to him for weariness. - -41.—“Therefore do not call anything a trifle, messer Cesare, that can -improve a prince in any particular, however slight it be; nor must you -suppose that I think you disparage my precepts when you say that by them -a good governor would be fashioned rather than a good prince; for -perhaps no greater or more fitting praise can be given to a prince than -to call him a good governor. Hence if it lay with me to instruct him, I -would have him take care to heed not only the matters already mentioned, -but those which are much smaller, and as far as possible understand all -details affecting his people, nor ever so believe or trust any one of -his ministers as to confide to that one alone the bridle and control of -all his government. For there is no man who is very apt for all things, -and much greater harm arises from the credulity of lords than from their -incredulity, which not only sometimes does no harm, but often is of the -greatest advantage: albeit in this matter there is need of good judgment -in the prince, to perceive who deserves to be believed and who does not. - -“I would have him take care to understand the acts and be the overseer -of his ministers; to settle and shorten disputes among his subjects; to -be the means of making peace among them, and of allying them in -marriage; to have his city all united and agreed in friendship like a -private family, populous, not poor, peaceful, full of good artificers; -to favour merchants and even to aid them with money; to be generous and -splendid in hospitality towards foreigners and ecclesiastics; to -moderate all superfluities, for through the errours that are committed -in these matters, small though they seem, cities often come to ruin. -Wherefore it is reasonable that the prince should set a limit upon the -too sumptuous houses of private folk, upon feasts, upon the excessive -doweries of women, upon their luxury, upon their display in jewels and -vesture, which is naught but a proof of their folly; for besides often -wasting their husbands’ goods and substance through the ambition and the -envy which they bear one another, they sometimes sell their honour to -anyone who will buy it, for the sake of a trinket or some other like -trifle.” - -[Illustration: - - FEDERICO GONZAGA - MARQUESS AND AFTERWARDS DUKE OF MANTUA - 1500-1540 -] - -Enlarged from a cast, kindly furnished by M. Pierre Valton, of an - anonymous and probably unique medal in his collection at Paris. See - Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, ii, 155, no. 1. - -42.—Then messer Bernardo Bibbiena said, laughing: - -“My lord Ottaviano, you are taking sides with my lord Gaspar and -Frisio.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied, also laughing: - -“The dispute is finished, and I am far from wishing to renew it; so I -shall say no more of women, but return to my prince.” - -Frisio replied: - -“You can very well leave him now, and rest content that he should be -such as you have described him. For without doubt it would be easier to -find a lady with the qualities mentioned by my lord Magnifico, than a -prince with the qualities mentioned by you; hence I fear that he is like -Plato’s Republic, and that we are never to see his equal, unless perhaps -in Heaven.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“Although they be difficult, things that are possible may still be hoped -to come to pass. Therefore we shall in our times perhaps yet see him on -earth; for although the heavens are so chary of producing excellent -princes that hardly one is seen in many centuries, this good fortune may -fall to us.” - -Then Count Ludovico said: - -“I certainly trust that it may be so; for, besides those three great -princes whom we have named, to whom we may look for that which has been -said to befit the highest type of a perfect prince,—there are also to be -found in Italy to-day several princes’ sons, who, although they are not -likely to have such great power, will perhaps fill its place with worth. -And the one among them all who shows the best natural bent, and gives -greater promise than any of the others, seems to me to be my lord -Federico Gonzaga, eldest son of the Marquess of Mantua and nephew to our -lady Duchess here.[463] For besides the gentleness of behaviour and the -discretion which he shows at such a tender age, those who have charge of -him tell wonderful things of his capacity, eagerness for honour, -magnanimity, courtesy, generosity, love of justice; so that from so good -a beginning we cannot but hope for the best of ends.” - -Then Frisio said: - -“No more of this at present; we will pray God that we may see this hope -of yours fulfilled.” - -43.—Here my lord Ottaviano, turning to my lady Duchess with an air of -having finished his discourse, said: - -“There, my Lady, is what occurs to me to say about the aim of the -Courtier; wherein, if I shall not have wholly given satisfaction, it -will at least be enough for me to have shown that some further -perfection could be given him in addition to the things mentioned by -these gentlemen; who, methinks, omitted both this and all that I might -say, not because they did not know it better than I, but in order to -save themselves trouble; therefore I will leave them to continue, if -they have anything left to say.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“Not only is the hour so late that it will soon be time to stop for the -evening, but it seems to me that we ought not to mingle any other -discourse with this; wherein you have gathered so many different and -beautiful things, that we may say (touching the aim of Courtiership) not -only that you are the perfect Courtier whom we seek, and competent to -instruct your prince rightly, but if fortune shall be favourable to you, -that you ought also to be an admirable prince, which would be of great -advantage to your country.”[464] - -My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: - -“If I held such rank, my Lady, perhaps it would be with me as it is wont -to be with many others, who know better how to speak than to act.” - -44.—Here the matter having been debated back and forth awhile among the -whole company, with some little contradiction albeit in praise of what -had been said, and it being suggested that it was not yet time to go to -rest, the Magnifico Giuliano said, laughing: - -“My Lady, I am so great an enemy to guile, that I am forced to -contradict my lord Ottaviano, who, from having (as I fear) conspired -secretly with my lord Gaspar against women, has fallen into two errours -to my thinking very grave: one of which is, that in order to set this -Courtier above the Court Lady and make him transcend the bounds that she -can reach, my lord Ottaviano has set the Courtier also above the prince, -which is most unseemly; the other is in setting him such a goal that it -is always difficult, and sometimes impossible for him to reach it, and -that even when he does reach it, he ought not to be called a Courtier.” - -“I do not understand,” said my lady Emilia, “how it should be so -difficult or impossible for the Courtier to reach this goal of his, nor -yet how my lord Ottaviano has set him above the prince.”[465] - -“Do not grant him these things,” replied my lord Ottaviano, “for I have -not set the Courtier above the prince, nor do I think I have fallen into -any errour touching the aim of Courtiership.” - -Then the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“You cannot say, my lord Ottaviano, that the cause which gives a certain -quality to a result, does not always have more of that quality than its -result has. Thus the Courtier, through whose instruction the prince is -to become so excellent, must needs be more excellent than his prince; -and in this way he will also be of greater dignity than the prince -himself, which is most unseemly. - -“Then, as for the aim of Courtiership, what you said may be true when -the prince’s age is little different from the Courtier’s, but still not -without difficulty, for where there is small difference in age, it is -natural that there should be small difference in knowledge also; while -if the prince is old and the Courtier young, it is fitting that the old -prince should know more than the young Courtier; and if this does not -always happen, it happens sometimes, and then the goal which you set the -Courtier is impossible. Again, if the prince is young and the Courtier -old, the Courtier can hardly win the prince’s mind by means of those -accomplishments that you have ascribed to him. For to say the truth, -jousting and other exercises of the person belong to young men and do -not befit old men, and music and dancing and festivals and games and -love-making are ridiculous in old age; and methinks they would be very -ill-befitting a director of the prince’s life and behaviour, who ought -to be a very sober person of authority, mature in years and experience, -and (if possible) a good philosopher, a good commander, and ought to -know almost everything. - -“Therefore I think that whoever instructs the prince ought not to be -called a Courtier, but deserves a far higher and more honoured name. So -pardon me, my lord Ottaviano, if I have exposed your fallacy; for -methinks I am bound to do so for the honour of my Lady, whom you, -forsooth, would have of less dignity than this Courtier of yours, and I -will not allow it.” - -45.—My lord Ottaviano laughed, and said: - -“My lord Magnifico, it would be more praise to the Court Lady to exalt -her until she equalled the Courtier, than to abase the Courtier until he -equalled the Court Lady; for it would be by no means forbidden the Lady -to teach the mistress also, and with her to tend towards that aim of -Courtiership which I said befits the Courtier with the prince. But you -seek more to censure the Courtier than to praise the Court Lady; hence I -too shall be allowed to take the Courtier’s part. - -“To reply, then, to your objections, I declare I did not say that the -Courtier’s instruction ought to be the sole cause of making the prince -such as we would have him. For if he were not by nature inclined and -fitted to be so, all the Courtier’s care and reminders would be in vain: -just as any good husbandman also would labour in vain if he were to set -about cultivating barren sea-sand and sowing it with excellent seed, -because such barrenness is natural in that place; but when to good seed -in fertile soil, and to mildness of climate and rains suited to the -season, there is added also the diligence of human culture, very -abundant crops are always found to spring up plenteously. Nor is it on -that account true that the husbandman alone is the cause of this, -although without him all the other things would avail little or nothing. -Thus there are many princes who would be good if their minds were -rightly cultivated; and it is of these that I am speaking, not of those -who are like barren ground, and by nature so alien to good behaviour -that no training avails to lead their minds in the straight path. - -46.—“And since, as we have already said, our habits are what our actions -make them, and virtue consists in action, it is not impossible or -marvellous that the Courtier should turn the prince to many virtues, -like justice, generosity, magnanimity, the practice whereof the prince -by his greatness can easily put in use and convert into habit; which the -Courtier cannot do, because he has not the means to practise them; and -thus the prince, allured to virtue by the Courtier, may become more -virtuous than the Courtier. Moreover you must know that the whetstone, -although it cuts nothing, yet makes iron sharp. Hence it seems to me -that although the Courtier instructs the prince, he need not on that -account be said to be of more dignity than the prince. - -“That the aim of this Courtiership is difficult and sometimes -impossible, and that even when the Courtier attains it, he ought not to -be called a Courtier, but deserves a greater name,—I say that I do not -deny this difficulty, since it is not less difficult to find so -excellent a Courtier than to attain such an end. Yet methinks there is -no impossibility, even in the case that you cited: for if the Courtier -is too young to know that which we have said he ought to know, we need -not speak of him, since he is not the Courtier we are presupposing, nor -is it possible that one who has to know so many things should be very -young. - -“And if, indeed, the prince shall chance to be so wise and good by -nature that he has no need of precepts and counsel from others (although -everyone knows how difficult this is), it will be enough for the -Courtier to be such a man as could make the prince virtuous if he had -need of it. And then the Courtier will be at least able to perform the -other part of his duty,—not to allow his prince to be deceived, always -to make known the truth about everything, and to set himself against -flatterers and slanderers and all those who plot to debase his prince’s -mind with unworthy pleasures. And in this way he will also attain his -end in great part, although he cannot put everything in practice: which -will not be a reason for finding fault with him, since he refrains -therefrom for so good a cause. For if an excellent physician were to -find himself in a place where everyone was in health, it would not for -that reason be right to say that this physician failed in his aim, -although he healed no sick. Thus, just as the physician’s aim ought to -be men’s health, so the Courtier’s ought to be his prince’s virtue; and -it is enough for them both to have their aim latent within their power, -if their failure to attain it openly in acts arises from the subject to -which the aim is directed. - -“But if the Courtier were so old that it would not become him to -practise music, festivals, games, arms, and the other personal -accomplishments, still we cannot say that it is impossible for him to -win his prince’s favour by that road. For if his age prevents his -practising those things, it does not prevent his understanding them, and -if he has practised them in his youth, it does not prevent his having -the more perfect judgment regarding them, and his knowing the more -perfectly how to teach them to his prince, in proportion as years and -experience bring more knowledge of everything. Thus, although the old -Courtier does not practise the accomplishments ascribed to him, he will -yet attain his aim of instructing his prince rightly. - -47.—“And if you are unwilling to call him Courtier, it does not trouble -me; for nature has not set such limit upon human dignities that a man -may not mount from one to another. Thus, common soldiers often become -captains; private persons, kings; and priests, popes; and pupils, -masters; and thus, together with the dignity, they acquire the name -also. Hence perhaps we might say that to become his prince’s instructor -was the Courtier’s aim. However, I do not know who would refuse this -name of perfect Courtier, which in my opinion is worthy of very great -praise. And it seems to me that just as Homer described two most -excellent men as patterns of human life,—the one in deeds (which was -Achilles), the other in sufferings and endurance (which was Ulysses),—so -also he described a perfect Courtier (which was Phœnix), who, after -narrating his loves and many other youthful affairs, says that he was -sent to Achilles by the latter’s father, Peleus, as a companion and to -teach the youth how to speak and act: which is naught else but the aim -which we have marked out for our Courtier.[466] - -“Nor do I think that Aristotle and Plato would have scorned the name of -perfect Courtier, for we clearly see that they performed the works of -Courtiership and wrought to this end,—the one with Alexander the Great, -the other with the kings of Sicily. And since the office of a good -Courtier is to know the prince’s character and inclinations, and thus to -enter tactfully into his favour according to need and opportunity, as we -have said, by those ways that afford safe access, and then to lead him -towards virtue,—Aristotle so well knew the character of Alexander, and -tactfully fostered it so well, that he was loved and honoured more than -a father by Alexander.[467] Thus, among many other tokens that Alexander -gave him of good will, the king ordered the rebuilding of his native -city, Stagira, which had been destroyed;[468] and besides directing -Alexander to that most glorious aim,—which was the desire to make the -world as one single universal country, and all men as a single people to -live in amity and mutual concord under a single government and a single -law, which should shine equally on all like the light of the -sun,[469]—Aristotle so instructed him in the natural sciences and in the -virtues of the mind as to make him most wise, brave, continent, and a -true moral philosopher, not only in words but in deeds; for a nobler -philosophy cannot be imagined than to bring into civilized living such -savage people as those who inhabited Bactria and Caucasia, India, -Scythia;[470] and to teach them marriage, agriculture, honour to their -fathers, abstention from rapine, murder and other evil ways; to build so -many very noble cities in distant lands;—so that countless men were by -his laws reduced from savage life to civilization. And of these -achievements of Alexander the author was Aristotle, using the means of a -good Courtier: which Callisthenes knew not how to do, although Aristotle -showed him;[471] for in his wish to be a pure philosopher and austere -minister of naked truth, without mingling Courtiership therewith, he -lost his life and brought not help but rather infamy to Alexander. - -“By these same means of Courtiership, Plato schooled Dio of -Syracuse;[472] and having afterwards found the tyrant Dionysius like a -book all full of faults and errours and in need of complete erasure -rather than of any change or correction (since it was not possible to -remove from him that tinge of tyranny wherewith he had so long been -stained), Plato was unwilling to practise the ways of Courtiership upon -him, thinking that they all would surely be in vain. Which our Courtier -also ought to do, if by chance he finds himself in the service of a -prince of so evil a disposition as to be inveterate in vice, like -consumptives in their malady; for in such case he ought to escape that -bondage, in order not to receive blame for his lord’s evil deeds, and in -order not to feel that distress which all good men feel who serve the -wicked.” - -48.—Here my lord Ottaviano having ceased speaking, my lord Gaspar said: - -“I did not in the least suspect that our Courtier was so honoured; but -since Aristotle and Plato are his fellows, I think that no one ought -henceforth to scorn this name. Still I am far from sure whether I -believe that Aristotle and Plato ever danced or made music in their -lives, or performed any other acts of chivalry.” - -My lord Ottaviano replied: - -“It is hardly permitted to think that these two divine spirits did not -know everything, and hence we may believe that they practised what -pertains to Courtiership, for on occasion they write of it in such -fashion that the very masters of the subjects written of by them -perceive that they understood the same to the marrow and deepest roots. -Wherefore there is no ground for saying that all the accomplishments -ascribed to him by these gentlemen do not befit a Courtier (or -instructor of the prince, as you like to call him) who contributes to -that good end which we have mentioned, even though he were a very stern -philosopher and most saintly in his behaviour, because they are not at -variance with goodness, discretion, wisdom, worth, at every age and in -every time and place.” - -49.—Then my lord Gaspar said: - -“I remember that in discussing the accomplishments of the Courtier last -evening, these gentlemen desired that he should be in love; and since, -by reviewing what has thus far been said, we might conclude that a -Courtier who has to allure his prince to virtue by his worth and -authority, must almost of necessity be old (because knowledge very -rarely comes before years, and especially in those things that are -learned by experience),—I do not know how becoming it is for him (being -advanced in age) to be in love. For as has been said this evening, love -does not sit well upon old men, and those things which in young men are -delights, courtesies and elegances very pleasing to women, in old men -are extravagances and ridiculous incongruities, and for him who -practises them win hatred from women and derision from others. - -“So if your friend Aristotle, the old Courtier, were in love, and did -those things which young lovers do, like some whom we have seen in our -days,—I fear he would forget to instruct his prince, and perhaps -children would mock at him behind his back, and women would get little -pleasure from him except to deride him.” - -Then my lord Ottaviano said: - -“As all the other accomplishments ascribed to the Courtier befit him -although he be old, methinks we ought by no means to deprive him of this -enjoyment of loving.” - -“Nay,” said my lord Gaspar, “to deprive him of love is to give him an -added perfection, and to make him live at ease remote from misery and -calamity.” - -50.—Messer Pietro Bembo said: - -“Do you not remember, my lord Gaspar, that although he is little skilled -in love, yet in his game the other evening my lord Ottaviano seemed to -know that there are some lovers who call sweet the scorns and ires and -warrings and torments which they have from their ladies; whence he asked -to be taught the cause of this sweetness? Therefore if our Courtier, -although old, were inflamed with those loves that are sweet without -bitterness, he would feel no calamity or misery in them; and if he were -wise, as we suppose him to be, he would not deceive himself by thinking -that all was befitting to him which befits young men; but if he loved, -perhaps he would love in a way that would bring him not only no blame, -but much praise and highest happiness unaccompanied by any pain, which -rarely and almost never happens with young men; and thus he would not -fail to instruct his prince, nor would he do aught to deserve the -mockery of children.” - -Then my lady Duchess said: - -“I am glad, messer Pietro, that you have had little fatigue in our -discussion this evening, for now we shall with more assurance impose on -you the burden of speaking, and of teaching the Courtier this love which -is so happy that it brings with it neither blame nor discomfort; for -perhaps it will be one of the most important and useful attributes that -have thus far been ascribed to him: therefore tell us, on your faith, -all you know about it.” - -Messer Pietro laughed, and said: - -“I should be sorry, my Lady, that my saying it is permissible for old -men to love should be a reason for these ladies to regard me as old; -therefore please to give this task to someone else.”[473] - -My lady Duchess replied: - -“You ought not to shun being reputed old in wisdom, even if you are -young in years; so speak on, and make no more excuse.” - -Messer Pietro said: - -“Indeed, my Lady, if I must talk about this matter, I should need to go -take counsel with my Lavinello’s Hermit.”[474] - -Then my lady Emilia said, half vexed: - -“Messer Pietro, there is no one in the company who is more disobedient -than you; therefore it will be well for my lady Duchess to inflict some -chastisement upon you.” - -Messer Pietro said, again smiling: - -“Be not angry with me, my Lady, for love of God; for I will tell what -you wish.” - -“Then tell it at once,” replied my lady Emilia. - -51.—Whereupon messer Pietro, having first remained silent awhile, then -settled himself a little as if about to speak of something important, -and spoke thus:[475] - -“My Lords, in order to prove that old men can love not only without -blame but sometimes more happily than young men, it will be needful for -me to make a little discourse to explain what love is, and in what -consists the happiness that lovers may enjoy. So I pray you hear me with -attention, for I hope to make you see that there is no man here whom it -does not become to be in love, even though he were fifteen or twenty -years older than my lord Morello.” - -And then after some laughter, messer Pietro continued: - -“I say, then, that according to the definition of the ancient sages love -is naught but a certain desire to enjoy beauty; and as desire longs only -for things that are perceived, perception must needs always precede -desire, which by its nature wishes good things, but in itself is blind -and does not perceive them. Therefore nature has so ordained that to -every faculty of perception there is joined a certain faculty of -appetite; and since in our soul there are three modes of perceiving, -that is, by sense, by reason, and by intellect: from sense springs -appetite, which we have in common with the brutes; from reason springs -choice, which is peculiar to man; from the intellect, by which man is -able to commune with the angels, springs will. Thus, just as sense -perceives only things that are perceptible by the senses, appetite -desires the same only; and just as intellect is directed solely to the -contemplation of things intellectual, the will feeds only upon spiritual -benefits. Being by nature rational and placed as a mean between these -two extremes, man is able at will (by descending to sense or mounting to -intellect) to turn his desires now in the one direction and now in the -other. In these two ways, therefore, it is possible to desire beauty, -which universal name applies to all things (whether natural or -artificial) that are framed in good proportion and due measure according -to their nature. - -[Illustration: - - PIETRO BEMBO - 1470-1547 -] - -Much enlarged from a photographic print of a medal in the King’s - Library, British Museum. This is probably the medal for which - Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1572), in his autobiography, describes - making a sketch from life in 1537. See Émile Molinier’s monograph on - Cellini in the series, _Les Artistes Célèbres_, published at Paris - by the _Librairie de l'Art_, p. 33; and Armand’s _Les Médailleurs - Italiens_, i, 150. - -52.—“But speaking of the beauty we have in mind, which is only that -which is seen in the bodies and especially in the faces of men, and -which excites this ardent desire that we call love,—we will say that it -is an effluence of divine goodness, and that although it is diffused -like the sun’s light upon all created things, yet when it finds a face -well proportioned and framed with a certain pleasant harmony of various -colours embellished by lights and shadows and by an orderly distance and -limit of outlines, it infuses itself therein and appears most beautiful, -and adorns and illumines that object whereon it shines with grace and -wonderful splendour, like a sunbeam falling upon a beautiful vase of -polished gold set with precious gems. Thus it agreeably attracts the -eyes of men, and entering thereby, it impresses itself upon the soul, -and stirs and delights her with a new sweetness throughout, and by -kindling her it excites in her a desire for its own self. - -“Then, being seized with desire to enjoy this beauty as something good, -if the soul allows herself to be guided by the judgment of sense, she -runs into very grievous errours, and judges that the body wherein the -beauty is seen is the chief cause thereof; and hence, in order to enjoy -that beauty, she deems it necessary to join herself as closely to that -body as she can; which is false: and accordingly, whoever thinks to -enjoy the beauty by possessing the body deceives himself, and is moved, -not by true perception through reasonable choice, but by false opinion -through sensual appetite: wherefore the pleasure also that results -therefrom is necessarily false and vicious. - -“Hence all those lovers who satisfy their unchaste desires with the -women whom they love, run into one of two errours: for as soon as they -have attained the end desired, they either not only feel satiety and -tedium, but hate the beloved object as if appetite repented its errour -and perceived the deceit practised upon it by the false judgment of -sense, which made it believe evil to be good; or else they remain in the -same desire and longing, like those who have not truly attained the end -they sought. And although, by reason of the blind opinion wherewith they -are intoxicated, they think they feel pleasure at the moment, as the -sick sometimes dream of drinking at some clear spring, nevertheless they -are not contented or appeased. And since the possession of a wished-for -joy always brings quiet and satisfaction to the mind of the possessor, -if that joy were the true and worthy object of their desire, they would -remain quiet and satisfied in possessing it; which they do not. Nay, -deceived by that likeness, they soon return to unbridled desire, and -with the same distress they felt at first, they find themselves -furiously and very ardently athirst for that which they vainly hope to -possess perfectly. - -“Such lovers as these, therefore, love most unhappily; for either they -never attain their desires (which is great unhappiness), or if they do -attain thereto, they find they have attained their woe, and finish their -miseries with other miseries still greater; because even in the -beginning and midst of their love naught else is ever felt but anguish, -torments, sorrows, sufferings, toils. So that to be pale, melancholy, in -continual tears and sighs, to be sad, to be ever silent or lamenting, to -long for death, in short, to be most unhappy, are the conditions that -are said to befit lovers. - -53.—“The cause, then, of this havoc in the minds of men is chiefly -sense, which is very potent in youth, because the vigour of flesh and -blood at that period gives to it as much strength as it takes away from -reason, and hence easily leads the soul to follow appetite. For, finding -herself plunged into an earthly prison and deprived of spiritual -contemplation by being set the task of governing the body, the soul -cannot of herself clearly comprehend the truth; wherefore, in order to -have perception of things, she must needs go begging first notions from -the senses, and so she believes them and bows before them and allows -herself to be guided by them, especially when they have so much vigour -that they almost force her; and as they are fallacious, they fill her -with errours and false opinions. - -“Hence it nearly always happens that young men are wrapped in this love -which is sensual and wholly rebellious to reason, and thus they become -unworthy to enjoy the graces and benefits which love bestows upon its -true subjects; nor do they feel any pleasures in love beyond those which -the unreasoning animals feel, but anguish far more grievous. - -“This premise being admitted then,—and it is most true,—I say that the -contrary happens to those who are of maturer age. For if such as these -(when the soul is already less weighed down by bodily heaviness and when -the natural heat begins to become tepid) are inflamed by beauty and turn -thereto a desire guided by rational choice,—they are not deceived, and -possess beauty perfectly. Therefore their possession of it always brings -them good; because beauty is good, and hence true love of beauty is most -good and holy, and always works for good in the mind of those who -restrain the perversity of sense with the bridle of reason; which the -old can do much more easily than the young. - -54.—“Hence it is not beyond reason to say further that the old can love -without blame and more happily than the young; taking this word old, -however, not in the sense of decrepit, nor when the bodily organs have -already become so weak that the soul cannot perform its functions -through them, but when our knowledge is at its true prime. - -“I will not refrain from saying also this: which is, that I think that -although sensual love is evil at every age, yet in the young it deserves -excuse, and is perhaps in a measure permitted. For although it gives -them anguish, dangers, toils, and those woes that have been told, still -there are many who, to win the favour of the ladies of their love, do -worthy acts, which (although not directed to a good end) are -intrinsically good; and thus from that mass of bitterness they extract a -little sweet, and through the adversities which they endure they at last -perceive their errour. Hence, just as I deem those youths divine who -control their appetites and love in reason, so I excuse those who allow -themselves to be overcome by sensual love, to which they are so strongly -inclined by human frailty: provided they show therein gentleness, -courtesy and worth, and the other noble qualities of which these -gentlemen have told; and provided that when they are no longer of -youthful age, they abandon it altogether, shunning this sensual desire -as it were the lowest round of the ladder by which true love can be -attained. But if, even after they are old, they preserve the fire of -appetite in their chill heart and subject stout reason to frail sense, -it is not possible to say how much they are to be blamed. For like fools -they deserve to be numbered with perpetual infamy among the unreasoning -animals, since the thoughts and ways of sensual love are too unbecoming -to mature age.” - -55.—Here Bembo paused a little, as if to rest; and as everyone remained -silent, my lord Morello da Ortona said: - -“And if an old man were found more vigourous and sturdy and of better -looks than many youths, why would you not have him allowed to love with -that love wherewith young men love?” - -My lady Duchess laughed, and said: - -“If young men’s love is so unhappy, my lord Morello, why do you wish to -have old men love thus unhappily also? But if you were old, as these -gentlemen say, you would not thus contrive evil for old men.” - -My lord Morello replied: - -“Methinks it is messer Pietro Bembo who is contriving evil for old men, -in that he wishes to have them love in a certain way which I for my part -do not understand; and methinks that to possess this beauty which he so -highly praises, without the body, is a dream.” - -Then Count Ludovico said: - -“Do you believe, my lord Morello, that beauty is always as good as -messer Pietro Bembo says?” - -“Not I indeed,” replied my lord Morello; “nay, I remember having seen -many beautiful women who were very bad, cruel and spiteful; and this -seems to be almost always so, for beauty makes them proud, and pride -makes them cruel.” - -Count Ludovico said, laughing: - -“To you, perhaps, they seem cruel because they do not grant you what you -would have; but have yourself taught by messer Pietro Bembo in what way -old men ought to desire beauty, and what they ought to seek from women, -and with what they ought to be content; and if you do not exceed these -limits, you shall see that they will not be either proud or cruel, and -will grant you what you wish.” - -Then my lord Morello seemed a little vexed, and said: - -“I have no wish to know what does not concern me; but do you have -yourself taught how this beauty ought to be desired by young men who are -less vigourous and sturdy than their elders.” - -56.—Here messer Federico, to quiet my lord Morello and turn the -conversation, did not allow Count Ludovico to reply, but interrupted him -and said: - -“Perhaps my lord Morello is not altogether wrong in saying that beauty -is not always good; for women’s beauty is often the cause that brings -upon the world countless evils, hatreds, wars, deaths and destructions; -of which good proof can be found in the fall of Troy. And beautiful -women are for the most part either proud or cruel, or (as has been said) -immodest; but this would not seem to my lord Morello a fault. There are -also many wicked men who have the gift of fair looks, and it seems that -nature made them thus to the end that they should be better fitted to -deceive, and that this gracious seeming is like the bait upon the hook.” - -Then messer Pietro Bembo said: - -“Do not believe that beauty is not always good.” - -Here Count Ludovico, in order to return to the original subject, -interrupted and said: - -“Since my lord Morello does not care to know what so deeply concerns -him, teach it to me, and show me how old men attain this happiness in -love, for I shall not mind having myself thought old, provided it help -me.” - -57.—Messer Pietro laughed, and said: - -“I wish first to free these gentlemen’s minds from their errour; then I -will satisfy you too.” Resuming thus, he said: - -“My Lords, I would not have any of us, like profane and sacrilegious -men, incur God’s wrath by speaking ill of beauty, which is a sacred -thing. Therefore, to the end that my lord Morello and messer Federico -may be warned, and not lose their sight, like Stesichorus (which is a -very fitting punishment for one who scorns beauty),[476] I say that -beauty springs from God, and is like a circle of which goodness is the -centre. And hence, as there can be no circle without a centre, there can -be no beauty without goodness. Thus a wicked soul rarely inhabits a -beautiful body, and for that reason outward beauty is a true sign of -inward goodness. And this grace is impressed upon bodies, more or less, -as an index of the soul, whereby she is known outwardly, as in the case -of trees, in which the beauty of the blossom gives token of the -excellence of the fruit. The same is true in the case of human bodies, -as we see that the Physiognomists often recognize in the face the -character and sometimes the thoughts of men; and what is more, in beasts -also we discern from the aspect the quality of the mind, which is -expressed as much as possible in the body. Think how clearly we read -anger, ferocity and pride in the face of the lion, the horse, the eagle; -a pure and simple innocence in lambs and doves; cunning malice in foxes -and wolves, and so of nearly all other animals. - -58.—“The ugly are therefore for the most part wicked too, and the -beautiful are good: and we may say that beauty is the pleasant, gay, -acceptable and desirable face of good, and that ugliness is the dark, -disagreeable, unpleasant and sad face of evil. And if you will consider -all things, you will find that those which are good and useful always -have a charm of beauty also. - -“Look at the state of this great fabric of the world, which was made by -God for the health and preservation of every created thing. The round -firmament, adorned with so many heavenly lights, and the earth in the -centre, surrounded by the elements and sustained by its own weight; the -sun, which in its revolving illumines the whole, and in winter -approaches the lowest sign, then little by little mounts to the other -side; the moon, which derives her light from it, according as it -approaches her or withdraws from her; and the five other stars, which -separately travel the same course.[477] These things have such influence -upon one another through the linking of an order thus precisely framed, -that if they were changed for an instant, they could not hold together, -and would wreck the world; they have also such beauty and grace that -human wit cannot imagine anything more beautiful. - -“Think now of the shape of man, which may be called a little world; -wherein we see every part of the body precisely composed with skill, and -not by chance; and then the whole form together so beautiful that we -could hardly decide whether more utility or more grace is given to the -human features and the rest of the body by all the members, such as the -eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, breast, and other parts withal. The same -can be said of all the animals. Look at the feathers of birds, the -leaves and branches of trees, which are given them by nature to preserve -their being, and yet have also very great loveliness. - -“Leave nature, and come to art. What thing is so necessary in ships as -the prow, the sides, the yards, the masts, the sails, the helm, the -oars, the anchors and the cordage? Yet all these things have so much -comeliness, that it seems to him who looks upon them that they are thus -devised as much for beauty as for use. Columns and architraves support -lofty galleries and palaces, yet they are not on that account less -pleasing to the eyes of him who looks upon them, than useful to the -buildings. When men first began to build, they set that middle ridge in -their temples and houses, not in order that the buildings might have -more grace, but to the end that the water might flow off conveniently on -either side; yet to utility soon was added comeliness, so that if a -temple were built under a sky where no hail or rain falls, it would not -seem able to have any dignity or beauty without the ridge. - -59.—“Much praise is therefore bestowed, not only upon other things, but -upon the world, by saying that it is beautiful. We praise when we say: -‘Beautiful sky, beautiful earth, beautiful sea, beautiful rivers, -beautiful lands, beautiful woods, trees, gardens; beautiful cities, -beautiful churches, houses, armies.’ In short, this gracious and sacred -beauty gives highest ornament to everything; and we may say that the -good and the beautiful are in a way one and the same thing, and -especially in the human body; of whose beauty I think the most immediate -cause is beauty of the soul, which (as partaker of true divine beauty) -brightens and beautifies whatever it touches, and especially if the body -wherein it dwells is not of such base material that it cannot impress -thereon its quality. Therefore beauty is the true trophy of the soul’s -victory, when with power divine she holds sway over material nature, and -by her light overcomes the darkness of the body. - -“Hence we must not say that beauty makes women proud or cruel, although -it may seem so to my lord Morello; nor yet ought we to ascribe to -beautiful women those enmities, deaths and destructions of which the -immoderate appetites of men are the cause. I do not by any means deny -that it is possible to find beautiful women in the world who are also -immodest, but it is not at all because their beauty inclines them to -immodesty; nay, it turns them therefrom and leads them to the path of -virtuous behaviour, by the connection that beauty has with goodness. But -sometimes evil training, the continual urgence of their lovers, gifts, -poverty, hope, deceits, fear and a thousand other causes, overcome the -steadfastness even of beautiful and good women; and through these or -similar causes beautiful men also may become wicked.” - -60.—Then messer Cesare said: - -“If that is true which my lord Gaspar alleged yesterday, there is no -doubt that beautiful women are more chaste than ugly women.” - -“And what did I allege?” said my lord Gaspar. - -Messer Cesare replied: - -“If I remember rightly, you said that women who are wooed always refuse -to satisfy him who wooes them, and that those who are not wooed woo -others. Certain it is that the beautiful are always more wooed and -besought in love than are the ugly; therefore the beautiful always -refuse, and hence are more chaste than the ugly, who, not being wooed, -woo others.” - -Bembo laughed, and said: - -“To this argument no answer can be made.” Then he added: “It often -happens also that our sight deceives us like our other senses, and -accounts a face beautiful which in truth is not beautiful; and since in -some women’s eyes and whole aspect a certain wantonness is seen -depicted, together with unseemly blandishments,—many (who like such -manner because it promises them ease in attaining what they desire) call -it beauty: but in truth it is disguised immodesty, unworthy a name so -honoured and so sacred.” - -Messer Pietro Bembo was silent, and those gentlemen still urged him to -speak further of this love and of the mode of enjoying beauty truly; and -he at last said: - -“Methinks I have shown clearly enough that old men can love more happily -than young, which was my thesis; therefore it does not become me to go -further.” - -Count Ludovico replied: - -“You have better shown the unhappiness of youths than the happiness of -old men, whom as yet you have not taught what road to follow in this -love of theirs, but have only told them to be guided by reason; and by -many it is thought impossible for love to abide with reason.” - -61.—Bembo still sought to put an end to his discourse, but my lady -Duchess begged him to speak; and he began anew thus: - -“Too unhappy would human nature be, if our soul (wherein such ardent -desire can spring up easily) were forced to feed it solely upon that -which is common to her with the beasts, and could not direct it to that -other nobler part which is peculiar to herself. Therefore, since so -indeed it pleases you, I have no wish to avoid discoursing upon this -noble subject. And as I feel myself unworthy to speak of Love’s most -sacred mysteries, I pray him so to inspire my thought and tongue that I -may be able to show this excellent Courtier how to love beyond the -manner of the vulgar crowd; and since from boyhood up I have dedicated -my whole life to him, so now also may my words comport with this intent -and with his praise. - -“I say, then, that as in youth human nature is so greatly prone to -sense, the Courtier may be allowed to love sensually while he is young. -But if afterwards in maturer years he chances still to be kindled with -this amourous desire, he must be very wary and take care not to deceive -himself by allowing himself to be led into those calamities which in the -young merit more compassion than blame, and, on the contrary, in the old -more blame than compassion. - -62.—“Therefore when the gracious aspect of some fair woman meets his -view, accompanied with such sweet behaviour and gentle manners that he, -as an adept in love, feels that his spirit accords with hers: as soon as -he finds that his eyes lay hold upon her image and carry it to his -heart; and that his soul begins to contemplate her with pleasure and to -feel that influence within which stirs and warms it little by little; -and that those quick spirits which shine out through the eyes -continually add fresh tinder to the fire;—he ought at this first stage -to provide a speedy cure, and arouse his reason, and therewith arm the -fortress of his heart, and so shut the way to sense and appetite that -they cannot enter there by force or trickery. Thus, if the flame is -extinguished, the danger is extinguished also; but if it survives or -grows, then the Courtier, feeling himself caught, must resolve on -shunning wholly every stain of vulgar love, and thus enter on the path -of divine love, with reason for guide. And first he must consider that -the body wherein this beauty shines is not the fountain whence it -springs, but rather that beauty (being an incorporeal thing and, as we -have said, a heavenly beam) loses much of its dignity when it finds -itself joined to vile and corruptible matter; for the more perfect it is -the less it partakes thereof, and is most perfect when wholly separate -therefrom. And he must consider that just as one cannot hear with the -palate or smell with the ears, so too can beauty in no wise be enjoyed, -nor can the desire which it excites in our minds be satisfied, by means -of touch, but by that sense of which this beauty is the very object, -namely, the power of vision. - -“Therefore let him shun the blind judgment of sense, and with his eyes -enjoy the splendour of his lady, her grace, her amourous sparkle, the -laughs, the ways and all the other pleasant ornaments of her beauty. -Likewise with his hearing let him enjoy the sweetness of her voice, the -concord of her words, the harmony of her music (if his beloved be a -musician). Thus will he feed his soul on sweetest food by means of these -two senses—which have little of the corporeal and are ministers of -reason—without passing in his desire for the body to any appetite less -than seemly. - -“Next let him obey, please and honour his lady with all reverence, and -hold her dearer than himself, and prefer her convenience and pleasures -to his own, and love in her not less the beauty of mind than that of -body. Therefore let him take care not to leave her to fall into any kind -of errour, but by admonition and good advice let him always seek to lead -her on to modesty, to temperance, to true chastity, and see to it that -no thoughts find place in her except those that are pure and free from -every stain of vice; and by thus sowing virtue in the garden of her fair -mind, he will gather fruits of fairest behaviour too, and will taste -them with wonderful delight. And this will be the true engendering and -manifesting of beauty in beauty, which by some is said to be the end of -love. - -“In such fashion will our Courtier be most acceptable to his lady, and -she will always show herself obedient, sweet and affable to him, and as -desirous of pleasing him as of being loved by him; and the wishes of -both will be most virtuous and harmonious, and they themselves will thus -be very happy.” - -63.—Here my lord Morello said: - -“To engender beauty in beauty, forsooth, would be to beget a beautiful -child in a beautiful woman; and pleasing him in this would seem to me a -much clearer token that she loved her lover than treating him with the -affability of which you speak.” - -Bembo laughed, and said: - -“You must not go beyond bounds, my lord Morello; nor does a woman give -small token of her love when she gives her lover her beauty, which is so -precious a thing, and by the ways that are the avenues to her soul (that -is, sight and hearing) sends the glances of her eyes, the image of her -face, her voice, her words, which strike home to the lover’s heart and -give him proof of her love.” - -My lord Morello said: - -“Glances and words may be, and often are, false proofs; therefore he who -has no better pledge of love is, in my judgment, far from sure; and -truly I quite expected you to make this lady of yours a little more -courteous and generous to the Courtier than my lord Magnifico made his; -but methinks that both of you are in like case with those judges who -pronounce sentence against their friends for the sake of appearing -wise.” - -64.—Bembo said: - -“I am very willing that this lady should be much more courteous to my -unyouthful Courtier, than my lord Magnifico’s is to the youthful -Courtier; and with reason, for my Courtier will desire only seemly -things, and therefore the lady can grant him all of them without blame; -while my lord Magnifico’s lady, who is not so sure of the youthful -Courtier’s modesty, ought to grant him only seemly things, and to refuse -him the unseemly. Hence my Courtier, to whom is granted what he asks, is -more happy than the other, to whom part is granted and part refused. - -“And to the end that you may still better understand that rational love -is happier than sensual, I say that the same things ought sometimes to -be refused in sensual love and granted in rational love, because they -are unseemly in the one and seemly in the other. Thus, to please her -worthy lover, besides granting him pleasant smiles, familiar and secret -discourse, and leave to joke and jest with her and to touch her hand, -the lady may in reason even go so far as kissing without blame, which is -not permitted in sensual love according to my lord Magnifico’s rules. -For since the kiss is the union of body and soul, there is danger lest -the sensual lover incline more in the direction of the body than in that -of the soul; while the rational lover perceives that although the mouth -is part of the body, yet it gives issue to words, which are interpreters -of the soul, and to that inward breath which is itself even called soul. -Hence a man delights to join his mouth to that of his beloved in a kiss, -not in order to arouse any unseemly desire in him, but because he feels -that bond to be the opening of a passage between their souls, which, -being each drawn by desire for the other, pour themselves each into the -other’s body by turn, and so commingle that each has two souls, and a -single soul (thus composed of these two) rules as it were over two -bodies. Hence the kiss may be oftener said to be a joining of soul than -of body, because it has such power over the soul that it draws her to -itself and separates her from the body. On this account all chaste -lovers desire to kiss as a joining of the soul; and thus the divinely -enamoured Plato says that in kissing the soul came to his lips to escape -his body. And since the separation of the soul from things material, and -its complete union with things spiritual, may be denoted by the kiss, -Solomon, in his divine book of the Song, says: ‘Let him kiss me with the -kiss of his mouth,’ to express desire that his soul might be so -transported with divine love to the contemplation of celestial beauty, -that by joining closely therewith she might forsake the body.” - -65.—Everyone gave closest heed to Bembo’s discourse; and he, having made -a little pause and seeing that no one else spoke, said: - -“As you have made me begin to teach our unyouthful Courtier happy love, -I fain would lead him a little farther; for it is very dangerous to stop -at this stage, seeing that the soul is very prone to the senses, as has -many times been said; and although reason and argument choose well and -perceive that beauty does not spring from the body, and although they -therefore put a bridle upon unseemly desires, still, always -contemplating beauty in the body often perverts sound judgment. And even -if no other evil flowed therefrom, absence from the beloved object -brings much suffering with it, because the influence of her beauty gives -the lover wonderful delight when she is present, and by warming his -heart wakens and melts certain dormant and frozen forces in his soul, -which (being nourished by the warmth of love) spread and blossom about -his heart, and send forth through the eyes those spirits that are very -subtle vapours made of the purest and brightest part of the blood, which -receive the image of her beauty and fashion it with a thousand various -ornaments. Hence the soul delights, and trembles with awe and yet -rejoices, and as in a stupour feels not only pleasure, but that fear and -reverence which we are wont to have for sacred things, and speaks of -being in paradise. - -66.—“Therefore the lover who considers beauty in the body only, loses -this blessing and felicity as soon as his beloved lady by her absence -leaves his eyes without their splendour, and his soul consequently -widowed of its blessing. Because, her beauty being far away, that -amourous influence does not warm his heart as it did in her presence; -wherefore his pores become arid and dry, and still the memory of her -beauty stirs a little those forces of his soul, so that they seek to -scatter abroad the spirits; and these, finding the ways shut, have no -exit, and yet seek to issue forth; and thus hemmed in by those goads, -they sting the soul and give it keenest suffering, as in the case of -children when the teeth begin to come through the tender gums. And from -this proceed the tears, the sighs, the anguish and the torments of -lovers, because the soul is ever in affliction and travail, and becomes -almost raging until her dear beauty appears to it again; and then it -suddenly is calmed and breathes, and all intent upon that beauty it -feeds on sweetest food, nor would ever part from so delightful a -spectacle. - -“Hence, to escape the torment of this absence and to enjoy beauty -without suffering, there is need that the Courtier should, with the aid -of reason, wholly turn his desire from the body to the beauty alone, and -contemplate it in itself simple and pure, as far as he can, and fashion -it in his imagination apart from all matter; and thus make it lovely and -dear to his soul, and enjoy it there, and have it with him day and -night, in every time and place, without fear of ever losing it; bearing -always in mind that the body is something very different from beauty, -and not only does not enhance it, but diminishes its perfection. - -“In this wise will our unyouthful Courtier be beyond all the bitterness -and calamities that the young nearly always feel: such as jealousies, -suspicions, disdainings, angers, despairings, and certain furies full of -madness whereby they are often led into such errour that some of them -not only beat the women whom they love, but deprive themselves of life. -He will do no injury to the husband, father, brothers or kinsfolk of his -beloved lady; he will put no infamy upon her; he will never be forced to -bridle his eyes and tongue with such difficulty in order not to disclose -his desires to others, or to endure suffering at partings or -absences;—because he will always carry his precious treasure with him -shut up in his heart, and also by force of his imagination he will -inwardly fashion her beauty much more beautiful than in fact it is. - -67.—“But besides these blessings the lover will find another much -greater still, if he will employ this love as a step to mount to one -much higher; which he will succeed in doing if he continually considers -within himself how narrow a restraint it is to be always occupied in -contemplating the beauty of one body only; and therefore, in order to -escape such close bounds as these, in his thought he will little by -little add so many ornaments, that by heaping all beauties together he -will form an universal concept, and will reduce the multitude of these -beauties to the unity of that single beauty which is spread over human -nature at large. In this way he will no longer contemplate the -particular beauty of one woman, but that universal beauty which adorns -all bodies; and thus, bewildered by this greater light, he will not heed -the lesser, and glowing with a purer flame, he will esteem lightly that -which at first he so greatly prized. - -“This stage of love, although it be very noble and such as few attain, -still cannot be called perfect; for since the imagination is merely a -corporeal faculty and has no perception except through those means that -are furnished it by the senses, it is not wholly purged of material -darkness; and hence, although it considers this universal beauty in the -abstract and intrinsically, yet it does not discern that beauty very -clearly or without some ambiguity, because of the likeness which -phantoms bear to substance. Thus those who attain this love are like -tender birds beginning to put on feathers, which, although with their -frail wings they lift themselves a little in flight, yet dare not go far -from their nest or trust themselves to the winds and open sky. - -68.—“Therefore when our Courtier shall have reached this goal, although -he may be called a very happy lover by comparison with those who are -plunged in the misery of sensual love, still I would have him not rest -content, but press boldly on following along the lofty path after the -guide who leads him to the goal of true felicity. And thus, instead of -going outside himself in thought (as all must needs do who choose to -contemplate bodily beauty only), let him have recourse to himself, in -order to contemplate that beauty which is seen by the eyes of the mind, -which begin to be sharp and clear when those of the body lose the flower -of their loveliness. Then the soul,—freed from vice, purged by studies -of true philosophy, versed in spiritual life, and practised in matters -of the intellect, devoted to the contemplation of her own substance,—as -if awakened from deepest sleep, opens those eyes which all possess but -few use, and sees in herself a ray of that light which is the true image -of the angelic beauty communicated to her, and of which she then -communicates a faint shadow to the body. Grown blind to things earthly, -the soul thus becomes very keen-sighted to things heavenly; and -sometimes, when the motive forces of the body are absorbed by earnest -contemplation or fettered by sleep, being unhampered by them, she is -conscious of a certain far-off perfume of true angelic beauty, and -ravished by the splendour of that light, she begins to kindle and -pursues it so eagerly that she almost becomes phrensied with desire to -unite herself to that beauty, thinking that she has found God’s -footstep, in the contemplation of which she seeks to rest as in her -beatific end. And thus, glowing in this most happy flame, she rises to -her noblest part, which is the intellect; and here, no longer darkened -by the gloomy night of things earthly, she sees the divine beauty; but -still she does not yet quite enjoy it perfectly, because she -contemplates it in her own particular intellect only, which cannot be -capable of the vast universal beauty. - -“Wherefore, not well content with this boon, love gives the soul a -greater felicity; for just as from the particular beauty of one body it -guides her to the universal beauty of all bodies, so in the highest -stage of perfection it guides her from the particular to the universal -intellect. Hence the soul, kindled by the most sacred fire of true -divine love, flies to unite herself with the angelic nature, and not -only quite forsakes sense, but has no longer need of reason’s discourse; -for, changed into an angel, she understands all things intelligible, and -without veil or cloud views the wide sea of pure divine beauty, and -receives it into herself, and enjoys that supreme felicity of which the -senses are incapable. - -69.—“If, then, the beauties which with these dim eyes of ours we daily -see in corruptible bodies (but which are naught but dreams and faintest -shadows of beauty) seem to us so fair and gracious that they often -kindle most ardent fire in us, and of such delight that we deem no -felicity able to equal that which we sometimes feel at a single glance -coming to us from a woman’s beloved eyes,—what happy wonder, what -blessed awe, shall we think is that which fills the souls that attain to -the vision of divine beauty! What sweet flame, what delightful burning, -must that be thought which springs from the fountain of supreme and true -beauty!—which is the source of every other beauty, which never waxes nor -wanes: ever fair, and of its own self most simple in every part alike; -like only to itself, and partaking of none other; but fair in such wise -that all other fair things are fair because they derive their beauty -from it. - -“This is that beauty identical with highest good, which by its light -calls and attracts all things to itself, and not only gives intellect to -the intellectual, reason to the rational, sense and desire for life to -the sensual, but to plants also and to stones communicates motion and -that natural instinct of their quality, as an imprint of itself. - -“Therefore this love is as much greater and happier than the others, as -the cause that moves it is more excellent; and hence, just as material -fire refines gold, so does this most sacred fire in our souls destroy -and consume that which is mortal there, and quickens and beautifies that -celestial part which at first, by reason of the senses, was dead and -buried in them. This is the Pyre whereon the poets write that Hercules -was burned on the crest of Mount Œta, and by such burning became divine -and immortal after death.[478] This is the Burning Bush of Moses, the -Cloven Tongues of fire, the Fiery Chariot of Elias,[479] which doubles -grace and felicity in the souls of those who are worthy to behold it, -when they leave this earthly baseness and take flight towards heaven. - -“Let us, then, direct all the thoughts and forces of our soul to this -most sacred light, which shows us the way that leads to heaven; and -following after it, let us lay aside the passions wherewith we were -clothed at our fall, and by the stairway that bears the shadow of -sensual beauty on its lowest step, let us mount to the lofty mansion -where dwells the heavenly, lovely and true beauty, which lies hidden in -the inmost secret recesses of God, so that profane eyes cannot behold -it. Here we shall find a most happy end to our desires, true rest from -our toil, certain cure for our miseries, most wholesome medicine for our -diseases, safest refuge from the boisterous storms of this life’s -tempestuous sea. - -70.—“What mortal tongue, then, O most holy Love, can praise thee -worthily? Most fair, most good, most wise, thou springest from the union -of beauty and goodness and divine wisdom, and abidest in that union, and -by that union returnest to that union as in a circle. Sweetest bond of -the universe, joining things celestial to things terrestrial, thou with -benignant sway inclinest the supernal powers to rule the lower powers, -and turning the minds of mortals to their origin, joinest them thereto. -Thou unitest the elements in concord, movest nature to produce—and that -which is born, to the perpetuation of life. Thou unitest things that are -separate, givest perfection to the imperfect, likeness to the unlike, -friendship to the unfriendly, fruit to the earth, tranquillity to the -sea, vital light to the heavens. - -“Thou art father of true pleasure, of grace, of peace, of gentleness and -good will, enemy to rustic savagery and sloth—in short, the beginning -and the end of every good. And since thou delightest to inhabit the -flower of beautiful bodies and beautiful souls, and thence sometimes to -display thyself a little to the eyes and minds of those who are worthy -to behold thee, methinks that now thy abode is here among us. - -“Deign, then, O Lord, to hear our prayers, pour thyself upon our hearts, -and with the splendour of thy most holy fire illumine our darkness and, -like a trusted guide, in this blind labyrinth show us the true path. -Correct the falseness of our senses, and after our long pursuit of -vanities give us true and solid good; make us to inhale those spiritual -odours that quicken the powers of the intellect, and to hear the -celestial harmony with such accord that there may no longer be room in -us for any discord of passion; fill us at that inexhaustible fountain of -content which ever delights and never satiates, and gives a taste of -true beatitude to all who drink of its living and limpid waters; with -the beams of thy light purge our eyes of misty ignorance, to the end -that they may no longer prize mortal beauty, and may know that the -things which first they seemed to see, are not, and that those which -they saw not, really are. - -“Accept our souls, which are offered thee in sacrifice; burn them in -that living flame which consumes all mortal dross, to the end that, -being wholly separated from the body, they may unite with divine beauty -by a perpetual and very sweet bond, and that we, being severed from -ourselves, may, like true lovers, be able to transform ourselves into -the beloved, and rising above the earth may be admitted to the angels’ -feast, where, fed on ambrosia and immortal nectar, we may at last die a -most happy and living death, as died of old those ancient fathers whose -souls thou, by the most glowing power of contemplation, didst ravish -from the body and unite with God.” - -71.—Having thus far spoken, with such vehemence that he almost seemed -transported and beside himself, Bembo remained silent and motionless, -keeping his eyes towards heaven, as if wrapped in ecstasy; when my lady -Emilia, who with the others had been listening most attentively to his -discourse, took him by the border of his robe, and shaking him a little, -said:[480] - -“Have a care, messer Pietro, that with these thoughts your soul, also, -does not forsake your body.” - -“My Lady,” replied messer Pietro, “that would not be the first miracle -that love has wrought upon me.” - -Then my lady Duchess and all the others again began urging Bembo to -continue his discourse: and everyone seemed almost to feel in his mind a -spark of that divine love which inspired the speaker, and all desired to -hear more; but Bembo added: - -“My Lords, I have said that which love’s sacred phrensy dictated to me -at the moment; now that it seems to inspire me no further, I should not -know what to say: and I think love is not willing that its secrets -should be further disclosed, or that the Courtier should pass beyond -that stage which it has been pleased to have me show him; and therefore -perhaps it is not permitted to speak more of this matter.” - -72.—“Verily,” said my lady Duchess, “if the unyouthful Courtier should -prove able to follow the path that you have shown him, he ought in all -reason to content himself with such great felicity, and to have no envy -of the youthful Courtier.” - -Then messer Cesare Gonzaga said: - -“The road which leads to this felicity seems to me so steep that I -believe it is very hard to travel.” - -My lord Gaspar added: - -“I believe it is hard for men to travel, but impossible for women.” - -My lady Emilia laughed, and said: - -“My lord Gaspar, if you return to wronging us so often, I promise you -that you will not be pardoned again.” - -My lord Gaspar replied: - -“No wrong is done you by saying that women’s souls are not so purged of -passion as those of men, nor given to contemplation, as messer Pietro -said those must be who would taste divine love. Thus we do not read that -any woman has had this grace, but that many men have had it, like Plato, -Socrates and Plotinus,[481] and many others; and so many of our holy -Fathers, like St. Francis, upon whom an ardent spirit of love impressed -the most holy seal of the five wounds:[482] nor could aught but the -power of love lift St. Paul to the vision of those mysteries whereof man -is not allowed to speak;[483] nor show St. Stephen the opened -heavens.”[484] - -Here the Magnifico Giuliano replied: - -“In this, women will by no means be outdone by men; for Socrates himself -confesses that all the mysteries of love which he knew were revealed to -him by a woman, who was the famous Diotima;[362] and the angel who -wounded St. Francis with the fire of love, has also made several women -of our age worthy of the same seal. You must remember, too, that St. -Mary Magdalen had many sins forgiven her because she loved much,[485] -and perhaps with no less grace than St. Paul was she many times lifted -to the third heaven by angelic love; and so many others, who (as I -narrated yesterday more at large) for the love of Christ’s name took no -heed of life, nor were afraid of torments or any manner of death however -horrible and cruel it might be; and they were not old, as messer Pietro -would have our Courtier, but tender and delicate girls, and of that age -wherein he says that sensual love ought to be allowed in men.” - -73.—My lord Gaspar began making ready to reply, but my lady Duchess -said: - -“Of this let messer Pietro Bembo be the judge, and let us abide by his -decision whether or not women are as capable of divine love as men are. -But as the controversy between you might be too long, it will be well to -postpone it until to-morrow.” - -“Nay, until this evening,” said messer Cesare Gonzaga. - -“How until this evening?” said my lady Duchess. - -Messer Cesare replied: - -“Because it is already day;” and he showed her the light that was -beginning to come in through the cracks at the windows. - -Then everyone rose to his feet in great surprise, for the discussion did -not seem to have lasted longer than usual; but by reason of having been -begun much later, and by its pleasantness, it had so beguiled the -company that they had not perceived the flight of hours; nor was there -anyone who felt the heaviness of sleep upon his eyes, which nearly -always happens when the accustomed hour of sleep is passed in watching. -The windows having then been opened on that side of the palace which -looks towards the lofty crest of Mount Catria,[486] they saw that a -beautiful dawn of rosy hue was already born in the east, and that all -the stars had vanished save Venus, sweet mistress of the sky, who holds -the bonds of night and day; from which there seemed to breathe a gentle -wind that filled the air with crisp coolness and began to waken sweet -choruses of joyous birds in the murmuring forests of the hills hard by. - -So, having reverently taken leave of my lady Duchess, they all started -towards their chambers without light of torches, that of day being -enough for them; and as they were about to quit the room, my lord -Prefect turned to my lady Duchess, and said: - -“My Lady, to finish the controversy between my lord Gaspar and my lord -Magnifico, we will come with our judge this evening earlier than we did -yesterday.” - -My lady Emilia replied: - -“On condition that if my lord Gaspar wishes to accuse women and put some -fresh imputation upon them, as is his wont, he shall also give bond to -sustain his charge, for I account him a shifty disputant.” - - - - - NOTES - - - - - VXORI DILECTISSIMAE - - OPERIS ADIVTRICI - -[Illustration: - - BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE - COUNT OF NOVILLARA - 1478-1529 -] - -Reduced from Anderson’s photograph (no.2955) of the anonymous portrait - in the Corsini Gallery at Rome. This may possibly be a copy of a - second portrait that Raphael is said to have painted of Castiglione, - in 1519. - - - - - PRELIMINARY NOTES - -Baldesar Castiglione was born on his father’s estate of Casatico in the -Mantuan territory, 6 December 1478. Michelangelo was his senior by four -years; Leo X by three years; Titian by one year; Giorgione and Cesare -Borgia were born in the year of his birth, while his friend Raphael and -also Luther were his juniors by five years. - -His surname is said to be derived from the little town at which -Bonaparte defeated the Austrians near Mantua in 1796, and which is by -some supposed to have taken its name from _Castrum Stiliconis_, Camp of -Stilico, a Roman general of the 4th century. One Tealdo Castiglione was -Archbishop of Milan as early as 1074, from which time the family is -often and honourably mentioned in the annals of northern Italy. - -Baldesar’s parents were Count Cristoforo Castiglione, a -soldier-courtier, and Luigia Gonzaga, a near kinswoman of the Marquess -of Mantua. The boy studied at Milan,—learning Latin from Giorgio Merula -and Greek from Demetrios Chalcondylas, an erudite Athenian who had fled -from Byzantium about 1447, and of whom another pupil wrote: “It seems to -me that in him are figured all the wisdom, the civility and the elegance -of those ancients who are so famous and so illustrious. Merely seeing -him, you fancy you are looking on Plato; far more when you hear him -speak.” - -Having spent some time at the splendid court of Ludovico Sforza at -Milan, Castiglione lost his father in 1499, and (the Sforzas being -expelled the same year) he returned to Mantua and entered the service of -his natural lord, the Marquess Gianfrancesco Gonzaga; he accompanied -this prince to Milan to witness the entry of Louis XII of France, and -afterwards on an expedition to aid the French in their vain effort to -hold the kingdom of Naples against the Aragonese. When Gonzaga abandoned -the French cause (after being defeated by Ferdinand the Catholic’s -“Great Captain,” Consalvo de Cordova, near the Garigliano in 1503), -Castiglione obtained leave to go to Rome, and there met Duke Guidobaldo -di Montefeltro, who had come to pay homage to the newly elected Pope -Julius II. He entered the duke’s service, and soon became one of the -brightest ornaments of that brilliant company of statesmen, prelates, -scholars, poets, wits and ladies, known as the Court of Urbino. - -In 1504 he took part, under Duke Guidobaldo, in the papal siege of -Cesena against the Venetians. The next year he attended the duke on a -diplomatic visit to Rome. In 1506 he was sent to the court of Henry VII -of England to receive the insignia of the Order of the Garter on the -duke’s behalf. As appears from a letter to his mother, he returned to -Urbino as early as 5 March 1507, notwithstanding his mention of himself -in The Courtier as still absent in England at the date (8-11 March) of -the dialogues he professes to report at second hand. In the same year he -was sent on a mission to Louis XII at Milan. - -On Guidobaldo’s death in 1508, Castiglione continued in the service of -the new duke, Francesco Maria della Rovere (“my lord Prefect” of THE -COURTIER), who appointed him governor of Gubbio. In the following year -he served in his master’s campaign against the Venetians, and contracted -a dangerous illness, during which he was tenderly nursed by the dowager -duchess, Elisabetta Gonzaga. In 1511 he accompanied the duke to Rome on -the occasion of the latter’s trial for the murder of Cardinal Alidosi, -and was active in Francesco Maria’s successful defence. In 1513 the duke -created him Count of Novillara and gave him an estate of that name, -which however he soon lost through the Medici usurpation of the duchy, -and never regained. At the death of Julius II, Castiglione was -ambassador to the sacred college, and continued in that office during -nearly the whole of Leo X's pontificate. His numerous letters show the -variety and importance of the diplomatic business in which he was -engaged. - -Several plans for his marriage came to nothing, and on one occasion, -when the lady’s father hesitated, the suitor broke off negotiations, -saying: “The wife that I am to take, be she who she may, I desire that -she should be given to me with as good will as I take her withal,—yea, -if she were the daughter of a king.” - -Pope Leo having in 1516 basely deprived Francesco Maria of the Duchy of -Urbino, Castiglione accepted an invitation to Mantua and there married -Ippolita, daughter of Count Guido Torello di Montechiarugolo and -Francesca Bentivoglio, a daughter of the former ruler of Bologna. This -union proved exceptionally happy and was blessed by three children: a -son Camillo, a daughter Anna, and a second daughter Ippolita, at whose -birth the young mother lost her life in 1520. His son attained the age -of eighty years, and is said to have been the true embodiment of the -qualities described in THE COURTIER. - -Castiglione resided alternately at Mantua and at Rome, where he served -as Mantuan ambassador, and where his learning, wit, taste, gentle -disposition and integrity earned for him an almost unique eminence at -the papal court. - -In 1524 he was sent by Pope Clement VII as ambassador to the Emperor -Charles V (who was waging war against the French in Italy), but while -his counsel and high qualities were appreciated, he was too honest a man -to cope with the tortuous politics of the time, and proved unable to -avert the capture and sack of Rome (1527) or the imprisonment of the -pope. These catastrophes, together with a malicious and easily disproved -charge of treason brought against him, preyed upon his health, and -despite the many honours conferred upon him by Charles, he failed to -rally, and finally died at Toledo, 7 February 1529, without again seeing -his native land. His body was afterwards brought to Italy and buried in -the church of the Madonna delle Grazie near Mantua, where his tomb was -erected from designs by his young friend Giulio Romano. - -Besides THE COURTIER, his writings comprise: _Tirsi_, an eclogue of -fifty-five stanzas in _ottava rima_, written and recited at the court of -Urbino for the carnival of 1506; a prologue and epilogue for his friend -Bibbiena’s _Calandra_; a few Italian lyrics of moderate merit; and some -better Latin elegies and epigrams; nearly all composed during his -embassy at Rome. A large number of his letters also have been preserved. - -[Illustration: - - CASTIGLIONE'S TOMB - CHURCH OF THE MADONNA DELLE GRAZIE NEAR MANTUA -] - -Reduced from a water-colour drawing made by the architect Patricolo and - the painter Zanetti from the monument designed by Giulio Pippi, - better known as Giulio Romano, (1492-1546). The water-mark of the - paper on which this volume is printed is copied from a drawing, by - Zanetti, of Castiglione’s arms as they appear in the upper left-hand - panel of the monument. - -His fine character is reflected in that of his Courtier, who (as Symonds -says) “is, with one or two points of immaterial difference, a modern -gentleman, such as all men of education at the present day would wish to -be.” It may perhaps aid the reader to realize the time in which the -author lived, to recall that when Castiglione was born, printing had -been practised in Italy for thirteen years, that the earliest Greek -grammar had been printed two years, that America was discovered when he -was a boy, that the Reformation began when he was in the prime of life, -and that the Lutherans were first called Protestants in the year of his -death. - -The first (Aldine) edition of THE COURTIER was issued thirteen years -after the death of Teob_aldo_ Manucci, the illustrious founder of the -press that continued to bear his name, and consisted of one thousand and -thirty-one copies, of which thirty were on large paper and one on -vellum. It is a small folio of one hundred and twenty-two leaves, the -type-page measuring almost precisely nine and one-quarter inches by five -and one-eighth inches. In its ordinary form the book can hardly be -called rare, as in 1895 the present translator secured a good copy from -Leipsic for forty-five francs. - -The earliest Spanish translator, BOSCAN, (born at Barcelona about 1493; -died in France about 1542), was of gentle birth. Early becoming a -soldier, he served with credit in Charles V's Italian campaigns, and -thus acquired familiarity with the language and literature of Italy. He -is said to have known Castiglione personally. Having been for some time -tutor to the young prince who was later known as the Duke of Alva, he -married and devoted the rest of his short life to letters. As a writer -he is best known as the founder of the Italian poetical school in Spain. -Ticknor says that Boscan’s version of THE COURTIER hardly professes to -be literal, but that perhaps nothing in Castilian prose of an earlier -date is written in so classical and finished a style. It has been often -reprinted (as recently as 1873), and was found useful by the present -translator in doubtful passages. - -The earliest French translator, COLIN, (died 1547), was a native of -Auxerre and enjoyed the favour of Francis I, whom he served as reader -and almoner, and who bestowed upon him the abbotship of St. Ambrose at -Tours, as well as other ecclesiastical offices. In his prosperity he -showed much kindness to his less fortunate brother authors, but he was -too free of speech to be permanently successful as a courtier, and lost -his preferments. His translation of THE COURTIER, which some writers -erroneously ascribe to Jean Chaperon, is little esteemed, was soon -issued with corrections by another hand, and then followed by another -French version. He translated also parts of Homer and Ovid, and composed -original verse in Latin and French. For an account of Castiglione’s -influence upon French literature and of his many French imitators, -consult Pietro Toldo’s “Le Courtisan dans la littérature française et -ses rapports avec l'œuvre du Castiglione,” (Archiv für das Studium der -Neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen, C. iv, pp. 75 and 313, and C. v, p. -60). - -The earliest English translator, HOBY, (born 1530; died 1566), was the -son of William and Katherine (Forden) Hoby of Herefordshire. Having -studied at Cambridge, he visited France, Italy and other foreign -countries. In 1565-6 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and sent as -ambassador to France, where he soon died, leaving several children and a -widow. This lady was the third of Sir Anthony Cooke’s five learned -daughters, of whom the eldest married Sir William Cecil (afterwards Lord -Burleigh), while the second became the mother of Francis Bacon, Lord -Verulam. Interesting details of Hoby’s life and of the manners of the -time are given in his unpublished diary, preserved in the British -Museum. His version of THE COURTIER was carefully made, and although -rough to our ears and occasionally obscure, it became very popular and -was several times republished. A beautiful reprint of the original -edition has recently been issued (1900), in a scholarly introduction to -which Professor Walter Raleigh traces the influence of the book upon -Elizabethan writers. THE COURTIER, and especially Hoby’s translation of -it, are the subject of a very interesting study by Mary Augusta Scott, -Ph.D., printed in the Publications of the Modern Language Association of -America, vol. xvi (1901), no. 4. In 1570 Roger Ascham wrote in his -“Schoolmaster:” “To join learning with comely exercises, Count Baldesar -Castiglione in his book CORTEGIANO doth trimly teach: which book, -advisedly read and diligently followed but one year at home in England, -would do a young gentleman more good, I wis, than three years’ travel -abroad in Italy. And I marvel this book is not more read in the Court -than it is, seeing it is so well translated into English by a worthy -gentleman, Sir Thomas Hobbie, who was many ways well furnished with -learning, and very expert in knowledge of divers tongues.” - -Of the first German translator, LORENZ KRATZER, little more is known -than that he was an officer of customs at Burckhausen, in Bavaria, from -1565 to 1588, and that he speaks of having devoted to letters the ample -leisure which his duties permitted. Although said to be meritorious, his -work can hardly have gained wide currency, as both Noyse (whose German -translation of THE COURTIER was published at Dilingen in 1593) and a -third German translator (whose version was issued at Frankfort in 1684 -under the initials “J. C. L. L. J.”) seem to have regarded themselves -each as the earliest in the field. - -The first Latin translator, TURLER, (born 1550; died 1602), was a -_Doctor Juris_, and became burgomaster of his native town of Lössnitz, -near Leipsic. Besides THE COURTIER, he translated several of -Machiavelli’s works into Latin. - - - NOTES TO THE DEDICATORY LETTER - -Note 1 page 1. Dom MIGUEL DE SILVA, (born about 1490; died 1556), was -the second son of Diego de Silva and Maria de Ayola, Count and Countess -of Portalegre, a province of central Portugal. Having studied at the -universities of Paris, Siena and Bologna, he was soon called to the -court of Emanuel of Portugal, held various ecclesiastical posts, and was -made Bishop of Viseu in the Province of Beira. As ambassador to Popes -Leo X, Adrian VI and Clement VII, he paid long visits to Rome, where his -friendship with Castiglione probably began. During the twenty years that -followed 1521 he served John III of Portugal as _Escribano de la -Puridad_; then, having been made a cardinal by Paul III, he spent the -remainder of his life in the papal service, died in Rome, and was buried -in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Eminent as a prelate and a -diplomatist, he also enjoyed no small repute as an author and an elegant -Latinist. - -Note 2 page 1. GUIDOBALDO DI MONTEFELTRO, Duke of Urbino, (born 1472; -died 1508), was the only son of Duke Federico di Montefeltro and -Battista Sforza, an accomplished niece of the first Sforza duke of -Milan. Precocious as a child, he was elaborately yet judiciously -educated, and much of the praise bestowed upon him in THE COURTIER is -shown by contemporary evidence to have been just. On his father’s death -in 1482, both he and his State were confided to his cousin Ubaldini (see -note 273), who seems to have been loyal to the trust, although next heir -to the duchy. From records that have survived, Dennistoun extracts some -details of the young duke’s court: “To all persons composing the ducal -household, unexceptionable manners were indispensable. In those of -higher rank there were further required competent talents and learning, -a grave deportment, and fluency of speech. The servants must be of -steady habits and respectable character; regular in all private -transactions; of good address, modest and graceful; willing and neat -handed in their service. There is likewise inculcated the most -scrupulous personal cleanliness, especially of the hands, with -particular injunctions as to frequent ablutions, and extraordinary -precautions against the unpleasant effects of hot weather on their -persons and clothing; in case of need, medical treatment is enjoined to -correct the breath. Those who wore livery had two suits a year, -generally of fustian, though to some silk doublets were given for summer -use.” - -In 1489 Guidobaldo married Elisabetta Gonzaga, a sister of the Marquess -of Mantua. All hopes, however, of an heir were soon abandoned, -apparently owing to the young duke’s physical infirmities, which were -increased by over exercise and in time unfitted him for all active -occupations. Nevertheless he was able to take part in the vain -resistance to Charles VIII's invasion of Italy, and later in the -expulsion of the French from the kingdom of Naples. While fighting in -the service of Pope Alexander VI in 1497, he was taken prisoner and -forced to pay a ransom of 30,000 ducats, a sum then equivalent to about -twice that number of modern pounds sterling, and raised only at the -sacrifice of his duchess’s jewels. In 1501 he aided rather than opposed -Louis XII's invasion of Naples. - -In 1502 the pope’s son Cesare Borgia treacherously seized the Duchy of -Urbino. To spare his people bloodshed and ruin, Guidobaldo fled in -disguise to his brother-in-law at Mantua, and after a vain appeal to -Louis XII, found an honourable asylum at Venice. In the same year he -regained his dominions for a short time, but was again forced to take -flight. On the death of Alexander VI (August 1503), Cesare’s power -crumbled, Guidobaldo easily recovered his duchy, and his position was -soon assured by the election of Julius II, who was not only his personal -friend, but also the brother of his sister Giovanna’s husband. In 1504 -he formally adopted as his heir this sister’s son, Francesco Maria della -Rovere, and (as we have seen) took into his service the future author of -THE COURTIER. His learning, amiability and munificence attracted choice -spirits to his court, which came to be regarded as the first in Italy. -Pope Julius was splendidly entertained there on his way both to and from -his Bologna campaign, and the Courtier dialogues are represented as -taking place immediately after his departure for Rome in March 1507. - -Long an invalid, Guidobaldo became more and more a martyr to his gout, -which was aggravated by a season of exceptional drought and cold and -brought him final relief from suffering in April 1508. His fame rests, -not upon his military and political achievements, but upon the beauty of -his character, the variety of his intellectual accomplishments, the -patience with which he endured reverses, illness and forced inaction, -and upon the culture and refinement that characterized his court. - -Note 3 page 1. FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, Duke of Urbino, (born 1490; -died 1538), was the son of Giovanni della Rovere and Duke Guidobaldo’s -sister Giovanna di Montefeltro. Giovanni was a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV -(who had made him Prefect of Rome), and a younger brother of Cardinal -Giuliano della Rovere, afterwards Pope Julius II. - -On his father’s death in 1501, Francesco was brought to the court of his -uncle Guidobaldo, who secured for him a renewal of the Prefecture and -superintended his education. In THE COURTIER he appears as “my lord -Prefect.” During the Borgian usurpation of the duchy, he found refuge at -the court of Louis XII; and soon after the fall of the Borgias and his -uncle Julius II's accession, he was adopted as Guidobaldo’s heir, while -through the mediation of Castiglione a marriage was arranged for him -with Eleanora, daughter to the Marquess of Mantua and niece to the -Duchess of Urbino. He now resided chiefly with his uncle, acquainting -himself with his future subjects and duties. Although he possessed many -of the good qualities ascribed to him in THE COURTIER, his temper was -ungovernable, and before reaching the age of eighteen he slew one of the -members of the court, who was accused of seducing his sister. - -Having become duke in 1508, he was married on Christmas Eve of that -year. In the following spring he commanded the papal forces in the -League of Cambray, and despite the obstacles put in his way by his -colleague Cardinal Alidosi (see note 268), he soon reduced the Romagna -towns, the recovery of which from Venice was Julius II's chief object in -forming the league. In a later campaign against the French, Bologna was -lost to the Church (1511) through the treachery of Alidosi, who craftily -contrived to have the blame fall upon Francesco, and was murdered by the -latter at Ravenna. After a long trial before six cardinals, in which -ample proof of the dead man’s treason was presented, and an eloquent -appeal made by Beroaldo (see note 235),—the young duke was acquitted and -restored to the pope’s favour. - -Although both Francesco and his predecessor had generously befriended -the Medici during their exile from Florence (1494-1512), Leo X (Giovanni -de' Medici) seized his duchy in 1516, to bestow it on a nephew, Lorenzo -de' Medici. It is needless to speak here of Francesco’s restoration in -1521, of his failure to relieve Pope Clement VII when Rome was sacked in -1527, or of his later life. - -While small in person, Francesco was active and well formed. His manners -were gentle and his character forgiving, in spite of his fiery temper. -Strict in religious observances and an enemy to blasphemous language, he -was also creditably intolerant of those outrages upon womanly honour -with which war was then fraught. He was famous chiefly as a soldier, and -by so competent a judge as the Emperor Charles V was regarded as master -of the military science of his day. - -Note 4 page 1. This disclaimer of careful authorship is not to be taken -too literally. At least a draft of Books I-III seems to have been made -at Urbino between April 1508 and May 1509, while Book IV was probably -written at Rome in the earlier part of the interval between September -1513 and March 1516. Castiglione apparently continued to revise his work -until 1518, when he sent his MS. to Bembo. See Silvestro Marcello’s -pamphlet, “La Cronologia del Cortegiano di Baldesar Castiglione.” Pisa, -1895. - -Note 5 page 1. As has been seen, Castiglione resided at the Spanish -court from 1524 until his death in 1529. - -Note 6 page 1. VITTORIA COLONNA, (born 1490; died 1547), was the -daughter of Fabrizio Colonna (grand-nephew of Pope Martin V) and Agnese -di Montefeltro, a sister of Duke Guidobaldo. At the age of four she was -betrothed to the Marquess of Pescara, whom she married in her nineteenth -year at Ischia (the fief and residence of his family), and who -afterwards became a famous soldier. During his long absences in the -field, she consoled herself with books, and after his death in 1525, her -widowhood was spent in retirement and finally in semi-monastic seclusion -at Rome. The time spared from pious exercises she devoted to study, the -composition of poetry, correspondence with illustrious men of letters, -and the society of learned persons. Although she never became a convert -to Protestantism, the liberality of some of her friends’ belief exposed -her to ecclesiastical censure in her old age. Her celebrated friendship -with Michelangelo began when he was past sixty and she had nearly -reached fifty years. They frequently exchanged verses, and he is said to -have visited her on her death-bed. Her poems are chiefly sonnets to the -memory of her husband or verses on sacred and moral subjects. - -Note 7 page 7. The following passage is from a letter written by -Castiglione to the Marchioness: “I am the more deeply obliged to your -Ladyship, because the necessity you have put me under, of sending the -book at once to the printer, relieves me from the trouble of adding many -things that I had already prepared in my mind,—things (I need hardly -say) of little import, like the rest of the book; so that your Ladyship -has saved the reader from tedium, and the author from blame.” - -Despite the many decrees of popes, emperors and other potentates, -literary piracy seems to have been quite as common in Castiglione’s time -as in ours. He was obviously none too prompt in his precautions, as an -apparently unauthorized edition of THE COURTIER was issued at Florence -by the heirs of Filippo di Giunta in the October following its first -publication at Venice in April 1528. - -Note 8 page 8. ALFONSO ARIOSTO, (died 1526), was a cousin of the poet -Ludovico. Little more seems to be known of him than that his father’s -name was Bonifazio, that he was a gentle cavalier and brave soldier in -the service of the Este family, and that he was a friend of Castiglione -and of Bembo. His name appears at the head of each of the four dialogues -composing THE COURTIER, and they purport to have been written at his -suggestion. Señor A. M. Fabié, in his notes to the 1873 reprint of -Boscan’s translation, affirms that Alfonso Ariosto had nothing to do -with the poet Ludovico, belonged to a noble Bolognese family, and -enjoyed much favour at the court of Francis I of France. - -Note 9 page 9. GIULIANO DE' MEDICI, (born 1478; died 1516), was the -third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini. His education -seems to have been for a time entrusted to the famous scholar-poet -Poliziano (see note 105). During his family’s exile from Florence -(1494-1512), he resided much at the court of Urbino, where he was known -as “the Magnifico Giuliano,” and where one wing of the great palace was -reserved to his use and is still called by his name. He became the -father of a boy afterwards known as Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici,—the -original of Titian’s fine portrait in the Pitti Gallery. On the -restoration of the Medici, Giuliano was placed at the head of affairs in -his native city and succeeded in winning the good will of the -Florentines, but his gentle disposition and love of ease thwarted other -ambitious projects formed for his advancement by his brother Leo X, and -he was too grateful to the dukes of Urbino for their hospitality to -accept the pope’s intended appropriation of their duchy for his benefit. -In 1515 he married Filiberta of Savoy and was created Duke of Nemours by -her nephew Francis I of France. In the same year he was appointed -Captain General of the Church, but failing health prevented his actual -service, and he soon died of fever at Florence, not without suspicion of -poison at the hands of his nephew Lorenzo. - -Several of his sonnets have survived, and are said to show no mean -poetic faculty. Apart, however, from his appearance as an interlocutor -in THE COURTIER and in Bembo’s _Prose_, his memory is best preserved by -Michelangelo’s famous tomb at Florence. - -[Illustration: - - VITTORIA COLONNA - MARCHIONESS OF PESCARA - 1490-1547 -] - -Much enlarged from a cast, kindly furnished by M. Pierre Valton, of an - anonymous medal in his collection at Paris. - -Note 10 page 2. “MESSER BERNARDO” (DOVIZI), better known by the name of -his birthplace BIBBIENA, (born 1470; died 1520), was of humble -parentage. His elder brother Pietro was secretary to Lorenzo de' Medici, -and secured his admission to the Magnifico’s household, where he shared -the education of the young Giovanni and became a devoted friend of that -future pope. Following the Medici into exile, he travelled about Europe -with Giovanni and attended Giuliano to Urbino, where he received the -warm welcome always accorded there to such as combined learning with -courtly manners. By the Duke of Urbino he seems to have been so -commended to the favour of Julius II, that he was able to aid -Michelangelo in securing part payment for the Sistine Chapel frescoes, -of which payment, however, he accepted five per cent. as a gift from the -painter. At the death of Julius, he was secretary to his friend Cardinal -Giovanni de' Medici, and in that capacity had access to the conclave, -where his adroitness was largely helpful in effecting his patron’s -election as pope. Leo at once made him Cardinal of Santa Maria in -Portico and loaded him with lucrative offices. During the Medicean -usurpation of the Duchy of Urbino, he showed no gratitude for the -kindness enjoyed by him at that court. He became very rich, and was a -liberal patron of authors and artists. Raphael devised to him the house -of the architect Bramante, which the painter had bought for a sum -equivalent to about £6,000, and which was afterwards demolished in -extending the piazza in front of St. Peter’s. - -Besides a large number of his letters, for the most part unpublished, we -have his play, _Calandra_, founded upon the _Menæchmi_ of Plautus and -once esteemed as the earliest Italian prose comedy. - -Although he was bald, and although his friend Raphael’s portrait hardly -justifies the epithet, he was known as the “_Bel Bernardo_.” A -contemporary MS. in the Vatican describes him as “a facetious character, -with no mean powers of ridicule, and much tact in promoting jocular -conversation by his wit and well-timed jests. He was a great favourite -with certain cardinals, whose chief pursuit was pleasure and the chase, -for he thoroughly knew all their habits and fancies, and was even aware -of whatever vicious propensities they had. He likewise possessed a -singular pliancy for flattery, and for obsequiously accommodating -himself to their whims, stooping patiently to be the butt of insulting -and abusive jokes, and shrinking from nothing that could render him -acceptable to them. He also had much readiness in council, and was -perfectly able seasonably to qualify his wit with wisdom, or to -dissemble with singular cunning.” On the other hand, Bembo wrote of him -to their friend Federico Fregoso: “The days seem years until I see him, -and enjoy the pleasing society, the charming conversation, the wit, the -jests, the features and the affection of that man.” - -Note 11 page 2. OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, (died 1524), belonged to a noble -Genoese family that had long distinguished itself in public service and -had furnished several doges to the Republic. His parents were Agostino -Fregoso and Gentile di Montefeltro, a half-sister of Duke Guidobaldo. -Driven from Genoa as early as 1497, he entered his uncle’s court at -Urbino and rendered important military services, especially during the -struggle with Cesare Borgia, in which he gallantly defended the fortress -of San Leo (see note 275), and was rewarded with the lordship of Santa -Agata in the Apennines. In 1506 he commanded the papal forces for the -recovery of Bologna, and later in the League of Cambray against Venice. -In 1513 he succeeded in putting an end to French domination in Genoa, -was elected doge, and ruled so beneficently for two years that when -Francis I regained the city, Fregoso was continued as governor. In 1522 -Genoa was captured and sacked by Spanish and German troops, and Fregoso -given over to the Marquess of Pescara, treated harshly (despite -Castiglione’s intercession on his behalf), and carried to Ischia, where -he died. - -Several stories of his absent-mindedness are narrated by Dennistoun, and -one illustrates the freedom of intercourse at the court of Urbino. His -uncle Guidobaldo appearing one day in a beautiful violet satin jerkin, -Ottaviano exclaimed: “My lord Duke, you really are _the_ handsome -Signor!” and then, on being reproved for flattery, he replied: “I did -not mean that you are a man of worth, though I pronounced you a fine man -and a handsome nobleman.” - -Note 12 page 2. “MY LADY DUCHESS,” ELISABETTA GONZAGA, (born 1471; died -1526), was the second daughter of the Marquess Federico Gonzaga of -Mantua and Margarita of Bavaria. She married Duke Guidobaldo in 1489. In -1502 she reluctantly attended the festivities for the marriage, at -Ferrara, of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso d'Este, and some of her costumes -are thus described by an eye-witness: On entering Ferrara, she rode a -black mule caparisoned in black velvet embroidered with woven gold, and -wore a mantle of black velvet strewn with triangles of beaten gold, a -string of pearls about her neck, and a cap of gold; another day indoors -she wore a mantle of brown velvet slashed, and caught up with chains of -massive gold; another day a gown of black velvet striped with gold, with -a jewelled necklace and diadem; and still another day, a black velvet -robe embroidered with gold ciphers. - -During the Borgian usurpation of their duchy in the same year, she -shared her husband’s exile at Venice, and on returning to Urbino earlier -than Guidobaldo, she amused herself with a scenic representation of the -chief events that had occurred during their absence. She cared for her -husband tenderly in his illnesses, administered his government wisely -when he was called away, and on his death acted as regent and guardian -for his nephew and successor, with whom she maintained affectionate -relations as long as she lived, and from appropriating whose dominions -she strove to the utmost to dissuade Leo X. - -Next to her husband’s niece by marriage, Emilia Pia (see note 37), her -closest friend seems to have been her brother’s wife, the famous -Isabella d'Este (see note 397), with whom she often travelled and -continually corresponded by letter. Although still young and accounted -beautiful at her husband’s death, she remained faithful to his memory, -and the years of her widowhood were cheered by the companionship of her -niece, the young duchess Eleanora of Urbino (see note 432). If we may -trust universal contemporary opinion of her virtues and beauty, the -author of THE COURTIER flattered her as little as did the painter of her -portrait in the Uffizi Gallery. - -[Illustration: - - FEDERICO GONZAGA - MARQUESS OF MANTUA - FATHER OF “MY LADY DUCHESS” - 1440-1484 -] - -Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 18705) of the fresco, - “The Return of the Exile,” in the _Sala degli Sposi_ of the Gonzaga - Palace at Mantua, painted not later than 1474 by Andrea Mantegna - (1431-1506). See Heinrich Thode’s monograph on Mantegna, p. 56. For - a notice of the Marquess’s life see note 263. - -Note 13 page 3. Vittoria Colonna seems to have had this passage in mind -when she wrote, 20 September 1524, to Castiglione in praise of his book: -“It would not be fitting for me to tell you what I think of it, for the -same reason which you say prevents you from speaking of the beauty of my -lady Duchess.” - -Note 14 page 3. GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO, (born 1313; died 1375), was the -natural son of a Florentine tradesman and a Frenchwoman with whom his -father had made acquaintance during a business residence at Paris. In -early manhood he engaged in commerce at Naples, and had but little -learning in his youth, although he studied law for a time. Erudition and -authorship became the serious enthusiasm of his life, owing (it is said) -to a chance visit to the supposed tomb of Virgil at Naples. In middle -life he began the study of Greek at his friend Petrarch’s suggestion; -and although he never acquired more than what would now be deemed a -superficial knowledge of that language, as a Hellenist he had no -precursor in Italy. An ardent if somewhat unappreciative admirer of -Dante (whose _Divina Commedia_ he transcribed with his own hands), he -was the first Italian author to write for the common people, instead of -composing books suited only to the learned and patrician classes. His -style was formed by tireless study of classic models, and became a -standard for imitation by his successors. - -Note 15 page 3. It is now known that the considerations that led -Boccaccio to underrate his poems and tales, were ethical rather than -literary. - -Note 16 page 5. THEOPHRASTUS, (born 374; died 287 B.C.), was a native of -Lesbos, but resided at Athens. He was the chief disciple and successor -of Aristotle, and wrote also upon a great variety of subjects other than -philosophy. His best known work, the “Characters,” is a collection of -sprightly sketches of human types. La Bruyère’s famous book of the same -name was originally a mere translation from Theophrastus. The incident -mentioned in the text is thus described in Cicero’s _Brutus_: “When he -asked a certain old woman for how much she would sell something, and she -answered him and added, 'Stranger, it can’t be had for less,'—he was -vexed at being taken for a stranger although he had grown old at Athens -and spoke to perfection.” - -Note 17 page 5. I. e., pages 39-54. - -Note 18 page 5. The reference here is to Plato’s “Republic,” Xenophon’s -_Cyropædia_, and Cicero’s _De Oratore_. - -Note 19 page 6. In the letter quoted in note 13, Vittoria Colonna wrote: -“I do not marvel at your portraying a perfect courtier well, for by -merely holding a mirrour before you and considering your inward and -outward parts, you could describe him as you have; but our greatest -difficulty being to know ourselves, I say that it was more difficult for -you to portray yourself than another man.” - -[Illustration: - - FEDERICO DI MONTEFELTRO - DUKE OF URBINO - 1422-1482 -] - -Reduced from Alinari’s photograph (no. 2686) of a marble bas-relief, in - the National Museum at Florence, by some attributed to Mino da - Fiesole (1431-1484). - -Note 20 page 6. More than 140 editions of THE COURTIER have been -published. Most of these are mentioned in the list printed before the -Index of this volume. A few of the editions there set down differ from -one another only in title-page; a few others, perhaps, exist only in -some bibliographer’s erroneous mention. Deductions to be made for such -reasons, however, are probably offset by other editions that the present -translator has failed to bring to light. - -In the bibliographical notes appended by the brothers Volpi to their -(1733) edition, THE COURTIER is said to have been translated into -Flemish; while in his preface to the Sonzogno (1890) edition, Corio -speaks of the introduction of the book into Japan in the 17th century, -and also of a Russian translation by Archiuzow. - - - NOTES TO THE FIRST BOOK OF THE COURTIER - -Note 21 page 7. “Courtiership” is a sadly awkward rendering of the -Italian _cortegiania_, which implies not only courtesy and courtliness, -but all the many other qualities and accomplishments essential to the -perfect Courtier or (what in Castiglione’s time was the same) the -perfect Gentleman. - -Note 22 page 8. The extreme dimensions of the Duchy of Urbino were 64 -miles from east to west, and 60 miles from north to south. Its -population did not much exceed 150,000. - -Note 23 page 8. The first of the four dialogues is represented as having -been held on the evening of the day after the close of a certain visit -paid by Pope Julius II to Urbino on his return from a successful -campaign against Bologna. This visit is known to have lasted from 3 -March to 7 March 1507. Castiglione returned from England as early as 5 -March, on which date he wrote to his mother from Urbino: “We have had -his Holiness here for two days.” It seems probable that this fictitious -prolongation of his absence in England was simply a graceful excuse for -not himself appearing in the dialogues. - -Note 24 page 8. There were a fief and Count of Montefeltro as early as -1154, and his son was made Count of Urbino in 1216, from which time -their male descendants ruled over a gradually increased territory until -1508, when the duchy passed to the female line. The name Montefeltro is -said to have originated in that of a temple to Jupiter Feretrius, which -in Roman times occupied the summit of the crag afterwards known as San -Leo, in the Duchy of Urbino. - -Note 25 page 9. Such a rule as that of the usurping Cesare Borgia -(1502-3) can hardly have been welcome to a population accustomed to the -mild sway of the Montefeltro family. - -Note 26 page 9. “DUKE FEDERICO” DI MONTEFELTRO, (born 1422; died 1482), -was a natural son of Count Guidantonio di Montefeltro, as appears from -the act of legitimation issued by Pope Martin V and also from his -father’s testament, by virtue whereof (as well as by the choice of the -people) he succeeded his half-brother Count Oddantonio in 1444. In his -boyhood he resided fifteen months as a hostage at Venice. Later he -studied the theory and practice of war at the Mantuan court, and was -trained in the humanities by the famous Vittorino da Feltre. In 1437 he -married Gentile Brancaleone, who died childless in 1457. Nearly the -whole of his life was spent in military service, as paid ally, now of -one prince, now of another. In this capacity he became not only the most -noted commander of his time, but always displayed perfect and -exceptional fidelity to the causes that he undertook. In 1450 he lost an -eye and suffered a fracture of the nose in a tournament; contemporary -portraits represent his features in profile. In 1454 he began the -construction of the great palace at Urbino. In 1460, at the suggestion -of Francesco Sforza (whom he had aided to become Duke of Milan), he -married the latter’s accomplished niece Battista Sforza, who bore him -seven daughters and one son, Guidobaldo. In 1474 he was made Duke of -Urbino and appointed Captain General of the Church by Pope Sixtus IV, -and was unanimously elected a Knight of the Garter. He died of fever -contracted during military operations in the malarial country near -Ferrara. The vast sums spent by him on public buildings, art objects and -books, and upon the maintenance of his splendid household, were not -extorted from his subjects, but were received from foreign states in -return for war service. Thus at the close of his life he drew a yearly -stipend equivalent to about £330,000. - -It is not easy to draw a picture of his character that shall seem -unflattered. Vespasiano, who by years of labour collected his famous -library for him, says that his “establishment was conducted with the -regularity of a religious fraternity, rather than like a military -household. Gambling and profanity were unknown, and singular decorum of -language was observed, whilst many noble youths, sent there to learn -good manners and military discipline, were reared under the most -exemplary tuition. He regarded his subjects as his children, and was at -all times accessible to hear them personally state their petitions, -being careful to give answers without unnecessary delay. He walked -freely about the streets, entering their shops and workrooms, and -enquiring into their circumstances with paternal interest.... In summer -he was in the saddle at dawn, and rode three or four miles into the -country with half-a-dozen of his court ... reaching home again when -others were just up. After mass, he went into an open garden and gave -audience to all comers until breakfast-time. When at table, he listened -to the Latin historians, chiefly Livy, except in Lent, when some -religious book was read, anyone being free to enter the hall and speak -with him then. His fare was plain and substantial, denying himself sweet -dishes and wine, except drinks of pomegranates, cherries, apples, or -other fruits. After dinner and supper, an able judge of appeal stated in -Latin the causes brought before him, on which the duke gave judgment in -that language;... When his mid-day meal was finished, if no one appeared -to ask audience, he retired to his closet and transacted private -business, or listened to reading until evening approached, when he -generally walked out, giving patient ear to all who accosted him in the -streets. He then occasionally visited ... a meadow belonging to the -Franciscans, where thirty or forty of the youths brought up in his court -stripped their doublets, and played at throwing the bar, or at -wrestling, or ball. This was a fine sight, which the duke much enjoyed, -encouraging the lads, and listening freely to all until supper-time. -When that and the audiences were over, he repaired to a private -apartment with his principal courtiers, whom, after some familiar talk, -he would dismiss to bed, taxing them with their sluggish indulgence of a -morning.” - -[Illustration: - - ALFONSO II OF NAPLES - 1448-1495 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of a medal, in the National Museum at - Florence, by Andrea Guazzalotti (1435-1495). See Armand’s _Les - Médailleurs Italiens_, i, 48, no. 1. - -Note 27 page 9. In a Greek epigram written in a book borrowed from Duke -Guidobaldo, Poliziano (see note 105) praises the lender as the worthy -son of a father who never suffered defeat, ἀνικήτοιο πατρὸς γονόν. -History shows that this phrase was a rhetorical exaggeration, but it -became almost proverbial. - -Note 28 page 9. Although long since despoiled of its treasures, the -palace is still one of the architectural monuments of Italy. Many -writers have described its magnificence,—some of the fullest accounts -being those by Bernardino Baldi (1553-1617); Fr. Arnold (_Der -Herzogliche Palast von Urbino_; Leipsic: 1857); J. A. Symonds (“Italian -Byways;” London: 1883; pp. 129-155); Charles Blanc (_Histoire de la -Renaissance Artistique en Italie_; Paris: 1894; ii, 87-90); and Egidio -Calzini (_Urbino e i Suoi Monumenti_; Florence: 1899; pp. 9-46). Baldi’s -description will be found reprinted as an appendix to Rigutini’s (1889 -and 1892) editions of THE COURTIER. - -For more than fourteen years Duke Federico employed from thirty to forty -copyists in transcribing Greek and Latin MSS. Not only the classics, but -ecclesiastical and mediæval authors, as well as the Italian poets and -humanists were represented in his library, which contained 792 MSS. -Ultimately the collection was sent to Rome, where it forms part of the -Vatican Library. - -Note 29 page 9. Born in 1422, Duke Federico was in fact sixty years old -when he died. - -Note 30 page 9. In his Latin epistle to Henry VII of England, -Castiglione says that Duke Guidobaldo began to be afflicted with gout at -the age of twenty-one years. - -Note 31 page 10. ALFONSO II of Naples, (born 1448; died 1495), was the -eldest son of Ferdinand I and Isabelle de Clermont. As Duke of Calabria, -commanding the papal forces, he defeated the Florentine league in 1479, -and in 1481 drove the Turks out of southern Italy. On his father’s death -in 1494, he succeeded to the crown of Naples; but having rendered -himself obnoxious to his subjects, he abdicated in favour of his son -Ferdinand just before the arrival of Charles VIII of France, and took -refuge in a Sicilian convent, where he soon died, tortured by remorse -for the hideous cruelties that he had perpetrated. His wife was Ippolita -Maria, daughter of the first Sforza duke of Milan; while his daughter -Isabella’s marriage to Giangaleazzo Sforza, the rightful duke, and the -usurpation of the latter’s uncle Ludovico “il Moro” (see note 302), -became the immediate cause of the first French invasion of Italy by -Charles VIII. - -Note 32 page 10. FERDINAND II of Naples, (born 1469; died childless -1496), made a gallant but vain stand against the French, and retired to -Ischia with his youthful wife-aunt Joanna. When Charles VIII evacuated -Naples after a stay of only fifty days, Ferdinand was soon able, with -the help of his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic’s famous general Consalvo -de Cordova, to regain his dominions, but died a few weeks later. He -seems to have had no lack of courage; by his mere presence he once -overawed a mob at Naples, and he was beloved by the nation in spite of -the odious tyranny of his father and grandfather. - -Note 33 page 10. Pope ALEXANDER VI, (born 1431; died 1503), was -Roderigo, the son of Giuffredo (or Alfonso) Lenzuoli and Juana (or -Isabella) Borgia, a sister of Pope Calixtus III, by whom the youth was -adopted and whose surname he assumed. He was elected pope in 1492 -through bribery, and while striving to increase the temporal power of -the Church, directed his chief efforts towards the establishment of a -great hereditary dominion for his family. Of his five children, two -(Cesare and Lucrezia) played important parts in his plan. In 1495 he -joined the league which forced Charles VIII to retire from Italy, -although it had been partly at his instigation that the French invaded -the peninsula. In 1498 Savonarola was burned at Florence by his orders. -In 1501 he instituted the ecclesiastical censorship of books. He is -believed to have died from accidentally taking a poison designed by him -for a rich cardinal whose possessions he wished to seize. His private -life was disgraced by orgies, of which the details are unfit for -repetition. His contemporary Machiavelli says: “His entire occupation, -his only thought, was deception, and he always found victims. Never was -there a man with more effrontery in assertion, more ready to add oaths -to his promises, or to break them.” While Sismondi terms him “the most -odious, the most publicly scandalous, and the most wicked of all the -miscreants who ever misused sacred authority to outrage and degrade -mankind.” - -[Illustration: - - FERDINAND II OF NAPLES - 1469?-1496 -] - -From Alinari’s photograph (no. 11305) of an anonymous bronze bust in the - National Museum at Naples. - -Note 34 page 10. Pope JULIUS II, (born 1443; died 1513), was Giuliano, -the second son of Raffaele della Rovere (only brother of Pope Sixtus IV) -and Teodora Menerola. Made a cardinal soon after his uncle’s election, -he was loaded with sees and offices, including the legateship of Picene -and Avignon, which latter occasioned his prolonged absence from Italy -and afforded him an escape from the wiles of his inveterate enemy -Alexander VI. The outrages with which Alexander sought to punish his -sturdy opposition to the scandals of the Borgian court, aroused in him a -fierceness of spirit that was alien to the seeming mildness of his early -character and became the bane of his own pontificate. His younger -brother Giovanni married a sister of Duke Guidobaldo, a union that -cemented the friendship between the two families and furnished the Duchy -of Urbino an heir in the person of Francesco Maria della Rovere. When -Julius engaged Michelangelo to design his tomb, the old basilica of St. -Peter’s was found too small to contain it, whereupon the pontiff is said -to have decreed that a new church be built to receive it, and blessed -the laying of the first stone shortly before setting out on his campaign -against Bologna in 1506. In 1508 he formed the League of Cambray for the -recovery of certain papal fiefs appropriated by Venice at the time of -Cesare Borgia’s downfall, and in 1511 the so-called Holy League for the -expulsion of the French from Italy. Italian unity was the unavowed but -real goal at which his policy aimed. - -Although a munificent patron of art and letters, Julius was frugal and -severe,—a man of action rather than a scholar or theologian. In giving -Michelangelo directions for the huge bronze statue at Bologna, he said: -“Put a sword in my hand; of letters I know nothing.” Another of his -reported sayings is: “If we are not ourselves pious, why should we -prevent others from being so?” - -Note 35 page 10. Although unexpressed in the original, the word -‘learned’ seems necessary to complete the obvious meaning of the -passage. - -From his tutor Odasio of Padua, we learn that in his boyhood Guidobaldo -was even for the time exceptionally fond of study. He could repeat whole -treatises by heart ten years after reading them, and never forgot what -he resolved to retain. Besides his classical attainments, he appreciated -the Italian poets, and showed peculiar aptitude for philosophy and -history. - -Note 36 page 10. The Italian _piacevolezza_ conveys somewhat the same -suggestion of humour which the word ‘pleasantness’ carried with it to -the English of Elizabeth’s time, and which still survives in our -‘pleasantry.’ - -Note 37 page 11. EMILIA PIA, (died 1528), was the youngest daughter of -Marco Pio, one of the lords of Carpi. Her brother Giberto married a -natural daughter of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este (see note 64), while her -cousin Alberto Pio (1475-1530) was the pupil and became the patron and -financial supporter of the scholar-printer Aldus Manutius. In 1487 she -was married very young to the studious Count Antonio di Montefeltro (a -natural half-brother of Duke Guidobaldo), who left her a widow in 1500. -She resided at Urbino and became the trusted and inseparable companion -of the Duchess Elisabetta, whom she accompanied on journeys and in -exile, ever faithful in misfortune and sorrow. In the duchess’s -testament she was named as legatee and executrix. She seems to have died -without the sacraments of the Church, while discussing passages of the -newly published COURTIER with Count Ludovico Canossa. The part taken by -her in these dialogues evinces the charm of her winning manners as well -as her possession of a variety of knowledge and graceful accomplishment -rare even in that age of womanly genius. Always ready to lead or second -the learned and sportive pastimes by which the court circle of Urbino -gave zest to their intercourse and polish to their wit, she was of -infinite service to the duchess, whose own acquirements were of a less -brilliant kind. - -Note 38 page 11. It may be doubted whether the duchess’s influence -always availed to secure what we should now regard as decorous behaviour -at her court, and in an earlier draft of THE COURTIER Castiglione -allowed himself a freedom, not to say licence, of expression singularly -in contrast with the general tone of the version published. - -Note 39 page 12. The duchess and her husband were expelled from their -dominions by Cesare Borgia in 1502, and again in 1516 she was compelled -to leave Urbino for a longer time, when Leo X seized the duchy for his -nephew Lorenzo de' Medici. Her conduct on these occasions showed rare -fortitude and dignity. - -Note 40 page 12. These devices, so much in vogue during the 16th century -in Italy, were the “inventions” which Giovio (a contemporary writer upon -the subject) says “the great lords and noble cavaliers of our time like -to wear on their armour, caparisons and banners, to signify a part of -their generous thoughts.” They consisted of a figure or picture, and a -motto nearly always in Latin. The fashion is said to have been copied -from the French at the time of the invasions of Charles VIII and Louis -XII. - -Note 41 page 12. FEDERICO FREGOSO, (born 1480; died 1541), was a younger -brother of Ottaviano (see note 11), and was educated for holy orders -under the direction of his uncle Duke Guidobaldo, at whose court he also -perfected himself in worldly accomplishments. In 1507 Julius II made him -Archbishop of Salerno, in the kingdom of Naples, but, owing to his -supposed French sympathies, he was not allowed to enjoy this benefice, -and the next year was put in charge of the bishopric of Gubbio. In the -same year he was sent by Julius with the latter’s physician to attend -Duke Guidobaldo’s death-bed, but arrived too late. During the nine years -that followed his brother’s election as Doge of Genoa (1513), he by -turns commanded the army of the Republic, led her fleet against the -Barbary pirates (whom he routed in their own harbours), and represented -her at the papal court. During the Spanish siege of Genoa in 1522, he -escaped to France, was warmly received by Francis I, and made Abbot of -St. Bénigne at Dijon, where he devoted himself to theological study. In -1528 he returned to Italy and was appointed to the see of Gubbio. His -piety and zeal for the welfare of his flock won for him the title of -“father to the poor and refuge of the distressed.” In 1539 he was made a -cardinal, and two years later died at Gubbio, being succeeded in that -see by his friend Bembo. After his death, a discourse of his on prayer -happening to be reprinted together with a work by Luther, he was for a -time erroneously supposed to have been heretical. He was a profound -student of Hebrew, and an appreciative collector of Provençal poetry. -His own writings are chiefly doctrinal, and his reputation rests rather -upon his friends’ praise of his wit, gentleness, personal -accomplishments and learning, than upon the present value of his extant -works. - -Note 42 page 12. PIETRO BEMBO, (born at Venice 1470; died at Rome 1547), -was the son of a noble Venetian, Bernardo Bembo (a man of much -cultivation, who paid for the restoration of Dante’s tomb at Ravenna), -and Elena Marcella. Having received his early education at Florence, -where his father was Venetian ambassador, he studied Greek at Messina -under Lascaris (a native of Hellas, whose grammar of that tongue was the -first Greek book ever printed, 1476), and philosophy at Padua and -Ferrara, where his father was Venetian envoy and introduced him to the -Este court. Here he became acquainted with Lucrezia Borgia, who had -recently wedded Duke Ercole’s son Alfonso, and to whom he dedicated his -dialogues on love, _Gli Asolani_. By some writers indeed he is said to -have been her lover, but the report is hardly confirmed by the character -of the letters exchanged between the two, 1503-1516. Having been -entertained at Urbino in 1505, he spent the larger part of the next six -years at that court, where he profited by the fine library, delighted in -many congenial spirits, and became the close friend of Giuliano de' -Medici, who took him to Rome in 1512 and recommended him to the future -pope, Leo X. On attaining the tiara, Leo at once appointed him and his -friend Sadoleto (see note 242) papal secretaries, an office for which -his learning and courtly accomplishments well fitted him. His laxity of -morals and his paganism were no disqualification in the eyes of the -pope, whom he served also in several diplomatic missions, and from whom -he received benefices and pensions sufficient to enrich him for life. In -1518 his friend Castiglione sent him the MS. of THE COURTIER, requesting -him to “take the trouble ... to read it either wholly or in part,” and -to give his opinion of it. Ten years later, when the book was printed, -it was Bembo to whom the proofs were sent for correction, the author -being absent in Spain. Even before the death of Leo X in 1521, Bembo had -entered upon a life of literary retirement at Padua, where his library -and art collection, as well as the learned society that he drew about -him, rendered his house famous. Nor was it less esteemed by reason of -the presence, at its head, of an avowed mistress (Morosina), who bore -him several children. After her death, he devoted himself to theology, -entered holy orders, reluctantly accepted a cardinal’s hat in 1539, and -in 1541 succeeded his friend Fregoso in the bishopric of Gubbio, to -which was added that of Bergamo. His death was occasioned by a fall from -his horse, and he was buried at Rome in the Minerva church, between his -patrons Leo X and Clement VII. His works are noteworthy less for their -substance than for the refining influence exerted by their form. He is -said to have subjected all his writings to sixteen (some say forty) -separate revisions, and a legend survives to the effect that he advised -a young cleric (Sadoleto) to avoid reading the Epistles of St. Paul, -lest they might mar the youth’s style. His numerous private and official -letters have preserved many valuable facts and furnish interesting -illustration of contemporary manners and character. Humboldt praises him -as the first Italian author to write attractive descriptions of natural -scenery, and cites especially his dialogue on Mt. Ætna. - -[Illustration: - - GIACOMO SADOLETO - 1477-1547 -] - -Head enlarged from a photograph, specially made by Alinari, of a part of - the fresco, “Leo X's Entry into Florence,” in the Palazzo Vecchio at - Florence, by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). See Milanesi’s edition of - Vasari’s _Opere_, viii, 142. The chief facts of his life are given - in note 242, at page 369 of this volume. - -Note 43 page 12. CESARE GONZAGA, (born about 1475; died 1512), was a -native of Mantua, being descended from a younger branch of the ruling -family of that city, and a cousin of Castiglione, with whom he -maintained a close friendship. His father’s name was Giampietro, and he -had a brother Luigi. Having received a courtly and martial education at -Milan, and after spending some time with his relatives at Mantua, he -entered the service of Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino. In 1504 he shared -Castiglione’s lodgings after their return from a campaign against Cesare -Borgia’s strongholds in Romagna, and in the carnival of 1506 they -together recited Castiglione’s eclogue _Tirsi_, in the authorship of -which he is by some credited with a part. A graceful canzonet, preserved -in Atanagi’s _Rime Scelte_, attests his skill in versification. On -Guidobaldo’s death in 1508, the two friends remained in the service of -the new duke, Francesco Maria. In 1511 Cesare fought bravely against the -French at Mirandola, and the next year took part in the reduction of -Bologna, where he soon died of an acute fever. Little more is known of -him, beyond the fact that he was a knight of St. John of Jerusalem, that -Leo X sent him on a mission to Charles V of Spain, and that he was among -the many friends of the famous Isabella d'Este (see note 397). - -Note 44 page 12. Count LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA, (born 1476; died 1532), -belonged to a noble Veronese family (still honourably extant), and was a -close friend of Castiglione and a cousin of the latter’s mother. His -boyhood was passed at Mantua, and his happiest years at Urbino, where he -was received in 1496. In the pontificate of Julius II he went to Rome, -and was made Bishop of Tricarico, in southern Italy, 1511. Under Leo X -he was entrusted with several embassies, one of which (1514) was to -England to reconcile Henry VIII with Louis XII, and another (1515) was -to the new French king, Francis I, at whose court he continued to -reside, and through whose influence he was made Bishop of Bayeux in -1516. In 1526 and 1527 he served as French ambassador to Venice. His -ability and zeal as a diplomatist are shown not only by the importance -of the posts that he held, but by his numerous letters that have been -preserved. At the time of his friend Bibbiena’s death in 1520, Canossa -remarked that it was a fixed belief among the French that every man of -rank who died in Italy was poisoned. - -Note 45 page 12. GASPAR PALLAVICINO, (born 1486; died 1511), was a -descendant of the marquesses of Cortemaggiore, near Piacenza. He appears -in THE COURTIER as the youthful woman-hater of the company, and was a -friend of Castiglione and Bembo. For an interesting discussion of his -rôle in the dialogues, see Miss Scott’s paper, cited above (page 316). - -Note 46 page 12. LUDOVICO PIO belonged to the famous family of the lords -of Carpi (a few miles north of Modena), and was a brave captain in the -service of the Aragonese princes, of Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan, and -of Pope Julius II. His father Leonello and more celebrated uncle Alberto -had been pupils of Aldus, and were second cousins of Emilia Pia. His -wife was the beautiful Graziosa Maggi of Milan, who is immortalized in -the paintings of Francia and the writings of Bembo. - -Note 47 page 12. SIGISMONDO MORELLO DA ORTONA is presented in THE -COURTIER as the only elderly member of the company, and the object of -many youthful jests. He is known to have taken part in the ceremony of -the formal adoption of Francesco Maria della Rovere as heir to the duchy -in 1504, is referred to in Castiglione’s _Tirsi_, and seems to have been -something of a musician. - -[Illustration: - - LOUIS XII OF FRANCE - 1462-1515 -] - -Much enlarged from a negative, specially made by Berthaud, of a part of - a pen-drawing in the National Library at Paris. The drawing is - touched with gold, and forms part of a series illustrating a MS. - chronicle (nos. 20360-2) engrossed at Genoa in 1510 by Anthoine - Bardin. See note 250. - -Note 48 page 12. Of ROBERTO DA BARI little more is known than that his -surname was MASSIMO, and that he was taken ill in the campaign of 1510 -against the Venetians and retired to Mantua. Thither Castiglione sent a -letter to his mother, warmly recommending Roberto to her hospitality, -and saying that he loved the man like a brother. - -Note 49 page 12. BERNARDO ACCOLTI, (born about 1465; died 1535), was -generally known as the UNICO ARETINO, from the name of his birthplace -(Arezzo) and in compliment to his ‘unique’ faculty for extemporising -verse. His father Benedetto was a jurist, and the author of a dull Latin -history of the First Crusade, from which Tasso is believed to have drawn -material for the _Gerusalemme Liberata_. His poetical celebrity -commended him to the court of Urbino, where (as at Rome and in other -places) he was in the habit of reciting his verses to vast audiences of -rich and poor alike. When an exhibition by him was announced, guards had -to be set to restrain the crowds that rushed to secure places, the shops -were closed, and the streets emptied. His life was a kind of lucrative -poetic vagabondage: thus we find him flourishing, caressed and -applauded, at the courts of Urbino, Mantua, Naples, and especially at -that of Leo X, who bestowed many offices upon him, of which, however, -his wealth (acquired by his recitations) rendered him independent, -enabling him to indulge in a life of literary ease. His elder brother -Pietro became a cardinal, bought Raphael’s house, and is said to have -had a hand in drafting the papal bull against Luther in 1520. He was an -early patron of his notorious fellow-townsman Pietro Aretino. Such of -his verse as has survived is so bald and stilted as to excite no little -wonderment at the esteem which he enjoyed among his contemporaries. In -THE COURTIER he poses as the sentimental and afflicted lover, the -“slayer” of duchesses and other noble ladies, who (according to his own -account) kept flocking in his train, but who more probably were often -making sport of him. - -Note 50 page 12. GIANCRISTOFORO ROMANO, (born about 1465; died 1512), -was the son of Isaia di Pippo of Pisa and the pupil of Paolo Romano. -Perhaps best known as a sculptor, he possessed skill also as a -goldsmith, medallist, architect and crystal carver, cultivated music and -wrote verse. During the last years of the Sforza power at Milan, he -accompanied the duke’s wife, Beatrice d'Este, from place to place, and -is now identified as the author of her portrait bust in the Louvre. He -executed also at least two portrait medals of her sister Isabella -d'Este, acted as adviser and agent of the Gonzagas in the purchase of -art objects, worked at Venice, Cremona, Rome and Naples, and is known to -have been at Urbino about the time of the Courtier dialogues. In a long -letter written by him to Bembo in 1510, he describes the court of Urbino -as “a true temple of chastity, decorum and pudicity.” In 1512 he was -directing architect at Loreto (see note 311), where he died in May, -bequeathing his collection of medals and antiques to a hospital, for the -purpose of having three masses said weekly for the repose of his soul. - -Note 51 page 12. Of PIETRO MONTE little more is known than that he was a -master of military exercises at the Urbino court, and perhaps a captain -in the duke’s army. He may have been identical with one Pietro dal -Monte, who is mentioned as a soldier in the pay of Venice (1509), and -described as “blind in one eye, but of great valour, gentle speech, and -not unlearned in letters,” and as “commanding 1500 infantry, and a man -of great experience not only in war but in affairs of the world.” - -Note 52 page 12. ANTONIO MARIA TERPANDRO, one of the most jovial and -welcome visitors at Urbino, is said by Dennistoun to have been a musical -ornament of the court. He enjoyed the heartiest friendship of Bembo and -Bibbiena. - -Note 53 page 12. NICCOLῸ FRISIO or FRIGIO is mentioned in a letter by -Bembo as a German, but seems more probably to have been an Italian. -Dennistoun speaks of him as a musician. In a letter from Castiglione to -his mother (1506), the writer warmly commends to her “one messer Niccolò -Frisio, who I hear is there [i.e., in Mantua], and I earnestly hope that -you will treat him kindly, for I am under the greatest obligation to him -with respect to my Roman illness.... I am sure he loves me well.” In -another letter by a friend of Bembo, Frisio is described (1509) as an -Italian long resident in courts, sure of heart, gentle, a good linguist, -faithful to his employers, and as having been used by Julius II in -negotiating the League of Cambray against Venice. He had relations also -with the marchioness Isabella of Mantua (see note 397), whom he aided in -the collection of antiquities. Growing weary of worldly life, he became -a monk in 1510, and retired to the Certosa of Naples. - -Note 54 page 12. According to Cian, _omini piacevoli_ (rendered -‘agreeable men’) here means ‘buffoons.’ - -Note 55 page 13. This passage establishes the date of the first dialogue -as 8 March 1507. - -Note 56 page 13. My lady Emilia contends that she has already told her -choice of a game, in proposing that the rest of the company should tell -theirs. - -Note 57 page 14. COSTANZA FREGOSA was a sister of the two Fregoso -brothers already mentioned, and a faithful companion of the Duchess of -Urbino. She married Count Marcantonio Landi of Piacenza, and bore him -two worthy children, Agostino and Caterina, to the former of whom Bembo -stood sponsor and became a kind of second father. Three letters by the -lady have been preserved. - -Note 58 page 15. Belief in the efficacy of music as a cure for the bite -of the tarantula still survives in Andalusia, Sardinia and parts of -southern Italy. In a note on the tarantella dance, Goethe wrote: “It has -been remarked that in the case of mental ailments, and of a tarantula -bite, which is probably cured by perspiration, the movements of this -dance have a very salutary effect on the softer sex.” “Travels in Italy” -(Ed. Bohn, 1883), page 564. - -Note 59 page 15. The _moresca_ (mime or morris-dance) seems to have been -a kind of ballet or story in dance, often very intricate and fanciful. -At the courts of this period, it was generally introduced as an -interlude between the acts of a comedy. In a letter quoted by Dennistoun -(“Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino,” ii, 141), Castiglione describes a -_moresca_ on the story of Jason, which was thus performed at the first -presentation of Bibbiena’s _Calandra_ before the court of Urbino, 6 -February 1513. - -Note 60 page 16. FRA MARIANO FETTI, (born 1460; died 1531), was a native -of Florence, and beginning life as a barber to Lorenzo de' Medici, -always remained faithful to that family. At Rome, during the pontificate -of Julius II, he won the reputation and enjoyed the privileges of “the -prince of jesters,” and became even more famous under Leo X, upon whom -as a child he had bestowed affectionate care, and who as pope did not -forget his kindness. Thus in 1514 he was made _Frate piombatore_, or -affixer of lead seals to papal bulls, in which office he followed the -architect Bramante, was succeeded by the painter Sebastiano Luciani -(better known as “del Piombo”), and admitted earning yearly what would -now be the equivalent of about £1600, by turning lead into gold. While -it remains uncertain whether he was more buffoon or friar, he had a -great love for artists, and even composed verse. He seems to have -continued in the enjoyment of fame and favour during the reign of the -second Medicean pope, Clement VII. - -Note 61 page 16. FRA SERAFINO was probably a Mantuan, and had a brother -Sebastiano. He lived long at the Gonzaga court, where he was employed in -organizing festivals, and at Urbino, where the few of his letters that -have survived show him in familiar relations with other interlocutors in -THE COURTIER. While at Rome in 1507, with the suite of the Duchess of -Urbino, he was seriously wounded in the head by an unknown assailant, -probably in return for some lampoon or scandal of his against the papal -court. - -Note 62 page 17. This letter S was evidently one of the golden ciphers -that ladies of the period were fond of wearing on a circlet about their -heads. In her portrait the duchess is represented as wearing a narrow -band, from which the image of a scorpion hangs upon her forehead. The S -may have been used on this occasion as the initial letter of the word -scorpion, and seems in any case to have been an instance of the -‘devices’ mentioned in note 40. - -A sonnet, purporting to be the work of the Unico Aretino, was inserted -in the edition of THE COURTIER published by Rovillio at Lyons in 1562 -and in several later editions, as being the sonnet here mentioned. In -its place, however, Cian prints another sonnet, preserved in the -Marciana Library at Venice and possessing higher claims to authenticity. -Some idea of the baldness of both may be gained from the following crude -but tolerably literal translation of the second sonnet: - - Consent, O Sea of beauty and virtue, - That I, thy slave, may of great doubt be freed, - Whether the S thou wearest on thy candid brow - Signifies my Suffering or my Salvation, - Whether it means Succour or Servitude, - Suspicion or Security, Secret or Silliness, - Whether ’Spectation or Shriek, whether Safe or Sepultured! - Whether my bonds be Strait or Severed: - For much I fear lest it give Sign - Of Stateliness, Sighing, Severity, - Scorn, Slash, Sweat, Stress and Spite. - But if for naked truth a place there be, - This S shows with no little art - A Sun single in beauty and in cruelty. - -Note 63 page 18. The pains of love were a frequent theme with Bembo, and -are elaborately set forth in his _Gli Asolani_. Quite untranslatable -into English, his play upon the words _amore_ (love) and _amaro_ -(bitter) is at least as old as Plautus’s _Trinummus_. - -Note 64 page 22. IPPOLITO D'ESTE, (born 1479; died 1520), was the third -son of Duke Ercole I of Ferrara (see note 203) and Eleanora of Aragon -(see note 399). At the instance of his maternal aunt Beatrice’s husband, -King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (see note 395), he was given the rich -archbishopric of Strigonio, to which was attached the primacy of that -country, and made the journey thither as a mere boy. In 1493 Alexander -VI made him a cardinal. Soon after the death of his sister Beatrice, her -husband Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan gave him the vacant archbishopric -of that city, and the same year (1497) he exchanged the Hungarian -primacy, with its burdensome requirement of foreign residence, for the -bishopric of Agria in Crete. In 1502 he was made Archbishop of Capua in -the kingdom of Naples, but bestowed the revenues of the see upon his -widowed and impoverished aunt, the ex-Queen of Hungary, and a little -later was made Bishop of Ferrara,—all before reaching the age of -twenty-four years. He was also Bishop of Modena and Abbot of Pomposa. -During his brother’s reign at Ferrara, the young cardinal took an active -part in public affairs, several times governing in the duke’s absence, -and showing brilliant capacities for military command. After the -accession of Leo X, he resided chiefly at Rome, where he was always a -conspicuous figure and carefully guarded his brother’s interests. He was -a friend and protector of Leonardo da Vinci, and maintained Ariosto in -his service from 1503 to 1517. A prelate only in name, regarding his -many ecclesiastical offices merely as a source of wealth, he united the -faults and vices to the grace and culture of his time. - -Note 65 page 26. BERTO was probably one of the many buffoons about the -papal court in the time of Julius II and Leo X. He is again mentioned in -the text (page 128) for his powers of mimicry, etc. - -[Illustration: - - MATTHIAS CORVINUS OF HUNGARY - 1443-1490 -] - -Much enlarged from a cast, courteously furnished by the Austrian - authorities, of an anonymous medal in the Imperial Museum at Vienna - (Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, ii, 82, no. 9). See note 395. - -Note 66 page 26. This “brave lady” is by some identified as the famous -Caterina Sforza, a natural daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of -Milan, who by the last of her three husbands became the mother of the -even more famous _condottiere_ Giovanni de' Medici delle Bande Nere. She -was born in 1462, and died in 1509 after a life of singular -vicissitudes. For an extraordinary story of her courage, see -Dennistoun’s “Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino,” i, 292. - -The “one whom I will not name at present” is supposed to have been a -certain brave soldier of fortune, Gaspar Sanseverino, who is often -mentioned as “Captain Fracassa,” and was a brother of the Galeazzo -Sanseverino who appears a little later in THE COURTIER (see page 34 and -note 72). - -Note 67 page 28. The philosopher in question has been variously -identified as Democritus and Empedocles. - -Note 68 page 30. In Charles V's romantic plan for deciding by single -combat his rivalry with Francis I, Castiglione was selected as his -second, but declined to violate diplomatic proprieties by accepting the -offer,—being at the time papal envoy at Charles’s court. - -Note 69 page 31. Strictly speaking, the joust was a single contest -between man and man, while the tourney was a sham battle between two -squadrons. Stick-throwing seems to have been an equestrian game -introduced by the Moors into Spain, and by the Spaniards into Italy. In -the carnival of 1519 it was played by two companies in the Piazza of St. -Peter’s before Leo X. - -Note 70 page 31. Vaulting on horse seems to have included some of the -feats of agility with which modern circus riders have familiarized us. - -Note 71 page 33. “Finds grace,” i.e. favour: literally “is grateful” -(_grato_) in the sense of acceptable or pleasing. Compare the familiar -phrase _persona grata_. - -Note 72 page 34. GALEAZZO SANSEVERINO was one of the twelve stalwart -sons of Roberto Sanseverino, a brave _condottiere_ who aided to place -Ludovico Sforza in power at Milan, rebelled against that prince, and was -slain while fighting for the Venetians in 1486. Galeazzo entered the -service of Ludovico, whose favour had been attracted by his personal -charm, literary accomplishments and rare skill in knightly exercises. -When he married his patron’s natural daughter Bianca, in 1489, Leonardo -da Vinci arranged the jousts held in honour of the wedding. Thenceforth -he adopted the names Visconti and Sforza, and was treated as a member of -the ducal family. In 1496, at the head of the Milanese forces, he -besieged the Duke of Orleans (afterwards Louis XII) at Novara, but in -1500 he was captured by the French, and after the final downfall of -Ludovico (to whom he seems to have remained creditably loyal) he entered -the service of Louis XII, who made him Grand Equerry in 1506. The duties -of his office included the superintendence of all the royal stables and -of an academy for the martial education of young men of noble family. -For a further account of his interesting life, and especially of his -friendship with Isabella d'Este, see Mrs. Henry Ady’s recent volume, -“Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan.” - -Note 73 page 35. The word _sprezzatura_ (rendered “nonchalance”) could -hardly have been new to Castiglione’s contemporaries, at least in its -primary meaning of disprizement or contempt. He may, however, have been -among the first to use it (as here and elsewhere in THE COURTIER) in its -modified sense of unconcern or nonchalance. Compare Herrick’s ‘wild -civility’ in “Art above Nature” and “Delight in Disorder.” - -Note 74 page 37. Naturally Venice could hardly be a place well suited -for horsemanship; its citizens’ awkward riding was a favourite subject -of ridicule in the 16th century. - -Note 75 page 37. The incident is supposed to have occurred on the -occasion of a visit paid by Apelles to Rhodes not long after the death -(323 B.C.) of Alexander the Great, whom he had accompanied into Asia -Minor. Apelles was eager to meet Protogenes, and on landing in Rhodes -went at once to the painter’s house. Protogenes was absent, but a large -panel stood ready for painting. Apelles took a pencil and drew an -exceedingly fine coloured line, by which Protogenes on his return -immediately recognized who his visitor had been, and in turn drew a -finer line of another colour upon or within the first line. When Apelles -saw this line, he added a third line still further subdividing the one -drawn by Protogenes. Later the panel was carried to Rome, where it long -excited wondering admiration in the Palace of the Cæsars, with which it -was finally destroyed by fire. Apelles was the first to stimulate -appreciation of the merits of Protogenes by buying several of the -latter’s works at enormous prices: he maintained however that he -excelled Protogenes in knowing when to cease elaborating his paintings. - -Note 76 page 37. The play upon words here is untranslatable into -English. The Italian _tavola_ stands equally well for a dining-table and -for the tablet or panel upon which pictures were painted. - -Note 77 page 40. ‘As those who speak [are present] before those who -speak’ is a literal translation of the accepted reading of this passage. -It is perhaps worth noting, however, that the earliest translator -(Boscan) ventures to deviate from the letter of the Italian text for the -sake of rendering what surely must have been the author’s meaning: _como -los que hablan á aquellos con quien hablan_, i.e. “as those who speak -[are present] before those _with whom_ they speak.” - -Note 78 page 41. Although the dialect of Bergamo was (and still is) -ridiculed as rude and harsh, it possessed a copious popular literature. - -Note 79 page 41. FRANCESCO PETRARCA or PETRARCH, (born 1304; died 1374), -belonged to a family that was banished from Florence at the same time -with Dante, whom he remembered seeing in his childhood. He was the first -Italian of his time to appreciate the value of public libraries, to -collect coins and inscriptions as sources of accurate historical -information, and to urge the preservation of ancient monuments. Had he -never written a line of verse, he would still be venerated as the -apostle of scholarship, as the chief originator of humanistic impulses -based upon what Symonds describes as “a new and vital perception of the -dignity of man considered as a rational being apart from theological -determinations, and ... the further perception that classic literature -alone displayed human nature in the plenitude of intellectual and moral -freedom.” - -Note 80 page 41. In an age when grammatical and rhetorical treatises, in -the modern sense of the word, hardly existed, it was natural that the -study of classic models should take the form of imitation. - -Note 81 page 42. It will be remembered that Giuliano de' Medici was a -native Tuscan. - -Note 82 page 43. This Tuscan triumvirate was called “the three -Florentine crowns:” Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. - -Note 83 page 44. EVANDER was a mythical son of Hermes, supposed to have -founded a colony on the Tiber before the Trojan War. TURNUS was a -legendary king of an Italian tribe, who was slain by Æneas. - -Note 84 page 44. The Salian priests were attached to the worship of Mars -Gradivus. On the occasion of their annual festival, they went in -procession through Rome, carrying the sacred shields of which they were -custodians and which they beat in accompaniment to dance and song. The -words of their chaunts are said to have become unintelligible even to -themselves, and appear to have set forth a kind of theogony in praise of -all the celestial deities (excepting Venus), and especially of one -Mamurius Veturius, who is by some regarded as identical with Mars. - -Note 85 page 44. MARCUS ANTONIUS (143-87 B.C.) and LICINIUS CRASSUS -(140-91 B.C.), the two most famous orators of early Rome, were regarded -by Cicero as having been the first to rival their Greek predecessors. -QUINTUS HORTENSIUS HORTALUS (114-50 B.C.), the great advocate of the -aristocratic party at Rome, yielded the palm of oratory only to CICERO -(106-43 B.C.). MARCUS PORCIUS CATO (234-149 B.C.), a Roman soldier, -author and reforming statesman, sought to restore the ancient purity and -simplicity of the earlier republic. QUINTUS ENNIUS (239-169 B.C.), a -Roman epic poet and annalist, imparted to the language and literature of -his nation much of the impulse that affected their growth for centuries. -VIRGIL was born 70 B.C., and died 19 B.C. - -Note 86 page 44. HORACE was born 65 B.C., and died 8 B.C. PLAUTUS died -184 B.C. - -Note 87 page 44. SERGIUS SULPICIUS GALBA was Roman Consul 144 B.C.; -Cicero praised his oratory, but found it more old-fashioned than that of -Lælius (_flor._ 200 B.C.) and Scipio Africanus the Younger (died 129 -B.C.). - -Note 88 page 46. In his _Prose_, Bembo says that courtly Italian, -especially during the pontificate of the Spaniard, Alexander VI -(1492-1503), was full of Spanish expressions,—an assertion amply -confirmed by contemporary letters, which are rich also in Gallicisms. - -Note 89 page 46. The Spanish _primor_ has failed to win Italian -citizenship. _Aventurare_ has become naturalized in Italy; as also have -_acertare_ (in the sense, however, of to assure, to make certain, to -verify), _ripassare_ (to repass, to repeat, to rebuff), _rimproccio_ or -_rimprovero_, and _attilato_ or _attillato_, which is recognizable in -the Spanish _atildado_. _Creato_ (Spanish _criado_) is now replaced by -_creatura_ in the sense mentioned in the text; in Sicily _creato_ is -used to mean servant. - -Note 90 page 47. The reference here is of course to the Attic, Doric, -Ionic and Æolic dialects. - -Note 91 page 47. TITUS LIVIUS was born at Padua 59 B.C., and died there -17 A.D. Of the one hundred and forty-two books of his History (which -covered the period from the founding of Rome in 750 B.C. down to 9 B.C., -and upon which he spent forty years of his life), only thirty-five have -survived, together with an anonymous summary of the whole. - -Note 92 page 48. Of the four forms here condemned by Castiglione as -corrupt, three (_Campidoglio_, _Girolamo_, and _padrone_) have become -firmly established in Italian. _Campidoglio_ had been used by Petrarch -(_Trionfo d'Amore_, i, 14),—an “old” but certainly not an “ignorant” -Tuscan. - -Note 93 page 49. Oscan was a pre-Roman language spoken by the Opici, an -Italian tribe inhabiting the Campanian coast. Much of the mist that -shrouded it for centuries has now been dispelled by the epigraphists. -Both Dante and Petrarch were great lovers of Provençal, with which in -Castiglione’s time his friend Federico Fregoso was familiar. - -Note 94 page 50. BIDON was a native of Asti, and one of the most famous -choristers in the service of Leo X. - -[Illustration: - - ANDREA MANTEGNA - 1431-1506 -] - -Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 18657) of the bronze - relief, surmounting Mantegna’s tomb in the Church of Sant'Andrea at - Mantua, variously attributed to Bartolommeo di Virgilio Melioli - (1448-1514), to Giovanni Marco Cavalli (born 1450), and, with less - reason, to Sperandio di Bartolommeo de' Savelli (1425?-1500?). - -Note 95 page 50. MARCHETTO CARA, a native of Verona, entered the service -of the Gonzagas in 1495 and lived nearly thirty years at Mantua, where -he was made a citizen by the Marquess Federico. He frequented also the -court of Urbino, and is known to have been sent by the Marchioness -Isabella to relieve the tedium of her friend and sister-in-law the -Duchess Elisabetta’s exile at Venice in 1503. In his time he was among -the most prolific and successful composers of profane music, especially -of ballads and madrigals, and a number of his popular pieces have been -preserved. - -Note 96 page 50. LEONARDO DA VINCI, (born 1452; died 1519), was the -natural son of a notary, Pietro Antonio, of the village of Vinci, -situated about fourteen miles east of Florence. He studied some three -years with Donatello’s pupil Verocchio at Florence. Meeting small -pecuniary success there, he removed to Milan about 1483 and entered the -service of Duke Ludovico Sforza, who is said to have paid him the -equivalent of £4000 a year while painting the “Last Supper,” and for -whom he completed in 1493 the model of a colossal equestrian statue of -Duke Francesco Sforza, never executed in permanent form. He was employed -by Cesare Borgia as military engineer, and in that capacity visited -Urbino in July 1502. His famous portrait known as the “Monna Lisa” or -“La Gioconda,” upon which he worked at times for four years, was -finished about 1504 and afterwards sold by him to Francis I. In 1507, he -had been appointed painter to Louis XII, but did not visit France until -1516. On the election of Leo X in 1513, he journeyed to Rome in the -company and service of Giuliano de' Medici, who paid him a monthly -stipend of £66. Although he was received with favour by the new pope and -lodged in the Vatican, his stay in Rome was artistically unprolific, his -interest at the time being chiefly confined to chemistry and physics, -and nature attracting him more than antiquities, of which he spoke as -“this old rubbish” (_queste anticaglie_). Three years before his death -he was visited at Amboise in France by Cardinal Ludovico of Aragon, who -is mentioned later in THE COURTIER (p. 159), and whose secretary left an -interesting account of an interview with him, describing the painter as -then disabled by paralysis of the hand. - -Note 97 page 50. ANDREA MANTEGNA, (born 1431; died 1506), was a native -of Vicenza and probably of humble origin. When a mere child he became -the pupil and adopted son of the noted painter and instructor, Francesco -Squarcione of Padua, and was soon enrolled in the painters’ guild of -that city. In 1449 he began painting for the d'Este at Ferrara, and -between 1453 and 1459 he married Niccolosa, a daughter of Squarcione’s -rival Giacopo Bellini, and sister of the more famous brothers Gentile -and Giovanni Bellini. He painted also at Verona, and about 1460 entered -the service of the Gonzagas at Mantua, where the remainder of his life -was chiefly spent, although he worked for Pope Innocent VIII at Rome -about the year 1488, before which date he was knighted by the Marquess -of Mantua. By one writer he is affirmed to have cast the fine bust which -ornaments his tomb at Mantua, and which is said once to have had diamond -eyes. He is known to have understood bronze casting, and besides the -brush and the engraver’s burin, he handled modelling tools, while a -sonnet of his has been preserved. Although praised by Vasari as kindly -and in every way estimable, he is shown by contemporary letters to have -been rather irritable and litigious in private life. Albert Dürer tells -us that one of the keenest disappointments of his life was occasioned by -the great painter’s death before he was able to make an intended journey -to Mantua for the purpose of visiting Mantegna. - -Note 98 page 50. RAFFAELLO SANTI or SANZI,—euphonized by Bembo as -SANZIO,—(born 1483; died 1520), was a native of Urbino and the son of -Giovanni Santi and Magia Ciarla. The father was himself a painter of no -mean skill, and wrote a quaint rhymed chronicle of the Duchy of Urbino, -which is preserved in the Vatican and contains much interesting -information. Having lost both parents when he had reached the age of -eleven years, and probably having first studied at Urbino under Timoteo -della Vite, Raphael was sent by a maternal uncle to the studio of -Perugino at Perugia. The rest of his short life was an unbroken course -of happy labour and brilliant success. In 1499 he seems to have been at -Urbino for the purpose of arranging for the welfare of a sister, and -again in 1504, when, after executing several works (including, it is -believed, portraits of the duke and duchess) for the ducal family, he -went to Florence with a letter of commendation from Guidobaldo’s sister. -From 1504 to 1508 he resided chiefly at Florence, although he again -visited Urbino twice, just before and probably soon after the date of -the Courtier dialogues. His friendship with so many members of the -Urbino court (Giuliano de' Medici, Bibbiena, Bembo, Canossa, and -Castiglione), and even his acquaintance with Julius II, probably began -during these later visits to his native city. In 1508 he was called to -Rome by Julius, and resided there until his death. On succeeding -Bramante as architect of St. Peter’s in 1514, he wrote to Castiglione: -“Sir Count: I have made drawings in several manners according to your -suggestion, and if everyone does not flatter me, I am satisfying -everyone; but I do not satisfy my own judgment, because I dread not -satisfying yours. I am sending them to you. Pray choose any of them, if -you deem any worthy. Our Lord [i.e. Leo X] in honouring me has put a -great burden on my shoulders,—that is, the charge of the fabric of St. -Peter’s. I hope, however, not to fall under it; and the more so, because -the model I have made for it pleases his Holiness and is praised by many -choice spirits; but in thought I soar still higher. I fain would renew -the beautiful forms of ancient buildings, but know not whether my flight -will be that of Icarus. Vitruvius affords me much light on the subject, -but less than I need. As to Galatea, I should hold myself a great master -if she possessed half the fine things you write me; but in your words I -recognize the love you bear me: and I tell you that to paint one -beautiful woman, I should need to see several beautiful women and to -have you with me to choose the best. But as there is dearth of good -judgments and of beautiful women, I am using a certain idea that has -occurred to my mind. Whether this has any artistic excellence in it, I -know not,—but I am striving for it. Command me.” Passavant affirms that -the ‘drawings’ mentioned at the beginning of this letter were designs -for a medal that Castiglione meant to wear. Raphael is said to have -painted two portraits of Castiglione, one of which (1516) is in the -Louvre and appears as the frontispiece to this volume. His epitaph was -written by Bembo, while Castiglione composed a Latin elegy in his -honour. - -Note 99 page 50. MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, (born 1475; died 1564), was a -native of Caprese, a village about forty-seven miles south-east of -Florence, and the son of Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni and Francesca, -daughter of Neri del Sera. His first schoolmaster seems to have come -from Urbino. Apprenticed at the age of thirteen to Ghirlandajo, he soon -came under the protection of Lorenzo de' Medici. In 1496 he removed to -Rome, and remained there five years. From 1501 to 1504 he was working -upon the great statue of David at Florence, and prepared his cartoon for -a vast fresco on the Battle of Cascina, which, although never executed, -was often copied, and is said to have exerted a greater influence on the -art of the Renaissance than any other single work. In 1505 he was called -to Rome to design a colossal mausoleum for Julius II. The anxieties and -disappointments connected with this project became the continual tragedy -of his long life. “Every day,” he wrote, “I am stoned as if I had -crucified Christ. My youth has been lost, bound hand and foot to this -tomb.” The matter was finally ended by the placing of his statue of -Moses in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli at Rome. In the spring of -1506 he was present at the unearthing of the Laocoön, and at the date of -the Courtier dialogues he was engaged in casting a great bronze statue -of Julius II at Bologna. Duke Guidobaldo’s collection at Urbino seems to -have included a Cupid made by Buonarroti in imitation of the antique, -originally owned by Cesare Borgia, regained by him when he captured -Urbino in 1502, and soon presented by him to Guidobaldo’s sister-in-law, -the Marchioness Isabella d'Este of Mantua. The famous tomb statue of -Giuliano de' Medici at Florence is hardly to be regarded as a portrait, -and was of course executed long after the period of THE COURTIER. In -1519 the Marquess of Mantua wrote to Castiglione, who was his ambassador -at Rome, regarding a monument to his father that he hoped to have the -master design. In 1523 Castiglione brought to Mantua a sketch made by -Buonarroti for a villa which the marquess intended to build at -Marmirolo. - -Note 100 page 50. GIORGIO BARBARELLI, known as GIORGIONE or “Big -George,” (born about 1478; died 1511), was a native of Castelfranco, a -town about forty miles north-west of Venice, and was reputed to be a -natural son of one Giacopo Barbarelli, a Venetian, and a peasant girl. -Lack of data renders a consecutive account of his life and work -impossible. He was brought up in Venice, and bred as a painter in the -school of the Bellini. Vasari says that he played upon the lute and sang -well, and was of a gentle disposition. Although he seems to have been -exceptionally independent of great people, he enjoyed the especial -favour of the Marchioness Isabella d'Este of Mantua. In a letter written -from Venice in the year before that of the Courtier dialogues, Albert -Dürer declared Giorgione to be the greatest painter in the city, which -could then boast of the Bellini, Palma Vecchio, Carpaccio and Titian. -One of the most acute of recent critics, Mr. Bernhard Berenson, ascribes -to him only seventeen existing pictures, of which the best known is the -_Fête Champêtre_ in the Louvre, while the only one whose authenticity is -entirely free from doubt is the “Madonna and Saints” in the Duomo at -Castelfranco. The Urbino collection comprised two portraits by -Giorgione, one of which is supposed to have represented Duke Guidobaldo, -but unfortunately is lost. - -Note 101 page 51. ISOCRATES, (born 436; died 338 B.C.), an Athenian -orator, was a pupil of Socrates, and became the instructor of many -famous orators. His diction was of the purest Attic, and his writings -were highly prized by the Alexandrian grammarians. The first printed -edition of his works (1493) was edited by Castiglione’s Greek master, -Chalcondylas. LYSIAS, (died about 380 B.C.), an Athenian orator, -abandoned the stilted monotony of the older speakers, and employed the -simple language of every-day life, but with purity and grace. ÆSCHINES, -(born 389; died 314 B.C.), was the rival and finally unsuccessful -antagonist of Demosthenes. - -Note 102 page 51. CAIUS PAPIRIUS CARBO, (Consul in 120 B.C.), was an -adherent of the Gracchi, but became a renegade and finally committed -suicide. He was generally suspected of murdering Scipio Africanus the -Younger. While abominating the man’s character, Cicero praises his -oratory. CAIUS LÆLIUS SAPIENS was Consul in 140 B.C. His friendship with -Scipio is commemorated in Cicero’s _De Amicitia_. While he was in his -own time regarded as the model orator, later grammarians resorted to his -works for archaisms. SCIPIO AFRICANUS THE YOUNGER, (died 129 B.C.), -captured Carthage in the Third Punic War, and was leader of the -aristocratic party at Rome against the popular reforms of the Gracchi. -His works, of which only a few fragments survive, are praised by Cicero -and were long held in esteem. GALBA, see note 87. PUBLIUS SULPICIUS -RUFUS, (born 124; died 88 B.C.), was a tribune of the plebs. Cicero -says: “Of all the orators I ever heard, Sulpicius was the most -dignified, and, so to speak, the most tragic.” CAIUS AURELIUS COTTA, -(Consul 75 B.C.), is characterized by Cicero, who had argued a cause -against him, as a most acute and subtle orator, but his style seems to -have been dry and unimpassioned. CAIUS SEMPRONIUS GRACCHUS, (died 121 -B.C.), a son of the famous Cornelia, and brother-in-law of Scipio -Africanus the Younger, is noted chiefly for his vain struggle in behalf -of popular rights. Only fragments of his oratory have survived. MARCUS -ANTONIUS and CRASSUS, see note 85. - -Note 103 page 51. “In a certain place,” i.e., _De Oratore_, II, xxiii, -97. - -Note 104 page 51. The Italian _virtù_ has here its Latin meaning of -natural vigour. See also note 330. - -[Illustration: - - LORENZO DE' MEDICI - 1448-1492 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of a medal, in the National Museum at - Florence, by Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429-1498). - -Note 105 page 51. ANGELO POLIZIANO, (born 1454; died 1494), was a native -of Montepulciano (about twenty-seven miles south-east of Siena), of -which his name is a Latinized form. To English students he is better -known as POLITIAN, and as the author of the oft-cited line, “Tempora -mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.” His father Benedetto Ambrogini died -poor, leaving a widow and five young children almost destitute. At the -age of ten, Angelo studied at Florence, and composed Latin poems and -Greek epigrams while yet a boy. At thirteen, he published Latin -epistles; at sixteen, he began his Latin translation of the Iliad; at -seventeen, he distributed Greek poems among the learned men of Florence; -and at eighteen, he edited Catullus. He was received into Lorenzo de' -Medici’s household, and before he was thirty years old, he was professor -of Latin and Greek at the University of Florence and was entrusted with -the care of Lorenzo’s children. His pupils included the chief students -of Europe. A born poet, entitled to the middle place of honour between -Petrarch and Ariosto, he was the first Italian to combine perfect -mastery of Latin and a correct sense of Greek with genius for his own -native literature. Towards the close of his life, he entered holy orders -and became a canon of the Cathedral at Florence. He was ill formed, and -had squinting eyes and an enormous nose. His morals were lax. He was -succeeded by Bembo as dictator of Italian letters. - -Note 106 page 51. LORENZO DE' MEDICI, (born 1448; died 1492), was the -grandson of Cosimo, _Pater Patriæ_, and father of Giuliano of THE -COURTIER. On the death of his father Pietro in 1469, he succeeded -jointly with his brother Giuliano to the family wealth and political -predominance. Giuliano’s assassination in the Piazzi conspiracy of 1478 -(which Poliziano witnessed and narrated in Latin) left Lorenzo sole -ruler, but like his predecessors, he governed the republic without any -title, by free use of money and great adroitness in securing the -elevation of his adherents to the chief offices of state. He was a man -of marvellous range of mental power,—an epitome of Renaissance -versatility. Never relaxing his hold on public affairs, among -philosophers he passed for a sage; among men of letters, for an original -and graceful poet; among scholars, for a Hellenist sensitive to every -nicety of Attic idiom; among artists, for a connoisseur of consummate -taste; among libertines, for a merry and untiring roysterer; among the -pious, for an accomplished theologian. “He was no less famous for his -jokes and repartees than for his pithy apothegms and maxims, as good a -judge of cattle as of statues, as much at home in the bosom of his -family as in the riot of an orgy, as ready to discourse on Plato as to -plan a campaign or to plot the death of a dangerous citizen.” (Symonds.) - -Note 107 page 51. FRANCESCO CATTANI DA DIACCETO, (born 1466; died 1522), -was a native of Florence, studied at Pisa, and returning to his native -city became intimate with Ficino, of whose philosophy he may be said to -have been the heir. For many years he lectured at Florence with such -success that the Venetians tried to entice him to the University of -Padua, in vain. A partisan of the Medici, he enjoyed the favour of Leo X -and of Cardinal Giulio, afterwards Clement VII. All his works (written -in Latin) are of a philosophical character. His style is said to be -sprightly and correct, and despite the ridicule then cast upon the -vulgar tongue, he himself translated several of his books into Italian, -notably the _Tre Libri d'Amore_, with which Castiglione shows -familiarity in the Fourth Book of THE COURTIER. - -Note 108 page 52. CAIUS SILIUS ITALICUS, (died 100 A.D.), was Consul -under Nero and a follower of Cicero in the art of oratory. After a -prosperous public career, he retired to a life of literary ease. His -most important work was a long epic poem on the Second Punic War, and -soon sank into oblivion. CORNELIUS TACITUS, (died probably after 117 -A.D.), was Consul and orator as well as historian. - -Note 109 page 54. MARCUS TERENTIUS VARRO, (born 116; died about 27 -B.C.), was somewhat older than Cæsar, Cicero and Sallust, but outlived -them all. He was regarded as the most learned of the Romans, and was -made director of the public library by Cæsar, although he had been a -partisan of Pompey. Of his seventy-four works, which embraced nearly all -branches of knowledge, only two survive. They were much esteemed by the -Christian Fathers. - -Note 110 page 55. CATULLUS was born about 87 B.C. His 39th ode begins: -“Because Egnatius has white teeth, he smiles wherever he goes” -(_Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes, renidet usque quaque_). Later in -the same ode, he says: “Nothing is more pointless than a pointless -laugh” (_Nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est_). - -Note 111 page 57. MONSEIGNEUR D'ANGOULÊME, afterwards FRANCIS I, (born -1494; died 1547), was the son of Count Charles d'Angoulême and Louise of -Savoy. His governor, Sieur de Boisy, strove to inspire him with a taste -for arms and a love of letters and art, and it was from romances of -chivalry that he derived much of his education and many of his ideas of -government. He succeeded his cousin Louis XII in January 1515, and one -of the earliest functions at his court was the marriage of his aunt -Filiberta of Savoy to Giuliano de' Medici, who is here represented by -Castiglione (with what truth remains uncertain) as having visited the -French court shortly before the date of the Courtier dialogues. Writing -in 1515, the Venetian ambassador describes the young king as being -really handsome (the evidence of our nearly contemporaneous medal -illustration to the contrary), courageous, an excellent musician, and -very learned for one of his age and rank. Under his rule, relations -between France and Italy became closer and more active, and there began -to penetrate beyond the Alps that Italian influence which he later -greatly increased by marrying his son to Giuliano de' Medici’s -great-niece Caterina. His education had included a study of Italian -literature and customs, and besides Federico Fregoso and Ludovico da -Canossa he received and honoured many other illustrious Italians, among -whom were Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini. He caused search to -be made in Italy for rare MSS., and had them copied for his library. His -reign, although clouded by defeats and humiliations, began a true -literary and artistic Renaissance in France. - -Note 112 page 57. The reference here is to the famous Sorbonne (founded -by Robert Sorbon in 1253) towards which Francis was for religious -reasons hostile during the early years of his reign, and to which he -raised up a rival by founding the Collège de France in 1530. - -Note 113 page 58. LUCIUS LICINIUS LUCULLUS, a Roman general and Consul -(74 B.C.), noted chiefly for his wealth, luxury, and patronage of art -and letters. LUCIUS CORNELIUS SULLA, a Roman general, Consul (88 B.C.), -and dictator, was the first Roman to lead an army against the city, and -the first to publish lists of his enemies, proscribing them and offering -a reward for their death. CNEIUS POMPEIUS, or POMPEY, (born 106; died 48 -B.C.), a member of the Triumvirate with Cæsar and Crassus, and the -finally unsuccessful champion of the conservative party against the -power of Cæsar. MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS, (born 85; died 42 B.C.), a -statesman and scholar, who adhered to Pompey, joined Cassius in the -assassination of Cæsar, and was finally defeated by Mark Antony. -HANNIBAL, (born 247 B.C.), the famous Carthaginian general who conquered -Spain, crossed the Alps, overran Italy, was defeated by Scipio the -Elder, became chief magistrate of Carthage, and committed suicide in -exile about 183 B.C. - -Note 114 page 59. In the last chapter of his “Prince,” Machiavelli (who -was Castiglione’s contemporary) says: “Although military excellence -seems to be extinct in Italy, this arises from the fact that the old -methods were not good and there has been no one who knew how to devise -new ones. We have great excellence in the members, if only it were not -lacking in the heads. In duels and engagements between small numbers, -see how superior the Italians are in strength, in dexterity, in -resource. But when it comes to armies, they make no showing; and it all -proceeds from the weakness of the heads. Whence it arises that in so -much time, in so many battles fought in the last twenty years, when an -army has been purely Italian, it has always succeeded ill.” Compare this -opinion with Montaigne’s remark (_Essais_, II, c. 24) that the officers -of Charles VIII ascribed their easy Italian conquests to the fact that -“the princes and nobility of Italy took more pleasure in becoming -ingenious and learned than in becoming vigorous and warlike.” - -Note 115 page 59. In 1524 Castiglione wrote to his mother at Mantua -regarding the education of his son, who had just begun to study the -Greek alphabet, as follows: “As to Camillo’s learning Greek, I have had -a letter also from Michael, who says so many things that he seems to me -a flatterer. It is enough that the boy shows good capacity and -inclination, and good pronunciation. As for Latin, I should be glad to -have him attend more to Greek at present, for those who know are of -opinion that one ought to begin with Greek; because Latin is natural to -us, and we almost acquire it even though we spend little labour upon it; -but Greek is not so.” - -Note 116 page 59. The reader will hardly need to be reminded that the -habit of versification was very prevalent in all ranks of Italian -society in Castiglione’s day. Varchi (1502-1565) informs us that the -vernacular was generally despised in the Florence of that time, and -adds: “And I remember, when I was a lad, that the first and most -important command which fathers usually gave to their children, and -masters to their pupils, was that they must on no account whatever read -anything in the vulgar tongue.” - -Note 117 page 59. In the _Vita Nuova_ (c. 25), Dante says: “And the -first who began to speak like a native poet was moved thereto because he -would have his words understood of woman.” - -Note 118 page 59. ARISTIPPUS, (_flor._ 400 B.C.), was a Greek -philosopher, whose school took its name from his birthplace, Cyrene in -Africa. He was for some time a follower of Socrates, and afterwards -lived at the court of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse. Diogenes Laertius -relates that when Aristippus was asked what was the greatest thing he -had gained from philosophy, he replied: “The power to meet all men with -confidence.” - -Note 119 page 60. Among Plutarch’s works is a tract entitled “How to -Tell Friend from Flatterer.” In 1532 Erasmus published a Latin version -of it dedicated to Henry VIII of England. - -Note 120 page 61. The first quatrain of a well-known sonnet by Petrarch: - - _Giunto Alessandro alla famosa tomba - Del fero Achille, sospirando disse: - O fortunato, cite sì chiara tromba - Trovasti, e chi di te sì alto scrisse!_ - -of which Mr. John Jay Chapman has kindly furnished the following -translation: - - When Alexander reached the sacred mound - Where dread Achilles sleeps, “O child of Fame,” - He sighed. “Thy deeds are happy that they found - Old Homer’s tongue to clarion thy name.” - -In his oration _Pro Archia_, Cicero describes Alexander as exclaiming: -“O fortunate youth, who found Homer as herald of thy valour!” (_O -fortunate, inquit, adulescens qui tuæ virtutis Homerum præconem -inveneris!_). - -Note 121 page 62. In an earlier version, this passage reads: “Grasso de' -Medici will in this matter have the same advantage over Messer Pietro -Bembo that a hogshead has over a barrel.” Bembo was slender, while -_Grasso_ (fat man) was probably the nickname of a corpulent soldier in -the service of the Medici, possibly identical with a certain Grasso to -whom Bembo desired to be commended in a letter to Bibbiena, 5 February -1506. - -Note 122 page 63. The instrument used in Socrates’s time κιθάρα was -certainly not the modern cithern, but more probably a kind of large -lyre, supported by a ribbon and played with a plectrum of metal, wood or -ivory. - -Note 123 page 63. In a note to this passage, Cian says: “_Abito_ -[rendered ‘habit of mind’] is a special condition or habitual quality of -the mind, which manifests itself outwardly in a special _costume_ -[rendered ‘habitual tendency’], or equally habitual behaviour, which in -turn reacts upon the disposition and moral attitude of the individual.” - -Note 124 page 64. LYCURGUS probably lived in the 9th century B.C., and -was the reputed author of the Spartan laws and institutions. - -Note 125 page 64. EPAMINONDAS, a Theban general, defeated the Spartans -at Leuctra in 371 B.C. and at Mantinea in 362 B.C., and lost his life in -the latter battle. - -Note 126 page 64. THEMISTOCLES, the Athenian statesman and general, -persuaded the Greeks to resist the second Persian invasion by naval -force at Salamis in 480 B.C. - -Note 127 page 64. One of the finest of the Pompeian frescoes represents -the centaur Chiron teaching Achilles to play upon the lyre. - -Note 128 page 64. The reference here is of course to the familiar story -of Orpheus and the beasts. - -Note 129 page 64. Castiglione doubtless had in mind the legend of Arion, -a Greek poet of Lesbos, who probably flourished about 700 B.C. We have a -fragment of his verse addressed to Poseidon and telling of the dolphins, -who had wafted the poet safely to land when he had lost his course. - -Note 130 page 65. As we shall see, the Magnifico’s request was not -complied with until the second evening (page 81). - -Note 131 page 65. QUINTUS FABIUS PICTOR was a Roman general who served -in the Second Punic War, and wrote a Greek history of Rome, much -esteemed by the ancients, but now lost. Pliny affirms that Fabius -painted the temple in the 450th year after the founding of Rome (i.e. -300 B.C.), and that the painting was still extant about the beginning of -our era. - -Note 132 page 66. The Apollo Belvedere was discovered in 1503, the -Laocoön group in 1506, and other famous antique statues only a few years -earlier. - -Note 133 page 66. The comparative merits of painting and sculpture were -a frequent subject of discussion during this period. The Renaissance -writers had inherited from antiquity a fondness for seeking superiority -or inferiority in matters between which there exists such a diversity of -character as to render comparison unprofitable. According to Vasari, -Giorgione maintained “that in one picture the painter could display -various aspects without the necessity of walking round his work, and -could even display, at one glance, all the different aspects that could -be presented by the figure of a man, even though the latter should -assume several attitudes,—a thing which could not be accomplished by -sculpture without compelling the observer to change his place, so that -the work is not presented at one view, but at different views. He -declared, further, that he could execute a single figure in painting, in -such a manner as to show the front, back, and profiles of both sides at -one and the same time.... He painted a nude figure, with its back turned -to the spectator, and at the feet of the figure was a limpid stream, -wherein the reflection of the front was painted with the utmost -exactitude: on one side was a highly burnished corselet, of which the -figure had divested itself, and wherein the left side was reflected -perfectly, every part of the figure being clearly apparent: and on the -other side was a mirror, in which the right profile of the nude form was -also exhibited. By this beautiful and admirable fancy, Giorgione desired -to prove that painting is, in effect, the superior art, requiring more -talent and demanding higher effort.” - -In one of his letters, Michelangelo wrote: “My opinion is that all -painting is the better the nearer it approaches to relief, and relief is -worse in proportion as it inclines to painting. And so I have been wont -to think that sculpture is the lamp of painting, and that the difference -between them might be likened to the difference between the sun and -moon.... By sculpture I understand an art which operates by taking away -superfluous material; by painting, one that attains its result by laying -material on. It is enough that both emanate from the same human -intelligence, and consequently sculpture and painting ought to live in -amity together, without these lengthy disputations. More time is wasted -in talking about the problem than would go to the making of figures in -both species.” - -Note 134 page 68. In his “Treatise on Painting,” Leonardo da Vinci says: -“The first marvel we find in painting is the apparent detachment from -the wall or other plane, and the cheating of keen perceptions by -something that is not separate from the surface.” - -Note 135 page 68. “Grottoes,” i.e. the Catacombs. Speaking in his -autobiography of the remains of ancient art found in the Catacombs, -Benvenuto Cellini says: “These grotesques have received this name from -the moderns because they were found by scholars at Rome in certain -subterranean caverns, which had anciently been rooms, chambers, studios, -halls and the like. Since these scholars found them in these cavernous -places (which had been built by the ancients on the surface and had -become low), and since such low places are known at Rome by the name -Grottoes, for that reason they received the name grotesques.” Cellini -here tries to explain the origin of the name applied to ornaments (such -as the arabesques of the Renaissance) in which figures, human to the -waist, terminate in scrolls, leafage, etc., and are combined with animal -forms and impossible flowers. In this sense the word was used as early -as 1502 in a contract between the Cardinal of Siena and the painter -Pinturicchio. It had of course not yet reached its modern signification, -so fully discussed in the appendix to Volume IV of Ruskin’s “Modern -Painters.” In Castiglione’s time it was not known that the catacomb -decorations were Christian, and in any case they were founded on pagan -models. - -Note 136 page 69. DEMETRIUS I of Macedon, (died 283 B.C.), was the son -of Antigonus, who was one of Alexander’s most illustrious generals and -succeeded to the Macedonian throne. - -Note 137 page 69. Of METRODORUS, nothing more is known than Pliny’s -account of the incident recorded in our text. - -Note 138 page 69. LUCIUS ÆMILIUS PAULUS, (died 160 B.C.), was a Roman -general, Consul, and statesman of the aristocratic party. The incident -mentioned in the text occurred after his victory over King Perseus of -Macedon in 168 B.C. - -Note 139 page 70. CAMPASPE, according to Pliny, was the name of the -beautiful slave given by Alexander to Apelles, as narrated at page 68. - -Note 140 page 70. ZEUXIS, (_flor._ 400 B.C.), belonged to the Ionian -school of Greek painting, which was characterized by sensuous beauty and -accurate imitation of nature. He lived at Athens, and his idealism is -said to have been rather of form than of character. The picture referred -to in the text represented Helen of Troy, was regarded as his -masterpiece, and was probably identical with a picture mentioned as -being at Rome. The story of the five maidens is said to have been cited -by Tintoretto in support of his maxim, “Art must perfect Nature.” - -Note 141 page 71. The Marquesses FEBUS and GERARDINO DI CEVA were sons -of the Marquess Giovanni (who was living as late as 1491), and belonged -to one of the most illustrious families of Piedmont and indeed of all -Italy. They were born towards the close of the 15th century and died -about the third decade of the 16th, having obtained the investiture of -their fief in 1521. They sided sometimes with the Emperor and sometimes -with France, as best suited them, and left rather a bad name. To escape -punishment for killing a cousin, Gerardino stabbed himself, and Febus -also died “_disperato_,” leaving two daughters in grief and shame. - -Note 142 page 71. ETTORE ROMANO GIOVENALE was a cavalier of whom little -more is known than that he was in Francesco Maria’s service, fought -successfully as one of the thirteen Italian champions at Barletta, was -afterwards in the service of the Duke of Ferrara, who dismissed him for -an act of treachery. - -Note 143 page 71. COLLO VINCENZO CALMETA of Castelnuovo, (died 1508), -was a courtly poet and prose writer, who had been secretary to the -Duchess Beatrice d'Este of Milan. Later he enjoyed the especial favour -of this lady’s sister, the Marchioness Isabella d'Este of Mantua, and -also of the Duchess of Urbino, who protected him from the displeasure of -her brother the Marquess of Mantua, and at whose court he improvised -verse somewhat after the manner of the Unico Aretino. In a letter (1504) -from Urbino to Isabella d'Este, Emilia Pia wrote: “Of news here there is -none that is not known to you, except that Calmeta is continually -composing songs and divers other things, and this carnival has written a -new comedy, which he would have sent you if he had thought it would give -you pleasure.” Among Calmeta’s works were a verse compendium of Ovid’s -_Ars Amandi_, and a biography of his friend and fellow improvisatore, -Serafino Ciminelli d'Aquila (see note 255). As known to us, his poetical -writings do not rise above mediocrity, and wholly fail to explain the -esteem in which they were held. - -Note 144 page 71. ORAZIO FLORIDO was a native of Fano, one of the -Adriatic coast towns nearest to Urbino. Having been chancellor to Duke -Guidobaldo, he became secretary to Duke Francesco Maria. When Francesco -was combating the usurper Lorenzo de' Medici in 1517, he sent one of his -officers with Florido under protection of a safe-conduct to challenge -Lorenzo to personal combat. In spite of the safe-conduct, Florido was -detained and sent to Leo X at Rome, where he was basely tortured in the -hope of extorting political secrets from him. He remained steadfastly -faithful to his master, and afterwards made a tour of the courts of -Europe seeking aid for his lord. - -Note 145 page 73. MARGARITA GONZAGA was a niece of the Duchess of -Urbino, being a natural daughter of the Marquess Gianfrancesco of -Mantua. She was for many years one of the ornaments of the Urbino court. -Various mentions of her in contemporary letters show her as a woman of -unusual beauty, sprightly wit and gay disposition. She had several -suitors, apparently including Filippo Beroaldo, who is mentioned later -in THE COURTIER (page 139). - -Note 146 page 73. Of BARLETTA nothing more is known than what is -contained in this and another shorter mention of him in THE COURTIER -(page 87). - -[Illustration: - - BEATRICE D'ESTE - DUCHESS OF MILAN - 1475-1497 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 42.371) of the portrait, in the - Pitti Gallery at Florence, attributed to Piero della Francesca - (1420-1492). For an account of this and other portraits, see - _l'Archivio Storico dell'Arte_ for 1889, p. 264. Some of the events - of her short life are mentioned in note 398 at page 399 of this - volume. - -Note 147 page 73. The original reads: _havendo prima danzato una bassa, -ballarono una Roegarze_. The _danza bassa_ was of Spanish origin and is -believed to have consisted of sliding steps and of posturing, in which -the feet were not lifted. The verb _ballare_ seems to be derived from -the low Latin _balla_, a ball. In the Middle Ages the game of ball was -accompanied with dance and song, and we may well believe that a class of -dances, thus originating and denominated generally _balli_, were more -animated than the _danza bassa_. Although a Greek derivation has been -ascribed to the word _roegarze_, Cian affirms that the dance thus named -was of French origin. The earliest French translator of THE COURTIER -renders the word by _rouergoise_, which is apparently derived from -_Rouergue_, the name of an ancient French province to the south-west of -Lyons. - -[Illustration: - - FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI - DUKE OF MILAN - 1391-1447 -] - -Reduced from Giraudon’s photograph (no. 254) of a drawing, in the - Louvre, by Vittore Pisano, better known as Pisanello, (1380?-1451?). - - - NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER - -Note 148 page 75. This passage reflects the medico-philosophical -theories which the Renaissance inherited from antiquity, and which -regarded “the vital spirits” as something far more tangible and material -than what we call the principle of life or vital spark. Compare the -early conception of electricity as a fluid substance. “Complexion” is of -course here used to mean temperament or constitution, and not the mere -colour and texture of the skin. - -Note 149 page 77. Duke FILIPPO MARIA VISCONTI, (born 1391; died 1447), -was the son of Giangaleotto and Caterina Visconti, and brother of -Giovanni Maria Visconti, whom he succeeded as Duke of Milan in 1412. He -married Beatrice di Tenda (widow of Facino Cane), who brought him nearly -a half million of florins dowry, besides her husband’s soldiers and -cities, and thus enabled him gradually to win back the Lombard part of -his father’s duchy, which his brother had lost. He was very ugly in -person, and so sensitive that he rarely appeared in public. Wily but -unstable, he was continually plotting schemes that seemed to have no -object, and he mistrusted his own generals, even Francesco Sforza, who -turned against him, forced him to a ruinous peace, and after his death -was soon able to seize his duchy. In him the cruel selfishness of the -Renaissance tyrant did not degenerate into mad thirst for blood, as in -the case of his terrible brother. He read Dante, Petrarch and French -romances of chivalry, and even dallied with the Latin classics, but -genuine learning was neglected and despised at his court. - -Duke BORSO D'ESTE, (born 1413; died 1471), like his brother and -predecessor, was a natural son of Duke Niccolò III. Kindly and just, he -was idolized by the Ferrarese and especially by the women. He patronized -letters and art and was fond of splendid living, yet in spite of the -luxury of his court, he left a treasure of about a million pounds -sterling. The art of printing was established at Ferrara shortly before -his death. He appears to have been himself ignorant of Latin, and -encouraged the literary use of Italian and the study of French romance. -Histories of Ferrara, as well as the writings of contemporary humanists, -are full of his generous deeds. His mild sway passed into a proverb, and -the time of “the good Duke Borso” was long remembered as a kind of -golden age. - -Note 150 page 77. NICCOLῸ PICCININO, (born 1380; died 1444), was so -humbly born as to possess no other surname than that conferred on him in -ridicule of his small stature. Having served under the famous Braccio da -Montone, he married the latter’s niece, and achieved such distinction as -a soldier as to share with Francesco Sforza the fame of being the first -_condottiere_ of his day. He became the friend and general of Duke -Federico of Urbino. His rough wit was highly esteemed. - -Note 151 page 77. This consciousness of the corruption then prevailing -in Italy is even more frankly expressed by Machiavelli: “It is but too -true that we Italians are in a special degree irreligious and corrupt.” -(_Discorsi_, I, 12.) - -Note 152 page 78. The reference here is to Plato’s _Phædo_, c. 3. -Socrates is said to have turned Æsop’s fables into verse. - -Note 153 page 83. The Italian noun _fierezza_ (rendered “boldness”) and -the adjective _fiero_ (more anciently _fero_, the epithet applied by -Petrarch to Achilles, see note 120) are derived from the Latin _ferus_ -(wild, untamed, impetuous), the root of which we see in our English word -_fer_ocious. While retaining its etymological signification, _fiero_ was -used to mean also: haughty, intrepid, strong, sturdy. - -Note 154 page 87. “Brawls” (Italian, _brandi_; French, _branles_) were a -kind of animated figured dance, said to be of Spanish origin and to have -resembled the modern _cotillon_. A letter by Castiglione mentions this -dance as having been performed by figures dressed as birds in one of the -interludes when Bibbiena’s _Calandra_ was first presented at Urbino. -This and other passages suggest that the use of masks was even more -common in Italian society of the author’s time, than at the present day. - -Note 155 page 88. Castiglione’s letters show that he possessed and -played upon a variety of musical instruments, and it is known that in -Duke Federico’s time, the palace of Urbino was well supplied with -instruments and musicians. - -Note 156 page 88. Viol is the generic name for the family of bowed -instruments that succeeded the mediæval fiddle and preceded the violin. -Invented in the 15th century, it differed from a violin in having deeper -ribs, a flat back, and a broad centre-piece on which the sound post -rested. Its neck was broad and thin; it had from five to seven strings, -and was made in four sizes, of which the lowest pitched (the _violone_ -or double bass) is still in use. The tone of the instrument is said to -have been penetrating rather than powerful. - -Note 157 page 89. Wind instruments, and especially the flute, are here -referred to. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades maintained that they were -regarded with disfavour by Pallas and Apollo because the face is -distorted in playing upon them. - -[Illustration: - - NICCOLÒ PICCININO - 1380-1444 -] - -Reduced from Giraudon’s photograph (no. 252) of a drawing, in the - Louvre, by Vittore Pisano, better known as Pisanello, (1380?-1451?). - -Note 158 page 90. The Pythagoreans supposed the intervals between the -heavenly bodies to be determined by the laws of musical harmony. Hence -arose the celebrated doctrine of “the music of the spheres” (already -referred to by Castiglione in the text, page 63); for in their motion -the heavenly bodies must each occasion a certain sound or note depending -on their distances and velocities, which notes together formed a musical -harmony, inaudible to man because he has been accustomed to it from the -first and has never had an opportunity to contrast it with silence, or -because it exceeds his powers of hearing. Pythagoras himself (died about -500 B.C.) taught his disciples to sing to the accompaniment of the lyre, -and to chaunt hymns to the gods and to virtuous men. - -Note 159 page 90. As the Italian commentator, Count Vesme, suggests, the -author may have meant to say, “shave twice a day.” A weekly visit to the -barber may, however, have been usually regarded as sufficient at this -time. - -Note 160 page 93. In the beginning of his Encomium on Folly (which was -well known in Italy when Castiglione wrote THE COURTIER), Erasmus -pretends that, “although there has been no lack of those who, at great -cost of oil and sleep, have exalted ... the fourth-day ague, the fly, -and baldness, with most tedious praise,” Folly is languishing without a -eulogist. Among the works of Lucian (_flor._ 160 A.D.) there is a brief -humourous book in praise of the fly; the philosopher Favorinus (_flor._ -120 A.D.) is said to have written a eulogy on the fourth-day ague; and -there is another on baldness by the early Christian writer, Synesius -(_flor._ 400 A.D.). The men of the Renaissance delighted in similar -displays of wit. - -Note 161 page 94. The Italian _procella_ (rendered ‘fury’) primarily -means a tempest, and is so translated in the earliest French and English -versions of THE COURTIER (_estourbillon_, storm). The still earlier -Spanish version has _pestilencia_. - -Note 162 page 95. The Italian _impedito_ (rendered ‘palsied’) literally -means entangled as to the feet. - -Note 163 page 96. St. Luke, iv, 8 and 10. - -Note 164 page 97. In Æsop’s fable, _Asinus Domino Blandiens_, an ass -receives a sound cudgelling for his efforts to win his master’s favour -by caresses that he was ill fitted to bestow. - -Note 165 page 100. TITUS MANLIUS,—called TORQUATUS from the chain -(_torques_) that he took from the body of a gigantic Gaul whom he had -slain in single combat,—was a favourite hero of Roman story. The -incident referred to here occurred shortly before a Roman victory over -the Latins at the foot of Vesuvius. Manlius and his colleague in command -had proclaimed that no Roman might engage a Latin singly on pain of -death, but a son of Manlius accepted a challenge from one of the enemy, -slew his adversary, and bore the bloody spoils in triumph to his father, -who thereupon caused the young man to be put to death before the -assembled army. Manlius was Consul in 340 B.C. - -Note 166 page 101. PUBLIUS LICINIUS CRASSUS MUCIANUS was Roman Consul in -131 B.C. According to Livy, the incident narrated in the text occurred -during an unsuccessful campaign against Pergamus, which ended in -Crassus’s voluntary death. - -Note 167 page 103. Rome was sacked only the year before THE COURTIER was -first published. Italy had become the plaything of foreign conquest. - -Note 168 page 103. DARIUS III was King of Persia 336-330 B.C. This story -about his sword seems to be founded on the following passage in Quintus -Curtius Rufus’s History of Alexander the Great: “At the beginning of his -reign, Darius ordered his Persian scabbard to be altered to the form -which the Greeks used; whereupon the Chaldeans prophesied that the -empire of the Persians would pass to those whose arms he had imitated.” - -Note 169 page 104. It will be remembered that Bembo was a Venetian. - -Note 170 page 104. The coif (_cuffia_) here mentioned seems to have been -a kind of turban made of cloth wound about the head, with the two ends -hanging at the ears. - -Note 171 page 105. These unfortunate creatures still abound near -Bergamo. - -Note 172 page 106. Pylades and Orestes, like Pirithous and Theseus, are -the famous friends of Greek legend. The historical and no less tender -love between Scipio and Lælius forms the subject of Cicero’s _De -Amicitia_. See note 102. - -Note 173 page 109. The fellow’s reward is said to have been a measure of -the peas. - -Note 174 page 109. The Italian phrase here rendered ‘goes against the -grain’ is _non gli avrà sangue_ (more usually _non ci avrà il suo -sangue_), and might be more precisely translated ‘will not suit his -humour.’ The ‘as we say’ suggests that the idiom was of recent origin in -Castiglione’s time. - -[Illustration: - - MAXIMILIAN I - EMPEROR OF GERMANY - 1459-1519 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 34.074) of the portrait, in the - Imperial Museum at Vienna, by Ambrogio da Predis (_flor._ 1500). In - Morelli’s “Italian Painters” (London: 1892), pp. 180-9, the picture - is described as injured by restoration. See note 390. - -Note 175 page 113. GIACOPO SANNAZARO, (born 1458; died 1530), was a -native of Naples, and the son of Giacopo Niccolò and Masella di San -Magno. His boyhood was spent with his mother at San Cipriano, near her -birthplace Salerno. He soon made such progress in Latin and Greek that -he was admitted to the academy of the famous Pontormo, of whom he became -the close friend. Their effigies may be seen together in the Neapolitan -church of Monte Oliveto. He received a villa and a pension from the -scholarly Aragonese dynasty, to which he remained faithful with pen and -sword, following Federico III into exile (see note 401) in 1501, and -returning to Naples only after his king’s death in 1504. He seems to -have had a peaceful and honourable old age, active in works of piety and -charity, and employing his leisure in study and in the society of a -certain noble lady for whom he had formed a lasting Platonic friendship. -His writings include marine eclogues, elegies, etc., in Latin, but his -best known work is _L'Arcadia_, an Italian prose romance interspersed -with verse, of which sixty editions are said to have appeared before -1600. It is regarded by Mahaffy as having originated the idea that the -Greek Arcadia was the especial home of pastoral poetry, and probably -served Sidney as a model for his poem of the same name. Hardly less -famous were Sannazaro’s anti-Borgian epigrams, to which Symonds ascribes -no small part of the gruesome legend of Lucrezia’s crimes. He was buried -in a church built by him near the so-called tomb of Virgil, and his -monument behind the high altar bears the Latin inscription by Bembo, in -which he is described as “near alike to Virgil’s muse and sepulchre.” - -Note 176 page 113. Motet is “a term which for the last three hundred -years has been almost exclusively applied to certain pieces of church -music, of moderate length, adapted to Latin words (selected, for the -most part, either from Holy Scripture, or the Roman office-books), and -intended to be sung at high mass, either in place of, or immediately -after, the Plain Chaunt _Offertorium_ of the Day.“ (Grove.) The motet -was sometimes founded on the air of some non-sacred song, as in the case -of Josquin’s _Stabat Mater_, which was based upon the ballad _Comme -Femme_. (Ambros.) - -Note 177 page 113. JOSQUIN (more properly JOSSE) DE PRÈS, (born about -1450; died 1521), seems to have been a native of St. Quentin, Hainault, -Belgium, and was one of the celebrated musicians of the Renaissance. -Having been the pupil of Ockenheim, the greatest composer of the day, he -was at the papal court of Sixtus IV, and successively in the service of -Lorenzo de' Medici, Louis XII of France, and the Emperor Maximilian I. -He returned to Italy about 1503 and lived at the court of Ferrara. He is -the earliest composer whose works are preserved in such quantity as -adequately to present his power, and was called “the father of harmony” -by Dr. Burney. Music began to be printed (1498) when Josquin was in his -prime. - -Note 178 page 114. Other contemporary evidence amply confirms this -account of the occasional grossness that marked the table manners of the -period. - -Note 179 page 115. The two princes here referred to are Ferdinand the -Catholic of Spain (see note 392) and Louis XII of France (see note 250). - -Note 180 page 116. PAOLO NICCOLÒ VERNIA, called NICOLETTO (little Nick) -from his shortness of stature, (died 1499), was a native of Chieti, near -the Adriatic. He probably studied at Padua, and remained there teaching -physics, although in 1444 he took his degree in philosophy, and fourteen -years later in medicine. He wrote chiefly on philosophy, but was noted -also as a wit. - -Note 181 page 116. “When Frederick Barbarossa attempted to govern the -rebellious Lombard cities in the common interest of the Empire, he -established in their midst a foreign judge, called ‘Podestà,’ _quasi -habens potestatem Imperatoris in hac parte_.... The title of ‘Podestà’ -was subsequently conferred upon the official summoned to maintain an -equal balance between the burghers and the nobles.” Symonds’s -“Renaissance in Italy,” ed. 1883, i, 61. - -Note 182 page 117. This was the battle of Fornovo (6 July 1495), in -which the Italian forces under the Marquess Gianfrancesco Gonzaga of -Mantua failed to prevent the retreat of Charles VIII towards France. -Both sides claimed a victory, and the marquess even went so far as to -have it commemorated by Mantegna in a picture, “The Madonna of Victory” -(Louvre), which contains his portrait. Castiglione’s father died from -the effect of wounds received in this battle. - -Note 183 page 117. The reference here is plainly to Leonardo da Vinci -(see note 96). His contemporaries would naturally regard as chimerical -such devices as steam cannon, paddle wheels for boats, and flying -machines, or such hints as that contained in his _Codex Atlanticus_, -where he suggests the possibility of steam navigation. “He was the first -to explain correctly the dim illumination seen over the rest of the -surface of the moon when the bright part is only a thin crescent. He -pointed out that when the moon was nearly new, the half of the earth -which was then illuminated by the sun was turned nearly directly towards -the moon, and that the moon was in consequence illuminated slightly by -this ‘earthshine,’ just as we are by moonshine. This explanation ... -tended to break down the supposed barrier between terrestrial and -celestial bodies.” Arthur Berry’s “Short History of Astronomy” (London, -1898), p. 91. - -Note 184 page 118. Suetonius mentions this characteristic of Cæsar. - -Note 185 page 119. This is one of the few passages in The Courtier that -are plainly reminiscent of Dante, who says: “To that truth which hath -the face of falsehood, man must ever close his lips” (_Sempre a quel ver -che ha faccia di menzogna, De' l’uom chiuder la labbra_). _Inferno_, -xvi, 124-5. - -Note 186 page 121. The translator admits being at a loss to find an -adequate equivalent for the Italian _argusie_. Our unfamiliar English -adjective ‘argute’ suggests that kind of pungent and witty conceits -which Castiglione is describing. - -[Illustration: - - CHARLES VIII OF FRANCE - 1470-1498 -] - -Reduced from Alinari’s photograph (no. 2749) of the anonymous bronze - bust in the National Museum at Florence. See note 388. - -Note 187 page 121. Bibbiena’s reputation as a wit was well established, -while Canossa seems also to have deserved the same epithet, if we may -judge from a story that has been preserved of him. The count had at Rome -a fine collection of silver plate, including a flagon with a lid in the -form of a tiger. A friend having borrowed this flagon and kept it for -two months, returned it only on demand and with the request that the -count lend him a certain salt-cellar, which had a crab for a cover. -Ludovico sent word that if the tiger, which is the swiftest of beasts, -had been two months coming home, the crab, being slower than all others, -would by the same rule be absent for years, and that on this account he -was unwilling to let it go. - -Note 188 page 122. The allusion is of course to Bibbiena’s early -baldness. - -Note 189 page 122. Cardinal GALEOTTO DELLA ROVERE, (born about 1477; -died 1508), was the favourite nephew of Julius II, being a son of the -pope’s sister Luchina by her first husband Gianfrancesco Franciotti, a -patrician of Lucca. Like all his mother’s other children, he was adopted -as of the della Rovere name. Having been made Bishop of Lucca, he was -created a cardinal on his uncle’s election as pope, appointed pontifical -vice-chancellor, and soon given a great number of benefices. Generous -and amiable, and a patron of artists and authors, he was much beloved at -the court of Urbino, as is shown by several documents, among which is a -letter by Emilia Pia mentioning two sonnets of his, in one of which -(written the day before his last illness) he foretold his early death. - -Note 190 page 123. GIACOMO SANSECONDO, a noted musician who flourished -between the years 1493 and 1522 at the courts of Milan, Mantua, Ferrara, -Urbino and Rome, where he attained a wide celebrity in the pontificate -of Leo X. He seems to have ended his days in adversity, in some degree -relieved by his friend Castiglione, whose letters contain several -affectionate mentions of him. - -Note 191 page 124. DEMOCRITUS, (_flor._ 400 B.C.), was the atomistic -philosopher of Abdera in Thrace. He possessed an ample fortune, and his -cheerful disposition led him to look on the bright and humourous side of -things, a fact taken by later writers to mean that he laughed at the -follies of mankind. - -Note 192 page 125. The phrase ‘served her in love’ and the conventional -relation that it denoted, were drawn from mediæval life and literature -north of the Alps, and with some changes survived in Italy during the -Renaissance, until the _cavalier servente_ became in the 18th century a -recognized institution. Attendance upon the lady at church was a -characteristic feature of the cavalier’s service. - -Note 193 page 126. PIUS III, Francesco Todeschini, (born 1439; died -1503), was a native of Siena and a nephew of the illustrious Æneas -Silvius Piccolomini (Pius II). The suddenness of his predecessor -Alexander VI's death took the sacred college by surprise, and they -unanimously elected their weakest member as pope. His short pontificate -of twenty-six days was filled with disturbances, and he was believed to -have died from poison. - -Note 194 page 126. ANTONIO AGNELLO, (died after 1527), belonged to one -of the most noted families of Mantua, and seems to have been the son of -Giulio Agnello and Margarita Crema. Besides being an able man of affairs -(employed by the Palæologus rulers of Montferrat), he was a graceful -poet, and became the friend of Bembo and Castiglione. - -Note 195 page 126. The poet CAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS, (born about 87 -B.C.), was a native of Verona and a friend of Cæsar and Cicero. His -extant works include one hundred and sixteen poems, lyric, epigrammatic, -elegiac, etc. His 69th Ode is a dialogue between the author and a door. - -Note 196 page 127. Pope NICHOLAS V, Tommaso Parentucelli, (born 1398; -died 1455), was a native of Pisa, whence his family were exiled in his -infancy. Although his father died when he was nine years old, and in -spite of great poverty, he contrived to study at the University of -Bologna. Later he served as tutor in the Albizzi and Strozzi families at -Florence, thus earning enough money to return and take his theological -degree at Bologna. He then entered the service of the archbishop of the -latter city, whom he accompanied to Florence, and there became a friend -of Cosimo de' Medici and a member of the literary society of the place. -In 1443 he was made Bishop of Bologna, and four years later was elected -pope, an elevation that he owed solely to his reputation for learning -and to the comparatively small esteem in which the office was then held. -The humanists were delighted at the election of one of their own number. -As pope, he devoted his revenues to maintaining a splendid court, to the -rebuilding of the fortifications and palaces of Rome, and to the -enrichment of scholars. During his pontificate the city became a -work-shop of erudition. He founded the Vatican Library, for which he -collected five thousand volumes, and the list prepared by him for Cosimo -de' Medici to use in beginning the Library of San Marco, was followed -also by Duke Federico of Urbino. He was a small, ugly man. - -_Nihil Papa Valet_, ‘the Pope is good for nothing.’ - -Note 197 page 127. I.e., in the second tale of the Eighth Day. - -Note 198 page 127. Calandrino is an unfortunate and very amusing -character appearing in the third and sixth tales of the Eighth Day and -in the fifth tale of the Ninth Day. - -Note 199 page 128. Niccolò Campani, called STRASCINO, (born 1478; died -between 1522 and 1533), was an excellent actor of Sienese rustic -comedies and farces, and the author of verses and of a Lament that was -very popular in the 16th century. He frequented the court of Leo X, and -several of Castiglione’s letters (1521) tell of efforts to secure the -actor’s services for the Marquess of Mantua, and of furnishing him with -twenty-five ducats, a horse, and a papal pass, for the purpose. - -Note 200 page 128. ‘This place,’ i.e., Urbino. - -[Illustration: - - POPE NICHOLAS V - TOMMASO PARENTUCELLI - 1398-1455 -] - -Enlarged from a coloured cast of a medal, in the King’s Library at the - British Museum, by Andrea Guazzalotti (1435-1495). See Armand’s _Les - Médailleurs Italiens_, i, 49, no. 6. - -Note 201 page 129. The reader will hardly need to be reminded that the -great Roman orator was often spoken of as Tullius or Tully rather than -as Cicero. - -Note 202 page 129. When THE COURTIER was expurgated by Antonio -Ciccarelli in 1584 (see LIST OF EDITIONS), Dante’s name was here -substituted for that of St. Paul. The word _becco_ (rendered ‘he-goat’) -has long been used by the Italians as a term of jocose reproach applied -to a man whose wife is unfaithful. - -Note 203 page 129. Duke ERCOLE I D'ESTE, (born 1431; died 1505), was the -legitimate son of Duke Niccolò III and Rizzarda di Saluzzo. Bred at the -Neapolitan court, he became Duke of Ferrara on the death of his -half-brother Borso (see note 149) in 1471. In 1473 he married Eleanora -of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples. Among the six children of -this union were: Isabella, who became Marchioness of Mantua (see note -397); Beatrice, who became Duchess of Milan (see note 398); Alfonso, who -married Lucrezia Borgia and succeeded his father as duke; and the -Cardinal Ippolito already mentioned (see note 64). Although his reign -was far from peaceful, his court was noted for its luxury and for the -brilliancy of art and letters with which it was adorned. He was an -especial patron of the theatre, no less than five comedies of Plautus -being performed during the wedding festivities of his son Alfonso in -1502. On the other hand, he maintained relations with Savonarola, who -was a native of Ferrara. - -Note 204 page 130. Castellina was a small walled town in the Chianti -hills, which was held as a Florentine outpost against Siena. The siege -referred to in the text took place in 1478, when the place capitulated -to the Neapolitan and papal troops after holding out for forty days. -Duke of Calabria was the title regularly borne by the heir of each -Aragonese king of Naples. The personage here meant must have been -Alfonso the Younger (see note 31). - -Note 205 page 130. While the meaning is not free from doubt, the point -of the story seems to lie in the absurdity of the Florentine’s supposing -that after being discharged from a cannon, a projectile would retain any -poison previously applied to it. - -Note 206 page 130. It will be remembered that Bembo was a Venetian, -while Bibbiena’s birthplace was a Florentine town. - -Note 207 page 130. This war lasted from 1494 to 1509, and proved ruinous -to both sides. Castiglione’s use of the past tense in speaking of it -here doubtless arose from the fact that he was writing several years -after the date that he assigns to the dialogues. - -Note 208 page 131. Pistoia and Prato were two small cities which lay to -the north-west of Florence and were subject to its rule. Modern issues -of “fiat” money are but a slight modification of the method proposed by -the worthy Florentine. - -Note 209 page 131. Bucentaur was the name of the state galley of the -Venetian Republic, used (among other occasions) in the symbolic ceremony -of wedding the Adriatic, which was enjoined upon the Venetians by -Alexander III (pope 1159-1181) to commemorate their victory over the -fleet of Frederick Barbarossa. On each Ascension Day a ring was dropped -from the Bucentaur into the Adriatic, with the words, “we espouse thee, -sea, in token of true and lasting dominion.” The vessel bore the image -of a centaur as figure-head. Of the last of several successive -Bucentaurs (demolished in 1824), a few fragments are preserved in the -Arsenal at Venice. In the 15th and 16th centuries the name was applied -to state vessels of ceremony elsewhere. By some the word is supposed to -be derived from the Greek βοῦς (ox) and κένταυρος (centaur); by others -it is regarded as a corruption of the Latin _ducentorum_ (of two hundred -oars), or of the Italian _buzino d’oro_ (golden bark). - -[Illustration: - - GIROLAMO DONATO - 1457-1511 -] - -Enlarged from a photograph, courteously furnished by the Director of the - Municipal Art Museum at Milan, of a small anonymous bas-relief - belonging to the Taverna collection. See Armand’s _Les Médailleurs - Italiens_, ii, 226, no. 11. - -Note 210 page 133. This tale, not unworthy of Munchausen, may have been -suggested to Castiglione by a passage in one of the minor works of -Plutarch, who relates that Antiphanes (a friend of Plato) said that “he -visited a certain city where words froze as soon as spoken, by reason of -the great cold; and later, sounds uttered in winter melted in the spring -and were heard by the inhabitants.” Although Plutarch represents the -story as told in illustration of the way in which “those who came as -young men to listen to Plato’s talk, understood it only long afterwards, -when they had grown old,” it is worth noting that an Antiphanes, of -Berga in Thrace, is known as a writer on the marvellous and incredible. - -Note 211 page 133. Vasco da Gama rounded the southern extremity of -Africa and reached India nine years before the date of the Courtier -dialogues. - -Note 212 page 133. This must have been Emanuel I, who was King of -Portugal from 1495 until his death in 1521, and who promoted the -expeditions of da Gama and other Portuguese navigators. - -Note 213 page 134. Taffety was a very light soft silk fabric. There is -extant a letter of Bembo’s (1541), in which the aged cardinal orders two -cushions filled with swan’s down and covered with crimson taffety. The -word is said to be derived from the Persian _taftah_ (twisted, woven). -Taft is the name of a town in central Persia. - -Note 214 page 134. ANNIBAL PALEOTTO, (died 1516), belonged to an ancient -and honourable Bolognese family (with which Castiglione is known to have -been on friendly terms), and was the son of an eminent jurist, Vincenzo -Paleotto, who died in 1498. Leo X made Annibale a senator of Bologna in -1514, the brief being written by Bembo. - -Note 215 page 135. Giacopo di Nino was BISHOP OF POTENZA from 1506 until -1521, and seems to have been a butt for the ridicule of Leo X's court. - -Note 216 page 136. An earlier version of this passage reads: “And of -this kind was what Rinaldo in the _Morgante_ said to the Giant: ‘Where -do you hang your spectacles?’” The _Morgante Maggiore_ is a -serio-burlesque romantic poem by Luigi Pulci (1431-1487), introducing, -among other characters of mediæval romance, Rinaldo, his cousin Orlando, -and the giant Morgante. - -Note 217 page 136. GALEOTTO MARZI DA NARNI, (born about 1427; died about -1490), a singular example of the adventurer-humanist, studied at the -universities of Padua and Bologna, and taught at the latter place. He -twice visited the court of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, for whom he -wrote a book on jests. He was something of an astrologer and also the -author of a work on chiromancy. Being accused of heresy, he was -imprisoned at Venice in 1477, and condemned to make public recantation -in the Piazzetta with a crown of devils on his head. He is said to have -been learned and witty. The story given in the text became almost -proverbial. - -Note 218 page 136. The present form (_bisticcio_) of _bischisso_ -(rendered ‘playing on words’) has a meaning somewhat different from that -indicated in the text,—being the term applied to a succession of words -the similarity of whose sound renders them difficult to pronounce, e.g., -“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” - -Note 219 page 136. At this time the general use of family names was -comparatively recent, and their form was somewhat variable. Thus, such -surnames as Pio and Fregoso were treated as still being, what they -doubtless originally were, merely personal epithets, and so were given -the feminine form (Pia, Fregosa) when applied to women. The adjective -_pia_ means dutiful, pious, kind, while _impia_ or _empia_ of course -means the reverse. - -Note 220 page 136. “The greatest of the Furies is my bedfellow.” With a -change of one syllable in the Latin, this becomes _Furiarum maxima juxta -accubat_ (“The greatest of the Furies lies hard by”), Æneid, V, 605-6. - -Note 221 page 136. GERONIMO DONATO, (born 1457; died 1511), was a native -of Venice, where he held many public offices, besides being sent abroad -as ambassador of the Republic, especially to the courts of Alexander VI -and Julius II. He also enjoyed no small fame as a cultivator of science, -art and letters (particularly Greek and theology). The incident narrated -in the text occurred during his embassy to Alexander, to whom on another -occasion he made a far wittier retort. Being jestingly asked by the pope -where Venice got its right of lordship over the Adriatic, he answered: -“Let your Holiness show me the title deed to the Patrimony of St. Peter, -and on the back of it will be found inscribed the grant to the Venetians -of their dominion over the Adriatic.” - -Note 222 page 136. In the Roman Church a “station” (_stasione_) is a -church where indulgences are granted at certain seasons. In earlier -times such churches were visited in solemn procession, which afterwards -came to be regarded as an opportunity for social recreation. The word is -used also to designate the indulgences earned by visiting, on appointed -days, many churches founded by popes. - -Note 223 page 136. “As many stars as heaven, so many girls hath thy -Rome,” Ovid’s _Ars Amandi_, I, 59. - -Note 224 page 136. “As many kids as the pasture, so many satyrs hath thy -Rome,” is as close an English rendering as Donato’s Latin will bear. - -Note 225 page 136. MARCANTONIO DELLA TORRE belonged to an ancient noble -family of Verona, was a famous anatomist, and is said to have included -Leonardo da Vinci among his pupils. He died at the age of thirty, and -was highly praised for his learning. His father Geronimo lectured on -medicine at Padua. - -Pietro Barozzi became ARCHBISHOP OF PADUA in 1487, and died in 1507. -Bandello (who had read THE COURTIER in MS.) relates the same story in -somewhat wittier form, but gives the name of the prelate as Gerardo -Landriano, Bishop of Como. - -Note 226 page 137. St. Luke, xvi, 2. - -Note 227 page 137. St. Matthew, xxv, 20. - -Note 228 page 137. PROTO DA LUCCA was one of the most famous buffoons -who enlivened the pontifical court at the beginning of the 16th century. -If, as seems probable, the incident in question occurred in January 1506 -(when Bernardino Lei died and was succeeded by Antonio da Castriani as -Bishop of Cagli, a town near Urbino), the pope in question must have -been Julius II, to whom the epithet ‘very grave’ would be entirely -appropriate. - -Note 229 page 138. The play is upon the word ‘office’ in its two -meanings of post or employment, and breviary or prayer-book. In the -latter sense, the ‘full office’ contained the psalms, lessons, -etc.,—while the ‘Madonna’s office’ was much abbreviated. - -Note 230 page 138. GIOVANNI CALFURNIO, (born 1443; died 1503), was a -gentle and laborious humanist, born at or near Bergamo, but long -resident at Padua, where he held the chair of rhetoric. His chief work -consisted in correcting and commenting upon the texts of Latin poets. -The ‘another man at Padua’ was probably Raffaele Regio (a fellow -professor with Calfurnio), who publicly ridiculed his colleague as the -son of a charcoal-burner. Calfurnio seems to have published very little; -on his death he bequeathed his library to the church of San Giovanni in -Verdara, from which his tomb and portrait relief have recently been -removed to a cloister of the monastery of St. Antony at Padua. - -[Illustration: - - GIOVANNI CALFURNIO - Died 1503 -] - -From a photograph, specially made by Agostini, of the anonymous tomb - relief removed from the Church of San Giovanni di Verdara to a - cloister in the Monastery of Sant'Antonio at Padua. - -Note 231 page 138. Tommaso Inghirami, “FEDRA,” (born 1470; died 1516), -was a native patrician of Volterra (a town about midway between Pisa and -Siena), being the son of Paolo Inghirami and Lucrezia Barlettani. Having -passed his early boyhood at Florence, he removed to Rome in 1483, where -he played the part of _Phædra_ in Seneca’s tragedy _Hippolytus_ (upon -which Racine founded his _Phèdre_) with such success that the name clung -to him for life. The play being interrupted by an accident to the -scenery, he filled the interval by improvising Latin verses for the -entertainment of the audience. The performance took place in the -mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian, which was afterwards converted into -the fortress known as the Castle of St. Angelo. Tommaso was employed by -Alexander VI in diplomatic affairs, crowned poet by the Emperor -Maximilian I, and made a canon of the Lateran and of the Vatican. He -seems to have been connected with the Vatican Library as early as 1505, -and became its prefect. Although Erasmus called him the Cicero of his -time, his fame now rests rather on his portrait in the Pitti Gallery at -Florence, than on his works. - -Note 232 page 138. CAMILLO PALEOTTO was a brother of the Annibal -Paleotto already mentioned (see note 214). On his father’s death in -1498, he went to Rome, where he became the friend of Federico Fregoso, -Bembo and Castiglione. He taught rhetoric at Bologna and was Chancellor -of the Senate there. There also he is said to have died in 1530, -although a letter of Bembo’s speaks of him in 1518 as then already dead. - -Note 233 page 138. ANTONIO PORCARO, or PORZIO, belonged to a noble Roman -family, and was a brother of the Camillo Porcaro mentioned in THE -COURTIER (at page 140). He had also a twin brother Valerio, whom he so -closely resembled that the two were often mistaken, one for the other, -as Bibbiena says in the preface to his _Calandra_,—the plot of which is -founded upon a similar resemblance. Little more is known of Antonio than -that he suffered some grievous wrong from Alexander VI. - -Note 234 page 138. Regarding GIANTOMMASO GALEOTTO, Cian furnishes no -information. The Spanish annotator, Fabié, adds Marcio (Marzio) to his -name,—thus apparently treating him as identical with the Galeotto da -Narni mentioned above at page 136,—and says that he “died, by reason of -his great corpulence, from a fall from his horse, being in the train of -Charles VIII of France, when the latter entered Milan.” As “My lord -Prefect” was only four years old when Charles entered Milan in 1494, -this identification seems clearly erroneous. - -Note 235 page 139. FILIPPO BEROALDO, (born 1472; died 1518), belonged to -a noble Bolognese family. Having been one of his famous uncle Filippo -the elder’s most brilliant pupils in the classics, he was at the age of -twenty-six made professor of literature at Bologna, and afterwards at -Rome. In 1511 he successfully defended Duke Francesco Maria of Urbino -against the charge of murdering Cardinal Alidosi. Instead of seeking to -extenuate the deed, as done in heat and under strong provocation, he -boldly justified it on the ground that his client was the instrument -chosen by the Almighty to rid the world of a monster of wickedness, and -eloquently appealed to the tribunal to spare a hero whose promise of -future usefulness was precious to Italy. Beroaldo was secretary to -Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, and on the latter’s election as pope, he -was made Provost of the Roman Academy, while at Inghirami’s death he was -made Librarian of the Vatican, as a reward for editing the recently -discovered first five books of Tacitus’s Annals. He died at Rome, partly -(it is said) from vexation at not being paid the stipend of his office. -Bembo wrote his epitaph. Although he was celebrated for erudition and -eloquence rather than for authorship, he left three books of odes, and -one of epigrams,—in Latin. - -Note 236 page 139. The pupil obviously used the phrase in its low Latin -meaning, “Master, God give you good evening.” Beroaldo jocosely accepted -it in its classical meaning, “Master, God give you good, late.” - -Note 237 page 139. “Evil to thee, soon.” - -Note 238 page 139. DIEGO DE CHIGNONES, (died 1512), was a Spanish -cavalier, of whom Branthôme writes as follows: “This Great Captain had -for lieutenant, with a company of one hundred men-at-arms, Don Diego de -Quignones, who supported him in his combats and victories, and was truly -a good and brave lieutenant to him. After the Great Captain’s death, he -had sole command of his company of an hundred men-at-arms, as he well -deserved to have. He commanded it at the battle of Ravenna, where he -died like a brave and valiant captain. And if all had behaved as he did -(say the old Spaniards), the victory that the French won there would -have cost them dearer than it did, although it cost them dear.” - -Note 239 page 139. Don Gonzalvo Hernand y Aguilar, better known as -Consalvo de Cordoba, or THE GREAT CAPTAIN, (born 1443; died 1515), was a -native of Montilla, near Cordova, and belonged to an ancient family of -Spanish grandees. His father’s name was Pietro, and his mother’s was -Elvira Errea. Bred to war in early youth and knighted on the field of -battle at the age of sixteen, he followed the fortunes of Ferdinand the -Catholic, and took an active part in the conquest of Granada. In 1494 he -was sent to Italy to aid Ferdinand II of Naples against Charles VIII, -won a long succession of victories over the French, and was finally made -Constable and Viceroy of Naples. Later, Ferdinand the Catholic, -listening to slanderous reports regarding him, deprived him of office, -and in 1507 recalled him to Spain, where he died in disgrace. His good -qualities were much admired by Castiglione, who had fought against him, -but his fame was not unstained by acts of cruelty and bad faith, which -(it is fair to say) were common at the time and seem to have been -committed only against his master’s foes. Giorgione is said to have -painted his portrait at Venice, and a life of him by Paolo Giovio was -published at Florence in 1552. - -[Illustration: - - CONSALVO DE CORDOBA - “THE GREAT CAPTAIN” - 1443-1515 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of Annibal’s medal in the National Museum - at Florence. See Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, i, 176. - -Note 240 page 139. The Spanish word _vino_ means not only “wine” but -also “he came.” In pronunciation it would be easily mistaken for _Y-no_. -_Y no lo conocistes_ is the Spanish for “And thou knewest Him not.” -Compare St. John, i, 11. - -Note 241 page 139. The word _marano_ (here rendered “heretic”) meant a -renegade Moor, and is said by Symonds to have been generally used in -Italy at this time as a term of reproach against Spaniards. - -Note 242 page 139. GIACOMO SADOLETO, (born 1477; died 1547), was a -native of Modena and the son of a noted jurist, Giovanni Sadoleto. He -studied Latin at Ferrara and Greek at Rome, where he settled in the -pontificate of Alexander VI and acquired a great reputation for -learning. Leo X appointed him a secretary at the same time with Bembo, -(who shared with him the name of being the best Latinist of the day), -and soon made him Bishop of Carpentras, a town fifteen miles north-east -of Avignon. He was secretary also to Clement VII, to whom he boldly -declared that the sack of Rome (1527) was inflicted by God as a -punishment for human wickedness. Paul III created him a cardinal in -1536. A sincerely pious man, he was conscious of the evils of the Church -and did not escape suspicion of heresy. He was a close friend of -Vittoria Colonna, and the Roman Academy often met at his house on the -Quirinal. Besides Latin poems (one of which, on the newly discovered -Laocoön group, made him famous), his works include commentaries on the -Psalms and the Epistle to the Romans, and a Latin exhortation to the -princes and people of Germany against Lutheran heresies. Although far -from rich, he was very charitable, especially in providing young men of -his flock with the means of education. - -Note 243 page 139. LUDOVICO DA SAN BONIFACIO is identified by Cian as a -Paduan, who held the offices of prothonotary and private chamberlain -under Leo X, successfully disputed with Bembo the possession of a -canonry at Padua in 1514, was sent to different courts by Leo, and died -at Padua in 1545. - -ERCOLE RANGONE, (died 1572), belonged to an illustrious family of -Modena, and achieved some note as a soldier and diplomatist, having -commanded the Florentine forces in 1529, and served as Ferrarese -ambassador to France, Spain and Germany. He was esteemed by Castiglione, -of whose wife Ippolita Torello he seems to have been a kinsman. - -The COUNT OF PEPOLI probably belonged to a noble Bolognese family of -that name, but has not been identified with certainty. - -Note 244 page 140. Of SALLAZA DALLA PEDRADA nothing seems to be known -beyond the mention of him in the text. - -Note 245 page 140. PALLA DEGLI STROZZI, (born 1372; died 1462), was a -wealthy and cultivated Florentine patrician. Having honourably filled -high offices of state, he was banished by Cosimo de' Medici in 1434 for -ten years to Padua. Himself an enthusiastic scholar and patron of -classical studies, he caused many Greek MSS. to be brought into Italy -(including works of Plato, Aristotle and Plutarch), and was the first -Italian to collect books for the express purpose of founding a public -library, in the execution of which design he was prevented by his exile -from anticipating Cosimo. He employed learned Greeks to read to him, and -was instrumental in inducing Chrysoloras to teach at Florence,—an -engagement regarded by Symonds as having secured the future of Hellenic -study in Europe. The story narrated of him in the text is elsewhere told -of an exile belonging to the Albizzi family. - -Note 246 page 140. COSIMO DE' MEDICI, _Pater Patriæ_, (born 1389; died -1464), was a Florentine banker, statesman and patron of literature and -art. In his father Giovanni’s house of business he cultivated the rare -faculty for finance that he afterwards employed in public administration -and private commerce. He inherited his father’s vast fortune in 1429, -and made it a practice to lend money to needy citizens and at the same -time to involve the affairs of Florence with his own,—thus not only -attaching individuals to his interests, but rendering it difficult to -control state expenditures apart from his own bank. He understood also -how to use his money without exciting jealousy, and while he spent large -sums on public works, he declined the architect Brunelleschi’s plans for -a residence more befitting a prince than a citizen. He was an early -riser, and temperate and simple in his life. While ruling Florence with -despotic power, he seemed intent on the routine of his counting-house, -and put forward other men to execute his political schemes. Despite -occasional checks, he so firmly established the influence of his family -as the real rulers of Florence that they were not permanently expelled -until the nineteenth century. Much of his power was due to sympathy with -the intellectual movement of the age, and although he was not a Greek -scholar, he had a solid education, and collected MSS., gems, coins and -inscriptions, employing his commercial agents in the work. During a year -of exile, he built a library at Venice, and later he built one at -Florence and another at Fiesole. His house was the centre of a literary -and philosophical society, which included all the wits of Florence and -the strangers who flocked to that capital of culture. - -Note 247 page 140. CAMILLO PORCARO, or PORZIO, (died 1517), was a -brother of the Antonio Porcaro already mentioned in THE COURTIER (at -page 138; see note 233). He was a professor of rhetoric at Rome, and a -canon of St. Peter’s. Leo X made him Bishop of Teramo, a town near the -Adriatic north-east of Rome. He was a member of the Roman Academy, and -some of his Latin verse has survived. - -[Illustration: - - COSIMO DE' MEDICI - _PATER PATRIÆ_ - 1389-1464 -] - -Enlarged from a coloured cast of a medal (no. 31), in the King’s Library - at the British Museum, attributed to Niccolò Fiorentino. - -Note 248 page 140. MARCANTONIO COLONNA, (died 1522), the son of -Pierantonio Colonna and Bernardina Conti, was a second cousin of -Vittoria Colonna. His wife Lucrezia Gara della Rovere was a niece of -Julius II and sister of the Cardinal Galeotto della Rovere already -mentioned (at page 122; see note 189). In 1502 he fled from Rome to -escape the persecution of the Borgias, repaired to the kingdom of -Naples, and took service under the “Great Captain.” He served also in -the armies of Julius II, Maximilian I, and Francis I, and took part in -nearly all the wars of his time. He was cited as a model of physical -beauty and martial prowess. - -Note 249 page 141. DIEGO GARZIA is regarded by the Spanish annotator, -Fabié, as identical with the famous warrior Diego Garcia de Paredes, -(born 1466; died 1530), who began the life of a soldier at the age of -twelve, and had a brilliant share, with the “Great Captain,” in the -expulsion of the Moors from Spain and later in the Italian campaigns. He -was a man of great height and strength, and is said on one occasion to -have stopped the wheel of a rapidly moving wind-mill with his single -hand. Charles V made him a Knight of the Golden Spur, and he is often -called the Chevalier Bayard of Spain. - -Note 250 page 141. LOUIS XII, (born 1462; died 1515), was the son of -Duke Charles d'Orléans and Anne of Cleves. He accompanied Charles VIII -into Italy in 1494, became king on his cousin’s death in 1498, and the -following year married Charles’s widow Anne of Brittany. In 1500 he -expelled Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan, to whose duchy he laid claim as -the grandson of Valentina Visconti. The following year he conquered -Naples in alliance with Ferdinand the Catholic, but quarrelled with his -ally over the division of the country, with the result that his force -was defeated by the “Great Captain” at Garigliano in 1503, and withdrew -from Naples in 1504. He joined the League of Cambray against Venice in -1508, but in 1511 the Holy League was formed against him, and in 1513 -the French were again compelled to leave Italy. On the death of Anne of -Brittany in 1514, he married Mary, the youthful sister of Henry VIII of -England, to whom in dying (1 January 1515) he is reported to have said: -“Dear, I leave thee my death as a New Year’s gift.” He was sincerely -regretted by his subjects, and was known as “The Father of His People.” -Michelet says of him: “He was a good man, honest by nature, sometimes -absurd, indiscreet, talkative, testy; but he had a heart, and the only -way for men to flatter him was to persuade him that they desired the -good of his subjects.” Among his sayings was “Good king, stingy king; I -prefer to be ridiculous to my courtiers, than deaf to my people.” - -Note 251 page 141. DJEM or ZIZIM, (born 1459; died 1495), was a son of -Mahomet II, the conqueror of Constantinople. On the death of his father -in 1481, he tried to dispossess his brother as sultan, but being -defeated, he sought refuge at Rhodes, where the Knights of the Order of -St. John received him for a while, and then sent him to France. In 1489 -he was surrendered to the custody of Innocent VIII, from whom he passed -into the hands of Alexander VI. Both these pontiffs received a subsidy -for his maintenance from his brother the sultan. In 1495 Charles VIII -took him to Naples, where he was imprisoned and soon died from the -effect (it is supposed) of poison administered at Rome by order of -Alexander VI. Of his life at the papal court, we get the following -glimpse in a letter from Mantegna to the Marquess of Mantua: “The Turk’s -brother is here, strictly guarded in the palace of his Holiness, who -allows him all sorts of diversion, such as hunting, music, and the like. -He often comes to eat in this new palace where I paint [i.e., the -Belvedere], and, for a barbarian, his manners are not amiss. There is a -sort of majestic bearing about him, and he never doffs his cap to the -Pope, having in fact none;... He eats five times a day, and sleeps as -often; before meals he drinks sugared water like a monkey. He has the -gait of an elephant, but his people praise him much, especially for his -horsemanship: it may be so, but I have never seen him take his feet out -of the stirrups, or give any other proof of skill. He is a most savage -man, and has stabbed at least four persons, who are said not to have -survived four hours. A few days ago, he gave such a cuffing to one of -his interpreters that they had to carry him to the river, in order to -bring him round. It is believed that Bacchus pays him many a visit. On -the whole he is dreaded by those about him. He takes little heed of -anything, like one who does not understand or has no reason. His way of -life is quite peculiar; he sleeps without undressing, and gives audience -sitting cross-legged, in the Parthian fashion. He carries on his head -sixty thousand yards of linen, and wears so long a pair of trousers that -he is lost in them, and astonishes all beholders.” - -Note 252 page 141. The GRAND TURK in question was Bajazet II, (born -1447; died 1512), who succeeded his father (Mahomet II, the conqueror of -Constantinople) in 1481, was almost uninterruptedly engaged in war with -Hungary, Venice, Egypt and Persia, was deposed by his son Selim, and -died soon afterwards. He was repeatedly invited by Alexander VI to -invade Europe and fight the pope’s Christian enemies. The friendly -relations between the two were closely connected with the captivity of -Bajazet’s brother, just mentioned. As a token of his gratitude, the Turk -sent Innocent VIII the “Lance of Longinus,” the centurion who was -supposed to have pierced the Saviour’s side on Calvary and afterwards to -have been converted to Christianity. As a reward for the death of his -brother, he sent Alexander VI a sum of money equivalent to over £500,000 -sterling, and a tunic alleged to have been worn by the Saviour. These, -however, were intercepted by the pope’s enemy, Giuliano della Rovere, -afterwards Julius II. - -Note 253 page 142. The Archbishopric of Florence was occupied by Roberto -Folco from 1481 until his death in 1530. - -‘The Alexandrian cardinal’ is the name by which Giannantonio di -Sangiorgio, (born 1439; died 1509), was commonly known. At the age of -twenty-seven he became professor of canon law at Pavia. In 1479 he was -made Bishop of Alexandria, and soon afterwards called to Rome and made -an Auditor of the _Ruota_ (see note 292), which office he continued to -hold until he was created a cardinal in 1493. He was regarded as the -most eminent jurist of his day. - -[Illustration: - - BAJAZET II OF TURKEY - 1447-1512 -] - -Enlarged, with the courteous permission of the Director of the New York - Public Library, from a photographic copy of an engraving in Paolo - Giovio’s “Eulogy.” - -Note 254 page 142. Besides the mention of this NICOLETTO in the text, -nothing more seems to be known of him beyond the following anecdote: “Of -messer Nicoletto da Orvieto it is narrated that, being in the service of -that very courteous pontiff Pope Leo, he once won the lasting favour of -his Holiness with only four words; for one day, the talk turning upon a -certain vacant benefice which was sought after by a member of the -Vitelli family to whom it could be given, he said humourously: ‘Holy -Father, fitness requires that it be by all means conferred on Vitello -(calf), the more because it has no nearer or closer kinsman than he -is,’—playing on the word ‘vacant,’ which he seemed to derive from -_vacca_ (cow), the mother of the calf.” Garzoni’s _L’Hospidale de’ Pazzi -Incurabili_, (Piacenza: 1586), page 142. - -Note 255 page 142. Antonio Cammelli, (born 1440; died 1502), called -PISTOIA from the name of his birthplace, was a prolific writer of verse, -chiefly sonnets of a humourous and satirical character, which have no -small historical value. He spent the larger part of his life in the -service of the d’Este at Ferrara, and in that of Duke Ludovico Sforza, -of Milan, to whom he remained faithful in adversity. An edition of his -verse was published at Turin by Renier in 1888. - -The SERAFINO here mentioned is identified by Cian as a now almost -forgotten lyric poet, Serafino Ciminelli, (born 1466; died 1500), who -was a native of Aquila (fifty-five miles north-east of Rome), and a -welcome guest at the courts of Naples, Rome, Urbino, Mantua and Milan. -His verse was by some preferred to that of Petrarch, and the unbounded -popularity which he enjoyed was doubtless due to the skill with which he -improvised to his own accompaniment on the lute. He was a short ugly man -of elfish appearance. - -Note 256 page 142. GIOVANNI GONZAGA, (born 1474; died 1523), was the -third son of the Marquess Federico of Mantua and Margarita of Bavaria. -He married Laura Bentivoglio, fought in his youth against Charles VIII, -and in 1512 was in the service of the Sforza family. He was employed -also by his brother Gianfrancesco, Marquess of Mantua, in political -negotiations. In 1519, on the death of Lucrezia Borgia, he wrote to his -nephew, the new Marquess Federico of Mantua: “Lucrezia’s death -occasioned much grief throughout the city, and his Ducal Highness in -particular displayed extreme distress. Men here tell wonderful things of -her life: for the last ten years she wore a hair shirt; and for two -years she has been in the habit of confessing every day, and of -attending Communion three or four times a month.” - -Note 257 page 142. Giovanni’s son ALESSANDRO GONZAGA was born in 1497, -and died in 1527. - -Note 258 page 142. GIACOMO D’ATRI (or d’Adria Picena) was made Count of -PIANELLA by Ferdinand II of Naples in 1496, as a reward for faithful -service. He acted as confidential secretary to the Marquess -Gianfrancesco of Mantua in various wars, and especially in the campaigns -against Charles VIII. - -Note 259 page 143. PHILIP II of Macedon, the conqueror of Greece, was -born 382 and died 336 B.C. - -Note 260 page 143. This retort has by others been ascribed to a -Florentine ambassador at Siena, and his name given as Guido del Pelagio. - -Note 261 page 144. MARIO DE’ MAFFEI DA VOLTERRA, (born 1464; died 1537), -occupied successively the offices of Archpriest at Volterra, Sacristan -of the Vatican, Bishop of Aquino, and Bishop of Cavaillon in France. - -Note 262 page 144. AGOSTINO BEVAZZANO or Beazzano, (_flor._ 1500-1550), -was born at Treviso, near Venice, of which republic his ancestor -Francesco had been chancellor in the 15th century. His own portrait hung -in the Grand Council Chamber at Venice. He lived some time in Venice, -but in 1514 he was employed as secretary by Bembo and sent to Leo X at -Rome, where he resided chiefly until 1526. Besides being a noted writer -of Italian and Latin verse, he acquired great skill in public affairs -and came to be regarded as an oracle at the papal court. Late in life he -was painfully afflicted with gout, and passed the last years of his life -at Verona and at Treviso, where he died and was buried in the cathedral. - -Note 263 page 145. The MARQUESS FEDERICO GONZAGA of Mantua, (born 1440; -died 1484), was the son of the Marquess Ludovico and Barbara of -Brandenburg, and married Margarita, daughter of Duke Albert III of -Bavaria. His family attained sovereign power at Mantua in 1354 and -continued to exercise it for nearly four centuries. Having succeeded to -the marquisate on the death of his father in 1478, he expelled from -Italy the Swiss who were besieging Lugano, joined the Milanese in a -league against the pope in 1479, and in 1482 joined another league -against Venice. He is said to have committed suicide. - -Note 264 page 145. NICCOLÒ LEONICO TOMEO, (born 1456; died 1531), was a -native of Venice, and belonged to an Albanian family. He studied Greek -under Chalcondylas at Florence, and for many years taught philosophy at -Padua, being the first Italian to expound Aristotle from the original -text. He wrote philosophical and moral dialogues and also some Italian -verse. His friend Bembo wrote of him: “An illustrious philosopher both -in life and learning, equally versed in Latin and Greek, wherein he -lived and dwelt, leaving ambition and thirst for riches to others.” He -was also a wit. - -Note 265 page 145. AGOSTINO FOGLIETTA, (died 1527), was a Genoese -nobleman, who exercised great authority at Rome under Leo X and Clement -VII. He was a warm friend of Castiglione, who received cordial aid from -him in the efforts that were made on behalf of Francesco Maria della -Rovere. He was slain in the sack of Rome by a shot from an arquebuse. In -other MS. versions of THE COURTIER the names of Fedra (Tommaso -Inghirami) and Antonio di Tommaso appear in place of Foglietta’s. - -[Illustration: - - ALFONSO I OF NAPLES - 1385-1458 -] - -Reduced from Giraudon’s photograph (no. 137) of a drawing, in the - Louvre, by Vittore Pisano, better known as Pisanello, (1380?-1451?). - The drawing is believed to have been used in designing medals. - -Note 266 page 146. GIOVANNI DI CARDONA was a Spanish soldier in the -service of the “Great Captain” and of Cesare Borgia. He had a brother -Ugo (mentioned at page 147, see note 271) and another brother Pedro, who -was Count of Gosilano. Giovanni seems to have fallen at the battle of -Ravenna in 1512. - -Note 267 page 146. Of ALFONSO SANTACROCE nothing more is known than is -contained in this mention of him in the text. - -Note 268 page 146. Francesco Alidosi, CARDINAL OF PAVIA, (died 1511), -was descended from the Lords of Imola, being the second son of the Lord -of Castel del Rio. Having been educated for the Church, he attached -himself to Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, whose lasting gratitude he -won by steadfastly refusing to poison the cardinal at the desire of -Alexander VI. On the accession of Julius II, he was rapidly promoted in -spite of the objections raised in the consistory on the score of his -questionable character. He was made Bishop of Miletus, Bishop of Pavia, -a cardinal (1505), Legate of the Patrimony, Legate of Romagna, and -Archbishop of Bologna. In these offices he proved violently tyrannical -and a ruthless and bloody persecutor, especially of the Bolognese -partisans of the Bentivogli; so that the city rose against him in 1511 -and drove him out. His assassination by young Francesco Maria della -Rovere has been already mentioned (see note 3). The odium connected with -his name finds an echo also in another passage in the text, page 151. - -Note 269 page 146. ALFONSO I of Naples, (born 1385; died 1458), -succeeded his father Ferdinand the Just as King of Aragon and Sicily in -1416, and in 1435 managed to enforce against René of Provence his double -claim to Naples, based upon his descent from the former Hohenstauffen -rulers of that kingdom, and also upon his adoption as heir by the last -Angevin queen of Naples. Scholarly, enlightened, generous and -benevolent, he was the ideal type of royal Mæcenas and the hero of his -century. He often went afoot and alone about his capital, saying that “a -father, walking amid his children, has naught to fear.” On one occasion -when a galley full of soldiers and sailors was about to sink, and the -men he had ordered to their rescue were hesitating, he leaped into a -skiff, crying, “I prefer to be the companion rather than a spectator of -their death.” When Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks in -1453, he welcomed learned refugees to his capital; his court was a -meeting-place for the savants of his time; and even when engaged in war, -his captains might be seen gathered near their king, listening to his -exposition of Livy instead of wasting their leisure at games of chance. -He was noted also for his gentle disposition and merry humour and seems -to have deserved his title of “the Magnanimous.” - -Note 270 page 147. The battle of Cerignola (a town in Apulia near Cannæ, -the scene of one of Hannibal’s victories) was fought 28 April 1503, -between the Spanish army under the “Great Captain” and the French forces -of Louis XII, and resulted in the defeat of the latter with the loss of -more than half their men. - -Note 271 page 147. UGO DI CARDONA, a brother of the Giovanni already -mentioned, was a Spanish soldier who fought under Cesare Borgia and the -“Great Captain,” and was killed by the hand of Francis I at the battle -of Pavia in 1525. - -Note 272 page 147. This is a corruption of the name of St. Erasmus, a -Syrian bishop who suffered martyrdom about 304, and became a favourite -saint among the sailors on the Mediterranean. His name is given to -certain electrical phenomena often seen at sea and on land also. - -Note 273 page 147. OTTAVIANO UBALDINI, (died 1498), was the son of a -famous condottiere, Bernardino Ubaldini, and Aura di Montefeltro, a -sister of Duke Federico. His father having died in 1437, he was bred at -the court of Urbino and became the trusted counsellor of his uncle -Federico, who left to him the guardianship of the young duke, -Guidobaldo. To personal valour and address in statecraft he united (if -we may trust the rhymed chronicle of Raphael’s father) a knowledge of -classic literature, and a taste for music and the other fine arts. He is -known to have been a zealous cultivator of astrology. By some writers -Duke Federico (the circumstances of whose birth were not free from -mystery) was believed to have been an Ubaldini, and this Ottaviano was -openly regarded as his brother. - -Note 274 page 147. ANTONELLO DA FORLI was a soldier of fortune who died -before May 1488, and of whom little seems to be known apart from this -anecdote. It is found also in two other books, where the witty -Florentine is named as Cosimo de’ Medici. - -Note 275 page 147. San Leo was a fortress perched on an almost -inaccessible crag eighteen miles north-west of Urbino. It is mentioned -by Dante (_Purgatorio_, iv, 25) and also by Machiavelli (Art of War, iv) -as a place of great natural strength. When in the spring of 1502 Cesare -Borgia disclosed his hostile designs against Duke Guidobaldo, the -latter, knowing that he could not hold out at Urbino, retired to San -Leo, but soon afterwards fled in the garb of a peasant, and the castle -was surrendered. In the same year, however, it was recaptured by -stratagem. In the spring of 1503 it was besieged by the adherents of -Borgia, and bravely defended for six months by Ottaviano Fregoso and the -castellan Lattanzio da Bergamo (referred to in the text), in the hope of -succour from Guidobaldo, who had taken refuge at Venice. Cian says that -the place at last fell and was not again recovered by Guidobaldo until -after the death of Alexander VI. On the other hand Dennistoun (ii, 13) -asserts that by a reinforcement of twenty-five men the castle was -enabled to hold out until Guidobaldo’s restoration; he assigns the -incident in the text to the first capture (1502), gives the name of the -castellan as Scarmiglione da Foglino, and affirms that the surrender was -treacherous. - -[Illustration: - - CESARE BORGIA - 1478-1507 -] - -Reduced from Alinari’s photograph (no. 13438) of the portrait, in the - Correr Museum at Venice, formerly ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci, but - recently attributed by Berenson to Francesco Beccaruzzi. - -Note 276 page 147. DUKE VALENTINO, i.e. Cesare Borgia, Duke of -Valentinois, (born 1478; died 1507), was an openly acknowledged son of -Cardinal Roderigo Borgia (afterwards Alexander VI) by Rosa Vanozza, who -was the mother also of Cesare’s sister Lucrezia. Created a cardinal on -his father’s accession, he procured the murder of his brother Giovanni -in 1497, resigned his cardinalate the same year, was given the French -duchy of Valentinois in 1498, and married Charlotte d’Albret, daughter -of the King of Navarre, in 1499. Having been created Duke of Romagna by -his father in 1501, he proceeded to reduce the various fiefs comprised -within his intended domain, including the duchy of Urbino. After the -death of Alexander VI, Cesare was held in captivity by Julius II and by -Ferdinand the Catholic, escaped to his father-in-law’s court in 1506, -and fell in battle the following year, the very day after the close of -the Courtier dialogues. Handsome, accomplished and subtle, he was a -patron of learning and an adept in the cruel and perfidious politics of -his day. Upon his public career is founded the famous _Principe_ of -Machiavelli, who says: “If all the duke’s achievements are considered, -it will be found that he built up a great superstructure for his future -power; nor do I know what precepts I could furnish to a prince better -than such as are to be derived from his example.” - -Note 277 page 148. Literally: “It must be believed to have been in -despair.” - -Note 278 page 148. PUBLIUS CORNELIUS SCIPIO NASICA (Scipio with the -pointed nose), was an eminent Roman jurist who was Consul in 191 B.C., -and own cousin of Scipio Africanus the Elder. - -Note 279 page 148. ALONSO CARILLO is said by Cian to have been one of -the many Spaniards who lived at Rome in the service of popes and -cardinals belonging to that nation. The Spanish annotator Fabié -identifies him as a son of Don Luis and Donna Costanza de Rivera. - -Note 280 page 148. MY LADY BOADILLA. Cian’s identification of this lady -as Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, Marchioness of Moya, is confirmed by -the fact that Boscan’s translation (1534) gives her name as the -Marchioness of Moya instead of ‘my lady Boadilla.’ She and her husband -are warmly mentioned in a codicil to Isabella the Catholic’s will, as -being among that queen’s most dear and faithful friends. - -Note 281 page 149. In this passage, Antonio Ciccarelli’s expurgated -edition (1584) substitutes “a painter of antiquity” for Raphael, -“certain Roman senators” for the two cardinals, and Romulus and Remus -for St. Peter and St. Paul. The picture in question has been identified -as one painted by Raphael in 1513-14 for the church of San Silvestro. - -Note 282 page 149. ‘Aught else ... upon thy shoulders,’ i.e., a head. -The Cato referred to was probably MARCUS PORCIUS CATO UTICENSIS, (born -95 B.C., died 46 B.C.), the Roman philosopher and patriot who espoused -the cause of Pompey, and committed suicide on hearing of Cæsar’s victory -at Thapsus. - -Note 283 page 150. This queen must have been Isabella the Catholic; see -note 391. - -Note 284 page 150. RAFAELLO DE’ PAZZI, (born 1471, died 1512), was a -native of Florence, but was bred away from his home, doubtless owing to -the proscription of his family for participation in the Pazzi conspiracy -against Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici. Having fought for Cesare Borgia -and later for Julius II, he was captured by the French in 1511, and was -slain the following year in the battle of Ravenna. - -Note 285 page 150. THE PRIOR OF MESSINA is now identified by Cian as a -Spanish soldier, Don Pedro de Cuña, who was killed at the battle of -Ravenna in 1512. - -Note 286 page 151. Of PAOLO TOLOSA nothing more is known than is -contained in the text. - -Note 287 page 151. Like purple in Roman times, rose was the aristocratic -colour at this period. Cosimo is reported by Machiavelli (_Storia -Fiorentina_, vii, 6) to have said that “two ells of rose-coloured cloth -make a man of quality.” - -Note 288 page 151. GIANOTTO DE’ PAZZI is regarded by Cian as possibly -identical with a certain Florentine, Giovanni de’ Pazzi, who was born in -1476 and died in 1528. - -Note 289 page 151. Of ANTONIO RIZZO nothing more is known than is -contained in the text. - -Note 290 page 151. ‘The renunciation of a benefice,’ i.e. the notarial -deed or testament by which a priest resigned his benefice or prebend in -favour of someone else. - -Note 291 page 151. ANTONIO TORELLO, (died 1536), was private chamberlain -to Julius II and Leo X, who conferred a canonry and several prebends -upon him in 1514. In the briefs he is designated as a priest of the -diocese of Foglino, and is given certain benefices there, which had -fallen vacant on the death of another priest. We thus infer that Torello -must have been familiar with the subject referred to in the text. He was -made a Roman citizen in 1530. - -Note 292 page 151. These two hunchbacks have not been identified. “The -Wheel” (_la Ruota_ or _Rota della Giustizia_, or simply _la Rota_) was -the highest civil and criminal court of Rome prior to 1870. Its name may -have originated in the circular arrangement of the judges’ (auditors’) -seats (compare the _hemicyclium_ of Cicero’s time), or possibly in a -wheel-shaped porphyry figure set in the pavement of the hall where they -sat. The play is of course on the double meaning of the word _torto_, -crooked, wrong. - -Note 293 page 151. LATINO GIOVENALE DE’ MANETTI, (born 1486; died 1553), -was a native of Rome, and a canon of St. Peter’s, but being of minor -rank he had a wife and children. He held various offices, including that -of Commissary General of Roman Antiquities, and was employed in several -papal embassies. A writer of Latin and Italian verse, he was a friend of -Castiglione, Bembo and Bibbiena, and is mentioned in the autobiography -of Cellini, who says that he “had a pretty big dash of the fool in -him,”—apparently because he presumed to improve one of the sculptor’s -designs for a crucifix. - -Note 294 page 152. PERALTA is regarded by Cian as probably identical -with a certain Captain Luijse Galliego de Peralta, who bore a letter -(1521) from Castiglione at Rome to the Marquess Federico of Mantua, then -fighting against the French. In this letter Castiglione speaks of having -known Peralta for years as “a man of character and a valiant.” Cian -regards him as identical also with a certain Colonel Peralta, whose -death at the battle of Frosinone is mentioned (in a letter of 1526) -among those of other Spaniards. - -MOLART is identified by Cian as the French soldier of fortune, “Molard,” -who commanded a battalion of Gascons at the battle of Ravenna (11 April -1512), and who fell there bravely fighting by the side of Gaston de -Foix. - -ALDANA afterwards served under the Marquess of Mantua at Pavia in 1522, -having been summoned (as was Castiglione also) from Rome at the head of -his company. - -Note 295 page 152. The duel in question is thus described by Branthôme -in his Discourse on Duels: “The Grand Master de Chaumont, the King’s -Lieutenant in the State of Milan, also allowed a duel to two Spaniards -who had asked it of him. The name of one was Signor Peralta, who had -formerly been in the King of France’s service, ... and the other -Spaniard was called Captain Aldana. Their combat was on horse, _à la -genette_ (jennet), with rapier and dagger and three darts to each man. -Peralta’s second was another Spaniard, and Aldana’s was the gentle -Captain Molart. It had snowed so much that their encounter took place in -the Piazza at Parma, from which the snow had been cleared, and there -being no other barriers than the snow, each of the two combatants did -his duty right well. And at last my lord de Chaumont, who had appointed -the ground and was umpire, caused them to retire with equal honour.” - -Note 296 page 152. Cian inclines to regard this Master MARCANTONIO as -identical with a certain eccentric physician of the same name, who lived -at Urbino and was the author of a fantastic law book and a long comedy. -Of BOTTONE DA CESENA nothing more is known than is contained in the -text. - -Note 297 page 152. ‘Three sticks,’ i.e., the gallows. - -Note 298 page 152. Of the three persons bearing the name ANDREA COSCIA -and known to have lived at this time, it is uncertain which one is here -referred to. - -Note 299 page 152. A MS. copy of THE COURTIER contains the following -passage: “Again a Venetian (forgive me, messer Pietro), coming to visit -my lady Maddalena, sister to my lady Duchess,—as soon as he was near he -offered her his hand, but without removing his cap. My lady Maddalena -drew back a step, and drew back her hand too, saying: ‘Gentle Sir, put -on your cap; cover your head.’ He still advanced and offered his hand; -whereupon she replied: ‘I will never do it, unless you cover.’ Thus the -poor man was so put to shame that he at last removed his cap.” Under -similar circumstances Madame Bernhardt is said to have reproved Edward -VII (then Prince of Wales) by feigning not to recognize him with his hat -on. - -Note 300 page 152. MY LORD CARDINAL, i.e., Giovanni de’ Medici, -afterwards Leo X, (born 1475; died 1521). He was the second son of -Lorenzo de’ Medici and Clarice Orsini, and an elder brother of the -Magnifico of THE COURTIER. Made a cardinal at the age of thirteen, and -exiled from Florence with the rest of his family in 1494, he was present -at the election of Alexander VI, of whose character he is said to have -shown true appreciation at the time by remarking: “We are in the wolf’s -jaws; he will gulp us down, unless we make good our flight.” During the -reign of Julius II, he seems to have been subservient to that pontiff, -and in 1511 was a member of the court of six cardinals which acquitted -the young Duke of Urbino of the charge of murdering Cardinal Alidosi. -The pontificates of Alexander and Julius had exhausted Italy with wars, -and the Christian world, weary of their scandalous violence, hailed with -relief the accession of the cultivated and seemingly gentle young -prelate, Giovanni de’ Medici. Of his reign,—so brilliant in art and -letters, so disastrous to the Church,—it is enough to say that the key -is found in the famous phrase with which, on his elevation to the Chair -of St. Peter, he greeted his brother Giuliano: “Let us enjoy the Papacy, -since God hath given it us.” To him the immortality of the soul was an -open topic for debate, while he regarded sound Latinity and a ready -tongue as more important than true doctrine and pure living. Sincerely -zealous for the diffusion of liberal knowledge, he was extravagantly -munificent to artists, scholars and authors. Like all his family, after -the first Cosimo, he was a poor financier, and on his sudden death he -was found to have pawned the very jewels of his tiara. His reckless -expenditure led to the sale of indulgences, and thus in no small degree -to the progress of the Reformation. - -[Illustration: - - LUDOVICO SFORZA - DUKE OF MILAN - 1451-1508 -] - -Enlarged from a part of Alinari’s photograph (no. 14351) of the marble - tomb sculptures, now in the Certosa di Pavia near Milan, by - Cristoforo Solari, known as _il Gobbo_, (died 1540). - -Note 301 page 153. BIAGINO CRIVELLO was one of Duke Ludovico Sforza’s -captains, and is mentioned (July 1500) in a list of Sforza adherents who -had rebelled against Louis XII, and whose possessions were declared -forfeit. The list speaks of him as keeping himself at Mantua and in -Venetian territory, and as owning no attachable property in the -Milanese. In April of the same year an ineffectual demand had been made -upon the Marquess of Mantua for the surrender of Crivello and other -chiefs of the Sforza party. - -Note 302 page 153. THE DUKE, i.e., Ludovico Sforza, “Il Moro,” (born -1451; died 1508), was the fourth son of the Francesco Sforza whom Duke -Federico of Urbino had helped to become Duke of Milan (and whose father, -a peasant condottiere, Muzio Attendolo, became known as Sforza by reason -of great personal strength),—and of Bianca Maria, a daughter of the last -Visconti duke of Milan. Early noted for his physical and mental -qualities, Ludovico read and wrote Latin fluently, had a tenacious -memory, and was a ready speaker. He was tall and of strongly marked -features. Unlike his horrible brother Galeazzo Maria, he shunned -bloodshed. Banished from Milan after his brother’s assassination in -1476, he returned in triumph in 1479, and assumed the guardianship of -his nephew Giangaleazzo, for whom he chose as bride his sister’s child, -Isabella (see note 396), daughter of Alfonso II of Naples. Having first -sought the hand of Isabella d’Este (see note 397),—who was already -betrothed to the Marquess of Mantua,—in 1491 he married her younger -sister Beatrice (see note 398), whose influence is by some said to have -led him to aggravate the humiliation of his young nephew and niece, the -rightful duke and duchess. Being threatened by the latter’s father, the -King of Naples, Ludovico invited Charles VIII to enter Italy (1494) and -assert the Angevine claim to Naples. His unhappy nephew died the same -year, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by the uncle’s -order, who thereupon assumed the title as well as the despotic power of -duke. Becoming alarmed at the rapid success of the French in Italy, he -joined the league formed against them, and was afterwards punished for -his treachery by being expelled from Milan by Louis XII and carried to -France. It is said that at the time of his capture, the only favour he -asked was to be allowed the use of a volume of Dante. He died a prisoner -in the Castle of Loches, where, after a vain effort to escape, he was -confined in an underground dungeon. At the height of his prosperity his -revenues exceeded those of any Italian state except Venice. Policy and -also his natural taste for intellectual pleasures led him to copy the -Medici in their patronage of art and letters. He aspired to make his -capital a modern Athens, and sought to attract men of fame and talent -from far and wide. Both Leonardo da Vinci and the architect Bramante -were in his pay. - -Note 303 page 153. Cervia is a little town on the Adriatic (between -Ravenna and Rimini). A Dominican, Tommaso Cattanei, was bishop of the -diocese from 1486 to 1509. The pope referred to in the text was Julius -II. - -Note 304 page 155. ‘Montefiore Inn’ was a proverbial expression for a -bad hostelry. The rustic inns of Italy at this period were usually -wretched and for the most part kept by Germans. - -Note 305 page 156. One ANDREA CASTILLO was secretary to Leo X, and died -in 1545. - -Note 306 page 156. Cian identifies this CARDINAL BORGIA as the Francesco -(born 1441; died 1511) who was raised to the purple by Alexander VI, and -s’ known as a schismatic. - -Note 307 page 156. The modern form of _ballatore_ is _ballerino_. -Although the distinction is not free from doubt, there seems to be -reason for believing that _danzare_ was the term applied to the more -stately forms of dance, while _ballare_ was reserved for more animated -movements. See note 147. - -Note 308 page 157. The Bergamasque was and still is regarded as the -rudest and most rustic of the Italian dialects. - -Note 309 page 157. Except as applied to a small Tuscan stream or torrent -(flowing near Acquapendente and Orvieto, and finally tributary to the -Tiber), the name Paglia does not occur in modern Italian geography. In -his autobiography, Cellini mentions crossing the little stream on his -first journey from Siena to Rome. Later in the 16th century, Montaigne -records (in his diary of a trip into Italy) having spent the night at -“_La Paille_” (Italian, _Paglia_), and describes it as “a small village -of five or six houses at the foot of several barren and ill-favoured -mountains.” - -Note 310 page 157. They seem to have been playing _primero_ (the modern -_primiera_), a game much in vogue at this time. - -Note 311 page 158. Loreto is a small hill town near Ancona, and is -celebrated for its pilgrimage shrine of the Sacred House (_Santa Casa_), -which was reputed to have been the veritable dwelling of the Virgin, -miraculously transported by angels from Nazareth, and set down in Italy -in 1294. In 1511 and again in 1524 Castiglione wrote to his mother that -he was preparing to go to Our Lady of Loreto in fulfilment of a vow. The -name was said to be derived from that of the widow upon whose land the -house was deposited by the angels. - -Note 312 page 158. Acquapendente is the name of a small town sixty-seven -miles north-west of Rome. - -Note 313 page 159. MONSIGNOR OF SAN PIETRO AD VINCULA was the title of -Cardinal Galeatto della Rovere; see note 189. - -Note 314 page 159. MONSIGNOR OF ARAGON was the title of Cardinal -Ludovico of Aragon, (born 1474), a natural son of Ferdinand I of Naples, -and a half-brother of Alfonso II (see note 31) and Federico III of -Naples (see note 401). He was not elevated to the purple until 1519; -Castiglione’s mention of him as a cardinal in dialogues supposed to take -place twelve years earlier, doubtless arose from a natural confusion -between the time when and the time of which they were written. - -Note 315 page 159. ‘The _Banchi_’ (Banks) was the name of a street in -Rome well known in the 15th and 16th centuries. Containing the offices -of the papal Curia and magistrates, it became a preferred neighbourhood, -and was enriched with fine buildings, among which was the counting-house -of Julius II’s finance minister, Agostino Chigi, the greatest banker of -his day. - -Note 316 page 159. ‘The Chancery’ (_Cancelleria_) was a palace designed -about 1500 by Bramante for Cardinal Riario, but at this time used for -public offices and as the residence of Cardinal Galeotto della Rovere, -who had enlarged and embellished the building. It was not far from the -Banks. - -Note 317 page 159. San Celso was the name of a street and church near -the Banks. The saint (Celsus) whose memory is thus perpetuated was born -at what is now Cimiez, near Nice, suffered martyrdom at Rome under Nero, -and was finally put to death (together with his master, St. Nazarius) at -Milan in the year 69. - -Note 318 page 160. CESARE BECCADELLO is regarded by Cian as possibly -identical with a certain Bolognese, who was the son of Domenico Maria -Beccadello, married Landomia Fasanini, and was living at the papal court -as late as 1559. The Spanish annotator Fabié suggests that he was the -father (1502) of the author Ludovico Beccadello, who was a follower of -Bembo and wrote biographies of Petrarch and others. - -Note 319 page 161. These are characters occurring in the third, sixth -and ninth tales of the Eighth Day, and in the fifth tale of the Ninth -Day. - -Note 320 page 161. This knavish student seems to be identical with a -certain CAIO CALORIA PONZIO, who was born at Messina. Of his life little -more is known than that he studied law at Padua between 1479 and 1488, -and, after residing two years at Venice, returned to Sicily. For an -account of a short poem by him in praise of Venice, and of his dialect -comedy dedicated to the Marquess of Mantua, see Vittorio Rossi’s _Caio -Caloria Ponzio, e la poesia volgare letteraria di Sicilia nel Secolo -XV_, reprinted (Palermo, 1893) from the _Archivio Storico Siciliano_, N. -S., A., xviii. - -Note 321 page 161. The only belfry at Padua answering to this -description is said to be that of San Giacomo. - -Note 322 page 162. GONNELLA. This name was borne by two famous jesters -employed by the d’Este family. The one here referred to was probably the -later of the two, who lived at the courts of Dukes Niccolò III and -Borso, was the son of a Florentine glover Bernardo Gonnella, and married -one Checca Lapi. The next buffoon referred to was probably LUDOVICO -MELIOLO, who acted as steward to the court of Mantua about 1500, and was -a brother of the goldsmith and sculptor Bartolommeo Meliolo (1448-1514). -He was called “the father of jests.” - -Note 323 page 163. This is an instance of the use of the word _calunnia_ -(rendered ‘imputation’) in its primitive sense of malicious accusation -without reference to truth or falsity. - -Note 324 page 164. These characters occur in the sixth tale of the Third -Day, and in the seventh and eighth tales of the Seventh Day of -Boccaccio’s “Decameron.” - -Note 325 page 164. The queen here mentioned is of course Isabella the -Catholic; see note 391. - -Note 326 page 164. Fabié says that this COUNTESS OF CASTAGNETA was -Brazaida de Almada, daughter of a Portuguese cavalier Juan Baez de -Almada and Violante de Castro (of the same nation). She was a -lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella, and her husband Don Garci Fernandez -Manrique (third Count of Castagneta and first Marquess of Aguilar) took -part in the conquest of Granada. - -Note 327 page 167. If unconvinced by the “Decameron,” readers of the -_Corbaccio_ will surely be persuaded of the justice of this opinion. - -Note 328 page 167. According to one form of the legend of Orpheus, his -grief at the final loss of his wife Eurydice, when his lyre had all but -enabled him to recover her from Hades, led him to treat contemptuously -the Thracian women, who avenged the insult by tearing him in pieces -under the excitement of their Bacchanalian orgies. - -Note 329 page 167. ‘Braccesque leave’ (_una licentia bracciesca_ in the -Aldine folio of 1528, and _una licentia Bracciesca_ in the more -correctly printed Aldine folio of 1545) is a phrase derived from the -name of Braccio Fortebracci, a captain who was famous for his violence -to friend and foe, and whose followers were called Bracceschi. To give a -man Braccesque leave meant to dismiss him with blows. - -Note 330 page 169. Although in this and a few other passages, -Castiglione uses _virtù_ in the sense of our “virtue,” he more often -gives it its etymological meaning of “manliness,” which the present -translator has generally rendered by “worth.” In considering a word like -this, we must take into account the character of him who uses it. To -Machiavelli, as no doubt to most of his contemporaries in Italy, _virtù_ -meant simply that combination of strength, courage, tenacity and cunning -that enables a man to achieve his ends,—whether good or bad. - - - NOTES TO THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER - -Note 331 page 171. Achaia, here used as synonymous with Greece, was the -name given to that country when conquered by the Romans and made a -province. Olympia was not in Achaia proper, but in the adjoining -district of Elis, some forty miles south of the modern Patras. The site -has been thoroughly excavated by German archæologists, the most noted -discovery being that of the “Hermes” of Praxiteles and the “Victory” of -Pæonius. - -Note 332 page 172. That is to say, nude. According to the familiar Greek -myth, Eris (goddess of discord), to avenge her exclusion from the -nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, threw among the wedding guests a golden -apple inscribed “To the Fairest.” A dispute arising between Aphrodite, -Hera and Athena concerning the apple, Zeus appointed the shepherd Paris -to decide their claims. The prize having been awarded to Aphrodite, she -aided Paris to carry off the beautiful Helen of Sparta, and thus gave -rise to the Trojan War. - -Note 333 page 173. The Order of St. Michael was instituted in August -1469, by Louis XI of France, and was highly esteemed down to -Castiglione’s time, but later suffered in estimation, owing to the -freedom with which membership was bestowed. Francis I wore the insignia -of the order at the battle of Pavia, 1525. - -Note 334 page 173. The Order of the Garter was instituted by Edward III -of England in 1344. He assigned to its use the chapel (at Windsor) of -St. George, who was its patron saint. Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino having, -like his father, been made a knight of the order, Castiglione went to -England in 1506 to receive the insignia on the duke’s behalf. - -Note 335 page 173. The Order of the Golden Fleece was instituted by Duke -Philip the Good of Burgundy (paternal grandfather of Charles V’s -paternal grandmother) in 1429 in honour of his third marriage, to -Elizabeth of Portugal. Its badge, a golden ram, is shown in our -portraits of Charles V and his grandfather Maximilian I. - -Note 336 page 173. The king of Persia at this time was Ismail Sufi I, -(born 1480; died 1524). He was descended from a family of noted piety, -whose peculiar beliefs became the origin of the national Persian faith. -Having been proclaimed shah in 1499, after nearly a century of -disorderly government by the successors of Timur the Tartar, he spent -most of his reign in enlarging and assuring his dominions, and founded -the dynasty that was to rule Persia until 1736. He waged an unsuccessful -war with Selim I of Turkey, the son and successor of Bajazet II, and -died while on a pilgrimage to his own father’s tomb. His subjects -revered him as a saint. - -Note 337 page 174. The ‘Lady whom I know’ is of course the Duchess. - -Note 338 page 175. PYGMALION will be remembered as the legendary -sculptor-king of Cyprus, who fell in love with an ivory statue that he -had made of a beautiful girl, and prayed to Aphrodite to breathe life -into it. His prayer being granted, he married the girl, who was called -Galatea. - -Note 339 page 181. The opinions here ascribed to Plato, are found in the -Fifth Book of his “Republic,” but seem to have undergone serious change -when he wrote his “Laws.” - -Note 340 page 182. The comparative merits of man and woman were much -discussed in Greek antiquity and during the Renaissance, and form the -subject of a copious literature in which Castiglione’s contribution -occupies no unimportant place. - -Note 341 page 184. The reference here is to a fragment of the so-called -Orphic Hymns, beginning: “Jove the End, Jove the Beginning, Jove the -Middle, all things are of Jove: Jove Male, Immortal Virgin Jove.” In -this and other respects the theogony to which the name of Orpheus is -attached, is closely related to the most ancient religious systems of -India. - -Note 342 page 185. The author probably refers to Aristotle’s Tenth -Problem. - -Note 343 page 188. The reference here is doubtless to Jerome’s 54th -Epistle (on Widowhood), and to his first tract against Jovinianus, both -written about 394 A.D. He was born in what is now the Hungarian town of -Stridon about 340, and died in a monastery at Bethlehem 420 A.D. Perhaps -his best remembered work is the Vulgate or Latin translation of the -Bible. - -Note 344 page 189. “If not chastely, then discreetly.” - -Note 345 page 190. OCTAVIA, (born 70; died 11 B.C.), was a great-niece -of Julius Cæsar, and became the second wife of the triumvir Mark Antony -for the purpose (ultimately vain) of cementing the alliance between him -and her brother Augustus. Her beauty, accomplishments and virtues proved -unavailing against the wiles of Cleopatra, who induced Antony to divorce -her. After Antony’s death, she remained true to the interests of his -children, including those by his first wife and by Cleopatra. Through -the two daughters that she bore to Antony, she became the grandmother of -the Emperor Claudius, and great-grandmother of his predecessor Caligula -and of his successor Nero. - -Note 346 page 190. PORCIA’S first husband was Marcus Bibulus, who was -Consul with Cæsar in 59 B.C. She inherited her father’s republican -principles, courage and firm will, and was her second husband Brutus’s -confidante in the conspiracy against Cæsar. On his death at Philippi in -42 B.C., she put an end to her life. - -Note 347 page 190. CAIA CÆCILIA TANAQUIL appears in Roman legend as the -second wife of King Tarquinius Priscus, endowed with prophetic powers, -closely connected with the worship of the hearth-deity, expert in -healing, and a model of domestic virtues. The traditional date of her -husband’s reign is 616-578 B.C. - -Note 348 page 190. CORNELIA, the mother of the Gracchi (born about 189 -B.C.; died about 110 B.C.), wrote letters that had survived in Cicero’s -day and were prized for their style. Even in her own lifetime the Romans -erected a statue in honour of her virtues. Left a widow with twelve -young children, she devoted herself wholly to their training, and -rejected all offers of marriage, including that of Ptolemy. - -Note 349 page 191. Plutarch (from whose history the narrative in the -text is a paraphrase) describes ALEXANDRA as being actuated in her -regency solely by ambitious motives. Her husband, Alexander Jannæus, was -the son of Johannes Hyrcanus and brother of Aristobulus I, whom he -succeeded as second King of the Jews after the Babylonish Captivity. His -reign (104-78 B.C.) was marked by atrocities. - -Note 350 page 191. The reference here is to MITHRIDATES VI, Eupator, -King (120-63 B.C.) of Pontus on the southern shore of the Black Sea. In -the Life of Lucullus, Plutarch relates that having been utterly defeated -by the Romans in 72 B.C., Mithridates gave order to have his wives -Bernice and Monima put to death together with his sisters Statira and -Roxana, in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the -enemy,—while he himself took refuge with his son-in-law. Statira is -described by Plutarch as grateful to her brother for not forgetting her -amid his own anxieties, and for providing her the means of an honourable -death. - -Note 351 page 191. This HASDRUBAL was the general of the Carthaginians -in their last struggle with Rome. When Scipio captured Carthage in 146 -B.C., Hasdrubal surrendered, while it is said that his wife, after -upbraiding him for his weakness, flung herself and her children into the -flames of the burning temple in which they had sought shelter. - -Note 352 page 191. In fact, HARMONIA was Hiero’s granddaughter, and the -wife of a Syracusan named Themistus, who (after the death of Hiero in -215 B.C.) was chosen one of the leaders of the commonwealth and -afterwards perished in a fresh revolution. Death was then decreed -against all surviving members of Hiero’s family, and Harmonia was slain -together with her aunts, Demarata and Heraclea. - -Note 353 page 192. The reference is of course to the familiar story of -the obstinate dame who persisted in declaring that a certain rent had -been made with scissors, and whose husband vainly tried to change her -mind by plunging her in a pond. Each time she came to the surface, she -cried “Scissors,” until, unable to speak from strangulation, she -stretched forth her hand and made the sign of the instrument with two -fingers. In a coarser form, the story was current in Italy even before -Castiglione’s time. - -Note 354 page 192. The conspiracy in question was discovered in 65 A.D. -Tacitus relates that EPICHARIS strangled herself with her girdle while -on the way to be tortured a second time. - -Note 355 page 192. LEÆNA was an Athenian _hetaira_ beloved by -Aristogeiton. When he and Harmodius had slain the tyrant Hipparchus in -514 B.C., she was supposed to be privy to their plan, and died under -torture. The statue in question is mentioned by Pausanias and said by -Plutarch (in his essay on Garrulity) to have been placed “upon the gates -of the Acropolis.” Recent archæologists identify its site as being on -the level of the Acropolis, near the southern inner corner of the -Propylæa. - -Note 356 page 192. Massilia became the modern Marseilles. - -Note 357 page 192. This story is taken from the “Memorable Doings and -Sayings” of Valerius Maximus (_flor._ 25 A.D.), in which Castiglione -mistranslates the Latin word _publicè_ (at the public charge) as -_publicamente_ (publicly). - -Note 358 page 192. Of several persons of this name, the one here -referred to was probably the Roman Consul (14 A.D.),—a patron of -literature and a friend of Ovid. Had the Magnifico been allowed to -finish his sentence, he would (following the narrative of Valerius -Maximus) have doubtless added the name of a town in Asia Minor, Julida. - -Note 359 page 195. This story (which was used by Tennyson for his play -of “The Cup”) is found in Plutarch’s tract “Concerning Women’s Virtue,” -where the scene is placed in Galatia, in Asia Minor. - -Note 360 page 197. The number of the Sibyls is usually reckoned as ten: -Persian (or Babylonian), Libyan, Phrygian, Delphian, Cimmerian, -Erythræan, Samian, Trojan, Tiburtine, and Cumæan,—of which the last was -the most famous. - -Note 361 page 197. ASPASIA, (_flor._ 440 B.C.), was born at Miletus in -Asia Minor, but in her youth removed to Athens, where she was celebrated -for her talents and beauty, and became the mistress of Pericles, one of -whose orations she is said by Plato to have composed. Her house was the -centre of intellectual society, and was even frequented by Athenian -matrons and their husbands. - -Note 362 page 197. DIOTIMA was a probably fictitious priestess of -Mantinea in the Peloponnesus, reputed to have been the instructress of -Socrates. Her supposed opinions as to the origin, nature and objects of -life, form the subject of Plato’s “Symposium.” - -Note 363 page 197. NICOSTRATE or Carmenta was a prophetic and healing -divinity, supposed to be of Greek origin. Having tried to persuade her -son Evander to kill his father Hermes, she fled with the boy to Italy, -where she was said to have given the Roman form to the fifteen -characters of the Greek alphabet that Evander introduced into Latium. - -Note 364 page 197. This ‘preceptress ... to Pindar’ was MYRTIS, a lyric -poetess of the 6th century B.C. She is mentioned in a fragment by -Corinna as having competed with Pindar. Statues were erected to her in -various parts of Greece, and she was counted among the nine lyric muses. - -Note 365 page 197. Of PINDAR’S life little more is known than that he -resided chiefly at Thebes, and that the dates of his birth and death -were about 522 and 443 B.C. respectively. Practically all his extant -poems are odes in commemoration of victories in the public games. - -Note 366 page 197. The Greek poetess CORINNA (5th century B.C.) was a -native of Tanagra in Bœotia. She is said to have won prizes five times -in competition with Pindar. Only a few fragments of her verse remain. - -Note 367 page 197. SAPPHO flourished about 600 B.C., and seems to have -been born and to have lived chiefly at Mitylene. She enjoyed unique -renown among the ancients: on hearing one of her poems, Solon prayed -that he might not see death before he had learned it; Plato called her -the Tenth Muse; and Aristotle placed her on a par with Homer. For a -recently discovered and interesting fragment of her verse, see the Egypt -Exploration Fund’s “Oxyrhynchus Papyri,” Part I, p. 11. - -Note 368 page 198. Castiglione here follows Plutarch. Pliny, on the -other hand, affirms that Roman women were obliged to kiss their male -relatives, in order that it might be known whether they had transgressed -the law forbidding them to drink wine. - -Note 369 page 199. This paragraph is taken almost literally from Livy, -excepting the incident of the babies borne in arms, which Castiglione -seems to have invented. - -Note 370 page 199. TITUS TATIUS was the legendary king of the Sabines. -His forces were so strong that Romulus was driven back to the Saturnian -Hill, which had previously been fortified and which became the site of -the Capitol. The familiar story is to the effect that Tarpeia (daughter -to the captain of the fortress), being dazzled by the Sabines’ golden -bracelets, promised to betray the hill to them if they would give her -the ornaments on their left arms. Accordingly she admitted the enemy at -night, but when she claimed her reward, they threw down upon her the -shields that they wore on the left arm, and thus crushed her to death. -Her infamy is preserved in the name of the neighbouring Tarpeian Rock, -from which traitors were flung down. - -Note 371 page 199. There is said to be no historical mention of any -Roman temple to _Venus Armata_. Castiglione may have had in mind a -passage in the “Christian Cicero” (Lactantius Firmianus, who wrote about -300 A.D.), recording the dedication by the Spartans of a temple and -statue to the Armed Venus in memory of their women’s brave repulse of a -sudden attack by the Messenians during the absence of the Spartan army. - -Note 372 page 199. _Calva_ (bald) was one of the Roman Venus’s most -ancient epithets, under which she had two temples near the Capitol. Of -the several explanations of this appellation, Castiglione seems to refer -to the one which interprets it as the memorial of the Roman women’s -heroism in cutting off their hair to make bow-strings for the men during -a siege by the Gauls. - -Note 373 page 200. In his life of Camillus (died 365 B.C.), Plutarch -gives a legendary account of the origin of the Handmaidens’ Festival. At -a time when the Romans were ill prepared for war, the Latins sent to -demand of them a number of free-born maidens in marriage. This was -suspected as a trick to obtain hostages, but no method of foiling it was -devised until Tutula, a slave girl, advised the magistrates to send her -to the Latin camp along with some of the most beautiful handmaidens in -rich attire. This was done, and at night, when her companions had stolen -away the enemies’ weapons, Tutula displayed a signal torch agreed on -with the Romans, who at once sallied forth, easily captured the Latin -camp, and put most of the enemy to the sword. - -Note 374 page 200. The Romans are said to have wearied of Cicero’s -self-praise for his suppression of the Cataline conspiracy (63 B.C.). -The woman in question was a Roman patrician, Fulvia by name, who was the -mistress of one of the conspirators and divulged the plot to Cicero. - -Note 375 page 200. This DEMETRIUS (II) was grandson to the Demetrius I -already mentioned (see note 136), and ruled over Macedonia from about -239 to about 229 B.C. His son, PHILIP V (237-179 B.C.), joined Hannibal -in a war against Rome, which finally ended in the downfall of the -Macedonian monarchy and the captivity of his son and successor Perseus -(167 B.C.). The incident mentioned in the text is narrated by Plutarch -in his work on “Women’s Virtue,” as also is the instance next cited by -Castiglione, who however reverses the order of events. - -[Illustration: - - ANNE OF BRITTANY - QUEEN OF FRANCE - 1476-1514 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of a medal, in the National Museum at - Florence, by Jean Perreal (1460?-1528?). See note 387. - -Note 376 page 200. Erythræ was an important city on the west coast of -Asia Minor opposite Chios. The nearest approach to ‘Leuconia’ in ancient -geography is the distant town Leuconum in what is now Slavonia, between -the Danube and the Save. - -Note 377 page 201. Plutarch’s version of this story adds that in honour -of the Persian women’s bravery on this occasion, Cyrus (559-529 B.C.) -decreed that whenever the king returned from a long journey, each woman -should receive a ring of gold. - -Note 378 page 201. One of Plutarch’s minor works is entitled “Apothegms -and Famous Sayings of Spartan Women,” and Castiglione’s contemporary -Marcantonio Casanova wrote two Latin distiches on “The Spartan Mother -Slaying Her Son.” - -Note 379 page 201. Saguntum, the modern Murviedro, was a city of Greek -origin on the eastern coast of Spain. After a desperate siege of nearly -eight months, it was captured by Hannibal in 219 B.C. - -Note 380 page 201. The reference here is to the victory, at Vercelli -near Milan, by which the Roman general CAIUS MARIUS repelled the advance -of the Cimbri into Italy, 101 B.C. The sacred fire (supposed to have -been brought from Troy by Æneas as the symbol of Vesta, the hearth -deity) was kept alive at Rome by six virgins. - -Note 381 page 202. AMALASONTHA, (498-535 A.D.), was the daughter of -Theodoric the Great, and regent of the East Gothic kingdom from his -death in 526 until her own. After a prosperous reign she is said to have -been strangled by her cousin and second husband Theodatus, at the -instigation of the Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian. - -Note 382 page 202. THEODOLINDA, daughter of Duke Garibald of Bavaria, -married (589 A.D.) Autharis, King of the Lombards, and on his death in -the following year, she married Duke Agilulph of Turin, who was -proclaimed king in 591. She died in 625, after exercising the regency in -the name of her son. Her virtue, wisdom and beauty were extolled; she -was active in her labours on behalf of Christianity; and she carried on -a correspondence with St. Gregory, who was pope from 590 to 604. - -Note 383 page 202. The THEODORA here referred to is doubtless the wife, -not of Justinian, but of Theophilus, Emperor of Constantinople 829-842. -She died in 867, and was canonized by the Greek Church. - -Note 384 page 202. COUNTESS MATILDA, (1046-1115), one of the most famous -heroines of the Middle Ages, was the daughter of Duke Boniface of -Tuscany and Beatrice of Lorraine. She ruled over Tuscany and a large -part of northern Italy, espoused the papal cause against the Emperor, -and exercised an important influence upon the politics of her time. She -was noted also for her religious zeal, energy, and austere yet gentle -and cultivated life. Count Ludovico’s supposed descent from her paternal -uncle Conrad is now regarded as doubtful. - -Note 385 page 202. Among the eminent women here referred to, we may -note: Duke Guidobaldo’s grandfather’s wife, Caterina Colonna, (died -1438), who was a great-aunt of Vittoria Colonna, and was praised as -“noble, beautiful, discreet, charming, gentle and generous”; his -great-aunt Battista di Montefeltro, (died 1450), who, having been -deserted by her worthless Malatesta husband, wrote moral essays and -poetry, and was celebrated for her piety and mental gifts, as well as -for her learning and literary accomplishments; his aunt, Brigida Sueva -di Montefeltro, (born 1428), who, after enduring for twelve years the -brutalities of her Sforza husband, became an abbess and ultimately -received the honour of beatification,—her remains being revered as a -sacred relic; another aunt of his, Violante di Montefeltro, (born 1430), -who was famous for her talents and beauty; his maternal grandmother, -Costanza da Varano, (born 1428), was a granddaughter of the Battista -above mentioned, inherited much of that lady’s taste for learning, -became the associate of scholars and philosophers, wrote Latin orations, -epistles and poems, and (by her marriage to a brother of the first -Sforza duke of Milan) became the mother of Duke Guidobaldo’s own mother, -Battista Sforza, (born 1446), who rivalled her ancestresses’ -attainments, administered her husband’s government judiciously during -his frequent absences, and was regarded as beautiful, although tiny in -person. - -Note 386 page 202. Perhaps the most famous woman of the Gonzaga family -was “my lady Duchess’s” great-aunt, Cecilia Gonzaga, (born 1425), who -shared with her four brothers the tuition of the celebrated Vittorino da -Feltre, wrote Greek with remarkable purity at the age of ten, became a -nun at nineteen, devoted her life to religious and literary exercises, -and was regarded as one of the most learned women of her time. Her niece -(?), Barbara Gonzaga, (born about 1455), was educated with especial -care, became Duchess of Würtemberg, induced her husband to found the -University of Tübingen, and ruled the duchy as regent after his death. - -Of the Este family, two aunts (Ginevra, born 1419, and Bianca Maria, -born 1440) of Isabella and Beatrice d’Este (see notes 397 and 398), were -famous for their knowledge of Latin and Greek, in which languages the -younger wrote both prose and verse, besides being an accomplished -musician, dancer and needlewoman. - -Of the Pio family, Castiglione doubtless had in mind the celebrated Alda -Pia da Carpi, who was a sister of Aldus’s pupil and patron Alberto Pio, -aunt of Count Ludovico Pio of THE COURTIER (see note 46), and mother of -the still more celebrated poetess Veronica Gambara, (born 1485). - -[Illustration: - - MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA - 1480-1530 -] - -Head enlarged from Braun’s photograph (no. 13.796) of an anonymous - portrait group, in the Palace at Versailles, representing the - Emperor Maximilian I and his family. - -Note 387 page 202. ANNE DE BRETAGNE, (born 1476; died 1514), was the -daughter and heiress of Duke Francis II of Brittany, which became -permanently united to the crown of France through her marriages to -Charles VIII (1492) and Louis XII (1499). Castiglione’s praise of her -seems to have been in the main justified. Although sometimes vindictive, -she was generous, virtuous beyond the standard of her time, and carried -cultivation to the verge of pedantry. She surrounded herself with -artists, historians, minstrels and poets, and formed a collection of -MSS. and other precious objects, largely the spoils of her husbands’ -Italian campaigns. Branthôme called her “the worthiest and most -honourable queen that has been since Queen Blanche, mother of the king -St. Louis, and so wise and virtuous.” - -Note 388 page 202. CHARLES VIII, (born 1470; died 1498), was the son of -Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy. Having succeeded his father in 1483, -and assumed royal power in 1491, he married Anne of Brittany and soon -set about enforcing his pretensions to the crown of Naples, transmitted -to him through his father and cousin from René of Provence, to whom the -last Angevine ruler had devised the kingdom in 1435. As we have seen, -the immediate cause of the invasion of Italy (1494) was a request from -Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan and Pope Alexander VI. Although the -expedition was undertaken without adequate preparation and conducted -with incredible foolhardiness,—continuous good fortune together with the -mutual jealousies of Italian princes and the decadence of Italian -military power enabled Charles to enter Milan, Florence and Rome without -hindrance, to seize Naples almost unopposed, and (when threatened by a -powerful league formed against him) to retire northwards, to defeat the -Italians at Fornovo, and finally to reach France in safety, October -1495. His garrisons were driven from Naples in the following year, but -his foray had the immediate result of expelling the Medici from -Florence, and the far more important consequence of revealing to the -rest of Europe the wealth and helplessness of Italy,—thus paving the way -for the subsequent invasions with which the peninsula was scourged -during the 16th Century. The remainder of Charles’s life was given up to -inglorious ease and pleasure. A son of the painter Mantegna thus -describes him: “A very ill-favoured face, with great goggle eyes, an -aquiline nose offensively large, and a head disfigured by a few sparse -hairs;” while Duke Ludovico Sforza said of him: “The man is young, and -his conduct meagre, nor has he any form or method of council.” His own -ambassador, Commines, wrote: “He was little in stature and of small -sense, very timid in speech, owing to the way in which he had been -treated as a child, and as feeble in mind as he was in body, but the -kindest and gentlest creature alive.” - -Note 389 page 202. MARGARITA OF AUSTRIA, (born 1480; died 1530), was the -daughter of the Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, and a native -of Brussels. Having been betrothed to the Dauphin Charles (VIII) and -then rejected by that prince in favour of Anne of Brittany, she married -(1497) the Infant Juan of Castile, but soon lost both husband and child. -In 1501 she married Duke Filiberto of Savoy, and after four years of -happiness again became a widow. In 1507 she was entrusted by her father -with the government of the Low Countries and the care of her nephew -Charles (see note 462). She did much to further the progress of -agriculture and commerce in her dominions, and besides showing a lofty -spirit and no little political sagacity, she was a patroness of art and -letters, and composed a great number of poems in French, most of which -are said to be lost. Her correspondence with her father has been -published. - -Note 390 page 202. MAXIMILIAN I, Emperor of Germany, (born 1459; died -1519), was the son of the Emperor Frederick III of Hapsburg and Eleanora -of Portugal. In 1477 he married Charles the Bold’s daughter and heiress, -Mary of Burgundy, who bore him five children and died in 1482. On the -death of his father in 1493, he was elected Emperor, and soon afterwards -married Bianca Maria, niece of Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan. He was a -member of the league that forced Charles VIII to retire from Italy -(1495), of the League of Cambray against Venice (1508), and of the Holy -League (1511) for the expulsion of Louis XII from Italy. Although -deriving little profit or honour from these and other foreign -enterprises, he contrived by prudent marriages to add Bohemia and -Hungary to his empire and to make Spain a possession of his family. He -also effected many reforms in his government, and even founded several -important institutions, such as a postal service and a permanent -militia. From his youth he showed a taste for study, became a patron of -scholars, poets and artists, and enriched the Universities of Vienna and -Ingolstadt. Besides being an accomplished if not very successful -soldier, he was the author of works on gardening, hunting and -agriculture, as well as on military science. - -Note 391 page 202. ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC, (born 1451; died 1504), was -the daughter and heiress of Juan II of Castile. Having been trained in -retirement to habits of religious devotion, she married (1469) Ferdinand -of Aragon, with whom she succeeded jointly to her father’s crown in -1474, but was able to gain complete possession of her dominions only in -1479, the same year in which her husband succeeded his father as King of -Aragon. Under her rule the Inquisition was established in Castile -(1480), but she recoiled before its horrors and was reconciled to its -continuance only by the direct assurance of Pope Sixtus IV. In 1481 -began the long war, which (largely owing to her energy and perseverance) -resulted in the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, and in which she is -said to have organized the earliest military hospitals. The story of her -noble patronage of Columbus is familiar. Her later years were clouded by -the loss of two of her three children, including her only son, and by -the unhappy conjugal life and mental disorder of her daughter, Juana, -the mother of Charles V. Castiglione’s praise of Isabella’s lofty -qualities is not a little justified by the facts of her life. In -personal appearance, she is said to have been agreeable rather than -handsome; her features were regular, her green eyes vivacious, her -complexion olive, her hair reddish blond, and her stature above the -medium. - -[Illustration: - - BEATRICE OF ARAGON - QUEEN OF HUNGARY - 1457-1508 -] - -From a negative, specially made by the brothers Moreau with the kind - permission of M. Gustave Dreyfus, of an anonymous bust in his - collection at Paris. - -Note 392 page 202. FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC, (born 1452; died 1516), was -the son of Juan II of Navarre and Aragon, and is justly regarded as the -founder of the Spanish monarchy. The means employed by him in building -up his power were perfidy towards other rulers and ruthless oppression -of his own people. Besides the other events of his reign, noted above, -mention should be made of his cruel expulsion of the Jews from Spain in -1492. These and his other persecutions, supposed at the time to be -actuated by zeal for pure religion, were in fact chiefly a source of -revenue, and the policy thus inaugurated,—of stifling the commerce, the -industry, the free thought and the energy of the nation at the beginning -of its greatness,—is now seen to have been one of the important causes -of its decline. - -Note 393 page 204. Of these two remarkable queens, one was doubtless -Federico III’s widow, the Isabella del Balzo who is mentioned below (see -note 400). The other may possibly have been her predecessor Joanna, the -aunt and widow of Ferdinand II; or (more probably) Ippolita Maria, who -was a daughter of the first Sforza duke of Milan and wife of Ferdinand -II’s father and predecessor Alfonso II, and of whom Dennistoun says (ii, -122): “It was for this princess that Constantine Lascaris composed the -earliest Greek Grammar; and in the convent library of Sta. Croce at Rome -there is a transcript by her of Cicero’s _De Senectute_, followed by a -juvenile collection of Latin apothegms curiously indicative of her -character and studies.” - -Note 394 page 204. BEATRICE OF ARAGON, (born 1457; died 1508), was the -daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabelle de Clermont. In 1476 she -married Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. On his death in 1490, she -married Ladislas II of Bohemia, who for a time prevented the succession -of Matthias’s natural son John. However the youth attained the Hungarian -throne with the aid of the Emperor Maximilian; whereupon Beatrice was -repudiated by Ladislas and her marriage was annulled by Alexander VI. In -1501 she returned to Italy, resided at Ischia and died childless. Like -her elder sister, the Duchess Eleanora of Ferrara (see note 399), she -was a woman of cultivation and taste, and in spite of her political -intrigues, she is praised for having done much to strengthen the -intellectual bonds between Italy and Hungary, to which country she -invited Italian poets, scholars and artists. - -Note 395 page 204. MATTHIAS CORVINUS, (born 1443; died 1490), was the -son of the famous Hungarian general János Hunyadi, and in 1458 was -proclaimed King of Hungary by the soldiers whom his father had so often -led to victory. His life was a nearly continuous series of great -enterprises, among the most noted of which were his campaigns against -the Turks and his siege and capture (1485) of Vienna, where he -thereafter resided chiefly and died. By no means the least part of his -fame was won by the ardour with which he advanced the cause of science, -art and letters in his country, and bestowed upon his people not only an -enlightened code of laws but also the benefits of Renaissance culture. -He introduced printing into Hungary, and was the founder of a -magnificent public library at Buda Pest, containing fifty thousand -volumes, for the most part MSS. which he caused to be copied in Italy -and the East. - -Note 396 page 204. ISABELLA OF ARAGON, (born 1470; died 1524), was the -daughter of Alfonso II of Naples and Ippolita Maria, daughter of the -first Sforza duke of Milan. In 1489 she made a splendid entry into Milan -as the bride of her own cousin Giangaleazzo Sforza, whose rights as duke -were gradually usurped by his uncle Ludovico il Moro. This usurpation -has been regarded as partly due to the ambition of Ludovico’s young -wife, Beatrice d’Este (see note 398), who could not endure the -precedence rightfully belonging to Isabella. As has been seen, it was to -protect himself against the wrath of Isabella’s father and grandfather, -that Ludovico invited Charles VIII into Italy as his ally. When Charles -reached Pavia, he had to endure the pathetic spectacle of his forlorn -cousin Giangaleazzo (they were sisters’ sons) in prison, and to hear the -piteous pleadings of the beautiful Isabella, who fell at his feet and -besought him to have mercy on her husband. Her appeal was withstood, and -Ludovico of course had no scruple in setting aside the rights of her -infant children. Fresh trials awaited her in her native country, to -which she returned in 1500, and from which her family had been expelled. - -Note 397 page 204. ISABELLA D’ESTE, (born 1474; died 1539), was the -oldest child of Duke Ercole I of Ferrara and Eleanora of Aragon. Having -had Mario Equicola as preceptor, she married the Marquess Gianfrancesco -Gonzaga (see note 446) in 1490, her early betrothal to whom prevented -her from becoming the wife of Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan, who -soon afterwards married her sister Beatrice. At Mantua she continued her -literary and artistic training, and her court became one of the -brightest and most active centres of Italian culture. The chief poets -and painters of the time laboured for her or were her friends. Being for -years in her husband’s service, Castiglione knew her closely, maintained -a frequent exchange of letters with her, and is only one of many who -praise her beauty, her intellect, and her moral qualities; she may be -regarded as the most splendid incarnation of the Renaissance ideal of -woman. Her long friendship with her sister-in-law, “My lady Duchess,” -has been already mentioned. Some interesting details have survived as to -her manner of ordering a picture. Having chosen a subject, she had it -set forth in writing by some humanist of her court. These specifications -were then given to the painter chosen for the purpose, and he was -furnished with minute directions as to the placing of the figures and -the distribution of light, and required to make a preliminary sketch. As -the painting was often intended for a specific space, she took great -care to secure the exact dimensions desired, by providing two pieces of -ribbon to show the precise height and breadth of the picture. Isabella’s -brilliant career, and especially her close relations with the chief men -of her day and her weighty influence upon contemporary politics, are the -subject of many scholarly volumes and interesting articles written -jointly by Alessandro Luzio of Mantua and Rodolfo Renier of Turin. - -[Illustration: - - ISABELLA OF ARAGON - DUCHESS OF MILAN - 1470-1524 -] - -Enlarged from a negative, specially made by Alinari through the courtesy - of Professor I. B. Supino, of a medal, in the National Museum at - Florence, by Giancristoforo Romano (1465?-1512). See Armand’s _Les - Médailleurs Italiens_, ii, 54, no. 1. - -Note 398 page 204. BEATRICE D’ESTE, (born 1475; died 1497), married -Ludovico Sforza, Duke Regent of Milan, in the same year (1491) in which -his niece Anna Sforza married Beatrice’s brother Alfonso, the future -husband of Lucrezia Borgia. Younger, apparently less beautiful, and -certainly less accomplished than her sister Isabella, Beatrice -encouraged her husband’s patronage of art and letters, and took part in -his turbid political schemes. It will perhaps never be determined -precisely to what extent she was responsible for his treatment of his -young nephew and of the latter’s wife (see note 396), and for the -disasters to Italy that ensued, but she is known to have exercised a -great ascendency over her husband’s mind, and he is said to have spent -at her tomb the last night before his final capture and downfall. After -the expulsion of the French from Italy in 1512, her sons Maximilian and -Francesco Maria successively held the duchy for a time, until it passed -into the hands of Spain in 1535. For an account of her life, the reader -is referred to Mrs. Henry Ady’s recently published “Beatrice d’Este, -Duchess of Milan; a Study of the Renaissance,” which owes much to the -labours of Luzio and Renier. - -Note 399 page 205. ELEANORA OF ARAGON, (born 1450; died 1493), was the -elder sister of the Beatrice who married Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. A -projected union with Ludovico Sforza (who afterwards married her -daughter) having been abandoned, she became in 1473 the wife of Duke -Ercole I of Ferrara, and bore him two daughters and four sons. Other -contemporary accounts confirm the praise bestowed upon her by -Castiglione, and show her to have been a woman of rare merit, manly -courage and enlightened culture. Fond of music, and herself a player -upon the harp, she seems to have been a discriminating patroness of art -and letters, and at the same time to have taken an active share in the -serious cares of government, especially when her husband was absent or -disabled. A pleasant glimpse of her character is gained from a letter -written by her to the duke’s treasurer on behalf of a certain Neapolitan -engineer, who had rendered important services but had fallen ill and was -in want. “You will see what this poor man’s needs are. You know with -what devotion he has served us, nor are you ignorant who sent him to -us,—a circumstance worthy of consideration. It would ill become us so to -treat him in his sickness as to give him cause for complaint against us. -You must know what his pay is. See, then, what can be done, and arrange -for helping him.” She did not live to witness the downfall of her family -in Naples. - -Note 400 page 205. ISABELLA DEL BALZO, (died 1533), was a daughter of -the Prince of Altamura, and the wife of Federico III of Naples (see note -401). When her husband lost his crown in 1501, she (together with the -faithful Sannazaro) accompanied him to France, and shared his exile -there until his death in 1504. Being, by the terms of a treaty between -Louis XII and Ferdinand the Catholic, compelled to leave France, she and -her four children took refuge, first with her sister Antonia at -Gazzuolo, and then at Ferrara, where she was kindly treated and -maintained by her husband’s nephew Duke Alfonso d’Este. Here she spent -the last twenty-five years of her life, but at times in such poverty -that when Julius II placed Ferrara under the ban of the Church, she -obtained special permission to have religious services performed in her -house, on the plea that she had not the means wherewith to leave the -city. - -Note 401 page 205. FEDERICO III, (born 1452; died 1504), was a son of -Ferdinand I of Naples, a younger brother of Alfonso II, and an uncle of -his immediate predecessor, Ferdinand II. Having taken part in the weak -resistance offered to Charles VIII’s invasion of Naples in 1494, he -became king on the early death of his nephew in October 1496, and seems -to have tried to keep aloof from the turbulent schemes in which -Alexander VI sought to involve him. After another vain attempt to -withstand the invasion of Louis XII, and having been shamefully betrayed -by the Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand the Catholic, to both of whom he -had appealed for aid, he retired with his wife and children to the -island of Ischia (which furnished refuge at the same time to his widowed -sister Beatrice, ex-Queen of Hungary, and to his widowed niece Isabella, -ex-Duchess of Milan), ceded his crown to Louis XII in exchange for -30,000 ducats and the Countship of Maine, and spent the last three years -of his life in France. - -Note 402 page 205. Federico’s eldest son Ferdinand, DUKE OF CALABRIA, -was besieged in Taranto during the Franco-Spanish invasion which -resulted in his father’s downfall. On a sworn promise to set him free, -he surrendered to the Great Captain (see note 239), but was -treacherously detained and sent as a prisoner to Spain, where he was -treated by Ferdinand the Catholic with almost royal honours. He -continued to reside in Spain, and on the death of his mother in 1533, he -was joined at Valencia by his two sisters. - -Note 403 page 205. The reference here is probably to the siege of Pisa -by the Florentines in 1499, which was finally abandoned owing in part at -least to the bravery of the Pisan women. Castiglione himself was the -author of some Latin verses celebrating an incident of the siege. - -[Illustration: - - FEDERICO III OF NAPLES - 1452-1504 -] - -Enlarged from a cast, courteously furnished by Professor I. B. Supino, - of an anonymous medal in the National Museum at Florence. See - Armand’s _Les Médailleurs Italiens_, ii, 59. - -Note 404 page 205. TOMYRIS was in fact queen of the Massagetæ, who were -a nomadic people allied to the Scythians and dwelt north-east of the -Caspian Sea. Herodotus relates that Cyrus the Great sent her an offer of -marriage, and on being refused, invaded her kingdom and captured her -son, but was finally defeated and slain, 529 B.C. The ARTEMISIA referred -to in the text is probably not the Queen of Halicarnassus (who fought on -the Persian side at Salamis in 480 B.C.), but rather the sister-consort -and successor of King Mausolus of Caria, a state on the western coast of -Asia Minor. On her husband’s death in 352 B.C., she reigned two years -until she pined away for grief. The monument, Mausoleum, erected by her -to his memory at Halicarnassus, was regarded as one of the seven wonders -of the world—the others being: the Egyptian pyramids, the temple of -Artemis at Ephesus, the walls and hanging gardens of Babylon, Phidias’s -statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Colossus at Rhodes, and the lighthouse at -Alexandria. ZENOBIA, an Arab by birth, was the second wife of Odenathus, -King of Palmyra, which lay to the east of Syria. On the death of her -husband, about 266 A.D., she acted as regent for her sons and seems to -have shown great talent for war as well as for the arts of wise -administration; but in her effort to extend her sway over the entire -East, she was defeated by the Emperor Aurelian, and adorned his triumph -in golden chains at Rome. She was allowed to spend the remainder of her -life in dignified retirement at Tibur (Tivoli). SEMIRAMIS was the -legendary daughter of the Syrian goddess Derketo, and with her husband -Ninus was regarded as the founder of Nineveh. On his death she assumed -the government of Assyria, built the city of Babylon and its wonderful -gardens, conquered Egypt, etc. To her the Greeks ascribed nearly -everything marvellous in the East. Her name appears in inscriptions as -that of the consort of an Assyrian ruler who reigned 811-782 B.C. -CLEOPATRA, (69-30 B.C.), was directly descended in the eighth generation -from Ptolemy I, the most noted of Alexander the Great’s generals and the -founder of the Egyptian dynasty that ended with her life. Her -establishment as sole ruler, to the exclusion of her two brothers, was -due to the favour of Julius Cæsar, who is said to have acknowledged the -paternity of her son Cæsarion, ultimately put to death by order of -Augustus. Her love of literature, and the refinement of her luxury, show -her to have been no mere voluptuary. - -Note 405 page 206. SARDANAPALUS,—Assurbanipal, the Asnapper of the Old -Testament,—ruled over Assyria from 668 to 626 B.C., and was the last -monarch of the empire reputed to have been founded by Ninus and -Semiramis. His name became a by-word for effeminate luxury, but in -recent times the discovery and study of the larger part of the tablets -composing his library, prove him to have been a vigorous king and an -intelligent patron of art and literature. - -Note 406 page 207. In his life of Alexander, Plutarch extols the -magnanimity with which the youthful monarch treated the captive mother, -wife and two daughters, of Darius, the last King of Persia, whom he had -utterly defeated in the battle of Arbela, 331 B.C. In furtherance of his -plan of uniting his European and Asiatic subjects into one people, -Alexander afterwards married Bersine, the elder of Darius’s two -daughters. - -Note 407 page 208. This incident is narrated in Valerius Maximus’s -“Memorable Sayings and Doings” as having occurred in the first Spanish -campaign of Scipio Africanus Maximus, 210 B.C., when that commander was -in his twenty-fourth year. - -Note 408 page 208. This story of the Platonist philosopher Xenocrates -(396-314 B.C.) is derived from the same source last cited. His teaching -was characterized by the loftiest morality, and included a declaration -that it comes to the same thing whether we cast longing eyes, or set our -feet, upon the property of others. The ‘very beautiful woman’ of the -text is variously mentioned as Phryne and Laïs, rival _hetairai_ said to -have served as models to the painter Apelles. - -Note 409 page 208. Cicero’s version of this anecdote (_De Officiis_, i, -40) mentions Sophocles as the ‘someone’ rebuked by Pericles. - -Note 410 page 210. The Italians still say: - - _Donna pregata, nega; - E disprezzata, prega._ - -Note 411 page 213. The present translator prefers not to offer an -English version of the following passage, but to reprint it, line for -line, from the Aldine folio of 1528: - - si che questo piu tosto un stratogema militare dir si -poria, che pura continentia: auenga anchora che la fama di questo non -sia molto sincera: perche alcuni scrittori d’authorità affermano questa -giouane esser stata da Scipione goduta in amorose delicie: ma di quello -che ui dico io, dubbio alcuno non è. Disse il Phrigio, Douete ha -uerlo trouato ne gli euangelii. Io stesso l’ho ueduto rispose M. Ces. & -però n’ho molto maggior certezza, che non potete hauer, ne uoi, ne altri -che Alcibiade si leuasse dal letto di Socrate non altrimēti, che si facciano -i figlioli dal letto de i padri: che pur strano loco, e tempo era il let -to, & la notte, per contemplar quella pura bellezza: laqual si dice che amaua -Socrate senza alcun desiderio dishonesto, massimamente amādo -piu la bellezza dell’animo, che del corpo: ma ne i fanciulli & nò ne i -uecchi, anchor che siano piu sauii: & certo non si potea gia trouar miglior -exempio, per laudar la continentia de glihomini, che quello di -Xenocrate: che essendo uersato ne gli studii, astretto, & obligato dalla -profession sua, che è la philosophia, laquale consiste ne i boni costumi, -& non nelle parole, uecchio, exhausto del uigor naturale, nō potendo, -ne mostrando segno di potere, s’astenne da una femina publica: laquale -per questo nome solo potea uenirgli à fastidio: piu crederei che fosse sta -to continente, se qualche segno de risentirsi hauesse dimostrato, & in tal -termine usato la continentia: ouero astenutosi da quello, che i uecchi -piu desiderano che —le battaglie di Venere, cioè dal uino: ma per comprobar -ben la continentia senile, scriuesi che di questo era pieno, & gra -ue: & qual cosa dir si po piu aliena della continentia d’un uecchio: che -la ebrietà? & se lo astenerse dalle cose ueneree in quella pigra, & fredda -età merita tanta laude, quanta ne deue meritar in una tenera giouane, -come quelle due di chi dianzi u’ho detto? dellequali l’una imponēdo -durissime leggi à tutti i sensi suoi, non solamente à gliocchi negaua la -sua luce, ma toglieua al core quei pensieri, che soli lungamēti erano sta -ti dulcissimo cibo per tenerlo in uita. l’altra ardente innamorata ritrouādosi -tante volte sola nelle braccia di quello, che piu assai, che tutto’l -resto del mondo amaua, contra se stessa, & contra colui, che piu, che se -stessa le era caro, combattendo uincea quello ardente desiderio che spes -so ha uinto, & uince tanti sauii homini. Nō ui pare hora S. Gasp. che -douessino i scrittori uergognarsi di far memoria di Xenocrate in questo -caso? & chiamarlo per continente? che chi potesse sapere, io metterei -pegno che esso tutta quella notte sino al giorno sequēte ad hora di desinare -dormi come morto sepulto nel uino: ne mai per stropicciar che -gli facesse quella femina, potè aprir gliocchi, come se fusse stato all’opia -to. Quiui risero tutti glihomini & donne: & la S. Emil. pur ridēdo Ve -ramente disse S. Gasp. se ui pensate un poco meglio credo che trouarete -anchor qualche altro bello exempio di continentia simile à questo. -Rispose M. Ces. Nō ui par Signora, che bello exempio di continentia -sia quell’altro che egli ha allegato di Pericle? Marauigliomi ben chel -non habbia anchor ricordato la continētia, & quel bel detto, che si scri -ue di colui, à chi una donna domādò troppo gran prezzo per una not -te, & esso le rispose, che non compraua cosi caro il pentirsi. Rideasi tut -ta uia & M. Ces. hauendo alquanto tacciuto ... disse: - -The only other instance in which the translator has suppressed any part -of the text is in line 10 of page 212, where the Italian word _ignuda_ -is not rendered. - -[Illustration: - - ELEANORA OF ARAGON - DUCHESS OF FERRARA - 1450-1493 -] - -Reduced from a photograph, kindly furnished by M. Gustave Dreyfus, of an - anonymous bas-relief in his collection at Paris. The sculptor may - possibly have been Sperandio di Bartolommeo de’ Savelli - (1425?-1500?). See note 399. - -Note 412 page 214. The event occurred in 1501, six years before the date -of the Courtier dialogues. - -Note 413 page 214. The Volturno flows through Capua. - -Note 414 page 214. Gazuolo or Gazzuolo is now the name of an Italian -commune, containing less than 5,000 inhabitants, and situated eleven -miles west of Mantua. - -Note 415 page 214. The Oglio is a river of Lombardy about 135 miles -long; it traverses the Lake of Iseo, and joins the Po some ten miles -south-west of Mantua. - -Note 416 page 214. In two earlier MS. versions of THE COURTIER, the -passage ‘Now from this ... even her name is unknown’ reads: “Then messer -Pietro Bembo said: ‘In truth, if I knew this noble peasant girl’s name, -I would compose an epitaph for her.’ ‘Do not stop for that,’ said messer -Cesare; ‘her name is Maddalena Biga, and if the Bishop’s death had not -occurred, that bank of the Oglio’” etc. - -With slight variations this story is narrated as fact in a letter of -Matteo Bandello (1480-1562), from whose tales Shakspere took plots for -his plays. The letter gives the poor girl’s name as Giulia and that of -the Bishop of Mantua as Ludovico Gonzaga, and relates that, as it was -unlawful to bury her remains in consecrated soil, he caused them to be -deposited in the piazza, intending to place them in a bronze sarcophagus -mounted on a marble column. The letter also affirms that the ravisher -was one of the bishop’s valets. - -Note 417 page 215. This was Ludovico Gonzaga, (born 1458; died 1511), a -son of the Marquess Ludovico of Mantua and Barbara of Brandenburg, and a -younger brother of “my lady Duchess’s” father. Made BISHOP OF MANTUA in -1483, he continued to hold that office until his death, and appears from -various contemporary documents to have been a liberal and wise prince. -The last years of his life were spent at Gazzuolo, which he made a -centre of culture, art and learning. His brother Gianfrancesco was -husband of the Antonia del Balzo mentioned above, note 400. For -particulars regarding him, see an article by Rossi in the _Giornale -Storico della Letteratura Italiana_, xiii, 305. - -Note 418 page 215. The basilica of St. Sebastian, on the Appian Way, -dates from the 4th century, was built over the most famous of the -catacombs, and enjoyed an exceptional veneration during the Middle Ages. -The saint was a young military tribune born in Gaul, suffered martyrdom -under Diocletian about the year 288, and was buried in the catacombs of -Callistus. St. George and he were the favourite saints of chivalry, and -may be regarded as the martial Castor and Pollux of Christian myth. - -Note 419 page 216. FELICE DELLA ROVERE, (died about 1536), was a natural -daughter of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (afterwards Julius II) and a -certain Lucrezia, the wife of Bernardo de Cuppis (or Coppi) da -Montefolco; thus “my lord Prefect” of THE COURTIER was her own cousin. -In 1506 she became the second wife of the elderly and eccentric -Giangiordano Orsini, and the ancestress of the Dukes of Bracciano. Her -name often occurs in contemporary documents, not only on account of her -lofty position but because of her love of art and letters. Both -Castiglione and Giancristoforo Romano were her friends. The incident -mentioned in the text seems not to be referred to elsewhere. Savona, a -seaport on the western Riviera, is near the birthplace of Felice’s -great-uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, who was the founder of the della Rovere -family. - -Note 420 page 216. Duke Guidobaldo’s impotence is said to have given -rise to the project of a divorce for his duchess. - -Note 421 page 218. The reference here is to Ovid’s _Ars Amandi_, which -enjoyed an extraordinary reputation during the Renaissance, and from -which this passage is largely derived. - -Note 422 page 220. The LAURA to whom Petrarch consecrated no less than -three hundred and eighteen sonnets, is usually regarded as identical -with Laure, the daughter of a certain knight of Avignon, Audibert de -Noves. If this identification be correct, she was born in 1308, married -Hughes de Sade in 1325, became the mother of eleven children, and died -in 1348. In 1533 Francis I caused her reputed tomb to be opened, and -found in it a small box which contained a medal bearing a woman’s -profile, and a parchment on which was a sonnet signed by Petrarch. - -Note 423 page 220. The so-called “Song of Solomon” is now thought to be -the work of a period later than Solomon’s and to contain no mystic -meaning. - -Note 424 page 222. In the old romance, “Amadis of Gaul,” Isola Ferma is -an enchanted island, with a garden at the entrance to which stands an -arch surmounted by the statue of a man holding a trumpet to his mouth. -Whenever an unfaithful lover attempts to pass, the trumpet emits a -dreadful sound with fire and smoke, and drives the culprit back; while -it welcomes all true lovers with sweetest music. - -Note 425 page 228. Here again the reference is of course to “my lady -Duchess.” - -Note 426 page 235. The _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, first published by -Aldus in 1499, was written by Francesco Colonna, a Dominican friar of -Venice, who died an old man in 1527. The book is rare, and is said to be -an allegorical romance full of lascivious erudition, and written in a -pedantically affected mixture of Italian, Latin, and Venetian _patois_. - -Note 427 page 237. _Ars Amandi_, i, 597-602. - -Note 428 page 237. _Ars Amandi_, i, 569-72. - - - NOTES TO THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE COURTIER - -Note 429 page 243. Gaspar Pallavicino died in 1511, at the age of -twenty-five. - -Note 430 page 243. Cesare Gonzaga died in 1512, at about the age of -thirty-seven. See note 43. - -Note 431 page 244. Federico Fregoso was named Archbishop of Salerno in -1507, very soon after the date of the Courtier dialogues; see note 41. - -Ludovico da Canossa became Bishop of Bayeux in 1520; see note 44. - -Ottaviano Fregoso became Doge of Genoa in 1513; see note 11. - -Bibbiena was made cardinal, and Bembo was appointed papal secretary, in -1513; see notes 10 and 42. - -Giuliano de’ Medici was created Duke of Nemours in 1515. As he died in -1516, Castiglione’s use of the present tense (‘that greatness where now -he is’) is inconsistent with the mention of Canossa as Bishop of Bayeux. -See note 9. - -Francesco Maria della Rovere succeeded to the dukedom in 1508; see note -3. - -Note 432 page 244. ELEANORA GONZAGA, (born about 1492; died 1543), was -the eldest daughter of the Marquess Gianfrancesco of Mantua and Isabella -d’Este. In 1505 Castiglione negotiated her union with Francesco Maria -della Rovere, but the marriage did not take place until Christmas Eve -1509, upon which occasion Bembo wrote to Federico Fregoso that he had -never seen a comelier, merrier or sweeter girl, and that her amiable -disposition and surprisingly precocious judgment won general admiration. -She seems to have maintained affectionate relations with her aunt and -predecessor (“my lady Duchess” of THE COURTIER), whose fame quite -outshone her own, and to have exhibited in after life no little strength -of character. She is said to have excluded, and even to have expelled, -great ladies of questionable morality from her court. Titian’s portrait -(1537) represents her in middle age, but his pictures, _La Bella_ and -_Das Mädchen im Pelz_, as well as several of his Venus heads, are -generally regarded as idealized presentations of her more youthful face. - -Note 433 page 249. The Piazza d’Agone occupied the site of the ancient -_Circus Agonalis_, which derived its name from the _Agonalia_, a -festival held twice a year in honour of Janus. Before, during and long -after Castiglione’s time, it was a centre of festivals, amusements and -spectacles at the carnival season. It is now called the Piazza Navona. - -Note 434 page 250. The famous Athenian commander CIMON, (died 449 B.C.), -was the son of the still more famous Miltiades. His victories repulsed -the last Persian aggressions and consolidated the Athenian supremacy. -Although an admirer of Spartan institutions, he seems to have been of a -somewhat indulgent disposition. The SCIPIO here referred to, is probably -Publius Cornelius Scipio the Elder, who was the victor over Hannibal and -died 183 B.C. LUCULLUS is cited earlier in THE COURTIER as an instance -of a soldier with studious tastes; see note 113. - -Note 435 page 250. The Theban general and statesman EPAMINONDAS, (died -362 B.C.), is said by Plutarch to have enjoyed the instruction of the -Pythagorean philosopher LYSIS of Tarentum, who was driven out of Italy -in the persecution of his sect, and found refuge at Thebes. - -Note 436 page 250. AGESILAUS was King of Sparta 398-361 B.C. Although -small and lame, he was the greatest Spartan commander, and became famous -for his victories against the Persian and Greek enemies of his country. -XENOPHON, historian, essayist and disciple of Socrates, was banished -from Athens about the time of Socrates’s death (399 B.C.), accompanied -Agesilaus into Asia, and wrote a panegyric upon him, regarded by Cicero -as more glorious than all the statues erected to kings. - -The reverence and love of SCIPIO THE YOUNGER (about 185-129 B.C.) for -the Rhodian Stoic philosopher PANAÆTIUS (about 180-111 B.C.) is -frequently mentioned by Cicero, from whose _De Oratore_ Castiglione -seems to have taken this whole passage. - -Note 437 page 252. In Greek mythology Epimetheus (Afterthought) and -Prometheus (Forethought) were sons of the Titan Iapetus and the ocean -nymph Clymene. Angered by a deceit practised upon him by Prometheus, -Zeus withheld from men the use of fire; but Prometheus stole fire from -heaven and brought it to earth in a hollow reed. For this offence he was -chained to a rock where an eagle preyed daily upon his liver (which grew -again in the night), until he was finally liberated by Hercules. As -compensation for the boon of fire, Zeus sent Pandora (the first woman, -endowed with beauty, cunning and other attributes designed to bring woe -to man) to be the wife of Epimetheus. Although warned by his brother, -Epimetheus accepted her, with the result that she set free the evils -which Prometheus had concealed in a box. In a later form of the legend, -she received from the gods a box containing the blessings of life, and -on her being moved by curiosity to open the box, all of them (save hope) -escaped and were lost. - -Note 438 page 263. BIAS was born at Priene in Asia Minor, and lived in -the 6th century B.C. He was celebrated for his apothegms and reckoned -among the Seven Sages of Greece,—the other six being: Thales of Miletus, -Solon of Athens, Chilon of Sparta, Cleobulus of Rhodes, Periander of -Corinth, and Pittacus of Mitylene,—all of whom flourished about 600 B.C. -The fame of these seven men rested not upon their philosophy, as we use -the word, but upon their practical wisdom—the fruit of experience. - -[Illustration: - - GIANFRANCESCO GONZAGA - MARQUESS OF MANTUA - BROTHER OF “MY LADY DUCHESS” - 1466-1519 -] - -Enlarged from a photograph, kindly furnished by Signer Alessandro Luzio - and made by his friend Signor Lanzoni, of a portrait attributed to - Francesco Bonsignori (1455-1519) and owned by the antiquary - Bressanelli of Mantua. - -Note 439 page 264. CLEARCHUS, (died 353 B.C.), was for twelve years a -cruel tyrant, not of Pontus, but of Heraclea (the modern Eregli), a city -on the Black Sea about 140 miles east of Constantinople. He is said to -have been a pupil of both Plato and Isocrates, the latter of whom -represents him as a gentle youth. - -Note 440 page 264. Of the dozen or more ancients known to have borne the -name ARISTODEMUS, none seem to fit precisely the description given in -the text, which is taken from a passage in Plutarch’s “On the Ignorant -Prince.” Plutarch may have had in mind a certain tyrant of Megalopolis -in the 3d century B.C. - -Note 441 page 269. The reference here is to Book V of “The Republic.” - -Note 442 page 270. Fregoso here declares for what has been called “that -Utopia of the 16th Century—the _Governo Misto_—a political invention -which fascinated the imagination of Italian statesmen much in the same -way as the theory of perpetual motion attracted scientific minds in the -last century.” (Symonds’s “Renaissance in Italy,” i, 306.) In this -regard the men of Castiglione’s time, men like Machiavelli and -Guicciardini, were only following Plato and Aristotle. - -Note 443 page 270. The reference here is to the _Cyropædia_, i, 6. - -Note 444 page 270. Castiglione seems to have in mind the game of _tavola -reale_, which is similar to our backgammon. - -Note 445 page 273. Circe’s transformation of some of Ulysses’s -companions into swine is narrated in the tenth book of the Odyssey. In -Castiglione’s day the term “King of France” was used to signify the acme -of royal power. - -Note 446 page 274. GIANFRANCESCO—more commonly called FRANCESCO—GONZAGA, -(born 1466; died 1519), was the eldest son of the Marquess Federico of -Mantua and Margarita of Bavaria, and a brother of “my lady Duchess.” -Having succeeded his father in 1484, he married (1490) Isabella d’Este, -to whom he had been betrothed at the age of sixteen. Like his ancestors -and most other petty Italian rulers of his time, he was at once -_condottiere_ and sovereign prince. He commanded the Italian troops -against Charles VIII, and although with an overwhelmingly superior force -he failed to block the retreat of the French at Fornovo, he treated that -disgraceful affair as a glorious victory, and even caused it to be -commemorated by Mantegna in a votive picture now in the Louvre. He -served successively as captain of the imperial troops in Italy, as -commander of Duke Ludovico Sforza’s army, as viceroy of Naples under -Louis XII, etc. He joined the League of Cambray and was taken prisoner -by the Venetians. In the general disorders that filled the period of his -reign, he and his more brilliant wife had the address to protect his -dominions from the ravages of war. Although, as Castiglione’s natural -lord, he was asked and gave his consent to the latter’s entry into the -Duke of Urbino’s court (1504), he seems to have continued to resent the -affair until Castiglione’s return (1516) to his service,—in which the -author remained when this part of the text was written. Castiglione’s -eulogy was far from undeserved, for to the Marquess’s munificence, no -less than to his consort’s taste and enthusiasm, must be ascribed the -lustre of their provincial court. Besides being a patron of art and -letters, he was also a successful breeder of horses for use both in war -and in racing. - -Note 447 page 274. The duke is said to have had no small share in -planning the palace; his chief architect was one Luciano, a native of -Laurana in Dalmatia on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. The cost of -the structure was about £400,000 sterling. See, besides the authorities -cited in note 28, Luzio and Renier’s _Mantova e Urbino_, (Roux: Turin: -1893), p. 10, note 1. - -Note 448 page 274. The ancient basilica of St. Peter’s had become -ruinous by 1450, but little was done towards rebuilding it until 1506, -when the execution of Bramante’s plan was begun with the solemn laying -of the first stone by Julius II on Sunday, 18 April. On the death of -Bramante, Raphael was put in charge of the work in 1514, as we have seen -(note 98), but, apparently owing to lack of funds, progress was slow -until 1534 when Michelangelo’s designs were substituted. The dome was -completed in 1590, and the church dedicated in 1626. - -Note 449 page 274. This ‘street’ was designed by Bramante to be a kind -of triumphal way connecting the Vatican with the Belvedere pavilion. It -was to be bordered by palaces, courts, gardens, porticoes, terraces, -etc., but the death of Julius II led to the abandonment of the plan. - -Note 450 page 274. Pozzuoli (the ancient Puteoli), situated seven miles -west of Naples, was originally a Greek city, but became one of the chief -commercial ports of the Roman Empire, and a resort of the patrician -class. It is noted for its ruins, especially those of a large -amphitheatre. - -Baja (the ancient Baiæ), on the Gulf of Pozzuoli, was the chief Roman -watering place, famous for its luxury, and containing the villas of many -celebrated Romans. Its principal antiquities are ruins of baths. - -Civita Vecchia lies on the coast about thirty-eight miles north-west of -Rome, and was anciently known as Centum Cellæ. The Emperor Trajan -(reigned 98-117 A.D.) converted it from a poor village into a great -seaport, and of his monuments some remains are still extant. - -Porto was a Roman city near the mouths of the Tiber. In Castiglione’s -time it had become a marshy island. One of the earliest Italian -archæologists, Flavio Biondo, visited the site in 1451, and found there -many huge marble blocks ready for building and bearing quarry marks of -the imperial period. The Apollo Belvedere was discovered here in 1503. - -Note 451 page 274. Almost the same phrase occurs in the well known -letter which Raphael (who had been appointed guardian of antiquities) -wrote to Leo X, urging the pontiff to avert the complete destruction of -“that little which remains of Italian glory and greatness in proof of -the worth and power of those divine minds.” Castiglione was long -supposed to be the author of the letter, but is now believed only to -have aided Raphael in its composition. - -Note 452 page 274. Alexandria was founded by the conqueror in 332 B.C. - -Bucephalia (founded 327 B.C.) was situated on the river Hydaspes (the -modern Jhelum), a branch of the Indus, about 120 miles north-west of -Lahore, and was named in honour of Alexander’s favourite horse, which -died there. Bucephalus (ox-headed) is supposed to have been a name given -to Thessalian horses, which were branded with a bull’s head. - -Note 453 page 274. Mount Athos (6780 feet high) forms the extremity of -the easternmost peninsula of Chalcidice in Macedonia. During the Persian -invasion of Xerxes (480 B.C.) it was temporarily converted into an -island, and since the Middle Ages has been noted for its monasteries. -Both Vitruvius and Plutarch give an account of the project mentioned in -the text, and ascribe it to a Macedonian architect who appears under the -names, Dinocrates, Cheirocrates, and Stasicrates,—and who also planned -the city of Alexandria and was chosen to rebuild the great temple of -Artemis at Ephesus. The statue was to represent Alexander, who is said -to have abandoned the idea when he learned that the city to be placed in -the hand of the statue would be without territory and could be -provisioned only by sea,—saying that such a city would be like a child -that cannot grow for failure of its nurse’s milk. - -Note 454 page 275. In Athenian legend PROCRUSTES was a cruel robber, who -had a bed upon which he tortured his captives by stretching those who -were too short and by cutting off the legs of those who were too long. -He was finally slain by the hero Theseus. - -SCIRON was another legendary Attic robber, who compelled his victims to -wash his feet on the Scironian rocks near Athens, and then kicked them -into the sea where they served to fatten the turtles upon which he fed. -He also was slain by Theseus, and in the same manner in which he had -slain others. - -In Roman myth CACUS was a gigantic son of Vulcan, living near the site -of Rome. He robbed Hercules of some of the cattle stolen from the -monster Geryon, and dragged them into his cave backwards, so that they -could not be tracked; but Hercules discovered them by their lowing, and -slew the thief. - -DIOMED (not the Argive prince of the Iliad, but Ares’s mythical son, who -was king over the Bistones in Thrace) was slain by Hercules because he -was accustomed to feed his mares on human flesh. - -ANTÆUS was a fabulous and gigantic wrestler of Libya, reputed to be the -son of Poseidon and Gæa, the Earth goddess. Being held aloft and thus -deprived of the miraculous strength derived from contact with his mother -earth, he was crushed to death by Hercules. GERYON was the mythical -three-headed king of Hesperia, the theft of whose cattle constituted the -tenth of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. - -Note 455 page 275. “The crimes of the tyrants against their subjects and -the members of their own families had produced a correlative order of -crime in the people over whom they tyrannized. Cruelty was met by -conspiracy. Tyrannicide became honourable; and the proverb, ‘He who -gives his own life can take a tyrant’s,’ had worked itself into the -popular language.” (Symonds’s “Renaissance in Italy,” i, 154.) “The -study of the classics, especially of Plutarch, at this time as also -during the French Revolution, fired the imagination of patriots.” (Id., -151, note 2.) - -Note 456 page 275. Similar exhortations to a fresh crusade are of -frequent occurrence in Italian literature of this period, and were often -used by popes and princes as a cover for their selfish designs. - -Note 457 page 275. The meaning obviously is that if they had not been -exiled, they never would have enjoyed their present prosperity. Plutarch -tells the story in four slightly varying forms. - -Note 458 page 276. MONSEIGNEUR D’ANGOULÊME afterwards became Francis I -(see note 111). Even stronger evidence of the author’s admiration than -this and another passage (see page 57), is afforded by the Proem with -which he originally intended to preface the dialogues, but for which he -seems to have been led by political considerations to substitute the -introduction finally printed. - -Note 459 page 276. HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, afterwards Henry VIII, (born -1491; died 1547), was the younger son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of -York, and was educated for the church. Having succeeded his father in -1509, he married (in accordance with his parents’ wish) his elder -brother Arthur’s widow, Catherine, the youngest child of Ferdinand and -Isabella the Catholic. His accession was hailed with enthusiasm. Left -rich through his father’s avarice, he was generous, frank, handsome, -exceptionally robust, and an accomplished athlete and scholar. Good men -were delighted with the purity of his life, his gaiety pleased the -courtiers, and sober statesmen found in him a singular capacity for -business. Besides being a musician, he spoke Latin, French and Spanish, -and was very devout,—usually attending mass five times daily. Even as -late as 1521 he dedicated to the pope an anti-Lutheran tract on the -Seven Sacraments, and in return received the title of Defender of the -Faith. As an offset to the enormities of his later life, it is only just -to remember that he raised England to the rank of a great European -power, and that for twenty years he did nothing to mar the harmony of -his reign. - -[Illustration: - - HENRY VII OF ENGLAND - 1457-1509 -] - -Reduced from Walker and Boutall’s photograph of an anonymous portrait - (no. 416) in the National Portrait Gallery at London. Painted on an - oak panel for one Herman Rinck in October 1505, the picture was once - owned by M. Julien at Le Mans, by M. Émile Barre at Paris, and by - Mr. E. J. Muller, from whom it was acquired by the Gallery in 1876. - -Note 460 page 276. ‘His great father,’ i.e., Henry VII, (born 1457; died -1509), was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, (a son of Henry -V’s widow Catherine), and Margaret Beaufort, whose paternal grandfather -was an illegitimate half-brother of Henry IV. After the downfall of the -House of Lancaster and the death of the young York princes, Henry -succeeded in gathering a strong party, landed in England and wrested the -crown from Richard III, 1485. Soon afterwards, by his marriage to Edward -IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York, he united the hostile factions that had -so long harassed the kingdom. As a ruler he was avaricious, calculating, -and far from popular. He is said to have left a treasure of £2,000,000 -sterling. The marriage of his daughter Margaret to James IV of Scotland -finally led (on the failure of his son’s issue) to the accession of the -Stuarts in the person of her grandson, James I. - -Note 461 page 276. This is consistent with the earlier passage (see page -8) where Castiglione pretends to have been absent in England at the date -of the Courtier dialogues. An earlier MS. version here reads: “as we are -told by our friend Castiglione, who has just returned from England,” -which accords with what we have seen (note 23) to be the fact. - -Note 462 page 276. DON CARLOS, afterwards the Emperor Charles V, (born -1500; died 1558), was the son of the Emperor Maximilian’s son Philip of -Austria, and of Juana, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. -Born and bred in the Low Countries, and educated at least partly under -the care of the future pope Adrian VI, he is said to have shown less -taste for study than for military exercises, and on his accession to the -Spanish throne in 1516, he was ignorant of the Spanish language. By -right of his grandmother Mary of Burgundy, he already held the -Netherlands. As representative of the house of Aragon, he was king of -Naples and Sicily. On the death of his grandfather Maximilian in 1519, -he inherited Austria, and (in spite of the rivalry of Francis I and the -intrigues of Leo X) was elected Emperor;—thus achieving, without a blow, -a dominion vaster than any in Europe since the time of Charlemagne. - -In an earlier MS. version the text here reads: “Then messer Bernardo -Bibbiena said: ‘I do not think that any of those present, except myself, -have seen the prince Don Carlos, who, having recently lost such a father -as the king Don Philip was, has shown such courage and wisdom in this -great bereavement, that although he has not reached the tenth year of -his age, we may nevertheless regard him as competent to rule over all -his hereditary possessions, vast though they be,—and that the Empire of -Christendom (which men think will be in his hands) must grow not a -little in power and dignity.’” - -Note 463 page 279. FEDERICO GONZAGA, the first Duke of Mantua, (born -1500; died 1540), was the son of the Marquess Gianfrancesco Gonzaga and -Isabella d’Este. At the age of ten he spent some time as the -hostage-guest of Julius II at Rome, where he seems to have been -generally caressed. Raphael is known to have introduced the boy’s face -into one of the Vatican frescoes, and a little later to have painted his -portrait. Having succeeded his father as marquess in 1519, he waged war -for Leo X against the French. In 1527 he joined the league of Italian -princes against Charles V, but went over to the Emperor’s side two years -later, and was created Duke of Mantua. In 1531 he married Margarita -Paleologus. Both Giulio Romano and Benvenuto Cellini were in his employ. - -Note 464 page 280. These lines were written after Ottaviano Fregoso’s -election as Doge of Genoa; see note 11. - -Note 465 page 281. In an earlier MS. version, my lady Emilia continues: -“‘And even if it were so, I do not see how he is on that account set -above the Court Lady.’ The Magnifico Giuliano said: ‘We regard the Lady -as the equal of the Courtier, and according to my lord Ottaviano, the -Courtier is superior to the Prince; therefore the Court Lady comes to be -superior to the Prince.’” - -Note 466 page 284. Phœnix appears in the Iliad as appointed by Peleus to -superintend the education of the latter’s son Achilles. - -Note 467 page 284. ARISTOTLE was summoned (342 B.C.) to undertake the -education of Alexander, who was then thirteen years old, and whom no one -had thus far been able to control. The philosopher’s training continued -uninterruptedly for four years, included instruction in poetry, -rhetoric, philosophy, physics, and medicine,—and is said to have had -beneficial effect upon the future conqueror’s character. - -Note 468 page 285. Stagira lay on the easterly side of the Chalcidic -peninsula. Philip had destroyed it in his Olynthian campaign of 348 -B.C., but rebuilt it at Aristotle’s request and caused a gymnasium to be -erected there, in a shady grove, for the use of the philosopher and his -pupils, among whom was Alexander. - -Note 469 page 285. Plutarch expressly affirms that Alexander’s policy, -of uniting all the nations under his sway into a single people, was not -founded on Aristotle’s advice, as indeed an examination of the latter’s -political theories would seem to prove. - -Note 470 page 285. The Bactrians were an Aryan people dwelling on the -upper Oxus, in what is now Afghanistan. They were conquered in 327 B.C. -by Alexander, who married Roxana, the daughter of one of their princes. -In ancient times the inhabitants of northern and eastern Europe and Asia -were called Scythians. - -Note 471 page 285. CALLISTHENES was a cousin and fellow pupil of -Alexander’s. On Aristotle’s recommendation, Alexander took Callisthenes -with him on his Asiatic expedition of 334 B.C., but, exasperated by his -young kinsman’s plain-spoken disapproval of his conduct, had -Callisthenes put to death. - -[Illustration: - - DON CARLOS - PRINCE OF SPAIN - 1500-1558 -] - -Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 43.099) of the portrait, in the - Borghese collection at Rome, attributed to Bernhard Strigel - (1460?-1528). - -Note 472 page 285. DIO, (born about 408; died about 354 B.C.), was an -austere Syracusan philosopher who became an ardent disciple of Plato on -the occasion of the latter’s short residence at the court of Dionysius -the Elder, and later induced the younger DIONYSIUS also to invite Plato -to Syracuse, where, however, the philosopher was unable long to check -the tyrant’s profligacy. - -Note 473 page 287. Bembo was thirty-six years old at the date of the -Courtier dialogues. - -Note 474 page 288. In Book III of Bembo’s _Gli Asolani_ (1505), a hermit -discourses to Lavinello on the beauty of mystical Christian love. Bembo -had a villa called Lavinello, near Padua. - -Note 475 page 288. Much of the following disquisition seems to be drawn -from Plato and from Bembo’s _Gli Asolani_. As Bembo is known to have -revised THE COURTIER before publication, we may assume that he was -content with the form and substance of the discourse here attributed to -him. - -Note 476 page 294. STESICHORUS was a Greek lyric poet who lived about -630-550 B.C., and was supposed to have been miraculously stricken blind -after writing an attack upon Helen of Troy. His true name is said to -have been Tisias, and to have been changed to Stesichorus because he was -the first to establish a chorus for singing to the harp. Fragments of -his verse have survived. - -Note 477 page 294. These ‘five other stars’ are of course the five -planets then known (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), in -addition to the Sun and Moon, which were until long afterwards regarded -as planets. “The sun, the moon and the five planets were always to be -found within a region of the sky extending about 8° on each side of the -ecliptic. This strip of the celestial sphere was called the Zodiac, -because the constellations in it were (with one exception) named after -living things (Greek ζῷον, an animal); it was divided into twelve equal -parts, the Signs of the Zodiac, through one of which the sun passed -every month, so that the position of the sun at any time could be -roughly described by stating in what ‘sign’ it was.” Arthur Berry’s -“Short History of Astronomy” (London, 1898), p. 13. - -Note 478 page 305. Castiglione here follows that version of the Hercules -myth which represents the hero, tormented by the poisoned shirt sent him -by the jealous Deianeira, as throwing himself upon a burning pyre on -Mount Œta, whence he was caught up to heaven in a cloud. - -Note 479 page 305. Compare: Exodus, iii, 2; Acts, ii, 1-4; and II Kings, -ii, 11-2. - -Note 480 page 307. This dialogue is by some represented as having -actually taken place in the presence of Raphael. - -Note 481 page 308. PLOTINUS was born in Egypt about 204 A.D., and taught -philosophy at Rome. He lived so exclusively the life of speculation that -he seemed ashamed of bodily existence, and concealed his parentage, -birthplace and age. - -Note 482 page 308. ST. FRANCIS, (Gianfrancesco Bernardone, 1182-1226), -was born and died at Assisi near Perugia, and was canonized in 1288. - -Note 483 page 308. II Corinthians, xii, 2-4. - -Note 484 page 308. Acts, vii, 54-60. - -Note 485 page 308. St. Luke, vii, 37. - -Note 486 page 309. Mount Catria lies less than twenty miles to the -southward of Urbino, between Pergola and Gubbio, and rises a little more -than a mile above the sea level. It is mentioned by Dante in the -_Paradiso_ (xxi, 109). - - -------------- - -The stamp imprinted on the cover of this volume was engraved from an -enlarged outline drawing made by Mr. Kenyon Cox from a photograph of one -of the many examples of Castiglione’s seal preserved in the Royal State -Archives at Mantua. - - - - - LIST OF EDITIONS OF THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER - - COMPILED FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES: - - Copy in the Library of the Spanish Academy at Madrid, ace - - Copy in the Alessandrina Library at Rome, ala - - Copy in the Ambrosiana Library at Milan, amb - - Copy in the Angelica Library at Rome, ang - - Copy in the National Library at Madrid, bnm - - Copy in the National Library at Paris, bnp - - Brunet’s _Manuel du Libraire_ (Paris: 1860-65), bnt - - Copy in the Braidense Library at Milan, bra - - Copy in the British Museum, brm - - Brunet’s _Manuel du Libraire, Supplément_ (Paris: 1878), bts - - Copy in the Casanatense Library at Rome, cas - - Copy in the Cavriani Library at Mantua, cav - - Copy in the Chigiana Library at Rome, chi - - Copy in the Corsiniana Library at Rome, cor - - MS. bibliographical notes by the late Count D’Arco, at Mantua, d’a - - Copy examined by the translator in the National Library at Paris, exd - - List of editions appended to Fabié’s (1873) edition of Boscan’s fab - Spanish translation, - - Copy in the University Library at Jena, jen - - List of editions appended to Aristide Joly’s _De Balthassaris jol - Castillionis opere cui titulus “Il Libro del Cortegiano,” etc._ - (Caen: 1856), - - List of editions appended to Count Mazzuchelli’s Life of maz - Castiglione (Rome: 1879), - - Copy in the New York Public Library, nyp - - Card Catalogue of the antiquarian bookseller Olschki, at Florence, ols - - Copy owned by the translator, opd - - Giambattista Passano’s _I Novellieri Italiani_ (Turin: 1878), pas - - Article by Reinhardstöttner in _Jahrb. f. Münchner Gesch._ (1888, rei - pp. 494-9), - - Copy in the Marciana Library at Venice, stm - - Copy in the Vatican Library at Rome, vat - - Copy in the Vittorio Emanuele Library at Rome, vel - - List of editions appended to Count Carlo Baudi di Vesme’s (1854) ves - edition of THE COURTIER, - - - - - LIST OF EDITIONS - - THE LANGUAGE IS ITALIAN UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED - DATES AND NAMES ENCLOSED IN PARENTHESES ARE NOT FREE FROM DOUBT - - 1528 Venice Aldine Press: fol.: April: opd - - 1528 Florence The heirs of Filippo di Giunta: 8vo: October: opd - - (1529) Tusculano Alessandro Paganino: 12mo: stm - - 1529 Florence The heirs of Filippo di Giunta: 8vo: opd - - 1530 Parma Antonio di Viotti: 8vo: opd - - 1531 Florence Benedetto Giunti: 8vo: opd - - 1531 Parma Antonio di Viotti: 8vo: ves - - 1532 Parma Antonio di Viotti: 8vo: stm - - 1533 Venice Aldine Press: 8vo: with a few poems by exd - Castiglione: - - 1534 Barcelona Pedro Monpezat: fol.: Spanish version by Juan fab - Boscan Almogaver: - - 1537 Florence Benedetto Giunti: 8vo: brm - - 1537 Paris For Jean Longis and Vincent Sertenas: 8vo: exd - French version by Jacques Colin: - - (1537) Lyons Denys de Harsy: 8vo: Colin’s French version: opd - - 1538 Venice Vettor de’ Rabani and associates: 8vo: stm - - 1538 Venice Giovanni Padovano for Federico Torresano exd - d’Asola: 8vo: - - 1538 Venice Curzio Navò and brothers: 8vo: cor - - 1538 Lyons Françoys Juste: 8vo: Colin’s French version exd - revised by Estienne Dolet: - - 1539 Venice Curzio Navò for Alvise Tortis: 8vo: stm - - 1539 s. l. Printer not mentioned: 8vo: abbreviation by maz - Scipio Claudio: - - 1539 Toledo Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish fab - version: - - 1540 Salamanca Pedro Touans for Guillermo de Milles: 4to: ace - Boscan’s Spanish version: - - 1540 Paris Printer not mentioned: 8vo: (Colin’s) French ala - version: - - 1541 Venice Aldine Press: 8vo: opd - - 1541 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 12mo: stm - - (1541) s. l. “T-A”: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish version: fab - - 1542 Medina Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish brm - version: - - (1542) s. l. Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish bnm - version: - - 1543 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: pas - - 1544 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: opd - - 1544 Venice Alvise de Tortis: 8vo: chi - - 1544 Antwerp Martin Nucio: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish version: fab - - 1544 s. l. Printer not mentioned: 8vo: maz - - 1545 Venice Aldine Press: fol.: opd - - 1545 Paris Printer not mentioned: 12mo: (Colin’s) French brm - version: - - 1546 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: exd - - 1546 Paris For Arnoul l’Angelier: 12mo: Colin’s French opd - version: - - 1547 Venice Aldine Press: 8vo: opd - - 1547 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: maz - - 1549 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 12mo: chi - - 1549 Venice Alvise de Tortis: 8vo: vel - - 1549 Paris Gelles Corrozet: ——: (Colin’s) French version: bnt - - 1549 Paris Jean Lor——: 16mo: (Colin’s) French version: vel - - 1549 s. l. Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish ves - version: - - 1550 Lyons Gulielmo Rovillio: 16mo: opd - - 1551 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari and brothers: stm - 12mo: - - 1552 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari and brothers: 8vo: exd - text revised by Ludovico Dolce: - - 1552 Venice Domenico Giglio: 12mo: opd - - 1553 Lyons Gulielmo Rovillio: 12mo: brm - - 1553 Saragossa For Miguel de Çapila: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish fab - version: - - 1554 Florence The heirs of Bernardo Giunti: 16mo: stm - - 1556 Venice Girolamo Scoto: 8vo: Dolce’s text: cav - - 1556 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: Dolce’s stm - text: - - 1559 Venice Simbeni for Bernardin Fagiani: 8vo: with Paolo cav - Giovio’s Life of Castiglione: - - 1559 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: Dolce’s brm - text: - - 1559 Toledo Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish maz - version: - - 1560 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: Dolce’s brm - text: - - 1561 London William Seres: 4to: English version by Thomas brm - Hoby: - - 1561 Antwerp The widow of Martin Nutio: 8vo: Boscan’s ala - Spanish version: - - 1561 Wittenberg Johannes Crato: 4to: Latin version by jen - Hieronymus Turler: - - 1562 Venice Francesco Rampazzetto: 12mo: cav - - 1562 Venice Printer not mentioned: 8vo: with Giovio’s opd - Life: - - 1562 Lyons Gulielmo Rovillio: 12mo: Dolce’s text: opd - - 1562 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 12mo: ang - - 1563 Venice Same edition as the last, with change of date maz - on title-page: - - 1564 Venice Same edition as the last, with change of date stm - on title-page: - - 1564 s. l. Printer not mentioned: 8vo: edition ves - erroneously dated “MDXLIV”: - - 1565 Venice Gerolamo Cavalcalovo: 12mo: Dolce’s text: stm - - 1566 Munich Adam Berg: 8vo: German version by Lorenz vat - Kratzer: - - 1568 Venice Domenico: 12mo: brm - - 1569 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 12mo: vel - - 1569 Wittenberg (Johannes Crato): 8vo: Turler’s Latin version: maz - - 1569 Valladolid Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba: 8vo: Boscan’s brm - Spanish version expurgated: - - 1571 London John Day: 8vo: Latin version by Bartholomew brm - Clerke: - - 1573 Venice Comin da Trino: 8vo: with Giovio’s Life: opd - - 1574 Venice Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari: 8vo: maz - - 1574 Venice Comin da Trino: 8vo: maz - - 1574 Venice Domenico Farri: 12mo: Dolce’s text: exd - - 1574 Antwerp Philippo Nucio: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish version: exd - - 1577 Antwerp Philippo Nucio: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish version: bts - - 1577 Strasbourg Bernhardus Jobinus: 8vo: Latin version of Book ves - I by Johannes Ritius: - - 1577 London Henry Bynneman: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: exd - - 1577 London Henry Denham: 4to: Hoby’s English version: brm - - (1577) Paris Pierre Gaultier: 16mo: Colin’s French version: opd - - 1580 Lyons Thibauld Ancelin for Loys Cloquemin: 8vo: stm - French version by Gabriel Chapuis with text: - - 1581 Salamanca Pedro Lasso: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish version: ols - - 1584 Venice Bernardo Basa: 8vo: text expurgated by stm - Ciccarelli, with Life by Marliani: - - 1584 Frankfort Bernhardus Jobinus: 8vo: Latin version by ala - Johannes Ritius: - - 1585 London Thomas Dauson: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: brm - - 1585 Lyons Claude Bourcidan for Jean Huguetan: 8vo: vel - Chapuis’ French version with text: - - 1585 Paris Nicholas Bonfons: 8vo: Chapuis’ French version exd - with text: - - 1585 Paris Georges l’Oyselet for Cl. Micard: 8vo: exd - Chapuis’ French version: - - 1587 Venice Curzio Navò and brothers: 8vo: d’a - - 1587 Venice Domenico Giglio: 12mo: exd - - 1588 London John Wolfe: 8vo: Hoby’s English version opd - revised, with text and - Chapuis’ French version: - - 1592 Paris Nicholas Bonfons for Abel l’Angelier: 8vo: exd - Chapuis’ French version - with text: - - 1593 Venice La Miniana Compagnia: 8vo: Ciccarelli’s stm - expurgation: - - 1593 London George Bishop: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: exd - - 1593 Dilingen Johann Mayer: 8vo: German version by Johann ang - Engelbert Noyse: - - 1599 Venice Paulo Ugolini: 16mo: Ciccarelli’s expurgation, ang - with Marliani’s Life: - - 1599 Antwerp Philippo Nucio: 8vo: Boscan’s Spanish version maz - expurgated: - - s. d. s. l. Printer not mentioned: 4to: Boscan’s Spanish bnm - version: - - 1600 Florence (The heirs of Filippo di Giunta): 4to: d’a - - 1601 Venice Giovanni Alberti: ——: jol - - 1603 London T. Creede: 4to: Hoby’s English version: brm - - 1603 London George Bishop: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: brm - - 1606 Venice Giovanni Alberti: 8vo: ves - - 1606 Frankfort Lazarus Zetzner: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: amb - - 1612 London Thomas Adams: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version: brm - - 1619 Strasbourg Bernhardus Jobinus: 8vo: Ritius’s Latin cas - version: - - 1619 Strasbourg The heirs of Lazarus Zetzner: 8vo: Clerke’s brm - Latin version: - - 1663 Strasbourg For Simon Paullus: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin exd - version: - - 1667 Strasbourg Bernhardus Jobinus: 8vo: Ritius’s Latin maz - version: - - 1668 Zürich Printer not mentioned: 8vo: Ritius’s Latin maz - version: - - 1684 Frankfort For Carl Schaeffer: ——: German version by “J. rei - C. L. L. J.”: - - 1690 Paris Estienne Massot for Estienne Loyson: 12mo: exd - French version by (L’Abbé - Duhamel): - - 1713 Cambridge William Innys: 8vo: Clerke’s Latin version exd - revised by S. Drake: - - 1724 London A. Battesworth and others: 8vo: English nyp - version by Robert Samber: - - 1727 London W. Bowyer: 4to: English version by A. P. opd - Castiglione, with Life - and text: - - 1729 London E. Curll: 8vo: Samber’s English version: brm - - 1733 Padua Giuseppe Comino: 4to: Volpi edition, with opd - other works by Castiglione - and Marliani’s Life: - - 1737 London Olive Payne: identical with edition of 1727, opd - title-page changed: - - 1742 London H. Slater and others: identical with edition opd - of 1727, title-page - changed: - - 1766 Padua Giuseppe Comino: 4to: Volpi edition, with Life opd - by Pierantonio Serassi: - - 1771 Vicenza Giambattista Vendramini Mosca: 8vo: 2 volumes, opd - with Serassi’s Life: - - (1772) s. l. Printer not mentioned: 8vo: 2 volumes: d’a - - 1799 Bassano Remondini: 8vo: 3 volumes, including other d’a - works by Castiglione: - - 1803 Milan La Tipografia dei Classici Italiani: 8vo: bnp - - 1822 Milan Giovanni Silvestri: 8vo: with Serassi’s Life: brm - - 1828 Bergamo Mazzoleni: 12mo: 2 volumes: bra - - 1831 Milan Niccolò Bettoni and the brothers Ubicini: 4to: amb - - 1842 Venice Girolamo Tasso: 8vo: 2 volumes, expurgated, opd - with Serassi’s Life: - - 1844 Parma Fiaccadori: 16mo: expurgated edition: amb - - 1848 Copenhagen Schultz: 4to: early French version of Book exd - III, edited by N. C. L. - Abrahams: - - 1854 Florence Felice Lemonnier: 8vo: annotated by Count opd - Carlo Baudi di Vesme: - - 1873 Madrid Rivadeneyra for Alfonso Durán: 8vo: Boscan’s opd - version annotated by A. M. - Fabié: - - 1884 Turin Libreria Salesiana: 16mo: vel - - 1884 Florence P. Metastasio for G. C. Sansoni: 16mo: with opd - preface by Giulio Salvadori: - - 1889 Florence Gaspare Barbèra: 8vo: expurgated and annotated opd - by Giuseppe Rigutini: - - 1890 Milan Edoardo Sonzogno: 8vo: with preface by opd - Lodovico Corio: - - 1892 Florence Same edition as that of 1889, with changed opd - date on title-page: - - 1894 Florence Carnesecchi for G. C. Sansoni: 8vo: annotated opd - by Vittorio Cian: - - 1900 London Constable for David Nutt: 8vo: Hoby’s English opd - version edited by Walter Raleigh: - - ADDENDUM - - 1900 London Edward Arnold (Essex House Press): 8vo: Hoby’s opd - English version edited by - Janet E. Ashbee, with woodcut ornaments by C. - R. Ashbee: - - - - - INDEX - - - - - INDEX - - - Ability to perform his highest functions, necessary to the courtier, - even if he be not called on, 283 - - Abrahams, N. C. L., 421 - - Absurd similes, 129 - - Accolti, Benedetto, 333 - Bernardo,—see Unico Aretino - Pietro, 333 - - Accomplishments, etc., of the courtier; how to be employed, 81 et seq.; - the proper aim of, 246 et seq. - - Achaia, 171, 387 - - Achilles, 61, 62, 64, 284, 348, 349, 414 - - Acquapendente, 158, 382 - - Adams, Thomas, 421 - - Adrian VI, 317, 413 - - Adriatic, the, 8 - - Adulation of princes, 248 - - Ady, Mrs. Henry, 338, 399 - - Æneas, 339, 393 - - Æneid, a quotation from the, 365 - - Æschines, 51, 54, 344 - - Æsop, 78, 356, 357 - - Affectation: - to be avoided, 35, 83; - instances of: - in oratory, 35; - in dancing, 36; - in attire, 36; - in riding, 37; - in boasting, 37; - in music, 37; - in painting, 37; - in speech, 38; - in preferring to practise that in which one does not most excel, - 117 - - “Aforesaid,” story about a Sienese who mistook Aforesaid for a name, - 130 - - Age, the courtier’s functions affected by his, 281, 283-4 - - Agesilaus, 250, 408 - - Agilulph, Duke of Turin, 393 - - Agnello, Antonio, 126, 361-2 - Giulio, 362 - - Agone, the Piazza d’, 249, 407 - - Aguilar, the Marquess of, 384 - - Alamanni, 149-50 - - Albert III, Duke of Bavaria, 374 - - Alberti, Giovanni, 421 - - Albizzi, 370 - - Albret, Charlotte d’, 377 - - Alcibiades, 57, 89, 356, 402 - - Aldana, Captain, 152, 379 - - Aldine Press, 315, 419 - - Aldus (Teobaldo Manucci), 315, 329, 332, 394, 405 - - Alessandrina Library at Rome, 417 - - Alexander the Great, 28, 34, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 68, 70, 103, 109, 142, - 146, 205, 207, 210, 212, 274, 275, 284, 285, 338, 348, 351, 358, - 401, 411, 414 - - Alexander III, 364 - - Alexander VI (Roderigo Lenzuoli Borgia), 10, 126, 147, 216, 318, 328, - 336, 340, 361, 365, 367, 369, 371, 372, 375, 377, 380, 382, 395, - 397, 400 - - Alexander Jannæus, King of the Jews, 191, 389 - - Alexandra, Queen of the Jews, 191, 389 - - Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great, 274, 411 - - Alexandria, the Bishop of, (Giannantonio di Sangiorgio), 142, 372 - - Alexandrian Cardinal, the, (Giovanni Antonio di Sangiorgio), 142, 372 - - Alfonso I of Naples, 146, 153, 156, 375-6 - - Alfonso II of Naples, 10, 327, 363, 383, 397, 398, 400 - - Alfonso the Magnanimous,—see Alfonso I of Naples - - Alidosi, Francesco,—see Pavia, the Cardinal of Almada, Brazaida de,—see - Castagneta, the Countess of Juan Baez de, 384 - - Almogaver,—see Boscan - - Altamura, the Prince of, 399 - - Altoviti, 149-50 - - Alva, the Duke of, 315 - - “Amadis of Gaul,” 405 - - Amalasontha, Queen of the Goths, 202, 393 - - Ambrogini, Angelo,—see Poliziano - Benedetto, 345 - - Ambros, 359 - - Ambrosiana Library at Milan, 417 - - Amiable manners necessary to the courtier, 91 - - Ancelin, Thibauld, 420 - - Ancona, absurd duelling of two cousins of, 30 - - Angelica Library at Rome, 417 - - Angelier, Abel l’, 421 - Arnoul l’, 419 - - Angoulême, Count Charles d’, 346 - Monseigneur d’,—see Francis I of France - - Anichino, a character in Boccaccio, 164 - - Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, 202, 371, 395, 396 - - Anne of Cleves, Duchess of Orléans, 371 - - Antæus, 275, 411 - - Antigonus, King of Macedon, 351 - - Antiphanes, 364 - - Antonello da Forli, 147, 376 - - Antonio di Tommaso, 375 - - Antonius, Marcus, (the orator), 44, 51, 339 - - Apelles, 37, 68, 70, 338, 351, 402 - - Apennines, 8, 43 - - Aphrodite, 387, 388 - - Apollo, 356 - - Apollo Belvedere, 349, 410 - - Aptitude for fun, requisite in a man who would be amusing, 154 - - Apulia, use of music in, as a cure for bite of tarantula, 15 - - Aquila, Serafino dall’,—see Serafino dall’Aquila - - Aquino, the Bishop of,—see Mario de’ Maffei - - Aragon, Alfonso II of Naples,—see Alfonso II of Naples - Alfonso V of,—see Alfonso I of Naples - Beatrice, Queen of Hungary, 204, 336, 397, 399, 400 - Catherine, wife of Henry VIII of England, 412 - Eleanora, Duchess of Ferrara, 204-5, 336, 363, 397, 398, 399 - Federico III of Naples,—see Federico III of Naples - Ferdinand of,—see Ferdinand the Catholic - Ferdinand I of Naples,—see Ferdinand I of Naples - Ferdinand II of Naples,—see Ferdinand II of Naples - Ferdinand the Just, 375 - Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria, 400 - Isabella, Duchess of Milan, 204, 327, 381, 398, 400 - Joanna, wife-aunt of Ferdinand II of Naples, 327, 397 - Juan II, King of Navarre and, 397 - Juana, wife of Philip of Austria, 413 - Ludovico, Cardinal, 159, 341, 383 - - Archaisms of speech discussed, 39-54 - - Archiuzow, an alleged Russian translator of THE COURTIER, 324 - - Arco, MS. bibliographical notes by the late Count d’, 417 - - Ares, 411 - - Aretino, Pietro, 333 - Unico, (Bernardo Accolti),—see Unico Aretino - - Argentina, madonna, 196 - - _Arguzie_, 121, 143 - - Arion, 349 - - Ariosto, Alfonso, 2, 7, 75, 171, 243, 320 - Ludovico, 320, 336, 345 - - Aristippus of Cyrene, 59, 348 - - Aristobulus I, King of the Jews, 389 - - Aristodemus, 264, 409 - - Aristogeiton, 390 - - Aristotle, 34, 57, 63, 284-5, 286, 323, 370, 374, 388, 391, 409, 414 - - Arms, the courtier’s true profession, 25 - - Arms vs. letters, 60-2 - - Arnold, Fr., 337 - - Arrogance of princes, 248-9 - - Art, enjoyment of beauty in nature increased by a knowledge of, 69 - - Artemisia, 205, 400-1 - - Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England, 412 - - Artifice, discussion on, 118 - - Artifice in love, deprecated, 165-6 - - Ascension, Venetian festival of the, 131, 364 - - Ascham, Roger, 316 - - Asia, 101, 275 - - _Asinus Domino Blandiens_, one of Æsop’s fables, 357 - - Asnapper (Sardanapalus), 206, 401 - - Aspasia, 197, 390-1 - - Assurbanipal (Sardanapalus), 206, 401 - - Atanagi’s _Rime Scelte_, 331 - - Athena, 387 - - Athenian dialect: - spoken with excessive care by Theophrastus, 5; - not rigidly adhered to by excellent Greek authors, 47 - - Athens, 101, 197 - feminine constancy commemorated by a statue at, 192 - - Athos, Mount, 274, 411 - - Atri, Giacomo d’, (Count Pianella),—see Pianella - - Attendolo, Muzio, called Sforza, 381 - - Attire appropriate to the courtier, 102-4 - - Augustus, 190, 388, 401 - - Aurelian, the Emperor, 401 - - Austria, Margarita of, 202, 395-6 - Maximilian of,—see Maximilian I - Philip of, 413 - - Autharis, King of the Lombards, 393 - - Ayola, Maria de, 317 - - Bacon, Francis, afterwards Lord Verulam, 316 - - Bactria, 285, 414 - - Bad government, the evils of, 249 - - Bad master, the courtier to leave the service of a, 99, 285 - - Baja, 274, 410 - - Bajazet II of Turkey, 141, 173, 372, 388 - - Balance and contrast, in art and character, 83 - - Baldi, Bernardino, 327 - - Baldness, jests about Bernardo Bibbiena’s, 122, 155 - - _Ballare_ and _danzare_ compared, 352-3, 382 - - _Ballatore_, 156, 382 - - Balzo, Antonia del, 400, 404 - Isabella del, Queen of Naples,—see Isabella del Balzo - - _Banchi_, a street in Rome, the scene of a trick played upon Bibbiena, - 159-60, 383 - - Bandello, 366 - - Barbara of Brandenburg, Marchioness of Mantua, 374, 404 - - Barbarelli, Giorgio,—see Giorgione - - Barbarian influence upon Latin, resulting in Italian, 43 - - Barbary pirates, touching incident following a husband’s rescue from, - 195-7 - - Barbèra, Gaspare, 422 - - Bari, Roberto da,—see Roberto da Bari - - Barletta, 73, 87, 352 - - Barletta, the tournament at, 351 - - Barlettani, Lucrezia, 367 - - Barozzi, Pietro, the (Arch-) Bishop of Padua, 136, 366 - - Bartolommeo, joke concerning the name, 151 - - Basa, Bernardo, 420 - - Basset, a dance performed after the first evening’s discussion, 73, 352 - - Battesworth, A., 421 - - Bavaria, Duke Albert III of, 374 - Margarita of,—see Margarita of Bavaria - - Bayeux, the Bishop of,—see Canossa, Ludovico da - - Beatrice, a character in Boccaccio, 164, 165 - of Lorraine, 394 - - Beaufort, Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 413 - - Beauty: - personal beauty requisite in the courtier, 23; - beauty unadorned, 55; - love defined as “a certain desire to enjoy beauty,” 288; - two ways of enjoying beauty, 289; - beauty, an effluence of divine goodness, 289; - cannot be truly enjoyed by possessing the body in which it is found, - 290; - “beauty is good:” true love of beauty works for good, 291; - effect of women’s beauty on their own character, 292-3, 296; - “Do not believe that beauty is not always good,” 293; - beauty, a true sign of inward goodness, 294; - beauty through utility, 294-5; - “the good and the beautiful are in a way one and the same thing,” - 295; - bodily beauty derived from beauty of the soul, 295-6; - beautiful women, more chaste than ugly women, 296; - beauty does not spring from the body wherein it shines, 298; - beauty best enjoyed through sight and hearing, 298; - beauty engendered in beauty, 299; - beauty to be enjoyed for itself, and not for the sake of the body - wherein it dwells, 302-3; - the highest enjoyment of beauty is the enjoyment of beauty in the - abstract, apart from bodily form, 303-4 - - Beazzano, Agostino,—see Bevazzano - - Beccadello, Cesare, 160-1, 383 - Domenico Maria, 383 - Ludovico, 383 - - _Becco_, a he-goat, 129, 363 - - Beggar and lady at church, story of, 125 - - Belcolore (a character in Boccaccio), 127 - - Bellini, the, 343 - Gentile, 341 - Giacopo, 341 - Giovanni, 341 - Niccolosa, 341 - - Belvedere, a pavilion in the Vatican Gardens, 274 - - Bembo, Bernardo, 330 - Pietro, 12, 18, 60, 61, 104, 106, 121, 130, 244, 255, 259-60, 287, - 288-307, 308, 319, 320, 321, 330-1, 332, 333, 334, 336, 340, 342, - 343, 345, 348, 358, 359, 362, 363, 364, 367, 368, 369, 374, 379, - 380, 383, 403, 407, 415 - - Bembo’s _Gli Asolani_, 330, 336, 415 - Prose, 340 - - Bentivogli, the, 375 - - Bentivoglio, Francesca, 314 - Laura, 373 - - Berenson, Bernhard, 343 - - Berg, Adam, 420 - - Bergamasque dialect, rude by contrast with others, 41, 338 - peasant, story of two great ladies deceived by a, 156-7 - - Bergamo, 105, 338 - - Bergamo, Lattanzio da, 376 - - Bernardone, Gianfrancesco, (St. Francis of Assisi), 416 - - Bernhardt, Madame Sara, 380 - - Bernice of Pontus, 389 - - Beroaldo, Filippo, the elder, 368 - Filippo, the younger, 139, 319, 352, 368 - - Berry, Arthur, “Short History of Astronomy,” 360, 415 - - Bersine, wife of Alexander the Great, 401 - - Berto, 26, 128, 336 - - Bettoni, Niccolò, 421 - - Bevazzano, Agostino, 144, 374 - Francesco, 374 - - Bias, 263, 408 - - Bibbiena, Bernardo Dovizi da, 2, 12, 28, 32, 36, 43, 110, 121, 122, - 123-65, 166, 167, 170, 230, 234, 237, 238, 244, 276, 279, 321-2, - 332, 334, 342, 348, 360, 361, 363, 367, 379, 407, 413 - - Bibbiena’s _Calandra_, 314, 321, 335, 356, 367 - - Bible, citations from the, 96, 137, 139, 301, 305, 357, 366, 415, 416 - - Bibulus, Marcus, 389 - - Bidon, 50, 340 - - Biga, Maddalena, a virtuous peasant girl, 403 - - Biondo, Flavio, 410 - - Birth, gentle, requisite in the courtier, 22-5 - - _Bischizzo, bisticcio_, 136, 365 - - Bishop, George, 421 - - Blanc, Charles, 327 - - Blanche, Queen of France, 395 - - Blasphemy, to be avoided, 143 - - Blind, story of two gamesters who made their companion believe that he - was, 157-9 - - Boadilla (or Bobadilla), My lady, (Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, - Marchioness of Moya), 148, 164, 377 - - Boccaccio, Giovanni, 3, 4, 5, 41, 42, 49, 50, 51, 52, 164, 165, 167, - 323, 339 - - Boccaccio’s _Corbaccio_, 384 - Decameron, 127, 161, 384 - - Bohemia, Ladislas II of, 397 - - Boisy, Sieur de, 346 - - Bologna: subdued by Julius II, 12; - mentioned as full of turmoil, 139; - the Archbishop of,—see Pavia, the Cardinal of - - Bonaparte, Napoleon, 313 - - Bonfons, Nicholas, 420, 421 - - Boniface, Duke of Tuscany, 394 - - Borgia, Cardinal Francesco, 156, 382 - Cesare, (“Duke Valentino”), 147, 313, 318, 325, 328, 329, 331, 341, - 343, 376, 377, 378 - Giovanni, 377 - Juana (or Isabella), 328 - Lucrezia, 322, 328, 330, 359, 363, 373, 377, 399 - Roderigo Lenzuoli,—see Alexander VI - - Boristhenes,—see Dnieper - - Borso, Duke,—see Este - - Boscan Almogaver, Juan, 315, 320, 338, 377, 419, 420, 421 - - _Bottone_, play upon the word, 152 - - Bottone da Cesena, 152, 380 - - Bourcidan, Claude, 420 - - Bowyer, W., 421 - - Box, story of Cato and a rustic who had jostled him with a, 149 - - Braccesque leave, 167, 384 - - Bracciano, the Dukes of, 404 - - Braccio da Montone, 355 - - Braidense Library at Milan, 417 - - Bramante, the architect, 321, 335, 342, 381, 383, 410 - - Brancaleone, Gentile, 325 - - Brandenburg, Barbara of,—see Barbara of Brandenburg - - Branthôme, 368, 379, 395 - - Brawl, a dance, 87, 356 - - Brescian, comic story of a, 131 - - British Museum Library, 316, 417 - - Brittany, Anne of,—see Anne of Brittany - Duke Francis II of, 395 - - Brunelleschi, 370 - - Brunet’s _Manuel du Libraire_, 417 - _Manuel du Libraire, Supplément_, 417 - - Bruno, a character in Boccaccio, 161 - - Brutus, Marcus Junius, 58, 190, 347, 389 - - Bruyère, La, 323 - - Bucentaur, the, 131, 364 - - Bucephalia in India, founded by Alexander the Great, 274, 411 - - Buffalmacco, a character in Boccaccio, 161 - - Building architectural monuments, a duty of princes, 274 - - Buonarroti, Ludovico (Simoni), 343 - Michelangelo,—see Michelangelo - - Burgundy, Charles the Bold, 396 - Mary of, 395, 396, 413 - Philip the Good, Duke of, 387 - the order (of the Golden Fleece) at the court of, 173, 387 - - Burleigh, Lord, (Sir William Cecil), 316 - - Burney, Dr., 359 - - Burning Bush of Moses, 305 - - Burning of the ships by the Trojan women, 197-8 - - Bynneman, Henry, 420 - - Cacus, 275, 411 - - Cæcilia Tanaquil, Caia, 190, 389 - - Cæsar, Caius Julius, 54, 57, 58, 118, 205, 346, 347, 360, 362, 378, - 388, 389, 401 - - Cæsarion, 401 - - Caglio, story of the bishopric of, 137 - - Calabria, Duke Alfonso of, afterwards Alfonso II of Naples, 130, 363 - Duke Ferdinand of, (son of Federico III of Naples), 205 - - Calandrino (a character in Boccaccio), 127, 161, 362 - - Calfurnio, Giovanni, 138, 366-7 - - Caligula, the Emperor, 388 - - Calixtus III., 328 - - Callisthenes, 285, 414 - - Calmeta, Collo Vincenzo, 71, 72, 97, 98, 99, 116, 352 - - _Calunnia_, imputation, 384 - - Calzini, Egidio, 327 - - Camma, 194-5 - - Cammelli, Antonio,—see Pistoia - - Campani, Niccolò, da Siena,—see Strascino - - Campaspe, 70, 351 - - Cane, Facino, 355 - - Canossa, Conrad of, 394 - Count Ludovico da, Bishop of Bayeux, 12, 20-72, 121, 138, 176, 202, - 233, 236, 237, 244, 279, 292, 293, 297, 329, 332, 342, 346, 360, - 361, 394, 407 - - Çapila, Miguel de, 420 - - Capitol at Rome, a woman’s effort to secure the surrender of the, 199 - - Captain of the Church, Duke Guidobaldo made, 10 - - Capua, story of the sack of, 214 - - Cara, Marchetto, 50, 340 - - Carbo, Caius Papirius, 51, 344 - - Cardinals: - referred to in the prayer for heretics and schismatics, 138; - Raphael’s retort to the two, 149, 377-8 - - Cardona, Don Giovanni di, 146, 375, 376 - Don Pedro di, Count of Gosilano, 375 - Don Ugo di, 147, 375, 376 - - Cards and dice, 108 - - Carillo, Alonso, 148, 150, 164, 377 - - Carlos, Don, Prince of Spain, (afterwards Charles V of Spain), 276, and - see Charles V of Spain - - Carmenta, another name for Nicostrate, 391 - - Carnesecchi, G., 422 - - Carpaccio, 343 - - Carpentras, the Bishop of,—see Sadoleto, Giacomo - - Casanatense Library at Rome, 417 - - Casanova, Marcantonio, his distiches on “The Spartan Mother Slaying Her - Son,” 393 - - Castagneta, the Count of, 384 - the Countess of, 164, 384 - - Castel del Rio, the Lord of, 375 - - Castellina, story about the siege of, 130, 363 - - Castiglione, Anna, 314 - A. P., 421 - Count Baldesar, 6, 7, 75, 171, 243, 276, 313-5, 316, 317, 318, 319, - 320, 322, 323, 325, 327, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 338, 340, - 342, 343, 344, 346, 347, 348, 349, 351, 356, 357, 358, 360, 361, - 362, 363, 364, 367, 369, 375, 379, 382, 383, 384, 387, 388, 390, - 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 398, 399, 400, 404, 407, 408, 409, - 410, 411, 413, 415, 419, 420, 421 - his _Tirsi_, 314, 331, 332 - Count Camillo, 314, 347 - - Castiglione, Count Cristoforo, 313 - Ippolita, 314 - Tealdo, Archbishop of Milan, 313 - - Castile, 202, 203 - - Castillo, Andrea, 382 - a Spanish name jestingly bestowed upon a Bergamasque cow-herd, 156 - - Castor, 404 - - Castriani, Antonio da, Bishop of Cagli, 366 - - Castro, Violante de, 384 - - Cataline’s conspiracy, 200, 392 - - Cato, Marcus Porcius, 44, 146, 339 - - Cato Uticensis, Marcus Porcius, 149, 181, 190, 378 - - Catonian severity of countenance assumed hypocritically, 209 - - Catria, Mount, 309 - - Cattanei, Tommaso,—see Cervia, the Bishop of - - Cattani, Francesco, da Diacceto,—see Diacceto - - Catullus, 55, 126, 345, 346 - - Caucasia, 285 - - Cavaillon, the Bishop of,—see Mario de’ Maffei - - Cavalcalovo, Gerolamo, 420 - - _Cavalier servente_, 361 - - Cavriani Library at Mantua, 417 - - Cecil, Sir William, afterwards Lord Burleigh, 316 - - Cellini, Benvenuto, 346, 350, 379, 382, 414 - - Celsus, St., 383 - - Ceres, 197 - - Cerignola, humourous incident after the battle of, 147, 376 - - Cervia, the Bishop of, (Tommaso Cattanei), 153, 382 - - Cesena, Bottone da,—see Bottone - - Ceva, the Marquess Febus di, 71, 114, 351 - the Marquess Gerardino di, 71, 351 - the Marquess Giovanni di, 351 - - Chalcondylas, Demetrios, 313, 344, 374 - - Chancery, the, 159, 383 - - Chaperon, Jean, 315 - - Chapman, John Jay, 348 - - Chapuis, Gabriel, 420, 421 - - “Characters,” a work by Theophrastus, translated and afterwards - expanded by La Bruyère, 323 - - Charlemagne, the Emperor, 413 - - Charles the Bold of Burgundy, 396 - - Charles V of Spain, 276, 314, 315, 319, 332, 337, 371, 387, 396, 413, - 414 - - Charles VIII of France, 117, 202, 317, 327, 328, 330, 347, 360, 367, - 368, 371, 372, 373, 374, 381, 395, 396, 398, 400, 409 - - Charlotte of Savoy, 395 - - Chase, the, an appropriate pastime for the courtier, 31 - - Chastity: - discussions concerning, 162-3, 208-9; - instances of, 211 et seq. - - Chaumont, the Grand Master de, 379-80 - - Cheirocrates, 411 - - Chess: 108-9; - story of the monkey who played, 133-4 - - Chigi, Agostino, 383 - - Chigiana Library at Rome, 417 - - Chignones, Diego de, 139, 368 - - Chilon of Sparta, 408 - - Chios, a story of Philip V’s siege of, 200 - - Chiote women and their husbands, a story of, 200-1 - - Chiron, 64, 349 - - Choice of friends, 105-7 - - Christian Cicero, the, (Lactantius Firmianus), 392 - - Chrysoloras, 370 - - Cian, Vittorio, 334, 335, 349, 353, 367, 369, 373, 377, 378, 379, 380, - 382, 383, 422 - - Ciarla, Magia, 342 - - Ciccarelli, Antonio, 363, 377, 420, 421 - - Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 5, 44, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 129, 200, 339, 346, - 362, 363, 379, 389, 392, 408 - - Cicero’s _Brutus_, 323 - _De Amicitia_, 358 - _De Officiis_, 402 - _De Oratore_, 324, 344, 408 - _De Senectute_, 397 - _Pro Archia_, 34 - - Cicero, the Christian, (Lactantius Firmianus), 392 - - Ciminelli, Serafino,—see Serafino dall’Aquila - - Cimon, 250, 407-8 - - Circe, 272, 409 - - Circumspection: - necessary to the courtier, 59; - even more necessary to the court lady, 176 - - Cithern: - played by Socrates, 63; - Achilles taught by Chiron to play upon the, 64 - - Civita Vecchia, 274, 410 - - Claudio, Scipio, 419 - - Claudius, the Emperor, 388 - - Clearchus, “tyrant of Pontus,” 264, 409 - - Clement VII (Giulio de’ Medici), 314, 317, 319, 331, 335, 345, 369, 374 - - Cleobulus of Rhodes, 408 - - Cleopatra, 205, 401 - - Clerke, Bartholomew, 420, 421 - - Clermont, Isabelle de, Queen of Naples, 327, 397 - - Cleves, Anne of, 371 - - Cloquemin, Loys, 420 - - Cloven Tongues, 305 - - Clymene, 408 - - Colin, Jacques, 315-6, 419, 420 - - Colonna, Caterina, 394 - Fabrizio, 319 - Francesco, his _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, 405 - Marcantonio, 140, 371 - Pierantonio, 371 - Vittoria, Marchioness of Pescara, 1, 319-20, 323, 324, 369, 371, 394 - - Columbus, Christopher, 396 - - Comino, Giuseppe, 421 - - Command, he is always obeyed who knows how to, 265 - - Commines, 395 - - Commonwealths, Duke Guidobaldo in the service of the Venetian and - Florentine, 10 - - Como, the Bishop of, 366 - - Concealment: - of art, 35; - the courtier need not conceal his good deeds, 84 - - Conduct, Federico Fregoso propounds rules of, 83 - - Confession of ignorance, discussed, 116-7 - - Conquest, princes ought not to aim at, 266 - - Consalvo de Cordoba, 139, 141, 147, 204, 313, 327, 368-9, 371, 376, 400 - - Constable, T. and A., printers, 422 - - Conti, Bernardina, 371 - - Continence and temperance, contrasted and discussed, 257 - - Continence of Scipio, the story of the, 207-8 - - Contrast and balance, in art and character, 82-3 - - Conversation, to be varied to suit the company, 92 - - Conversion of the heathen, 275-6 - - Cooke, Sir Anthony, 316 - - Cordoba, Consalvo de,—see Consalvo - Francisco Fernandez de,—see Fernandez - - Corinna, 197, 391 - - Corio, Lodovico, 324, 422 - - Cornelia, 190, 344, 389 - - Corrozet, Gelles, 419 - - Corsiniana Library at Rome, - - Corvinus, Matthias,—see Matthias Corvinus - - Coscia, Andrea, 152, 380 - - Costume appropriate to the courtier, 102-4 - - Cotta, Caius Aurelius, 51, 344 - - Courage requisite in the courtier, 25 - - Court Lady, the: - beginning of the discussion on, 173; - must be womanly, 175; - her need of beauty, 176; - must be affable, vivacious, witty, not too prudish, 176; - not too familiar, not a scandal-monger, tactful in conversation, - 177-8; - not addicted to over-rugged exercises, or too ready to dance or sing, - 179; - her dress, 179-80; - must be no less well informed than the courtier, and understand even - those exercises that she does not practise; she must also be - accomplished in literature, music, painting and dancing, 180; - Pallavicino objects to such multiplicity of acquirement, 181-2 - - COURTIER, THE BOOK OF THE. reasons for writing, 1, 7; - reasons for hasty publication of, 1; - “a picture of the court of Urbino,” 2; - excuse for not writing in the Tuscan dialect, 3-5; - purports to record actual dialogues, 8; - when written, 319 - - Courtiers’ duty to entice their prince towards virtue, 250-1 - - Courtiership: - the subject of the book, 7; - beginning of the discussion concerning the perfection of, 19; - beginning of the discussion concerning the proper aims of, 246; - explanation of the word, 325 - - Crassus, Lucius Licinius, the orator, 44, 49, 51, 339, 344 - Marcus Licinius, the triumvir, 347 - - Crassus Mucianus, Publius Licinius, 101, 358 - - Crato, Johannes, 420 - - Creede, T., 421 - - Crema, Margarita, 362 - - Cretans, cultivators of music, 64 - - Crimson velvet, jest about a captain who celebrated his infrequent - victories by wearing, 152 - - Crivello, Biagino, 153, 381 - - Crotona, the five beautiful maidens of, 70, 351 - - Cuña, Don Pedro de,—see Messina, the Prior of - - Cuppis (or Coppi) da Montefolco, Bernardo de, 404 - Lucrezia de, 404 - - Curll, E., 421 - - Curtius Rufus, Quintus, his History of Alexander the Great, 358 - - Custom, the basis of manners, 7 - - Cyrene, 348 - - Cyrus, 201, 393, 400 - - _Damasco_, play upon the word, 150 - - Dances: see Basset, Brawl, Morris-dance, _Moresca_, _Roegarze_ - - Dancing: - affectation in, 36; - how to be practised, 86-7 - - Dante, 323, 330, 339, 340, 363, 381 - - Dante’s _Divina Commedia_, 323 - _Inferno_, 360 - _Paradiso_, 416 - _Purgatorio_, 376 - _Vita Nuova_, 348 - - _Danzare_ and _ballare_ compared, 352-3, 382 - - D’Arco, MS. bibliographical notes by the late Count, at Mantua, 417 - - Darius III of Persia, 103, 207, 212, 358, 401 - - Dauson, Thomas, 420 - - Day, John, 420 - - Death from excessive joy, an instance of, 195-7 - - Deceased friends, the author’s eulogy of his, 2-3, 243-4 - - Deceptions and tricks practised by lovers, 217-8 - - Defects and foibles, limits to be observed in ridiculing, 128 - - Defender of the Faith, origin of the title, 412 - - Deianeira, 415 - - Demarata, 390 - - Demetrius I of Macedon, 69, 351, 392 - - Demetrius II of Macedon, 200, 392 - - Democritus, 124, 337, 361 - - Demosthenes, 344 - - Denham, Henry, 420 - - Dennistoun, James, 317, 322, 334 - - Dennistoun’s “Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino,” 335, 337, 377, 397 - - Derketo, a Syrian goddess, 401 - - Deserve, the best way to win princes’ favour is to deserve it, 96 - - Devices (_imprese_), 12, 330 - - Diacceto, Francesco Cattani da, 51, 345-6 - - Diacceto’s _Tre Libri d’Amore_, 346 - - Diana, 194 - - Digressions from the main subject of the work: - on literary style, 38-54; - on pleasantries and witticism, 120-162; - on the attributes of the perfect court lady, 175-228; - on Platonic love, 288-307 - - Dinocrates, 411 - - Dio of Syracuse, 285, 414-5 - - Diocletian, the Emperor, 404 - - Diogenes Laertius, 348 - - Diomed, 275, 411 - - Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, 348, 415 - - Dionysius the Younger of Syracuse, 285, 415 - - Diotima, 197, 308, 391 - - Disguises, fancy dress, etc., 87-8 - - Disparagement, to be avoided, 115-6 - - Divorce, impliedly favoured, 224 - - Djem Othman, 141, 371-2 - - Dnieper, comic story of words frozen in crossing the, 132-3 - - Dolce, Ludovico, 420 - - Dolet, Estienne, 419 - - Domenico, a printer at Venice, 420 - - Donatello, 341 - - Donato, Geronimo, 136, 365-6 - - Don Carlos, Prince of Spain, (afterwards Charles V of Spain), 276, and - see Charles V of Spain - - Donkey, story of peasant who had lost his, 128-9 - - _Double entente_, instances of allowable, 125 - - Doves, story of a tiresome fellow and his, 148 - - Dovizi, Bernardo,—see Bibbiena Pietro, 321 - - Drake, S., 421 - - Drawing, a necessary accomplishment for the courtier, 65 - - Dreams, Alfonso I’s jesting advice to a servant regarding, 153 - - Dress: - the courtier’s, 102-4; - an index of character, 103-5; - the court lady’s, 179-80 - - Ducats: - as a laudatory simile, 140-1; - story of the prior who had borrowed ten thousand, 150-1 - - Duchess of Urbino, the,—see Gonzaga, Eleanora and Elisabetta - - Duel: - the courtier to know how to conduct a, 30; - story about a, 152 - - _Due torti_, play upon the words, 151 - - Duhamel, l’Abbé, 421 - - “Duke Borso,”—see Este, Borso d’, Duke of Ferrara - - “Duke Federico,”—see Montefeltro, Federico di, Duke of Urbino - - “Duke Filippo,”—see Visconti, Filippo Maria - - “Duke Valentino,”—see Borgia, Cesare - - Durán, Alfonso, 421 - - Dürer, Albert, 342, 343 - - Earth, story about disposing of earth from an excavation, 129-30 - - Edward III of England, 387 - - Edward IV of England, 413 - - Edward VII of England, 380 - - Egano, a character in Boccaccio, 164, 165 - - Egnatius, a character in Catullus, 55, 346 - - Egypt, the pyramids of, said to have been built in order to keep the - Egyptians busy, 267 - - Eleanora of Portugal, 396 - - Elias, 305 - - Elis in Achaia, 171, 387 - - Elizabeth of England, 316, 329 - - Elizabeth of Portugal, 387 - - Elizabeth of York, 412, 413 - - Elmo, St., 147, 376 - - Elocution, the essentials of, 4 - - Emanuel I of Portugal, 133, 364 - - Emilia Pia,—see Pia - - Empedocles, 337 - - Employment of the courtier’s qualities, etc., beginning of Federico - Fregoso’s discourse upon, 80 - - England, the author’s absence in, 8, 276, 325 - - Ennius, Quintus, 44, 49, 148, 339 - - Envy, the courtier to avoid arousing, 82 - - Epaminondas, 64, 250, 349, 408 - - Ephesus, 68 - - Epicharis, 192, 390 - - Epimetheus, 252, 408 - - Equicola, Mario, 398 - - Equipment of the cavalier, the necessity for proper, 85 - - Erasmus, 348, 357, 367 - - Erasmus, St., 376 - - Eris, the goddess of discord, 387 - - Errea, Elvira, 368 - - Erythræans, the, 200, 393 - - Este, Alfonso d’, Duke of Ferrara, 322, 330, 363, 399, 400 - Beatrice d’, Duchess of Milan, 204, 333, 336, 338, 352, 363, 381, - 394, 398, 399 - Bianca Maria d’, 394 - Borso d’, Duke of Ferrara, 77, 355, 363, 384 - Ercole d’, Duke of Ferrara, 129, 330, 336, 363, 398, 399 - Ginevra d’, 394 - Ippolito d’, Cardinal, 22-3, 329, 336, 363 - Isabella d’, Marchioness of Mantua, 204, 332, 333, 334, 338, 341, - 343, 352, 363, 381, 394, 398-9, 409, 413 - Niccolò d’, Duke of Ferrara, 355, 363, 384 - - Este family, eulogy of the women of the, 202 - - Ettore Romano Giovenale, 71, 351-2 - - Europe and Asia, united by Alexander the Great, 275 - - Eurydice, 384 - - Evander, 44, 197, 339, 391 - - Evil: - the correlative and necessary accompaniment of good, 78; - ignorance is the root of, 254-6 - - Exalted station attained by several members of the court of Urbino, 244 - - Exercises: - those proper for the courtier, 29-31; - those inappropriate for the courtier, 31 - - Eye, story of the quack and the peasant who had lost an, 150 - - Fabié, Antonio Maria, 320, 367, 377, 383, 417, 421 - - Fabius Pictor, Quintus, 65, 349 - - Fagiani, Bernardin, 420 - - Falsehood, the origin of princes’ errours, 248 - - Fancy dress and masks, 87-8 - - Farri, Domenico, 420 - - Fasanini, Landomia, 383 - - Favorinus, 357 - - Favours, not in general to be sought by the courtier, 94-6 - - Federico III of Naples, 205, 358, 383, 397, 399, 400 - - Fedra (Tommaso Inghirami), 138, 367, 375 - - Feltre, Vittorino da,—see Vittorino da Feltre - - Ferdinand I of Naples, 327, 363, 383, 397, 400 - - Ferdinand II of Naples, 10, 35, 118, 141, 204, 327-8, 368, 397, 400 - - Ferdinand the Catholic: - referred to as “the king,” 148, 164; - mentioned, 202, 203, 219, 313, 327, 359, 368, 371, 377, 396, 397, - 400, 412, 413 - - Ferdinand the Just, King of Aragon and Sicily, 375 - - Fernandez de Cordoba, Francesco, 420 - - Ferrara, the Dukes of,—see Este - - Fetti, Fra Mariano,—see Fra Mariano Fetti - - Fiaccadori, 421 - - Ficino, 345 - - _Fierezza_, boldness, 83, 356 - - Fiery Chariot of Elias, 305 - - Fig-tree, story about a man who begged a branch from his neighbour’s, - 149 - - Filiberta of Savoy, 320, 346 - - Filiberto, Duke of Savoy, 396 - - Filippello’s wife, a character in Boccaccio, 164, 165, 166 - - Filippo, Duke,—see Visconti, Filippo Maria - - Finger-rings, story of Alfonso I’s, 146 - - Firmianus, Lactantius, “the Christian Cicero,” 392 - - First impression: - amusing story illustrating the importance of, 111-2; - the courtier to try to make a good, 113 - - Five nuns and the friar, story of the, 136-7 - - Flogged, story of man condemned to be, 129 - - Florence, 39, 43, 44, 140, 151 - - Florence, the Archbishop of, (Roberto Folco), 142, 372 - - Florentine Council, humourous sally made in the, 149-50 - - Florentine territory, story of a soldier who had fled from, 147 - - Florentines, wont to wear the hood, 104 - - Florido, Orazio, 71, 352 - - Foglietta, Agostino, 145, 374-5 - - Foglino, Scarmiglione da, 377 - - Foix, Gaston de, 379 - - Folco, Roberto, Archbishop of Florence, 142, 372 - - Forden, Katherine, 316 - - Foreign phrases, instances of allowable use of, 46 - - Forged document of renunciation, story of a, 151 - - Forli, Antonello da,—see Antonello da Forli - - Fornovo, the battle of, 360 - - Fortebracci, Braccio, 384 - - Fra Mariano Fetti, 16, 122, 162, 335 - - France, 31, 57, 97, 114 - - Francia, Francesco Raibolini, better known as, 332 - - Franciotti, Gianfrancesco, 361 - - Francis I of France, 56-7, 275, 315, 320, 322, 330, 332, 337, 341, 346, - 347, 371, 376, 387, 405, 412, 413 - - Francis II, Duke of Brittany, 395 - - Francis, St., 308, 416 - - Fra Serafino, 16, 37, 108, 162, 335 - - Frederick Barbarossa, 360, 364 - - Frederick III, Emperor of Germany, 396 - - Fregosa, Costanza, 14, 54, 73, 334 - - Fregoso, Agostino, 322 - Costanza,—see Fregosa - Federico, 12, 19, 39, 40, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 72, 80, 81, 83, 86, 88, - 90, 91, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, - 109, 110, 113, 114, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 155, 169, 170, 172, - 173, 221, 222, 223, 224, 234, 244, 294, 321, 330, 331, 334, 340, - 346, 367, 407 - Ottaviano, 2, 12, 17, 18, 163, 167, 168, 174, 218, 240, 241, 242, - 244, 245-87, 322, 330, 334, 376, 407, 409, 414 - - French fashion of dress: - affected by some, 102; - tends to over amplitude, 103 - - Frenchmen: - martial exercises excelled in by, 30-1; - said to disprize letters, 56; - whether or not they are presumptuous, 97; - their freedom of manner, 115 - - Friar and the five nuns, story of the, 136-7 - - Friars, hypocrisy of the, 188-9 - - Friends: - choice of, 105-7; - peril of too blind confidence in, 106; - reciprocal duties of, 107 - - Frigio, Niccolò,—see Frisio - - Frisio (or Frigio), Niccolò, 12, 169, 172, 174, 188, 191, 192, 194, - 195, 197, 205, 216, 279, 334, 402 - - Frosinone, the battle of, 379 - - Frozen words, story about, 132-3 - - Gæa, 411 - - Galatea, 388 - - Galba, Sergius Sulpicius, 44, 51, 340, 344 - - Galeotto, Giantommaso, 138, 367 - - Galeotto Marzi da Narni, 136, 365, 367 - - Galpino, a servant of “My lord Magnifico,” 144 - - Gama, Vasco da, 364 - - Gambara, Veronica, 395 - - Gambling, 108 - - Games proposed by various members of the court, 13-9 - - Gaming, 108 - - Garigliano, the battle of, 313 - - Garter, the order of the, 173, 313, 387 - - Garzia, Diego, 141, 371 - - Garzoni’s _L’Hospidale de Pazzi Incurabili_, 373 - - Gaspar, my lord,—see Pallavicino - - Gaultier, Pierre, 420 - - Gazuolo, story of a peasant girl of, 214 - - General repute, illustrations of the influence of, 113 - - Generosity, a duty of princes, 273-4 - - Generous, all givers are not, 276-7 - - Genoa, the Doge of,—see Fregoso, Ottaviano - - Genoese Riviera, wine from the, 113 - - Genoese spendthrift, retort made by a, 139 - - Gentle birth, requisite in the courtier, 22-5 - - George, St., 404 - - German fashion of dress: - affected by some, 102; - tends to over scantiness, 103 - - German student at Rome, story of a, 139 - - German women of Roman times, heroism of, 201 - - Geryon, 275, 411 - - Ghirlandajo, 343 - - Giancristoforo Romano, 12, 66, 135, 333, 404 - - Gianluca da Pontremolo, 151 - - Giglio, Domenico, 420, 421 - - Giolito de’ Ferrari, Gabriel, 419, 420 - - Giorgio da Castelfranco,—see Giorgione - - Giorgione, 50, 313, 343-4, 350, 369 - - Giovenale, Ettore Romano, 71, 351-2 - Latino, de’ Manetti, 151, 379 - - Giovio, Paolo, 330, 369, 420 - - Giulia, a virtuous peasant girl, 403 - - Giulio Romano, 314 - - Giunta, the heirs of Filippo di, 320, 419, 421 - - Giunti, Benedetto, 419 - - Giunti, the heirs of Bernardo, 420 - - Glutton, rebuke administered by the Marquess Federico to a, 145 - - Goethe’s “Travels in Italy,” 334-5 - - Golden Fleece, the order of the, 173, 387 - - Gonnella, a buffoon, 162, 384 - - Gonnella, Bernardo, his father, 384 - - Gonzaga, Alessandro, 142, 143, 373 - Barbara, Duchess of Würtemberg, 394, 404 - Cecilia, 394 - Cesare, 12, 14, 21, 28, 32, 37, 69, 70, 86, 96, 104, 128, 131, 134, - 174, 179, 208, 210, 213, 215, 216, 218, 231, 235, 236, 237, 243, - 245, 257, 269, 273, 296, 307, 309, 331-2, 402, 403, 407 - Eleanora, Duchess of Urbino, 244, 318, 407 - Elisabetta, Duchess of Urbino, 2, 11-2, 13, 16, 20, 32, 43, 71, 73, - 80, 104, 112, 156, 163, 167, 169, 170, 172, 174, 175, 216, 221, - 228, 236, 241, 242, 245, 265, 269, 273, 280, 287, 288, 292, 297, - 307, 309, 314, 317, 318, 322-3, 329, 334, 335, 341, 352, 380, 388, - 394, 398, 404, 405, 407, 409 - Federico, Marquess of Mantua, 145, 148, 279, 322, 340, 373, 409 - Federico, Marquess and afterwards Duke of Mantua, 279, 343, 362, 373, - 374, 379, 413-4 - Francesco,—see Gianfrancesco - Giampietro, 331 - Gianfrancesco, Marquess of Mantua, 274, 313, 317, 318, 341, 352, 360, - 372, 373, 374, 381, 383, 398, 407, 409-10, 413 - Gianfrancesco, uncle to “My lady Duchess,” 404 - Giovanni, 142, 373 - Ludovico, Bishop of Mantua, 215, 403-4 - Ludovico, Marquess of Mantua, 374, 404 - Luigi, 331 - Luigia, 313 - Maddalena, 380 - Margarita, 73, 192, 352 - - Gonzaga family, eulogy of the women of the, 202 - - Good, the correlative and necessary accompaniment of evil, 78 - - Good government, three forms of, 260 - - Gosilano, the Count of, (Don Pedro di Cardona), 375 - - Goths, the time when Italy was ruled by the, 202 - - _Governo misto_, 261, 269-70, 409 - - Gracchi, the, 344, 389 - - Gracchus, Caius Sempronius, 51, 344 - - Grace: - cannot be learned, but may be cultivated, 34; - lies chiefly in the avoidance of affectation, 35 - - Grace requisite in the courtier, 23 - - Granada, the conquest of, 203, 219-20 - - Grand Turk, the,—see Bajazet II - - Graphic narrative, 127 - - Gravity of visage, the effect of pleasantry heightened by, 154 - - Great Captain, the,—see Consalvo de Cordoba - - Greece, 65, 192, 219 - - Greek: - Hannibal said to have written in, 58; - the courtier to be conversant with, 59; - Castiglione prefers that his son should devote less attention to - Latin than to, 347 - - Greek dialects, discussion of, 47 - - Gregory, St., 393 - - Grove’s Dictionary of Music, 359 - - Guicciardini, 409 - - Hadrian’s mausoleum, afterwards the Castle of St. Angelo, 367 - - Handmaidens, the Festival of the, 199-200, 392 - - Hands, the beauty of, 55 - - Hanging, the method by which a Spanish cavalier hoped to escape, 148-9 - - Hannibal, 58, 201, 274, 347, 376, 392, 408 - - Harmodius, 390 - - Harmonia, 191, 389-90 - - Harsy, Denys de, 419 - - Hasdrubal, 191, 389 - - Helen of Troy, 351, 387, 415 - - Henry, Prince of Wales,—see Henry VIII of England - - Henry IV of England, 413 - - Henry V of England, 412-3 - - Henry VII of England, 313, 327, 412-3 - - Henry VIII of England, 276, 332, 348, 371, 412 - - Hera, 387 - - Heraclea, 390 - - Hercules, 171, 275, 305, 408, 411, 412 - - Hermes, 339, 391 - - Hermit, Lavinello’s, a character in Bembo’s _Gli Asolani_, 288, 415 - - Hernand, Pietro, 368 - - Hernand y Aguilar, Gonzalvo,—see Consalvo de Cordoba - - Herodotus, 400 - - Herrick, Robert, 338 - - Hesiod, 49 - - Hiero of Syracuse, 191, 389-90 - - High standard, to be aimed at, even if a higher cannot be attained, 116 - - Hipparchus, 390 - - History, the courtier to be versed in, 59 - - Hobbie, Sir Thomas, 316 - - Hoby, Thomas, 316, 420, 421, 422 - William, 316 - - Hohenstauffen rulers of Naples, 375 - - Homer, 41, 44, 49, 53, 57, 61, 62, 284, 315, 348, 391 - - Honesty and uprightness, requisite in the courtier, 56 - - Honour of women, discussion as to the regard to be shown to the, 162 - - Horace, 44, 340 - - Horse afraid of weapons, story about a, 138 - - Horse-breeding, 274 - - Horsemanship, the courtier to be an adept in, 30 - - Hortensius Hortalus, Quintus, 44, 339 - - Huguetan, Jean, 420 - - Humanities, the courtier to be versed in the, 59 - - Humour, beginning of the discussion on, 120 - - Hunchbacks, story of two, 151 - - Hungary, “the other queen of,”—see Aragon, Beatrice - - Hunyadi, János, of Hungary, 397 - - Husbands and wives, ill treatment between, 193 - - _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, 405 - - Iapetus, 408 - - Icarus, 342 - - Ignorance: - as to confessing, 116-7; - one of the gravest faults of princes, 247; - the root of evil, 254-6 - - Iliad, the, kept by Alexander the Great at his bedside, 57 - - Imitation, in literary style: 41; - more necessary for the moderns than for the ancients, 49 - - _Imprese_ (devices), 12, 330 - - Improbabilities, to be avoided in conversation, 119 - - Incongruity, the source of laughter, 124 - - Incontinence in men, no more excusable than unchastity in women, 206 - - India, 285 - - Inghirami, Paolo, 367 - Tommaso, (“Fedra”), 138, 367, 375 - - Innocent VIII, 341, 371, 372 - - Innuendo, instances of witty, 145-7 - - Innys, William, 421 - - Ippolito d’Este,—see Este - - Isabella del Balzo, Queen of Naples, 205, 397, 399-400 - - Isabella the Catholic: - referred to as “the queen,” 150; - mentioned, 156, 202-4, 219, 377, 378, 384, 396-7, 412, 413 - - Isaia di Pippo of Pisa, 333 - - Ischia, the island of, 319 - - Ismail Sufi I of Persia, 173, 387-8 - - Isocrates, 51, 344, 409 - - Isola Ferma, 222, 405 - - Italian language, derived from the Latin, 43 - - Italians: - martial exercises in which they excelled, 30; - military decadence of, 58-9, 347; - lamentable lack of any style of dress peculiar to, 103; - become a prey to other nations, 103, 347 - - Italy, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 40, 43, 44, 46, 103, 114, 171, 198, 202, 274, - 347 - - James I of England, 413 - - James IV of Scotland, 413 - - Janus, 407 - - Japan, THE COURTIER said to have been carried to, 324 - - J. C. L. L. J., an anonymous German translator of THE COURTIER, 316, - 421 - - Jem,—see Djem - - Jena University Library, 417 - - Jerome, St.,—see St. Jerome - - Jobinus, Bernhardus, 420, 421 - - Johannes Hyrcanus, King of the Jews, 389 - - John III of Portugal, 317 - - John, King of Hungary, 397 - - Joly, Aristide, (_De Balthassaris Castillionis opere_, etc.), 417 - - Jousting, deemed by Djem too serious for sport, 141 - - Jove, 184, 252, 388 - - Jovinianus, St. Jerome’s first tract against, 388 - - Juan, Infant of Castile, 396 - - Juan II of Castile, 396 - - Juan II of Navarre and Aragon, 397 - - Judgment Day, story of lady who dreaded to appear nude on the, 132 - - Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere), 10, 12-3, 137, 138, 151, 153, 274, - 313, 314, 318, 319, 321, 325, 328-9, 330, 332, 334, 335, 336, 342, - 343, 361, 365, 366, 371, 372, 375, 377, 378, 380, 382, 383, 400, - 404, 410, 413 - - Juno, 199 - - Jupiter Feretrius, 325 - - Juste, Françoys, 419 - - Justice, the good prince’s first care, 270 - - Justinian, the Emperor, 393 - - “King Louis,”—see Louis XII - - “King of France, The,” a phrase signifying the acme of royal power, 272 - - Kiss, the origin and meaning of the, 300-1 - - Knowledge, the essential prerequisite of literary style, 45 - - Kratzer, Lorenz, 316, 420 - - Lacedemonians, cultivators of music, 64 - - Ladislas II of Bohemia, 397 - - Lady at church and the beggar, story of the, 125 - - Lælius, Caius (Sapiens), 51, 106, 344, 358 - - Laïs, 402 - - Landi, Agostino, 334 - Caterina, 334 - Count Marcantonio, 334 - - Landriano, Gerardo, Bishop of Como, 366 - - Language, in what consists the excellence of, 53 - - Languages, the courtier ought to know many, 115 - - Laocoön, the, 349 - - Lapi, Checca, 384 - - Lascaris, Constantine, 330, 397 - - Lasso, Pedro, 420 - - Latin: - the source of Italian, 43; - the courtier to be conversant with, 59; - Castiglione prefers that his son should devote more attention to - Greek than to, 347 - - Latinistic forms of several Italian words advocated, 48, 54, 340 - - Latino Giovenale de’ Manetti, 151, 379 - - Lat_r_in tongue, 136 - - Lattanzio da Bergamo, 376 - - Laughter: - peculiar to man, 123; - incongruity affirmed to be its source, 124 - - Laura, 220, 404-5 - - Laure de Noves, 405 - - Lavinello, 415 - - Lavinello’s Hermit, a character in Bembo’s _Gli Asolani_, 288, 415 - - Law, princes’ need to show respect for, 271 - - Leæna, 192, 390 - - Leaping, an accomplishment proper for the courtier, 31 - - Leghorn, 196 - - Lei, Bernardino, Bishop of Cagli, 366 - - Lemonnier, Felice, 421 - - Lenzuoli, Giuffredo (or Alfonso), 328 - Roderigo,—see Alexander VI - - Leo X (“My lord Cardinal”), 152, 313, 314, 317, 319, 320, 321, 322, - 329, 331, 332, 333, 335, 336, 337, 340, 341, 342, 345, 352, 361, - 362, 364, 365, 368, 369, 370, 373, 374, 380-1, 382, 411, 413 - - Leonardo da Vinci, 50, 336, 337, 341, 346, 350, 366, 381 - his _Codex Atlanticus_, 360 - his “Treatise on Painting,” 350 - - Leonico Tomeo, Niccolò, 145, 374 - - Letters: - the true ornament of the mind, 56; - disprized by the French at the beginning of the 16th century, 56; - but esteemed by the youthful Francis (I), 56-7; - and by captains of ancient times, 57-8; - the true conservator of glory, 58; - letters vs. arms, discussed, 60-2 - - Leuconia, 200, 393 - - Liberty, 259-61 - - Library of the Palace of Urbino, 9, 331 - - Library of the Spanish Academy at Madrid, 417 - - Libreria Salesiana, 421 - - Literary piracy: - hasty publication of THE COURTIER arose from dread of, 1; - frequency of, 320 - - Literary style, discussion of, 3-5, 38-54 - - Literary usage: - how determined, 48; - subject to change, 48-9 - - Livy (Titus Livius), 47, 326, 340, 358, 375, 391 - - Lombard, the author admits writing as a, 5 - - Lombards: - addicted to the use of foreign words, 38; - fond of fantastic dress, 104 - - Lombardy: 104; - eulogy of noble ladies of, 204 - - Longinus, the lance of, 372 - - Longis, Jean, 419 - - Lor—, Jean, 419 - - Loreto, Our Lady of, 158, 382 - - Lorraine, Beatrice of, 394 - - Louis, St., 395 - - Louis IX of France, 395 - - Louis XI of France, 387, 395 - - Louis XII of France, 141, 202, 313, 318, 330, 332, 337, 341, 346, 359, - 371, 376, 381, 395, 396, 400, 409 - - Louise of Savoy, 346 - - Love: - the course to be pursued by women (married and unmarried) in love, - 223-40; - how men are to win women’s love, 229-30; - how men are to declare their love, 231-2; - openness in love, 233-4; - how love is retained, 234-6; - rivalry in love, 234-6; - secrecy in love, 237-40; - whether love be seemly in an old courtier, 286-7; - beginning of Bembo’s discourse on Platonic love, 288; - love defined as “a certain desire to enjoy beauty,” 288; - defects of carnal love, 290; - maturity less prone to carnal love, than youth, 291; - true love of beauty is beneficent, 291; - sensual love in a measure excusable in the young, 292; - sensual love not excusable in those of mature years, 292, 297; - spiritual love, 304-5; - Bembo’s invocation to divine love, 305-7; - instances in which the mysteries of divine love have been revealed to - women, 308 - - Love talk, the course to be pursued by women in, 221-3 - - Loyalty requisite in the courtier, 25 - - Loyson, Estienne, 421 - - Lucca, Proto da,—see Proto da Lucca - - Lucca, story of the sables and the merchant of, 132-3 - - Lucian, 357 - - Luciani, Sebastiano, “del Piombo,” 335 - - Luciano of Laurana, architect of the Palace of Urbino, 410 - - Lucullus, Lucius Licinius, 58, 205, 250, 347, 408 - - Luther, 313, 330, 333 - - Luzio, Alessandro, 399 - - Luzio and Renier’s _Mantova e Urbino_, 410 - - Lycurgus, 64, 349 - - Lyons, a practical joke played by Bibbiena on the bridge at, 160-1 - - Lysias, 51, 344 - - Lysis the Pythagorean, 250, 408 - - Machiavelli, Niccolò, 316, 328, 385, 409 - - Machiavelli’s “Art of War,” 376 - _Discorsi_, 356 - _Principe_, 347, 377 - _Storia Fiorentina_, 378 - - Maffei, Mario de’, da Volterra,—see Mario de’ Maffei - - Maggi, Graziosa, 332 - - Magnificence, a duty of princes, 273-4 - - Mahaffy, J. P., 359 - - Mahomet, 275 - - Mahomet II of Turkey, 371, 372 - - Mamurius Veturius, 339 - - Man, the laughing animal, 123 - - Manetti, Latino Giovenale de’,—see Latino Giovenale - - Manlius Torquatus, Titus, 100, 357 - - Manner and time of employing the courtier’s accomplishments, 81 et seq. - - Manners, excessive freedom of, to be avoided, 114 - - Manrique, Don Garci Fernandez, 384 - - Mantegna, Andrea, 50, 341-2, 360, 372, 395, 409 - a son of Andrea, 395 - - Mantua, the Bishop of,—see Gonzaga, Ludovico - the Marquesses of,—see Gonzaga - - Manucci, Teobaldo,—see Aldus - - Manutius, Aldus,—see Aldus - - _Marano_, a heretic, a renegade Moor, 139, 369 - - Marcantonio, Master, 152, 380 - - Marcella, Elena, 330 - - Marcello, Silvestro, 319 - - Marciana Library at Venice, 417 - - Marcus Antonius, (the orator), 44, 51, 339 - - Margarita of Austria, 202, 395-6 - - Margarita of Bavaria, Marchioness of Mantua, 322, 373, 374, 409 - - Mariano Fetti, Fra,—see Fra Mariano Fetti - - Mario de’ Maffei da Volterra, 144, 374 - - Marius, Caius, 201, 393 - - Mark Antony, 190, 347, 388 - - Markets, the New and Old, at Florence, 145 - - Marliani’s Life of Castiglione, 420, 421 - - Marriage, the right time for, 268-9 - - Mars Gradivus, 339 - - Martin V, 319, 325 - - Mary of Burgundy, 395, 396, 413 - - Mary Magdalen, St., 308 - - Mary Tudor, wife of Louis XII of France, 371 - - Marzi, Galeotto, da Narni,—see Galeotto - - Masks and fancy dress, 87-8 - - Mass, jest about speed in saying, 152-3 - - Mass-book, story of the, 137-8 - - Massilia, custom of providing means of self-destruction at, 192, 390 - - Massimo, Roberto, da Bari,—see Roberto da Bari - - Massot, Estienne, 421 - - Master Serafino, 150 - - Matilda, the Countess, 202, 393-4 - - Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, 204, 336, 365, 397-8, 399 - - Mausolus, King of Caria, 401 - - Maximilian I, Emperor of Germany, 143, 202, 359, 367, 371, 387, 395, - 396, 397, 400, 413 - - Mayer, Johann, 421 - - Mazzoleni, 421 - - Mazzuchelli, Count Giammaria, Life of Castiglione, 417 - - Medici, Caterina de’, 346 - Cosimo de’, _Pater Patriæ_, 140, 151, 345, 362, 370, 376, 378, 381 - Giovanni de’, (Cosimo’s father), 370 - Giovanni de’, "_delle Bande Nere_," 337 - Giovanni de’, "My lord Cardinal,"—see Leo X - Giuliano de’, (brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent), 345, 378 - Giuliano de’, “My lord Magnifico,” 2, 12, 37, 42, 56, 64, 71, 89-90, - 102, 132, 142, 144, 168, 169, 170, 172, 174-238, 244, 256, 276, - 280, 281, 308, 320-1, 331, 339, 341, 342, 343, 346, 349, 380, 390, - 407, 414 - Giulio de’,—see Clement VII - Grasso de’, 62, 348 - Ippolito de’, 320, 329 - Lorenzo de’, Duke of Urbino, 319, 321, 330, 352 - Lorenzo de’, the Magnificent, 51, 145, 320, 321, 335, 343, 345, 359, - 378, 380 - Pietro de’, 345 - - Meliolo, Bartolommeo, 384 - Ludovico, 162, 384 - - Men and women, beginning of the discussion on the comparative - excellence of, 182 - - Menerola, Teodora, 328 - - Mercury, 252 - - Merula, Giorgio, 313 - - Messina, the Prior of, (Don Pedro de Cuña), 150-1, 378 - - Metastasio, P., 421 - - Metrodorus, 69, 351 - - Micard, Cl., 420 - - Michael, apparently a tutor to Castiglione’s son, 347 - - Michelangelo Buonarroti, 2, 50, 67, 313, 320, 321, 328, 329, 343, 350, - 410 - - Michelet on Louis XII of France, 371 - - Milan, 153 - the Dukes of,—see Sforza and Visconti - - Miletus, the Bishop of,—see Pavia, the Cardinal of - - Milles, Guillermo de, 419 - - Miltiades, 408 - - Mime,—see _Moresca_ - - Mimicry, the limits to be observed in, 127-8 - - Minerva, 89, 252 - - Miniana Compagnia, la, 421 - - Minutoli, Riciardo, a character in Boccaccio, 164, 165, 166 - - Miser: - retort of a spendthrift to a, 139; - story of a servant who had saved the life of his miserly master, - 144-5 - - Mithridates VI, Eupator, King of Pontus, 191, 389 - - Mixed government, 261, 269-70 - - Moderate fortunes, less power possessed by the very rich than by men - of, 271 - - Moderation, the essence of virtue, 277-8 - - Modesty requisite in the courtier, 26 - - Molart, Captain, 152, 379 - - Monarchy vs. democracy, 259-61 - - Monima of Pontus, 389 - - Monkey, story of chess played by a, 133-4 - - Monpezat, Pedro, 419 - - Montaigne: - quotation from his _Essais_, 347; - the village of Paglia mentioned in his diary, 382 - - Monte, Pietro, 12, 34, 92, 174, 333-4 - Pietro dal, 334 - - Montechiarugolo, Count Guido Torello di, 314 - - Montefeltro, Agnese di, 319 - Antonio di, 329 - Aura di, 376 - Battista di, 394 - Brigida Sueva di, 394 - Count of, (in 1154), 325 - Federico di, Duke of Urbino, 9, 129, 156, 265, 274, 317, 325-6, 327, - 356, 362, 376, 381, 410 - Gentile di, 322 - Giovanna di, 318 - Guidantonio di, Duke of Urbino, 325 - Guidobaldo di, Duke of Urbino, 1, 9-11, 80, 129, 138, 147, 152, 313, - 317-8, 319, 321, 322, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 342, 343, 344, - 352, 376, 377, 387, 394, 404, 410 - Oddantonio di, Count of Urbino, 325 - Violante di, 394 - origin of the name, 325 - - Montefeltro family, eulogy of the women of the, 202, 394 - - Montefiore Inn, synonymous expression for a bad inn, 155, 382 - - Montone, Braccio da, 355 - - Moors: - story of a Pisan merchant captured and rescued from the, 195-7; - to be conquered for their souls’ good, 275 - - Morello, Sigismondo, da Ortona, 12, 46, 83, 90, 91, 92, 292, 293, 294, - 296, 299, 332 - - _Moresca_, mime, morris-dance, 15, 81, 87, 335 - - _Morgante Maggiore_, a poem by Luigi Pulci, 365 - - Morosina, 331 - - Morris-dance,—see _Moresca_ - - Mosca, Giambattista Vendramini, 421 - - Moses, 305 - - Mount Athos, 274, 411 - - Mount Catria, 309, 416 - - Mount Œta, 305, 415 - - Moya, the Marchioness of,—see Boadilla - - Munchausen, 364 - - Muscovy, the Duke of, 132 - - Music: - affectation in, 37; - the variety of, 50; - the courtier to have skill in, 62; - praise of, 62-5; - to be regarded by the courtier as a pastime, 88; - certain kinds recommended, 88-9; - certain kinds to be avoided, 89; - musical performance forbidden to the aged, 89-90; - musical training essential to appreciation of, 90 - - "My lady Duchess,"—see Gonzaga, Elisabetta - - "My lady Emilia,"—see Pia - - “My lord Cardinal,” i.e., Giovanni de’ Medici,—see Leo X - - "My lord Duke,"—see Montefeltro, Guidobaldo di - - "My lord Gaspar,"—see Pallavicino - - "My lord Magnifico,"—see Medici, Giuliano de’ - - "My lord Prefect,"—see Rovere, Francesco Maria della Myrtis, 391 - - Naples, 1, 110, 274 - - Napoli, Pietro da,—see Pietro da Napoli - - Narni, Galeotto Marzi da,—see Galeotto Marzi da Narni - - Nasica,—see Scipio Nasica - - National Library at Madrid, 417 - - National Library at Paris, 417 - - Navarre, the King of, 377 - - Navarre and Aragon, Juan II of, 397 - - Navò, Curzio, 419, 421 - - Nazarius, St., 383 - - Nemours, the Duke of,—see Medici, Giuliano de’ - - Neologisms, the allowable use of, 47 - - Nero, the Emperor, 192, 388 - - New York Public Library, 417 - - Nicholas V (Tommaso Parentucelli), 127, 362 - - Nicoletto (Paolo Niccolò Vernia), 116, 359 - - Nicoletto, da Orvieto, 142, 373 - - Nicostrate, 197, 391 - - Nino di Ameria, Giacopo di, Bishop of Potenza, 135, 365 - - Ninus, the husband of Semiramis, 401 - - Nonchalance: - the true source of grace, 35, 38; - explanation of the Italian word rendered by, 338 - - “Not at home,” story of Scipio and Ennius who pretended to be, 148 - - Novara, 337 - - _Novelle_ of Boccaccio, 161 - - Noves, Audibert de, 405 - Laure de, 405 - - Novillara, Count of,—see Castiglione, Baldesar - - Noyse, Johann Engelbert, 316, 421 - - Nucio (or Nutio), Martin, 419 - Philippo, 420, 421 - the widow of Martin, 420 - - Nudity, story of lady who dreaded the Judgment Day because of her, 132 - - Nutio,—see Nucio - - Nutt, David, 422 - - Obedience: - a duty only when the command is righteous, 99-100; - the peril of even slight deviation from the letter of one’s orders, - 100-2 - - Obscenity, to be avoided, 143 - - Ockenheim, 359 - - Octavia, 190, 388 - - Odasio of Padua, 329 - - Odenathus, King of Palmyra, 401 - - Œta, Mount, 305, 415 - - Oglio, story of the peasant girl who drowned herself in the, 214-5 - - Old age: - its tendency to laud the past and to decry the present, 75-9; - affectations of, 90; - characteristics peculiar to, 91 - - Old fashions, instances of, in manners and attire, 79 - - Olschki, Leo, 417 - - Olympia, 387 - - Olympian Jove, 171 - - Olympic games, 171 - - Oratory: - affectation in, 35; - the variety of, 50-1; - the courtier to be versed in, 59 - - Orestes, 106, 358 - - Oriental courts, manners of, 173 - - Orlando, a character of mediæval romance, 365 - - Orléans, Duke Charles d’, 371 - - Orléans, the Duke of,—see Louis XII - - Orpheus, 167, 184, 349, 384, 388 - - Orsini, Clarice, 320, 380 - Giangiordano, 404 - - Ortona, Morello da,—see Morello - - Orvieto, Nicoletto da, 142, 373 - - Oscan language, 49, 340 - - Othman, Djem,—see Djem Othman - - Our Lady of Loreto, 158, 382 - - Ovid, 237, 315, 390 - - Ovid’s _Ars Amandi_, 352, 366, 404, 405 - - Oyselet, Georges l’, 420 - - Padovano, Giovanni, 419 - - Padua, 116, 136, 161 - the (Arch-) Bishop of, 136, 366 - - Paduan flavour in Livy’s style, 47 - - Pæonius’s “Victory,” 387 - - Paganino, Alessandro, 419 - - Paglia, story of the practical joke played in the inn at, 157-9 - - Painting: - affectation in, 37; - variety of, 50; - the courtier to be proficient in, 65; - praise of, 65-70; - discussion as to the comparative merits of painting and sculpture, - 67-8, 349-50 - - Paleologus, Margarita, Duchess of Mantua, 414 - - Paleotto, Annibal, 134, 135, 364, 367 - Camillo, 138, 147, 367 - Vincenzo, 364 - - Pallas, 197, 356 - - Pallavicino, Count Gaspar, 12, 13, 14, 23, 27, 30, 41, 63, 64, 85, 88, - 100, 104, 105, 107, 108, 112, 118, 129, 142, 143, 144, 162, 163, - 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 172, 173-4, 175, 178, 181-2, 185, 186, - 190, 193, 194, 197, 199, 201, 202, 203, 206, 207, 209-10, 213, 218, - 221, 223, 226, 231, 237, 238-40, 243, 245, 251, 254, 259, 261, 264, - 267, 268, 269, 272, 285, 286, 287, 296, 307, 308, 332, 403, 407 - - Palma Vecchio, 343 - - Panætius, 250, 408 - - Pandora, 408 - - Paolo, a dutiful son, 196 - - Paolo Romano, 333 - - Paredes, Diego Garcia de, 371 - - Parentucelli, Tommaso,—see Nicholas V - - Paris, the “noble school” of, (the Sorbonne), 57, 346-7 - - Paris and the three goddesses, 172, 387 - - Parmesan, the battle fought in the, i.e., the battle of Fornovo, 117, - 360 - - Passano, Giambattista, (_I Novellieri Italiani_), 417 - - Passavant, 342 - - Passions, to be tempered, not extirpated, 257-8 - - Past, declared to be inferior to the present, 79 - - Paul, St., 129, 308, 363 - - Paul III, 317, 369 - - Paullus, Simon, 421 - - Paulus, Lucius Æmilius, 69, 351 - - Pausanias, 390 - - Pavia, the battle of, 376, 387 - the Bishop of,—see Pavia, the Cardinal of - the Cardinal of, (Francesco Alidosi), 146, 151, 314, 319, 368, 375 - - Payne, Olive, 421 - - Pazzi, Gianotto de’, 151, 378 - Giovanni de’, 378 - Rafaello de’, 150-1, 378 - - Peace, the arts of war no more glorious than those of, 265-6 - - Pedrada, Sallaza dalla, 140, 370 - - Pelagio, Guido del, 374 - - Peleus, 284, 387, 414 - - Penalties for crime, preventive rather than punitive, 253 - - Pepoli, the Count of, 139, 369 - - Peralta, Captain Luijse Galliego de, 152, 379 - - Pergamus, 358 - - Periander of Corinth, 408 - - Pericles, 208, 391, 402, 403 - - Persecutions endured by girls at their lovers’ hands, 216-8 - - Perseus, King of Macedon, 351, 392 - - Persia: - Alexander the Great’s conquest of, 103; - the King of (in the time of Themistocles), 275; - the Sophi King of,—see Ismail Sufi I - - Persians defeated in battle, story of their wives’ rebuke, 201 - - Personal attention, princes’ need to attend personally to the execution - of their commands, 265 - - Personal service, the perfect courtier not busied with, 174 - - Perugia, two cousins who fought at, 30 - - Perugino, 342 - - Pescara, the Marchioness of,—see Colonna, Vittoria the Marquess of, - 319, 322 - - “Peter Piper,” 365 - - Petrarch, 41, 42, 44, 49, 50, 51, 52, 220, 323, 339, 345, 348, 383, - 404, 405 - - Petrarch’s _Trionfo d’Amore_, 340 - - _Phædra_, a character in Seneca’s _Hippolytus_, 367 - - _Phèdre_, a tragedy by Racine, 367 - - Philip of Austria, 413 - - Philip of Burgundy, 387 - - Philip of Macedon, 34, 143, 374, 414 - - Philip V of Macedon, 200, 392 - - Phœnix, 284, 414 - - Phrigio,—see Frisio - - Phrisio,—see Frisio - - Phryne, 402 - - Physiognomists, who read a man’s character and thoughts in his face, - 294 - - Pia, Alda, 394 - Emilia, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 32, 53, 54, 66, 72, 93, 119, - 122, 123, 130, 131, 136, 144, 167-8, 169-70, 186, 189, 190, 191, - 200, 226, 228, 229, 230, 231, 241, 269, 273, 281, 288, 307, 308, - 309, 322, 329, 332, 334, 352, 361, 403, 414 - - Pianella, Count, (Giacomo d’Atri), 142, 373-4 - - Piazza d’Agone at Rome, 249, 407 - - Piccinino, Niccolò, 77, 355-6 - - Piccolomini, Æneas Silvius,—see Pius II - - Pierpaolo, 36 - - Pietro Antonio da Vinci (Leonardo’s father), 341 - - Pietro da Napoli, 12, 62, 93 - - Piety towards God, princes’ need of, 270 - - Pindar, 197, 391 - - Pinturicchio, 351 - - Pio, Alberto, 329, 332, 394 - Alda,—see Pia - Emilia,—see Pia - Giberto, 329 - Leonello, 332 - Ludovico, 12, 62, 99, 114, 332, 395 - Marco, 329 - - Pio family, eulogy of the women of the, 202 - - Piombo, Sebastiano del,—see Luciani - - Pippi, Giulio, called Romano, 314 - - Pirithous, 106, 358 - - Pisa: - story of a soldier wounded at, 27; - story of a merchant of, rescued from Barbary pirates, 195-7 - - Pisan war, story about Florentine methods of raising funds for, 130-1 - - Pisan women, bravery of, 205 - - Pistoia, 131, 363 - - Pistoia (Antonio Cammelli), 142, 373 - - Pittacus of Mitylene, 408 - - Pius II (Æneas Silvius Piccolomini), 361 - - Pius III (Francesco Todeschini), 126, 361 - - Plato, 5, 63, 78, 181, 269, 284, 285, 286, 308, 313, 345, 364, 370, - 391, 409, 415 - - Plato’s “Laws,” 388 - _Phædo_, 356 - “Republic,” 269, 279, 324, 388, 409 - “Symposium,” 391 - - Plautus, 44, 340, 363 - - Plautus’s _Menæchmi_, 321 - _Trinummus_, 336 - - Pleasantries: - beginning of the discussion on, 120; - classified, 126; - cruelty to be avoided in, 135-6 - - Pliny, 349, 351, 391 - - Plotinus, 308, 416 - - Plutarch, 356, 364, 389, 391, 393, 408, 411, 412, 414 - - Plutarch’s “Apothegms and Famous Sayings of Spartan Women,” 393 - “Concerning Women’s Virtue,” 390, 392-3 - “How to Tell Friend from Flatterer,” 348 - “Life of Alexander the Great,” 401 - “Life of Camillus,” 392 - “Life of Lucullus,” 389 - “On Garrulity,” 390 - “On the Ignorant Prince,” 409 - - _Podestà_, explanation of the word, 360 - - Poetry, the courtier to be versed in, 59 - - Poisoned cannon shot, story about, 130 - - Poland, the King of, 132 - - Poliphilian words, 235 - - Politian,—see Poliziano - - Poliziano, 51, 320, 327, 344-5 - - Pollux, 404 - - Pompey (Pompeius), Cneius, 58, 346, 347, 378 - Sextus, 192, 193 - - Pontormo, 358 - - Pontremolo, Gianluca da,—see Gianluca - - Pontus, 264 - - Ponzio, Caio Caloria, 161-2, 383 - - Popes, play upon the names of two, 126-7 - - Porcaro, Antonio, 138, 367, 370 - Camillo, 140, 141, 367, 370 - Valerio, 367 - - Porcia, 190, 389 - - Porta, Domenico dalla, 151 - - Portalegre, Diego de Silva, Count of, 317 - - Porto, 274, 410 - - Portugal, Eleanora of, 396 - Elizabeth of, 387 - Emanuel I of, 133, 364 - John III of, 317 - - Portuguese mariners, discoveries by the, 133 - - Porzio,—see Porcaro - - Poseidon, 349, 411 - - Potenza, the Bishop of, (Giacopo di Nino di Ameria), 135, 365 - - Pozzuoli, 274, 410 - - Practical jokes, instances of, 155-62 - - Practice vs. precept, 267-8 - - Praise, to be modestly disclaimed, 60 - - Prato, 131, 363 - - Praxiteles’s “Hermes,” 387 - - Precept vs. practice, 267-8 - - Prefect of Rome,—see Rovere, Francesco Maria della - - Près, Josquin de, 113, 359 - - Present, declared to be superior to the past, 79 - - _Primero_, or _primiera_, a game of cards, 382 - - Princes: - courtiers’ intercourse with, 93-102102; - courtiers not to intrude upon the privacy of, 95; - to deserve their favour is the best way of gaining it, 96; - a picture of the perfect prince, 261-72; - evils endured by tyrannical princes, 263-4 - - _Procella_, fury or storm, 94, 357 - - Procrustes, 275, 411 - - Prometheus, 252, 408 - - Proto da Lucca, 137, 366 - - Protogenes, 37, 69, 338 - - Provençal: - Boccaccio’s use of, 4; - fallen into decay in the author’s time, 49 - - Provence, René of, 375, 395 - - Provincial flavour, not necessarily a blemish in literary style, 47 - - Ptolemy, 389 - - Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianus, 101-2, 358 - - Pulci, Luigi, 365 - - Puns, instances of, 126-7, 134-5, 137-9 - - Purifying influence of love, 219 - - Purism of speech deprecated, 52 - - Pygmalion, 175, 388 - - Pylades, 106, 358 - - Pyramids of Egypt said to have been built in order to keep the - Egyptians busy, 267 - - Pythagoras, 90, 171, 357 - - Pythagoreans, the, 356 - - Quack, story of the peasant who had lost an eye and consulted a, 150 - - Qualities of the courtier, how to be employed, 81 et seq. - - Rabani, Vettor de’, 419 - - Racine, 367 - - Raibolini, Francesco, better known as Francia, 332 - - Raleigh, Professor Walter, 316, 422 - - Rampazzetto, Francesco, 420 - - Rangone, Count Ercole, 139, 369 - - Raphael, 2, 50, 66, 67, 149, 313, 321, 333, 342-3, 378, 410, 411, 415 - - Ravenna, the battle of, 378, 379 - - Recitative, 89 - - Regio, Raffaele, 367 - - Reinhardstöttner’s article on the German translations of THE COURTIER, - 417 - - Remondini, 421 - - Remus, 378 - - René of Provence, 375, 395 - - Renier, Rodolfo, 373, 399 - - Reputation: - a courtier to be preceded by his, 110; - the influence of, 112 - - Rhodes, 69 - - Riario, Cardinal, 383 - - Richard III of England, 413 - - Richmond, Edmund Tudor, Earl of, 412 - - Rigutini, Giuseppe, 327, 422 - - Rinaldo, a character of mediæval romance, 365 - - Ritius, Johannes, 420, 421 - - Rivadeneyra, Manuel, 421 - - Rivera, Donna Costanza de, 377 - Don Luis de, 377 - - Rizzo, Antonio, 151, 378 - - Roberto da Bari, 12, 36, 127, 128, 225, 226, 228, 244, 332-3 - - _Roegarze_, a dance performed after the first evening’s discussion, 73, - 352-3 - - Roma, a Trojan woman, 198 - - Roman Academy, the, 369, 370 - - Romano, Giancristoforo,—see Giancristoforo Romano - Giulio Pippi, 314, 414 - Paolo, 333 - - Romano Giovenale, Ettore, 71, 351-2 - - Rome, 12, 68, 86, 110, 122, 126, 136, 139, 141, 146, 153, 159, 197, - 198, 199, 201, 216, 249, 274 - - Romulus, 198, 199, 378, 392 - - Rose-colour, Cosimo de’ Medici’s advice to a silly ambassador to wear, - 151 - - Rossi, U., 404 - Vittorio, his article on Caio Caloria Ponzio, 383 - - _Rota_ (or _Ruota_) _della Giustizia_, a law court, 151, 379 - - Rovere, Caterina della, “a brave lady,” 26 - Felice della, 216, 404 - Francesco Maria della, “My lord Prefect,” and afterwards Duke of - Urbino, 1, 70, 71, 80, 119, 120, 121, 138, 152, 244, 309, 314, - 318-9, 328, 332, 351, 352, 367, 368, 375, 380, 404, 407 - Galeotto della, Cardinal of San Pietro ad Vincula, 122, 159, 361, - 371, 383 - Giovanni della, 318, 328 - Giuliano della,—see Julius II - Luchina della, 361 - Lucrezia Gara della, 371 - Raffaele della, 328 - - Rovillio, Gulielmo, 335, 420 - - Roxana of Bactria, 414 - - Roxana of Pontus, 389 - - Rules of conduct propounded by Federico Fregoso, 83 - - Ruskin, John, 351 - - S: - the letter worn by “My lady Duchess” upon her brow, 16; - the Unico Aretino’s sonnet concerning, 17, 335-6 - - Sabine women and their Roman husbands, the story of the, 198-9 - - Sables, story of the merchant of Lucca and his, 132-3 - - Sade, Hughes de, 405 - - Sadoleto, Giacomo, 139, 331, 369 - Giovanni, 369 - - Saguntine women, bravery of, 201, 393 - - St. Ambrose, Jacques Colin, Abbot of, 315 - - St. Angelo, the Castle of, 367 - - St. Celsus, 383 - - St. Elmo, 147, 376 - - St. Erasmus, 376 - - St. Francis, 308, 416 - - St. George: - the English order of (the Garter), 173, 387; - mentioned, 404 - - St. Gregory, 393 - - St. Jerome, 188 - - St. Jerome’s Epistle on Widowhood, 388 - - St. Louis, 395 - - St. Mary Magdalen, 308 - - St. Michael, the French order of, 173, 387 - - St. Nazarius, 383 - - St. Paul, 129, 308, 363 - - St. Peter and St. Paul, story about a picture in which Raphael had - represented, 149, 377-8 - - St. Peter’s, the Church of: - story of the prelate who stooped on entering, 144; - the rebuilding of, 274, 410 - - St. Sebastian, the basilica of, 404 - - St. Stephen, 308 - - Salerno, the Archbishop of,—see Fregoso, Federico - - Salian priests, 44, 339 - - Sallaza dalla Pedrada, 140, 370 - - Sallust, 346 - - Saluzzo, Rizzarda di, 363 - - Salvadori, Giulio, 421 - - Samber, Robert, 421 - - San Bonifacio, Count Ludovico da, 139, 369 - - San Celso, 159 - - San Gallo Gate at Florence, 145 - - San Giacomo, the Church of, at Padua, 384 - - San Giorgio, Giovanni Antonio, "the Alexandrian Cardinal,"—see - Alexandrian - - San Leo, story of Duke Guidobaldo and the castellan who had - surrendered, 147, 376-7 - - San Magno, Masella di, 358 - - Sannazaro, Giacopo, 113, 358-9 - Giacopo Niccolò, 358 - - San Pietro ad Vincula, the Cardinal of,—see Rovere, Galeotto della - - San Sebastiano, story of an outrage committed near the Church of, 215-6 - - Sansecondo, Giacomo, 123, 361 - - Sanseverino, Galeazzo, 34, 337-8 - Roberto, 337 - - San Silvestro, picture painted by Raphael for the Church of, 378 - - Sansoni, G. C., 421, 422 - - Santacroce, Alfonso, 146, 375 - - Santa Maria in Portico, the Cardinal of,—see Bibbiena - - Santi, Giovanni, 342, 376 - Raffaello,—see Raphael - - Sanzio, Raffaello,—see Raphael - - Sappho, 197, 391 - - Sardanapalus, 206, 401 - - Savona, 216, 404 - - Savonarola, 328, 363 - - Savoy, Charlotte of, 395 - Filiberta of, 320, 346 - Filiberto, Duke of, 396 - Louise of, 346 - - Scarmiglione da Foglino, 377 - - Schaeffer, Carl, 421 - - Schultz, a printer, 421 - - Scipio Africanus Maximus, 207, 347, 377, 401, 402, 408 - - Scipio Africanus the Younger, 51, 58, 106, 146, 190, 205, 210, 250, - 340, 344, 358, 408 - - Scipio Nasica, Publius Cornelius, 148, 377 - - Sciron, 275, 411 - - “Scissors,” 192 - - Scoto, Girolamo, 420 - - Scott, Mary Augusta, 316, 332 - - Sculpture and painting, the comparative merits of, 66-8, 349-50 - - Scythia, 285 - - Scythians: - a custom among the, 266; - mentioned, 414 - - Sebastian, St., the basilica of, 404 - - Sebastiano, a brother of Fra Serafino, 335 - - Self-confidence requisite in the courtier, 28 - - Self-depreciation, to be avoided, 117 - - Self-praise discussed, 25-7 - - Self-seclusion of princes, 249 - - Selim I of Turkey, 372, 388 - - Semiramis, 205, 401 - - Seneca’s _Hippolytus_, 367 - - Sera, Francesca del, 343 - Neri del, 343 - - Serafino, Fra,—see Fra Serafino - master, 150 - - Serafino Ciminelli d’Aquila, 142, 352, 373 - - Serassi, Pierantonio, 421 - - Seres, William, 420 - - Sertenas, Vincent, 419 - - Seven Sages of Greece, the, 408 - - Sforza, Anna, first wife of Alfonso d’Este, 399 - Battista, Duchess of Urbino, 317, 326, 394 - Bianca, 337 - Bianca Maria, 396 - Caterina, 336-7 - Francesco, Duke of Milan, 326, 341, 355, 381, 394, 397, 398 - Francesco Maria, 399 - Galeazzo Maria, Duke of Milan, 337, 381 - Giangaleazzo, Duke of Milan, 381, 398 - Ippolita Maria, Queen of Naples, 327, 397, 398 - Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, 153, 313, 327, 332, 336, 337, 341, - 371, 373, 381, 395, 396, 398, 399, 409 - Maximilian, 399 - Muzio Attendolo, 381 - - Shakspere, 403 - - Sibyls, the, 197, 390 - - Sicily, 195 - - Sidney, Sir Philip, his “Arcadia,” 359 - - Siena: - retort made to a townsman of, 136; - story about the Emperor and, 143; - the Cardinal of, 351 - - Silius Italicus, Caius, 52, 53, 346 - - Silva, Diego de, Count of Portalegre, 317 - Miguel de, Bishop of Viseu, 1, 317 - - Silvestri, Giovanni, 421 - - Simbeni, 420 - - Similes and metaphors in pleasantry, 142 - - Simone, a character in Boccaccio, 161 - - Simoni, Ludovico Buonarroti, 343 - - Simpleton, retort made by Lorenzo de’ Medici to a, 145 - - Sinning against light, 255-6 - - _Si non caste, tamen caute_, 189, 388 - - Sinoris, 194, 195 - - Sismondi, 328 - - Sixtus IV, 318, 326, 328, 359, 396, 404 - - Slater, H., 421 - - Slavonia, jest about a comedy so elaborate as to need for its setting - all the wood in, 152 - - Social inferiors, consorting with, 85-6 - - Socrates, 56, 57, 63, 78, 90, 181, 308, 344, 348, 356, 391, 402, 408 - - Solomon, 220, 405 - - Solon of Athens, 391, 408 - - Sonzogno, Edoardo, 324, 422 - - Sophocles, 402 - - Sorbon, Robert, 346-7 - - Sorbonne, the, 57, 346-7 - - Spain, 1, 204, 207, 315 - - Spaniards: - martial exercises excelled in by, 31; - affirmed by Calmeta to be the masters of courtiership, 97-8; - discussion whether they are presumptuous, 98; - said to excel in chess, 109; - their grave manners, 114-5 - - Spanish fashion of dress: - affected by some, 102; - sobriety of, 103 - - Spartan women, bravery of, 201 - - Speaking and writing, to be governed by essentially the same rules, 40 - - _Sprezzatura_ (nonchalance), 35, 338 - - Squarcione, Francesco, 341 - - Stadia, computation of the size of Hercules’s body based upon a - comparison of the different, 171 - - Stagira, 285, 414 - - Stasicrates, 411 - - Statira of Pontus, 389 - - Stature, the courtier to be of moderate, 29 - - _Stazioni_, 136, 366 - - Stephen, St., 308 - - Stesichorus, 294, 415 - - Stilico, 313 - - Stoic philosophers, 82 - - Strascino (Niccolò Campani da Siena), 128, 362 - - Strozzi, Palla degli, 140, 370 - - Suetonius, 360 - - Sulla, Lucius Cornelius, 58, 347 - - Sulpicius Rufus, Publius, 51, 344 - - Sumptuary regulations, commended, 278 - - Swimming, an accomplishment proper for the courtier, 31 - - Symonds, John Addington, 315, 327, 339, 345, 359, 360, 369, 370, 409, - 412 - - Synattus, 194, 195 - - Synesius, 357 - - “T-A” (a printer’s initials), 419 - - Tacitus, Cornelius, 52, 53, 346, 368 - - Taft, _taftah_, taffety, 364 - - Tarpeia, 392 - - Tarquinius Priscus, 190, 389 - - Tasso, the poet, 333 - Girolamo, a printer, 421 - - Tatius, Titus, 198, 199, 392 - - Teeth, the beauty of, 55 - - Temperament of men and women discussed, 186-7 - - Temperance and continence, contrasted and discussed, 257 - - Tenda, Beatrice di, 355 - - Tennis: - a pastime appropriate to the courtier, 31; - to be practised only as a diversion, 86 - - Tennyson’s “Cup,” Castiglione’s version of the story on which was - founded, 194-5, 390 - - Teramo, the Bishop of,—see Porcaro, Camillo - - Terpandro, Antonio Maria, 12, 334 - - Thales of Miletus, 408 - - Themistocles, 64, 76, 275, 349 - - Themistus of Syracuse, 389 - - Theodatus, 393 - - Theodolinda, Queen of the Lombards, 202, 393 - - Theodora, wife of the Emperor Theophilus, 202, 393 - wife of the Emperor Justinian, 393 - - Theodoric the Great, 393 - - Theophilus, the Emperor, 393 - - Theophrastus, 5, 323 - - Theseus, 106, 275, 358, 411 - - Thetis, 387 - - Tiber, first Trojan landing at the mouth of the, 198 - - Ticknor, the historian of Spanish literature, 315 - - Time, the true test of literary and other excellence, 6 - - Time and manner of employing the courtier’s accomplishments, 81 et seq. - - Timeliness, a requisite in pleasantries, 154 - - Timur the Tartar, 387 - - Tintoretto, 351 - - Tipografia dei Classici Italiani, la, 421 - - _Tirsi_, an eclogue by Castiglione, 314, 331, 332 - - Tisias (Stesichorus), 415 - - Titian, 313, 320, 343, 407 - - Titus Tatius, 198, 199, 392 - - Todeschini, Francesco,—see Pius III - - Toldo, Pietro, 315 - - Tolosa, Paolo, 151, 378 - - Tomeo, Niccolò,—see Leonico - - Tommaso, Antonio di, 375 - - Tommaso, messer, of Pisa, 195-6 - - Tomyris, 205, 400 - - Torello, Antonio, 151, 378-9 - Count Guido, di Montechiarugolo, 314 - Ippolita, wife of the author, 314, 369 - - Torre, Geronimo della, 366 - Marcantonio della, 136, 137, 366 - - Torresano, Federico, 419 - - Tortis, Alvise de, 419 - - Total abstinence, 258 - - Touans, Pedro, 419 - - Trajan, the Emperor, 410 - - Tricks and deceptions practised by lovers, 217-8 - - Trifles, instances of books written about, 93, 357 - - Trino, Comin da, 420 - - Trojan Horse, the, 244 - - Trojan settlement in Italy, a story of the, 197-8 - - Trojan War, the origin of the, 387 - - Trombone, story about playing the, 131 - - Troy: - Trojan settlement in Italy after the fall of, 197-8; - the valour of Trojan women long prevented the fall of, 219; - the fall of, cited as an instance of the woes wrought by women’s - beauty, 293 - - True Lovers’ Arch, 222 - - Truth, the courtier’s chief aim should be to inform his prince of the, - 247 - - Tudor, Arthur, 412 - Catherine, widow of Henry V of England, 412-3 - Edmund, Earl of Richmond, 412 - Henry, son of Edmund,—see Henry VII - Henry, son of Henry,—see Henry VIII - Margaret, daughter of Henry, 413 - Mary, Queen of France, daughter of Henry, 371 - - Tullius,—see Cicero, Marcus Tullius - - Turin, Duke Agilulph of, 393 - - Turk, the Grand, (Bajazet II),—see Bajazet II of Turkey - - Turkish fashion of dress: - affected by some, 102; - peculiarities of, 372 - - Turks and Moors, 275 - - Turler, Hieronymus, 316, 420 - - Turnus, 44, 339 - - Tuscan dialect: - author’s reasons for not using, 3-5; - discussion of, 39-54; - not to be regarded as sole criterion of Italian usage, 48 - - Tuscany, 4, 5, 39, 40, 43, 44 - Duke Boniface of, 394 - - Tutula, 392 - - Tyrant, witticism against a tyrant falsely reputed to be generous, 145 - - Tyrants, evils suffered by, 263-4 - - Ubaldini, Bernardino, 376 - Ottaviano, 147, 376 - - Ubicini, the brothers, 421 - - _Ufficio grande_ and _ufficio della Madonna_, 137-8, 366 - - Ugolini, Paulo, 421 - - Ulysses, 284, 409 - - Unico Aretino, 12, 16, 17, 80, 81, 179, 228, 229, 230, 333, 335, 352 - - Urbino, 8, 9, 13, 80 - a Count of, in 1216, 325 - daily life at the court of, 10-2 - the Duchess of,—see Gonzaga, Eleanora and Elisabetta - the Duke of,—see Montefeltro and Rovere - - Usage: - the law of good speech, 3; - but not bad usage, 48; - who establish it, 48; - changeable, 49 - - Utility, an element of beauty, 295 - - Valentino, Duke,—see Borgia, Cesare - - Valerius Maximus’s “Memorable Doings and Sayings,” 390, 401 - - Vanozza, Rosa, 377 - - Varano, Costanza da, 394 - - Varchi, 348 - - Variety of occupations, inculcated, 31 - - Varlungo, the priest of, (a character in Boccaccio), 127 - - Varro, Marcus Terentius, 54, 346 - - Vasari, Giorgio, 341, 343, 350 - - Vatican Library at Rome, 417 - - Vaulting on horseback, proper for the courtier, 31 - - Venery, an appropriate pastime for the courtier, 31 - - Venetians: - their manner of riding ridiculed, 37, 130; - addicted to the wearing of puffed sleeves, 104 - - Venice, 131, 147 - - Venus, 309 - - Venus Armata, 199, 392 - - Venus Calva, 199, 392 - - Vernacular (i.e., Italian), the courtier to be proficient in the use of - the, 59 - - Vernia, Paolo Niccolò,—see Nicoletto - - Verocchio, 341 - - Verulam, Lord, (Francis Bacon), 316 - - Vesme, Count Carlo Baudi di, 357, 417, 421 - - Vespasiano, 326 - - Vesta, 393 - - Vestal Virgins, 201 - - Vinci, Leonardo da,—see Leonardo da Vinci - - Viol, 88-9, 356 - - Viotti, Antonio di, 419 - - Virgil, 41, 44, 47, 49, 52, 53, 339, 359 - - _Virtù, la_, a feminine quality, 169 - - Virtue, whether it is inborn or capable of being acquired, 251 et seq. - - Visconti, Bianca Maria, 381 - Caterina, 355 - Filippo Maria, Duke of Milan, 77, 355 - Giangaleotto, Duke of Milan, 355 - Giovanni Maria, Duke of Milan, 355 - Valentina, 371 - - Viseu, the Bishop of,—see Silva - - Vite, Timoteo della, 342 - - Vitruvius, 342, 411 - - Vittorino da Feltre, 325 - - Vittorio Emanuele Library at Rome, 417 - - _Vizio, il_, a masculine quality, 169 - - Volpi, edition of THE COURTIER annotated by the brothers, 324, 421 - - Volterra, Mario da,—see Mario de’ Maffei - - Vulcan, 252, 411 - - Wales, the Prince of,—see Henry VIII of England - - Weapons, the courtier to be familiar with the handling of, 29 - - Wheel, the, (a court of justice), story about, 151, 379 - - Wifely affection, instances of, 194-7 - - Witticism and pleasantry, beginning of the discussion on, 120 - - Wives and husbands, ill treatment between, 193 - - Wolfe, John, 421 - - Womanliness, the chief essential in the Court Lady, 175 - - Womanly virtue, instances of, 190 et seq. - - Women, different kinds of men love different kinds of, 227-8 - - Women afford inspiration to poets and musicians, 220 - - Women and men, beginning of the discussion on the comparative - excellence of, 182 - - Women’s excellence in literature, music, painting and sculpture, 205 - - Women’s extravagance in dress and ornament, 278 - - Women’s honour, beginning of the discussion as to the regard to be - shown to, 162 - - Women’s innate love of honour, 209 et seq. - - Women’s usefulness to men, ancient instances of, 197 et seq. - - Women’s usual regret at not having been born men, 185 - - Wrestling, the courtier to be familiar with, 29 - - Writing and speaking, to be governed by essentially the same rules, 40 - - Xenocrates, 208, 402, 403 - - Xenophon, 5, 58, 250, 408 - - Xenophon’s _Cyropædia_, 324, 409 - - Xerxes, 411 - - Youth, characteristics peculiar to, 91 - - Zenobia, 205, 401 - - Zetzner, Lazarus, 421 - - Zeus, 387, 408 - - Zeuxis, 70, 351 - - Zizim,—see Djem - - Zodiac, explanation of the Signs of the, 415 - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -On p. 16, a reference to endnote 61 should have been endnote 62. That -was been corrected. - -On pp. 402-403, an extended Italian quote includes line breaks that -disrupt words without benefit of hyphenation. Since the translator -claims to reproduce the 1528 Aldine edition "line for line", those -breaks are retained. - - line 9 : e tempo era il [letto], - line 19: che fosse [stato] - line 23: & [graue]: (for modern "grave") - line 39: come se fusse stato [all’opiato] (for modern "oppiato") - line 40: [Veramente] - line 44: che si [scriue] (for modern "scrive") - line 45: gran prezzo per una [notte], - line 46: Rideasi [tutta]. - -Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, -and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the -original. - - 18.5 anger and disdain, most sweet[.] Added. - - 40.18 those who speak are present before those who Listen? - [speak/hear]. - - 102.30 nor is th[eir/ere] lack of those Replaced. - - 225.21 they take every pain[s] Removed. - - 362.27 ‘the Pope is good for nothing.[’] Added. - - 382.10 and w[a]s known as a schismatic. Restored. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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