<' "'S. PRINCETON, N. J. Shelf.... ^AJ ■ u:r^:.: . ./ ' /Ti/f^'- Diviiion . Section iVumder BR 350 .P3 Y68 1860 v 2 Young, M. The life and times of Aonio Paleario THE LIFE AND TIMES OE PALEAEIO. VOL. II. ^ambribgi; : IKINTF.D BV JONATHAN PALMER, SIDNKY STRKKT, THE LIFE AND TIMES AONIO PALEARIO OR A HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN REFORMERS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY Hhtstrateb bg ^ri^inal IT-cttcrs m\h |nebitcb goxameirts. V BA^ M. YOUNG. "Their blood is shed In confirmation of the noblest claim, Our claim to feed upon immortal truth, To walk with God, to be divinely free, To soar, and to anticipate tlie skies." Cowper's Task. VOLUME II. LONDON : I^ELL AND DALDY, 186, FLEET 8TKEET 1860. [TIip liight of Translation is reservrd. Conecteurs, je veux bien apprendre De vous ; je subirai vos loix, Pourveu que pour me bien entendre Yous me lisicz plus d'une fois, Agrlppa (V Auhigni, 1G30. CONTENTS OF VOLUME 11. CHAPTER XII. ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 1535— 1571- Page Modena — Desire for knowledge and enlightenment — Academies at Florence — Pomponio Leto — His academy at Rome — Its misfortunes — Lorenzo Valla — His genius — Antagonism to superstition — Attack on tlie monks — Their revenge — Modena — Its academy — Learned men — Monks ridiculed — They prohibit the circulation of books — Indignation — Superstitious ignorance of the preachers — Reformed preachers — Famous brief — Con- fession of faith signed by the Academicians — Severe edict by the duke of Fen-ara — Castelvetro censured by the Pope — Defends himself at Rome — Escapes in alarm — His aiTcst ordered — Inquisitorial examinations at Modena — Imprisonments — Castelvetro leaves Italy — Goes to Chiavenna and Geneva — Returns to Chiavenna — Dies — His character — "Works . 1 — 60 CHAPTER XIII. RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 1510— 1575- Renee — Her talents — Alfonso, duke of Ferrara — Treachery of the Pope — Fabrizio Colonna — Alfonso's noble conduct — He regains Modena — Renee of France — Her marriage with Hercules of Ferrara — Belvidere — Character of Renee — Her leaning to the reformed opinions — Calvin pays a concealed visit to FeiTara — The brothers Sinapi — Their conversion — Calvin — Coitc- spondence with the duchess — Exhorts her to stedfastness — Clement Marot at Ferrara — His metrical version of the Psalms — Pi'ohibited — French attendants of the duchess dismissed — Her distress — Olympia Morato — Invited to court to be the companion of princess Anne — Inciirs the dis- pleasure of Renee — Olympia resolves to follow the Gospel — Marriage — De- parture from Italy — Her misfortunes — Death — Correspondence — Paul III. at Ferrara — Comedy acted by the royal children — Tasso — His love — Royal princesses — Persecution of the duchess — Her nephew Henry 11. sends the Inquisitor Ori to threaten her — She is confined in the castle — Hears mass — Calvin's letters of admonition and remonstrance — Galeazzo Caracciolo visits FeiTara — Is bearer of a letter from Calvin — The duchess becomes a widow — Her religious views opposed by her son Alfonso — She retires to France — Protects the Huguenots — Her noble reply to the duke of Guise— Death 61 — 1.52 h VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIY. rALEARIO TROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 1546— 1550- Page University of Lucca — Robcrtcllo— Paleario's oration on the Republic — Prince of Salerno related to Paleario — Letter to him — His answer — Interview with him — Accoimt of in a letter — History of the prince of Salerno — His misfortimes — Celebrated medical school at Salerno — Bernardo Tasso — Secretarj- to the prince — Involved in his patron's misfortunes — Paleario's oration on eloquence — Letter to Lilio — Reading the Scriptures — Absence from his family — Andrea Alciati — His splendid talents — Paleario sends him an oration — Equalled to Cicero — Alciati' s reply — Paleario ambitious of Patronage — High reputation of his oration — Letter from Sphinter — Recommends him to print his oration — Paleario studies the law — Letter to Vincenzo Portico 153—187 CHAPTEE XY. VITTORIA COLONNA— MARC AXTONIO FLAMINIO. 1509— 1550. Her beauty — Talent — Mari-iage to Pescara — He is taken prisoner at Ravenna — Release— Vittoria's poetic genius — Pescara' s ambition — Yittoria's noble letter — Her husband's death — Her grief — Constancy — Poetic laments — Becomes religious — Her opinions — Stedfast to the Church — Queen of Navarre — Letter to Yittoria — Her reply — Cardinal Contarini — His sister — Letter from Yittoria — Cardinal Pole — His history — Ascanio Colonna — "War with the Pope — Ascanio ruined — Yittoria at Orvieto — At Yiterbo — Gives a packet from Ochino — Letter to Cardinal Cervini — Illness — Death — M. A. Flaminio — His father — Flaminio goes to Rome — Naples — San- nazzaro — Baldassare Castiglione invites him to Urbino — Flaminio studies at Bologna — Goes to Genoa and Yerona — His love of religion — "Writes a paraphrase on the Psalms — Bad health — At Naples — Yaldes — Letter to Theodorina Sauli from Flaminio — At Yiterbo — Lives in Cardinal Pole's house — Pole's repressive influence — Flaminio at the Council of Trent — Declines office of secretary — His peaceful disposition and humility — Caraffa — Oratory of Divine Love — Flaminio devotes himself exclusively to sacred poetry — Accompanies Pole to Rome — Death — Letters — Devotional spirit 188—236 CHAPTER XYI COUNCIL OF TRENT. 1545—1563- Diet of Spires — Letter of the Pope — Council convoked — Speech of Mignatelli JubUce — Council opened — Sermon — Luther's death — The Creed — Canon of Scripture — Basis of faith — Tradition — The Gospel rests on the Church, CONTENTS. VI 1 Page not the Cliurch on the Gospel — Authentic versions — Interpretation of Scripture — Scholastic philosophy supersedes the Scriptures — Vulgate edition approved — Misuse of Scriptm-e — The Pope's instructions — Printing repressed — Monastic orders — Bishop of Fiesole reproved — Teaching and preaching — Predestination — Grace — Belief — The bishops ignorant of theo- logy— The Virgin Maiy — Immaculate conception — Dominicans and Franciscans differ — Residence — Decrees printed — Lutheran doctrine con- demned— Diet of Ratisbon — Treaty between the Pope and the Emperor — • Justification — "Warlike preparation — The seven Sacraments — Their au- thority— Translation of the Council to Bologna — Defeat of the Protestants — Diet of Augsbiu-g — Pier Luigi assassinated — Dramatic scene — The Pope's intrigues — Interim — Council meets at Trent — Transubstantiation — Penance and Extreme Unction — Heretical books — Celibacy of the Priests — Dissolution of the Council — Cardinal Morone — Accused of heresy — Articles of accusation against him — Imprisoned in St. Angelo — Presides at the termination of the Council of Trent 237 — 314 CHAPTER XVII. PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 1550—1555- Three Popes— Julius III. — War — MarceUo II. — His character — Letter of Seripando — Paul IV. — His character — Letter of Paleario on the death of Flaminio — Answer by cardinal Maffei — Correspondence with Ricci — High reputation of Paleario — His occupations at Lucca — Gadio — Letter of In- troduction— Oration on the best studies — Dissatisfaction — Letter from Corsini — Answer by Paleario — Publication of his orations — Pagauio wishes to go to Lucca as a teacher — Cesar Crassus wounds the rector of the university at Pisa — Is put to death — Paleario' s observations — University of Pisa — Illness of Paleario — Dangerous confinement of his wife — Latin epigram — Paleario improves his villa — Broken health — Letter to Pterigi — Oration on happiness — Leaves Lucca 315 — 34-i CHAPTER XVIII. PETER PAUL VERGERIO. 1498— 1563. Birthplace — Family — Secretary to Clement VII. — Sent nuncio to Ferdinand — To the elector of Saxony — His interview with Luther — Made bishop of Capo d' Istria — Goes to France — Letter to the marchioness of Pescara — • Queen of Navarre — Her piety — Letter to Alemanni — To Bembo — To Camilla Valenti — To Vida — Vergerio at "Worms — Letter to the queen of Navarre — Vergerio goes to Rome — Letters — Goes to his diocese — Combats VIU CONTENTS. Page superstition — Ascused of Luthcranism by the friars — Eemoves a large pasteboard image of St. George on horseback from the church — Summoned before the nuncio — Cardinal of Mantua his friend — Inquisitorial per- quisition— Francesco Spira — Embraces the Gospel — Retracts publicly- through fear — Dies raving mad — Consternation of Vergerio — Leaves Italy for Yicosoprano — Consecrates the Church at Poschiavo — ^Corresponds with the Zurich reformers — Mainardi — Camillo Renato — Confession of faith — Anabaptists — Vergerio visits Switzerland, Prussia, Tiibingen — His death — Writings — Berni — His stanza 345 — 393 CHAPTER XIX. CELIO SECUJN^DO CURIONI. 1503—1569- A Piedmontese of noble family — Educated at Tm-in — Reads the works of the reformers — Sets out for Germany — Imprisoned for talking about religion — Released — Placed in a convent — Disgust at superstition — Imparts his opinions — A dragon vomits fii'e — Celio thinks it a vision of Satanic power — Throws away the relics of dead bones — Substitutes a bible — Goes to Milan — Famine there — Plague — Curioni devotes himself to the care of the sick — Marriage — Goes to Montferrat — Endeavours to recover his inherit- ance— His sister sues him as a heretic that she may keep the property — Curioni attacks a monk for slandering Luther — Imprisoned in a tower — Chained — Makes a false leg — Escapes — Goes to Pavia — Professor there — Protected by the students — Turned out by an order from the Pope — Goes to Ferrara — To Lucca — Rome orders his arrest — Warned — Escapes — Goes to Switzerland — Appointed teacher at Lausanne — Returns to Italy for his family — Attacked by the soldiers of the Inquisition — Escapes out of their hands — Settles at Bale — Professor of eloquence — Correspondence with Melancthon — Marriage of his daughter to Girolamo Zanchi — Her happy death — Thi'ce daughters carried off by the plague — Death of two sons — Preparations for death — His will — Character — Works < . . . . 394 — 422 CHAPTER XX. GALEAZZO CARACCIOLO. J517— 1585- Neapolitan of noble birth — Flaminio — Valdes — Sermon by Peter Mart}a* — Galcazzo becomes a changed man — Difficulties — Opposition of his ftimily — Firmness — Distress of mind — Prayer — Abandons his country — Goes to Geneva — Welcomed as a brother — Calvin — His father sends to entreat his return — Distress of his wife — Reasons for leaving the Church of Rome — L^nsuccessful mission — Meets his father at Verona — Vain persuasions — CONTENTS. IX I'age Fracastoro — Galeazzo organizes an Italian Church — Celso INIartincngo appointed minister — Marries an English wife — Galeazzo meets his father at Mantua, who wishes him to live in Italy — Unsuccessful — Ilis wife Vittoria proposes an interview — Fails in her engagement — A second invitation — He goes to Yico — Joyful meeting — Disappointment — Vittoria governed hy her confessor — Refuses to follow her husband — Galeazzo leaves for Geneva — Agonizing parting — Letter from Calvin — Eeturn to Geneva — Contemplates a divorce — Opinions of the Churches — Divorce pronounced — He marries a widow — Respect sh(i!'s\ai him — Death of Calvin — INIystcrious misunderstanding — Galeazzo takes leave on quitting Geneva — Is persuaded to remain — Illness — A fi-esh assault from his family — Throws the letters in the fire— Death 423—452 CHAPTER XXI. PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT MILAN. Invited to Milan as professor of eloquence — Ai'rival there — Letter to his sons — Opening lectui'e — Line of study — The study of philosophy discouraged b}^ the priests — Correspondence with Luisino — Dissatisfied with his salaiy — Letter to the Senate of Milan — His appointment extended to three years — Pecuniary difficulties — Immunities granted by the Senate — Letter to Bruto — Peace of Cateau Cambresis — Expected congress of sovereigns — Death of Henry II. — Oration on peace — Letter to the Emperor — To Ferdinand — To Origonio — Petition to the city of Milan about a house — To king Philip — Sketch of the history of the Waldenses — Claude bishop of Turin — Massacre of Cabrieres and Merindol — Persecution of the "Waldenses — Episode of their history in 1848 — Emancipated by Carlo Alberto 453—488 CHAPTEE XXII. ABDICATION OF CHARLES V. 1555— -^55^' Project of abdication — Prepai'es his son to take his place — Character of Philip— Death of Juana — Paul IV. kindles war — Takes possession of the Colonna estates — Charles abdicates — Truce with France — Amusing trick of a buffoon — Charles sails for Spain — His apartments at Yuste — Their furniture — His suite — His confessor— Paintings — Famous pictm-e by Titian — Relics — Library — His own compositions — Letter of Luijada — Visit of two queens— Of Fray Borgia— Battle of St. Quintin— Death of queen Eleanor— Charles has a fit of the gout — Queen Mary pays him a visit— Charles lays aside the title of Emperor— Spread of reformed CONTENTS. Page opinions in Spain — Charles is consulted — Orders severe measures — Con- stantino Ponce de la Fuente — Augustino Cazalla — Universal terror — Shortsightedness of Charles — Bible destroyed — Imprudence of Charles — Increased illness — A putrid fever — Grows worse — Prepares for death — His devotion — Archbishop of Toledo — His Christian exhortation — Speech of a monk — Difference — Tranquil death of Chai'les — State funeral — Death of queen Mary of Hungary 489 — 511 CHAPTER XXIII. PIETRO CARNESECCHI. 1500 — 1568. Last injunctions of Paul iv. — Fury of the Roman people — They set fire to the Inquisition — Bum the trials — Set the prisoners free — Drag the mutilated statue of Paul iv. through the streets — It is thrown into the Tiber — Pius rv. — His mild character — Pardons the Roman people — Punishes the Caraffa family — A fanatic — Paolo Manuzio — Printing-press at Rome — Merit of printers in the 16th century — The Etienne family — Their learning and labours — Death of Pius iv. — Election of Pius v. — Teri'or of the Roman people — Horrors of the Inquisition — Carnesecchi — His history — Conversion to gospel truth — His travels — Benevolence — Cited to Rome by Paul iiT. — Absolved — Leaves Italy — Returns — Citation by Paul iv. — Disregarded — Carnesecchi declared a heretic — To be arrested wherever foimd — Absolved by Pius v. — Returns to Florence — Burning of books there — Carnesecchi seized by the Inquisition while dining with duke Cosimo — Conveyed to Rome — Put in the prison of the Inquisition — Tuscan ambassador — His letters — Intercedes for Carnesecchi — Of no avail — Constancy of Carnesecchi — Refuses to criminate others — Sentence pub- licly read — Condemned as a heretic — Degraded — Delivered over to the secular power — The duke requests that Carnesecchi' s life may be spared — A respite of ten days granted by the Pope, hoping he will criminate others — Carnesecchi' s firmness — Prefers death — Publicly beheaded and then burned — His property given to the duke — Original trial recently published — Articles of accusation. ' 512 — 436 CHAPTER XXIV. MARTYRDOM OF PALEARIO. 1566— 1570. Pio V. — History — Chief Inquisitor — His merciless character — Persecutions — Paleario secures his writings — Theodore Zuinger — Letter to him — "Work against papal doctrine by Paleario — Wishes it to be consigned to the ministers of Bale — Letter to Guarini about an incoiTCct edition of his works — Growing power of the Church — Carlo Bartolomeo, archbishop of CONTENTS. XI Pag:e Milan — His armed force — Suppresses the order of the ' Umiliati' — The bull 'Coena Domini' pul)lish(>d at Naples — Displeasure of princes — Tyranny of confessors — Francesco Cellario — Kidnapped by the Inquisitor Casanova — Taken to Rome and burned — A reward offered to kill or capture Casanova — Inhuman decree of Pius v. — Paleario accused of heresy — Writes to the Senate of Milan — Entreats them to pay up his salary and furnish him with money for his journey — Taken to Rome by the In- quisition— Accused of vrriting an heretical book twenty-five years before, and of holding other heretical doctrines — His constancy during trial — His dignified and Scriptural address to the cardinal Inquisitors — Condemned to death — The ' Miscricordia' fraternity are with him in his last moments — Autogi'aph letters to his wife and sons — He is first hanged, and then burned at the bridge of S. Angelo at Rome 536 — o05 Appendix 567—620 Index 621—650 ERRATA. Page 29, for Paolo Cortese read Gregorio Cortese. " 313, note 3 should be note 2. " 393, note 1, iov antipajnstce read antij^apale; for p. 1, read pp. 1, 391 and 1832 for 1532. 411, note 3, for 1551 read 1851. 491, 492, 505, in notes for Morley read Motlexj, 498, for Mary read Eleanor. ' 515, for Faul IV. read Pius IV. 572, App. F, for p. 81 read 99. 578, App. D, for Paul IV. read Paul IIL THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. CHAPTER XII. ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 1535—1571- MODENA — DESIRE FOR KNO^VLEDGE AND ENLIGHTENMENT — ACADEMIES' AT FLORENCE POMPONIO LETO — HIS ACADEMY AT ROME — ITS MISFORTUNES — LORENZO VALLA — HIS GENIUS — ANTAGONISM TO SUPERSTITION ATTACK ON THE MONKS — THEIR REVENGE — MODENA — ITS ACADEMY — LEARNED MEN — MONKS RIDICULED — THEY PROHIBIT THE CIRCULATION OF BOOKS — INDIGNATION — SUPERSTITIOUS IGNORANCE OF THE PREACHERS — REFORMED PREACHERS — FAMOUS BRIEF — CONFESSION OF FAITH SIGNED BY THE ACADEMICIANS — SEVERE EDICT BY THE DUKE OF FERRARA — CASTELVETRO CENSURED BY THE POPE — DEFENDS HIMSELF AT ROME — ESCAPES IN ALARM — HIS ARREST ORDERED — INQUISITORIAL EXAMINATIONS AT MODENA — IMPRISONMENTS — CASTELVETRO LEAVES ITALY — GOES TO CHIAVENNA AND GENEVA — RETURNS TO CHIAVENNA — DIES — HIS CHARACTER WORKS. Lucca was not the only city in which the reformed opinions took root. Modena was also imbued with a strong spirit of enquiry, and an earnest desire for improvement in religious knowledge. The indefatigable Tiraboschi, in his Bihlioteca Modenese^^ has collected some most interesting particulars, and has embodied in his narrative the MS. journal of an old chronicler so quaintly graphic that it seems more like the imaginings of some fertile brain than a faithful description of facts. As an illustration of 1 An enlarged biographical dictionarj^, which notes the life and writings of all the learned men who were natives of Modena. 2 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1535- the manners and habits of Paleario's day it is invaluable. Here, from Catholic writers themselves, we have the clearest evidence that the papal system is in opposition to all freedom and enlargement of mind, and striking proofs are laid before us of the vigilance exercised to crush all independence of thought, lest it might prove a stimulus to the attainment of civil and religious liberty. The Popes of Rome pursue a widely different course from that of their old Roman progenitors;^ for they established academies and universities, and encouraged learning wherever they carried their victorious arms. But the greater number of the bishops and ecclesiastical sovereigns of Rome have been decided enemies to learning. Nicholas V. and Leo X. were remarkable exceptions to the general rule. Leo had been edu- cated at Florence in the very atmosphere of literary studies, had grown up under the shade of the Platonic academy, and seen his father's government take the lead in these learned associ- ations, and he carried with him to the papal throne the same predilection for study. In the 'fifteenth century many cities in Italy followed the example of Florence, and opened academies ; but in the sixteenth they were almost universal. At first there were only three assemblies of this kind, and two only were called academies. The Platonic academy originated with Cosimo, entitled the father of his country, while the Council between the Greeks and the Latins was sitting at Florence in 1439. Cosimo heard a Greek^ discoursing like another Plato on the opinions of this great philosopher. This roused his enthusiasm for Plato, and suggested the idea of forming an academy for tlie express purpose of studying his writings. While meditating how to execute this project ^' he thought of me," says Marsiglio Ficino^ the son 1 As early in the Christian era as 333 the Romans founded a library at Con- stantinople, and invited learned men to teach different branches of science with the view of making it another Rome. In 425 Theodosius erected an academy, and ornamented it with porticoes, imder which lectures were delivered. Thirty-one pro- fessors were pensioned to insti'uct the youth of Constantinople ; among these three were orators, four Romans, and five Sophists, as they were called, for Grecian elo- quence. 2 Georgio Gemisto, called also Pletone, a great Platonist. He was sent from the Morea to represent the Greeks at the Council of Ferrara, which afterwards removed to Florence. He wrote a treatise in Greek, comparing the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, which was printed at Paris in 1541. 3 Marsiglio Ficino, born 1433, died 1499. His whole life was devoted to the 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 3 of liis medical man, " and tliougli I was still a hoj resolved to educate me for the express purpose of forming this academy."^ Another association of learned men had before this time met in the convent of St. Spirito belonging to the Augustine friars. It owed its commencement to the learned Luigi Marsili, an Augustine monk of singular erudition and universal knowledge. He was the friend and correspondent of Petrarch, who gave him, while he was yet young, this important and useful advice : " Beware of listening to those who warn you against extending your knowledge beyond theology. A good divine ought to know many things besides divinity, and should if possible be somewhat acquainted with the whole range of human science." Naldo Naldi in his life of Maretti tells us that the monks of St. Spirito debated daily among themselves on some given point either in logic, physics, or metaphysics, and that Maretti, being lodged next to the convent, had a door made in his garden wall through which he might pass to join these philosophic discussions. Every morning the subject of debate was affixed to a column, or to the walls of the beautiful church of St. Spirito. Great numbers flocked to hear these discussions. Maretti him- self spoke with so much power that he often carried the day. This was a reasonable and legitimate use to make of the leisure and opportunity for study which a conventual life affords. The celebrated cardinal Bessarione,^ of Grecian origin, a man of refined literary taste, assembled in his own house a number study of Plato's works in Greek ; by the time he was thirty-five years of age he had translated into Latin the whole of that philosopher's writings. At forty years of age he was ordained priest, he then began to study theology and comment on the Gospels from the original. He was of a quiet and studious disposition, fond of solitude and reflection. 1 Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. vol. vi. p. 77. Script. Her. Ital. vol. xx. p. 521, »S:c, 2 Born 1395, died 1473. He was a native of Trebisond; he studied Greek as- siduously under the best masters, went to the Morea on purpose to read with Gemisto, and shared his enthusiasm for Plato. He was ordained bishop of Nicea, and sent to the Council which was to unite the Greeks and Latins in one faith. Pope Eugenie rv\ in 1439 raised him to the purple, Nicola v. gave him the bishopric of Sabina and the legation of Bologna. During the five years of his stay there he rebuilt the ruiiversity, reformed its laws, and ofiered such ample salaries to distinguished men that it was soon filled with learned professors and numerous and attentive scholars. He carried out Petrarch's design of forming a public library at Venice, in the church of St. Mark, and made the senate a present of his books which had cost him 30,000 golden crowns. — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. vol. vi. p. 266. b2 4 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- of learned men at stated periods. All the members of the court of Eome. both Greeks and Romans, who were men of any talent, gladly embraced the oppoi-timity of hearing important points in philosophy discussed. The cardinal himself, being a man of profound learning, was looked to as arbitrator when any difference of opinion arose, and his was the casting vote which decided the question. He re- ceived into his house as part of his family persons well versed in the Greek and Latin languages, and not only gave them every opportunity of improving in literature and science, but watched over their morals and conduct. Tiraboschi bestows the hisrhest eulogium on Bessarione both for his literary talents and patronage of learned men, and for his high moral character and liberality to poor scholars ; his house fonned an academy as it were of itself. More free and less imposing was the academy opened by the antiquarian Pomponio Leto.^ He taught literature at Rome for nearly forty years, and in concert with Platina and Buonacorsi, who took the name of Callimaco,'^ established the Roman academy which had so unfortunate a termination. Paul II., the reigning pontiff, was a Venetian, and so averse to literature that he began his reign by breaking up the Abbre- viatore, established by his predecessor Pius IL, and turning out all the professors, including those who had paid for their offices. These persons suddenly deprived of bread were all literary men ; many of them were expert in the science of law both civil and canonical ; some were poets, some orators, and many had pur- chased their official positions.^ Those who felt themselves the most aggrieved were the first to protest against the harsh injustice of the decree. Platina the historian, one of the sufferers, has left a graphic description of his own share in this curious scene. ^' Being one of the number I entreated him to refer our cause to the auditors of Rome ; upon which, looking at me askance, he said, ^ So then you appeal to other judges to correct what I have done : know that both law and justice are nello scrigno del petto nostro riposte. It is my will, let them all go wherever they like ; I am Pope, and can do and undo according to my pleasure.'" This cruel 1 Lett. Ital. vol. vi. p. 11. 2 Idem, p. 98. 3 More than seventy persons were thus reduced to starvation. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 5 fiat made them almost desperate ; in vain they tried to get it reversed. Xot daring to assemble in the day, they met secretly for twenty nights successively to concert measures to avoid their ruin. They wearied everybody about court, but were despised as excommunicated persons, and no one would risk saying a word in their favour. At last, quite exasperated, they resolved to commit to paper what they could not convey by word of mouth ; Platina wrote a letter to the following effect, and sent it to the Pope. '' If it is lawful for you, without giving us a hearing, to deprive us of our just and legal purchases, it is surely lawful for us to complain of this injury. Since we are sent off with rudeness and ignominy we shall go and tell our tale to kings and princes, who will call a council, before which you will have to give an account for having deprived us of our legitimate possessions." As soon as Paul had read this letter, he immediately gave orders that Platina should be arrested and put in irons. He was tried and found guilt}' of having written a libel against the Pope and of threatening him with a council. He confuted the first charge by saying that his name was attached to the letter, therefore it was no libel. " I did not think that I had committed any fault in alluding to a council, for it was in the synods that the fathers established articles of faith. Our Saviour and his apostles first disseminated this doctrine in the church, that small and great should live on equal terms, and no one suffer injustice. But these arguments proved of no avail, for I was loaded with heavy irons and confined for many months in the depth of winter without fire in a high tower."^ At length the Pope, wearied by the entreaties of Francesco Gonzaga, cardinal of Mantua, released Platina from prison : he was by this time reduced to such a state of weakness that he could scarcely stand on his feet. But his remonstrance was not forgotten, and an opportunity soon presented itself of shewing that he was not forgiven. Pomponio Leto, an illegitimate off- shoot from a Neapolitan family, an eccentric, isolated being of considerable talent, and a great antiquarian," had been ap- 1 Platina, Vite de Fautefci, p. 452. Ed. Venetia, 1715. - He collected ancient inscriptions from all parts of the world, and filled his hoTise on the Quirijial with ancient marbles and monuments of antiqmty. — Lett. Ital. vol. vi. p. 162. 6 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- pointed to succeed Lorenzo Valla as professor of literature in the Koman college. Passionately fond of antiquities, he and his friends Bartolomeo Platina and Filippo Buonacorsi, sur- named Callimaco, met to study the antiquities of Rome, some of which had been recently excavated. To give these meetings a more classic and antique colour, they assumed the names of different ancient heroes. But while they were quietly pur- suing their scientific researches a furious storm was preparing for their destruction. Some malevolent persons reported to the Pope that these literary meetings were only a pretext for congregating turbulent and seditious persons, who were enemies to religion and con- cocters of conspiracies. During the festive period of Carnival the Pope had revived some of the old Roman games, and prizes were allotted to the best runners. For eight successive days nothing was seen but races. The old, the young, foreigners and Jews, horses, asses and buffaloes were ail set a running, while the Pope and the spectators were convulsed with laughter. Immediately after this mirthful scene word was brought to the Pope that Callimaco, one of the academy, had organised a con- spiracy against him : scarcely had he recovered from the alarm caused by this announcement, when an exile, a man of indifferent character, came forward in breathless haste to communicate a secret. First he required a promise of life and pardon, and then revealed the important intelligence that Tozzo, a Roman exiled to Naples, had been seen in the woods of Velletri, and would soon be in Rome accompanied by other malcontents. The timid Pope fancied himself surrounded with danger ; both within and without the city there seemed causes of alarm. His attendants, for their own private ends, magnified the peril, and he ordered the arrest of several Roman citizens on suspicion. This arbitrary command was executed with the utmost rigour ; a forcible entrance was made into private houses, and prisoners were carried off without any regard to justice. Platina^ minutely relates the violence of the papal emissaries. " Armed men surrounded my house, obtained entrance by break- ing the doors and windows, and seized my servant Demetrius. When told I was supping with the cardinal of Mantua they rushed to his house, arrested me in his presence, and carried ^ Vile cU rontefici, p. 457. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 7 me instantly to tlie Pope. To his address, ^ Have you not con- spired with Callimaco against me?' strong in my innocence I bokily replied that Callimaco was a man without arms, riches, or followers, half blind, and too indolent to give himself the trouble of conspiring. But the Pope gave no heed to my reply, and commanded me to be led instantly to prison. Though it was soon found that Tozzo's conspiracy was all invention, still suspicion rested on the members of the academy: to discover the truth all who could be laid hold of were put to the torture." The description which Platina gives of the manner in which he and his companions were tormented is perfectly frightful. More than twenty persons were put to the torture. One promising young man died soon after in consequence of the injuries he re- ceived. Platina compares the Pope's treatment to the conduct of the cruel Verres towards the unhappy Sicilians, who were like the academicians unjustly accused. During the infliction of the torture Platina was asked what share he had in Callimaco's conspiracy, and why Pomponio Leto addressed him as Holy Father, as if under this name lurked a design against the Pope. If " uneasy is the brow that wears a crown," what must be the weight of the triple tiara? The tormentors asked Platina if the academicians had ever written to any sovereign inviting him to make a schism in the church. Platina could truly answer, that so far from entering into a conspiracy with Callimaco he rather considered him as an enemy. The title given him by Pomponio Leto he would himself explain, as he had been ordered to be brought in chains to Rome. The fact was that the appel- lations. Father, most Holy Father, was a mere jeu d' esprit^ a pasquinade of the academicians, in ridicule of the monks and the Pope, who assume these titles without having anything of the paternal character about them, or any trace of real holiness. When Pomponio arrived at Rome he was exposed to the same interrogatory. When asked why he changed the young- men's names, he answered fearlessly, ^' What is it to you or to the Pope if I choose to call myself Finocchio (fennel) ? What is that to the Pope^ if I do not intend either deceit or fraud?" After Pomponio's arrival several more aiTCsts took place, till the cause was put off by the arrival of the emperor Frederic IH. at Rome.^ J Lett. Hal. vol. vi. p. 83. - "In questo tempo vcnnc con gran conipagnia dc'suoi 1' Impcratovc per un 8 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAKIO. [1535- On his departure the Pope went himself to St. Angelo to examine the prisoners ; he reproved them for debating on the immortality of the soul and for studying Plato. Platina replied that St. Augustine had highly commended this philosopher, and nowhere was it forbidden to exercise our reasoning faculties ; for his part he had always been a Christian, and led a life suitable to his profession as such, and no one could accuse him of a breach of the moral law. This defence, though somewhat phari- saical, lifts a corner of the curtain and leads us to suppose that the real crime of the academicians was their laying aside the practice of superstition. By order of the Pope they were ex- amined by some learned divines, but though pronounced guiltless of heresy they were kept in prison for a whole year. Previous to their release the Pope paid them another visit and subjected them to a still more minute examination; in conclusion he declared that in future every one who pronounced the word academy^ would be considered a heretic. Thus by a cruel and summary method the fears of the Pope put an end to this literary association, and soon after death closed his earthly career. Two hours after sunset, while alone in his chamber, he was seized with a fit of apoplexy, which immediately proved fatal.' These literary assemblies made continual progress in Italy till the commencement of the sixteenth century, when they re- ceived a new impulse from the freedom of opinion which was generated by the principles of the Reformation. They were chiefly composed of learned men, who conversed or debated on different subjects : antiquities, literature, philology and poetry were fruitful topics of discussion. They assembled on fixed days of the week at each other's houses, or at the princely mansion or villa of some munificent patron, where they supped, and afterwards adjourned to the garden or vineyard. In the hot season they passed great part of the night in these social meet- ings. Cardinal Sadoleto and other learned men have left minute descriptions in their letters of these intellectual evenings at certo suo voto in Roma, e 1' haveva il Papa con. supremo honore ricevuto, che vi spesc diciotto mila pezzi d'oro, per honorarlo." — Vite dc' Papi, p. 457- 1 This academy revived under Julius ii., and found a warm and zealous patron in Leo x. 2 He died on the 28th of Julv, 1471. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 9 Kome, where poets recited their verses and improvisatori com- posed impromptu rhymes on given subjects. In 1529 Sadoleto wrote from Carpentras to Angclo Colucci, himself a poet of no mean order, and a liberal patron of learning, reminding him of the happy days they had spent in his gardens on the banks of the Tiber, at the Quirinal, or in the Colosseum, when each contributed to the amusement and instruction of the rest, genius kindling genius, one reciting a poem, another an oration, while sparkling wit seasoned their discourse.^ At these assemblies all the choice spirits of the age were collected, and Leo frequently laid aside the gravity of the ecclesiastical charac- ter for the '^ feast of reason and the flow of soul." These social meetings were not invariably of a lofty character; mirth and jokes often prevailed, and pleasures of a more ignoble nature formed part of the entertainment. A certain Blosio was sati- rized by Paolo Giovio for having eaten a whole pheasant, and that a large one, at one of these suppers. A rich German of the name of Goritz was laughed at for his love of drinking and habit of picking his teeth : but this is rather the reverse of the picture ; the Italians have never been much given to the pleasures of the table, and the greater number of the academicians met for the sake of improvement and for the enjoyment of social inter- course.^ When there was but one academy in a city it assumed the name of its founder, as the academy of Pomponio Leto, academy of Panormita, &c. As they increased in number they took names expressive of the animus of the society, as the In- fiammiatij Sollecitij Intreindi^ and this quaint nomenclature became their distinctive appellations. Each academy had a motto, which was as much prized as the coat of arms belonging to an ancient family. On this subject there was sometimes a good deal of trifling, and time misspent over these puerilities : the academies of Siena were called the Rozzi, and the Intronati f this last name was given it by Marcello Cervini,* who was after- wards Pope. The predecessor of Pomponio Leto, as professor of literature in the Roman college, was Lorenzo Valla, one of those master spirits ^ Jacobi Sadoleti Epist. p. 225. Ed. Coloniaj, 1554. ' The sack of Rome put an end to these pleasant parties. — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. vol. vii. p. 116. 3 See Chap. ii. p. 83, note, and Appendix A. "• He was born at Montepulciano, not far from Siena. 10 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- born to soar above bis contemporaries. Profoundly versed in Latin literature, like Paleario he struggled witb indignant ve- hemence against the barbarous latinity of the age, and stood forth as the champion of the forgotten elegancies of classic idiom. The boldness of his genius, his unsparing criticism and the biting satire with which he attacked established dulness, rendered him an object of hatred to the self-applauding supporters of scholastic obtuseness. His penetrating judgment not only detected blunders in the barbarous composition of the schools, but dared to scru- tinize the veracity of those hallowed fables on which the Church of Eome rested her authority, and which she received with a blind credulity far exceeding in degree her faith in holy writ. The donation of Constantine had been often impugned, and its falsity suspected, but never absolutely condemned. Valla being employed at Eome to collate and collect the ancient papal bulls and briefs, had an opportunity of consulting ancient MSS. and of confirming his suspicions. Convinced of the fraud he wrote a book to prove that the deed of gift was spurious, entitled De Donatione Constantini} After this Rome. was no place for him; he took refuge at Xaples ; there, under the patronage of the noble- minded king Alphonso I., he found a safe and honorable asylum. The king, although fifty years of age, became the pupil of the p*reat Latinist, but Valla was not of a character to remain in indolent repose. His mind had been roused to a virtuous in- dignation against the superstitions and abuses of the church, and at Naples he renewed his assault with fresh vigour, openly declaring that the letter of Christ to Abgarus was fictitious, and that no such person as Abgarus ever existed. He carried on an incessant warfare against the ignorance of the monks, and liis fearless exposure of their frauds roused their indignation to the highest pitch. He was once present, says Boxhorm,^ during Lent when a sermon was preached at Naples by Fra Antonio di Bitonto, who chose for his text the Apostles' Creed. He pro- ceeded to divide the clauses of the Creed among the several Apostles, ascribing one to each, that all might have their due share of merit in the composition of the Creed. To St. Peter he gave the place of honour, ' I believe in God the Fatlier Al- mighty.' St. Andi'cw followed as the author of ^Creator of ^ Sec Apj)cndix B. 2 Boxhormius, Hist. Univers. p. 95. Ed. 1652. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 11 heaven and eartli,' and so on to the end. Turning to his friend Campano, the king's secretary, VaUa asked if he had ever heard such an explanation of the Creed before. ' Never,' said Campano ' did I meet with such a notion ;'^ the friar also is the first man who ever asserted that St. Jerome was horn at Home. The friends determined to visit the preacher, and repaired to his monastery, where they opened the conversation by enf|uiriiig where he had read that St. Jerome was a Roman ? Oh, many say so, and who denies it ? Valha, tickled with tlic absurdity of the answer, could not refrain from laughing, and rejoined, ^ Why St. Jerome himself declares himself to be a native of Dalmatia.' * Some say,' retorted the Friar, ^ he was a Roman, some a Dalma- tian.' It was useless to contend further with so much obstinacy and ignorance. Valla next asked, ^ On what do you ground your assertion that the Creed was composed piece by piece by the twelve Apostles ?' ^ I have been taught so by the fathers of the Church,' replied the preacher. ^ Name them, cite the passage from their works,' replied Valla. ' I have given you my answer,' retorted the friar in a rage ; ' you are an enemy of the Christian religion.' Some days afterwards he abused Valla so violently from the pulpit that Alphonso interfered, and imposed silence on him. Meanwhile Valla, determined not to let the matter drop, resolved to vindicate himself in a public discussion, and enlighten the population of Naples. He affixed to the doors of the Cathedral a list of the propositions which had been censured, and offered to prove their truth against any man who would enter the lists with him. He prepared a large hall for the debate, and all 1 This tradition of the Romish Chiirch was not kno-sm for the first three centuries of the Christian era, nor was it universally believed. The Apostles' Creed is not found in any of the articles of the Apostolic age, nor in the works of the Fathers, till the fourth century, which is a sufficient reason for doubting that it was composed by the Apostles. The story of the Creed being the combined work of the twelve Apostles was first found under the name of St. Augustine, in Aug. de Tempore. Serm. 115, al. 42 in Appendix, torn. x. p. 675. Ed. 1635. Ruffinus, a contemporary writer on the Apostles' Creed flourished in 410. He frankly declares that two of the articles, ' Descent into Ilell,' and ' Communion of Saints,' were not inserted in the Creed till four hundred years after the death of Christ. But if it cannot be proved to be drawn up by the Apostles themselves, it contains the sum and substance of their teaching, and the articles of Faith believed by all Christian communities, except perhaps the descent into hell, which has been variously explained. For a clear, simple, and scriptural explanation of this Creed, sec A Catcchct. Expos, of the Apostle^ Creedhy J. Thomas Law, 1825, who quotes Bingham, Orig. Eccl. Yossius, De tribus Symbolis^ and Du Pin, Eccl. Eist. 12 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAKIO. [1535- looked eagerly to the result of the dispute ; but free discussion does not suit the Koman Catholic priesthood, and they contrived to get the king to forbid the meeting. Valla submitted, only revenging himself by affixing the following distich to the doors of the empty room : Rex pacis, miscrans stemendas Marte phalanges Yictoris cupidum continuit gladium. On reading this epigram the indignation of his adversaries knew no bounds ; every effort was made to procure his condemnation, either to death or to perpetual imprisonment. He was cited be- fore the vicar of the archbishop, and on obeying the summons he found to his surprise a vast concourse of monks assembled to sit in judgment on his case. The first question asked was, ^ Do you believe that the Creed was composed by the Apostles ?' ' No, but by the Council of Nice, and this I can prove.' This reply was declared to be heretical. Letters were then produced, in which Valla had corrected mistakes made by copyists in papal decrees. * Such daring impiety,' cried the monks, ' must be expiated by fire.' Valla knew their power, and seeing his danger, sheltered himself under the well-worn falsehood of professing to believe what the Church believed. He was then pressed to condemn and retract his writings. ' Prove to me first,' he said, ' where I have erred, otherwise it will appear that it is not the amendment of the heart, but the submission of the tongue which you require.' As he spoke these words a bishop seized hold of him ; ^ Wretch !' he ex- claimed, ^ your pride needs taming.' Valla again replied, ' I be- lieve what the Church believes.' He was then asked his opinion of the ten categories of Aristotle. ^ What !' he exclaimed, ^ are they to be held in equal reverence with the Ten Commandments of God ?' ^ Why not ?' was the reply ; ' can you deny that these are matters of faith ? Are you so ignorant as not to know that the dialectic doctrine serves to explain the great theological con- troversies?' ^ Let us cut short the dispute,' rejoined Valla; ' I again declare that even if our holy mother Church be ignorant of these matters, I am content to believe what she does.' Happily for Valla, a company of the king's body-guard arrived at this moment for his protection, and the discussion terminated. His condemn- ation to the flames was however resolved. The protection of Alphonso saved his life, but it could not avert either the humilia- tion of a public abjuration or the degrading ignominy of being 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 13 scourged by the monks in the Jacobite monastery.^ After this he left Naples and returned to Rome.'^ The reigning Pope, Nicholas v./ was a great patron of learned men: literature, which had for six hundred years been neglected at Eome, was now diligently cultivated, and the library of the Vatican greatly enlarged. Valla opened a public school for eloquence and oratory, but his irritable nature got him into difficulties with several learned men. He had a bitter contest with Poggio, who accused him unjustly of having written an anonymous censure on his works ; their mutual accusations presented a pitiful spectacle to the world. But this did not prevent Valla from pursuing his literary occupations. By the desire of the Pope he translated from Greek into Latin the history of Thucydides, for which the Pope with his own hands gave him five hundred golden crowns, and it is said he translated Herodotus for Al- phonso. He was a better Latin than Greek scholar ; his most polished work was on the Elegancies of the Latin tongue, includ- ing geometrical rules for writing correctly. His notes on the New Testament were found in a library by Erasmus, who thought them worthy of being committed to the press.^ It is not a theological work, but critical notes on the translations which had hitherto been made, in which he displays much literary acumen. The severity of his criticisms on the barbarous taste of the day made his friends say after his death^ that Pluto would not dare to speak Latin after Valla descended to the infernal regions, and that Apollo would have given him a place in the skies, had he not felt that in so doing he would himself lose 1 "In eodem tempore Laurentius Valla Eomanus, elegantis quidem pro sseculo, sed pro quolibet tempore virulentissimse linguae homo ; Neapoli existens, cixra quas- dam propositiones lisereticas asseruisset, delatus ad Inquisitores, et in carcere trusus damnatusque pro haeretico, beneficio Alfonsi Regis poenam ignis evasit ; propositio- nibns tamen publice ejuratis, virgis privatim per claustra monasterii Predicatorium manibus revinctis ccesus." — Spondanus, Annal. an. 1447, ap. Bayle, Diet. 2 Tiraboschi says be was invited there by Nicola V. in 1447. — Lett. Ital. vol. vi. p. 307. 3 Tomaso of Sarzana was elected Pope in 1447, and took the name of Nicolo V. In one year he was made bishop of Bologna, cardinal, and pope. He died in 1455, after a peaceful reign of eight years. — Platiaa, Vite d^ Pontefici, p. 423. 4 See Erasmi Ejnst. lib. vii. ep. 3. ^ There is considerable discrepancy in the date of his decease. Some say he died in 1467, but Zeno has proved his death took place in 1457. — See Dissert. Vossian. tom. i. p. 72, ap. Tiraboschi. 14 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- the liberty of speecli.^ He was one of those energetic scholars who gave an impulse to his age, and prepared the way for the more rapid progress of the following century. Learned associations became general, and no city in Italy could boast of a greater number of distinguished men than Modena. The Este family had always encouraged learning; it had its literary assembly long before academies were general. The ori urinal mover of this learned association was Pamfili Sassi, a Modenese, a man of great original powers, gifted with a surprising memory,^ and with the wonderful genius of im- provising verses at pleasure. This was a talent which con- tributed so much to the amusement of others that he was courted both by princes and nobles, but he preferred the pleasures of retirement and the study of philosophy to the tumult of a court. After spending a great part of his life at a villa near Verona, he returned to Modena, and lectured daily in his own house for an hour on some Latin author. Sometimes also, when requested, he commented on Petrarch and Dante. These lectures, which were frequented by all the educated persons in Modena, suggested the idea of continuing them on a larger scale.^ One of Sassi's hearers, Giovanni Grillenzone, was the founder of the Modenese academy, a man to whom the city of Modena was under deep obligations. The Grillenzone family consisted of seven brothers, five of whom were married and had families. Giovanni was the eldest, and though some of the brothers were rough, untractable men, such was the influence he had over them that, after the death of their father in 1518, they and their wives and children all remained together under one roof, and lived in such perfect union with each other* that not even an unkind word passed be- 1 An epitaph on hira was wiitten thus : Laurcus Valla jacet, Romance gloria linguae Primus cnim docuit quoe dicit arte loqui. Bayle, Diet. Hist. Ed. 1702. 2 Castelvetro, in his ms. memoirs of learned men, relates an amusing instance of his wonderful memory. A person haying recited a poem of his own composition in praise of the Podesta of Modena, Sassi pretended to be offended with the poet as a plagiarist, and claimed the verses as his o^vn. In proof that they were really his, he recited the whole, word for word, from beginning to end, with such earnestness and velocity that the poor author stood aghast with astonishment, till Sassi explained that he had never heard of the poem tUl it was recited by the composer. 3 Bibl. Modenese. Art. Castelvetro. 4 This lasted till 1551, when Giovanni died, when they separated. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 15 tween them. Each family had their own servants, who waited on them in their apartments ; other servants did tlic work of the house, prepared the dinner, and attended to household matters. The wives took it in turn to manage the house for a week at a time, directed the servants, and superintended tlic baking and washing. They took their meals all together in a large hall, the seven brothers and their five wives at one table with the elder children, while the little ones, about forty or fifty in number,^ were seated at a lower table close to their parents, and served by the elder girls. Strangers were admitted to the upper table, and were sometimes so numerous that the house was like a public inn. It was much frequented by literary men who passed through Modcna; many invited themselves on purpose to see this extraordinary establishment, and the great order and concord of the family. None of the brothers were either rich or spendthrifts. Gio- vanni practised medicine, one was a judge, another a grocer, another a cloth merchant, and one managed the afiairs of the family. One attended to the agricultural concerns of the villa, and another was a priest. They were not rich, but by regularity and good management they found means to meet the expences of their large establishment. Giovanni Grillenzone was devoted to study, and it was at his instance that the town of Modena invited Francesco Porto^ to lecture publicly on the Greek language. When Porto removed to Ferrara Giovanni Grillenzone arranged to have two lectures at stated hours in his own house, the one in Latin, the other on Greek literature for those who were the most advanced and who had been pupils of Porto. These lectures were delivered with great simplicity and without any attempt at eloquence; they were open to all ,• the most difficult passages only were explained. ^ This must include grandchildren. — See Bibl. Modenese. 2 He was a poor orphan of Candia, who was brought to Italy when a child, and shewed so great a disposition for study that he was sent from Venice to study at Padua for six years, and afterwards made such progress in Greek that he was con- sidered one of the most learned of the Greeks. In 1537 ho went to teach at Modena. He was invited to Ferrara in 1546, where he was greatly favoured by the Duchess Rcnee, appointed to teach her danghtcx's Greek, and held in high esteem for his learn- ing. In 1554, when the Duke cleared the court of all who were favourable to the reformed opiaions, Porto took his departure for the Friuli. Duke Hercules died in 1559, and the Duchess left Italy: Porto having lost his patroness retired to Geneva, where he died in 1581, at the age of seventy-one years. 16 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- Eveiy one present was at liberty to give his opinion on a passage, and to state his reasons ; this formed the judgment of the au- dience, and enabled them to approve or dissent as occasion required, and was of great service to the young men : many who took a share in these discussions afterwards distinguished themselves as poets and philosophers. With Grillenzone also originated the idea of meeting to sup together on certain days of the year. A select number of persons were invited, chosen from among those of sufficient talent to be able to comply with the rules laid down. At every supper some ingenious mental exercise was proposed, such as, that every person should compose a Greek or Latin epigram, sonnet, or madrigal on some person present, or on some dish on the table. It was laid down as a rule that they were not to call for drink except in the language which the master of the feast began with, or in that made use of at a former supper. They were not to use the same phrases which had served before, and nothing was given till it was asked for. Each guest was obliged to repeat all the proverbs about some animal belonging either to sea or land, all the proverbs about a month, a saint, or a family, or to relate a story from the life of Forno bishop of Gerapolitano, and things of a similar nature.^ Thus far we have followed Castelvetro, a contemporary and eye-witness; but it must not be understood that the literary assemblies of Modena began when Porto left that city for Ferrara in 1546. It was then indeed that Grillenzone opened a school in his own house for teaching Greek, but the academy had existed long before, and such was its fame that even as far off as Sicily it was spoken of with distinguished praise. Ortensio Landi, in his paradoxes,^ reviewing the different academies of Italy, particularly lauds that of Modena, and regrets that its glory should have been clouded in consequence of having directed its attention to the study of the Holy Scriptures. He also speaks of the immense number of studious young men who were con- gregated in the city of Modena. In the MS. chronicle of Tommasino Lancellotto, of which Tiraboschi has made ample use, we find a minute account of ^ These curious particulars are from the ms. Memoirs of Literati, drawn up by Castelvetro, which Muratori has brought forward in his Life. 2 Par. xxvii^ 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 17 tlie events of each day, written with a precision and sincerity which stamps its veracity. Under the date of the 17th of February 1538 he records the names of the principal academi- cians, among whom were three of the brothers Grillenzone and the celebrated Lodovico Castelvetro. On the 5th of Jmie 1545 he notes the place where they, met, which was the apothecary's shop of Grillenzone, at the sign of the Fountain, in the egg-market under the palace belonging to M. Alessandro Fontana: the number of academicians, he says, was at times so great that they left no room to pass in the street as they moved along, and when they dispersed they resembled a flight of swallows in their mi- gration. They usually went out of the town to find a place to speak with greater freedom. These academicians, being all men of reflection, could not remain indifferent to the spirit of religious enquiry and awaken- ing which was diff'used throughout Italy. Many of them studied the Scriptures and read the works of the reformers. Tiraboschi says that as long as they confined themselves to general literature they prospered, but in a few years the scene became completely changed. The great erudition and energy with which the German writers treated theological subjects was extremely at- tractive to Italian scholars ; they had long been weary of the dull round of scholastic Catholicism, and read with avidity writings which were so calculated to dispel ignorance and banish prejudice. The study of Greek facilitated the examination of Scripture, and the cultivation of the intellect prepared them for a fuller comprehension of the high prerogatives which God has conferred on man as an immortal being, and awakened them to a sense of the deep responsibilities entrusted to them by their Creator. The learned studied the Gospel in its original tongue, commented with critical accuracy on difficult passages, and soon became convinced that the grandeur and simplicity of the Christian religion had been debased and obscured by the inventions of men. Lancellotto records that the first complaint of heretical opinions in Modena was in the year 1537. Serafino of Ferrara, an Augustine monk, when preaching in Advent, publicly lamented that the eiTors of the Lutherans were making their appearance in Modena, and adduced in proof of his assertion the circulation of a book deeply infected with error. This book it seems had been found in the chamber of the Lady Lucrezia, widow of 18 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- Count Claudio Rangoni ; Serafino eagerly took it up and carried it home. There in company with an officer of the Inquisition he examined it attentively, and put it into the hands of the bishop to. find out the author, and discover who had introduced it into the city. Lancellotto, the chronicler, good honest man, relates that on the 8th of October he had bought a copy from Antonio Gadaldino the bookseller; but when he heard from the Augustine friar that it was full of heresies, on the 13th of December he carried it back, and obliged him to refund the price before he returned it : he says he copied the title-page and took a note of its size. It consisted of ninety-six pages 8vo. On the title-page there was the image of St. Peter and St. Paul with the title :^ '^ The Summary of the Holy Scriptures, and the ordinary of Christians, shewing what is the true christian faith by which we are justified, and the virtue of baptism according to the doctrine of the Gospel and of the Apostles, with instructions how all states ought to live according to the Gospel." At the end there was a table of the chapters, thirty-one in number. ^' There was no author's name, nor date," says Lancellotto, ^' and I have noted the title because I have never met with it nor seen it cited in any printed catalogue." The chronicler afterwards records, under the date of the 28th May, 1537, that one of the members of the academy was thought to be the author : however, the academy undertook to defend it, and the veracious Lancellotto mentions the names of some who were suspected of having written it ; but some prudent hand has unfortunately so defaced the writing that the names cannot now be deciphered. It seems that at first the aca- demicians dared not publicly become its advocates, but on the 17th of February 1538 they openly declared their sentiments. Let us hear the quaint old chronicler's account. " This day at half-past one at night, in the house of M. Niccolb Machello, professor of natural philosophy, there was a festival held on the marriage of his daughter with M. Francesco Camu- rano. In the height of the entertainment there appeared three 1 El Summario de la sanda Scriptura e V ordinario di li Christiani qiial dimostra la vera fede Christiana, mcdiante la qual siamo justijicati, e de la vertu del baptistno seconda la doctrina de V Evangelio e de li Apostoli cum una informazione^ come tutti li stati debbeno vivere secondo V Evangelio. — Bib. Modcnese. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 19 masked trumpeters who played a flourish, then two of the masks mounted on the top of a sideboard and began reading from a written book. One read low and the other loud, some very severe sarcasms against Don Serafino, the regular canon who had preached in Advent and some days after Christmas in the Cathedral of Modena, and who had, in conjunction with the friars of St. Domenico and other monks, under the cloak of sanctity, de- nounced a certain book which had been circulated throughout the city, declaring it to be a Lutheran and heretical work, which book the undersigned literati of Modena, members of the academy, sustain and defend."^ He then names all the twelve acade- micians. This occasioned considerable sensation in the city against the academy, and especially because very disrespectful placards had been affixed to the pillars at the door of the Cathe- dral, at the corners of the streets, and at the gate of the friars' convent. Castelvetro, who was present, relates in his MS. memoirs, that Bandinelli of Lucca, tutor of the sons of Molza, took the lead in this affair. Machello had married his daughter to Francesco Camurano ; at the celebration of the wedding Antonio Bandinelli with another friend, disguised themselves as trum- peterSj and cut some very coarse jokes against widows and devout women under the direction of the friars. It was very clear that the Countess Rangoni was here alluded to, as the book was found in her possession and had been given up by her to the friars. She was known to favour Serafino the preacher, and to be a devotee in the Roman Catholic sense, for she had en- deavoured, in imitation of the Countess Guastalla, to introduce into Modena the sect of the Perfectionists. The Countess Lucrezia was the daughter of Lodovico Pico della Mirandola ; she married Count Claudio of the noble house of Rangoni ; both she and her husband were liberal patrons of learning. Lucrezia^ was a staunch Roman Catholic ; she corre- sponded with Muzio,^ one of the great champions of the Church of Rome ; he had warned her against being seduced by what he called the new opinions, and pointed out to her what a ^ Sec Appendix C. 2 Her daughter Claudia married Giberto of Correggio ; she was a woman of great talent, profoundly versed, says Sansovino, in philosophy and theology, and worthy of all reverence for her christian piety and purity of life. See Appendix D. 3 Miuio, of Justinopolis. c2 20 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- dangerous person she had in her house, probably some learned man whom she patronised, perhaps Ortensio Landi. The ex- hortations of Muzio were not fruitless, for a book^ having been put into her hands imbued with reformed opinions she imme- diately gave it up. Muzio thus congratulates her : " It grieves me that I have disturbed your mind, though I rejoice at the cause which cannot but be a merit in the eyes of God, since you grieve that you have been even suspected of being out of the pale of the Koman Catholic Church, which is the pillar and foundation of truth. '"^ In consequence of her complaining to the governor of Modena of the affront offered her, the tutors of Machella's and Molza's children were both aiTCsted and thrown into prison: the name of the first is not certain, but was believed to be Francesco Porto the Greek; we have already seen that Bandinelli was tutor in Molza's family.^ After a few days they were liberated, as it could not be proved against whom their sarcasms were pointed. This imprisonment gave a lesson of prudence ; but the calm did not last long, for a new preacher arrived in Modena, and this was always productive of discontent. The gross ignorance of these preachers, and their total neglect of all sound teaching, could not fail to be a subject of mirth and derision to learned men, who were not themselves sufficiently enlightened to grieve over the sad spectacle of ^' the blind leading the blind," to the utter ruin of immortal souls. It is recorded as a memorable example of monkish ignorance, that on the 3rd of March 1530 Francesco Filolauro of Castelcaro, when preaching in the cathedral of Modena, enriched his dis- course by the public recitation of a brief which he said was written by Jesus Christ. It began like those of the Koman pontiffs, ^' Jesus bishop, &c.,'' and ended in the usual manner, " NulU ergo omnino hominum, d:c.^^ The date even was added : " given in the terrestrial Paradise on the sixth day of the crea- tion of the world, in the eternal year of our Pontificate, &c." This brief was inserted in Lancellotto's chronicle, and is also spoken of by Mm-atori." 1 II Summario. 2 Muzio, Lettere. 3 gee Bibl. Modenese. 4 "In Modena poi nello stesso anno (1530) nel di 3 di Marzo predicando Fra Francesco da Castelcaro de' Minori Osservanti nel Duomo, publico un Breve scritto dal Signor nostro Gesii Cristo a tutti i Chxistiani: Datum in Faradiso terrestri 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 21 Sucli egregious folly, at a moment when the whole world was exclaiming against the ignorance of the clergy and the superstition of the monks, could not fail to stimulate the zeal of those who desired a reform in the church, and to enlarge the sphere of religious inquiry. While some secretly despised this nonsense, learned men went to hear for the sole purpose of turning it into ridicule. Let us hear what this hahhler will say, was correctly applied to them ; and such was the contempt with which these preachers were listened to, that they were openly criticised in their presence and before their audience, so that for very shame they were obliged to descend from the pulpit. In 1539 Don Serafino, the primary cause of the troubles at Modena, ventured again to preach: not content with turning him into ridicule, they daubed the pulpit with dirt to shew their contempt, and to deter him from preaching. These measures, though far from laudable, were the only means within their power to prevent the monks from uttering their farrago of ignorance and credulity. But among the preachers sent to Modena some were favourably disposed to the reformed doctrine. On the 28th of May 1539 Lancellotto relates that on the feast of Pentecost Fra Antonio della Catellina, having preached with great applause, was accused of holding heretical opinions; he immediately became greatly agitated and terrified, and solemnly protested from the pulpit that he had always spoken as a good Catholic ought to do. Paolo Kicci, a Sicilian monk and a doctor in theology, who had laid aside the frock to embrace the reformed opinions, took the name of Lisio Fileno. He went to Modena in 1540, and began secretly to read and expound the Epistles of St. Paul and to unfold the doctrines of the Scriptures ; many flocked to him, a powerful interest was awakened, and the influence of the Gospel extended not only to the learned but to the ignorant, and even the women began to converse both in a Creatione Mundi die Sexto, Pontificatus nostri Atino aeterno ; confirmatum et sigil- latum die Parasceves in Monte Calvarice. In questo Breve il Signore appruova e conferma con autorita divina la Regola d' essi Frati Minori Osservanti, conchiu- dendo in fine colla seguente clausola, ]S[^^lli ergo omnino hominum liceat hanc paginam nostrae confirmationis, ^-c. Tommasino Lancellotto cbbe la fortima d' impetrar copia di questo mirabil Breve da quel buon Rcligioso, e come una gemma 1' inseri nel suo Diario manuscritto della Citta di Modena. 0 tempera ! 0 mores !" — Muratori, Annali, torn. x. p. 335. 22 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. 1535- private and in public about faith, and to understand something of the difference between a dead and living faith. Tassoni, surnamed the Old, in his Annals of Modena/ minutely describes the enthusiasm and ardour with which all ranks embraced the doctrine of grace as they found it revealed in the Gospel. Be- lievers met together to discourse on spiritual subjects, quoting Paul, Matthew, John, the Apocalypse, and the Fathers ; but the papal power, true to its traditionary dread of free discussion on the oracles of God, contrived to arrest the progi*ess of divine illumin- ation by persuading the Duke of Ferrara to have Ricci arrested and confined in the castle of Modena. Lancellotto, in noting the occurrence, adds that he fears it will end in nothing, as he is protected by the academy. On this occasion, however, their power was of no avail. Ricci was removed to Ferrara, tried, and frightened into abjuring his opinions. Tassoni inserts the recantation in his MS. annals. About this time there were some disgraceful disputes between the monks of the different religious orders, who inveighed against each other from the pulpit. Their conduct was so irregular that the governor Strozzi thought it his duty to report their proceedings to the Duke of Ferrara.^ An order was issued, in consequence, forbidding any monk to mount the pulpit without the permission of the vicar-general of the diocese. Some however refused to obey this mandate, and in defiance of the orders of their superiors preached publicly, and found means to interest tlie Conservator i, an order of magistrates, in their favour.^ About the same time a still more famous preacher than any who had preceded him, Bernardino Ochino, mounted the pulpit. On his way to Milan in 1541 he passed through Modena : his high reputation throughout Italy had already attracted attention, and the Modenese gladly availed themselves of his accidental presence among them, and entreated him to preach in the cathe- dral. He complied, and preached, says Lancellotto, on the 28th of February. The church, as we have already related, was filled with so great a concourse of people, '' that there was not even ^ They still exist in ms. in the Ducal Library at Modena. 2 The letter, dated 18tli April, 1540, is to be found in the secret archives of Modena. — Tiraboschi, JBibl. Modenese. 3 Several letters are preserved in the archives, written to the Duke and the Vicar- General, G. Sinibaldo, by the Conservatori and the Governor, in February and March, 1541. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 23 standing room for all who wished to enter. "^ All the acade- micians were present, and earnestly entreated him to stay and preach the Lent sermons, engaging that a Carmelite friar, who was already appointed, would yield the pulpit to him : Bernar- dino however could not break his engagement, and pursued his way to Milan. Cardinal ^lorone, when he returned from the Diet of Ratisbon in 1542j found his diocese distracted by opposite opinions. What- ever secret modification his own religious views had under- gone, he was not prepared, nor had he ever intended, by leaving the Roman Catholic church, to contaminate himself with the odious name of heretic. But, like many others of that time, he was already in some degree a heretic in doctrine, though he continued so steadily attached to the discipline of the Romish hierarchy, that any open dissent or disapproval of its authority was extremely displeasing to him. He tlius expresses himself in a letter to Cardinal Contarini : '^ I have found things here which so deeply grieve me as to deprive me altogether of rest, for the danger is great, and I do not see how to extricate myself. I would willingly shed my blood for the benefit of my flock, so that they might belong to Christ and have their reputation cleared: I blush with shame to hear it said openly every- where that this city is become altogether Lutheran. The con- jectures of your reverence are in great part true ; it is not to be denied that the monks unite great ignorance to great audacity, and that they are greatly wanting in charity. Notwithstanding, there is considerable ground for suspicion, and I am examining the evidence that I may take the measures which God may inspire." He then explains the means he intends to pursue to verify the truth of the reports, and if possible to crush the germs of false doctrine ; among other projects he speaks of getting a formulary or confession of faith signed, of which we shall presently hear something more. The disturbances at Modena soon reached the ears of the Pontiff. The book which was the exciting cause was, according to Lancellotto, burned at Rome on the 28th of May, 1539 ; and he adds that Paul IH. wished to fulminate an excommunication against such of the Modenese academicians as had openly declared their heretical opinions, but Cardinal Sadoleto, himself a Modenese 1 See Chap. ix. p. 367. 24 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- and the personal friend of many of the members of the academy, used every effort to soothe the Pope's h-ritation and to bring for- ward measures of conciliation. On the 17th of September of the same year the Pope himself wrote to the Duke of Fen-ara, re- questing him to restrain the academicians from speaking so freely of faith/ One of them, Giovanni Berettari, was cited to Rome, but he defended himself there with so much ability that he was sent back to Modena^ absolved from all heretical taint. It was several times proposed in the Consistory to cite the members of the Academy to Eome, Bologna, or Ferrara ; and but for Sadoleto's exertions in favour of his fellow-citizens much more severe measures would have been taken. This good man, of whom Modena is justly proud, was of opinion that it would be more easy to restrain the wanderers from the fold of the Church by gentleness than by severity. His writings against heretics were full of love and charity, and how much more must this have been the case when his friends and fellow-citizens were concerned. His conciliating spirit was fully displayed in the letter he wrote from Rome to Lodovico Castelvetro^ and his companions, on the 12th of May, 1542. He tells them that in a Consistory held the day before some cardinals had spoken to the Pope of the sus- picions cast on the academicians, but that he had persuaded him to suspend his judgment till he received further information. He then invites and entreats them to give some proof of their adherence to the Roman Catholic Church, and to avoid every- thing which might confirm the suspicions entertained. The reply of the academicians corresponded to the zeal and friendship he had displayed in their behalf. In July we find him con- gi-atulating them on the sentiments they had expressed, and advising them to write a united letter to the Pope professing themselves to be true and faithful members of the Church of Rome. ^ Faith, in the Roman Catholic Church, embraces a great many subjects foreign to revelation, such as traditions, false miracles, and superstitions. "Whatever the Church believes is matter of faith. The Chiu-ch is composed of ignorant members ; any priest who can get a papal sanction can impose his fancies as a matter of faith. The same guilt is attached to a disbelief of these articles as to a rejection of the truths of Scripture. The word of God being kept out of the hands of the laity they are required to believe what they are told. - Sadoleto Epist. Fam. vol. iii. p. 317. Roma;, 1764. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 25 ^^ Letter of John Grillenzone to the Cardinal Sadoleto, from a Codex in the secret archives of the Vatican, formerly belonging to Cai'dinal Morone, 3rd of July, 1542."^ " If I have not replied, most reverend sir, so quickly as you desired me, you must lay the blame on the bearer, who has kept it six days in his possession ; and it would be there still, I verily believe, if I liad not heard from others that he had a letter from you to me, and to M. Lodo- vico Castelvetro. I now reply that if the evil dispositions of the malevolent had not unveiled their malice to the most holy College of Cardinals, and if you, most reverend sir, had not expressed the regret which you say you have experienced, confiding in my innocence, I should neither have paid any attention to it, nor would it have in the smallest degree aff'ected me. The persons who accuse me are of such a nature that it is better to be blamed by them than praised ; but to satisfy you I will say something in my own defence. '^ It is now twelve years ago that a poor Candian arrived in Modcna : as he had some knowledge of Greek, M. Lodovico Castelvetro and I, with M. Giovan Falloppio and some others, induced him to teach; our house being more convenient than that of any other of the company, we met there at a fixed hour of the day in order to learn fi'om him the first principles of the Greek language. '* Thus it happened that the public, to our great displeasure, called our association an academy ; not that we ever laid down any laws or regulations as had been done in other cities to acquire this vainglorious name ; this M. Antonio Piordibello can testify. '' At the same time the calumniators, in their hatred of letters, began to say that we only met to speak of evil things, though our sole object was the cultivation of Greek and Latin literature, which to this day has been our practice, without a word about the Holy Scriptures, except some few who have devoted themselves separately to this work with great diligence, but who nevertheless have never said, and much less believed anything that should not be said. Then M. Francesco Greco- arrived, and we progressed fui^ther in Greek literature, and the complaints increased ; I was more particularly blamed for receiving him in my house, where he remained fifteen months : at one time they said a Greek was not a Christian, at another that he was a Tui-k, and many similar stories. Finally, what between this Greek, and the work of translating the Scriptures, by means of friars of the St. Dominico, who will not allow any other teaching altre lettere in the city except theirs and their own opinions, oiu" association was taxed with the name of Lu- theran. From thence arose the calumnies which have increased in pro- portion as we paid no attention to them, and their rage rose stiU higher when the Greek (Francesco Porto) was invited by the city to lecture publicly; and they have never ceased, and still go on to speak ill, accuse, write, and make others write, and strive in a thousand ways to render us infamous, and those we associate with ; not perceiving that thus they condemn the whole city, for all the young men who apply to literature resort to us, and they are many, and the first people of the place, fi'om whom our superiors may, whenever they choose, inquire ^ Bill. Modenese., vol. iii. p. 24. 2 Porto was his name, but he was as often called Greco. 26 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1535- about our opinions whether they are catholic or not, and learn how unjustly the poor worthy man M. Francesco Greco has been calum- niated. All our city, the gentlemen from Bologna and Eeggio, who have lived and do still live in his house, and the honourable manner in which our most reverend Morone, who has been his scholar, speaks of him, ai'e high testimonies in his favour. The monks of S. Pietro, with whom he has always conversed, can witness the same. And what shall I say of myself? who have never seen either the Old Testament or the Kew, or any part of the Holy Scriptures, except in my youth when I unhappily read something of Scotus ; nor did I ever keep in my study any ecclesiastical author, for I have scarcely time, from the care of the sick, to snatch a moment to read some of Plato's works, which I am much more anxious to do than I am to be well thought of by those who have written evil of me ; nevertheless I am thought to hold opinions unworthy of a true Chiistian ; but this, I believe, arises from my being of a disposition which cannot be silent on the bad deeds which I see done in our city, nor can I conceal the evil-doers, among whom I dislike above all the idle, the ignorant, and the hypocrites; about whom, did I not shrink from contaminating your pure ears, most reverend sii', I could unfold such things, both general and particular, that you would readily see that the accusers deserved much more to be ill-reported of than the accused. But this I reserve till I have an opportunity of communicating with you by word of mouth, when I engage to prove this openly by living and true witnesses, and not by secret ones like theirs. '' One cause of their calumny was that I would not let a poor, simple, ignorant old woman be burned as a witch ; in her trial it may be seen that she did not know what she said, and often contradicted herself, and it contains many false statements about her being a relapsed heretic, for she continually asked pardon of God with clasped hands, promising from that day forward to live in a christian manner ; notwithstanding this she was condemned to death. The injustice of this sentence was visible to many other doctors, and among these M. Niccolo Bozzolo, through whom, by order of the vicar, the cause was revised and the old woman set free. These are the persons who will not hear preachers unless they preach on high philosophical sub- jects and carry on discussions in the pulpit. If any one comes who expounds the Gospel (though few enough of this class come) he makes no impression on them. It is now two years since the great friar Bernardino preached here ; they were not ashamed to say that he did not preach so well as he used to do ; some said he spoke too much of Christ and had never named St. Gcminiano, or entered into any dis- cussion. The vicar, believing these calumniators, has never ceased to write bad tidings to our most reverend and illustrious Cardinal of Perrara, and to our most reverend Cardinal Morone when he was in Germany, and to the most sacred College. For this I cannot but blame him, for he ought first to have called before him those on whom sus- picion rested, in order fully to understand their opinions and admonish them as brethren ; then if he found in them anything contrary to truth he might do as he has since done, but he ought not to have believed the accusers and the malevolent, and taxed so many worthy persons with in- famy. How much worse was the association {compagnia) of the priest 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 27 than this, where they treated of everything except of that which is good, as is well known, but never against him or his company did we hear the least rumour; on the contrary, he was the counsellor of the vicar, he was the pater pauperum, and these poor gentlemen, of unblemished lives and literary tastes, the honour of our city, have been rendered infamous. Your reverence writes to me to admonish and exhort them to lay aside these opinions ; but certainly, most reverend sir, since the little book, which the vicar was the cause of our reading, till now, such things have not been spoken of in Modena, nor of what is now doing ; and I am much surprised at this and do not know from whence it has arisen, nor can I in the least explain it except by what I have said above. I know that some arrangements are making to remove this injurious suspicion, about which so much has been said without any ground. God grant all may be done without tumult, for if ten or twelve of the people should utter some nonsense, good men are not in fault ; what connection have they with them that they on this account ai^e to be blamed, and the cardinals written to about them ? *' But leaving these my calumniators, I proceed to thank you, most reverend sir, for the kind offices you have deigned to do for me in the Con- sistoiy, not as for a servant, as I am, of yours, but as for a son. I humbly beseech you to continue the same good offices under similar circumstances, and I, on the other hand, affirm that there is no one in our society who is suspected of holding new opinions or anything unworthy of a true Christian, or who does not approve besides the Old and New Testament, also the writings of the holy expositors, both ancient and modern, and who does not submit to the Holy Roman Church and the Holy Councils ; and if there were any who did not agree to this I should do as you advise me, taking your admonition, most reverend sir, as a command."^ This very curious letter and its singular line of defence speaks loudly against the inquisitorial system then in practice. An as- sembly of learned men, eager for their own improvement and that of their city, combine together to promote the study of the Greek language. They are patterns of good conduct and defenders of humanity ; but they presume to shew some inclination towards the Holy Scriptures, and are so bold as to approve of a book which professes to be a summary of scriptural doctrine, they dis- approve of this book being suppressed and burned at Kome, they denounce with indignation the secret informers, ^'the idle, the ignorant, and the hypocrites," whose immoral lives are well known, and complain that they should have more weight than a good simple man like Grillenzone, who thinks the best way to clear himself before a college of cardinals is to say he lias never seen either the Old or New Testament^ or any ecclesiastical book, ^ Bibl. Modenese. Castelvetro. 2 "Che diro io di me ? il quale mai non vidi ne Testamento vecchio, ne novo, ne mai authore alcuno deUa Scrittiira Sacra, se non in mia giovcntade per mia mala sorts al quanto di Scotto, nc mai fu nel mio studio authore alcuno Ecclesiastico." 28 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- and only wishes to have time to read his favourite Plato. To a person unacquainted with the Scriptures, the sublime aspira- tions of the pagan philosopher must indeed have been more attractive than the mumbling of the priests eager to burn a poor half-crazy old woman. At the request of Cardinal Morone, bishop of Modena, a con- fession of faith was drawn up by Cardinal Contarini.^ The exordium alone was composed by Cardinal Sadoleto. Lancellotto gives the date 5th of September, 1542. In July a report had prevailed in Modena that such a paper would be offered for signature ; it came like a thunderbolt on the academicians. Fran- cesco Porto, the Professor of Greek, immediately left Modena. On pretence of visiting his infirm father he asked leave to go home, but instead of going to Greece he went to Cento ; his wife followed him a few days after ; she having some relations in that part of the country, they staid there more than a month. Niccolb Machello, the doctor, went to Venice. Filippo Valentino, who was at Bologna acting as auditor to Cardinal Contarini, was called home to sign the confession ; but he no sooner arrived than he was taken ill and not able to sign it, says the chronicler, and then adds. Canon Bonifacio Valentini "wants to sell all his books, and says he will not study the Holy Scriptures any more, for upright men are not allowed to study. "^ It was said that Cardinal Morone wrote to the Pope begging him to suspend the signature of this confession, as the acade- micians had assured him of the sincerity of their devotion to the Eoman Catholic Church, and had entreated that suspicion might not be cast on their faith by obliging them to subscribe. The account of this transaction, which the governor of Modena sent by his chancellor Gentile Albino to the Duke of Ferrara, is still to be seen in the secret ducal archives, signed 2nd August, 1542. The academicians, he says, made great difficulty about signing, and wished to remit the affair to the Council,^ to see what it would decide. They were only disposed to sign some of the articles. Cardinal Morone acted with the utmost ability, * It is to be found in his works, and also among those of Cardinal Cortese. 2 " II Canonico Bonifacio Valentini vol vendere tutti U suoi libri, e poi non vole studiare in la sua Sacra Scrittura, dicendo che gli uomini da bene non possono piii studiare Lancelletto." — Bibl. Modenese, Valentini. 3 The Council was convoked in 1542, but did not meet till 1545. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 29 working in concert with the governor, who reminded him that it was owing to the harshness of Cardinal Cajctan in Germany, that from a spark so dreadful a conflagration had arisen in the Church, that it was still burning, and entreated liis reverence not to drive these learned men to desperation, lest a similar flame should be kindled in Italy. He adds, that the Pope, thinkino- Morone too indulgent, had appointed^ six cardinals to examine the matter; one of them was to go to Modena to search for heretics. Morone, offended with this intrusion into his episcopal office, had almost resolved to withdraw altogether from tlie management of the afl'air, but at the entreaty of the governor he was induced to continue his superintendence. Sadoleto,^ who at this period passed through Modena as legate to France, and Paolo Cortese, recently created cardinal, also on his way to France, united their eflbrts, and combined with Cardinal Morone to obtain the proposed signatures. On the 1st of September they assembled the academicians together, and entreated them so aflectionately to comply with their wishes that they at length succeeded in obtaining their consent.^ The three cardinals set the example by signing the confession themselves, then the vicar of the bishop, the generals of the monastic orders, and several of the canons. Some of the Conservatori (magistrates) also* signed, and all the academicians" who were in Modena ; Francesco Porto was not present, but he returned to Modena a few days after, and was with difficulty permitted by Morone to sign. It was hoped that the signature of this confession of faith would crush the growth of the reformed opinions and rivet the chains of the Eoman Catholic Church ; but no sooner were they relieved from the pressure of danger than they openly avowed their real sentiments. We cannot look with approval on their tame compliance with a requisition to put their hands to an act * No doubt the commission of the Inquisition established about this time. 2 See Chap. xi. ^ The signatures may be seen in the before cited edition of Cardinal Cortese's works. '* Niccolo Machello, Giovanni Berettari, Filippo Valentini, Lodovico Castcl- vetro, Pellegrino Erri, Bart, and Giov. Grillonzone, Giannicolo Fiordibello, Alfonso Sadoleto, Girolamo Teggeto, Elia Canmdine, Gaspare Rangoni, Agostino and Franceschi Bellencini, Gabriello Falloppio, Guglielmo Spinelli, Alcss. Fontana, and Pio Tassoni. 30 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1535- of perjury, for in fact it was nothing less. They avowed a belief in what they secretly despised, and not one in that body of learned men had the courage to claim liberty of conscience as a right. On the 2nd of December, 1543, the first Sunday in Advent, our friend Lancellotto notes in his diary, " There is no preaching, for however excellent the preacher is, he will be criticised by certain Modenese literati, and no one will come to fight with so many on their own ground."^ The following year however they had a preacher. His name was Bartolommeo della Pergola, a monk whom Cardinal Morone had sent to preach, believing him to be a good Catholic. Under the date of the 15th of March, 1544, we find Lancellotto says, " All the academicians, who are more than twenty-five in number, go to hear him, and also Antonio (Gadaldino), the bookseller, who was one of the first to introduce forbidden books in the mother-tongue, which have since been burned at Kome as heretical. This friar only preaches the Gospel, and never mentions male or female saints, nor the Fathers of the Church, nor Lent, nor fasting, nor many other things, which preaching was much to the taste of the academicians ; many think to go to heaven in silk stockings, for they say Christ has paid for us." But when Cardinal Morone heard of his style of preaching, he had him arrested and tried by the Inquisition ; and obliged him to return to Modena, and there retract in the pulpit forty-six propositions he had formerly maintained as true. This he did, says Lancellotto, on the 15th and 16th of June, but in such a manner that it was clearly seen his repentance was not sincere, and he found so many willing to favour him that an attestation in his favour was drawn up. A certain doctor called Villa Nuova ran about the town seeking signatures to this certificate, and found many willing to put their names. Another friar of the same order, called Pontremelo, preached at Modena that same year, and he also was accused of announcing erroneous opinions.^ In 1545, Hercules, Duke of Ferrara, used very severe measures to put an end to all heretical preaching. Filippo Valentini being considered one of the principal upholders of the reformed 1 The practice of disputing in the pulpit opened the way for answers from the audience, and produced the most unseemly and irreverent contentions. 2 Lancellotto relates the misfortunes of these preachers in full. 1571.] ACADEMIES AND LEARNED MEN. 31 opinions, it was resolved to secure liim first ; on the 5th of June the captain of the guard went witli a detachment of soldiers in the dead of night to arrest him, but he had received a friendly- warning and had time to escape. On the 24th of May the following year a ducal edict was published, in which it was forbidden to keep any heretical or suspected books in the house, or to dispute either in public or in private about religion, under the penalty of a fine of a hundred crowns of gold or four strokes of the whip for the first offence ; for the second, two thousand crowns of gold and banishment from the dukedom ; for the third, a complete confiscation of property, and the penalty of death to be inflicted. This unjust and cruel edict was the fruit of an alliance with Rome. Never during the long wars waged by Alphonso did he issue so oppressive a law. Hercules found the friendship of the papacy more fatal than its enmity. An edict of such a tenure impressed terror on all hearts, and convinced the people of Modena that Rome was determined to extinguish every spark of divine light, and prepared to enforce its behests by the secular arm. The academy took the hint, dispersed, and was no more heard of. Thus the Romish hierarchy could boast that at Modena as well as at Lucca it had succeeded, by threats and by the machinery of the Inquisition, in stifling the truth. The most sincere escaped to other lands, where they openly professed the Gospel; the lukewarm remained and conformed. Cardinal Morone himself was not clear from all suspicion ; from the above narrative it does not appear that he had any decided leaning to the reformed opinions, and we shall have occasion hereafter to refer more fully to his misfortunes. The history of the Modenese Academy presents a scene of the struggle which was going on throughout Italy between intellect and bigotry ; the phantom of spiritual power could not even terrify without temporal oppression; but genius quailed before the dread of extinction, and faith grew faint in presence of the fires of the Inquisition. LoDovico Castelveteo. Lodovico Castelvetro was one of the most distinguished members of the Academy of Modena. He came into the world about the beginning of the sixteenth centuiy. His parents gave 32 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- him a learned education; wishing liim to adopt the law as a profession, they spared no expence for the completion of his studies at the different universities of Italy. He made a length- ened sojourn at Siena, which was at that time resorted to by men who were devoted to the study of philosophy and the belles lettres. The fame of its reputation had attracted Paleario. The charm of its literary society retained Castelvetro long after his studies were completed. The academy of the Intronati^ then in its highest lustre, was the most ancient of these cele- brated literary associations, which kept in perpetual exercise the sparkling brilliancy of wit, and sharpened by emulation the keen spirits of the age. So delightful did this appear to our young scholar that the law was entirely forgotten, and it required the most earnest solicitude on the part of his father to persuade him to pass his examination at the university for the degree of doctor of laws. At length, however, he complied with his father's wishes, and went to live at Eome with his uncle Delia Porta, his mother's brother, who was at that time secretary to Maria della Eovere, Duke of Urbino. His uncle was in a position of influence at Rome, and both able and willing to lay the foundation of his nephew's fortunes. But Castelvetro was neither ambitious nor self-interested, and in no wise attracted by the honours and advantages held out to him. His only desire was to have leisure to study uninterruptedly, and so strong was this inclination that, seeing no probability of his wishes being gratified, he left Eome unknown to his uncle and returned to Siena, where he gave himself wholly up to the study of the Greek and Latin languages. He also devoted great attention to the pure Tuscan idiom, then in perfection at Siena.* He was much encouraged in the prosecution of these studies by his learned associates Bernardino Maffei,^ Marcello Cervino,^ and Alessandi'o Piccolomini.* The latter was one of the most de- voted students of that fruitful age ; nothing could detach him from the pursuit of knowledge. An energetic member of the Intronati academy, he was known by the name of Stordito% In 1 The Siena pronunciation is to tliis day considered more pure and less guttural than that of Florence. 2 Paleario' s friend. See Chap. viii. p. 298. 3 Elected Pope 1555, reigned only twenty-one days. ^ Born at Siena 1508, died there 1578. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 33 1540 he went to Padua to study moral philosophy, and con- ceived the idea of writing a treatise on philosophy in Italian, a project which met with little encouragement. Trajano Bocca- lini playfully remarked " that the sciences did not wish to appear in an Italian dress, lest when deprived of the veil of classical obscurity their real misery and poverty might be manifest." Piccolomini however persevered, conquered all ob- stacles, and wrote a treatise called Instituzione di tutta la vita delV uomo nato nohile, e in citta libera} Twenty years after it was published with some other works under the title of DelV Instituzione Moralij and was considered as an important step towards advancing general knowledge. His studies were not confined to metaphysical subjects, he wrote also on natural philosophy, and one very remarkable essay Delia grandezza della terra e delV acque^ in which he ventured to doubt the accuracy of Plato, Aristotle, and Ptolemy, who asserted that the water on the earth is of greater extent than the land. He com- posed the greater part of his works in the retirement of his villa at Siena, surrounded by his beautiful gardens. The historian De Thou, when a very young man, passing through Siena, paid him a visit,^ and found him altogether immersed in study, surrounded by his books. The delight he expressed in his pursuits and the vigour of his intellectual powers made an indelible impression on the young traveller, and was perhaps an incitement in his literary career. Such were the companions with whom Castelvetro pursued his studies at Siena; he staid there till he thought his father's anger was cooled down, and then he returned home, but only to pass his time in the same close application to literature. Incessant fatigue and continual night study at last affected his health ; he was seized with a fever which hung about him for two years, and reduced his strength so much that it was appre- hended he would fall into a decline. On the slightest amelior- ation he resumed his studies, but application brought back the worst symptoms, then he revived again, and so he went on hovering between life and death for ten or twelve years. During ^ It was dedicated to Laudcmia Forteguerri, a Sienese lady. — Sec Tiraboschi, vol. vii. p. 455. 2 In 1573, when Paul de Foix was sent ambassador to Rome by Cbarlcs ix. — See Lett. Ital. vol. vii. p. 458. VOL. IT. n 34 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- the whole of this time he never ate meat or tasted wine, or any- thing tending to produce fulness of the system, but lived entirely on bread, herbs, fish, and fruit, drinking only water. This ab- stinence, united with the exhaustion produced by his complaint, brought him so low that, though he was a strongly built man and of a good natural constitution, he never thoroughly recovered his strength. During the intervals when he was incapable of severe study he busied himself in promoting the interests of literature, and persuaded the municipal authorities of Modena to offer remun- erative salaries to learned men who lectured on Greek and Roman literature. It was through his influence that Grillen- zone invited Francesco Porto to lecture on the Greek language. "When he left Modena for Ferrara in 1546 he was succeeded by a still more remarkable man, the celebrated Carlo Sigonio,* his pupil. Though only twenty-two years of age he was appointed professor of Greek with a stipend of 300 lire. This however was not his only means of support. He was tutor to Count Fulvio Rangone, son of the Countess Lucrezia, and to her nephew the young Galeotto. Pico della Mirandola lodged him in his palace and appointed him a salary of 150 crowns. The genius of Sigonio was more solid than brilliant, and he thoroughly studied every subject to which he devoted his attention. In his mature years he wrote a good deal on history. In 1552 he was invited to Venice as professor of the belles lettres.^ Eight years after he was appointed to fill the chair of eloquence at Padua. The fame of his learning continually increased, and at length he was invited to Bologna, with the handsome salary of 600 golden crowns, on condition that he would give his word to remain. Here Sigonio enjoyed the select literary society which Car- dinal Paleotti delighted to assemble round him; and had full leisure to complete the works he had begun. They related chiefly to history and antiquity, and he had the credit of being one of the first who reduced the Roman history to chronological order. His critical researches on the ancient Roman names is a complete work to which modern writers may safely apply. He attempted what had never before been projected, a history of the middle ages from the first arrival of the Lombards in 1 Bom at Modena 1519, died at Modena 1584. 2 At first -with a salary of 160 ducats, which was increased to 220. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 35 Italy in 1199 down to 1286. His materials were drawn from old records and chronicles; lie visited all the archives of Italy, including Lomhardy and the treasures of private families, and thus formed a nucleus of diplomatic documents, of which he published a catalogue in 1576.^ Grateful for the kind hospi- tality he had received at Bologna, he wrote the history of this ancient city, as also of its bishops ; and, as a necessary pendent, of the great men and canonised saints who had flourished there. At the close of his life he felt a wish to return to Modena, his native place, and began to build a country-house or villa, when death arrested his progress before old age became a burden.'^ When Sigonio was appointed professor of Greek at Modena the desire for improvement was so great that almost every learned man had a fixed hour when, either at his own house or at that of a friend, he privately interpreted the classics, pointed out the most beautiful passages, and formed the taste of his hearers by critical and judicious observations. Castelvetro had a chosen circle at his house : we are already acquainted with the zeal of Grillenzone. Modena had reason to be proud of her distinguished citizens. Cardinal Sadoleto we know. The Cardinals Tommaso Badia^ and Gregorio Cortese were learned men and both natives of Modena: Cortese was the intimate friend of Sadoleto, and not dissimilar in character and dis- position; though a firm upholder of the church of Rome, he would have preferred that heretics should be combated by reason rather than by violence. He was an elegant scholar, and wrote both Latin and Italian with exquisite taste. As a monk his studies lay a good deal among the fathers. He wrote a treatise full of citations from early writers to prove that St. Peter had been in Rome. Monsr. Gradenigo, who has written his life, thinks that the edition of the New Testament corrected from Greek MSS. is to be attributed to Cortese.* To these we may add the name of Cardinal Giovanni Morone, bishop of Modena ; though born at Milan he was brought up at Modena, studied ^ Muratori says of this work: '■^ insigne profecto opus et monumentorum copia, et splendore sermonis, et ordine narrationis, ex quo incredibilis lux facta est eruditioni harbarorum temporwn, in ilium usque diem apud Italos tenebris innmneris circumficsce." — See Muratori, Vita Sigonii. 2 His works were all collected together and published by Ai-gelati at Milan with various learned comments. 3 Born 1483, died 1548. 4 Printed at Venice 1538. d2 36 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- there, and may be numbered among its citizens ;^ the cele- brated anatomist Gabriello Falloppio ; Maria Molza, one of the most brilliant poets of his day, but who had nothing else to recommend him ; Delia Casa, a bitter persecutor of the reformed doctrines ; Fiordibello, the secretary of Sadoleto, who afterwards accompanied Cardinal Pole to England in the same capacity. We have seen how severely the academy of Modena was tried, and how its members were obliged to sign a confession of faith in 1542, which left them in the enjoyment of quiet till 1545. They were again molested by means of Pellegrini degii Erri, one of the academicians, a man it seems of an unhappy dis- position, for he was both peevish and passionate. He had, in company with some other academicians, devoted himself to the critical study of the Scriptures, and had published a translation of the Psalms of David with comments ; but a practical joke, such as is sometimes foolishly practised among friends, made him their mortal enemy for life. A fig was given him filled with aloes ; this he unsuspectingly put into his mouth, and vowed vengeance for the afiront. Such serious consequences for so trifling a cause are scarcely credible, but it is asserted that he immediately went to Kome, entered into the service of Cardinal Cortese, and had interest enough to procure for himself the appointment of apostolic commissary at Modena. In virtue of this office he went in the night to arrest Dr. Filippo Valen- tini,^ a Modenese noble and member of the academy : we have already seen that he escaped in time, but his books were all seized. Castelvetro speaks of him in the highest terms in his MS. memoirs as a young man of extraordinary talent. At seven years old he began to write Latin letters, verses, and discourses in imitation of Cicero ; his sonnets and cantos were remarkable for the finished harmony of their style; they were also full of noble sentiments, more like the ideas of a man than a boy. Gifted with a surprising memory, he could recite the Avhole of any lecture or discourse he had once heard, without omitting a single word. This was a wonderful help in acquiring know- ledge, for a book once read was remembered ever after ; nor was this a merely technical memory, for he received the sense as well as the words. Some books which he read in youth he retained 1 "We shall hear more of him in a subsequent chapter. 2 See Appendix E. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETKO. 37 during his whole life, such as Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Dante, all of which he could repeat as if he were reading. When quite a child he was present at a public lecture on law, delivered at Bologna by Alberto Bero, professor to the university, and he astonished the audience by producing twenty propositions of so subtle a nature that the lecturer was put to the blush by this young scholar in presence of some of the most learned men of the time. But, as is too often the case, this precocity did not produce the fruit which it promised, for he left but few evidences of his talent behind him. His version of the Ai^s Poetica of Horace is the only work which is handed down to posterity. About the year 1553 Castelvetro's tranquillity was much dis- tiu'bed by a furious dispute with Annibale Caro, whose jealousy was roused and his self-love wounded by a criticism passed on a poem of his in praise of the house of Ferrara. The poem had been handed round by his friends as a masterpiece; Petrarch himself, they said, could not have done better. Bellencini, one of the Modenese academicians, hearing it so extolled, sent it to Castelvetro, begging him to give his frank opinion of its merits ; he returned it with a few remarks, which he begged might not be made public. Bellencini shewed Castelvetro's observa- tions to his friends without naming him, but when the knowledge of this criticism reached Caro he never rested till he found out the author, and then in a fit of mortified self-love he assailed him with violent vituperation, called him Grammatuccio, Fedantuccio^ * a bad grammarian and foolish pedant.' Castelvetro, on hearing that, contrary to his wishes, the observations which had been drawai from him were made public, and were met, not by reason- able arguments but by insults, wrote under the name of Gramma- tuccio an explanation of his first criticism, as if asked by a friend, and made still more pointed strictures on Caro's composition. For a time the contest was carried on with the pen ; but Caro, bent on vanquishing his acute adversary, chose two other champions, the one to enter the lists with the pen, the other, far more powerful and sure, the tribunal of the Inquisition. Caro began by composing a book in defence of his verses, and blaming Castelvetro for the severity of his criticism ; he was assisted by different literary men, who were his partisans, and particularly by Benedetto Varchi, and by Antonio Commendone, afterwards Cardinal : they introduced Pasquin and several characters, who answered Castel- 38 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1535- vetro's observations "by satirizing him and turning his remarks into ridicule. Many sonnets were composed full of malice and bitterness ; these were copied and circulated among Caro's friends. While they carefully concealed them from the knowledge of Castelvetro, they took care to report how cleverly he had been answered. This produced a reply, and the victory being doubt- ful Caro began to think of more powerful means of overwhelm- ing his adversary. None were so ready or so manageable as the myrmidons of the Holy Office: they were open to every calumny however secret or unjust, and would readily receive any accusation. While concocting this plot he was unexpectedly assisted by the villainy of Paolo, Castelvetro's brother. He had wasted his patrimony and lived an idle irregular life, and on this account was often reproved and fraternally admonished, though ineffectually, by Lodovico, who, finding all his exhortations vain, threatened to restrain him by law, and deprive him of the ad- ministration of his family property. This roused the evil passions of Paolo ; he joined Caro in his iniquitous designs, and finally denounced his brother as a heretic to the Inquisition of Eome. Castelvetro was cited, but fearing the power of his enemies he did not venture to appear, and hid himself for some time in different parts of the Duchy of Ferrara till the death of Paul IV. On the election of Pius IV. / a pontiff of milder character, Castelvetro was advised by his friends, and particularly by Foscarari, bishop of Modena, to go to Eome and clear himself from the calumnies circulated against him. Hitherto in our account of Castelvetro we have followed Muratori, who has written his life; we are now about to add some further particulars from the secret archives of Modena,^ which throw fresh light on the history of this period, and reveal 1 Son of Bernardo de' Medici and of Cecilia Serbellona ; his baptismal name was Giovanni Angelo. He had filled many state offices under Paul iii., by whom he was made Cardinal, and also under Giulio iii. At the election of Paul iv. he left Eome, not being able to bear the sight of the harshness. He was created Pope the 26th of December 1559, and took the name Pius iv., as betokening the natural clemency of his character, doubly precious to the Roman people from the severity of his predecessor. He reopened the Council of Trent, and concluded its operations. During his short reign of six years he performed many works of use- fulness and benevolence. True to the traditions of his family he was a munificent patron of learned men, and established a printing press at Eome imder Paolo Manuzio. 2 See Bibl. Modcnese, vol. iii. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 39 the machinations and intrigues against Castelvetro. It appears that a certain Alberico Loazo in the service of Giambattista Campeggi, bishop of IMajorca, was assassinated near Bologna by some unknown hand. Annibale Caro, while in the service of Cardinal Farnese, with the view of injuring Castlevctro and making him suspected of this crime, had a great number of persons examined at Modena in order that he might be in- cluded. Clemente Tiene, governor of Modena, wrote thus to the Duke of Ferrara in 1555 :^ *^ I send your Excellency the enclosed paper which has been sent to me. To explain it more clearly, I must tell you that there is a report here in Modena that some investigations and examinations have been made here by certain persons relating to some of the first persons in the town, and that they have been sent to Kome. "Wishing to find out the origin of this report, I have enquired of Egidio Foscarari, a prelate of great piety, who is not only ignorant of the circumstance, but expresses his surprise that it should not have come to his knowledge and that of the Inquisit- ors. The bishop, however, owns that some months ago it was named to him, but on speaking to one of the persons mentioned as being ex- amined, he foimd there was no truth whatever in the report. Being anxious to discover the source of these rumours, I have found out that about a month ago, or more, one of the attendants of the bishop of Majorca was killed in the pass of St. Ambrogio, near Bologna, and a certain Annibale Caro, in the service of Cardinal Farnese, has secretly examined a great many persons, who are not suspected, in order to include M. Filippo Yalentini and M. Lodovico Castelvetro of this city, whom they suspect to be guilty of this murder, and on this account they have laid hold of four or five others belonging to the town. This is all I have been able to learn; if anything farther comes to my knowledge I will report it to your Excellency, that you may know exactly the state of the afi'air. The bishop is of my opinion." This letter proves that Caro was the mover of the accusation : several letters passed between the duke and his ambassador at Rome in the year 1556, in which he desired every effort to be made to prevent the publication of the citations against the accused; but the Pope remained firm, and insisted on their publication. The duke was finally obliged to yield, and com- manded the citations against the four suspected persons to be published, namely, Lodovico Castelvetro, Filippo Valentini, his cousin the Canon Bonifacio Yalentini, and Antonio Gadaldino the printer and bookseller. But the city of ]\Iodena could not tamely brook this infringe- 1 Gio. Pietro Caraffa was elected Pope under the name of Paolo iv., 13tli of May, 1555. 40 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- ment of its liberty. The magistrates or Conservatori immediately assembled to consult together, aud sent the following letter to the duke : ** Having heard that some of our feUow-citizens hare been cited to Eome under accusations of heresy, it has appeared to us a very strange and unusual thing to see secuhir persons cited to Eome, the which citation if acted on will be of great damage to our city, and expose its citizens to much inconvenience and great expence. The very name of heresy has frightened us, bringing obloquy on the city, which is, by the grace of God, entirely innocent of these things. This you may be in- formed of through your ofiicials : thus to resuscitate the dead^ is not Tery judicious, because we are persuaded that these measures will tend more to increase the evil, if it really exists, than to lessen it ; possibly those cited will not for many reasons appear ; this will occasion scandal upon scandal, xillow me to observe also that these our citizens who are cited are not persons of an inferior class, but men of good reputation, who do not deserve to be thus dishonoured. AVe are rather inclined to think that all this arises more from jealousy and ill-natiu'e than fi'om true zeal for the faith : these evil dispositions, as your Excellency knows, abound in the world. Secret examinations, which are customary in such cases, offer great opportunities for gratifying private revenge. Thus we, who are sitting at the helm as it were of this yoiu- faithful city, have thought it wise to inform you of this matter, prapng and beseeching you to take it in good part, and not to consider us as desirous of doing any tiling contrary to your wishes. One word more : we see no prospect of coming to the end of this affair : after all that has been done these Roman gentlemen are not satisfied. The cardinals make the whole town subscribe a Confession of faith, your most illustrious excellency has sent reproofs, the Inquisition fulfils its office without hindrance, our most reverend bishop, a man of holy life, pays un- wearied attention to his flock. A^^lat can they hear at Rome which we do not know here ? If you approve of asking his holiness to send a commissioner here, it might put an end to these annoyances ; and if we had a canon appointed to judge such matters, it would be very satis- factory to us. The reverend and illustrious bishop of Fano will also write to you on this subject, for it appears to offer the only remedy. AVe remit all things to your wise and loving counsel ; we commend this youi' most faithful city to your care ; with oui' hands raised in the form of a cross we entreat that we may not be loaded with these heavy bm'dens, and humbly kiss youi^ hands. Your most faithful and obe- dient servants. The Conservatori of the city of Modena. In Modena 17th July 1556." Ercole Contrario, the newly-appointed governor of Modena, wrote in the same strain to the duke, and a few days after the Conservatori brought the subject more fully before the duke, by sending one of their own body, Elia Carondini, personally to explain the matter. ^ AUuding to the former suspicions entertained that the city of Modena was in- fected with heresy. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 41 On receiving the first letter from the magistrates of Modena, the duke wrote to the bishop of Anglone, his envoy at the papal court, telling him to inform the Pope that the citations liad been affixed as commanded, but entreating him at the same time to reflect that, the bishop of Modena having made a good report of the state of religion in that town, new trials would produce fresh disorders, and to beg his holiness to suspend all researches after persons, or at least to allow the examinations to be made in the country itself without obliging them to go to Rome. In order to please the Pope, the duke, in October of the year 1556, committed to prison the printer Gadaldino, and sent word to Rome that he had done so through the bishop of Anglone ,• but added that he feared Gadaldino, from his age and decrepitude, could not be moved to Bologna; nevertheless, if his holiness absolutely ordered it, he should be sent there ; but as, according to the bishop's testimony, there was nothing going on wrong in religion at Modena, he earnestly entreated the Pope not to molest any other persons, and if Gadaldino were found innocent, that he might be liberated. Here we behold the painful spectacle of a sovereign com- mitting some of the worthiest and most meritorious of his subjects to prison against his will, to please a foreign prince who assumed dominion over their consciences. All Italy trem- bled before the severe and haughty Paul IV. ;^ the land was full of spies and accusers, and a whisper of suspicion cost a man his liberty and sometimes his life.^ On the 3rd of January the following year, 1557, the duke wrote to bishop Grandi that the sons of Gadaldino had thrown ^ Bom 1476 at Benevento, died at Rome 15o9. Gio. Pietro Caraffa was the son of a ^Neapolitan baron. He was a great favourite of Adrian vi. In the reign of Clement ^^I. he resigned his archbishopric, and betook himself to a hermitage on the Pincian hill at Rome. After the sack of Rome he went to Venice. In 1536 he was elected Cardinal, and resumed his bishopric. He was at the head of the Inquisition, and when elected Pope in 1555 he was hated for the severity of his edicts and his cruelty to the Jews. He excited a war against the Colonna and Charles v. at Naples, and died after four years' reign, detested by his subjects. He was learned, energetic, and temperate, but austere, irascible, and relentless in per- secution. 2 "Dapertutto erano spie, facili le accuse, e bastavano i sospctti, pcrch6 si venisse alia cattura. Ne ardiva alcuno di parlare di quel soverchio rigorc, ne di raccomandare, per paura d' csscre preso per fautore d' Eretici." — Muratori, Anuali, torn. X. p. 178. 42 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- tliemselves at his feet bathed in tears, representing the unhappy condition of their poor infirm old father who could no longer endure the misery of a prison, and desired the bishop to entreat the Pope to allow him to be tried at Modena, and be imprisoned in his own house. At the same time he sent him a letter in favour of Gadaldino, written by the bishop Foscarari. But the exertions of this excellent prince in behalf of his oppressed subjects were vain. The result, as we learn from two letters written by the duke to his envoy at Rome, was adverse to his wishes. In the first, dated 26th of April, he writes that the vice-legate of Bologna had come to Ferrara to beg him in the name of the Pope to order those three gentlemen and the bookseller, who were accused of heresy, to be sent to Eome ; that he had replied that this was rather difficult of execution ; never- theless, to satisfy his holiness, he ordered the Canon Valentini,^ who officiated at the cathedral, to come to Ferrara. As a priest he was under obligation to obey the Pope; the vice-legate promised that this should neither shame nor disgrace him; he w^ould have sent him even as far as Bologna if he had not come to Ferrara. Valentini, feeling himself innocent, professed his willingness to go there. He desired the bishop to inform the Pope of this, and entreat him to relieve his subjects of all disturbance in consideration of the report of their bishop that the city was free from such plagues. In his second letter of the 11th of May the duke writes with some resentment to the bishop of Anglone, complaining that after the promises made by the vice-legate that Valentini should not suffer either in person or substance, nor be imprisoned, and had even held out a hope that he would not be sent to Rome, yet notwithstanding all this he and the old bookseller, Gadaldino, had been conveyed there to his great displeasure, and it was impossible to say what con- ^ " Yi fix Bonifacio Valentini Modenese Eretico, a cui scrisse Adi'iano secretario del Cardinal di Fano una lettera di condoglienza per la morte di Lutero II Sant officio hebbe in mano questa lettera, e processo il detto Adi'iano Sec^r. Questo Bonifacio manteniva commercio coi Tedeschi Eretici, dei quali havevan spesso lettere, et egli fu cbe infetto la terra di Nonantola. Vi fu Aless. Milano, Modenese Luterano anch' egli. Vi fix un fra Bernardo Bartoli predicatore pernicioso mandato a Modena a predicare per opera di Luigi Priuli, e dal Cardinale Polo, e dalla Marchesa di Pescara ; fu detto ch' era discepolo del Cardinale Polo per il cbe tutti tre ne furono processati et il lo. fra Bernardo stette carcerato in Eoma, et abiuro." — Vita IIS. di Paulo IV. da P. Ant. Caracciolo. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 43 sequences might follow. The duke desires the bishop to complain of this to Cardinal CarafFa, the Pope's nephew, for it was in his name the vice-legate had given the promise. But all these remonstrances had no effect. The Canon Valentini, after having been a year in prison at Rome, retracted the opinions which were imputed to him, confessed them to be erroneous, and was sent back to Modena. The duke did all he could to save him from the pain and disgrace of repeating this recantation publicly in the cathedral of Modena, but without success, and he was obliged to submit to this humiliating ex- hibition. It was the more mortifying because everybody knew that he was speaking falsely : it is not in the power of any person to believe or disbelieve at the command of another, but it is in the power and is the tendency of spiritual despotism to encourage a system of falsity. Alessandro Tassoni has inserted the recantation in his MS. annals. Gadaldino says the same annalist was detained in prison at Rome, under the accusation of having sold books infected with heretical opinions :^ he does not state how long he remained in prison; probably he was released at the death of Paul IV. in 1559, and returned to Modena, for we find his death noted in the public registers, at the age of ninety, on the 6th April 1568, and it is recorded that he was buried in the cathedral. The duke, fearing that Castelvetro and Filippo Valentini might be molested as contumacious, wrote to Alfonso Trotti, governor of Modena, on the 6th of August, forbidding him to execute any order from Rome or Bologna relating to them without his knowledge. On the 1 7th of September the governor informed the duke that the bishop Foscarari had received from the vice-legate of Bologna the trial of Castelvetro and Valentini, together with the edict of excommunication against them, with orders to have them engrossed on parchment and affixed to the doors of the cathedral. But he replied that he could not permit this to be done without the consent of the duke, and begged ^ The Trattato utilissimo del Beneficio cU Giestc Christo crocijisso verso i Christiani was one. See Chap. viii. p. 334. The first person who circulated Luther's books in Italy was Calvi, a bookseller of Pavia, who went frequently to Basle to procure them from Frobcnius. This Calvi is frequently mentioned by Erasmus. See Ejnst. vol. i. ep. 308, 312, &c. Gcrdcs, Italicc Eeformatcc^ p. 5, Lutheri 0pp. Jcnens. Lat. tom. i. pp. 388, 389. 44 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- for directions how to proceed. The answer is not forthcoming ; but in 1561 the governor of Modena wrote a letter to the duke's successor, which we shall presently produce, wherein it is proved that the excommunication against them was not yet published. Warned however by tlie fate of the two others, they had before this sought safety in flight. In 1559, at the death of Paul IV., when Hercules II. duke of Ferrara had also disappeared from the scene, Alfonso II. in- dulged the hope of finding the new Pope, Pius IV., more placable in Castelvetro's affair. The duke was very anxious to have the cause tried within the confines of the state : as a sovereign he could not but perceive what a serious infringe- ment it was on his authority, for a foreign prince to be able to judge and condemn his subjects. He wrote on this occasion the following letter to the bishop of Anglone, dated 5 Feb. 1560 : '' I think you must be aware of the imputations formerly brought against M. Lodovico Castelvetro, of Modena, on account of religion ; for this cause he was persecuted {travagliato) by the Inquisition of Eome in the time of the last Pope, and had recourse to my Lord Duke of happy memory, offering at the same time to appear in any part of the state, and before any judge or inquisitor deputed by the Holy See, to justify himself against this calunmious accusation. Prom what we can learn it seems to have been brought against him at the suggestion of some evil-disposed persons, who from envy desired to annoy him. His Excellency desked you to speak with the reverend deputies (of the Inquisition) and our Lord the Pope, and make every effort to prevail on his Holiness to choose somebody in the state to decide this matter. But as it did not please the said Pope to grant this request, the affair has remained in abeyance till now. Castelvetro, being very deshous to be freed from such imputations, has entreated us, that in conformity with the good offices of the Duke our father we should order these circumstances to be laid before his Holiness and the reverend heads of the Inquisition, in order that this affair may be committed to the juris- diction of one or more inquisitors, within the confines of the state, in unison with the bishop of Modena or any other of our prelates. Lodovico does not shrink from trial, provided it be carried on within our dominions. This demand appears reasonable, and we wish you to make every exertion to bring it to bear ; for this purpose I authorize you to use all kinds of expedients, and take advantage of the favour of our most illustrious uncle. ^ We write to him on this subject, referring him to you for information by word of mouth. See to the execution of our commands, and may God keep you in his holy keeping. Perrara, 5th February, 1560. Alfonso." Notwithstanding this pressing letter the duke could not obtain what he requested. Though Paul IV. was dead, the soul 1 Cardinal Ippolito d' Estc. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 45 of the Inquisition^ so to speak, still remained alive in the chief Inquisitor Michael Ghislieri. Finally the duke allowed himself to be persuaded, chiefly by the arguments of the bishop Foscarari, to allow Castelvetro to go to Kome, accompanied by his brother Giammaria, who would not desert him in this emergency. Egidio Foscarari/ of Bologna, a Dominican friar, was a man of great talent and virtue. Paul III. made him Master of tlic Sacred Palace in 1546, and four years after, when Cardinal Morone resigned the bishopric of ^lodena, it was presented to Foscarari. But notwithstanding the liberality and diligence with which he fulfilled the duty of a pastor, he could not escape the suspicions of Paul IV., who at the end of the year 1558 im- prisoned him in St. Angelo. When shortly after he was offered his liberty, he refused to go out unless he was declared innocent. His guilt probably consisted in nothing more than too much gentleness to those who were accused of heresy. This, in the opinion of the austere pontiff, was strong ground of suspicion. Being however at last declared free of all blame, he en- couraged Castelvetro to hope for the same clemency, and the brothers set out on their journey furnished with a safe-conduct and the following letters to the duke's envoy at Eome : *' M. Lodovico Castelvetro, Doctor of Law, a native of Modena, and our subject, goes to Rome to justify himself from the imputation of heresy, which has been brought against him by the officers of the In- quisition. As he is our well-beloved and favoured subject and servant, and as we understand unjustly persecuted by bad men, we recommend him to your assistance and protection. See that he is not tormented or put to expense, nor worse treated than others who have presented themselves before the said Office. If an opportunity offers of mentioning him to these ministers, do so in our name, and speak seasonably in his favour, and above all give them to understand that by quickly judging and dispatching this case they will confer no slight obligation on me. God be with you. AKonso. Terrara, 12th September, 1560." Tiraboschi gives also the answer : "M. Lodovico Castelvetro has presented the letter which your Excellency ordered to be written on his behalf. I shall not fail to use my good offices in his favour. I have already done something for him, and shall continue to follow his directions, and not fail to let your Excellency know the result." Castelvetro, on his arrival at Pome, presented himself before the officers (cardinals) of the Inquisition. He was at first ^ Eom at Bolojma lol2, died at Rome 1564. 46 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- courteously received, and not sent to prison, as is usual, but confined in the convent of St. Maria in Via, with full liberty to see his friends. Many gentlemen and literati visited him, both from esteem for his learning and sympathy with his perplexing position. He was frequently examined^ by Fra Tommaso Vige- vano, who had the charge of his trial ; and he, in unison with the chancellor, used every effort to prove his guilt; their in- terrogatories however elicited nothing to criminate him, but only proved his upright life and profound learning. Disap- pointed at not gaining their object, they had recourse to their strongest argument, that of terror, and tried by threats of severity to frighten him into confessing the crimes laid to his charge. Conscious of innocence he remained firm, but hearing that Cardinal Alessandrino Ghislieri was going to remove him to the prison of the Inquisition in the Kipetta he became exceedingly alarmed.^ Once confined in this dismal edifice no one would be allowed to speak to him ; alone with his tormentors, torture he knew would not be spared, and no wonder his courage shrank from the fiery ordeal. He fell into a deep melancholy, and could think of nothing but the power of his enemies and the dreadful fate of being shut up within the narrow walls of an Inquisitor's cell. He reproached his brother for persuading him to place himself in so dangerous a position, and decided im- mediately to make his escape; to avoid suspicion they went out of the convent in the middle of the day, and took the road to Lombardy. Avoiding the highways, and travelling in by- roads and unfrequented paths, they happily succeeded in es- caping the search of the pontifical officers. Letters were issued from Rome ordering their immediate arrest whenever they ap- peared, but they reached Lombardy in safety, and hid themselves for the winter in a villa near Modena. Count Ercole Contrario received Lodovico and hospitably entertained him for some time at Vignola,"^ his patrimonial estate, and concealed him in 1 The examinations were three in number; they took place on the 11th, 14th, and 17th of October, 1560. 2 " . . . . E sentendosi strotto dalle interrogazioni e piu ancora dalla testimo- nianza di un empio libro di Melantone da se volgarrizzato (sotto nome di Terranera) con quel suo carattere di stile che non puo essere contrafatto, per ismania di timore prese la fuga." — Pallavicino, Concilio di Trento, torn. ii. c. x. p. 46. 3 Forcirolo, MS. Memoirs. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 47 his liouse at Ferrara, a city which at that time was the common shelter of learned men. Castelvetro's flight hurried on his trial at Rome. Caro and his party used the advantage his absence gave them ; lie was condemned as guilty of the crime of which he was accused, and excommunicated for heresy. Forciroli and Tassoni, ms. writers of that period, say the sentence against him was published in due form on the 26th of November, 1560. He was declared a fugitive and an impenitent heretic, who had incurred all the spiritual and temporal punishments adjudged to such criminals. Orders were issued to arrest and send him prisoner to Rome wherever he could be found, and he was publicly burned in effigy as a condemned heretic. Letters were at the same time sent to the Duke of Ferrara commanding him to arrest the fugitive brothers. Annibale Caro, Castelvetro's successful adversary, was not suflered long to enjoy his triumph : puffed up with inordinate conceit, when refused a favour by his patron, Cardinal Farnese, he threatened in a passion to leave his service. Farnese im- mediately dismissed him, severely reproving his ingratitude for so many favours, and especially for having induced him to slight the greatest scholar of the age. Jacopo Boschetti, who was present at this rupture, relates that the conflict was too sharp for peace ever to be restored. The miserable old man died 28th November 1566. Cardinal Ippolito,^ uncle of the Duke of Ferrara, was ex- tremely displeased at Castelvetro's flight, and wrote the following letter to the duke : " Your Excellency will have heard the sequel of Castelvetro's affaii-. After having given himself up a short time ago in order to clear him- self from the imputations cast on him, and after having obtained, at my request, the signal favour of being allowed to defend his cause without being impmsoned, as soon as the examinations began he fled from Rome. This appeared to the reverend gentlemen of the Holy Inquisition to be a ^ Ippolito the younger, son of Alfonso i. and brother of Ercole ii., succeeded his uncle Ippolito the elder as archbishop of Milan. His splendour and magnificence were so great that few princes could vie with him in point of expence. Though not himself a man of learning his couji; was the resort of the most learned men of the age, and he was profuse in his liberality to them. Muret, who spent fifteen years in his service, compares him advantageously to Francis i. The beautiful villa which he built at Tivoli was a monument of his taste and munificence. He died in 1572. 48 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- tacit confession of his guilt ; they have therefore proceeded against him in the usual manner of dealing with convicted heretics. Though these gentlemen have full confidence in the justice of your Excellency, they have nevertheless desired me to entreat you to act towards him in the same manner. I beseech you therefore to satisfy the father Inquisitor, who will be dispatched to your court about this matter, and also see to the confiscation of his property, part of which will go to your Excellency and part to the before-mentioned Ofiice. The more he has been favoured by you and by me, and opportunities afforded for vindicating himself, the more it seems to me that his proceedings deserve rigorous measures, and it is certain that in these affairs of religion too much can never be done. I kiss the hands of your Excellency, and pray that God may happily preserve you. Your Excellency's affectionate servant and uncle, Ippolito, Cardinal of Eerrara." Previous to this letter, on the 13th of October, Alfonso Bevi- lacqua, the governor of Modena, wrote to the duke that the Inquisitor had shewed him a letter from the congregation of the Inquisition, in which he, the Inquisitor, was ordered to arrest Lodovico and Giammaria Castelvetro, if they came to Modena, and begged to know what was to be done. The duke replied, on the 6th of November, that if Lodovico went to Modena they must arrest him: this was a safe permission, for it was well known that he was concealed in Ferrara; but the duke added that he saw no reason for arresting Giammaria, who was guilty indeed of being a companion of his brother's flight, but had the merit of persuading his brother to go to Eome, and of undergoing the fatigue of the journey three several times in the same year. The governor afterwards wrote that Giammaria had come to Modena, but the Inquisitor had promised to give him (the governor) intimation before proceeding against him. The bishop of Anglone's dispatch from Rome stated that Giammaria must not hope for any consideration, and that Cardinal Ippolito d' Este was so displeased at his taking flight with his brother that he would not interpose in his behalf, and even Cardinal Rodolfo Pio, of Carpi, Giammaria's first patron, hung back and would have nothing to do with this affair. He was cited to Rome as his brother's accomplice, but not venturing to obey the summons, he shared the penalties incurred by Lodovico, and to the great injury of his family and fortune was driven forth an exile and a wanderer for the remainder of his days. No sentence was however published against him, and it was not till the reign of Pius V., in 1566, that he was threatened by the In- quisition with further proceedings. 1571.] LODOYICO CASTELVETRO. 49 ]\Ieanwhile botli brothers found it impossible for them to remain in Italy. After the decree of excommmiication^ they were deprived of all shelter and protection, and resolved to take refuge at Chiavcnna, the capital of the Grison country. The question has been seriously debated between Muratori, who wrote his life, and Fontanini, author of Eloqiienza Italiana, whether Lodovico Castelvetro did or did not hold heretical opinions. ^Muratori, disclaiming the character of defender, and owning himself but imperfectly acquainted with the articles of accusation and with the defence, remarks that during the reign of Paul IV. there were many other men of high religious cha- racter who fell under the displeasure of the Pope, and were suspected of heresy; men such as Pole, Morone, Foscarari, staunchly devoted to the church as a system, but opposed to persecution, and indulgent to those who differed in opinion from them. He contends also that Castelvetro was not condemned by the Inquisition as convicted, or as having confessed heretical opinions, but only as contumacious. Fontanini, on the other hand, a man of narrow and bigoted views, who thought no one right who diverged from his own way of thinking, was furious against him as a pestilent heretic. He copies from Pallavicino the accusation that he fled from Rome because he was closely pressed in his examination, and questioned about a work of Melancthon's which he had trans- lated into Italian, and which he could not deny, as the translation bore strong marks of his style of writing. Fontanini adds that the book alluded to was the Loci communes of Melancthon, printed in Italian under the name of Filippo di Terra negra. Muratori observes that Pallavicino does not specify what work of Melanc- thon's Castelvetro translated, and that Fontanini had not been able to prove by the testimony of any author that this Italian version really belonged to Castelvetro. It is certain however that he was rightly accused of translating a pamphlet written by Melancthon, for in the archives of the castle St. Angelo a MS. was found which in all probability formed the real gi'ound of the accusations against him. It is a thin 4to MS. with this title : Lihricciuolo di FM. ID deW Autorita delta cMesa, e degli scritti degli Anticlii^ volgarizzato jyer Reprigione Rlieo con 1 A little book of Phi. M. on the authority of the Church, and on the ^v^itings of the ancients, translated by Reprigione Rheo, to which is added some explanations. VOL. II. E 50 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1545- V aggiunta dialqiiante cldose. After the glossary there is a text taken from the 7th chapter of St. John's gospel. Then follows Melancthon's dedication to the most illustrious prince Albert, duke of Prussia, marquis of Brandenburg. It was no doubt one of the books which were circulated in secret and read with avidity. An extract will interest the reader. It begins in the old-fashioned style, Astyages king of the Medes, &c. '' Such is the tyranny which for many centuries the Popes and their followers have exercised over the church. They require the people to approve indifferently all their decrees, even those which are manifestly bad, and all the evil habits and the dreams of monks, and to adore them as inspirations from heaven. Oh, what an immense number of vicious articles have entered the church without any known or renowned author; many have been introduced by obscure individuals, till in process of time they have gradually been established as truth : for instance, having recourse to saints for assistance, the abuse in many ways of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the merchandise of the mass, the licentious lives of priests, forbidding to marry, and many other things. These wicked deeds being sheltered under the name of the church, I have put together some points relating to this subject, as also the opinions of some old councils and writers which I hope will have great influence with those who value antiquity, &c." At the end we find : ^' Reprigione Rheo wishes peace in Christ to his readers." " If those, for whose benefit I have taken the trouble to translate into Italian from the Latin the present noble little book, had been able fully to understand it, I should wiUingly have refrained from giving you these few notes or glosses, call them what you like, in order not to make, as the saying is, a bad joint to a good article. But as there are Greek words and other little things distributed throughout the work, which would not be understood by persons uninstructed in languages, and especially in the Greek tongue, it required some explanations, which I resolved to write. The grace of God be with you."^ At the end of the book there is an explanation of Greek words and other particulars. Outside the MS. a contemporary hand has written. By Lodovico Castelvetro Modena : on the next page ^ See Appendix F. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 51 there are also a few words written in times far back : '' This book was translated by M. Lodovico Castelvetro of Modena, although it bears a feigned name as the translator. We know this to be true from infallible marks ; this book is all written in Lodovico' s handwriting, as I was told by the person who gave it to me." Tiraboschi said he was inclined to think the book really translated by Castelvetro, because the style was exactly similar to his other writings. But all doubt on this point was removed on confronting it with other MSS. in Castelvetro's handwriting, for they were found precisely to con-espond. From this fact he unwillingly comes to the conclusion that his fidelity to the Church of Rome was not so undoubted, nor his opinions so sound, as his friends wished them to be. Let us now return to Muratori's account, adding thereunto some additional information furnished by Tiraboschi. The fugitives on leaving Italy went first to Chiavenna, a small town on the lake of Como, belonging to the Grisons. Here they had the pleasure of finding their old friend Francesco Porto, the Greek before mentioned. The Grison country is a small territory wrested from Como by conquest. It was annexed in 1797 to the Swiss republic, and is inhabited chiefly by persons engaged in commerce ; they trade in wine, fruit, and kitchen earthenware made of a coarse clay found in the neigh- bourhood. This was by no means a place congenial to the taste of Castelvetro, and he began to think of going to France, where he had several friends, and from whence he had received many invitations from those who sympathised with his misfortunes and desired to assist him. Porto set out for France on his own account, and undertook to prepare the way for his friend ; but in passing through Geneva he was so earnestly entreated to remain and lecture on the Greek language, that he accepted the proposal, and settled there with his family. Castelvetro's friends in France* continued to press him to come among them, and even sent him money for his journey ; but besides being troubled with an internal complaint, which gave him excruciating pain, he began to feel the infirmities of advancing years. This indisposed him for the fatigue of ^ Fontanini says they were the eminent printers Etienne, father and son, who had often heen in Italy, and sympathised with Castelvetro's misfortimes. E 2 52 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- a journey, and he sent his brother to carry back the money and apologise to his friends for not accepting their generous kindness. But he had another and more powerful reason for not wishing to leave Chiavenna, and that was its vicinity to Trent, where the Council was sitting, and from whence he looked for relief from his perplexities. In 1561 he made several efforts to be allowed to declare his opinions before the Council, and prove the injustice of the sentence passed upon him at Rome. In answer to his application the Pope told the cardinal of Mantua, Gonzaga, that his cause having been already brought before the tribunal of the Inquisition at Eome, he must present himself there and not at Trent ; but if he would submit, and appear, he should be treated with the utmost lenity. If innocent, he would not only be absolved but rewarded, and if he had fallen into error, a private recantation would suffice. These were fair promises, but with Ghislieri at the head of the Inquisition Cas- telvetro did not dare to trust himself within the precincts of the lion's den. Pallavicino, in his history of the Council of Trent, quotes a letter written by Cardinal Borromeo in September 1561, which contains the following paragraph : " Among those who desired to appear before the Council, not to argue but to justify them- selves, I must not omit the name of one who is celebrated for his literary compositions ; which deserve a more successful and honourable reputation than is enjoyed by their author." He alluded to Lodovico Castelvetro, who had taken refuge in Protestant states. Egidio Foscarara, bishop of Modena, two years after wrote to Beccadelli, nuncio at the court of Florence, in the following terms : ''' Charity,' says St. Paul, 'seeketh not her own, but the things of others.' On this account I feel obHgecl to speak of public matters before I enter on my own particular affairs." Then after some ob- servations on public matters, he continues, ''ISTow, my Lord, I come to my own concerns. You know how much I have at heart the case of Castelvetro. In the first conversation I had with Morone I tried to persuade him that there was a way of attaining what was desired. But he declined to undertake it because he was already suspected, and knew that every interference on his part would be ill interpreted. He ad- vised me however to do what I am now venturing upon ; that is, to apply to you. He thinks the best means to employ in this affair would be the influence of the Duke of Ferrara. The slightest recommendation 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 53 on his part would obtain what is required ; this is not much, only, that his cause be revised by persons deputed from the inquisitors, who would be content with his appearing at Trent. He would submit to be judged by persons of their selection, provided he was not obli^-ed to go to Rome I humbly beseech you to use your endeavours in so good a work, which, from its nature, is one of good intentions and AviU free an individual from the great peril in which the salvation of his soul is placed ; aye, more than one soul. This is one of the greatest sacrifices we can offer to oiir Lord and Master, because not only do we deliver this one soul, but we open the way for many to reconcile themselves to the ChiuTh. On this account I beg you, most reverend sir, to undertake this affair, and with the expression of my best wishes I humbly kiss your hands. Trent, 7th July, 1563. Your reverence's affectionate servant, bislioj) of Modena." It does not appear that the intercessions of Castelvetro's friends were attended with any success in his favour, and when the Council of Trent was closed in 1563 he was obliged to give up all hopes of being relieved from the excommunication. After having been two years at Chiavenna he went to Lyons, w^ith the intention of fixing himself there, but the exact period of his stay there is not exactly known. During his residence at Lyons he revised his work on Aristotle's poetry,^ which he had copied three times with his own hand.^ This work was so much valued by him that when his house at Lyons took fire he thought of nothing but preserving this MS., calling out '^ La Poetica, la Poetica^ save my Poetical This work was most highly extolled by some, and as severely criticised by others. Castelvetro was driven from Lyons by the licence of the soldiers. War had broken out afresh in France between the Catholics and Huguenots. The king had unadvisedly sent a herald to the Protestants, offering them the alternative of laying down their arms or openly declaring them- selves in revolt. Negociations were commenced ; the Protestants required their religion to be publicly and legally sanctioned. This was refused, both parties prepared for war, and the battle of St. Denis, in which the Protestants were beaten, was the consequence. Montmorency was killed in defence of his opinion, that one religion alone should be allowed in a state, and all others put down by force. The military in this national dis- 1 " ia Poetica d' Aristotele vulgar izzata e sposta per Lodovico Castelvetro. In Vienna d' Austria 2)er Gaspero Stainoser, 1570." 2 One of these copies is dated Lyons, 2nd Jan. 1567, and perhaps this was the year of his arrival. 54 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- order committed many excesses/ Castelvetro did not escape. He and his brother had only arrived a short time before from Italy. They were on their way to the French court to petition the king to intercede for them with the pope, but when they saw the soldiers enter private houses for the purpose of pillage, they determined to fly. Two halberdiers escorted them for a certain distance out of Lyons ; they were joined by other fugitives on the road and travelled in company, but were overtaken by banditti, robbed of every thing they carried with them, and narrowly escaped with their lives. Poor Castelvetro lost his horses and harness, a quantity of books, and, what was worst of all, the whole of his writings, among which there was an Italian grammar, a comment on the greater part of Plato's dialogues, and a criticism on the comedies of Plautus and Terence, of which some fragments only remain. He was utterly cast down by this last misfortune, and so weak in health that he could scarcely stand, though they had still three leagues to go before they were out of danger. In the utmost despair they gave themselves up for lost, when a gentleman of Ferrara, whom they knew, most happily rode by; he also had left Lyons on account of the approach of war; recognising Lodovico and finding him in so miserable a plight, he ordered two of his servants to dismount, offered their horses to Lodovico and his brother, and ac- companied them to a place of safety. On this most unfortunate day he lost also the Italian version of the New Testament, about which he had been so long occu- pied. One copy however still remained in the hands of a friend. Castelvetro now pursued his way to Geneva, where he was most affectionately welcomed by Francesco Porto, and remained several days with him, occupying himself in providing clothes and other necessaries, of which he had been deprived. As soon as he was refreshed and refitted he returned to Chiavenna. Here he found great enjoyment in the society of Colonel Ridolfo Salice, a gentleman of noble family in the service of Maximilian II. Castelvetro' s great reputation for learning and erudition attracted students to Chiavenna. He was not only so thoroughly a Greek scholar as to have translated the exposition of Chrysostom on the Gospels into Italian, but had made a considerable progress 1 The second religious war began in 1567, and the second peace was made in 1568. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETKO. 55 in tlie knowledge of Hebrew at IModena, imdcr the instructions of David a Jew. At the urgent request of the young men he gave them a daily lesson on Homer, and one on rhetoric, but this occupation did not satisfy his ambition, and he could not hiy aside the hope of doing something better. His brother Giammaria when formerly at Vienna, had received some marks of favour from the emperor Maximilian : this sug- gested the idea of going there to push their fortunes and find patronage. Castelvetro, whose reputation as a scholar had reached the Emperor's court, was most graciously received by Maximilian, who entered with the most lively interest into the peculiarity of his position, and wrote to Alfonso II.* entreating him to allow Giammaria Castelvetro to return to his country for a short time that he might arrange his affairs. The em- perors of those days showed no particular desire to submit to Rome; it was rather their policy to check and resist the encroachments of the papacy. They were also patrons of learn- ing, especially Maximilian, who was said to have some leanings towards the reformed opinions. His encouragement of Castel- vetro and his patronage of the comment on Aristotle's poetry, which was printed and published at Vienna, show that he was sufficiently unprejudiced to countenance a work which he admired, even though it was not sanctioned by the court of Rome. Fontanini says both^ the editions of this work were prohibited. In noting its heretical tendency he observes that Castelvetro's manner of writing proves him to be a partisan of protestant opinions, and particularly observes that he uses the language of heretics in speaking of the Lord's Supper : ^' the term, Supper, not being adopted by good Catholics, who look upon the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist as a true sacrifice of the real body and blood of our Lord."^ ^ This letter is still in the Ducal Archives, dated 27th of April, 1570. Castel- vetro's dc\dce on the title-page of this edition and the one published after his death was an owl seated on an overturned urn, with the motto /ce/cprj/ca, ' I have judged.' This device is also found on all his books printed at Modena by Gadaldino. — Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. torn. i. p. 243. ^ One in 1570 at Vienna, the other after the author's death at Basle 1576. 2 " Lodovico, da buon eretico Sacramentario, niette per impossibilc, ancora a Dio, che un corpo naturale, che ha le sue raisure, lunghezza, e profondita, sia in un tempo mcdosimo in piii luoghi : di che a' tempi nostri si e cosi acerbamente tenzonato per cagione della disputa della presenza reale del corpo del nostro Signorc nclla cena e simili altre cose." — Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. torn. i. p. 244. 5Q THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- Thougli the position of the brothers had become more hopeful since Maximilian had extended his patronage to them, it appears they were not to find a sure resting-place anywhere out of the Grison country. The plague which broke out in Vienna drove tliem back to Chiavcnna. Lodovico was invited to Basle by some Italian friends. This city was at that time the resort of the oppressed J and filled with learned men from all nations, and Castelvetro's genius would there have found free scope and been appreciated by his learned contemporaries ; but before he could set out the agonies of his complaint returned with fresh violence. This produced fever attended with pain, which alarmed his medical advisers. Their fears were but too well grounded, for in four days he died.^ He was followed to the grave by his pupils at Chiavenna, who both loved and esteemed him. An oration was publicly pronounced from the pulpit in his praise. The country of the Grisons, like other Roman Catholic countries before the reforma- tion, was sunk in corruption and ignorance. The first public improvement in the valleys of the Rhetian Alps was in 1524, when the inhabitants unanimously embraced the Protestant doctrine. M'Crie says that John Frick, the parish priest of Mayenfield, was converted to the Protestant faith by a journey to Rome. He went there ^' to implore the assistance of his holi- ness, and to consult on the best method of preventing his native country from being overrun with heresy. But he was so struck with the irreligion which he observed in the court of Rome, and the ignorance and vice prevailing in Italy, that, returning home, he joined the party he had opposed, and became the reformer of Mayenfield. In his old age he used pleasantly to say to his friends that he learned the Gospel at Rome." In 1526 an edict in favour of religious liberty was published in the Grisons with this important clause : " That the ministers of religion shall teach nothing to the people but what is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, and what can be proved by them; and that parish priests shall be enjoined to give themselves assiduously to the study of the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and manners."^ A year after the mass was abolished, images removed, and 1 On the 21st of Februaiy, 1571, aged sixty-six years. 2 M'Crie's Eeform. in Italy, ed. Blackwood, pp. 191 — 193. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 57 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper administered after the manner of the Swiss churches; but it was not till 1542, when the Italian exiles flocked across the mountains, that the reformed opinions exercised any proselyting influence. At the period of Castelvetro's death the renowned Inquisitor, Michele Ghislieri, was Pope ; persecution was at its height, and the Grisons^ and the Valtcllina^ were filled with fugitives from Italy. A monument to the memory of Castelvetro is still to he seen in the garden of Girolamo Stampa, but it is not certain whether it is the same that was erected shortly after his death with the following inscription : Memorle Ludovici Castelvetrei Mutinensis ViRI SCIENTI^, JUDICIT, MORUM, AC VlT.^ iNgOMPARABILIS Qui dum patriam ob improborum hominum Sjevitiam fugit Post decennalem peregrinationem Tandem in libero solo liber moriens, libere quiescit Anno'^Etatis su^ lxv. SaLUTIS VERO NOSTR.E MDLXXI. DIE XXI FeBR. Castelvetro made his will at Modena in 1555, in favour of his brother Giammaria, his heir, who had devoted himself with so much self-sacrifice to his interests. He left him all his books, stipulating only that his friends should have the free use of them. This will was made when he dreaded that the sweeping decree of the Inquisition might carry off" the whole of his property. He thought it prudent therefore to divide all his money, which amounted to 8,000 gold crowns, between his two brothers. This will he confirmed at Chiavenna. Lodovico Castelvetro was an accomplished as well as a learned man ; he passed his youth in the society of nobles and literary men, and was well skilled in the accomplishments and feats of arms then in fashion, such as throwing the lance, swimming and wrestling. He was not ambitious of riches nor desirous of pleasure ; though oflered honourable and lucrative employments by many great men, he would never sacrifice his independence ^ The Ehetian or Grison tongue is divided into two dialects, the Romansh and the Ladin, but there was not a single work in either of them at the time of the Kcformation. Biveroni printed his translation of the New Testament in the Ehetian language in 1560. — M'Crie's Reform, in Italy., pp. 196, 197. ' So called from Yalle Tellina or "Valle TuiTcna, o sia Volturrcna, talmcnte nominata da i padri Volturreni Hctrusci del tempio di YoltuiTcna." — Alberi, Bescrittiane, p. 413. 58 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1535- or wear a gold chain. In vain Cardinal Bernardino MafFei, who had been his fellow student at Siena, tried to draw him to Home ; no promises could induce him to irf public life. Like our friend Paleario, he had a great desire to travel, but would never leave his mother. At her death he went to Pisa to make the acquaintance of Robcrtello/ who was lecturing on the classics there with great applause, and visited other places in Italy. His biographer describes him as a man of pure and upright life, ardent in the service of his friends, and ever ready to assist the oppressed or afflicted. He obeyed the apostle's precept, to be 'temperate in all things,' and spoke little ex- cept when excited by the society of some of his dearest friends. His intellect was too lively for him to require much sleep. Of a firm and constant mind, no persecution or misfortune could shake his purpose or change his opinions ; and he preferred exile to retracting his religious sentiments or submitting to the Inqui- sition. Of a mild, forgiving, though hasty temper, he never bore malice. He was considered too fastidious and too critical in literature and poetical composition. Torquato Tasso says that he had too much pleasure in cutting up the works of others, but nevertheless, his judgment was frequently taken in rhetoric, poetry, and especially in grammar. Notwithstanding the high eulogium passed on his talents and erudition by his biographer, we may perhaps, on looking at the list of his works,^ doubt whether the real riches of his mind were ever properly worked out. Erudition and intellect are very dif- ferent things. We often see that a man may be what is called a good scholar without one enlarged or original idea; perhaps the very fact of poring continually over other people's ideas pre- vents the generation of individual conceptions. In general those are minds of ordinary compass which occupy themselves ex- clusively about etymological and grammatical definitions. The fastidious critic who fixes his attention entirely on words and phrases passes over ideas. There was a good deal of this in Castelvetro's time ; the refined subtlety of the Italian taste led them into this snare. Too slavish an attention to trifles withers the mind and narrows the region of thought : whereas suggestive combinations and philosophic reflections enlarge and ennoble the 1 Bom 1516, died 1567. He was Paleario' s predecessor at Lucca, and went to Pisa in 1543. ^ See Appendix G. 1571.] LODOVICO CASTELVETRO. 59 intellectual powers. The scliolar in the middle ages who limited himself to grammar and criticism, might be likened to a gardener who thinks only of weeding his walks and trimming his edgings, while the parterres and the fruit-trees remain neglected. Such we are persuaded would not have been the case with Castclvetro had he lived in a free country, where he would have been able to study philosophy and scripture theology.^ His censure of Le Prose del Bemho was considered unneces- sarily severe, and it must be owned, says Tiraboschi, that he carried criticism so far as even to produce confusion sometimes in his own mind about the meaning of words.^ He studied the Provencal dialect with Barbieri, and translated many sonnets of Araldo, Daniello, and other Provencal poets. Had he not been driven into exile he would have completed his Proven9al gram- mar, and written the lives of some of their poets in Italian. His exquisite verses have been highly commended by eminent scholars, particularly by Bembo and M. Antonio Flaminio. In short his moral and literary character entitled him to be con- sidered both a good and a great man. Living in times of deep corruption both of religion and morals, his superior tastes and principles preserved him from the vices of the day. The study of the Gospel taught him to think for himself on the great subject of religion, and his faith was founded on the dictates of di- vine inspiration, not on the canons and decretals of Rome. Muratori, speaking of his personal appearance, says he was of a moderate height, square built, dark, and almost bald. He had large piercing black eyes, an aquiline nose, and a long black beard. Some pictures of him are still preserved at Modena. His biographer, who furnishes us with the principal incidents in this short memoir,^ wrote a hundred and sixty years after his ^ He translated from the Greek a work by Chrysostom, entitled, Sposizione del Vangelo del Crisostomo abbreviata da Teofilato Arcivcscovo di Biilgaria. 2 Tirabosclii says : " Lasciandosi trasportare dal troppo acuto suo ingegno, si abbandona a tai sottigliezze, dalle quali altro frutto non si ritrae, chi di stringere e di imbrigliare per mode, chi scrivendo si vuol ad esse attenere, che non sappia egli pure come avanzersi, e gitti per disperazione la penna." — Tirabosclii, Lett. Ital. torn. vii. p. 354. ^ See Opere criiichc medite di Castelrctro colla vita delV antore Scritta dal Sig. Proposto Lodovico A. Muratori. Bibliot. del Duca di Modena. In Bcrna 1727. Pietro Foppens. They were printed at Milan, but when found, says Fontanini, not conformable to the Catholic faith, the title-page was changed first to Bcrnc and afterwards to Lyons. Foppens, he adds, was a printer of Brussels. — Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. vol. ii. p. -11. 60 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1535- death. He was chiefly animated by a desire to do honour to his native city, Modena, by pourtraying the character of one of its most distinguished citizens. There can be little doubt that if Muratori had not been a Koman Catholic he might have produced still more interesting particulars relating to the Pro- testant opinions of this refined poet and literary genius. One letter, of which he gives an extract, makes us regret those which are lost. *^For my part if I were to speak the truth, as far as I understand your words, ' these untrodden paths' do not seem to me to express the simple doctrine of Christ, and are rather the chimeras and reveries of an ingenious poet than of a christian. What chains and ties are these you write to me about ? Either these secrets cannot be known because God has hid them from us, or the plain and beaten paths of the Gospel are the way to lead us to them."^ Though Castelvetro was cautious in openly expressing his religious opinions, there can be little doubt from this letter that he was greatly enlightened in divine truth, and that evangelical doctrine occupied much of his thoughts.^ ^ " Lo se vi debbo dire il vero, quanto ho compreso dalle vostre parole ' queste vie noncalpestate' non mi pajono della semplice dottrina di Cristo, ma piuttosto cbimere e dimostrazioni piuttosto d' un ingegno poetico cbe Cristiano, che catene, cbe anelle son queste che me scrivete ? 0 che questi secret! non si possono sapere, che Dio ci gli ha nascosi, o che le vie plane e frequentate deU' Evangelio sono buono a menarci ad essi." 2 As a proof of his heretical sentiments Fontanini cites the foUoTving striking passage from the preface to his Foetica. Speaking of the readiness of the Ee- formers to meet death rather than renounce their religious opinions, Castelvetro says — "Questo si e veduto in colore, a' " This (constancy) was seen in those to quali fu rivelata per benignita divina la whom by Divine mercy the light of the luce dell' Evangelio, conciossiacosache in Gospel had been revealed. For in those quelle contrade dove si videro alcuni con places where martyrdom was sustained gagliardo, e sicuro animo sostenere il with a courageous and steady mind, their martirio, molti s' incorarono altresi per example incited many to the same firm- esempio suo, a sostenerlo con fermezza ness. But in places where the first who d' animo. Ma in quelle contrade dove were called on to render testimony to the i primi, chiamati a render testimoni- truth fell away from fear of severe anza della verita, si smarrirono per 1' as- torture and denied Christ, their example prezza de' tormenti, e rinegarono Cristo, gave great occasion of scandal, and caused furono di grandc scandalo agli altri con others also to deny Christ from fear of r esempio lore, e furono cagione, che gli torment." altri similmente rincgassero Cristo per paura de' tormenti." — Foetica^ ed. Vienna, p. 2; ed. Bale, p. 118, ap. Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. torn. i. p. 245. CHAPTEE XIII. RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 15 10—1575. RENEE — HER TALENTS — ALFONSO, DUKE OF FERRARA — TREACHERY OF THE POPE — FABRIZIO COLONNA — ALFONSO'S NOBLE CONDUCT — HE REGAINS MODENA — RENEE OF FRANCE — HER IVL^RRIAGE WITH HERCULES OF FERRARA — BELVIDERE — CHA- RACTER OF RENEE — HER LEANING TO THE REFORMED OPINIONS — CALVIN PAYS A CONCEALED VISIT TO FERRARA — THE BROTHERS SINAPI — THEIR CONVERSION — CALVIN — CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE DUCHESS — EXHORTS HER TO STEDFASTNESS — CLEMENT MAROT AT FERRARA — HIS METRICAL VERSION OF THE PSALMS — PRO- HIBITED— FRENCH ATTENDANTS OF THE DUCHESS DISMISSED — HER DISTRESS — OLIMPIA MORATO — INVITED TO COURT TO BE THE COMPANION OF PRINCESS ANNE — INCURS THE DISPLEASURE OF RENEE — OLIMPIA RESOLVES TO FOLLOW THE GOSPEL — MARRIAGE — DEPARTURE FROM ITALY — HER MISFORTUNES — DEATH — CORRESPONDENCE — PAUL III. AT FERRARA — COMEDY ACTED BY THE ROYAL CHILDREN — TASSO — HIS LOVE— ROYAL PRINCESSES — PERSECUTION OF THE DUCHESS — HER NEPHEW HENRY II. SENDS THE INQUISITOR ORI TO THREATEN HER — SHE IS CONFINED IN THE CASTLE — HEARS MASS — CALVIN'S LETTERS OF ADMONITION AND REMONSTRANCE — GALEAZZO CARACCIOLO VISITS FERRARA — IS BEARER OF A LETTER FROM CALVIN — THE DUCHESS BECOMES A WIDOW — HER RELIGIOUS ■VT:EWS OPPOSED BY HER SON ALFONSO — SHE RETIRES TO FRANCE — PROTECTS THE HUGUENOTS — HER NOBLE REPLY TO THE DUKE OF GUISE — DEATH. The reformed opinions had not only reached Modena, but were extensively diffused at the court of Ferrara, the munificent asylum of talent and literature. The marriage of Ercole, the son of Alfonso I., with Renee of France, daughter of Louis XII., brought great encouragement to the Protestant cause, for it introduced into Italy a princess acquainted with the Scriptures, and accustomed to reverence their divine authority. The dukedom of Ferrara had long been coveted by the Papal See. Giulio II. had contrived to grasp Modena/ and was 1 In lolO, the year of Renee's birth, diu-ing the war in Romagna, the pontifical troops advanced to Castelfranco. A secret understanding with the Rangone family 62 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- proceeding to take Ferrara also, but the valiant Alfonso, by unwearied diligence and continual efforts, maintained himself in possession. But the contest between him and the Papacy was so severe that he was constrained at times to apply both to France and Germany for aid to resist the attacks of his rapacious foe. Alfonso fought by the side of Gaston de Foix at the battle of Ravenna, when the pontifical troops were totally routed. Ravenna was defended by Marc' Antonio and Fabrizio Colonna. Alfonso, duke of Ferrara, attacked the old walls with his artillery till he made a breach therein; the engagement lasted four hours, in which • equal valor was displayed on both sides. The viceroy Cardona, anxious to save Ravenna, brought up the troops of the league. The French army had been five days without any food except boiled wheat, the horses were not better provided for, and the safety of the army depended on a successful engagement. On Easter-day, the 11th of April 1512, they advanced towards the trenches where the Spanish army awaited them in order of battle. But Alfonso, de- termined not to allow the enemy the advantage of this protec- tion, pointed his artillery with such murderous precision, that first Fabrizio Colonna, and then the other generals, with the permission of the viceroy, came forward in the open field and the engagement became general. National hatred and the love of fame animated the combatants to perform prodigies of valour, but the impetuosity of the French carried everything before them ; victory was on their side. The vanquished lost all their artillery and ensigns, and the ground was strewed with the bodies of the slain. The battle of Ravenna was considered one of the most bloody engagements ever fought in Italy, for sixteen thousand men^ are said to have perished on the battle-field.^ The joy of the victors was much overshadowed by the un- secured them the keys of Modena, and on the night of the 18th of August they took possession of the town. The Emperor Maximilian remonstrated, the city was put into his hands on condition that it should not he given up to Alfonso. — Muratori, Annali, torn. x. p. 80. 1 Muratori says, *' Certamente e uno shaglio di stampa il dirsi nella storia del Guicciardino, che tra V uno e V altro esercito perirono almcno died mila persone. Tanto il Giovio, che il Mocenigo, il Bemho, il Buonacorsi, il Nardi, ed altri Storici, mettono almen sedici migliaja di morti." — Muratori, Annali, tom. x. p. 110. 2 At the battle of Solferino in 1859, 50,000 men are said to have fallen. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 63 expected death of their valiant young general. In the enthu- siasm of success, eager to let none of the enemy escape, he imprudently followed a compact body of Spanish cavalry who were retiring in good order. A musket-shot from the fly in o- troop brought the young hero to the ground, and cast the whole army into mourning. Many persons of note yielded themselves prisoners to the French ; Giovanni de' Medici, Papal legate, afterwards Leo X., and several distinguished Italian and Spanish captains, among whom we find the young marquis of Pescara. Fabrizio Colonna was Alfonso's prisoner, who behaved towards his distinguished captive with the utmost courtesy and nobleness of mind ; he overruled the desire of Palisse the French general to get the Colonna into his power, saw that his wounds were carefully dressed, and not only gave him his liberty but restored to him the sum of 30,000 ducats of gold which had been paid for his ransom, and furnished him with a detachment of troops for protection on his journey. Fabrizio, grateful for this generous treatment, on his arrival at Eome united with the marquis of Mantua in requesting a safe conduct for Alfonso that he might repair to Kome. They succeeded so far in softening the Pope's displeasure that their request was granted, and the safe-conduct was sent to Isabella for her brother's benefit, and she brought it herself to Ferrara. His people were somewhat doubtful if he should trust to it, but when he received from Rome the copy of a paper by which not only Fabrizio and his son Ascanio, but also Prospero and Vespasiano, had declared themselves sureties for his safety, Alfonso no longer hesitated. He set out accompanied by a troop of horse, and was met at the gates of Rome by his nephew Federigo Gonzaga, a hostage of the Colonna's who conducted him to the palace of the cardinal of Mantua, where he was hospitably lodged and entertained. When Alfonso presented himself before the Pope he was accompanied by all the members of the Colonna family ; he kissed the Pope's feet, received absolution, and obtained permission to remain at Rome during pleasure. This apparent reconciliation however made no change in the ambitious projects of the Pope, but rather facilitated their execution. The magnanimous conduct of the Colonna family and their powerful protection alone saved Alfonso from utter destruction. Alberto Pio of Carpi, at that time 64 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- imperial envoy at tlie court of Rome, had family claims on Carpi, and powerful reasons for instigating the Pope's ambition. Alberto Pio^ was a learned man who exercised his transcendant abilities in intrigues by day, while he passed the night in severe study. His persuasive gift of ready eloquence made his in- fluence almost unbounded, and the Pope lent a willing ear to his counsels. While Alfonso was making his peace at Rome, Giovanni cardinal de' Medici, legate of Bologna, took Cento and Pieve. The duke of Urbino, the Pope's general, advanced to Reggio, and though the imperial governor of Modena sent him word that Reggio belonged to the empire, he forced the city to surrender, and then took Carpi, Brescello, San Felice, and Finale, all places belonging to Alfonso. The Pope, delighted with this success, resolved to have FeiTara also. But the bare allusion to the cession of Ferrara excited the duke's indignation. He refused to sacrifice his dukedom, and in virtue of his safe- conduct requested permission to leave Rome. It was refused : and when the Colonna and the Spanish ambassador solicited an audience to represent that the Pope's word and their honour were both pledged for Alfonso's safety, they were received with rudeness and menace. Encouraged by the insidious Alberto, Giulio resolved to arrest Alfonso, and in defiance of truth to violate the laws of hospitality. It was thought, says an Italian historian,^ that a strict regard to honour and an abhorrence of all treachery should characterise the court of Rome. As it proclaims itself the seat of Christ's viceregent, it ought to be the fount of every 1 Bom 1475, died 1531. Alberto Pio was the son of Leonello, lord of Carpi, who left the jurisdiction of his estates in common to his two sons Leonello and Alberto, and Giberti their cousin ; this was the cause of perpetual quarrels between the parties. In vain Ercole I., Duke of Ferrara, mediated for peace. At last Giberti, from hatred to Alberto, finished the contest by exchanging his rights on Carpi for other places given him by the Duke of Ferrara. Alberto appealed to Maximilian, who awarded Carpi to Alberto as sole possessor. Suspected of treachery by the Imperial party it was taken from him by Charles V. in 1527, and restored to the Duke of Ferrara. Alberto Pio was in the castle of St. Angelo with Clement YII. at the sack of Rome. He was sent on a mission to France by the Pope, where he remained till his death in 1531. For an account of his universal genius and acquirements, and his contest with Erasmus, see Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. torn. vii. p. 239, and Erasm. Epist. 2 Tiraboschi, Antichita Estensi. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRAEA. 65 noble, pure, and virtuous proceeding. This it certainly would have been, if governed by the principles of the Christian religion of which it assumes the visible headship. But power, whether temporal or ecclesiastical, has always proved omnipotent over all other considerations : it has ever hardened the hearts of its possessors, and silenced the dictates of humanity and honour. When vast and irresponsible power is suddenly put into the hands of a private individual, on whom is conferred the title of infallible, when he is made to believe that he holds the keys of heaven and earth, it is not surprising if fallible human nature should wield the sword less for good than for evil. The injustice of the Pope towards the unoffending Alfonso roused the indignation of the conclave. The cardinal of Aragon, a relation of the duke's, secretly revealed to the Colonnas the schemes against Ferrara. This noble family, mindful of their obligations to Alfonso, determined not to allow their name to be stained with dishonour. Fabrizio, from gratitude, and Marc' Antonio Colonna, from rectitude of principle, resolved to save the duke. The Pope, to ensure possession of his captive, had already doubled the guard at all the gates of Rome; but the Colonnas one morning at early dawn, accompanied by an armed body of retainers, forced the gate of St. John Lateran, and taking the duke with them in disguise reached their stronghold of St. Marino in safety. The Pope on hearing of Alfonso's escape gave way to a burst of fury, and ordered all the duke's household and attendants to be seized ; but they had already been sent away with orders to provide for their own security, and none remained on whom the Pope could wreak his dis- pleasure. Exasperated at being thus outwitted, the Pope sent messengers in every direction with orders to find the fugitive duke. But his spies were all at fault, for the Colonnas kept Alfonso securely hid for three months in their several fortresses. At length, when Prospero Colonna was going to join Cardona, who was raising troops for the Lombard army against Venice, it was thought a good opportunity for the duke to reach his own dominions. By frequently changing his disguise, and as- suming by turns the character of a hunter, a servant, and a monk, he escaped the vigilance of Antonio della Sassetta and his spies, though they had been sent into Prospero's troop for the express purpose of discovering Alfonso. On the 14tli of 66 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- October 1512 he at last reached Fcrrara; his unexpected arrival was a joyful event for his subjects, the artisans left their work, closed their shops, and ran to welcome back their beloved sovereign with loud acclamations.^ To the warlike and ambitious nature of Giulio II. has been attributed the noble idea of freeing Italy from the dominion of foreigners. He had taken Bologna from the French, Genoa during his reign was restored to freedom, and he enter- tained the scheme of constituting himself the liberator of Italy. The blunt Venetian cardinal, Grimani, observed that while so large and rich a portion as Naples remained in the hands of the Spaniards, Italy could not boast of freedom. To this the energetic old Pope replied, waving his stick in the air, that unless heaven willed otherwise, Naples also would soon be re- lieved from the weight of a foreign yoke. At the same time, to revenge himself on the promoters of the Council of Pisa, he leagued himself with Cardona, the viceroy of Naples, in order to drive Soderini from Florence, and brought Spanish troops upon the unarmed inhabitants of Prato, who committed all kinds of ex- cesses and massacred more than two thousand of the inhabitants.^ This was the last act of Pope Giulio in favour of Italian liberty, for he died on the 21st of February 1513.^ The election of Leo X. secured Alfonso's tranquillity. He was replaced in his office of Gonfalonierej or general of the states of the Church. Arrayed in his ducal robes he carried the standard of the Church at Leo's coronation,* and was pointed out to the people as the hero of the brilliant victory of Kavenna. The death of Louis XII. in 1515 did not put an end to the claims of France on Milan. Francis I. was equally desirous of possessing this fair domain. Alfonso in vain sought to regain possession of Modena. The Pope contrived to buy it of the 1 Paolo Giovio, Vita di Alfonso, p. 338. Ed. Venetia, 1561. 2 " Ed ecco dove andavano a terminar le strane premure di un Papa per eacciare i Barbari d' Italia, cioe con una medicina peggiore aiFatto del male." — Muratori, Annali, torn. x. p. 118. 3 " Ho io, chi scrive, ch' egli suU' ultimo cadde in delirio, e andava gridando : Fuori d' Italia Francesi ; Faori Alfonso d' Este." — Muratori, Annali, tom. x. p. 123. 4 Leo was crowned on the 11th of April, 1513, in St. John Lateran, the same day on which the year before he had been taken prisoner at the battle of Ravenna ; and it is said he rode the same white horse, su'l quale fu fatto prigione a Ravenna. — Vita di Alfonso, p. 340. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 67 emperor Maximilian for fortj tliousand ducats of gold. This town, witli Ferrara, Parma, and Piacenza, was intended to be united to Florence as an apanage for Giuliano the brother of Leo. We may imagine how displeasing this was to the valiant Alfonso. He had been confirmed in the possession of Modena by Maximilian himself; it had been taken from him w^ithout cause, and now sold to another. The cardinal d' Este persuaded Leo to promise to restore both it and Pieggio to the duke of Ferrara, but as the Pope shewed no signs of keeping his word, Alfonso turned his hopes towards French mediation. He went to Milan to plead his cause before Francis L, and was gratified by the most satisfactory promises, ^fodena and Reggio were to be returned to their legitimate sovereign on prepayment to the papal treasury of the forty thousand ducats already advanced for the purchase. But though Niccolo Macchiavelli^ was sent to offer payment, and the Pope engaged to give up the cities in fifteen days, yet during the lifetime of Leo they were never restored. It was rumoured that the Pope had designs on Ferrara, and Alfonso was kept continually on his guard, and obliged to fortify the walls of the city at home, and negotiate for his safety abroad. He even undertook a journey to Paris to win over Francis I., but the French king had too many interests at stake in Italy to risk dis- pleasing the Pope by giving Alfonso any active encouragement. On his return he had the affliction of losing his wife, the duchess Lucrezia Borgia, who died at the age of forty-one years. Whatever were the early faults of her life or education, her conduct at Ferrara deserved the affection and esteem both of her husband and his subjects. Giovio says she had given up the world and its vanities, and devoted herself wholly to works of charity. She spent the morning in prayer, and the evening with her ladies in embroidery, and lavished her benefits upon the poor and upon men of letters.^ ''■ Niccolo Macchiavelli, born 1469, died 1527, "was the celebrated secretary of the Florentine Republic. His most celebrated works are Le Istoric Florentine, first published in 1532, and II Principe, in 1539. The whole works of Macchiavelli were printed in one volume in 1550. They have recently been republished at Florence. - She was married in 1501, and died in 1519. She left three sons, Ercole, afterwards Duke of Ferrara, Ippolito it., cardinal, and Francesco, called after the king of France. Ippolito i., when Ippolito ii. was ten years old, gave up the arch- bishopric of Milan to his nephew, retaining the revenues of the see. The child was anointed and received orders in one of the royal palaces. r2 68 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- The death of Maximilian, and the election of Charles V. as emperor, was an opportunity not to be neglected for endeavour- ing to obtain the investiture of !Modena and Reggio : but Alfonso was suffering from a severe illness, and Pope Giulio watched for his death as a propitious moment to seize on Ferrara. Francesco Guicciardini the historian, at that time governor at Modena for the Pope, so faithfully reported the strength of Ferrara that the Pope dared not venture to attack it openly, but made use of the intrigues of Alberto Pio, the hereditary enemy of the house of Este, to obtain possession. He employed some merchants of grain to hire vessels at the mouth of the torrent Secchia, so that they might enter Ferrara where the wall had been recently broken. But Federigo, marquis of Mantua, uneasy at having vessels so near his territories, discovered the scheme and informed his uncle Alfonso, who complained to the Pope of these intrigues and claimed his protection. This was granted in form by a brief, while at the same time, says Guicciardini, secret orders were given in a contrary sense. Another plot was also unsuccessful. Ridolfo Stello, captain of the German guard, was bribed to kill the duke ; but on entering the chamber with this intent, the firm and manly aspect of his intended victim deprived him of courage to execute the evil deed, and he threw himself at his feet, revealing the plot and entreating his forgiveness. When Adrian VI. the new Pope arrived at Rome, he released Ferrara from the Interdict fulminated against that state by Giulio II., but refused for a time to receive Ippolito, Alfonso's son ; at length, permission was given him to appear at Rome, and the young archbishop of fom'teen years of age made an eloquent Latin discourse in favour of his father. The investiture was promised, but the cities were still retained by the Roman See. Alfonso now entered into terms with Charles V. without wholly deserting the French party. The defeat of Francis at the battle of Pavia obliged him to assist the Imperial army both with provisions and cannon. In 1527, when the Imperial army had entered Rome and the Pope was a prisoner in St. Angelo, the Italian principalities busied themselves in retaking the towns and fortresses which had been wrested from them by the Papal see. Alfonso seized 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 69 this opportunity of regaining his ancient city of ;^^odena, which had been so long withlield. He marched to tlie gates at the head of a strong body of troops. Lodovico Han gone, the governor, rightly judging that tlie people would declare in favour of tlieir former sovereign, left the place witliout firing a shot, and the same day duke Alfonso entered peaceably, to the great delight of the inhabitants. When asked at the gates to excuse the magistrates for having acted against his authority, lie nobly replied, " I have buried the remembrance of all past offences ; my greatest desire is to act as a good father and brother to you all, and spend both my substance and my life for the benefit of this my faithful city. May you all enjoy peace under my dominion, and may discord and jealousy be for ever banished." These encouraging words, worthy of a noble prince who wished to live in the hearts of his subjects, caused universal joy and rejoicing. He faithfully fulfilled his promise, and was so averse to harshness that he dismissed with kindness some of the Pope's soldiers who still remained in the city. Thus peacefully did the events of war restore to him his dominions, and, as we have before had occasion to remark, the misfortunes of the Pope were a blessing to the other Italian states. Francis, anxious to revive his power in Italy, was desirous of negotiating a league in his favour, and wished to include his old ally the duke of Ferrara ; but after the battle of Pavia French influence was thoroughly weakened, and the emperor reigned almost paramount in the Peninsula. Charles made some ad- vances towards the duke of Ferrara by offering his natural daughter Margaret as a bride for his son Ercole. Alfonso was not indisposed to this alliance, but the French army was close on the confines of his principality, and he was obliged to consent to receive deputies at Ferrara to fix the terms on which he could enter into the league. At the death of Bourbon Charles V. offered Alfonso the command as Generalissimo of his army in Italy, but the duke was unwilling to go openly to war with the Pope, and therefore declined the honour. The allies how- ever intimated that they could not allow him to be neutral, threatened to occupy both Modena and Keggio, and insisted that as a vassal of the papal see he must be either a friend or an enemy. At length terms were agreed on; his ancient dominions were secured to the duke j he was allowed to manu- 70 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- facture salt, a privilege never before granted by the Pope, and a cardinal's hat and the archbishopric of Milan were promised for his second son. The compact was to be sealed by the promise that Eenee of France should be given in marriage to Ercole, the duke of Ferrara's eldest son. Alfonso on his part engaged to pay to the league within six months from six to ten thousand crowns in gold, and to furnish the allied army with a hundred men-at-arms. This was a treaty, says Guicciardini, so advantageous to the house of Este, that either he must have been an admirable negotiator, or the league thought his alliance of so much importance that they resolved to secure him at any price. When, in 1529, Charles went to Bologna to meet Clement VII. the Pope complained that the duke of Ferrara had taken ad- vantage of the calamities of the Papal see to get possession of Modena. Alfonso appealed to the equity of the Emperor, and professed himself willing to abide by his decision. Charles, though secretly instructed by Clement, if tlie decision should turn against him, to allow the time to expire without passing sentence, yet delivered a righteous judgment in favour of the duke of Ferrara. Alfonso and his descendants were to be feudatories of the Pope,^ and pay him an annual tribute. But the city of Modena being an Imperial fief was restored to the house of Este, though to propitiate the Pope a hint was given to Alfonso that if he wished to enjoy quiet possession of Modena he must pay an indemnity to the Papal see. Alfonso, too glad to resume his rights, willingly complied, and sent 100,000 ducats to be laid at the Pope's feet; but Clement indignantly complained that Charles had violated his secret engagement with him, and refused both the money and the ratification of the Imperial decision. Algarotti, the duke's ambassador, after humbly and earnestly entreating his holiness to accept the money, was finally obliged to carry it away. Giovio, who recounts this scene, relates that Clement, having descended from the lofty seat which he that morning occupied in the Consistory, turned to Giovio, who had been called to witness the transaction, and said to him in a tone which vibrated towards a sneer, '^ Can you now, Giovio, describe me in your history as avaricious, after voluntarily refusing such a heap of gold crowns; or can I be ' For the early infeoffnient of the Dukedom of FeiTara, see Appendix A. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 71 considered imprudent or ill advised for having acted more from consideration for tlie dignity of the Papal cee than for present gain or advantage?"^ Charles conferred another favour upon Alfonso by delivering up to him the fortress of Carpi, which had been so long the subject of litigation, in return for which the duke of Ferrara sent him a present of 100,000 ducats. Clement could not forget the affront offered him by Charles in his decision about Modena, and set all manner of intrigues in motion against Alfonso. The Pio family were ready instru- ments ; Girolamo Pio was at the head of a conspiracy for giving up Eeggio to the Pope. But Alfonso had faithful servants, who discovered and arrested the author, who was taken to Ferrara and publicly beheaded. Another conspiracy also was discovered by Girolamo de' Pepoli of Bologna, but the originator, Bartolomeo Constabili, was also condemned to death ; but during the lifetime of Clement VTL Alfonso never felt himself secure. In the month of April of the year 1528 Ercole d' Este, the young heir apparent of the duke of Ferrara, set out for France to claim his bride.^ He was accompanied by a splendid retinue, an escort of two hundred horse and thirty-seven baggage mules. The bridegroom was cordially welcomed by Francis I., who was well pleased to marry his sister-in-law to a prince not likely to make any pretensions to her maternal estates.^ Anne of Bretagne was very ambitious for her daughters, but neither of them married during her lifetime. Claude, the eldest, was amply dowered with the duchy of Bretagne, and Anne per- suaded Louis to transfer his claims on Milan and Asti to Kenee, 1 Paolo Giovio, La Vita di Alfonso, p, 349. - Muratori, Antichita Estensi^ cap. xi. p. 353. 3 Anne, Duchess of Bretagne in her own right, was mamed first to Charles viii. and then to Louis xii., her youthful admirer. He had been married eighteen years before to Jeanne daughter of Louis xi. against his will, but he no sooner ascended the throne than he divorced his unhappy wife. It was important to attach Bretagne to the crown, and affection was united with policy in this marriage. Anne had been a neglected wife to Charles, but was devotedly beloved by Louis. Her marriage contract stipulated that she was to have the entire command of her duchy, and that it should descend to her second son, or to her daughters next in age, with all the rights of sovereignty. She had only two daughters : Claude, the eldest, was mamed to Francis i., and the duchy settled on her as a dower. She died in 1524, in the arms of her young sister Renee.— Lacretelle, Hist, de France, vol. vi. p. 11; Journal d' un Bourgeois^ p. 296. 72 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- the younger sister, while she was yet an infant. If with this dower, as was projected, the young princess had been bestowed in marriage on Charles, who so soon became emperor, it would have spared the effusion of blood in Italy and the pretensions of the rival monarchs. But this alliance, though formally contracted, was never accomplished, and Renee was eventually united to an Italian prince of the noble house of Este. The marriage Avas celebrated at Paris on the 28th of June 1528, with the utmost splendour.^ The duke of Ferrara sent the bride a rich nuptial present of jewels worth a hundred thousand crowns in gold.^ They were prevented from going immediately to Ferrara on account of the plague which raged there. Ever since the sack of Rome famine and disease had prevailed in Italy. The provident care of the good duke Alfonso had imported large quantities of corn, but no efficacious remedy for the plague was known, and it brought with it such appalling terror that many died from alarm, not having courage to resist the very first symptoms of this fell disease. Twenty thousand persons are said to have perished during the summer months. It was not till the month of October that the virulence of the disease shewed any signs of abatement. The streets of Ferrara were depopulated, and the remaining inhabitants in the deepest dejection. The duke was unwearied in his efforts to calm and soothe the public mind, forbade the bells to toll, and encouraged the use of a medicated oil composed by Pietro Castagna, a Spanish physician, who was employed to attend the sick. Towards the beginning of November Ercole and his royal bride prepared to leave Paris for Italy. She was accompanied by fourteen young ladies of rank, dressed in the costume of the French court. Alfonso, in honour of the bride, gave orders that all mourning was to be laid aside, families who had quitted 1 On tlie second of April 1515, the Imperial ambassador, Henry, Count of Nassau, went through the ceremony of marriage with Eenee of France, as the proxy of the archduke Charles. On the second of September 1516, Leo x. gave the king Francis i. a bull which annulled the marriage. He substituted his own daughter Louise, a year old, and made a new contract of marriage with the archduke Charles, but this was dissolved by the death of the infant bride. — Journal d' im Bourgeois, p. 10. 2 Her dower was a settlement of 250,000 crowns in gold, to be levied on the duchy of Chartres, and on Gisors, and Montargis. Ercole took the title of Duke of Chartres. — Frizzi Mem. torn. iv. p. 286. See Appendix B. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 73 the city at the time of the plague were encouraged to return, the markets were again held, and the churches opened, the universities reassembled, and everything was done to give the afflicted city an air of cheerfulness and joy. The duke, ac- companied by the chief nobles, went as far as Keggio to meet the bridal procession. On the 12th of November Ren^e entered Modena. She was received at the gate of St. Agostino under a rich canopy by the clergy and people. Mounted on a beautiful Spanish barb she rode between the duke and her young brother- in-law, Ippolito archbishop of Milan ; her husband accompanied her on horseback, and they went in procession to the cathedral. Several days were passed in receiving entertainments and ex- changing presents, but the splendour of their reception at Modena was nothing compared with the pomp and magnificence of their entry into Ferrara. Eenee was first conducted to the Belvidcre, a beautiful villa which Alfonso had built on a triangular island in the Po, close under the walls of Ferrara. This villa was a magnificent palace of admirable architecture and vast extent. It was the only building which Alfonso had erected during his reign, and it was his peculiar and favourite delight. There he retired to meditate plans of defence and security, and to snatch a moment's repose from the affairs of state. The chapel was painted by Rossi and Dossi, famous artists of the day, and the palace was surrounded by gardens of great beauty, in which were collected everything which could soothe the senses and charm the eyes. Here were shady walks, woods, parterres, gushing fountains, and inviting paths which led by an easy descent to the river. The rarest plants and richest fruit-trees grew in abundance. Part of the garden was stocked with a variety of animals ; birds of every wing, both wild and tame, flitted from bough to bough and found there a peaceful shelter. The grounds were laid out with much taste in a picturesque style not common in Italy. Agostino^ describes the whole place as so beautiful and delightful that it well deserved the name of paradise. From this charming villa the bride went in a superb bu- centaur, or barge, on the Po to the city of Ferrrra, with a crown of gold on her head. She entered by the gate of S. Paolo under a splendid canopy, cannon booming and bells ringing in token ^ Cosmopeia, lib. i. 74 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- of rejoicing; she was carried in a litter through the principal streets, which were covered with red, white, and green cloth.* In her train walked eighty noble pages dressed in crimson jackets ; they wore rose-coloured caps with white feathers, and carried red wands in their hands. These were preceded by the clergy and the learned men, and followed by the nobles on horseback to the cathedral. The young couple here received the nuptial benediction from M. Gelino, archbishop of Com- machio, and Alfonso Trotti, the Castellano, presented the keys of the city on a silver salver to the bride. The procession now directed its way to the Este palace, which was beautifully adorned with arras and tapestry of great value, heir-looms of the house of Este. Splendid entertainments succeeded, which lasted several days. They were much of the same nature as those at the marriage of Alfonso with Lucrezia Borgia, of which we have so graphic a description in the letters of Isabella d' Este.^ Muratori^ describes Eenee as a princess of great beauty and elevation of mind. Varillas, on the contrary, says she was unfortunate in her person, her form was defective, and that she was by no means beautiful, ^' but," he adds, " her personal de- ficiencies were more than compensated by her superior intellect." Such was the promptitude of her understanding that she found it only an amusement to study the higher branches of knowledge. Besides a considerable acquaintance with Greek and Koman literature, she had studied mathematics, philosophy, theology, and even astrology.'' Educated in a court distinguished for its superior and accomplished women, she had not been insensible to the influence they exercised there. Anne of Bretagne, her ^ The old Italian coloiirs whicli are now the watchword of Italy. 2 See Archivio Storico, No. xi., Appendice. "'' Antichita Estensi. 4 Her master in this occult science was the celebrated Lucca Gaurico ; he was a Neapolitan, born at Gifone in 1475, died at Rome in 1558. He was professor of astronomy at Naples; in 1507 he removed to Ferrara, where in addition to astronomy he taught judicial astrology ; but though he could foretel the misfortunes of others he could not foresee his own, for he prognosticated that Giovanni Benti- voglio should lose Eologna, but did not know that the publication of this prophecy would procure for himself the torture of being drawn up with cords. He went to Eome in 1535, and was a favourite with Paul iii. who was fond of these kind of studies. The Pope gave him a bishopric in the kingdom of Naples, with 300 ducats as stipend, besides other advantages. He left Naples for Rome in 1553. His works, in three vols, folio, were printed at Bale in 1575. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 75 mother, was a woman of fine sense and excellent judgment, and placed about her daughters persons of the higliest talent and virtue. Kenee spoke with equal purity the French and Italian languages, and charmed the court of Ferrara by her amiable manners and affable demeanour. While she surpassed her sex both in education and talent she possessed qualities of greater value, for she was a virtuous princess and a sincere Christian. Living in a Roman Catholic country, the wife of a Catholic prince, herself supposed to be of the same opinions, she had great difficulties to encounter and many hard trials to overcome. During the thirty years of her married life she had an arduous struggle to maintain between her ease and her conscience, but actuated by real and heartfelt principles of religion she remained stedfast to the end. It is not quite clear how far she adopted the reformed opinions before she left France, but from her connection with Mar- guerite duchess of Alen^on,^ who openly favoured the reformers, she must have been intimately acquainted with their views. Her extreme youth and love of learning led her like Mar- guerite to patronise those learned men who were foremost in decrying superstition. Their appeals to scriptural truth, and its pure rule of doctrine, failed not to make a deep impression on a mind already disposed to disregard the dictates of the church.^ When Renee left France persecution had already begun, and the reformed doctrines had taken deep root. The venerable Le Fevre d' Etaples had spoken words of peace from the Gospel. Bri9onnet, bishop of Meaux, was in correspondence with the duchess of Alen9on, and Louise her mother listened to some of the enlightened preachers of Meaux. But when Francis, in 1524, was about to leave France on his Italian expedition, he thought it prudent to conciliate the clergy by severe measures against the heretics. The chancellor Du Prat, during the king's captivity, obtained from the regent Louise several condemnations 1 Daughter of Charles, Count of Angouleine, and Louise of Savoy, and sister of Francis i. - Her father, Louis xii. had been at open war with Giulio ii. He threatened to march to Rome, for the pui'pose of arresting and deposing the Pope. The suc- cess of the French army at the battle of Ravenna encouraged his projects, and he struck a medal with the motto, Terdam Buhtjlonis nomcn, — Lacretclle, Rkt. dc France^ tom. vi. p. 163. 76 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- to the flames. Even Le Fevre was obliged to fly, but Mar- guerite stood his friend, and procured him the appointment of tutor to one of the king's sons. As Le Fevre's French translation of the New Testament appeared in 1523, a year after Luther's German translation was published, we may naturally conclude that Kcnee had an opportunity of reading it. This is the more probable as Louise and Marguerite had enabled him to print it^ for their own edification as well as for that of the public. The reformed opinions were beginning to be diffused through- out Italy when the young bride arrived at Ferrara. As yet they did not appear much above the surface, but rather took the form of raillery against the Roman see. The sack of Eome and the inundation of the States of the Church by German Protestants had with trumpet voice proclaimed the weakness of the papacy. A cry of Antichrist ran through the land, and the pulpits were filled by persons who announced the fall of the temporal power of the Pope, and proclaimed the doctrines of the Gospel. The writings of the reformers were generally though secretly read. During Alfonso's lifetime the Pope's claim to respect and the requirements of the Roman Catholic religion had been but lightly regarded. At Clement's death in 1534 a weight seemed to be removed from the duke of Ferrara, and for the first time in his life he felt secure of his dominions. Paul III., a Farnese, who succeeded, had been greatly benefited by the Borgia family, with whom Alfonso was connected by marriage, and he began to look forward to years of tranquillity ; but just as he obtained the repose he had so long sought, he was seized with an illness which he declared to his attendant would be his last. His prognostication was true, for he died a few days after, evincing great firmness and resignation to the will of God, but to the inexpressible grief of his people, who felt that they would not easily find another such prince. ^ In the Preface to this old edition we find that "nobles et piiissantes dames et princesses les out fait imprimer pour leur edification et consolation et de ceux du royaume." Several editions appeared between the years 1523 and 1525, but since 1526 it has not been reprinted in France. On the 5th of February of that year a parliamentary decree was published throughout Paris by sound of trumpet, for- bidding any one to hold or to sell the Epistles of St. Paul, the Apocalypse, or any books of the Scriptures in the French language. It was reprinted however at Bale, and was the great means of revival in France. — Lutteroth, Ref. en France, p. 12. Paris, 1859. See Appendix C. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRAEA. 77 He was a man of truly superior mind, courageous and higli- minded in adversity, calm and temperate in prosperity. The reputation of Ferrara stood high throughout Europe on account of the noble character of its prince. Alfonso was admired not only for his valour in the field, but for the wisdom and dexterity with which he governed his affairs both at home and abroad. The terrible scenes of warfare and misfortune in which his life was passed, and the vigorous resistance he contrived to make against the rapacity of the Papal see, manifested the courage and firmness of his character. He was a fine-looking man, with a grave and somewhat repulsive manner, but in private and when quite at ease he was exceedingly amiable and cheerful in conversation. An impartial administrator, and ardent lover of justice, he neither suffered nor inflicted wrong. Though severe in punishing robbers and assassins, he was merciful to criminals in general. The wars in which he was continually engaged prevented him from embellishing Ferrara so much as his father had done. His chief attention was directed to the fortifications of the city, and this gave him an opportunity of exercising his mechanical genius, by working in the foundry of cannon^ and in the completion of his artillery. Though not himself of a studious turn, he took great delight in the society of learned men. Lodovico Ariosto,^ the author of Orlando Furioso, was often invited to his table, and employed by him in important missions. Twice he was sent to Pope Giulio II. ; 1 "Egodeva innoltre egli stesso di occuparsi nel lavorarc i cannoni ed altre macclime per la guerra, e una fralle altre ne descrive il Giovio da lui trovata, con cui a forza di acqua, e coUe braccia di un sol fanciiillo, piti pestelli ad un tempo apprestavano una gran quantita di polvere a fuoco." — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. torn. X. p. 34. 2 Bom in 1474 at Reggio, died in 1533 at Ferrara. His heroic poem -was the delight of all classes ; learned and unlearned, old and young were equally enthusiastic in its praise, and its stanzas were sung in every tongue. True, it was not without censors ; some objected to the measure, some to the plan of the work, others to the story. Tiraboschi justly says it still remains one of the best heroic poems in the Italian language; and with that rare judgment which so eminently distinguished him adds, that he cannot but admire the negligence of the style and the uTcgularity of the narrative, for if it had been scrupulously polished down and corrected it would have lost that vigour and spirit which is its greatest charm. The names of the critics are lost to posterity, but the poem still remains one of the glories of the Italian language. It went through sixty editions before the expiration of the century, besides inniunerable translations into all the European languages and dialects. — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. tom. vii. p. 97. 78 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- tlie second time he found the pontiif so enraged against Alfonso that there was some danger lest he himself should be thrown into the Tiber. His heroic poem of forty cantos occupied him for ten years. ^ At one time Ariosto formed part of tlie retinue of Ippolito d' Este the brother of Alfonso, but declining to follow him to Hungary he lost his favour. Notwithstanding the protection of Alfonso, Ariosto did not fully enjoy that tranquillity and freedom from care desirable for the cultivation of the Muses. He was a very absent man, and it is recorded that when he was living at Carpi he went out one morning in his slippers very early to take a walk ; absorbed in thought or in composition, he continued walking on half-way to Ferrara before he found out his mistake. Duke Alfonso patronised the fine arts, especially painting, and added to the Este gallery several fine pictures of Titian. He understood music, delighted in architecture, and was a thorough judge of arms, falconry, and horses. His prudent expenditure made the lower class, who like a lavish hand, think him parsimonious, not reflecting that a wise use of money is one of the marks of a superior judgment. In fact, his love of economy furnished him with the means of conferring the greatest benefits on his subjects ; for notwithstanding the enormous expences of long years of war, and the heavy subsidies paid to foreign princes, he never increased the taxes, nor withheld the salaries of public professors. Avarice was not his failing ; he did not lay by money from the love of hoarding, but in order to have a reserve for contingencies, and the power of advancing considerable sums on critical occasions saved the dukedom from ruin. When necessary he could be regally munificent, and spared no expense in entertaining Charles V. or the allied princes. Alfonso was three times married ; to Anne Sforza, v/ho left no children ; to Lucrezia Borgia, who bore him a numerous family : three sons and a daughter survived their father — Ercole, Ippolito, Francesco, and Eleanora a nun. Late in life Alfonso made a left-handed marriage with a celebrated beauty, Laura Eustochio. The learned Celio Calcagnini, professor of belles lettres and canon of the cathedral of Ferrara, delivered an oration at Alfonso's funeral, in which he so strikingly described 1 The first edition was published in 1516, and the last which he published during his lifetime in 1532, at Ferrara. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 79 the excellencies of this good duke tliat his audience were affected to tears at the remembrance of their loss. Ercole II., the husband of Kenee, succeeded liis father as duke of Ferrara ; he was by no means equal in nobleness of cha- racter to the magnanimous Alfonso. Feeling that he could not defend his dominions with the same skill that his father had done, he judged it prudent to profit by the accession of a new Pope to put his aifairs on a better footing at Rome. Paul III., as cardinal Farnese, had signed the bull of Alexander VI. in favour of the house of Este. Alfonso, just before his death, projected sending Ercole to Rome on a congratulatory mission, and now that he was a sovereign prince it was a still greater compliment for him to pay the Pope a visit in person. On the 19th of September 1535 he set out, accompanied by a splendid retinue of young nobles, superbly dressed in vests embroidered with gold and wearing massive gold chains. Their pages and footmen were all in velvet liveries ; in their train were a number of trumpeters and piiferi,^ who travelled in waggons and on mules. When they entered Rome they were greeted by the sound of martial music, and guns were fired from the castle of St. Angelo. The Pope's guard, the cardinals, and the ambassadors went out in procession to meet the gay young duke of Ferrara. The splendour of the pageant made quite a sensation in Rome, and brought the whole population into the streets. But this welcome reception did not expedite the chief object of his visit. When Ercole asked the Pope to ratify the decision of Charles V. in favour of the dukes of Ferrara, the cardinals made difiiculties, and took time to consider. Weary of this delay, Ercole em- ployed the interval in paying a visit of congratulation to Charles at Naples, who had just returned from his victorious expedition against Tunis, and he willingly obliged the duke by a renewal of the Imperial investiture. Between the years 1528 and 1535 little is recorded of Renee but the birth of her three children, one son and two daughters.^ Bernardo Tasso was appointed her secretary in 1529,'' and her court was crowded with learned men. In the spring of the year 1534 she went to see Venice; in that free city Calvin had ^ Musicians who play on an instrument resembling the bagpipe. 2 Anna, bom 16th November, 1531; Alfonso, 22n(l November, 1533; and Lucrezia, 16th December, 1535. 3 See Bembo, Letterc, p. 92. Ed. Venet. 1560. 80 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- a great many correspondents/ and the reformed doctrines were openly taught there. As she was surrounded by her French ladies and attendants she could easily communicate with the favourers of reform at Venice, and it is by no means impossible that the reformer's visit to Ferrara the following year was in some way connected with this excursion of the duchess. The historians of Ferrara, while they accord to Renee her due meed of praise, and speak of her not only as a wise and pious princess but as a learned and intelligent woman, began about this time to observe that in her secret soul she nourished the seeds of heresy.^ In 1535 Calvin went in disguise to Ferrara^ to pay the duchess a visit. He arrived in company with Louis du Tillet, brother of Jean du Tillet, canon of Angouleme. They were presented to the duke as travellers visiting the beauties of Italy. Calvin assumed the name of Charles d' Espeville, his own being too well known as the champion of heresy. The reformer's heart yearned over the classic land of Italy, and leaped within him at the joyous promise which it offered of being won over to the Gospel. Knowing Eenee's piety and her favourable disposition towards the reformed doctrines, he indulged the hope that her court might become a centre, as well as a refuge, for those who were desirous of seeing the Christian Church undergo a reformation so complete as to restore it to its primitive purity and simplicity. His visit was well timed, for his acute and sagacious mind knew well that the favour of the new Pope would possibly be more perilous for Gospel doctrine than the former enmity of the Papal see. Encouraged by the piety of ^ See Caracciolo, MS. Vita dl Paulo IV. p. 118. 2 Frizzi, 31cm. Storia di Ferrara, torn. iv. p. 309. 3 Muratori alludes to this visit, and says it is mentioned by Sponde. The terms in which the moderate Muratori spealis of the " Heresiarch" betray the bitter feeling with which he was regarded. " Secondo 1' annalista Spondano nell' anno precedente (1535) venuto a Ferrara 1' Eresiarca Giovanni Calvino, sotto abito finto, talmente infetto, Renea figlia del Re Lodovico, e Duchessa di Ferrara, degli errori suoi che non si pote raai trarle di cuore il bovuto veleno. Ma nel presente anno veggendosi scoperto questo lupo, so ne fuggi a Ginevra." He adds that he has been told by those who have seen the acts of the Inquisition at Ferrara, che si pestifero mobile fu fatto priffione, but was forcibly released by an armed force while being conveyed from Ferrara to Bologna. But the Inquisition was not established till 1542, so that it is difficult to connect this account with Calvin's visit in 1535. — Muratori, Annali, tom. x. p. 12. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FEmiAKA. 81 the duclicss, and perhaps also by Marguerite queen of Navarre, Calvin's object was to strengthen and confirm Eenee by christian communion and prayer. He held religious meetings in her private apartments, which were attended not only by the French ladies of honour, but by many Italian ladies of her court. Calvin had just finished his immortal work L' Institution Chretienne, a book which a master mind alone could have written. It proves him to have been gifted with those rare endowments which Divine Providence from time to time bestows on the few who are born to influence mankind and lead them to higher measures of spiritual and intellectual knowledge. Such men teach us to adore with admiring wonder the Creator's power, and give us a kind of foretaste of heavenly communion. If such excellence can exist here below, what must be the depth and extent of faculties elevated by the converse of angels and enlightened by the ethereal atmosphere of heaven. Calvin dedicated the first edition of his work to Francis I., kins: of France,^ the brother-in-law of Eenee, with the hope that under the auspices of Marguerite de Valois it might be received with favour. There can be little doubt that in his private exhorta- tions and expositions before the duchess, and her little company of enquirers, he enlarged on the scriptural system of christian faith and practice which he had so ably set forth in his Institution Chretienne. So remarkable a visitor was not likely to remain long con- cealed. The private meetings for prayer and reading the Scriptiu'es came to the knowledge of the duke : though himself indifierent about religion, he felt how important it was to his interests not to irritate the Pope by a suspicion of heresy, and he immediately dismissed Calvin, and hushed up the report of his visit to Ferrara that it might not reach Rome. This circumstance drew his attention to the religious opinions of the duchess, and she was subsequently exposed to severe trials on this very account. Eenee found hearty sympathy and support from Anne de Parthenai,^ the daughter of her governess Madame de Soubise. ^ See Appendix D. 2 She married Antoine de Pons, wlio survived her, and was massacred at St. Bartholome-w. VOL. II. Q 82 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Anne was one of the chief ornaments of the court of Ferrara, and greatly attached to the duchess ; she was about the same age as her royal friend, they had followed the same studies, and grown up in habits of intimacy together. She was a good Latin scholar, and had studied Greek so diligently that she could read with facility any book in that language. But her chief delight was in the Holy Scriptures and books of theology, and one of her greatest pleasures was to converse with pious and learned men on sacred subjects. Nor was she deficient in feminine accomplishments ; she had a fine voice, and was a proficient in several kinds of music. Her brother Jean de Parthenai, Baron de Soubise, accom- panied his sister to the court of Ferrara, and it is supposed that it was during his residence there that his Protestant predilections became so confirmed as to induce him afterwards to stand forward as one of the heads of the Huguenot party in France. It is recorded of the gallant Soubise and his heroic wife Antoi- nette Bouchard, that while he held Lyons for the Protestants, the besieging party, who were Catholics, threatened to take his wife and daughter to the gates and massacre them before his eyes if he did not surrender. His noble wife, in reply to a mes- sage sent by her husband, wrote word, by Poltrot the messenger, to let them both perish rather than sacrifice the interests of his party. She was indeed a wife worthy of the man who would never in his greatest extremity treat separately for himself, nor sign any agreement without the cooperation of the Huguenot chiefs. A total abnegation of self, and an absolute devotedness to the cause they had espoused, were the ruling virtues of this high-minded family. Tlie brother of Madame de Soubise, the Vicomte d' Aubeterre, gave up rank and wealth and all the luxuries of civilised society to follow his conscience in religion. During the heat of persecution he fled to Geneva, where he led a very hard life; being obliged by the laws of that republic to have a trade, and live by it, he became a button-maker. With such valiant spirits to fight for their religion, we cannot wonder if nothing short of a wholesale massacre could rid France of these protesters against Catholic corruptions. When the perfidious peace was made in 1572, at the marriage of Henri IV. with Marguerite Catherine's daughter, the Vicomte d' Aubeterre was induced to go to Paris, and fell a victim at the massacre 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 83 of St. Bartholomew, after defending himself with the courage of a lion against his murderers.^ Besides the anunated and intellectual companionship of her French friends, the duchess was surrounded by learned Italians of great talent. The princes of Ferrara had always been distinguished patrons of literature. During the reign of Alfonso I. constant warfare had in some degree restrained his munificence towards learning, but his son Ercole II. was at liberty to indulge his classical tastes. Ariosto^ even numbers him among the poets of his day. Ferrara was not only famous for the superior talents of its literary men, but for the scientific knowledge of its professors of medicine. Giovanni Mainardi and his distinguished scholar, Antonio Musa Brasavola, were the renovators of medical science. The latter, son of count Francesco Brasavola, read Dialectics in the university at eighteen years of age, and at twenty, sustained arguments both at Padua and Bologna on a hundred propositions relating to theology, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and belles lettres. This universal genius was a great favourite at court; he was appointed chief physician to Ercole, the heir apparent, and accompanied him to France when he went to claim his bride. He had the honour of being consulted in his medical capacity by Charles Y. and by Paul III. His favourite study was botany : he had a splendid collection of rare plants, and in- troduced many new remedies into medical science. The university of Ferrara was in its highest lustre at the commencement of the reign of Ercole II. Renee's fine taste and classical education gave great encouragement to talent, and the care with which she educated her daughters was an example to the nobles and a stimulus to literature in general. Besides Calcagnini, Mamardi, Brasavola, and the antiquary Costanzo Landi, we find the poet Giglio Gregorio Geraldi, who, after struggling with poverty out of his own country, was at length obliged in 1533 to return without having improved his fortunes. He was at Rome, in the service of cardinal Rangone, when the city was taken in 1527, and lost everything he possessed, including his books, which were indeed his chief riches. His patron dying that same year he retired to Mirandola, where Gian ^ Sec Bayle's JDictionarij, art. Soidise. 2 Orlando Fio'ioso, Canto xxxvii. st. 13. g2 84 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Francesco Pico gave him a cordial reception, and promised to compensate him for his losses; but in 1533 count Pico was barbarously murdered.^ Giraldi was even in greater danger than at the sack of Rome, and scarcely escaped with life when he took refuge at Ferrara. Here he met with assistance and sympathy, and the duchess willingly extended her patronage to him. Confined almost continually to bed by terrible fits of the gout, he yet devoted himself assiduously to study, and wrote his celebrated work Sintagmi intorno agli Iddj, in which he displayed an almost boundless erudition, for there is scarcely an author either in Greek or Latin whom he does not quote; he cites all the old MSS., and confronts them with the ancient inscriptions. Neither was he one of those limited intelligences who are satisfied to compile from the works of others, but he analysed and compared, adapted or rejected their opinions accord- ing to the judgment he had formed of the subject. He dedicated his Stoma de Poeti to the duchess Renee. Monsr. Fontanini is much shocked at this, and more particularly at his praising the holy life of the duchess, and speaking of her piety and religion; expressions which horrify him, as he considers her dissidence from the Roman Catholic religion^ a disqualification for piety or holiness. 1 Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola was the nephew of his learned uncle Giovanni Pico, but his life was much less tranquil, and he fell a victim in the end to family feuds. Gianfrancesco was an ardent Platonist and an opposer of Ai-istotle ; he succeeded his grand-nephew Galeotto in the dominion of Mirandola, hut his brother Lodovico claimed this principality, and was warmly supported by his wife, Francesca, daughter of the French general Gianjacopo Trivolzi. Lodovico was slain in war, but Francesca stood up for the rights of her sons. As the French arms pi'evailed or failed Gianfrancesco lost or won his paternal estates; but at length, during the night of the 15th of October, 1533, Galeotto the nephew of Lodovico, at the head of forty armed men, entered the apartment of Gianfrancesco with murderous intent. Perceiving his danger he threw himself on his knees before a crucifix, when the assassins barbarously cut off his head, and threw his wife and son into prison. Considering the continual agitation of his life, it is wonderful how he found time to write so many works on such various subjects. — See Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. tom. vii. p. 355 ; and Roscoe's Life of Leo X, vol. ii. p. 251. 2 "lo resto molto maravigliato che Lilio Grcgorio, morto nel 1552 in fine della prefazione alia Duchessa Renata sopra la storia de' Poeti e in quella sopra la Dis- sertazione de annis ct mensibus, esalti ancor egli in cstreme la santita di Renata, anzi di piu, pietate)n et religioncm in Deum : cose, che fanno orrore, considerando come allora in materia di Fede cattolica si stava in FeiTara, e in Italia." In the Registri di Prospero Santacroce there are fifty letters addressed to Card. Borromeo ; among which are three which speak of the Duchess Renee as piu che mai pertinace nella setta di Calvim. — Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. tom. i. p. 119. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 85 Marcello Palingenio was another contemporary poet, who wrote Zodiacus Vitce, a poem more curious than elegant, in which the twelve signs of the zodiac are the heads of the twelve books or chapters. Tiraboschi says it owes its celebrity chiefly to the pungent invectives in which the author indulged against the monks, the clergy, and even the Roman pontiffs. This caused him to be branded as a heretic, and his dead body was condemned to be burned, notwithstanding Iiis having professed in his preface to submit his opinions to the judgment of the Catholic church. The poem was dedicated to Ercole 11.^ Alessandro Sassi was one of those erudite students who dived into the depths of antiquity. He wrote a mythological work styled Numinum et Ileroum OrigmeSj besides innumerable MSS. on poetry, history, geography, &c. The university of Ferrara was in such high renown that it was full of strangers, and so numerous were the students of the English nation that they formed a distinct body apart from others. The literary taste of Ferrara manifested itself in a super- abundance of academies with their quaint appellations.^ Three only however deserve notice. Their youthful vigour and racy eloquence will perhaps be best depicted in the language of Alberto Lollio, the founder of the Mevatij who thus addressed the members of the academy on the election of a Dictator. ^^ Fresh in the flower of youth you are able to bear vigorously all kinds of fatigue and inconvenience; you have among you quick intellects capable of overcoming the greatest difficulties ; you live in a cheerful, peaceful and tranquil city, where the university is full of learned and eloquent men, and where there is an abundant store of Greek, Latin, and Italian books ; you enjoy the varied and continuous lectures and discussions of the academy, the welcome and delightful conversation of many pilgrim spirits, who, moved by the desire of knowledge, have flocked to this country from all parts of Europe, &c."^ At the death of the learned Celio Calcagnini, one of its great supporters, it decayed, but was revived under the name of Filareti. Bartolomeo Ricci, in his correspondence with Alfonso Calcagnini, congratulates him on opening this academy in the 1 Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. torn. vii. p. 258. 2 Hist. Gymn. Ferrar. vol. i. p. 139. ^ Lollio Oraz. torn. i. p. 92. 86 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- country, describes their meetings, their walks together, and their learned discourses with each other, and bemoans himself that he cannot leave the city to enjoy their society ; but he declines to become a member on account of his pressing occupations and his advanced age. The academy called Ferrarese flourished at a later period under Torquato Tasso, who spoke the opening oration. " Here we neither desire nor aspire to anything but to cultivate our intellects, and mature the seeds of virtue and learning which our mother nature has so lavishly scattered among us ; here each will seek to sharpen his wit, to refine his judgment, to exercise his memory, and make it the receptacle of the precious treasures of knowledge and science ; here the tongue will be accustomed to express with grace the ideas which the mind has first con- ceived and apprehended."^ As at Modena the freedom of discussion on literary subjects was by an easy transition extended to works of theology, and the Italian historians say that all the books which were printed against the Catholic religion were eagerly read at Ferrara under the patronage of the duchess, and that fugitives on account of opinion received there assistance and protection.^ But while the interests of literature were not neglected, a nobler few sought a higher species of learning. Calvin's visit and instructions at Ferrara had not been without fruit. Besides the accomplished Anne de Parthenai, who was a true christian disciple, there was a young Italian lady named Francesca Burcyronia, who was so impressed by his preaching that she began to read the Scriptures and to study them with serious earnestness. She was greatly assisted in her search after truth by the conversation of two brothers from Germany of the name of Sinapi. John and Chilian Sinapi were Lutherans ; attracted by the fame of the university of Ferrara, they entered themselves as students there, and were employed by the duchess to instruct the princesses in Greek. One of them, John, was a medical man,/ and probably took his degree at Ferrara. The young ladies of the court no doubt had an opportunity of sharing the instructions given to the princess 1 Tasso, Opere^ torn. ir. p. 519. Ed. Firenzc. 2 Frizzi, Mem. Storia Ferarra, torn. iv. p. 309. 3 For some of their letters see Oli/mjnce Moratco Opera. Basil. 1570. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 87 Anna. In the absence of exact details avc may imagine with every probability of truth that Calvin's earnest, serious teaching was made a blessing to these young people, and the brothers Sinapi, protestants by predilection, became more spiritually enlightened under his instructions. AVhen in 1533 John Sinapi married Francesca Burcyronia, they so deeply felt their obligations to the reformer that they kept up a close correspondence with him as their spiritual guide. '^ We beseech you," they wrote, ^' in the name of that friendship of which you have given us so many proofs during your stay in this court, to continue to us the benefit of your counsels. Teach us, in the midst of the snares which surround us, how to conduct ourselves as a christian couple, to live in a holy manner before God, and render to him the honour due to his name."^ Nor was Calvin unmindful of the flock he had left behind him at Ferrara. He wrote continually to the duchess, and we are greatly indebted to the industry and good taste of a modern editor for the pleasure and edification he has aflforded us by publishing these interesting letters.^ The all-absorbing desire to follow the commands of God which so eminently distinguished this great reformer shines forth conspicuously in these faithful exhortations to this distinguished lady. In a letter written with his own hand, still extant in the library of Geneva, he unveils the character of her almoner, a certain Maistre Frangois, whom the duchess had appointed her preacher, but whom Calvin disapproved of as a temporiser; one who preached the Gospel when it suited his profit or ambition, and changed his tone when it brought him vexation or persecution. To MY Lady Duchess of Feeeaea. ''Madam, — I humbly beseech you to take in good part my bold- ness in writing these presents, judging that, if in this there is too much plainness {simplicife), it does not proceed so much from rashness or over-boldness as from a pure and sincere desire to serve you in the Lord. For though I acknowledge myself to be a very unprofitable servant of the Church, nevertheless it appears expedient for me to occupy myself in this matter according to the grace given me by God, and I have even thought it necessary to act thus if I wished to perform 1 Joannes Sinapius Calvino, dccembro 1543, unedited con-cspondence cited by Jides Bonnet. Jle d' Olympia Moraia, p. 4o. Paris, 1854. 2 Lcttrcs de Jean Calvin, rccueillies par Jules Bonnet. Paris, 1854. 88 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FALEAEIO. [1510- my duty ; and because I feel myself bound towards you to promote as much as possible, in things pertaining to my office, your welfare and advantage. Though this alone is a sufficient motive, yet, considering the rank and preeminence which God has given you, it appears that we all, whom the Lord in his goodness has called to be ministers of his holy word, ought to be specially diligent in occupying ourselves about you, because, far more than other persons of princely rank, you are able to promote and advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ. I have besides discerned in you so great a fear of God, and so faithful a desire to obey him, that even independent of the exalted station in which he has placed you among men, I so esteem the grace with which he has inspired you, that I should deem myself accursed if I omitted any opportunity which presented itself of serving or being useful to you. This I say truly, without flattery or dissimulation, but in sincerity of heart as speaking before Him who knows all our secret thoughts. *' Madam, I have heard from certain good persons who have passed by this way, that Maistre Frangois, whom you have appointed preacher in your house, after having acquitted himself as well in preaching as could be expected of him, has persuaded you that it would not be a bad thing, after hearing the mass, to take the communion of the Lord's Supper. This was not approved by one of your ladies, who, according to the knowledge which she had received from God, would not against her conscience approach that which she thought wrong : this, through the influence of Maistre Fra7igois, has in some degree diminished the good will you usually bear her, and matters have gone so far that you have been told that those who think like her are not to be borne, more especially because their importunities engender causes of off'ence with- out end among the faithful. On this account, judging that a thing of such great importance was not to be concealed, and seeing that you are given to understand things to be diff'erent from what they are; ac- cording as it has pleased the Lord to reveal to me from the Scriptures, I thought of communicating to you what God had given me to under- stand in this matter. But while I was undecided and doubtful what to do, I was informed by Madame do Pons^ that you greatly desired to be more fully instructed on this point, seeing there were so many diffi- culties that you found it very difficult to decide. This message con- firmed my intention of venturing to undertake to lay faithfully before you the extent of my knowledge, in order that you might make your decision, and when you had fully heard the truth of God that you might follow it in all obedience, as your desire is not to rebel against but humbly and benignly to receive it. However, Madam, before I begin, I entreat you not to harbour any suspicion that I do this at the instigation of any of your attendants, or to favour any particular person, for I avow before God that I do it without being asked by any person ; and, as I have already said, only on the information of travellers who did not know that I had any opportunity of writing to jou. On the other hand, I would rather be thrown into the depths of the sea^ than make use of the truth of God as an engine for hatred or favour to 1 Anne de Parthenai, wife of Antoinc dc Pons, Comte de Marennes, first gentleman to Ercole ii. duke of Ferrara. 2 /' aimerais mieulx efre confondu en abysme. Bonnet, Lettres de Calvin. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 89 any creature whatsoever. But what urges me to speak is, that I can- not bear the word of God to be hidden from you, perverted, corrupted, and depraved on such important points by those in whom you have confidence, and to whom you have given authority. '' Touching Maistre Francois, when I tell you calmly what I certainly know of liim to warn you against trusting implicitly to his doctrine, I do not fear that you will have a bad opinion of me as if I spoke of this person from hatred or envy. Tor I have neither cause nor motive to envy him in any way, and the hatred which I have hitherto borne him has been always to do all in my power to edify him for good. But when I see any one, from an unenlightened conscience, overturning the word of God and extinguishing the light of truth, I could not forgive him were he my own father a hundred times over. From long experience I know that this man, small as is the intelligence which God has given him of the Scriptures, has always used it for his own profit and ambition, preaching it (the truth) when it served his avarice, and renouncing it as soon as it brought him annoyance When trouble and persecutions arose he had always his renunciation ready to escape them, so that in him we can discern nothing, but that the holy sacred Avord of God is to him a game and a mockery, for he turns it into a farce, acting sometimes one character sometimes another, as the fancy takes him. Of his life I say nothing, except that a better one were desirable in a minister of the word " But now. Madam, let us leave the person and come to the subject-matter. He gives you to understand that the mass is not so bad or abominable, that it is not allowaUe to be said and listened to by the faithful ; those whose conscience is against it he calls disturbers of the church and exciters of scandals among the weak, whom we are commanded to sustain. On the first point I doubt whether I need dwell, conceiving you to be convinced that the mass is as execrable a sacrilege as could be devised, and I almost fear to appear ridiculous in your eyes if I attempt to prove that which you do not deem doubtful. Inasmuch as the mass is a sacrifice commanded by men for the redemption and salvation of the living and the dead, as their canon bears, it is an intolerable blasphemy by which the sufferings of Jesus Christ are rejected as of no efficacy. For when we say that the faithful are redeemed by the blood of Christ, through which they obtain re- mission of their sins, righteousness, and the hope of eternal life, we understand that our good Saviour, in offering himself to the Father and submitting to be sacrificed, has ofi'ered himself as an eternal sacrifice, through which our iniquities being cleansed and purified, we are received into favour by the Father, and become partakers of the heavenly inheritance of which the Apostle so fully speaks in the Epistle to the Hebrews/ If then the death of Christ is not acknowledged as the one sacrifice which has been made once for all to be of perpetual efficacy, ^ "By his own hlood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world ; but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." — Ejnst. Hebreicsy c. ix. 90 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- what remains then but to lay it aside as of no value ? I know well that these liars, to cover their abomination, say that they offer the same sacrifice which Jesus did, but this involves many blasphemies. He alone could do this. The Apostle says that if he is now sacrificed he must often suffer. Thus you see you must do one of two things, either denounce and detest the horrible blasphemy of the mass, or by approving it trample under foot the cross of Christ. How contrary it is to the Supper of Christ I leave you to consider within yourself, after having read in the Scriptures an account of its institution. The great desecration and idolatry which is committed in adoring as God a created (thing)^ is in no wise excusable. These things considered, let us reflect that we can neither say nor hear it without seriously offending God by partaking of such abominations If any object that he cannot avoid exterior actions, but that his heart is right within ; to this our Lord replies, that he would be glorified in our bodies which he has ransomed through his blood, that he requires us to confess him with the mouth, and that all our prayers be consecrated to his honour, and not in any way contaminated or polluted by things displeasing to him. " JS'ow as to the scandal. Your almoner says, weak consciences are troubled if any who are deemed believers have such a horror of the mass that they will neither hear nor be present at it. But he does not consider that in things commanded or forbidden by God, if the whole world should be offended, nevertheless we are not to disobey his com- mands Besides, all that we are commanded to do in not offending our neighbour tends to his good for edification, as St. Paul in the 15th of Romans cleasly proves. It follows therefore that we must not please him in things which do not tend to his edification but to his ruin "We know the mass to be an accursed and execra- ble thing ; if we countenance it to please the ignorant, those who see us present conclude that we approve it, and follow our example. St. Paul considers this a great crime, though we do not make any difficulty about it. I beseech you. Madam, do not allow yourself from fear of giving offence to be deceived. Por there is no scandal in the world more pernicious than that which, by our example, makes our Christian brother to stumble and fall into error. If we wish to avoid all offence, we must cast Jesus Christ behind us, for he is the rock of offence against which the whole world stumbles and falls JN'ot only in all the churches which have received the Gospel, but also among in- dividuals, it is a point decided, that the abomination of the mass is not to be endured. Prom thence Capito,^ who is one of those who seeks to 1 The wafer which is held up to be adored is a composition of flour, honey, «fec. manufactxired by the priests and called the hody of our Lord. 2 "Wolfgang Fahricius Capito was professor of divinity at Strasburg : he died in 1541. The title of his work was, De missa, matrimonio, et Jure magistratus in Ee- ligione. He dedicated it to Henry viii. as Sttmmum in terris Ecclesice Anglicance caput. The date is 15th March, 1537. Lettres de Calvin, J. Bonnet, 1854. In Orig. Lett. Eng. Ref. vol. i. p. 15, there is a letter of Ai-chbp. Cranmer to Capito, acknowledging the receipt of the hook, which he presented to the king with his own hand, and hinted that the author should be recompensed. The king did not much admire the hook ; " there were some things he could by no means digest or ap- 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 91 moderate matters, has just written a book, and dedicated it to the king of England, in which he teaches that it is the office of Christian princes to drive out of their country this execrable idolatry, if, as they ought to be, they are prepared to do their duty. In short, there is no person of any celebrity who is not now of this opinion. " Since then, Madam, it has pleased this our good Lord God through his infinite mercy to impart unto you the knowledge of his name, and enlighten you in the truth of his holy Gospel ; acknowledge the vocation with which you are called. For he has withdrawn us from the abyss of darkness in which we were held captive, that we may unswervingly follow his light without swaying hither and thither, and that we may seek more and more to be taught of Him, and to profit more abundantly through that holy patience of which he has given us some earnest. And above all take care not to limit the operations of his Spirit, as those do who shut both eyes and ears to the evidence of the truth, content to be ignorant of what the Lord would teach them. We must not act thus, lest the Lord punish us for such ingratitude and contempt. But rather let us study to advance in the school of this good master till we arrive at perfection in his doctrine, which will be when we lay down this heavy earthly flesh, praying with good David that He would teach us to do his will The chief thing is to ascertain what fruit his holy doctrine ought to bear in us. It should so transform our mind and heart that his glory shines in us, which consists in innocence, integrity, and holiness. If this be not the case we take the name of God in vain when we glory in the knowledge of the Gospel. I do not say this to admonish you to do what you are not doing at this present time, but that the work which God has begun in you may be confirmed day by day. I only beg, as I did at the be- ginning, that you would pardon my plainness {simplicite). If you wish to be more fully instructed in this matter, and principally how a Chi'istian person is to act regarding offences, I shall endeavour, in the measure granted to me by God, to satisfy you. Meanwhile I send you an epistle^ which, as you will see, is suitable, if you esteem it worthy, to employ some of your hours of leisure ; and besides a little book,^ which I have just finished, and I hope from its brevity it may be some consolation to you, especially as it is very full on doctrine.^ prove ;" and Cranmer says these " were the statements made concerning the mass." Cromwell put his majesty again in mind of the author, and got an order for one hundred crowns, which Cranmer calls a "trifling present." ^ The letter of Calvin to Louis Duchcmin, Be Fugiendis impiorum illicitis sacris et 2n(ritate Christiance religionis. Geneve. 8vo. 1537. 2 De la Cene de nostre Seigneur. 1540. 3 The last paragraph of this letter is wanting in the French edition. Mr. Bon- net has supplied it from a Latin translation. Calvini Epist. et Hesponsa, p. 93. (Ed. Amsterd.) The date is wanting, and Mr. Bonnet conjectures the letter to have been written in 1541, guided probably by the date 1540 of Calvin's work on La Cene ; but the copy sent to the Duchess might not have been printed, possibly it was written at an earher period, during Calvin's first stay in Geneva. In favour of this supposition there are several reasons to be adduced. Madame de Pons is alluded to by CaMn as being then at the Court of Ferrara ; and Rabelais, in a letter written in 1536, says that he fears the Duchess will suffer much, as the Duke had sent away 92 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- '' May the Lord look on you in this your weakness, and so effica- ciously pour out the energy of his Spirit, that he may render you not less illustrious in his kingdom than he has been pleased to exalt you in this present life above the generality of mankind. Geneva (1541)." Such were the clear views and forcible exhortations which this great reformer impressed on the minds of princes and nobles. His letters are a singular contrast to the adulation common among learned men at the same period, but they furnish an admirable proof of the heart-searching nature of his religious principles. While we admire his faithfulness, we must not fail to observe the teachable spirit of the duchess. Beared in a court of luxury, and only partially acquainted with Scripture doctrine, she was yet sincerely desirous of following the counsel of those who were the most deeply enlightened in the oracles of truth. She persevered under difficulties of no common order, and proved herself eminently worthy of the approbation which Calvin bestows on her. Among other visitors at the court of Ferrara about this time, we find Clement Marot,^ the poet, who had fled from France during the heat of persecution after the affair of the Placards.^ Madame de Soubise. "Monsieur de Limoges qui etait a Ferrare Ambassadeur pour le Eoi voyant que le dit Due sans 1' avertir de son entreprise s' etoit rapproche a r Empereiu: et le Pape s' etoit retire en France. II y a danger que Madame Eenee en souffira fascherie. Le dit Due lui a oste Madame de Soubise sa gouvernante et la fait servir par des Italiennes." — Lettres de Rabelais, from Bayle's Diet. tThe dis- mission of Madame de Soubise might not, it is true, include her daugbter Madame de Pons and ber busband. Bayle, under the article Farthenai, alludes to a report that M. de Pons, Comte de Marennes, was dismissed from Ferrara for declaring that Francis, king of France, considered tbe bouse of Pons as ancient as that of Ferrara. But tbis must bave been a mere pretence ; bis Protestantism was tbe real cause. ^ Wbile in prison Marot wrote a poem called Enfer, wbicb be sent to Francis, who was a prisoner in Spain. Tbe king was so pleased with it tbat be wi'ote an order for bis immediate release. — Marot, (Euvres. Ed. 1711. 2 In 1534 Marguerite, queen of Navarre, used all ber influence with ber brother Francis I. to induce bim to sanction some measure of ecclesiastical reform. Tbe king bad private conferences witb tbe most enligbtened of tbe Paris clergy, who were favorable to a reform based upon tbe Confession of Augsburg, and it was boped tbat be would take tbe initiative and draw tbe nation and tbe clergy after 2iim. But tbese wise projects were suddenly cbecked by tbe imprudent rashness of some zealous antipapists, who during tbe nigbt of October tbe 18tb affixed to tbe comers of tbe streets in Paris and all tbe chief towns some very coarse placards against tbe mass and tbe real presence. One was attached to the door of the king's bedchamber at tbe castle of Blois. However indignant be might have been at tbis 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRAPvA. 93 He was a man of brilliant talents, but his character was some- what light and volage. He had been page to Francis I. and to Marguerite when duchess of Alen9on, had accompanied the king to Italy, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia. On his return to Paris he was imprisoned for heresy, and did not obtain his release without some difficulty. In this emergency he took refuge with Marguerite, his former patroness, at Beam, but his timid *or erratic disposition made him fear for his safety even under her protection, and he crossed the Alps and presented himself at the court of Ferrara. Here he charmed every one by the piquant gallantry of his verses, and an impromptu talent for writing epigrams. The duchess appointed him her secretary, which office he filled at the time of Calvin's visit. In 1536 he obtained leave, through the entreaties of the duchess of Ferrara, to return to France ; he had been invited there by Yatable, who wished him to devote his poetical talents to the translation of the Psalms into French. This he gladly undertook, and dedi- cated his version to Francis I.,^ who was so much pleased with them that for some time he paid no attention to the censures of the Sorbonne ; but at last he was persuaded to permit the prohi- bition of the Psalms. They had, however, already been universally sung to the most popular tunes of the day, and were highly in vogue at court, where each chose a psalm according to his particular taste. Francis selected the psalm,^ '^ As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks," which he sung when hunting. liberty, if liis plans of reform had been such as was supposed, this one rash act could scarcely have produced so sudden a change as to transform him immediately into a persecutor. The marriage of his second son with Catherine de Medici, and the Pope's bull against heresy, were in all probability the real cause of which the placards were the pretext. — See Smedley, Hist. Eef. Religion in France, 1832; and Lutteroth, Reform, en France, 1859 ; and Appendix E. 1 The first edition contained fifty-two Psalms, with an epistle in verse to the king prefixed to the yersion, and the following : Au Roy. Puis que voulez que je poursuive, 6 Sire, L' oeuvre Royal du Psautier commence, Et que tout cueur aymant Dieu le desire, D' y besongner me tien pour dispense : S' en sente done, qui voudra, offense, Car ceux a qui un tcl bien ne peult plaire Doivent penser : si ja ne 1' ont pense, Qu' en vous plaisant me plaist de leur desplairc. - See Le Laboreur, notes to Memoires de Castclnau. 94 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Catherine, tlie danphiness, in deep affliction for having no heir to the crown, sang in melancholy notes the psalm, " Lord, I cry unto thee ; make haste imto me." Thus all had their favourite psalms, which they sung to fashionable airs/ Marot, finding himself still looked on as a heretic, left France, and retired to Geneva, where he continued his version of the Psalms to the number of seventy. De Beze, who had a great talent for poetry, completed the Psalms which Marot had begun.* This version of the Psalms was popular both with catholics and protestants. Calvin had them set to music by the best musicians of the day. Ten thousand copies were distributed, and they were sung as spiritual songs to the great edification of pious souls. When subsequently printed in protestant books they were universally forbidden to the catholics, with such severe punishments attached to the prohibition, that to sing a psalm was equivalent to a declaration of protestantism. Curiously enough, however, permission was afterwards given to Antoine Vincent, of Lyons, to print the Psalms during the hottest times of persecution under Charles IX. Prefixed to this version was the approbation of the Sorbonne, or faculty of theologians at Paris, in which it was declared that they contained nothing contrary to the Roman Catholic religion, and that they were faithfully translated from the Hebrew. Brantome says that Marot's residence at Ferrara contributed greatly to pervert the religious opinions of the duchess, or rather to confirm her attachment to the reformed church. The accounts he gave of the persecutions in France, of the sufferings and constancy of her friends, combined with the instructions of Calvin, were all means of strengthening her faith. The keen satire of Marot's poems, and the liberty which had been permitted in a political point of view while the court of Ferrara was at war with the Pope, had no small influence in diminishing her respect for ancient traditions and ecclesiastical legends. The following was written when she was expecting her confinement of Louis, afterwards cardinal of Este. In it he felicitates the unborn child on his entrance into the world at so happy a moment as the eve of the fall of the Pope and the holy see, the old enemy of his house : 1 See Chap. x. p. 473. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERKARA. 95 " Viens hardiment ; car ayant plus grand age, Tu trouveras encore et d' avantage : Tu trouveras la guen-e commencee Centre ignorance, et sa troupe insensee. Viens voir de Christ le Kegne commencee Et son honneur par tourment avance. 0 ! siecle d' or le plus fin que 1' on trouve Dont la bonte dedans le ciel s' esprouve."^ Marot wrote several poems especially addressed to tlie duchess,'^ some of which have been suppressed on account of their too great freedom of opinion. In 1536 the duke of Ferrara, after his return from Kome and Naples, deemed it advisable to break with the French party and ally himself closely with the emperor and the Pope : all Renee's French attendants were dismissed to France. This was done for two reasons ; to avoid giving umbrage to the new allies, and to break the protestant influence which had established itself around the duchess at court. Rabelais, in a letter written in 1536, says that ^' he fears the duchess will suffer much, as the duke had sent away Madame de Soubise, her governess, and the French waiting-women, so that she is served by Italians."^ It was on this occasion that Marot, who also left Italy in 1536, wrote the touching lines addressed to the queen of Navarre : " Ha ! Marguerite, escoute la soufFrauce Du noble cceur de Eenee de France, Puis comme sceur plus fort que d'esperance Console-la. 1 (Euvres de Marot, torn. i. pp. 157, 158. 2 One entitled, A ses Amis, quand laissant la Eoyne de Navarre fid regeu en la maison et estat de Madame Renee, Duchesse de Ferrare. Mes amis, j'ay change ma Dame : Une autre ha dessus moy puissance, Nee deux fois, de nom, et d' ame, Enfant de Roy par sa naissance : Enfant du Ciel par connoissance De celuy qui la sauvera, De sortc, quand 1' autre saura, Comment je 1' ay telle choisie, Je suis bicn scur qu' elle en aura Plus d' aise que de jalousie. Marot, (Euvres, torn. ii. p. 57. Ed. a la Ilaye, 1711. 3 Rabelais, Lettre iii. Bayle, Diet. Grit. art. Parthenai, torn. ii. p. 317- 96 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- " Tu scais comment hors son pays alia Et que parens et amis laissa la, Mais tu ne scais quel traitement elle a En terre estrange. " Elle ne voit ceulx a qui se veult plaindre Son ceil rayant si loing ne pent attaindre, Et puis les monts pour ce bien lui estaindre Sont entre deux."^ The absence of the dearly-loved friends and companions who shared her sentiments in religion was a severe trial to the duchess, but her young family occupied much of her attention. After the departure of her French ladies she sought out Italians who were either favourable to reform, or of such liberal opinions that they were open to conviction. Among the learned men of Ferrara we find Pellegrino Fulvio Morato,^ a native of Mantua, professor of belles lettres. He published an exposition of the Lord's Prayer in 1526,^ and a Rimario di tutte le cadentie di Dante e Petrarca^ in 1528. In the dedication of this work to Bernardino Mazzolino of Ferrara, he speaks of another work in which he had explained all the difficult passages of Dante and Petrarch, but this was never published, owing perhaps to his misfortunes. In 1533^ he was 1 Ah ! Marguerite, listen to the plaint Of Benee's noble heart of France, As Sister thou of stronger hope Console her. Thou knoVst she left her country dear. And friends and kinsfolk far behind, But know'st not what she suffers here In foreign land. Her kindling eye sees not so far. And then the mountains intervene And come between. — A la Royne de Navarre, 1536. CEuvres de Clement Marot. 2 Moreto or Moretto, as Bembo calls him in a letter to Bernardo Tasso, written in 1529. 3 Esposizione deU' orazione Dominicale deUa Fater noster, 1526. See Bembo, Zettere, p. 92. 4 Opera, p. 195. 5 In this year he published some Italian poems at Venice, which contained a sonnet in praise of a lady of Yicenza, which was greatly admired by Bembo. It is supposed he was then professor at Vicenza. — Schelhom, Amoen. torn. ii. p. 648. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERPvARA. 97 obliged to leave Ferrara; the cause of his absence was much talked of; it was whispered that he had written a book favour- able to the reformed opinions, and a letter written by Calcagnini^ to him seems to confirm this impression; while at the same time he declares ^' that he has read the book, and found nothing in it which cannot be defended, but that on certain subjects it was necessary to write with prudence, or on which perhaps it was even better to be silent;" he then alludes to the various opinions at that time in vogue about free-will. Tiraboschi remarks that Calcagnini does not exactly say the book was written by Morato, but that the expressions at the end of his letter shew that he thought him the author. " Do not imagine that I am unconscious of my rashness in writing to admonish you to prudence, but it is drawn from me as a part of our mutual regard and candid affection." His scholars deplored his absence so much that at first they would not learn of any other master, saying they should never find another like him. In the same letter in which this is mentioned Calcagnini announces to Morato that he has just become the father of a little daughter, which he (Calcagnini) had held at the baptismal font.^ This was probably his youngest daughter Vittoria. During his absence he taught at Venice, where he adopted the name of Fulvio, and was afterwards professor at Vicenza and Cesena. It does not appear whether he was banished or whether he went away from fear of con- sequences; at any rate he was not persecuted by the ecclesi- astical authorities. Girolamo Barufaldi,^ who wrote his life, thinks that the cause of Morato's banishment was some private quarrel with influential persons. After being a wanderer for six years, through the intercession of his faithful friend Calcagnini, he got leave to return to Ferrara in 1539. In the correspondence between him and his friend we find it stated that Alfonso Trotto had come to terms with Morato's adversary, and that the affair had been arranged with money. During his wanderings Morato met with his friend Celio Secundo Curione, who had been in such peril from embracing the reformed opinions." ^ Barufaldi thinks it was a book recently composed, as Calcagnini -writes in 1536 that he had just read it. 2 Calcagnini, Opcre^ p. 156. 3 As he was librarian of the Pontifical Library at Ferrara he might liave had reasons for cloaking Morato's heretical opinions. 4 See a subsequent chapter. 98 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Among Curione's letters we find two written by Fulvio Pelle- grino to him : in one he affectionately offers him the use of his house and library during his absence, and in the name of his wife and himself entreats him to return to them. " Nowhere, I think, can you be more comfortable. Your place as our guest is now empty, and above all our library, where you can enjoy the pleasure of being quiet, silent, unknown, and forgotten. After the commencement of the rains in the month of August you can safely set out on your journey, for the most fervid heat will have subsided, and you can arrange to travel by short stages rather than like a man who mounts a fiery courser When you arrive at the end of your journey be sure you write to us how you are situated, and send us any writings you can collect, which you esteem conducive to a good and happy life, and particularly whatever contributes to the demolition of the stronghold of perfidious impostors and de- ceitful rulers.* Do this, I earnestly entreat you, again and again. Farewell, thou chosen vessel and instrument for the glory of God."^ At a later period, about 1541, Curione was turned out of the Venetian territory ; an order from the Pope obliged the university to expel him from Pavia, and he took refuge at Ferrara under the protection of the duchess Kenee. This brought the friends again together, and cemented their friendship by still closer ties. The similarity of their literary studies and the identity of their religious opinions were endearing bonds of union. Morato loved Curione in an especial manner for having imparted to him heavenly treasures ; and when Curione thought it prudent to leave Ferrara for Lucca, Morato feelingly bemoans his departure, and expresses his gratitude for spiritual instruction with the fervour of a Christian awakened to new life. FuLTio Pellegein-o Moeato to Celio Sectjkdo Cueioke. " If the bodies of men when separated from their souls have any feeling of their loss, I would take this as a comparison, and say that no human body was ever so destitute at the departure of its soul, or felt so much grief at its absence, as I have done at your going away. It is both sad and grievous for me to find you gone, to be without you, and to see myself deprived of my divine instructor ; of him, who has I doubt not 1 The priesthood and the papacy. 2 This letter is dated Vercelli, and must therefore have been written before 1539, during Pellegrino Morato's absence from Ferrara. — S. C. Epist. p. 314. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 99 been sent by God himself for my instruction and edification. Nor do I think that Ananias, Paul's master, taught with more lioly admonitions or christian discipline when he initiated him to Clu'ist, than you have taught me. Nothing assuages my grief so much as to believe that I belong to Christ, and that he does not reject me. Yov at the moment when 1 was in the greatest difficulty, forsaken on all sides, in the greatest danger, and colder than ice itself, behold, you were sent by God, and returned straight to us, passing by many greater men who desired to have you as a guest. Formerly, indeed, when I had leisure, which from my many avocations rarely happened, I snatched some moments from the needs of my ill-conditioned body and my increasing years, to read, or rather to devour, something of John and Paul, or other holy Scriptures. But your living voice and mighty spirit, which has kindled a spark in so many, and fanned the flame in others, has so vi^ddly and efficaciously roused, moved, and warmed me, that I now know my darkness, and I live. Not I, but Christ in me, and I in Christ. In a word, you have brought me from famine into plenty, and from cold to heat. Now I no longer vegetate, but feel that I am fervent and full of life, and even able to make many rich by participa- ting Avith them the treasures which you have bestowed on me. It now remains for you to pray God earnestly to guard the seed which you have so luxuriantly sown, and to keep it from all calamities, so that it may bring forth a good harvest and glorious fruit for our true Lord, to whom be everlasting praise. In his grace may you and all yours and our brethren live and do well. Perrara, 3rd November." The refined taste^ and paternal pride of Pellegrino Morato were highly gratified by the consummate abilities of Olympia his eldest daughter ; even while at a distance he watched over her education J and his friend Calcagnini willingly lent his aid to foster the talents of this rising muse. She early shewed an extreme aptitude for learning, and so absorbing was her love of study, that what to most young people would have been only a series of lessons, was to her the indulgence of a passion. At twelve years old she knew both Greek and Latin, and had learned something of rhetoric and philosophy. She wrote poetry with taste and elegance, and her studies having been much directed to classical history, she exercised herself, after the manner of the ancients, in writing orations in praise of her favourite characters ; one of these is still extant, Laus L. Mutij Sccevolce^ both in Greek and Latin. The duchess of P'errara, hearing of this prodigy of talent, resolved to invite her to court as a companion and instructress 1 Sec Appendix F. for a letter of his on the pronunciation of the Latin tongue. 2 Olympice Morottj^ F(cmin(B Doctissima; ac j)lane Bivince Opera^ pp. 9, 11. Ed. Basil. 1570. h2 100 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- of her daughter, the princess Anna d' Este. If, as is con- jectured, this took place in 1539, the year of her father's return to Ferrara, Olympia must have been thirteen years old when she received this mark of favour, and her pupil only eight years of age. Her sojourn at court did not impede, but rather facilitated the prosecution of her studies ; for she pursued them with renewed ardour under the guidance of the learned men who frequented the brilliant court of Ferrara. Olympia took special delight in reading and writing Greek, and profited by the instructions of the learned brothers Sinapi, but her rapid progTcss was mainly owing to her own unaided efforts. She wrote an Apology for Cicero, which the learned Calcagnini, who had ventured to criticise this Eoman orator, highly extols. In a letter addressed to herself he congratulates her on the extraordinary talents and erudition which she had displayed, and tells her that ^' the talents of many women are like the flowers woven in a garland, which soon fade, but hers are like the immortal amaranths of the muses, which never die."^ Philosophers addressed her as the marvel of the age, and Sardi, in dedicating to her his essay De triplici jpMlosopMa, praises the facility with which she wrote Greek, and her love of philosophical studies. '' She wrote observations on Homer, the prince of poets, whom she translated with great strength and sweetness. She composed many and various poems with great elegance, especially on divine subjects, and dialogues in Greek and Latin in imitation of Plato and Cicero, in such perfection that even Zoilus himself could have found nothing to criticise. And she wrote those three essays on the paradoxes of Marcus Tullius Cicero, which in Greek are called Prefaces, when she was scarcely sixteen years old, and declaimed from memory, and with excellent pronunciation, her explanation of the paradoxes in the private academy of the duchess of Ferrara."^ It is difficult to imagine on what ground Noltenius, quoted 1 OlympiiZ Moratce Opera^ p. 81. As Calcagnini died in the year 1541, and Olympia was bom in 1526, she must have been about fifteen years of age when she wrote the Apology for Cicero. 2 Olympia 3Iorata, p. 109. Lond. 1840, from the preface by Curione to the first edition of Oljrmpia's writings dedicated to Isabella Manricha of Bresegna. Not having this edition, but that of 1570, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth of England, we have borrowed the translation of this passage from Mrs. Gillespie Smith's very interesting life of Olympia Morata. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 101 by the talented author of " Olympia Morata," has asserted that Paleario was her preceptor;^ no trace is found in his works or correspondence of his having been at Ferrara ; his letters to Bartolomeo llicci, in which he speaks of the duchess and her daughters, shew that he was acquainted with their excellences only from public rumour. In a letter from Lucca, to his friend Bartolomeo Bicci, Paleario encourages his friend to finish his poem on Glory, and suggests the idea of a nobler subject of glory than that of arms, especially as he writes in the presence of a prince whose ladies have more wisdom than many kings. " Is it not truly glorious to see the dciughter of a powerful king, and the wife of a great duke, not only engaged in our studies but well versed therein ; and to see Anna, and Lucrezia also, Kenee's precious offspring, fathoming the depths of Latin and Greek literature : imitating the example of their mother, they have made no common proficiency. Nor has this princess confined herself to human philosophy, but from her superior intellect and the love] of holiness, which shines in her with heavenly light, she has in her maturer years turned to the study of theology and divine things."' The princess Anna, as she grew up, joined in her friend's studies, and was herself, as Paleario says, no mean proficient. Olympia and her young pupil read and studied the Scriptures together in the original Greek. Precious seed was thus sown in their hearts, which in after years brought forth, in one case at least, abundant fruit to the glory of God. But the precincts of a court professedly Koman Catholic were not favourable to spiritual devotion. Though the opinions of the duchess were decided, and her leaning to reform evidently manifest, yet she was obliged, from consideration for her husband and his new alliance with the Pope, to conform outwardly to many things which her conscience disapproved; so that if Olympia learned anything at court of true religion, she also found much to distract her ^ "Nor did tlie Princess Anne," says Noltenius, the biographer of her friend, "neglect Greek, which she learned from Aonio Paleario." — Olympia Morata^ p. 116. Tiraboschi speaks of this work, Koltenii Vita Olympia, but o-wtis he had not met with it. The only authentic information must be derived from the correspondence of Olympia and that of her contemporaries, collected by Curione, who published her letters and writings. 2 Palearii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 4. 102 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- attention. The extreme precocity of her talents had early called forth her reasoning and reflective powers, but she herself owns that at this time she did not duly relish the sacred writings. They were to her a holy but a sealed book j her intellect revelled with greater delight in the mazes of human learning and philoso- phy. The simple reading of the Old and New Testament, she confesses in a letter to Anna duchess of Guise, sometimes in- spired her with repugnance.^ The good seed had not yet germinated, but in the season of affliction it brought forth fruit unto perfection. The reconciliation of the house of Este with the Pope on the accession of Paul III. was publicly solemnized by the visit which he paid to the court of Ferrara in 1543, when he came to Bologna to meet the Emperor. He embarked on the Brescello, in a richly gilded bucentaur sent for his use. The duke himself went two miles from Bondino to meet him, with sixty carriages, a con- veyance not common in those days, and conducted him to the beautiful palace of the Belvedere. The following day the Pope made his public entry into Ferrara, saluted by the roar of cannon and accompanied by a splendid court, in which were eighteen car- dinals and forty bishops. The bridge of St. George, over which they passed to enter the town, was richly ornamented and hung with sumptuous draperies of costly tapestry, forming a sort of saloon. At the gate of the city Alfonso, the duke's eldest son, was stationed with a company of eighty young nobles, all dressed alike, with silk jackets and velvet vests embroidered with gold, and bright crimson stockings. The keys of the city w^ere pre- sented to the Pope in a gold basin or salver. After reciting a short prayer, Hercules kissed the feet of the Pope, who replied graciously and desired him to keep the keys, which were in good hands. He then bestowed on him his benediction, kissing his forehead. In the streets w^here the Pope passed, the win- dows were dressed with cloths, carpets, and tapestry of the gayest colours, and thronged with richly attired ladies. He was carried under a canopy of gold brocaded silk. The duke pre- ceded him on foot, until tlie Pope invited him to mount his horse. From the cathedral they went in procession to the ducal palace, where one hundred and forty rooms were prepared, hung 1 See OlympicB Moratce Opera ^ p. 81, for a letter wiitten by Calcagnini to Olympia, about the Duchess and Anna cV Este. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRAKA. 103 with gold and silver brocade, velvet, cloth, and tapestry of various kinds. In the principal saloon there was a hanging of tapestry of five pieces, which had cost the duke 60,000 gold crowns. The Pope staid at Ferrara two days : the last being St. George's day, the patron saint and protector of the city, a pontifical mass was sung in the cathedral by musicians whom the Pope had brought with him. After which he conferred the golden rose on the duke, wlio, humbly thanking him, kissed his feet ; but the Pope raised him and kissed him on both cheeks. After dinner, to the great entertainment of the Pope and his court, a joust or tournament was held, which lasted two hours. The combatants were dressed in the richest suits, their arms were of the finest temper, and their retainers attended in superb liveries. Ferrara was at that time renowned for these spectacles. In the evening, after the Pope had given the benediction, he was entertained by the representation of one of Terence's comedies, the 'Adelplii,' in which the duke's children were the actors. Anna, the eldest daughter, then twelve years old, was a young man in love ; Lucrezia, though only eight, recited the prologue ; Alfonso, aged ten, was the hero, and prince Louis, though almost a baby, being only three or four years old, was a page. Next day the Pope, after making superb presents to the duke and duchess and the principal personages at court, set out for Bologna, highly gratified with his reception. Probably this visit served to excite the cupidity of the church for so fair a pos- session. The investiture of the fief had been granted with the proviso that, failing natural male heirs in the house of Este, Ferrara should become the property of the church, an event which, unhappily for Ferrara, occurred not very many years after. The young heir Alfonso, who played before the Pope, died without children, and cardinal Aldobrandini took possession in the name of the church, in defiance of the hereditary right of Cesar, the duke's cousin.^ Some unexplained circumstance seems to have kindled tlie displeasure of the duchess against Olympia. As the ground of dissatisfaction has never been cleared up, we are left in ignorance wliether it was occasioned by some court intrigue, or if it was owing to a suspicion of her protestant opinions ^ Contrast the splendoui- of Ferrara, when govornecl by a native sovereign, with its squalid misery under the papal see. 104 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- at a time when so many were banished from court for this reason. This however was not likely to be the motive of the duchess, and in all probability the real cause of offence was that Olympia left the court to attend on her father, who about this time had a dangerous illness, and who died at the close of the year 1548. It was doubtless extremely inconvenient to the duchess to lose Olympia at the period of the princess Anna's betrothment, and evil-disposed persons might have seized this opportunity of prejudicing the duchess against her. Be this however as it may, she was not allowed to return to court. Grief for the loss of her father, sympathy with the sorrows of her invalid mother, and the disappointment of her brightest earthly hopes, wrought a salutary change in Olympia's mind. From this moment she no longer halted between two opinions, but resolved to live and die a follower of the Gospel. Such a reso- lution she well knew was not without peril in that dark and intolerant age, but her trust was in the living God, and to him she committed herself. In communing with her own heart she began to perceive her need of these trials. Looking back on this period of her life she wrote to her friend Curione : '' Oh, how 1 needed this trial ! I had no taste for divine things or the reading of the Old and New Testament. If I had remained longer at court, it would have been all over with me and my salvation." In the seclusion of her mother's house she employed herself in study and in the instruction of her young sisters, but more especially in spiritual contemplation and devotion. Estranged by the displeasure of the court from many of her friends, one noble heart, a young German, filled with admiration for her talents, and touched with pity for her misfortunes, sought to win a tenderer interest in the affections of this young gifted creature. Andrew Grunthler had been the pupil of Olympia's father, the friend of her instructors, the brothers Sinapi, and had taken his degree in medicine in the university of Ferrara : himself a man of no ordinary professional talent, and of sound protestant principles, he was soon looked on with favour by the desolate Olympia. Conscious of her need of a protector, she blessed the hand of Providence who had provided her so esti- mable a friend, and the pain of leaving her mother and sisters was greatly softened by the prospect of quitting a country where 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 105 she liad been treated witli sucli unmerited indignity, and where, on account of her religious opinions, she was surrounded with dangers. Grunthler, having won her consent to be his wife, was so anxious to make her his own, and to shiekl her from the gi-asp of persecution, that they were married in the year lo49, before he had arranged his future home, and he was obliged to leave his young wife and take a rapid journey to Germany, with the hope of securing a professorship either in Bavaria or the palatinate. The tenderness with which Olympia wrote to him in his absence, and her extreme anxiety for his return, prove that this marriage was one of sincere affection and unity of spirit. She felt also grateful to her husband for having relieved her from a very painful position on account of the displeasure of the court. From a passage in one of her letters to Grunthler it appears that she was so much out of favour, that even on her marriage her dresses were retained at court. ^' As regards the dresses it would not be becoming in me to ask for them ; the duchess recently sent me a message by one of her women, that it was not true that the wife of the most noble Camillo had said anything about saluting her daughter; but nevertheless, she said, if her daughter wished it, and gave per- mission, it should be done. She had indeed begged that I might have one dress, but she said it was not to be given till her re- turn. She replied thus : ' I think that I might see that it was not done for my sake, but for hers, and in order, but it is better to be silent on what is so evident, to gratify Lysippa, who was I believe with her ; but however this may be, I scarcely think I shall get anything.' "^ This letter was written in a moment of extreme anxiety for poor Olympia. In losing her father she had lost her chief sup- port at Ferrara. Separated from her husband immediately after their marriage, she was reminded that he was a foreigner ; and much as she loved him she could not feel easy during his ab- sence, for she knew that impediments might arise in his native country to delay his return. " I beseech you," she writes, ^' by the vow you have pledged to me, use all diligence that we may ^ Olympic Morat(B Opera, p. 83. It is not clear whose daughter is here alhidcd to, whether it was Anna d' Este, daughter of Eenee, or Lavinia dclla Rovere, daughter-in-law of Camillo Orsini. 106 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- be this summer united in your own country. If you love me as I love you, I pray you do this." The unsettled state of Germany prevented him from attaining the accomplishment of his wishes, but he received such en- couraging promises from his friends that he returned to Italy, and resolved to set out immediately with his Olympia for Ger- many. Furnished with letters to counsellor Hermann at Augs- burg, they left Italy for Germany in the spring of 1550. Much as she loved her husband, it cost her some tears to leave her mother and sisters. She took with her Emilio, her young brother, only eight years old, with the view of relieving her mother and carrying on his education. Lavinia della Rovere, Olympia' s friend and former companion, was one of the great ornaments of the court of Ferrara. She was not, as has been supposed, the Princess^ Lavinia della Eovere, but the daughter of Niccolb, son of Francesco Franciotto of Lucca, a merchant of Rome who had married Luchina, the widow of Gabriele della Rovere,^ his senior by eleven years, and added her first husband's name to his own. The name of her mother is not given. In 1541 Lavinia married Paolo Orsini, the son of Camillo Orsini, papal governor of Parma. When Fannio was imprisoned at Ferrara, Olympia earnestly besought her friend to intercede for him through her powerful connections, to which Lavinia replies, that '^ before she had received her letter she had entreated them to do what they could, and also to write to the prince (the duke of Ferrara) on Olympia's behalf, and had also begged Ferdinando,^ whose letters would have more weight than hers, to interpose." She then invites Olympia and her husband to go and pay her a visit at Parma.^ This letter was ^ See the genealogy of the Delia Revere family, in the elaborate Memoirs of the BiiJces of Urbino, by J. Dennistoun, in which it is stated that the Piincess Lavinia della Rovere, daughter of Guidobaldo, duke of Urbino, married Alfonso d' Avalos. 2 Olympia's letters are addressed, Lavince Ruverensi Lavinice Ruverensi UrsincB Freeclariss. D. Lavinm Ruverensi Ursinm in Christo Jesu. lllustriss. Lavinice. Mad- delena Orsiai she addresses as JVobilissimce. 3 This was probably Ferdinand, duke of Gravina. ^ In the year 1549, the Pope, Paul iii., determined to take possession of Parma as a domain of the Church. He recalled his grandson Ottavio Farnese, and sent Camillo Orsini, ecclesiastical captain-general, with secret instructions to fortify and victual it. Ottavio, duke of Parma, displeased at the appointment of Camillo, went suddenly by post to Parma, hoping to get possession, but Camillo was too vigilant for him. The day before his death the Pope signed a brief commanding Orsini to 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 107 wi-itten in November. Before Olympia left Ferrara much interest liad been excited in favour of Fannio, a prisoner on account of religion. As he was said to be the first martyr in Italy, we give an account of his life and martyrdom from the recital of Giulio di Milano. Fannio of Faenza was the son of obscure and humble parents. In his early days he was quite unenlightened, but as he grew up he became acquainted with the true principles of the christian religion, for the reformed opinions were at an early period pro- mulgated in his native place.^ He began to study the Scriptures earnestly, and being unlearned he made use of a translation.^ Notwithstanding the clerical prejudice against reading the sacred writings in a familiar tongue, he believed that God could as easily reveal himself to the heart in one language as another. After having devoted some time to religious studies, he found his whole being invigorated, and was filled with an anxious desire to impart to others some of the benefit he had himself derived from the word of God. Accordingly he began to speak in dif- ferent places to various persons on the doctrines of Christ. When this reached the ears of the Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, they immediately ordered him to be arrested. While in prison he was assailed by such earnest entreaties from his wife and family, that in a moment of weakness he retracted all that he had before said, and was set at liberty. But no sooner was he free, than his conscience bitterly re- proached him for his unfaithfulness in denying Christ. His remorse was unceasing, for having yielded up his faith at the call of earthly affection, and he could not enjoy a moment's repose till he had resumed his former manner of life. To make amends for his error, he now resolved to confess Christ openly. His zeal thus ardently kindled, he went about Romagna preaching openly in every city. If in any place he found it difficult pub- licly to announce the Gospel, he tried to get into conversation with any individuals who were willing to hear him. He was give up Parma to duke Ottavio, but as it did not arrive while the Pope -was alive Camillo refused, saying it had been consigned to him by a Pope, and he would give it up only to a Pope. — Muratori, Annali, tom. x. p. 94. 1 See M'Crie's Mef. in Hahj, p. 62; and Schclhoni, Amccnit. Hist. Eccl. tom. ii. p. 54, who quotes Jo. Hen. Hottingeri, Bint. Eccl. tom, ix. p. 200. 2 Probably that of Bruccioli, published in 1532. See Chat. i\\ p. 125. 108 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- not rasli, but cautious in the exhibition of divine truth, and fed his hearers with the milk of the word till they could digest stronger food, and finally set before them the full riches of the Gospel. He was supremely happy when he succeeded in making two or three converts. AVliile thus occupied in his Master's service he was arrested at Bagnacavallo, and condemned to the flames. When this was announced to him, he smiled, and said his hour was not yet come. This was true, for he was taken to Ferrara, and remained there long enough to make many converts. The Pope began to fear his influence, and ordered him to be im- prisoned in the castle. There he remained eighteen months, and was frequently put to the torture, but not so severely as if he had been in the hands of the Dominicans ; his cell was often changed from worse to better, and from better to worse ; some- times he was left in perfect solitude, and at other times he was in company with other prisoners. But none of these changes affected his constancy ; he continued firmly rejoicing that all was for good to those who love Christ. "When in company with others he earnestly directed them to the path of truth ; when alone he employed his pen instead of his tongue in the same cause. Once he found himself confined with some political prisoners, who reproved him for meddling with religion, and told him he ought to wait patiently for the decision of the council. He thanked them for their good advice, but replied that his views were not matter of opinion but divine truth; ought he then to leave what is true to adopt that which is false ? As to his being deprived of liberty, the Christian, he said, is always free. Wherever we are, we are in prison as regards the flesh and sin, but the soul is redeemed and made free by the blood of Christ. As for the council, the Gospel was enough for him, and its truths wanted no confirmation from councils. This con- versation made such an impression on his hearers that they called him a saint. ' My brethren,' he answered, ' in myself there is no good thing, but I am made holy through the perfect merits of Christ, who has atoned for my sins ; and so will you also, if you believe in the gospel and in the gi*ace of God.' Some gentlemen were once put in Fannio's prison, who were full of lamentations at being shut up ; but after some days of conversation with him they were so interested in his account of the liberty of the children of God that they no longer sought to be released. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRAllA. 109 Diu-iiig this interval liis relations began to fear that he would "be put to death, and his wife and sister went to pay liim a visit, hoping the sight of their distress would induce him to recant. They entreated him with tears, if he did not care for himself, to think of them and of his children. His answer shewed his mind was made up, that he had counted the cost, and was willing, if necessary, to lay down his life for the truth. ' My Lord does not desire me to deny him for the sake of my family ; you have suc- ceeded in leading me to do this once, before I was confirmed in the truth, but now I am more fully decided.' Then gently dismissing them, he said, ^ Go in peace, for now I know that I have brought forth some fruit to the glory of God, and my end is near.' Deeply afflicted they took leave, but he maintained the same calm demeanour, and took no heed of his own fate, but devoted himself entirely to the conversion of his companions. He was in prison when Paul III. died,^ and soon after the election of Giulio III. a brief was issued commanding Fannio to be put to death. A messenger was sent to tell him that he would be taken that evening to the common prison, as he was sentenced to die. He immediately embraced the messenger, and thanked him for bringing him such good tidings. ^ I accept death joy- fully, my dear brother,' he said, ' for Christ's sake,' and continued to edify his companions by dwelling on the happiness of such a death. One said to him, ^ Who have you left guardian of your children ? have some compassion on them and on your loving wife.' ^ I have left them,' he replied, ^ in the hands of the best of guardians, who will carefully protect them.' ' And who is he ?' ' Our Lord Jesus Christ' was the answer. As he said these words he was laid hold of by the executioner, and tied to a kind of machine of wood ; irons were put on his feet to prevent his escape, his arms alone being free. None were allowed access to him, except the officers of justice, without per- mission. Those who heard him speak things they could not understand, said he was possessed with a devil ; but when they saw his firmness and constancy, and that he spoke of nothing ^ He died 2nd November, 1549. That same year John Knox was liberated ; he had been imprisoned in the castle of St. Andrew's, and afterwards on board a French galley. The following year he was one of the chaplains of Edward vr. when ho was offered the bishopric of Rochester, and in 1552 the living of All-hallows in London, but he refused both. He assisted in the revision of the Liturgy, and ex- punged the adoration of the Sacrament. 110 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- but the holy Scriptures, and that his heart was filled with the spirit of truth, they began to listen to what he said. The wives of the officers to whom he addressed himself were moved to tears by his patience and holy demeanour. Even the executioner wept : to all w^ho approached him he said, ' May God save you, my brother! you are come perhaps to rejoice with me because I am going to heaven ;' he then poured forth so fervent a prayer that he seemed to rise on the wings of devotion, and his face beamed with joy as if in communion with God. A notary came to tellhim that if he would recant the Pope would save his life; he smiled, and replied that truth could not be suffocated, and that he had no desire to escape death. Leaving this subject as of no importance, he continued conversing on various passages of Scripture ; he cited so many texts that it was clear the Spirit of wisdom was with him. He repeated three or four sonnets of his own composition on justification, predestination, and ^other important points. Surprised at his joyful countenance, some said to him, ' How is it that you are so cheerful when Christ suffered such agony before death ?' ' Christ,' he replied, ^ though he knew no sin himself, to satisfy the justice of God took our sins upon him, and bore our in- firmities. Thus when he was in the garden and on the cross he suffered all the pains and tortures of hell which we have deserved. This caused his sadness in the garden before death. But I, who through faith enjoy the blessings which Christ has purchased for us by his death, rejoice, certain that at the death of my body I shall pass into eternal life. Why then should I not be glad, and exult with joy ?' This was his frame of mind when three hours before dawn he was taken to the public square at Ferrara. This early hour was fixed on for the execution that the people might not hear the speech he intended to make in his last moments. A crucifix being presented to him he said, ' Pray do not take the trouble to remind me of Christ by a bit of wood, for I hold him with lively faith in my heart.' Then kneeling down he prayed most devoutly, and ardently besought God to enlighten the benighted minds of the ignorant multitude. He then himself arranged the rope which was to hang him, and with a cheerful countenance desired the executioner to do his duty, and was strangled with the name of Jesus trembling on his lips.^ ' In the month of September 15o0. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERKARA. Ill At noon lils body was burned in the same place where he was put to deatli ; while it was burning many said that the smoke of that fire which was consuming his body would enter the brains of so many that it would perform the work wliich the words of Fannio had not been able to accomplish. Towards evening, when the remnant of his bones was to be carried away, neither the authorities, nor the Inquisitors, nor the bishop or his vicar, or any of the doctors of theology ventured to remove them : every one said, ^ those who put them there should take them away;' others were heard to say that they could never believe that such a man deserved death. The writings of Fannio give a full account of his opinions ; he records the objections of his adversaries and his own replies. Giulio^ says that when Fannio sat down to write he folded his paper in half; on one side he wrote his own compositions, on the other he noted so many passages of Holy Writ that they occupied more space than his own words. His memory was wonderfully stored with Scripture, and he was so filled with reverence for the divine law that he wrote scarcely a sentence without quoting from the Old and New Testament. At the head of all his writings he put this inscription: Non moriar sed vivanij et narraham opera Domini. This was the motto which screened him from the fear of death. ^ Anna princess of Este was married to Francis Lorraine, duke d' Aumale, on the 29th Sept. 1548, when only seventeen years of age ; it was a marriage of policy, not altogether agreeable * Giulio di Milano says that many of his works are mixed up together, but who- ever wishes to imderstand them thoroughly should begin mth his Epistles : of the spiritual part four large books might be made ; of the works which he vrrote in prison, three books might be put together. Some spiritual songs of his were circu- lated, which are not among his works. See Appendix G. Another martyr, a native of Bassano, suffered at Piacenza. An account of his death was published under the following title, De Fanini Faventini et Bominici Bassunensis morte, qui miper ob Christum in Italia Bom. Bontif. jussu impie occisi sunt. Brevis JSistoria, Francisco Nigro Bassanensi AutJwre, 1550. "From this, pious reader, you may leam what is to be expected from a Council of Eoman bishops under the direction of the Pope." " These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them." Apoc. xvii. 14. 2 The above account of the life and death of Fannio is taken from an old Italian book found in the library at Zurich. It is a small 12mo. tract, by Giidio di Milano, and is bound up with three other tracts written by him. He must not be confounded T\dth Julius Terentianus, Peter Martyr's friend. Some M-riters have conceived them to be one and the same person, but they appear to have been two distinct indi\'iduals. See M'Crie's Bef. and Gcrdcs' Syllabus, p. 245. 112 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- to the Este family, but was arranged by the French court in order to attach the duke, who had strong Imperial predilections, to the interests of France. It was somewhat extraordinary that the daughter of a princess so devotedly protestant should be married to the chief of the Catholic party, and the active general of the army arrayed against the Protestants. The friendship of the princess Anna for Olympia did not terminate with their personal intercourse. The latter felt a deep interest in her young pupil, and Anna, when duchess of Guise, exhibited great tenderness for the sufferings of the reformed church at Paris, and even openly expostulated with Catherine de' Medici in their behalf. Olympia, anxious to retain her in these sentiments, addressed to her some years after a faithful appeal, reminding her of the privileges she had enjoyed in the revelation of divine truth ; then forcibly appealing to her conscience, tells her she well knows the innocence of those men who are daily thrown into the flames for the Gospel's sake. The following year, 1551, Ferrara was disgraced by another martyrdom, or rather legalized assassination. Giorgio Siculo, a learned man, was hanged at a window during the night without undergoing any form of trial whatever.^ The establishment of the Jesuits at Ferrara this same year had probably some connection with these acts of severity. Ever since 1547 a Swiss Jesuit, called in Italian Claudio Jajo,^ had been deputed by Ignatius Loyola to Ferrara in the hope that his semi-French extraction might procure him access to the duchess ; but in this he was disappointed, for Eenee never allowed him, during his stay of two years at Ferrara, the honour of a single audience. Next came Francesco Borgia, the friend and companion of Charles V. ; he was distantly related to the house of Ferrara through the duke's mother Lucrezia, and used his influence so successfully that he persuaded the duke to open a Jesuit college at Ferrara. This establishment was greatly aided by the zeal of a widow lady named Maria Frassoni, who from her own funds purchased a convent for their use ; two priests, Pascasio Broet and Gio. Pelletario, arrived from Rome to take the direc- tion of this Institution, and were soon followed by six more assistants. They immediately opened three schools, in which they taught Greek and Latin, accompanied by the inculcation 1 Frizzi, Memnrie, torn. iv. p. 337. ^ Of Geneva. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 113 of their o\vii peculiar maxims. These schools soon became popular, and all the otliers were so empty that the few scholars who remained with them came to blows with the Jesuit pupils.^ As the Jesuit order extended its influence, it did not forget that the original object of its foundation was to uphold the power and authority of the church by a revival of learning. The mendicant orders had totally neglected all intellectual culture, and Avere in general composed of men not only pro- foundly ignorant, but deplorably credulous and fraudulent. But the Jesuits took a higher and more gentlemanly course ; they seized on the desire for improvement as an engine made ready for their use, and bent it to their own purpose. There was so great an increase of persecution'^ after the election of Giulio III. that he got all the credit of the cruel edicts which issued from the pontifical court ; but Giulio, though wliile Cardinal del Monte he was both active and diligent in business, had no sooner attained the summit of a prelate's ambition, and ascended the pontifical throne, than he gave up the reins to those who surrounded him, and abandoned himself to a life of pleasure and amusement. He looked on the tiara as a holiday to a working man, and from his indolence and weakness embroiled Italy in the miseries of war, and allowed the favourers of the Inquisition to command his sanction for their most bloody decrees. Persecution thus gathered strength, and on the 5th of September 1533, at a public meeting of the cardinal Inquisitors, several prisoners accused of heresy were examined as to their faith. The greater number recanted as they were desired, but Mollio of Montalcino, the learned pro- fessor at Bologna whom we have already met with, remained firm, defended the doctrines he had embraced, boldly pronounced them agreeable to Scripture, denounced the tyranny of the papal power, and appealed from their sentence to that of the Eternal Judge. Without fear of those who could only ^' kill the body," after an animated defence he flung his burning torch to the ground, and was led back to prison under sentence of Frizzi, Memorie, torn. iv. 2 Paul III. rather consented to, than approved of the Inquisition originated by- Cardinal Caraifa ; he was averse to cruelty at the commencement of his reign, and a work recently published at Paris mentions his ha-ving remonstrated with the king of France in 1535 for biuning his subjects alive. — Journal d' un Bourgeois de Fart's, p. 458. Paris, 1854. See Appendix H. VOL. IT. I 114 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- death. He was first strangled and then burned, in company with a Perugian weaver, at the Campo di Fiore in Eome/ This was a terrible season of unrelenting persecution through- out Europe for the followers of Christ. '^ The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed." The absolute sovereigns of Europe combined to tread out every spark of Gospel light. Mary of England, surnamed the bloody, had lighted the fires of Smithfield. Philip II. of Spain, into whose hands Charles V. had put the reins of government, celebrated his autos-da-f^, and Henry II., who began his reign as a persecutor, had become more virulent since the Lorraine family aspired to be heads of the Catholic party. At Ferrara, in consequence of a convention with the Pope in 1545, the Inquisition was introduced and gradually increased in power, till at length, supported by the duke, it was strong enough to offer up victims on the altar of priestly bigotry. Olympia was by this time beyond the reach of its assaults. While innocent men were being put to death for their heretical opinions, it was scarcely to be expected that the duchess Eenee should be unmolested. The duke entertained the highest respect for her ; but whatever his own sentiments on religion might have been, he considered it a political duty to make a show of obedience to the Pope. After the establishment of the Jesuits at Ferrara they communicated with their brethren at Paris; and her husband's efforts to induce her to conform to the church of Rome being unsuccessful, it was arranged between the duke of Ferrara and Henry 11. of France, who thought to atone for his immoralities by shedding the best blood in France, that the Inquisitor Ori should be sent to Ferrara armed with full powers to bring the duchess back to the bosom of the true church. Frizzi^ records that her establishment in the palace of S. Francesco, besides her ladies, included a preacher, a steward, an almoner, and the Greek master of her daughters, Francesco Porto.^ The first step taken by the Jesuits was to advise the duke through Pelletario to begin his attack on the duchess by sending away this Greek heretic, and all those who were 1 M'Crie's Reform, in Itahj, p. 169; Gerdes's Ital. Reform, p. 103. 2 Frizzi, Memorie, torn. iv. p. 338. 3 See Chap. xii. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 115 supposed to favour protestant doctrines. The historian thinks that the duchess, displeased with this interference, removed to the Estc paLace of Consandalo, hoping to be more private and less exposed to censure for eating meat on Friday. But tliis removal ratlier precipitated the crisis, for it was reported that she maintained a secret correspondence with Calvin, and was even endeavouring to make converts in the neighbourhood. Hemy II. sent the Inquisitor Ori with the most rigid orders to attempt her conversion. He was desired first to consult with the duke of Ferrara, and then confer with the duchess on the principal points in which she had deviated from the church. After this he was to give her a letter, written by the king's own hand, in which he expresses his grief and distress of mind at her apostasy, for it seems to him " that his only aunt, whom he has always loved and esteemed, has incurred the loss of both body and soul ; so that when he hears of her reconciliation, and submission in obedience to the church, his relief and satisfaction will be as great as if he saw her raised from the dead. And he will render most hearty thanks to God when he sees her, as he hopes shortly to do, restored to the bosom of our holy mother church, cleansed and purified from those cursed (damnees) dogmas and reprobate errors." He reminds her ^' of the pure blood of the most christian house of France which has never been sullied by any monstrous birth," and remonstrates with her for leaving the church of her ancestors. He concludes by telling her that " if she persists in her error, she will entirely forfeit his friendship and respect as a nephew, as he has an utter detestation of these reprobate sects." Then in a higher tone of menace and intimidation he tells her that ^' if after Dr. Ori has given lier instructions she still remains obstinate and will not yield to his persuasions, if she cannot be won by gentleness, he will then consult with the duke her husband how to bring her to reason by severity."^ The king advises Dr. Ori to preach, the duke being present, before the duchess and all her family on the points in which she is in eiTor, and if after some time he makes no progress in convincing her, and she still continues obstinate and refuses to obey the Cath- olic church, he then entreats her husband to shut her up in private 1 Castelnau, Memoires, notes by Lc Laboreur, vol. i. p. 718; Frizzi, Mcmone, torn. iv. p. 338. i2 116 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- seclusion, and take away her children from her. All her attend- ants who are suspected of leaning to these errors and false doc- trines, of whatever nation they may be, are to be brought to trial by Dr. Ori, who as Inquisitor is experienced in these matters, and is empowered to try all persons in the court of the duchess who are tainted with heretical opinions, and to bring them to condign punishment ; providing always that in these trials, and in the execution of justice, due regard be had to the person of the duchess, and all scandal and public reproach be avoided. The arrival of this missive, drawn up by the Inquisition and signed by the king of France, became a subject of painful dis- cussion between the duchess and her husband, and produced considerable coolness on both sides. E-enee had hitherto care- fully avoided a full manifestation of her religious opinions, and had in some degree outwardly conformed to some of the cere- monials of the Eoman Catholic religion, but lived without confession, and never approached the sacrifice of the mass. The duke, finding her indisposed to yield on these points, at the instigation of the Inquisitor, prepared to execute the threats contained in the letter of Henry II. On the 17th of September 1544 he sent the bishop of Kosetti and the Cavalieri Kuggieri at night to remove her in a carriage from the palace, and convey her, accompanied by two of her women, to a kind of state prison in the old palace of the house of Este. She was confined in the Stanze del Cavallo in com- plete seclusion, and saw nobody but her female attendants and her steward. Her daughters, the princesses Lucrezia and Leonora, were sent to the convent of Corpus Domini for education. As the duke was an amiable man, and had always lived on good terms with the duchess, it is more than probable that he was somewhat averse to these extremities, but once in the hands of the Jesuit Inquisitors he had no voice in the matter; but from the way in which it terminated we may conjecture that he privately encouraged her to make a show of submission to the church, which would ensure her tranquillity in future. Ac- cordingly on the 23rd of September she suddenly sent for the Jesuit father Pelletario, whom she had always refused to see, and professed her willingness to confess her sins and to receive the communion from him after the catholic manner. The duke, unspeakably relieved by this compliance on her part, restored 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OP FERIIAIIA. 117 her immediately to favour, supped that same evening in her company, opened the doors of her prison, and put her children ag-ain under her maternal guidance. On the 1st of November the duchess repeated her submission to the church by a renewal of her confession and a second participation of the communion. The duke, either believing or feigning to believe in lier complete conversion, allowed her on the 1st of December to return to his own palace at St. Francesco, and never again molested her about religion. Could we have access to his secret sentiments we might perhaps find that, with all his respect for the church, lie had to struggle against some very audible murmurs in his own heart against an authority which obliged him to treat with disrespect a princess and a wife to whom he was bound by such tender ties, and whom he had so many reasons both to love and honour. She was the mother of his five children: her exemplary character and benevolent disposition were as conspicuous as the intellectual superiority of her mind, and her extreme affability and kindness had gained the hearts of all his subjects; her talents and learning were a universal theme of praise among the learned ;^ but her affections were in a special manner drawn forth by her countrymen ; " no French- men," says Brantome, " passed through Ferrara without being relieved by the duchess, if they were in necessity ; if they were * Bruccioli, who dedicated his Italian yersion of the Scriptures to her, calls her a saint, and a most holy person. Giuseppe Betussi extolled her among his celebrated women. Orazio Brunetto, a doctor in Pordenone, and Gianfrancesco Virginio, of Brescia, dedicated their letters, published in 1548, to her; as also a paraphrase on the Epistles of St. Paul, printed at Lyons in 1551. Fontanini says of this para- phrase : " II qual libro con alcuni appunto di questi del Bricccioli, di Bernardino Ochino, di Giovanni Valdes, e di altri della medesima farina, nello smurare una casa in Urbino nell' anno 1723 si trovarono insieme nascosti, e quivi murati per salvaro-li del fuoco, in tempo che Paolo rv. Pontefice zelantissimo nel 1569 promulgo 1' cditto mentovato da Ascanio Centorio, Comment, torn. ii. lib. vii. p. 121, contra simil pcste di libri, onde era ammorbata la ponera Italia. lo resto molto maravigliato che Lilio Gregorio Geraldi morte nel 1552 in fine della prefazione alia Duchessa Rcnata sopra la storia de' Poeti, e in quella sopra la Dissertazione de annis et me?mbus, esalti ancor egli in estremo la santita di Renata anzi di piu, pietatem, et religionem in JDeum cose che fanno orrore, considerando, come aUora in materia di fede cattolim si stava in Ferrara e in Italia." — Fontanini, Eloq. Ital. torn. i. p. 119. A translation of the Colloquies of Erasmus, translated into Italian by Pietro Lauro, of Modena, was published at Venice in 1549, dedicated by the translator thus. Alia Illustrissima et virtuosissima Principessa Madama Eenee di Francia Duchessa di Ferrara. 118 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- ill she gave orders to have them carefully nursed, till they were able to travel, and furnished them with money for their journey. This was indeed both timely and necessary succour, for Italy was too often in this century the grave of Frenchmen." But though the duchess had relieved herself from durance and reconciled herself to her husband, yet the victory of the Jesuits and the triumph of the Roman Catholic Church over her weakness must have been exceedingly displeasing to her. All her protestant friends at a distance mourned over her insincerity, and were deeply grieved at her facile compliance. When Calvin heard of the duke's persecution of the duchess, he wrote her an earnest letter of consolation and sympathy, which he sent by a minister of the name of Francois de Morel, or Colonges. A person formerly attached to the service of the duchess, who had been her secretary after Marot's departure, named Lyon Jamet, left Paris by post for Ferrara the moment he heard that king Henry II. was about to send the Jesuit Ori to Ferrara. On his way he passed by Geneva, and gave Calvin the painful intelligence of this meditated attack on the fortitude of the duchess. A month after, this vigilant and faithful friend sent ]\F. Morel to strengthen her for the conflict. He was the bearer of a letter in which Calvin regrets being so detained at Geneva that he cannot himself go to see her, but sends the bearer, — " A man well suitable for an almoner and fully instructed in doctrine. Being a gentleman of good family, he will be the more presentable among those who turn their backs on good men when they are not of consequence in the world. I entreat you, Madam, to receive him not as sent by me but by God, as I doubt not you will find by experience that your gracious Father has thus provided hope for you He will also inform you that there is an excellent lady who has agreed to enter your service when you choose to send for her I look upon it as a great advantage that the lady of whom I speak is of an honourable rank : what she most desires is that in serving you she may also enjoy the privilege of serving God I beseech our gracious God to keep you in his holy protection, to guide you by his Spirit, and so increase in you all good things, that he may be more and more glorified."^ Great indeed was the consternation of Calvin when the report reached him that the duchess had heard mass and con- fessed her errors to a Jesuit monk. For some time no letters i This letter is dated 6tli August, 1554, just a few weeks before the forced seclusion and subsequent faU of the duchess. — Jules Bonnet, Lettres de Calvin, torn, i. p. 428. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 119 had been allowed to pass ; he was unacquainted with the state of her mind, and uncertain as to the truth of the reports which were circulated concerning her apostasy. She herself, it seems, ashamed of her defection, remained in a quiesconi; state, and it was not till February 1555 that he again took up his pen and wrote to her in the following reproachful but not altogether discom-aging strain : ^' Mad AM, — As from the time in which it pleased God to examine your faith I have received no intelligence of j'OU but by common report, I scarcely know what to write. IN'everthcless, I cannot let slip the good opportunities which the bearer offers me. I was much annoyed when I heard that a person passed through here lately without communicating with me, for he would have safely presented my letters to you. Since the trouble you have been in I did not know who to trust to; being in doubt as to the issue of your affliction, and not having such precise information as I wished, I was in great anxiety, not being able to command any means of writing to you. As I am not even now well assured of your state, I will send you only this one word, that I fear j^ou have left the straight road to please the world ; for it is a bad sign when those who warred so fiercely against you to turn you from the service of God now leave you in peace. And indeed the de^dl has so entirely triumphed that we have been constrained to groan, and bow our heads in sorrow without enquiring further. Not- withstanding this, Madam, as our good God is always ready to receive us to mercy, and when we fall extends to us his hand, that our fall may not be fatal, I entreat you to take courage ; and if the enemy for once has taken advantage of you because of your weakness, let him not wholly gain the victory, but rather let him feel that those whom God reclaims are doubly strengthened to sustain the combat. "When you think. Madam, that God when he humbles his people does not desire to confound them for ever, this will make you hope in Him that he may strengthen you for the future I beseech you to reflect how much you owe to Him who has so dearly ransomed you, and who daily invites you to his eternal inheritance. He is not a master in whose service we must spare ourselves, particularly when we look to the glorious end of all the contempt or affliction we may be called to suffer for his name's sake. Call upon Him, then, confident that he is sufficient for all needful supply in our frailty, and meditate on those delightful promises which raise us to the hope of the glory of heaven. Good taste alone ought to make us forget the world and put it under our feet. To prove that the desire of glorifying God is by no means smothered in you, see. Madam, in the name of God, not only to bear witness personally to Him, but so order your household as to shut the mouths of all slanderers. I think you cannot have forgotten what I have said about this before, to my great regret ; but for the respect I bear you and the care I take of your salvation, I wish to tell you that I never commissioned any one to say a word to you about it. And what is more, I have been very careful to shew that I did not believe any of the reports which I was obliged to hear. In order that he who has 120 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- annoyed you may have no farther raeans of thromng out these fire- hrands, I must tell you that I took great pains to repress his folly though I did not succeed. He only got irritated against me because I reproved him. He is an Italian named Marc. I entreat you, Madam, however this may be, to watch carefully against giving oc- casion for these calumnies.^ ''Madam, humbly recommending myself to your good opinion, I beseech our good God to receive you under his protection, to support you by his strength, and to increase in you the gifts of his Spirit, and that you may use them to his glory. The 2nd of February 1555. " Your very humble servant, " Chahles D' Espeville." A general impression of sadness pervaded the minds of the reformers both in Italy and at a distance at the inconstancy of the duchess. We have seen how Calvin deplored it: in a letter to Farel he says, " There is sad intelligence about the duchess of Ferrara, and more certain than I could wish ; over- come by menace and reproach she has fallen. What can I say, but that examples of fortitude are rare among princes."^ Olympia Morata, who had had experience of the want of firmness in the duchess, wTites to P. P. Vergerio :^ ^' The affair at Ferrara which you wrote about in the month of December we had heard of in a letter from a pious man : we who know her intimately are not much surprised, we are more astonished at the defection of others. My mother has remained firm during this storm. To God be all the glory, for all that we receive comes from him. I entreat her to come out, with my sisters, fr'om this Babylon and join me in this country." In a letter from Olympia to Curione, written at Schweinfurt, she says they have no intention of returning to Italy : " You are not ignorant how dangerous it is to profess Christianity where the power of antichrist is so great. I hear that now the fury against the saints has come to such a height that in former times it was but play in com- parison ; such is the rage of the Coryc^eos, who are sent into 1 This is quite inexplicable, but probably it refers to the Romish conformity of the duchess, which Calvin scarcely likes to believe or acknowledge ; and we have only the authority of Catholic historians for her submission to the Church, and have no means of ascertaining accurately its extent. 2 "De Ducisso Ferrariensi tristis nuncius, et certius quam vellem, minis et probris victam cecidisse. Quid dicam nisi rarum in proceribus esse constantise exemplum." — Senebier, Cat. des 3fSS. Bib. Geneve^ pp. 274, 275, ap. M'Crie's Bef. p. 134. 3 Formerly bishop of Capo d' Istria. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 121 all the cities of Italy, nor can they now as formerly be persuaded by entreaties. I do not know whether you have heard that Fannio, a pious man and most constant in the faith, after being two years in prison, whom neither his being half-dead nor the love of his wife and children could detach from the truth, lias been hanged and his body burned ; and as if this were not enough, his bones were ordered to be thrown into the Po."^ At a later period, after the duchess had been coerced, and during the reign of Paul IV., Olympia writes to Chilian Sinapi from Heidelberg : " By letters which I have lately received from Italy I hear that the Christians are punished with great cruelty at Ferrara ; neither the highest nor the lowest are spared. Some are im- prisoned, some banished, and others save themselves by flight."^ The sorrows of Christians and the violent persecutions in France and Italy were a constant source of distress to Olympia. Escaped herself from the terrors of the Inquisition, although exposed to the vicissitudes of war, her heart melted within her at the suf- ferings of the reformed church. Her late pupil and friend Anne, now duchess of Guise, was in the centre of these civil massacres, and Olympia could not refrain from conjuring her to raise her voice against this butchery of the people of God. The following affecting letter, before alluded to, combines the tenderness of early friendship with the firmness and devotion of a christian whose heart is placed on heavenly treasures, and acts as '' seeing him who is invisible." To Anna d' Este, Duchess of Guise.^ " [N'otwithstandiiig the long interval of time and the great distance which separates us, most illustrious Princess Anna, yet you still retain a place in my memory. I have often for many reasons wished to write to you; now the opportunity is offered me, for a learned and pious man is come from Lorramc to visit us, and my first thought was to ask him about you. If my letter reaches you, I cannot believe that you think so hardly of one who has been the companion of your earliest years as not to be willing to receive a letter from her. You know, though you were my sovereign and mistress, how intimate we were for many years, and how we pursued the same literary studies, the re- membrance of which ought more closely to cement our mutual affection. 1 Olympic Moratce Opcra^ Epist. C. S. Curioni, p. 101. As Fannio was mar- tyred in 1550, this letter must have been written in 1552 or 1553. 2 Ibid. p. 143. This letter was dated Heidelberg, Feb. 1555. 3 By the death of the Diike d' Aumale's father Anna d' Este became Duchess of Guise in 1550, two years after her marriage. 122 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- As to myself, most distinguislied Princess, I call God to be witness of my great attachment to you, and how much I wish I could be of service to you, (not that I desire to return to the life of a court, for this no longer suits me,) but if in absence I could console you, or in any other way be of use, it would afford me singular pleasui'e, and be most willingly performed. I desire nothing so earnestly as to see you de- voting yourself seriously to the study of the Holy Scriptures, by which alone you can have communion with God, and receive consolation in the trials of life. As regards mj'self I have no other comfort, no greater delight. Since the day when, by the singular clemency of God, I left the idolatry of Italy and accompanied my husband Andi^ew Grunthler, it is wonderful how God has changed my heart. Before this I ex- ceedingly disliked the Holy Scriptures ; now they alone give me de- light, they are become my study, my occupation and care; whatever I do, or wherever I go, they occupy all my thoughts. Riches, honours, pleasures, all that I formerly admired, I can now despise. How much I wish, most excellent Princess, that you also would consider these things. Nothing, believe me, is stable here below, everything changes, and we shall all be summoned to tread the same dark valley. Time flies ; neither riches nor honours nor royal favour will save us ; nothing but laying hold of Christ by a sincere faith can deliver us from con- demnation or save us from eternal death. This faith is the gift of God, and we must ask it in earnest prayer to God. It is not enough to know the history of Jesus Christ, which the devil himself is acquainted with, if we have not that faith loliicli worheth hy love, which will strengthen us to confess Christ before his enemies, for he says. Who- soever is ashamed of me, of him ivill my Father he ashamed. JN'ot one of the many martyrs would have appeared if they had concealed their faith. And you, my sweetest Princess, whom God has honoured with such great privileges in revealing his truth to you, are not ignorant of the innocence of those men who are daily condemned to the flames, and for the sake of the Gospel of Christ suffer the most cruel torments. Surely it is jowx duty to excuse them before the king, to defend them, and to manifest your own opinions. If you are silent, or connive at their fate, you in a manner torture them and burn the fathers of the truth ; if you do not let a word escape you to manifest your displeasure, your silence makes you an accomplice in their death, and you join cause with the enemies of Christ. You will perhaps answer. If I do this I shall provoke the anger of the king and of my husband, and make myself many enemies. Eeflect which is better, to have the displeasure of men, or of God, who can not only kill the body but is able also to destroy the soul in eternal fire. If you have him for a friend no one can hurt you without his permission, for all things are in his hands. Reflect on this within yourself. Oh I that you would seriously cultivate piety and the fear of God. I beseech you to appl}^ yourself earnestly to the Holy Scriptures and to prayer. ' Whatsoever,' says Chi'ist, ' you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.' Remember you are born in a mortal condition, and do not listen to those who say, * Life is short, let us comply with our desires, and enjoy the pleasures of the world;' but rather hear what Paul says. If you live according to the flesh, that is, give yourselves up to the pleasures of the body, you shall perish eternally. I could write more on this subject if 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 123 I were sure that my letters would be acceptable to you. I could send you some books, it' you wish to learn more of Christ. My great love for you makes me write thus. May God call you into liis eternal kingdom as he has called me, and make you a partaker of its great and everlasting benefits. Great indeed will be my joy if I hear that my wishes are fulfilled through the mighty grace of God. Adieu. Heidel- berg, 1st June, 1554." ' In the year 1555 the duchess had a visit from a very re- markable man, one of the few nobles who were firm in the reformed faith." Galeazzo Caraccioli, marquis of Vico, had left houses and lands, wife and children, to profess the Gospel ac- cording to his conscience. His family never entirely gave up the hope of his return to tliem ; and when in 1555 Gio. Pietro CarafFa, the brother of his maternal grandmother, was elected Pope, the marquis Colantonio, Galeazzo's father, relying on the clemency of Paul IV., made renewed efforts to persuade his son to abandon his heretical opinions. For this purpose he arranged a meeting at Mantua and treated him in the most affectionate and caressing manner, representing the claims of his family and the duty of obeying his parents. He even promised that his wife should come and join him if he would shew some signs of submission. But he spoke to a heart too well established in the truth to yield to the magic of persuasion, too well acquainted with the wiles of the Romish church to trust to its promises. He re- minded his father that the Church of Rome did not deem it necessary to keep faith with heretics, and they parted without coming to any conclusion. The father returned to Naples, passing through Rome to do homage to the Pope. Galeazzo accompanied him as far as his passport and safe-conduct per- mitted. They separated on the frontiers of the Venetian territory, and being near Ferrara he was desirous of paying a visit to the duchess. He was introduced by Francesco Porto, the learned Greek already alluded to, and received by Rcnee with the greatest cordiality; she conversed some time with him, listened with great interest to the details of his history, and questioned him a good deal on other subjects, particularly about 1 OlijmpicB Moratce Opera, p. 130. Ed, Basil. 1570. J. Bonnet, Vie d' Olynijna Morata, p. 204. There i.s here some slight variation from Mr. Bonnet's elegant French translation ; prohahly he followed the edition dedicated to Isabella Manricha ; that of 1570 was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. 2 See a subsequent Chapter. 124 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Calvin and the Italian clmrcli wliicli had been recently formed at Geneva ; she also consulted him on some religious questions. The duchess took leave of him with her usual courtesy, and sent him in one of her own carriages as fiir as Francolino on the Po, where he took boat to Venice, and returned to Geneva by way of the Grisons. It must have been a great refreshment of spirit to Ren^e to see and converse with a man who had sacrificed so much for the Gospel, although her own faith was not strong enough to imitate such firmness. Though left in peace by her husband the duchess had many trials in her household, and it was by no means easy for her to walk in the straight and narrow way. Calvin continued to send her both messengers and ministers. On 20 July 1558 he expresses his satisfaction at her approval of a person he had sent her, and hopes that he has been a help to her in the path of safety ; reminds her of the warfare which a christian is called to maintain, and that the enemy of souls never allows us to serve God without disturbance, and tells her that this is the way God tries and proves our faith. '^ If this appears to you hard and difficult, think of what St. Peter says, ' that the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.'^ ... It is good to know oar infirmities, not to cast us into despair, but to urge us to seek the remedy Be not therefore weary of fighting against all temptations ; and as you need to be armed against them, have recourse to Him who is all-sufficient to strengthen you, exercise yourself by holy exhortations, and, as I have already said, beware of despising the means, and employ a person to incite and encoui^age you, which you have hitherto found so useful Your friends I hope will not fail you in this service, and when you are pleased to desii^e me to find you a suitable person, I shall most willingly do so. Only, my Lady, take courage Eor if the condition of the children of God were a hundred times harder, that would be no reason for us to leave the good to which God by his infinite goodness has called us. ''I have also heard, my Lady, that you are not without thorns in your own household. But this like other evils must be overcome. And though there is some apparent danger that those who will not submit, but remain obstinate, may revenge themselves by censures and calum- nies, yet it is better for once to run the chance than for you to be always in this languid state. But the chief thing is to cleanse your house, as God commands, and as David gives you the example in the 101st Psalm. When you take pains to dedicate it pure and clean to 80 good a King, you may hope that he will be its protector. It is 1 1 Peter, vii. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 125 indeed true, that labour as you may, there will always be imperfec- tions, but you must exert yourself to succeed, at least in part. We have this privilege, that in aiming at this end, God accepts the will for the deed. I have still, my Lady, one word to say to you about your scruples as to the presentation of benefices.^ If you cannot do better, particularly as it is not your own property, that you may interfere as little as possible with such merchandise, hand it over to the good abbot, who will be very glad to relieve you from this charge. In the letters of authority which you give him, this clause may be very well inserted without blame, that to discharge your conscience, and because you will not be mixed up with what concerns the state of the Church, you commit this to him through me. For I cannot see any means of making a good use of it. In all cases, my Lady, I beg of you to harden yourself against being blamed for well-doing, for this is the reward promised to us from on high. As to threats, which are more severe, fight against all weaknesses, because, by encouraging them, instead of going forward you will only go back. Be not astonished if you find a contradiction in yourself, for it was said of Peter, valiant champion as he was, ' they will lead you where you would not.' By which we see that we can never be wholly devoted to God as long as oui' flesh shrinks from warfare. "■ The worthy lord,- whom I know you will like to hear about, passed the sea the end of March, and before the middle of June he was promised some galleys to bring over his wife, for the passage is not long, and the captain could do him this kindness without trouble or expence. I think however he will soon return if God does not most miraculously change the heart of his wife, who would fain draw him to perdition if she could. "^ The ministers of the reformation had closely studied and well knew how to practise the Apostolic injunction to " preach the word: be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine;"* and the masculine vigour of their exhortations wonderfully sustained the weakness of the converts. While we follow with the deepest interest the slight traces which remain of the private and spiritual life of the duchess of Ferrara, we cannot but look with anxious glance across the mountains and watch the steps of Olympia, the brightest orna- ment of the court, while leaning on the arm of her husband she treads a barren and a barbarous land for the sake of the Gospel. Though she never wished to retrace her steps, her thoughts were much occupied about her absent friends, especially Lavinia dclla ^ For property in France. 2 Galeazzo Caraccioli, Marquis of Vico. 3 This -vras a second attempt Galeazzo had made to induce his wife to follow him. •» 2 Tim. iv. 2. 126 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Eovere. To Ciirione, her father's friend and spiritual guide, she also wrote most affectionately, giving an account of herself, and expressing the greatest desire for his friendship. *'Yoiir intimacy with and great friendship for my dear father makes me hope you will allow me to share in that regard, and that I shall stand in my father's place as a son or a daughter who inherits the patrimony of their parents. You must know that my father, exhausted by suffering but with strong faith in God, departed this life about two years ago. After his death I was deserted by those whom it least behoved to act thus, and treated in a very unworthy manner ; nor was this confined to me alone, my sisters also shared this treatment, and derived no fruit from their labours and services but dislike. You may imagine the excess of our grief. No one defended us, and we appeared to be surrounded with so many difficulties that we saw no prospect of egress. But the great Father of his children did not leave me more than two years in this misery." She then relates her marriage and journey to Germany, and sketches her husband's character and excellencies in a tone becoming a modest affectionate wife. " Of the integrity of my husband's character, and how learned he is in Greek and Latin, I should rather you knew from others than from my letters. Thus much I wish you to know from myself, that if I were in the highest possible favour of my prince, and were he even to enrich me, I could not be better situated, though despoiled and destitute, than God has placed me. He (her husband) is learned, not meanly born, and his father has left him some fortune, and his love for me is so great that it cannot be exceeded. I trust that Providence will in like manner provide for my sisters, of whom I have three, all marriageable, whom I left behind at Ferrara with my mother. My little brother of eight years old I have brought with me, and shall instruct him, as far as I can, in Greek and Latin "When by the malevolence and detraction of wicked persons our family became alienated and obnoxious to her who ought to have been our protectress, I no longer fixed my hopes on this short, fleeting, falling world, but God inflamed my mind with the desire of inhabiting his heavenly house, in which it is more joyful to pass a single day than a thousand years in the palaces of princes. I then returned to my divine studies, in proof of which here are some poems which I wrote last year. These I now copy and send you, to shew that in my leisure hours, though oppressed by so many calamities, God has enabled me to devote myself to literature, the more so as he has given me in marriage to a man who takes great delight in literary pursuits."^ After a short stay at Augsburg with George Herman, a councillor of the king, Olympia and her husband went to Wurtz- burg to visit their old friends John and Francesco Sinapi, with 1 IJjnst. Olymp. p. 93. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FEREARA. 127 whom they had tasted such sweet converse at Ferrara. John Sinapi was at this time physician to Melcliior Zobel prince- bishop of Wurtzburg/ Olympia here enjoyed the luxury of friendship and leisure for her favourite studies. While thus occupied her little brother Emilio met with an accident, which very nearly proved fatal. He fell from a window near some precipitous rocks in the sight of Grunthler and Sinapi, but happily by the protection of Providence he escaped the danger by falling on some soft earth, and Avas taken up unhurt. ^' The precipice is so deep," Olympia writes to Curione, ^' that I am horrified to think of it, and diire not write to my mother of this great deliverance, for nothing that I could say would con- vince her that he was alive, unless she saw him."" While they were at Wurtzburg Grunthler received the appointment of phy- sician to the Spanish troops^ at Schweinfurt, his native place. It could not have been a situation of much emolument, but as Grunthler had some private fortune he probably hoped through his friends to be able to practise in his native town. After five months of uncertainty they were glad to be settled in a home of their own, little dreaming of the storm which awaited them. Since the publication of the Interim in Germany much dis- satisfaction had existed among the protestants; and in places where it had been forced on the inhabitants many christians fled rather than conform to its prescriptions. The Emperor used it more as an engine for absolute power than as a means of promoting religion, but the authority which he thus assumed prepared the way for the emancipation of Germany. At the diet of Augsburg in 1550, which was called for the purpose of procuring its sanction to the Council of Trent,* and a promise to submit to its decisions on religion, Maurice of Saxony declared by deputy that he would not acknowledge the Council unless the protestants were heard and their ministers allowed to vote in the assembly. It was sui'prising that this should have created no distrust in the mind of the Emperor, for he continued to trust Maurice as before, and had so little confidence in the success of the Interim ^ Jules Bonnet, Vie cV Olympia Morata, p. 90. 2 Olymp. Epist. pp. 101, 113. ^ Ibid. p. 103. 4 Summoned by Pope Julius iii., met at Trent 1st May, 1551, and began the session 1st September. 128 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- that he himself acknowledged that it had been impossible to conquer the difficulties. This was even the case in Suabia, which had for five years been full of Spanish troops ; and on this account Charles stationed himself at Innspruck, in the neighbour- hood of Trent, eager to observe the progress of the Council and make use of its decisions for his religious requirements. So great was the Emperor's confidence in Maurice that he retained only a slight guard of troops near his person. Suddenly he was roused by the startling intelligence that Maurice had put the Imperial garrison to flight, taken possession of Augsburg, and was marching on to Innspruck. Charles was at this time suiFering the tortures of an attack of gout, and could only travel in a litter; he had but just time to escape over the mountains before the arrival of Maurice. This champion of the reformation was moved to take arms by three important considerations; to secure freedom of conscience to the protestants, to defend the liberties of the Germanic empire, and to liberate his father-in- law, the Landgrave of Hesse, for whose freedom he had passed his word. These were objects in which nearly the whole of Germany was interested, and Maurice was so aided by the popular voice and the personal infirmities of the Emperor, that he completely succeeded in securing the religious liberties of Germany, and undoing all the work of the Emperor's confederates against the league of Smalcald. Ferdinand king of the Romans interposed his mediation to bring about the treaty of Passau, which was signed August 2, 1552, and thus, by one of those extraordinary changes not uncommon in human afiairs, the same man who had assisted to humble the protestant princes and weaken their cause was now the instrument of their full emanci- pation. But there were some hot heads, partisans of the Emperor, who refused to be bound by the treaty of peace. Among these we find Albert of Brandenburg, a brave but ferocious bandit warrior, who resolved to fight to the last. Unfortunately he chose Schweinfurt for his stronghold, and from thence he sent his soldiers to pillage and ravage the neighbourhood. The neigh- bouring princes were resolved to unkennel him as a noxious wild beast. The bishops of Wurtzburg and Bomberg, Maurice, and the duke of Brunswick^ advanced to besiege him in his lair. The inhabitants were exposed to the licence of an undisciplined ^ Olymp. Morat. p. 121. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERPvARA. 129 soldiery, who with threats and violence demanded gold. To the miseries of famine were added the horrors of the plague. Olympia was distracted at seeing her husband laid prostrate with this fi-ightful disease. In a letter to Lavinia della Rovere Orsini she says : '^ ]My beloved husband was seized with this disease, and in such gTcat danger that there seemed no hope for his life. . . . Under all these evils our only consolation was in the word of God, that alone sustained us. I did not even once wish to return to the flesh-pots of Egypt ; better to perish under the ruins of this city than to enjoy all the pleasures of the world else- where." She had before this written a most interesting and affectionate letter to Lavinia, earnestly pressing her to attend to the interests of her eternal salvation, and telling her that she prayed day and night in her behalf. In this letter she speaks of some imaginary Dialogues^ which she had composed between Lavinia and herself, under the imjDression that her husband might be absent and she very unhappy in consequence. She also sends her some writings of Martin Luther, ^' which, if you enjoy as much as I have done, will afford you much pleasure. Enter, I entreat you, into these studies, pray that you may be enlightened by true religion. Is God a liar? Has he not promised us all we ask, and shall we not serve him?" Lavinia had taken Yittoria, Olympia's sister, into her service ; this was a great relief.^ She rejoices at her being safe from the temptation to deny Christ, to which she might have been exposed at Ferrara. All her letters express the most profound submission to the divine will during the great sufferings of the siege at Schweinfurt : in a letter written in Italian to Madonna Cherubina she gives 1 These Dialogues represent Olympia and Lavinia conversing together ; Lavinia expresses disappointment with her lot in life, and complains of the desertion of her husband. Olympia shews her that she should place her happiness above all earthly good, and remarks that it is not extraordinary if all things have not turned out as she wished, seeing the service of God had not been her chief object. — Opera Ohjmp. Mor. pp. 42, 64. - Olympia had three sisters, one was with Elena Rangoni Bcntivoglio, and the other with her daughter at Milan. Lucrezia Morata, their mother, being left alone at Ferrara, the youngest of her daughters was preparing to go to her, when a rich young man, an only son, offered her his hand and married her without fortune. That same year they joined Lucrezia at Ferrara. The youngest sister, Vittoria, was in the service of Lavinia dclla Rovere at Rome. — Epist. Olymp. p. 102. VOL. II. K 130 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- so graphic an account of her trials and her feelings under these heavy calamities, that we cannot withhold a translation from the reader. ''Dearest Madonna Cherubina, you must rejoice with us that God in his great mercy has released us from the imminent danger to which for fourteen months we have been exposed. He has fed us in the time of famine, so that we had even enough to give to others. He cured my husband of a pestilential fever which raged throughout the town for seven weeks ; he was so ill that if I had not been able to look up with the eyes of faith, seeing things which are invisible, I could never have hoped he would recover, for the signs of death began to appear ; but God, to whom nothing is impossible, and who often works against nature, cured him without medicine, — for on account of the war no medicines were to be found at the apothecaries. God had mercy on me, for my grief was almost beyond bearing. I have very often ex- perienced what is said in the Psalms, that God hears and grants the prayers of those who fear him. You know, my dear Madonna Cheru- bina, that in the Scripture, fire means great affliction, as Isaiah clearly expresses : ' Thus saith the Lord, Let not Israel fear when he passes through the fire.' He has been with us who have really passed through the fire not allegorically, but we have really been in the midst of the fire. For the bishops and their companions which have warred against Schweinfurt threw fire night and day into all parts of the city, and fired the cannon with such force and violence that the soldiers who were within the city said they had never heard, in any other war, so many cannon fired in one day. God, in the first attack, by his mercy and aid so invited the people to repentance that not one in the city was killed. In short, God has shewn his power in defending this city and freeing it from so many evils ; at last they entered suddenly by treachery, after we had been assured that, by command of the emperor and the other princes, they would go away. Having taken everything that was in the town they set it on fire. God freed us from the flames, and by the advice of one of the enemies we got out of the fire. My husband was twice taken by the soldiers, and if ever I was in distress then was the time, and if I ever prayed earnestly it was at that moment. My distracted heart cried with unutterable groans, ' Help me, help me ! Lord, for Christ's sake,' nor did I cease till he did help and freed my husband. I wish you had seen me with my hair all in disorder, covered with rags, for they took our very garments from us. In my flight I lost my shoes, and had no stockings, and I had to escape over stones and rocks, so that I do not know how I got on. I often said, I shall certainly fall down dead, I can go no farther : then I cried to God, ' 0 Lord, if thou wilt that I should live, command thy angels to sustain me, for of myself I cannot.' I am astonished when I think how the first day I walked that ten miles, feeling myself so faint ; for I was very thin and weak, having been ill the day before, and I had a tertian fever brought on by fatigue, so that during the whole journey I was always ill. But God did not forsake us, though the very clothes were taken off our backs; for he sent us while on the way fifteen crowns in gold by a gentleman whom we did not know, and then led us to other 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 131 gentlemen who clothed ns in a suitable manner. At last wc came to this town of Heidelberg, where my husband has been made professor of medicine, and we have now as much furniture in the house as we had before. " I write you all this that you may thank the Lord, and remember that he never, in their greatest distresses, abandons his children, and that your faith may firmly believe that he will not forsake you, although we suffer somewhat for the sake of the truth ; for we must be, as 8t. Paul says, conformed to the image of Christ, and suff'er ^dth him, that we may also reign with him. The crown is only given to those wlio fight ; and if you feel yourself weak, my dear Madonna Cherubina, as I do, but the Lord makes me strong when I call upon and pray to liim, go to Christ, who, as says Isaiah, ' will not break the bruised reed,' that is the weak and timorous conscience, he will not alarm but console it ; for he calls to himself all who are heavy-laden and weary of sin, nor ' will he quench the smoking flax,' that is, him who is weak in faith he will not reject, but make him strong. Do you not know that Isaiah calls him (Christ) strong as a giant, not only because he has conquered the devil, sin, hell, and death, but because he continually conquers in his members all his enemies and makes them strong. Why do the Scrip- tures so often enjoin us to pray, and promise that we shall be heard, if not that in all our miseries and infirmities we may go to our Physician ? "Why does David call him ' the God of his strength,' but because he made him strong ? and so he will do for you, but he will be entreated, and we must study his word, which is the food of the soul. If the body loses its strength when it has no food, how can the soul be strong when not sustained by the word of God ? So, my dear Madonna Cherubina, be continually in prayer, and read the Scriptures botli by yourself and with the lady Lavinia, and with Yittoria, and exhort her to piety ; pray together, and you will see that God will give you strength sufficient to conquer the world, so that you will never from fear do anything con- trary to your conscience. Do you think he is a liar when he says, * Yerily, verily I say unto you. If you ask anything of the Father in my name he will give it you', and 'where two or three are gathered together upon earth, and pray for anything, I will grant it.' We are without him when we are weak, because we do not pray to him. You will see that if you do not grow weary in prayer God will make you strong. Pray for us, as I do for all the Christians in Italy, that God may give us constancy so that we may confess him in the midst of a perverse generation. Here there is great contempt for the word of God, and few care about it; we have here also idolatry together with the word of God, like Samaria. How I wish I could liave my dear mother with me, but every place is full of war. I must look for the consolation of seeing her in another world. The pious are not without their cross here : may the Lord give to us aU faith and constancy to conquer the world. ** For the glory of God I must write you an account of a wonderful thing which we have seen during our misfortunes. Wc have been at the court of some of the German nobles who have perilled both life and fortune, and who live such holy lives that I am quite confounded. One noble has preachers in his city, and he himself is always the first to go to the preaching ; then every morning before dinner he summons k2 132 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- all his family, not one must be absent, and in their presence he reads a gospel or an epistle of St. Paul, and then he and all his court kneel in prayer to God. All liis subjects from house to house are obliged to give an account of their faith that he may see what progress they are making in religion, for he knows well that if he does not act thus he will be called to give an account of the souls of his subjects. How I wish all princes and nobles did the same ! May the Lord give you faith and increase of knowledge, for we ought continually to pray that our faith may be increased ; for this is the will of the Lord, we should never stand still as if we were perfect, but walk on and grow unto perfection. Study diligently the Holy Scriptures. Emilio, thank God, is safe and well, and I hope that he will fear God ; he is fond of hearing preaching and studj'ing the Scriptures. I pray constantly for him, and for all our family, that they may fear the Lord. My husband and Emilio salute you heartily. From Heidelberg, 8th of August. '' If the lady Lavinia feels disposed to write to me, it will be easy for her to find the way and the means. This city is celebrated for its court and university. Your Olympia."^ It is scarcely possible to realise the sufferings which this little family underwent in a besieged city on fire where the plague was raging at the same time. They were obliged to conceal themselves in a wine-cellar^ to avoid the flames. The soldiers being without pay threatened to indemnify themselves by pillage. When the marquis of Brandenburg left the town by night the troops of the bishops entered next day, and after having pillaged it of all that remained set it on fire. In this extremity the Grunthler family could save nothing but their lives, and poor Olympia had her gown torn from her in the middle of the street, leaving her almost naked.^ They directed their steps to Hamelburg, a place about three leagues off, and Olympia says her plight on entering this town -was like the queen of the beggars with a tattered gown given her by a poor woman ; as before related in her letter to Cherubina, she was barefoot, and her hair in the greatest disorder: and no wonder such a journey in such a state destroyed her health and laid the foundation of an early decline. They found hospitable protection first from Count Rhineck, then from Count Erbach,* who had perilled their own lives and fortunes for the sake of the Christian religion. The eldest 1 Epist. Olymp. p. 122. 2 " Atque illo tempore semper in cella vinaria latitare coacti fuimus." — Epist. Olymp. Ccelio Ctirioni, p. 160. 3 " Imo in medio foro nobis vestimenta detracta fuerint, neque mihi quicquam proeter linteam tunicam relictiun fuit quo corpus tegerem." — Olympia Morata Victorice Moratce, p. 175. * Idem, p. 175. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 133 of the tliree brothers, Eberhard, was married to tlie dauglitcr of tlie Count Palatine Frederick II. Olympia wrote to her sister Vittoria tliat this noble lady was so affected by tlieir misfortunes that she received them with the utmost kindness and compassion, and herself ministered to her necessities during the indisposition which followed the fatiguing walk of ten miles. The countess presented her with a beautiful cloak worth a thousand crowns. It is of this family, and the piety of its chief, that Olympia speaks in her letter to Cherubina. The forlorn condition of the fugitives called forth the sympathies of this christian family, and very probably the countess used her influence with her brother the Count Palatine to procure for Grunthler the professorship of medicine at Heidelberg. Our space does not admit of indulging our readers with many more particulars of a life which is waning to its close. As soon as her arrival at Heidelberg was known among her friends, letters of condolence and sympathy poured in on all sides. John Sinapi, of Wurtzburg, where she and her husband had so lately been guests, was the first to offer to her those heavenly consola- tions which he knew she would most prize. ^^ Our hope is only in another and a better country ; we know that this world is not our home, but appointed to us as a sojourn for a time. God abundantly compensates us for all misfortunes by his infinite goodness I have received letters from Italy very lately, dated the 1st of June; some things in them concern you. I do not know whether you are acquainted with what is passing at court. They wrote to me that the whole country is full of evils and dangers, and that God is proving who are his people by the cross. When we think of their lot our own seems lighter."^ Olympia's friends signified their wish to supply her with books, to replace those which she had lost in the fire at Schwein- furt. One book alone had been rescued from the flames, a volume of the lives of Plutarch, which John Sinapi bought and sent to Grunthler because he found Olympia's name inscribed in the last page. Curione touchingly responds to the recital of her calamities, and reminds her that if she had lost her worldly goods she still retained all that was valuable, genius, learning, wisdom, innocence, piety, and faith. '' I wrote about ' Episi. Olymp. Joannes Sinapius, p. 136. This letter is dated 28th June, 1554. 134 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- the books to your husband/ Our printers have sent you in my name Homer and other books as a gift. If they are to be found at Frankfort you shall have the Commentaries on the Lamenta- tions of Jeremiah,^ that you may meditate with him on the sorrows of your husband's country. We have sent you all the works of Sophocles which are extant, as a laurel you well deserve.'^ In the year 1554 John Sinapi had the affliction to lose his wife Francesca, and the widowed father was anxious to place his daughter Theodora under Olympia's care : though much occupied in furnishing her apartment and arranging her house- hold, she willingly consented to receive his orphan daughter, provided he could send her bed also ; furniture she says is dear, and they have not the means of purchasing a great deal. This young girl was very precious to Olympia for her mother's sake, and she tells her father that his child will have an opportunity of being in the society of the elegant and accomplished daughters of count Eberhard'* of Erbach. Olympia thought much of her friends in Italy, especially Lavinia della Rovere, under whose protection her sister Vittoria was placed ; she felt disappointed at not receiving any answer to the many letters she had written to her, and as if taking a last adieu of this dear friend she wrote once again, earnestly recommending her to watch lest she should fall into lukewarmness, and entreating her to study the Scriptures with diligence : v/hile speaking of the state of warfare with which she is surrounded she adds : " but all these things ought to fill us with joy, for we know that they portend that the happy and auspicious day is near when we shall commence an ever- blessed life. It is enough here to correspond by letter and com- municate in spirit. I commend to you my sister with the greatest anxiety, not that you may heap riches upon her or lead her to earthly honours, but that she may be enlightened by the knowledge of Christ. Soon will the form of this world pass away."^ No doubt she felt that her health had received a shock from which it would never recover, and she gradually prepared her mind to leave this world and to enter into eternal rest. In the beginning of 1555 she found herself much weaker, 1 Epist. Olymp. p. 165. 2 gy Peter Martyr Vermiglio. 3 Idem, p. 165. 4 Jdem^ p. 144. 5 Idem, p. 175. This letter was dated Heidelberg, 30th August, 1554. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 135 and that same year the plague broke out at Heidelberg. Letters from a friend informed her that Curione was ill, and she im- mediately took up her pen entreating to have her anxiety relieved about him. Of herself she says, '^ I grow weaker and weaker, and the fever never leaves me. God thus chastises us that we may not perish with the world."^ An account of Curionc's re- covery and that of his daughter Yiolante revived her, and she wrote to him for the last time. Her letter expressed with touching emotion that sadness which fills the heart at the prospect of separation from all we love. Her affections were indeed fixed above, but the weakness of her exhausted frame drew forth all the tenderness of her nature. Olympia FrLYiA MoRATA TO Celio Secunbo Cijeioxe. " How tenderly the hearts of true friends, Christian friends, are united, you, my dearest Father Celio, may conceive when I tell you that on reading your letter I could not refrain from tears. I wept for joy that you were rescued from the grave. May God preserve you for the service and advantage of his Church. I grieve to hear of your daughter's illness, but my grief is diminished by what you say of there being some hope of her recovery. As for me, dear Celio, know that I have no hope of surviving long. I am beyond the reach of medicines, and though I make use of many they are in vain, so that my friends look every day, and even every hour, for my release, and I think this is the last letter you will receive from me. My body and strength are wasted ; I have no desire for food, and my cough both night and day threatens to suffocate me. The fever is strong and constant, and I have such pains all over me that they prevent me from sleeping. Thus nothing remains for me but to expire. But as long as my heart beats I will remember my friends and the benefits I have received from them. .... I think my departure is near. I commend the Church to your care ; let all you do be for its benefit. '' Farewell, excellent Celio, and when you hear of my death do not grieve, for I know that I shall be victorious at the last, and I desire to depart and to be with Christ Heidelberg is deserted ; many have fled on account of the plague. I send you the poems which I have been able to recollect and write out since the ruin of Schwein- furt ; all my other writings perished. You must be my Aristarchus and poUsh them. Again farewell. Heidelberg, 1555."- Too truly did the dying Olympia foresee that this would be the last letter she would write, for before it reached its destination her spirit had fled to the light of everlasting day. We must now complete the account of this angelic being by giving a letter written by her husband to the above-mentioned Celio a month after her death. The blow seemed too heavy for 1 Epid. Olymp. 9th July, 1555. - Idem, p. 185. 136 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- liira to bear after all his losses and calamities ; this last rolling wave cast him prostrate. ''.... She indeed departed with great eagerness, and I may say that she died with joy, in the firm persuasion that she was called from daily suffering and from a life of sorrow to eternal happiness. 1 can receive no consolation as yet from the recollection of the sweet and happy days we passed together. She lived with me not quite five years, and certainly never did I see a purer or more candid mind, or conduct so upright and holy I feel able for nothing ; not- withstanding, as I know how much you wish it, I will try to summon strength to tell you briefly how her life ended. Just before her death, on awakening from sleep, her countenance had an expression of happy sweetness and secret joy, I drew near and asked her why she smiled so sweetly. * I saw,' said she, * just now, in the stillness, a place filled with a beautiful clear light ;' she could say no more from weakness. ' Come, said I, ' be of good cheer, my wife, you will dwell in that beautiful light.' She smiled again, and gently nodded her head, and a little after she said, ' I am full of joy.' She did not speak again till her sight growing dim she said, ' I scarcely know you, but all around seems full of beautiful flowers.' These were her last words. A little after, as if overcome by a sweet sleep, she breathed out her spirit. For days before she had often declared with strong assurance that she desired nothing so much as to die and to be with Christ, whose great benefits to her, when the force of her disease permitted, she never ceased to acknowledge ; because he had enlightened her with a know- ledge of his word, and had alienated her mind from the pleasures of the world, and inflamed her with the desire of eternal life: nor did she hesitate in all her discourses to call herself the child of God. jSTothing afforded her less satisfaction than any attempt to console her by expressing a hope that she would recover from this illness. God, she said, had circumscribed the course of her life, which had been veiy suffering and full of sorrow, and she did not wish to return to prison. Eeing asked once by a good man if she felt any doubts in her mind which did her harm, she replied, ' Seven years ago the devil never ceased to make every effort to draw me away from the true faith, but having failed in his undertaking he now no longer appears, nor do I feel anything but the utmost peace and tranquillity in Christ.' I should be too long if I were to enumerate all the things which we heard her say, to our great admiration, and which shewed the piety, holiness, constancy, and strength of her mind. She died on the 25th of JS'ovembcr, at four o'clock in the afternoon, not having completed her twenty-ninth year. '^ She received a letter from you at the last Frankfort fair, which though grievously afflicted she wished to answer, and write to you with her own hand. But afterwards she changed her mind. jN'ot being able from weakness to write, she commissioned me to do so. I therefore send you, as you see, this letter, which predicts her sad end,^ together with some Psalms which she wrote in Greek, and a few epigrams. "When I had written the letter I reminded her of the learned Bonifacio Amberbachio ;^ she replied, * You know we wrote together by Herold to 1 See the letter to Curione, p. 13o. 2 Qf Bale. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 137 him, and wc have not yet received an answer. And now I have nothing- to say, and if I had I am not able.' You, when you write to our Celio, command him in my name to take care of his healtli. *' I am very anxious as to the manner in which I should communicate the sad intelligence to my mother-in-law. I know how dreadfully it will afflict this excellent lady, who has been already so severely tried. I can see nothing better than for you, with your piety and eloquence, to write first a letter to prepare the way for mine, and to strengthen her mind to bear the dreadful ncAvs Meanwhile farewell, dear Celio ; you are happier than I am, for you have a beloved wife and sweet children. Heidelberg, 23rd December, 1555."^ In this same letter Grimthler proposes sending Emilio, Olympia's young brother, to him, as he feared that his pro- fessional absences would prevent him attending to his studies, and he is " very desirous tliat he should emulate the reputation of the sister by whom alone he has hitherto been educated." At the suggestion of Grunthler" Celio undertook the painful task of breaking to Olympia's widowed mother the heart-rending intelligence of her pious and accomplished daughter's death. The want of space alone prevents it from being laid entire before the reader;^ it is a most feeling epistle, full of christian con- solation and support. '' Our Olympia is not dead, but lives a blessed and immortal life with Christ, and after all her trials and sufferings she is received into her sweet and deserved rest. She lives, lives above. Your Olympia, Lucrezia, lives also here below, and as long as there are men in the world will she be immortal by her works, those divine monuments of her exquisite talents. Por that is not the only life which is composed of body and soul, but there is one much higher which shall flourish throughout all ages, which posterity will increase, and even eternity itself sustain." Curione, in compliance with Olympia's wish, determined to publish as many of her writings as he could collect, together with the encomiums of learned men. ^' I have myself," he writes to Grunthler, '' written not an epitaph, but an apotheosis* of her in a few verses, and I shall add my letters to her and yours to me, giving an account of her death, all of which will be authoritative records of her life. I beg you therefore speedily 1 Epist. Olymj). p. 187. - CeUo, in his reply to GruntlilGr, tells liim he has written to Lucrezia in Italian, and sends him a translation of the letter into Latin, to shew him what he has said. 3 See it in l7;?67. Ohjmp. p. 195, in Latin; Vie d' Olymxna Morata, p. 235, in French; and Life of Olympia Morata^ p. 261, in English. 4 See Appendix I. 138 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- to send me any writings which either you or others have in your possession, that I may add them to the rest."^ As the account of Renee's inner hfe and domestic habits is very imperfect and slender, it is not surprising that no mention is made of the impression which the death of this young gifted creature produced at Ferrara. The duchess, as we have seen, had private vexations enough of her own to occupy all her attention. Her son Alfonso,^ like his uncle Francesco before him, had escaped to the court of France without the permission of his father. He had repeatedly asked leave to make this excursion and been always refused, but he was decided on going, and secretly borrowed nine thousand crowns for the journey. On the 28th of May 1552, under pretence of hawk-hunting, he went out of the gates of Ferrara and rode on to Polesine di Rovigo. There he told his com- panions he was going to France, and dismissed them to their homes, taking with him only four or five servants, his barber, armourer, and some others. The duke did not hear of his departure till he was far on his road to Paris; but he then shewed his displeasure by hanging in efS^gj by the feet, from the windows of the palace della Ragione, Grio. Tommaso Lavez- zuolo, who he thought had promoted his son's flight. The chief reason of the duke's displeasure was his fear lest Charles V. should take it amiss. Alfonso was well received at the court of France, complimented with the order of St. Michael, and made captain of a hundred soldiers with suitable pay.^ He returned to Italy in 1557, with the army of the duke of Guise, when the hatred of Paul IV. for the Spanish party had kindled the flames of war in Lombardy. The Pope was determined to support the pretensions of the French at any cost, and the duke of Ferrara was forced into the league, partly by the persuasions of his son-in-law the duke of Guise, but chiefly from fear of the Pope. 1 The edition liere made use of is that of Bale, 1572 ; the title, Olympic Moratce Fcemince Doctissimce ac Plane Bivina^ Opera omnia qu(R hactenus inveniri potuerunt cum eruditorum testimoniis et laudibus. Quibus Ccelij S. C. Selectee Hpistolcc ae Orationes accesserunt. Basilcoe, apud Petrum Pernam, 1570. The preface is dated 1562 ; it is a dedication to D. Elisabethse Anglioe Francice atque Hibemiae Eeginae, Ecclesise Christianse verse patronse. For the other editions see Appendix J. 2 Besides Anna, Alfonso, and Lucrezia, she had since borne another daughter, Eleanora, and a son, Luigi, afterwards cardinal. p. 343. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 139 This alliance made him more willing to receive and forgive Alfonso, whose life had been in great danger from mounting a horse belonging to the duke d' Aumale, whom no one had been able to break; he was thrown, and so much injured that for many hours he was considered dead, and he never entirely recovered the consequences of his fall. By joining the league Ercole was involved in expences which he could not meet with- out injury to his subjects. In order to raise money he was driven to do what his father in his greatest difficulties never did. He closed the university, and appropriated the salaries of the professors to the maintenance of the war, increased the price of salt and made it a monopoly, and reimposed several taxes which had been taken off. Both Frizzi and Muratori mention the duchess Renee being engaged in the Fieschi conspiracy at Genoa to reestablish French dominion there, but except the fact no details are given. In the year 1558 Ferdinand, king of the Eomans, was elected emperor, and a general pacification followed. The following year the duke, though by no means advanced in years, was seized with a sudden illness, which in a few days carried him off. Under the direction probably of the Jesuits he had made his will the year before, and after leaving several legacies for pious purposes he assigned to Renee the use of the palace and half of the Belneguardo rental, fin cJie viverh da huona cattolica. He left a larger dower to his daughters than was usual. To Luigi he left il palazzo de! Diamante^ with a sum of money to finish it. The talents and prudence of the duchess Renee were con- spicuously manifest on her husband's death. Her son Alfonso the heir was absent in France. Ippolito and Alfonso the brothers of Ercole were both at a distance. She therefore herself assumed the reins of government, and sent a messenger to France for Alfonso, who immediately gave up his captain's command and set out for Ferrara.^ The king accompanied him part of the Avay, and to secui'e him in his interests assigned him at parting ^ Alfonso's first act was one of justice and livimanity; he liberated Giiilio, natural brother of Alfonso I., who, involved in the conspiracy of loOo, had been in prison ever since, fifty-four years. He appeared on horseback in public in the same dress which was the fashion when he was imprisoned, and his costume excited great curiosity and astonishment. — Frizzi, Memorie^ torn. iv. p. 355. 140 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1510- an annual pension of 20,000 crowns in gold. He went by the way of Marseilles to Leghorn, and from thence to Florence, where he visited Lucrezia, his betrothed bride, daughter of Cosimo duke of Florence, and arrived incognito at Ferrara on the 20th of November, and after a conversation with his mother retired to Belvidere. lie made his public entry as duke with great pomp on the 19th of January 1560, and immediately began to shew his love for letters by reopening the university closed by his father, and even projected opening a vast printing-press at Ferrara. Eenee, trusting to her son's filial affection, thought she would now be permitted to manifest more openly her protestant opinions, but Alfonso having gone to Rome to pay homage to the Pope, Pius IV., he complained of the duchess being so obstinate in her religious errors. Alfonso, on his return in June, told her that even though she were his mother it was his duty to advise her either to change her opinions or quit the country. She chose the latter alternative, and resolved to retire to her estates at Montargis. Much as Eenee loved her country,^ it must have been a heavy trial to separate herself from her daugh- ters by the command of her son ; but it was impossible for her to conform to the Roman Catholic religion, and as her opinions might imperil the safety of her son's dominions she unwillingly acquiesced. That same year, accompanied by a suite of three hundred persons, Renee set out for Montargis. Her son Luigi escorted her a considerable part of the w^ay. There were loud lamentations among the poor when she left Ferrara, for she had been to them a constant and generous benefactress. Neither of her daughters, Lucrezia and Leonora, were married when deprived of a mother's counsel and protection. Though grown up they were still young, the one twenty-five, the other twenty-three years of age ; nothing but the being forced^ into 1 "Erano queste Principesse bellissime della persona e di cosi leggiadre e sig- norili manicre, che solean destare non meno riverenza che ammirazione in chiun- que le riguardavo." — Serassi, Vita di T. Tasso, p. 128. " Ces trois filles furent ti-es ■beUes, mais la mere les fit embellir d' avantagc par la belle nourriture qu' elle leur donna, en leur faisant apprendi'e les sciences et les bonnes lettres, qu' eUes apprirent, et retinrent parfaitement et en faisaient honte aux plus scavans, de soule que si elles avoient beau corps, ellcs avoient 1' ame autant belle, &c." — Brantome, Dames Illustres, p. 302. 1665. 2 See, in Memorials of Renee of France, p. 1 85 sq., an interesting account of Renee's interview with. Sir N. Throckmorton, the English Ambassador, soon after her arrival at Orleans, and his letter to Queen Elizabeth detailing the conversation, taken from the State Paper Office. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 141 a religion against licr conscience would liavc induced licr to quit them. Brantome says they were not only beautiful hut of higlily cultivated minds ; their manners combined that happy mixture of grace and dignity which befits an exalted station. Lucrezia d' Este was married at Ferrara on the 2nd of Janu- ary 1571, to Francesco Maria prince of Urbino, and conducted home to Pesaro on the 8th. The people received her with enthusaism, but ^* Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador, while lauding the handsome and gracious princess, admits an early prejudice against her both on the part of her new subjects and her lord. The hope of an heir was the chief object of the people's desire, and as she was many years older^ than her husband, a chill of disappointment naturally mingled even with their congratulations."^ Francesco Maria, the only son and heir of the duke of Urbino, finished his education at the court of Philip II. of Spain, and was recalled by his father in 1568, partly on account of his extravagant expenditure there, and partly with the intention of providing him with a wife. The embarrassed state of Guido- baldo's finances and the large amount of Lucrezia's dower, 150,000 crown, seem to have blinded him as to the imprudence of giving a young man of twenty-two years of age a wife almost old enough to be his mother. Happiness was out of the question in such an ill-assorted union, but there were also state objections to a connection so disproportionate in age. The natural con- sequences followed. Lucrezia grew jealous of younger and fairer dames, and felt herself neglected. In the short space of two years, under pretence of health, she went back to Ferrara and never afterwards returned to her husband. Francesco Maria kept a diary, and on this subject he made the following remark. " Meanwhile the duchess wished to return to Ferrara, where she subsequently chose to remain, a resolution which gave no annoyance to her husband; for as she was unlikely to bring him a family her absence mattered little. Her pro- vision was amicably arranged, and their intercourse continued uniformly on the most courteous terms."^ 1 Francesco !Maria, son of Guidobaldo, duke of Urbino and Vittoria Famesc, was bom in 1549 ; Lucrezia, the daughter of Alfonso and Renee, in 1535. 2 Denistoun, Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, vol. iii. p. 128. 3 Ibid. p. 146. "The Duke's autograph diary was carried to Florence with 142 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAKIO. [1510- Before Lucrezia's marriage that eccentric genius Torquato Tasso made his appearance at Ferrara, and with the refined gallantry of the times he sang the charms of princess Lucrezia. The insanity of the poet is now very generally acknowledged, and this once admitted as a fact, clears up much that is mysterious in his history. Tales are told of his rushing once into the chamber of the lady Lucrezia to attack a servant with a knife in his hand ; at another time of his being seized by a sudden impulse to kiss the princess in public.^ Serassi mentions Tasso being in love with two ladies of the court named Lucrezia and Leonora,^ whose praises he sang alternately. Others speak of his ab- sorbing passion for Leonora d' Este, Alfonso's youngest sister. Li judging of these poetical and amorous efiusions we must make full allowance for the manners of the times, and remember that a man of talent, especially a poet who aspired for fame, was as much bound to celebrate the praises of some distinguished beauty, as a young scion of nobility was to flesh his maiden sword by some valiant deed of arms. The wholesome purity of modern refinement rightly forbids a poet celebrating in too glowing colours a matron's charms; but in Tasso's time such homage was a compliment due to beauty and to talent, and the ladies of the court were proud of being handed down to posterity as the theme of a poet's dream. The gratification was in proportion to the vanity of the lady whose praise was sung, and it was perhaps on account of the liveliness of the lady Lucrezia's character that she was said to take peculiar interest in the effusions of this mad but gifted poet. That he was crazed is evident, whether from love or vanity it would be difficult to determine. His devotion to Leonora d' Este, whose staid and prudent character put her above all suspicion of trifling, has been exalted into a passion ; though probably his admiration of her was only a change of subject, and when weary of well- worn themes he turned with purer homage to a character which has been pronounced faultless by contemporary historians. She his other personal effects in. 1631. It is in the Magliahecchia Library, Class xxv. No. 76." 1 See Serassi, Vita di T, Tasso, for a full and impartial account of the poet's character and writings. 2 " Lucrezia Bendidio, Gentil donna di singolare bellezza, di vivacissimo spirito, e di meraviglioso valore, e lodata percio da molte scrittore del suo secolo." — Serassi, Vita di T. Tasso, p. 139. 1575.] KENEE DUCHESS OF FERHAKA. 143 was of a retired and modest disposition, disliked pomp and public assemblies, was not fond of dress, but preferred the quiet of her own apartments, where she occupied herself in study and prayer. Her piety was probably of an enlightened nature, and she must have retained sometliing of her mother's instructions, or, in conformity to the notions of the day, slie would have secluded herself in a convent. She enjoyed the society of learned men, and took great pleasure in the productions of Tasso's genius. In his celebrated poem Gerusalemme Liherata she is depicted in the character of Sofronia. Her health was not good, and her chest so delicate that the physicians forbade her to sing. She died in February 1581, " leaving behind her sweet memories of her exemplary life, and of the great and superior virtues which distinguished her."* Tasso wrote a letter of con- dolence from Eome to the duchess Lucrezia on this mournful occasion.^ The year before he had written an essay, Bella virtu Femminile e Donnesca, in which he highly lauds the Este princesses. Lucrezia, though a neglected wife, survived the honours of her race. She was very musical and fond of pleasure, and encoui'aged her brother Alfonso in giving musical entertainments, so that all the best professors were attracted to the court of Ferrara. The duke had music after dinner, and in the evening there was generally an assembly in the duchess of Urbino's apart- ments, where for an hour or two after supper the ladies played and sang. Even the nimneries caught the fashion of the day, so that the taste for music became universally cultivated.^ Lucrezia balanced her love of pleasure by her conformity to superstition. The duke and duchess went in May 1597 to lay the foundation of a temple to tlie Virgin Mary at Eeggio, in honour of some miraculous image. Lucrezia duchess of Urbino not being able from her state of health to bear the motion of a carriage, was carried by eight men in a chair to make her offerings at this wonderful shrine. She arrived on the 22nd of October, but the image, as saith the prophet Elijah,* was either 1 Serassi, V!ta di T. Tasso, p. 297. 2 Idem, p. 297. Sec Appendk K. 3 Frizzi Menwn'e, torn. iv. p. 414. * 1 Kings xviii. 27. " Cry aloud ; for he is a God ; cither he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or peradvcnturc he slccpeth, and must be awaked." 144 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- asleep or absent, and not to be propitiated, for Lucrezia was summoned to Ferrara on tlie 26th by the alarming illness of the duke. He died the following day without leaving any posterity.^ Though by no means a man of superior character, he was not altogether deficient in good qualities. His bigotry in religion made him forget his duty to his mother, but he was moral in his conduct and upright in his dealings. In splendour and magnificence he excelled both his father and grandfather, but he lost his popularity by burdening his subjects with heavy taxes, and his severe restrictions on the liberty of the chase gave universal dissatisfaction. Though not learned he had a fine gift of natural eloquence, and took pleasure in encouraging by his patronage the talents of poets and learned men.^ He spoke with equal facility the Italian, French, and German languages, and understood Spanish and Latin. With Alfonso terminated the race^ and dominion of the house of Este, and the direct line as well as the prosperity of Ferrara. It had hitherto enjoyed under all its native princes all the blessings of civilization and cultivation ; it was now 1 Alfonso was three times married: first, to Lucrezia de' Medici, in 1558, who died in 1561 ; secondly to Barbara of Austria, in 1565, she died in 1572 ; and thirdly to Margherita Gonzaga, in 1579, who survived him till the year 1581. 2 He especially patronised Battista Guarini, born in 1537, the author of Pastor Fido. He was a native of Ferrara, and a young man of brilliant precocious talents, who at a very early age was professor of belles lettres at the university. At thirty years of age he entered the special service of the duke, and was employed by him in various foreign embassies. When Henri de Valois accepted the crown of Poland in 1574, Guarini was sent to compliment him. Charles ix. died fourteen days after, and Henri, in his eagerness to take possession of the crown of France, escaped in the night from Poland. Alfonso seeing how easily this crown was won and rejected was fain to have it placed on his own head, and employed Guarini to negociate this delicate matter. His efi'orts were not crowned with success, and on his return to Ferrara, though made secretary of state, he thought himself slighted, and retired from Ferrara. In this interval of repose he composed the scenic pastoral on which his fame rests. Guarini was an unhappy instance of that morbid self-love, that " appetite which grows on what it feeds on," till it destroys the happiness of its pos- sessor. He went to Florence, returned to Ferrara, tried Urbino, and finally died at Venice in 1612. The Pastor Fido is written in too passionate language to be wholesome reading for young persons ; but Tiraboschi quotes Cardinal Bellarmine's opinion, " che senza periculo, ma non senza piacere, puo esser letto negli anni piu serj, e piu robusti." — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. tom. vii. p. 157. 3 Luigi the cardinal died at Rome in 1586. Though he had an income of 100,000 crowns he left debts to the amount of 200,000 crowns for his heir Cesare d' Este to pay. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERKARA. 145 to be under the exhaustive protection of pontifical dry-nurses, who reduced the once magnificent Ferrara to desolation and solitude. Alfonso, disappointed in his hopes of a legitimate succession of his own, went to Kome in 1590 to endeavour to arrange with Gregorio XIII. that Cesare d' Este, his cousin, should succeed to the dukedom of Ferrara. He was received with distinguished honour, an apartment assigned him in the palace of S. ]\Iarc, the residence of the Pope, and he was admitted to dine alone in the same room with his holiness, though not at the same table.^ A congregation of thirteen cardinals was deputed to take into consideration Alfonso's request. Opinions seemed favourable, and the Pope was desirous of having the successor named, hoping the choice would fall on Filippo d' Este, a relation of the Sfondrati family, but the duke had fixed on his cousin Cesare to succeed him. This caused delay; Gregorio fell ill and died ; Alfonso was obliged to return to Ferrara without anything being settled, and he never afterwards gave himself any more trouble about the matter. When his will was opened it was found that Cesare d' Este was declared heir to the duke- dom ; and he was then publicly proclaimed duke of Ferrara. The court of Rome, which had been anxiously looking for the death of Alfonso, had prepared for this event by cultivating a con- fidential correspondence with Lucrezia duchess of Urbino ; she, it is said, owing to some offence given her by Alfonso d' Este, father of Cesare, nourished a deadly hatred against her cousin, which the Roman consistory was only too glad to profit by. Under the pretence that Cesare was not included in the investi- ture of Paul III., and that there was a doubt of his legitimacy,^ the Pope prepared to drive him from Ferrara. The state was formally declared to have lapsed to the church, and he com- manded Cesare, under pain of excommunication, to give it up within fifteen days. In vain were terms offered of a tribute and ^ Our Lord the Saviour of the -world ate with publicans and sinners, but his vicar the pope does not condescend to allow a sovereign prince to sit at the same table with himself, 2 Cesare was the son of Alfonso, whose mother Laura Eustachio made a left- handed marriage with Alfonso I., duke of Ferrara, after the death of the duchess Lucrezia Borgia. Alfonso married in 1-548 Giulia della Rovere, daughter of Francesco Maria I., duke of Urbino. She had two sons, Cesare and Alessandro. From Cesare d' Este descend the dukes of Modcna. VOL. II. L 146 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- a city for the Pope's nephew. Supported by the cardinals the Pope remained firm. Cesare prepared for his defence. Clement VIII. sent a considerable force under the command of his nephew Card. Pietro Aldobrandini, a young man twenty-six years of age. The excommunication was affixed to the doors of the cathedral by an unknown hand. Marguerite, the widowed duchess, took flight to Mantua, and carried with her fifty cart- loads of valuables, and 8000 crowns, which Cesare had given as her dower. In vain the rightful duke pleaded his cause at foreign courts; they wanted the Pope's help against the Turks, and would not stir in the matter. Even France declared itself willing to fight for the Pope's cause. Cesare thus aban- doned, with the terrors of excommunication hanging over Ferrara, consulted his confessor, Benedetto Palma, a Jesuit ; he advised him not to contend with the Pope, but counselled him to take possession of Modena and Reggio, and hope for better things in future. To this he finally consented, and sent his minister Laderchi to Lucrezia duchess of Urbino to request her to despatch a relation of the family to Faenza, to endeavour to make as favourable terms as possible with Aldobrandini. His choice of a mediator was not considered wise,^ but she willingly undertook the commission. Meanwhile a canon dressed himself as a pig-driver, and following his pigs into the town he carried with him a hollow stick which contained the original document of excommu- nication. Next day the bishop affixed it to the door of the cathedral, and though it was immediately torn to pieces it hurried the movements of the actors. Before noon that same day Lucrezia, accompanied to the gates by Cesare, was carried in a litter through the deep snow which had fallen the night before. Escorted by a troop of horse she made her way towards the Papal forces followed by the Este troops. As they ap- proached within sight of each other both parties went through the form of sounding a defiance to battle, but Aldobrandini on one side and Lucrezia on the other prevented them from coming to blows, and the terms of agreement were arranged. 1 " Ella era, al dire dall' TJbaldino, una donna di natura altera, e sua nemica, cosa molto certa, e tanto piti nota a D. Cesare, quanto che per i giusti sospetti che di lei aveva nel suo ingresso al principato, aveva dato ordine che fosse strangolata, ma non segui r effetto alii 2 Decembre, 1597, per la sua irresoluzione ed incostanza." — Frizzi, Memorie, torn. v. p. 9. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERKARA. 147 We gi'ieve to say that the Ferrara historians have accused Lucrezia of betraying her trust as agent, and allowing herself to be worked upon by motives of private advantage^ to sacrifice the interests of Cesare. Vanity never dies, and it is said tliat though fifty-three years old she allowed herself to be lured by the flatteries of the spirited young cardinal into acts of treachery to her country. Ferrara was to be given up to the Pope ; Cesare's young son Alfonso, seven years old, was torn from the arms of his fainting mother and sent as hostage to Aldobrandini till the terms of the agreement^ were fulfilled. Mons. Girolamo Matteucci, archbishop of Kagusa, and Mario Farnese, an artillery officer, were sent to Ferrara, the one to receive the books and writings belonging to the city, the other to divide the cannon and arms. Cesare, before his departure for Modena, received the blessing of the archbishop Matteucci in the cathedral at Ferrara; having given up his family property to the Pope he was absolved from all sin. Thus purified, he sent on his wife, children, and baggage, and followed them in a carriage by himself J he was observed holding a letter in his hand as if reading it, but his eyes were so sufiused with tears that he could not distinguish a word. Sorrow begets compassion, and as he passed out of the gate degli Angeli he suddenly thought of the poor prisoners in the castle and in the common gaol, and sent a company of sharp-shooters to liberate them. The duchess Lucrezia, who had been for some time in a bad state of health, was so seriously injured by her fatiguing journey in the middle of winter to Faenza that she died on the 12th of January, carrying with her, says Frizzi, the promise of the duchy of Bertinoro.^ ^ She -was offered the title of Duchess of Bertinoro and its absolute possession for life. 2 It was signed on the 12th January, 1598, and put in execution on the 17th. See the terms in Frizzi, Memorie, torn. v. p. 12. 2 " Her death is thus noted by her husband Francesco Maria duke of Urbino : " 'February 14th, I sent the Abbe Brunetti to Ferrara, to visit the duchess, my wofe, who was sick.' In his Memoirs she is the subject of still more brief remark : " ' Feb. 15th. Heard that Madame Lucrezia d' Estc, duchess of Urbino, my wife, died at Ferrara during the night of the 11th.' Her death occurred after many years, leaving him (the duke) executor by her will of many pious bequests ! Consider- ing that the largest bequest was in his own favour, a less chilling notice might have been bestowed. The sum she left him was 30,000 scudi : to her various attendants and l2 148 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- Long before this total disruption of her family, Eenee duchess of Ferrara had entered into her rest. When she first resolved to leave Italy Calvin had some hope of her going to Geneva. He relieved the scruples which she felt at having promised her husband on his death-bed not to correspond with Calvin, by telling her tliat she did wrong in making such a promise ; and warned her that in going to France in its present state she only removed from one difficulty to another.^ In France Renee shewed herself openly a partisan of the reformation, and defended and assisted the persecuted protestants in every possible manner. After the league formed between France, Spain, the Pope, the Venetians, and Piedmont against the reformed opinions, Calvin boldly remonstrated with the duchess Renee about the conduct of the duchess of Guise in not standing up as the protector of the churches of France.^ *' I speak to you plainly, Madam, of what is known to everybody, that your prudence may fall on some convenient method of preventing her from conspiring with those whose only desire is to crush true religion, that she may not be involved in schemes, the issue of which must be unhappy, because she is against God. Geneva, February, 1562."3 servants she gave 12,000 in small legacies, and 20,000 among several convents, in masses for her soul. There was also a fund to he mortified for the endowment of poor girls, half in Ferrara and half at Urhino ; and Cardinal Aldohrandini, the Pope's nephew, was named residuary legatee, a selection which has heen ingeniously ascribed to the countenance bestowed by his family on Tasso, in the closing scenes of that minstrel's troubled life." — Denistoun, Memoirs of the Dul-es of Urbmo, vol. iii. pp. 156, 157. ^ " Oultre ce que Dieu vous a de long temps monstre par sa parole, 1' age vous advertit de penser que notre heritage et repos eternel n' est pas icy-bas, et Jesus Christ vant bien de vous faire oublier tant France que Ferrare. Et Dieu par la viduite vous a rendue plus franche et libre, afin de vous retenir du tout a soy. Je vondroye avoir le moyen de vous remonstre de bouche ces choses plus a plein, et non pas pour un coup, mais de jour a aultre. Mais je vous en laisseray plus penser selon votre prudence que je n' en ay escrit. ce 5 Juliet 1560." — Jules Bonnet, Lettres de Calvin, torn. ii. p. 340. 2 "Madame de Guise suit un train qui ne peut revenir qu' a sa confusion si eUe continue, car encores qu' cUe ne Ic pense point, si chcrche-eUe la ruine des pauvres Eglises de France, desquelles Dieu sera protecteiu: pour les maintenir. Je proteste de rechef, Madame, que je m' abstiendries volontiers de vous ennuyer, mais d' aultre coste je vouldrois bien qu' elle pust estre induite par votre authorite a moderer ses passions, auxqueUes elle ne peut obeir, comme elle faiet, qu' en faisant guerre a Dieu." — Lettres de Calvin, torn. ii. p. 457. 3 Calvin, with his usual acuteness, heard the distant murmur of the storm, which proved the destruction of the Protestants in 1572. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 149 There are several other letters/ written by Calvin to this his distinguished disciple, in which he praises her for the courage and constancy she had shewn in protecting and receiving the persecuted protestants at Montargis. " I know, !Madam, what strength God has given you under the rudest attacks, and by his grace you have virtuously resisted all temptations, and have not been ashamed to bear the obloquy of Jesus Clu'ist."^ Calvin continually pressed upon her the duty of repressing all immorality and licence in her court, and supporting by her authority the admonitions of the ministers of religion. He sent her a gold coin struck by her father while at war with Giulio II. with the famous motto Perdam Bahylonis nomen. The duchess ac- knowledges this present tlius : " As to the present you have sent me, believe me I both saw and received it with great pleasure; I had never seen it before, and I praise God that the late king my father took this motto. If God did not allow him to execute it, perhaps the task is reserved for some of his descendants, who, standing in his place, may be able to ac- complish it."^ The ducliess was placed in a painful position by the assassi- nation of her son-in-law the duke of Guise. His sanction of the massacre at Vassy had raised up many bitter enemies against him, and a fanatic of the name of Poltrot, erroneously fancying he would do service to the Protestant cause, tracked out the duke of Guise, who was preparing to besiege Orleans. He was returning late to his tent, after having made arrangements for an assault that night, when in the dark he was wounded in the shoulder by a pistol shot, of which he died in a few days, to the great regret of his party. He was only forty-six years of age, and if it were possible in the estimation of any man's character to put religion aside, we might say there was much to admire in his valour and chivalry ; but these qualities, for want of a right discernment, he used to the ruin and destruction of his country. It was impossible for Kenee not to sympathise deeply with her daughter under this unexpected stroke. Calvin, at a distance regarding the duke of Guise as the great enemy of the Protest- ants, reproaches the duchess for too much sorrow on this ^ In one letter lie pleads in favour of Francesco Porto, to wliom the duchess had formerly promised a dower for his daughter.— Zc^^re?* de C'alvw, p. 51G. 2 Idem, p. 514. 3 jdcm, p. 549. 150 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- occasion. She justly thought that the ministers went too far in giving him over to eternal condemnation, and feelingly- replied, to Calvin's letter, in his defence.^ We who have not lived in such exciting times can scarcely understand the intense anxiety of those who could truly say with David, '' The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up."^ The man of many labours, " on whom the care of all the churches" had so long depended, was about to give up his stewardship. The pen wliicli had sustained, encouraged, and fortified so many had fallen from his hand. Calvin's last letter to the duchess of Ferrara, in reply to hers, was written by his brother '^ on account of his great infirmities and manifold diseases ; difficulty of breathing, the stone, the gout" were all in turn torturing and consuming his frail body, but the mind retained its full vigour ; and the soul, just winging its flight to the regions of eternal repose, yearned over the desolate and persecuted church, and watched over its interests. In this, the last French letter which he dictated, he speaks of the religious sentiments of Marguerite duchess of Savoy ,^ and entreats Eenee to encourage her niece to fulfil her intention of openly declaring herself. '^ There is nobody, Madam, who has more authority than you with her, therefore I entreat you in God's name not to spare your earnest exhortations to encourage her to take this step (of declaring 1 " Je ne veux pas excuser les defauts de mon gendrc en ce qu' il n' avoit point la congnoissance de Dieu, mais en ce que 1' on dit que ce a este lui seul qui a allume le feu. L' on S9ait bien qu' il s' estoit retire en sa maison d' ou il ne vouloit bouger, et les lettres et messages qu' il eut pour 1' en faire partir, et que encore maintenant qu' il est mort et qu' il n' y est plus, que tels venins de hayne si pesti- lentieux ne se peuvent jamais acquicter de se declarer par tons les mensonges que r on pent controuver et imaginer, il faut que je vous disc que je ne tiens ni estime que tellcs paroles do mensonges proccdent de Dieu. Je s^ay qu' il a persecute, mais je ne s^ay pas ni ne croy pour le vous dire librement, qu' il soit reprouve de Dieu, car il a donne signe au contraire avant que mourir. Mais 1' on ne veult pas qu' il se disc, et 1' on veut clorre et serrer la boucbe a ceux qui le S9avent Et ne voyez-vous pas encores que 1' on ne s' en pout rassasicr apres son trepas ? Et quand il auroit este plus malheureux ct plus reprouve que oncques eust ete, 1' on ne veut jamais parler d' autre chose, &c. . . . Lettre de la duchesse de Ferrare a Calvin CoU. Dupuy, vol. 86, publiee pour la premiere fois dans les Archives Curieuses de V histoire de France^ torn. v. p. 399." — Jules Bonnet, Lettres de Calvin, torn. ii. p. 550. 2 Psalm Ixix. 9. 3 Daughter of Francis i. She -was married in 1559 to Emanuelle Filiberto, duke of Savoy, at forty years of age, and died leaving one son in 1574. 1575.] RENEE DUCHESS OF FERRARA. 151 herself a Protestant), in which I feel assured you will perform all your duty according to the zeal which animates you, that God may be honoured and served yet more and more 4th x\pril 1564."^ It is not the object of this work to enter into the struggle of the reformers in France. The outline^ of the monstrous warfare between popery and true religion is well known, and its tragic conclusion. Calvin lived only a few weeks after sending this letter to the duchess of Ferrara. He died on the 27th of May 1564, worn out with disease and fatigue. His friend and successor, Theodore de Beze, was with him till the last moment. " On this day," he says, ^' the brightest light of the world faded with the setting sun, and he who had been the strength of the church was taken back to heaven."^ We are left altogether to conjecture the nature of Renee's feelings when she heard of the death of this great reformer. Events soon followed which led his dearest friends to rejoice that he could no longer suffer from the dangers of the church. How Renee contrived to escape the perils of the massacre of St. Bartholoraew, and what her emotions were on the fearful occasion, are things unknown. After having witnessed the second marriage of her daughter Anna to the duke of Nemours, and mom*ned over her total abandonment of the doctrines of the Reformation, she was herself called from the scene of this world to the presence of her heavenly father. She died at Montargis on the 2nd July 1575, in the sixty-fifth year of her age. The court of Ferrara put on mourning for the dowager duchess, but very properly did not order any funeral service to do honour to her memory. ^ Jules Bonnet, Lettrcs de Calvin, torn. ii. p. 559. 2 A full history of the Reformation in France is still needed. The materials are so abundant, that to combine a circumstantial detail of events with the state of re- ligion, individual spirituality, and the noble self-abnegation of the martyrs whose blood still cries to heaven, would require a lengthened study and an exalted love for the Church of Christ. Smedley ' s Histonj of the Reformed EeUgion of France is a suc- cinct and accurate nan-ative, but it scarcely touches the moving spring, the re- ligious element. Merle d' Aubigne has given an episode of the French Reformation in his general history, in which there is much unction, but it is not sufficiently documentary. A more recent work by Felice, on the Reformation, aboimds in interest. 3 See De Beze on the character of Calviu, vol. ii. p. 433 ; Life and Times of Calvin, in German, by Dr. Heinrich, translated by Dr. Stcbbing. Ed. 1849. 152 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1510- While these sheets have been passing through the press an interesting volume^ has made its appearance, which gives a more detailed account of the ducliess of Ferrara in France than comes within the plan of this work. To this we gladly refer our readers ; it will amply repay the time spent in its perusal. Should it be appreciated by the public as it deserves, and a second edition be called for, it would be a valuable addition to the literature of the time were it enriched by the whole of the correspondence between the duchess and Calvin, and other documentary papers. 1 See Sofne Metnorials of Renee of France. Bosworth and Harrison, Eegent- street, 1859. 1550.1 PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 153 CHAPTER XIV. PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 1546— 1550. UNIVERSITY OF LUCCA — ROBERTELLO — PALEARIO S ORATION ON THE REPUBLIC — PRINCE OF SALERNO RELATED TO PALEARIO — LETTER TO HIM — HIS ANSWER — INTERVIEW WITH HIM ACCOUNT OF IN A LETTER — HISTORY OF THE PRINCE OF SALERNO — HIS MISFORTUNES — CELEBRATED MEDICAL SCHOOL AT SALERNO BERNARDO TASSO — SECRETARY TO THE PRINCE — INVOLVED IN HIS PATRON'S MIS- FORTUNES— PALEARIO'S ORATION ON ELOQUENCE — LETTER TO LILIO — READING THE SCRIPTURES — ABSENCE FROM HIS FAMILY — ANDREA ALCIATI — HIS SPLENDID TALENTS — PALEARIO SENDS HIM AN ORATION — EQUALLED TO CICERO — ALCIATl'S REPLY — PALEARIO AMBITIOUS OF PATRONAGE — HIGH REPUTATION OP HIS ORATION — LETTER FROM SPHTNTER — RECOMMENDS HIM TO PRINT HIS ORATION — PALEARIO STUDIES THE LAW — LETTER TO VLNCENZO PORTICO. After Paleario's disappointment of the professorship at Siena, and during the negotiation about his appointment at Lucca, he lived chiefly at Ceciniano, making occasional visits to the villas of the Bellanti family. The chair of eloquence at Lucca had been unoccupied for three years, when Paleario, on the recommendation of the cardinals Bembo and Sadoleto, was, as we have seen,^ appointed professor of eloquence. The universities of Siena, Lucca, and Pisa were much on a par, as to learning, in the sixteenth century. Occasionally a remarkable man attracted students, but they were in general much behind the university of Padua in sound learning. The frequent wars to which Italy had been a prey not only indisposed the youth for study, and employed them in arms, but troops absorbed the resources which supported the universities. The * See Tiraboschi, torn. vii. pp. 95, 130. 154 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- university of Lucca was highly praised by Ortenso Landi in 1534. '^ Nowhere," says he, " have I seen so much solicitude for the success and prosperity of learning. When needful, ample stipends are granted that the youth may be brought up in good principles and instructed in sound literature. Add to this the wisdom of your professors, and I do not deny that I could scarcely help envying your young men, who are so studiously inclined and so admirably instructed : happy if they know how to profit by all this." Lucca was not without its academy, and Ortenso Landi seemed to dread the criticisms of the Balordi of Lucca, che de! casi miei non facciano qualche commedie. Paleario's predecessor at Lucca was Francesco Eobortello, a pupil of the celebrated Komolo Amaseo. They were both natives of Udine in the Venetian territory. Eobortello began his career at Lucca, and occupied the chair of eloquence there in 1538. He seems to have been of a censorious satirical disposition, and the literary world was much scandalised by his violent quarrel with Carlo Sigonio.^ Such disputes were but too common between learned men in those days, and, as in this case when both gave vent to sudden explosions of anger, it was frequently difiicult to know who was most in the wrong. Sigonio asserted that Eobortello was expelled from Lucca for poisoning Pietro Vicentino; but Liruto, who has written his life, produces a copy of the original document of dismissal from the Senate of Lucca, in which he is honourably mentioned, and permitted to accept the invitation to Pisa in 1543. He was one of those restless spirits who never learn experience, and who think by moving from place to place to escape the evils which they carry with them in their own hearts. From Pisa he went to Venice to replace the infirm Batista Egnazio.'^ His over- 1 See Chap. xii. vol. ii. p. 34. 2 Batista Egnazio was a priest, lie was of mean extraction, but possessed great talent ; his original name was Giambatista Cipelli. "When only eighteen years of age he opened a private school at Venice, and had so many scholars as to excite the jealousy of Marcantonio Sabellico, public professor of belles-lettres, who meanly decried his young rival ; this was resented by a severe public criticism of the pro- fessor's writings. This literary war lasted tiU 1506, when Sabellico was taken ill. On his deathbed he sent for Egnazio to entreat his forgiveness, and left him aU his MSS. for publication. Egnazio forgot the past, and recited a funeral oration in praise of his adversary. In 1520 he was elected public professor of eloquence ; his lectures drew immense crowds, for he was gifted with a prodigious memory. When he retired in 1549 with his full salary, Eobortello took his place; he died in 1553, aged 71 years. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 155 bearing spirit was not yet tamed, for he treated his predecessor Egnazio with so much contempt that the old man, provoked beyond all endm-ance, drew his dagger to assault him. From Venice Kobortello went to Padua, from Padua to Milan, and back again to Padua, where he remained till his death in 1567. After so many removals we cannot be surprised that he died so poor as not to leave sufficient money to bury him. We have not been able to ascertain with accuracy what salary was assigned to Paleario as professor. His own letters are the only authentic source of information ; they often allude to his poverty, but do not mention what he received as salary. In the Arcliivio publico the salaries are noted as varying from 180 crowns to 200, and even mounting as high as 500, ac- cording to the celebrity of the professor. Robortello, who went to Lucca in 1538, was content with 162 crowns. This being his first essay in teaching, Paleario would probably not have more than 200 ; but as he was engaged to compose and recite two orations annually before the Senate, this afforded him some additional remuneration. As far as can be ascertained Paleario went to Lucca in the year 1546,^ the year of Burlamacchi's conspiracy.^ We have already seen what progress the reformed doctrine had made at Lucca by means of Peter Martyr, particularly among the higher classes. In 1545 the municipalities had issued a decree pro- hibiting all discussions on religious subjects, and menacing severe punishments to the disobedient. But it was pretty well understood that this assumed harshness was intended to keep off the more pitiless interference of the Inquisition. The decree in fact remained a dead letter, but it roused a wish in all generous minds like that of Burmalacchi to shake off the galling authority of the pontifical yoke. Soon after Paleario' s settlement at Lucca he had the mis- fortune to lose two of his most powerful friends, the cardinals Bembo and Sadoleto.^ They were a grievous loss to him, as he could always count on their good word. Since the establishment of the Inquisition the court of Rome had been gradually bc- ^ Archivio di Stato Lucca^ lib. reform, pub. Archivio Storico, vol. x. ' See Chap. x. p. 419. Luther died in February lo46. 5 Bembo died on the 18th of January, 1547: see Chap. hi. p. HI. Sadoleto died the 17th of October following: see Chap. xi. p. 520. Francis i. of France, and Henry viii. of England, died the same year. 156 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- coming every day more severe and inquisitorial. Paul III. was advancing in years : tliougli not himself naturally liarsh or cruel, he was quite willing to sanction anything which could exalt the power of the keys, and was easily induced to submit the Inquisition to the guidance of its originator, the haughty CarafFa. Paleario's task as orator seems to have been to excite the citizens by his eloquence to deeds of virtue and patriotism. The discourse was to be short, occupying only half-an-hour, but animated and delivered in a flowing strain of oratory to captivate and inspire his hearers. In his first oration he treats of the republic, takes a rapid survey of its past and present state, passes lightly over the visit of Caesar and Pompey to Lucca ; and while he mourns over the decay of the Eoman republic, owing to the uncontrolled passions of the citizens, he takes pleasure in seeing its image reflected in the republic of Lucca, and beholds in this small state equality among the citizens, obedience paid to the laws, and order main- tained, while at the same time all are free to follow their different kinds of industry. Their weakest point, he tells them, is their military force; they have not so much sought to be formidable to their neighbours as to excel in the arts of peace. But notwithstanding all its excellences the state requires to be regenerated by new institutions, as the walls of a city, when decayed by age, fall down if not repaired in time. ^' The republics of Athens and Home were supported by the eloquence of their orators, and in the same manner the in- habitants of Lucca must strengthen and sustain the state. The Venetians have enjoyed full liberty for nine hundred years ; why not study their form of government, as the Senate of Eome sent deputies to Athens to copy the laws of Solon ? For the wisest men have declared that the state is more stable when divided into two or three distinctive orders, composed of different classes of men, though all equal in the sight of the law. Popular government is durable if it does not fall into the hands of the nobles. The first place should be given to virtue, the second to rank, and the third to riches ; above all things virtue ought to be the most highly esteemed. They are deficient, he tells them, in one thing only — neither their past nor present history is written. Nothing so animating, nothing so enlightening for a people as to have their glories celebrated in writing. In past 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 157 times this was scarcely possible; neither the Sicnese nor the Genoese have their histories written, and even the celebrated enterprises of Venice were untold until the eloquent and ac- complislied Bembo, whose death has so lately grieved all good men, wrote the history of Venice, and Giovio, the father of history, who not only records facts but extends his information to all nations and people. Does it not excite the desires of your old men to hear their deeds celebrated in like manner? How would your youth be stimulated to distinguish themselves by the hope of a record in their country's history? He instances the Roman emperors, L. Sylla and C. Caesar, who, though they were such distinguished generals, disdained not themselves to write the history of their wars to emblazon the courage of the soldier and inflame them to deeds of valour. For this the study of eloquence is of the highest importance, in order that history may be written in a rich flowing style, not confined to the language of our Italian provinces only, but in copious periods, worthy of being admired by the great men of other nations. The history of Lucca, he says, is worthy of being written, especially its late exertions in defending and strength- ening their republic. Even your present vigilance is deserving of high praise ; how often in the night, while employed in study, do I hear the guard in the fortress challenging the sentinels." He eulogises the military, the government, and the Senate, and enumerates the tribunes of the people and the other magis- trates all after the pattern of ancient Rome. The city is not confined to the space within its walls, and there is not a town in Europe where the inhabitants of Lucca are not to be found employed in commerce. It is not the span of earth which our bodies fill, but the space embraced by the mind which is our real possession, and great is the injury inflicted by enclosing within narrow bounds the excursive power of mind. But in conclusion, as my time is drawing to a close, I will say that both your ancestors and yourselves are well worthy of being recorded. If you do not take this in hand, I will myself instigate the youth who have devoted themselves to the liberal arts and sciences, and entreat that the champions of liberty and the promoters of the public peace may not be cast into oblivion. Be not wanting to yourselves, O men of Lucca, in this one thing, when you have provided for everything else. 158 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- I shall continue this subject not in one oration only, but in the many which by your favour I am deputed to recite twice a year. And, though I know that I am not equal to the task of celebrating your glory, yet this will I do as a proof of my affection and regard both for you and for the republic."^ The reader has here before him the substance of Paleario's first oration before the Senate of Lucca. The eloquence which was formerly in the hands of the priests, who had power to rouse a whole people to the crusade of the holy war, was then exercised by learned men, and every country had a salaried orator to sustain their glory and defend their liberties. The power of the press, which is now of such gigantic force as to lead public opinion, was faintly shadowed out in Paleario's address to the inhabitants of Lucca, when he urged them to transmit their history to posterity in records of imperishable memory. We have already hinted in a former chapter^ that Paleario was of the Sanseverino lineage, and distantly connected with the prince of Salerno. An accidental meeting at Lucca with Vincenzo Martelli, the maggiordomo of the prince, awakened in Paleario the desire of propitiating the favour of so munificent a patron of learning. The prince was known to be opposed to the introduction of the Inquisition at Naples. Paleario, who had undergone so much persecution at Siena on account of his opinions, thought this was a guarantee for religious liberty at Salerno. Under these impressions he wrote the following letter : AoNio Paleaeio, of Veeoli, to Feeeante Sanseveeino, of Aeagon, THE excellent PeINCE OF SaLEENO. " Thougli the place of one's birtli or residence is of no importance as re- gards the respect due to rank and reputation, for the splendour of your virtue is reflected to the most distant regions, yet it would not have been displeasing to me to have been born in that city,^ where my forefathers so highly reverenced both you and your father, that excellent man your illustrious ancestor. If those worlds which are inhabited by celestial minds con- tinually revolve and have greater celerity and force according to theu' vicinity to the globe in which the Great Being presides as ruler and mover of all things, so if I had happened to be born and educated in that city, in which you as a sun are the transfuser of light to awaken and illumine the minds of 1 Palearii Oiwra, Oratio v. pp. 108—117. = See Chap. ii. p. 70. ^ Salerno. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 159 men, I should indeed have greatly added to my knowledge and accomplish- ments ; for yom* benefits would have been showered on me, as on my fellow- citizens, with no small or niggard hand. Daily would you have imparted to me in abundant measure your light and benignity, and I might have at- tained some excellence in those studies, which by your protection have risen to so flourishing a height in that city. Supported by your favour, I should have been able to undertake anything. What then would have been the joy of my family ! Wliat the extent of my vigils and lucubrations ! How great my desu-e of praise in order to gratify such an excellent prince. Deprived of these advantages, not finding in myself that which I most desired to possess, I thought it enough, while hiding myself in the solitude of Latium, or living in the confines of Tuscany, to pay you the secret homage of the heart. I should still have remained of the same opinion, if my book on the Immortality of the Soul had not, through my own imprudence, divulged my family name. "Vincenzo Martelli, a most courteous person, supping at Lucca with Martino Lilio, a young man devoted to the study of the literary arts, spoke in the most honorable terms of the Palearij my ancestors. He gave me reason to hope that it would be both agreeable and acceptable if I expressed to you by letter my great devotion towards your excellency. To make this more easy, he advised me, though I have nothing which can give pleasure to a man of your consummate wisdom, to send you my orations. God grant that what he has in so friendly a manner advised may meet with happy success. The orations will now be published, and dedicated to you; they have no other merit than that of being inscribed to a prince of nobility and virtue. The only thing which can give me pleasure is to hear that they are agreeable to you, and that your protection will defend me from the detraction of envy. This will be dearer and more precious than the patronage of the greatest kings or emperors. For you are accustomed by your own authority to pacify kingdoms disordered by sedition, not only by arms but by your eloquence. It is not surprising, while you live in such glorious light, and your name is so universally exalted, that I should conceive the hope that if you approve my orations, they will be acceptable, not to our Italian nation only, but find favour also with all nations and people when sanctioned by your judgment and by your excellent and remarkable talents. Farewell. Lucca, 1st of April."^ This letter must have been written after Paleario's arrival at Lucca, probably in the year 1547. The prince of Salerno de- sired Martelli to return the following answer in his name : Vincenzo Martelli to M. Aonio Paleaeio, in the name of the Peince of Saleeno. " From a letter written by you to Vincenzo Martelli, and one addressed to me several days ago, I feel myself obliged not only to thank you in words but to be grateful in actions. Martelli being at that time about to go to Lucca, I commissioned him to execute one of these good offices by word of ^ Palearii Opera ^ p. 3. 160 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- moutli, and the other I reserved to myself, and offer you my assistance when- ever you wish to make use of me in any way. I have heard since from him that he was not able to see you. I cannot avoid expressing the interest I feel in your welfare, and beg you to call upon me in any necessity : not only ought I to assist you as a person of high standing, of whom I have always heard the most honourable reports, but also as a citizen and noble of Salerno. " Whenever you like to come and see your ancient race, I shall have very great pleasure in making 3'our personal acquaintance. Do not spare me in any respect ; be assured I shall not forget you."^ No wonder if so flattering a letter, full of what Paleario calls " magnificent promises," acknowledging liim to be of tlie same '' ancient race" as the prince himself, and inviting him to visit the country of his ancestors, kindled hopes of advancement. Perhaps in imagination he already saw himself mounting the ladder of fame and looking down on his detractors unharmed. But the course of events was not favourable to his wishes. The prince of Salerno was not at Naples when the rising took place on account of the Inquisition/ and therefore could not justly be accused of fomenting sedition ; nor did he leave Salerno till he was chosen by the nobles to go ambassador to the Emperor. His friends, especially Tasso his secretary, and Martelli his maggiordomo^ were divided in opinion whether he ought to accept this appointment. Bernardo Tasso thought the mission worthy of a patriot and an independent man who stood in such near relationship to Charles.^ Vincenzo Martelli on the other hand, though equally devoted to the interests of the prince, knew the world better, and viewed the matter in a different light. He pointed out the suspicions which such a course would generate, and the jealousy which would be excited in the mind of the Emperor on seeing a prince of so much wealth and influence taking so conspicuous a part in the affairs of Naples.'* But Sanseverino, moved by a real desire for his country's good, saw no difficulties, and left Naples on the 21st of May in company with Placido di Sangro, the deputy of the people. They journeyed by land, and passed through Bome on their way to Nuremberg, where the Imperial court 1 See original in Appendix A. 2 g^e Chap. ix. p. 359. 3 Ferrante San Severino was the son of Maria of Aragon, niece of Ferdinand the Catholic, and cousin to Joanna, the mother of Charles v. — Bernardo Tasso, Lettere, p. 39. Ed. loo7. 4 Serassi, Vita del Tasso, p. 30. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 161 then was. By the following letter we find they took Lucca in their way.* AoNio Paleaeio to Giuseppe Joya. " On the Gth of October I received a letter written in the name of tho Prince of Salerno, which I had been anxiousl}^ expecting. One seemed to be written by )'0U, for the handwriting was as much like yours as you are like yourself, and was full of benevolence, kindness, and love. There was also a very polite letter from Vincenzo Martelli. " The day after, while I was at dinner, the much-desired and joyful news was brought me, that in company with this great man there had arrived at Lucca some superior and heavenly-minded persons.^ I did not delay, believe me, to hasten to the house of Cenami, where it was said he was lodged. But when I arrived, neither Tasso nor Martelli were to be found, nor any one who could introduce me : imagine how disconcerted I was, for the hopes which Martelli had inspired me with by letter, and you had confirmed by your promises, utterly vanished : but these letters being recent, and the promises magnificent, I took courage and did not wait for any companions, partly because there were not any, and partly because I had heard, which indeed I found true, that few men were more distinguished or more courteous than the prince. When I entered his presence, and threw myself at his feet, he would not allow it, but embraced me and received with the greatest benignity my expressions of de- votion towards him. He then enquired about our studies, but did not mention the letter I had sent him through you. I now understand, that as you are going to Spain, you were afraid of appearing rude and unpolished if you had not answered me. I wonder however that you have accepted this honour which hitherto you have refused. " Antonio Collino, who is much attached to you, carried the letter to that excellent woman your mother, who is dying with the desire of seeing you. She declared that the letter was written by your own hand ; she embraced, kissed it, and almost obliterated it with her tears, and would not put it out of her hand. M. Lilio, who is with me the whole day, remarked that your elegant and dignified style was almost divine. He grieves that we are deprived of your amiable societ}^ and though you are not fixed in any place, we do not enjoy your company, nor you ours. Meanwhile we are uncertain, where, with whom, you are or will be. I can understand the fastidiousness of your taste from a knowledge of my own. In these days the characters of men are such that it is better to be nowhere ; but as this is impossible, not to stay long in one place. I am acting towards you as the generality of medical men do when they wish to cure a disease by medicine, that is, aggravate the com- plaint by their physic. I must confess, however, I have not found any remedy which does not inflict pain. Your long absence is very distressing to Lilio, grievous for your mother, and serious for me. But when your country is so » The Deputies left Naples on the 21st of May 1517. - Bernardo Tasso and Yincenzo Martelli aro here alluded to. VOL. 11. M 162 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- ungrateful, your father so inflexible, and when those who ought to hold you in great consideration do not understand how much they might be enlightened by the splendour of your virtue, what can I say? I feel an incredible hatred for the whole human race, which, either from habit or from idleness or from the influence of some Circe, is so totally changed, that the inanity of men is something quite extraordinaiy. Be of good courage, and comfort yourself in your o\m virtue, and rejoice that you are beloved by those whom 3^ou yourself love. Of this you cannot have a more faithful witness than my- self, for I think of you continually, and every day admire more and more your contempt of human affairs. If this were only so far modified as to in- duce you to write oftener to those who love you, it would make your character one of the most amiable in existence."^ Ferrante Sanseverino, prince of Salerno, had been summoned by the city of Naples to go to Germany as deputy from the nobles, and represent to the Emperor how impossible it was to establish the Inquisition at Naples ; he was accompanied by Placido di Sangro, deputy from the people, for the same object. But Toledo the viceroy, who enjoyed the full confidence of the Emperor, had taken care to despatch a messenger of his owHj Don Gonzalez di Mendozza Marchese della Valle, who arriving before the envoys of the city, had the advantage of making the first report. When the prince of Salerno arrived he was not admitted to an audience for several days, and it was intimated to him that it would be at the risk of his life if he returned to Naples without his majesty's permission. Thus retained as a hostage for the good behaviour of Naples, Placido Sangro was desired to return with the Marchese della Valle^ who was the bearer of the Emperor's orders, but Placido declared that he could not return without seeing the Emperor. When told that unless he obeyed he would have reason to repent it, he intrepidly replied they might do what they pleased to him, but he would not stir till he had spoken to his majesty, this being the commission given him by the city of Naples ; and he boldly de- clared it was the Emperor's duty to listen to the just complaints of his subjects in a matter of so mucli importance. His frank- ness and decision made their due impression, for Granvelle presented him next day to Charles. In this audience he loudly complained of Toledo's conduct to the city of Naples in need- lessly exciting it to tumult, and entreated his majesty to summon the Marchese della Valle and confront him with the deputy ^ Palearii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 17. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 163 of the people, and then he would better understand the real state of the case. The Emperor however, though satisfied to have learned the truth, was too prudent not to uphold the authority of the viceroy. The prince of Salerno, finding he was likely to he detained in Germany, sent for his secretary Bernardo Tasso^ to assist him in his negotiations on behalf of Naples. After the lapse of a year he succeeded in procuring an amnesty for the city, and the restoration of its arms and artillery, on condition of its paying a fine of 100,000 ducats, and he himself was allowed to return to Naples, but was enjoined not to interfere in public affairs. On his return in May of 1548 he went straight to Salerno ; when he went to Naples the whole city thronged to meet him. Toledo could not forgive the prince his popularity, and when he visited him at Castelnuovo with an escort of four hundred horsemen and more than ten thousand persons flocked to see the prince, from that moment his ruin was resolved on. He began by obliging him to give an account of the custom dues at Salerno, and connived at a murderous attack on the prince, supposed to have been organized by Don Garcia, Toledo's son. As the criminal though taken was not punished, the prince resolved to go a second time to Charles to demand justice. Afraid of being arrested by Toledo he sent his letters by land, but went himself by sea to Venice. There unfortunately he found the duke of Somma and a number of Neapolitan exiles, who used every effort to draw him over to the French party, but he remained firm to his original intention, and set out for Padua. The wound he received from the assassin began to open afresh ; whilst resting to allow it time to heal, he received an order from the Emperor at Innspruck to appear before him within fifteen days. Somewhat alarmed at this he sent one of his people, Tommaso Pagano, to state why he could not immediately travel, and to complain of the intrigues of Toledo which made him fear for his safety. When the Emperor said he might come Pagano replied, ' I may tell him then that he may come safely in reliance on your word :' on which the Emperor angrily rejoined, Sovra di mi palahra^ no dicjo yo^ se 1 It was during Tasso's absence in Germany that he "«Totc that beautiful letter from Augsburg to his wife Portia. — Tasso, Lefferc, No. 199. See Appendix B. m2 164 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- quier vemr que venga, se no aga lo que le pareze^ and immediately dismissed Pagano, who lost no time in returning to give an accomit of liis mission. The prince of Salerno, finding he was quite out of favour, became alarmed, and his mind reverted to the splendid offers which had been made to him by France. After conferring with the French ambassador and the duke of Somma at Venice, he openly declared himself for Henry II. A fatal resolution, for previous to success his country must have been steeped in blood. He was appointed captain- general of the expedition for conquering Naples, and in the event of success he was to be at the head of the government as viceroy. With the eagerness with which hope waits on desire he already fancied himself master of the kingdom, but the event proved far otherwise. Toledo was a prudent, vigilant governor, and he took care to put the coast in such a state of defence and preparation that there was no room for the foot of an invader. Secretly he was not displeased at the defection of Sanseverino, his rival in popularity and influence. In the month of April 1552 he convened a council of state in the royal palace, and declared the prince of Salerno a rebel, all his estates and fiefs forfeited to the crown, and he himself exposed to the penalty of death. The prince repaired to Ischia in the month of August with twenty-five French gallies, hoping to find there the Turkish fleet to join him in his enterprise against the kingdom of Naples ; but it had set sail for the Levant eight days before. He overtook the Turks in the waters of Prevesa, but could not prevail on them to return ; on the contrary, they induced him to go on with them to Constantinople and advise with the sultan, who, they assured him, would assist him with a powerful fleet the following spring. But this proved only an empty boast, and after six months' stay in Turkey no alternative was left him but retiring to France. It must be confessed that the decision of the Turks was a wise one. To have wantonly at- tacked the kingdom of a powerful sovereign at the instigation of a rival power, was an enterprise which would have been severely retaliated on the Turks themselves. During the lifetime of Henry II. the prince of Salerno was well received and munifi- cently entertained in France ; but at his death, during the wars 1 On my word, I do not say, if he chooses to come, let him do as he thinks proper. — Serassi, Vita del Tasso, p. 44. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 165 of the league the prince having ranged himself on the side of the Huguenots, he was finally reduced to extreme poverty, and died in misery at Avignon in 1568, at the age of seventy-one years. He may be said to have perished a martyr to the cause of civil and religious liberty ; for he risked and lost all to free his country from the rigorous government of a bigoted sovereign. The question is, would the country have been more free under France ? History replies in the negative. Thus unhappily ended the life of a man worthy of a better lot, but evidently somewhat deficient in judgment. The barons and nobles of Naples had always maintained sufficient inde- pendence to overawe the court. Toledo the viceroy was a Spaniard, faithful to his sovereign, but rigid in his rule. He governed with a rod of iron, and winning the affections of the Emperor's subjects formed no part of his plan ; we cannot there- fore wonder that he was eager to handle so absolute an engine as the Inquisition. The prince of Salerno on the contrary was a man of mild benevolent character, a patron and a lover of literature, a generous and munificent prince, and a favourer of reform. He himself wrote poetry,^ and cultivated every species of literature. He reopened the university of Salerno, once so famous as a school of medicine, appointed professors of philosophy,^ and assembled all the Neapolitans distinguished for learning in his new university,^ inviting them in the name of their country to devote their talents to its honour. Salerno was celebrated in the eleventh century for the study of medicine and philosophy at a time when Europe in general knew little of learning or literature. The Arabs, as far as their religion permitted, were diligent students and admirable pro- ficients in certain kinds of knowledge, especially in mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. Aristotle was held in high esteem in their schools, although the original ideas of this great phi- losopher were somewhat obscured by the labours of his com- mentators, Avicenna and Averroes.* The Saracens at this period ^ Some of his verses are found among those of Laui-a Terracina. — Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. tom. vii. p. 101. 2 ^^ Messer Mattheo Maccigni condotto alia lettura dl Fhilosoiihia nello studio di Salerno dal Princijye mio Signore:'' — Tasso, Lettere, p. 247. Ed, 1557. 3 He entreated the Cardinal Trivnlzio to allow Gio. Angelo Papio, suo servitore, e mio vassallo perche venga a Icggere a qucsto studio. — Idem., p. 54-1. < See Chap. v. p. 167. 166 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF FALEARIO. [1546- made frequent incursions into Europe, and particularly in tlie soutli of Italy. The school of Salerno owed its origin to an African of the name of Constantine, a native of Carthage. He had been a universal traveller, and visited almost every region of the globe. At Babylon he studied grammar, geometry, and mathematics, and likewise directed his attention to the astronomy and physics of the Chaldees. After thirty-nine years spent in the most assiduous application abroad he returned to Africa ; but his countrymen, instead of welcoming him back with joy or endeavouring to profit by the treasures of knowledge he had acquired, were so ignorant as to look on him with the utmost jealousy and ill-will, and even to project his destruction. Having been informed of this plot against his life, he embarked in the night on board a galley, and set sail for Salerno. There he concealed himself under the garb of a beggar, but was recog- nised by the brother of the king of Babylon, at whose court he had sojourned. Aware of Constantine's learning he presented him to duke Robert, who received him with distinguished honour. This encouragement induced him to take up his abode at Salerno, and he devoted himself with fresh zeal to study, particularly to medicine. His residence at Salerno spread the fame of its medical school throughout Europe; and such was the confidence placed in its science and skill, that when any person of importance was ill a message was despatched to Salerno for a physician. Its reputation was still further enhanced by the publication of a work there by Giovanni of Milano, dedi- cated to the king of England. In order to understand w^hy the medical school of Salerno sought for so distant a patron, we must remember that Tancred the Norman was a branch of the family of Eobert of Normandy, who conquered Puglia, Calabria, and the principality of Salerno about the same time that William duke of Normandy in- vaded England. This William, as is well known in English history, had three sons, William Rufus, heir to the kingdom of England, Robert, duke of Normandy, and Henry. Robert went with Godfrey de Bouillon on a crusade to the Holy Land, and was present at the taking of Jerusalem ; but the joy of his success was turned into grief when he heard of the death of his brother William without children. Being the eldest son the crown of England belonged to him ; the kingdom of Jerusalem was 1550.] PALEARIO TROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 167 offered to him, but he preferred returning to occupy liis father's throne.^ On his way home he passed by Salerno, and paid a visit to his relation there, Duke Eobert. During his stay the wound which he had received at Jerusalem began to open, and the physicians of Salerno said it had been inflicted by a poisoned lance, and that he could not be cured unless the poison were sucked out of the wound. The humane prince could not be brought to consent that any one should risk his life by perform- ing so dangerous an office. But, as the tale goes, his wife Sibylla, with true womanly devotion, took an opportunity while he was asleep to suck the poison out of the wound, and saved her husband's life. The grateful and convalescent prince begged the doctors to write out a regimen for the preservation of his health, and this gave occasion to the composition of a book in the name of the medical school at Salerno. It was however written by one hand only, in verse, and dedicated to Robert, king of England, and circulated throughout Europe. Tliis attestation of the singular merits of the school of Salerno rendered it for many ages the higliest medical authority in the Western world. The first school after the fall of Eome and the dismember- ment of the Roman academies, was the school of Salerno. It underwent however a considerable change ; for medicine and its usual accompaniments, astrology and the occult sciences, were now thrown into shade, and other branches of knowledge more assiduously cultivated. When Ferrante Sanseverino, prince of Salerno, was declared a rebel, the university was closed, and has never since been opened. Sanseverino left no posterity, and the principality of Salerno was attached to the crown of Naples.^ Bernardo Tasso, the secretary of the prince, was involved in the ruin of his patron, but after having served him twenty-two years under prosperous circumstances, he was too noble-minded to desert him in adversity. By attaching himself to liis fallen fortunes he also was declared rebel, and all the property which had been bestowed on him in the principality of Salerno was ^ This delay cost him the cro\\Ti of England. Heniy I. mounted the vacant throne. In vain Robert pleaded his birthright, and even landed at Portsmouth with a considerable force. Anselm the primate negociatcd an accommodation, and Robert retired with a pension of three thousand marks. — Hume, Hist, of Engl. vol. i. p. 248. 2 Tiraboschi, Lett. Ital. torn. vii. p. 101 ; Giannone, Storia di Kapoli, toni. iv. p. .322, and scq. 168 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- confiscated to the state.^ Tasso was sent by the prince to reside in Paris as his agent. At first his absence from his family was somewhat alleviated by the favour with which he was received at the French court ; but after remaining a year at Paris,^ seeing no prospect of the amelioration of his patron's affairs, he re- quested and obtained permission to rejoin his family in Italy. He then repaired to Rome ; tenderly attached to his wife Portia he used every effort to get her and his two children to join him, but unfortunately his wife's brothers, the Gambacorti, were men of sordid minds, who ungenerously took advantage of Tasso being an outlaw to keep possession of their sister's dower. As a rebel Tasso could not plead in court, so that he was completely in their power. Portia herself was very unhappy at this un- worthy conduct of her brothers ; she longed to get out of their hands and rejoin her husband. Tasso with some difficulty got her placed for protection in the convent of San Festo, with her daughter Cornelia and a waiting-woman. Meanwhile Tasso contrived to get his son Torquato sent to Rome, with the hope that he would soon be followed by his mother and sister. This separation from his mother made such an impression on the sensitive mind of the embryo poet, that years after he poured forth his feelings in a beautiful sonnet : Me dal sen della Madre empia fortuna Pargoletto divelse ; ah ! di que' baci, Ch' ella bagno di lagrime dolenti, 1 Bernardo Tasso by this edict lost a beautiful house, which belonged to him in Salerno, full of splendid furniture and valuable tapestry, and an income of nine hundred crowns in gold, which he held on the customs of Salerno, Sanseverino, and Bm-gensatico, and nothing was left him but his wife's dower, and some furniture which he had sent to Naples when his wife Portia removed there. — Serassi, Vita del Tasso, p. 46. 2 Part of the time he was with the court at St. Germain, where he wrote some sonnets in praise of Marguerite de Yalois the accomplished sister of Henry ii., afterwards duchess of Savoy. " Angioletta del Ciel qua giu mandata Dal sommo sole ad habitare in terra : Ne la cui mente si nasconde e serra Quanta virtute a gli Angeli fu data ; Che con la luce de begli occhi armata D' un' invitta honesta, pei-petua guerra Fai con la turba de sensi, ch' atterra Ogni cosa gentil da Dio creata :" £. Tasso Rime, lib. iv. p. 53. Ed. 1560. 1550.] PALEARIO TROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 169 Con sospir mi rimembra, e dcgli ardenti Preghi, che se n' portar 1' aure fugaci, Cli' io non dovea giunger piu volto a volto Fra quelle braccia accolto Con nodi cosi stretti e si tenaci. Lasso ! e seguj con mal sicure piante, Qual Ascanio, 0 Camillo, il padre errante.^ The arrival of Torqiiato in Kome, in October 1554, was a great comfort to his father: by the liberality of Cardinal Ippolito II. of Este, a handsome apartment had been assigned him in his palace of Monte Giordano ; his happiness would have been complete if he could have been joined by his wife and daughter; but without sacrificing the whole of her fortune, amounting to some thousand crowns, this seemed impossible. The election of the new Pope, Paul IV., the sworn enemy of the imperial party, raised new hopes of success, and all seemed pro- pitious to his wishes, when on the 13th of February, 1556, he received the sudden and melancholy news of his wife's unexpected death. This shock filled his cup of misfortune to the brim. Portia, worn out with anxiety and grief at her separation from her husband, had fallen a victim to an illness of only twenty- four hours' duration. By her death Bernardo was not only de- prived of a loving and amiable wife but his children's fortune, which remained in the hands of their unnatural relations. On this occasion he wrote a most lamentable letter to the prince of Salerno, bemoaning the fate of his daughter left alone among her enemies. He says his wife's death must have been a violent one, perhaps from poison, and accuses himself as partly the cause : ^' I may be said to have killed this my poor unhappy wife, and to have caused my own ruin, for if I had not been instigated by the love of worldly honour 1 should have gone to speak to Don Gio. Mandrich when you were here, my wife would now be alive and with me, and I should not be suffering from a grief which breaks my heart. God often punishes human ambition. I know that you, who have a noble and generous heart, full of gratitude, piety, and christian charity, will mourn over the misfortunes of your servant and try to lielp him as much as you can."^ In vain he tried to get possession of his daughter and his children's inheritance. He petitioned the ^ Serassi, Vila del Tasso, p. 57. Bernardo Tasso, Lettei-e, vol. ii. p. 157. 170 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAEIO. [1546- Spanish court, but his brothers-in-law were the strongest, and they had resolved to marry Cornelia at Naples, that they might give her only what dower they pleased. Torquato they said could not inherit anything, being the son of a rebel. Bernardo now decided to take orders, hoping to get some benefice in the kingdom of Naples, and in the privileged character of ecclesiastic to be protected against the machinations of his enemies. But the rupture between Philip II. and Paul TV., and the approach of the imperial army to the gates of Kome, put this idea to flight, and his gi-eatest anxiety was to get out of Eome with his little property as fast as possible. Having first despatched Torquato te his relations at Bergamo, he went himself to Pesaro, where he enjoyed the protection of the duke of Urbino. His son Torquato was subsequently summoned from Bergamo to be the companion of the young prince Francesco Maria. In the year 1557 Bernardo had finished his Amadtgi, and was desired by the duchess of Urbino^ to read it in presence of the court. They were so much pleased with it that duke Guidobaldo, in 1548, proposed it should be dedicated to Philip II. as a means of reconciliation with the king. Tasso was very unwilling to do this, and would not accept the salary which the duke of Urbino offered him, as temporary gentleman of his court, until every application had failed of success both to the court of France and to his ancient patron. Bernardo Tasso went to Venice to print his poem, accompanied by Dionigi Atanagi. The famous Paolo Manuzio was at this time confined to bed with an inflam- mation of the eyes, but Tasso went to visit him in his chamber. Meanwhile Tasso's friends were unremitting in their en- deavours at the Spanish court to get his property restored, particularly Paolo Mario ambassador from the court of Urbino. There was no great difficulty in getting the outlawry as a rebel taken off", but the restoration of his children's property, and granting him the compensation which he asked of three hundred crowns a-year on the duchy of Milan, were by no means so easy ; hopes however were held out that if he dedicated his poem to king Philip he might be propitiated. Bernardo had great comfort in the promising talents of his son ; he seemed to have 1 Yittoria Famese, grandaughter of Paul iii. She was the duke of Urbino's second -wife, and was married to him in January, 1548. — Denistoun, Dukes of Urbino, vol. iii. p. 95. 1550.1 PALEARIO TKOFESSOR AT LUCCA. 171 SO much of the mother's character that his father fondly hoped che dehhia riuscir un grand' ^lomo. About the Lcghining of November 1560^ when he had just completed his sixteenth year, his father sent him to finish his studies at Padua, and wrote to his friend Sperone entreating him to see and board him in some house where he would not be exposed to the influence of bad example. That same year the Amadigi was published and sent to Spain, but he was not more successful when he asked a fortune for a poem than he of old who offered a ^ kingdom for a horse/ and after a year's vain expectation he gave up all hope and placed himself in the service of cardinal Luigi d' Este. In 1563 he was the chief secretary of Guglielmo duke of Mantua, who gave him the appointment of governor of Ostia. In the year 1569 Torquato Tasso was summoned from his dalliance with poetry in honour of the princesses d' Este at Ferrara to the death-bed of his father, who, being at the advanced age of seventy-six years, did not long survive the severity of his disease. He died at Ostia on the 4th September 1569. Paleario, as we have said, was engaged as orator to the republic of Lucca to deliver two orations a year in Latin on some great subject, such as eloquence, the republic, a defence of the best studies, justice, temperance, happiness, fortitude, prudence, civil concord. His oration on eloquence was one of the most animated and probably one of the first delivered. He speaks with diffi- dence in a place which had been always occupied by eloquent men, but is encouraged by the good will evinced towards him in the recent election. For without having any acquaintance or friendship with the inhabitants of Lucca they have conferred on him the honour of this public employment, accompanied by such proofs of esteem and respect that he should feel almost unequal to the task were he not stimulated by a desire to shew himself grateful for the honour done him. On accepting tlieir invitation he figured to himself that he was going to dwell among the sages of antiquity, men, like Brutus, Decius, and Cato, who not only were desirous of cultivating all the liberal sciences, but also the most stimulating of all, eloquence. "Where indeed could it flourish better than in a free city, a well-ordered republic? Born at Athens, brought to perfection at Home, 172 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEAKIO. [1546- eloquence flourished there as long as the republic was in vigour ; it was rightly considered to be the companion and the offspring of liberty, for when the latter took its departure from the state eloquence soon followed in its wake. '' Bear with me then if, while I thank you for the benefit con- ferred on me, I launch out at large on the praises of eloquence. In the early ages, wlien cities were first built and governments sys- tematized, eloquence began its reign ; how, think you, could men drawn from the surrounding country, ignorant of civilised life, have been induced to build towns, to enact laws, but by the eloquence of some superior mind ? The power of rhetoric tamed the mul- titude and made them amenable to the common weal. What would be the state of mankind if they could not express their strong sensations and opinions ? This faculty of communicating our ideas and rousing the feelings of our fellow-citizens raises us above the birds and the animals. What a wonderful power is that of speech, eloquent speech, which can at pleasure calm an agitated assembly, melt it to tears, or rouse it to indignation. " The power of oratory in influencing mankind is greater than the authority of the greatest kings. An eloquent man is the most useful citizen of the state. I address you, 0 young men, whose ardent minds and virtuous hopes look to the fame of immortality, to whatever branch of knowledge you turn your attention you should value none higher than eloquence; and beginning with philosophy, which is said to come from heaven, what part of philosophy is there which does not require to be adorned with the graces of oratory? The first is physics; it needs to be explained in clear distinct language, lest we add darkness to difliculty, and rather detach learners from philosophy than instruct them, an error into which many sophists of the present day fall. Now is the time when men have more acute discernment to obliterate the idea that it is a fine thing not to be understood, and that there is wisdom in useless questions and obscure definitions. As to the second part of philosophy, dialectics, this is in the greatest confusion. The arrangements and arguments of the ancients are despised. People are so superstitious that they are not satisfied with Aristotle the prince of philosophers, who is in dialectics as in other sciences an acute and eloquent reasoner. Whoever dedicates himself to philosophical studies ought first to acquire the eloquence 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 173 of the Greek philosophers, and study to write hicidly and me- thodically in good Latin. For he is esteemed a good orator who speaks with accuracy and method, and while unfolding his philosophical doctrine supports it with logical arguments, clothed in clioice and classic language, convincing the judgment and charming the ear, instead of fatiguing the attention of tliose who are endeavouring to overcome difficulties by wrapping philosophy in obscure phrases and unmeaning sentences. We find this practised both in the study of medicine and law. " How useful in times of peril to the state to have able and eloquent orators to send as ambassadors for tlie defence and liberty of tlie republic. The Italian language is indeed sweet and harmonious, but if it did not receive a certain vigour and force from Greek and Latin literature, in treating of important matters, it might degenerate into light and frivolous expressions. It would be a shame for us to be surpassed by foreigners in the knowledge and use of the Latin tongue ; and if we have the honour of Italy at heart we shall certainly take care that our youth shall not be behind in this respect. With this view I propose this year to interpret the oration of M. TuUius, in which he devotes his talent to prove that in eloquence the Latins are equal or superior to the Greeks. Its art consists in its perfection, and in explaining it we shall have occasion to unfold the fio'ures and rules of rhetoric of which he has made use. o Here we shall see the consummate talent of the orator, and observe how he uses the Socratic inductions and adapts them to the Peripatetic system. '^ In the following year I propose, with your permission, to explain the books of Aristotle on dialectics in Greek, in order that the youth may not drink from the rills and streamlets, but from the fountain-head of the Peripatetics, and thus study unitedly both Greek and Latin. " This method will, I hope, be useful to all. Those who wish to devote themselves to oratory, or that part of philosophy called ethics, should remember that without a knowledge of dialectics they can never understand that which Aristotle has written on morals. '' For suppose a young man of talent and judgment should be filled with a spiritual desire to investigate eternal things, how would he get over the opposite opinions of theologians if he has 174 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- not the benefit of tliis science? We sliall not however dwell long on this point, but only as far as is necessary to teach oratory. If any one thinks that the students will not be able this year to enter on such important studies as Demosthenes and Aristotle, we can put it off till the following year. I shall willingly yield to the opinion of the heads of the college, and if they approve of uniting the study of Greek eloquence with that of moral philosophy, I will turn the attention of my scholars to Isocrates, the parent of eloquence, on whose tomb a Siren was placed to signify the sweetness and charm of his oratory. As I am the first whom you have publicly invited to this new chair, and being thus honoured by you, 0 Lucchese, it is not necessary for me to confine myself within the limits of my natural diffidence and modesty, but rather to exert myself day and night, to do not only what I can, but what I ought, in order that the rising youth, who are the strength and vigour of the republic of Lucca, may reap every possible advantage from your benefits.^ Paleario's private sentiments and warm affections are more amply unfolded in his confidential correspondence, and in order to become fully acquainted with him it will be necessary to draw largely from this faithful transcript of his mind. The following letter written to a valued young friend, Sylves- tro Lilio, who was absent at Eome, shews the strength of his attachments and the sincerity of his religious principles. The young man was a native of Lucca, and had considerable influence in the state. His society was of the utmost importance to Paleario, who was separated from his family and from the comforts of his home: oppressed with poverty and in delicate health, the companionship of a young ardent mind was a support peculiarly needful to him. But self was forgotten under the idea that his friend was reading the Epistles of Paul with the devout Flaminio.^ Paleario entreats him, if this is really the case, not to think of his wishes, his parents' entreaties, or the exigencies of the state ; but to stay for a while and profit by the religious instruction which a study of the Scriptures, in company with such a character as Flaminio, would afford him. ^ The above is the substance of the fourth oration, De Laudibiis Eloquenticv, greatly- abridged and condensed. — Palearii Opera, pp. 98—108. 2 Marc' Antonio Flaminio. See Chap. xv. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 175 No apology is needful to the intelligent reader for giving these letters in full : they are fragments which make us live, as it were, in the society of this devoted man, and enter the sanctuary of his secret meditation. AoNio Paleario to Silvesteo Lilio. " If the love of your country and the desire of seeing your friends made you wish to return almost immediately on your arrival in Rome, I attribute this more to your devotion towards us than to the counsels of your family. If, however, the magnificence and pomp of the court, which is the delight of so many, is disgusting to you, and if, though from your noble birth and great riches you can live there in a splendid manner, you prefer returning to us, I do indeed congratulate you for being endowed with rare wisdom ; and I re- joice also on our own account, for we shall enjoy once again your delightful society. Do not imagine that I did not guess this would be the case from the first. I knew well you were an enemy to ambition, of unswerving in- tegrity, and not only a friend, but a lover of chastity and modesty. I wondered how you could be absent for a month from the dearest objects of your aflPection ; the more so as nothing ought to be so dear to you as your excellent parents, no place so charming as your native country. And what a country ! A free city, regulated by just laws and upright morals; in which the evil-disposed can find no opportunity of committing crime, or any hope of concealment ; where great expectations are entertained of you, and where such is the reverence in which you are held, that notwithstanding your youth you are looked upon, and are truly the moderator of the elders, the pattern of religion and holiness of life After your departure, and that of our Giuseppe,^ nothing could please or enliven me, and I fell into such a languid and torpid state of mind, that eveiy one was astonished to see the cheerfulness which you used to admire all gone. Both mind and countenance were changed. The only person who could at all revive me by his amiability and sweet dis- position, was your cousin Martino Lilio. The bad state of his health, under which he had almost sunk, and the cold of this severe season, try him exceed- ingly. His illness gives me so much anxiety that I feel as if I were either ill or going to be ill. His mother, his engaging wife, and his excellent brother beg and entreat me to go and live with him. Here I am in my apartment, with- out wife, children, or servants, and without money. For, as you know, I was obliged some months since to go to Colle by a long and dusty road, but now in consequence of the heavy rains so deep in mud, that I will not allow these poor unhappy creatures to take such a journey on my account. All my friends, your father, Bonvisi, Cenami, Bernardini, and Arnulfini assist me in my necessities, and take care that in my penury I am supplied with every- thing, though in fact I am content with so little that I feel myself as rich as Crassus. From what I can understand by the letter you have written to your father, we may shortly expect you here. Then my pleasure will be greater 1 Giuseppe Jova, a poet, afterwards the secretary of Vittoria Colonna. 176 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- than the pain which now oppresses me. I see in this same letter that you are reading the Epistles of Paul, and that Flaminio, your friend and mine, is leading you to the stud}^ of theology. May God reward him, who, to make you truly happy, is teaching you the sum and substance of true life, the chief crowning point of all study. If you, who from your earliest youth were studious of the liberal arts, and devoted yourself to all that wise men could teach you about living well, were now to apply yourself to deeper studies, what may not be your future progress, and what your exemplary life and conduct ? If what I allude to is true, — for I do not know it for a certainty, but am only led by conjecture to this supposition, because I love you more than myself, and have your welfare more at heart than my own, — by no means withdraw yourself from the city (Rome), that is, the house of Flaminio. As he is with the illustrious Pole, whom I name with reverence, what a great benefit this will be for you. Good heavens ! What advantages will you derive in many ways from living in daily intercourse with such persons. On this account, though I desire your presence more than any one, do nothing hastily; let neither my letters nor the entreaties or recommendations of your parents, your country, or those of persons the dearest to you in the world, induce you to change yom- abode, if you are with Flaminio and Pole. Our friends Parenti and Pacini salute you. Adieu. "^ While Paleario was at Lucca he turned his attention to the law, his original profession. In the oration on eloquence, of which we have given a sketch, he treats it as a branch of philosophy. His capacious mind embraced all the sciences which had the slightest affinity with his own line of study. As under the republic of Rome, lawyers were also orators, who by the vehemence of their eloquence moved and guided the public mind, so Paleario, ambitious of imitating these classic models of antiquity, strove to revive the ancient mode of eloquent harangues; and while he considered the law as a part of phi- losophy, worthy of the highest praise, and that '^ without it neither kingdoms, cities, nor human life itself can exist," he laments that the old laws, so clear and lucid in their use and application, should have been so utterly neglected, and entreats the youth of Lucca not to let this interesting branch of know- ledge lie buried under the prosing notes of commentators, but to cultivate and adorn it with all the graces of elocution and oratory, as their forefathers did. He encourages them by the example of Alciati, whose splendid talents had struck out a new path in jurisprudence, and raised it once again to the dignity it had formerly attained. ^ Palearii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 3. 1550.] PALEARIO TROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 177 Andrea Alciati^ was one of the luminaries of tlie sixteenth century ; a man of original mind, who dared to introduce inno- vations and step beyond the narrow circle of the h\w. lie studied history, antiquities, languages, literature and criticism with the view of illustrating liis profession ; this was so contrary to general custom that it gave a new aspect to jurisprudence. He was the son of a Milanese noble, and passed through his studies at Pavia and Bologna with such eclat^ that when only twenty-one years of age he wrote in three days notes on the laws of Justinian. This gave him the privilege of defending causes before he attained the usual age. He next published his Paradoxes of Civil Law, a work which stamped him as an inno- vator, but spread his fame so far abroad that he was invited to Avignon as professor of civil law with a salary of 500 crowns. His auditors increased so rapidly that a hundred crowns were subsequently added. The learned Erasmus, in 1521, wrote him a laudatory letter, congratulating him on his great talent : unfortunately the great foible of his character was vanity, and the excessive praise which was lavished on him encouraged this failing to such a degree that he wrote to his friend Calvi that all Europe was ringing with the praises of Alciati. A vain mind is generally an inconstant one, and so it proved in this instance. He left Avignon to return to Milan, where he took up the profession of advocate, but he missed the incense of popular applause which public lectures had brought him. He tried to get a professorship in Italy ; not succeeding he returned to Avignon, in 1528, without having any public employment there. Subsequently he was invited to lecture in the university of Bourges with a salary of 600 crowns, a sum by no means equal to his expectations, and his restless spirit again turned his thoughts to Italy. An increase however of 300 crowns detained him at Bourges till 1532. But not all the honours and ad- vantages heaped on him there could suffice ; he wrote a satirical poem on the inhabitants of Bourges, and this paper when made public was answered in the same pungent style. At this time he was employing his Italian friends to bargain for a chair in different places as professor of law in Italy. At length he was recalled to Milan by the duke Francesco Sforza, and appointed professor at Pavia with the enormous salary of 1500 crowns ; ' Bom 1492, died 1550. VOL. IT. K 178 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- but wherever he went his inconstant disposition made him restless and dissatisfied. In 1537 we find him at Bologna, four years after at Pavia again, and in 1543 he was at Ferrara when Paul III. visited that court. This pope was ever a patron of learned men, and he conferred on Alciati the title of Apostolic Protonotary. Soon after, in 1546, he was recalled to Pavia, and there his wanderings terminated with his life at fifty-eight years of age. He was highly gifted with intellectual power, but the moral part of his character was so sadly deficient that his defects obscured the brilliancy of his fame. He was taxed with vanity, inconstancy, and greediness both of food and gold.* But as a lawyer he greatly raised his profession, and what was once considered the province of hard-working, plodding men, became worthy of the highest energies and acquirements of a philosopher. Paleario, who fully entered into the comprehensive and liberal opinions of Alciati, wrote an eloquent oration against L. Murena^ and sent it to Alciati, entreating his opinion of its merits, and asking whether he should be considered too bold in becoming the antagonist of the great Cicero : should this be Alciati' s opinion, or if he otherwise disapproved of the oration, he would suppress it altogether. AoNio Paleario to Andeea Alciati, jueisconsult. " If you value the defenders of your profession as much as you excel in civil law, my hopes will not be disappointed that the oration I have written against L. Murena will be a bond of union between us ; for though the great and brilliant qualities which you have brought to bear on the science of jurisprudence are not to be equalled by others, yet you will not be displeased if I desire that my work may share a slight degree of your vast reputation. It cannot indeed bear comparison with anything of yours, but the scope and intention are the same. You have been the first to adorn civil law with the splendour of elocution, so long clogged by obscure and incomprehensible phrases. I believe I am the first to defend it in a Latin oration from the restrictions of Tullius. In the most flourishing period of the Eoman Eepublic this science was limited, and attacked by calumny. 1 Something must probably be allowed in the way of exaggeration as to his de- fects. "When a man rises above his compeers in talent or intellectual power, his deficiencies are raised as it were on a pinnacle, and become the theme of envious and inferior minds, whose very element is censure. 2 Olivet in his criticism of Cicero's works says of this oration, that the Latin of this piece of eloquence is so perfect that it is impossible to discover any difference between the style of Cicero and Paleario. 1550.] PALEAPvIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 179 " Yours is a far happier lot ; from a superior station you fight alternately with the Greeks and with the Latins, often with the barbarians, and always come off victorious. I, under disadvantages of time and place, fight a^-ainst the prince of eloquence (Cicero), however unequal to him ; your praise will be in every mouth, while I am overwhelmed by the cavillers. There are a pestilent set of men, whose chief pleasure is to criticise and to vituperate others. They have no respect for Servius Sulpitius, whom I have defended, nor for that upright man M. Cato ; they care little about civil law, whicli I seek to ennoble, nor the learning of the Stoics, which I have striven to sustain ; but they will fix their whole attention on the novel and obnoxious attitude I assume in presuming to rise up against the divine and heavenly-gifted orator. Here, oh Alciati, I appeal to your equity and sincerity. If it is not allowable to examine and discuss the writings left us by the ancients, if we are not permitted to investigate truth, we have no means of avoiding the errors into which so many writers fall, who purposely perhaps, to avoid rousing hatred and envy, refrain from seeking truth. Where do we find those zealous devotees of Cicero, who consider his every word as oracular? There is nothing Cicero more reproves than fighting under the authority of a name. I beseech you, Alciati, by your talents and good for- tune, to assist me on this occasion. See what a storm hangs over me ! and what a multitude are prepared for attack. There never was a time in which accusers were more numerous. If you still exercise the profession of ad- vocate, remember I pray you to be my defender. Those who dread approaching danger generally seek advice and assistance. To whom can I appeal, or call upon but you, who are so potent a defender and adviser ? " You are now in possession of the oration, and it shall not see the light except by your command, and unless you approve and prepare to defend it. Considering the learning of a liberal mind I think it would be a shame, if you, the most eloquent of jurisconsults, were not, by your legal ability, to sustain the defender of law; and it would be equally a disgrace, if the most dis- tinguished of lawyers did not shield with the armour of eloquence a man who, in defence of this your favorite science, has exposed himself to great peril. But as I do not wish to do anything contrary to your opinion, if this oration displeases you I will suppress it. Pray oblige me by writing your opinion. Farewell."^ We see here the energy and modesty of Paleario's character ; admirer as he was of Cicero he would not be pinned down to his opinions. The investigation of truth was his most important object, and he was at all times anxious to Lay down that great principle, now so thoroughly understood, that truth is to be sought for itself, irrespective of human authority ; — a principle which could never find acceptance at Eome, where trutli is subservient to autliority. This in fact is tlie reason why all I Palcarii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 21. n2 180 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- intellectual freedom is denied to the votaries of the Eoman church. Paleario, shrinking from the severity of criticism, sought aid from some high and independent authority before he presented his oration to the public. Alciati entered fully into Paleario's idea and answered his letter without evincing any of that vanity for which he has been so much blamed; he encouraged him to persevere in his efforts to revive the ancient method of declamation, reassured him as to the fear of offering an affront to Cicero by differing from his opinion, and professed himself both delighted and grateful for his eloquent oration. Andeea Alciati, jueisconsult, to Aonio Paleaeio. " I have read with great eagerness your oration against L. Murena, in which 3^ou answer Cicero; the perusal has given me the greatest pleasure. Not so much because you patronise civil law and defend our profession against the eloquent and distinguished orator, though this also was agreeable to me, but because you revive the ancient manner of declamation, and that you open up and clear the way which rhetoricians during the past careless, and I may say juvenile age, have choked up with their controversies. This is not only useful in encouraging eloquence, but also to us jurisconsults. The prudent answers of Alexander, Corneo, and Socino, which are so much prized, if you take away the legal phraseology, what are they but declamations ? Very few professors of the liberal arts can attain distinction ; if they desire fame, they prefer devoting themselves to jurisprudence, which really bears fruit, rather than grow old in correcting boys' exercises and scanning quantities ; thus the finest exercise of learning has perished. I am rejoiced that this art (eloquence) has been so gloriously revived by you, and confess myself on this account greatly obliged. Nor do I think this will militate against the authority of Tullius, which ought indeed to be held sacred. He himself used sometimes to take the part of his adversaries ; it is by this Socratic method that truth is more clearly elucidated. Domitius, if I mistake not, said, ' Speak against me, that we may seem two persons.' You have nothing therefore to fear, my dear Aonio, from those who value Cicero. I, who am one of those, and love you sincerely on this account, am so far from thinking that you have done any wrong to the majesty of Cicero, or been in the slightest degree wanting in respect to him, that I even venture to assert that Cicero himself would have been of yom- opinion, if the cause which he upheld had not re- quired a different kind of reasoning. In all his works we see marked evidence of the value which he put on civil law. Arise, thou most learned man, and bring us back to our ancient eloquence ; reestablish the custom of declaiming, so long lost by the carelessness of our ancestors, and restore to civil law its true dignity. You not only do not detract anything from the estimation in which Cicero is generally held, but, /car' avaKXaaiv, hy reflection, you make him more refulgent. I who belong to the studious tribe confess myself so 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 181 greatly obliged to you for your exertions, that I scarcely know how to express my thanks. Farewell. Ticino, October 1, 1559.^ Paul III., when lie ifiet Alciati at Ferrara, offered him great ecclesiastical rewards and benefices if he would go to Home, but he preferred living free and enjoying the applause of his scholars. He afterwards wrote to Paolo Giovio : ^' I am glad I have not allowed myself to be deceived by the promises of this cunning old Pope ; you know he wanted to have me at Home, and great remuneration was offered me at Torino, Ferrara, and Bologna. For my own private reasons I was more cautious than you, prudent philosopher, with all your wise precepts. Why should I, under a vain and uncertain hope of being made cardinal, renounce such great offers and honours, and a certain and ample salary ? Why, for this, despise the applause of so many young men who surround me, and foolishly leave my place vacant for the many aspirants who are knocking at the door, and thus lose the esteem and advantage I have acquired with no mean praise."^ The few works which Alciati^ left behind him are chiefly on jurisprudence, but some treat of subjects springing from the study of the law, such as the duties of magistrates, the military and civil offices under the Koman republic, &c. He made a large collection of all the inscriptions belonging to Milan, his native place, of which copies are to be found in the Vatican and Ambrosian libraries ; and he used them in composing a history of Milan from its foundation, a work of small extent, but tlie first which had been written under the authority of ancient and authentic documents. One of Paleario's weaknesses, which he shared in common with the learned of that day, was an eager desire for the patron- age of princes and great men. He addressed his poem on the Immortality of the Soul to Ferdinand, king of the Romans, in hopes of receiving some reward or distinction. This desire for patronage became almost a vice when it encouraged the spirit of adulation. A prince who could raise a man from poverty to 1 Palcarii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 22. 2 This letter is prefixed to some editions of his history. — See Be Thou, and Bayle, Diet. 3 See Tiraboschi, who says of him, ^'- Andna Aleiati iiomo grande ugtuilmetUe e nt' severi studj legali, e negli ameni della Letter atura'' — Lett. Ital. torn. vii. p. 20-5. 182 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- opiilence by a word was worth courting ; and unless tlie patron were really a person of great talent and virtue, there was no avoiding a certain degree of humiliation in paying the homage required, a homage altogether unsuited to Paleario's cast of mind. Judging by our own ideas of independence, we cannot entirely acquit him of using more flattering language than we can approve ; but Ave must recollect that northern temperaments can scarcely sympathise with the impulsive and imaginative natures of the south. Even the friends of Paleario, however, thought him too ambitious in sending his works to Ferdinand.^ A friend of his, Orgetorix Sphinter, who from his name appears to have been a Hungarian, had seen a copy of Paleario's oration against L. Murena, and wrote the following letter to Carlo Laureno,. praising it in the highest terms. Oegetorix Sphintee to Caelo Laueeno. " When I came lately from Eome to Germany, I saw in the hands of some learned men the oration of Aonio Paleario against L. Murena, which I had read at Milan some weeks before, and which had afforded me the same gratification that all his other productions have done. Do you ask why? I heard here the same opinion as at Milan. Excellent judges affirm that if M. Tullius were to come to life again, he would adopt the opinion of Aonio ; and if called on to pass judgment, they would condemn Murena. Those most observant of the purest and most chaste diction, say that there is no doubt that if it had been written in that happy period when the Latin tongue was in the most flourishing condition, it would in all future time have been most highly prized and esteemed. They praise the grave and dignified language, and highly extol the easy flow of its composition. They admire the pleasing and agreeable manner in which he imitates the ancients, and how admirably he represents a Roman citizen, being so solicitous for the common- wealth as to heighten the danger; expressing his fear that if Murena is acquitted, soldiers may at any future time, by following their commander, inflame the civil desires of their general, and thus extinguish every vestige of liberty. Let whoever reads it only fancy himself living in those days when the trial took place, and at a period when such things might, and indeed ought to have been said. Our Henry, who is very diligent and has read through the whole of the oration by M. Tullius in favour of Murena, has particularly observed the arguments which Cicero made use of to influence the minds of the judges, especially in civil law, and the discipHne of the Stoics ; and he has written them down in opposite columns, so that it may be easily seen how well he replied to every objection. If you write to Aonio, I beg you to tell him that the oration will soon be published. What does he expect ? I announce that it will be out in a few days. With his usual prudence he has ' See Chap. hi. p. 111. 1550.] PALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 183 revised it before sending it to the printer. Beg him also in my name not to despise Henry ; for either his summary or the whole of Cicero's oration is to be prefixed, in order that those who are prepared and wish to be acquainted with the reasoning of jurisconsults, and the attacks on the discipline of the Stoics, may know with what arguments they are defended. This will, I think diminish the labour of studious men. For it makes a very great difference, when a thing is to be enquired into, whether the book is at hand, or is to be searched out elsewhere. Adieu. Cologne, 13 January, 1548."^ AVlio this Heniy was, and what was the exact nature of his work, is unknown, but it appears that he had made a kind of digest of the judicial arguments for and against Murena made use of by Cicero and Palcario. We find no mention of the publication of this oration in any of Palcario' s letters. In the following reply to Orgetorix Sphinter he does not even allude to Laureno's work. After writing the above letter to Carlo Laureno, Orgetorix Sphinter, who seems to have been a man of sense and experience, wrote the following judicious and faithful letter to Palcario. Orgetorix Sphinter to Aonio Paleario. "I would rather have preferred speaking than writing to you of some things, but have been prevented by the journey I took to Germany after the death of Sadoleto. I am still detained here by business, and cannot tell when I shall be at liberty to return to Italy. I arrived on the 5th of January at Cologne ; on the 15th I wrote to Laureno, who I believe sent you a copy of my letter, with Henry's summary. This man, believe me, is one of the most zealous friends you have. He has great and extended communication with Hungary, and enjoys the patronage of very distinguished persons. Last year he was at the court of king Ferdinand ; and holding you himself in such high estimation, he concluded j^our name would be well known, and was surprised to find your books so unkno"\vn, that he did not meet with any one w^ho had ever seen them. He asked about Vergerio, who is esteemed a good and clever man, but no letters had been received at court from him for a long time past. How is this? It is clear that your books have never reached the king. Either Yergerio's messengers ^vere not to be trusted, or he was afraid of troubling the king by writing to him, or else he gave the commission to some- body who failed to execute it. For those who enjoy the smiles and fiivour of princes do not like to teaze them about the affairs of others, in order to be able on a suitable occasion to use all their influence for themselves. " You hoped, notwithstanding the distance, that the books would be faith- fully can-ied, the letter be given, and the recommendation obtain favour as if it were only a day's journey. I do not pretend to give advice, but in my opinion it will be wiser in future not to found the slightest hopes on their ^ Palcarii 02)era, p. 3. 184 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- recommendations. It is a mistake to think that these things are better arranged here than in Italy. I wrote to Laureno about Henry's summary, so that I need say but little to you, for I do not fear that you will not value the evBoKLau {applause) of your friends. I think there is nothing more delightful than to be beloved by good men, of which there is a great scarcity. I could remind you of some king who desired to have a couple of friends. You who have them, do you not love them ? Who do you think I am speaking of? Of the cardinals ?^ How dear and precious their memory is, I every day experience. Great is the kindness of the middle class ; their private and public services, their assistance in our studies and in literature ; above all, their sincere and simple friendship ; being without dissimulation, they love with all their hearts, and would even die for each other. Turn to this class of men if you wish to be loved and respected. Know that we are expecting from you some dialogues and sonnets, koI ra /xekr^, which will be to us as fragrant flowers. So when your muse produces something, remember us. Adieu."- We cannot deny that this Hungarian gave very good advice, and that his letter was a suitable check to Paleario's love of patronage. Paleario received it with his usual amiability, but we learn from the allusion to Maximilian in his reply, that he could not give up the idea of princely patronage. Both Ferdinand and his son Maximilian were said to be averse to tyranny in religion- and it is not difficult to understand how an Italian groaning under the harsh measures of the Papacy would look at that time with longing eyes to Germany, where the people had won for themselves some measure of religious liberty, and hoped for more extended freedom.^ AoNio Paleaeio to Oegetoeix Sphintee. " Your great love is manifest in every line of the letters which you have lately written from Cologne to Laureno, and to me. He is unjust who calls that country barbarous which produces men civilised by cultivation and enlightened by literature Ever since I was at Padua, and you at Venice, I have received many proofs of your kindness and pohteness, such as might be expected from the most amiable of men. And now you have incited a noble and highly educated young man from the utmost confines of Hungary, happy in the possession of fortune, connections, and friendships, to offer me all kinds of homage and respect, how highly ought I to value your kindness and regard. On this account I heartily embrace you and your, or rather our Henry, if not bodily, most cordially in mind. If we were not so 5 Bembo and Sadoleto, who both died in 1547. - Palearii Opera, lib. iv. ep. 26. ^ A hope which was realised at the treaty of Passau in 1552. 1550.] TALEARIO PROFESSOR AT LUCCA. 185 far separated I should indeed, as you say, have a couple of friends with whom I would as willingly pass my life as with the celestials.^ . . . What you say of my books is very nearly true. Where are those ancient patrons of literary men, by whom writers raised their heads, and carried them so hio-h ? Oh fallacious hopes ! How vain have been my expectations, if so much labour is to be expended before my writings reach those to whom they are dedicated. '' Vergerio is not to blame ; I have always known him to be a good and learned man, full of kindness and attention. Who then, you will say, do I accuse ? No one, but fortune. 1 now see that what Bembo foresaw when I was writing these books has come to pass. Nevertheless I hope, if Maximilian comes to Italy, my books may yet reach the king. The young prince is pious, happy, great, and wise, — will he not read them, and grant what I have been wishing for these sixteen years past ? Will he despise my desire for Austrian approval ?'- I do not think so. If what is said of the Lombards is true, all will go well. I hear that in Germany large assemblies are held. If you know anything about them, and particularly, let me hear. Whatever may happen, we will bear it as mortals "^ The intellectual compass of Paleario's mind somewhat re- sembled that of xllciati. Like him he did not confine his studies to his own peculiar branch, but moved by desires more capacious than practicable, if we consider the brief period of human life, he desired to know everything within the reach of human intelligence. The great fame of Alciati stimulated him to devote his attention to legcil studies. He had already ex- perienced how difficult it was to consult the accumulated number of books on law, the greater part of which were only copies of former writers, containing a confused mass of citations and useless repetitions, written in barbarous Latin, in so involved a style that obscurity became darkness. Paleario's refined judgment hailed with delight the criticisms of Alciati, and the example he gave of a clearer manner of writing, and heartily agreed with him that a good lawyer should be furnished with a rich store of literature both of a serious and agreeable kind. Paleario was one of the few lawyers who wished to follow the example of Alciati. His sons were growing up ; he intended one of them to be educated for the legal profession, and expresses himself on this point in the following letter to Vincenzo Portico. 1 Dii.s immortalibus, too offensive to christian cars, if literally translated. ' Besides the desire of kingly patronage, Austria, we must recoUcet, though now so retrogade, was at this time the source of all freedom of thought and religious liberty. 3 Palcarii 02)era, Kb. iv. ep. 27. 186 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PALEARIO. [1546- AoNio Paleario to Vincenzo Portico, a jurisconsult. " I am so fond of your old jurisconsults that I consider those almost as enemies who do not sufficiently value them. Thus, my dear Portico, you can understand why I am so much attached to you, and what I wish before I make my request. I hear you possess some ancient commentaries on civil law ; so earnestly do I desire to see them, that if I should ever get admittance into the sanctuary of your study, there is some risk of my becoming a thief. Whether it be, that as we advance in life our desire for knowledge becomes more eager and insatiable, or that the more we know, the more sensible we become of our ignorance. I in my mature age am become an actual devourer of books, which is indeed rather a sign of a crude and voracious appetite. I have two sons ; one of them I wish to bring up to the pursuit of Greek and Latin literature and natm-al philosophy; the other to Latin and the study of juris- prudence. I have provided plenty of Greek books for the one ; I am searching out works on civil law for the other ; and I look to you as a guide, friend, guardian, and father, hoping that under such titles my son may owe much to you. I do not plead only for my own, but seek also the good of others. I will not ask you to have these volumes copied in a clear handwriting, for this would involve immense labour; but I entreat you rather, for the general ad- vantage of students, to decide on publishing these commentaries, and impart to us somewhat of your good fortune ; by this you will lose nothing. " Ut homo, qui erranti comiter monstrat viam, Quasi lumen de suo lumine accendat,facit TJt niJiilo minus ipsi luceat, cum illi accenclerit} " I am much averse to your keeping your riches any longer locked up in darkness, or hiding what would be so advantageous to students. One thing I must add : if in these your commentaries there be anything written by you by way of illustration or explanation, I entreat it may be added to the commentary. " Si ut hahiUter gemmce geri possint incluscB auro fuerint, tunc aurum gemmis cedere dicimus? Paul Jurisconsult. " Quoniam hoc spectamus, quce res cujus rei ordinandcB caussa fuerit adhihita, non quae sit preciosior? Ulpian. "Et in argento potorio non id duntaxat inesse videtur in quo hibi possit, sed etiam quod ad prceparationem hihendi comparatum est.^ ^ As he who kindly shews the way To those who else had learned to stray, From his own light upholds a ray, Nor shines the less in open da5^ 2 When gems are set in gold that we may wear them, we think less of the gold than of the gem. 3 For we do not value what is used only as a setting so much as that which is really precious. <* In a silver cup wc do not consider the metal out of which we diink, but the liquor which we taste. 1550.] PALEARIO rilOFESSOll AT LUCCA. 187 " Pomponio used to answer : Additions follow tliat to which they are at- tached. See what progress I have made in 3'our studies in half-an-liour, that I dare to give you, who are so Avell versed in jurisprudence, work in your own profession, and to contend that what is your own does not belong to you ; but I do not call upon you to fight about law. I desire to be neither proud nor forward, but modest and gentle in all things : rwv Q^wv eVn iravra. (pl\oi ol (Tocpol To7s 6io7s, Koiva roov (piAcou Tvdura. 6,pa twv