Contents
EARLY REFINEMENT IN ITALY.
In connection with the many samples of English and some French and Latin Courtesy-Books which the pains of other Editors have set before the members of the Early English Text Society, I have been asked to do something to exhibit what Italian literature has to show for itself in the same line. The request is one which I gladly close with; only cautioning the reader at starting that he must not expect to find in my brief essay any deep or exhaustive knowledge of the subject, or anything beyond specimens of the works under consideration, picked out one here and one there. Italy, it is tolerably well known, was, together with Provence, in the forefront of civilization—or ‘civility,’ as it might here be more aptly phrased—in the middle ages; and I should not be surprised to learn that, in the refinements of life and niceties of method, the Italy of the thirteenth century, as traceable in her Courtesy-Books, was quite on a par with the France or Germany1 of the fourteenth, or the England of the fifteenth, and so progressively on. This, however, is a matter which I must leave to be determined by more diligent and more learned researches than my own. The materials for the comparison are now, to some extent, fairly before the editing and reading members of our Society.
As regards date, at all events, Italy is greatly in advance. What is the date of the earliest French Courtesy-Book included in our series? Not far, I presume, from the close of the fourteenth century. What of the earliest English one? About 1450. Against these we can set an Italian Courtesy-Book—or rather a Courtesy section of an Italian book—dating about 1265. Of a date prior to this (the birth-year of Dante), there is little of either prose or poetry in Italian.
BRUNETTO LATINI.
The author of our specimen is a man illustrious in the literature of Italy, though comparatively little read for some centuries past—Brunetto Latini; remembered chiefly among miscellaneous readers as the preceptor of Dante, and as consigned by that affectionate but unaccommodating pupil to a very ugly circle of his Hell. There, if we may believe the ‘Poet of Rectitude,’ Ser Brunetto, with a ‘baked aspect,’ is at this moment unremittingly walking under an unremitting rain of fire: were he to pause, he would remain moveless for a century, and the torture of the flames would persecute him in aggravated proportion. On the same authority (which it is futile to fence with), I am compelled to say that Brunetto is the last person from whom one need wish to learn the practice, or as a consequence the theory, of modern or European morals.
However, Brunetto seems to have considered that he had a gift that way. Both his leading works may be termed moral-scientific treatises. The longer of the two, the Tesoro, was written in French prose, and is much of a compilation from classic authors in some sections. It had hitherto only been preserved to the public in an old Italian translation, but quite recently the French text has been printed. Sacred, profane, and natural history, geography, oratory, politics, and morals, are the main subject-matter of this encyclopædic labour; than which probably no contemporary produced anything more widely learned, according to the standard of that age. The Tesoretto is a shorter performance, written in Italian verse; shorter, yet still of substantial length, numbering, even in its extant incomplete state, 22 sections or ‘capitoli.’ This is the work upon which I shall draw for our first specimen of an Italian Courtesy-Book. Something bearing upon the like questions might also be gleaned from the Tesoro, but, as that is properly a French book, I leave it aside.
The Tesoretto sets forth that its author, being at Roncesvalles on his return from an embassy in Spain, received the bad news of the battle of Montaperti. Getting astray in a forest,2 he finds himself in the presence of no less a personage than Dame Nature, who proceeds to give him practical and theoretic demonstrations on all sorts of lofty subjects. She then tells him to explore the forest, where he would find Philosophy, the four Moral Virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice), Love, Fortune, and Over-reaching (Baratteria). He follows her instructions, searching out these personages from Philosophy on to Love: the four Virtues are attended by many ladies, among whom Brunetto specifies particularly Liberality, Courtesy, Good-faith, and Valour. After his interview with Love, he resolves to reconcile himself with God, and makes a full confession at Montpélier. Having received absolution, he does not return after Fortune and Over-reaching, but goes back to the forest, and thence reaches the summit of Mount Olympus. Here he sees Ptolemy, who is about to harangue him, when suddenly the Tesoretto comes to an end. Its best editor, the Abate Zannoni, supposes that the concluding portion of the poem was written, but has been lost to posterity.
A few words must be added as to the incidents of the author’s life. He was born (probably) not much later than 1220 in the Florentine state, and died in 1294. After the great defeat of the Guelphs by the Ghibellines at Montaperti in 1260, Brunetto, with others of the Guelph party, which was almost uninterruptedly uppermost in Florence, found it expedient to emigrate from that capital. He went to Paris, and there wrote both the Tesoro and Tesoretto. Towards 1265 he was again re-established in his native country, exercising with great credit his profession of a notary, and also (by or before the year 1273) holding the post of secretary to the Commune of Florence. He became, as already mentioned, the preceptor of Dante. As the pupil has damned him to all time at any rate, if not in effect to all eternity, for one offence, let us at least preserve some memory of his countervailing merits, as set forth by Giovanni and Filippo Villani. The former affirms that Brunetto ‘was the initiator and master in refining the Florentines, and cultivating their use of language; and in regulating the justice and rule of our Republic according to policy.’ And, according to Filippo, ‘Brunetto Latini was by profession a philosopher, by occupation a notary, and of great name and celebrity. He showed forth how much of rhetoric he could add to the gifts of nature: a man, if it be permitted to say so, worthy of being reckoned along with those skilled and ancient orators. He was facetious, learned, and acute, and abounded in certain pleasantries of speech; yet not without gravity, and the reserve of modesty, which bespoke a most cordial acceptance for his humour: of agreeable discourse, which often moved to laughter. He was obliging and decorous, and by nature serviceable, reserved, and grave; and most happy in the habit of all virtues, had he been wisely able to endure with a more steadfast mind the outrages of his infuriated country.’
EXTRACT FROM B. LATINI’S TESORETTO .
The Tesoretto is of course a mine of curiosities of various kinds, tempting to the literary explorer. To call it distinctly a fine poem, or even the performance of a strictly poetic mind, might be the exaggeration of an enthusiast; but at all events it contains much sound matter well put, and by no means destitute of entertainment. The section that falls in best with our present purpose is the speech assigned to Lady Courtesy: I present it in its entirety.
‘Be sure that Liberality is the head and greatness3
Of my mystery; so that I am little worth,
And, if she aids me not, I should find scant acceptance.
She is my foundation; and I am her gilding,
And colour, and varnish. But, to say the very truth,
If we have two names, we are well-nigh one thing.
But to thee, gentle friend, I say first
That in thy speech thou be circumspect.
Be not too great a talker, and think aforehand
What thou wouldst be saying; for never
Doth the word that is spoken return,—like the arrow
Which goes and returns not. He who has a goodly tongue,
Little sense suffices him, if by folly he spoils it not.
Be thy speech gentle; and see it be not harsh
In any position of command, for thou canst not
Give people any graver annoy. I advise that he should die
Who displeases by harshness, for he never conquers the habit:
And he who has no moderation, if he acts well, he filches that.
Be not exasperating; neither be a tell-tale
Of what another person has spoken in thy presence;
Nor yet use contumely; nor tell any one a lie,
Nor slander of any,—for in sooth there is no one
Of whom one might not say something offensive offhand.
Neither be so self-sufficient as that even one hard word
Affecting another person should issue from thy mouth;
For too much self-sufficiency is contrary to good usage.
And let him who is on the highway beware of speaking folly.
But thou knowest that I command thee, and put it as a strict precept,
That thou honour to the utmost thy good friend
On foot and on horseback: and be sure that for a small fault
Thou bear no grudge—let not love fail on thy part.
And have it always in mind to associate with people of honour,
And from others hold aloof; so that (as with the crafts4)
Thou mayst not acquire any vice, whereof, before thou couldst amend it,
Thou shalt have scathe and shame. Therefore at all hours
Hold fast to good usage; for that advances thee
In credit and honour, and makes thee better,
And gives fair seeming,—for a good nature
Becomes the clearer and more polished if it follows good habits.
But see none the less that, if thou shouldst appear tedious
To such or such a company, thou venture to frequent it no more,
But procure thyself some other to which thy ways are pleasing.
Friend, heed this well: with one richer than thyself
Seek not to associate,—for thou shalt be as their merry-maker,
Or else thou wilt spend as much as they; for, if thou didst not this,
Thou wouldst be mean,—and reflect always
That a costly beginning demands perseverance.
Therefore thou must provide, if thy means allow it,
That thou do this openly. If not, then mind
Not to make such expenditure as shall afterwards be reproved;
But adopt such a system as to be consistent with thyself.
And, if thou art a little better off [than thy comrades], do not get away,
But spend on the same scale; take no advantage:—
And at all times take heed, if there is in thy company
A man, in thine opinion, of inferior means,
That, for God’s sake, thou force him not into more than he can meet;
For, if, for thy convenience, he spends his money amiss,
And comes to poverty, thou wilt be blamed therefor.
And in sooth there are persons of high condition
Who call themselves “noble”: all others they hold cheap
Because of this nobility. And, in that conceit,
They will call a man “tradesman”5 who would sooner spend a bushel
Of florins than they of halfpence,6—
Although the means of both might be of like amount.
And he who holds himself noble, without doing any other good
Save of the name, fancies he is making the cross to himself,
But he does make the fig to himself.7 He who endures not toil
For honour’s sake, let him not imagine that he comes
Among men of worth, because he is of lofty race;
For I hold him noble who shows that he follows the path
Of great valour and of gentle nurture,—
So that, besides his lineage, he does deeds of worth,
And lives honourably so as to make himself beloved.
I admit indeed that, if the one and other are equal in good deeds,
He who is the better born is esteemed the higher:
Not through any teaching of mine, but it seems to be the usage,
Which conquers and overthrows many of my ways,
So that I can no otherwise; for this world is so dense
That the right is even judged of according to a little talking,
For the great and the lesser live therein by rumour.
Therefore be heedful to keep among them so silent
That they may have nothing to laugh at. Adopt their modes,
For I rather advise thee to follow their wrongfulness.8
For, though thou shouldst be in the right, yet, as soon as it pleases not them,
It avails thee nothing to speak well, nor yet ill.
Therefore recount no tale, unless it appears good and fair
To all who hear it; for somebody will censure thee for it,
And add lies thereto when thou art gone,
Which must assuredly grieve thee. So thou must know,
In such company, to play the prudent part,
And be heedful to say what will please.
And as for the good, if thou knowest it, thou wilt tell it to others
Where thou art known and held dear;
For thou wilt find among people many fools
Who take greater pleasure in hearing something scurrilous
Than what is profitable. Pass on, and heed not,
And be circumspect.
If a man of great repute
Should at any time do something that is out of bounds
In street or church, follow not the example:
For he has no excuse who conforms to the wrong-doing of others.
And see that thou err not if thou art staying or going
With a lady or lord, or other superior,—
Also that, although he be but thine equal, thou observe to honour him,
Each according to his condition. Be so heedful of this,
Both of less and more, that thou lose not self-restraint.
To thine inferior, however, render not more honour
Than beseems him, nor such that he should hold thee cheap for it:
And so, if he is the inferior, always walk a step in advance.
And, if thou art on horseback, avoid every fault;
And, if thou goest through the city, I counsel thee to go
Very courteously. Ride decorously,
With head a little bowed, for to go in that loose-reined way
Looks most boorish; and stare not up at the height
Of every house thou comest to. Mind that thou move not about
Like a man from the country—wriggle not like an eel:
But go steadily along the road and among the people.
When thou art asked for a loan, delay not.
If thou art willing to lend, make not the man linger so long
That the favour shall be lost before it is rendered.
And, when thou art in company, always follow
Their modes and their liking; for thou must not want
To be just suiting thine own taste, nor to be at odds with them.
And always be heedful that thou give not any gross glances
At any woman living, in house or street;
For he who does thus, and calls himself a lover,
Is esteemed a blackguard.9 And I have seen before now
A man lose position by a single act of levity;10
For in this country such goings-on are not admired.
And take heed in every case that Love, with his arts,
Inflame not thy heart. With severest pain
Wouldst thou consume thy life; nor couldst thou be numbered
In my following, wert thou in his power.11
Now return in-doors, for it is the time;
And be liberal and courteous, so that in every country
All thy belongings be deemed pleasurable.’
BONVICINO DA RIVA.
We now pass from Florence to Lombardy—from Ser Brunetto Latini to Fra Bonvicino da Riva—from the lawyer and official to the friar and professor. The poem of Fra Bonvicino, The Fifty Courtesies for the Table, will be our principal pièce de résistance, and presented accordingly in its own garnishing of old Italian as well as in English. Not that it is by any means the best or most important piece of work that we have to bring forward; but its rarity, its dialectic interest for students of old Italian, and its precision and detail with regard to one of the essentials of courtesy—the art of dining—give it exceptional value for our direct purpose. The poem is supposed to have been written about 1290.
Unpolished as he is in poetic development, Fra Bonvicino is not to be altogether slighted from a literary point of view. Tiraboschi (Storia della Letteratura Italiana) believes that Bonvicino and one other were the two sole verse-writers of the Lombard or Milanese State in this opening period of Italian poesy; and Signor Biondelli, whom we have to thank for the publication of Bonvicino’s production after so many centuries of its hybernation in MS, can point to the choiceness of the old Friar’s vocabulary. In one couplet that well-qualified editor is able to find five expressions ‘which, for propriety and purity, would even at the present day beseem the most careful of writers;’ and hence he pronounces Bonvicino ‘the elegant writer of his time.’ It should be understood, however, that the MS reproduced by Signor Biondelli, and now again in the present volume, gives but an inadequate idea of the primitiveness of Bonvicino’s own actual idiom. Tiraboschi cites a harsher version of the first stanza from an earlier MS then existing in the Library of Santa Maria Incoronata in Milan, but which is now undiscoverable: the MS used by Signor Biondelli is of a much later date, the fifteenth century. It pertains to the Ambrosian Library in Milan.
Bonvicino belonged to the third order of the Friars named Umiliati, and lived (as he himself informs us) in Legnano, a town of the Milanese district. Hence he went to Milan, and became a distinguished professor of grammar in the Palatine schools. The only other poem of his published in Signor Biondelli’s volume12 is On the dignity of the Glorious Virgin Mary: but Tiraboschi specifies other productions in verse—Dialogues in praise of Almsgiving, between the Virgin and Satan, between the Virgin and the Sinner, between the Creator and the Soul, between the Soul and the Body, between the Violet and the Rose, between the Fly and the Ant; also the Legends of Job and of St Alexius; and various works in Latin, of which some have been published.