CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE . SAGE ENDOWMENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DG 445.C89 
 
 Italian social customs of the sixteenth 
 
 3 1924 Oil 327 933 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924011327933 
 
CORNELL STUDIES IN ENGLISH 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS 
 
 CLARK SUTHERLAND NORTHUP 
 
 MARTIN WRIGHT SAMPSON 
 
ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF 
 THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE 
 LITERATURES OF EUROPE 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS FREDERICK CRANE, Litt.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES AND 
 LITERATURES IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 NEW HAVEN 
 YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD • OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 MDCCCCXX 
 
Copyright i920 
 By Yale University Press 
 
 First Published, March, i920 
 
TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 MY WIFE 
 SARAH FAY TOURTELLOT 
 
 WHOSE UNSELFISH DEVOTION DURING FORTY YEARS OF MARRIED 
 
 LIFE MADE POSSIBLE THIS AND ALL MY OTHER SCHOLARLY 
 
 LABORS, THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED IN PROFOUND 
 
 GRATITUDE AND ENDURING GRIEF 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In order to explain the form and matter of the present work 
 it is necessary to say something of its inception and the manner 
 in which it has been carried out. 
 
 The first idea of the subject came to me while gathering 
 materials for a textbook, La SociStS frangaise au dix-septihme 
 SiMe, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1889. At that time 
 I became greatly interested in Mademoiselle de Scudery and 
 the Precieuses of the H6tel de Rambouillet and collected many 
 books dealing with that phase of seventeenth century society 
 in France. I soon became aware that it was impossible to 
 understand French society of that period without a knowledge 
 of Italian society of the previous century. From 1889 I began 
 a careful study of Italian society of the sixteenth century, 
 and gradually planned my work, collecting such materials as 
 I could in this country. In 1892, 1894, and 1897 I visited Europe 
 and was able to add largely to my materials by study in the 
 libraries of France, Italy, and England. 
 
 At the time of my journey to Europe in 1897 I had written 
 a considerable part of the work, and was able in August of that 
 year to show the table of contents to Professor Vittorio Cian at 
 Ceres, near Turin. The plan of the book was fully settled at 
 that time, and Professor Cian was most kind in his praise of 
 the novelty and extent of the design. During this visit to 
 Italy I was fortunate enough to find many valuable and scarce 
 works relating to my subject, and to visit the places most im- 
 portant for my work, among them Venice, Asolo, Urbino, 
 Ferrara, Mantua, etc. 
 
 The summer of 1900 was spent in Paris collecting materials 
 for my edition of Boileau's dialogue, Les Heros de Roman, 
 published by Ginn and Co. of Boston in 1902. In the Intro- 
 duction to that work I used some of my Italian materials and 
 announced my Italian Society in the Sixteenth Century as "forth- 
 coming." 
 
 Unfortunately I allowed myself to be diverted from my book 
 by the preparation of two plays of Jean Rotrou, in whom I 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 had become interested from my studies in French society and 
 Hterature of the seventeenth century. The labor involved in 
 this book was considerable, and I was occupied with it from 
 1903 until its publication by Ginn and Co. of Boston in 1 907. 
 Meanwhile my Italian work made little progress, and when I 
 retired from active service in 1909 it still lacked the thirteenth 
 and last chapter on the influence of Italy on Spanish society in 
 the seventeenth century. From time to time, however, as new 
 books appeared or as I happened to discover older materials 
 which had escaped my notice, I revised my work and made ex- 
 tensive additions to my notes. 
 
 In 1912 I was recalled for a year to active service, and at the 
 same time had the irreparable misfortune to lose the com- 
 panionship and sympathy of my wife after forty years of happy 
 married life. It was not until 1915 that I was able to resume 
 methodical literary work, and it was not until 1917 that I com- 
 pleted the thirteenth and last chapter of my book. For this 
 I could fortunately use the Ticknor Collection at Boston and 
 the Library of the Hispanic Society at New York. 
 
 However, in spite of many deficiencies, the book as it now 
 stands is tolerably complete, and, I venture to think, will be 
 useful to scholars as the first general view of a curious and ex- 
 tensive field of study. When it was undertaken some twenty- 
 five years ago, there was no general article or book on the sub- 
 ject, and I was obliged to collect my materials and explore the 
 extensive field without a guide. A glance at the notes will 
 show how much has been done in this field within the last eighteen 
 years, after my book was substantially completed. The only 
 portion newly written within that period is the thirteenth and 
 last chapter, on the influence of Italy on Spain. I have en- 
 deavored to incorporate into my work all the important materials 
 produced in the last eighteen years. At least all will be found 
 mentioned in the notes. None of this new material served as 
 a guide, for I had previously explored the whole field myself. 
 Such illuminating articles as P. Rajna's "L'Episodio delle 
 questioni d'amore nel Filocolo," in Romania, Vol. XXXI (1902), 
 and G. Zonta's "Rileggendo Andrea Cappellano," and " Arbi- 
 tral reali o questioni giocose? " in Studimedievali, 1908 and 191 1, 
 have afforded me additional references but have not obliged me 
 to change conclusions which I had reached independently. 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 Even at this present writing there are still large portions of 
 my work dealing with matters which have not yet been treated 
 elsewhere by anyone, and there are still no books or articles 
 which embrace the whole scope of my work. 
 
 The title which I originally gave to my proposed book, Italian 
 Society in the Sixteenth Century, is misleading, and I have felt 
 obliged, with some reluctance, to exchange it for one which 
 expresses more definitely the scope of the work. It does not 
 deal with polite society in general, but with the origin, develop- 
 ment, and influence of certain social diversions which deeply 
 modified the outward forms of society in Italy, France, England, 
 and Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and 
 of which a few survivals have reached the present day. 
 
 While it is true that most of the illustrations in this book are 
 taken from literary and fictitious sources, I do not doubt that 
 these works represent faithfully enough the actual social ob- 
 servances of their period. This belief is confirmed by the oc- 
 casional glimpses of these observances which we catch also in 
 more serious works. It is impossible that social customs which 
 recur continually in books purporting to describe contemporary 
 manners should not have a basis of fact. I have, therefore, 
 accepted these works of fiction as trustworthy witnesses to 
 actual occurrences. The fact that the reader of the numerous 
 works which have appeared in recent years dealing with Italian 
 society will find scarcely a reference to the subject treated in this 
 volume shows only that the authors of those works consulted 
 so-called historical documents in which the social customs of 
 the day were considered too trivial for mention. Notwith- 
 standing this, it is remarkable that so extensive and interesting 
 a field should have been almost totally neglected outside of 
 Italy, and have received there only fragmentary treatment. 
 
 It was inevitable that in a work executed at different times 
 during so long a period there should be discrepancies of method 
 and treatment. For these I must crave the indulgence of the 
 reader. That the style is as uniform as it is must be attributed 
 to the care of the editors of the series in which this work appears. 
 That the work is printed at all is due solely to Professor J. Q. 
 Adams and Professor C. S. Northup, who have richly repaid the 
 debt they kindly think they owed their former teacher. For 
 their aid in seeing the book through the press and for their 
 
X PREFACE 
 
 personal encouragement and sympathy I am most profoundly 
 grateful. 
 
 I should indeed be ungrateful if I did not here express my 
 appreciation of Mr. Andrew Carnegie's bounty. For ten years 
 I have been his grateful pensioner, and it is a source of great 
 satisfaction to me that I was able during his lifetime to express 
 to him personally my gratitude for the scholarly leisure which 
 I owed to his great benefaction. 
 
 T. F. Crane. 
 Ithaca, N. Y., 
 September 9, 1919. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. Origin of Polite Society — Social culture of Provence — History 
 of Provence — Greek culture — Characteristics of Provengal civiliza- 
 tion — Mode of life — Spirit of Chivalry — Mediaeval love or gallantry — ■ 
 Love in Provengal poetry — The Tenzon — Topics discussed in the Ten- 
 zon — Spread of the Tenzon to the North of France — -Topics discussed 
 in the French jeux-partis — ^Influence of Provengal poetry in Catalonia, 
 Aragon, and Castile — Provengal influence at the court of Don Juan II 
 — Preguntas and respuestas — Provengal influence in Portugal — Portu- 
 guese Tenzons — Cancioneiro de Resende— Provencal influence in Ger- 
 many — The Troubadours in Italy — Italian question-and-answer son- 
 nets^— Judgments in the Provengal Tenzons — The question of Courts 
 of Love — Nostredame's evidence — Martial d'Auvergne's Arrits d'A- 
 mour — Benoit le Court's comment^Andreas Cappellanus and his 
 book De Amore — Analysis of the same — Judgments of Love — How the 
 rules of love were found — Rules of Love — Debates on questions of love 
 ■ — The Council of Love — Phyllis and. Flora — The French poems of Hue- 
 line and Eglantine, Florence and Blanchejleur — The Court of Love by 
 Mahius li Poriiers — Judgments pronounced in the court — Le Cheva- 
 lier errant of the Marquis of Saluzzo — Le Jugement du roi de Behaigne 
 — Debates in the poems of Christine de Pisan — Thejoc-partit as a social 
 diversion — Evidence of William of Poitiers — The Fiefs of Love by 
 Jacques de Baisieux — ^The same trouvlre' s fabliau of The Three Knights 
 and the Shift — The Provengal ensenhamen of Amanieu de Sescas — 
 Guiraut de Calanson's instructions for a minstrel — Ramon Vidal's 
 poem on the decline of poetry — The joc-partit as a social diversion 
 introduced into Italy by Francesco da Barberino I 
 
 Chapter II. Italian society at the court of Robert, King of Naples — 
 Boccaccio at Naples — Boccaccio and Fiammetta — ^The origin of Boc- 
 caccio's romance of Filocolo — ^Analysis of Filocolo — Episode of the 
 Questions — The thirteen questions with the discussions and decisions 
 belonging to them — The conclusion of Filocolo — Importance of the 
 Episode of the Questions — -Allusions to questions in Filostrato — Edi- 
 tions and translations of Filocolo — Influence of Filocolo — Similar 
 works in Spanish and English — Allusions to the society of Naples 
 in other works of Boccaccio — Giovanni da Prato's Paradise degli 
 Alberti 53 
 
 Chapter III. Provengal conception of love introduced by the Trouba- 
 dours into Italy — ^There undergoes two profound modifications — ■ 
 Chivalry never prevalent in Italy — -The city, not the castle, the seat 
 of social life — New direction given to Italian lyrical poetry by Guido 
 
xii CONTENTS 
 
 Guinicelli— Spiritual and mystic love of Dante— The introduction 
 of Platonic philosophy into Italy— The Platonic Academy of Florence 
 — Ficino's Convita—Alherti's Ecatomfila and Z»ei/ira— Firenzuola's 
 Ragionamenti—Catt^m da Diacetto's Tre Libri d'Amore and Panegiri 
 CO aU'Amore — Pietro Bembo— His early life and education — Friend- 
 ship for Lucrezia Borgia — Composition of GH Asolani — Story of Cath- 
 arine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus — The scene of Gli 4 io/ani— Analysis 
 of Gli Asolani — Equicola's Delia. Natura d'Amore — The Dialoghi d' 
 Amore of Leone Hebreo— The Trattato dleWAmore Humano by Flami- 
 nio Nobili— Fondness for the Dialogue in the Sixteenth Century — 
 Tasso's Dialogues: // Cavaliere amante e la Gentildonna amata; La 
 Molza, vera de V Amore, and // Manso, o vero de I'Amicizia — Sperone 
 Speroni's ZPiaZogo de Amore — TuUia d'Aragona and her Dialogue on the 
 Infinity of Love — Giuseppe Betussi's Dialogue II Raverta — "Ques- 
 tions" in II Raverta — Betussi's Dialogo Amoroso — Domenichi's Dia- 
 logue on Love — -Sansovino's Ragionamento — Vito de Gozze's Dialogo 
 d'Amore detto Anthos — Employment of "Questions" in the Italian 
 Academies— Origin and spread of Academies in Italy — Peculiar 
 names of Academies and of their members — Devices of Academies — 
 Twofold use of "Questions" in Italian Academies — The Florentine 
 Academy — Benedetto Varchi — "Questions" in Varchi's Academic 
 Lectures — "Questions" in the Academic Discourses of Anton Maria 
 Salvini — ^Tasso's Conclusioni Amorose and Dialogue II Cataneo — Tas- 
 so's Discourse on Two Questions of Love — Died Paradossi degli Aca- 
 demicilntronati da Siena — Manso'sParadossi — Ortensio Landoand his 
 Paradoxes— hando's Quattro Libri diDubbi — Hieronimo Vida's Cento 
 Dubbi — Loredano's Sei Dubbi Amorosi — ^Works devoted to a single 
 "Question" — Giambelli's II Rinaldi — Ridolfo's Aretefila — Use of 
 "Questions" in the Congrega dei Rozzi of Siena-^-Subjects of these 
 "Questions" 98 
 
 Chapter IV. Polite Society essentially courtly — First manifested in 
 the Castles of Southern France — In Italy the Cities were the centres 
 of Polite Society — -Polite Society developed to its highest point in 
 Capitals of kingdoms or of petty tyrannies — Character of Italian 
 society — Slight influence of the Feudal System in _[ta ly — -JO pyplnp 
 ment of Municipal life — The Palace takes the place of the Castle — 
 Social diversions little changed — Fondness for the Villegiatura in Italy 
 — Social life must be considered not only in the city palace, but also in 
 the country villa — First, the more formal life of the Palace — History 
 of the Duchy of Urbino — Life of Frederick — Palace and Library at 
 Urbino — Life of Guidobaldo — Meeting with Baldassare Castiglione — 
 Life of Castiglione — Society at the Court of Urbino — The Duchess 
 of Urbino — Emilia Pia — The interlocutors in Castiglione's Cortegiano 
 — Origin and literary history of the Cortegiano — Castiglione's models 
 — ^The Introduction to the Cortegiano — Analysis of the Cortegiano — 
 Influence of the Cortegiano on Europe — Imitations of the Cortegiano ^ 
 in Italy 159 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 Chapter V. Society in the South of Italy — The Spaniards in Sicily 
 and Naijles— The Question de Amor — Society at the Court of Ferrara 
 —RomeVsD iscorsi — Life of Matteo Bandello^Analysis of the pre- 
 faces to Bandello's Novelle — Parabosco's I Diporti— -Other Novelle 
 containing " Questions." 208 
 
 Chapter VI. Parlor Games in Italy in the Sixteenth Century— Origin 
 of these games — ^Siena the place where they were developed — 
 Analysis of Girolamo Bargaglils Dialogo de' Giuochi — Innocentio Ring- 
 hieri's Cento Giuochi liberali — The use of Riddles as a social diversion 
 — ^Their employment in Straparola's Le Piacevoli Notti — Fortune- 
 Telling as a social diyexsicm—Libp-di- Ventura — Analysis of Scipign 
 
 Bargagli's / Trattenimenti — Pietro Fortini's Novelle'—Ascstno de 
 Mori's Giuoco Piacevole 263 
 
 Chapter VII. The origin of Italian Etiquette to be found in Provence 
 — The earliest Provencal ensenhamen of Arnaut de Mareuil — Garin 
 li Brun's ensenhamen — Instruction for a noble_ youthJby^maut Jjuil-^— 
 hem de Marsan — ^The two ensenhamens of Amanieu de Sescas, one for 
 instruction of a lady, the other for a squire — Imitation of Amanieu 
 de Sescas's second ensenhamen by Lunel de Monteg — Sordello's Docu- 
 mentum Honoris — ^Provengal ensenhamen in the Ashburnham collec- 
 tion — Old-French works on Etiquette — ^Anglo-Norman L' Apprise de 
 Nurture — Doctrinal de Courtoisie — Doctrinal Sauvage — Raoul de Hou- 
 denc's Roman desAiles — Ordre de Chevalerie ascribed to Hue de Tabarie 
 — Le Chastiement des Dames by Robert de Blois — Philippe de Navar- 
 re's Quatre Ages de V Homme — ^Catalan Booh of Courtesy based on the 
 Latin Facetus — English works on Etiquette — The Boke of Curtasye — 
 The Babees Book — Caxton's Book of Curtesye — Itali an treatises on_ 
 Etiquette — ^Bonvesin da Riva's De quinquaginta curiamatibus ad men- 
 sam — Francesco da Barberino's Reggimento e costume di donna — Docu- 
 rttenti d'Amore — -Fra Paolino's Trattato de Regimine Rectoris — Cardi- 
 nal Dominici's Del Governo di cura famigliare — Leon Battista Alberti 
 and his work Delia Famiglia — Pandolfini's II Governo della Famiglia a 
 rifacimehto of the third book of Alberti's Della Famiglia — Matteo 
 Palmieri's Della Vita civile — Its relation to Cicero's De officiis — 
 Giovan Battista Giraldi's Tre Dialoghi della Vita civile inserted in the 
 Hecatommithi — The Galateo of Giovanni della Casa — The same au- 
 thor's Trattato degli Ufficj comuni tra gli amici superiori e inferiori — 
 Stefano Guazzo and his La Civil Conversazione 323 
 
 Chapter VIII. An Italian Conversazione of the Sixteenth Century — The 
 Fourth Book of Stefano Guazzo's La Civil Conversazione — Introduc- 
 tion^Election of Queen — Game of Solitude — Conversation on Love 
 — Supper — Conversation on Eating — Drinking — Conversation on 
 Drinking — Music — Compliment to Signor Vespasiano — -Table cleared 
 — Conversation on Happiness — Game of Society — Signor Hercole's 
 punishment — Question: Whether the Eyes or the Tongue are more 
 powerful to win love— Side of the Eyes— Side of the Tongue— As to 
 
xiv CONTENTS 
 
 praises — As to re\'ealing a lover's feelings — Signer Hercole's Lament 
 to his Lady — Discussion on the subject of Woman's harshness to 
 lovers — Man's Faithlessness — ^Discourse on Matrimony — The com- 
 pany breaks up 397 
 
 Chapter IX. Relations between France and Italy in the Sixteenth Cen- 
 tury — French campaigns in Italy — Friendly relations between the 
 two countries — Protest against Italian influence by Henri Estienne 
 ■ — Life of this famous printer and author — His Deux dialogues du 
 nouveau langage frangois italianize — Marguerite de Navarre and the 
 Heptameron — Platonic love in the Heptameron — Heroet's La par- 
 faicte Amye — The Printemps of Jacques Yver — Etienne Pasquier 
 and his works — Monophile — Colloques d' Amour — Lettres amoureuses. . 434 
 
 Chapter X. Introduction of Italian Parlor Games into France — Charles 
 Sorel's Maison des Jeux — Its continuation, Les Recreations galantes — 
 Mademoiselle de Scudery's Mathilde d'Aguilar — Parlor Games in 
 Clelie and the Recueils — Translation of the Libri di Ventura into 
 French — Jean de Meung's /en du Dodechedron de Fortune — "Ques- 
 tions " as a form of social diversion in France — Their use in Le Grand 
 Cyrus and Clelie — In the Recueils — Jaulnay's Questions d' Amour — ■ 
 Love Letters — Voiture's Letters — Letters of the Abbe Cotin — Rene 
 Le Pays and his precieux works — Letters in the Recueils — Boursault's 
 Letters to Babet — Fontenelle's Lettres galantes — ^The Guirlande de 
 Julie — Guazzo's La Ghirlanda delta Contessa Angela Bianca Bec- 
 caria 480 
 
 Chapter XL Edmund Tilney's Flower of Friendshippe — George Whet- 
 stone's Heptameron of Civil Discourses — Robert Greene's Love- 
 Pamphlets — Mamillia — Penelope's Web — Euphues his Censure to 
 Philautus — Morando: The Tritameron of Love — Greene's Farewell 
 to Folly — Italian sources of Greene's works — Lyly's Euphues — • 
 English translations from the Italian during the Elizabethan period 
 — ^Allusions at this time to Italian works — Games in England — Games 
 in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels — Edward Phillips's Mysteries of Love 
 afid Eloquence — The Academy of Complements — Fortune-Telling Books 
 in England — The mediaeval game of Ragman — Translation of Jean de 
 Meung's Dodechedron — Translation of Lorenzo Spirito's Libra delta 
 Fortuna — John Phillips's The English Fortune-Tellers — "Questions" 
 in England — Lodge's A Margarite of America — Translation of Lando's 
 Dubbi — English Country Life and its Diversions in the Sixteenth 
 Century — Cyvile and Uncyvile Life — The Demaundes Joyous 505 
 
 Chapter XII. Influence of Italian Academies in Germany — The Frucht- 
 bringende Gesellschaft of Nuremberg — The Life of George Philip 
 Harsdorfer — Founds the Pegnesische Blumenorden in 1644 — Hars- 
 dorfer's Frauenzimmer Gesprachspiele — Object of the work— Analysis 
 of this work in relation to its Italian sources 555 
 
 Chapter XIII. Imitation of Italian social observances in Spain in the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — Villalon's El CrotalSn — 
 
CONTENTS XV 
 
 Discussions on the Nature of Love — Spanish translations of Leone 
 Hebreo's Dialoghi d'^wiore— Reinoso's Amores de Clareo y Florisea — 
 Contreras's Selva de Aventuras — Lope de Vega's El Peregrino en su 
 Patria — Figueroa's El Pasagero and Pusilipo — Montemayor's Diana 
 — Cervantes's Galatea and its discussions on Love — ^Why Love is pic- 
 tured as a boy, blind, naked, winged, and armed — Parlor Game in the 
 Galatea — Parlor Games in Spain — Guillen de Castro's play Los mal 
 casados de Valencia — Calderon's Secreto a Voces — Parlor Games in 
 Don Luis Mil4n's Libra de Motes — Spanish imitations of Boccaccio's 
 Filocolo and Decameron — Tirso de Molina's Cigarrales de Toledo and 
 Deleytar A provechando — ' ' Questions ' ' in the latter work — Montalv4n's 
 Para Todos — Hidalgo's Didlogos de apacible entretenimiento — Sol6r- 
 zano's Tiempo de Regocijo y Carnestolendas de Madrid — Sala de Re- 
 creacidn — Noches de Plazer — Dona Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor's 
 Novelas Amorosas y Exemplares — Dona Mariana de Caravajal y Sa- 
 avedra's Novelas Entretenidas — ^Antonio de Eslava's Noches de Invier- 
 no — Bondia's Cytera de Apolo — Lugo y Divila's Teatro Popular — 
 Sol6rzano's Tardes Entretenidas — Pedro de Castro y Anaya's Auroras 
 de Diana — Solorzano's Alivios de Casandra — La Quinta da Laura — 
 Jornadas Alegres — Fiestas del Jardin — Huerta de Valencia- — Salas Bar- 
 badillo's Casa del Plazer Honesto — ^Jacinto Polo's Academias del Jardin 
 — T6rtoles's El Entretenido — Moraleja's second part of the same — 
 Gines Campillo de Bayle's Gustos y Disgzistos del Lentiscar de Carta- 
 gena — Summary of Italian Influence on Spanish social observances . . . 565 
 
 Index 660 
 
ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF THE 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Origin of Polite Society — Social culture of Provence — History of Provence 
 — Greek culture — Characteristics of Provengal civilization — Mode of life — 
 Spirit of Chivalry — Mediaeval love or gallantry — Love in Provenjal poetry — 
 The Tenzon^Topics discussed in the Tenzon — Spread of the Tenzon to the 
 North of France — Topics discussed in the French jeux-parlis — Influence of 
 Provengal poetry in Catalonia, Aragon, and Castile — Provengal influence at 
 the court of Don Juan II — Preguntas and respuestas — Provengal influence in 
 Portugal — Portuguese Tenzons — Cancioneiro de Resende — Provencal influence 
 in Germany — The Troubadours in Italy — Italian question-and-answer sonnets 
 — Judgments in the Provencal Tenzons — The question of Courts of Love — 
 Nostredame's evidence — Martial d'Auvergne's ArrSts d'Amour — Benoit le 
 Court's comment — Andreas Capellanus and his book De Amore — ^Analysis of 
 the same — Jttdgments of Love — How the rules of love were found — Rttles of 
 Love — Debates on questions of love — The Council of Love — Phyllis and Flora 
 — The French poems of Hueline and Eglantine, Florence and Blanchejleur — The 
 Court of Love by Mahius li Poriiers — ^Judgments pronounced in the court — ■ 
 Le Chevalier errant of the Marquis of Saluzzo — Le Jugement du roi de Behaigne 
 — Debates in the poems of Christine de Pisan — ^The joc-partit as a social di- 
 version — Evidence of William of Poitiers — The Fiefs of Love by Jacques de 
 Baisieux — The same trouvere's fabliau of The Three Knights and the Shift — 
 The Provencal enseignamen of Amanieu de Sescas — Guiraut de Calanson's 
 instructions for a minstrel — Ramon Vidal's poem on the decline of poetry — 
 The joc-partit as a social diversion introduced into Italy by Francesco da 
 Barberino. 
 
 Polite society in the modem acceptation of the term — the 
 association of the sexes on a footing of equality — is generally 
 supposed to have had its origin in France during the first half of 
 the seventeenth century, and to have been first cultivated in 
 the salon of the Marquise de Rambouillet. ^Vhile it is true that 
 the famous "chambre bleue" of Arthenice exerted a powerful 
 influence upon French society, and indirectly upon the society 
 of the rest of Europe, it is a significant fact that the Marquise 
 herself was, through her mother, of Italian descent, and flourished 
 precisely at the time when Italy still exerted a great influence on 
 2 1 
 
2 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 France. It will appear clearly in the course of the following 
 pages that French society in the seventeenth century was based 
 upon the Italian society of the preceding century, and imitated 
 closely its forms and methods. 
 
 In order to understand the society of Italy during that period 
 it will be necessary to trace it back to the beginning of the Re- 
 naissance. We shall find that in turn ItaHan society was 
 deeply influenced by French society (both Provengal and North- 
 ern French) , and shall be led to the conclusion that the polite 
 society of Europe is of French origin, but profoundly modified by 
 Italy. It will be necessary, therefore, to begin our researches 
 with an inquiry into the society of mediaeval Europe and es- 
 pecially of France. 
 
 Society, in the sense in which we are now considering it, did 
 not exist in the ancient world but made its first appearance in 
 the South of France about the twelfth century, and is intimately 
 connected with the history of Feudalism and Chivalry. The 
 early appearance of social refinement and literary culture in 
 Provence is due to many causes, not the least important of which 
 is the influence exerted by Greece through her colonies along 
 the Mediterranean, notably Marseilles, founded six hundred 
 years before Christ.^ This important city in turn sent out many 
 colonies and was a* center of commercial activity as well as of 
 Greek culture for many centuries.^ Until the second Punic 
 war (B.C. 219) the city led an absolutely independent existence. 
 It then became the ally of Rome against Carthage and hence- 
 forth its fate was more or less involved with that of the Imperial 
 city, which it called to its aid at various times to repulse the 
 aggressions of its neighbors, the Ligurians, who- had attacked and 
 captured its colonies on the east (Antibes and Nice) . The terri- 
 tory which the Romans acquired in these wars was organized into 
 the province of Narbonne,' and gradually the dominion of Rome 
 was extended over the whole of Gaul, and Marseilles lost her 
 
 'The Greeks had been preceded by the Phoenicians; see E. Desjardins, 
 Ceographie historique et administrative de la Gaule romaine, II, pp. 125-140. 
 
 2 For the Greeks in Gaul, and the geography of Marseilles as state and city, 
 see Desjardins, op. cit., II, pp. 140-186. 
 
 ' Provincia Narbonensis; see Desjardins, op. cit., 11, p. 260, et seq. This 
 province was such a favorite in the empire that it was called Provincia, par 
 excellence; hence the name Provence, Provengal, etc. Pliny, Hist. Nat., Ill, 
 cited by Jung, Die roman. Land., p. 198, note 2, says: "Agrorum cultu, vir- 
 orurnque dignatione, amplitudine opum nulli provinciarum postferenda, 
 breviterque Italia verius quam provincia." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 3 
 
 long independence in B.C. 49, by taking the part of the Senate 
 against Caesar.^ 
 
 During her long association with Rome, and even after the 
 loss of her importance as a state, Marseilles remained Greek.^' 
 While it is not likely that Greek culture was disseminated to any 
 great distance from Marseilles and her colonies on the coast, 
 still the long intercourse between the city and the rest of Gaul 
 must have exerted a refining influence and certainly prepared the 
 country for the reception of Roman civilization. The Romaniza- 
 tion of Gaul proceeded of course more rapidly after the conquest 
 by Caesar and the settlement by Roman colonists. The Romans- 
 introduced their matchless system of provincial administration, 
 with its road-making and engineering achievements, and later 
 its schools and literature.* 
 
 Henceforth the culture of the south of France is Roman, modi- 
 fied profoundly, it is true, by the Hellenic culture previously 
 existing there. So completely was the country Romanized that 
 the three barbarian invasions of the Visigoths, Burgundians, and 
 Franks in the fifth century, and the final conquest and settle- 
 ment of the country by the last named tribes, failed to destroy or 
 even to change materially the Gallo-Roman civilization.' The 
 German invasions did nevertheless ultimately produce the most 
 profound modifications in Gaul, the greatest being the division 
 of the country into two nationalities, the French in the north, 
 and the Provengal in the south, a consequence of the more thor- 
 ough Romanization of the south and the slighter influence of the 
 Germans.^ 
 
 * Rather her importance as a state. Marseilles remained ostensibly a, 
 free city still; see Mommsen, History of Rome, trans, by W. P. Dickson,. 
 The Provinces from Caesar to Diocletian, Lond., 1886, Vol. I, p. 79. For the 
 Roman conquest see Desjardins, op. cit., \l, pp. 259-356, 589-725. 
 
 5 For the Greek culture of Marseilles see C. Fauriel, Histoire de la Poesie 
 Provenqale, Paris, 1877, Vol. I, pp. 66-85, and C. Lentheric, La Grece et I'O- 
 rient en Provence, Paris, 1878. 
 
 * For the Romanization of Gaul see Mommsen, op. cit., I, p. no; Budinszky, 
 Die Ausbreitung der lateinischen Sprache uber Italien und die Provinzen des 
 romischen Reiches, Berlin, 1881, pp. 82 et seq.; and Jung, Die romanischen 
 Landschaften des romischen Reiches, Innsbruck, 1881, pp. 190 et seq. For 
 Roman administration, etc., see Desjardins, op. cit.. Vol. III. 
 
 ' For the Barbarian invasions see Fauriel, Hist, de la Caule meridionale 
 sous la domination des conquSrants germains, Paris, 1836, 4 vols. The results 
 of the invasion are summed up in Fustel de Coulanges, Hist, des institutions 
 politiques de I'ancienne France, Paris, 1891; L'invasion germanique et la fin de 
 V Empire; see also the same author's La Monarchic franque, Paris, 1888. 
 
 *See G. KoTting,' Encyklopaedie und Methodologie der romanischen Phil- 
 ologie, Heilbronn, 1886, Vol. Ill, p. 18. 
 
4 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The Franks obtained complete possession of the country about 
 A.D. 530, and it remained a part of the Merovingian and Car- 
 lovingian kingdoms until 855, when Lothaire, son of Louis le 
 D6bonnaire, a few days before his death divided his empire 
 between his sons and gave to one of them, Charles, Provence, 
 which he erected into a kingdom. At his death in 863, his two 
 brothers, Louis and Lothaire, divided his states; but Provence 
 again became a kingdom when Boson had himself proclaimed 
 king in 879. The new kingdom came to an end in 947 with the 
 second successor of Boson, Hugues, who, in 933, made a treaty 
 with Rodolphe H, King of Transjurane Burgundy, by which he 
 ceded to him his kingdom, reserving, however, the usufruct. 
 The union of the two states formed the kingdom of Aries, which 
 became involved in the fate of the empire when Lothaire, Duke 
 of Saxony, elected emperor after the death of Henry V (1106), 
 claimed that the kingdom was a part of the empire and created 
 Conrad, Duke of Zehringen, hereditary governor. It was after- 
 wards assigned to the. son of the emperor who did not himself 
 become emperor. The claim of Lothaire was revived by sub- 
 sequent emperors ; but their authority was only nominal and the 
 country was really governed by counts until its final annexation 
 to the French crown in i486. 
 
 The early Greek culture of the province, its thorough Roman- 
 ization, and the comparatively few changes wrought by the 
 Germanic conquest, all contributed to make this favored terri- 
 tory the spot where the new spirit of literary and social culture 
 first manifested itself. The rise under the feudal system of a 
 large number of flourishing principalities afforded the patronage 
 and encouragement which the new art of poetry so much needed 
 and gave a great impetus to the development of social life. This 
 poetry and society were the expression of the feudal life of the 
 time and are intimately connected with chivalry. Both chivalry 
 and the feudal system reached their most perfect development 
 in France, and some knowledge of them is necessary to under- 
 stand the new forms of literature and social life with which we 
 have to deal in the remainder of this work. 
 
 In the Greek and Roman civilizations (and in the later Italian) 
 the city was the centre of social life, and the villa, or country 
 residence, was but a temporary refuge from the turmoil of the 
 town. With the German conquest of the Roman provinces an 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 5 
 
 entirely different mode of life arose. The distribution of enor- 
 mous estates among the great vassals of the conquerors, and the 
 further subdivision of these estates among the minor retainers 
 led to the establishment of fortified residences from which the 
 owner could protect his own property, and defy his sovereign 
 lord in case of need. These castles, built upon an eminence, or in 
 some other position easy of defence, became later the nucleus of 
 towns, which consisted at first of the peasants' huts grouped for 
 protection under the walls of the fortress. The castle was 
 frequently a town in itself, containing not only the family of the 
 owner and a host of servants and retainers, but in case of need 
 receiving into its capacious precincts the inhabitants of the 
 surrounding country and protecting them during a prolonged 
 siege. , 
 
 It was in these abodes, often far distant from neighbors or ' 
 cities, that the polite society of Europe is to be sought for many 
 centuries. With the military character of the castle,' so ad- 
 mirably described by the great French architect, Viollet-le- 
 Duc, we have nothing to do ; but shall consider it only as the home 
 of the mediaeval lords and ladies in whose social life we are now 
 interested.^" The scene of this life was in the "salle," a large hall 
 occupying a separate rectangular building known as the " palais."" 
 Here the lord received the homage of his vassals, listened to the 
 minstrels, played chess, and dined. When the lord and his 
 wife did not sleep there, their chamber wa:s in the second story, 
 and they lodged their children or their guests in the third. '^ 
 
 A garden {verger) was planted without the walls and served 
 not only for pleasure but also for state ceremonies, as the meeting . 
 place for the council of the king or his barons, etc.^^ -«^ 
 
 9 The mediaeval castle considered exclusively as a fortress is the subject of 
 two monographs by Viollet-le-Duc: An Essay on the Military Architecture of 
 the Middle Ages. Translated by M. Macdermott, Oxford and London, i860; 
 and. Annals of a Fortress. Translated by B. Bucknall, Boston, 1876. 
 
 1° Materials for the castle as residence will be found in A. Schultz, Das 
 MJische Leben zur Zeit der Minnesinger, Leipzig, 1889, 2 vols., I, pp. 7-119, 
 and L. Gautier, La Chevalerie, Paris, nouvelle edition, pp. 457-530- 
 
 " See Gautier, op. cit., p. 508; Schultz, op. cit., p. 53. Origmally the fam- 
 ily occupied the lower story of the keep; see Gautier, p. 508. 
 
 12 See Gautier, p. 508. In Germany the "salle" seems to have occupied a 
 separate building by itself, and the dwelling and sleeping rooms of the family 
 were in a separate edifice: see Schultz, I, p. 95, loi- ' The furnishing of the 
 above mentioned rooms is described by Schultz, ut sup. . ■ , . 
 
 1' See Gautier, p. 526. Schultz, I, p. 49, says that when practicable the 
 gardens were within the fortifications. 
 
6 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 In these localities then was manifested what social life existed 
 at that time. At first it was necessarily of a very narrow char- 
 acter. The life of the lord was passed largely in war and the 
 chase, and the chatelaine was occupied in those domestic cares 
 which are similar in all ages. Education was extemely limited and 
 did not extend much beyond a knowledge of reading and writing; 
 even that was by no means universal." The little leisure time 
 left from the serious occupations of life was spent in paying and 
 receiving visits, in playing chess or draughts, ^^ in music and 
 conversation, and in listening to the recitations of the wandering 
 minstrels.^* 
 
 At first the sexes were separated as in earlier times ; but it can 
 
 easily be seen that castle-life necessarily brought them more to- 
 
 gether.^^ This was also aided by the custom of educating with the 
 
 children of the lord the sons and daughters of minor vassals, who 
 
 ^ere thus taught the duties and accomplishments of courtly life.^^ 
 
 The most important factor, however, in the changed relations 
 of the sexes upon which modern society rests was the spirit of 
 chivalry. This spirit was the result of the old German venera- 
 tion for woman"_ modified by Christianity.^" and applied to 
 
 " Gautier, p. 143, et seq., Schultz, I, p. 160. 
 
 '* Gautier, p. 124. 
 
 1* Gautier, p. 656. 
 
 " K. Bartsch., Gesammelte Vortrdge und Aufsdtze, Freiburg, 1883 (contains, 
 pp. 221-249, "Die Formen des geselligen Lebens im Mittelalter"), p. 233. 
 
 1' Schultz, I, p. 170, 197. 
 
 ^' See K. Weinhold, Die deutschen Prauen in dem Mittelalter, Vienna, 1882, 
 2 vols., I, p. 237; J. Falke, Die ritterliche Gesellschaft im Zeitalter des Frauen- 
 cultus, Berlin, p. 49. A pleasant article on the education of a noble young 
 lady by Helene Jacobius willbe found in Zeitschrift ftir romanische Philologie, 
 Beihefte XVI, 1908, "Die Erziehung des Edelfrauleins im alten Frankreich 
 nach Dichtungen des XII. XIII. und XIV. Jahrhunderts." The writer dis- 
 cusses the education of the noble lady in regard to behavior and good manners, 
 domestic occupations, needle-work, medical art, culture, games and sports, 
 and the ideal education of women. There is little of special interest for our 
 purpose. On p. 72 the writer gives a brief description of the amusements of 
 polite society: "War eine grossere Gesellschaft beisammen, und hatte man 
 keine Lust zum Tanzen oder zu Bewegungsspiele so vertrieb man sich gern 
 die Zeit mit Geschichtenerzahlen. Im Menagier de Paris, horen wir von einer 
 Schar vornehmer Frauen, die nach gemeinsam eingenommener Abendmahl- 
 zeit zur gegenseitigen Unterhaltung Lieder und Fabeln aufsagen, Geschichten 
 erzahlen und getheilte Spiele (Jeux-partis) anregen. Diese letzteren, die im 
 ersten Drittel des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts aufkamen, waren besonders bei 
 den Provenzalen beliebt. Es waren Streitfragen, meist iiber das Wesen der 
 Liebe, die mitunter auch von den Damen entschieden wurden." 
 
 '" That is, the worship of the Virgin Mary; see Smith's Dictionary of the 
 Bible, s. V. Mary the Virgin; The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XV, pp. 459-464; 
 Virgin Mary, Devotion to the Blessed. There is an admirable general article 
 "Zur Geschichte der Marienverehrung " by K. Benrath in Theologische Studien 
 und Kritiken, 1886, pp. 1-94; 197-267. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 7 
 
 Feudal society. It is also probable that the relations of lord and 
 vassal with the accompanying duties of loyalty and protection 
 were influential in forming the new ideal of the relation of the 
 sexes and the elaborate codes of gallantry which we shall have to 
 consider later. The lover regarded his mistress partly with the 
 adoration lavished upon the Virgin, and partly with feelings 
 similar to those evoked by his complicated duties to his lord. 
 It must also be borne in mind that marriage was generally a 
 matter of arrangement between the two families, in which the 
 bride had no voice.^i This fact is of the greatest importance, and 
 explains some of the singular notions in regard to love which pre- 
 vailed throughout the Middle Ages.^^ Before marriage the life of 
 a maiden was largely spent in the retirement of home, and it 
 was only after marriage that she enjoyed greater liberty.^^ 
 
 These new relations of the sexes gave rise to medieval love or 
 gallantry, which may best be studied in the poetry of the trouba- 
 dours, in the romances of Chretien de Troyes, and in the special 
 codes devoted to this subject.^* This new form of love spread 
 
 21 See Weinhold, I, p. 303; Gautier, p. 341, and Fauriel, Histoire de la Poesie 
 provengale, Vol. I, p. 497. 
 
 22 As for example, that there could be no love between husband and wife; 
 see Andreas Capellanus, De Amore libri tres, recensuit E. Trojel, Havniae, 
 1892, pp. 141, 310. 
 
 23 Schultz, I, p. 197. 
 
 2* The only essay upon the subject with which I am acquainted is the one on 
 " Mediaeval Love " by Vernon Lee in her Euphorion, 2d ed., London, 1885, pp. 
 337-43I- The best general treatise is by J. Falke, cited above. Otherwise 
 materials must be sought in Weinhold, Schultz, Gautier, etc. Chretien de 
 Troyes has been made the subject of two essays: W. Heidsiek, Die ritterliche 
 Gesellschaft in den Dichtungen des Chretien de Troyes, Greifswald, 1883; and, 
 C. Krick, Les donnees sur la vie sociale et privee des Frangais au Xlle siicle 
 contenues dans les romans de Chrestien de Troyes, Kreuznach, 1885. See also 
 an important article by G. Paris, "Le conte de la charette," in the Romania, 
 Xn, p. 459, in which is given an admirable characterization of chivalric love. 
 A valuable essay on " Die Theorie der Minne in den altesten Minneromanen 
 Frankreichs '■' by Karl Heyl, may be found in Marburger Beitrdge zur roman- 
 ischen Philologie, Heft IV (1911). The author states briefly, p. 8, his thesis: 
 " Im hofischen Epos sind zwei Kulturen zusammengestossen, die ritterliche 
 des Nordens und die hofisch-frauenhafte des Siidens, es hat eine eigen- 
 tiimliche Synthese stattgefunden." The most important code of love is the 
 work of Andreas Capellanus, now accessible in the excellent edition of Trojel 
 cited above. Important materials of this class may also be found in the early 
 translations of Ovid ; see G. Paris, ChrStien Legouvais et autres traducteurs ou 
 imitateurs d'Omde, and Kuhne and Stengel, Maitre EUe's Ueberarbeitung der 
 altesten franz. Uebertragung von Ovid's Ars amatoria {Ausgaben und Abhand- 
 lungen, XLVII). 
 
 A very convenient collection of the principal commonplaces in the love 
 poetry of the Troubadours may be found in F. Diez, Die Poesie der Trouba- 
 dours, zweite.vermehrte Auflage von K. Bartsch, Leipzig, 1883, pp. 122 el seq., 
 and in A. Gaspary, Die Sicilianische Dichtersckule des dreizehnten Jahrhun- 
 
8 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 with chivalry and poetry over the whole civilized world and 
 became the one absorbing theme of the poet and the chief topic 
 of conversation in cultivated society. This preeminence of 
 Love was largely due to the poetry of the Troubadours, which 
 enjoyed an enormous popularity in its day, partly from the 
 novelty and perfection of its forms, and partly from the fact 
 that it was the expression of the cultivated society in which it 
 flourished. One of the forms of this poetry had such momentous 
 results for the future of polite society that it must be examined in 
 considerable detail. 
 
 The subject of love constituted, as has been said, the prin- 
 cipal topic of Provengal poetry, and may be studied in the various 
 lyrical forms of that literature ; but in one of them it was culti- 
 vated in a peculiar and interesting manner. fThe custom of 
 two or more persons engaging in a poetical strife and singing the 
 alternate strophes of a lyrical composition is extremely old and 
 still survives in Italy.^^ It made its appearance early in Pro- 
 
 derts, Berlin, 1878, pp. 39 et seq., or in the Italian translation by Friedman, 
 Livorno, 1882, pp. 52 ei seq. 
 
 There is an admirable article by Eduard Wechssler in Zeitschrift fiir fran- 
 zosische Sprache und Litteratur, Bd. XXIV, pp. 158-190. " Frauendienst und 
 Vassalitat." The writer shows by copious extracts from the Provenjal 
 poets the close relation between the contents of their lyrics and the forms 
 of Feudalism. This of course has always been apparent to the reader versed 
 in mediaeval history, but no one has put the matter so clearly and conveniently. 
 Although, as the author himself says, his extracts could easily be multi- 
 plied, his examples illustrate sufficiently almost every phase of Feudalism, 
 faithfully reflected in the poetry of the Troubadours. At the end of his 
 article the author considers the question which naturally arises as to the reality 
 of the relations depicted in the poems. The writer does not give a general 
 answer and says each case must be examined by itself, but, he adds, it will 
 be well to keep in view always the actual inferences from the lives and art, at 
 least of the professional poets. He closes with some valuable and sensible 
 reflections on the influence of the Troubadours on the rest of Europe, espe- 
 cially on Italy. This question is treated at the beginning of the third chapter 
 of the present work. The most valuable work on the subject with which I am 
 now dealing is also by the author just quoted: Das KuUurproblem des Min- 
 nesangs. Studien zur VorgescMchte der Renaissance von Eduard Wechssler. 
 Band I. Minnesang und Christentum. Halle a. S., 1909. 
 
 ^ For the origin of the Tenzon in its joc-partit form, see Diez, op. cit., p. 
 187; L. Selbach, Das Streitgedicht in der allprovenzalischen Lyrik und sein 
 Verhdltniss zu ahnlichen Dichtungen anderer Litteraturen, Marburg, 1886 (in 
 Ausgaben und Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der romanischen Philolgie, LVII), 
 pp. 20-35; a"d R. Zenker, Die provenzalische Tenzone, Leipzig, 1888, pp. 88 
 et seq. W. Wackernagel, Geschichie der deutschen Litteratur, Basel, 1879, I, 
 p. 329, and G. G. Gervinus, Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur, Leipzig, 1871, 
 p. 145, connect the German Tenzon with the Riddle. See also M. Stein- 
 schneider's article cited in Note 102. 
 
 A concise idea of the Provengal theory of love may also be found in 
 Fauriel's Histoire de la poesie proven^ale, Vol. I, Chap. XV, "De la chevalrie 
 dans ses rapports avec la pOesie provengale." See also resume of Provencal 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 9 
 
 vengal literature where it gave rise to the large and important 
 class of Tenzons.^^ As the name^' indicates, it is a contention 
 or strife, generally between two poets,^^ in which the form given 
 to the first strophe by the first singer is strictly preserved by 
 the second in his reply. The strife which forms the subject of 
 the Tenzon may be either a personal one, consisting of an 
 attack by the one poet upon the other,^' or it may be the dis- 
 cussion of some topic proposed by the first poet. \ In the former 
 case it is known as Tenzon, in the latter, as Partimen or Joc- 
 partitP In the jocs-partiiz, the subject of debate is usually a 
 
 doctrine of Love in Jeanroy's De nostratibus medii aevi poetis qui primum 
 lyrica Aquitaniae carmina imitati sint, Paris, 1889, pp. 25-56. To these may- 
 be added an article by L. ClMat, "Les Troubadours et I'amour courtois en 
 France aux XHe et XHIe siecles " in Revue de philologie frangaise et provenQale, 
 Vol. VI (1892), pp. 81-128. The workby L. F. Mott, TheSystem 0} Courtly Love 
 studied as an introduction to the Vita Nuova of Dante, Boston, 1896, gives an 
 account of courtly love in the Troubadours, pp. 82-108. The question of 
 mediseval love in Germany has been treated by Dr. Reinhold Becker, Der 
 mittelalterliche Minnedienst in Deutschland, Leipzig, 1895, in which the author 
 attempts to prove that the gallantry of the Middle Ages in Germany was ad- 
 dressed to unmarried women, and that the general condition which prevailed 
 in the rest of Europe on this point did not obtain in Germany. I have been 
 unable to see G. Fioretti's L'Amore nella vita e nella lirica italiana dei primi 
 fecoli dopo il mille, Padova, 1881. 
 
 Another special work devoted to the Provengal Tenzon is H. Knobloch, 
 Die Streitgedichte im Provenzalischen und Altfranzosis.chen, Inaug. Diss., Bres- 
 lau, 1886. An admirable article by Jeanroy reviewing the German special 
 works just cited may be found in Annates du Midi, Vol. II, pp. 281-304; 
 441-462. 
 
 The most recent and satisfactory statement as to the origin of the Tenzon 
 in its Partimen form is given by Jeanroy in an article, " La Tenson Provenfale " 
 in Annates du Midi, Vol. II, pp. 281-304; 441-462. The writer says, p. 457: 
 "Tout le monde admet aujourd'hui que sa source est dans une sorte de jeu de 
 societe consistant a agiter diverses questions relatives a I'amour, cette forme 
 preexistait au partimen versifie et lui survecut tant au Nord qu'au Midi: le 
 temoignage celebre de Guillaume IX prouve que cette coutume etait connue 
 au Midi des les premieres annees du douzierae siecle; un passage curieux 
 d'Amanieu de Sescas (BartSch, Chrest. 329, cite par Zenker, 92) montre qu'elle 
 etait encore pratiquee ^ la fin du treizieme. Pour le Nord, nous trouvons la 
 preuve du mSme fait dans des recueils de questions et de reponses evidemment 
 issus de ce divertissement." <, Jeanroy refers here to a collection published in 
 the Revue des Langues Romanes, 1872, ist series. Vol. Ill, p. 311. 
 
 "For age of Tenzon, see Selbach, p. 13; Zenker, p. 71, 93;. and Stimmmg, 
 ProvenzaliseJle Litteratur in Grundriss der romanischen Philologie, p. 24. 
 
 2' For name Tenzon, see Selbach, p. i, and Diez, Etymologisches Worterbuch 
 der romanischen Sprachen, Bonn, f887, p. 687. For the various names ap- 
 plied to this class of poetry, see Selbach, p. 8 et seq., and Zenker, pp. 10 et seq. 
 
 28 There are Tenzons in which more than two poets took part, and for which 
 the name Torneyamen, tournament, has been proposed; see Selbach, p. 80. 
 
 29 For subjects of this class, see Selbach, pp. 53-65; Knobloch, pp. 13-22. 
 s»See Knobloch, p. 5; Selbach, p. i. Zenker, pp. 11, et seq., shows that 
 
 at the time of the Troubadours only the word tenso or contenso was applied to 
 all classes of the poem with which we are now dealing. For convenience, 
 however, I shall preserve the designation joc-^artii for the second class men- 
 tioned above. 
 
10 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 question concerning love, and the first poet generally challenges 
 the second to take whichever side he will and defend it." In 
 order to give both sides a fairly even chance, the question was 
 carefully chosen to offer some subtle point of argument.^^ A 
 somewhat full list of these questions will illustrate this and also 
 afford some idea of mediaeval love.^^ 
 
 I. Which are the greater, the joys or the sorrows of Love? 
 (Gr. i6, i6.) 2. Two husbands have, one a very homely, the 
 other a very beautiful, wife ; both guard them with equal care — 
 which is the least to blame? (Gr. 167, 47.) 3. Must a lady do 
 for her lover as much as he for her? {Gr. 295, i.) 4. Which 
 is preferable, to be asked for your love by a noble, beautiful 
 lady, who has never loved, or to be obliged to ask her for her 
 love? {Gr. 449, i.) 5. Which is the most in love, the one who 
 cannot resist the impulse to speak of his lady ever5rwhere, or 
 the one who remembers her in silence? {Gr. 52, 4.) 6. A noble 
 knight loves a lady who returns his love, but he has delayed so 
 long to visit her that he is certain she will reject him when he 
 does. Shall he continue in this condition, or shall he see her 
 again only to lose her? {Gr. 449, 4.) 7. Shall a lover who is 
 favored by his lady prefer to be her lover or her husband? {Gr. 
 194, 2.) 8. A husband learns that his wife has a lover; the wife 
 and lover perceive it — ^which of the three is in the greatest strait? 
 {Gr. 283, 2.) 9. Which is preferable, to be in secret relations with 
 a noble lady, or to have her without reason proclaim herself 
 your mistress to show you honor? {Gr. 97, 4.) 10. Do the eyes 
 or the heart contribute more to preserve love in a faithful lover? 
 {Gr. 249, 2.) II. Which are the greater, the joys or the sorrows 
 of love? {Gr. 16, 16.) 12. Which is better, to hate when 
 loved, or to love when hated? {Gr. 248, 20.) 13. Which is 
 better, a mistress' death or her faithless life? , {Gr. 194, 18.) 
 14. Is the love of a young or of an elderly lady preferable? 
 {Gr. 75, 3.) 15. Is a lady to be forsaken on account of her age? 
 
 5'The different ways in which the question might be put are described in 
 Selbach, p. 70. 
 
 '^ See Selbach, p. 70. 
 
 '^ Lists of subjects of the jocs-partitz may be found in Diez, p. 192; Selbach, 
 pp. 73 «' ^«2-; and Knobloch, pp. 26 et seq., 39 et seq. For convenience of ref- 
 erence I have indicated by Gr. where the tenzons in question may be found in 
 the alphabetical list of lyrical poets of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries 
 given in K. Bartsch, Grundriss zur Geschichte der provenzalischen Literatur, 
 Elberfeld, 1872, pp. 99-203. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 11 
 
 {Gr. 1,1.) i6. Which lover shall a lady take, one who confesses 
 his love or one who does not dare to? {Gr. 392, 29.) 17. 
 Which lady is more to be praised, one whom the power of love 
 compels to give a kiss, or one who does not dare to carry out her 
 intention and weeps? {Gr. 167, 42.) 18. To which does a 
 lady show the greater love, to one to whom she gives or to one 
 from whom she takes?^^ {Gr. 229, i.) 19. Which is better, the 
 jealousy of the husband or of the wife? {Gr. 226, 5.) 20. Is it 
 better to marry or to remain a maiden? {Gr. 12, i.) 21. Is it 
 better to be lover or husband? {Gr. 194, 2.) 22. Is it better to 
 be wife or mistress? {Gr. 359, i.) 23. Which lover shall a 
 married woman choose, one who is the deadly enemy of her 
 husband or one who is his bosom friend? {Gr. 167, 8.) 24. 
 Which is preferable, to please your lady in all you say and to 
 displease others, or vice versa? {Gr. 248, 39.) 25. Which of 
 two ladies shall one love, the one who has a beautiful form and 
 a plain face, or vice versa? {Gr. 58, i.) 26. Shall a lady bestow 
 her love upon a lover of high birth but of bad character, or upon 
 a lover of low birth but of noble character? {Gr. 370, 11.) 27. 
 A knight who has long wooed a lady in vain is on the point of 
 bestowing his love upon another who has promised to reward it 
 upon a certain day. Meanwhile he receives a message from the 
 first lady giving him a rendezvous on the same day. Which of 
 the two shall the knight see? {Gr. 432, 3.) 28. Two knights on 
 a journey to their ladies meet other knights in distress. One of 
 the two, in honor of his lady, turns from his way to help them. 
 The other continues his way with no other thought than to reach 
 his lady. Which has acted the more becomingly? {Gr. 282, 
 14.) 29. Which of two ladies shall one love, the one whose love 
 is obtained with difficulty and brings with it only sorrow, or the 
 one whose love is easily won and brings only joy? {Gr. 366, 
 30.) 30. A lady has three suitors and likes them equally well. 
 All three once appeared before her at the same time and she 
 gave each a token of her love: to one a loving glance, to the 
 second a pressure of the hand, while she trod gently and with a 
 smile on the foot of the third. To which of these three lovers is 
 she most inclined?^^ {Gr. 167, 26.) 31. A knight is shut up 
 
 ^■•This resembles the first question in Filocolo, Florence, 1829, Vol. II, 
 p. 35, which will be examined later. The preceding question, No. 17, is also 
 like the sixth in Filocolo. 
 
 '^ Another Italian question similar to the above, in Cansonette antiche. 
 Alia Libreria Dante in Firenze, 1884, p. 43, will be discussed later. 
 
12 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 for a year in a tower with the most beautiful woman in the 
 world. Which would be preferable for him, to love the lady and 
 to have her hate him, or vice versd? {Gr. 248, 20.) 32. Which 
 is preferable, secret love rewarded by the lady's favor, or open, 
 honorable love which is unrewarded? (Gr. 261, i; 97, 4; 97, 9; 
 Suchier, Denkmdler provenzalischer Literatur und Sprache, Halle, 
 1883, I., p. 333.) 33. Is a knight more bound to love and good- 
 ness before or after his love has been rewarded by the lady's 
 favor? {Gr. 119, 2; 16, 4; 248, 41.) 34. Should one love a 
 lady who has another lover, or is about to take one? (Gr. 25, 
 2; 167, 44; 136, 4.) 35. Can a lover abandon his lady because 
 she does not respond to his love?^^ (Gr. 185, 2; 77, i.) 36. 
 Does a true lover have the same power over his beloved as she 
 does over him? (Gr. 295, i.) 37. Is it preferable for the lover 
 to know his beloved's heart, or for her to know his? (Gr. 225, 14.) 
 38. Which is preferable, to win a lady by great learning or by 
 boldness? (Gr. 436, i.) 39. Is it better to die with one's 
 beloved, or to survive her in sorrow? (Gr. 236, 12.) 40. Is it 
 easier to win a wife jealously guarded by her husband, or one 
 left to herself? (Gr. 461, 16.) 
 
 An interesting Tenzon between Blacatz and Guillem de 
 Saint Gregori (Gr. 233, 5) is on the following "question " : "Senher 
 Blacatz, from a noble lady, fair and pleasing, without fickle 
 heart, of high degree and amiable, you will have all fine pleasures 
 of love without the last one ; or her maid will withold you from such 
 great honor, kissing you as her lover. And one otherwise does 
 not excel the other, and I wish you to choose as you wish." Bla- 
 catz chooses the first alternative and Guillem de Saint Gregori 
 the second. Each disputant refers the question for judgment, 
 Guillem to 'N Reforsat, and Blacatz to la Bella Capa. 
 
 This Tenzon resembles the subject of Raimon Vidal's Novella, 
 So fa e'l temps c'om era iays, in which the question submitted to 
 the judge is, which of two ladies has the greater claim on a young 
 knight, the one, who, after a service of seven years, rejects him 
 and later repents her act and renews her claim, or the one who 
 accepts the rejected lover and compensates him for his loss. 
 The judge decides in favor of the first lady.^*"' 
 
 ^* Knobloch cites in a note, p. 45, the nova of Raimon Vidal of Bezuadun, 
 in Mahn's Geiichte der Troubadcmrs, Berlin, 1856, II, p. 23 (No. 341), in which 
 a similar question occurs. 
 
 "» Raimon Vidal's Novella has been edited by M. Cornicelius, Berlin, 1888, 
 Inaug. Diss. See also A. Stimming, Provenzalische Litteratur in Grober's 
 Grundriss, Strassburg, 1893, p. 12. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 13 
 
 The Tenzon spread from Provence to the North of France, 
 where, under the name of jeu-parti, it constituted a large and 
 flourishing class of poetry." The French jeu-parti differed in 
 no respect from the Provengal joc-partit; but as it is desirable 
 for my purpose to give a somewhat full account of the subjects 
 of this class of poetry, I shall supplement the above list of 
 the Provengal joc-partit with the following from the French 
 jeux-partis?^ 41. Which is preferable, enjoyment which soon 
 passes away, or hope alone? {Hist, litt., Vol. XXIII, p. 520. 
 Keller, Romvart, p. 383.) 42. Which lover should a lady prefer, 
 one whose is insincere, but discreet, or one whose heart is true, 
 but who cannot conceal his love from the eyes of others? {Hist, 
 litt., p. 524.) 43. Which would be less grievous, to see one's mis- 
 tress in the possession of a rival, or one's wife granting a single kiss 
 in defiance of her duty? (/5wi., p. 533.) 44. Which is preferable 
 for a lover, to obtain at once and for five or six years the favor of 
 his mistress on condition of losing it afterwards forever, or to suf- 
 fer for ten years with the assurance of obtaining after this time 
 the lasting recompense of such constancy? {Ibid., p. 537.) 45. 
 Which is more difficult, for a lover to confess his passion, or fpr 
 
 '' The name jeu-parti is applied to both classes of the Tenzon mentioned 
 above (see Knobloch, p. 51); but I shall here again consider only the second. 
 For the jeu-parti in the North of France, see, besides Knobloch just cited, 
 Selbach, p. 4; G. Paris, La litterature frangaise au moyen dge, Paris, 1890, p. 
 183; and an article, by the same writer, in the Journal des Savants, Dec, 
 1888, p. 731, n. I. The most useful work on the jeu-parti is by Franz Friset, 
 Das aitfranzosische Jeu-Parti, in Romanische Forschungen, XIX. Bd. (1905), 
 pp. 407-544. The author treats at length all questions of form and contents. 
 The latter are grouped in the following categories: The Wooing; Granting 
 the Favors of Love; Unselfishness and Selfishness in Love; Faithfulness and 
 Unfaithfulness; Jealousy; and Parting of the Lovers. In the fourth chapter 
 is treated the conclusion of the contest and examples are given of poems in 
 which judges are named, those in which no judges are named, and the judg- 
 ments of the former. The writers of jeux-partis axe. then considered, and a 
 catalogue is given of authors and judges. Finally a number of inedited jeux- 
 partis are given from the Vatican MSS. 1490, and 1522, and a list of jeux- 
 partis in Old French. The convenience and value of this work cannot be 
 overestimated. B. Wechssler has edited an interesting collection of " ques- 
 tions " turning on love in Philologische und Volkskundliche Arbeiten Karl 
 Vollmoller zum 16. Oktober, 1908, Erlangen, 1908, pp. 131-139, " Ein altfran- 
 zoischer Katechismus der Minne." See works by Hoepffner and Klein cited in 
 note 106. 
 
 '* In making this list I have used: Knobloch, cited above; Histoire litteraire 
 de la France, Vol. XXIII, Paris, 1856; A. Keller, Romvart, Manheim, 1844; 
 A. Dinaux, Les Trouvires brabangons, etc., Paris and Brussels, 1863; A. Scheler, 
 Trouvires beiges du Xlle au XlVe Steele, Brussels, 1876, and Nouvelle sSrie, 
 Louvain, 1879; G. Raynaud, Bibliographie des chansonniers frangais des Xllle 
 et XlVe siicles, Paris, 1884; as well as other works mentioned later. See 
 especially Friset's article cited in note 37. 
 
14 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the lady to receive this declaration gracefully? {Ibid., p. 545, 
 Romvart, p. 385.) 46. William's mistress is wooed by two other 
 lovers; one expresses his desires by word of mouth, the other 
 cannot speak to her, but sends her presents which she accepts. 
 Which is the more to be feared? (Hist, litt., p. 594.) 47. Which 
 should you hate the more, one who seeks in everyway possible to 
 make your mistress love him, or one whom she detests the most in 
 the world? {Ibid., p. 637.) 48. Is it better to be loved but a 
 single day or to cherish for a whole life the vain hope of being the 
 best loved? {Ibid., p, 638.) 49. When one is loved by a fair and 
 courteous lady, ought he to abandon her for another younger, 
 fairer, and more courteous, who would consent to return his love? 
 {Ibid. , p. 750.) 50. Ought a young girl to be loved for her beauty, 
 or for her grace and discretion? {Ibid., p. 789.) 51. Which is 
 worse for a lover, the marriage or the death of his beloved? 
 {Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Chartes, V, 336.) 52. Which is better, 
 for an old man to have a young mistress, or a young man to have 
 an old mistress? {Ibid.,p. 2,'i€>.) 53. Which feels the greater pain, 
 one who is jealous of his lady, but possesses her love, or one who 
 is not jealous, but whose love is not returned? {Romania, VI, 
 592.) 54. Which loves the more, one who is jealous without 
 reason, or one who allows himself to be deceived without sus- 
 pecting it? {Bib. de I'Ecole des Chartes, V, 20, III.) 55. Is it 
 better for the beloved to be jealous of her lover, or vice versd? 
 {Ibid., p. 471, I.)39 
 
 Six Jeux-partis have recently been edited by A. Jeanroy in the 
 Revue des Langues Romanes, Vol. 40 (1897), pp. 350-367. They 
 are, the editor says, the product, except one, of the bourgeois 
 school of poetry which flourished in Arras in the second half of 
 the thirteenth century. The subjects are as follows: 
 
 Two lovers equal in merit pay their addresses to the same lady; 
 one becomes blind, the other deaf and dumb: which loses the 
 greater chance of success? The answer is: The blind man. 
 
 "If you were like me 'profes en devotion ' and called to associ- 
 ate with nuns and beguines, which would you prefer to make 
 love to? Answer: To a b6guine." 
 
 Which condition is the most to be preferred, that of a monk, of 
 a married man , or of a bachelor ? Answer : That of a bachelor. 
 
 '' As is natural, a considerable number of topics are treated in both Pro- 
 vengal and French; some of these may be found in Knobloch, pp. 66, et seq,. 
 
([[((( 
 
 lUlU 
 
 OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 15 
 
 Since Love is all powerful, why does it not make slanderers 
 love, which would be a great relief for lovers? 
 
 "I cannot recover the favor of the one I love without beating 
 her ; would you advise me to do so ? Answer : Do not hesitate . ' ' 
 
 Which would you prefer, to receive your lady's favors, or, 
 remaining unhappy in love, to become king of Persia? The 
 count to whom the question was addressed chose the first alter- 
 native. 
 
 The poem containing the last question was composed, accord- 
 ing to the editor, at Paris, or in a city of the north, or in Provence 
 where one of the authors, Charles of Anjou, brother of St. 
 Louis, was at the time (before. 1265). 
 
 The influence of Provencal poetry was not confined to France, 
 but spread to the neighboring countries, whose lyrical poetry 
 it profoundly modified.*" It made its way into Spain through 
 Catalonia, which, from its vicinity, similarity of speech, and the 
 marriage of Ramon Berenguer, Count of Barcelona, with Dulcia, 
 daughter of the Viscount Gilbert of Milhaud, Gevaudun, and 
 Carlad, became a second home of the Troubadours.*^ For two 
 hundred years the poetical literature of Catalonia was a mere 
 reflection of that of Provence, and until the end of the thirteenth 
 century the language employed by Catalan poets was that of the 
 Troubadours. The same forms of lyrical poetry were cultivated, 
 among them the Tenzon, of the subjects of which it is impossible 
 to give any list owing to the lack of published material.*^ 
 
 From Catalonia the Provengal poetry spread to Aragon, with 
 which province Catalonia was united in 1137,*^ and also to Cas- 
 tile.** In all of these provinces Provengal poets found patrons 
 and hearers, and native poets imitated them in language and 
 
 *" For the influence of Provengal poetry in general, see P. Meyer, "De I'in- 
 fluence des Troubadours sur la poesie des peuples remains," Romania, V, 257- 
 268. 
 
 " For Provengal influence in Catalonia, see Denk, Einfuhrung in die Ce- 
 schichte der altcatalanischen Litteratur, Miinchen, 1893, p. 193 et seq.; Mila y 
 Fontanals, Obras cofp-pletas, tomo segundo, "De los Trovadores en Espafia," 
 Barcelona, 1889, p. 49 et seq., pp. 261 et seq.; and Morel-Fatio, Katalanische 
 Litteratur, in Grundriss der romanischen Philologie, H, 2, i, p. 75 et seq. 
 
 *2 A "questio" by Bernat Fenollar, a Valencian poet, is given in Denk, 
 p. 398. It is, however, of the sixteenth century. The subject of the question 
 is, whether the sight, the desire, the understanding, or the will, has the great- 
 est share in producing love. 
 
 « See Mila y Fontanals, pp. 63, 83, 133, 156, 246. 
 
 " See Mila y Fontanals, passim, especially p. 70, and Wolf, Studien zur 
 Geschichte der spanischen und portugiesischen Nationalliteratur, Berlin, 1859,, 
 pp. 187 et seq. 
 
16 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 style. With these I am not now concerned, as the characteristics 
 of Provengal poetry were everywhere the same. I am more 
 interested in tracing the influence of this poetry upon the 
 social life of the countries where it was introduced, and, at 
 this moment, to follow more closely the fate of that form of 
 the Tenzon in which questions, usually in regard to love, were 
 debated. 
 
 While various princes of Castile, Aragon, and Barcelona 
 were patrons of the Troubadours and even poets themselves, 
 it was not until the reign of Don Juan II (1406-1454) that the 
 social influence of Provence was conspicuous.^^ At that time the 
 early Provencal literature was dead, largely in consequence of 
 the cruel Albigensian crusade; and the remarkable revival of 
 Provencal forms of thought and modes of expression in Castile 
 must be ascribed either to the curious Provencal renaissance 
 which resulted in the Floral Games of Toulouse and Barcelona," 
 or to the influence of Portugal.*^ It is possible that the tradition 
 of the older Provengal poetry may have continued unbroken, 
 and that the peculiar circumstances of the reign of Don Juan II 
 may have led to the almost independent revival of a literature 
 resembling the earlier Provengal because it was developed in a 
 similar milieu.^* However this may be, the court of Don Juan II 
 presents most of the characteristics of the petty courts of Pro- 
 vence in the thirteenth, or of Italy in the sixteenth, century. 
 An exaggerated spirit of chivalry manifested itself in the strange 
 Passo Honroso of Suero de Quinones, which reads like a page 
 from Don Quixote: while the Cancioneros of this period breathe 
 the same spirit of gallantry which inspired the Troubadours 
 of Provence. Of the mass of poetry produced by the bards of 
 Don Juan's court, much still lies buried in forgotten manu- 
 scripts f^ I have now to do only with that class which corresponds 
 
 ^ For the court of Don Juan II, see Puymaigre, La cour littSraire de Bon 
 Juan II, roi de Castille, Paris, 1873, 2 vols., and Wolf, pp. 187 et seq., as well 
 as Pidal's introduction to the Cancionero de Baena, Leipzig, i860. 
 
 " For the Floral Games of Toulouse, see Stimming, in Grundriss, p. 36, and 
 the works there cited: Chabaneau, Origine et etablissement de I'academie des 
 jeuxflomux, Toulouse, 1885, and Schwan, "Die Entstehung der Blumenspiele 
 von Toulouse," Preussische Jahrbucher,LlV, 457-467. There was also the in- 
 fluence of the North of France; see Puymaigre, I, p. 35 et seq. 
 
 ^^For the influence of Portugal, see Wolf, Pidal, and Puymaigre, cited 
 above, and Amador de los Rios, Historia critica de la literatura espanoh,, 
 Madrid, 1865, Vol. VI, chapters VII-IX. 
 
 *' See Puymaigre, I, p. 33. 
 
 *' See Amador de los Rios, VI, pp. 527 et seq. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 17 
 
 to the Provengal joc-partit.^" There is nothing which corre- 
 sponds exactly to the joc-partit, i.e., a poem in which a topic is 
 proposed and debated in the same piece; but there is a large 
 class of poems known as preguntas or reguestas .(questions), 
 in which a question is formulated, which is answered in a separate 
 poem known as respuesta (answer) .^^ 
 
 An example of the contents of some of these may be given 
 from the Cancionero de Baena. Which is better, to see one's 
 beloved and never speak to her, or always to speak to her and 
 never see her? (II, p. 83.) This question was submitted by 
 Baena to Ferrant Manuel, who answered that by seeing her 
 always, Baena's gracious and pretty talent might ultimately 
 win her. Baena replies several times and so does Ferrant 
 Manuel, and the dispute is at last referred to Fray Diego, of 
 Valencia, who pronounces (II, 89) in favor of the sight.^^ There 
 are, however, few such questions, the majority containing the 
 most abstruse theological discussions, e.g., whether the Trin- 
 ity existed before the world was created and Jesus Christ was 
 born; or mere riddles. It cannot be said that the Tenzon is 
 well represented in Spanish literature. 
 
 Puymaigre, in his work La Cour littSraire de Don Jimn II, roi 
 de Castile, Paris, 18-73, Vol. II, p. 137, note, cites a poem in the 
 Cancionero general, in which is debated^^* the question, whether 
 it is better to serve a maid, married woman, widow, or nun. 
 
 More interesting in this respect is Portugal, where Provengal 
 poetry also exerted a profound influence for over a hundred and 
 fifty years. ^' Here again, the same forms are preserved as in 
 Provengal, but the Tenzon was nowhere so popular as in the 
 country of its origin; and of the 1698 Portuguese secular poems 
 written between 1200 and 1385 in Portugal, Leon, and Castille, 
 there are only thirty Tenzons, of which Vasconcellos and Braga 
 
 '" See Puymaigre, I, pp. 123-124, and Ticknor, History of Spanish Liter- 
 ature, Boston, 1872, 3 vols., I, p. 468, n, pp. 3-6. 
 
 "This is the form the 'Piaven^aX joc-partit assumed in Italy, a-s we shall 
 afterwards see, and it may possibly have influenced the Spanish. 
 
 *2 See Puymaigre, I, p. 123, who cites the Chansons de Thibaut IV, conte 
 de Champagne, roi de Navarre, Rheims, 1851, VI, p. 105. 
 
 ««« See Chapter II, p. 82, note 16 of the present work. ' This question was 
 a favorite subject of discussion; see p. 21 and note ^l. 
 
 5' An elaborate discussion of the manner of introduction of Provengal in- 
 fluence into Portugal may be found in Vasconcellos and Braga, "Geschichte 
 der portugiesischen Litteratur," pp. 167-177, in Grundriss der romanischen 
 ' gie, II, 2, 2. 
 
18 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 say: "The strife often turns on problems of Love, oftencr on 
 the preeminence of the poets, and also on practical questions."''^ 
 The few which contain love questions are: Joao Baveca asks 
 Pedro Amigo of Seville which is more unreasonable, the base- 
 bom man who without expectation of recompense faithfully 
 loves a noble lady, or the noble man who loves a baseborn woman 
 who returns his love? (Vat. 826.) Pero da Ponte asks Dom 
 Garcia Martiis to advise him about some one who loves a lady, 
 but does not dare to tell her of it for fear of vexing her. Pero 
 asks, in case the person cannot endure this state of things longer: 
 "Tell 'me, Dom Garcia, whether he should reveal his love to 
 her, or what would you advise him to do?" (Vat. 1186.) 
 
 Just as in Spain we found a late growth of poetry written under 
 Provengal influence, so in Portugal at the same time we find the 
 same thing. This poetry is preserved in the Cancioneiro de 
 Resende, which contains, perhaps, the most extensive question 
 in existence, occupying one hundred and six pages in the reprint 
 of the Stuttgart Vereins.^^ The question itself is neither long nor 
 subtle, but is merely, Whether silent sorrow (cuydar) or audible, 
 sighs (sospirar) betray the deeper pain. This question is, how- 
 ever, argued with all the legal apparatus of the day; "procurado- 
 res" are chosen by both sides and the most interminable argu- 
 ments are brought forward. Finally, sentence is given in favor 
 of " sighs. "*^ A few other preguntas may be found in the same 
 collection: Pregunta de jorge d'Aguyar ao coudel moor, "I ask 
 what shall he do, who, despairing, loves one whom he can never 
 see or address, or communicate in writing his great grief, and 
 who has no one to whom he dare reveal his secret, who can tell 
 her it for him? What kind of life do you think should be led by 
 such a despairing and luckless man?" (II, 10.) Pregunta de 
 Fernan da Sylueira ao coudel moor, "She whom I most love 
 commands me not to love or serve her. Her will is so firm and 
 
 '■' The Tenzons of this period are in Monaci, II Canzoniere Portugese della 
 Biblioteca Vaticana, Halle, 1875; and Molteni, // Canzoniere Portugese Colocci- 
 Branculi, Halle, 1888. 
 
 ™ Stuttgart, 1846-1852, 3 vols., I, pp. 1-106. The Cancioneiro de Resende 
 contains much that is of value for the social history of this period. See 
 Bellermann, Die alten LiederbUcher -der Portugiesen, Berlin, 1840, pp. 32 et 
 seq., Wolf, pp. 731-2, and Diez, Ueber die erste portugiesische Kunst- und 
 Hofpoesie, Bonn, 1863. 
 
 '"There is a continuation of this poem, pp. 80-106, in favor of "silent sor- 
 row," in which the God of Love reconsiders the former sentence and finally 
 pronounces in favor of "silent sorrow." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 19 
 
 sincere that I shall have to give her up" {que deyxa-la ser 
 m'aafero). On the other hand, I so greatly desire to do what 
 she commands me that I am overwhelmed with grief. I must 
 choose one course, but each is worse than the other. In so un- 
 happy a plight what shall I do? (Ibid., p. 22.) Do Conde de 
 Tarouca a dom Joam de Meneses. Two men are enamoured of 
 one of whom I think much good. Both are treated by her worse 
 than either deserves. Is there greater pleasure (groria) or grief 
 when they both visit her for one to see the other speak with her 
 or to speak with her himself (ver huum ho outro falar, ou hyr 
 falando co'ela) . {Ibid. , 65 .) To these may be added a discussion 
 which the Count of Vymyoso and Ayres Telez had in the presence 
 of Dona Margarida de Sousa'as to whether it was possible to 
 love a great good without desiring it. {Ibid., no.)" 
 
 It is now time to turn our attention to the Eastern neighbors of 
 Provence and France and ask what influence was exerted upon 
 them. Before considering Italy, it will be convenient to ex- 
 amine Germany, especially as it may be disposed of briefly.^* 
 Although French courtesy deeply affected the manners and 
 habits of German mediaeval society, ^^ the subtle disquisitions 
 on the nature of love, which were so dear to the Provencal poets, 
 found little favor with the Germans.'^" The Tenzon proper was, 
 however, known, and the Wartburgkrieg may be regarded as a 
 remarkable example of one.^^ The joc-partit form is also found, ^^ 
 and among the topics discussed were: Whether it is better for 
 a woman to love or not to love;^' Whether man's truth is better 
 than woman's;^* Whether love is better than "gesellschaft.""^ 
 
 *' This "question" occupies a prominent place in the later Platonic dis- 
 cussions, as we shall see when we reach Italian society in the sixteenth century. 
 
 ^* For Provengal influence on German literature, see Diez, Poesie, p, 255 
 et seq. See Dr. Anna Liideritz, Die LiebeHheorie der Provenzalen bei den Minne- 
 sdngern der Stauferzeit, Berlin, 1904. Literar-historische Forschungen, No. 29. 
 
 ^'See Bartsch, Gesammelte Vortrdge, p. 233; Weinhold, I, pp. 139, 251. 
 
 ^^ See Gervinus, I, p. 545. 
 
 " Gervinus, II, pp. 149-59. An unsatisfactory account of the German 
 Tenson has been written by H. Jantzen, Geschichte des deutschen Streitgedichte 
 im Mittelalter, Breslau, 1896 {Germanistische Abhandlungen, XIII), of which a 
 review may be found in the Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Alterthum, XLIII, An- 
 zeiger, p. 155. Jeanroy in the article already cited on the Provencal Tenson 
 explains the absence of the jeu-parti by the fact that that class of poetry was 
 not yet developed in Provenjal when the Germans became acquainted with 
 the works of the Troubadours. 
 
 '2 See Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichlung, Dresden, 
 1884, I, p. 267. 
 
 ^ See Goedeke, I, p. 267. 
 
 " See Goedeke, I, p. 268. 
 
 " See Goedeke, ut supra. 
 
20 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 This class of Tenzon was also cultivated to some extent by the 
 Meistersdnger. Frauenlob and Regenbogen the Smith and the 
 Saxon Raumland disputed as to which name was preferable, 
 wtp or fraue.^^ It may however, be said that in the main this 
 class of arguments was not a favorite in Germany." 
 
 In my rapid survey of the history of the Tenzon beyond 
 Provence, I, have left Italy to the last, although the influence 
 which Provencal poetry exerted there was quite as profound as 
 in the Iberian peninsula — fortunately it was not of so great dura- 
 tion.^* As in the latter country, so in Italy, Provengal Trouba- 
 dours were welcomed at the courts and cities of Northern Italy, 
 where they continued their poetical labors and where Italian 
 Troubadours imitated them in language and style. In the South, 
 on the contrary, at the court of Frederick II, a native literature 
 sprang up, which imitated the Provengal poetry in the Italian 
 speech. Of the Provengal forms the canzone enjoyed the greatest 
 popularity, and the Tenzon does not seem to have been culti- 
 vated, at least not in its Provencal form. There was, however, 
 the same desire to discuss fine-spun questions of love, but this 
 was done as in Spain by means of a question propounded in one 
 poem and answered in a separate one {pregunta and respuesta). 
 The form chosen by the Italians was the sonnet, a poetical form 
 peculiar to that country. The question was propounded in one 
 sonnet (proposia) and answered in another {risposta), which, 
 like the various stanzas of the Provengal Tenzon, observes the 
 rhyme scheme of the first. ^' 
 
 ^* See Wackernagel, I, p. 329. 
 
 6' See Falke, p. 88. _ _ _ . 
 
 *^ For Provengal influence in Italy, see Diez, Poesie, p. 272; Gaspary; 
 Cesareo, La poesia sotto gli Svem, Catania, 1894; Thomas, Francesco Barberino 
 et la litterature provengale en lialie au moyen dge, Paris, 1883; and Casini, 
 "Geschichte der italienischen Litteratur," in Grundrissder romanischen Phil- 
 ologie, II, 3, I, p. 15. Also two articles in the Nuova Antologia, Vol. 138, pp. 
 235, 458, F. Torraca, "La scuola poetica siciliana," and Vol. 139, p. 224, by 
 same author, "Federico II e la poesia provenzale." For the Italian Trouba- 
 dours, see Schultz, " Die Lebensverhaltnisse der italienischen Troubadours " 
 (Berlin, 1885) in Zeitschrift fiir romanischen Philologie, Vol. VII, pp. 177-235, 
 reviewed, with valuable additions, by Casini in Giornale storico, vol. II, pp. 
 395-406. An interesting resume may also be found in A. Graf, Provenza e 
 Italia, Turin, 1877. 
 
 ^' Quadrio, Delia sloria e delta ragione d'ogni poesia, Milano, 1742, Vol. II, 
 lib. II, p. 49, gives the following rules for the risposta: "The risposta should 
 preserve the rhjrthm and rhyme scheme of the proposta, but not the same 
 rhyme-words." Crescimbeni, L'lstoria della volgar Poesia, Venice, 1731, I, 
 p. 191, mentions three kinds of the poem in question: those in which the same 
 rhyme-words are kept, those in which they are only partly retained, and those 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 21 
 
 The following is a list of the Itahan question-and-answer son- 
 nets which I have been able to find, the subjects of which belong 
 to the class under discussion. 
 
 I. To which lover should a lady give her love, to the one who 
 speaks out boldly, or to the one who is timid and silent? {Poeti 
 del prima secolo della lingua italiana, Florence, 1816, 2 vols., I, 
 P- SSS-)*'" 2. Two knights love a lady; one is courteous, learned 
 and wise, liberal and pleasing, the other doughty and of great 
 vassalage, fierce and bold, and feared of all people: which is the 
 more worthy of the lady's love?™ {Canzonette antiche, Libreria 
 Dante, Florence, 1884, p. 42.) 3. Which is preferable, love for a 
 married lady, or for a maiden ?'i {Poeti del prima secolo, II, pp. 
 395. 526, 527.) 4. Three youths love a lady and demand a 
 token of her preference. To one she gave the garland from her 
 own head, took from the second his garland and put it upon her 
 head, and, finally, gave the third a slight slap on the cheek. 
 For which of the three did she express the most love?'^ {Can- 
 zonette antiche, p. 43.) 5. Which is the more worthy, he who 
 loves or he who does not? {Poeti del prima secolo, II, p. 406.) 
 6. Does Love first arise from the sight? {Trucchi, Poesieitaliane, 
 Prato, 1846, 4 vols.. Vol. I, p. 140.)'' 7. In a Tenzon between 
 
 in which they are entirely disregarded. For the subject in general, see 
 Quadrio and Crescimbeni, just cited, and Gaspary, Geschichte der ital. Lit., I, 
 pp. 80-81. The examples given in the first two writers mentioned belong, 
 nearly all of them, to a later period than the one which I am now considering. 
 A bibliography of the Italian "Question-and-Answer Sonnets" may be found 
 in Romanische Forschungen, XV (1904), pp. 150-203, "Sei secoli di corris- 
 pondenza poetica. Sonetti di proposta e risposta. Saggio di bibliografia." 
 By H. Vaganay. The article contains a list of Italian sonnets of the class we 
 are now considering, without any remarks or arrangement according to 
 topics. There is an article by Salvatore Santangelo, "Le Tenzoni poetiche 
 nella letteratura italiana delle origini," in La Rassegna, anno XXVI, No. 2, 
 Serie III, Vol. II, Florence, 1918, pp. 83-106. The article deals not with the 
 contents of the Tenzoni, but with their manuscript tradition, their affiliation 
 and rhythmic reconstruction. The whole subject is now fully treated by L. 
 Biadene in "Morfologia del sonetto nel secoli XIII e XIV," pp. 96 et seq., in 
 Studj di filologia romanza IV (1889), pp. 1-234. 
 
 «'» This question occurs in Tirso de Molina's Deleytar Aprovechando ; see 
 Chapter XIII of this work. 
 
 "See Knobloch; p. 68. This is the same "question" which is found in 
 Provengal (fir. 116, i), and in French, Coussemaker, CEuvres completes du 
 trouvire Adam de la Halle, Paris, 1872, p. 189. A similar "question" is in 
 Gr. 436, i, already cited in the text, p. 12. 
 
 " See Knobloch, p. 68. 
 
 '2 This resembles the first of the Filocolo "questions," which will be treated 
 later. I have included this question, although not in the form of a sonnet, 
 with other ones of similar contents. 
 
 " A considerable number of Tenzons of various kinds may be found m the 
 Italian collections, as well as in Rime di Fra Guittone d'Arezzo, Florence, 1828, 
 
22 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Jacopo Mostacci, Pier della Vigna, and Giacomo da Lentino 
 (Monaci, Crestomazia italiana dei primi secoli, p. 59) is dis- 
 cussed the question, whether love has a separate being or is 
 only a state or condition. 
 
 Such are some of the subjects discussed in the Tenzon, and 
 such was its influence in the various countries of Europe. How 
 popular it was as a mode of social diversion will appear later; 
 but before I refer to that, it will be necessary to consider how the 
 Tenzon was able to exercise this great influence on society, and 
 become, as we shall see later, a favorite form of amusement. 
 It did this through the questions, which were not only discussed 
 by the poets in the Tenzons, but were submitted to others for 
 judgment. 
 
 The Tenzon was of no fixed length but varied from two to 
 eight strophes, seldom more.'^* In the first strophe one poet 
 challenged the other to defend whichever side he wished of a 
 question then propounded. The challenged poet replied in the 
 second strophe, and the challenger then gives his own views, 
 which are refuted in a fourth strophe, The challenger may at 
 will end the contest by a tornada,''^ in which he submits the ques- 
 tion to the judgment of a person therein named. The other 
 debater may, in a second tornada, declare himself satisfied with 
 the choice of a judge, or name a second one himself.''^ From the 
 list of judges given by Selbach, p. 86, it appears that in twenty- 
 five cases one judge, in twenty-two, two, and in four, three, were 
 chosen, and the tribunal consisted either of men or women, or 
 of both together. It will be seen that of the whole number of 
 Tenzons, only about half were submitted to judges." This 
 has been explained in various ways.'* The tornada, in which the 
 Tenzon was submitted for judgment, is wanting in many cases, 
 and its loss is accounted for on the ground that the decision was 
 of interest only at the time it was rendered, and wh6n the poems 
 were collected later these decisions were omitted as no longer of 
 
 Casini, Le Rime dei Poeti Bolognesi del secolo XIII. Bologna, 1881, et cet., 
 but they are either tenzons proper, or discuss other questions than those of 
 love. 
 
 '^ See Selbach, p. 97. 
 
 " Literally "turning," because in it the poet turns from the subject of the 
 poem to address a person, either a patron or friend, the lady of his heart or 
 the minstrel, or he addresses the poem itself. See Bartsch, Grundriss, p. 71, 
 
 '^ See Selbach, p. 85; Zenker, p. 58; Knobloch, p. 48. 
 
 " See Zenker, p. 65. 
 
 " See Zenker, pp. 65-66. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 23 
 
 value. In case the tornada is preserved without mention of 
 judges, it is possible that they may have been appointed pre- 
 viously. That the judges chosen in the Tenzons really pro- 
 nounced sentence is probable. ^^ The Tenzon was a social 
 diversion and the judgment was a necessary part of it, as we 
 shall see when we reach the use of questions in society of a later 
 date. It is, therefore, very strange that only three judgments 
 have been preserved : two of them are of comparatively late date 
 (Guiraut Riquier, 1250-1294), and one is of somewhat dubious 
 character in that it cannot contain the words of the judge him- 
 self, but must be a later addition by some one embodying the 
 substance of his sentence. 
 
 The three judgments are as follows: i. In a Tenzon of Guiraut 
 Riquier with Guillem de Mur (Gr. 248, 42), this question is 
 propounded: Of two mighty barons, one enriches his own vassals 
 and companions, but neglects, however, strangers; the other 
 gives all to strangers, and does nothing for his own people. 
 Which of the two is n^ore worthy of praise? The judge is "young 
 count Henry" {coM's mnes Enrix),^" who is summoned to deliver 
 his judgment "en chanlEap." He does so in a complete strophe 
 with tornada, agreeing in rhythm and rhyme with the Tenzon 
 itself.*! In the strophe he recapitulates the question and the 
 sides maintained by the two disputants, and in the tornada he 
 decides that while it is praiseworthy to do good to all, it is more 
 praiseworthy to do it to one's friends. 2. In a Tenzon (torney- 
 amen) between Guiraut Riquier, Enric,^^ and Marques {Gr. 248, 
 75), the question is: Which is preferable, military prowess, learn- 
 ing, or liberality? The decision is left to Peire d'Estanh, who 
 renders it, in a strophe corresponding in rhyme and rhythm with 
 the original Tenzon, in favor of liberality. 3. In a Tenzon 
 between Guilhem Augier and Guilhem {Gr. 205, 4), the question 
 discussed is, whether wealth or learning is preferable. The 
 
 '' P. Meyer, Les derniers Troubadours de la Provence, Paris, 1872, p. 695, 
 thinks that very often the tornada of a Tenzon was nothing more than an ex- 
 pression of homage of no more importance than the envoi of a chanson. He 
 also asks how a sentence could be depended on when two judges were chosen, 
 one by each side. Zenker, p. 64, answers these objections, I think, in a very 
 satisfactory manner. See also, P. Rajna, Le Corti d'Amore, Milan, 1890, p. 
 71 (note 39). 
 
 «" According to Selbach, p. 88, Henry H, Count of Rodez. 
 
 81 Cited by Diez in Poesie, p. 168, ed. of Bartsch. It is also in Mahn, 
 Werhe der Troubadours, Berlin, 1853, IV, p. 250. 
 
 82 According to Selbach, p. 88, the same Henry as mentioned above. 
 
24 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 judge, En Romeus, decides as follows: "En Romeus says in 
 judgment that learning is worth more than riches, but to him- 
 self he says he would take wealth." This decision is expressed in 
 a tornada, the fourth to this Tenzon. 
 
 There has been much discussion as to how the Tenzons were 
 composed, whether improvised or not, and how the judgment 
 was pronounced.*' From a misunderstanding of the true charac- 
 ter of the Tenzon and its function as a social diversion, has 
 arisen the unfounded belief in the existence of Courts of Love, 
 to which were submitted all disputed questions of love as well 
 as the subjects debated in the Tenzons. It will be necessary to 
 examine this matter at some length as it has an important 
 bearing upon a later portion of this work.^ 
 
 It has already been seen that in a certain number of cases the 
 questions debated in the Tenzons were submitted to the judg- 
 ment of one or more persons named in the conclusion of the 
 poem. A list of these judges is given by Selbach, p. 86, and it 
 includes the names of many well-known persons, patrons and 
 
 *' See Diez, Poesie, p. 1 66; Zenker, pp. 50, 88 et seq.; and Selbach, pp. 89 
 et seq. See also the article by Jeanroy in the Annates du Midi, Vol. II, al- 
 ready cited, at end of the second part, where the author discusses the question 
 of the manner of rendering judgment in the Tenzons. 
 
 ^ The extensive literature on the subject of the Courts of Love may best 
 be consulted in E. Trojel, Middelalderens Elskovshoffer, Copenhagen, 1888, 
 pp. 1-25; 72-89. More accessible is P. Rajna, Le Corti d'Amore, Milan, 
 1890, and V. Crescini, Per la questione delle Corti d'Amore, Padova, 1892. An 
 important review of Trojel's book is in the Journat des Savants, Nov. and Dec, 
 1888. It is unnecessary to cite the older works here, although it should not 
 be forgotten that it was Diez in his Beitrdge zur Kentniss der romantischen 
 Poesie, Erstes Heft, Ueber die Minnehofe, Berlin, 1825, who first treated the 
 question in a critical manner, and reached conclusions which have not been 
 materially changed since then. The article by Crescini is found in the work 
 Per gli studi romanzi, Padova, 1892, pp. 81—120. For a later article by Cres- 
 cini see Note loia. Another very important review of Trojel's work may be 
 found in the Giornale storico, XIII, 371, by Renier. The subject of the 
 Courts of Love has recently been treated in English by W. A. Neilson, " The 
 Origin and Sources of the Court of Love," Boston, 1899, Harvard Studies and 
 Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol. VI, a very convenient and complete 
 compend of the question. The most recent, and one of the most valuable, 
 contributions to the general subject of " Questions " turning on love and their 
 relation to the supposed Courts of Love is to be found in Marburger Beitrdge 
 zur romanischen Philologie, Heft, I (1911), "Die Altfranzosischen Minne- 
 f ragen ' ' by Alexander Klein. The author prints a number of texts contain- 
 ing collections of " questions " and follows these by a detailed examination of 
 the origin of the genre and its relation to the vexed question of the Courts of 
 Love. The author agrees in the main with Diez and Gaston Paris, but holds 
 that occasionally the Courts of Love which sprang from " questions " relating 
 to love are to be regarded as a sort of Court of Honor. Klein's work is most 
 valuable and I regret that my book was substantially completed when it 
 appeared. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 25 
 
 friends of the poets. In no case is reference made to any formal 
 and permanent court before which the questions discussed in 
 the Tenzons were to be laid for judgment. The first to assert 
 that such formal and permanent courts existed was Jehan de 
 Nostredame, a procureur of the Parlement of Aix, who published 
 in 1575, at Lyons, the "lives of the most famous and ancient 
 Provencal poets, who flourished in the time of the counts of 
 Provence."*^ In the introduction to his work, while discussing 
 the various classes of poetry cultivated by the Troubadours, he 
 says, p. 9: "The Tenzons were disputes on the subject of love, 
 which took place between knights and ladies, who were fond of 
 poetry, speaking together of some fine and subtle question of 
 love; and when they could not agree, they had recourse for its 
 decision to the illustrious ladies, presidents of the Court of Love, 
 which was held at Signe, Pierrefeu, Romanin, and elsewhere, 
 whose sentences were called 'arrets d'amour.'" In other pass- 
 ages, pp. 13, 28, 49, and 89, Nostredame mentions various ques- 
 tions which were transmitted, to these courts, and gives the 
 names of the ladies, and ladies only, who composed these tribu- 
 nals. These statements of Nostredame, the incorrectness of 
 which has been abundantly shown, were repeated after him by 
 succeeding writers until the belief in these formal and permanent 
 courts for the judgment of the questions raised in the Tenzons 
 became so widespread and deeply rooted that the clearest evi- 
 dence of its incorrectness has failed to remove it.^^ 
 
 It is probable that Nostredame misunderstood the judgments 
 of the Provencal Tenzons, and also that he was influenced to 
 some extent by the work of Martial d'Auvergne published some 
 fifty years earlier.*' The author was, like Nostredame, a pro- 
 cureur, but of the Parlement of Paris, at the close of the fifteenth 
 century.** His work was entitled: Les cinquante et ung arrestz 
 
 ^ I have used Crescimbeni's translation in the second volume of the 
 Isioria della volgar poesia cited above. 
 
 8« The most recent instance of this is J. F. Rowbotham's The Troubadours 
 and Courts of Love, London, 1895 {Social England Series). 
 
 " For editions see Trojel, p. 44. My edition, with Benoit le Court's com- 
 ment, is Lyons, 1546. 
 
 8s For Martial d'Auvergne, see Rajna and Trojel cited above, and Mont- 
 aiglon's introduction to L'Amant rendu Cordelier in the SocietS des_ anciens 
 iextes frangais. I have not been able to see W. Soderhjelm, Anteckningar om 
 Martial d'Auvergne och hans Karleksdomnar, Helsingfors, 1889, a notice of 
 which by G. Paris may be found in the ^Romania, XVIH, 512-14. An ex- 
 cellent appreciation of Martial d'Auvergne's work and its relation to the class 
 of literature now under consideration, may be found in Gaston Paris's review 
 of Trojel in the Journal des Savants, Dec, 1888", p. 734. 
 
26 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 d' Amours, and contained, as the title indicates, fifty-one sentences 
 pronounced in "the noble parlement of Love." The book be- 
 gins, in a way which recalls the mediaeval allegories, with a 
 poetical introduction, stating that the author, towards the end of 
 September, when violets and flowers fade, found himself in the 
 " grand 'chambre" of the noble parlement of Love just as the 
 last sentences were about to be pronounced and the clerk was 
 summoned to begin the cases. Many were there to present their 
 cases and to receive sentence. In the midst of these the author 
 sat down and describes in detail the dress of the President. 
 Besides him there were there the goddesses in great triumph and 
 honor, all "legistes et clergesses" who knew the code by heart. 
 They were dressed in green, with plush linings and with their 
 necks bared. Their garments smelled of cypress and musk, so 
 that one could not be near them without sneezing. The floor 
 of the court was covered with rosemary and lavender. There 
 were lovers from divers places, and behind the benches were 
 those listening to the sentences, whose hearts were so delighted 
 that they did not know where they were. Some gnashed with 
 their teeth in fear; others trembled like leaves. None was so 
 wise and perfect that he was not disturbed when he was judged. 
 The author says he will not dwell on this subject as he cares little 
 for it, but will relate how the President spoke and how he pro- 
 nounced the sentences. He adds that he has written them down 
 in the form which the reader shall hear, without adding or taking 
 anything away, and all were pronounced in prose. Then follow 
 the fifty-one cases, which are treated with the most elaborate 
 legal forms and phraseology. The parlement is, in many cases, 
 a court of appeal, which reviews the proceedings of the lower 
 courts and confirms or reverses their sentences. These lower 
 courts are, with one exception, presided over by men, who are 
 evidently allegorical figures, e.g., "par devant le Prevost de 
 dueil se assist de piega un proces (p. 15) ; par devant le Ballif de 
 Joye (p. 35) ; par devant le Viguier (vicar) d'Amours en la prov- 
 ence de beaulte (p. 39) ; devant le Maire de boys verdz (p. 49) ; 
 par devant le conservateur des haultz privileges d'Amours (p. 
 50) ; par devant le Marquis des fleurs et violettes d'Amours 
 (p. no) ; devant le Prevost d'Aulbespine (p. 146) ; par devant le 
 seneschal dfes Ayglantiers (p. 153)." The one exception men- 
 tioned above is the twelfth sentence, "par devant les dames 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 27 
 
 du conseil d 'amours en la chambre de plaisance" (p. 131). 
 The cases are not really "questions," but legal cases, and have 
 little or nothing in common with the subjects of dispute in the 
 Tenzons. They are tiresome in the extreme and present nothing 
 of interest or value. 
 
 It is clear that the work of Martial d'Auvergne can not be 
 considered as bearing valuable testimony to the existence of 
 Courts of Love in the sense in which we are now considering 
 them, and it is likely that the book was inspired by the many 
 mediaeval allegories of the Court of Love.^^ and was probably a 
 mere jeu d'esprit of a lawyer, although Diez thinks it had a 
 didactic tendency. ^° 
 
 After the work was published it attracted the notice of a 
 learned jurist, Benoit le Court, who made it the subject of a 
 curiously learned commentary in Latin. 'i That this was re- 
 garded by the author as a mere jest is clear from his concluding 
 words, p. 404. "Sed jam satis juvenes lusimus, parce bone 
 lector, et aequi bonique facias nostros primos labores, quae si te 
 fecisse cognovero, majora andacius subsequentur." 
 
 I have left to the last the most important witness, and one 
 whose work is of mmense value for the whole question of medi- 
 aeval love — I refer to Andreas Capellanus, whose book, De 
 Amore libri tres, has already been mentioned. When Diez 
 wrote, in 1825, his epoch-making work on the Courts of Love, 
 little was known about Andreas, and in order to weaken the 
 value of his testimony Diez attempted on the ground of various 
 arguments to place him as late as possible, in fact, during the 
 fourteenth century.^^ The latest investigations, however, show 
 that the work was written at the close of the twelfth century, 
 
 *' See Rajna, pp. 3-26. 
 
 '" Diez, p. 106: "I am inclined to believe that he had a moral aim, and meant 
 to censure certain unseemly things in lovers, e.g., prodigality, mania for fash- 
 ions, slander, misbehavior in social games, monks acting as messengers of 
 love, and similar improprieties, which arose in connection with love." I can- 
 not, for my part, see any such moral aim in the work and regard it as a mere 
 jeu d'esprit. 
 
 '1 Benoit Court, or le Court, or du Curtil, was born near the close of the 
 fifteenth century at Saint-Symphorien-le-Chateau. G. Brunet, in the Nou- 
 velle Biographie gSnerale, Paris, 1866, thinks his work perfectly serious. 
 
 '^ One of the arguments of Diez, p. 77, the relatively late translation of 
 Andreas's book into the modern languages, has been disproved by the discov- 
 ery that the work was known in Italy in the first half of the thirteenth century. 
 See Rajna, p. 39; Romania, XII, p. 527; Trojel, p. 99; and especially, Studj 
 di Filologia Romanza, V, pp. 193-272, "Tre studj per la storia del libro di 
 Andrea Cappellano," by P. Rajna. 
 
28 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 possibly before 1196.'' He is termed in the manuscripts con- 
 taining the author's name "chaplain of the King of France." No 
 such person is mentioned as occupying this office between 11 74 
 and 1220. A certain Andreas was, however, chaplain and chan- 
 cellor of the Marie, Countess of Champagne, so often mentioned 
 in the Liber de Amore, between 1185-1187. As he is always 
 termed "royal chaplain," or "chaplain of the royal court," 
 it is possible that after 1187 he passed into the service of the 
 king.^* Nothing certain is known of him, but it is probable that 
 Andreas was his true name and that he was an ecclesiastic. 
 The work is such an important document for the history of 
 mediaeval love that a somewhat full analysis of this little known 
 book may not be out of place here.'^ 
 
 The writer says in the preface that the work was undertaken 
 at the request of Walter in order to inform him how among 
 lovers the state of love may be maintained unbroken, and how 
 those who are not loved may ward off the darts of Venus. 
 
 In the first book, the author considers what love is, whence 
 it takes its name, what is its effect, between whom love can exist, 
 and how it is acquired. In the second, he considers how love 
 may be retained, increased, diminished, and ended; the idea of 
 mutual love; and what one lover ought to do when the other 
 breaks faith. 
 
 Love may be won in five ways : by beauty, probity, eloquence, 
 wealth, and readiness to grant the favors of love. The last two 
 should be banished from the Court of Love. 
 
 Eloquence often compels the hearts of those not loving to ' 
 love. It is wont to sharpen the darts of Love, and to afford 
 presumption of probity. How this is done is shown in a series of 
 elaborate conversations between persons of different ranks: a 
 plebeian, noble, and nobler woman; and a plebeian, noble, 
 nobler, and most noble man. There is one rank more among 
 men than among women, because there is a most noble man, 
 viz., a clerk. 
 
 These conversations are really examples of love making and 
 
 "' See Trojel's preface to his edition of Andreas's work, p. xxxix. 
 
 '^ See Trojel, p. xi. 
 
 ^\ I have used Trojel's edition of Andreas Capellanus cited above in Note 
 22, in the preface to which, and in Trojel's Middelalderens Elskovshoffer, will 
 be found all the necessary references to Andreas down to 1892. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 29 
 
 are of great value for mediaeval culture. ^^ A curious episode 
 occurs in the fifth conversation, in which is described the punish- 
 ment prepared for women who have refused to love. It is in 
 the form of a vision in which the narrator beholds three bands of 
 women on horseback, some on fine horses carefully escorted by 
 knights, others exposed to the importunate services of many 
 men ; and, finally, a third band dressed in mean dresses and riding 
 lean and lame horses. These three classes are those who knew 
 how to grant their love wisely, those who yielded themselves to 
 the pleasure of every suitor, and those who, while they lived, 
 closed the doors upon all who wished to enter the Palace of Love, 
 and did not worship the God of Love. The first class is rewarded 
 in an earthly Paradise called "Amoenitas," while the second and 
 third classes are punished, one in a place called "HumiHtas," 
 where a cold stream overflowed the ground, and a hot sun 
 beat down without any shade, the others, in a spot called "Sicci- 
 tas," a hot and arid place. Before the narrator departs, the 
 King of Love gives him the twelve principal precepts of love, 
 among which are: Avoid avarice; Be true to your beloved; Be 
 truthful ; Have few confidants of your love ; Obey your beloved ; 
 Let your love be ruled by modesty; Be not a slanderer; Do not 
 betray the love of others ; Be courteous and polite to all. 
 
 In the course of the seventh conversation occurs the discussion 
 of the question whether love can exist between man and wife. 
 The dispute arises from the fact that the lady to whom the con- 
 versation is addressed excuses herself from loving on the ground 
 that she is married. The lover expresses his surprise since it is 
 evident that love cannot exist between man and wife. One 
 reason is that love is furtive ; another, that jealousy cannot exist 
 between the married, but should be cultivated by lovers. The 
 lady finally proposes to submit the question to some upright man 
 
 '• Similar conversations are found in Jacques d'Amiens, L'Art d' Amors and 
 U Remedes d' Amors, edited by G. Korting, Leipzig, 1868, pp. 15 et seq. The 
 distinction of rank is not observed, except possibly in tlie second, where the 
 lady addressed is "de vaillandise," and "de haut afaire." The three suits 
 are addressed to two married ladies and a young maiden. They are followed 
 by six replies on the part of ladies, and in four cases the answer of the suitor 
 is given. The ladies who reply are: a married lady who does not wish to be 
 false to her husband, a lady anxious about scandal, a lady who fears the false- 
 ness and disloyalty of men, a lady who is extremely virtuous and therefore 
 indignant at being sued for her love, a sensible lady, and, finally, a timid 
 lady. These conversations were undoubtedly written in imitation of those 
 in Andreas, but the imitation is general only, and it is difficult to detect any 
 particular passages borrowed from Andreas. 
 
30 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 or woman, and proposes the Countess of Champagne. The 
 question is submitted in a letter and answered in the same way. 
 The Countess decides that love cannot exist between man and 
 wife. Various reasons are given, among them the one just 
 mentioned. The judgment of the Countess was approved by the 
 council of many other ladies and might, therefore, be taken as 
 "indubitable and invariable truth." 
 
 In the eighth conversation several questions are propounded 
 by the lady to her lover, and vice versd. They all relate to the 
 real or apparent desertion of the beloved and its punishment. 
 
 The book concludes with a consideration of the love of several 
 classes not mentioned above: clerks, nuns, rustics, harlots; of 
 love bestowed for money; and of the too ready granting of love. 
 
 The second book treats of how love is retained, increased, 
 diminished, and ended. To preserve love secrecy is necessary, 
 compliance with the will of the beloved, and liberality. Love is 
 increased by the difficulty and rareness of meeting, by jealousy, 
 and by frequent thought of the beloved. Love is lessened by 
 ease and frequency of meeting, by poverty, avarice, timidity, 
 faithlessness, and falsehood. Love enfls when faith is broken, 
 when secrecy is not observed^ when new love springs up, and 
 when marriage occurs. 
 
 A chapter is devoted to directions for ascertaining the mind of 
 the beloved, and a longer one to the question of one lover break- 
 ing faith with the other. In the course of the latter chapter the 
 important statement is made that love may be lawfully revealed 
 to three persons: a confidant and confidante, and an "intemun- 
 tius " to aid the lovers in concealing and carrying on their love. 
 
 In the seventh chapter of the second book occur the famous 
 judgments of love, twenty-one in number, which, as they are 
 practically questions, may be briefly stated here.^'' 
 
 I. A lady made a suitor promise not to try to win her love or to 
 praise her in the presence of others, under pain of her displeasure. 
 He obeyed until he heard her traduced one day and then defended 
 her. When the lady heard of this she said he should be deprived 
 of her love on account of his disobedience. 
 
 The Countess of Champagne decided that the lady was too 
 severe and had encouraged her lover by taking his promise. 
 
 " The judgments in the text were first printed in their entirety by Trojel 
 in his Middelalderens Elskovshoffer, pp. 141-155. They are of course also in 
 the same author's edition of Andreas, pp. 271-295. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 31 
 
 II. A lover asked his beloved's leave to woo another lady. 
 After a month he returned and said he had acted as he did only 
 to test his beloved's constancy. She refused to accept him again, 
 saying that to ask such leave was sufficient reason to deprive 
 him of her love. 
 
 The judgment of Queen "Alinoria"s8 seems to contradict this. 
 A lover, she says, often feigns a desire for a new love in order to 
 prove the constancy of his beloved, who should not on this 
 account reject him unless she knows clearly that he has broken 
 faith with her. 
 
 III. Which is the preferable of two lovers equal in rank and 
 manners, the one who is poor, or the one who is rich?^^ 
 
 The judgment of the Countess of Champagne was that noble 
 and seemly poverty is not to be subordinated to rude wealth, 
 nor noble wealth to seemly poverty. 
 
 IV. Two suitors equal in all respects ask for the love of the 
 same lady; which is to be preferred? 
 
 The same countess opines that he is to be preferred who is 
 first in point of time. If their suits were proffered at the same 
 time, then the one whom the lady most desires. 
 
 V. A certain knight deeply loves a lady who does not love him 
 equally well, but will not allow him to withdraw from loving 
 her. 
 
 The Countess replied that the intention of that woman was 
 base who wished to be loved and refused herself to love. 
 
 VI. A youth who had not yet acquired worth and a knight 
 who had, demanded the same lady's love. The youth claimed 
 
 " The ladies mentioned in the judgments as judges have been identified as 
 follows: Queen "Alinoria" is Eleanor, the divorced wife of Louis VH of France, 
 afterwards married to Henry H of England, and who died in 1204; the Count- 
 ess of Champagne is the daughter of Eleanor, Marie de France, Countess of 
 Champagne in 1 164, died in 1 198; Mengarda of Narbonne is Ermenjard, 
 Viscountess of Narbonne in 1 142, died before 1197; the Countess of Flanders 
 has been recognized by some as Marguerite, at first Countess of Hainaut, then 
 Countess of Flanders in her own right in 1191, who died in 1194, by others as 
 Elizabeth or Isabel of Vermandois, married to Philip of Flanders in 1156 and 
 died in 1182. The queen mentioned without any qualification has sometimes 
 been taken for the Queen Eleanor just mentioned; this is incorrect; she is the 
 queen of France, Aeliz de Champagne, third wife of Louis VII in 1160, widow 
 in 1 180, and died in 1206. See Trojel and Paris, Journal des Savants, Nov., 
 1888, pp. 669, 672. 
 
 " Trojel, p. 160, cites a. jeu-parti between a lady and " Rolan " on the same 
 subject; see Archives des missions scientifiques, Il.serie, Vol. V, p. 233, also a 
 partimen between Esteve and Jutge (Bartsch, Grundriss, 145, i), and a parti- 
 men between Guionet and Raimbaut (Bartsch, Grundriss, 238, 2). 
 
32 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 preference, for by the lady's love he might be made worthy, and 
 that would be no slight praise for the lady. 
 
 Queen Alinoria replies that although this may be true, a woman 
 acts foolishly in preferring an unworthy lover, for it is possible 
 that he may not be made worthy by her love. 
 
 VII. A certain person unwittingly loves a relative; when he 
 discovers the relationship he wishes to renounce his love. The 
 lady objects on the ground that they are excused by their ig- 
 norance. 
 
 The same queen decides that the woman is wrong. 
 
 VIII. A lady who has a suitable lover marries and afterwards 
 avoids her former lover and refuses him the usual favors. 
 
 Mengarda of Narbonne blames the lady, declaring that mar- 
 riage does not exclude prior love, unless the lady be determined 
 to renounce love for ever. 
 
 IX. The same lady when asked which love was greater, that 
 of lovers or that of husband and wife, replied that the two things 
 were different and had their origin in different impulses; and 
 could not be compared.^"" 
 
 X. A man seeks the love of his former wife, who was divorced 
 from him. 
 
 The same lady decides that love between such is wicked. 
 
 XI. A good and prudent man sues for a lady's love, and after- 
 wards a worthier man; which is to be preferred? ' 
 
 The same lady decides that it is a matter for the lady's de- 
 cision. 
 
 XII. A certain man engaged in a suitable love seeks the love 
 of another woman as if he were free. When he has obtained the 
 favor of the second he returns to the first and shuns the second. 
 
 The Countess of Flanders decides that the man deserves to be 
 deprived of the love of both. 
 
 XIII. A knight destitute of all worth loves a worthy lady, 
 and is raised by her love to the utmost worthiness and upright- 
 ness. Another lady seeks his love and the knight responds, 
 forgetful of the lady who had reformed him. 
 
 ' The Countess of Flanders decides that the first lady has the 
 right to recall him from any other woman. 
 
 lo" Trojel, p. i6o, cites a jeu-parti between Ferri and Robert [Bibliothlqve 
 de I'Ecole des Charles, IV. serie. Vol. V, p. 223-323), and a partimen between 
 Gui d'Uisel and Elias d'Uisel (Bartsch, Grundriss, 194, 2). 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 33 
 
 XIV. A lady whose lover is on a crusade, despairing of his 
 return, seeks another lover. The confidant of the first lover com- 
 plains of the lady's change of faith, and opposes the new love. 
 The lady defends herself on the plea that a woman can seek a 
 new lover two years after a former lover's death; much more 
 then a woman who is the widow of a living lover and is left with- 
 out news or letters when there is no lack of messengers. 
 
 The Countess of Champagne decides that the lady was wrong 
 to relinquish her love on account of her lover's long absence un- 
 less she knew to her certain knowledge that he had first broken 
 faith with her. The lack of letters should be ascribed to his pru- 
 dence, since he was not at liberty to reveal his love to strangers, 
 and messengers might prove faithless or die on the way and thus 
 the secret be divulged. 
 
 XV. A lover while fighting bravely loses an eye, or is other- 
 wise deformed, and then loses the favors of his beloved. 
 
 The lady of Narbonne declares that a woman is unworthy of 
 honor who withdraws her love from her lover on account of some 
 deformity likely to arise in war. 
 
 XVI. A certain knight chooses a confidant, who breaking his 
 faith himself sued for the love of the lady and obtained it. 
 
 The knight laid the matter before the Countess of Champagne, 
 who summoned sixty ladies and pronounced the following judg- 
 ment : Let the deceitful lover, who has found a woman worthy of 
 his merits and who does not blush to consent to such a wicked 
 deed, enjoy, if he please, his ill-gotten love; and let her who is 
 worthy of such a friend enjoy it likewise. Let them both be 
 forever excluded from the love of every other person, and neither 
 be summoned to the assemblies of ladies nor to the courts of 
 soldiers. 
 
 XVII. A certain knight was bound by the love of a lady who 
 was engaged to another lover. She encouraged the first to hope 
 that she would be his if she could escape from the love by which 
 she was engaged. Shortly after she married the second lover and 
 when the first demanded the fruition of the hope which she had 
 held out to him, she refused it, declaring that she had not es- 
 caped from the love of her co-lover. 
 
 The queen answered as follows : We dare not oppose the sen- 
 tence of the Countess of Champagne, who in her judgment de- 
 clared that love could not exist between the married, and, there- 
 4 
 
34 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 fore, the above mentioned lady should grant the love she had 
 promised. 
 
 XVIII. A certain knight revealed the secrets of his love, and 
 was condemned by the court of ladies convoked in Gascogne to 
 live deprived of all hope of love, and to be treated with contumely 
 in every court of ladies or soldiers. If any woman dared to 
 break this sentence by granting him her love, she should be sub- 
 ject to the same punishment, and be regarded as an enemy by 
 all worthy women. 
 
 XIX. A certain knight sued for the love of a lady who refused 
 to grant it. He afterwards sent her some gifts which she re- 
 ceived with alacrity. Later she repeated her refusal, and the 
 knight complained that the lady by the acceptance of his gifts 
 had granted him some hope, of which she now, for no cause, 
 endeavored to deprive him. 
 
 The queen answered that a woman should either refuse gifts 
 offered with a view to love, or reward the giver by her love; 
 otherwise she must patiently submit to be enumerated among 
 harlots. 
 
 XX. The queen was asked which love was preferable, that of 
 a youth, or of a man advanced in years. ^"^ 
 
 She answered that love was distinguished not by reason of 
 age, but by knowledge, worth, and good manners. Young men 
 naturally seek the love of older women; when they are older 
 themselves they prefer young girls. Women whether old or 
 young prefer the love of the young to that of the old. 
 
 XXI. The Countess of Champagne was asked what gifts lovers 
 might receive from each other, and furnished the lists. All 
 suspicion of avarice must be wanting. If letters are sent proper 
 names are to be omitted, and they should be sealed with a secret 
 seal. If lovers appeal to the judgment of ladies, the real persons 
 should never be mentioned, but only designated by an indefinite 
 reference. 
 
 The eighth chapter contains the famous rules of love and an 
 
 interesting story to account for their origin. A certain knight of 
 
 Britain, while passing through the royal forest on his way to 
 
 see King Arthur, encountered a beautiful maiden on horseback 
 
 "1 Trojel, p. i6o, cites a jeu-parti between an unknown and Grieviler 
 (Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Charles, IV. serie. Vol. V, p. 33; see also Bartsch, 
 Grundriss, 185, 2, and Bihliothigue de I'Ecole des Charles, IV. serie, Vol. V, p. 
 330). 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 35 
 
 who said to him that he could not find what he was seeking with- 
 out her aid. To test her, he asked her to tell him why he had 
 come there. She answered that he was in love with a lady of 
 Britain, who had declared that he could never enjoy her love 
 unless he brought her the victorious hawk, which was said to 
 rest upon a golden perch in Arthur's court. The knight confessed 
 that this was true, and the maiden continued saying that he 
 could not have the hawk unless he could prove by battle in 
 Arthur's palace that he enjoyed the love of a fairer lady than 
 any who dwelt there, and, further, that he could not enter the 
 palace unless he could show to the guardian the hawk's glove, 
 and the glove must be obtained by a double battle against two 
 powerful knights. The knight implored her aid and it was granted 
 provided he should prove bold enough to accomplish what she 
 had said. She then gave him her horse, with the warning that 
 after he had defeated the two guardians of the glove, he should 
 not take the glove from them but take it himself from the golden 
 column on which it hung. 
 
 The knight accomplished all the adventures which the maiden 
 foretold, and seized the hawk, to whose perch a written scroll 
 was fastened by a golden chain. When the knight inquired what 
 it-was, he was told that it was the scroll in which the rules of 
 love were written, which the King of Love himself had uttered 
 with his own lips for lovers. This scroll he was to carry away 
 and reveal the rules to lovers if he wished to bear away the 
 hawk peaceably. The knight took the scroll and withdrew. 
 In the same wood he found the maiden who had helped him. 
 She rejoiced at his victory and bade him return to Britain, saying 
 he could always find her at that place. After kissing her many 
 times, he departed and made known to lovers the rules found 
 in the scroll. 
 
 These rules are the following : 
 
 The Rules of Love. 
 
 L Marriage is not a just excuse for not loving. 
 n. He who is not jealous cannot love. 
 II L No one can be bound by a double love. 
 IV. Love always increases or diminishes. 
 V. What the lover takes from his beloved against her will 
 has no relish. 
 
36 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 VI. A man can love only when he has reached full manhood. 
 VII. A dead lover must be mourned by the survivor for 
 
 two years. 
 VIII. No one should be deprived of love without abundant 
 reason. 
 IX. No one can love unless he is compelled to do so by the 
 
 persuasion of love. 
 X. Love is always wont to shun the abode of avarice. 
 XI. It is unseemly to love those whom one would be 
 
 ashamed to marry. 
 XII. A true lover does not wish to enjoy the love of another 
 than his beloved. 
 
 XIII. Love seldom lasts after it is divulged. 
 
 XIV. Love easily won becomes contemptible; love won with 
 
 difificulty is held dear. 
 XV. Every lover is wont to turn pale at the sight of his 
 
 beloved. 
 XVI. A lover's heart trembles at the sudden sight of his 
 
 beloved. 
 XVII. A new love drives away the old. 
 XVIII. Probity alone makes one worthy of love. 
 XIX. If love diminishes it soon ends and rarely revives. 
 XX. A lover is always timid. 
 XXI. A lover's affection is always increased by true jealousy. 
 XXII. A lover's zeal and affection are increased by suspicion 
 of the beloved. 
 
 XXIII. He eats and sleeps less whom the thought of love 
 
 distresses. 
 
 XXIV. Every act of the lover is bounded by the thought of 
 
 the beloved. 
 XXV. A true lover believes nothing good but what he thinks 
 
 will please the beloved. 
 XXVI. Love can refuse nothing to love. 
 XXVII. A lover cannot tire of the favors of his beloved. 
 XXVIII. A slight presumption forces the lover to suspect his 
 beloved. 
 XXIX. He is not wont to love who is tormented by lewdness. 
 XXX. A true lover dwells in the uninterrupted contemplation 
 
 of the beloved. 
 XXXI. Nothing forbids a woman to be loved by two men, and 
 a man by two women. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 37 
 
 The remainder of Andreas's work (Book III) may be briefly 
 dismissed. It consists of a condemnation of love, not divided 
 into chapters, although certain topics are treated in detail, e.g., 
 for what reason love should be condemned, concerning the vices 
 of women, etc. The writer states that he did not compose 
 the first part of his work in order to encourage his friend to love, 
 but only in compliance with his request. He then gives many 
 reasons for not loving. Besides these he enumerates in great 
 detail the faults usually ascribed to women in the Middle Ages. 
 In the conclusion the author exhorts the friend at whose request 
 the first part was written, to study carefully the second part and 
 he will see that no one should waste his days in the pleasures of 
 love. If he does not, the King of Heaven will always be propi- 
 tious to him, and he will deserve to prosper in this world and will 
 possess eternal life and glory in the world to come. Finally, 
 Walter is reminded of the parable of the Wise and Foolish Vir- 
 gins. 
 
 Such is an inadequate outline of this remarkable work. It is 
 an elaborate code of mediaeval love, and as such a priceless 
 document for the social culture of the period. For this reason 
 I have given above an account of the whole work, although we 
 are now chiefly interested in the subject of "questions." The 
 work of Andreas was first cited by Crescimbeni in his translation 
 of Nostredame's Lives of the Provengal Poets as a proof of the 
 existence of the Courts of Love, and as we have already seen it 
 has since remained one of the most important documents in the 
 case. 
 
 It is clear, however, that most of the judgments cited by 
 Andreas do not differ materially from the questions discussed 
 in the Tenzons. A few (XIII, XVI, XVIII, XIX) have been 
 claimed by the latest advocate of the existence of Courts of 
 Love, Trojel, as belonging to a different class and being actual 
 cases really submitted to courts of love. These will not, how- 
 ever, bear serious examination, and must be classed with all the 
 others as additional proof of the vogue of "questions" as a 
 means of social diversion. "i" 
 
 loio This conclusion which was reached by me many years ago is confirmed 
 by an admirable article by Giuseppe Zonta, " Rileggendo Andrea Cappellano," 
 in Studi Medievdli, Vol. HI (1908-1911), pp. 49-68. The author starts with 
 four oif the judgments, XIV, XVI, XVIII, and XIX, and demonstrates their 
 unreality and essential sameness with the subjects of the Tenzons and jeux- 
 
38 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It seems evident, therefore, that the courts or tribunals men- 
 tioned above, whether composed of one individual or of many, 
 were not permanent institutions rendering serious judgments on 
 real cases submitted in good faith to their jurisdiction, but were 
 merely forms of social diversion, and the questions decided were 
 such as ordinarily constituted the subjects of the jeux-partis. 
 I have thus far considered this class of questions alone, and it 
 now remains, in conclusion, to consider briefly the use of questions 
 outside of the Tenzons or jeux-partis. 
 
 I have already referred to the origin of the Tenzon, which 
 has been ascribed by some to the venerable custom of asking 
 
 partis. He cites, p. 63, Rajna, Le Corti d'Amore, p. 94 — -"Nuovi i 'judicia' 
 non sono nient'affato. Esistono, secondo si disse e ridisse, come una specie 
 di passatempo e di uso elegante. Nuova e solo I'applicazione a casi reali che 
 qui viene a farsene. Che cotale applicazione sia nella mente di Andrea e 
 cosa da dovei;si ammetere." Zqnta adds: "Meglio di cosi ndn si potrebbe 
 dire," and continues: "Poiche anche nel secolo XIII (come in tutti i tempi e 
 ammettiamo pure in Francia anche piu sovente che in altri siti) ci sari bene 
 il costume di sottomettere al giudizio di una o piii persone, senza segretezze, 
 senza regole sottili, senza definiti formulari, la risoluzione di questioni e di 
 controversie d'indole privata, e poiche esistava nella society elegante I'uso 
 di arbitrati circa casi d'amore discussi per passatempo, Andrea si industrio di 
 incanalare il rivolo delle questioni reali dentro del flume delle questioni fit- 
 tizie, distillando una regola categorica, assoluta, sicura, e dimostrando che 
 anche tutte le questioni reali potevano senza ledere le legge dell'araore caval- 
 leresco, venire risolute seguendo il procedimento che si usava nei dubbi 
 d'amore, discussi e resoluti per gioco, e che dentro di questi potevano essere 
 quindi inquadrate; egli cerco precisamente di applicare ai casi reali i giudizi 
 di uso elegante." He concludes, p. 66: "Una ragione poi di grande valore 
 contro la realita delle cosidette 'corti d'amore," anche di quelle minuscole 
 proposte dal Trojel, a me sembra fornita dal fatto che nessuno altro esempio 
 di simile consuetudine, fuori della Francia del XII e XIII secolo, ci sarebbe 
 offerto dalla storia dei costumi; laddove per il contrario tutti quel periodi 
 storici-letterari che si possono raffrontare coll'epoca che produsse I'amor 
 cavalleresco occitanico, ci presentano, como loro peculiare portato, tutti, 
 sempre e concordamente, la questione d'amore, cioe una discussione giocosa 
 o accademicamente scientifica intorno ad un argomento risguardante I'amore 
 deliberataraente proposto e svolto." 
 
 Zonta, p. 67, note i, says that the recurrence of "questioni d'amore" has 
 not been studied by any one, and calls attention to their use in French polite 
 society. The reader will see this is substantially the aim of the present work. 
 Two years after the publication of the above mentioned article on Andrea 
 Capellano, Zonta printed in the same journal, pp. 603-637, another valuable 
 paper "Arbitrati reali o questioni giocose?" The cause of the second article 
 was a lecture by Professor V. Crescini in the R. Instituto Veneto, in which he 
 attempted to s,how that the "judicia" were "dei veri e propri arbitrati reali." 
 In his invaluable answer Zonta accumulates proofs in addition to those given 
 in his first article and extends his investigation over the whole subject of the 
 use of "questions" as a social custom. He cites all the most important liter- 
 ature of the subject and refers at greater length to the use of "questions" in 
 French society. This part of the article could, as the reader of the present 
 work will see, be easily extended. Still, the two articles by Zonta form the 
 most valuable general contribution to the subject which has been made to the 
 present time. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 39 
 
 riddles, by others, to an imitation of Virgil's Eclogues, or of the 
 Latin debates (conflictus), which left such a profound impression 
 upon mediaeval literature. '"^ The oldest of such debates turning 
 upon a question of love appears to be the Council of Love, pub- 
 lished in 1849 by Waitz from a manuscript of the eleventh or 
 twelfth century-io^a The subject of the poem is the question : 
 Which is preferable, the love of a clerk or of a knight? This 
 question is debated by the nuns of the abbey of Remiremont 
 assembled in their chapter-house with a profane parody of the 
 services usual at solemn meetings of the chapter. A female 
 cardinal {cardinalis domino) sent by the God of Love decides that 
 clerks alone are worthy of love, and that the nuns who have 
 granted their favors to knights must do penance, if they do not 
 wish to be expelled from the monastery. 
 
 The same question is the subject of another Latin poem, some- 
 what later than the one just mentioned, entitled De Phyllide et 
 Floray^ In this poem two young girls who love respectively 
 
 '"2 For the origin of the debate form in modern poetry see A. Jeanroy, Les 
 origines de la poesie lyrigue en France au moyen-Age, Paris, 1889, Chap. II, Le 
 debat, and the same writer's article in the Annates du Midi cited in Note 25. 
 The same subject is treated in the special works on the Tenzon cited in note 
 25. See also W. A. Neilson, The Origins and Sources of the Court of Love, 
 Boston, 1899, pp. 240 et seq. 
 
 A more recent general article on the subject, " Rangstreit-Literatur. Ein 
 Beitrag zur vergleichenden Literatur-und Kulturgeschichte," by Moritz 
 Steinschneider, may be found in the Sitzungsherichte der Kais. Akademie der 
 Wissenschaften in Wien, 155. Band, 4. Abhandlung., pp. 86. The author 
 treats the Oriental sources and gives a useful list of the subjects of this class of 
 poetry. 
 
 The relation of the Classical Eclogue and mediaeval Debate is the subject 
 of an article of that title by J. A. Hanford in The Romanic Review, II, 16-31; 
 129-143. The poems mentioned in the text and some additional versions: 
 viz., Concile de Remiremont, Phyllis and Flora, Le Jugement d'Amours, 
 Hueline and Aiglantine, Blancheflor and Florence, Melior and Ydoine, Le 
 ' Fabel du Dieu d^ Amours, and, in an analysis, Venus, la deesse d'amour, have 
 been published by Charles Oulmont in Les Debats du Clerc et du Chevalier, 
 Paris, 191 1. The introductory matter is of no great value and the whole 
 work is unfavorably reviewed by E. Faral in Romania, XLI, 136-138. The 
 last named writer has treated most thoroughly and satisfactorily the subject 
 of the debate in question in Recherches sur les sources latines des contes et romans 
 courtois du moyen dge, Paris, 1913, pp. 191-303, "Les debats du clerc et du 
 chevalier dans la litterature des Xlle et Xllle siecles." Faral prints in ap- 
 pendices a new edition of Le Jugement d'amour ou Florence et Blancheflor, 
 and a Franco-Italian version found in one of the Ashburnham MSS., now in 
 the Laurentian Library in Florence. 
 
 1020 Haupt's Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Alterthum, VII, 160. 
 
 1™ Carmina Burana, Stuttgart, 1847, and Breslau, 1883, p. 155. A dis- 
 cussion of the metrical form and age of the Latin poem De Phyllide et Flora 
 may be found in J. Schreiber, Die Vaganten-Strophe der mittellateinischen 
 Dichtung, Strassburg, 1894, p. 68 et seq. The writer places the poem in the 
 last quarter of the twelfth century and thinks it likely that the author was a 
 
40 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 a clerk and a knight, extol the superiority of their lovers. Un- 
 able to agree, they resolve to submit their dispute to the Court of 
 Love. The judges of the God decide in favor of the clerk. 
 
 There are four French poems on the same subject, which differ 
 only in their details. In one, the two young girls are called 
 Hueline and Eglantine, in the other, Florence and Blanchefleur."^ 
 In the former, the conclusion is incomplete; in the latter, the 
 girls reach the abode of the God of Love, who summons his court, 
 composed of birds. They cannot agree and the nightingale 
 takes the part of the clerks and challenges whoever contradicts 
 him. The parrot accepts the challenge and enters the lists. 
 He is defeated, however, and the unfortunate Florence dies of 
 grief and is buried under a stone, on which is written: 
 
 Ici est Florence enfoie. 
 Qui au chevalier fu amie. 
 
 The two other versions were written in England ; in these the 
 same question is discussed and decided in the same way by a 
 duel between two birds.'"* 
 
 Benedictine monk. See also Romania, XXII, 536, and Neilson, op. cit., pp. 
 36, 38. An English translation of the Latin poem has been reprinted several 
 times: see Wright's edition of the Poems of Walter Mapes, 1841, pp. 258 and 
 363-364, and Works of Chapman, London, 1875, II, 43-49. I have seen the 
 rare tract in the British Museum: Phillis and Flora. The sweete and ciuill 
 contention of two amorous Ladyes. Translated out of Latine by R. S. Esquire. 
 Aut Marti vel Mercurio. Imprinted at London by W. W. for Richarde 
 lohnes. 1598, 4to. The Huth Catalogue says "a copy is in the British 
 Museum, and another was in 'Bibl. Heber,' part IV, No. 2447, but no others 
 are known." It begins: 
 
 In flowry season of the yeere. 
 
 And when the Firmament was cleere, 
 
 When Tellus Hierbales paynted were 
 With issue of disparent chere. 
 
 When th'usher to the morne did rise, 
 And drive the darkness from the skyes 
 
 Sleepe gave their visuale liberties 
 To Phillis and to Floras eyes. 
 
 The translation in full may be found in Mapes and Chapman cited above. 
 
 '"" For Hueline and Eglantine see Meon, Nouveau Recueil de Fabliaux et 
 Conies inedits, Paris, 1823, I, p. 353. For Florence and Blanchejlor see Bar- 
 bazan and Meon, Fabliaux et Contes, Paris, 1808, IV, p. 354. See also Legrand 
 d'Aussy, Fabliaux ou Contes, Paris, 1829, I, 306, where a combination of the 
 two poems is given. 
 
 1"^ Discovered by P. Meyer at Cambridge and Cheltenham, and not yet 
 published. In one the young girls are called Melior and Idoine, in the other, 
 Florence and Blanchefior. These poems I know only from the analysis given 
 by Langlois, Origines et sources du Roman de la Rose, Paris, 1891, p. 14. For 
 Melior and Idoine see also Romania, XV, p. 333. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 41 
 
 More interesting as containing many questions is Le Court 
 d' Amours by Mahius li Poriiers, a French trouvire of the end of 
 the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century."' The 
 commencement of the poem is lacking, and it begins with the 
 author, who is present at the Court of Love, describing the com- 
 plaint of a jealous husband against his wife. The Baillieu, who 
 presides over the court, dismisses the complainant with angry 
 words. Then follow thirty cases, which may be briefly men- 
 tioned here, although not all of them are of the class which I 
 have thus far discussed. 
 
 I. A gentle squire complains of the God, who will neither leave 
 
 him free, nor accept him as his own. II. A canon declares that 
 
 he loves a maiden, who appears favorable to him, but to whom 
 
 he does not dare to disclose his heart for fear of a refusal, so that 
 
 he prefers to suffer. He asks meanwhile what he shall do, speak 
 
 to her or write to her. He is advised to speak. III. A king 
 
 confesses that he loves a country girl whom he has met while 
 
 riding over the country. He was captivated by her singing and 
 
 offered her his love, but received a refusal. The girl is summoned 
 
 to the Court, where she declares that she has given her heart to 
 
 an equal of hers, a gentle shepherd, whose praises she sings, and 
 
 whom she will not forsake, even to become a queen. At these 
 
 words the Baillieu begs the king to seek another friend. IV. 
 
 A knight asks how a lover can know whether his lady will grant 
 
 him her love or not, when he entreats her, her honor being safe. 
 
 The Baillieu replies that the aspect of the lady can hardly lie, 
 
 especially when one can read the eyes, which are the messengers 
 
 of the heart. V. A squire asks which deserves the greater blame 
 
 and does the greater wrong to love, the one who wishes to abandon 
 
 love forever, or the lady who has determined not to love no matter 
 
 i"' "Le Court d'Amours di Mahius li Poriiers" by E. Gorra, in Abhand- 
 lungen Herrn Prof. Dr. Adolf Tobler zur Feier, etc., Halle, 1895, pp. 228-239. 
 Some of the "questions" in the text resemble those already cited, e.g., IX is 
 like 44, and 48, on pp. 13, 14.; XXVII is like the sixteenth judgment of Andreas; 
 see above p. 33, etc. This poem is the subject of an elaborate article by 
 Gorra in Fra Drammi e Poemi, Milano, 1900, pp. 201-302, "La Teorica 
 dell'Amore e un antico poema francese inedito." In this connection may be 
 mentioned A. Thomas, "Chastel d'Amors, fragment d'un poeme provengal," 
 in Annates du Midi, I (1889), pp. 183-196. The Chastel d' Amours has since 
 been edited by E. Hoepffner in Zeitschrift fiir romanische Philologie, XXXIII 
 (1909), pp. 695-710, " Frage- und Antwortspiel in der franzosischen Literatur 
 des 14. Jahrhunderts," and by A. Klein in work cited in note 84 of this chap- 
 ter. Both are supplemented by an article by Walter Suchier, " Zu den alt- 
 franzosischen Minnefragen," in Zeitschrift fiir romanischen Philologie, XXXVI 
 
 (I9I2), pp. 221-228. 
 
42 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 how much she may be entreated. The former is pronounced the 
 more guilty. VI. A wise cleric and of great nobility asks which 
 is the more to be praised, the one who lives joyful in love, or the 
 one who lives in fear and anger. The Baillieu decides in favor 
 of the former. VII. A bachelor asks whether it is possible to 
 love loyally against one's will. The Baillieu replied that it is 
 impossible; since the will is the beginning of love, it is that which 
 moves lovers, and against it no true heart can ever love. VIII. 
 The question is asked if there was ever seen a heart so desirous of 
 love and so true as to persevere in the passion, which tortures it 
 with all kinds of griefs and hard trials? Love, answers the Bail- 
 lieu, affords such great delight as to impel one to scorn every 
 danger and to endure the heaviest troubles. IX. Which is prefer- 
 able, to be able to live a year without pain or sorrow enjoying the 
 favors of a lady and after this time be obliged to renounce her 
 forever, or to live in constant hope? The Baillieu leaves the 
 choice to the questioner, who prefers the first course, since the 
 lover can have the memory of the past happiness. The Baillieu 
 sustains the other side, and reminds the questioner how sad it 
 is to recall the happy time in suffering, and how preferable it is 
 to live in hope. The question is, finally, submitted to the judg- 
 ment of the whole tribunal, which, after long deliberation, an- 
 nounces that the President has judged wisely. X. Is it better 
 to love without being loved, or to live without love? The 
 Baillieu replies that although a lover does not obtain mercy 
 from his lady, he should not on that account renounce love, 
 since he who lives with love leads a better life than one who scorns 
 love, without which there is no salvation. XI. Is a married 
 man or a married woman permitted to love? The Baillieu, to 
 whom such a love seems impure, declares that they are not. XII. 
 It is asked which is the more unhappy in love, the one who al- 
 ways loves and does not dare to reveal it under penalty of death, 
 or one who knows and sees that his asking mercy will not aid 
 him at all to obtain his wishes. The Baillieu decides in favor of 
 the first, because he does not know whether the lady would 
 accept his love or not. The other is comforted by his hope, 
 and meanwhile lives in the sweet feeling of love. No one ought 
 to undertake to love who is unwilling to submit to the duties of 
 love. No lady is so bold as to ask a man to love her, hence a 
 man must declare himself. An appeal is taken to the full court, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 43 
 
 which supports the BailHeu. XIII. Ought a true love to be 
 concealed? The Baillieu says it should not. XIV. Can there 
 be jealousy in true love? No, for when one has chosen a lady 
 to his will, he ought to trust her fully; it is better to renounce 
 all the blessings of love than to be tormented by jealousy. XV. 
 Why does Love often prefer to aid a new lover, rather than one 
 who has lived many years under his rule, and is ready to persevere 
 to death? Love never acts without reason, and it may be that 
 a new lover seems to him more worthy to obtain mercy than the 
 one who has always served him, since the former might repent of 
 the time he has lost living out of love, a thing that wins him 
 favor with the God, who overwhelms him with his favors. 
 XVI. Can a lady, her honor being safe, ask her friend for his 
 love, without being blamed by him or by another? She can, 
 and no love is finer than this. XVII. It is asked how love can 
 be enjoyed. The answer is that when a lady has chosen the one 
 whom she loves, and her love is returned, both find in this affec- 
 tion honor, courtesy, pleasure, and great delight, without any- 
 thing causing them annoyance. But if their love is changed 
 into carnal appetite, soon all true delight ceases, since sensual 
 pleasure is dangerous, false, and sinful, so that it defiles love, asfilth 
 defiles a gem. A lady can make no fairer gift than her mercy; 
 a man ought to try to preserve it immaculate, since love cannot 
 be disjoined from honor. XVIII. Does Love keep and protect 
 his subjects? The Baillieu answers that he does. Why is it 
 then, the questioner asks, that many are so afflicted that they 
 perish, and cites the following example. A short time before, 
 a youth determined to leave his beloved on account of the ob- 
 stacles which her father threw in the way of their love. The 
 young girl died in despair, and the lover learning of this, returned 
 and was so bereft of his reason as to open her grave and draw 
 from her bosom the heart which he had loved so much. He 
 afterwards departed for the Holy Land, and was there captured 
 by the Infidels and flayed alive. Did Love protect these two 
 lovers? He who despairs immoderately, rejoins the BailHeu, 
 and beyond the rules of Love may perish every day; but as long 
 as a true heart acts in accordance with his laws it lives always in 
 great joy. The girl should not have despaired, since her lover 
 would certainly by his constancy have overcome her father's 
 opposition. XIX. Which is the more difficult enterprise, to 
 
44 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 gain a lady's favor, or preserve it after it is won? The Baillieu 
 decides that the former is the more difficult, since the one who 
 loves must at first suffer a long time and live in great pain before 
 obtaining mercy; he who has obtained mercy can lead a calmer 
 life. XX. Which can make the greater progress in love, a 
 courteous heart which fulfils all that his lady imposes upon him, 
 or one which, feigning, does for her no more than pleases him? 
 If the lady is worthy of esteem, the lover should obey her abso- 
 lutely. XXI. One asks in regard to an enamoured lady, who, 
 being asked by him for her love, replied: "I thank you for the 
 good you offer me, but do not ask me for my love, for it would 
 be in vain." He asks if he should give up his love; but the Bail- 
 lieu, smiling, exhorts him to have patience and to suffer a little 
 the lady's will; he will be able to triumph by waiting. XXII. 
 A lover complains because his lady was given to another as wife, 
 and asks whether he ought to renounce all hope, or persevere 
 in his love, the lady's honor being safe. A gap in the manu- 
 script prevents the answer from being learned. XXIII. A lady 
 relates how her friend was slain before her eyes by one who 
 afterwards came to implore her pardon, and at that moment it 
 was in her power to save him or to deliver him up to death. The 
 President advises her to grant his pardon, and as to the murderer's 
 demand to be held her friend in the place of the dead man, she 
 should do as she pleased. XXIV. Here a noise is heard; a rude 
 and foolish peasant over a hundred years old advances to tell 
 the court that he is in love with an old neighbor of his, on whose 
 account he has no peace or repose, since she will not respond to 
 his love. The lady is brought before the court, where she com- 
 plains of her ailings and of her ignorance of matters of love. 
 The Baillieu, after a secret consultation with his peers, decides 
 that there is nothing to oppose the union of the two in the bonds 
 of marriage. XXV. The author of the poem now presents his 
 complaints to the court. His lady, whom he has loyally loved 
 for four years, and who has returned his love, now wishes to 
 break off their relations without any reason. In order to learn 
 the whole truth the Baillieu summons the lady, who replies to 
 her lover's accusation by saying that she was led to give him up 
 not only because she was married, but also because he was wont 
 to boast of her love. After these words the President forbids 
 the lover to persevere in his suit. XXVI. A shepherd arrives 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 45 
 
 at the court who complains of a shepherdess who mocks him in 
 spite of the services which he has rendered her, and who dares 
 to deny it. The Baillieu beUeves the shepherd and banishes the 
 girl from the Court of Love. XXVII. A disconsolate cavalier 
 complains of a companion who, chosen by him as his confidant, 
 now wishes to deprive him of his beloved. The accused is sum- 
 moned and defends himself saying that it was the lady who 
 wished to bestow her love upon him. She in her turn accuses 
 the cavalier of unfounded jealousy, and he departs blamed and 
 in the wrong. XXVIII. A male and female mute who have 
 loved each other for a long time, are brought to the court by 
 their parents, who ask counsel as to what they shall do, since 
 the two do not wish, in spite of their love, to marry. The 
 Baillieu decides that they may continue in their life of love with- 
 out having recourse to matrimony. XXIX. One who is married 
 to a lady of high degree states that another love impels him to 
 love a canoness, who is disposed not to reject him, provided he 
 renounces all folly. The Baillieu exhorts him to love truly his 
 own wife, to whom he is more closely bound. XXX. A squire 
 complains of a damsel who by tokens and fair semblance made 
 him believe she loved him, while she had given herself to a friend 
 of his. The damsel is summoned and excuses herself saying 
 that she had been making sport of him. Here end the disputes 
 and sentences, which have lasted eight days. 
 
 Our next illustrations are taken from an Italian source, prob- 
 ably influenced by the poem just mentioned, and are of special 
 interest in view of the great r61e which questions played in Italian 
 society of the sixteenth century. They are contained in a little 
 known work, which has not yet been printed, but of which an 
 analysis sufficient for my purpose has been given by Gorra in 
 his Studi di critica letteraria, Bologna, 1892.^°^ The author, 
 Thomas III, Marquis of Saluzzo, was bom about the middle of 
 the fourteenth century, and probably wrote his work at Paris 
 between 1403 and 1404. It is in French, and in prose, and bears 
 the title of Le Chevalier errant. In the first part of his work the 
 writer describes the adventures which he encountered, "and how 
 he went with his lady to the court of the God of Love, and of 
 
 "'Pp. 3-110. The "questions" are found on pp. 31 and 35. I may re- 
 mark here that another essay in the same volume, on the "Romance of the 
 Rose and some of its offshoots," contains some interesting remarks on the 
 Courts of Love, etc. 
 
46 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the God and Goddess of Love, and of the things that he saw 
 while he was at the court." When the cavaher and his lady 
 arrive at the Court of Love, they are honorably received by the 
 God, who is thirty years old, and very handsome. He wears a 
 garland on his head and is richly dressed. About him are feast- 
 ing innumerable emperors, kings, queens, and noble ladies and 
 lords. They all indulge in every kind of diversion, except some 
 noble ladies who- are condemned to act as grooms because they 
 have been cruel to their lovers. All at once a cavalier advances 
 and implores justice from the God, because his wife has left him 
 for a lover. The wife, who is present, defends herself saying that 
 she married that man while she was young and inexperienced, 
 and he was unworthy of her and she had therefore given her heart 
 to another and worthier one. The cavaliers of the court decide 
 in favor of the lady, who remains with her lover. Another dis- 
 turbance arises: a jealous man complains to the God that his 
 wife, too, has been taken from him, and declares that if justice is 
 not done him he will wage war against the court. Then follows 
 a long account of the war against the jealous man, in the midst 
 of which the court is obliged to judge another question of love. A 
 priestess has forgotten her absent lover and given herself to a 
 priest. The Goddess of Love condemns her to the stake. Later, 
 another question arises which gives opportunity for another 
 judgment of love. Three ladies contend for a squire; the God 
 decides that he shall belong to the one who first loved him, and 
 who has not forgotten another to give herself to him, as the other 
 two had done. 
 
 Although these questions are somewhat different from those 
 under discussion, I have given them as they show the introduction 
 into Italy from Northern France of a custom or fashion which 
 had its origin much earlier among the Troubadours. 
 
 Another judgment rendered by an individual, not by a court, is 
 found in a poem of Guillaume de Machault, a French trouvere of 
 the fourteenth century, entitled Le Jugement du roi de Be- 
 haigne}"^ A knight whose lady is faithless and a lady who has 
 just learned of the death of her lover dispute as to which is the 
 more to be pitied. The King of Bohemia, chosen as judge, 
 decides in favor of the knight, because he has always before his 
 eyes the cause of his grief. 
 
 "* I know Guillaume de Machault only from the reference in the Rom ania 
 XVI, p. 409. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 47 
 
 It is not my purpose in this chapter to trace the later develop- 
 ment of this custom, but it will not be out of place to mention that 
 the "question" as a genre of poetry lasted until a comparatively 
 late date. In the fifteenth century, Christine de Pisan wrote a 
 number of poems having questions or debates for their subject.^"' 
 In one, Le debat des deux amants, the advantages and disad- 
 vantages of love are debated by two lovers, very much as we 
 shall see later in Bembo's Gli Asolani. In a second, Le livre des 
 troisjugements, three questions are discussed : A lady forsaken by 
 her lover bestows her love upon a second one more loyal. Is she 
 false on that account? The second question is whether a cava- 
 lier who has lost all hope of seeing his lady detained in prison by 
 a jealous husband can at the end of a certain time indulge in a 
 new love. The third question is whether a damsel forsaken by 
 a noble cavalier who has addressed himself to a mighty lady 
 ought to forgive him when he returns to her after having been 
 rejected by the mighty lady. A third poem by Christine of 
 this class is Le livre du dit de Poissy, in which is a discussion be- 
 tween a lady and a squire as to which is the more unfortunate and 
 worthy of compassion. The lady's lover is a prisoner in a foreign 
 land, the squire has been rejected by a lady whom he cannot 
 forget and to whom he remains attached in spite of his vexation. 
 
 All the questions thus far mentioned were propounded and 
 discussed either by individuals or assemblies, called courts, and 
 are contained in poems. It is probable however, that earlier 
 than the class of poems, known as jocs-partitz, the custom of 
 debating such questions as a social diversion already existed, 
 and, as we shall see later, long survived the poetry of the Trouba- 
 dours and Trouveres. The earliest reference to this custom is in 
 a poem by one of the oldest of the Troubadours, Wi liam IX, 
 Count of Poitiers, in which he says: "If you share with me a 
 game of love, I am not so foolish that I do not know how to choose 
 the best among the bad.""" The author lived from 1071 to 
 
 "' The poems of Christine de Pisan may be found in the most recent edition 
 of her works published by M. Roy for the Societe des anciens textes fransais, 
 Paris, 1891, Vol. H, pp. 49, lii, and 159. 
 
 "» Bartsch, Chrestomathie provengale, Elberfeld, 1 880, p. 29: 
 E sim partez un joe d'amor. 
 No sui tan faz 
 No sapcha triar lo meillor 
 D'entrels malvaz. 
 
 See also Zenker, p. 71. 
 
48 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 1 126 or 27, and the oldest Tenzon is not earlier than 1137. It 
 is likely that the above reference in the poem of the Count of 
 Poitiers is an allusion to the social diversion of "questions." 
 There are more detailed references to this custom in mediaeval 
 poems. One of the best is in the long dit of Jacques de Baisieux, 
 Belgian trouv^re of the thirteenth century."^ The dit is entitled 
 The Fiefs of Love, and the author begins by saying that he has 
 visited many countries in search of materials for his poems. 
 In the course of his wanderings he came upon a goodly company, 
 seemly, courteous, liberal, gentle, and doughty. Ladies and 
 
 "'Scheler, Tromiires Beiges du Xlle au XlVe siecle, Bruxelles, 1876, p. 
 
 Jakes de Baisiu mainte terre 
 Cherchie a por matere querre 
 De quoi peuist faire biaz dis, 
 
 A bon eiir a tant erre 
 K'en tel lieu I'a Diex assene, 
 U troveit a maint cuer sene 
 Et moult tres bonne compangnie, 
 Ki iert en honeste bagnie, 
 En cortoisie et en largece, 
 En gentilece et en proeche. 
 Dames i out et damoiseles, 
 Chevaliers et clers et puceles, 
 Et en parlant se desduisoient 
 D'amurs, et lor cuers estruisoient 
 A la desputison d'amur. 
 L'uns faisoit a I'autre clamur 
 De questions d'amurs noveles. 
 
 Ces douz puceles de bon aire, 
 Eles et chil qui la estoient, 
 Ensemble d'amurs desputoient. 
 
 Tantost ces ij.. sages puceles 
 Kisent as autres damoiseles, 
 Et as chevaliers ensiment, 
 Ke lor fesisent jugement 
 Tel qu'eles lor demanderoient : 
 
 Erranment les vi entremettre 
 De demander k'est fiez d'amur 
 Et ke loing s'estent. L4 clamur 
 N'ot nesune, car tot se teurent 
 Et .i. pou en penjser demeurent; 
 Puis disent que nus n'i sera; 
 "Jakes promiers nos en dira 
 Ce qu'il en croit." Etjerespont: 
 "Ce que j'en sai, vbs en despont 
 Ensiment ke je I'ai aprig, 
 Ke n'en sole de nul repris, 
 Mais grant chose aveis demande; 
 Si ne m'aveis mie mande 
 Por jugement d'amur k rendre. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 49 
 
 maidens were there, cavaliers and clerks, who diverted them- 
 selves by talking of love, and their hearts were edified by argu- 
 ments of love. One asked another novel questions of love. 
 Among the ladies were two damsels of good temper who were 
 debating about love. Soon these two wise maidens asked the 
 other damsels and the cavaliers likewise that they should render 
 them judgment such as they should demand. Straightway they 
 asked what was the fief of Love and how far it extended. Silence 
 ensued and all remained thoughtful for a time; then they said that 
 there was no such thing, and that Jacques should tell them first 
 what he thought of it. He answered that he would, but that they 
 had asked him a difficult thing, and had not sent for him to render 
 judgment in a question of love. 
 
 The same Trouvhe, Jacques de Baisieux, in the ia.va.ous fabliau 
 of The Three Knights and the Shift, after telling a story of extrava- 
 gant chivalry, concludes with these words: "Now Jacques de 
 Baisieux begs the cavaliers and the maidens, the ladies and the 
 damsels, and the cavaliers likewise, to render loyal judgment as 
 to which performed the greater enterprise, the one who risked his 
 life for love of his lady, or the lady who did not fear shame or 
 blame so much as her lover's anger. Judge justly, so may Love 
 do you honor. ""^ 
 
 Other references to the same custom are found in the Provengal 
 poems of the thirteenth century known as enseignamens, or 
 instructions for various ranks and professions. One of these by 
 Amanieu de Sescas, a poet of the last quarter of the century, 
 contains detailed instructions for the guidance of a squire, an- 
 other, for a maiden. In the latter, after the table is removed 
 and the time comes for conversation, rules are given for behavior : 
 "If any man addresses you and pays you his court, do not be 
 
 ii^Scheler, p. 174: 
 
 Or prie Jakes de Basiu 
 
 As chevaliers et as puceles, 
 
 As dames et as damoisieles 
 
 Et as chevaliers ensiment, 
 
 K'il fachent loial jugement 
 
 Liqueis d'iaz fist plus grant emprise: 
 
 U chil qui sa vie avoit mise 
 
 En aventure aimant sa dame, 
 
 U cele ki honte ne blame 
 
 Ne cremi tant ke lui irer; 
 
 Jugies droit, k'Amurs vos honeure. 
 
50 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 shy in your manner, or rude. Defend yourself otherwise, with 
 agreeable repartees, and if his conversation annoys you, ask him 
 something new: Which ladies are the fairer, the Gascons or 
 English, or which are the more courteous, truer, and better? And 
 if he says: The Gascons, reply boldly: Sir, save your honor, the 
 ladies of England are fairer than those of any other land. And 
 if he says to you: The English, reply: May it not displease you, 
 sir, the Gascons are fairer; and make it the subject of a debate 
 and summon to you the other companions to judge whether your 
 dispute is right or wrong.""' 
 
 In another passage of the same poem the author says: "And 
 if you wish to begin the diversion of jocs-partitz, do not make 
 them coarse, but pleasing and polite."'" 
 
 Another enseignamen of the same century by Guiraut de Calan- 
 son contains instructions for a minstrel, who should know how to 
 write poetry and turn sommersaults and speak well and assign 
 
 "^ Bartsch, Chrestomathie, p. 331: 
 
 si en aquela sazo 
 negus homs vos somo 
 eus enquier de domney, 
 jes per la vostra ley 
 no vos siatz estranha 
 ni de brava companha. 
 defendetz vos estiers 
 ab bels ditz plazentiers. 
 e si fort vos eneuja 
 son solatz eus fa nueja, 
 demandatz li novelas: 
 "cals donas son pus belas, 
 o Gascas o Englezas, 
 ni cals son pus cortezas, 
 pus lials ni pus bonas? 
 e s'il vox ditz "Guasconas," 
 respondetz ses temor 
 "senher, sal vostr' onor, 
 las donas d'Englaterra 
 son gensor d'autra terra', 
 e s'il vos ditz "Engleza," 
 respondetz "si nous peza, 
 senher, genser es Guasca": 
 e metre I'etz en basca; 
 si apelatz ab vos 
 dels autres companhos 
 queus jutgen dreg o tort 
 de vostre desacourt. 
 
 '" Bartsch, Chrestomathie, p. 329: 
 
 e si voletz bastir 
 solatz de jocx partitz, 
 nols fassatz descauzitz, 
 mas plazens e cortes. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 51 
 
 subjects for jocs-partitz}^^ Raimon Vidal in a poem of the same 
 time on the subject of the decline of poetry, complains that 
 people are interested only in learning jocs-partitz}^^ 
 
 The custom was also introduced into Italy in the thirteenth or 
 fourteenth century by Francesco da Barberino, a writer who spent 
 some time in France and whose works were profoundly influenced 
 by Provengal literature."^ In one of his works, Del Reggimento e 
 Costumi di Donna, intended, like the various works already men- 
 tioned, for the instruction of ladies, he devotes two parts or chap- 
 ters to the subject of questions.^^* In the first he propounds 
 twelve questions which he then answers. These questions are 
 abstract ones and of little interest, such as. Does God love as we 
 do? What is divine love? What is general love, which is 
 directed generally to all those things which have to be preserved 
 together? What is lawful earthly love? What is unlawf«l 
 earthly love? What is friendship? What is the difference 
 between love and loving? What is courtesy? In the second 
 chapter, he treats of certain contentions and repartees between 
 
 "' Bartsch, Denkmaler der provenzalischen Litteratur, Stuttgart, 1856, p. 94: 
 
 Sapchas trobar 
 E ben tombar 
 E ben parlar e joes partir. 
 
 "5 Bartsch, Denkmaler, p. 197. 
 
 Mant home son aisi com vos 
 E d'autre saber atretal, 
 Que car non an sen natural 
 Adaut ni bo van per lo mon 
 Vagan e no sabon per on 
 S'en vay homs adretz ni cortes; 
 Ni lur faitz ni lur sens non es 
 Mas en apenre jocx partitz. 
 E es us motz estranh c'om ditz 
 Als pecx quels ten hom aut e car. 
 
 "' See A. Thomas, Francesco da Barberino et la Utterature provenqale en 
 Italie au moyen Age, Paris, 1883. 
 
 US Del reggimento e costumi di donna di messer Francesco Barberino per aura, 
 del conte Carlo Baudi di Vesme, Bologna, 1875, p. 411, parte decimottava, p. 
 415, parte decimanona. A valuable essay on this work in its relations to Prov- 
 engal and French literature may be found in the volume of Gorra cited above, 
 Studi di critica letteraria, pp. 357-388. See also an article by the same writer 
 in the Giornale storico, XIV, p. 269, containing a review of a work resembling 
 Barberino's, El costume delle donne con un capitolo de le XXXIII belleize, Flor- 
 ence, 1889. A superficial analysis of Barberino's work may be found in G. B. 
 Festa, Un Galatea Femminile Italiano del Trecento (II Reggimento e Costumi di 
 donna di Francesco dei Barberino), Bari, 1910. See also Francesco Novati, 
 Attraverso il Medio Ero, Bari, 1905, pp. 237-254, "I Detti d'Amore d una 
 contessa Pisana." For the Costume delle Donne see E. Gorra, Fra Drammi 
 e Poemi, Milano, 1900, pp. 305-329. 
 
52 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 lady and knight, or between a lady and any others. "Behold how 
 the lady sits here, and the others who are by her side, and hear 
 what disputes they are engaged in." Then follow some of these 
 disputes and repartees, which turn on the superiority of man and 
 woman, and are of no interest except as showing the prevalence 
 of the custom under discussion. 
 
 The survival of this custom in later times will be shown in the 
 remainder of this work. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Italian society at the court of Robert, King of Naples — Boccaccio at Naples 
 — Boccaccio and Ffammetta — ^The origin of Boccaccio's romance of Filocolo — 
 Analysis of Filocolo — Episode of the Questions — The thirteen questions with 
 the discussions and decisions belonging to them— The conclusion of Filocolo 
 — Importance of the Episode of the Questions — Allusions to questions in 
 Filosirato — Editions and translations of Filocolo — Influence of Filocolo — Sim- 
 ilar works in Spanish and English — Allusions to the society of Naples in other 
 works of Boccaccio — Giovanni da Prate's Paradiso degli Alberti. 
 
 We have seen in the last chapter how Provengal poetry, carry- 
 ing with it the comphcated system of mediaeval love, entered 
 Italy, and what an immense influence it exerted for many years. 
 Although the Troubadours were welcomed in the north of Italy, 
 yet it was at the court of Frederick II that their influence was 
 most deeply felt, and it was from there that this influence spread 
 to the mainland. There were many points of difference between 
 the civilizatiqn of Italy and that of Provence which we shall 
 have to study later, but there were points enough of contact to 
 ensure a welcome to the new literature and its accompanying 
 manners and customs. The court of Frederick II in spite of its 
 Oriental tinge was not unlike the courts of Provence in its patron- 
 age of poetry and art. After the defeat of Manfred at Bene- 
 vento in 1266, the Neapolitan possessions of the Hohenstaufens 
 passed to Charles of Anjou, a brother of Louis IX of France, and 
 the husband of Beatrice; of Provence. French influences were 
 now brought to bear directly upon an Italian state, and the 
 result is seen in the brilliant court of Robert, grandson of Charles 
 of Anjou, who is now remembered chiefly as the patron of Pe- 
 trarch ; but whose long reign was made illustrious by the presence 
 and literary activity of the third of the great Trumvirate of 
 Italian writers, Giovanni Boccaccio.^ The great story-teller 
 
 ' Materials for the history of the civilization of southern Italy may be found 
 in E. Gothein, Die Culturentwicklung Sud-Italiens in Einzel-Darstellungen, 
 Breslau, 1886. An account of the reign of Robert, and the society of Naples, is 
 given by G. Korting in Petrarca's Leben und Werke, Leipzig, 1878 (the first 
 volume of Geschichte der Litteratur Italiens im Zeitalter der Renaissance), pp. 
 148, et seq., and especially in Boccaccio's Leben und Werke, Leipzig, 1880 (the 
 second volume of the work just mentioned), pp. 108 et seq. A good article by 
 L. Geiger on "Die Renaissance in Suditalien" may be found in the Viertel- 
 jahrsschrift fiir Kultur und Litteratur der Renaissance, II, pp. 1-16. 
 
 S3 
 
54 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 was bom in 1313, at Paris, where his father, a Florentine trades- 
 man, was engaged in business.^ His mother, a French woman 
 named Giannina, died shortly after, and Giovanni was brought 
 as a child to Florence, and, after a brief period of study, put by 
 his father into his business. A few years' experience, from 1324 
 to 1329, showed that the lad was not fitted for that kind of life, 
 and with his father's consent he devoted himself to the study of 
 law at Naples, where he had been since 1327. His strong literary 
 taste, however, diverted him from the study of the law, and his 
 early youth was spent in the cultivation of literature and the 
 enjoyment of the social advantages offered at that time by Naples 
 to a greater extent than by any other Italian city. 
 
 The classical reminiscences in the city and its neighborhood, 
 the tomb of Virgil, the Lake Avernus, Baiae and Capri, all 
 produced a profound influence upon Boccaccio and directed his 
 mind to those studies which later made him one of the precursors 
 of the Renaissance. Aside from this, the beautiful situation of 
 the city, its life as a seaport, and the splendid court of the king, 
 combined to make it the most attractive residence in Italy. 
 It must be remembered that at this time Naples was the only 
 Italian kingdom, and the petty principalities which became 
 later centres of literary and social culture were but just founded. 
 No city in Europe perhaps offered such a varied and picturesque 
 
 ^ The most recent life of Boccaccio is that by T. Casini in his Geschichte der 
 italienischen Litteratur, Strassburg, 1896 (Grundriss der romanischen Philologie, 
 II, 3, l) pp. 105, et seq., where the literature of the subject is given in full. 
 The rather superficial life of Boccaccio by M. Landau," Stuttgart, 1877, has 
 been translated and greatly enlarged by C. Antona-Traversi, Naples, 1881-2. 
 This huge work has never been completed. I have not been able to see the 
 life of Boccaccio by A. Wesselofsky published at St. Petersburg in 1893-4, 
 2 vols., of which an Italian translation has been announced (in Giornale stonco, 
 XXVII, p. 195.) A lengthy review of the Russian original may be found in 
 the Giornale storico, XXVII, pp. 435-44. 
 
 Since the first part of this note was written two lives of Boccaccio have 
 appeared: Giovanni Boccaccio. A Biographical Study by Edward Hutton, 
 London and New York, 1810; and Boccace. Etude Litteraire. By Henri 
 Hauvette, Paris, 1914. TRe iirst of these two works is a handsomely illus- 
 trated book, readable and based on authoritative sources. The author has 
 examined the most valuable literature of the subject and his conclusions are 
 usually accurate. There is, especially in regard to Boccaccio's early life, so 
 much of doubt, that it is not surprising that there are great differences among 
 his biographers. The work by Hauvette is an admirable specimen of the best 
 French literary workmanship. The author has devoted his life to the study 
 of Italian literature and his latest work is a precious mine of information. 
 The student will find in Hauvette all necessary bibliographical references and 
 it will not be necessary for me to repeat them here. The notes to this chap- 
 ter must be completed by the new or additional material cited by Hutton and 
 Hauvette. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 55 
 
 life as Naples; all nationalities contributed to its society, and 
 the intellectual element was fostered by the literary tastes of 
 the monarch, who was an enlightened patron of arts and letters, 
 as well as a broad-minded statesman. 
 
 A brilliant picture of this society has been drawn for us by-V 
 Boccaccio, and it is intimately connected with an event in his 
 own life of great moment for his career as a writer. He appears 
 to have made friends with the scholars and men of letters at 
 Naples, and to have enjoyed the friendship of those standing 
 high at the court of the king. In 1334, when he was twenty-one 
 years old, he fell deeply in love with anoble lady, Maria d'Aquino, 
 the reputed daughter of King Robert. This is the lady cele- 
 brated by Boccaccio in poem and novel under the name of Fiam- 
 metta,* and the circumstances of their meeting and early ac- 
 quaintance are related by Boccaccio himself in the introduction 
 to his romance Filocolo.* 
 
 We there learn that Robert before he ascended the throne fell 
 in love with a beautiful young girl living in the rgyal palace, and 
 became the father of a daughter. In order to save the reputa- 
 
 ' The history of Boccaccio's love for Fiammetta has been written by himself 
 in numerous autobiographical passages scattered through his various works. 
 These passages have been carefully collected and examined in the most thor- 
 ough manner by V. Crescini, Contributo agli Studi sul Boccaccio, con documenti 
 inediti, Turin, 1887. Boccaccio's love for Fiammetta has also been made the 
 subject of a volume by R. Renier, La Vita Nuova e la Fiammetta, Turin, 
 1879, which contains an important chapter on the evolution of love in Italy 
 in the thirteenth century, as well as a comparison between Dante's love for 
 Beatrice and Boccaccio's for Fiammetta. Korting in his life of Boccaccio, 
 pp. 157, et seq., and in an article in the Zeitschrift fiir roman. Philologie, V, pp. 
 214, et seq., "Boccaccio-Analekten," warmly asserts that Boccaccio's relations 
 to Fiammetta were perfectly innocent; Renier and Crescini take the other 
 view and are probably right in so doing. 
 
 Boccaccio's love for Fiammetta is also the subject of an article by C. An- 
 tona-Traversi in the Propugnatore, XVI, Parte II, pp. 57-92, 240-280, 387- 
 419; XVII, Parte I, pp. 59-90: "Delia realty dell'amore di messer Giovanni 
 Boccacci." In this exhaustive examination of the question the writer pro- 
 nounces inhesitatingly in favor of the reality of Boccaccio's love for Maria 
 d'Aquino. See Hutton, Chaps. Ill and IV, pp. 27-60, and Hauvette, pp. 
 36-60. A. F. Massera in an article "Studi boccacceschi," Zeitschrift fur 
 romanische. Philologie, XXXVI (1912), pp. 192-220, corroborates Hauvette's 
 date of 1314 for Boccaccio's birth and identifies Fiammetta with Giovanna 
 d'Aquino, daughter of Tommaso II, Count of ' Belcastro, and wife of Ruggero 
 di Sanseverino, Count of Mileto. 
 
 * Opere Volgari di Giovanni Boccaccio. Florence, 1829, Vol. VII, pp. 4-8. 
 The Filocolo occupies Vols. VII, VIII, of this edition by I. Moutier, which is 
 the one I shall henceforth cite. The meeting with Fiammetta is related some- 
 what differently in another work by Boccaccio, the Ameto (composed a year 
 or two later than the Filocolo), ed. cit., XV, pp. 146, et seq.; see Crescini, op. 
 cit., p. 108. 
 
56 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 tion of both mother and child he had the latter reared by a 
 putative father, and named her "after the one who contained 
 within herself the redemption of the wretched loss which the 
 bold taste of the first mother brought about." The child in- 
 creased in years, adorned with virtue and beauty, "often making 
 many think that she was the daughter not of man but of God." 
 It happened one day (the date of which is fixed by a most elabor- 
 ate astronomical calculation)^ that the writer of the present work 
 found himself in a beautiful temple in Partenope (Naples), 
 "named from the saint who was sacrificed upon the gridiron" 
 (San Lorenzo) , and there heard the service celebrated by priests, 
 "the successors of him who first humbly wore the girdle, following 
 poverty" (Franciscans). "There remaining and judging that 
 the fourth hour of the day had passed, there appeared to my 
 eyes the marvellous beauty of the above mentioned maiden, who 
 had come there to hear what I was attentively hearing. As 
 soon as I saw her my heart trembled so strongly that the tremor 
 was felt in the smallest pulses of my body; and not knowing 
 why, nor yet perceiving what it [the body] already imagined 
 was going to happen from the new sight, I began to say, alas, 
 what is this, and strongly suspected that it was some other 
 disagreeable attack. After a time somewhat reassured, I became 
 bold and began intently to gaze into the beautiful eyes of the 
 fair girl, in which I saw after long gazing love in such a compas- 
 sionate guise that he made me, whom he had long spared at my 
 entreaty, desirous to be subjected to him through so beautiful 
 a woman." Boccaccio then thanked the God for bringing before 
 his eyes the source of his happiness, and humbly submitted him- 
 self to the Deity. He had scarcely uttered these words when 
 he beheld a golden arrow shot from the light of the lady's eyes 
 pass through his own and pierce his heart with such love for the 
 fair lady that it still trembles, and there kindled a flame inextin- 
 guishable and so powerful, that it directed every thought of his 
 
 ' April 12, 1338, the Saturday before Easter. According to the Ameto, p. 
 153, it was Easter Sunday. Some fix the date in 1334; see on the whole matter 
 Korting, Boccaccio's Leben und Werke, pp. 100, et seq. Antorra-Traversi, in 
 his translation of Landau, and in the article above cited in the Propugnatore 
 (XVII, p. 66), makes the meeting with Maria take place in the church of San 
 Lorenzo in Naples on the 26th of March, 1334. Hutton, Appendix I, pp. 
 319-24, makes the meeting on Holy Saturday, March 30, 1 331, when Boccaccio 
 was eighteen years of age. Hauvette makes the year 1336. See E. H. 
 Wilkins, " The Enamorment of Bocca.ccio," Modern Philology, XI (1913-1914), 
 PP- 39-55. who gives the probable date of March 30, 1336. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 57 
 
 mind to the contemplation of the wonderful beauty of the fair 
 lady. 
 
 After he had left that place with a wounded heart, and had 
 sighed for several days on account of the new wound, still think- 
 ing of the worthy lady, it 'happened one day that fortune led 
 him to a holy temple named from the prince of the "celestial 
 birds" (the church of the Archangel Michael at Bajano) in which 
 "priestesses of Diana [nuns] under white veils and black robes 
 cultivate devoutly gentle fires. On arriving there, I saw with 
 some of these priestesses the gracious lady of my heart con- 
 versing joyfully and pleasantly, in which conversation I and my 
 companions were courteously included. And from one subject 
 to another we came after a time to speak of the valliant youth 
 Florio, son of Felice, powerful king of Spain, relating his adven- 
 tures with loving words." The gentle lady was pleased with 
 these words and expressed her regret that the fame of the loving 
 youths (Florio and Biancofiore) had not been exalted with due 
 memory in the verse of any poet, but left solely to the fabulous 
 talk of the ignorant. She further begged Boccaccio to compose 
 a little book in the vulgar tongue, which should contain the birth, 
 love, and adventures of the two, until their end. Boccaccio 
 replied that although he felt himself unequal to such a task, yet 
 he deemed her request a command, and would comply with it 
 to the best of his ability. 
 
 The task laid upon him by Maria d'Aquino occupied Boccaccio 
 several years, and the result was not a little book, but the ex- 
 tensive romance of Filocolo.^ 
 
 * It was written between 1338 and 1340 (the author says, ed cit., VIII, p. 
 376, "piccolo mio libretto, a me piu anni stato graziosa fatica"), and fills, as 
 has already been said, two volumes of the Moutier edition, 733 pages in all. 
 There is considerable literature in regard to the Filocolo, which may be briefly 
 discussed here. The question of Boccaccio's source will be considered later. 
 First as to the name of the work. The first fourteen editions, from 1472 to 
 1524, all bear the title Filocolo, and Filocopo does not appear until 1539, and 
 was due to a correction of the editor, Messer Tizzone Gaetano di Pofi, who 
 probably supposed that Boccaccio mistook the Greek word x<S^os (hate, anger) 
 for fxoiros (toil). Boccaccio was an indifferent Greek scholar and the question 
 is not what he should have named his work, but what he really did call it. 
 See A. Gaspary in Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie, III, p. 396. The 
 entire work is the subject of a monograph by B. Zumbini, II Filocolo del Boc- 
 caccio, Florence, 1879 (it first appeared in the Nuova Antologia, 1874), which I 
 have not been able to see, but which is analyzed in Korting's Boccaccio, p. 
 505. In Zumbini's work the theory is advanced that the Filocolo is not a true 
 romance but a series of stories, of which the old legend is less the subject than 
 the pretext, and which afterwards put together have formed a unity more 
 apparent than real. This theory is attacked by F. Novati in an article, "Sulla 
 
58 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It is not my purpose to trace the history of Boccaccio's love for 
 Maria d'Aquino, which inspired all his early works; but only to 
 show how he was connected with Neapolitan society and what 
 opportunity he had to study its forms. That he mingled in the 
 court circles is clear^ and, as has already been said, he has left us 
 a precious account of the highest society of Naples in an episode 
 of the romance, whose origin has been described above, and which 
 it is now time to consider at length. It will add to the interest 
 of this episode if some account be first given of the work in which 
 it occurs, and the position it there occupies. 
 
 The subject of the Filocolo is the story of the two lovers, 
 Florio and Blanceflor or Blancheflor (as they are called in the 
 Old-French versions), a tale probably of late Greek origin, which 
 enjoyed enormous popularity throughout Europe during the 
 Middle Ages.* The particular form of the story used by 
 Boccaccio is not known, and the Filocolo differs in some respects 
 from all the other versions, even from an earlier Italian poem 
 which might with reason have served as Boccaccio's source.' 
 
 composizione del Filocolo," in the Giornale di Filologia romanza, III, pp. 56- 
 67. The Filocolo is also the subject of a work by Sorio, Letture sopra it Filo- 
 copo di G. Boccaccio, Aiti R. Jnstituto Veneto, Serie III, 7, pp. 596-616:11, 
 735-813, cited by Crescini, which I have not seen. See additional references 
 in Hutton, pp. 61-70, and Hauvette, pp. 60-73. 118-130. 
 
 ' Crescini, p. 50, n. 2, cites a passage from Boccaccio's De casibus virorum 
 illustrium. Lib. X, 588, translated by G. Betussi, Florence, G. Giunti, 1598, 
 where he says of himself: "Essendo ancor giovanetto, e praticando in corte di 
 Ruberto Re di Gerusalemme, e di Cicilia, etc." 
 
 ' The extensive literature of this story may best be found in : Flore und 
 Blanscheflur, cine Erzahlung von Konrad Fleck herausgegeben von E. Sommer, 
 Quedlinburg and Leipzig, 1846; Ploire et Blanceflor, poemes du Xllle siecle 
 publies d'apres les manuscrits avec une introduction par E. Du Meril, Paris, 
 1856; E. Hausknecht, Floris and Blauncheflur, mittelenglisches Gedicht aus dem 
 XIII. Jahrhundert nebst litterarischer Untersuchung und einem Abriss ueber 
 die Verbreitung der Sage in der europdischen Litteratur, Berlin, 1885; II Cantare 
 di Florio e Biancifiore edito ed illustrato da V. Crescini, Vol. I, Bologna, 1889. 
 In addition to the elaborate introductions to the above texts (in the one last 
 named filling the entire first volume, all thus far published), there are two 
 general essays on the subject: Schwalbach, Die Verbreitung der Sage von Flore 
 und Blanscheflur in der . europdischen Literatur, Krotoschin und Ostrowo, 
 1869 (I have not seen this, but Crescini in the work by him just cited, p. 5, 
 says it is "quasi pedestre riproduzione dello studio del Du Meril"), and H. 
 Herzog, "Die beiden Sagenkreise von Flore und Blanscheflur," in Germania, 
 N. R., XVII, pp. 137-228, also printed separately, Vienna, 1884. 
 
 ' The question of Boccaccio's source is discussed at greater or less length in 
 the works cited in the last note; see also A. Bartoli, I Precursori del Boccaccio 
 e alcune delle sue fonti, Florence, 1876, pp. 54 et seq. Crescini's valuable 
 introduction to the Cantare di Florio e Bianciflore is not yet completed, and he 
 has yet to examine the source of the Filocolo and of the cantare. He has, how- 
 ever, in the present volume, established the important fact that the cantare is 
 prior to, and independent of, the Filocolo, that the legend was known in Italy 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 59 
 
 The plot of the Filocolo down to the episode on which I shall 
 dwell at length is briefly as follows. 
 
 Lelio, a noble Roman, at the time when Christianity had 
 spread to Spain and Rome, is married to Giulia, a Roman lady. 
 After five years of married life they remain childless, and Lelio 
 prays to St. James, and binds himself to undertake a pilgrimage 
 to his shrine in case the saint bestows a child upon him. The 
 saint promises to answer his prayer and shortly after Giulia feels 
 that she is to become a mother. Lelio resolves to accomplish 
 his vow at once, and yielding to his wife's entreaties permits 
 her to accompany him, and they set out accompanied, without 
 further delay. The king of the lower world, enemy to pilgrim- 
 ages, determines to terrify Lelio from his journey, and assuming 
 the shape of a noble knight who governed for Felice, king of 
 Spain, the city of Marmorina (Verona) at the foot of the Apen- 
 nines, hastens to Spain and tells the king that the Romans have 
 destroyed Marmorina and urges him to prepare to meet them, 
 declaring that they are near at hand. The king attacks the 
 pilgrims and slays Lelio. Giulia is given as companion to the 
 queen, who treats her with great kindness. The king soon de- 
 parts with the queen and Giulia for Marmorina, where he dis- 
 covers the deception practiced upon him. Here during a 
 brilliant festival the queen and Giulia give birth to children on 
 the same day and almost at the same hour, the queen to a son, 
 Giulia to a daughter, who costs her mother her life. The king 
 has the children brought into his presence and names his son 
 Florio, and Giulia's daughter Biancofiore. The children are 
 educated together^" and Venus sends her son Cupid to inspire 
 them with love. Henceforth the two are bound by an undying 
 love, which is only increased by the obstacles thrown in its way. 
 
 When this love is revealed to the king by the children's tutor, 
 he is displeased, but conceals his anger and by the queen's ad- 
 vice separates the children, sending his son to the neighboring 
 city of Montorio to prosecute more advanced studies. Florio 
 
 as early as the thirteenth century, and that Boccaccio in his time must have 
 heard it recited, and could read it in a popular poem. Hence he did not need 
 to have recourse to foreign versions for the material for his work. The episode 
 of the questions belongs of course entirely to Boccaccio. 
 
 1° The education of the children is characteristic of the Middle Ages quite as 
 much as of the Renaissance: "E loro in breve termine insegnato a conoscer 
 le lettere fece leggere il saltero e'l libro d'Ovidio, nel quale il sommo poeta 
 mostra come i santi fuochi di Venere si deano ne'freddi cuori con sollecitudine 
 accendere," VII, p. 76. 
 
60 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 obeys his father's commands with great reluctance and departs 
 for Montorio, where his love for Biancofiore only increases. 
 
 The king hears of the melancholy life led by his son at Mon- 
 torio and his desire to return to Marmorina, and again consults 
 the queen, who hatches a diabolical plot for the destruction of 
 Biancofiore. The king's birthday is approaching and Bianco- 
 fiore is to be made to ofier the king at the banquet a poisoned 
 dish of food. Some animal, a cat or dog, is to taste it and prove 
 by its death the presence of poison. It will be clear to all that 
 Biancofiore has made an attempt upori the king's life and it 
 will be easy to condemn her to be burned at the stake. 
 
 The infamous plot succeeds, and Biancofiore is arrested and 
 thrown into prison. She is afterwards brought before her judges 
 only to be sentenced to death, and conducted to the stake. 
 Meanwhile Venus has instructed Florio of the plot, and he has- 
 tens to his beloved's rescue accompanied by Mars. He arrives 
 just in time to save her from the flames, and to fight and slay the 
 seneschal who had been the king's instrument in carrying out the 
 plot. Florio then returns to Montorio without having made 
 himself known to any one. Various attempts are made to 
 banish Biancofiore from Florio's mind by a new love, but they 
 fail as do also all endeavors to cause Biancofiore to forget Florio. 
 
 At length, in despair at the lover's constancy, the king again . 
 seeks counsel from his wife, who advises him to sell Biancofiore 
 to some merchants who have just landed at a harbor at the mouth 
 of the river Po. This advice is at once acted upon, and the un- 
 happy Biancofiore and her companion Glorizia are carried by 
 the merchants to Alexandria and sold to the admiral of the king 
 of Babylon. 
 
 In order to conceal this deed from Florio's knowledge, a grave is 
 prepared near Giulia's and in it is buried the body of a young 
 girl dressed in Biancofiore's garments. Meanwhile news is 
 sent to Florio that Biancofiore is very ill and if he wishes to see 
 her alive he must set out immediately for Marmorina. Upon his 
 arrival he is informed of Biancofiore's death and falls into such 
 violent despair, rending his garments and attempting to kill 
 himself, that his mother reveals the deception practised upon 
 him. Florio summons his aged tutor Ascalione and three friends, 
 and declares to them his purpose to seek Biancofiore and asks 
 them to accompany him. They consent, and the king reluct- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 61 
 
 antly gives his permission to Florio to depart and bestows upon 
 him the treasures he had received from the merchants for the 
 purchase of Biancofiore. Before Florio sets out upon his quest, 
 he determines to change his name in order to avoid some of the 
 dangers of the journey, and assumes the new one of Filocolo, 
 adding: "Certainly, this name is more suitable for me than any 
 other, and for this reason: Filocolo is composed of two Greek 
 names, philos and colos ; philos in Greek means the same as lover 
 in our tongue; and colos likewise means toil, whence joined to- 
 gether, by a transposition of the parts, we have Toil of Love; and 
 I do not know in whom more than in me the toils of love have 
 been and are at the present moment." All are pleased with the 
 new name, and the next morning after due sacrifices to the 
 Gods, they prepare to enter their vessel; but find on reaching the 
 river that it is rough, and ordering the. mariners to take the ship 
 to the port of Alfea and there await them, they mount their 
 horses, and bidding farewell with many tears to the king, queen, 
 friends, and relatives, set out upon their long journey. 
 
 The travellers reach the port of Alfea in safety and there 
 embark on their vessel, which arrives at the same time with 
 themselves. Their course is to the Island of Fire, and for three 
 days they have a propitious voyage. Then a furious storm 
 arises and drives the ship into the harbor of ancient Partenope 
 (Naples). Filocolo and his companions land and are hospitably 
 received by a friend of Ascalione. They repair the ship and 
 await a season favorable for resuming their voyage. This 
 is so long in coming that Filocolo more than once wishes to 
 continue their journey by land, but is dissuaded by Ascalione and 
 awaits good weather at Naples. It is long in coming, and for 
 five months the North wind blows fiercely and the weather 
 never clears in spite of sacrifices and humble prayers on the part 
 of Filocolo. The unhappy lover sometimes visits the shore and 
 gazing toward the spot where he supposes Biancofiore to be, 
 laments his fortune and entreats the winds to mitigate their 
 fury. Spring comes and with it the hope of speedy departure. 
 Filocolo dreams a painful dream, which he relates to Ascalione, 
 who comforts him with the reflection that every one sees strange 
 and impossible things in his dreams, but when he knows their 
 origin he gives them no further thought. He therefore exhorts 
 Filocolo to let the ,vain things he has seen pass away in their 
 
62 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 vanity, and adds: "And since the weather is pleasant, and gives 
 us a happy token of our desires, let us likewise rejoice, and 
 strolling along the shore in the pleasant air, let us pass the time 
 discoursing of our future journey." 
 
 Then occurs the episode to which reference has already been 
 made, and on which I shall dwell at length." Thus far nothing 
 has been said of any diversions of the storm-stayed travellers, 
 but Boccaccio now has an opportunity to describe the society of 
 Naples in which he himself moved, and of which Maria d 'Aquino 
 was one of the ornaments. 
 
 So Filocolo, the duke (of Montorio, who had accompanied him 
 upon his journey), Parmenione, and his other companions set 
 out and talking of various things slowly directed their steps in the 
 direction where rest the revered ashes of the great poet Maro. 
 Thus speaking they had not gone far from the city when ap- 
 proaching a garden, they heard therein a pleasing festival of 
 youths and ladies, and the air resounding with various instru- 
 ments and voices almost angelic, penetrated pleasantly the 
 hearts of those whose ears it struck. It pleased Filocolo to stop 
 a while and hear the songs, in order that his past melancholy 
 soothed by the sweetness of the singing might pass away. As- 
 calione then ceased speaking, and while Fortune held him and 
 his companions without the garden intently listening, a youth 
 came forth and saw them, and perceived by their aspect that 
 they were noble and worthy of reverence. Therefore without 
 delay returning to his companions, he said: "Come, let us show 
 
 " The episode of the "questions" occupies pp. 27-120 of vol. VIII of the 
 edition cited (Vol. II of the Filocolo, in the fourth book of which it occurs). 
 The episodes of the "questions" in the Filocolo has been treated very thor- 
 oughly by P. Rajna in the Romania, XXXI (1902), pp. 28-81, "Episodio dalle 
 Questioni d'Amore nel Filocolo del Boccaccio." A part of the article, that 
 relating to the first question, had already been treated by Rajna in Raccolta 
 di Studii criiici dedicata ad Alessandro d'Ancona, Firenze, 1901, pp. 553-568. 
 I have not been able to ape the following work cited by Rajna, Romania, XXXI, 
 p. 28, note 3: Pasquale Papa, Un capitolo delle Definizioni di Jacomo Sermin- 
 occi, Firenze, 1882, Per Nozze Renier-Campostrini. The relation of the 
 episode of the " questions " to the earlier Provengal and Old-French joes- 
 partitz and jeux-partis has also been treated by A. Klein in the work cited in 
 Chapter I, note 84, to which naay be added an article by E. Langlois " Le jeu 
 du Roy qui ne ment et le jeu du Roi et de la Reine " in Romanische Forschun- 
 gen, XXIII_ (1907), pp. i63-i73._ Klein reprints a large number of "ques- 
 tions " turning on love and examines the relation of this genre to the scholastic 
 disputes of the Middle Ages and to the literature of the Courts of Love. The 
 origin of the " jeu au roy qui ne ment " is of course to be found in the devel- 
 opment of the jocs-pariitz. See also articles by Hoepff ner and Suchier cited in 
 Note 106, Chapter I. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 63 
 
 honor to some youths in look gentle and of high rank, who 
 perchance ashamed to enter without an invitation reinain with- 
 out listening to our songs." His companions thereupon left the 
 ladies and their diversion, and issuing from the garden came to 
 Filocolo, who from his looks they perceived was the chief of all, 
 and addressed him with the reverence which they already under- 
 stood in their minds belonged to him, begging him for the honor 
 and enhancement of their festival to be pleased to enter the 
 garden with his companions, urging him with still further en- 
 treaties not to deny them that favor. Their sweet prayers 
 captured the gentle mind of Filocolo and his companions, and 
 the former then replied to them: "Friends, in truth this festival 
 was neither sought nor shunned by us, but as shipwrecked men 
 cast ashore in your harbor, to banish the gloomy thoughts which 
 idleness induces we were walking along these shores telling over 
 our misfortunes. How Fortune has led us here to listen to you 
 I know not, but it seems to me desirous of banishing all care from 
 us, when I think that it has brought in our way you in whom I 
 perceive boundless courtesy. Therefore we shall comply with 
 your entreaties, although perhaps we shall impair a part of the 
 courtesy which should proceed from us." Thus speaking to- 
 gether, they entered the beautiful garden, where they found 
 many fair ladies who graciously received them and welcomed 
 them to their festival. 
 
 After Filocolo had long witnessed the festival and had rejoiced 
 with them, it seemed to him time to depart, and as he was about 
 taking leave of the youths and thanking them for the honor 
 done him, a lady more than others worthy of reverence, 
 full of wonderful beauty and virtue, approached him and spoke 
 thus: "Most noble youth, you have by your courtesy this morn- 
 ing done these youths a favor, for which they will ever be obliged 
 to you, namely, by coming to honor their festival; may it please 
 you then not to deny me and the other ladies a second favor." 
 Filocolo replied with gentle voice: "Lady, nothing can be justly 
 denied you; command, and I and my companions are all ready 
 for your pleasure." The lady thus answered: "Since your com- 
 ing has greatly enhanced our festival, I wish to beg you not to 
 diminish its pleasure by your departure, but that you will spend 
 here with us the last hour of the day in what we have begun." 
 Filocolo gazed in her face while she was speaking and saw her 
 
64 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 eyes full of bright rays sparkle like the morning star, and her 
 face most pleasing and fair, nor did it seem to him that he had 
 seen so fair a lady since he had beheld his Biancofiore. Her 
 request he thus answered: "My lady, I am more disposed to 
 fulfil your pleasure than my duty, wherefore I shall remain with 
 you as long as you please, and my companions with me." The 
 lady thanked him, and returning to the others, began to rejoice 
 with them. 
 
 Filocolo remaining with them in this fashion grew intimate 
 with a youth named Galeone, of elegant manners and eloquent 
 speech. Him he addressed as follows: "Oh how much more 
 than any other are you beholden to the Immortal Gods! May 
 they with one accord preserve you for rejoicing." "We know 
 that we are deeply obliged to them," replied Galeone, "but 
 what moves you to say this?" Filocolo answered: "Nothing 
 certainly but the sight of you all assembled here with one will." 
 " Certainly," said Galeone, "you should not marvel at that, for 
 the lady in whom all grace dwells moved us to that and keeps 
 us so." Filocolo said: "And who is this lady?" Galeone re- 
 plied: "The one who begged you to remain, when a little while 
 ago you wished to depart." "Most beautiful and of great worth 
 she seems to me from her looks," replied Filocolo, "and if my 
 question is not improper, tell me her name, and whence she comes, 
 and from what parents descended." Galeone answered: "No 
 question of yours could be improper, and because there is no 
 one who speaking openly of so worthy a lady should not reveal 
 her fame, I shall fully comply with your request. Her name is 
 here by us called Fiammetta, although most people call her by 
 the name of her who healed the wound caused by the prevarica- 
 tion of our first mother. She is the daughter of the exalted 
 prince under whose scepter this land is ruled in peace, and is the 
 lady of us all. In short there is no virtue which a worthy heart 
 should hold which is not in hers, and I think you will know this 
 if you remain with us to-day." "What you say," replied Filo- 
 colo, " cannot be hidden from one who beholds her features. 
 May the Gods guide her to the end deserved by so rare a woman, 
 and surely what you say of her I believe, and more too; but 
 who are these other ladies?" Galeone replied: "Some are ladies 
 from Partenope, and others are come from elsewhere in their 
 company as we ourselves have done." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 65 
 
 After they had thus conversed for a long time, Galeone said : 
 "Sweet friend, if it is not vexatious to you I should be greatly 
 pleased to know more of your condition than is revealed by your 
 aspect, in order that knowing you we may honor you more 
 worthily; for sometimes for lack of acquaintance those who 
 honor fail to honor duly." Filocolo replied: "There could be 
 no lack on your part in honoring me, but you have already 
 honored me so much, that you have in your lavishness exceeded 
 the proper limits. Since, however, you wish to know of my 
 condition, it would be wrong not to satisfy you, and therefore 
 I will tell you what it is lawful for me to disclose. I am a poor 
 pilgrim of love in quest of a lady of mine taken away from me 
 by the subtle deceit of my parents. These gentlemen whom you 
 see with me are by their courtesy bearing me company in my 
 pilgrimage. My name is Filocolo, and I am a Spaniard by nation, 
 cast by a tempestuous sea in your harbor while seeking the 
 island of Sicily." Filocolo could not speak so covertly but that 
 the youth understood more of his condition than he would have 
 wished, and having compassion on his misfortunes comforted 
 him somewhat with words which promised him something 
 better in the future life; and from that time forward increasing 
 his reverence he made all honor him not as a pilgrim, or a man 
 admitted to that festival, but as the chief and principal one at 
 it. The lady especially ordered that it should so be done after 
 she had learned of his condition from Galeone, highly prizing in 
 her mind such an occurrence. 
 
 Apollo had already mounted with the chariot of light to the 
 circle of noon, and was gazing almost directly down upon the 
 earth clad anew with verdure, when the youths and ladies 
 assembled in that place left off their rejoicings, seeking in various 
 parts of the garden pleasant shade, and amusing themselves in 
 different ways in separate bands, avoiding the heated air which 
 hurt their delicate bodies. The gentle lady with four of her 
 companions took Filocolo by the hand, saying: "Youth, the heat 
 forces us to seek the cool places; therefore let us go into that 
 meadow which you see before us, and there spend the warm part 
 of the day in various discourses." Filocolo then praising the 
 lady's counsel, followed her with his companions and Galeone 
 and two other youths, and came into the meadow pointed out, 
 which was very beautiful with grass and flowers and full of sweet 
 6 
 
66 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 odors, and around it were many fair young trees with thick green 
 boughs, which warded off the rays of the great planet. In the 
 midst was a small, clear spring, about which all sat down, and 
 began to speak of diverse things, some gazing into the water, 
 and some picking flowers. But because sometimes one heed- 
 lessly interrupted the stories of another, the fair lady said: 
 
 " In order that our conversation may proceed more orderly, and 
 continue until the cooler hours which we await for our festivities, 
 let us appoint one of our number as our king, to whom each 
 shall propound a question of love, and receive from him a proper 
 reply to it; and, in truth, in my opinion we shall not have ended 
 our questions before the heat will have passed without our feeling 
 it, and the time will be employed usefully and pleasantly." 
 
 All were pleased and said among themselves unanimously, let 
 Ascaleone be made king, and because he was older than any they 
 chose him king. Ascaleone answered that he was incompetent 
 for so high an office, since he had spent his years more in the 
 service of Mars than of Venus, but if they would agree to leave 
 to him the election of such a king, he believed he knew the charac- 
 ter of all wel enough to appoint one who would render true 
 answers to such questions. All consented that the choice should 
 be left entirely to Ascaleone since he was unwilling to assume 
 such a dignity himself. Then Ascaleone arose and gathering 
 some boughs from a verdant laurel which cast its shadow over 
 the spring, made a fair coronet of them, and showing it to all 
 said: "Since I began in my earliest years to possess conscious- 
 ness, I swear by the Gods I worship, that I do not remember to 
 have seen or to have heard of any of such worth as this Fiam- 
 metta, in whose presence Love has inflamed us all, and by whom 
 we have this day been honored in such wise that we should never 
 forget it, and because she is, as I perceive without fail, full of 
 all grace and beauty and endowed with elegant manners and 
 eloquence, I choose her for our queen, and for her magnificence 
 the imperial crown would be much better suited to her who is 
 descended from royal stock, and it will be easy for one to whom the 
 secret ways of love are all opened to content us in our questions." 
 After this he bowed humbly before the worthy lady, saying: 
 "Gentle lady, adorn your head with this crown, which should 
 be prized no less than gold by those who are worthy by their 
 works to cover their heads with it." The fair lady blushed 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 67 
 
 somewhat, saying: "Certainly, you have not in due manner 
 provided a queen for the loving people, who need an able king, 
 since I am the most simple and least worthy of all present, any 
 one of whom would be a better choice than I : but since you are 
 pleased, and I cannot oppose your election on account of the 
 promise already made, I shall accept it, and I hope that the 
 Gods will give me the courage needed for so high an office By 
 the help of him to whom these boughs were once dear, I shall 
 reply to all according to my little knowledge; nevertheless I 
 devoutly pray him that he may enter my breast, and move my 
 voice with that tone by which he formerly made the bold Marsyas 
 deserve to be flayed. I shall give you by way of rejoicing cheerful 
 replies, without investigating deeply the questions proposed, 
 which would cause your minds sorrow rather than delight." 
 After these words she took with her delicate hands the proffered 
 garland and crowning her head with it, commanded that each 
 one under penalty of being excluded from the festival should 
 prepare to propound some question, which should be a fine one 
 and suitable to the topic which they intended to discuss, and of 
 such a nature as rather to increase their pleasure than to spoil 
 it by too great subtlety or other fault. 
 
 Question I. 
 
 At her right sat Filocolo, whom she thus addressed: "O youth, 
 do you begin to propose your question, that the others in order 
 as we are here seated, may follow your example with more assur- 
 ance." Filocolo replied: "Most noble lady, I shall obey your 
 command without delay"; and thus spoke. 
 
 " I remember that in my native city there was one day a very 
 fine festival, in honor of which many knights and ladies were 
 present. I, who was likewise there gazing upon those present, 
 saw two youths very gracious in aspect, both regarding a very 
 beautiful girl, nor was it possible to know which of them was the 
 more enamoured of her beauty. When they had long regarded 
 her and she had given no more favorable look to one than to the 
 other, they began to reason among themselves of her, and what I 
 heard of their discourse was that each said he was the more loved 
 by her, and cited as proof of it various past actions of the young 
 girl. After they had disputed for a long time and almost come 
 to blows, they recognized that they were doing wrong, and both 
 
68 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 went to the girl's mother and begged her to command her 
 daughter to show by words or deeds which of them she loved the 
 more. The rnother consented and so ordered her daughter. 
 The girl said: 'I am willing,' and looking at them awhile saw 
 that one wore on his head a beautiful garland of fresh herbs and 
 flowers, and the other was without a garland. Then the maiden, 
 who likewise had on her head a garland of green boughs, took it 
 and placed in on the head of the youth who had none ; afterwards 
 she took the garland which the other youth had on his head and 
 set it upon her own. Then she left them and returned to the 
 festival, saying that she had fulfilled her mother's command and 
 their desire. 
 
 " The youths thus left returned to their former dispute, each 
 declaring that she loved him the more, the one whose garland 
 the girl had taken and placed upon her own head saying: 'She 
 certainly loves me the more, for she has taken my garland for no 
 other reason but that she likes what I possess, and to be under 
 obligations to me; she has given you her garland instead of a 
 final dismissal, not churlishly wishing that your love should go 
 unrewarded; but in giving you that garland, she has given you 
 your final reward.' The other replied: 'Verily, the young girl 
 loves your things more than you, but me she loves more than my 
 things, in as much as she has given me hers, and giving is not, 
 as you say, a token of final reward, but the beginning of friend- 
 ship and of love. A gift subjects the recipient to the giver, where- 
 fore she, perhaps uncertain of me, in order to have me more 
 certainly her subject, wished by means of a gift to bind me to 
 her sovereignty, if perchance I was not bound before. But how 
 can you imagine that if at the very beginning she takes some- 
 thing from you, she will ever bestow anything on you?' Thus 
 they remained arguing a long time and parted without coming 
 to any conclusion. Now, mighty Queen, I ask what your judg- 
 ment would be if you were asked to pronounce final sentence in 
 such a question."'^ 
 
 "A similar "question" between a certain Adrianus and Frate Anton da 
 Pisa is in Canzonette Antiche, Florence, 1884, pp. 43-44, already cited in Chap. 
 I, p._ 12; see note 71. Here there are, however, tliree lovers, the last of whom 
 receives a slap on the cheek, and in the opinion of Frate Anton is the one 
 best loved. The two lovers are found in a sonnet (without an answer) at- 
 tributed to Poliziano and published by T. Casini in Opere volgari di messcr 
 Angela Ambrogini Poliziano, Florence, 1885, p. 268. Gaspary, Geschichte der 
 ital. Lit., II, p. 638, cites Andrea Calmo's Ecloga I, and L. Groto's pastoral, // 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 69 
 
 The Queen with a slight sigh replied that it was evident that 
 the young girl loved one of the youths and did not hate the other, 
 and what she did was done in order to win more surely the love 
 of the one, and not to lose the love of the other. "But coming to 
 the question, we say that the one to whom she gave her garland 
 is the more loved by her, because who loves strives in whatever 
 way he can to make the beloved favorable and subject to him. 
 Therefore the young girl sought to lay the one whom she loved 
 more under greater obligations to herself, and so we shall declare 
 that he who received the gift of the garland is more loved by the 
 maiden." 
 
 When the Queen was silent Filocolo replied that her answer 
 surprised him, since it was a custom among lovers to wish to 
 wear about them some jewel of the beloved. Thus Paris never 
 entered battle without some token given to him by his Helen. 
 "I should therefore decide differently from you, in this wise. 
 The girl knowing that she was deeply loved by the two youths, 
 and could love but one, since love is an indivisible thing, wished 
 to reward one for the love he bore her, and so gave him her gar- 
 land. The other whom she loved she wished to inspire with 
 boldness and firm hope in her love, by taking his garland and 
 placing it upon her head. By this act she showed that she was 
 
 Penlimento Amoroso, in which confession of love is made by means of a gar- 
 land. A somewhat similar "question" is the subject of debate in the Greek 
 romance of Jamblichus, where the lady gave one of the suitors a drinking cup, 
 crowned the second with a garland taken from her head, and kissed the third. 
 The one who received the Idss was j udged the victor. The other suitors were 
 not satisfied with the decision and all fought, we are told, until they had killed 
 each other; see Erotici Scriptores, Paris, 1885, p. 519. A similar "question" 
 occurs in the Hecatommithi ovvero Cento Novelle di Gio. Battista Giraldi Cintio 
 (Turin, 1854), Deca X, Novella H, in which the king commands a young girl 
 to show which of two lovers she prefers, placing his sceptre in her hand for 
 that purpose. She gives it to one of the suitors, then takes it from him and be- 
 stows it upon the other, and finally kisses it and returns it to the king. No 
 one can decide the question and the king declares that she shall belong to the 
 one who displays the greater valor in battle. Both are killed by the enemy. 
 The somewhat extensive literature of this question may be found conven- 
 iently in the following articles: J. Bolte, "Die streitenden Liebhaber, eine 
 GesangsposseausdemXVII. Jahrhundert," in Vierteljahrsschrift}ur Liiteratur- 
 gescMchte, Weimar, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 111-116; U, pp. 575-579. which may be 
 supplemented by articles in the Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Alterthum, VI, 292, 
 W. Wackernagel, "Ein Weib und drei Liebhaber," and Germania, VI, 306, 
 R. Kohler, " Ein Weib und drei Liebhaber." The use of the garland in a game 
 is treated by Bolte in the Zeitschrift des Vereinsfiir Volkskunde, VII, pp. 382- 
 392, "Kranzwerbung, ein Gesellschaftsspiel des XVII. Jahrhunderts," where 
 other references may also be found. This question is found in Tirso de Moli- 
 na's Deleytar Aprovechando. Some additional references may be found in 
 Giornale storico, II, p. 124 and XIV, p. 44. 
 
70 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 indebted to him for the garland she had taken, and therefore in 
 my judgment she loved the one from whom she took more than 
 the one to whom she gave." 
 
 The gentle lady answered: "Your argument would please us if 
 your words did not harm you. How can perfect love exist with 
 robbery? How can you prove that I love the one I rob more than 
 the one to whom I give ; since gifts are among the dearest tokens 
 of love? As to your second proposition, she gave one the gar- 
 land, and took it from the other; it was not given to her by him, 
 and what we, for instance, see every day may here suffice for 
 an example, for it is said commonly that they are more loved by 
 their lovers who receive favors and gifts, than those who are de- 
 prived of them. Therefore we conclude finally, that he is more 
 loved to whom is given than he from whom is taken. We well 
 know that much might be opposed to my decision in the present 
 question, and much might be answered to the opposite arguments, 
 but finally let such a decision remain true: and because time is 
 not to be occupied in one thing alone, without speaking further 
 of this, we will hear the others, if you please." Filocolo said 
 he was willing, and that such a solution of his question was quite 
 sufficient; he thereupon remained silent. 
 
 Question II. 
 
 There sat next Filocolo, a youth courteous and gracious in 
 look, whose name was Longanio, who as soon as Filocolo ceased 
 speaking, began thus: "Most excellent Queen, the first question 
 has been so excellent, that mine will hardly please; but never- 
 theless I will repeat it in order not to be banished from so noble 
 a company. 
 
 "A few days ago while alone in my chamber buried in the painful 
 thoughts awakened by the desire of love, I heard a pitiful lamenta- 
 tion near by, and listening intently perceived that it arose from 
 two ladies who dwelt opposite, and were sisters, of inestimable 
 beauty. I could not understand the words which they sorrow- 
 fully uttered with their tears, except that from what I caught it 
 seemed to me that love was the occasion of this grief. After 
 weeping myself secretly for a long time out of pity for them, I 
 went to them (being an intimate friend and relative of theirs) 
 and told them I had come to learn the cause of their grief, and to 
 aid and comfort them as much as I could. They excused them- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 71 
 
 selves at first, saying that they were not lamenting; but finally 
 the elder sister spoke and told their story. They had loved two 
 noble youths and were loved in turn. The elder was able to 
 enjoy the fruition of her love, which only grew more ardent. 
 Before a month had passed her lover rashly committed an act for 
 which he was forever banished from the city, and departed leaving 
 her more sorrowful than any other woman, more deeply in love, 
 and with her grief increased by the impossibility of following 
 him. 
 
 "The younger sister, who likewise loved and was loved bound- 
 lessly, was prevented by jealousy from enjoying the fruition of 
 her love. The sisters finding themselves alone had begun to 
 reason of their misfortunes, and perceiving that they were greater 
 than those of any other woman, they could not restrain their 
 tears, but weeping lamented as their visitor had seen. I deeply 
 grieved for them when I had heard this, and aiding them with the 
 words most efficacious for their comfort I departed. Now, I 
 have often turned over in my mind their sorrow, and have some- 
 times thought which must be the greater, now deciding in favor 
 of one, now of the other, and the many reasons which each has 
 to sorrow do not allow my mind to stop at any conclusion, 
 whence I remain in doubt. Be pleased to guide me through this 
 maze, telling me which one you think endures greater grief." 
 
 The Queen answered: "Great was the grief of each, but con- 
 sidering that adversity is most bitter to one used to prosperity, 
 we shall hold that the one who has lost her lover feels greater 
 grief, and is more injured by fortune. Who will weep for what 
 he never had ? No one , but will rather desire it. It follows there- 
 fore that one of the ladies wept for grief, the other for desire." 
 
 The youth answered that what she said was difficult to con- 
 ceive, since one who has had his will of a thing desired, ought to 
 be more contented in his mind than one who desires and cannot 
 fulfill his desire. "I verily believe that he feels deeper grief who 
 hopes for something which it is possible to have, and cannot ob- 
 tain it on account of obstacles in his way, than one who weeps 
 for something lost and impossible to recover." 
 
 Then the lady said: "Your reply is well founded, provided your 
 question had referred to prolonged grief; but in the case before us 
 we' shall decide that she felt greater grief who had lost her lover 
 beyond hope of recovery; for the other, if we consider the matter 
 
72 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 carefully, could hope to fulfill in the future what she had been 
 unable to accomplish in the past. Hope is a great diminution of 
 grief. It had power to keep Penelope long alive, virtuous, and 
 less sad than she would otherwise have been." 
 
 Question III. 
 
 At Longanio's right hand sat a very beautiful and pleasing 
 lady, who when she heard the question settled by their Queen, 
 began thus sweetly to speak: "Famous Queen, give ear awhile to 
 my words, and then by the Gods whom you adore, and by the 
 power of our game, I beg you will give useful counsel to my 
 inquiries. 
 
 " Descended from noble parents as you know, I was born in this 
 city, and was named full of grace; although my surname Cara 
 represents me to hearers, and is seen by my face, I received from 
 the Gods and from nature a peculiar gift of beauty, which 
 following my name more than my surname has adorned it with 
 infinite pleasantness, showing me affable to him who has been 
 pleased to regard it. For this reason many have attempted to 
 fill my eyes with their pleasure, against all of whom I have 
 defended myself, keeping my heart firm against all their attacks. 
 But because it seems unjust that I alone should violate the law 
 observed by all others, that is, not to love, being loved by many 
 I have purposed to love; and rejecting many seekers after this 
 love, some of whom excel Midas in wealth, others, Absalom in 
 beauty, and some more resplendent than others in family ac- 
 cording to the opinion of the ignorant herd, I have chosen three, 
 each of whom is equally pleasing to me. Of the three, one, I 
 believe, would surpass the good Hector in bodily strength, the 
 courtesy and liberality of the second is so great that his fame re- 
 sounds to either pole, the third is so full of wisdom, that he far 
 excels the other sages. But because, as you have heard, their 
 qualities are different, I am now in doubt as to my choice, finding 
 that in ancient times each of these things moved in various ways 
 the hearts of men and women. Counsel me, therefore, on which 
 of these I should rather bestow myself to win less blame and 
 greater assurance."'^ 
 
 " Similar is the "question" in the Canzonette Antiche, p. 42, already cited 
 on p. II; see note 70, Chapter I, where, however, there are but two lovers. 
 Similar "questions" are found in Provengal, e.g., Gr. 436, I, Which is prefer- 
 able, wisdom or boldness? cited by Selbach, p. 74; see also Knobloch, p. ^9. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 73 
 
 The affable lady having heard her question, thus replied: 
 "There is no one of the three who would not worthily deserve 
 the love of a fair and gracious lady ; but since in this case castles 
 have not to be stormed, or the realms of the great Alexander, 
 or the treasures of Ptolemy to be bestowed, but love and honor 
 to be long and discreetly preserved, which neither strength nor 
 courtesy preserve, but only knowledge, we declare that you and 
 every other lady should rather bestow her love upon the sage, 
 than upon any one of the others." 
 
 The lady who had propounded the question replied: "Oh, 
 how different my opinion is from yours! It seemed to me that 
 any one of the others should be chosen before the sage, and the 
 reason is this. Love derives everything from the heart he occu- 
 pies, and moves it according to his pleasure. If love then has 
 power to deprive people of their judgment, taking from the wise 
 their wisdom, nothing will remain ; but if he takes from the strong 
 and courteous their little knowledge, he will increase their virtue, 
 and so when they are enamoured they will be more worthy than 
 the sage. Moreover, love can not be hidden and when revealed 
 is often wont to cause serious changes. What remedy can the 
 sage who has lost his judgment bring against these? The strong 
 man can by his strength aid himself and others in changes. The 
 courteous man may by his courtesy have won the minds of many, 
 who will aid and esteem him and others for his sake." 
 
 The Queen answered: "If what you say were so, who would be 
 wise? No one, but even he whom you state to be wise and in 
 love with you, would be a fool and not to be chosen. The Gods 
 forbid that what you say should happen. We do not deny that 
 the wise know evil and sometimes commit it, but they do not on 
 that account lose their sense, since when they wish to check their 
 will by their reason they remain with their accustomed sense. 
 In this wise their loves are hidden for a long time or always, 
 which does not happen to one unwise, no matter how strong or 
 courteous he may be. If his love be revealed he will provide for 
 the safety of the lady's honor and his own with a hundred de- 
 vices. Let then the wisest be loved, hoping that in every case 
 he will prove more useful than any of the others." 
 
74 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Question IV. 
 
 The gentle lady appeared satisfied, whereupon Menedon who sat 
 next her said : "Mighty Queen, it is now my turn, and I ask your 
 pardon if I am too lengthy, for the question I mean to propose 
 cannot be fully understood if it be not preceded by a novel, which 
 will perhaps not be brief." 
 
 He then related the novel which Boccaccio later inserted in the 
 Decameron, X, 5, with some changes. The story is too long 
 to give here in full, and a brief outline, which will permit com- 
 parison with the later form, must suffice. 
 
 In the city where I was born, began the narrator, a wealthy and 
 noble cavalier deeply loved a noble lady of the same city and 
 married her. With this lady, being most beautiful, another 
 cavalier named Tarolfo fell in love so deeply that he neither saw 
 nor desired any thing but her, and endeavored to win her love in 
 many ways, by passing before her house, by jousting or tilting, 
 and by other acts, sending her messengers and promising her 
 great gifts. The lady bore all these things secretly and gave the 
 cavalier no sign or reply, thinking that he would perhaps cease 
 to love her. He continued his importunities, however, and the 
 lady fearing that it would reach her husband's ears purposed to 
 reveal the matter to him. Then she thought that if she did, 
 something might occur that would make her unhappy forever, 
 and so she devised a cunning trick to rid herself of her lover. 
 She sent word to Tarolfo that if he loved her as greatly as he 
 showed, she wanted a gift from him, which if she received she 
 swore by the Gods and her faith as a gentlewoman, that she 
 would do his pleasure. If he did not give her what she asked, he 
 should not tempt her further unless he wished her to reveal it 
 to her husband. The gift she asked was this, that she wanted in 
 that city in the month of January, a large and beautiful garden 
 full of grass, and flowers, and trees, and fruits, as if it were in' the 
 month of May. 
 
 When Tarolfo heard this, although it seemed impossible, and 
 he well knew why the lady had asked it, he replied, that he would 
 never rest or return to her presence, until he should give her the 
 present she had asked. He then left the city with some com- 
 panions and made his way to Thessaly where a wise man had sent 
 him. There after a long search he found a little old man named 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 75 
 
 Tebano who declared himself able to perform the task demanded 
 by the lady, in consideration of which Tarolfo promised to share 
 equally with him his entire fortune. They departed forthwith 
 for the city where the lady lived, and when the month of January 
 arrived Tarolfo called upon him to execute his undertaking. 
 A minute account is then given of the incantation which results 
 in the creation of the garden desired. 
 
 Tarolfo then appeared before the lady, who had not seen him 
 for a long time, and told her that he had fulfilled her command and 
 that whenever she wished to see it or take possession of it, it 
 was at her pleasure. The lady, greatly amazed, said she would 
 see it the following day. She went there then accompanied by 
 many of her friends, and saw that Tarolfo had fulfilled what she 
 had asked. She turned to Tarolfo and said: "Without fail, 
 cavalier, you have won my love and I am ready to grant you 
 what I promised, but I beg one favor of you, that you will be 
 pleased to wait until my lord goes hunting or is absent in some 
 other part of the city. Tarolfo acquiesced, and the lady returned 
 home full of melancholy, and took thought how she could revoke 
 her promise; but finding no legitimate excuse, her sorrow in- 
 creased. Her husband seeing this asked her what the matter 
 was and at last she revealed all to him. After long thought her 
 husband bade her keep her promise, for Tarolfo deserved its 
 fulfillment for his great trouble. He declared further that she 
 would not forfeit his love, and that another time she would 
 refrain from such promises, not deeming the gift demanded so 
 impossible to have. 
 
 The lady dressed and adorned herself, and accompanied by 
 friends presented herself in Tarolfo's abode. Tarolfo wondered 
 at her coming in that guise and with that company, and she 
 thereupon related the whole matter to him. The lover not to 
 be outdone in generosity by the husband bade her return home 
 when she would and thank her husband for him, and excuse him 
 to him for the folly of his past actions; declaring that in the 
 future he would not commit such actions. The lady thanked 
 Tarolfo for his courtesy and departed joyfully to her husband, to 
 whom she told all that had happened. 
 
 Tebano meanwhile sought Tarolfo and asked him how the 
 matter had gone. Tarolfo told him, and Tebano asked whether 
 he should lose what he had been promised. Tarolfo replied that 
 
76 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 he should not, and was at Hberty to take the half of all he pos- 
 sessed as he deemed he had served him perfectly. Tebano re- 
 plied: "The Gods forbid, that where the cavalier was so generous 
 to you with his wife, and you were not discourteous to him, I 
 should be less than courteous. I wish, therefore, that what I 
 was to receive in return for my services should remain yours as 
 it was before." Nor would he ever take anything from Tarolfo. 
 
 It is a question now which was the greatest liberality, that of 
 the cavalier, who allowed his wife to go to Tarolfo, or that of 
 Tarolfo, who sent the lady back untouched to her husband, or 
 that of Tebano, who refused the gifts promised him and remained 
 poor as he was before. ^^ 
 
 The Queen said: "The novel and question are very fine, and 
 in truth each was very liberal, and when we consider carefully, 
 the first was courteous as to his honor, the second as to his lust- 
 ful desire,' the third as to his acquired gain ; but if we wish to 
 know which displayed the greatest liberality and courtesy, we 
 must consider which of these things is the most precious; when 
 we know this we shall evidently know who was the most liberal ; 
 for who gives most is to be held the most liberal. Of these three 
 things one is precious, that is honor. Therefore if honor alone is 
 precious in these three things, and the others not, he displayed 
 greatest liberality who bestowed that, and, according to our 
 opinion, the one who gave the lady in whom consisted his honor 
 was more liberal than the others." 
 
 Menedon replies at considerable length to prove that Tarolfo 
 was more generous than the husband, and Tebano the most 
 generous of all. 
 
 The Queen makes an elaborate answer in defence of her judg- 
 ment, and concludes with the words: "The cavalier, then, who 
 granted his honor was more liberal than either of the others. 
 
 " This story was afterwards used by Boccaccio in the Decameron, X, 5. 
 See M. Landau, Die Quellen des Dekameron, 2d ed., Stuttgart, 1884, pp. 93, 
 100, 248, and Liebrecht's translation of Dunlop, Berlin, 1851, p. 251, where 
 imitations of this story are mentioned. A part of the story, the elaborate in- 
 cantation scene, was taken by Boccaccio from Ovid's Met. VII, 179-289; see 
 Zingarelli in Romania, XIV, 433. The story is substantially the same as 
 "The Franklin's Tale'[ in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which is discussed by 
 W. A. Clouston in Originals and Analogues of some of Chaucer's Canterbury 
 Tales, Second Series, p. 291 et seg. The most curious version of the story is 
 that told by Boiardo in his Orlando Innamorato, where it fills the whole of the 
 twelfth canto; in this form of the tale the husband, not to be outdone in gen- 
 erosity, departs forever and leaves his wife to his rival. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 77 
 
 And reflect, that the honor which he gave was impossible to 
 be recovered again, which is not the case with many other things, 
 as battles, enterprises, etc., which it is possible to regain if once 
 lost; but let this suffice for your question." 
 
 Question V. . 
 
 After the Queen was silent and Menedon satisfied, a worthy 
 youth named Clonico, who sat next to Menedon, thus began: 
 "Fair Queen, so long and interesting has been the novel of this 
 noble youth that I will state my purpose briefly, in order that the 
 others may have leisure for theirs in the short time left. 
 
 " While walking in the spring along the sea shore I saw a bark 
 approach, in which were four beautiful damsels and a single 
 mariner. When the boat drew near I saw in the midst a bright 
 light, and in it I seemed to see the figure of a young angel, who 
 exclaimed: 'O youth, foolish opposer of our power, now thou art 
 overtaken. I have come here with four beautiful damsels; take 
 for your lady the one who most pleases your eyes.' 
 
 " The youth was smitten with love for one of them, who ap- 
 peared pleased with it; but when she knew him so captivated 
 with pleasure in her that it would be impossible for him not to 
 love her, she treated him with the greatest scorn and cruelty. 
 
 " While grieving alone one day in a garden, he encountered an 
 
 . intimate friend of his, who partly knew his sad story and tried 
 
 to comfort him. The unhappy lover insisted that his sorrow 
 
 exceeded any other; whereupon his frifend replied that he had 
 
 greater reason to grieve and related his experience. 
 
 " He loved a lady who returned his love, and there was but 
 one drop of bitterness in his cup : he could not make her believe 
 how perfectly he loved her. One day while alone with her in a 
 spot where they could see the passers-by without being seen 
 themselves, a youth of gracious and pleasing aspect passed, whom 
 the lady beheld and then heaved a pitiful sigh. The lover cried : 
 'Alas, are you so soon tired of me that you sigh for the beauty of 
 another youth?' She endeavored to convince him that he was 
 wrong, but he could not help believing she loved this youth or 
 some other better than him, whereat he suffered great woe." 
 
 The two friends insisted each that his sorrow was the greater, 
 and the narrator of the question asks the Queen to judge be- 
 tween them. 
 
78 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The Queen replied: "Youth, great is your pain, and wrong is 
 the lady in not loving you, but still, your sorrow may be as- 
 suaged by hope, which is not the case with your companion; for 
 since he has once entertained suspicions, nothing can drive them 
 away. He will then continually grieve without comfort, while 
 love lasts; and therefore according to our judgment, greater 
 appears the sorrow of a jealous man, than of one who loves and 
 is not loved." 
 
 Cleonico, as usual, demurs, and alleges that the jealous lover 
 is in possession of the beloved and his enjoyment is greater than 
 his suffering, and he may banish his jealousy if he finds by ex- 
 perience that it is ungrounded. He concludes that it is better 
 to possess with doubt, than to desire with tears. 
 
 The Queen makes an elaborate reply and exhorts the lover to 
 dry his tears, and hopes that he will not lose the reward of the 
 true love he bears his lady, for although she may be harsh to 
 him in his presence, it is impossible that she will not love him, 
 for love never excuses any loved one from loving, and the sturdy 
 oaks break in the violent wind sooner than the yielding reeds. 
 
 Question VI. 
 
 Next to Cleonico sat a fair lady dressed in mourning with a 
 modest veil, who, when she perceived that the Queen had finished 
 speaking, thus began: " Gracious Queen, I remember that while 
 yet a little girl, I was alone in a garden with my brother, a hand- 
 some youth and of age; and it happened while we were there, 
 that two damsels, of noble blood and large wealth, natives of 
 our city, and in love with my brother, knowing him to be in that 
 garden, both came there, and began to gaze at him from a dis- 
 tance. Now he knew nothing of all these things. After a time, 
 seeing that he was alone except for me, for whom they cared 
 little because I was small, they began to say among themselves; 
 'We love this youth above all things, and do not know whether he 
 loves us, nor is it proper that he should love us both ; but now it 
 is permitted us here to enjoy a part of our desire for him, and to 
 learn whether he loves one of us, or which he loves the more, and 
 the one he loves the more shall be his without any obstacle on the 
 part of the other. Therefore, now that he is here alone, and we 
 have time, let us run, and each embrace and kiss him, and he will 
 afterwards take the one who will please him the more.' The 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 79 
 
 young girls deciding to do this, began to run over the green 
 grass towards my brother, who was surprised to see them coming 
 as they did. One of them while still at a distance stopped, bash- 
 ful and almost in tears; the other ran up to him and embraced 
 and kissed him, and seated herself beside him and commended 
 herself to him. After his wonder at her boldness had somewhat 
 subsided he begged her to tell him the whole truth of the matter. 
 She hid nothing from him, and after he heard it and pondered in 
 his mind what both had done, he could not decide which loved 
 him the more, nor^which he should love the more. He asked the 
 advice of several of his friends, but none answered his question 
 to his pleasure; wherefore I beg you, from whom I truly believe 
 I shall have the true decision, to tell me which of these two young 
 girls should be loved the more by the youth. "^^ 
 
 The Queen replied: "It seems certain to us that the one who 
 loved your brother the more, and should be the more beloved by 
 him, is the one who remained in doubt without embracing him. 
 This is why we think thus: Love, as we know,' always makes those 
 timid in whom he dwells, and, the greater the love, the greater 
 the fear. It was therefore the act of one truly in love which the 
 timid and bashful girl displayed. The act of the other was rather 
 that of a wicked sensual woman than of a woman in love, and 
 therefore he, being more loved by the first, should according to 
 our judgment love her the more." 
 
 The lady said, in answer, that " where love is moderate fear 
 and bashfulness are present, but when it is so abundant that it 
 deprives the wisest of sight, there is no fear. Therefore that 
 young girl seeing herself in the presence of the one she desired 
 was so inflamed with love that abandoning all shame she ran to 
 the one who so deeply attracted her that she could endure it no 
 longer. The other, not so deeply enamoured, observed more 
 closely the bounds of love, being bashful and stopping as you 
 related. Therefore the first loves the more, and should be the 
 more loved." 
 
 The Queen replies at great length, citing Biblis, Phaedra, 
 Pasiphae, Semiramis, and Cleopatra, as examples of wicked 
 boldness, who did not love, but sought only to gratify their lust. 
 
 15 This "question" is found in Provengal; see Gr. 167, 42, cited by Selbach, 
 p 75 It is often a question in Provengal as to whicli lover a lady shall choose, 
 one who dares to confess his love or one who does not. See Gr. 392, 29. 
 
80 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Wise merchants do not risk all their treasures at one time, but 
 a small part and feel no sorrow if it is lost. "The young girl then 
 who embraced your brother loved little and hazarded that little, 
 saying: 'If I win him by this, very well; if he refuses me, there 
 will be nothing to do but to find another.' The other who stopped 
 bashful, although she loved him above all things, feared to risk so 
 much love, thinking, 'If this should perchance displease him, and 
 he should refuse me, my grief would be so great that I should 
 die.' The second, therefore, should be more loved than the 
 first." 
 
 Question VII. 
 
 It was now Galeone's turn, but he was so absorbed in con- 
 templating the beauty of the Queen, whose face was irradiated 
 by the reflection of the sun in the spring, that he remained 
 silent until the Queen asked the cause of his absorption. He 
 replied with a poetic description of what he saw in his fancy, 
 concluding with a canzone. The Queen, clothed in humility, made 
 no answer, wherefore Galeone continued: "Gracious Queen, I 
 desire to know whether every man for his own good ought to 
 love or not. I am moved to ask this by many things which I 
 have seen and heard, and learned from the various opinions of 
 men." 
 
 The Queen's reply involves a long disquisition on the nature of 
 love a topic, as we shall see later, of endless discussion during the 
 sixteenth century. The views held by the Queen are valuable as 
 showing the change which mediaeval love had already undergone 
 in Italy, a change of the utmost importance in its relations to 
 the literature of the day. I can give here only a brief outline of 
 the discussion. 
 
 Love, said the Queen, is of three kinds, by which all things are 
 loved. The first is virtuous love {amore onesto), which is the 
 good, right, and loyal love, which should be preferred by all. 
 This unites the Creator to his creatures, and them to him. By 
 it the heavens, the earth, the state, provinces, and cities con- 
 tinue in existence. By it we deserve to become the eternal 
 possessors of the heavenly kingdom. 
 
 The second kind of love is called love for pleasure (amore per 
 diletto), and this is the one to which we are subject. This is our 
 God, him we adore, to him we pray, in him we hope to find our 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 81 
 
 contentment, and that he can fully satisfy our desires. The 
 question propounded concerns this Love, whether it is good to 
 subject ourselves to him; and to this we shall give due 
 answer. 
 
 The third love is love for utility {amore per utilitd,), of which 
 the world is fuller than of any other kind. This kind of love is 
 connected with fortune; while it lasts this kind of love abides. 
 But since in reply to the question propounded, it is not necessary 
 to speak of the first nor of the last kind of love, we shall confine 
 ourselves to the second, that is, love, for pleasure, to which no 
 one who is desirous of leading a virtuous life should subject him- 
 self; for it deprives of honor, causes troubles, awakens vices, 
 induces vain anxieties, and unworthily interferes with the liberty 
 of others, which should be held more precious than any other 
 thing. Who, therefore, if he be wise, will not for his own good 
 shun such dominion? Let who can live in freedom, following 
 those things which increase liberty, and let vicious lords follow 
 vicious vassals. 
 
 Galeone defends this love, which, he declares, should be fol- 
 lowed by all who desire a glorious end, because it increases worth, 
 as he hopes to show later. He then describes the effects of this 
 love: it strips the heart of pride and fierceness, making it humble 
 in every act; it makes the covetous and misers liberal and cour- 
 teous; it makes men anxious for noble things; it extinguishes 
 wrath; it makes men bold and strong, etc. Each of these state- 
 ments is confirmed by examples taken from ancient history and 
 mythology. In conclusion Galeone exclaims: "This, then, does 
 not banish honor, as you say, nor cause trouble, nor awaken 
 vices, etc. Every one, on the contrary, should strive to win the 
 favor of such a lord and be subject to him, since by him one be- 
 comes worthy. That which pleased the Gods and mightiest 
 men should likewise please us; let such a lord then be followed, 
 loved, served, and live forever in our minds." 
 
 The Queen refutes the arguments of Galeone, taking up in 
 turn his exampiles, and adding a number of her own, with an 
 impassioned peroration: "Who then except the foolish will ad- 
 vise us to follow this love? Certainly, if permitted, we would 
 willingly live without it, but too late we perceive the harm it 
 does, and since we are in its toils we are obliged to follow its life, 
 until that light which led ^neas from the dark pass, shunning 
 7 ■ . 
 
82 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the dangerous fires, shall appear before us and draw us from its 
 allurements." 
 
 Question VIII. 
 
 At Galeone's right hand sat a fair lady, whose name was 
 Pola, of pleasing aspect beneath a modest veil; as soon as the 
 Queen was silent she began : " O noble Queen, you have just now 
 decided that no one should follow this love of ours, and I agree; 
 but it seems to me impossible that the youth of men and women 
 can pass without feeling this love. Wherefore by your leave 
 departing from your sentence, I shall hold it lawful to love, and 
 consequently I wish to leam from you which of two ladies should 
 rather be loved by a youth, both equally pleasing to him, the one 
 who is of noble blood and powerful relatives, and much wealthier 
 than the youth, or the other who is neither noble nor rich, nor 
 as well provided with relatives as the youth?" 
 
 The Queen replied : "Fair lady, granting that man and woman 
 should love as you have just said, we judge that although the 
 lady be richer and nobler than the youth, in whatever degree or 
 rank it may be, she should be loved by him rather than the one 
 who is inferior to him. The mind of man was- created to follow 
 lofty things; therefore it ought to exalt and not debase itself." 
 
 The charming Pola is naturally of another mind, and points out 
 the dangers of loving a lady of higher rank. The queen answers 
 her arguments, and shows how such a love will elevate a man. 
 
 Question IX. 
 
 Feramonte, Duke of Montorio, who sat next the charming Pola, 
 began thus: "Agreeing with this lady that one must love, you 
 have replied to her question, that one ought to love a lady nobler 
 than himself rather than one less noble. With this decision we 
 can agree on account of the reasons which you have brought 
 forward. But since there are various kinds of gentle ladies, that 
 is, occupying diverse classes, who (as it is believed) love differently, 
 one more, another less, one more fervently, another more tepidly. 
 I wish to know from you, with which of these three: maid, wife, 
 or widow, a youth should fall in love, to accomplish more happily 
 his desire. "^^ 
 
 1^ This "question" is common in Provencal, Italian, and French; see Kno- 
 bloch, pp. 47, 68, and Poeti del prima secolo, II, pp. 395, 526. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 83 
 
 The Queen decides at once that one of these three, that is the 
 wife, is to be desired in no wise, because she is not at hberty to 
 bestow herself, and it is contrary to divine and natural laws. 
 Of the other two, the widow is to be preferred on account of her 
 larger experience. 
 
 Feramonte agrees with the Queen that the wife should be left 
 out of the question, but he pronounces in favor of the maid 
 precisely on account of her inexperience. When she loves it 
 will be more deeply than the widow and she will be more anxious 
 to please her lover. 
 
 The Queen defends her decision with arguments which cannot 
 be quoted here, and which reveal a freedom of discussion which 
 is one of the characteristics of Italian society of the period of the 
 Renaissance. 
 
 Question X. 
 
 After Feramonte it was the turn of Ascalione, who sat next him 
 in the circle, to propose his question, and he spoke thus: "I re- 
 member that there was once in our city a fair and noble lady, the 
 widow of a valiant husband, who was loved by many noble youths 
 for her wonderful beauty. Above all, two gentle and valiant 
 cavaliers loved her as deeply as they could. Now it happened 
 that the lady was unjustly accused by her relatives, and con- 
 demned to the stake on the strength of false testimony. The 
 judge was perplexed because he had an inkling of the falseness of 
 the evidence", and wishing to commit her life to the Gods and to 
 fortune, he added this condition to the sentence : If after the lady 
 was led to the stake any cavalier should be found who wished to 
 fight for her deliverance against the first who should oppose him, 
 the lady's fate should depend upon her champion's victory or 
 defeat. This condition was learned by one of the two lovers 
 sooner than by the other, and he at once armed himself and rode 
 to the lists ready to defend the lady's life against all comers. 
 The other lover, hearing that his rival was already in the lists for 
 her defence, and that there was no opportunity for him to do 
 likewise, did not know what to do and sorrowfully imagined that 
 he had lost the lady's love by his tardiness, and that the other 
 had justly won it. Thus grieving, he happened to think that if 
 he should go armed to the lists before any other, declaring that 
 the lady ought to die, and allow himself to be defeated, he might 
 deliver her. He did this and the lady escaped. 
 
84 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 " Some days after the lady's deliverance, the first cavalier went 
 to her and humbly commended himself to her, reminding her how 
 he had exposed himself to mortal danger in order to deliver her 
 from death, and thanks to the Gods and to his prowess he had 
 saved her and himself from such a fate. She should therefore by 
 way of reward bestow upon him her love, which he had always 
 desired above all things. The second cavalier came afterwards 
 with a similar entreaty, saying that he had run the risk of death 
 for her, and in order that she might not die he had submitted to 
 be defeated at the cost of eternal infamy, whereas he might have 
 won victorious honor, if he had wished to employ his strength for 
 her safety. The lady thanked each kindly, promising both the 
 reward due the services they had rendered her. After their 
 departure the lady remained in doubt upon which she should 
 bestow her love, upon the first or upon the second, and asked 
 advice upon this point. To which should you say she ought 
 rather to bestow it?" 
 
 " We should hold," said the Queen, "that the first is to be loved, 
 and the last to be rejected, because the first displayed strength, 
 and showed his love actively, exposing himself to every danger, 
 even to death, which might easily have occurred if one of the 
 lady's enemies had been as solicitous as the lover to wage battle 
 against him. The second cavalier went prudently neither to 
 die nor to let the lady die. Therefore since he risked less he 
 deserves to gain less. The first should have the lady's love since 
 he has justly won it." 
 
 Ascalione, of course, takes the other side and declares that the 
 first cavalier was sufficiently rewarded by the honor of his victory; 
 but should the other, who acted with prudence and judgment, go 
 unrewarded ? Is not judgment to be preferred to bodily strength? 
 If he did not learn the condition as soon as the other, it was not 
 the result of neglect. If he had known it, perhaps he would have 
 hastened more quickly than the other. What he did as a last 
 resort he did discreetly, for which he should justly be rewarded 
 by the lady's love. 
 
 The Queen replies with the curious argument that perhaps the 
 second cavalier did what he did not from love of the lady, but 
 was merely moved by envy to disturb the first cavalier in his 
 enterprise. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 85 
 
 Question XI. 
 
 A lady by the name of Graziosa, of very seemly aspect, fol- 
 lowed. "It is my turn, fair Queen, to propose my question, 
 which I shall do very briefly in order not to trespass upon the 
 time allotted to the festival, which is now approaching. If it 
 were permitted I should willingly refrain from proposing it; 
 but that I may not disregard your commands and the order 
 observed by the others, I shall propose this: Which is the greater 
 pleasure for the lover, to see his lady bodily, or not seeing her, 
 to think lovingly of her?"'-'' 
 
 The Queen decided in favor of the latter, because in thinking of 
 the beloved the spirit rejoices and its desires are satisfied with this 
 joy, which is not the case with the sight. 
 
 The lady who proposed the question defended the other side 
 on the ground that beauty pleases by the sight, and we are satis- 
 fied by beholding it, whereas if we only think of seeing it our de- 
 sire increases, and he experiences greater delight who is satis- 
 fied than he who desires to be satisfied. She further cites the 
 case of Laodamia and Protesilaus. 
 
 The Queen in reply enumerates some of the advantages of the 
 sight, among them the lover's timidity in his lady's presence. 
 The case of Laodamia is not in point, as her thoughts were not 
 of the class in question, since she dwelt on her loss and constantly 
 recalled the death of her husband. She could not therefore think 
 of him in the manner now under discussion. 
 
 Question XII. 
 
 Next to the lady who proposed the last question sat Par- 
 menione, who related a story which may be briefly disposed of 
 here. 
 
 A youth loved a beautiful and wealthy girl and was beloved by 
 her. He employed as his messenger a loathsome old beggar- 
 woman, who conducted him to his beloved's house where all 
 three, girl, lover, and go-between, were surprised and seized by 
 
 " A somewhat similar idea is found in Provengal: Do the eyes or the heart 
 contribute more to preserve love in a faithful lover? See P. Meyer, Verniers 
 Troubadours de la Provence, p. 71. The "question" in the text is substantially 
 that mentioned in the introduction to the Filostrato and cited later in this 
 chapter. The same question is found in Tirso de Molina's Deleytar Aprove- 
 chando. This "question" constitutes the subject of the Veneris Tribunal; 
 see Chap. V, p. 215, of the present work. 
 
86 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the lady's brothers. They were friends of the youth and knowing 
 that he had not yet wronged them, they were unwilHng to harm 
 him as they might have done. So in lieu of punishment they 
 gave him his choice of two things, to pass a year with the old 
 woman and with their sister, swearing solemnly that if he spent 
 the first year with their sister he would bestow the same caresses 
 and endearments upon the old woman during the second year 
 that he passed with her. If on the other hand, he spent the first 
 year with the old woman, he would bestow in the second year 
 the same caresses upon the sister which he had lavished upon the 
 old woman during the first year. The youth was anxious to 
 live and agreed to the condition. He was in doubt, however, 
 with which to begin, with the young or with the old woman, and 
 the Queen is asked for her advice. 
 
 The Queen smiled at the story, as did the others, and replied, 
 that the youth should choose the young girl rather than the old 
 woman, because no one should renounce the present for the 
 future good. This is wise because we are not sure of the future, 
 and many who have acted otherwise have regretted it. 
 
 Parmenione dissents, and urges that we should seek rest after 
 labor, for rest without toil is no pleasure. Also the joy which the 
 youth would have with the" young girl would be overshadowed by 
 the thought of what was in store for him. He cites the case of 
 Leander and Hero, where pleasure followed toil. 
 
 The Queen answers that if we were sure that pleasure would 
 follow toil there would be weight in Parmenione's argument. 
 But who knows but evil may be followed by something worse. 
 If the youth spends the first year with the old woman, the young 
 girl may die, or her brothers repent of their agreement. He 
 ^\■ho toils in order to rest proves that he cannot find rest without 
 toil. Would Leander have swum the sea if he could otherwise 
 have obtained Hero? 
 
 Question XIII. 
 
 Massalino, who completed the circle, sitting on the Queen's 
 right and next to Parmenione, then spoke: "It is my turn to pro- 
 pose the last question, and in order to enhance the fine novels and 
 questions already propounded, I shall repeat a very pretty story, 
 which ends with a nice question to decide." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 87 
 
 The story then related by Massalino was employed later by 
 Boccaccio in the Decamerone, X, 4, and may therefore be briefly 
 givqn here.^* 
 
 A cavalier deeply loved the beautiful wife of a wealthy gentle- 
 man, who did not return his love, as she was devoted to her hus- 
 band. The lover was appointed to rule over a neighboring city 
 and departed. One day a messenger from the former city came 
 to him and told him among other news that the lady he loved 
 died that morning and was honorably buried by her parents in 
 his presence. The cavalier was deeply grieved, and waiting until 
 night, he returned to the city with a trusty servant and went to 
 the lady's tomb. He opened it and entering alone began to 
 kiss and fondle the body of his beloved. While thus engaged 
 he imagined he felt a sign of life, and immediately conveyed the 
 lady to the house of his mother, whom he swore to secrecy, and 
 there after many efforts the lady was restored to life and gave 
 birth to a son. 
 
 The next day the cavalier revealed himself to her and asked as 
 the only reward for the service he had rendered her, that she 
 would remain in his mother's house without revealing herself 
 to her husband or any one else, until his term of office had ex- 
 pired, which would not be long. She promised that she would do 
 as he requested, and he departed to return shortly. A few days 
 after his return he gave a splendid banquet, to which he invited 
 the lady's husband and brothers and many other guests. The 
 lady, dressed as she was on the day of her burial, was seated next 
 her husband, who regarded her with curiosity, thinking he recog- 
 nized the dress she wore; but he did not dare to address her. 
 At last he asked the cavalier who she was, and was told: "Ask 
 the lady herself, for I cannot say, from so unpleasant a place have 
 I brought her." Then the husband asked the lady who she was, 
 and she answered: "This cavalier brought me here in some un- 
 known way from that happy life which we all desire." The 
 husband's wonder was only increased by these words. After the 
 banquet the cavalier led his guests into another room and there 
 put the child in the father's arms and revealed the whole matter. 
 The cavalier had served the lady with the same tenderness and 
 
 " See Landau, ed. cit., p. 326, and F. Liebricht, Zur Volkshunde, Heilbronn, 
 1879, p. 61, et seq,., " Die Todten von Lustnau." See Rajna, Romania, XXXI, 
 pp. 57 et seq., and Hauvette, op. cit., p. 124. 
 
88 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 good faith as if she had been his sister; wherefore, the doubt arises 
 which was the greater, the cavaUer's loyalty, or the joy of the 
 husband who recovered the wife and child whom he had deemed 
 lost. 
 
 The Queen decides that the husband's joy was natural; but 
 the cavalier's loyalty was the result of the constraining influence 
 of virtue, and was therefore greater than the husband's joy. 
 
 Massalino replies that the cavalier only did his duty, for we 
 are all bound to act virtuously. 
 
 The Queen in conclusion declares that it is not a great thing 
 to obey the laws of nature which can not be avoided; but it is 
 an act of mental virtue to obey positive laws, and mental virtues 
 are to be preferred to bodily deeds. 
 
 There was no one left after Massalino to propose questions, 
 since all had done so; and the sun already declining left the air 
 cooler in that place. Therefore Fiammetta, the revered queen 
 of the people of love, arose and said: "Lords and ladies, our ques- 
 tions are ended, which we have answered, thanks to the Gods, 
 according to our modest knowledge, following the rules of pleasant 
 conversation rather than formal interrogation ; and we are aware 
 that many other things might be said about them and in a better 
 way than we have done ; but what has been said is sufficient for 
 our festival ; let the rest remain for the philosophizers at Athens. 
 We see that Phoebus no longer regards us with direct looks, and 
 we feel the air cooled, and our companions have begun again the 
 festival, which we abandoned, coming here on account of the 
 heat, wherefore it seems to us that we should likewise return to 
 it." After these words she took the laurel crown from her head 
 with her delicate hands and placed it where she sat, saying: 
 "Here I leave the crown of my honor and of yours, until we re- 
 turn again to a like conversation"; and taking by the hand 
 Filocolo, who had already arisen with the others, she and they 
 resumed their festivities. 
 
 The joyful instruments sounded, and the air on all sides was 
 filled with songs of love, and no part of the garden was without 
 its festival. There they all remained joyfully until the end of 
 the day, but when the night overtook them, and the stars showed 
 their light, it seemed time to the lady and the others to return 
 to the city. When they reached it, Filocolo, taking leave of her, 
 said: "Noble Fiammetta, if the Gods should ever grant that I 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 89 
 
 be mine as I am another's, certainly I would straightway be 
 yours; but because I am not my own I cannot give myself to 
 another. Nevertheless in so far as my wretched heart can re- 
 cei^•e a new flame, in so much it is enkindled by your worth, and 
 ever will be and always more deeply, desiring never to forget 
 it." Filocolo was greatly thanked by her on parting, and she 
 added the hope that the Gods would soon graciously gratify 
 his wishes. 
 
 With Filocolo's further story we have nothing to do; but for 
 the sake of completeness it may be said, that after many adven- 
 tures he reaches Alexandria and contrives to make his way to 
 Biancofiore, who is imprisoned in a tower. The lovers are dis- 
 covered and condemned to be bujned alive. Venus, however, 
 descends from heaven and protects them against the flames, 
 while Mars leads Filocolo's companions against the enemy 
 and defeats them. Finally, the Admiral recognizes Filocolo as 
 his nephew, and marries him to Biancofiore. Upon his journey 
 home Filocolo makes the acquaintance of Biancofiore's noble 
 relatives in Rome, and becomes a Christian, and when he reaches 
 Marmorina and his father, he causes his pagan people to be 
 baptized. 
 
 The Filocolo episode is of great importance from many points 
 of view ; as has already been shown it is of great value for the 
 biography of Boccaccio, and contains the germs of nearly all 
 his later works. Two of the questions flow from novels after- 
 wards employed in the Decameron, and the setting of this famous 
 work is substantially that of the Filocolo : a company of ladies and 
 gentlemen amusing themselves in the country by telling stories. 
 This setting proved enormously popular and was imitated as 
 we shall see by a host of Italian novelists ; but it is probable that 
 this popularity was based upon the fact that the thing described 
 was true to life, and that the above episode was merely a picture 
 of one of the favorite diversions of Neapolitan society. Boccaccio 
 alludes to the custom of questions in the introduction to another 
 work of his, the Filostrato, composed in 1338 or 1341, that is, 
 during his second stay in Naples. 
 
 In the work in question he says: "Most noble lady [the poem 
 is dedicated to the same Fiammetta mentioned above], it has 
 often happened that I, who almost from my childhood to the 
 present time have been in the service of Love, finding myself in 
 
90 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 his court among gentlemen and lovely ladies abiding there like 
 me, have heard this question raised and discussed, namely: 
 A youth deeply loves a lady, in respect to whom fortune grants 
 him no other thing than the ability to see her sometimes, or 
 sometimes to speak of her, or sweetly to think within himself of 
 her. Which of these three things is the most delightful? It 
 never happened but that each of these three things was defended 
 by varous persons zealously and with incisive arguments." 
 
 This, it will be remembered, is practically the eleventh question 
 in the Filocolo episode. ^^ 
 
 It is probable that the Filocolo episode contributed largely to the 
 vogue of questions in later times. The first edition of the entire 
 work appeared in Venice, 1472, and it was early translated into 
 German, Spanish, and French (the episode alone into French 
 and English^"), and probably led to the production of somewhat 
 
 '* See note 17. 
 
 '^'' The bibliography of the Filocolo may be found in A. Bacchi della Lega, 
 "Le edizioni delle opere di Giovanni Boccaccio," in II Propugnatore, Vol. VIII, 
 Bologna, 1875, Pt. I, pp. 377-473, Pt. II, pp. 169-201, 379-386; / Novettieri 
 italiani in prosa indicati e descritti da G. Passano, 2d ed., Turin, 1878, Vol. I, 
 pp. 133, et seq.; and Catalogo dei Novellieri italiani in prosa raccoUi e posseduli 
 da G. Papanti, Leghorn, 1871, I, pp. 66, et seq. See also Hauvette, op. cit., 
 p. 485. The French translations of the entire Filocolo are: Le Philocope con- 
 tenant VHistoire de Fleury et Blanchefleur divise en sept livres ; traduictz d'ltalien 
 par A. Sevin, Paris, D. Janet, 1542, fol.; same place, date and printer, but in 
 8vo; translatedbyA. J. Vincent, Paris, Michael Feznadat, 1554, 8vo; translated 
 by A. Sevin, Paris, Gilles Corrozet, 1555, 8vo; same, Paris, Magdaleine Bour- 
 sette, 1555, 8vo ; translated by J. Vincent, Lyon, 1571 ; there are five Paris editions 
 of Sevin's translation; all in the year 1575, and in i6mo, registered by Bacchi 
 delta Lega; a sixth, Paris, Vincent Norment, 1575, Svo, is in the British Museum. 
 The same library has a German translation : Ein gar schone newe histori des hochen 
 Keb des KunigUchen Fursten Florio, 1499, fol.; and a Spanish version: La his- 
 toria de los dos enamorados Flores & Blancafor (abbreviated from the Filocolo of 
 Boccaccio, by J. de Flores?), 1510? The same version apparently is regis- 
 tered by Bacchi della Lega as of Alcala, 1512, with the statement that the au- 
 thor was Gio. De Flores. I do not find any English translation of the entire 
 work. For English trans, of the Filocolo, see Miss Scott, Elizabethan Trans. 
 (1916), p. 17, No. 9. 
 
 The episode of the "questions" was early considered as worthy of a sep- 
 arate translation and we consequently find French, English, and Spanish ver- 
 sions. The French are as follows : Treize elegantes demandes damours premiere- 
 ment composees par le tres faconde poete Jehan bocace & depuis trdnslatees en 
 Frangoys, Paris, n. d., in Svo; same, Paris, Galliot du Pr6, 1530, 8vo; same, 
 Denys Janot, Paris, 1541, i6mo; Bacchi della Lega cites another edition, 
 Paris, Samuel Thiboust, 1624, i2mo. The English translations of the epi- 
 sode are: A pleasant disport of divers noble personages: written in Italian by 
 M. J. Bocace in (the fifth [sic] book of) his boke which is entituled Philocopo. 
 And now Englished by H. G., black letter, ff. 58 (H. Bynneman, London, 1566?) 
 4to; same, black letter, A. Jeffes, sold by T. Woodcocke, London, 1587, Svo. 
 These are in the British Museum. The Bodleian has editions of 1571, and 
 1587: is the former the first edition in the British Museum? The Spanish 
 version (not cited by Bacchi della Lega) is: Question de Amor . . . assimesmo se 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 91 
 
 similar works in these countries. I refer to the Question de Amor 
 commonly attributed to Diego de San Pedro, but really an 
 anonymous work,^^ and several little-known English works: 
 Edmund Tilney's Flower of Friendshippe; George Whetstone's 
 Heptameron of Civill Discourses; H[enry] W[otten]'s A courtlie 
 Controversie of Cupid's Cautels; and Robert Greene's Morando, 
 The Tritameron of Love?'^ I think there are also traces of the 
 influence of the Filocolo episode in Lyly's Euphues?^ 
 
 ha anadido a esta obra en esta ultima addition [sic] treze guistiones del philocolo 
 de luan Boccaccio, Venice, T. Giolito de Ferrariis, Venice, 1553. The Ques- 
 tion de Amor ends on folio 104; on fol. lo5 begin the Treze Quistiones and extend 
 to fol. 155. The Treze Quistiones forms a part of the Question de Amor, and 
 the paging is continuous. The latter work in the present edition is edited by 
 Alonso de Ulloa and dedicated to the Licenciate Duarte Gomez in a dedicatory 
 epistle dated Venice, Oct. 17, 1553. The Treze Quistiones is introduced by a 
 preface, unsigned, in which the writer states that the following translation is 
 the work of Don Diego Lopez de Ayala, vicar and canon of the holy church 
 of Toledo and superintendent of repairs, and that the poetical summaries at 
 the end of each question are the work of Diego de Salazar, who first was cap- 
 tain and afterwards hermit. The editor of the book, Alonso de Ulloa, was a 
 Spanish printer at Venice, where he published many Spanish books ; see Tick- 
 nor's History of Spanish Literature, 4th American ed., Boston, 1872, I, p. 516, 
 n. 10. 
 
 Bacchi della Lega cites a Dutch version of the episode: De Konst de Vryery, 
 Ust het Italiens vertaelt door den Ridler G. Brusoni, Amsterdam, 1675, i6mo. 
 For Spanish versions of the "Questions" in the Filocolo see Origines de la 
 Novela, I, cited in Note 21, pp. c-ccii and cccxxvii. 
 
 21 The Question de Amor is an anonymous work, but is frequently found 
 printed with the Cdrcel de Amor by Diego de San Pedro (see Ticknor, ed. cit., 
 I, p. 447), and has sometimes been attributed to this author; Brunet, Manuel, 
 says the first edition is that of Ferrara, 1512. The book closes with a letter 
 from one of the disputants dated Ferrara, April 17, 1512. The book was fre- 
 quently reprinted both alone and with the Cdrcel de Amor (see Ticknor, op. 
 cit., I, p. 451). The edition of Venice, 1553, seems to be the only one printed 
 with the "Thirteen Questions" from the Filocolo. The e.xact title is: Ques- 
 tion de Amor, de dos enamorados: al uno era muerta su amiga, el otro sinie sin 
 speranga de galardon. Disputan gual de los dos suffre mayor pena. Entretex- 
 ense en esta controversia muchas cartas y enamorados razonamientos; y otras 
 cosas muy sabrosas y deleitables. Assimesmo se ha anadido a esta obra en esta 
 ultima addition [sic] treze quistiones del philocolo de luan Boccaccio Imprimiose 
 en Venetia. En casa de Gabriel Giolito de Ferrariis,- y svs hermanos, 1553, 
 l2mo. The subject of the book as indicated by the title is a discussion of the 
 question, Which suffers the more, the lover whose mistress is dead, or the lover 
 who serves a living mistress without hope of reward? The scene is laid at 
 Naples and in other parts of Italy beginning in 1508 and endingwith the battle 
 of Ravenna in 1512. The work will be more fully considered in a later chap- 
 ter. I will only add here that it was translated into French under the title: 
 Le debat Des deux gentilzhommes espagnols, sur le faict damour, etc., Paris, 
 Denys lanot, 1541, sm. 8vo. See Chapter V, p. i. For the Cdrcel de Amor 
 and the Question de Amor see Menendez y Pelayo, Origines de la Novela, 1, 
 pp. cccxx, cccxxvi. The two texts are printed in Volume II of Origines de la 
 Novela. .,, , . , r „ • 
 
 22 The English works quoted in the text will be exammed more fully m 
 Chapter XI. 
 
 23 See Chapter XI, p. 528. 
 
92 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The influence of this episode upon Italian society must have 
 been great. We shall see in the following chapters how important 
 a part the discussion of the nature of love played in social gather- 
 ings, and the earliest example in Italy of such a discussion is that 
 contained in the seventh question given above. 
 
 Boccaccio alludes in other works to the pleasant society of 
 Naples. He tells us in the Decameron (III, 6) that it was the 
 custom during the warm weather for many companies of ladies 
 and gentlemen according to the Neapolitan manner to go and 
 amuse themselves upon the seashore, and to dine and sup there. 
 In the Fiammetta, p. 109, he says: "Our city, beyond all others of 
 Italy abounding in joyful festivals, not only delights its citizens, 
 either with weddings, or with baths, or with the seashore; but 
 rich in many games, often rejoices its people now with one now 
 with another"; and he continues with an interesting account of 
 a tournament. 
 
 Nothing elsewhere, however, equals the charm of the picture 
 drawn for us in the Filocolo. The storm-stayed travellers, the 
 band of lovely ladies and courteous gentlemen, the beautiful 
 garden, and the fountain which suffused Fiammetta's face with 
 the reflected light and entranced the beholder, the stories of 
 romantic adventure, the tender farewell of the disconsolate 
 Filocolo: all these things linger in our memory like some happy 
 hour in our own lives spent beneath the blue sky and in the 
 company of trusty friends. All the diversions of the most elegant 
 society since that day are found there, — music and dancing and 
 talk, — ^what more have we now? 
 
 I have not deemed it necessary to enter here into a detailed 
 examination of the Decameron. All that is necessary for the 
 purpose of the present work is found in the Filocolo, of which the 
 Decameron is only an expansion and improvement. The two 
 principal objects of my book are to trace the use of Questions 
 and Story-telling as a social observance in Europe from the time 
 of the Troubadours to the end of the seventeenth century. 
 The influence of the Filocolo was profound upon the former, and 
 that of the Decameron equally profound upon the latter. And 
 yet the Filocolo contains all the elements of the Decameron, and 
 in reality combines the use of Questions and Story- telling. For 
 the purely literary influence of the two works, there is no question 
 of the greater importance of the Decameron, and this is especially 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 93 
 
 true outside of Italy. Tqe reader will see in the last chapter of 
 this work what an extensive literature arose in Spain, called forth 
 undoubtedly by the influence of the Decameron. In Italy, on the 
 other hand, it is difficult to separate the influence of the two works 
 of Boccaccio. 
 
 The connecting link between the Filocolo episode, in which the 
 questions are purely of an entertaining nature, and the class of 
 works to be considered in the following chapter, where the dis- 
 cussions are more or less philosophical and serve as a vehicle for 
 the propagation of the Platonic doctrine of love, may be found 
 in the Paradiso degli Alberti, by Giovanni di Gherardo di Prato, 
 the scene of which is laid in a villa of the Alberti called Paradiso 
 near Florence, in the year 1389.^ The author was bom about 
 1360, and studied at Padua. He publicly expounded the Divine 
 Comedy at Florence between 1417 and 1424, and Dante's moral 
 canzoni on festal days until 1425. He was engaged in the con- 
 struction of the Cathedral from 1420, and was the rival of Bru- 
 nelleschi in a competition for the building of the dome. His 
 name appears in the tax rolls for 1427 and 1430, after which time 
 all notices of him cease. 
 
 The work, composed in the author's old age, opens with a 
 vision in which the writer undertakes a long voyage to various 
 countries famous in antiquity, where he notes the vicissitudes of 
 human affairs. He afterwards arrives at the island of Cyprus, 
 where he enters a large and wonderful theatre adorned with 
 loggie containing pictures representing mythological and his- 
 torical subjects connected with love. Those on the left repre- 
 sented impure love, those on the right, chaste love; while other 
 pictures represented the course of Grecian and Roman history. 
 
 The author's guide, in order that what he has seen may be of 
 profit to him, defines love as "una passione nata da sensi e 
 causata per obietto e in piacere eletto ad amare," that is, a 
 passion arising from the senses and caused by an object which we 
 choose to love for our pleasure. Dante is cited, Purg. XVIII, 
 19-21 ; 52-60,^^ to explain the nature of love, the origin of which 
 
 2* The Paradiso degli Alberti has been edited in the most admirable manner 
 by A. Wesselofsky, Bologna, 1867, Scelta di Curiositd. lettsrarie, Dispensa 86, 
 87, 88, 4 vols. 
 
 25 The soul, which is created apt to love, 
 
 Is mobile unto everything that pleases. 
 Soon as by pleasure she is waked to action. 
 
94 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 according to the Pagan writers is then given. Giovanni then 
 passes to Plato and Aristotle. The former mentions three kinds 
 of love: divine, irrational, and mixed, or as Aristotle denominates 
 them: virtuous (onesto), pleasurable (dilettevole) , and useful 
 (utile). Happy he who pursues the first! The writer here 
 suddenly finds himself in his chamber and sees that his long 
 journey has been only a vision. 
 
 The connection between the first and second books of the work 
 is very slight. When the author perceives that his journey has 
 been an imaginary one he begins to reflect upon what he has seen, 
 and to compare the various countries visited in his sleep with 
 Tuscany, which is preeminent in religious glory. He enumerates 
 the many shrines of famous saints, and declares his intention to 
 describe a pilgrimage made by him in his tender youth to the 
 shrines of St. Francis, St. Romualdo, and St. Giovanni Gual- 
 berto, as well as the reception given to the pilgrims in Poppi, the 
 festivals and conversations which there occurred. 
 
 Only the return from the pilgrimage is described. The pilgrims 
 are descending from the Apennines into the plain of Tuscany, 
 making their way towards Poppi, when Count Carlo, the lord of 
 the place, invites them to spend the rest of the day with him. They 
 reach the beautiful palace of the count, which is situated on a hill 
 with lovely gardens about it. There they feast and listen to 
 music, and while waiting for supper Count Carlo calls on one of 
 the guests, Guido, a famous citizen of Florence, to relate a story. 
 Guido consents and says the subject of his novella will be the 
 reason why the town of Prato Vecchio is called vecchio (old). 
 
 The long story which follows (pp. 97-170) is really a version 
 of a well-known fairy tale, the substance of which is as follows. 
 A young girl is changed into a sparrow by a witch, and is rescued 
 from drowning and restored to her original form by four youths. 
 
 Every substantial form, that segregate 
 
 From matter is, and with it is united, 
 
 Specific power has in itself collected. 
 Which without act is not perceptible, 
 
 Nor shows itself except by its effect. 
 
 As life does in a plant by the green leaves. 
 But still, whence cometh the intelligence 
 
 Of the first notions, man is ignorant, 
 
 And then affection for the first allurements. 
 Which are in you as instinct in the bee 
 
 To make its honey; and this first desire 
 
 Merit of praise or blame containeth not. 
 
 — Longfellow's translation. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 95 
 
 who claim her, each alleging what he had done for her. They are 
 about to come to blows when the Council of the Gods intervenes 
 and leaves to the girl the liberty of choosing the one she likes best. 
 This popular tale is, however, transformed by the narrator into 
 a long and tiresome classical narrative, interesting only as show- 
 ing how the Renaissance was gradually invading Italian literature 
 and destroying all the national forms of art.^^ 
 
 The story of Melissa changed into a sparrow gives rise to a 
 discussion as to whether such a transformation can take place or 
 is merely the result of diabolical illusion. Guido replies that the 
 latter explanation is the true one, and another guest, Andrea, 
 also a prominent citizen of Florence, relates a story in proof of 
 this. The novella is one about the famous mediaeval wizard 
 Michael Scott, and the Emperor Frederick II. The theme of this 
 story is also well known. The wizard raises and lays a storm, 
 and afterwards makes one of the emperor's knights, Messer 
 Ulfo, believe that he is transported to various distant countries, 
 where he fights and wins a kingdom, marries, and has children. 
 When the illusion ceases, Messer Ulfo finds that the long years 
 spent in journeys and battles were but a few hours, that wife, 
 kingdom, and children have never existed, and that he himself has 
 not left the city from which he believed he had departed twenty 
 years before for his imaginary conquests.^^" 
 
 After the story-telling came the supper with music and pleasant 
 talk, and then dancing and singing. Then the company left the 
 villa and set out for the town where they were to pass the night. 
 They did not feel like sleeping, and Guido proposed that they 
 should discuss some question. Count Simone, who had not yet 
 spoken, offered the following one : Which is the better govern- 
 ment, that of one, or of many? Or put in another way — Which 
 
 ^' See edition cited, p. 238, Vol. I, 2, where the editor gives an elaborate 
 note on the story and its versions in various lands. The same may be said in 
 regard to the other stories introduced in the text. There is a lacuna of ten 
 folios after fol. 62 in the manuscript, and as the editor says it is possible that 
 there were other "questions" concerning love, and probably an account of the 
 organization of the company for the more orderly discussion of "questions" 
 and telling of stories. 
 
 ^^ The classical story of this kind, where a necromancer apparently causes 
 a long series of adventures to happen in what is afterwards seen to be a brief 
 space of time, is the thirteenth story in the Conde Lucanor of Don Juan Man- 
 uel, in which a necromancer convicts a dean of Santiago of ingratitude. See 
 Dunlop-Liebrecht, Geschichte der Prosadichtungen, p. 501. To Liebrecht's 
 references may be added: Gering, Jslandzk Aeventyri, pp. 167-7, note i; and 
 Chauvin, Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes, etc., VII, pp. 102, 105. 
 
96 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 is the better government, that of a good lord, or of good laws? 
 The conclusion is that it is safer to trust to good laws, for it is 
 almost impossible to find a just king. After this decision the 
 company went to their rooms, and thus ended the happy and 
 joyful day; the next morning each continued his journey. 
 
 The news of the visit at Poppi spread to Florence and inspired 
 in some the desire to gather in a pleasant and suitable spot a 
 chosen band of famous men. One of the Alberti, Antonio, 
 offered his villa, called Paradise, for the reunion, and gave a 
 supper at which the arrangements for the meeting were settled. 
 The next day in the cool of the morning the company arrived at 
 the villa, where they were joyfully received by Antonio and his 
 brothers. After mass had been said in the chapel of the palace 
 the guests went into a garden planted with pines, and sat down on 
 rich seats near a fountain, by which a buffet was placed with 
 dishes and viands for-a'Collation. After the repast came music 
 and the visit of fair ladies and youths to the villa. The noonday 
 meal was taken in the palace, followed by more music and danc- 
 ing. The sight of the girls and youths dancing and singing led 
 one of the guests to revolve in his mind a doubt, which at the 
 proper time he proposed to the company for discussion. The 
 question was: Which ig the greater love, that of the father, or of 
 the mother, for their children? It was decided after Alessandro, 
 another Florentine statesman, had given his opinion that the 
 question should be open to debate by all, women as well as men. 
 
 The third, fourth, and fifth books (244 pages) are devoted to 
 the discussion of this and other doubts and to the novelle narrated 
 on this occasion. The novelle, seven in number, need not detain 
 us long. They are chiefly historical or quasi-historical and of 
 little interest. One of them, the Novella di Messer Marsilio da 
 Carrara, p. 38, contains a story illustrating a question: Which 
 is the stronger, the affection towards the natural father, or to- 
 wards the author of the moral life? 
 
 The other questions discussed are : How and in what way is 
 man begotten, in what way does he become rational, how and in 
 what way is the soul {anima intellettiva) infused in him, and 
 how and in what manner does it remain in existence after the 
 life of the body? p. 77; What is the end and happiness of man? 
 p. 85; Whether one animal more than another possesses art or 
 genius (ingegno)? p. 113; How can wealth be acquired in a 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 97 
 
 praiseworthy manner, and why is usury forbidden? p. 155. 
 The work, which is incomplete, closes with a discussion of the 
 origin of Florence, in which the old fables as to the early history 
 of the city are set aside and the classical historians are quoted 
 as the final authority. 
 
 The work of Giovanni da Prato, incomplete and unrevised as 
 it is, is a precious document for the social life of Florence at the 
 close of the fourteenth century, and is the connecting link, as 
 I have already said, between the Filocolo episode and the philo- 
 sophical discussions of the sixteenth century. It shows how 
 deeply rooted was the custom of debating "questions" and 
 narrating novelle as a social diversion. The scene of the work, 
 which must be regarded as a truthful picture of real life, is chiefly 
 in the garden of a villa, and the usual diversions of dancing and 
 music are not wanting. There is one interesting episode which 
 carries us back to an earlier stage of society. I allude to the 
 appearance of the juggler, p. 170, who turned several somer- 
 saults without touching the ground (so I understand tomi schiavo- 
 neschi), and performed feats of contortion and sleight of hand 
 tricks so cleverly that they seemed the work of diabolical illusion. 
 The guests were amazed at his skill and Messer Antonio had him 
 clothed in one of his robes. This intrusion of the mediseval 
 juggler into polite society is found after this century, and the 
 court buffoon is his later representative.^' 
 
 " Bandello, IV, 6, in describing the marriage of the daughter of the Mar- 
 chesa di Gonzaga, says: "Si fecero anco di molti giuochi, che alia brigata 
 diedero diletto grandissimio. V'intervennero giocolatori e buffoni, i quali 
 assai fecero gli spettatori ridere, di mode che il tempo si passava molto lieta- 
 mente." For buffoons in the sixteenth century see A. Graf, AUraverso il 
 Cinquecento, Turin, r888, p. 369, "Un buffone di Leone X," and especially 
 "Buffoni, Nani e Schiavi dei Gonzaga ai tempi d'lsabella d'Este" by Luzio 
 and Renier in the Nuova Antologia, Terza Serie, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 618-650, 
 Vol. XXXV, pp. 1 12-146. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Provenfal conception of Love introduced by the Troubadours into Italy — 
 There undergoes two profound modifications — Chivalry never prevalent in 
 Italy — The city, not the castle, the seat of social life' — New direction given to 
 Italian lyrical poetry by Guido Guinicelli — Spiritual and mystic love of Dante 
 — The introduction of Platonic philosophy into Italy — The Platonic Academy 
 of Florence — Ficino's Convito — Alberti's Ecatomfila and Deifira — Firenzuola's 
 Ragionamenti — Cattani da Diacetto's Tre Libri d'Amore and Panegirico all' 
 Amore — Pietro Bembo — His early life and education — Friendship for Lucrezia 
 Borgia — Composition of Gli Asolani — Story of Catharine Cornaro, Queen of 
 Cyprus — The scene of Gli Asolani — Analysis of Gli Asolani — Equicola's 
 Delia Natura d'Amore — The Dialoghi d'Amore of Leone Hebreo — The Trattato 
 dell'Amore Humano by Flaminio Nobili — Fondness for the Dialogue in the 
 Sixteenth Century — Tasso's Dialogues: // Cavaliere amante e la Gentildonna 
 amata; La Molza, o vera de I'Amore; and // Manso, o vera de I'Amicizia — ■ 
 Sperone Speroni's Dialogo de Amore — Tullia d'Aragona and her Dialogue on the 
 Infinity of Love — Giuseppe Betussi's Dialogue // Raverta — "Questions" in II 
 Raverta — Betussi's Dialogo Amoroso — Domenichi's Dialogue on Love — Sanso- 
 vino's Ragionamento — Vito de Gozze's Dialogo d'Amore detto Anthos — Employ- 
 ment of "Questions" in the Italian Academies — Origin and spread of Acad- 
 emies in Italy — Peculiar names of Adademies and of their members — Devices 
 of Academies — Twofold use of "Questions" in Italian Academies — The Flor- 
 entine Academy — Benedetto Varchi — "Questions" in Varchi's Academic Lec- 
 tures — "Questions" in the Academic Discourses of Anton Maria Salvini— 
 Tasso's Conclusioni Amorose and Dialogue II Cataneo — Tasso's Discourse on 
 Two Questions of Love — Died Paradossi degli Academici Intronati da Siena — 
 Manso's Paradossi — Ortensio Lando and his Paradoxes — Lando's Quattro 
 Libri di Dubbi — ;Hieronimo Vida's Cento Dubbi — Loredano's Sei Dubbi Amo- 
 rosi — Works devoted to the discussion of a single "Question" — GiambeUi's 
 II Rinaldi — Ridolfo's Aretefila — Use of "Questions" in the Congrega dei 
 Rozzi of Siena — Subjects of these "Questions." 
 
 The love which was the subject of Provengal poetry, and the 
 chief topic of discussion in the polite society of the South of 
 France, was carried to Italy by the Troubadours, and there 
 underwent two profound modifications.^ It must be remembered 
 
 '■ For this whole subject see: Vernon Lee's Euphorion, the essay on "Medi- 
 eval Love"; R. Renier, La Vita Nuova e la Fiammetta, Turin, 1879, pp. i- 
 75, "Evoluzione dell'amore nel ducento"; A. Gaspary, Geschichte der ital. 
 Lit., I, p. 104 et seg^. ■ and G. Paris in the Romania, XII, p. 522, "Le conte de 
 la Charrette." Provencal influence in Italy has already been touched upon 
 in Chapter I, where was cited, in note 24, L. F. Mott, The System of Courtly 
 Love considered as an introduction to the Vita Nuova, Boston, 1896. A fuller 
 and more profound discussion of the question may be found in L. Goldschmidt, 
 
 98 
 
ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 99< 
 
 that the love of Provencal poetry was the offspring of chival£v 
 and flourished wherever that institution prevailed. Now, in! 
 Italy, for ^'arious reasons, the Feudal System, with its concomitant 
 of Chivalry, never took root. The city, not the castle, was the 
 seat of social life, and the rapid absorption of the feudal lords 
 into the cities rendered Italian life from the beginning very dif- 
 ferent from life in Provence or the North of France J The love 
 which was the expression of Chivalry never became general 
 throughout Italy, but was, like the imitation of Provengal 
 poetry, a fashionable fancy. It is true that the early Italian 
 poetry which was written in imitation of the poetry of the Trouba- 
 dours accepted the conventional love of Chivalry, and we have 
 seen already in the first chapter how great the influence of France 
 was on the forms of society in Italy and elsewhere. Still, this 
 was essentially a matter of imitation and was foreign to Italian 
 modes of life and thought. 
 
 The new direction given to Italian lyrical poetry was due to 
 Guido Guinicelli of Bologna, of whom little is known, except that 
 he was a jurist and died young in 1276. In his early poems he 
 imitated the Provengal poets, but later he endeavored to deepen 
 the thought of Italian lyrical poetry and to make it the vehicle of 
 philosophical speculation. His views of love were propounded 
 in the famous canzone "Al cor gentil ripara sempre amore."^ 
 In this canzone Love is represented as seeking the gentle heart as 
 a bird the forest tree. Nature did not create Love before the 
 gentle heart, nor the gentle heart before Love; just as the sun's 
 splendor was as soon as the sun was and not before. Love takes 
 its place in gentleness as heat in the fire's brightness. The fire of 
 Love catches in the gentle heart like virtue in a precious stone,, 
 for worth does not descend from the star until the sun makes it a 
 gentle thing. After the sun by its power has removed what i& 
 base, the star gives it worth. Thus after the heart is made by 
 nature upright, pure, and gentle, a lady, like a star, enamours it. 
 
 Die Doklrin der Liebe bei den italianischen Lyrikern des XIII. Jahrhunderts , 
 Breslau, 1889. A brief article by A. Borgognoni, "La bellezza femminile e 
 I'amore nell'antica lirica italiana," is in the Nuova Antologia, vol. 83, p. 593. 
 
 ^ See T. Casini, Le Rime dei Poeii Bolognesi del Secolo XIII., Bologna, 1881,. 
 pp. 1—73, where the poems of Guido Guinicelli or Guinizelli, may be found. 
 There is a fine translation of the canzone in question by D. G. Rossetti, in 
 Dante and his Circle, London, 1874, p. 291. This new direction given to Ital- 
 ian lyrical poetry was followed and modified by Guido Cavalcanti; see G. Sal- 
 vadori, La poesia giovanile e la canzone d'amore di Guido Cavalcanti, Kome, 
 1895- 
 
100 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 This philosophical mysticism reached its highest point in 
 Dante, who calls Guido his father, and declares that his sweet 
 sayings, so long as modern use shall last, will still make precious 
 their very ink.' He paid Guido also the highest of all 
 possible compliments, that of imitation.'' Dante's affection for 
 Beatrice is the most splendid example of this new direction given 
 to love. It has already been pointed out that this love, spiritual 
 and mystical as it is, is yet derived from the Chivalric love 
 which was exactly of a contrary nature. The beloved is still 
 regarded as the liege lady, and the chivalric conception of 
 marriage in its relation to love still prevails.^ 
 
 The natural consequence of this view of love was to render the 
 beloved a mere allegorical figure, and the question whether 
 Beatrice was a real person is still a matter of discussion. It is 
 not necessary to examine here the character of the love which 
 Petrarch bore to Laura. It may be briefly said that living as he 
 did in Provence, the great poet was more or less influenced by 
 the traditions of Provengal poetry — I say traditions, for the 
 classical period of the literature had long closed. Thus the fact 
 that Laura was the wife of another was no greater obstacle to the 
 poet's love than was Beatrice's marriage to Dante's affection. 
 Still, Laura is no mystical, allegorical figure, but a real woman, 
 and Petrarch's love with all its exalted raptures is an earthly 
 affection and subject to all the vicissitudes of the ordinary passion 
 of mankind. 
 
 The Platonic element which appears from time to time in 
 Petrarch was destined to produce the second great modification 
 in the character of Italian love, and one of deep importance for 
 
 ' Purgaforio, XXVI, 97: 
 
 The moment I heard name himself the father 
 Of me and of my betters, who had ever 
 Practised the sweet and gracious rhymes of love; 
 
 And without speech and hearing thoughtfully 
 For a long time I went, beholding him. 
 Nor for the fire did I approach him nearer. 
 
 And I to him: "Those dulcet lays of yours 
 
 Which, long as shall endure our modern fashion, 
 Shall make forever dear their very ink!" 
 
 ■ — Longfellow's trans. 
 
 ^ See V. Nannucci, Manuale della Letteratura del Primo Secolo della Lingua 
 Italiana, Florence, 1856, 1, p. 47, where are given numerous examples of Dante's 
 imitation of Guido. 
 
 ' See Gaspary, I, p. 489, and G. Paris, in the Romania, XII, p. 522. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 101 
 
 the history of the society of the sixteenth century. Although 
 known at an earlier date, it was not until the Council of Ferrara 
 in 1438 that a general interest was awakened in the philosophy 
 of Plato. The council in question was convoked by Pope Euge- 
 nius IV, with a view to the union of the Greek and Roman 
 churches. Owing to the appearance of the plague in Ferrara 
 the council was transferred to Florence in 1439. Among the dis- 
 tinguished representatives of the Greek church was Gemisthus 
 Pletho, whose discourses produced so powerful an influence upon 
 Cosimo de' Medici that he determined to found an academy for 
 the cultivation of Platonic philosophy. We cannot dwell upon 
 the vicissitudes of this remarkable institution,^ and the great 
 
 ° See L. Ferri, "L'accademia platonica di Firenze e le sue vicende," in the 
 Nuova Antologia, Vol. 118, pp. 226-244. A opnvenient resume of the general 
 topic of love in Italy in the sixteenth century is given by M. Rosi, Saggio sui 
 trattati d'amore del cinquecento, Recanati, 1889. There is an extensive liter- 
 ature on the subject of Platonic love in Italy, much of which clusters around 
 Dante. I may mention as among the most important works so far as the 
 purpose of the present chapter is concerned: G. Rossetti, II mistero delVamor 
 platonico del medio evo derivato da' misteri antichi, 'London, 1840, 5 vols.; P. 
 Chasles, Etudes sur la moyen Age, Paris, 1847, pp. 283-338, "Dante et le Pla- 
 tonisme italien." There is now a very extensive general article on the subject 
 of Love in the sixteenth centiiry by Lorenzo Savino in Studi di Letteratura 
 italiana, Vols. IX and X, Naples, 1912-1914, "DI alcuni trattati e trattatisti 
 d'amore italiano della prima met^ del secolo XVI (Bembo, Castiligione, Equi- 
 cola, Ebreo, Betussi, TuUia d'Aragona)." The article fills 554 pages and leaves 
 nothing to be desired in the way of analyses, bibliography, etc. It takes the 
 place of all the general works on the subject hitherto published. 
 
 I have not seen M. Rosi's Scienza d'amore, idealismo e vita pratica nei trattati 
 amorosi del Cinquecento, Milano, 1904. It is an expansion of the Saggio by the 
 same author mentioned above. I have also been unable to see Ant. Thomas, 
 Etude sur I'expression de I'amour platonique dans la poesie italienne du moyen 
 dge et de la Renaissance, Paris, 1892. 
 
 Intimately connected with the subject of Love is the class of dialogues and 
 treatises on Women and Beauty. (See Chapter IV of the present work, note 64.) 
 Certain of the former have been reprinted by Zonta in Trattati del Cinquecento 
 sulla Donna, Bari, 1913, in Scrittori Italiani. Tliey are: "Dialogo della bella 
 creanza de le donne," by Lo Stordito Intronato, the academic name of Ales- 
 sandro Piccolomini; "Angoscia, Doglia, e Pena," by Michelangelo Biondo; 
 "II Libro della Bella Donna," by F. Luigini; and "II Convito overo del Peso 
 della Moglie," by G. B. Modio. 
 
 There is also a brief general article by G. R. Marchesi, "Le polemiche sui 
 sesso femminile ne'secoli XVI e XVII," in Giornale storico, XXXV, pp. 362- 
 369. (See Chapter V of the present work, note 16, also Chap. XIII, note 4.) 
 See also the article by Rossi mentioned in note 32. 
 
 Other references to Italian works on Love and Beauty will be-found in Chap- 
 ter XIII, note 4, under Spanish imitations of Italian works. 
 
 See also E. J. Delecluze, Dante Alighieri ou la poesie amoureuse, Paris, 
 1854, and J. A. Symonds, In the Key of Blue and other Prose Essays, London, 
 1896, pp. 86, "The Dantesque and Platonic Ideals of Love." The spread of 
 Platonic love from Italy to France will be fully discussed in Chapter IX. 
 
 There is a dialogue on Love of an earlier date which may be mentioned here, 
 although as it was not printed until recently it had no influence at the time it 
 
102 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 scholars whose names are connected with it — Ficino, Landino, 
 Alberti, PoUziano, Pico della Mirandola, and others. The first 
 named was educated especially by Cosimo to be the director of 
 the new academy. He produced a Latin translation of the 
 Dialogues, which appeared later in Italian,' and a Latin comment 
 on the Symposium, later translated by himself into Italian, 
 which enjoyed great popularity in Italy and abroad and was the 
 means of awakening a general interest in the theory of Platonic 
 love. The work consists of seven discourses supposed to be 
 pronounced by Giovanni Cavalcanti, Cristoforo Landini, Carlo 
 Marsuppini, Tommaso Benci, and Christofano Marsuppini 
 at a festival given by Lorenzo de' Medici at his villa of Careggi 
 on the 7th of November, the traditional anniversary of the birth 
 and death of Plato. 
 
 After the table was cleared one of the guests read the Sym- 
 posium of Plato, and invited the others to give their views of the 
 Dialogue. The speakers mentioned above pronounced in turn 
 an oration on the discourses of the various characters in the 
 Dialogue: Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, 
 Agathon, Socrates, and Alcibiades. While Ficino accepts in 
 the main the doctrines of Plato, he lavishes his own learning in 
 the commentary he puts into the mouths of his speakers, and 
 develops his theme under the influence of Christianity. This 
 
 was composed. It is the Polisofo of Filippo Nuvolone printed by Zonta in 
 Filippo Nuvolone e un suo dialogo d'amore, Modena, 1905. The author was 
 born in 1436, probably at Ferrara, where his father was in the service of the 
 Estes, and died in Venice in 1478. His life was that of a courtier, scholar, and 
 soldier, and his dialogue is one of the earliest of its kind. Zonta has an inter- 
 esting chapter, the sixth, on the theories of Love in the fifteenth century be- 
 fore Ficino and their application by Nuvolone in the Polisofo. 
 
 ' Ficino's translation of Plato's complete works was published at Florence 
 in 1483-84, in fol. In 1496 he published also at Florence a Latin comment on 
 the Symposium of Plato, of which he made himself an Italian translation under 
 the title: Marsilio Ficino sopra lo amore over' convito di Platone, Florence, 
 1544, 8vo. There are several French translations of this: Le Commentaire de 
 Marsille Ficin sur le banquet d' Amour de Platon, faict frangois par Symon 
 Silvius dit J. de La Haye, Poictiers, 1546, 8vo; Discours de I'honneste amour 
 sur le Banquet de Platon, par Marcile Ficin, traduicts du toscan par Guy Le 
 Fevre de la Boderie, avec un traite de J. Picus Mirandulanus sur le mesme sujet 
 Paris, 1578, 8vo; reprinted Paris, 1588, i2mo. The edition of Ficino which I 
 have used is : Marsilio Ficino Sopra V Amore overo Convito di Platone traslaio 
 da lui dalla Greca lingua nella Latina, e appresso volgarizzato nella Toscana. 
 In Firenze, Per Filippo Giunti, 1594, 8vo. An interesting chapter on Marsilio 
 Ficino and the Platonic Academy may be found in Villari's Life and Times of 
 Girolamo Savonarola, New York, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 51-69. A good account 
 of Ficino and his works by L. Galeotti is in the Archivio storico italiano, N. S., 
 Vol. IX, pp. 25-91; IX, pp. 3-55, "Saggio intorno alia vita ed agli scritti di 
 Marsilio Ficino." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 103 
 
 work is the first complete and systematic treatise on Love in 
 modern times, and its immediate popularity was due both to its 
 attractive form and the novelty of the subject. 
 
 A friend of Ficino and a fellow member of the Platonic Academy 
 was Leon Battista Alberti, who is treated at length in Chapter 
 III of this work as the author of a famous treatise on the rearing 
 and education of children. He also wrote two brief treatises on 
 Love: Dell'Ecatomfila ossia del vera Amore, and Deifira ossia del 
 fuggire il mal principiato Amore, both printed for the first time 
 in 1471.'''' 
 
 '» These works may be conveniently consulted in the sixth volume of 
 Daelli's Biblioteca rara, Milan, 1863, or in Bonucci's edition of Alberti's Opere 
 volgari, Florence, 1845, Vol. HI. I have also seen the edition of Venice, M. 
 Sessa, 1534. There is an English translation of the Hecatomfila, 1598 ; see Miss 
 Scott, op._ cit., 1916, No. 386, p. 473. I have seen the following translations 
 of Alberti's works: La Deiphira di M. Leon Baptista Alberto che ne mostra 
 fuggir U mal principiato amore, gia tradotta d'italiano in nostra lingtia e nova- 
 mente revista a ricorretta. La Deiphire de M. Leon Baptiste Albert, qui enseigne 
 d'eviter un Amour mal encommencS, ladis traduitte d'ltalien en nostre langue, et 
 nouuellement reueue et r'amendSe. Avec privilege. A Paris. En la boutique 
 de Gilles Corrozet, en la grand' Salle du Palais, 1547, i6mo. Italian text is on 
 one side of page, French translation on the other. Hecatomphile D'Arhour. 
 Prins de I'ltalien de Leon Baptiste Albert. A Paris, Pour Abel L'Angelier, au 
 premier pilier de la grand' salle du Pallais, 1584, i2mo. Exhortation aux dames 
 vertueuses, en laquelle est demonstre le vray point d'honneur. Avec L'Hecaton- 
 phile de M. Leon Baptiste Albert, contenant V Art d'aymer. Mis en deux langues 
 pour ceux qui desirent conferer la langue Italienne avec la Frangoyse. A Paris 
 che'z Lucas Breyl, au Palais, en la Gallerie des Prisonniers, 1597. The first 
 two are in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the third in the British Museum, 
 where is also the following English translation: Hecatonphila. The Arte of 
 Loue, or, Loue discouered in an hundred seuerall Kindes. Printed at London 
 by P. S. for William Leake: and are to be sold at his shop in Paules Church- 
 yard, at the Signe of the Greyhound, 1598, l2mo. A MS. note on the fly-leaf 
 says: "This work arose out of the following, which was published at Paris in 
 the previous year. [Then follows the title of the edition cited before this one.] 
 The translation seems to have been made rather from the French than from the 
 Italian. The four pages of 'The Argument' in the English edition are not in 
 the French. The latter was lent me by Lilly, who had never seen a copy of 
 the English work." 
 
 Besides the works mentioned in the text, Alberti was the author of a number 
 of amatory treatises, etc., which may be found in the edition of Bonucci, 
 Vol. V. For the sake of completeness they may be briefly mentioned here. 
 Sopra I'Amore, Epistola di Leon Battista Alberti a Paolo Codagnello giure- 
 consulto Bolognese (V, pp. 233-252) . For an analysis of this letter see Mancini, 
 Vita diL.B. Alberti, Florence, 1 882, pp. 1 57-8. The letter is a warning against 
 Love and admonishes the one to whom it was addressed to be on his guard 
 against the fickle and fastidious manners of women. Amiria (V, pp. 271-293) 
 is a treatise supposed to be written by a woman on the secrets of the toilette, 
 etc. The title is thus explained on pp. 272-3: "E per lungo esercizio e prove 
 di molte cose, io era negli amatorii esercizi divenuta non ilid6tta ne poco 
 astuta, onde i litterati, come a mia,sorella, Ecatomfila, cosi a me posono nome 
 Amiria. Dicono meritavo quel nome, perche tra I'altre sempre rnolto amai 
 ardentissimo e con molta fede." Efebie owero Disputazioni amatorie di L. B. 
 A., scritte a nome di Carlo suo fratello (V, pp. 299-322). This work is very 
 
104 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The first work is dedicated to the noble maidens of Florence, 
 and the title is explained in the Proemio as meaning the "hun- 
 dred loves" which the writer had enjoyed with his companions. 
 The object of the treatise is to teach how to choose the best 
 lover, then how and with what arts he may be taken and culti- 
 vated, and, finally, how one may easily and securely triumph for 
 a long time in one's amorous hopes. Then follow various 
 precepts for choosing a lover : he should not be old or too young, 
 not too rich, or too handsome, or too finely dressed, or of too 
 low estate. Alberti next describes the appearance and qualities 
 of the perfect lover, drawing his own portrait. The most im- 
 portant way to win love is to love: "Amate adunque e acquis- 
 tarete amore." The work ends with the means of preserving 
 love; among these are: patience, amiability, freedom from jeal- 
 ousy, etc. Finally, "love and you will be loved; be true and 
 your lover wil never break faith with you; who loves will bear 
 everything but enmity and revenge. One alone should be the 
 object of our utmost love, and to him should be revealed every 
 loving thought." 
 
 The second treatise of Alberti, Deifira, is in the form of a 
 dialogue between two friends, Filomeno and Polidoro, in which 
 the former reveals his unhappy love for Deifira and receives from 
 Polidoro counsel how he can overcome his passion. Absence 
 and occupation are the most efficacious means. The above works 
 can hardly he considered general treatises on Love; they are in 
 reality brief imitations of Ovid's Ars amatoria and Remedia 
 atnoris, and are mentioned here only for the sake of complete- 
 ness. 
 
 Another short but interesting treatise on Platonic love occurs 
 in the Introduction to an incomplete work of Agnolo Firenzuola 
 
 interesting as it consists of "questions" largely. The title is explained on p. 
 291: "Questa mia operetta, la quale chiamo Efebia, si perche e frutto delli 
 esercizi miei giovenili, si eziam perche sono questioncelle atte puerilibus ludis." 
 There is a brief treatise on Love, its nature, etc., pp. 301-6. Then the "ques- 
 tions" begin and extend to p. 315. Many of these we have encountered else- 
 where: p. 307, "Quale e piu difficile e piu arte, o mostrare portare grande amore 
 a chi non ti cale, o celere il grande amore che tu soffri?" p. 308, "E quale e 
 piu idonea, utile e sicura imbasciata, o quella dalle epistole o quella de'messag- 
 geri? E quale amore duri piu fervente, o quel dell'uomo o quello della donna? " 
 A number of questions on jealousy are found on pp. 311-12, among them: 
 "E quale e piu difficile a tenere occulto, o la gelosia o I'amore?" The "ques- 
 tions" end on p. 315, and the remainder of the work is filled with various argu- 
 ments against Love. Finally, in Vol. V, pp. 325-333, are three Lettere ama- 
 tone of no particular interest. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 105 
 
 in the style of the Decameron.'"' The writer was bom in Florence 
 in 1493, studied law, and after a residence at the Papal court 
 returned to Prato, where he died about 1 546. But little is known 
 of his life : he assumed the habit of a monk of Vallombrosa, but 
 was afterwards released from his vows, becoming later abbot of 
 Vaiano near Prato. Firenzuola was the author of / Discorsi 
 degli Animali, a version of John of Capua's Directorium Humanae 
 Vitae, which in turn was derived from the Oriental Kalilah wa 
 Dimnah; a Dialogo intorno alia Bellezza delle Donne, to be men- 
 tioned later; a translation of the Golden Ass of Apuleius; two 
 comedies; some poetry; and the incomplete imitation of the 
 Decameron mentioned above and entitled Ragionamenti. The 
 work was to consist of six days, during which stories were to be 
 told by a company of three ladies and as many gentlemen at a 
 villa near Florence. Of the six days proposed only one was 
 completed together with four novels of the second. 
 
 The Introduction describes the visit of Madonna Gostanza 
 Amaretta of Rome to Florence where she abode in the house of 
 her relative Celso. The latter invited her with two other ladies 
 and two youths, all friends and relatives of his, to spend some 
 days at his villa of Pozzolatico. There after visiting the villa, 
 Madonna Gostanza reminded the company of Boccaccio and pro- 
 posed that they should spend their time in telling stories. They 
 consented and elected her Queen. She accepted the honor re- 
 luctantly and entered upon her duties with a long oration, be- 
 ginning with the praises of the number six. After dinner Celso 
 recited a poem, and the company separated for the night. 
 
 The next day the friends proceeded to a hill near by on whose 
 summit they rested beneath the shade of cypresses and firs. 
 The Queen entreated to begin the conversation replied with a 
 discourse on Love, interrupted occasionally by questions and 
 objections on the part of her hearers. Madonna Gostanza's 
 theory of love is that of the Platonists, and her opening words 
 are: "The Platonists say that there are two Loves, one born 
 of that Venus who was the daughter of Heaven, the other from 
 another Venus, who sprang from some mortal; and they declare 
 that the. former, as having its origin in Heaven, performs its 
 operations through the celestial bodies, and therefore enters our 
 
 ™ A pleasant article on Firenzuola by A. von Reumont is in his Beitrdge 
 zur italienischep Geschichte, Berlin, 1853, Vol. I, pp. 427-466. 
 
106 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 minds as something found in Heaven." It is quite characteristic 
 of the day that after this eloquent discourse on Platonic love the 
 subsequent novels should deal almost exclusively with the second 
 or earthly Love. After the Queen had finished her discourse the 
 conversation turned on poetry and the Tuscan speech, after 
 which the Queen began the story-telling with a novel of her 
 own.''' 
 
 More important are the Tre Libri d'Amore and the Panegirico 
 all'Amore of Francesco Cattani da Diaceto.''' This writer, a 
 friend of Ficino and a member of the Platonic Academy, was bom 
 in Florence the i6th of November, 1466, of a family which had 
 occupied a prominent position in the state. As a child he showed 
 so much promise that his father gave him a careful education and 
 was unwilling that he should become a merchant like himself. 
 After his father's death, Francesco, although in straitened cir- 
 cumstances, continued his studies at Pisa. On his return to 
 Florence he became intimate with Ficino and devoted all his 
 energy to the study of Platonic philosophy. After the death of 
 his master he lectured for many years in the Studio Fiorentino 
 and refused a similar position in the University of Padua. He 
 was the author of many philosophical works, distinguished, as 
 his biographer Varchi says, for the elegance of their style as well 
 as for the profundity of their learning. Francesco, unlike other 
 scholars of his day, did not scorn his mother tongue, but trans- 
 lated some of his works into Italian, and would have translated 
 more had he lived longer. 
 
 Francesco's devotion to the Medici family led him to engage 
 in public affairs, and on the death of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, 
 he pronounced a solemn oration in Latin in the church of San 
 
 '« Von Reumont, op. cit., p. 437, says: "Man sieht iibrigens daraus [i 
 Ragionamenti] dass die Conversationsform durch welche zuerst Boccaccio 
 seine Erzahlungen miteinander verband, in dem Leben und der Wirklichkeit 
 ihre Begriindung hatte. Das haufige Verkommen dieser Form in den beiden 
 Jahrhunderten, in -welchen diese Gattung der erzahlenden Dichtung die meis- 
 ten Bluten trieb, in dem 14. namlich und dem 16. scheint schon von selbst 
 darauf hinzudeuten, wenn nicht etwa der wahrhaft unermessliche Beifall den 
 das Decameron fand, den Anlass zu der Sitte gegeben hat." 
 
 " The first and only edition of the Tre Libri d'Amore is that published 
 by Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari at Venice in 1561, which includes the Panegirico 
 aU'Amore, previously printed at Roma in 1526 by Ludovico Vicentino. See 
 S. Bongi, Annali di Gabriele Giolito de'Ferrari, Rome, 1895, Vol. II, p. 122. 
 The edition first mentioned contains also a life of the author by Benedetto 
 Varchi, which has furnished me with the materials for the brief biography in 
 the text. Both editions are rare and Rosi in his Saggio sui Trattati d'Amore 
 del Cinquecento discusses only the Panegirico. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 107 
 
 Lorenzo. He filled various offices in the state, and in 15 19 be- 
 came Gonfaloniere di Giustizia for his ward. From this time on 
 he ceased his public lectures, but received in his house a host of 
 friends and scholars. He died in 1522 on the loth of April 
 and was buried with his ancestors in the church of Santa Croce. 
 
 The Tre Libri d'Amore constitute an elaborate treatise on 
 Love. In the first book the author considers the origin of things, 
 the relation of the mind to the body and the division of the mind 
 into anima and intelligence, and the government of the former by 
 the angelic nature. The origin of Love is found in the desire of 
 the Intellect to live and understand, and this becomes the 
 source of happiness uniting the creature with God. 
 
 In the second book are discussed the constitution of the uni- 
 verse, chaos, motion, and the celestial harmony. From the 
 latter arises a wonderful beauty, and Love is nothing but an 
 intense desire to enjoy and represent Beauty. As there are two 
 kinds of Beauty, divine and natural, so there are two kinds of 
 Love, divine or celestial, and common or vulgar. 
 
 The source and workings of these two loves are the subject 
 of the third and last book. Plato's definition of Love is quoted 
 from the Symposium: "the desire of enjoying and generating 
 beauty in the beautiful." The nature of Beauty is then examined 
 and found to be twofold, divine and vulgar: hence the two kinds 
 of love. As the author has treated the divine or celestial love 
 at length in his book De Pulchro and also in the Panegyric on 
 Love, he confines himself in the present treatise to vulgar love. 
 Its origin in the heart and its necessary connection with sensual 
 desire are elaborately explained, and the reason why lovers are 
 lean, pale, and timid. Finally, the writer solves, by a reference 
 to the influence of the planets, the question why we are not all 
 similarly affected by every beautiful object. The work is a 
 dry and abstruse treatise, and could never have been popular. 
 
 The Panegyric on Love is a brief discourse (thirty-one pages in 
 the edition cited above), repeating very largely the substance of 
 the work just examined, lauding the love termed divine or 
 celestial and concluding with the miseries of the lover hated by 
 his beloved, and of the beloved who hates her lover: in this world 
 sorrow and in the future world everlasting punishment. 
 
 In this connection it may be stated that Castiglione's Courtier, 
 which is fully analyzed in Chapter IV, contains in Book IV, 
 
108 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOJMS 
 
 Chapters 51 to 70, a brief and interesting treatise on Platonic 
 love, clothed in the most fer\ent speech and breathing the 
 most ardent and tender feeling. 
 
 There are manj' other brief treatises on Love imbedded in 
 works not wholly devoted to this subject, as, for example, in 
 Alessandro Piccolomini's De la Itistitiitione di tntta la vita de 
 Vhovio jiato nobile e in cittcL libera, mentioned in Chapter VII of 
 the present work, note 54. The whole of the ninth book is 
 devoted to Love, and various questions therewith connected: 
 Whether one can love several persons at the same time ; Whether 
 true love arises by choice or by fate; and, Which is the worthier, 
 the lover or the beloved? 
 
 It is not with the labors of these scholars that I am now con- 
 cerned; they did influence society, but it was only indirectly. 
 The doctrines of Plato in order to become popular had to appear 
 in an attractive literary form, which should ensure their favorable 
 reception by fashionable circles. This was the task of one of the 
 most attractive figures in Italian literary history, Pietro Bembo, 
 poet, historian, scholar, and prelate, a combination often found in 
 France in the seventeenth century.^ Bembo was born at Venice, 
 May 20, 1470. His father, Bernardo, was of noble family and 
 filled many offices in the state. When Pietro was only eight 
 years of age, his father, who was appointed ambassador to 
 Florence, took the child with him to that city, where he re- 
 mained for two years. While in Florence the father was inti- 
 mate with Ficino and the other supporters of the Platonic 
 Academy, and it is possible that Pietro even then imbibed that 
 fondness for the Platonic philosophy which he displayed later 
 in his works. 
 
 After continuing his studies in Venice, he went in 1492 to 
 
 Messina in order to study Greek with Constantine Lascaris. 
 
 Here he spent three years, and some time after his return to 
 
 Venice accompanied his father to Ferrara, where the latter 
 
 occupied in 1498 the important position of Visdomino.^ During 
 
 this first visit to Ferrara Pietro continued his studies with the 
 
 eminent scholars then teaching there, and made many friends, 
 
 ' Bembo reminds us of the scholarly element in the society of the H6tel 
 de Rambouillet, the Godeaus, Flechiers, Huets, and others. 
 
 ' For this office, and in general for this period of Bembo's life, see an excel- 
 lent article by B. Morsolin, "Pietro Bembo e Lucrezia Borgia" in the Nuova 
 . Antologia, XXXII, pp. 388-422. His father appears to have been appointed 
 ^ in 1497, but Pietro did not visit Ferrara until the following year, 1498. 
 
 %'> 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 109 
 
 among them the Strozzi, and enjoyed the favor of the duke, 
 Ercole I, who seems to have given him a home in the villa of 
 Belriguardo, some ten miles distant from the city. Bernardo 
 Bembo's term of office lasted only one year, but his son remained 
 in Ferrara after his father's departure, until 1499, and then spent 
 the three following years in Venice. 
 
 In October, 1502, he visited his friends the Strozzi at their 
 villa in Ostellato, nineteen miles from Ferrara, and soon after 
 made the acquaintance of the new duchess, Lucrezia Borgia, 
 who had married Alfonso, the son of Ercole I, in Rome on the 30th 
 of December, 1501, and who made her entry into Ferrara on the 
 2d of February, 1502." The acquaintance of Bembo with the 
 duchess soon ripened into an intimacy which lasted nearly two 
 years, until Bembo was called to Venice by the death of his 
 brother on the 30th of December, 1503. Much has been written 
 in regard to the nature of Bembo's relations to the duchess, some 
 considering it a mere Platonic friendship, others, a deep and 
 passionate love.^^ It is not necessary to dwell upon this question, 
 and we are now concerned only with the fact that it was for 
 Lucrezia Borgia that Bembo revised and completed his famous 
 work Gli Asolani, which he presented to her with a letter dated 
 the 1st of August, 1504.^^ 
 
 The title of the work was suggested perhaps by the Tusculan 
 Disputations of Cicero, and means the d iscussions or d ialogues 
 held a t Asolo, a small town thirty miles north of Venic e, in the 
 territory of Treviso. This town, rendered illustrious in recent 
 times by the residence of a great English poet, who also named 
 a volume of his poems from it, lies at the foot of a hill from which 
 a most extensive prospect can be enjoyed across the plains to 
 Venice and the Adriatic, while to the north rise the snow-clad 
 
 1° For Lucrezia Borgia in general see F. Gregorovius, Lucrezia Borgia. 
 Nach Urkunden und Correspondenzen ihrer eigenen Zeit, Stuttgart, 1874, 2 
 vols. For her life at Ferrara see W. Gilbert, Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of 
 Ferrara, London, 1867, 2 vols. 
 
 " The most satisfactory article on the subject is the one by Morsolin cited 
 in note 9. 
 
 " The work was probably bfegun before Bembo's first visit to Ferrara, that 
 is, before 1498, and completed and revised at intervals between that time and 
 August, 1504, when it was presented to the duchess in its final form. It was 
 printed for the first time at Venice, 1505, by Aldo Manuzio. For the date of 
 the composition of Gli Asolani see A. Rossi, "Gli Asolani del Bembo" in II 
 Propugnatore, Vol. XIX, Parte II, pp. 64-95, and Morsolin's article cited 
 above, p. 416. The book was in the hands of the duchess a year before it was 
 finished, and it is probable that the author was accustomed to read it to his 
 friends while it was undergoing its final revision. 
 
]10 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 peaks of the Alps. Asolo at the close of the fifteenth century- 
 was the residence of Catharine Cornaro, the ex-queen of Cyprus, 
 whose romantic story is as follows." 
 
 The island of Cyprus after many vicissitudes came in 1192 
 into the possession of the Lusignan family, who reigned there 
 until the close of the fifteenth century. The last king but one, 
 John III, had a natural son, James, who was compelled by the 
 queen to enter the church, and was raised to the dignity of arch- 
 bishop of Nicosia. It was not unusual for natural sons to claim 
 the rights of legitimate children, and James, in spite of his pro- 
 fession, which he had embraced without any vocation, aspired to 
 the throne, between which and himself there stood only his 
 father's daughter. At this time — I follow Daru's story — there 
 was at the court of Cyprus a Venetian nobleman, Andrea Cornaro, 
 whose family had estates in the island and enjoyed great con- 
 sideration there because of services rendered to one of the earlier 
 kings. Cornaro became intimate with the archbishop of Nicosia 
 and, it is said, showed him a portrait of a beautiful niece of his 
 who lived at Venice, and James fell violently in love with the 
 unseen beauty. Shortly after, he fled to Rhodes, and while there 
 his father died, and the daughter's husband, Louis of Savoy, was 
 recognized as king of Cyprus. James then invoked the aid of 
 the sultan of Egypt, who was the suzerain of the island, and 
 ofifered to pay tribute and do him homage. The sultan acknowl- 
 edged his claims and furnished him with troops, with whose 
 support he returned to Cyprus and took possession of the king- 
 dom. His sister and her husband in turn fled to Rhodes, and 
 afterwards to Naples. 
 
 Although Cornaro had contributed powerfully to the success 
 of James, the latter forgot his promises and married the daughter 
 of one of the princes of the Morea. She soon died, and then 
 Cornaro persuaded the king to marry the niece whose portrait 
 he, Cornaro had shown him. 
 
 " See Daru, Histoire de Venise, Paris, 1821, II, pp. 601 et seq.; and the bio- 
 graphical dictionaries ^of Michaud and Didot. There is a popular article in 
 Harper's Magazine, vol. LVII, pp. 617-622, " Catarina Cornaro, " by C. Adams, 
 and the Eclectic Magazine, Vol. LXIV, Jan.-June, 1865, contains a historical 
 novelette on the subject of Catharine Cornaro, reprinted from Bentley's Maga- 
 zine and said to be "from the German." The only independent work on the 
 subject with which I am acquainted is: A. Centelli, Caterina Cornaro, e il sua 
 regno, Venice, 1892. A long and rambling article by Luigi Carrer may be 
 found in his book: Anello di sette gemme Venezia e la sua storia. Consider- 
 azioniefantasie,'Vemce, 1835. The Seven Gems are seven distinguished ladies. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 111 
 
 This niece, Catharine Comaro, born at Venice in 1454, was 
 the daughter of Marco Comaro, a descendant of the doge of the 
 same name. She was educated in the convent of St. Benedict 
 in Padua, where she remained until 1469. When her marriage 
 with James II was arranged the Senate adopted her as its daugh- 
 ter, gave her a dowry of 100,000 ducats, and undertook to defend 
 the kingdom of Cyprus against its enemies. The marriage was 
 celebrated at Venice with great pomp, and when she departed 
 for Cyprus the doge took her from her house upon the Bucentaur 
 to the Lido, where she entered a Venetian galley and sailed for 
 Famagusta accompanied by a brilliant suite. 
 
 She was received with every demonstration of welcome and 
 crowned in the midst of the most splendid fetes. A year and a 
 half later, June 5, 1473, her husband perished the victim of a 
 conspiracy. Catharine had already had a son who had died 
 before his father, and she gave birth to another after her hus- 
 band's death. This son was proclaimed king but died in 1475. 
 The position of the' queen was now most difficult. Her husband's 
 sister Charlotte endeavored to obtain the throne, but by the aid 
 of the Venetians Catharine maintained her place. The Venetians 
 had always meant to use Catharine as an instrument for obtaining 
 possession of the island themselves some day, and for fourteen 
 years the unhappy queen was little better than a prisoner in her 
 own domains. In i486 she allowed herself to be persuaded to 
 retire to Venice, where three years later in Saint Mark's she 
 solemnly ceded her kingdom to the doge. She received in re- 
 turn certain lands in the island,, with heraldic privileges and titles. 
 
 The same year, 1489, Catharine went to meet the Emperor 
 Maximilian at Frattalonga, near Asolo, and was so charmed with 
 the place that she asked the doge for the investiture of Asolo and 
 the surrounding country. The request was granted, and in 
 October Catharine took up her residence in the castle and con- 
 tinued to dwell there for nearly twenty-one years. The republic 
 of Venice furnished her with a small army for the defence of 
 her little state, and she established at Asolo a brilliant court, 
 one episode in the history of which is described in Gli Asolani 
 of Bembo.'* 
 
 " Murray's Handbook for Northern Italy says the queen resided in the castle 
 in the town; Valery, Voyages hist, et litt. en Italie, Paris, 1831, Vol. I, p. 347, 
 says her residence was at Barco, some distance from the town, and describes 
 in detail the remains of the chateau. I have been unable to find any reference 
 
112 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 This work has been dismissed with scant notice by subsequent 
 writers who have failed to perceive its significance for the history 
 of social culture. It was the work which made Platonic love 
 fashionable and contributed powerfully to support and spread the 
 custom of discussing subjects of love in social gatherings." I 
 shall, therefore, make no apology for giving a careful analysis of 
 this curious and almost forgotten book. 
 
 The author states in the introduction that men are apt to be 
 tossed about on the sea of this life like a vessel, and the principal 
 thing which disturbs our peaceful voyage is our ignorance of the 
 good and evil love. To correct this ignorance the author pro- 
 poses to describe the discourses which were uttered in a company 
 of three worthy ladies and three learned and wise youths. 
 
 Asolo is then briefly described and the occasion of the above 
 mentioned discourses, a wedding of one of the Queen of Cyprus's 
 maids of honor. During the festivals two damsels sing two 
 canzoni, one dealing with the sorrows, the other with the joys of 
 love. A third canzone is sung declaring that if Love and his 
 work were well known our life would follow a straight and wise 
 path, and the Golden Age would return. 
 
 The Queen was wont after the midday meal to withdraw and 
 either sleep or spend the heat of the day as she pleased. After 
 she had gone the three ladies and the youths mentioned above 
 were left in the hall and walked up and down talking together. 
 They happened to approach a window overlooking a garden, and 
 Gismondo proposed that they should descend into it and pass 
 the heat of the day in the shade telling stories, or reasoning of 
 pleasant things. They did so and passing through the garden, 
 which is minutely described, they came to a flowery mead bor- 
 
 to Bembo's presence at the court of Catharine at Asolo. The Biographie 
 universelle Michaud says in describing Catharine's court: "Le celebre po^te 
 Pierre_ Bembo, son parent, devenu depuis cardinal, et alors fort jeune, ne la 
 quittait presque pas; et ce fut pour celebrer les noces splendides d'une de ses 
 demoiselles d'honneur qu'il ecrivit en 1490 Gli Asolani." I can find no allu- 
 sion to Bembo's presence at Asolo in any of the works at my disposal, nor is 
 Asolo mentioned in his letters. He returned from Sicily in 1495, and was in 
 Ferrara in 1498. He must have visited Asolo between those dates or earlier 
 as a mere lad. For Bembo's works I have used the splendid edition of Venice, 
 1729, in 4 vols., 4to. 
 
 1* In Rossi's article cited above, the author asks whether this custom had 
 disappeared in Italy after the Filocolo and was then revived in the second half 
 of the sixteenth century, or had it continued uninterruptedly. He decides in 
 favor of the second theory, and I think is right. The great prevalence of the 
 custom in the sixteenth century points to a long and unbroken habit. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 113 
 
 dered by a grove of laurel trees in which was a spring of water 
 rising from the living rock and flowing away in a marble channel. 
 The company seated themselves, some on the grass near the 
 spring, others in the shade of the trees by the stream, and Bere- 
 nice called on GiSmondo to speak on any subject he pleased. 
 Gismondo then recalled the three canzoni sung before the queen, 
 and challenged any of the ladies to say what she would in dis- 
 praise of love and he would answer her. No one accepted his 
 challenge and he wondered that one of his comrades at least by 
 way of jest did not say something against love so that they 
 might have a topic for their talk. There was no need of this, he 
 says, since there was one man there who judged ill of love, deem- 
 ing it an evil thing. 
 
 Perottino, who is meant, refuses to speak, but at last yields to 
 the entreaties of the ladies and chides Gismondo for his unfortun- 
 ate choice of subject and warns him that he will have nothing to 
 say in answer to his, Perottino's, arguments. Gismondo re- 
 plies that he has no fear. Lavinello is then urged to take part in 
 the combat, but excuses himself on the ground that it would 
 make the contest an unequal one. This excuse is not accepted, 
 and he declares that he will not fail to satisfy the wishes of the 
 ladies, acting the part of skirmishers who reserve the final attack 
 for themselves, and taking up the weapons dropped by the two 
 combatants. 
 
 Perottino then begins his discourse by a description of the 
 origin of Love, and derives the name from amaro (bitter), and 
 declares that it is impossible to love without bitterness, nor is 
 any bitterness felt or suffered on any other account than love. 
 
 One of the ladies, Berenice, here interrupts him, with Gis- 
 mondo 's permission, and says that his last statement is extrava- 
 gant and unseemly. Perottino then proceeds to justify his 
 statement. Gismondo says he will answer him in due time, and 
 meanwhile calls on him to prove that it is impossible to love 
 ^^■ithout bitterness. Perottino replies at length, citing many 
 instances from ancient history and mythology. 
 
 Lisa here asks why if Love is the cause of so many evils, he is 
 made a god. Perottino answers, and then continues with the 
 evils of love, one of which is that l overs seek to escape from their 
 ojKnJife__He recites a canzone, wTiich expresses this teelmg, ana 
 a little later another showing why the lover does not die even in 
 9 
 
114 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the midst of the flames of love. He continues then with the 
 folHes of lovers, and explains why Love is depicted young, winged, 
 with torch, bow, and arrows. ^° Love after all is not a god, but 
 is only what we ourselves wish , for he springs up in the ^ eld_sf 
 ou r wishes , without which, like plants without earth, he c annot 
 flourish. Here Perottino breaks off to afford Gismondo time to 
 answer him. The latter excuses himself for want of time, and it 
 is agreed that Perottino shall continue his arguments for the 
 remainder of the afternoon and that Gismondo shall reply the 
 following day. 
 
 Perottino then continues his explanation of why love is the 
 source of all evil. Whenever one does not possess what he de- 
 sires, he gives access to all those passions which torment him; 
 therefore it is impossible to love without bitterness. The general 
 passions from which are derived and to which return all the others 
 are: excessive desire, excessive joy, excessive fear of future 
 miseries, and excessive grief in present ones. These passions 
 are called perturbations, and of these the principal is love, which 
 is nothing but desire. Desire is the head and origin of all the 
 other passions, and from it proceeds every evil not otherwise 
 than every tree from its roots. He enumerates the crimes 
 committed from excessive love: incest, adultery, murder, etc., 
 and passes on to excessive joy, declaring that when joy exceeds 
 proper bounds it is fallacious and foolish and not true joy. The 
 results of the above are: sleepless night s, poetry, tears, etc. 
 The fortunes of love, moreover, never endure in the same state. 
 A canzone is given illustrating this, with examples of persons to 
 whom great sorrow has come after excessive joy: Dido and Ae- 
 neas, Niobe. Then the fears which lovers feel : Aegisthus, Orestes. 
 So it is with the grief felt in love; and yet it is sometimes 
 an alleviation in great sorrow to be able to grieve. The ills of 
 Love are the harder to cure the older they are. A canzone is 
 read showing this. In conclusion Perottino says that all ani- 
 mals rest from their fatigues, lovers do not. Tears never fail 
 them, but do not assuage their grief. The lover is Prometheus, 
 Ixion. Perottino then delivers an impassioned address to Love, 
 and tells how the latter had treated him. He draws from his 
 breast a handkerchief, the gift of his lady, and wipes his tears 
 away with it, tenderly apostrophizing it. 
 
 '^ See Chapter VI, note 22. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 115 
 
 The company examine carefully the handkerchief; and leaving 
 the garden, the youths accompany the ladies to the palace, but 
 they, because Perottino did not wish to be present at the festival 
 that day, wandered with him in the fields and woods, engaging 
 in conversation so that he might forget his bitter cares. 
 
 The following day after dinner the ladies, accompanied by the 
 youths, withdrew to the garden and there Gismondo proceeds 
 to answer Perottino. He reproves him for his weakness and 
 bespeaks close attention. Two points of Perottino's he will 
 answer: that love is impossible without bitterness, and that all 
 bitterness arises from nothing but love. If the first were true, 
 all sweetness would arise from hatred, which is the opposite of 
 love. This is false. Also, if we did not love, then nothing bitter 
 should befall us. One might as well say that because we should 
 not die unless we were born, our birth is the cause of our death. 
 So we only grieve when we lose wealth and honors; hence it is 
 Fortune who deprives us of them that makes us grieve, not 
 Love. If Amore is named from amaro, then donne (women) 
 is probably derived from danno (loss; damage). After reciting 
 two canzoni in praise of Love, Gismondo returns to Perottino's 
 argument that more writers have spoken ill of Love than have 
 praised him. This is partly because we are more inclined to com- 
 plain than to praise, and unhappy lovers naturally resort to 
 pen and ink to vent their feelings. So rivers that meet with 
 obstacles make a noise ; still waters run deep. Gismondo blames 
 poets for their futile verse and exaggerations, and then passes to 
 the argument of Perottino that it is impossible to love another 
 without constant suffering. If this were so we should have to 
 give up loving our relatives, etc., and retire from the world. 
 Thus all society, which is based upon love, would cease. He 
 facetiously adds, in reference to Plato's Symposium, that men 
 originally had two faces, four hands, etc., and Jove, whose 
 sovereignty they wished to usurp, divided them in two. Hence 
 we all seek our other half, and the two sexes are necessary to each 
 other. The business of the world could not be carried on with- 
 out them. All this prepares the answer to Perottino's argument 
 that we cannot enjoy what is foreign to us. Gismondo says that 
 in loving we love our other half, ourself, and hence we can en- 
 joy what we love. The ancient philosophers are cited to prove 
 the true nature of love, and to show that Perottino does not love 
 truly. 
 
116 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Here is introduced a beautiful episode in which is told how two 
 doves alight on the margin of tlie spring, and one of them is 
 carried away by a rapacious eagle. After the ladies had mourned 
 the loss of the dove, Gismondo continues to prove that love is 
 the cause of joy and not of sorrow. In the first place, love is the 
 cause of our being, and generally of all being. Then too, love 
 produces society. Gismondo is asked w^y, if Lo\e is the cause of 
 all things, he is not also the cause of evil as well as of good. Gis- 
 mondo answers this question^ and then proceeds to describe the 
 joys and power of Love. The conclusion is that the sweetest 
 ' thoughts are those of lovers, and some of these sweet thoughts 
 are mentioned, together with a canzone on the subject. He 
 then dwells on the delights of the memory, and does not omit 
 the reverse of the medal, the miseries of those who do not love. 
 Finally, he enumerates the beneficial effects of love, the fruits 
 of love, the divers manners of lovers, and what love accomplishes. 
 Just as Gismondo ends his impassioned praise of Love, the trum- 
 pets sound for the royal festival and break up the company in 
 the garden. Gismondo says that he has not finished his harangue 
 but that La^•inello's discourse will make up for it on the morrow. 
 
 The third book opens with a reference to the difficulty of 
 discovering the truth in matters which are discussed every day, 
 and proceeds to state that the absence of the ladies had been 
 noticed and the cause of it discovered and revealed to the queen. 
 After supper she expressed her desire to visit the garden, and 
 when there she said she would like to hear the discourses uttered 
 on the previous days. She is informed of them and declares that 
 she will be present the next day and hear the discourse of Lavi- 
 nello. The next day, then, the queen and her suite with the three 
 ladies and the three youths went into the garden, and Lavinello, 
 bowing to the queen, began with a compliment to her presence. 
 The opinions of Perottino and Gismondo, he declares, might 
 both be said to be right if they had not exceeded due moderation, 
 one in showing that love is always evil, and the other that love 
 is always good and never can be evil. The truth is that love' can 
 be good and evil. Lavinello says he is not going to take sides 
 with either Perottino or Gismondo, but will try to show them the 
 error of their ways. He then proceeds to prove that love and 
 desire are one and the same thing. All desires are either natura l 
 or voluntary: natural, like the love of life, voluntary, like those 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 117 
 
 w hich ari se i n us at the bidding of our -^ji dlls; and these desires 
 increase and dimmish as we will. These desires were implanted 
 in us not by chance but by Providence, so that the race 
 might be perpetuated. Reason was added to men and free will 
 so t hat we can desire or not as seems best to us. Hence in our 
 ngrtijgal .desires we all desire in the same way as the" anima ls; 
 inl> ther desires one loves one thing, another anothe r. N^atur al 
 desir£s_ are all good , the o thers good or bad as are their ends . 
 Of this kind of desires is that of which Gismondo reasoned, and 
 which is usually called love . Hence it is good or bad according 
 to the end which is given to it by our will. The early definers 
 say that good love is nothing but the desire for beauty; all be- 
 sides this is evil love. 
 
 Here Lavinello paused and the queen asked him to introduce 
 some poetry as his predecessors had done ; and he recites three 
 canzoni. When he resumes he describes his meeting with a 
 hermit early that same morning. It seems that the hermit had 
 dreamed of Lavinello and of the dispute of the previous days, and 
 that Lavinello had come to him and demanded his opinion of 
 Love. TViic tVip Viprrnit prnrppHprl tn crhre : L ove and dcsire are not 
 one_thingas Lavinello has said, and it is necessary to see what m 
 us is love, or rather what part of us is love, in order to prove that 
 it is not desire. The intellectual portion of the mind is divided 
 into three parts: the' intellect, the understanding, and truth, 
 which arises from the first two. There are likewise three parts 
 to the will-division of the mind: the will, volition, and what 
 arises from these two. He then shows that love cannot be de- 
 sire ; but granted that it is, he asks Lavinello why if love can be 
 good or evil according to its end, lovers sometimes devote them- 
 selves to bad and evil objects. Lavinello replies that it depends 
 on following reason, and men who do not follow their reason are 
 compared with the brutes who have none. Finally, the hermit 
 declares that good love is the desire of true beauty, and true 
 beauty is not human and mortal, but divine and immortal. This 
 then should be the object of our desires. 
 
 Then follows the Apologue of the Queen of the Fortunate 
 Islands, who throws her suitors into a sleep and treats them 
 according to their dreams : those who have dreamed of the chase 
 she dismisses to live with their beasts, those who dream of 
 merchandise she makes merchants, but those who have dreamed 
 
118 ITALIAX SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 of her she keeps in her court amid music and song and rejoicings 
 to discourse with her. The hermit appHes this apologue to 
 Perottino and Gismondo. The work ends with an impassioned 
 eulogy of the beauties of the seen and unseen worlds, and the 
 conclusion that good love is that which we can enjoy eternally, 
 and e\il love is the other which condemns us to eternal sorrow. ^^ 
 
 Such was the si ngular work which made , as I have already 
 said, P ktonic love jashio nable in Italy and tumished an interm i- 
 nable subject for social discussion . Bembo will himself appear 
 later as the enthusiastic defender of this subtle and spiritual 
 love in the famous book of Castiglione, // Cortegiano. In the 
 remaining chapters of the present work we shall see the great 
 rSle plaj-ed by love in the conversations of the cultivated classes, 
 but for the purpose of completeness it may be well to refer briefly 
 here to some other works on love which had an influence on 
 Italian society. 
 
 The first which I shall mention is the treatise on the nature of 
 love, Delia natnra d'amore, by Mario Equicola, the Italian his- 
 torian and philosopher, bom about 1460 at Alveto, a town of the 
 Equicoli, from which he took his name. He studied law at 
 Naples and afterwards became attached to various princes, 
 among others to the Duke of Ferrara, either Alfonso I, or Ercole 
 I ; in the latter case it is supposed that he was at the court of 
 Ferrara in 1490 when Isabel of Este married Francesco Gonzaga, 
 Marquis of Mantua, and that he followed her to her new prin- 
 cipality. Bandello mentions him in one of his stories (I, 30), 
 and says, "As you all know he is one of those men of whom all 
 courts should be full, because besides being a storehouse of letters, 
 and reared since his childhood in many courts, he is a most pleas- 
 ant companion, witty, amusing, quick, eloquent, and one of those 
 
 " Rossi in the article above cited says that the design of Gli Asolani is 
 e\'idently taken from Boccaccio's Ameto. The sources of Gismondo's argu- 
 ments are the Phaedrus and Symposium of Plato. Rossi also mentions a few 
 classical reminiscences. Gli Asolani was very popular outside of Italy, at 
 least in France, where there are a number of sixteenth century translations; 
 one by Jan Martin ran through several editions: Paris, 1545, 8vo, 1547, 8vo, 
 l.553i l6rao, 1576, l6mo. I do not find any English translation. Brunet 
 cites a Spanish translation, Salamanca, 1551, l2mo. The most recent and 
 best work on Gli Asolani of Bembo is to be found in Lorenzo Savino, Di alcuni 
 trattati e trattatisti d'amore italiani della meld del secolo XVI (Bembo, Castigli- 
 one, M. Equicola, L. Ebreo, G. Betussi, Tullia d'Aragona), in Studi di Lettera- 
 tura italiana, Vol. IX, pp. 233-333. For Bembo's relations to Isabella d'Este 
 see Luzio-Renier, "La Coltura, etc." in Giornale slorico, XXXVH (1901), pp. 
 201 et seq. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 119 
 
 who iie\'er allow the company to ^row weary with their merry 
 speeches." 
 
 Equicola is best known by his History of Mantua and the book 
 above mentioned, which he published at Venice in 1525. He 
 wrote it in his youth in Latin and afterwards translated it him- 
 self into Italian. It has often been reprinted in Italy, and was 
 translated into French by Gabriel Chappuys, Paris, 1584.'' 
 This work is interesting as being the first modem treatise on love, 
 and also for its plan. It professes to give a history of love from 
 the works of Italian writers from Guittone d'Arezzo down, and 
 includes one famous French author, Jean de Meung, the com- 
 poser of the second part of the Roman de la Rose. It is charac- 
 teristic of the superior refinement of Italy at this time that 
 Mario Equicola rebukes the French writer for his treatment of 
 woman in his poem. A detailed analysis is given of the views of 
 the above mentioned writers on the subject of love, and in a 
 later chapter the Greek and Latin poets are "examined together 
 with the poets of Provence, France, and Spain, not omitting 
 reference to the poetical school of Toulouse. The rest of the 
 book is devoted to Love and the ^•arious matters connected with 
 this subject, e.g. the origin of the affections, definition of love, 
 ^'arious kinds of love, power of love, jealousy, signs of lo\"e, why 
 lovers are pale, tearful, and sleepless, etc. Copious extracts 
 are given from the authorities cited, and the book must ha^•e 
 been a perfect storehouse of quotations in fashionable circles. ^^ 
 
 IS Paris, 1584, 8vo, 1589, i2mo, Lyon, 1597, i2mo. The edition I have 
 used is Venice, Pietro di Nicolini da Sabbio, 1536, i6mo. The best work on 
 Equicola's Xalura de Amore is in the work of Savino cited in note 17, Vol. X, 
 pp. i-ioi. For Equicola see P. Rajna in Giomale storico, LXVII, pp. 360- 
 375, "Per chi studia I'EquicoIa." The article is largely concerned with the 
 form of the name. Rajna concludes that the usual form, Equicola, is the cor- 
 rect one. See also a brief "Nota su M. Equicolo bibliofilo e cortegiano," in 
 Giomale storico, LX\'I, pp. 281-283, by G. Bertoni. A fuller account of Equi- 
 cola may be found in Francesco Flamini, II Cinquecento, pp. 377-379, 567. 
 For Equicola's relations to Isabella d'Este and the court of Mantua see Luzio- 
 Renier, "Coltura e relazioni letterarie d'Isabella d'Este" in Giomale storico, 
 XXXIV (1899), pp. I et seq. For Equicola see R. Renier in the Giomale 
 storico. Vol. XIV, pp. 212-233, "Per la cronologia e la composizione del libro 
 de Natura di Amore di Mario Equicola," and the same periodical, Vol. X\', 
 pp. 402-413, "Appunti su Mario Equicola," by Domenico Santoro. 
 
 is» Cian in his edition of the Cortegiano, Florence, 1^94, p. 19, says that 
 " questions " abound in Equicola. This is a mistake. xAmong the works cited 
 b^■ Equicola is one by Gian Giacomo Calandra entitled Aura, which has 
 now disappeared. Equicola, op. cit., vol. 38, says that Calandra 's work con- 
 tains seventy doubts concerning love, and cites the following: X^Tiich is the 
 grejiter difficulty, to feign love, or Io\-ing to pretend not to lov-e? \Miich 
 woman pleases the more, one who is fair but sill)-, or one deformed, but clever? 
 
120 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 More extensive and scientific is the Dialoghi di Amore by a 
 Spanish Jew, Leon Abravanel by name, but generally known as 
 Leone Hebreo. He was the son of Isaac Abravanel, the famous 
 Rabbinical scholar, and was bom in the kingdom of Castile in 
 the fifteenth century. The father fled with his children to 
 Naples after the fall of Granada in 1492, and thence to Sicily. 
 Leon went to Genoa, where he practiced medicine and was 
 converted to Christianity. His work on Love was first printed 
 at Rome in 1535, and later in a number of editions by Aldus." 
 It was twice translated into French, and there are three Spanish 
 translations. 
 
 The work, as the title indicates, consists of dialogues, three 
 in number, between Philone and Sophia, on the nature, uni- 
 versality, and origin of Love. So far as I can judge the book is 
 largely a r6sum6 of the doctrines of Plato on this subject, with 
 wearisome explanations of the allegories concealed in the myths 
 of the Greeks and Romans. The work could never have been 
 
 Can love be without jealousy? Which is the greater power of love, to make 
 the wise foolish, or the foolish wise? Can a lover die from excessive love? 
 Which is the more constant by nature, man or woman? Would the world be 
 better or worse without love? Can one fall in love with a woman by hearsay? 
 Which is the greater incentive to virtue, honor or the desire of pleasing the 
 beloved? Which woman loves the more, the timid or the bold? Which is the 
 more difficult to gain a lady's favor, or to preserve it? Which is the more 
 easily persuaded that he or she is loved, a man or a woman? Which is the 
 greatest proof for a woman that she is loved, besides perseverance? Which is 
 the more powerful passion, love or hatred? Can an inliexible mind be bent 
 by magic? Can a miser love? 
 
 "1541; 1545; 1549; 1552; 1558, sm. 8vo. Brunei mentions two French 
 translations: one by Den. Sauvage, Lyon, 1551, 1559, 1595, Paris, 1577; and 
 one by Ponthus de Tyard, the member of the famous Pleiade, Lyon, 1581. 
 For the Spanish translations see Chapter VIII, note 3. There is also an im- 
 portant " Notice sur Leon H^breu " in S. Munk, MSlanges de Philosophie juim 
 et arabe, Paris, 1859, Appendice, No. 4, pp. 522-528. A brief notice may be 
 found in the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. VII (1904), p. 683, under Leo Hebrjeus 
 (Abravanel, Judah). For Leone's influence in Spain see Chapter VIII, note 3. 
 The Spanish translation by Garcilasso Inca de la Vega (Madrid, 1590), is 
 reprinted by Men^ndez y Pelayo in his Origines de la Novela, Vol. IV, pp. 
 278-459. The Dialoghi di Amore is the subject of a very thorough and inter- 
 esting examination in the work of Savino so often cited in this chapter; see 
 notes 17, 18, Vol. X, pp. 192-163. An account of the Abravanele family may 
 be found in G. B. de Rossi, Dizionario storico degli autori ebrei e delle loro opere, 
 Parma, 1802, 2 vols. See also a very thorough monograph by B. Zimmels, 
 Leo Hebraeus, ein judischer Philosoph der Renaissance; sein Lehen, seine Werke 
 und seine Lehren, Leipzig, 1886, of which a review by M. Steinschneider ap- 
 peared in the Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Kultur und Litteratur der Renaissance, II, 
 pp, 290-296. A bibliography of the Dialoghi di Amore is given by Zimmels, 
 op. cit., pp. 41-42. There is now a second edition of Zimmel's book, Leone 
 Hebreo, Neue Studien, Wien, 1892, which I have not been able to see. The 
 edition which I have used is: Venice, 1591, In casa de figliuoli di Aldo, sm. 8vo, 
 and is not mentioned by Zimmels. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 121 
 
 popular in Italian society, and it is not easy to account for the 
 many editions in which it was printed except on the ground that 
 the Platonic conception of love continued to be fashionable 
 throughout the century. 
 
 The Trattato deU'Amore Humano by Flaminio Nobili is chiefly 
 interesting from the use made of it by Tasso, as will be related 
 presently. The author was born at Lucca in 1533 and studied 
 medicine and philosophy, occupying later a chair of logic and 
 ecclesiastical law in the University of Pisa. He spent three 
 years (1554-57) at Ferrara and then returned to Pisa. He 
 died at Lucca in 1591. Besides the work in question he was 
 one of the authors of the Latin translation of the Septuagint 
 published at Rome in 1587, and was also engaged on the famous 
 edition of the Vulgate published in 1590 under the auspices of 
 Sixtus V. 
 
 Nobili's treatise, first printed in 1567 at Lucca,"" is a philo- 
 sophical disquisition on Love, in which are examined such topics 
 as: Love springs from Beauty; the Nature of Beauty; Love is 
 desire of Beauty as well as of mutual Love ; how the intellect can 
 be united with sense, and how many kinds of human love there 
 are; whether Love can exist without hope; whether Love arises 
 from choice or fate; whether we can free ourselves from Love, 
 and the methods of so doing, such as absence and other remedies ; 
 whether Love is good or evil; of the lover's duty, and how to 
 know whether one is loved; and, finally, whether it is more per- 
 fect to love or to be loved. 
 
 The work rests on Aristotle and Plato, and is enlivened by 
 illustrations from the Italian poets as well as from classical 
 sources. It does not possess, however, any striking originality 
 and does not seem to have won in Italy or abroad the popularity 
 of the works of Leon Hebreo or Equicola."'' 
 
 ""This is the edition reprinted under the title: II Trattato deU'Amore 
 Humano di Flaminio Nobili con le pastille autografe di Torquato Tasso pubbli- 
 cato da Pier Desiderio Pasolini in occasione del Terzo Centenario della mortedel 
 poeta. Roma, 1895. Facsimiles are given of title page, first page of dedica- 
 tion, and one with Tasso 's notes. I have also seen an edition of 1580, 4to, 
 "stampato in Bologna per Pellegrino Bonardo," which contains, besides the 
 Trattato, Discorsi sopra le piU importanti Questioni nella materia dell'Honore, 
 del Sig. Flaminio Nobili, ff. 1-27. , , t • • j 
 
 '* Rosi, op. cit., p. 65, cites the Discorsi di M. Francesco de Vwri detto il 
 Verino secondo cittadino Fiorentino, Firenze appresso G. Marescotti, 1586. I 
 have not seen this work, but I have examined another work by the same au- 
 thor: Lezzione di M. Francisco de' Vieri Fiorentino, detto il Verino secundo._ 
 Per recitarla nelV Accademia Fiorentina nel consolato di M. Federigo Strozzi 
 
122 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The works just mentioned were learned treatises although they 
 undoubtedly contributed to foster the fondness for discussions 
 on the subject of love in polite society. There are several other 
 works, however, which will serve as a transition to the fashionable 
 conversations of the day, in which, as in the seventeenth century 
 in France, love in the form of gallantry bore so large a part. It 
 is significant that these works are all in the form of dialogues. 
 It is possible that this form is the result of the Renaissance and 
 is an imitation of a form popular in classical literature, but 
 I am inclined to think that it is largely due to the passion for 
 conversation, which is one of the most distinctive marks of 
 Italian society in the sixteenth and of French society in the 
 seventeenth century .2° 
 
 Tasso's fame as a poet has obscured his prose works, and few 
 now read his noble Dialogues, to many of which a pathetic 
 interest attaches as they were composed in the cell at the Hospital 
 of St. Anne. The poet cultivated carefully the dialogue form and 
 wrote a discourse upon it.^"'' Love is frequently discussed as 
 an incidental topic ijti his Dialogues, and four of them deal 
 
 Vanno 1580. Dove si ragiona delle Idee et delle Bellezze. Fiorenza appresso 
 G. Marescotti, 1581, 8vo, pp. 39, 69. The dialogue on " Idee et delle Bellezze" 
 extends to p. 39, and is followed by " Discorso della grandezza et felice fortuna 
 d'una gentilissima et graziosa donna, qual fu M. Laura." Fiorenza appresso 
 G. Marescotti, 1 581, pp. 1-69. The beauty treated of in the first part is Lau- 
 ra's, and the whole work is merely a brief treatise on Platonic love of little 
 value or interest. 
 
 The most extensive treatise on Love in Italian, or indeed in any language, 
 is by G. B. Manso, who has been frequently mentioned as the, friend and biog- 
 rapher of Tasso, and bears the title: Erocallia overo dell'Amore e della Bellezza. 
 Dialoghi XII. Di Gio. Battista Manso, Marchese della Villa, Con gli Argo- 
 menti a ciascum Dialogo del Cavalier Marino, et nel fine un Traitato del Dialogo 
 dell'istesso Autore. In Venetia, 162-8, appresso Euang. Deuchino, 4to, pp. 
 (30). 9~i054i 104- This extraordinary work is divided into three heads or 
 Quaderni; the first treating of the four causes of love, the second, of the four 
 kinds of beauty, which is the cause of love, and the third, of the four Paradoxes 
 of the effects depending upon the above four reasons. The book is a huge 
 undigested mass of pedantic quotations, philosophical arguments, etc. The 
 Paradoxes, as we have seen, were published separately. 
 
 '"' The dialogue as a literary form is the subject of a recent exhaustive mono- 
 graph: Der Dialog. Bin literarhistorischer Versuch, von R. Hirzel, Leipzig, 
 1895, 2 vols. The greater part of the work is devoted to classical times; that 
 relating to Italy and France, 1 1 , pp. 385-89 ; 406-1 1 , is very inadequate. Tasso 
 was fond of this form and wrote a discourse on it: "Dell'arte del dialogo," in 
 Le Prose Diverse, Florence, 1875, vol. II, p. 239. For the dialogue in Italian 
 literature see Ginguene, vol. VII, p. 577. 
 
 ^°<' " Discorso dell' Arte del Dialogo "in Le Prose Diverse di Torquato Tasso 
 nuovamente raccolte ed emendate da Cesare Guasti, Florence, 1875, Vol. II, pp. 
 239-249. I do not know the date of this Discourse; it was first printed in 
 1586, at Venice. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 123 
 
 almost exclusively with this passion. They are: II cavaliere 
 amante c la gentildonna amata; La Moha, o vero de Vamore; and 
 II Manso, o vero de ramicizia.-'"' A fourth dialogue on this 
 subject, II Cataueo, o vero de le conclusioni,\\\\\ be treated later 
 when I come to academic discussions on Love.^"" 
 
 The dialogue of Tasso first mentioned, II cavaliere amante e la 
 gentildonna amata, was written in 1580,2"'* and is a conversation 
 between Giulia C. and Giulio M. The former, it seems, had re- 
 fused to dance with the latter, alleging another engagement. As 
 no one came to claim her hand the gentleman naturally felt that 
 the refusal was based on some personal ground. The lady had 
 really promised the dance to another, but he did not appear, 
 probably to avoid arousing the jealousj- of the lad>' he loved. 
 This explanation leads to a discussion of Love, which Giulia 
 defines as "the desire of beauty," and Giulio as "desire of union"; 
 but later he modifies his definition as "desire of union for the 
 pleasure of those who are desirous of a particular beauty." 
 This is followed by the definition of a lover and a discussion of the 
 question whether a wise woman should show greater fa^■or to 
 lovers or to those who are not lovers. Giulio maintains the 
 latter side with great show of erudition and citations from 
 ancient and modem poets. 
 
 In August of 1583, while the poet was a prisoner in St. Anne's 
 Hospital, the Princess Marfisa, cousin of the Duke of Ferrara, 
 invited him to visit her at her villa of Medelana, as the poet 
 pathetically says "per vincere in questa parte con la sua molta 
 cortesia la mia contraria fortuna."-"' The Duke's consent having 
 
 "* The three Dialogues mentioned in the text may be found in I Dialoghi di 
 Torg^tato Tasso a cura di Cesare Guasti, Florence, 1858-g, 3 volumes: \'ol. II, 
 PP- 5--^2; 351; 362; III, pp. 319-359. 
 
 joc There is another Dialogue on Love attributed to Tasso: Dtaiogo det Cast 
 d' Amove di Torguato Tasso, Turin, 1894. For this spurious production see 
 A. Solerti, Vita di Torguato Tasso, Turin and Rome, 1895, Vol. Ill, p. 123, 
 where the literature of the question is cited. The work is probably the pro- 
 duction of an unknown Tuscan writer who flourished about the middle of the 
 sixteenth century. The dialogue is between two friends, Cammil'lo and Valerio, 
 the former of whom has just returned from a \oyage to the Orient. \'alerio 
 acquaints his friend with the fact that he is in love with a lady who receives 
 his advances with aversion, and begs his friend to tell him how he acquired so 
 quickly and easily the favor of his beloved. Cammillo replied with a long and 
 detailed account of his liaison with the wife of Federigo Selandi. The story 
 is told to serve as an A rs amatoria for \'alerio, who after his friend has con- 
 cluded informs him of the present state of his affairs. The Dialogue is not 
 properly speaking a treatise on loxe, but merely a noi'eUa in dialogue form. 
 
 ""See Solerti, Vita di Tasso, Vol. I, p. 316, note 3. 
 
 "• See Solerti, Vita di Tasso, \ol. I, pp. 369 «' ^^J- 
 
124 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 been obtained, Tasso went there under the charge of the Cavaliere 
 Ippolito Gianluca. With the princess were Tarquinia Molza 
 and Ginevra Marzi. The poet's brief visit left an indehble 
 impression on his mind, and two years later (1585) he wrote in 
 memory of the happy time a dialogue entitled, from the lady who 
 bears the most prominent part in it, La Molza, vera de Vamore. 
 
 Although the Princess received the unfortunate poet in so 
 kindly a manner that he might have laid aside all timidity, still, 
 after his first words, which were very brief and simple, he did 
 not dare to speak of anything. Signora Molza, who was seated 
 at his right, Signora Marzi being on the other side, asked him to 
 discourse of something. He replied that the ladies present 
 afforded him a better occasion of speaking than/ any other which 
 he had seen or heard for many years, yet the subject was beyond 
 his powers. 
 
 Then Signora Molza or the Princess begged him to give some 
 new definition of Love, and a seat was placed for him opposite the 
 ladies. He reluctantly accepted it, as some ladies were still 
 standing, and began to excuse himself from giving a new definition 
 of Love, as he was himself an old lover, grown old not in -love, but 
 in troubles. He would make an effort, however, to recall his 
 past thoughts on the subject and would begin with a review of the 
 definitions of Love from the time of the ancients down to Bembo. 
 These may be reduced to six, which he briefly discusses, and 
 then propounds his own view, viz., that Love is repose. 
 
 Signora Ginevra exclaims : "Love is in repose. Who ever were 
 more restless than lovers?" Tasso explains his meaning more fully 
 and expands his definition, that Love is repose in what is pleasing 
 rather than a movement towards that which is pleasing, as some 
 have said. Signora Ginevra asks where the seat of Love is, 
 and the poet answers that it is in the heart. In conclusion he 
 dwells briefly on some of the qualities of Love. 
 
 In 1592 Tasso visited Naples and there enjoyed the hospitality 
 and friendship of Giovanni Battista Manso, afterwards his 
 biographer, who later (1638) welcomed to the same abode John 
 Milton. While there Tasso made the sketch of a dialogue, 
 which he completed a few months later at Rome and sent to his 
 friend in March, isgs.^"-^ The Dialogue is called II Manso, 
 vera de Vamicizia, and the interlocutors are Manso, his brother- 
 
 2»/ See Solerti, Vita di Tasso, Vol. I, p. 724. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 125 
 
 in-law, Don Scipione Belprato, and the poet under the name of 
 "A Neapolitan Stranger." Tasso says he once found Manso 
 and Belprato together, the former with the works of Plutarch 
 before him. The poet was about to withdraw in order not to in- 
 terrupt the reading, but Manso begged him to remain, "for there 
 is no better way to remember what one reads than to converse 
 about it," and he adds that Tasso 's conversation "will be, as it 
 were, a new reading." In answer to the question of what he is 
 reading, he says it is of the difference between friend and flatterer, 
 and how one may be known from the other. 
 
 The dialogue which ensues turns on the characteristics of 
 friendship, and insensibly leads to a comparison of friendship 
 with love. There are three kinds of friends as well as three 
 kinds of love: love of the good (onesto), love of pleasure, and 
 love of utility. "This difference, however, exists between love 
 and friendship: love resembles affection, friendship, habit; love 
 extends to inanimate things which cannot love in return ; whereas 
 of friends, one loves the other by choice, but choice arises from 
 habit." 
 
 Then follows the oft repeated discussion whether Love springs 
 from choice; and the conversation takes the turn of the usual 
 Platonic dialogues, with frequent reference to the views of Aris- 
 totle, and the time-honored illustrations from ancient history. 
 Manso concludes with a fervid praise of friendship, which Tasso 
 says cannot be honored better than by good works, and prays 
 that it may so be honored and commended' by them at all times 
 and in all places.^"" 
 
 The first of the other dialogues which I shall mention is by 
 
 Sperone Speroni, a famous essayist, poet, dramatist, and orator. 
 
 After the classical pedants of the early Renaissance came a long 
 
 line of scholars devoting themselves to their own language and 
 
 literature : Bembo and Speroni are good examples of these. The 
 
 latter was bom at Padua in 1500, and studied at Bologna. He 
 
 received the chair of philosophy in the university of his native 
 
 city, but was soon obliged to relinquish it on account of domestic 
 
 affairs. He represented the Duke of Urbino at Rome for four 
 
 years, and later spent five years in the same city. Otherwise 
 
 his long hfe (he died in 1588) was passed at Padua, where he won 
 
 2"" The subject of Love is also treated in Tasso's Considerations on the three 
 Canzoni of M. Giov. Battista Pigna entitled The Three Sisters: see Le Prose 
 Diverse, Vol. II, p. 77, and Solerti, Vita di Tasso, Vol. I, p. 170. 
 
126 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 great fame as a writer and public speaker.^^ His dialogues cover 
 a wide range of subjects, from the first on Love, to the twentieth 
 on Imitation. There are, between these, dialogues on the Dignity 
 of Woman, Care of the Family, Discord, Usury, Languages, 
 Rhetoric, Virgil, History, Fortune, etc. He also wrote an 
 elaborate apology for his dialogues in four parts. It is with the 
 first dialogue on Love that we now have to do.^^ 
 
 The interlocutors are Tullia d'Aragona, of whom more pres- 
 ently, Bernardo Tasso, the father of Torquato, Niccolo Grazia, 
 a friend of Speroni and Tasso, and Francesco Maria Molza, 
 novelist and poet. The last named is not properly speaking an 
 interlocutor in the dialogue in question, but is quoted at great 
 length by Tullia. Speroni says in his Apology^' that he wrote 
 his dialogue on love in 1528, without indicating the scene or 
 mentioning the names of the speakers, which were inserted later. 
 The dialogue turns on the approaching departure of Tasso for 
 Salerno, and the jealousy which torments both him and Tullia. 
 Grazia declares that true love is free from jealousy, and proceeds 
 to define perfect love as that which unites the lovers in a union 
 so close that they become no longer themselves but a certain 
 third person. He characterizes jealousy at length, and declares 
 in conclusion that it is an incurable illness, a plague that infects 
 the very air which should support life. Tasso confesses that it 
 is an evil thing and leads the conversation back to the mysterious 
 union of the two lovers in a third person. Tullia says, apropos of 
 this, that love and reason cannot exist in the same mind, and is 
 challenged by Grazia to define love. She replies that she can- 
 not do so, but that Molza once told her that that would be a 
 strange figure which was composed of reason and love. That 
 love is nothing but nature, or fortune, or destiny; but that it 
 was unreasonable to call it reason or a reasonable thing. He 
 said that love was good of itself, coming always from heaven, 
 although it seemed the cause of evil results. Then follows a 
 long account by Molza of a Council of the Gods and their de- 
 termination that Love should remain among them, but like the 
 
 ^' For Speroni's works I have used the handsome edition of Venice, 1740, 
 5 vols., 4to. The dialogue in question is in the first volume, where it occupies 
 pp. 1-45. For Speroni's Dialpgo d'amore see Savino's work cited in notes 17, 
 etc., Vol. X, pp. 276, et seq. 
 
 2^ Fer this dialogue see G. Biagi, " Un' Etera Romana" in the Nuom Anto- 
 logia, Vol. 88 (July-Aug., 1886), pp. 655-711, esp. p. 666. 
 
 ^' Apology I, p. 272. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 127 
 
 sun should send down his rays to banish the shadows from our 
 hearts and to melt their ice. 
 
 Tullia cannot understand how a passion which springs from 
 beauty and mortal virtue can be celestial, and Molza answers by 
 an elaborate comparison with the sun. Tullia finally returns 
 to the thesis that reason is the enemy of Love and hates and 
 persecutes all his joys and ever will hate them. This Grazia 
 denies, declaring that the same affection exists between them as 
 between mother and child. He defines Love as the desire of that 
 which really is good or which seems such to us. He then takes 
 up Molza's comparison of Love to the sun, and a new comparison 
 of his own, that of the Centaur, who was both man and brute, 
 asking, What is human life but a mixture of feelings and reason? 
 Then, not Love alone, but we too are centaurs; and Love is a 
 compound not only of man and brute but of an infinite number of 
 contraries united in him alone. It is enough for the present 
 that he makes lovers one, giving to the parts of such a compound 
 their due happiness. 
 
 This leads Tullia to ask, quite in the manner of the jeux-pariis, 
 To which is given the greater happiness, to the lover or to the 
 beloved? A long discussion follows, in the course of which 
 various other questions are debated, as whether Love is flattery 
 and desire of gain ; and the necessity for the lover to be separated 
 from the beloved in order to be perfectly happy. This last 
 thought, developed at length, leads Grazia to conclude with an 
 impassioned appeal to Tullia not to prevent Tasso's departure. 
 
 One of the principal interlocutors in the above dialogue, Tullia 
 d'Aragona, was herself the author of a curious composition of the 
 same nature on The Infinity of Love.^ The writer belonged 
 . to a class characteristic of Italian society of the end of the fif- 
 teenth and beginning of the sixteenth century. The Renaissance 
 in its blind imitation of classical antiquity revived the Greek 
 hetaera^' with all her charms of mind and body.^^ Two of this 
 
 ^ For this dialogue I have used the edition in Daelli's Biblioteca Rara, Vol. 
 XXIX, Milan, 1864. There is now an excellent modern edition in Zonta's 
 Trattati d'Amore del Cinquecento in Scritlori d'Jtalia, Bari, 1912. 
 
 ^ Other reasons are given for the rise of this class in Italy at this time. See 
 Canello, Storia della letteratura italiana nel secolo XVI, Milan, 1881, pp. 22 
 et seq. ; but it seems rather due to the reason given in the text, unless it be re- 
 garded as an original evolution. 
 
 'i'For this subject in general see Canello just cited; A. Graf, Atlravers-o il 
 Cinquecento, Turin, 1888, pp. 217-351, "Una cortigiana fra mille: Veronica 
 Franco"; the article by Biagi and the book by Celani cited, the former in 
 
128 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 class, Tullia and Veronica Franco, belong to Italian literature. 
 The former was born in Rome towards the end of the first decade 
 of the sixteenth century .^^ Her mother Giulia was a courtezan 
 of Ferrara; her father was the Cardinal Luigi d Aragona, whose 
 tomb may still be seen in the church of Santa Maria sopra Mi- 
 nerva. He was descended from Ferdinand I of Aragon, King of 
 Naples, and so Tullia had royal blood in her veins. Little is 
 known of her youth, which may have been spent in Florence and 
 Siena. Her father died in 15 19 and she returned shortly after- 
 ward to Rome where she lived until 1531. From this time until 
 her death in 1556 we catch glimpses of her at Ferrara, Venice, 
 Siena (where she was married in 1543), and Florence. She was 
 carefully educated like others of her class, and played various 
 musical instruments, as well as sang, "so sweetly," says Zilioli, 
 "that the most eminent teachers of the art were amazed." 
 "She spoke with unusual grace and eloquence," declares the same 
 authority, "and charmed the mind of her hearers like a second 
 Cleopatra." She was tall, not beautiful but attractive, with 
 splendid eyes and golden hair. Her poetical gifts endeared her 
 to a large circle of literary admirers, among whom were Girolamo 
 Muzio, Bernardo Tasso, as we have already seen, Molza, Varchi, 
 Fracastoro, and others. Her house was a resort for poets and 
 scholars, and the dialogue we now have to examine has for inter- 
 locutors, besides Tullia herself, Benedetto Varchi, the famous 
 historian of Florence, and a more obscure scholar, Lattanzio 
 Benucci. 
 
 The scene of the dialogue is in Tullia's house at Florence, and 
 the guests have been engaged in praising their hostess, "whose 
 
 note 22, the latter in the following note. See also the introduction to Lettere 
 di Coriigiane del Secolo XVI, Alia Libreria Dante in Firenze, 1884. See also 
 L. A. Ferrai, Lorenzino de' Medici e la societd, cortigiana del cinquecento, Milan, 
 1891; especially Chapters III and IX. 
 
 " I have used for my account of Tullia the introduction to her poetry by 
 E. Celani, Le Rime di Tullia d'Aragona, Bologna, 1891, Scelta di Curiositi 
 letterarie, CCXL; the article by Biagi cited above; and the life by Zilioli pre- 
 fixed to the edition of the dialogue already mentioned. See also S. Bongi, 
 "II Velo giallo di Tullia d'Aragona" in Rivista critica della lett. ital., Anno III, 
 No. 3, Marzo, 1886, and the same author's Documenti senesi su Tullia d'Aragona 
 in the same periodical, Anno IV, 1887, p. 187. The best edition of Tullia's 
 Dialogue is now to be found in Zonta's Trattati d'Amore del Cinquecento, Bari, 
 1912, in Scrittori d'ltalia. The best work on Tullia's Dialogue is in the mono- 
 graph of Savino cited in notes 17, 18, and 19, Vol. X, pp. 264-334. Both Zonta 
 and Savino have, as well as earlier writers, expressed doulDts of the complete 
 originality of Tullia's Dialogue, some attributing a share in its composition 
 to Varchi, others to Muzio. See the works referred to by Zonta, op. cit., p. 
 361. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 129 
 
 house has always been a universal and honored Academy, to 
 which have flocked gentlemen, scholars, lords, princes, and 
 cardinals, who have vied with each other in extolling her for the 
 rare gifts of her noble and courteous mind." Just as the com- 
 pany were about to mention her admirers in Siena, Varchi enters 
 and interrupts a conversation which was becoming embarrassing 
 to the modesty of TuUia, who eagerly embraces an opportunity 
 to divert it into another channel. After Tullia and the new- 
 comer have exchanged greetings, which seem to us exaggerated, 
 the former begs Varchi to solve a doubt which had arisen in the 
 company, and the discussion of which had been postponed in 
 view of his coming. The doubt was this: Is it possible to love 
 for a limited time (se si pud amar con termino)? A contest of 
 wits then ensues between Tullia and Varchi as to the definition 
 of termino, whether love and to love are one and the same thing, 
 etc. Varchi then asks Tullia if one can live without eating, and 
 why the dead do not eat; and when she answers: "Every one 
 knows they cannot and do not need to, and in short because they 
 are dead and not alive," Varchi replies: "You have just said 
 yourself what you did not believe when I said it, and exactly 
 so you must answer; for as the living cannot live without eating, 
 so those in love cannot love for a limited time. And if one should 
 cite examples ancient and modem of those who, being in love, have 
 ceased to love, you must reply: So and so were alive and ate, now 
 they are dead and no longer eat." Tullia: "I understand you. 
 You mean that while love lasts it has no end, and when it no 
 longer lasts, the question is not pertinent." 
 
 The discussion then wanders off to other related topics, as to 
 whether there are those who love only to gratify their desires 
 and when this is accomplished love no more. Varchi denies 
 that this is so, and declares that the age has changed the names of 
 things and given that of love which is the noblest that can be 
 found, to almost the vilest thing there is. Tullia answers that 
 the word is equivocal in as much as it signifies several kinds of 
 love, two of which she proceeds to define, one volgare or disonesto, 
 the other virtuoso or onesto. The former ceases as soon as it 
 is satisfied, and often turns to hate. The latter is generated by 
 reason, not by desire, and has for its object transformation into 
 the beloved, and of the beloved into it, so that two may become 
 one, or four. Of this kind of love Petrarch and Bembo have 
 
 • 10 
 
130 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 written, and this transformation can take place only spiritually. 
 As the two cannot become one because matter is impenetrable, 
 so this love never attains its end, and therefore one cannot love 
 for a limited time. 
 
 Varchi says that Tullia must have read Philo, whom he places 
 above Plato. This leads to a discussion of the Socratic doctrine 
 of love and the explanation by Tullia of why love of the baser 
 kind often increases after its desires are satisfied. With this the 
 dialogue proper ends; but Varchi wishes to know what other 
 topics were under discussion before he arrived. Benucci, after 
 thanking him for his share in the conversation, says that two 
 other doubts or questions had been propounded earlier: some 
 had declared that all love arises from selfishness, that whoever 
 loves loves principally for his own interest and utility; others 
 have denied this. The second doubt is as to which love is the 
 more powerful, that which arises from destiny, or that which 
 arises from one's own choice (see Chapter V, note 22). Varchi 
 tries to excuse himself from judging these questions, but at last 
 he says that in regard to the first doubt both sides were right; 
 that all things do all that they do for their own preservation 
 and maintenance. In regard to the second doubt Varchi 
 confesses he does not understand it very well, and that it would 
 be necessary to discuss fate and predestination, things no less 
 lengthy and difficult than dangerous, and so he advises that the 
 question be postponed. 
 
 One of the longest and most interesting of the dialogues in 
 question, not the most interesting perhaps from a literary stand- 
 point, but because it shows even more clearly than those already 
 examined the continuity of discussion upon the subject of love 
 from the time of the Troubadours to the sixteenth century, is 
 also of interest as it is in a certain sense connected with Boccaccio, 
 through its author, who was a devoted admirer of the great novel- 
 ist and the translator into Italian of several of his Latin works. 
 Giuseppe Betussi was bom at Bassano about 1520. He lost his 
 parents at an early age and removed to Venice, where he devoted 
 himself to letters (he is supposed to have been engaged for a 
 time in the printing office of the Gioliti) , and won the friendship 
 of the notorious Pietro Aretino. He afterwards became the 
 secretary of Count Collaltino di Collalto, whom he accompanied 
 to England and at whose suggestion he undertook the trans- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 131 
 
 lation of Boccaccio's De Genealogiis Deorum Gentilium?^ He 
 soon left the service of the Count and led a wandering life, 
 alternating between Venice, Florence, Mantua, Sienna, and Rome! 
 in the vain hope of finding some permanent employment. He 
 served several gentlemen as secretary and travelled on their 
 business as far as Spain. The last position he seems to have 
 filled was with Pio Obizzi at Padua, to whom he acted as his- 
 toriographer of his family. He died about 1573, leaving a con- 
 siderable number of works in prose and verse, among them 
 translations of three of Boccaccio's works, the seventh book of the 
 Aeneid in Italian verse, a life of Boccaccio, letters, rime, several 
 dialogues, etc. 
 
 The work in question is entitled II Raverta, from one of the 
 interlocutors, Ottaviano Raverta. ^^ The scene is laid in the 
 house of Signora Francesca Baffa, whom Raverta finds reading 
 the Dialoghi di Amore by Leone Hebreo mentioned above. She 
 says that after reading many books on the subject she has been 
 unable to find any general definition of love, and calls on Raverta 
 to frame one. While Raverta is hesitating, Ludovico Domenichi 
 enters and is informed of the discussion. Raverta, after dividing 
 love into two classes, that of superiors to inferiors, as of God to 
 man, and of inferiors to superiors, as of man to God, proceeds to 
 define love as a voluntary wish (affetto volontario). This defini- 
 tion leads to a long debate, and is finally completed by the phrase 
 "to share or partake in the thing known or deemed beautiful." 
 The two kinds of love above mentioned are then still further 
 subdivided and the various classes of beauty are considered. 
 Beauty of mind is the highest, and the object of love is union 
 with the mind of the beloved. Spiritual love is far worthier 
 than corporal love, and thus there are two kinds of love, two 
 kinds of beauty, and two Venuses. 
 
 2* Besides the De Genealogiis, Betussi translated De Claris mulierihus, and 
 De casibus virorum illustrium. Materials for the life of Betussi may be found 
 in Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d'ltalia. Vol. H, pp. 1100-1102; Zonta, " Note Betus- 
 siane," in Giornale storico, LH, pp. 321-366; and Flamini, // Cinquecento, p. 376. 
 The best work on Betussi's Raverta is in the work of Savino cited in notes 17, 
 18, 19, and 27, Vol. X, pp. 164-264. 
 
 ^' For II Raverta I have used the edition in Daelli's Biblioteca Rara, vol. 
 XXX, Milan, 1864, and the one of Venice, Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, 1562, 
 i2mo. See Bongi, Annali diGabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, Rome, 1890-5, vol. I, 
 p. 84. There is a good modern edition in Zonta 's Traitati d' Amore, in Scrittori 
 d'ltalia, Bari, 1912. For the questions in II Raverta, see Savino, op. cit., Vol. 
 X, pp. 219, 300. 
 
132 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It would take too long to follow Betussi in the Platonic sub- 
 tleties which ensue, and extend to page 86 of the edition 
 cited. More interesting are the ii6 subsequent pages, which 
 contain a large number of doubts or "questions," some of which 
 are already familiar to the reader. I give them in the order in 
 which they occur. Which is the greater difficulty, to pretend to 
 love when not loving, or when loving to hide one's love (p. 86) ? 
 This is discussed at length, with a quotation from Boccaccio's 
 Fiammetta, and it is decided that it is harder for a lover to con- 
 ceal his love than for one to feign love. Signora Baffa (all the 
 doubts are propounded by her) then asks, p. 92, Can a miser 
 love? Domenichi replies that he can, but not while he is a 
 miser. Again Signora Baffa asks, p. 94, Which loves the more, 
 the timid or the bold ? ^° The question is decided in favor of the 
 timid. Which loves the more fervently, the man or the woman? 
 demands Signora Baffa, p. 99. Man, replies Domenichi, be- 
 cause he is the more perfect being. Signora Baffa says he need 
 not continue, for she should probably have to yield, and asks 
 another question, p. 100, Which is the more constant, the man 
 or the woman? Domenichi again replies as above, and history 
 and poetry are ransacked to furnish examples for both sides. 
 Again Signora Baffa yields, and asks, p. 109, What greater evi- 
 dence than perseverance has a woman that she is loved? All 
 agree that there is none. Can a lover die from excessive love 
 (p. 1 1 3) ? Signora Baffa defends the affirmative with a letter from 
 Anton Francesco Doni, which contains a story to the point. 
 
 Among the large number of "questions" which follow are: 
 Does love make the wise foolish, or the foolish wise (p. 133)? 
 Which is the greater difficulty, to acquire the favor of the be- 
 loved, or to retain it (p. 137)? Can love exist without jealousy 
 (p. 141) ? Which deserves the more to be loved, a timid or a bold 
 woman (p. 143) ? How is it best to reveal one's love to the be- 
 loved, by letter, or by messenger, or by word of mouth, etc. 
 (p. 144) ? Which age is preferable in love (p. 150) ? Which is the 
 true way to make one's self loved (p. 156)? Is it better to show 
 one's self kind or severe to a lover (p. 169) ? Which is the more 
 easily persuaded that he or she is loved, a man or a woman 
 (p. 171)? Which is the greater spur to virtue, desire for honor, or 
 wish to please the beloved (p. 173)? Can a man fall in love with 
 
 ^'' This resembles the sixth question in the Filocolo. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 133 
 
 a woman, or a woman with a man, by report (fatnay^ (p. 176)? 
 Which is the more powerful passion, love or hate (p. 186)? 
 Would it be better or worse if love did not exist (p. ,190) ? Etc. 
 
 The above "questions" are all discussed, and Signora Baffa 
 concurs with, or dissents from the decision of her visitors. The 
 three hardly constitute a tribunal, as was the case when such 
 "questions" were debated in larger companies as a form of social 
 diversion, of which we shall see many examples in the follow- 
 ing, chapters. 
 
 Betussi is also the author of another dialogue on Love, or 
 rather on Beauty, La Leonora, ragionamento supra la vera bellezza, 
 Lucca, 1557, now accessible in the reprint in Zonta's Trattati 
 d'Amore del Cinquecento, Bari, 1912. The scene of this very 
 rare work is laid near Melazzo, a small village in the mountains 
 not far from Genoa and Savona, and the property of the Falletta 
 family. There Betussi is the guest of Giovanni Francesco and 
 Giovan Giorgio, brothers, the latter of whom is married to 
 Leonora, daughter of Monsignor Delia Croce. From her the 
 dialogue takes its name. A company of distinguished gentlemen 
 from various parts of Italy happened to meet at Melazzo on the 
 day when Signora Leonora had planned to makp an excursion 
 to another property of hers and take dinner there. She invites 
 the company to be her guests, and they all, with one exception, 
 walk to the villa. 
 
 After dinner Signora Leonora says that her guests can amuse 
 themselves' as they like; only they cannot sleep. She suggests, 
 however, that Signor Bernardo Capello propose some fine and 
 worthy subject of conversation and expound it to them. Signor 
 Bernardo excuses himself on the ground that the others present 
 are all more worthy. The company wish to leave the choice of 
 subject to Signora Leonora, and it is suggested that they continue 
 a conversation begun a day or two before by Signora Leonora on 
 the subject of true beauty, mortal and divine. After some 
 desultory talk Signor Bernardo plucks a branch of laurel and 
 weaving a garland places it upon the head of Leonora in token 
 that she is the queen of the entertainment. She modestly 
 accepts the honor, and the dialogue proper begins at this point. 
 
 '1 Among the examples cited are those of Gerbino and the daughter of the 
 King of Tunis {Decameron, IV, 4), and the classic example of Jaufre Rudel and 
 the Countess of Tripoli. 
 
134 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 She opens with the creation of man and the bestowal upon him 
 by his creator of angelic nature. This leads to a long discussion 
 of what the angelic nature is. Leonora explains it, and its re- 
 sult upon man, formed as to his body from the dust. 
 
 Gradually the conversation turns on a comparison of earthly 
 and divine beauty, and the kind of love which should be given 
 to each. Betussi remarks that it seems to him that from beauty 
 they have come to discuss (questionar) Love, and Leonora re- 
 plies that this is not inappropriate, since Love is bom of Beauty. 
 
 We cannot follow the conversation in detail. The examples of 
 many noble and beautiful ladies are cited, and the means (educa- 
 tion, etc.) to attain true beauty. The dialogue ends with an 
 eloquent outburst on the part of Leonora, in which she compares 
 the two beauties of the body and the mind: "Eccovi adunque 
 quanto sia misteriosa la vera bellezza nostra, la quale dobbiamo 
 cercare d'acquistare di maniera che del corpo poco o nulla curi- 
 amo." 
 
 Betussi was also the author of another dialogue on Love, now 
 become very rare: Dialogo amoroso di Messer Giuseppe Betussi. 
 In Venetia, al Segno del Pozzo, 1543, i2mo.''^'' The interlocutors 
 are Madonna Francesca, Pigna, and Sansovino, and the con- 
 versation turns on the case of Pigna, who is in love and is not 
 sure that he is loved in return. There is no formal treatise on 
 Love, but merely pleasant talk interspersed with sonnets and 
 anecdotes on Pigna's particular case. 
 
 A work of a nature similar to Betussi's // Raverta is the Dialogue 
 on Love by Lodovico Domenichi in his Dialoghi, Venice, Appres- 
 so Gabriel Giolito de'Ferrari, 1562, i2mo. The author, famous 
 for his quarrel with Doni, was bom at Piacenza and spent his 
 life chiefly at Florence, where he produced a large number of 
 translations and miscellaneous literary works. He died at 
 Pisa in 1564. 
 
 The speakers in the dialogue in question are Signora Silvia 
 Boiarda, Signora Battista Varana, Count Hercole Rangone, and 
 Messer Gherardo Spini. The scene is laid at Modena in 1560, 
 through which place Signora Silvia and Signora Battista were 
 passing on their way to Parma. They were welcomed by Signora 
 Lucia Bertana to her house, and at supper met the gentlemen 
 
 '1" I have used the copy in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Turin. There is a 
 copy in the British Museum. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 135 
 
 named in the dialogue. After the meal the company sat around 
 the fire, and the customary compliments to the ladies led the con- 
 versation to the subject of love. They had not talked long when 
 Signora Battista propounded to the Count the following question : 
 Since all women when they are loved are constrained to love in 
 return, do those who are homely desire to be loved more than 
 the fair? The Count, after the discussion on this point is finished, 
 asks Messer Gherardo Spini whether a beautiful woman is 
 naturally more virtuous than a homely one. Spini declares that 
 she is not, and the Count defends the opposite view. Signora 
 Lucia interrupts the dispute by asking: Which is believed to be 
 loved the more easily, a homely or a beautiful woman? 
 
 In order to prolong the conversation Signora Lucia proposes her 
 question: Can a man fall in love with a woman whom he has 
 neither seen nor heard ?^''' The classic example of Geoffrey 
 Rudel is cited together with instances from Boccaccio. Messer 
 Gherardo then asks: Which incites and inflames us the more to 
 virtue, honor or the desire to please the beloved? The Count 
 reminds the company that although they have discussed Love 
 and his effects, no definition of Love has yet been given, and he 
 asks: What is Love? The usual definitions are then given 
 according to Plato. Signora Lucia, "to give more pleasing 
 material for conversation," asks: Why do lovers so eagerly de- 
 sire to be loved in return? This is followed by the related ques- 
 tions : What are the tokens by which one knows that he is loved 
 in return? and. What are the signs of a true lover? 
 
 Signora Lucia to give the Count a little rest inquires : Why do 
 lovers so earnestly entreat that the heart which has been taken 
 from them should be restored? The last question is propounded 
 by the Count : Why do we so often allow ourselves to be carried 
 away by our desires to love what there is no hope of ever attain- 
 ing? This is illustrated by the examples of Ricciardetto in 
 Ariosto and of Boccaccio himself with Fiammetta. At this 
 point the Count takes his leave and the company breaks up.^i" 
 
 Among the many other Dialogues on Love may first be men- 
 tioned a brief one by Francesco Sansovino, who was bom in 
 
 si> This question forms the subject of Ridolfi's Aretafila, to be mentioned 
 presently, and the same topic recurs frequently in these pages. 
 
 31= The same work contains a lengthy Dialogue on the Remedtes for Lone, 
 and Love forms also to a greater or less extent the subject of two other dia- 
 logues, those on Fraternal Love and Devices for War and Love. 
 
136 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Rome in 1521 and carefully educated for the law by his father. 
 Francesco, however, had an irresistible inclination for literature 
 and abandoned his legal studies at Padua to become a corrector 
 for the Giolito press at Venice, where he later set up as a printer 
 on his own account. He was a most prolific writer, translator, 
 and compiler, and his collections of letters, satires, and novels 
 enjoyed great popularity. He died at Venice in 1586. 
 
 The Dialogue in question is entitled: Ragionamenio di M. 
 Fran. Sansovino, nel quale brevemente s'insegna a giovani huomini 
 la hella arte d'Amore. Mantova, 1545, i2mo, 16 ff.'^"^ There 
 are two interlocutors, Panfilo and Silio, and the dialogue opens 
 with a discussion of the question whether the old should love, 
 which Panfilo denies, avowing very frankly that the love under 
 consideration is earthly love (amor terreno). Old age is de- 
 fined as fifty or over, and youth in woman is by some considered 
 as between fourteen and eighteen, although Panfilo thinks a 
 woman of twenty-five is more worthy of being loved than a 
 girl of the former age. 
 
 Silio then propounds the oft-debated question whether the 
 beloved should be a widow, wife, nun, or maid. Panfilo prefers 
 the second, and gives elaborate reasons why maidens should be 
 avoided. Then follows the praise of married women; who are 
 blamed if they take too young a lover. Silio asks what the proper 
 age is, and Panfilo replies that he should not be younger than 
 Silio, who is twenty-four. 
 
 Certain classes are not suited for love; such are merchants, 
 those whose minds are devoted to the acquisition of wealth, the 
 effeminate, and ecclesiastics. The proper lover and beloved are 
 then described, and Panfilo gives directions for love-making after 
 the suitable object has been found. These include instructions 
 for conversation, places of meeting (at church, banquets, plays, 
 and jousts), and dress. 
 
 Panfilo sums up his rules as follows: "Silio, this is the general 
 rule, that when you love you should be careful not to offend your 
 lady in anything, and that will be avoided if you live in the 
 proper way (regolato) in regard to dress, friendship, manners, 
 
 '^^ I have used my own copy of this edition, the only one I have seen. The 
 book is apparently very rare, no copy being in the British Museum. The work 
 is dedicated to the famous poet Madonna Gasparina Stampa in a letter dated 
 Venice, 1545. There is now a reprint in Zonta's Trattati d'Amore del Cinque- 
 cento, in Scritlori d' Italia, Bari, 1912. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 137 
 
 words, conversation, and amusements." These things Panfilo 
 then explains in detail and concludes by declaring that all that 
 has been said might be condensed into a few words, by observing 
 which one would become a complete and perfect lover. These 
 words are : " Ama e sarai amato," "Love and you will be loved." 
 
 Another brief dialogue on Platonic love is Dialogo d'Amore 
 detto Aiithos, secondo la mente di Platone. Composto da M. 
 Nicolo Vila di Gozze, gentilhuomo Ragugeo. Nuovamente posto 
 in luce. In Venetia appresso Francescb Ziletti, 1581, 4to."» 
 The interlocutors are Fiore Zuzori and Maria Gondola. The 
 dialogue itself displays no originality, but deals with the usual 
 questions concerning the nature of Love, etc., which are explained 
 by the philosophy of Plato. Another and similar Dialogue on 
 Beauty by the same author will be mentioned later.''-'' 
 
 In addition to the independent dialogues mentioned above 
 discussions on the nature of love are found in dialogue form in 
 many other works, such as the Cortegiano already cited and 
 Romei's Discorsi, which are fully treated in Chapter V. 
 
 Another interesting dialogue by an otherwise unknown writer 
 of Piacenza, Bartolomeo Gottifredi, entitled Specchio d'Amore, 
 preserved in a single very rare edition of Florence, 1547, has 
 recently been made accessible by Zonta in his Trattati d'Amore 
 del Cinquecento in Scrittori d'ltalia, Bari, 1912. The dialogue, 
 in two parts, is between a confidential servant, Coppina, and her 
 mistress' daughter, Maddalena, and constitutes a complete 
 Ars amaudi. Love is defined, its objects described, and Madda- 
 lena is instructed in the art of winning a lover, and the means of 
 receiving him secretly into her house. The servant is an Italian 
 Celestina and her frank immorality and the unhesitating ac- 
 
 "" See M. Rosi, Saggio sui Trattati d'Amore del Cinquecento, Recanati, 
 1889, p. 63. 
 
 '^' Among the Dialogues on Love current in the sixteenth century was one 
 attributed to Boccaccio: Regole bellissime d'Amore in modo di dialogo di M. 
 Giovanni Boccaccio. Interlocutori il signer Alcibiade et Filaterio giovane. Tra- 
 doltt di Latino in volgare da M. Angela Ambrosini. Stampato in Venetia, 
 1561. The Latin original has never been found and the work is merely a ver- 
 sion of the De Amore by Andreas Capellanus, which is fully discussed in Chap- 
 ter I of the present work. For the dialogue attributed to Boccaccio, see At- 
 tilio Hortis, Sttidj sulle Opere Latine del Boccaccio, Trieste, 1879, pp. 878-885, 
 and Diez, Beitrdge zur Kenntnis der remantischen Poesie, Erstes Heft, Berlin, 
 1825, "L'ber die Minnehofe," p. 77. Diez, on the authority of Crescimbeni, 
 L'Historia della volgar poesia, Venice, 1731, Vol. II, p. 90, says that there was 
 an earlier Italian translation of Andreas Capellanus rnade in 1408, but does 
 not mention whether there is any relation between this and the work attrib- 
 uted to Boccaccio. 
 
138 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ceptance of her lessons by her pupil throw a flood of light upon a 
 side of social life reflected in the novels of the period. 
 
 Next to the subject of Love the most common topic of dis- 
 I cussion in the sixteenth century was Beauty. This naturally 
 grew out of the Platonic definition of Love, which was, the desire 
 of beauty. It was necessary to define beauty, and this gave rise 
 to an interminable literature. From a very early date an ideal 
 of female beauty existed in the minds of painters and poets, 
 and it is characteristic of the Renaissance in Italy that this 
 subject was discussed in the most careful manner. For the whole 
 question see J. Houdoy, La beaute des femmes dans la litterature 
 et dans I'art du Xlle au XVIe siMe, Paris, 1876. The mediccval 
 period is more fully treated by R. Renier in II tipo estetico delta 
 donna nel medio evo, Ancona, ,1885, of which an excellent review 
 by A. Borgognoni may be found in the Nuova Antologia, vol. 
 83i P- 593- A still more limited period and subject is treated in 
 Les femmes blondes selon les peintres de I' Scale de Venise par deux 
 VSnitiens, Paris, 1865. The "two Venetians" are the French 
 scholars A. Baschet and Feuillet de Conches. Besides the work 
 of Niphus, De Pulchro, analyzed by Houdoy in the book cited 
 above, the sixteenth century possessed several elaborate trea- 
 tises on the subject of which we may mention the following. 
 Agnolo Firenzuola, who has already occupied our attention 
 in the third chapter of this book, is the author of a work entitled 
 Delle Bellezze delle Donne discorsi due {Le Opere di Agnolo Firen- 
 zuola ridotte a miglior lezione e corredate di note da B. Bianchi, 
 Florence, 1484, Vol. I, pp. 239-305). In the form of a dialogue 
 he gives a minute analysis of woman's beauty with diagrams to 
 illustrate his meaning. He confines himself exclusively to out- 
 ward beauty and does not discuss moral beauty. Nothing is 
 known of the life of Federigo Luigini, whose book II libra delta 
 belta donna was first printed by a friend of the author in 1554. 
 I have used the edition in Daelli's Biblioteca Rara, Vol. XXIII, 
 Milan, 1863. This work is also in dialogue form, and is supposed 
 to have occurred in a dream. The vision has no importance, and 
 the scene of the work is at a villa where the friends meet and 
 discuss the subject of woman's beauty. The description of the 
 outward woman occupies two books, while the third is taken up 
 with the description of the inward woman. 
 
 Tasso, who in his Dialogues discussed so many topics of in- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 139 
 
 terest to the sixteenth century, also treated Beauty in the 
 Dialogue, II Minturno o vera de la Bellezza, composed probably 
 in 1594 (Dialoghi, ed. Guasti, Vol. Ill, pp. 549-573). The 
 interlocutors are Antonio Minturno, Bishop of Ugento, famous 
 for his poetry and learning, and Girolamo Ruscelli, Abbot of 
 Monte Cassino. The dialogue is a close imitation of the Hip- 
 pias Major attributed to Plato, and is an additional proof of 
 Tasso's study of that philosopher and of the popularity of the_ 
 Platonic philosophy in the sixteenth century. ' 
 
 I have examined several other treatises on Beauty which may 
 be briefly mentioned here for the sake of completeness. Nicolo 
 Vito di Gozze, Dialogo della Bellezza detto Anthos, secondo la 
 mente di Platone, In Venetia appresso Francesco Ziletti, 1571, 
 4to. The dialogue takes place in a garden between Fiore Zuzori 
 and Maria Gondola, and is dedicated to Signora Nika Zuzori 
 in Ancona. It is the usual treatise in the Platonic style on 
 Beauty and is of no particular interest. The author has already 
 been mentioned in Chapter III as the composer of a work on 
 Love; see also Rosi, Saggio, p. 63. 
 
 The Lezzione di M. Francesco de' Vieri, Fiorentino, detto il 
 Verino Secondo has already been cited in Chapter III, Note 19, 
 as containing a dialogue on Idee et delle Bellezze?^<' 
 
 Another more interesting and influential figure in the six- 
 teenth century who deserves mention here is Nicol6 Franco, 
 bom at Benevento in 1515 and hanged at Rome in 1570.'^* He led 
 the usual stormy life of the impecunious writer of the sixteenth 
 
 ^'s For works on Beauty see the present work, Chap. HI, note 6, Chap. 
 Xni, note 4. 
 
 '"* Materials for the life of Franco may now be found in Sludi di letteratura 
 italiana, Rome 1915, Vol. XI, pp. 61-154, "Nicolo Franco. Biografia con 
 documenti inediti," by Giuseppe De Michiele. In an appendix of unpub- 
 lished documents are given a number of Franco's letters, the famous pas- 
 quinade alluded to above, and an official report of Franco's execution, which 
 took place on the bridge of St. Angelo at Rome. The report expressly states 
 that Franco was not charged with heresy. A very readable general account 
 of Franco's life is: Nicolo Franco: La vita eleopere, Rome, 1894, by Carlo 
 Simiani. Sufficient analyses are given of all the works and a good biblio- 
 graphy. A long bibliographical note may be found in S. Bongi, Annali di 
 Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, Rome, 1890, Fasc. I, pp. 10-22. My copy of the 
 Dialogo delle Bellezze is the second edition. I have seen in the Bib. Nat., 
 Paris, a French translation of Franco's Dialogi Piacevoli: Dix Plaisans Dia- 
 logues du S. Nicolo Franco. Traduits d'ltalien au Frangois. A Lyon. Par 
 Jean Beraud, 1579. The translator was Gabriel Chappuys. I do not know 
 of any other translations of Franco's works. 
 
 I have not been able to see Giuseppe De Michele's II Dialogo delle Bellezze 
 di Nicolo Franco, Arpino, 1912; but from a brief review in the Giornale storico, 
 LXI (1913), p. 150, I learn that De Michele asserts that Franco's Dialogo 
 
140 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 century, sojourning at Naples, Venice, Casale Monferrato, 
 Mantua, and Rome. At Venice he enjoyed for a time the patron- 
 age and friendship of the notorious Pietro Aretino, but a veno- 
 mous quarrel between them soon broke out and lasted through 
 Franco's life. It was his unbridled license of tongue and pen 
 which finally led to his destruction. His lampoons on Pope 
 Paul IV and his obscene poetry led to a long imprisonment 
 at Rorrle in 1557-1559. Under Pius IV Franco enjoyed the 
 favor of the papal court and for a few years led a happy life. 
 
 He had, however, been involved in the persecution of the 
 Carafas and was the author of an especially vile pasquinade on 
 the Cardinal Carlo Carafa. When Pius V came to the throne 
 he reviewed the trial of the Carafas and pronounced them inno- 
 cent. The authors of their condemnation were punished and 
 among them Franco for the pasquinade mentioned above. 
 
 Franco was the author of letters, dialogues, a romance (Philena), 
 and poetry. We are concerned here only with the Dialogo delle 
 Bellezze, which exists in two editions of the same year, 1542, 
 printed at Casale di Monferrato and Venice, in quarto and 
 octavo respectively. The dialogue, in two parts, is dedicated to 
 Maria Davala Aragona, wife of the Marchese del Vasto, and the 
 scene is at Casale in the house of the illustrious Signora Buona 
 Soarda da San Giorgio. Her niece, Violante Provana, had been 
 recently married to Vespasiano Bobba, a gentleman of Casale, 
 and all the distinguished people of the city were gathered at 
 Signora Buona's. The conversation naturally turned on the 
 beautiful and good, between which there is no difference, and 
 soon passed to the consideration of physical beauty. First, 
 the body as a whole is examined and the proper proportion of the 
 parts (fol. 24); then such things as the hair (fol. 32), eyes (fol. 
 35), cheeks, lips, hands, etc., are minutely considered. Many 
 examples of the views advanced are quoted from mythology 
 and ancient history, as well as from ladies still living (if. 52-88), 
 whose beauties are described in great detail. The first book 
 closes with enthusiastic praises of the manly beauty of Alfonso 
 Davalos, governor of Milan, and of the " invittissimo " Charles 
 the Fifth. 
 
 delle Bellezze is plagiarized from Mario Equicbla's Natura de Amore, some- 
 times literally, sometimes in the idea, "solo qua e la allargandolo ed accion- 
 ciandolo ai suoi scopi." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 141 
 
 The second and shorter part (ff. 76-99) is the usual exposition 
 of the doctrine of Platonic love, beginning with an exalted 
 apostrophe to Beauty by one of the guests, Cinisco, and ending 
 with the praise of the Virgin, an example of the highest and purest 
 Beauty. 
 
 The works which I have examined above constitute but a 
 small part of the literature of the subject.^^ It is impossible even 
 to enumerate the others. It may seem to many that I have 
 already devoted a disproportionately large space to this topic; 
 when, however, we consider that modem society had its rise 
 in gallantry, and that until the French Revolution it was still 
 the most prominent characteristic of polite society, I shall not 
 appear to have exaggerated this side of my subject. Thus far 
 the whole matter has been treated from a theoretical and literary 
 standpoint ; the remainder of this work will show the rdle which 
 Love actually played in Italian society of the sixteenth century.^^ 
 
 Before passing, however, to this phase of my subject, it may 
 be well for the sake of completeness to examine another use of 
 "questions," also literary and theoretical, although more or 
 less connected with the employment of questions as a social 
 diversion. I refer to the part played by "questions" in the 
 academic life of this period. We have already seen the great 
 literary importance of the Platonic Academy of Florence, which 
 was a type of the academies founded in the fifteenth century. 
 Nothing is more characteristic of the Italian Renaissance than / 
 
 '2 A number of treatises on Love are collected and published in the sixth vol- 
 ume of Daelli's BihUoteca Kara, Milan, 1863, under the title: Mescolanze d'Am- 
 ore, cmiero raccolta di scritti amatorii di Plotino, Leon Battista Alberti, Stefano 
 Guazzo e Melchior Cesarotti. The writings are: Ragionamento d' amove tratto 
 dalVEnneade terza di Plotino e tradotto da Anton Maria Salvini; Ecatomfila che 
 ne insegna Vingegnosa arte d'amore di Leon Battista Alberti ; Deifira che ne mos- 
 tra fuggire il mat principiato amore dello stesso ; Dell'onore delle donne, dialogo di 
 Stefano Guazzo; Callista e Filetore, frammento d'una novella greca tradotto da 
 Melchior Cesarotti. All except the last belong to the sixteenth century. For 
 a bibliography of this subject containing an account of fifty-nine works of the 
 sixteenth century on Woman and Love, see the Giornale storicp, Vol. XXVII 
 (1896), pp. 372-390, G. Rossi, " La collezione Giordani della biblioteca comu- 
 nale di Bologna." Rossi has selected and described fifty-nine works of the 
 sixteenth century; among the authors represented are some who have already 
 been treated in these pages: L. B. Alberti, Betussi, Cattani, L. Hebreo, Vito 
 di Gozze, L. Dolce, Tullia d'Aragona, Tasso, L. Domenichi, Equicola, and 
 Flaminio Nobili. 
 
 53 I have of course to draw my materials from books, but many of them, 
 like the prefaces to Bandello's novels, which I shall cite later, give an account 
 of actual occurrences; others, while fi.ctitious in form, present undoubtedly a 
 true picture of real society. 
 
142 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the enormous number of academies which sprang into existence 
 in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and which, after exerting 
 a powerful influence upon the Hfe and literature of Italy, served as 
 a model for similar institutions in France and Spain, with equally 
 momentous results for those countries.! The earliest of the 
 Italian academies seems to have been the one founded by Jacopo 
 Allegretti, a famous Latin poet, at Rimini towards the end of 
 the fourteenth century for the cultivation of poetry.^* It was 
 not, however, until the following century that the more general 
 diffusion of learning gave rise to a considerable number of aca- 
 demies devoted not only to poetry but also to more serious studies. 
 The earliest of the latter was that which met in the early years 
 of the century in the Augustinian convent of the Holy Ghost at 
 Florence.^^ This did not assume the name of " academy," which 
 was first applied to the Platonic Academy of Florence mentioned 
 above. The other learned academies of this century were usually 
 named from their founders or patrons, as the Academy of the 
 Cardinal Bessarione in Rome; the Academy of Pomponio Leto 
 in the same city, which incurred the enmity of Pope Paul III, 
 who suspended its meetings and imprisoned and tortured its 
 members ; the Academy of Pontano in Naples ; and the academy 
 of Aldo Manuzio in Venice."' 
 
 The sixteenth century saw an enormous increase in the number 
 of these academies, and a marked change in their character. 
 Heretofore they had been largely learned bodies devoted to the 
 philosophy and literature of Greece and Rome. They now 
 became social organizations, still scholarly in their character, 
 but devoted more and more to Italian literature and especially 
 poetry. As we have just seen, the academies of the preceding 
 century were usually named from their founders; those of the 
 sixteenth assumed names and devices of their own, and each 
 member had his peculiar academic name. The names chosen 
 by the academies were for the most part ridiculous and extrav- 
 agant, as : The Frozen Ones (Gelati) of Bologna ; The Astounded 
 Ones (Storditi) of Bologna; The Stunned Ones (Intronati) of 
 Siena ; The Inflamed Ones (Accesi) of Siena ; The Refugees (Ri- 
 covrati) of Venice and Padua ; and a host of even more absurd ap- 
 
 '* See Tiraboschi, Storia delta letteratura italiana, Florence, 1805, Vol. V, p. 
 611. 
 
 '5 See Tiraboschi, Vol. VI, p. 102. 
 
 '^ See Tiraboschi, Vol. VI, pp. 105-117. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 143 
 
 pelations. The names of the individual members were in keeping 
 with those of their academy. Here are some of the names borne 
 by members of the famous Sienese academy or congrega of the 
 Rustics (dei Rozzi) of Siena to be mentioned later: Bizarre, 
 Bewildered, Clownish, Material, etc." 
 
 Equally affected were the devices of the academies, and great 
 were the pains and attention bestowed upon this subject. Thus 
 The Inflamed Ones (Infuocati) of Siena had a bar of iron beaten 
 by two hammers on an anvil, with the motto In quascumque 
 formas; the Insensate Ones (Insensati) of Perugia had a flock of 
 cranes crossing the sea with stones in their claws, and the motto: 
 Vel cum pondere; etc.^^ The exercises of these academies con- 
 sisted in orations upon solemn occasions, lectures, critical essays, 
 the reading of poetical compositions, etc. In addition, the 
 social and convivial element played a large part in the meetings 
 of these bodies, in many of which women assisted both by their 
 presence and active participation.^^ 
 
 The use of "questions" in the Italian academies was of a two- 
 fold nature, either as a purely academic exercise, or as a social 
 diversion. As an example of the former I shall cite the lectures 
 of Benedetto Varchi, the famous historian of Florence, read in the 
 
 " For lists of Italian academies see the index to Tiraboschi and E. Cleder, 
 Notice siir V Academic italienne des Introiiati, Bruxelles, 1864, pp. vii et seq. A 
 list of the Sienese academies may be found in the fifth appendix to Mazzi's 
 La Congrega dei Rozzi di Siena del secolo XYI, Florence, 1882, 2 vols. 
 
 ^*The classical works on de\ices are: Ragionamento di IVlonsignor Paolo 
 Giovio sopra i motti e disegni d'arme e d'amore che comunemente chiamano im- 
 prese (I have used the reprint in the Biblioteca Rara of Daelli, Vol. V, Milan, 
 1863); and Scipion Bargagli, DeU'Imprese, Venice, 1594. The latter is a 
 quarto volume of 573 pages, profusely illustrated. I ha\e also a dialogue on 
 the subject by Stefano Guazzo, in Dialoghi piacevoU, Venice, 1586. There is 
 a dialogue on the same topic by Tasso, // Conte owero deU'Imprese, in Opere 
 ed. Rosini, Pisa, 1824, Vol. IX, pp. 320-399. Devices played an importaiit 
 part in the con^•ersations and diversions of the day, as we shall see later. This 
 is also true of France; see Pere Bouhours, Les Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugene, 
 Paris, 1671, IV. Entretien, Les Devises. The catalogue of the library of the Due 
 de la \'alliere, Paris, 1788, pp. 376, 378, gives a long list of works in French and 
 Italian on this subject; among the latter are several dealing with academic 
 devices. See Chapters IV, note 55; VI, note 45. There is an English trans, 
 of Giovio's work, London, 1585, by Samuel Daniel, see Miss Scott, Op. 
 cit. (1916), p. 468, No. 3S2. For imprese see also an article by E. Percopo 
 in the Giomale storico, \ol. XII, pp. 1-76, " Marc'Antonio Epicuro, " especially 
 pp. 36—46. 
 
 ''An admirable account of Italian academic life, although of a later date 
 than that which we are now considering, ma>- be found in the brilliant article 
 by Vernon Lee on "The Academy of the Arcadi. A Study of Italian Literary 
 Life in the Eighteenth Century," in Eraser's Magazine, \'ols. XCVII, XCVIII 
 (N. S., XVII, XVIII), 1S7S, pp. 779-798. 33-59- 
 
144 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Florentine Academy.^" The Platonic Academy came to a sudden 
 end in 1522 in consequence of a conspiracy against Cardinal 
 Giulio de' Medici, ruler of Florence since the death of his cousin 
 Lorenzo in 1519, in which several members of the academy were 
 engaged. Nearly twenty years later, when Cosimo I was duke 
 of Florence, a new academy arose, called at first degli Umidi 
 (the Humid Ones), and shortly after, the Florentine Academy. 
 The new academy was devoted to the perfection of the Tuscan 
 language, which object it sought to attain chiefly by the study of 
 Petrarch's poetry, although other Tuscan writers were not 
 neglected. Hence a mass of the most inane literature consisting 
 in the minute investigation of individual sonnets, with a wealth 
 of pedantic citations of authorities. 
 
 Among the shining lights of the Florentine Academy was Bene- 
 detto Varchi, born in Florence in 1503. As a child he seemed 
 dull to his teachers, and his father, a lawyer, set him to learn the 
 wool trade. He found this most distasteful and neglected his 
 business to read romance and history, greatly to his father's 
 disgust. One day an old servant of the family, seeing the father 
 more than usually vexed, said: "Why don't you buy the lad a 
 Latin grammar?" The father took the hint and gave the boy to 
 Guasparri Marescotti to educate. Benedetto turned out to be 
 a brilliant scholar, and when only eighteen was forced by his 
 father to study law at Pisa. Two years later, in 1523, he lost 
 his father and was free to devote himself entirely to literary 
 studies. He was involved in the political troubles which led 
 to the downfall of the commonwealth of Florence, and lived in 
 exile from 1535 to 1543, when he returned to his native city at 
 the solicitation of the duke, Cosimo I, who was henceforth his 
 patron and friend and for whom he wrote the history of Florence, 
 which is his principal title to fame. . We are concerned now only 
 with Varchi's academic lectures, of which there are seventeen 
 on Dante, eleven on Petrarch, and nineteen on various topics. 
 Among the latter is one on "Seven Doubts concerning Love," 
 read in the Academy on the first Sunday in June, 1554.^' The 
 doubts are: To what artist does it belong to treat of Love?, 
 
 *" I have used two editions of the lectures: Lezzioni di M. Benedetto Varchi, 
 Florence, 1590, 4to, and Opere di Benedetto Varchi, Trieste, 1858, 2 vols. I 
 shall cite the latter as the more accessible of the two. For Varchi's lectures 
 and his relations to TuUia d'Aragona see Savino's work cited in note 17, etc., 
 Vol. X, pp. 331 et seq. 
 
 *' See Opere, II, p. 525. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 145 
 
 Are the beautiful and the good the same thing? Are all 
 things beautiful also good? Whence it is that we love and 
 hate one more than another, often without knowing why? Why 
 do lovers desire so much to be always with their beloved? Why 
 do lovers fear so greatly and revere the presence of the beloved? 
 Why are lovers ashamed to confess they are in love? This 
 lecture is followed by four containing twenty " questions. "^^ 
 The first contains an elaborate introduction on Love in general 
 with reference to those who had previously written on this sub- 
 ject. Three "questions" are treated in the first lecture: Whjch 
 is the nobler, the lover or the beloved ? Which is the stronger and 
 more powerful passion, love or hate? Must every beloved 
 one necessarily love in return? 
 
 Seven "questions" are discused in the second lecture: Is every 
 one who is loved obliged to love in return? Are passions felt 
 in virtuous love? Can one be enamoured or love without hope? 
 Can love exist without jealousy? Can one be enamoured only 
 by fame and report?^' 
 
 The third lecture, read in the Academy on the fourth Sunday 
 in April, 1554, contains five "questions": Can more than one 
 be loved at the same time? Can one love another more than 
 himself? Can one fall in love with one's self? Can a lover re- 
 frain from loving solely by an act of the will? Can love be 
 healed in any way? 
 
 The fourth and last lecture contains seven "questions": 
 Can love be ruled by reason? Does love arise from destiny or 
 choice?^* Can the dead love or be loved? Can love remain 
 firm in the same state without increasing or diminishing? Which 
 is the better and more worthy, friendship or love? Who love 
 the more, the young or the old? Can love be feigned or hidden, 
 and which of the two is the easier ?^^ 
 
 Far more extensive are the "questions" contained in the 
 academic discourses of another Florentine scholar, Anton Maria 
 Salvini, bom in Florence in 1653. Like Varchi he studied law 
 at Pisa, but soon relinquished it to devote himself entirely to 
 
 *2 See Opere, \l, ppi. 531-561- 
 
 ^' This question was discussed in Betussi's dialogue II Raverta. See Chap- 
 ter HI of the present work, p. 133. . ^ , . , 
 
 ^ A similar question was proposed to Varchi in Tullia d'Aragona's dialogue 
 on The Infinity of Love. See Chapter III of the present work, p. 130. 
 
 <= This question was discussed in II Raverta. See Chapter III of the present 
 work, p. 132. 
 
 11 
 
146 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 letters. He obtained a Greek professorship at Florence at the 
 early age of twenty-three, and until his death in 1729 he enjoyed 
 the greatest celebrity in his native city for his academic discourses 
 and translations from the Greek and Latin authors. He con- 
 tributed largely to the famous dictionary of the della Crusca 
 Academy, and was also prominent in the Academy of the Apatisti 
 (The Apathetic Ones, or, more properly speaking. The Dispas- 
 sionate Ones), founded in 1631 by Agostino Coltellini. One of 
 the exercises of this academy was the discussion of questions or 
 doubts proposed by the presiding officer or by individual mem- 
 bers. Those debated by Salvini fill three quarto volumes^" and 
 contain two hundred and forty-three discourses, often on the 
 most trivial subjects, e.g., Is tobacco beneficial or injurious? 
 Whether a wise cavalier should allow himself to be beaten when 
 playing games with ladies. Whether black eyes are preferable 
 to blue ones in a handsome face. Blond hair or black? Etc. 
 
 Among the questions relating to love are the following: Which 
 is the greater passion, love or hate? (I, Disc. IX.) Which 
 prevails more in love, pleasure or sorrow? (I, Disc. XVI.) 
 Which is the more vehement, anger or love? (I, Disc. XXVI.) 
 Can love exist without jealousy? (I, Disc. XXXVI.) Is love 
 the result of choice or destiny? (I, Disc. L-XXV.) Does love 
 end in pleasure or sadness? (I, Disc. XLII.) Whether the 
 flame of love is kindled more by the sight of the beloved's smiles 
 or tears. (II, Disc. XVI.) Whether it is preferable to see the 
 beloved without being able to speak to her, or to speak to her 
 without being able to see her." (II, Disc. XXXI.) Which is 
 the most powerful remedy against love? (II, Disc. XLIX.) 
 Whether it is better for a jealous lover to conceal his passion or 
 to disclose it. (II, Disc. LIII.) Etc. 
 
 The above constitute but a small part of the topics discussed 
 in these volumes : Should we believe in dreams? (II, Disc. XXI.) 
 Is the invention of firearms worthy of praise or blame? (II, 
 Disc. LII.) Whether it is good for women to study. (Ill, 
 Disc. II, XVIII.) Whether Caesar is more estimable by his 
 pen or by his sword. (I, Disc. C.) Did Nero display greater 
 cruelty in burning Rome or in killing Seneca? (I, Disc. XC- 
 
 ^« I have used Discorsi Accademici di Anton Maria Salvini, Florence, 1725, 
 3 vols., 4to. I have also seen the edition of Naples, 1786, 6 vols., 8vo. 
 
 " This "question" is found also in the Cancionero de Baena, II, p. 83. See 
 Chapter I of the present work, p. 17. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 147 
 
 VII.) These are a few additional subjects which remind us of 
 the modern debating society. 
 
 One of the most interesting of the academic discussions of 
 Love has already been referred to in speaking of Flaminio Nobili's 
 Treatise on Human Love. In 1570 Lucrezia d'Este, sister of the 
 Duke of Ferrara, was married to Francesco Maria della Rovere, 
 afterwards the last duke of Urbino, and the wedding was cele- 
 brated with the usual festivities. Tasso composed three poems 
 on the occasion, and published a challenge containing fifty 
 questions concerning Love, inviting all to oppose and discuss 
 them, at a session of the Academy of Ferrara.^^" It was to pre- 
 pare himself for this debate that Tasso studied the treatise of 
 Nobili already described. The debate took place on the i8th of 
 January, and the 1st and 6th of February, in the presence of the 
 court. The last date being the Monday before Ash Wednesday, 
 all were present in masks, and Tasso records "lo strepito e I'ap- 
 plauso di quello quasi teatro di donne e cavalieri." The names 
 of but two of Tasso 's opponents have been preserved; of one he 
 says: "non gli fu picciol awersario"; the other was Orsina 
 Bertolaia Cavalletti, a lady of some reputation as a poet, who 
 combated the XXI. Conclusione or question: "I'uomo in sua 
 natura amar piu intensamente e stabilmente che la donna." 
 
 The Conclusioni amorose, as these questions are called, are 
 fifty in number,^"" and deal with such topics as the following : 
 Love is the desire of union, through the fondness for beauty; 
 Human love embraces in itself all kinds of love which become 
 all beings, hence it is properly called Love, and he is called 
 enamoured who loves according to it (all the following questions 
 or conclusions are understood as relating to this love) ; Love does 
 not presuppose choice, nor does it follow that it is the result of 
 Fate, but resemblance between the lover and the beloved is 
 necessarily presupposed ; Man from his nature loves more deeply 
 and lastingly than woman ; The eyes are the beginning and end 
 of Love ; The memory of past happiness brings joy and not sorrow 
 to the lover who is in grief; Jealousy is a most certain token of 
 
 *^» See Solerti, Vita di Tasso, Vol. I, pp. 128 et seq. Such academic discus- 
 sions were common in Italy during this century. Solerti, op. cit., p. 130, 
 mentions among others a later one held at Ferrara in 1588, of which he gives a 
 reprint of the challenge or invitation in his Ferrara e la Corte Estense, Citta di 
 
 Castello, 1891, p. I. , . , T^- , , • J •, ir 1 
 
 ^"The Conclusioni amorose may be found in the Dialoght, ed. cit., Vol. 
 Ill, p. 310, and in Le Prose Diverse, ed. cit.. Vol. II, p. 65. 
 
148 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ardent love, and increases it, at the same time it cannot be de- 
 nied that Jealousy destroys Love; Whether more enjoyment 
 arises from the favors the lover steals from the beloved, or from 
 those which she freely grants; etc. 
 
 Many years later, in 1590, Tasso wrote in memory of the above 
 debate a dialogue entitled II Cataneof" from Danese Cataneo, 
 the sculptor and writer, a dear friend of the poet and known to 
 him when he was pursuing his studies in Padua. The scene of 
 the dialogue is in that city in the house of the poet's friend, and 
 besides the two the only other speaker is Paolo Samminiato, who 
 had been Tasso 's adversary in the debate, and had acquainted 
 Danese with the matter. 
 
 Danese begins by expressing his surprise that Tasso, while 
 still young, should have exposed his reputation to danger in such 
 a dispute, "where a friar or scholar with the weapons of logic can 
 easily force a poet to retire from the field." Samminiato re- 
 plies to him that "if the field had been that of truth, the poet 
 might easily have been overcome by his opponents, but in the 
 field of love, who could defeat an enamoured poet and with 
 what weapons, his lady herself sitting there among others as 
 a judge, from whom he could courteously win the palm in the 
 debates of love? ' 
 
 Tasso replies' that Signer Samminiato has anticipated his 
 answer and continues to say that he was no slight adversary, and 
 excuses himself for defending his questions poorly on the ground 
 that he was inexperienced and had little time to make ready for 
 the debate. Most of the Conclusioni were written by Signer 
 Antonio Montecatino, who had also prepared him for the dis- 
 cussion. It was no wonder then that in the judgment of his 
 lady he was worsted. He would like, however, his arguments to 
 be " dispassionately considered," and without the noise and ap- 
 plause of what might almost be called a theatre of ladies and 
 gentlemen, "wherefore not satisfied with oral delivery, in which, 
 from an impediment in speech, he was little favored by nature, 
 he concluded to commit his views to writing. Samminiato and 
 Tasso then discuss at length the Platonic views of Love, and 
 Tasso asks what topic should be debated anew by them. Sam- 
 miniato replies that Tasso left almost untouched several of his 
 conclusions, among them the one containing the definition of 
 
 "'Dialoghi, ed. cit., Vol. Ill, p. 277. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 149 
 
 Love: "Love is the desire of union through fondness for beauty." 
 Tasso answers that this was not opposed, as the definition was 
 drawn by Signor Montecatino from some treatise on Love, to 
 the authority of which all yielded. Had he defended it he should 
 have done so as the opinion of others, and with the arguments 
 afforded by others, but his own opinion would perchance have 
 been different. This reply leads to a fresh debate on the question, 
 Tasso basing his opinions on the views of Dionysius the Areo- 
 pagite. 
 
 A new subject for discussion is then chosen in the XIL Con- 
 chisione: Hate is not the opposite of Love, but follows it. Sam- 
 miniato declares that hate destroys love and is in turn destroyed 
 by it; therefore, hate and love are contraries. Tasso denies 
 that hate ever destroys love and the debate ensues. At its end 
 Tasso confesses that these conclusioni were propounded in 
 jest as an exercise of love, "which arouses sleepy wits." When 
 asked whether any of the Conclusioni represented his own 
 opinions, he acknowledged that the XVH. did: "Love does not 
 presuppose choice, nor does it follow that it arises from Fate, but 
 resemblance between the lover and the beloved is necessarily 
 presupposed." A long and abstruse discussion of Fate from the 
 philosophical standpoint then follows and concludes the dia- 
 logue, 
 
 Tasso is also the author of a brief Discourse on Two Questions of 
 Love, first published in 1586,^^'* and directed to Signor Torquato 
 Rangone, who had asked the poet's opinion. The two questions, 
 
 *''' Le Prose Diverse, ed. cit., Vol. H, p. 227. Zonta, Studi med. Ill, p. 626, note 
 I, has the following note: "Del resto questa questione posta cosi, oppure sotto 
 I'altra forma corrispondente : 'Puo I'amore continuare senza gli ultimi abbrac- 
 ciamenti?' ha avuto una fortuna grandissima, perche il suo nocciolo e costi- 
 tuito dalla eterna divisione dell'amore in volgare e divino, colle corrispondenti 
 conseguenze. E gii in sostanza accennato nel partimento di Bertan (de 
 Preissac?): 'En Bernartz, gran cortezia' (75, 2. Cfr. Zeit. fur rom. Phil., 
 Vn, 181) e in quello di Peirol: 'Gaucelra, digatz m'ai vostre sen' (Mahn, 
 Werke, II, 33) e in quello di Rofin: 'Rofin, digatz m'ades' (Raynouard, 
 Choix, V, p. 437). Anche dal Cappellano viene discussa. _Ha qualche so- 
 miglianza estrinseca il XVI giudizio, ma la questione sostanziale e discussa o 
 risolta a p. 213, 218, 255. Per dare un'idea della fortuna di questa questione 
 reco una nota dei testi che la discutono nel nostro Cinquecento. Cfr. Equi- 
 cola, Della natura d'Amore, 1562, p. 381; Bembo, Asolani, 211; Speroni, Opere. 
 1740, I, 8, 23; Firenzuola, Opere, 1848, I, 99; Varchi, Sopra alcune guesHoni 
 d'Amore, 1880, 311; Tullia d'Aragona, Infiniia d'Amore, 1547, 39; Parabosco, 
 Diporii, 1558, 83; Castiglione, II Cortegiano, 1766, 290, 292; Ringhieri, Cento 
 giochi, 1553, X, 76; G. Bruno, Eroici furori, II, 331 e 300, ecc, ecc. Esterior- 
 mente e assai simile alia questione di R. Vidal anche quella trattata da 
 Ginevra nel Peregrino di J. Caviceo, 1533, p. 80." 
 
150 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 or rather the one question in two parts, is: Can a lover after 
 long service, when he' is sure that it is impossible to win his lady's 
 last favor, resolve to serve no longer, his object having ended? 
 and What are the sufferings he must endure resolving, or endeav- 
 ouring, to abandon his undertaking? Tasso thinks a lover 
 can resolve not to love, but in that case he must be a continent 
 and not an incontinent lover. As to the sufferings of a lover in 
 the above case, they may consist of tears, and sighs, and lamenta- 
 tions, but more often do consist of anger, scorn, and other similar 
 passions. 
 
 The fondness for academic debates gave rise to a curious 
 literature of Paradoxes and Doubts, of which only the most im- 
 portant can be mentioned here. In some cases the paradoxical 
 questions were debated in the Academies; in others they were 
 propounded by individual members and discussed in dialogue 
 form. To this latter class belongs Died Paradossi degli Acade- 
 mici Intronati da Siena. In Milano appresso Gio. Antonio 
 degli Antonii, 1564, i2mo, ff. 52. The ten paradoxes, each 
 discussed by two academicians, are: Love does not exist in lovers; 
 The unlike love and the like hate each other; Evil is necessary; 
 Tyrants do not do what they wish, and have no power ; We should 
 grieve at the birth of children and rejoice at their death; It is 
 more harmful to do wrong than to receive it; He who does not 
 love must be more loved than he who loves; Reason in man is 
 harmful; A woman should love an ugly man more deeply than 
 a handsome one; and, Love longs only for the things which are 
 virtuous. These questions are debated by the two speakers in 
 each dialogue, and at the conclusion one of the interlocutors 
 generally acknowledges the superiority of the other. 
 
 In 1608, Giovan Battista Manso, the friend and biographer of 
 Tasso already mentioned, published at Milan, appresso G. 
 Bordoni, in 4to, / Paradossi vera deU'Amore. The Paradoxes 
 are: Love is, and is not what the ancient philosophers believed; 
 Love is not the power of destiny or the choice of the one who 
 loves; Goodness and virtue and nothing else are the object of 
 human love; The least fair woman should be loved the most; 
 and, Women should love most those who love them the least. 
 Two of these paradoxes are repeated, with the addition of two 
 new ones, in the remarkable work by the same author entitled: 
 Erocallia, vera dell' Amore e della Bellezza, Dialoghi XIII, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 151 
 
 Venice, 1628, 4to. The third division {Quaderno) of this curious 
 book, the most extensive treatise on Love to be found in any 
 language perhaps, contains four Paradoxes in as many dialogues : 
 The least fair women should be loved the most; Women should 
 love the most those who love them the least; Love alone is the 
 instrument of love; and, There is no true love unless it be a 
 consolation for the dead. 
 
 The most famous collection of Paradoxes was that of Ortensio 
 Lando, a writer who deserves more than a passing notice.^^" 
 This eccentric person was born about 1512 in Milan, where he 
 received his early education, and afterwards studied medicine 
 at Bologna. He led a wandering life, roaming over Italy, 
 France, and Switzerland. He seems to have had no permanent 
 abode, although he spent much time at Venice and was in the 
 service of Lucrezia Gonzaga at her castle della Frata. The 
 date of his death is not known, but it probably occurred in 1553 
 or shortly after. His whole life is involved in obscurity and he 
 owes his little fame as a heretic in the Index Ubrorum prohibi- 
 torum compiled by the Fathers of the Council of Trent, to a 
 confusion with another Geremia Landi of Piacenza. Lando was 
 the author of several satirical works in Latin and Italian, among 
 the latter a remarkable collection of funeral sermons on various 
 animals. 
 
 The Paradoxes were printed for the first time at Lyons in 
 1543, in two books. I have not seen the work and can only 
 quote what Sanesi says of it: "The most extravagant things are 
 maintained in these Paradoxes : that it is better to be poor than 
 rich, ugly than handsome, ignorant than learned, blind than 
 enlightened, foolish than wise; that drunkenness is better than 
 sobriety, want than abundance, war than peace, a narrow life 
 than a splendid and sumptuous one; that it is not bad for a 
 prince to lose his state; that it is better to have a sterile wife 
 than a fruitful one, to live in exile than in one's country, to be 
 weak and ailing than strong and healthy, to be bom in the 
 smallest towns than in populous cities, to dwell in humble houses 
 than in great palaces; that it is not a detestable thing to have an 
 un virtuous wife, nor a bad thing to be beaten and wounded, 
 
 *'' There is an excellent monograph on Lando by Ireneo Sanesi: II Cinque- 
 centista Ortensio Lando, Pistoia, 1893, and a good article, with bibliography, 
 by W. E. A. Axon in Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, Second Ser- 
 ies, Vol. XX, Part III, p. I59- 
 
152 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 nor blameworthy to be a bastard, nor should one sorrow if his 
 wife dies: all things, in short, most extravagant, and absurd, 
 imagined and demonstrated in a way the opposite of what is 
 generally thought and demonstrated, true and real 'sententie 
 fuori del comun parere,' as the title says, in a word, 'such as 
 only the brain of Ortensio Lando could devise them.' " 
 
 Some time later (the work has no date, place, or name of printer) , 
 Lando published a confutation of the above work under the 
 title: Confutatione del libra de' Paradossi nouvamente composta, 
 et in tre orationi distinia, in which he confutes his Paradoxes 
 with the same wealth of erudition with which he sought to 
 maintain them. 
 
 Of similar nature are the collections of "Doubts," which were 
 so popular at this period, and which furnished a storehouse of 
 questions for debates academical and private. The most famous 
 of these collections is also by Lando. The edition which I have 
 used bears the title: Quattro Libri de Dubbi con le solutioni a 
 ciascun dubbio accommodate. La materia del primo e amorosa, 
 del secondo b naturale, del terzo t mista, ben che per lo piU sia 
 morale, e del quarto h religiosa. In Vinegia appresso Gabriele 
 Giolito de' Ferrari, 1556, i2mo."f The work is divided, as its 
 
 ^'■f The first edition of the Dubbi appeared at Venice appresso Gabriel Gio- 
 lito de' Ferrari, 1552 in 8vo. Although the Third Book of Doubts relating to 
 Love is mentioned on the title-page it is omitted in the body of the wftrk, be- 
 cause the printer, as he says at the end of the book, could not obtain permission 
 to print it. This permission was obtained the same year and the Dubbi above 
 referred to appeared separately in Varii Componimenti di M. Hart. Lando. 
 Nuovamente venuti in luce. In Vinegia appresso Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari 
 e Fratelli, 1552, 8vo. The Dubbi here and henceforth termed "Quesiti amo- 
 rosi" occupy pp. 5-72. In 1556 appeared the edition of the Dubbi cited in the 
 text, which contains all four books entire and is the rarest and most sought for 
 of all the editions. Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, Rome, 1890-5, 
 Vol. II, p. 499, says that permission to print the "Quesiti amorosi" was with- 
 drawn from the edition of the Varii Componimenti of 1554. For translations 
 and imitations of the Dubbi, see Sanesi, op. cit., pp. 251 et seq., and Bongi, 
 op. cit., Vol. I, p. 369. I have myself seen the following: Questions Diverses, 
 et Responses d'Icelles, Divisees en troys liures: Assavoir, Questions d'Amour, 
 Questions Naturelles, Questions Morales et Politiques, Nouuellement traduites de 
 Tuscan en Francoys, A Lyon. A I'Escu de Milan, Par Gabriel Cotier, 1558, 
 i2mo; the author is not named. Delectable demaundes, and pleasaunt Questions, 
 •with their seuerall Answers, in matters oj Loue, Natural causes, with Morall and 
 politique deuises. Newly translated out of Frenche into Englishe, this present 
 yere of our Lorde God. 1566. Imprinted at London in Paules Churchyarde 
 by John Cawood for Nicholas Englande. 4to; another edition of this was 
 "Printed by Thomas Creede, 1596," 4to. The questions are in Roman, the 
 ans^vers in black letter. The French translation is in the Bibliotheque 
 Nationale at Paris, the English ones are in the British Museum. Miss M. A. 
 Scott, op. cit., p. 479, cites: Curiosities: or the Cabinet of Nature: containing 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 153 
 
 title indicates, into four books, the first devoted to subjects 
 connected witii Love, the second with Nature, the third mis- 
 cellaneous, but for the most part moral, and the fourth with 
 Religion. The Dubhi (in the first book termed Quisiti) are 
 propounded by various persons whose names are given, and 
 answered, presumably, by the author of the book, who nowhere 
 gives his name. 
 
 It is impossible in the space at my disposal to give any adequate 
 idea of the varied contents of Lando's work. The common- 
 places of Love are here repeated, as (p. 35) How many kinds of 
 Love are there? Two, one of which, according to Plato, is 
 heavenly, the other vulgar and earthly. How does Love arise in 
 us, 'by choice or Fate? Generally by choice, since judgment 
 usually precedes Love. Which is the better love, that of a maid, 
 of a married woman, or of a widow? That of a maid is more 
 constant, of a widow more pleasant, and of a married woman 
 cause of greater scandal. On pp. 63-64 is explained the mean- 
 ing of the various modes in which Love is painted. Among the 
 multitude of questions relating to Love every topic, moral and 
 physical, is discussed, although many of the latter class may be 
 found in the second book. It is impossible to follow the author 
 into the realms of Nature, Ethics, and Religion, in which he 
 displays the widest erudition, the questions covering ancient and 
 modern history as well as literature. 
 
 Lando's work became popular at once, received the honor of 
 translation into French, Spanish, and English, and was pillaged 
 and imitated by others. 
 
 A similar collection, but of less magnitude and confined to one 
 class of questions, is De' Cento Dubbi Amorosi di Hieronimo Vida 
 Justinopolitano, Padua, appresso Gasparo Crivellari, 162 1, 4to. 
 The book is dedicated to Girolamo Lando, ambassador of Venice 
 to Great Britain, by Agostino Vida, a relative of the author. 
 He says in the Address to the Reader (the Dedication is dated 
 Padua, March 25, 162 1) that the Dubbi were composed thirty 
 years before by Vida, who died at the early age of twenty-eight, 
 and who was a philosopher and "Poeta Academico OHmpico." 
 
 Phylosophical, Naturall, and Morall questions fidly answered . . . Translated 
 out of Latin, French and Italian Authors, by R. B[asset] Gent. Never before 
 published. N. & I. Okes. London. 1637. i2mo. British Museum. I have 
 not seen this book, but it is probably a later edition of Lando's Dubbi. Suchier 
 in the article cited in Chapter 1, note 106, mentions eight French and two 
 English translations and cites from Brunet a Spanish translation, Antwerp, 
 1575- 
 
154 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The Tavola states that the author maintained these Duhbi 
 pubHcly in the Academy of Capo d'Istria. The Dubbi them- 
 selves are naturally the familiar ones already described; the 
 first is: Whether Love is good or evil, and whether one should 
 avoid or pursue it. Which is more worthy of being loved, the 
 soldier or the scholar? Which is the happier, the blind or the 
 dumb lover? Which is the sweeter, to see the beloved rarely and 
 speak with her, or to see her frequently and not speak with her? 
 Which is the stronger, first or second love? Although there is 
 a necessary likeness between Vida's work and that of Lando, they 
 are entirely independent of each other. The Duhbi propounded 
 by Vida are defended by him at length with a great display of 
 erudition, whereas Lando's are answered by a brief sentence. ' 
 
 The popularity of this class of literature survived the six- 
 teenth century and we find Diibli in the following one. Of 
 these I shall mention only Gio. Francesco Loredano's Sei Dubbi 
 Amorosi trattati academicamente ad instanza di dama nobile, 
 Venice, 1656, appresso li Guerigli. The author, usually called 
 "il giovane," was a member of the famous Venetian family, and 
 was himself a senator, and filled various offices in the state. He 
 founded the Academy degli Incogniti and wrote a large number 
 of mediocre works, of which the best known is La Dianea, a 
 collection of stories frequently reprinted and translated.^'" The 
 six Dubbi are: Whether from reading some composition, one can 
 fall in love with an unknown person, and the cause of this. 
 Whether men and women can love modestly. Whether it is pos- 
 sible to love without hope of being loved in return. What is the 
 greatest pledge of love that a noble maiden can give her beloved? 
 What reward can she who is the first to love justly claim from 
 her beloved? Can a noble and modest lady after long silence 
 reveal her love? These Dubbi are supposed to have been pro- 
 pounded to Loredano by an unknown lady, and are discussed 
 in the usual academic style with copious citations from the 
 ancient and modern writers. The work is followed by various 
 letters on the subject as well as by a series of poetical composi- 
 tions (in one case in Latin) solving the above Dubbi. 
 
 The passion for debate was not confined to the academies, but 
 extended into polite literature, and a number of works devoted 
 to the discussion of a single question are to be found during this 
 
 *'» See Miss Scott, op. cit., p. 107. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 155 
 
 period. Two of these, the Question de Amor and the Historia 
 di Aurelio et Isabella, were originally composed in Spanish and 
 will be examined more fully in Chapter V of this work. Of the 
 Italian books of this class I will mention here but two: II Rinaldi 
 vera Dialogo del Paragone tra il Verno e la State composto nuova- 
 mente dalV Accademico Bramoso [Cipriano Giambelli] dell' Acca- 
 demia de' Solleciti di Trevigi, Venice, 1589, i2mo, and Aretefila, 
 Dialogo, nel quale da una parte sono quelle ragioni allegate, le 
 quali affirmano, lo amore di corporal bellezza pater e ancora per la 
 via dell' udire pervenire al cuore: et dalV altra quelle che vogliono 
 lui havere solamente per gl'occhij I'entrata sua : colla sentenza sopra 
 cotal quistione. In Lione, appresso Guliel. Rovillio, 1560, 4to. 
 
 The first named work need not detain us long. It takes its 
 title from an illustrious Trevisan, Alberghetto Rinaldi, who is 
 the principal interlocutor in the dialogue, the other speaker being 
 Francesco Bressa. The claims of the two seasons, summer and 
 winter, to superiority, are discussed with a great display of 
 erudition, ancient and modern physicians, philosophers, and 
 poets being freely cited. The debate is not decided, Francesco 
 Bressa, who takes the side of winter, concluding with the words : 
 "Con tutto cio, voglio che di questo ne lasciamo il giudicio a piu 
 savi, et a piu dotte. Bastaci dunque d'haver fatto il paragone 
 tra il Verno, e la State. Hora chiunque sia, che giustamente dii 
 la sentenza, e giudichi con retto, e sincero giudicio quaFdi queste 
 due stagioni sia la megliore, sia da noi sempre lodato." Alber- 
 ghetto replies: "Cosi sia." 
 
 The Aretefila deserves a more detailed mention. Its author, 
 Luc' Antonio Ridolfi, is now remembered only as the editor of 
 Petrarch (Venice, Giorgio Angelieri, 1586) and the compiler of a 
 rimario to that poet's works. 
 
 Ridolfi states in the preface (signed Lyons, March 4, 1557) 
 that he has been asked to write out the dispute that took place 
 in Lyons between two Italian gentlemen in the presence of a 
 French lady over the question mentioned in the title of the work, 
 viz., "Whether the love of corporeal beauty can reach the heart 
 by way of the hearing, or only through the sight." Like Boc- 
 caccio in the Decameron and Bembo in the Asolani, Ridolfi has 
 disguised the names of the interlocutors. The lady is said in the 
 course of the conversation (p. 14) to be the one to whom Messer 
 Benedetto Varchi dedicated one of his "lezzioni d 'amore, per 
 
156 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 quelle cagioni, che racconta egli medesimo nella lettera posta 
 dinanzi a cotale lezzione." The dedication in question (Lezzioni 
 di M. Benedetto Varchi, Florence, F. Giunti, 1590, p. 343) is as 
 follows: "alia non men dotta che gentile e virtuosa Damigella, 
 Damigella Margherita du Bourg, Lionese et Dama de Gage." 
 
 One of the two gentlemen, Federigo, supports the proposition 
 that one can be enamoured by hearsay, and illustrates it by many 
 interesting stories and citations from the poets. Especially 
 remarkable is the use made by him of stories from French ro- 
 mances, thus; pp. 39-43, he narrates at length the tale of Pietro, 
 the son of the Count of Provence and the fair Magalona, daughter 
 of the King of Sicily.*'^'' The story of "Gianfre Rudel," lord of 
 Blaia, and the Countess of Tripoli is also quoted as the classic 
 proof of the power of fame to inspire love. The Romances of 
 Chivalry, such as Primaleone and Amadis of Greece, are cited and 
 a number of examples are drawn from the latter romance, which 
 was so popular in Italy in the sixteenth century. Federigo's 
 argument extends from p. 28 to p. 75; Lucio's from p. 77 to p. 
 161, and is necessarily more philosophical than Federigo's. 
 He dismisses the examples cited from the Romances of Chivalry 
 as without foundation, declaring that the knights-errant men- 
 tioned in them are "those who fill volumes with dreams." He 
 bases his own arguments on the statements of the ancient philoso- 
 phers and poets, and also draws freely from the Italian poets 
 Dante, Petrarch, Alamanni, Bembo, Poliziano, and others. 
 
 At last the dispute is ended and Aretefila is called upon to 
 pronounce judgment. She decides against Federigo's proposi- 
 tion, saying: "Beauty cannot exist without bodies, and bodies 
 cannot be seen except by colors, and colors can only be perceived 
 by sight; hence it naturally follows that as love is the desire of 
 beauty, no one can be enamoured without sight. The proposi- 
 tion that one can fall in love by hearsay would be equivalent to 
 saying that the ear can judge of colors." 
 
 The work is written in an attractive manner, is full of inter- 
 esting illustrations, and contains some important references to 
 contemporary literature, as for instance on p. 137, where the 
 
 *™ This is the famous story of Pierre de Provence et la belle Maguelonne; 
 see Bibliothek dlterer deutscher Uehersetzungen herausgegeben von A. Sauer, Die 
 schone Magelona aus dem Franzosischen iibersetzt von Veit Warbeck, 1527, 
 herausgegeben von Johannes Bolte, Weimar, 1894, with admirable introduction 
 and bibliography. The version of the story in Ridolfi's work is reprinted by 
 A. d'Ancona in Poemetti popolari italiani, Bologna, 1889, pp. 453-55. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 157 
 
 question of the introduction of the sonnet form into France is 
 discussed at length.*^' 
 
 The "questions" just enumerated served, it is evident, merely 
 as the text to academic discourses, and the tradition of their 
 social use seems to have been entirely forgotten. This was not 
 the case in the academy of the Rustics at Siena, where the use of 
 "questions" formed a part of the social diversions of the ms.va^ 
 bers.^* The Academy, or more correctly the Congregation (La 
 Congrega), of the Rustics of Siena grew out of a company of 
 Sienese burghers famous for their skill in writing and performing 
 comedies. The oldest articles of association do not go further 
 back than 1531. The early history of the Congrega was a 
 troubled one, and it was several times suppressed.^' It had an 
 elaborate organization and a constitution of seventeen chapters, 
 extended to thirty-three in the reform of 156 1. The order of 
 proceedings was briefly as follows:^" the members met, read 
 something, discussed the compositions presented to them, 
 rehearsed plays before performing them in public, played society 
 games,^^ and if the weather permitted went out of the city to 
 play various kinds of ball (palla, la piastrella, or le palline) . — 
 
 From the earliest times the Congrega found diversion in the 
 game of "questions," called also "cases" or "doubts. "^^ A 
 special officer of the society, lo Scrittore, was deputed to write 
 down and preserve these questions,*' which were debated in the 
 
 *^' Op. cit., p. 137: "ma il primo [to transport the sonnet from Italian into 
 French] veramente credo, che fusse uno, il cui nome e Monsignor di Sangeles 
 [Mellin de Saint-Gelais] . . . Bene e vero, che il primo, il quale cose 
 Latine, e Toscane nella nostra lingua Franzese traducesse, credo che fusse 
 Clemente. Marot: ma quanto al sonetto, non solamente quei due, che io hora 
 nominati vi ho, I'hanno elegantemente nella nostra lingua trasportato, e per 
 quel medesimo nome, che fate voi, chiamatolo; ma molti altri ancora, de' 
 quali vene voglio per hora nominare solamente tre eccellenti, come che tutti 
 gl'altri pero siano di molta lode degni: e questi tre sono, il Tiarte [Pontus de 
 Thyard;] il Ronsardo; et il Bellai," etc. 
 
 *' An excellent account of everything concerning the Congrega dei Rozzi 
 of Siena may be found in the work of Mazzi cited in note 37 to the present 
 chapter. 
 
 *' See Mazzi, I, p. 62. 
 
 so See Mazzi, ^, p. 353. 
 
 " The subject of society games will be treated fully in Chapter V. 
 
 '2 Mazzi, I, p. 124, says of the game of "questions": "II quale forse d'or- 
 igine e senese, ma non sappiamo se nato tra i Rozzi," etc. The origin of " ques- 
 tiohs" goes back, as we have seen, to a far earlier date; but as a society game 
 the use of questions may have been revived in Siena in the sixteenth century. 
 Mazzi says that other popular associations indulged in this game. See the 
 work cited, II, p. 371. 
 
 5' The original MS. is still in the municipal library of Siena, and a copy at 
 Rome. See Mazzi, I, pp. 128, 130. I have a partial copy of the Siena MS. 
 
158 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 following manner. One of the members read or related a story 
 or anecdote, from which were taken one or more questions to be 
 debated by some other until the presiding officer of the Con- 
 grega pronounced his sentence. 
 
 These questions are in prose and verse and for the most part 
 consist of novelle, often of a coarse nature. The following will 
 give some idea of their subjects. Which is the greater sinner, one 
 who blasphemes from anger or sloth or pride or some similar 
 reason, or one who blasphemes from pleasure without any cause 
 (fol. 15)? Sentence of death having been pronounced upon one 
 of the two, her husband or son, which should a woman save (fol. 
 15)? Which are the more bitter, the tears shed for love, or 
 for the death of a father arising from some strange accident 
 (fol. 19)? Which is the more powerful passion, love or hatred 
 (fol. 28)? A brother and a lover quarrel and fight a duel to the 
 death ; which one should the sister, who is the object of the other's 
 love, desire to save (fol. 34)? A youth unable to see his beloved 
 because she is so carefully guarded, meets one day three fairies: 
 one gives him power to become a lion, another, an eagle, and the 
 third, an ant; to which of the three fairies is he the most indebted 
 (fol. 52) ? Each of two companions gives a lady a flower; one she 
 fastens to her bosom, the other she holds in her hand; the two 
 companions quarrel as to whose flower was placed in the more 
 honorable post (fol. 68, this question is in verse). A youth was 
 prevented for good reason from seeing his beloved for several 
 days; at last, anxious to know the cause of his absence, she sent 
 him a letter written by a confidant ; the lover, who knows that she 
 cannot write, is overcome with jealousy, and the question is, 
 which has given the greater cause for jealousy, the lover by 
 absenting himself, or the beloved by sending a letter not written 
 by her own hand (fol. 96)? 
 
 In the Academy of the Insipid Ones (Gli Insipidi) in 1588 the 
 following question among others was discussed: Which is more 
 difficult, to love and pretend not to love, or not to love and pre- 
 tend to love?^^ This question we have already encountered 
 twice. 5^ 
 
 (Biblioteca Comunale Cod. H. XI, 7), from which the examples in the text are 
 taken. 
 
 '^^See Mazzi, II, p. 371. 
 
 '* In // Raverta and in Varchi's Lectures. See pp. 132, 145 of the present 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Polite Society essentially courtly — First manifested in the Castles of South- 
 ern France — In Italy the Cities were the centres of Polite Society — Polite 
 Society developed to its highest point in Capitals of kingdoms or of petty 
 tyrannies — Character of Italian society — Slight influence of the Feudal Sys- 
 tem in Italy — Development of Municipal life — The Palace takes the place of 
 the Castle — Social diversions little changed — Fondness for the Villegiatura in 
 Italy — Social life must be considered not only in the city palace, but also in 
 the country villa — First, the more formal life of the Palace — History of the 
 Duchy of Urbino — Life of Frederick — Palace and Library at Urbino — Life of 
 Guidobaldo — Meeting with Baldassare Castiglione — Life of Castiglione — So- 
 ciety at the Court of Urbino — The Duchess of Urbino — Emilia Pia — The 
 interlocutors in Castiglione's Cortegiano — Origin and literary history of the 
 Cortegiano — Castiglione's models — ^The Introduction to the Cortegiano — An- 
 alysis of the Cortegiano — Influence of the Cortegiano on Europe — Imitations of 
 the Cortegiano in Italy. 
 
 We have already seen that PoHte Society is essentially courtly 
 and first manifested itself in the castles of Southern France, which 
 were small courts. Municipal life on the other hand was not 
 calculated to develop the conditions requisite for Polite Society, 
 and, in France at least, the cities played no part in social life. 
 In Italy the conditions were entirely different and the Italian 
 cities were centres of Polite Society. Still, a distinction must be 
 made even here between the cities which were the capitals of 
 republics or commonwealths and the cities which were the courts 
 of despotic rulers. In some of the former class the courtly 
 requisites for Polite Society were not wanting, owing to the 
 prominence of certain families, as the Medici at Florence, who 
 for many years really governed the city before it lost its nominal 
 independence. It was, however, either in the capitals of king- 
 doms like Naples, or in the capitals of the petty tyrannies like 
 Milan, Mantua, Ferarra, and Urbino, that Polite Society was 
 developed to its highest point. 
 
 The character of Italian society in the period in which we are 
 now interested was profoundly modified by certain conditions, 
 which were lacking in other countries. In the first place, the 
 Feudal System did not produce such a marked division in society 
 as in France. In the latter country the nobles lived in their 
 
 159 
 
160 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 castles in the country and the society at these castles was com- 
 posed almost exclusively of one class. In Italy the nobles early 
 deserted their castles for residence in the cities: in many cases 
 they were compelled to do so by the citizens themselves. This 
 fact broadened society, and less stress was laid upon nobility of 
 birth than elsewhere. Good manners and education became 
 requisites for admission to society. This changed view of society 
 was largely due to the influence of the Renaissance, which altered 
 the character of life and profoundly modified all social relations. 
 The material side of life also underwent an enormous change. 
 The gloomy castle, a fortress in its nature, gave way to the stately 
 palace with its inner court surrounded by graceful loggie, thus 
 ensuring air and light to all apartments. The walls were cov- 
 ered with tapestry or painted with frescoes or incrusted with 
 mosaics. Pictures and statuary adorned the spacious rooms, 
 which were the fitting scene for the brilliant company which 
 gathered there. 
 
 It is interesting, however, to note, as we shall constantly have 
 occasion to do, how little, after all, the forms of social diversion 
 changed. During the mediaeval period the castle was the sole 
 abode of the noble owner, both in summer and in winter. In 
 Italy, on the other hand, the Roman fondness for the villegiatura 
 had never been losti.*'And at the period of the Renaissance it 
 revived with increased strength. We must therefore bear in 
 mind that in Italy we have to consider social life not only in the 
 city palace but also in the country villa. 
 
 How the Italians of the Renaissance regarded the Villa may 
 be seen from the following enthusiastic outburst of one of the 
 interlocutors in Alberti's Dialogo delta Famiglia (Bk. Ill, ed. 
 Bonucci, Vol. II, p. 284): Lionardo: "What man is there who 
 does not take delight in the villa? It affords the greatest, most 
 virtuous, and surest utility, whereas any other exercise encounters 
 a thousand dangers. The villa alone above all others is found 
 grateful, gracious, trusty, true; if you manage it diligently and 
 lovingly, it will never seem to have satisfied you ; it will ever add 
 reward to rewards. In spring the villa gives you endless pleas- 
 ures, grass, flowers, perfumes, songs; it strives in every way to 
 rejoice you; it smiles upon you, and promises you an ample 
 harvest; it fills you with good hopes and many pleasures. Then, 
 how bounteous you find it to you in the summer! It sends 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 161 
 
 home to you now one, now another fruit; it never leaves your 
 dweOing void of some Hberal gift. When autumn comes, the 
 villa repays boundlessly your pains and your deserts, and how 
 freely, and how abundantly, and with what loyalty! Even in 
 winter it does not forget to be liberal: it sends you wood, oil, 
 juniper and laurel boughs to give you a joyous and redolent 
 flame when you return home from the snow and wind. . . . 
 And if the villa asks from you some labor, it does not require, 
 Uke other exercises, that you should be burdened with sad and 
 gloomy thoughts, nor does it wish you to become tired and 
 weary; but the villa likes your work and exercise to be full of 
 joy, and it is no less conducive to your health, than useful for 
 its culture. . . . And besides, you enjoy at the villa those breezy, 
 pure, unconfined, and happy days. . . . You have a most delight- 
 ful prospect, beholding those wooded hills and green plains, and 
 those clear springs and' rivulets, which leap and lose themselves 
 among the grass." Giannozzo: "Yes, by Heaven! a very Para- 
 dise ! And, too, what is most pleasant, one can at the villa escape 
 from the noise, uproar, and tempest of the city, square, and palace. 
 . . . How happy the sojourn at the villa will be! a delight 
 hitherto unknown!" We have seen the large part played by the 
 garden in social life, especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries; we shall find the same thing in the sixteenth century; 
 but before coming to it we -must consider the more formal life of 
 the palace. 
 
 Among the various courts of Italy in the sixteenth century none 
 is more worthy of attention than the court of Urbino. The other 
 courts were stained by bloodshed and cruelty and often dis- 
 honored by the grossest immorality. The court of Urbino was 
 relatively free from such stains, and its rulers were not the usual 
 type of Italian despots, but were enlightened princes whose 
 tenure was cheerfully acknowledged by their devoted subjects. 
 Owing to a happy conjuncture of circumstances, which I shall 
 presently describe, Urbino became, at the beginning of the six- 
 teenth century, the centre of the most refined and elegant society 
 of Italy, and exerted a powerful influence over the rest of the 
 land. We are fortunate in possessing a picture of this society 
 by one of its most conspicuous representatives, a picture which 
 is one of the masterpieces of Italian literature as well, the Courtier~ 
 of Count Baldassare Castiglione. Before examining in detail 
 12 
 
162 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 this remarkable work from a standpoint somewhat different from 
 that of previous critics, an account of the scene of the work and 
 the life of the author will be necessary. The former will involve 
 a brief sketch of the duchy of Urbino and its circumstances at 
 the time of Castiglione's description of its social life.^ 
 
 The duchy of Urbino was originally a fief held by the lords of 
 Montefeltro, who took their name from the town of San Leo, 
 situated upon the top of an almost inaccessible mountain. The 
 town took its first name from the Roman appellation, Mons 
 Feretrius, from a temple consecrated to Jupiter Feretrius. Dur- 
 ing the strife between the Church and the Empire, the lords of 
 Montefeltro adhered to the latter, as was usually the case with 
 the feudal nobles, and Buonconte and his brother Taddeo for 
 the services rendered to Frederick II and his father, were raised 
 to the rank of count and granted the fief of Urbino (1213). 
 The first of the family who extended his domain and prepared the 
 way for the future glory of his name was Count Guido (surnamed 
 il Vecchio) , a famous warrior and known to the readers of Dante, 
 who doomed him to Hell for the evil counsel which he gave to 
 Pope Boniface VIII. ^ With the history of the succeeding counts 
 of Urbino we have nothing to do until Count Oddantonio, born 
 in 1426, who was created Duke of Urbino by Pope Eugenio IV 
 in 1443. The new Duke reigned little over a year and was then 
 assassinated by his own subjects, whom he had enraged, it is 
 said, by his shameful life. With him the legitimate line of the 
 Montefeltri became extinct. Oddantonio's father Guidantonio 
 had, however, left a natural son, Frederick, who was legitimated 
 by Pope Martin V in 1444, and who was destined to confer im- 
 mortality upon his name and the little mountain city which he 
 made famous in art, literature, and society. 
 
 1 For the history of Urbino, I have consulted: Filippo Ugolini's Sioria dei 
 Conti e Duchi d' Urbino, Florence, 1859, 2 vols., and James Dennistoun's ad- 
 mirable Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, London, 1851, 3 vols. See also Von 
 Reumont's article "Die Herzoge von Urbino" in Beitrdge zur Ital. Geschichte, 
 Berlin, 1855, Vol. Ill, pp. 355-494. Dennistoun's book has long been out of 
 print and very difficult to procure. In 1909 a new edition also in three volumes 
 with many additional notes and illustrations by Edward Hutton was published 
 by John Lane, The Bodley Head, London, and John Lane Company, New 
 York. 
 
 2 See Inferno, XXVII, 67 and following lines. Scartazzini in a long note 
 to his edition of the Divine Comedy, Leipzig, 1874, gives a documentary biog- 
 raphy of Count Guido, and shows that Dante has stated nothing but the his- 
 torical truth. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 163 
 
 Frederick was born the 7th of June, 1422, of a mother now 
 unknown.^ The child was reared at the castle of Gaifa until the 
 death of Guidantonio's wife, when he was brought back to 
 Urbino and publicly educated as the Count's son. His father 
 afterwards married Catarina Colonna, who treated Frederick 
 with great affection until her own son, the unfortunate Oddan- 
 tonio, was bom in 1427. When Frederick was only eight years 
 old he was betrothed to Gentile Brancaleone, whose father ruled 
 a fief in the territory of Urbino, whose petty capital was Mercatel 
 lo. On his death the Pope granted the temporary administra 
 tion of the fief to Count Guidantonio with the promise of the 
 investiture to his son Frederick, on condition of his marriage 
 with Gentile. After the betrothal, Frederick was carefully 
 educated by his bride's mother, the Lady Giovanna. When he 
 was eleven years old he was attacked by a malignant ulcer in 
 the cheek and narrowly escaped death. The child had scarceljr 
 recovered from this dangerous illness when he was sent by his- 
 father as a hostage to Venice, in settlement of a quarrel between 
 Pope Eugenio IV and the Colonna family, with which Count 
 Guidantonio was connected by marriage. After a residence of 
 fifteen months in Venice, it being feared that the plague was about 
 to break out there, Frederick, through his father's intervention,, 
 was transferred to Mantua, where ruled at that time the Marquis 
 Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, connected by marriage with Count 
 Guidantonio. At Mantua Frederick lived two years and there 
 received the most important part of his education. The Marquis- 
 himself was' his tutor in all that pertained to military exercises, 
 while for his mental accomplishments he enjoyed the instruction 
 
 ^ Materials for the life of Frederick may be found in the histories of Urbino 
 cited above, and also in Bernardino Baldi's Vita e faiti di Federigo di Monte- 
 feltro, Duca di Urbino, Rome, 1824. I have used the second edition, Bologna, 
 1826, 3 vols. Baldi wrote his work, as well as the life of Guidobaldo to be 
 mentioned later, at the behest of Francesco Maria II, the last duke of Urbino. 
 The work is prolix, and impartiality was not to be expected. .An important 
 source for the life of Frederick is the rhymed chronicle by Giovanni Santi, 
 Raphael's father, edited from the Vatican MS. for the first time by Dr. H. 
 Holtzinger, 1893, 4to. It consists of nearly twenty-three thousand verses in 
 terza rima, and was probably written between 1482 and 1494. The events 
 chronicled by Santi occurred during his lifetime, but were not witnessed by 
 him, with the exception of such as took place at Urbino. He drew very largely 
 on a Latin biography of Frederick composed by his secretary and companion 
 Pier Antonio Paltroni. The original is now lost and survives only in citations 
 by subsequent historians, and in the rhymed chronicle of Santi. 
 
164 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 of Vittorino da Feltre, the most remarkable teacher of his day.^ 
 In spite of a life devoted almost exclusively to war, Frederick 
 never forgot the lessons of Vittorino, nor lost his interest in literary 
 studies. On the contrary, he was the most learned prince of 
 his day, and we shall have occasion later to refer to the remark- 
 able library collected by him at Urbino. 
 
 After the differences between the Pope and Count Guidantonio 
 had been settled, Frederick was recalled to Urbino, where his 
 father gradually gave him opportunity to practice the art of 
 government. In 1437, when he was fifteen, his marriage with 
 Gentile was celebrated, and he took possession of the state which 
 his wife brought him in dower, and which consisted of some 
 twenty castles and towns. His rule was so successful that 
 Baldi (I, p. 14) says: " It was doubtful which was the greater, the 
 charity and love he displayed for his people, or the reverence 
 and honor they had for him." A year after his marriage, Freder- 
 ick began his long career as a soldier, a career in which it is im- 
 possible to follow him here. While engaged in one of his cam- 
 paigns, Frederick heard of the murder of his brother (July 22d, 
 1444). The people of Urbino at once united in electing Frederick 
 as their lord and for thirty-eight years were his loyal and affec- 
 tionate, subjects. It was not until 1474 that he was created 
 duke by Pope Sixtus IV. He was twice married, first to Gentile 
 Brancaleone as stated above, the second time in 1460 to Battista 
 Sforza, daughter of the Lord of Pesaro, and niece of the Duke of 
 Milan. Frederick had no children by his first wife, and but one, 
 Guidobaldo, bom in 1472, by the second. 
 
 Although the whole of Frederick's long life was passed in 
 military exploits, he did not neglect his state. On the contrary, 
 the large sums which he received from the various princes of 
 Italy in pa3nxient for his services were spent in embellishing his 
 capital and in works of charity. His fame attracted to Urbino 
 many guests who were lavishly entertained, but it does not seem 
 that the society of his court was renowned for its elegance or 
 
 * See Jacob Burckhardt's Die Cultur der Renaissance, 3d edition, by L. 
 Geiger, Leipzig, 1877, 2 vols., Vol. I, pp. 255, 341, where the various biogra- 
 phies of Vittorino are mentioned. There is now an excellent monograph by W. 
 H. Woodward: Vittorino da Feltre and other Humanist Educators: Essays and 
 Versions. An introduction to the history of classical education. Cambridge, 
 1897. A pleasant essay by Oreste Antognono may be found in Appunti e 
 Memorie, Imola, 1889, pp. 39-62, "Vittorino da Feltre e un suo biografo," 
 and pp. 201-3, "Ancora di Vittorino da Feltre." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 165 
 
 gaiety. It was perhaps too soon to expect that, but he prepared 
 the way for his son and successor Guidobaldo, whose court is 
 immortaUzed in CastigHone's Cortegiano. 
 
 The scene of that great worii is laid in the palace constructed 
 by Frederick, which was considered at the time one of the 
 finest princely residences in Italy.^ Here Frederick housed 
 the remarkable library collected by him at lavish cost, which 
 was long the largest and most valuable collection of books in 
 Europe.^ In this palace and among these books, Frederick 
 passed the scanty leisure he won from his military service. 
 His life was one of great simplicity, and is described in an admi- 
 rable and affectionate manner by his contemporary, Vespasiano 
 da Bisticci, the famous Florentine bookseller, who contributed 
 largely to the increase of the ducal library, and wrote the biogra- 
 phy of his princely patron.' 
 
 While engaged in the war of Ferarra in 1482, Frederick was 
 attacked by fever and died on the loth of September, leaving as 
 his successor Guidobaldo, his son by his second wife, Battista 
 Sforza. Guidobaldo, whose mother died two months after his 
 
 5 For the palace at Urbino, see Baldi's description, in Vita e fatti di Feder- 
 igo, Bologna, 1826, H, pp. 249-325, reprinted in Rigutini's edition of the Cor- 
 tegiano, Florence, Barbera, 1889, pp. 297-327. The most accurate modern 
 account of the palace is Arnold's Der herzogliche Palast von Urbino, Leipzig, 
 1856, fol. A pleasant account will be found in J. A. Symonds's Italian Byways, 
 London, 1883, pp. 129-155, "The Palace of Urbino." See also Dennistoun's 
 Memoirs, I, pp. 157 et seq., and an important note in Luzio-Renier, Mantua e 
 Urbino, p. 10, note I. Two other works relating to Urbino and the ducal pal- 
 ace may be mentioned here. The first is: Memorie concernenti la cittd, di Ur- 
 bino, Rome, 1724, fol. This handsome but unsatisfactory book was prepared 
 under the auspices of Cardinal Annibale Albani, and largely written by Ber- 
 nardino Baldi. It contains many illustrations and plans, but they are not 
 arranged for accurate reference, and a large part of the work is taken up with 
 a verbose description of the sculptured ornaments of the court, which were 
 of no value. Much better, but still disappointing, is Prof. Egidio Calzini's 
 Urbino e i suoi monumenti, Rocca S. Casciano, 1897, 4to. The work contains 
 chapters on the new monument to Raphael, the Ducal palace, various churches, 
 the Palazzo Albani, and an account of the art of Urbino during the Renais- 
 sance. There is no plan of the Palace and the photographic reproductions are 
 very poorly executed. There is a very disappointing account of Urbino in 
 Sir Thomas Graham Jackson's A Holiday in Umbria with an account of Urbino 
 and the Cortegiano of Castiglione, London, 1917. The book is largely taken up 
 with an analysis of the Cortegiano and the account of the city and palace is 
 disappointing. 
 
 « For the ducal library, see Dennistoun, I, pp. 155 et seq.; Vespasiano da 
 Bisticci, Vite di Uomini illustri del secolo XV, Bologna, 1892, I, pp. 297 et 
 seq.; Giornale storico degli Archivi Toscani, VI (1862), pp. 127-147, VII (1863), 
 pp. 46-55, 130-153, for the inventory made by Veterano, the ducal librarian, 
 during the reign of Frederick. 
 
 ' This life is found in the work by Bisticci cited in the preceding note, I, 
 pp. 265-302, especially pp. 302 et seq. 
 
166 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 birth,* was bom on the 24th of January, 1472,' and was con- 
 sequently nearly eleven years old at the time of his father's 
 death. His early education was entrusted to Ludovico Odoasio 
 of Padua, who found in him a willing pupil.^" Castiglione says of 
 his early studies: "In ilia enim aetate qua pueri nucibus indul- 
 gent, litteris, ac disciplinae militari incumbens, brevi tantum 
 profecit, ut non modo inter aequales et pueros, sed inter vires 
 natu grandiores prodigii loco haberetur."" The same writer 
 gives a detailed statement of Guidobaldo's learning, from which 
 it appears that he was an excellent Latin and Greek scholar, well 
 versed in classical poetry and history, as well as in cosmography, 
 of which he displayed an amazing knowledge.'^ He was care- 
 fully trained in bodily exercises, but seems to have inherited 
 some disease, called gout by his biographers, which attacked him 
 when only twenty-one, and soon crippled him. After the fashion 
 of the day he was early betrothed to Lucrezia of Aragon, but 
 for some unknown reason the engagement was never fulfilled. '^ 
 On the death of his father, Guidobaldo peacefully succeeded 
 to his states, and likewise entered upon a military career, which, 
 however, owing to his physical disabilities, was not brilliant. 
 When he was sixteen he married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter 
 of Frederick, Marquis of Mantua, and of Margaret of Bavaria." 
 She was born the 9th of February, 1471, and was consequently 
 a year older than her husband. Nothing is known in regard to 
 her education, but she was one of the most cultivated and charm- 
 
 ^ For life of Guidobaldi, see the histories of Urbino cited above, and Bernar- 
 dino Baldi, Delia vita e de' Fatti di Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro, Duca d' Urbino, 
 Milan, 1821, 2 vols. The character of the work is the same as that of Baldi's 
 life of Frederick. Other authorities are mentioned below. There is an ad- 
 mirable article on the dispossession of Guidobaldo by Cesare Borgia in the 
 Revue des deux Mondes, April I, 15, 1918, by Robert de la Sizeranne: " Les 
 Masques et les Visages . . . Une Violation de Neutralite au XVIe Siecle 
 , . . Cfesar Borgia ^ Urbino . . . I. L'Invasion; II. L'Occupation." 
 
 'Baldi, Vita e Fatti di Guidobaldo, I, 6. 
 
 " He survived his pupil and pronounced his funeral oration, which Bembo 
 has inserted in his dialogue on Guidobaldo and his wife: "Petri Bembi ad 
 Nicolaum Teupolum de Guido Ubaldo Feretrio, deque Elisabetha Gonzagia 
 Urbini Ducibus, Liber," in Opere del Cardinale Pietro Bembo, Venice, 1729, 4 
 vols., Vol. IV, pp. 273-302. Baldi, op. cit., I, pp. 12 et seq., gives a prolix 
 account of Guidobaldo's education, which contains very little of value. 
 
 " In his letter to Henry VIII of England, Opere, Padua, 1733, pp. 377-390. 
 
 " Op. cit., pp. 381 et seq. 
 
 1' Baldi, op. cit., I, p. 14, says: Non so se perche la fanciulla si morisse anzi 
 il tempo, owero perche variandosi, corae^fanno bene spesso le cose di questo 
 mondo, e particolaramente de' principi, ella fosse destinata ad altro marito. 
 
 " See especially the work of Luzio and Renier, Mantova e Urbino, cited 
 above. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 167 
 
 ing women of the Renaissance, of spotless character in an im- 
 moral age, and under circumstances which might easily have been 
 regarded as palliating a life of less strict virtue.i^ 
 
 After a year spent in the usual diversions of the time, Guido- 
 baldo was called upon to render military service to the Pope in 
 the war between the French and Spaniards concerning the king- 
 dom of Naples. At the battle of Soriano in 1498, Guidobaldo 
 was taken prisoner and held until a heavy ransom, amounting 
 to 40,000 ducats, had been paid. 
 
 More serious misfortunes were soon to overwhelm him. The 
 papal throne was occupied at this time by Alexander VI, whose 
 object was to provide establishments for his children. Lucrezia 
 was married to Alfonso of Ferarra, and Caesar was to be pro- 
 vided with a state in Central Italy. In pursuance of this plan, 
 he invaded Urbino in June of 1502, and Guidobaldo saved his 
 life by a perilous flight to Ravenna, and thence to Mantua by 
 way of Ferarra. A few months later, in October, the Duke 
 recovered his state, but was obliged to surrender it almost im- 
 mediately as he could not alone resist the Pope and his son. 
 A second flight, longer and hardly less perilous, brought him to 
 Rovigo. This second exile, spent partly in Mantua and partly 
 in Venice, was terminated by the death of Alexander VI on the 
 1 8th of August, 1503. As soon as the news of the illness of the 
 Pope and his son reached Venice, Guidobaldo at once started for 
 Urbino, which city he reached August 28, and was received with 
 universal rejoicing." Alexander VI was followed by Pius III, 
 who reigned but twenty-six days. He w,as succeeded by Julius 
 III, whose brother, Giovanni della Rovere, prefect of Rome and 
 Lord of Sinigaglia, had married Guidobaldo's sister Giovanna. 
 A more fortunate event for the Duke of Urbino could not have 
 been imagined, and the brief remainder of his reign was passed in 
 peace and prosperity. 
 
 The Pope at once summoned him to Rome and kept him there 
 during the winter, naming him Gonfaloniere of the Church and 
 
 '* Castiglione in the letter to Henry VI H cited above says: "Cujus eximia 
 virtute, moribus, et paene divina pulchritudine maritus ab omnibus felicissimus 
 habebatur." 
 
 '' In the letter to Henry VIII cited above, Castiglione says: "Occurrebant 
 redeunti puerorum examina ramos olivarum tenentium; canebant auspicatis- 
 simum regis adventum; occurrebant tremulo gradu longaevi senes prae lae- 
 titia lacrimantes, viri, feminae, matres cum infantibus, turbae acervatim 
 cujuscumque sexus, cujuscumque aetatis, ipsa videbantur saxa exsultare, et 
 quodammodo gestire." 
 
168 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 employing him in various military operations in the Romagna. 
 It was at this time that Guidobaldo first met Baldassare Casti- 
 glione, who shortly after entered his service and shed such lustre 
 on his court. This is perhaps the most suitable place to give 
 an account of this remarkable man, who by many was supposed 
 to be the original of the famous Cortegiano}'' 
 
 Baldassare Castiglione was born November 6, 1478, at Casatico 
 in the territory of Milan, of a noble family .^^ His father, Christo- 
 pher, was in the military service of the Marquis of Mantua, and 
 his mother, Luigia di Antonio Gonzaga was an intimate com- 
 panion of Isabella d'Este. His early education was received 
 
 1' In my account of Castiglione I have followed C. Martinati's Notizie 
 storico-biografiche intorno al Conte Baldassare Castiglione, con documenti inediti, 
 Florence, 1890. There are lives by Pietro Serassi (often reprinted, recently 
 by G. Rigutini in his edition of the Cortegiano, Florence, 1889), and B. Marliani 
 (reprinted in Opere volgari, e latine del Conte B. Castiglione, Padua, 1733, 
 presso G. Comino). Biographical materials may also be found in Castiglione's 
 letters published by P. Serassi, Padua, 1769, 2 vols.; for additional letters, see 
 Martinati cited above, and // Propugnatore, New Series, Vol. V, Fasc. 25-26, 
 pp. 346-369, "Alcune lettere inedite di B. Castiglione," where a bibliography 
 of the letters is given. 
 
 Since this chapter was written three works on Castiglione have appeared in 
 English, two of them in the same year. ' The first in the order of time is: The 
 Book of the Courtier. By Count Baldesar Castiglione (1528). Translated 
 from the Italian and annotated by Leonard Eckstein Opdycke. With seventy- 
 one Portraits and fifteen Autographs reproduced by Edward Bierstadt. New 
 York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901, Svo, pp. xiii, 421. This sumptuous vol- 
 ume is the work of an American scholar and is in every way worthy of its sub- 
 ject. The translation is accurate and easy and the annotations are numerous 
 and display wide reading. It does not pretend to contain a biography of 
 Castiglione, but a sufficient account of the author is given in the notes. 
 
 The two other works are by well known writers on Italian subjects: Courts 
 and Camps of the Italian Renaissance. Being a Mirror of the Life and Times of 
 the Ideal Gentleman Count Baldassare Castiglione derived largely from his 
 own Letters and other Contemporary Sources, to which is added an Epitome 
 of his famous Work ' ' The Book of the Courtier ' ' with Appreciations and Anno- 
 tations. By Christopher Hare. Illustrated. New York, Charles Scribner's 
 Sons, 1908, l2mo, pp. xv, 297. The Epitome of the Cortegiano occupies sev- 
 enty-nine pages. The remainder of the work is devoted to a biography of 
 Castiglione. The book is very readable but does not throw any new light on 
 the subject of social observances and the relation of the Cortegiano to other 
 works of the kind. 
 
 The last work and the most extensive is: Baldassare Castiglione. The 
 Perfect Courtier. His Life and Letters. 1478-1529. By Julia Cartwright 
 (Mrs. Ady). In two volumes. New York, E. P. Dutton and Company, 1908, 
 l6mo, pp. xxviii, 460; xii, 507. The book is fully illustrated and is based on 
 inedited material to a considerable extent. There is no analysis of the Cor- 
 tegiano and the writer is not acquainted with the extensive literature of which 
 it is a part. The work is, however, invaluable as an account of Castiglione 
 and his times from a historical standpoint. 
 
 For Castiglione's relations to Isabella d'Este see Luzio-Renier, "Coltura 
 e relazioni letterarie d'Isabella d'Este," in Giornale storico, Vol. 34, pp. 1-97, 
 pp. 71 et seq. 
 
 '5 Martinati, p. 9. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 169 
 
 from his parents, especially from his mother, for whom he always 
 felt unusual love and respect.^' While still young, Baldassare 
 was sent to Milan, where a branch of his family was settled, 
 various members of which filled important places in the church 
 and state. Castiglione entered the service of the Duke Lu- 
 dovico il Moro and completed his education both as a gentleman 
 and a scholar. He had as his teachers of Latin and Greek Gior- 
 gio Merla and Demetrio Calcondile, and as his guide and coun- 
 sellor Filippo Beroaldo.^" He says of his education in the letter 
 to the Bishop of Viseo, which serves as preface to the Cortegiano :^^ 
 "Some also say that I have believed that I was describing my- 
 self, being persuaded that the qualities which I attribute to the 
 Courtier are all in me. In answer to these I will say that I do 
 not deny that I have attempted all that I would have the Courtier 
 know ; and I think that no one who did not have some knowledge 
 of the things treated of in the book, no matter how learned he 
 might be, could have written it; but I am not so ignorant of 
 myself as to presume that I know all that T think desirable." 
 
 His stay was short at the court of Milan, Ludovico having 
 been deposed and imprisoned by Louis XH in October, 1499. 
 Castiglione was present at the entrance of the French King into 
 Milan, which he described in a letter to his brother-in-law, M. 
 Jacopo Boschetto.^^ After the change in the government of 
 Milan, Castiglione returned to Mantua and entered the service 
 of the Duke, who took sides with the French in the war with 
 Spain and was present at the battle of the Garigliano, December' 
 27, 1503, where the French experienced a crushing defeat. The 
 Duke obtained leave to return home on the ground of illness, and 
 Castiglione accompanied him as far as Rome, and remained there 
 by his permission in order to visit more thoroughly the city. 
 During his stay in Rome, Castiglione met for the first time 
 Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, of whose court he was to be one of 
 the principal ornaments, and where he laid the scene of his 
 immortal work. 
 
 1' Martinati, p. 9. 
 
 2»Martinati, p. 9. ^ . ,. 
 
 21 Ed Rigutini, p. 6, and II Cortegiano del Conle B. CasHghone annotato e 
 illustrato da V. Cian, Florence, 1894, p. 8. This latter edition of the Cortegiano 
 is incomparably the best in existence, and I have used it in preparing this 
 chapter, while consulting the others. The first edition of the Cortegmno, 
 Venice, Aldo Romano, 1528, is in the library of Cornell University. 
 
 22 Oct. 8, 1499, ed. Serassi, I, p. 3, the first letter in that collection. 
 
170 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Guidobaldo had been deprived of his state in 1502 by Caesar 
 Borgia and had saved his life by flight to Mantua, where his 
 brother-in-law, the Marquis Francesco, gave him shelter. A year 
 later the death of Alexander VI enabled Guidobaldo to return to 
 his duchy. He was now at Rome at the instance of Pope Julius 
 II, who wished to employ his services in his schemes for the 
 aggrandizement of his temporal sovereignty. In Guidobaldo's 
 suite was Caesar Gonzaga,^' a cousin of Castiglione, on whom he 
 afterwards lavished affectionate praises at the beginning of the 
 fourth book of the Cortegiano.^* Castiglione was thus brought 
 into intimate relations with Guidobaldo, to whom he became so 
 attached that he asked leave to enter his service and follow him 
 to Urbino. Permission had first to be obtained from the Mar- 
 quis of Mantua, who granted it, but, for some reason not now 
 clear, nourished for many years a feeling of anger against Casti- 
 glione, which may have been the cause or the result of Casti- 
 glione's transfer of allegiance to the Duke of Urbino.^^ 
 
 Castiglione arrived at Urbino the 6th of September, 1504,^^ 
 where he was received with special favor by the Duchess.^' In 
 December of the same year Castiglione was at Ferrara for some 
 purpose unknown to his biographers, and which he does not 
 himself mention in his letters to his mother.^* Shortly after, he 
 accompanied the Duke, who was summoned to Rome by Pope 
 Julius II, to consult in regard to the latter's scheme for the cap- 
 ture of the Romagna. While in Rome, the Duke informed 
 Castiglione of his intention to dispatch him to England to act 
 as his proxy in the investiture of the Order of the Garter, which 
 Henry VII desired to confer upon him. The journey, however, 
 was postponed until the following year, owing partly to the 
 Duke's absorption in other business, and partly to an injury to 
 Castiglione 's foot caused by a fall from horseback at the siege 
 of Cesena. ' 
 
 Meanwhile the Duke sent Castiglione to notify the Marquis 
 of Mantua of the Pope's designs on the cities of the Romagna; 
 
 '^ See Dennistoun, II, p. .53, Serassi, Lettere, II, p. 228, and Cortegiano, ed. 
 Cian, p. xxii. 
 
 " Ed. Cian, p. 350. 
 
 ^* Castiglione 's biograplier, Serassi, in Rigutini, p. xxiv, considers it the 
 result, and this is the general opinion; see Martinati, p. 12. 
 
 ^* He wrote to his mother on the 9th of his safe arrival, Serassi, I, p. 7. 
 
 ^'Serassi, I, p. 8: "La Signora Duchessa mi ha fat'to e fa continuamente 
 molte carezze piu ch'io non merito." 
 
 *' Serassi, I, pp. lo-ll. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 171 
 
 but when Castiglione reached Ferarra he was warned not to 
 enter the territory of Mantua as the Marquis was still angry 
 with him and would surely seize this opportunity to punish him. 
 As it was, Castiglione escaped capture by the Marquis only 
 through the efforts of his cousin Caesar Gonzaga. 
 
 The winter of 1506 was spent at Urbino, where Castiglione 
 amused the Duchess and her court by his eclogue entitled TirsiP 
 Guidobaldo was absent from the duchy, which his wife governed 
 in his name until his return later in the year. At the end of the 
 following summer, Castiglione finally set out for England by way 
 of Lyons,'" and reached London the ist of November.'^ The 
 king (Henry VII) showed him great kindness and honor. The 
 ceremony of installation, at which Castiglione represented the 
 Duke, is described by Dennistoun.'^ Castiglione returned at 
 once to Italy and reached Milan the 9th of February, 1507, 
 whence he asked leave of the Marquis of Mantua to visit his 
 mother at Casatico. The Marquis had apparently laid aside 
 his anger and granted Castiglione permission to enter his state 
 with security. He spent some days with his mother at Casatico 
 and arrived at Urbino in March.'' 
 
 While Castiglione was absent in England, Guidobaldo received 
 a visit from the Pope, who after a few days passed on to the 
 capture of Bologna. There he stayed keeping the Duke of 
 Urbino with him until March of 1507, when he paid another 
 brief visit to Urbino, where the Duke remained. It is at this time 
 that Castiglione places the action of his Cortegiano. 
 
 The society of Urbino during the reign of Frederick, as has 
 already been remarked, was not renowned for its elegance or 
 gaiety. The picture which Vespasiano da Bisticci draws of it 
 shows a life almost conventual in its seriousness and regularity. 
 Next to war, the Duke's absorbing passion was the collecting 
 of books and the study of the classics. His court represents the 
 earlier stage of the Renaissance, the revival of letters and the 
 passionate cultivation of classical studies. The interval between 
 his death in 1482 and Guidobaldo 's in 1508 saw the second 
 stage of the Renaissance, the application of the new culture to"" 
 
 " See Serassi, Lettere, U, pp. 206, and 244. It may also be found in Opere, 
 1733. P- 31I1 aid in Rigutini, p. 284. 
 '" Serassi, I, p. 27. 
 '1 Serassi, I, p. 28. 
 32 Dennistoun, II, pp. 443 «' ^^Q- 
 " Serassi, I, p. 29. 
 
172 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 life and society. This stage is marked by scholars like Bembo, 
 who combined deep learning with elegance of manners and 
 sparkling wit. Although many of the forms of social diversion 
 belong to an earlier period, they are developed and refined; and 
 conversation assumes a prominence it everywhere held until the 
 French Revolution ushered in a new phase of society. The 
 society we are now considering owed its rapid development and 
 characteristic forms to the changed social position of woman. 
 We have already seen that mediaeval society was based upon the 
 reverence for woman which was due to the spirit of Chivalry. 
 In Italy in the sixteenth century, woman was not considered, 
 as in the times of the Troubadours and Trouveres and early 
 Italian lyrical poets, as the object of a secret and mystical adora- 
 tion, but as the social equal and companion of man. She was 
 educated with her brothers and often displayed extraordinary 
 aptitude for study. She was withal free from pedantry, and, 
 in the circle we are about to consider, at least, was distinguished 
 by her charming manners and social tact. 
 
 In the introduction to the Cortegiano, Castiglione enumerates 
 some fifteen persons as permanent members of the court, and 
 six others as frequent visitors. In the dialogue of the Cortegiano 
 there are twenty-five interlocutors, embracing both classes 
 mentioned above. A rapid survey of the most prominent of 
 these will give some idea of the varied character of the society 
 of Urbino, and show its wide difference from the mediaeval 
 society which has already been considered. Only four ladies 
 are introduced in the dialogue, and of these only two play a 
 prominent part. They are the Duchess herself and her insepar- 
 able friend and companion, Emilia Pie. 
 
 The former has already been mentioned, and her manifold 
 charms sufficiently described. Her friend was the daughter of 
 Marco Pio de' Signori di Carpi. She had married Antonio, Count 
 of Montefeltro, a natural brother of Duke Guidobaldo, but left a 
 widow at an early age, she continued to live at the court of 
 Urbino, where she was the intimate friend of the Duchess and 
 was admired and respected by the frequenters of the court.'* 
 
 '* Letters from Bembo to her may be found in Opere, Venice, 1729, Vol. 
 IV, Parte Prima, pp. 317, et seq. Cian, Cortegiano, p. xxiv, says that Bembo 
 in the Dialogue De Urbini Ducibus calls her "magni anirai, multi consilii 
 foemina, summaeque turn prudentiae, tum pietktis." See also Luzio-Renier, 
 Mantova e Urbino, pp. 282-3, and Dennistoun, II, pp. 66 et seq., where is en- 
 graved a medallion of Emilia. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 173 
 
 The Duchess placed in her hands the management of the social 
 diversions of the court, and she occupies a prominent position 
 in the pages of the Cortegiuno, as will be seen later. The other 
 ladies are Costanza Fregoso and Margherita Gonzaga. 
 
 The former was the sister of Federico and Ottaviano Fregoso; 
 to be mentioned later. She, too, was a friend of Bembo, who was 
 the godfather to her son (she married Count Marcantonio Landi 
 of Piacenza), and later his counsellor and guide in his studies.'^ 
 She appears in the Cortegiano merely as one of the Duchess's 
 companions and takes no part in the discussions. The same 
 r61e is played by the remaining la'd^^ Margherita Gonzaga, 
 niece of the Duchess, being the natural daughter of her brother 
 Francesco. She was for many years one of the ornaments of 
 the court of Urbino.^* 
 
 Although Castiglione was at Urbino at the time when the 
 conversations embodied in the Cortegiano took place, he feigns 
 that he was absent in England on the mission described above. 
 The object of his pretended absence was to absolve him from the 
 necessity ot taking part himself in the discussion. His name is 
 mentioned but once, and that only casually in connection with 
 the Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry VHI of England. The 
 Duke is likewise absent from the conversation owing to the state 
 of his health, which obliged him to retire to his chamber soon 
 after the evening meal. The talk was naturally freer in his 
 absence and it would have been difficult to assign him a suitable 
 r61e in the work. 
 
 It is not easy to classify the remaining twenty-two interlocu- 
 tors, one of whom, Pietro Bembo, has already been sufficiently 
 characterized. Of the rest, some were great noblemen like 
 Giuliano Medici, Francesco Maria della Rovere (Guidobaldo's 
 heir and successor), and Ottaviano Fregoso (afterwards Doge of 
 Genoa) : others were soldiers like Ettore Romano, Caesar Gon- 
 zaga (Castiglione 's cousin), and Ludo\'ico Pio. The Church was 
 represented by Bibbiena, Canossa, and Federico Fregoso. 
 Orazio Florido and Niccolo Frisio were statesmen and diplomats. 
 Two only were professional men of letters: Accolti, the celebrated 
 
 »5 See Bembo's letters in Opere, ed. cit., IV, Parte Prima, pp. 331 et seq. 
 Cian, Cortegiano, p. xxi, cites other letters. , . ^ 
 
 ''See Cian, Cortegiano, p. xxiii, who cites Luzio, "Federico Gonzaga os- 
 taggio alia Corte di Giulio II," Rome, 1887, in Archivio delta Societa romana di 
 storia patria. Col. IX. 
 
174 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 improvisatore, and Calmeta, a mediocre poet and litterateur. 
 The Arts were represented by Giovanni Cristoforo Romano, 
 sculptor, musician, and also poet, and possibly by Pietro da 
 Napoli. That indispensable adjunct of a court, the buffoon, 
 was not wanting, and that r61e was played by the monk Fra 
 Serafino. The courtier pure and simple is represented by Mo- 
 rello, a man of somewhat advanced age and an accomplished 
 rnusician.^' 
 
 We are struck in glancing over this brilliant assembly with the 
 fact that warriors and scholars, poets and statesmen, artists 
 and noblemen, met on the same footing of equality which charac- 
 terized the society of the Renaissance, where genius was ample 
 compensation for the lack of noble birth, and where love of letters 
 ; and appreciation of art were found in the soldier as well as in the 
 / scholar. The outward forms of society had always been more 
 refined in Italy than elsewhere. War had not played so promi- 
 nent a r61e as in feudal France and the conditions were such as 
 to refine manners. It would have been difificult, if not impossi- 
 ble, to find outside of Italy such a group of courtiers as that 
 gathered at Urbino and described in the pages of the Cortegiano, 
 to which we now turn as affording the best idea of the person 
 briefly characterized above. Some account of the origin and 
 literary history of the work will be necessary to its complete 
 understanding.^*! 
 
 In the dedicatory letter to Don Michel de Silva, Bishop of 
 Viseo in Portugal, Castiglione says:'^ "When the Lord Guid' 
 Ubaldo of Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, passed from this life, 
 I, together with some other cavaliers who had served him, 
 remained in the service of the Duke Francesco Maria della 
 
 " Three or four of the interlocutors of the Cortegiano are not included in 
 the above classification. They are the Ceva brothers, noblemen of the true 
 Renaissance type, cultivated and cruel, Pallavicino, the woman hater, and Ro- 
 berto da Bari, one of the Duke's gentlemen. 
 
 '* The only separate work on the subject is E. Bottari, B. Castiglione eil 
 suo lihro del Cortegiano, Pisa, 1874. It is not necessary to cite the various lit- 
 erary histories which contain accounts of the Cortegiano. Their standpoint is 
 different from ours and does not deal to any extent with the social aspect of 
 the work. For the Cortegiano as a treatise on Love and its relations to other 
 fifteenth century treatises on the same subject see L. Savino, "Di alcuni 
 trattati e trattatisti d'amore italiani della prima vattk del secolo XVI.,_" in 
 Studi di letterature italiana, Napoli, 1914, Vol. IX, pp. 334-435. This article, 
 contains precious materials for the date of the composition of the Cortegiano 
 the various editions published in Italy and elsewhere, and the character of 
 the Love of which it treats. 
 
 3SEd. Cian, p. i. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 175 
 
 Rovere, his heir and successor in the state; and as the odor of 
 the virtues of the Duke Guide was fresh in my mind, and the 
 satisfaction which in those years I had felt in the friendly company 
 of such excellent persons as were then at the court of Urbino, 
 I was incited to write these books of the Courtier, which I did 
 in a few days, with the intent to correct in time those errors 
 which arose from my desire to repay this debt at once. But 
 fortune for many years has always kept me involved in such 
 continual labors, that I have never been able to take the time to 
 accomplish it, so that my weak judgment should be satisfied. 
 While in Spain, I was informed from Italy, that Signora Vittoria 
 della Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara, to whom I had formerly 
 given a copy of the book, had had a large part of it transcribed 
 contrary to her promise. I could not but feel some vexation, 
 fearing the many annoyances which may arise in such cases. 
 Nevertheless I trusted that the wit and prudence of that lady 
 (whose virtue I have always venerated as something divine) 
 would suffice to prevent my obedience to her commands from 
 being prejudicial to me. I finally learned that that part of my 
 book was in the hands of many in Naples, and as men are always 
 greedy for novelty, it seemed that an attempt would be made to 
 print it. Frightened by this danger, I determined to make the 
 slight correction of the book which time permitted, intending to 
 publish it, deeming it better to let it appear slightly corrected 
 by my hand than greatly mangled by the hand of others. ... In 
 order, therefore, not to delay the payment due to the memory of 
 so excellent a lady ^^ and of others no longer living, induced also 
 by the danger to which the book was exposed, I have had it 
 printed and published in such a fashion as the brevity of time 
 has permitted." 
 
 The book is addressed to the author's friend Alfonso Ariosto, 
 second cousin of the greater Ludovico, who died still young in 
 1526. The author states at the beginning : " I have long doubted 
 in my own mind, my dearest Messer Alfonso, which of two 
 things would be the more difficult, to refuse what you have 
 often asked me so earnestly, or to grant it. "^^ The book thus 
 
 *" The Duchess of Urbino, widow of Guidobaldo, who died in 1526. 
 
 « In the edition of the letters published by Serassi, Padua, 1769, there is, 
 I, p. 181 et seq., a long proemio, quite different from the brief introduction in 
 the printed editions. In the former, Castiglione says: "Which of two things 
 
176 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 begun and hastily written, as the author declares in the letter 
 above cited, remained uncorrected in Castiglione's hands until 
 1518. At this time the Duke of Urbino, Francesco della Rovere, 
 was making desperate efforts to recover his states, of which he 
 had been dispossessed by Pope Leo X. Castiglione's share in these 
 efforts is not clearly known, but he probably retired to Mantua, 
 where he completed his book. On the 20th of September, 1518, 
 he wrote from that city to Jacopo Saldoleto, one of the secre- 
 taries of Leo X, and afterwards appointed by him to the bish- 
 opric of Carpentras. Castiglione, after congratulating him upon 
 this appointment, adds: "Amid many labors I have written that 
 dialogue of mine on the Courtier, of which I have spoken to you 
 before, and although it does not please me, I am compelled by 
 the importunity of some friends, who perhaps do not know much, 
 to publish it ; and because it seemed to me a good excuse when 
 I remembered that you had seen it, I beg you to glance at it and 
 tell me your opinion in regard to concealing it or publishing it, 
 for the authority of those who ask it from me against my will, 
 will have little weight with me when you advise me to hide it ; 
 and if you advise me to publish it I shall be sure and free from 
 that doubt which it seems reasonable to me to have."^ A 
 month later, the 20th of October, 1518, he wrote to his friend 
 Bembo: "I fear. Signer Messer Pietro, that my Courtier will 
 prove nothing but a burden to me and an annoyance to my 
 friends; for the fact that it is written having come to the 
 knowledge of many, I am urged to publish it, and as I know that 
 it will not equal their expectations, and I do not know what else 
 to do with it, I think I will share this burden with my friends, 
 and especially with those who are learned and will advise me 
 faithfully, of whom, although they are few, you stand at the 
 head of the list. My lord the Bishop of Bajus having been 
 
 would be the more difficult, to refuse what you have often asked me so ear- 
 nestly, and on behalf of so great a king, or to grant it?" Serassi says in a note 
 that M. Alfonso Ariosto, a Bolognese gentleman, was a favorite courtier of 
 the Most Christian King Francis I, and that it appears from this proemio that 
 the Count was induced to write his book to please the king of France, and that 
 later he omitted this proemio, because he had espoused the Imperial side. 
 Martinati, on the contrary, pp. 19, 31, declares that the king meant was Louis 
 XII, who died in 1515. The Cortegiano was certainly begun shortly after the 
 death of Duke Guidobaldo, which occurred on April II, 1508, while Louis 
 XII was still alive._ Cian in his edition of the Cortegiano, p. 91, note, distinctly 
 states that Castiglione undertook his work to please Francis I, whom he had 
 met in Bologna, as early as 1515, after the victory of Marignano. 
 ^ Martinati, p. 83. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 177 
 
 pleased to take the trouble to carry it to Rome and also to send 
 
 it back to me at Mantua, I beg that you will take the pains to 
 
 read it, wholly or in part, and inform me of your opinion, in order 
 
 that if the book can not be free from many errors, they may at 
 
 least not be infinite in number. Do not regard the writing, for 
 
 that will be another's care ; and if you do not like what I say, or 
 
 that manner of saying it, I will change, suppress, add, as you 
 please."43 
 
 Again on the 15th of January, 1520, Castiglione wrote once 
 more to Bembo from Mantua: "Signor Messer Pietro, some 
 days ago I wrote to you, grieving at the misfortune which hap- 
 pened to me through our lord the Bishop of Bajus,*'' which was 
 the loss of the letter which you wrote me about my Courtier, 
 and I begged you to condescend to reply something about its 
 contents. As I have not had any reply, I thought it best to 
 write this and to beg again of you the same thing: for I am in too 
 great doubt, not having at least any idea in general, unless pos- 
 sibly in particular, of your judgment upon this poor Courtier. 
 Deign then to favor me with it."** 
 
 Castiglione could not yet decide to publish his book and be- 
 came more and more involved, as We have seen, in business 
 cares. He learned in Spain** that Signora Vittoria Colonna to 
 whom he had given a copy of the book, had not kept it secret, 
 but had communicated a large part of it to her friends, who 
 thought of printing it. The author wrote a long letter to her, 
 dated Burgos, September 21st, 1527, in which he says that he 
 first learned of her "theft" of the book from her husband, the 
 Marchese del Vasto, and that later a Neapolitan gentleman then 
 in Spain had told him that some fragments of the Cortegiano 
 were in Naples and that the person who had divulged them said 
 he had received them from Signora Vittoria Colonna. Casti- 
 glione added that he had at first grieved at this like a father who 
 sees a son ill treated, but on reflection he perceived that the 
 fragments did not deserve any greater care and merited to be 
 left in the streets. He had decided to leave them there, but 
 
 ^' Castiglione, Opere, Padua, 1733, p. 279. 
 
 ** For the Bishop of Bajus or Bajusa, i.e., Bayeux, see Serassi, Letlere, I, 
 p. i6r, n. I, and H, p. 274. He was the Count Ludovico da Canossa; see also 
 Cian, p. xviii, and the Cortegiano, I, xiii and passim. 
 
 ^^ Opere, ed. cit., p. 282: "non avendo almen qualche scintilla in generale, 
 se non si puo in particulare." 
 
 *' See the letter to the Bishop of Viseo cited above. 
 13 
 
178 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 some persons more inclined to pity than the author had recently 
 compelled him to have the book copied, "such as the brevity 
 of time has permitted me to do," and sent to Venice to be printed, 
 which had been done. Castiglione concludes the letter with 
 the polite words that so far from having cooled his ardor for her 
 service the matter had increased his obligations to her, "because 
 the necessity of having it printed at once has relieved me of the 
 fatigue of adding many things which I had already arranged in 
 my mind, which could only have been of little moment like the 
 rest, and so the reader's fatigue and the author's blame will be 
 lessened." 
 
 The work was sent to Venice to be printed at the Aldine press.^' 
 Castiglione's friend Cristoforo Tirabosco had charge of the edi- 
 tion, which consisted of looo copies, besides 30 on carta reale, 
 and one on parchment.*^ The work appeared in April, 1528, and 
 has since then been frequently reprinted and translated.^' 
 
 It is not strange that Castiglione has followed a classical model 
 
 in his work. The very form into which it is thrown, the dia- 
 
 , logue, was, as we have already seen, a favorite one in the six- 
 
 - teenth century, and was based upon classical models. Casti- 
 
 " Martinati, p. 34, note 2, says that there are two letters from Castiglione 
 written in Spain in regard to the printing of the Cortegiano. 
 
 ^8 Martinati, p. 34. 
 
 ^' See the edition of Castiglione's works cited above, Padua, 1733, pp. 415 
 et seq., where is given a list of the editions and translations of the Cortegiano 
 down to 1732. This list may be increased by reference to the catalogue of 
 the British Museum. The important point for us is that there are numerous 
 French translations of that century, one of 1603, and two of the eighteenth 
 century, 1727, and 1729. 
 
 For English trans, of the Courtier see Miss M. A. Scott, op. cit. (1916), p. 
 445, No. 372, also in Opdycke's translation. 
 
 The first English translation was by Sir Thomas Hoby, London, 1561, of 
 which there is a copy in Cornell University Library. A reprint of this first 
 edition has recently appeared in the Tudor Translations edited by W. E. Hen- 
 ley, XXIII: The Book of the Courtier from the Italian of Count Baldassare Cas- 
 tiglione: done into English by Sir Thomas Hoby anno 1561. With an intro- 
 duction by Walter Raleigh. London. Published by David Nutt. 1900. I 
 have examined at the British Museum the beautiful edition printed by Fran- 
 joys luste at Lyons in 1538. This translation was made by Jacques Colin, 
 secretary to King Francis I, and revised by Etienne Dolet. An elaborate 
 article on the influence of the Cortegiano in France may be found in the ^ rchiv 
 fiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen, Vol. 104, pp. 75-121, 
 by P. Toldo, "Le courtisan dans la litterature frangaise et ses rapports avec 
 I'oeuvre du Castiglione." This is the first of several articles. A very inter- 
 esting account of the vogue of the Cortegiano in France may also be found in 
 Antoine Heroet. Oeuvres poStiques. Edition critique publiSe par Ferdinand 
 Gohin, Paris, igog, Societe des textes frangais modernes. The Notice biogra- 
 phique is very valuable for the introduction of Platonism into France and the 
 influence of Castiglione's work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 179 
 
 glione, however, goes further than this and has in a general 
 way based his work upon Cicero's De Oratore, a work of the 
 same form and purpose as the Cortegiano.^'^ The object of 
 Cicero's work was to give an idea of the quaHfications of the 
 perfect orator. This he accomphshed in a dialogue in which he 
 introduces as the principal speakers the famous Roman orators 
 Crassus and Antonius. Cicero like Castiglione is absent from 
 the conversation, which takes place at the Tusculan villa to 
 which Crassus had retired for a brief rest from his agitated 
 Roman life. Here in the shady garden, in a scene which pur- 
 posely recalls the setting of Plato's Phaedrus, the friends discuss 
 during the morning of one day, and the whole of the following 
 one, the subject of the perfect orator. 
 
 Castiglione has imitated Cicero not only in the general idea of 
 his work but in many details, notably in the long digression of 
 the second book devoted to the treatment of facezie, which are 
 divided into three classes: festivitd or urbanitd, detti or arguzie, 
 and hurle. The last class is unknown to Cicero, but Castiglione 
 follows the great Roman orator in his consideration of the other 
 two, borrowing even many of his examples. All this, however, 
 does not impair the true originality of the Italian work, whose 
 author resembles the writers of the Renaissance who were so 
 deeply imbued with classical iearning_tha±_Jtheir— productions, 
 like those of the great French writers of the seventeenth century, 
 instinctively^follow classical models; yet the Cortegiano is not a 
 slavish_ imijation, but a natural assimilation of the classical 
 elements. 
 
 The substance of Castiglione 's work, like that of Cicero, was 
 drawn from his own experience. He was undoubtedly acquainted 
 with the literature of the subject so far as it existed in the works 
 which have already been cited; but none of them combined so 
 perfectly the theory with the practice, and none of them gave 
 such a vivid picture of the society in which their scene was 
 laid." 
 
 soSee L. Valmaggi, "Per le fonti del Cortegiano," in the Giornale storico, 
 Vol. XIV, pp. 72-93. The article treats almost exclusively of the imitation 
 of Cicero by Castiglione in that part of the Cortegiano where facezie are dis- 
 cussed, Book II, xlii-xcvii. 
 
 '• For example, he must have known the various treatises on love cited in 
 the third chapter of this work. He cites one of the authors, Francesco Dia- 
 ceto, in the first book, xxvii, as a writer of pure Tuscan. Cian in his edition of 
 the Cortegiano, p. 28, note to line 29, cites the Spanish work. Question de Amor, 
 
180 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It is time now to turn to the book itself and consider Casti- 
 glione's account of the circumstances which gave rise to the 
 discussion, of which the author feigns that he has given a faith- 
 ful report. I shall give Castiglione's own words in detail and 
 make no apology for the length of the recital, as it illustrates 
 many interesting points in the society of the sixteenth century, 
 and shows how this society still resembled that described in the 
 earlier chapters of this work. 
 
 " On the slopes of the Apennines, almost in the middle of Italy 
 on the side towards the Adriatic, is situated, as every one knows, 
 the little city of Urbino, which although among mountains, and 
 not so pleasant as some others which we see in many places, 
 still has been so favored by heaven that the country roundabout 
 is most fertile and full of fruit, so that besides the salubrity of 
 the climate, there is an abundant supply of every thing needed 
 for human life. But among the greatest blessings which can 
 be attributed to it, I believe this is the principal one, that for a 
 long time it has always been ruled by excellent lords, although 
 in the universal calamities of the wars of Italy, it was deprived 
 of them for a time.^^ Not to go any further back, we can prove 
 this by the glorious memory of the Duke Frederick, who in his 
 day was the light of Italy; nor are lacking true and numerous 
 witnesses who are still living, of his prudence, kindness, justice, 
 liberality, invincible mind, and military prowess: the last quality 
 is especially shown by his many victories, the storming of im- 
 pregnable places, his sudden readiness in his campaigns, his having 
 defeated with few soldiers large and powerful armies, his never 
 having lost a battle: so that we may compare him to many 
 famous heroes of ancient times. Among other praiseworthy 
 deeds of his, he constructed on the rough site of Urbino a palace, 
 the most beautiful in all Italy according to the opinion of many, 
 and furnished it so well with every needful thing, that it did 
 not seem a palace, but a city in the form of a palace; and he 
 furnished it not only with what is ordinarily used, as silver plate, 
 hangings of rich cloth of gold and silk for the chambers, and 
 
 as a book which Castiglione probably had in his hands, and which afforded 
 him an example of conversations, and questions of love. This curious work 
 is fully discussed elsewhere, and it need only be said here that it could not have 
 been of any considerable assistance to the author of the Cortegiano. 
 
 '2 From June, 1502, to August, 1503; see the sketch of Guidobaldo's life 
 in this chapter, pp. 165, et seq. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 181 
 
 Other similar things, but he added by way of ornament a great 
 number of antique statues of marble and bronze, rare pictures, 
 musical instruments of all kinds; nor would he have anything 
 there that was not rare and excellent. Afterwards at great 
 expense he collected a large number of rare and excellent books, 
 Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, all ornamented with gold and silver, 
 deeming them the supreme honor of his great palace. 
 
 " He then, following the course of nature, died gloriously as he 
 had lived, at the age of sixty-five, and left as lord after him, a 
 little motherless boy of ten, the only son he had, who was Guido- 
 baldo. This boy seemed to have inherited all his father's virtues 
 as well as his state, and at once with remarkable disposition be- 
 gan to give such promise as it did not seem right to hope from 
 mortal man ; so that people thought that of the famous deeds of 
 the Duke Frederick none was greater than having produced such 
 a son. But Fortune, envious of such great virtue, opposed w'th 
 all its might so glorious a begianing, so that before the Duke 
 Guido had reached the age of twenty, he was attacked by the 
 gout, which, increasing with the most cruel pains, in a short time 
 so fettered all his limbs, that he could neither stand nor move - 
 and thus one of the handsomest and strongest bodies in the world 
 was deforrried and ruined in the flower of its age. Not satisfied 
 with this, Fortune was so adverse to him in all his plans, that he 
 rarely accomplished what he wished, and although he was wise 
 and courageous in his designs, it seemed that whatever he began, 
 either in military enterprises, or in anything else great or small,^ 
 always turned out badly; and this is showa by his many and 
 diverse calamities, which he always bore with such fortitude, 
 that his virtue was never overcome by Fortune : nay, scorning 
 with valiant mind its attacks, in illness as if well, and in adversity 
 as if fortunate, he lived with the greatest respect and esteem of 
 every one : so that although he was weak of body, as has been 
 described, he served under the most honorable conditions the 
 most severe kings of Naples, Alfonso and the younger Ferdinand ; 
 afterwards the Pope Alexander VI, and the Venetians and 
 Florentines. When Julius H assumed the tiara, he was made 
 Captain of the Church: at which time, accoriing to his custom, 
 . he strove above all things to fill his palace with noble and val- 
 iant gentlemen, with whom he lived very intimately, enjoying 
 their conversation: in which the pleasure he gave to others was 
 
182 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 not less than that which he received from them, because he was 
 most learned in both Greek and Latin, and had in addition to 
 his affability and agreeableness a boundless knowledge of things: 
 and, besides this, the greatness of his mind so incited him, that 
 although he could not personally practice the exercises of knight- 
 hood, as he once had done, still he took great pleasure in seeing 
 them performed by others; and correcting or praising by his 
 words each according to his merits, he revealed clearly his judg- 
 ment in such matters; whence in jousts, and tournaments, in 
 riding and handling all sorts of weapons, as well as in festivals, 
 games, and music, in short in all exercises befitting noble cavaliers, 
 every one endeavored to show himself such that he should deserve 
 to be deemed worthy of so noble a companionship. 
 
 " All the hours of the day were divided among honorable and 
 pleasant exercises as well of the body as of the mind; but be- 
 cause the Duke constantly, on account of his infirmity, went to 
 bed very early after supper, every one ordinarily at that time 
 went where the Duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga was; there was 
 always to be found the Lady Emilia Pio, who, as you know, 
 because she was endowed with so lively a wit and judgment, 
 appeared the mistress of all, and it seemed as if every one as- 
 sumed from her sense and virtue. Here then were heard pleasant 
 conversations and seemly jests, and on the countenance of every 
 one was seen depicted a merry cheerfulness, so that that palace 
 might certainly be called the abode of joy: nor do I believe that 
 ever elsewhere was enjoyed so greatly the pleasure which arises 
 from a company we love and prize, as was there enjoyed for a 
 time ; for, not to speak of what an honor it was for each of us 
 to serve such a lord as I have already described above, there 
 sprang up in the minds of all the greatest satisfaction whenever 
 we met in the presence of the Duchess ; and it seemed that this 
 was a chain that united us all in love, so that never was there 
 greater harmony of will or more cordial love among brothers than 
 that which there prevailed among all. The same existed among 
 the ladies, with whom there was a free and virtuous intimacy; for 
 each could address the one he wished, and jest and laugh with 
 her, or sit by her ; but so great was the respect for the wishes of 
 the Duchess, that liberty itself was a great check, nor was there 
 any one who did not deem it the greatest pleasure in the world 
 to be able to please her, and the greatest grief to displease her. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 183 
 
 For which reason, the most seemly customs were here united to 
 the greatest liberty, and the games and jests were in her presence 
 seasoned, not only with the sharpest wit, but with a pleasing and 
 serious decorum ; for that modesty and greatness which composed 
 all the acts and words and gestures of the Duchess when she 
 jested and laughed, caused even those who had never seen her 
 before to recognize that she was a great lady. Thus imprinting 
 her image upon the bystanders, it seemed as if she fashioned them 
 all according to her quality and form; whence each strove to 
 imitate her style, taking his model of elegant manners from the 
 presence of so great and virtuous a lady, whose admirable quali- 
 ties I do not now intend to describe, as it is not my purpose, and 
 because they are well known to the world, and much better than 
 I could express with tongue or pen; and those qualities which 
 perchance would have been somewhat concealed, Fortune, as it 
 were the admirer of such unusual virtues, has wished to reveal 
 by many adversities and pangs of misfortune, to show that in the 
 tender breast of a woman remarkable beauty might be accom- 
 panied by wisdom and fortitude, and all those virtues which are 
 uncommon even in the sternest men. 
 
 " But not to dwell further upon this point, I say, that it was 
 the habit of all the gentlemen of the palace to betake themselves 
 immediately after supper to the Duchess, where, among the other 
 pleasing festivities and music and dancing which were constantly 
 in use, sometimes interesting questions were propounded,^' 
 sometimes ingenious games^* were played at the pleasure of one 
 and another, in which under v&rious figures the bystanders often 
 disclosed in an allegorical way their thoughts to whom it most 
 pleased them. Sometimes other disputes arose on diverse sub- 
 jects, or they attacked each other with quick repartee; often 
 they composed de vices, ^^ as we nowadays call them: where 
 
 63 -j-jjg origin of "questions" as a social diversion has been fully discussed 
 in the second chapter of this work, and we have seen in the following chapter 
 the persistence of this custom. It will also occupy our attention in the re- 
 maining chapters of this book. 
 
 " Games will form the subject of Chapter VI. 
 
 55 Devices were in great demand in the pseudochivalric age, the fifteenth 
 century, and the following one, for decorative purposes in tournaments, etc. 
 Abundant examples are afforded by such books as the Guerras civiles de Gra- 
 nada, by Gines Perez de Hita, the first part of which was written between 
 1589 and 1595, and the Question de Amor, already referred to. In Italy 
 during the sixteenth century devices played an important part in social di- 
 versions, as we shall see in the chapter devoted to games; and also in the aca- 
 demic life of the period, which has been noticed briefly in connection with 
 
184 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 marvellous pleasure was taken in such discourses, because, as I 
 have said, the palace was full of noble wits; among whom, as 
 you know, were most famous: Signor Ottaviano Fregoso, his 
 brother Messer Frederico, the Magnificent Giuliano Medici, 
 Messer Pietro Bembo, Messer Caesar Gonzaga, the Count 
 Ludovico da Canossa, Signor Caspar Pallavicino, Signor Lu- 
 dovico Pio, Signor Morello da Ortona, Messer Roberto da Bari, 
 and many other noble cavaliers, besides many, who, although 
 usually they did not remain there constantly, still spent the 
 
 "questions." Each academy had to have its device, and this gave rise to 
 much discussion. There is an extensive literature of the subject, of which 
 only a few of the most important works can be mentioned here. The clas- 
 sical Italian treatise is by Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, and is entitled: Ra- 
 gionamento sopra i motti e disegni d'arme e d'amore che comunamente chiamano 
 imprese, Rome, 1555. I have used the reprint in Daelli's Biblioteca Rara, Vol. 
 V, Milan, 1863. Much more extensive is Scipion Bargagli's DeW Imprese, 
 Venice, 1594, a quarto volume of nearly six hundred pages, with many hand- 
 some engravings. The author will be considered in Chapter VI. Devices 
 were also the subject of numerous dialogues, of which I have seen the follow- 
 ing: Dialoghi piacevoli del Signor Stefano Guazzo, Venice, 1586, "Delle Im- 
 prese"; and Dialoghi di M. Lodovico Domenichi, Venice, 1562, p. 151, "L'lm- 
 prese d'Armi, et d'Amore." The subject was also a popular one in France in 
 the seventeenth century, as is shown by the conversation on devices in Les 
 Entretiens d'Ariste et d' Eugene, Paris, 1671, by Bouhours. A long list of 
 similar works may be found in the Catalogue des livres de la Bibliotheque du 
 Due de la Valliere, Seconde Partie, Tome Troisieme, pp. 373 et seq. See also 
 the Giornale storico delta letteratura italiana, Vol. XII, pp. 36-46, "Marc'An- 
 tonio Epicure," by E. Percopo. See Chapters III, note 38; VI, note 45. For 
 English trans, of Giovio's work see Miss M. A. Scott, op. cit. (1916), p. 
 468, No. 382. 
 
 A game of Imprese is mentioned in Lodovico Frati's La vita privata di 
 Bologna dal secolo XIII. al X VII. con appendici di documenti inediti e sedici tavole 
 illustrative, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1^00. The date of the game is not given, but 
 from the context it was probably in the fifteenth century. 
 
 A very valuable article on Imprese is to be found in the Giornale storico, 
 XXXVIII (1901), pp. 310-363. "Imprese e divise d'arme e d'amore nel 
 Orlando FMn'oio," by Abd-el-Kader Salza. This article contains many very 
 important notes on the literature and social use of Imprese. 
 
 In 1594, the year before his death, Tasso wrote at Naples a dialogue on 
 Devices, which may be found in I Dialoghi di Torguato Tasso a cura di Cesare 
 Guasti, Florence, 1859, Vol. Ill, p. 363. The scene of the dialogue is at Rome, 
 and Tasso himself, under the name of "A Neapolitan Stranger," is one of the 
 interlocutors. The dialogue is a lengthy discourse on the various classes of 
 Devices and the rules of the art. The poet concludes by citing the laws laid 
 down by Giovio, which must be obeyed by all who desire to attain perfection 
 in this art. The popularity of Giovio's work is attested by many translations. 
 I have seen at the British Museum the following: The Worthy tract of Paulus 
 louius, contayning a Discourse of rare inuentions, both Militarie and Amorous 
 called Imprese. Whereunto is added a Preface contayning the Arte of composing 
 them, with many other notable deuises. By Samuell Daniell late Student in 
 Oxenforde. At London, Printed for Simon Waterson, 1585, 8vo. Dialogue 
 des Devises d'Armes et d'Amours du S. Pavlo loido, Avec un Discours de M. 
 Lays Dominique sur le mesme subiet. Traduit d'ltalien per S. Vasquin Philieul. 
 Auquel auons adiouste les Deuises Heroiques et Morales du Seigneur Gabriel 
 Symeon. A Lyon. Par Gvillavme Roville, 1561, 4to. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 185 
 
 greater part of their time there; as Messer Bernardo Bibiena, the 
 Unique Aretine, Joan Cristoforo Romano, Pietro Monte, Ter- 
 pandro, Messer Nicolo Frisio: so that poets, musicians, and 
 every sort of entertaining men, and the most excellent in every 
 talent to be found in Italy, flocked there. 
 
 " Pope Julius II then, having by his presence and with the help 
 of the French compelled Bologna to acknowledge the authority 
 of the Apostolic throne in 1506, on his return to Rome, passed 
 through Urbino, where he was received as honorably as possible, 
 and with as magnificent and splendid pomp as could have been 
 displayed in any other noble city whatever of Italy: so that, 
 besides the Pope, all the cardinals and other courtiers remained 
 perfectly satisfied; and there were some who, led by the sweet- 
 ness of that company, tarried for many days at Urbino, after 
 the departure of the Pope and his court: during this time not 
 only did the ordinary festivities and pleasures continue in the 
 usual style, but every one strove to enhance every thing, and 
 especially in the games, in which they engaged almost every 
 evening. And the order of these was such, that, as soon as they 
 reached the presence of the Duchess, each seated himself in the 
 circle according to his pleasure, or as chance willed; the gentle- 
 men and ladies sat next each other, as far as the ladies went, for 
 the number of the men was almost always greater: then they 
 did as seemed good to the Duchess, who generally left this duty 
 to Signora Emilia. Thus the day after the Pope's departure, the 
 company having gathered in the usual place at the wonted hour, 
 after many pleasant words, the Duchess wished Signora Emilia 
 to begin the games; and she, after having declined for some time 
 this undertaking, spoke thus : ' My Lady, since it is your pleasure 
 for me to begin the games this evening, and as I cannot with 
 reason refuse to obey you, I mean to propose a game, from which 
 I think to have little blame and less trouble ; and it will be this : 
 that every one shall propose according to his mind a game not 
 hitherto played ; afterwards the one will be selected which seems 
 most worthy of being played by this company.' And thus 
 speaking she turned to Signor Caspar Pallavicino, charging him 
 to tell his. He replied at once: 'It is for you, Signora, to tell 
 yours first.' Signora Emilia answered: 'You see that I have 
 done so, but you, Signora Duchess, command him to obey.' 
 Then the Duchess laughing said : ' In order that every one may 
 
186 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 have to obey you, I make you my locum tenens, and bestow my 
 full authority upon you.' 
 
 "'It is curious,' replied Signor Caspar, 'that women are 
 always allowed this exemption from trouble, and it would cer- 
 tainly be reasonable for us to wish at all hazards to understand 
 the cause of it ; but in order not to be the first to disobey, I shall 
 leave this for another time, and say now what it is my place to 
 say'; and he began: 'It seems to me that our minds judge 
 differently in love as well as in other things; and therefore it 
 often happens that what is most pleasing to one is most hateful 
 to another, but nevertheless all agree in prizing most dearly the 
 thing they love : so much so that often the excessive affection of 
 lovers deceives their judgment, for they deem the person they 
 love the only one in the world endowed with every excellent 
 virtue, and without any fault; but because human nature does 
 not admit of such complete perfection, nor is there any person 
 who does not lack something, it is impossible to say that these 
 are not deceived, and that the lover is not blinded about his 
 beloved. I would like then our game this evening to be, that 
 each should say with what virtue he would particularly wish 
 the person he loves to be endowed, and, since it is necessary that 
 all should have some fault, what vice he would prefer her to 
 have : to see who can discover the most praiseworthy and useful 
 virtues, and the most excusable vices, and those least injurious 
 to the lover and the beloved. '^^" After Signor Caspar had thus 
 spoken, Signora Emilia made a sign to Madonna Costanza 
 Fregoso/ because she was the next in order, to continue. She 
 was preparing to speak, when the Duchess suddenly said: 
 'Since Madonna Emilia does not wish to trouble herself about 
 inventing any game, it would be right that the other ladies should 
 share that privilege, and be excused this evening from such labor, 
 especially as there are so many men present that there is no dan- 
 ger of our lacking games.' 'So shall we do,' replied Signora 
 Emilia, and imposing silence upon Madonna Costanza, turned to 
 Messer Caesar Conzaga, who sat by her side, and commanded 
 him to speak: and he thus began: 
 
 " 'Whoever diligently examines our actions, always finds in 
 them various defects; and this arises because rlature, in this as 
 
 650 A game similar to that proposed by Signor Caspar may be found in G. 
 Bargagli's Dialogo de' Giuochi, p. 26, No. 6, "Best quality which a lover can 
 have"; see also p. 174, No. 124, same game repeated. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 187 
 
 in other things, has given to one the Hght of reason in one thing, 
 and to another in another : wherefore it happens, that one knowing 
 what another does not know, and being ignorant of what another 
 understands, each perceives easily his companion's error and not 
 his own, and we all think we are very wise, and perhaps the more 
 so in the thing in which we are the most foolish ; for which reason 
 we have seen it happen in this palace, that many who at the 
 beginning have been deemed very wise, in the course of time have 
 been recognized as very foolish: which has arisen from nothing 
 else but our diligence. For, as they say that in Apulia with 
 those bitten by the tarantula, they employ many musical in- 
 struments, and make trial of various sounds until that humor 
 which causes the disease, by a certain harmony which it has with 
 some of those sounds, when it hears it, suddenly is moved, and 
 agitates the sick man until he is restored to health by that 
 movement: so we, when we have felt some hidden virtue of folly, 
 so subtly and with such varied persuasions have we stimulated 
 it, and in such diverse ways, that at last we have understood 
 whither it tended; then, having recognized the humor, we have 
 agitated it so well, that it has been to the perfection of public 
 folly: and one has turned out mad in poetry, another in music, 
 one in love, another in dancing, one in composing ballets,^' 
 another in riding, one in fencing, each according to the vein of 
 his metal; whence, as you know, we have afterwards had great 
 enjoyment. I therefore hold it certain, that in each of us there 
 is some seed of folly, which when it is quickened can be almost 
 infinitely increased. I would therefore wish that our game this 
 evening should be the discussion of this matter, and that each 
 should say: If I were to become mad in a public manner, with 
 what kind of madness one believes I would be mad, and in re- 
 gard to what thing; judging this result from the sparks of mad- 
 ness which I am every day seen to emit. The same is to be said 
 of all the others, observing the order of our games, and each 
 
 56 The word used in the original is moresche, and which Cian, in his edi- 
 tion of the Cortegiano, p. 24, thus explains: A sort of dance, often quite compli- 
 cated and magnificent, frequently employed in the festivals of our courts from 
 the second half of the fifteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century, and 
 which usually served as an introduction to a play, or as an intermezzo between 
 two acts Cian cites the well known letter of Castiglione, m which he gives 
 an account of the first performance of the Calandria at Urbino, February 6, 
 1513. An English translation of this letter is given in Dennistoun, IX, pp. 
 ' 141-145. The original is in Serassi, Vol. I, p. 158- 
 
188 ITALIAN SOCIAL. CUSTOMS 
 
 shall try to base his opinion upon some true token and argu- 
 ment. ^^^ And thus from this game of ours we shall each of us 
 reap some fruit in recognizing our faults, whence we shall be 
 better able to guard against them : and if the vein of folly which 
 we discover shall be so abujidant that it seems to us hopeless, 
 we shall offer our aid, and, according to the doctrine of Friar 
 Mariano, we shall have won a soul, which is no little gain.' 
 This game aroused much laughter, nor was there any one who 
 could refrain from speaking; one said: I would become mad in 
 thinking; another, in looking; one said, I am already mad in 
 love, and so on. 
 
 "Then Friar Serafino, laughing after his fashion, said: 'This 
 would be too long; but if you want a fine game, make every one 
 give his opinion why it is that almost all women hate mice and 
 love serpents; and you will see that no one will guess the truth 
 but myself, who know this secret in a curious way.' And he had 
 already begun to tell his stories ; but Signora Emilia silenced him, 
 and passing over the lady who sat there, made a sign to the 
 Unique Aretine, who was next in order; and he, without awaiting 
 further orders, said: 'I should like to be a judge with power to 
 extort the truth from evildoers by every sort of torture : and thus 
 to discover the deceptions of an ungrateful woman, who, with 
 the eyes of an angel and the heart of a serpent, never harmonizes 
 her tongue with her mind, and a deceiver with feigned pity, is 
 bent on nothing else than to dissect hearts ; nor in saiidy Libya 
 is found so poisonous a serpent and so fond of human blood as 
 this false woman, who not only by the sweetness of her voice and 
 honeyed words, but by her eyes, her smiles, her looks, and all 
 her manners is a perfect Siren. But since I am not allowed to 
 use, as I should like, chains, racks, or fire to learn the truth, I 
 wish to learn it by a game, which is this. That every one should 
 say what he believes to be the meaning of the letter S which 
 the Duchess wears on her brow; because, although this is certainly 
 an artful veil to enable her to deceive, perchance some interpreta- 
 tion will be given to it not thought of by her, and it will be found 
 that Fortune, pitiful observer of the sufferings of men, has led 
 her by this little token to disclose unwittingly her secret desire 
 to slay and bury alive in sorrow whoever beholds her or serves 
 
 "» Cesare Gonzaga's game may be found in Bargagli, op. cit., p. 87, No. 76, 
 " Game of the greatest madness of a lover." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 189 
 
 her.'" The Duchess smiled, and the Unique, seeing that she 
 wished to defend herself against his accusation, said: 'Do not 
 speak, Signora, for it is not now your place to speak.' Then 
 Signora Emilia turned and said: 'Signor Unique, there is no one 
 of us who does not yield to you in every thing, but especially in 
 knowing the mind of the Duchess; and as you know it better 
 than the others by your divine wit, you love it better than the 
 others, who, like those weak-sighted birds which cannot fix their 
 eyes upon the sun's sphere, are unable to recognize clearly how 
 perfect it is ; wherefore every attempt to clear up this doubt would 
 be vain, except your judgment. Let this undertaking then 
 be yours alone, as of one who alone can successfully accomplish 
 it.' The Unique, after a short silence and a renewed injunction 
 to speak, finally recited a sonnet on the subject in question, 
 declaring what that letter S signified. Many deemed the sonnet 
 improvised, but, because it seemed more ingenious and polished 
 than the shortness of the time warranted, some thought that 
 it was the result of study. ^^ 
 
 " After the sonnet had been loudly applauded and discussed, 
 Signor Ottaviano Fregoso, whose turn it was, began, smiling, 
 in this wise: 'Gentlemen and ladies, should I declare that I 
 had never experienced the passion of love, I am sure that the 
 Duchess and Signora Emilia, although they did not believe it, 
 would pretend to believe it, and would say that it was caused by 
 my despair of ever inducing any woman to love me; which in 
 truth I have not thus far tried with such persistency that I 
 should reasonably despair of being able one day to accomplish 
 it. Nor have I refrained from doing it because I valued myself 
 so highly and women so little as not to deem many of them worthy 
 of being loved and served by me; but rather terrified by the 
 continual lamentations of certain lovers, who, pale, sad, and 
 silent, seem ever to have their own unhappiness depicted in their 
 eyes: and, if they speak, accompanying each word with certain 
 threefold sighs, talk of nothing but tears, torments, despair, and 
 desire for death : so that, if sometimes some spark of love has been 
 
 " This speech of the Unique Aretine finds its counterpart in the language 
 of the Precieux in France a century later. What the letter. S was which the 
 Duchess wore on her brow is not clear. It was probably a gold ornament in 
 the shape of a monogram, but its meaning is not known. _ See Cian, p. 26. 
 
 '* The sonnet i)| question is given in the editions of Rigutini and Cian. It 
 is remarkable only for its conceits. 
 
190 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 kindled in my heart, I have at once taken every pains to extin- 
 guish it, not from any hatred which I have for women, but for 
 my own welfare. Then I have known some others entirely 
 different from these sorrowers, who not only rejoice and are 
 happy in the pleasant looks, sweet words, and lovely faces of 
 their ladies, but season all their ills with joy; so that they deem 
 most sweet their ladies' repulses, anger, and scorn. For which 
 reason these latter seem to me much more than happy. For if 
 in the scorns of love, which others deem more bitter'than death, 
 they find such sweetness, I think that in the tokens of love they 
 should feel that extreme beatitude, which we seek in vain in 
 this world. I would like then this evening our game to be, that 
 each should tell, in case the one he loves were angry with him, 
 what cause he would wish for her anger. For if there are some 
 present who have experienced these sweet scorns, I am sure that 
 they will from courtesy wish one of those causes which makes 
 them so sweet; and I perchance shall be emboldened to go a 
 little further in love, in the hope that I, too, shall yet find this 
 sweetness where some find bitterness ; and thus these ladies here 
 will no longer be able to reproach me for not loving.' 
 
 " This game pleased greatly, and every one was preparing to 
 speak on the subject; but as Signora Emilia said nothing, Messer 
 Pietro Bembo, who was next in order, spoke thus: 'Gentlemen 
 and ladies, no little doubt has been awakened in my mind by 
 the game proposed by Signor Ottaviano, in which he speaks of 
 the scorns .of love: which, although they are of varied nature, 
 have always been very bitter to me, nor do I believe that from me 
 could be learned any seasoning sufi&cient to sweeten them; but 
 perchance they are more or less bitter according to the cause 
 from which they spring. For I remember having formerly seen 
 the lady I served angry at me either from a vain suspicion of 
 my faith, which she had conceived in her own mind, or from some 
 other false idea inspired by the words of others to my harm; 
 so that I believed that no grief could equal mine, and it seemed to 
 me that the greatest sortow I experienced was suffering unjustly, 
 and enduring this affliction not for my own fault, but on account of 
 her slight love. At other times I saw her vexed at some mistake 
 of mine, and knew that her anger proceeded from my fault; 
 and at that moment I felt that the former affliction was light in 
 comparison with that which I then suffered; and it seemed to me 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY " 191 
 
 that having displeased by my own fault the only one I desired 
 and sought so zealously to please, was the greatest torture and 
 beyond all others. I wish then our game to be, that each should 
 declare, in case the person he loves has to be angry with him, 
 from whom he would like the cause of the anger to arise, from her, 
 or from himself; in order to know which is the greater sorrow, to 
 displease the one who is loved, or to be displeased by her.' 
 
 " Every one awaited Signora Emilia's reply, but she, without 
 further words to Bembo, turned and made a sign to Messer 
 Federico Fregoso to tell his game ; and he at once began : ' Sig- 
 nora, I wish I might be allowed, as is sometimes the case, to leave 
 the matter to the judgment of another, because for my part I 
 would willingly approve of any of the games suggested by these 
 gentlemen ; for in truth it seems to me that all would be amusing : 
 still not to transgress the order, I say, that whoever should wish 
 to praise our court, leaving out of question the merits of the 
 Duchess, who by her divine virtue would suffice to raise from 
 earth to heaven the basest spirits in the world, might easily 
 without suspicion of flattery say that in all Italy perhaps with 
 pains might be found cavaliers so extraordinary, and, beyond the 
 principal profession of chivalry, so excellent in various things, 
 as are now found here : wherefore if there are anywhere men who 
 deserve to be called good courtiers, and to know how to judge 
 what appertains to the perfection of courtesy, it is reasonable to 
 believe that they are here. To check therefore mjany foolish 
 ones, who believe they can acquire the name of good courtier 
 by being impudent and silly, I should like our game this evening 
 to be, that one of the company should be chosen, and he should 
 be charged with forming in words a perfect courtier, explaining 
 all the conditions, and peculiar qualities requisite for one who 
 deserves this name; and in those things which shall not seem 
 suitable it shall be lawful for every one to contradict, as in the 
 schools of philosophy where one is defending a thesis.' 
 
 " Messer Federico was about to continue his discourse, when 
 Signora Emilia interrupting him said : ' If it please the Duchess, 
 this will be our game at present.' The Duchess replied: 'It 
 pleases me.' Then almost all the bystanders began to say to the 
 Duchess and among themselves that this was the finest game 
 that could be invented ; and without awaiting one another's reply, 
 urged Signora Emilia to select the one to begin it. She, turning 
 
192 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 to the Duchess, said: 'Command, Signora, to whom you would 
 prefer to entrust this undertaking; for I do not wish, by choosing 
 one rather than another, to seem to judge whom in this matter 
 I deem more competent than another, and so wrong any one.' 
 The Duchess answered: 'Do you make this choice, and be 
 careful not to set an example to the others by your disobedience, 
 that they too should be little obedient.' 
 
 "Then Signora Emilia said smilingly to Count Ludovico da 
 Canossa: 'To lose, then, no more time, you. Count, shall be the 
 one to undertake this matter as Messer Federico has described ; 
 not indeed because it seems to us that you are so good a courtier 
 that you know what belongs to one, but because, saying every 
 thing contrariwise, as we hope you will do, the game will be better, 
 for every one will have something to answer you; whereas if 
 another who knew more than you had this duty, he could not 
 be contradicted in anything, because he would speak the truth, 
 and so the game would be dull.' The Count replied at once: 
 ' Signora, there would be no danger that one who told the truth 
 should lack contradiction, if you were present,' and after they 
 had laughed at this reply, he continued : ' But in truth. I would 
 very gladly shun this labor, which seems to me too difficult, and 
 knowing that what you have said of me in jest is very true, 
 namely, that I do not know what is suitable for a good courtier; 
 and this I do not seek to prove by any other argument than 
 this, that not performing the deeds of a courtier, it may be 
 inferred that I do not know what one should be; and I believe 
 that I should incur less blame, because it is undoubtedly worse 
 not to wish to do well, than not to know how. Still, since it 
 pleases you that I should assume this burden, I cannot, nor do 
 I wish to, decline it, in order not to disregard your command and 
 your judgment, which I value more highly than my own.' Then 
 Messer Caesar Gonzaga said : ' Because a good part of the night 
 has passed, and many other kinds of pleasure are ready here, 
 perhaps it would be well to postpone this conversation until 
 the morrow, and give the Count time to think of what he must 
 say; for in truth it is a difficult thing to improvise in such a 
 matter.' The Count answered: 'I do not want to do like the 
 one who in his vest did not jump as far as in his coat; wherefore 
 it seems to me very fortunate that the hour is late, because by 
 the shortness of the time, I shall be compelled to speak briefly, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 193 
 
 and my not having reflected upon it will excuse me, so that I 
 shall be allowed to say without blame whatever comes first to 
 my lips. In order, therefore, not to keep this obligatory burden 
 longer on my shoulders, I say that in every thing it is so diiiR- 
 cult to discover absolute perfection, that it is almost impossible; 
 and this by the diversity of opinions. So there are many who 
 like a man who talks much, and call him amusing; some are more 
 pleased with modesty; some others with a man who is active 
 and restless ; others with one who displays quiet and reflection in 
 every thing; and thus each blames and praises according to his 
 judgment, always concealing the vice under the name of the 
 approximate virtue, or the virtue under the name of the ap- 
 proximate vice: as for example, calling an arrogant man frank, 
 a modest man dry, an ignorant man good, a bad man prudent, 
 and so on. Still, I deem that every thing has its perfection, 
 although it be hidden; and this can be learned in reasonable 
 discourse from one who is acquainted with such things. And 
 because, as I have said, the truth is often hidden, and I do not 
 boast of possessing this knowledge, I can only praise that kind of 
 a courtier which I most value, and commend the one who seems 
 to me most like the true one, according to my poor judgment. 
 This one you will imitate if he seems good to you, or you will 
 hold to your own, if he is different from mine. Nor shall I 
 assert that mine is better than yours ; for not only may you think 
 one thing and I another, but I myself may think now one thing, 
 now another.' " 
 
 The discussion which follows occupies the remainder of that 
 evening and the three following ones, and cannot be adequately 
 described in any mere analysis of the work. The dialogue is 
 undoubtedly a true reproduction of the conversations at the 
 Court of Urbino, and is a masterpiece of its kind. In it all the 
 interlocutors preserve their individuality, and no one is allowed 
 to talk so long as to become tiresome. Interruptions at the 
 proper time, and lively debates on the views advanced by the 
 various speakers, prevent the discussion from degenerating into 
 pedantic lectures. Nothing but a translation of the whole work 
 could do justice to Castiglione's conception and execution of his 
 work, which is perhaps the most important and characteristic 
 work of the century in the field in which we are at present in- 
 14 
 
194 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 terested. An analysis, however, is necessary to show the social 
 ideals of the day, and will throw much light also upon the manner 
 in which they were realized in the early part of the Sixteenth 
 Century. 
 
 First, as to the Courtier's physical qualifications. He must 
 be of noble birth and good family. Besides nobility, he should 
 have by nature not only wit and good bodily form and coun- 
 tenance, but a certain grace which makes him agreeable iat first 
 sight (Book I, xiv-xvi). The Courtier's principal and true 
 profession should be arms, but he should avoid playing the 
 "bravo," or displaying ostentation and braggadocio (xviii). 
 He should be trained in bodily exercises (xx) , know how to wrestle, 
 be acquainted with the rules of honor, not enter rashly into 
 quarrels, but when he cannot withdraw honorably he should 
 display deliberation, readiness, and courage (xxi). He should 
 be acquainted with other exercises, which, while they do not de- 
 pend immediately upon arms, are suited to them and require 
 manly strength. The chase is the principal one of these. He 
 should also know how to swim, leap, run, throw stones, play 
 ball, ride skilfully. He should also cultivate more quiet and 
 peaceful exercises, and know how to laugh, jest, and dance. He 
 should avo'd affectation (xxii-xxv'iii), especially in his speech, 
 and if, for example, he is a Lombard, he should not try to talk 
 French or Spanish, or the Roman dialect. This declaration of 
 Canossa's precipitates a long discussion upon the Italian lan- 
 guage extending through ten chapters (xxix-xxxix) , on which, 
 although of considerable philological interest, we cannot dwell 
 here.'' 
 
 Canossa then passes to a consideration of the Courtier's 
 mental qualifications. He should be a good and upright man: 
 in this are comprised prudence, goodness, strength, and tem- 
 perance of mind and all the other qualifications which befit so 
 
 '' The long discussion on the Italian language which occupies chapters 
 xxix to xxxix seems to us out of place in such a work, and we are surprised 
 that Signora Emilia did not sooner interrupt the disputants. At the beginning 
 of chapter xxxix, she says: "It seems to me that the dispute is now too long 
 and tiresome, and that it would be well to postpone it to another time." It 
 should be remembered, however, that the subject was still fresh, and, owing to 
 the superior education of the day, was a matter of interest to polite society, 
 and a topic of general conversation. This is true also of France in the seven- 
 teenth century; see Bouhours, Les Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugene, Paris, 1671, 
 pp. 52-212, "La langue frangoise." Not to mention the more learned works 
 of the same author, Nouvelles remarques sur la langue fran^oise, and Suite de 
 nouvelles remarques, and the more scholarly treatises of Manage and Vaugelas. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 195 
 
 honored a name (xli). But besides goodness, the true and 
 principal ornament of the mind is letters. The Courtier should 
 be more than slightly learned, at least in those studies called the 
 humanities. He should know not only Latin, but also Greek, 
 be versed in the poets and not less so in the orators and historians, 
 and be practiced in writing verse and prose, especially in Italian 
 (xlv). This statement leads to a discussion between Canossa 
 and Bembo of the question whether arms or letters should have 
 the preeminence (xlvi)."" The Courtier should know music, 
 not merely by ear, but by note, and be able to play various in- 
 struments (xlvii). He should know how to draw, and be ac- 
 quainted with the art of painting (xlix). A dispute here arises 
 between Canossa and Giovan Cristoforo Romano in regard to 
 the superiority of painting or sculpture (1-liii), which is in- 
 terrupted by the arrival of the Prefect, the Duke's nephew and 
 successor, who had accompanied the Pope a part of the way on 
 his return to Rome. The evening's discussion then ended with 
 music and dancing, and the consideration of the practical applica- 
 tion of the qualities of the Courtier already described was post- 
 poned until the following evening, and assigned by Signora 
 Emilia to Federico Fregoso. 
 
 The company met the next evening as usual in the Duchess' 
 chamber and continued the discussion, which had been the 
 absorbing topic of conversation during the day. Signor Federico 
 first stated some general rules : the Courtier should avoid affecta- 
 
 *" The dispute as to the preeminence of arms or letters is as old as classical 
 times, and constituted a favorite "question" for debate during the sixteenth 
 century. See Cian, Cortegiano, p. 98, n. 5. I have also seen Guazzo, Dialoghi 
 piacevoK, Venice, 1586, VI, "Del Paragone dell' arme et delle Lettere," and 
 Camerata, Questione dove si tratta chi meriti piU honore il soldato, il letterato^ 
 Bologna, 1567. The memorable discourse of Don Quixote on this point (I, 
 xxxviii) will occur to the reader. 
 
 J. Bowie in his edition of Don Quixote, Salisbury, 1781, Vol. Ill, p. 122, 
 ■ cites: Discorso di Francesco Bocchi sopra la lite delle Armi et delle Lettere ^ 
 Florence, 1580; and D. Clemencin in his edition of the same work, Madrid, 
 1833, Yo\. Ill, p. 132, mentions several Spanish books on the subject. See 
 also A. Bartoli, Scenari inediti della Commedia dell' Arte, Florence, 1880, p. 
 xxvi, note 7, where are cited several instances of the debate between arms and 
 letters in the Italicin drama. We shall find in the next chapter an interesting 
 debate on the above topic in Solerti's Ferrara e la Corte Estense nella seconda 
 metd del secolo XVI., pp. 261-286. 
 
 The same subject is also treated in Due Primi Dialoghi, di M. Pompeo della 
 Barba da Pescia, Nell' una de'guali si ragiona de'Segreti della Natura; nell'altro 
 se sieno di maggior pregio I'Armi le Lettere. In Venegia, appresso Gabriel 
 Giolito de' Ferrari, 1557, 8vo. I have not seen this \\-ork and owe this reference 
 to Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, Rome, 1895, \'ol. II, p. 446. 
 
196 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 tion, should consider well what he does and says, the place, the 
 person, the time, the cause, his age, profession, end, and means 
 (Book II, vii). Some bodily exercises as jousting, etc., are 
 always performed in public; so the cavalier must be well equipped, 
 and regard the above rules (ix). Other exercises may be per- 
 formed both in public and private, as dancing; here the Courtier 
 should use discretion (xi). So with music: he should perform as 
 for pastime, and as if compelled, and not in the presence of ig- 
 norant people or of a crowd. Old courtiers should not dance or 
 make music in public (xii-xiv). The Courtier should have a 
 gentle and amiable manner in his daily intercourse. It is difficult 
 to give rules for this on account of the infinite and various things 
 which arise in society. He must use his judgment and adapt 
 himself to the different persons with whom he has to do (xvii). 
 The most important of the relations of the Courtier are those with 
 his prince ; and elaborate directions are given for winning and 
 preserving his esteem (xviii-xxiv) . In reply to a question by 
 Giuliano Medici, Fregoso describes what the dress of the Courtier 
 should be, not out of the fashion or unsuited to his profession 
 (xxvi-xxvii) . The Courtier should be careful in the choice of 
 his friends, because a man is known by the company he keeps 
 (xxix). Gasparo Pallavicino says he should like some more 
 detailed rules as to the Courtier's mode of entertaining his friends, 
 for those given seem to him too general. It is a matter of im- 
 portance, considering that most of the time is spent at courts 
 in the society of ladies and gentlemen. Federico replies that the 
 Courtier has been endowed with knowledge of so many things, 
 that he can very well vary his conversation, and accommodate 
 himself to the quality of the persons with whom he has to talk, 
 presupposing that he has good judgment, and governs himself 
 by that, and according to the times now attends to things serious, 
 now to those which are festive and to games. This leads to 
 a discussion of the games suitable for a Courtier. He may play 
 games with cards and dice; also chess, although the latter re- 
 quires too much study (xxxi). The force of preconceived opin- 
 ions and of first impressions is very great; the Courtier, there- 
 fore, needs to make his good name precede him (xxxii-xxxv) . 
 The Courtier should take care then to give a good impression 
 of himself, and should especially avoid the danger into which 
 those who wish to be very amusing are apt to fall. Such per- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 197 
 
 sons acquire a certain liberty to say and do what they please 
 without reflection. Often they become involved in things from 
 which they can extricate themselves only by raising a laugh. 
 Sometimes in the presence of honored ladies they use foul and 
 indecent words, and the more they see them blush, the more they 
 deem themselves good courtiers. Often they run against each 
 other on the stairs, throw wood and bricks at each other's backs, 
 throw dust into each other's eyes, make horses fall into ditches 
 and pits; and at table throw soup and sauces into each other's 
 faces. There are some even who vie with each other in eating 
 and drinking the most loathsome and disgusting things (xxxvi). 
 In conclusion, the Courtier should know perfectly what has been 
 said to be suitable to him, so that every thing possible should 
 be easy to him, and even,- one should wonder at him, and he at 
 no one. He should, however, not be proud, but should praise 
 the good deeds of others. If he excels in anything he should 
 know how to avail himself of it, and do himself honor in it; but 
 if he is mediocre in anything, he should touch it lightly, so that 
 it may be believed that he knows more about it than he shows. 
 In those things in which he is entirely ignorant, he should not 
 seek to acquire fame, but frankly confess that he does not know 
 them (xxxviii) . The safest thing in the way of living and associ- 
 ating with others is to govern oneself always with a certain seemly 
 mediocrity, which is the firmest shield against envy. He should 
 be careful to a^'oid the reputation of falsehood and vanity, and, 
 finally, he should never lack good words suited to those with 
 whom he is talking, and know how with a certain gentleness to 
 amuse the minds of his hearers, and lead them to smile and 
 laugh by pleasing and facetious words, so that, without tiring, 
 he may continually afford delight (xxxix-xli). 
 
 The remainder of this book is taken up with an elaborate 
 discussion of the part played by facetiae in the Courtier's life." 
 This subject is assigned by Signora Emilia to Messer Bernardo 
 Bibiena, who follows closely, in the first part of his discussion, 
 Cicero's treatise mentioned above. It is impossible to give any 
 
 ^ It has already been said that in the part of his work relating to the use of 
 facetiae, Castiglione follows very closely Cicero's De Oratore. This long ex- 
 cursus is more in place than that on the Italian language in the first book. 
 The sixteenth century was especially fond oi facetiae, which were used to season 
 conversation. The same was true of France in the following centurj-; see 
 Callieres, Des bans mots et des bans conies, Paris, 1699. 
 
198 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 idea of this pkrt of the work in an analysis. It is very valuable 
 as showing the taste of the day, but does not convey a very high 
 idea of the wit most praised at this period. 
 
 The discussion of facetiae ended in a dispute in regard to the 
 tricks played by women on their husbands. This gave occasion 
 to Signor Caspar Pallavicino to attack woman in general, and to 
 Giuliano to defend them. Signora Emilia decided that before 
 debating the question whether women are as virtuous as men, a 
 Lady of the Palace should be formed with all the perfections which 
 had been attributed to the perfect Courtier. ^^^ This task she 
 assigns to Giuliano Medici for the following evening. The 
 company then broke up to meet as usual the next night and 
 resume the discussion. 
 
 At the beginning of the conversation, Messer Casparo said 
 that the same rules which had been given for the Courtier would 
 
 ^'^ The qualities of a Lady of the Palace form the subject of a treatise by 
 Lodovico Domenichi: La Donna di Cork. Discorso di Lodovico Domenichi, 
 Nel quale si ragiona dell' affabilitd, et honesta creanza da doversi usare per Gen- 
 tildonna d'Honore. Al S. Domenico Ragnina, Gentilhuomo Ragugeo. In 
 Lucca per il Busdrago, 1564, Ad istanza di Bernardin Fagiani, sm. 4to. ff. 23. 
 Domenichi begins by saying that some thinlc that the same qualities which are 
 suitable for a courtier should be required of the Lady of the Palace. This is 
 a mistake, for buffoonery, jesting, and idle talk to cause laughter, which are 
 proper for courtiers, are not fit for ladies. The two principal virtues suited to 
 ladies and by which they make themselves amiable and pleasing are: modesty, 
 which is accompanied by temperance, continence, abstinence, sobriety, and 
 reserve; and simplicity, which has in its train silence, truth, and sincerity. 
 How ladies can make themselves affable to private gentlemen and also to 
 princeSj is shown by a series of witty replies by ladies to gentlemen who sued 
 for their affections. Conversations on the subject of love are , dangerous be- 
 tween courtiers and maids of honor, but may be tolerated with old men. It 
 is clear,, the author says, that such conversations between courtiers and ladies 
 of the court should be blamed and banished from the courts of good princes; 
 but as they are permitted and princes themselves foster and desire them, it 
 remains to be seen how far they are to be permitted and how they can be seemly 
 and virtuous. All turns on the two questions: whether courtiers and maids 
 of honor can love each other without unseemly desire, and whether the sensual 
 appetite is always to be blamed. After a discussion of these topics, Domenichi 
 returns to the question already discussed: whether Ladies of the Court can in- 
 dulge in talk of love. In France this is permitted and ladies are allowed even 
 to kiss both old and young men. Domenichi is willing to allow such conver- 
 sations with virtuous old men. Whether they should be permitted with the 
 young is a different question. The remainder of the work is filled with a mul- 
 titude of anecdotes of virtuous replies to suitors, and a letter which Domenichi 
 says he received from a gentleman on the subject of affability and social inter- 
 course. This letter is replete with anecdotes and concludes with an account 
 of theorigin of Love according to the Platonic philosophy. A lengthy ex- 
 planation is given on f. 21 ver. of why Cupid is represented young, blind, 
 winged, etc. Domenichi does not mention Castiglione in his work, which is 
 a very inferior production. See Heroet's La Parfaicte Atnye in Chapter IX of 
 the present work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 199 
 
 do for the Lady of the Palace. This statement is denied by 
 Giuliano Medici, who says that although some qualities are 
 common and as necessary to a man as to a woman, still there 
 are others more suitable to a woman than to a man, and some 
 befitting a man which are quite foreign to a woman. The same 
 is true of the exercises of the body; above all, a woman should 
 be entirely different from a man in her words, gestures, bearing, 
 and manners. A man should show a certain firm virility; a 
 woman, a delicate softness and womanly sweetness in all her 
 movements, so that in her going and staying and speaking she 
 should always appear a woman and never a man. Bearing this 
 in mind, many of the rules that have been given for the Courtier 
 are suitable for the Lady of the Palace. She should avoid 
 affectation, be noble, endowed by nature with grace in all her 
 actions, of good manners, frank, prudent, not proud, not en- 
 vious, not slanderous, not vain, not quarrelsome, not silly, 
 knowing how to win and preserve the favor of her mistress, and 
 all others, and performing well and gracefully all the exercises 
 befitting women. She needs beauty more than the Courtier, 
 for in truth, a woman lacks much who lacks beauty.*^ She must 
 also be more circumspect, and careful not to give occasion for 
 ill to be spoken of her, and to act so that not only she may not 
 be at fault, but not even suspected of it (Bk. iii, iv) . Leaving then 
 the qualities in common with the Courtier, as prudence, mag- 
 nanimity, continence, and many others; and especially those 
 qualities which are becoming to all women, as being good and 
 discreet, knowing how to manage her husband's property, and 
 her house and children when she is married, and all that a good 
 mother of a family should possess; she should, above all things, 
 have a certain pleasing affability, by which she can entertain all 
 kinds of men with pleasing and seemly conversation, suited to 
 the time and pldce and rank of the persons with whom she is 
 speaking, all her actions being accompanied by quiet and modest 
 manners, aiid that seemliness which must always compose all 
 her actions. In addition to this, she must have a ready wit, 
 free from all grossness, but with such a sort of goodness that she 
 make herself esteemed not less modest, prudent, and kind than 
 
 «2 Castiglione does not discuss the subject of woman's beauty, partly be- 
 cause it did not enter into his plan, and partly because the ideal of the age was 
 well blown. There is a very interesting and voluminous literature upon this 
 topic, which is mentioned in note 6 to Chapter HI. 
 
200 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 pleasing, witty, and discreet. To do this, she must observe a 
 certain difficult mediocrity, composed, as it were, of things 
 contrary, and reach exactly certain bounds, but not overstep 
 them. Rules then follow for her behavior in company when the 
 conversation is somewhat free. She should not withdraw, for* 
 it might be suspected that she was assuming a strictness which 
 was not real. On the other hand, she should not display a 
 certain freedom herself or use unseemly words to make herself 
 seem pleasing; but when she is present at such conversations, 
 she should listen with a little blushing and shame. She should 
 not listen willingly when ill is spoken of other women. A good 
 and virtuous woman is revered even by bold and bad men; and 
 a word, a smile, an act of kindness, no matter how small it be, 
 from a virtuous woman is more prized than all the demonstra- 
 tions and caresses of those women, who without reserve show 
 little shame, and if they are not immodest, seem to be so by their 
 dissolute laughter, their loquacity, insolence, and such scurrilous 
 manners (v). 
 
 The following chapter (vi) contains a brief account of what 
 the conversation of the Lady of the Palace should be. Because 
 words which do not contain some subject of importance are 
 vain and puerile, the Lady of the Palace, beyond judgment in 
 discerning the quality of the one with whom she is speaking, in 
 order to entertain him affably, should know many things. She 
 should know how to choose things which are suitable to the 
 rank of the one with whom she is speaking, and she should be 
 careful not to utter involuntarily words to offend him. She 
 should take care not to be tiresome in praising herself indis- 
 creetly or at too great length. She should not mingle serious 
 things in a pleasing and amusing discourse, nor jests and jokes in 
 a serious one. She should not pretend to know what she does 
 not, but should modestly seek to do herself honor by what she 
 knows, avoiding, as has been said, affectation in all things. 
 
 As to bodily exercises, she should practise only those which 
 are suitable to her sex, and evten those she should perform care- 
 fully and delicately. So with dancing, and singing and playing, 
 her gestures should not be too bold and strong; and there are 
 certain musical instruments which it would not be suitable for 
 her to use. She should not be too ready to perform, but should 
 make herself urged somewhat, and display a certain timidity 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 201 
 
 which reveals that noble shame which is the opposite of impu- 
 dence. Her dress should also be suited to this intention, and of 
 such a sort that she should not seem vain and light-minded. 
 But because a woman can and should care more for her beauty 
 than a man, she should have the judgment to know what gar- 
 ments increase her grace, and are most suitable to the exercises 
 which she intends to perform at that moment and make use of 
 those which are in harmony with her peculiar style of beauty 
 (viii)."^' She should further be acquainted with those things 
 which these gentlemen wish a Courtier to know; and of those 
 exercises which are not suitable to her she should have that 
 judgment which persons can have of things which they do not 
 perform ; and this in order to be able to praise cavaliers more or 
 less, according to their merits. She should be acquainted with 
 letters, music, painting, dancing, and merry-making (ix). 
 
 Then follows a long discussion on the relative dignity and 
 perfection of man and woman, which, with the examples cited, 
 fills chapters x-xxxvi."'' This leads to further debate of the 
 
 *' Castiglione does not dwell at any length on the subject of woman's dress 
 or on the secrets of the toilette, which are discussed very fully in many works 
 of this century. The best general view of the topic is to be found in a series 
 of articles by Luzio and Renier in the Nuova Antologia, Vols. 147 and 148, "II 
 lusso di Isabella d'Este, Marchesa di Mantova," in which are discussed in 
 detail her wardrobe, toilette, and furniture. A collection of toilette receipts 
 may be found in Recettario galante del principio del secolo XVI., edito per cura 
 di Olirido Guerrini, Bologna, 1883 {Scelta di curiositd letterarie, CXCV). The 
 mos;t extensive collection of the kind to be found anywhere was published by 
 Pier Desiderio Pasplini in the third volume of his Caterina Sforza, Rome, 1893, 
 Documenti, pp. 601—793, "Gli Experimenti di Caterina Sforza." The beauti- 
 ful blonde hair of this period, so much admired in the paintings of the Venetian 
 School, was produced artificially, and elaborate directions for it are given in 
 the collection's above mentioned. The excessive use of perfumes and cos- 
 metics is blamed in many writers of this time ; see Federigo Luigini, II Libra 
 delta Bella Donna, Milan, 1863 {Bihlioteca Kara pubblicata da G. Daelli, Vol. 
 XXIII), pp. 48-77, where there is a long digression on the subject. Some 
 further details may also be found in J. Houdoy, La beaute des femmes dans la 
 litterature et dans I'art du Xlle au XVIe siecle, Paris, 1876, and in Burck- 
 hardt, Die Cultur der Renaissance in Italien, ed. cit., II, pp. ill et seq. 
 
 " The question of the relative merits of man and woman is as old as antiq- 
 uity, and has been discussed ever since. There is an extensive literature on 
 this subject, which our space will not permit us to treat at length. For the 
 bibliography of the subject see Giornale storico delta Letteratura Italiana, Vol. 
 XXVII, pp. 272-390, "La CoUezione Giordani della Biblioteca Comunale di 
 Bologna." To the works in this collection may be added: Girolamo Ruscelli, 
 Che la Donna sia di gran lungo piU nobile e piil degna dell'Huomo, 1552; Moder- 
 ota Fonte, Meriti delle Donne; and, Lucrezia Marinella,_io Nobilti e t'Excel- 
 lenza delle Donne, con Difetti e Mancamenti degli Huomini, Venice, 1601. The 
 last three are cited by W. Knorich in his excellent edition of Moliere's Les 
 Precieuses Ridicules, Leipzig, 1890. Additional material may also be found in 
 the recent work by R. De Maulde La Claviere, Les Femmes de la Renaissance, 
 
202 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 question already discussed, whether women are more continent 
 than men, and the greater dangers to which woman's virtue is 
 exposed (xxxvii-xHx). This part of the book ends with fresh 
 praises of woman and additional examples of female excellence 
 and beneficent virtue (li-lii). 
 
 The remainder of the book (liii-lxxvii) is devoted to an elab- 
 orate examination of the relation of the Lady of the Palace to 
 lovemaking, and while much of the discourse is nothing but an 
 adaptation of Ovid's Ars amandi to modern conditions, still 
 there is much that is very characteristic of Italian society in 
 the sixteenth century. The introduction (liii) is especially 
 important as showing the purely conventional nature of much 
 of the gallantry of the day. Federico Fregoso asks Giuliano 
 Medici how the Lady of the Palace should behave in regard to 
 one important matter; for, "although the excellent qualities 
 attributed to her by you include wit, learning, judgment, skill, 
 
 Paris, 1898, and in a series of articles by Vitt. Amedeo Arullani in La Biblioteca 
 delle Scuole Ilaliane, Vol. II, 1890, Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12: "La Donna nella 
 poesia del Cinquecento; La Donna nella prosa del Cinquecento; and La 
 Donna in alcune scritture special! del Cinquecento." Of the large number of 
 independent works and dialogues or essays on this subject I can mention only 
 a few which I have examined. Of the first class is an anonymous work. La 
 defensione delle donne, Bologna, 1876 (Scella di curiositd, letterarie, CXLVIII). 
 As its title indicates it is a defense of Woman against certain calumnies, with 
 examples of women excellent in letters, prophecy, in the state and arms, in 
 painting and sculpture, in invention, in chastity and martyrdom, in modesty, 
 love and faith, etc. The illustrations are largely taken from ancient history 
 and the Scriptures, and throw little light on modern times. Of the dialogues 
 the most important are: Delia digniti delle donne, and In lode delle donne by 
 Speroni in Opere, Venice, 1740, Vols. I and II. There is also an extensive lit- 
 erature in regard to Woman's education, thus anticipating the question of the 
 "Femmes savantes" by over a century. The most curious work of this class 
 is the famous La Raffaella omero della bella creanza delle donne by Alessandro 
 Piccolomini, of which I have used the reprint in Daelli's Biblioteca Kara, 
 Milan, 1862, Vol. I. The book is an elaborate account of the education deemed 
 necessary for a.femnte galante, although many of the precepts, of course, may 
 apply to the virtuous woman. More serious in its nature is Lodovico Dolce's 
 Institution delle donne, Venice, 1545. Another example of the dispute in re- 
 gard to the relative merits of man and woman may be found in Chapter V, 
 p. 235. An interesting illustration of the vogue of the question of the relative 
 merits of men and women is to be found in a work issued in 1904-5 by the 
 Roxburghe Club; The Nobility of Women. By William Bercher, 1559. For 
 the curious history of the manuscript of this book see Times Literary Supple- 
 ment, July 22, 1904, p. 231, and January 20, 1905, p. 17. A brief analysis of 
 the work is given in The Athenmum, October 8, 1904. Bercher (whose name 
 was really Barker) based his work on Ludovico Domenichi's La Nobiltd, delle 
 Donne, of which I have used the edition of Venice, 1551, printed by Gabriel 
 Giolito di Ferrarrii e Fratelli. Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, No. 394, pp. 479-82, 
 mentions two of the sources of Domenichi: Cornelius Agrippa's Declamation 
 on the Nobility of Women, translated several times into English ; and Capella's 
 Della Eccelenza el Dignith. delle Donne, apparently not translated into English. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 203 
 
 modesty, and so many other virtues, by means of which she 
 should reasonably know how to entertain all kinds of persons on 
 all kinds of subjects, I think that more than any other thing 
 she should know what pertains to love-making; because, as every 
 gentle cavalier uses as a means of acquiring the favor of ladies 
 those noble exercises, elegance of dress, and fine manners, which 
 have been mentioned, for this purpose likewise he employs words ; 
 and not only when he is constrained b}' passion, but often also 
 to do honor to the lady to whom he is speaking; it seeming to 
 him that to pretend to love her is proof that she is worthy of it, 
 and that her beauty and merits are so great that they compel 
 every one to serve her. Therefore I should like to know how this 
 lady should converse discreetly on this topic, and how she should 
 answer one who loves her truly, and how the one who makes a 
 false show of it, and whether she should feign that she does not 
 understand, or correspond to his love, or refuse him, and how she 
 should behave." 
 
 It is impossible to give a full analysis of the discussion which 
 follows; it is important to note, however, that Giuliano Medici 
 maintains (Ivi) that one should love only the unmarried. The 
 manner of obtaining and preserving the love of woman, the 
 effects of this love and its demonstrations are described, as well 
 as the secrecy which should be observed in love (Ix-lxxiii) . Sig- 
 ner Gasparo Pallavicino as usual accuses women of revealing 
 the love made to them out of vanity and cruelty (Ixxiv-lxxv) , 
 and is answered by Ottaviano Fregoso, who judges that in the 
 preceding contest Pallavicino has slandered ladies more than 
 was right, and that Giuliano Medici and Caesar Gonzaga had 
 praised them too highly; besides, the length of the discussion had 
 caused the company to lose sight of the principal topic, which 
 was the Courtier. Ottaviano is then charged with discussing the 
 other qualities, which, according to him, will render the Courtier 
 more perfect. Thereupon the company broke up to meet as 
 usual the next evening. 
 
 The fourth book need not detain us long. Its importance from 
 a social standpoint is not as great as that of the others. It may 
 be divided into two parts : the first (iii-xlviii) treats of the Courtier 
 in his moral relations to his prince; the second (xlix-lxxiii) 
 discusses the questions whether the Courtier should love; the 
 danger of sensual love, greater in the young than in the old, 
 
204 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 who may also love, but in a manner more rational and in con- 
 formity with their age ; true beauty ; how the Courtier not young 
 should love; and how much happier reasonable love is than 
 sensual. Then follows the discourse on Platonic love referred 
 to in Chapter III. Bembo is made judge of the question whether 
 women are capable like men of divine love, and the discussion as 
 usual is postponed to the following evening. One of the com- 
 pany calls attention to the fact that the day is already breaking ; 
 the windows are thrown open and the rising sun is seen tinging 
 with rose the summit of Monte Catria. The stars have all 
 disappeared except Venus, the sweet ruler of the sky, who occupies 
 the boundaries between the night and day, from whom it seemed 
 that a sweet breath were blowing, which, filling the air with a 
 sharp coolness, began to awaken sweet notes of birds among the 
 murmuring woods of the neighboring hills. With this lovely 
 picture the book closes, with the vague promise of the continua- 
 tion of the conversation another evening. That evening, alas, 
 never came. The good Duke died soon after the supposed date 
 of the book, and the members of his brilliant court were scat- 
 tered throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. We cannot 
 follow further here the fate of the duchy of Urbino, or of Cas- 
 tiglione himself; but the Courtier is an imperishable monument to 
 both, and will be read with delight as long as Polite Society shall 
 be a matter of interest and cultivation.^^ 
 
 ^* Guidobaldo was succeeded by his adopted son Francesco Maria della 
 Rovere, nephew of Pope Julius II. We cannot follow Castigliohe through the 
 complicated events of the next few years. The young Duke was created gen- 
 eral of the papal army and took part in the war resulting from the League of 
 Cambray. He enlarged his domain by the annexation of the city of Pesaro, 
 and bestowed on Castiglione a castle in the new territory with the title of 
 count (the deed of investiture is given by Martinati, p. 24). 
 
 _ Julius II died February 21, 1513, and was succeeded by Giovanni de' Med- 
 ici, under the title of Leo X. The Duke of Urbino had thrown his influence in 
 favor of the election of Giovanni, and the new Pope had confirmed him as 
 Captain-General of the Church and reinvested him with the duchy. Above 
 all, the Pope was under every obligation of gratitude for the kindness shown to 
 his family when in exile by the last duke of Urbino. Nevertheless the Pope 
 was only waiting for a pretext to ruin him and seize upon his duchy for his 
 own nephew Lorenzo. Before this happened, however, an important event 
 in the life of Castiglione had taken place. After several matches had been 
 proposed and fallen through, Castiglione married in 1516, Ippolita, daughter 
 of Count Guido Torello di Montechiarugolo. This marriage was a singularly 
 happy one and was terminated in an untimely manner by the sudden death 
 of the Countess on the 25th of August, 1520. 
 
 The same year that saw Castiglione married saw his lord expelled from his 
 state. He made an attempt the following year to recover it, but was compelled 
 to abandon his undertaking and retire to Mantua. What part Castiglione 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 205 
 
 The history of the influence of the Cortegiano on the various 
 countries of Europe remains to be written. Sir Walter Raleigh 
 in his introduction to the recent reprint of Sir Thomas Hoby's 
 translation has collected some valuable materials for the in- 
 fluence of the Cortegiano in England. The readers of Boswell's 
 Johnson know how high an opinion Dr. Johnson had of the book. 
 " 'I observed,' says Boswell, 'that, at some courts in Germany, 
 there were academies for the pages, who are the sons of gentle- 
 men, and receive their education without any expense to their 
 parents.' Dr. Johnson said, that manners were best learned at 
 those courts : ' You are admitted with great facility to the prince's 
 company, and yet must treat him with much respect. At a 
 great court, you are at such a distance that you get no good.' 
 
 took in this enterprise is not known. Serassi (p. xxviii, ed. Rigutini) says that 
 in 1517 at the feast of the Ascension he took to Venice his wife and sisters, who 
 were received with great honor. From there he returned to Mantua, where 
 he completed, his immortal work. The subsequent history of Castiglione must 
 detain us but a moment. At the fall of the Duke of Urbino, Castiglione entered 
 the service of the .Marquis of Mantua and was sent as ambassador extraordin- 
 ary to the Pope and was able to assist his former master, the Duke of Urbino, 
 to recover his state. When Giulio de' Medici was elected Pope in 1523 under 
 the title of Clement VH, Castiglione was asked by him to accept the position 
 of papal nuncio at the court of Charles V of Spain. The Duke of Mantua 
 signified his consent and Castiglione started on a mission which was to shorten 
 his days and bring an honorable and useful life to an unhappy end. The 
 sack of Rome by the Imperial army in 1527 and the imprisonment of the Pope 
 in the castle of St. Angelo was a heavy blow to Castiglione, who had been kept 
 in the dark as to the Emperor's plans, and was unable to warn his master. He 
 excused himself to the Pope in a dignified and manly letter, saying, among other 
 things, "that it was not surprising that he had confided in the words uttered 
 by the Emperor's own mouth, repeated to him many times and more forcibly 
 than can be written." 
 
 The Emperor endeavored to soften the effect of his duplicity by offering 
 to Castiglione one of the most important bishoprics in Spain, that of Avila. 
 It is not known with certainty whether Castiglione accepted the offer or not. 
 His health had not been good since his arrival in Spain, and his bodily troubles 
 were doubtless augmented by his grief at the deception practised upon him 
 by the Emperor. He grew worse while at Toledo at the beginning of 1529, 
 and died there on the 7th of February. His body was brought to Mantua and 
 was interred in a chapel of the neighboring church called La Madonna delle 
 Grazie. 
 
 After the restoration of Francesco Maria della Rovere to his duchy in 152 1, 
 the history of the state of Urbino is uneventful, and its importance as a social 
 centre was greatly diminished. The dukes still continued to patronize arts 
 and letters, but the declining condition of Italy under her foreign invaders 
 was not favorable to either. Francesco Maria died in 1538, and was the last 
 of the dukes of Urbino to occupy a commanding position in Italy. He was 
 succeeded by his son Guidobaldo, who reigned until his death in 1574, and was 
 followed by his son, the second Francesco Maria, the last Duke of Urbino. On 
 his death in 1631, without heirs, his duchy was incorporated with the Ecclesi- 
 astical States. The famous library was carried to Rome, where it is now one 
 of the most important parts of the Vatican library; and the palace is now the 
 government residence and the depository of the archives. 
 
206 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 I said, 'Very true: a man sees the court of Versailles, as if he 
 saw it on a theatre.' He said, 'The best book that ever was 
 written upon good breeding, II Corteggiano, by Castiglione, grew 
 up at the little court of Urbino, and you should read it.' " (Bos- 
 well's Life of Johnson, edited by George Birkbeck Hill, Oxford, 
 1887, Vol. V, p. 276.) In a passage in his Works, Vol. VH, p. 
 428, he says: "To teach the minuter decencies and inferiour 
 duties, to regulate the practice of daily conversation, to correct 
 those depravities which are rather ridiculous than criminal, and 
 remove those grievances which, if they produce no lasting calami- 
 ties, impress hourly vexation, was first attempted by Casa in 
 his book of Manners, and Castiglione in his Courtier; two books 
 yet celebrated in Italy for purity and elegance." 
 
 It is impossible to mention here the multitude of works which 
 were called into existence by the Courtier; some dealing with 
 society in general will be examined in Chapter VII; the best 
 known of the others are: Augustine Nifo's Latin treatise De re 
 aulica, Naples, 1534, 4to; Sessa, II Cortegiano, Genoa, 1560, 
 8vo; '^^'i Timotei, II Cortegiano, Rome, 1614, 4to; Del Governo 
 delta arte di un Signore in Roma, Rome, 8vo; Dialogo del gentil- 
 huomo Veneziano, Venice, 1566, i2mo; B. Pino, Del Galantuomo, 
 s.l. et a., 8vo; and G. B. Giraldi, Discorso intorno a guello che si 
 conviene a un giovine nobile, Pavia, 1569. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that Tasso, who has been mentioned 
 so often in the last chapter, has left an elaborate dialogue on the 
 subject of Court Life. It is entitled: II Malpiglio vera de la 
 Carte {I Dialoghi di Torquato Tasso a cura di Cesare Guasti, 
 Florence, 1859, Vol. Ill, pp. 3-21), written in the Hospital of 
 St. Anne in 1583. The dialogue takes its name from Vincenzo 
 Malpiglio, a gentleman of Lucca, who had resided for many years 
 at Ferrara. The scene is laid in his house, and the interlocutors 
 are Malpiglio, his son Giovanlorenzo, and Tasso under his usual 
 disguise of "Neapolitan Stranger." Young Malpiglio desires 
 to hear Tasso discourse of courts, for although he knows the 
 Cortegiano almost by heart, he wishes to hear something new, 
 because he has heard that courts change with the times. Tasso 
 complies with his desire and discourses of the way to obtain the 
 favor of the prince and avoid the envy and ill-will of the cour- 
 tiers. Among the means of acquiring the prince's favor Tasso 
 mentions proficiency in bodily exercises, valor, virtuous habits, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 207 
 
 and intellect. These qualities are, however, the very ones which 
 arouse envy, and so Tasso seeks to show how this may be avoided. 
 At the conclusion of the Dialogue, young Malpiglio says he will 
 remember what has been said since he is too young yet for a 
 courtier. His father remarks that his son must now apply 
 himself more to study than to the court, and Tasso ends by saying 
 that he should first gain knowledge and then use it in a way 
 proper for a courtier, "in whom excellence of letters is not so 
 much needed as prudence and cleverness in knowing how to show 
 his learning at the right time; one without the other appears 
 imperfect." 
 
 In 1585, while still in the Hospital of St. Anne, Tasso composed 
 another dialogue {ed. cit., HI, pp. 1 19-129) entitled II Beltramo 
 vero de la Cortesia, which takes its name from the abbot Bel- 
 tramo. The speakers are the Abbot, Count Tassone, a Cap- 
 tain P. M., and Tasso as "Neapolitan Stranger." This dialogue 
 concerns court life only so far as courtesy is involved, which is 
 not "to be deemed a particular virtue, but all virtue, in which 
 liberality is contained as a part." Courtesy, like justice',,, is 
 a virtue no less for a prince than a courtier, and it is shown, <n 
 conclusion, that even in the particular kinds of justice, courtesy 
 is found. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Society in the South of Italy — The Spaniards in Sicily and Naples — The 
 Question de Amor — Society at the Court of Ferrara — Romei's Discorsi — Life 
 of Matteo Bandello — ^Analysis of the prefaces to Bandello's Novelle — Para- 
 bosco's 7 Diporli — Other Novelle containing " Questions." 
 
 No other court in Italy can boast of any work equaling in 
 interest and merit Castiglione's Cortegiano. We shall study 
 later in this chapter an inferior imitation of Castiglione's im- 
 mortal work and see how society as well as its representation in 
 literature had changed towards the end of the century, a change 
 due largely to the predominance of the French and especially 
 of the Spanish dominion in Italy. The Spaniards obtained a 
 foothold in Italy in 1442, when Alfonso V, King of Aragon and 
 Sicily, captured Naples. Sicily had become a Spanish state in 
 consequence of the Sicilian Vespers, and Queen Joanna II of 
 Naples, being childless, adopted Alfonso V as her successor. She 
 later revoked this disposition in favor of Louis III of Anjou. 
 War followed between the French and Spanish parties and, as 
 has been said, Alfonso V captured Naples and died in 1458 King 
 of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily. The French claim was revived in 
 1494 and led to the fatal expedition of Charles VIII into Italy. 
 After various vicissitudes which cannot be related here, Ferdi- 
 nand of Aragon finally united Naples and Sicily to the Spanish 
 monarchy, a union which lasted for two centuries. 
 
 The Spanish rule in the North of Italy was the consequence 
 
 of the rivalry between Francis I and the Emperor Charles V, 
 
 which grew out of the French claim to the duchy of Milan. The 
 
 battle of Pavia in 1525 established the dominion of Spain, 
 
 which lasted for nearly two centuries. Thus throughout the 
 
 sixteenth century the north and the south of Italy were in the 
 
 hands of the Spaniards and their influence was deeply felt at 
 
 many of the Italian courts.^ We are now concerned with the 
 
 earlier part of the century, which produced a characteristic 
 
 Spanish work, which was not without its influence on Italian 
 
 ^ See Dennistoun's Memoirs 0/ the Dukes of Urhino, Vol. Ill, pp. 240-243. 
 One of the princes of Urbino, afterwards Duke Francesco Maria II, spent 
 nearly three years (1565-8) at the court of Philip II. 
 
 208 
 
ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS ■ 209 
 
 society and literature, and which itself displays the influence of 
 the country in which it was written. 
 
 The work in question is the anonymous Question de Amor, 
 which is often printed with the Cdrcel de Amor by Diego de San 
 Pedro and has been attributed incorrectly to that author.^ The 
 edition I have used, Venice, 1553, is dedicated by the printer, 
 Alonso de Ulloa, to the Licenciate Duarte Gomez. In the 
 prologue it is said that the writer has concealed his name "in 
 order that those who with sharper wits may wish to amend any- 
 thing in it can do so the more readily and enjoy the author's 
 share of glory." The Argument declares that the author has 
 concealed his name for the reason given above and also that 
 detractors may the sooner satisfy their evil tongues, not knowing 
 whom to attack. For the same reason he has changed the names 
 of the knights and ladies introduced in the work, as well as the 
 titles, cities, etc., mentioned in it. The initial letters of the 
 false names are, however, those of the true ones, and by these 
 and the colors of their dresses the ladies and their suitors may 
 easily be recognized. These false names may make the work 
 seem suspicious, but all the ladies and gentlemen introduced in 
 it were present at the time in Naples, where the book was com- 
 posed, and each gentleman in fact served the la,dy mentioned in 
 it. The author, it is true, has mingled some fiction with the 
 truth in order to impart more grace to his work.^" 
 
 2 For the Question de Amor, see Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, 
 Boston, 1872, Vol. I, pp. 449-51. The printer, Alonso de Ulloa, was a Span- 
 iard who settled in Venice, where he printed many Spanish books. A modern 
 reprint of the Question de Amor may be found in Menendez y Pelayo's Ori- 
 genes de la Novela, vol. II, p. 41-99. A full account of the work on the question 
 is in the first volume of the Origenes de la Novela, m. cccxxvi. — 
 
 Bongi, Annali, Vol. II, p. 475, says; "Un'ampia illustrazione della Question 
 de Amor comparve nelV A rchivio Storico per le provincie Napoletane, an. 1894, 
 pp. 140-163, per opera di Benedetto Croce, intitolata Napoli dal 1508 al 1512 
 da un antico romanzo spagnuolo. Egli spiega anche i nomi dei personaggi 
 storici che vi figurano. Belisena e p. e. Bona Sforza poi Regina di Polonia 
 ... El medesimo Croce nell'altro suo scritto La Corte_ delle tristi regine 
 a Napoli, Napoli, 1894, p. 24, ragionando della poesia intitolata Dechado de 
 Amor hechd por Juan Vasquez suppone con buon fondamento che autore 
 della Questi6n sia lo stesso Vasquez, intorno al quale raccolse alcune notizie, 
 che rimasero ignote al suddetto Croce, Domenico Tordi in un Supplemento 
 da lui pubblicato in appendice al Carteggio di Vittoria Colonna raccolto da 
 E. Ferrero e G. Muller. Torino, Loescher, 2a ediz." . 
 
 ^o Croce in the article cited by Bongi identifies the disguised names in the 
 Question de Amor as follows: Places: Todomir = Toledo? Ciracunda = Sara- 
 gozza; Valdeana = Valenza? Felernisa = Palermo? Noplesano = Napoli; 
 \'irgiliano = ? As to persons, Croce says: "E non senza curiosity i lettori 
 sentiranno che I'argomento principale del libro e I'amore cavalleresco di un 
 15 
 
210 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The plot of the story is as follows. At the time when King 
 Charles VIII of France entered Italy and won the kingdom of 
 Naples (1495), a Spanish gentleman named Vasquiran, a native 
 of the city of Todomir, visiting the court of the Most Serene and 
 Catholic King Don Fernando, which at that time was at Cira- 
 cundo, fell violently in love with a lady of that city called Violina. 
 His love was returned, but her parents would not consent to the 
 match, and Vasquiran was compelled to abduct his lady love one 
 night at the great risk of their lives and honor. They fled to the 
 city of Valdeana, where Vasquiran had a sum of money which 
 would enable him to live according to his rank, and then embarked 
 for Italy. They landed at Felernisa, where Vasquiran purchased 
 an estate. Here they lived contentedly and happily for some 
 time and Vasquiran often saw a great friend and fellow towns- 
 man of his, Flamiano, who was then living in Noplesano, an 
 Italian city where also dwelt many Spanish and other foreign 
 gentlemen, who saw each other when they could, and when they 
 were separated they never failed to correspond by letter. 
 
 Now it happened that the Duchess of Meliano, a very noble 
 widow, came to live for some time at Noplesano, with her daugh- 
 ter Belisena, a lady of perfect virtue and beauty. Flamiano fell 
 desperately and hopelessly in love with Belisena. Unable to 
 assuage his grief by his own resources he determined to seek con- 
 solation in his friend Vasquiran. He was on the point of in- 
 forming him of his sorrow, when he learned that Vasquiran had 
 just lost his wife. Flamiano grieved for his friend so that he 
 almost lost his mind, and after many varying thoughts as to 
 what he should do, he resolved to dispatch to Vasquiran his 
 servant Felisel to condole with him and to explain his master's 
 inability to visit him in person. 
 
 gentiluomo spagnuolo per Bona Sforza, la giovenetta figliuola dTsabella d'Ar- 
 agona. Perche Bona Sforza, e non altra e la Belisena del romanzo . . . 
 Chi non riconosce tutti questi personaggi sotto i psfeudonirai abbastanza 
 trasparenti, coi quali prendono parte alle giostre e alle cacce? II Conte Dave- 
 stino e il Conte d'Avellino; il Priore di Mariana e il Priore di Messina; il Duca 
 di Belisa e il Duca di Bisceglie; il Conte de Poncia e il Conte di Potenza; il 
 Signor Fabricano e Fabrizio Colonna, Atineo de Levesin e Antonio de Leyva; 
 il Cardinal de Brujas e il Cardinal Borgia, Alar/Cos de Reyner e il Capitano 
 Alarcon; Pomarin e il Capitano Pomar; Alvalader de Caronis, Juan de Alva- 
 rado, Ed, egualmente, la Duchessa de Francoviso e quella di Francavilla; 
 la Principessa de Saladino quella di Salerno; la Contessa di Traviso, quella 
 di Trivento; etc. La Principessa de Salusana, che appare frequentemente 
 nella prima parte del romanzo e probabilmente la Principessa Sanseverino di 
 Bisignano." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 211 
 
 Felisel arrived safely in a few days at Felemisa, and when he 
 met Vasquiran he pronounced a long harangue intended to con- 
 sole the unhappy man, who replied more briefly and gave him a 
 short letter to deliver to Flamiano. Felisel on his return found 
 his master so engrossed in preparations for a joust in which he 
 was to take part that he asked him to defer the report of his 
 journey and interview with Vasquiran until the morrow. Mean- 
 while he showed Felisel his preparations for the joust, and 
 informed him that he had seen his beloved Belisena at a wedding, 
 where a joust had been arranged of four on a side and eight 
 courses, the prize a silver valance worth eight marks. The 
 dresses for Flamiano and his pages are fully described, together 
 with the devices which play so large a role in the later romances 
 of chivalry. 
 
 After the festival, which lasted almost through the night, 
 Flamiano summoned Felisel and asked him for a detailed 
 account of his embassy. The latter described the emblems of 
 mourning with which the house was filled, the tomb of Violina, 
 and the desperate grief of Vasquiran. Finally, he delivered the 
 letter entrusted to his care. Flamiano was deeply affected when 
 he read it and shed many tears. He then wrote an answer and 
 entrusted it to Felisel, with many assurances of his sorrow and 
 sympathy. This letter is given at length as well as the reply of 
 Vasquiran. These letters generally terminate in a short poem. 
 When Felisel returned from his second embassy he found that his 
 master had been invited by the Duchess to a hunt which was to 
 take place the following week, and for which dresses and liveries, 
 with beds, tents, and provisions, were necessary. The colors, 
 materials, and devices of the garments were given to Felisel the 
 next day. The custom for a knight was to wear the colors of the 
 one served and to add a color of his own. In this case Belisena 
 wore red and white and Flamiano added yellow. A complete 
 list is given of the guests, with a minute description of their 
 dresses and devices. 
 
 In the course of the hunt Belisena is left alone with Ysiana 
 and Flamiano comes upon them by chance. When he has some- 
 what recovered from his perturbation, he addresses his lady. 
 His words and her replies are given in the form of a dialogue. 
 As usual the lady receives with coldness and dignity the stilted 
 addresses of her suitor, and begs him to leave her presence. She 
 
212 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 finally departs with Ysiana, apparently much vexed, and re- 
 joins her friends. 
 
 Flamiano shortly after went to the baths of Virgiliano, where 
 he knew he should be likely to meet his lady-love again, and 
 planned another joust which would give him an opportunity of 
 appearing before her. While at Virgiliano, he sent Felisel 
 again with a letter to Vasquiran. The latter told Felisel a 
 melancholy story of how he had recently killed a doe in a hunt 
 and how her mate had grieved over her, and renewed Vasquiran's 
 sorrow by the pitiful sight. The following day he sent Felisel 
 back to Flamiano with the usual letter and a present of a horse 
 and trappings for the approaching joust. Felisel found Flami- 
 ano at Virgiliano and delivered the letter and present, whereat 
 Flamiano greatly rejoiced. The letter is given at length, and 
 contains a long poem entitled Vision de Amor, an allegorical 
 composition, in which the writer finds himself in a lovely garden, 
 a Paradise of suffering lovers. There Vasquiran meets his de- 
 parted wife, and they tenderly converse of their past happiness 
 and present sorrow. Vasquiran awakes to find it all a dream and 
 begs Flamiano no longer to compare his own grief with that which 
 he, Vasquiran, suffers. For Flamiano can still hope, but he is 
 desperate in his misfortunes. 
 
 A long description of the jousts follows, and of the festival 
 with which they closed. As a part of the entertainment, Flami- 
 ano composed an eclogue, in which five characters represent in 
 a pastoral form what took place in the chase described above, 
 when Flamiano had his interview with Belisena. 
 
 After the festivities, Felisel is sent anew to Vasquiran with 
 the usual letter and various presents. Vasquiran determines to 
 visit Flamiano, and dispatches the trusty Felisel to announce his 
 coming to his master. Before his departure he visited the tomb 
 of his wife and wrote a poem there. The next day he embarked 
 for Noplesano and his grief was revived by the sight of the places 
 where he had spent happy hours with VioHna. He finally 
 arrived at Noplesano, and desembarked without any signs of 
 rejoicing, and was received by Flamiano sadly and affectionately. 
 
 The next day they went to pay their respects to the Duchess 
 and other dignitaries, and on the way Vasquiran and Flamiano 
 disputed as usual as to whose sorrow was the greater, Vasquiran's 
 for the loss of his wife, or Flamiano's at the impossibility of 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 213 
 
 winning the one he loved. The Duchess received them most 
 affably and expressed her warm sympathy with Vasquiran's 
 loss. They parted after the usual compliments and returned to 
 their abode. One day after dinner, while resting in a garden 
 under the shade of some orange trees, the two friends again 
 discussed the question which had formed the burden of their 
 correspondence. Their arguments are given at length, and the 
 conversation ends with an insinuation on the part of Flamiano 
 that Vasquiran seems attracted by Ysiana. Vasquiran replies 
 that he has talked with her and offered himself as her cavalier, 
 although he deemed it impossible for her to diminish his grief. 
 The friends resolve' to ask the Cardinal de Brujas and the Viceroy 
 to proclaim a joust, as that was the most convenient way of 
 appearing favorably in the presence of their ladies. The condi- 
 tions and prizes of the joust are duly proclaimed, and the dresses 
 and devices of the ladies and knights who take part in the joust 
 are described at great length. 
 
 At tlie end of the above elaborate description, the author de- 
 clares "^hat he is about to change the style or form of his book, 
 leaving undecided the question between Vasquiran and Flamiano 
 which.forms its principal subject, and employing true names and 
 historical accuracy. The remainder of the work consists in an 
 account of the departure of the. Viceroy of Naples for the cam- 
 paign which ended in the memorable battle of Ravenna (April 
 nth, 1512). The various troops which accompanied him 
 and the uniforms of the men and leaders are minutely described 
 as well as those who from the various palaces of the city wit- 
 nessed the Viceroy's departure. Flamiano did not accompany 
 him but remained behind for a time to settle certain business 
 affairs, and also to take farewell of his friend in a more leisurely 
 manner. He was oppressed by the presentiment of his approach- 
 ing death, and the hopelessness of his love for Belisena. 
 
 The sorrow of the friends at parting was profound, and Vas- 
 quiran returned to Noplesano (the author has resumed his feigned 
 names in the conclusion of his work) so full of grief that on the 
 way and all that night he spoke not a word to anyone. Some 
 time after, he embarked for his home, and made his preparations 
 likewise to join the army. He was still sorrowful at the memory 
 of Flamiano 's parting words, and one night, the first in Easter 
 week, he dreamed'a dream in which he saw what happened in the 
 
214 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 cruel battle of Ravenna, which took place that very day. This 
 dream he related to his servants and told them how after he 
 had witnessed the battle he saw a bark filled with wounded 
 soldiers and among them Flamiano, who greeted him with a 
 motion of his head, but did not speak. When the bark drew near, 
 Vasquiran essayed to enter and his friend stretched out his 
 hand to aid him, but he seemed to fall into the water and awoke. 
 
 A few days later the trusty Felisel arrived with news of the 
 battle and of the death of Flamiano, from whom he brought a 
 letter dated Ferrara, April 17th, 1512, and written upon his 
 deathbed. In this touching letter he welcomes death as the 
 only relief for his hopeless love, and only regrets that he could 
 not have seen his lady before his end in order that he might 
 begin to feel in this world the happiness which he hoped for in 
 the next, and which had always failed him here. 
 
 The Question de Amor is interesting from the fact that the 
 whole work is devoted to the discussion of a single "question" 
 or "doubt," as to which of two lovers suffers the more, the one 
 whose beloved is dead, or the other who serves without hope of 
 reward.' The Italian influence is shown in the general plan of 
 the work, but the tone is distinctly Spanish. The large space 
 devoted to descriptions of jousts with the detailed account of 
 
 ' Another Spanish work of the early part of this same century is also de- 
 voted to the discussion of a single question. It is the Aurelio arid Isabella by 
 Juan de Flores, which, Ticknor, Vol. Ill, p. 132, says dates as far back as 1521, 
 and which, in an early English translation, was at one time thought to have' 
 furnished hints for Shakespeare's Tempest. There is an Italian translation: 
 Historia di Aurelio et Isabella, nella quale si disputa: die piU dia occasione di 
 peccare, I'huomo alia donna, la donna a I'huomo. Di lingua Spagnola tradotta 
 da Lelio Aleliphilo. Venice, 1548. For English translations of Aurelio and 
 Isabella; see Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 9, No. 6. For Juan de Flores and 
 his Historia de Grisel y Mirabella, translated into Italian under the title of 
 Historia de Aurelio e Isabella, see Menendez y Pelayo, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 
 cccxxxii et seq. 
 
 There is a reprint of this rare Italian version in A. Bonucci, Delizie delU 
 Eruditi Bibliofili Italiani, Florence and Bologna, 1863-5, 8 Parts, of which the 
 Historia di Aurelio et Isabella is the third. For other editions of this work see 
 Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, Rome, 1890, Vol. I, pp. 48, 212. 
 The plot of the story is as follows. The King of Scotland has a beautiful daugh- 
 ter and imprisons her to keep her from lovers. A cavalier wins her love, 
 is found with her, and both are tried according to an old law, which declares 
 that in similar cases the one who is the cause of the sin shall die, the other be 
 exiled. The question cannot be answered by the Royal Council and is sub- 
 mitted to a court of ladies and gentlemen to discuss. They choose as their 
 spokesmen Hortensia and Affranio and eacji speaks in turn. The debate occu- 
 pies a large part of the book. Isabella is finally condemned to be burnt alive, 
 and is thrown into the flames. Aurelio follows her and is killed; but Isabella 
 is rescued by her maids. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 215 
 
 the dresses, devices, etc., was probably due to the Amadis, which 
 had first been printed a few years before (1508). These pecuUari- 
 ties are found even exaggerated in the famous Spanish romance, 
 The Civil Wars of Grenada, by Gines Perez de Hita, which ap- 
 peared at the close of the century. The Question de Amor was a 
 popular work and had considerable influence in Italy, where it con- 
 tributed to produce that peculiar tone in poetry which is charac- 
 teristic of the seventeenth century, but which in reality began 
 early in the sixteenth, and apparently had its birthplace in Naples.* 
 In connection with the Question de Amor may be briefly men- 
 tioned another Spanish work also involving a single "question," 
 printed in Italy and dedicated to Francesco Maria della Rovere, 
 Duke of Urbino. The author, Ludovico Scriva, is otherwise 
 unknown. The work, although in Spanish, bears a Latin title, 
 Tribunal Veneris, and describes at length the Castle of Venus and 
 the submission to- the goddess by two lovers of the "question," 
 "Which gives the greater delight to the lover, to behold his 
 mistress, or to think of her without seeing her?" This, the 
 reader will recognize, is the eleventh "Question" in the Filocolo, 
 and has already been treated in Chapter II of the present work. 
 This question is debated before the Tribunal of Venus by the 
 two lovers, Cupid, Philosophy, and other abstract figures. 
 Venus finally pronounces judgment as follows : "Having heard the 
 arguments and subtle inventions of both sides, and considering 
 the rights of each, I find that I am obliged to condemn (giving 
 sentence in favor of the polite gallant, the enduring lover, the 
 devoted courtier) the contemplative cavalier, and to determine 
 that greater pleasure is that which the eyes conceive, beholding 
 what the will loves, than that which the thought engenders in 
 one who thinks of what grieves his heart." The work is written 
 in the most affected style and could not from its rarity have 
 exerted much influence in Italy or Spain. It is interesting 
 only as showing how widely spread was the social custom of 
 debating "questions." 
 
 * See D'Ancona, Studj sulla letteratura italiana de' primi secoli, Ancona, 
 1884 pp 152-237, "Del secentiisinonellapoesiacortigiana del secolo XV." I 
 have' used the facsimile edition of the Veneris Tribunal published by Mr. Archer 
 M. Huntington, at the De Vinne Press, 1902. It differs somewhat from the 
 copy described by Menendez y Pelayo in Origenes de la Novela, Vol. 1, p. 
 cccxxxii, note, which has the colophon: Impressa en la nobihssima Cmdad de 
 Napoles . . . por Ancho Pincio . . . Mr. Huntmgtons copy reads: 
 Impressa en la nobilissimk Ciudad de Venecia ... per Aurelio Pmcio. 
 
216 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Another curious work in imitation of the Cortegiano of Casti- 
 glione may be mentioned here, although it is written in Spanish 
 and represents the manners of the court of Don Fernando de 
 Aragon at Valencia. Of the author, Don Luis Milan, little is 
 known except that he flourished about the middle of the sixteenth 
 century. J. P. Fuster in his Bihlioteca. Valenciana, Tomo Pri- 
 mero, Valencia, 1827, p. 114, says: "Don Luis Milan (Ximeno, 
 Tomo I, p. 137). Natural de la Ciiidad de Valencia: fue muy 
 diestro en la musica, y famoso poeta, por lo que es alabado por 
 Polo en la Diana enamorada, lib. IIL en el canto del Tiiria, y 
 tambien en las notas de Cerdi a dicho canto, pp. 365, 368, 369, 
 y 371, e igualmente por Timoneda en el Sarao de amor. Las 
 obras que di6 & la luz manifiestan que no iu6 exagerado el elogio 
 que hicieron de 61 dichos autores." Milan was the author of 
 two excessively rare works : Libra de musica de vihuela de mano, 
 intitulado II Maestro, 1535, fol., and El Cartesano, Valencia, 
 1 56 1 , 8 vo . Only six copies of the latter are known , all of which are 
 in Spanish libraries. Fortunately the book has been reprinted in 
 Coleccion de Libras Espaholes raros 6 curiosas, Tama Septimo, 
 Madrid, 1874. The full title is : Libra intitulada El Cortesana, cam- 
 puesta por D. Luis Milan. Libra de Mates de Damas y Caballeros 
 por el misma. The editor is unable to give any details concerning 
 Milan. The origin of the work is thus described in the Dedica- 
 tion to King Philip II of Spain: "Conversing with some ladies of 
 Valencia, who had in their hands the Courtier of Count Baltasar 
 Castiglione, they asked me what I thought of it, and I replied: 
 
 Mas querria ser vos conde 
 Que no don Luis Milan, 
 Por estar en esas manos 
 Donde yo querria estar. 
 
 [i.e., I would rather be you. Count, than Don Luis Milan, in 
 order to be in the hands in which I should like to be]. The ladies 
 answered: Then make another, in order that you may in truth 
 come into the hands which have so often abandoned you. I 
 .tried to do so and succeeded so well that they have not let it 
 out of their hands, but have given it their hands to raise it. It 
 has these qualities which I shall mention: It tells how to speak 
 without verboseness, or affectation, or brevity which hides mean- 
 ing, giving conversations which enable one to jest after the 
 fashion of the palace. It represents the court of the royal Duke 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 217 
 
 of Calabria and the Queen Germana, with all the ladies and 
 gentlemen of that time, admitting some who to give pleasure 
 were admitted by the Duke, making them speak in our Valencian 
 language as they are wont to do, since many writers are accus- 
 tomed to write in different languages in order to represent well 
 the character of each one. The beginning of the book repre- 
 sents a hunt given by the Queen and the Duke, where I was 
 commanded to compose the Cortesano, which the ladies ordered 
 me to dedicate to Your Royal Majesty. I entreat Your Royal 
 Majesty to accept this gift; for, as the philosopher says, the 
 smallest service willingly rendered is worth more than the great- 
 est reluctantly performed." 
 
 The scene of the Cortesano, as has already been said, is laid 
 at the court of Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria. This nobleman, 
 bom in 1487, was the oldest son of Frederick III, King of Naples, 
 who was dethroned by Loiiis XII in 1501. Ferdinand had 
 been sent for safety to Tarento, which was besieged by Gon- 
 zalvo de Cordova, who swore on the host to leave him at liberty. 
 He broke his oath, however, and sent him to Spain to Ferdinand 
 the Catholic, who had him confined at Xativa. He refused the 
 crown of Aragon in 1516, and was set at liberty by Charles V, 
 who married him to Germaine de Foix, the widow of Ferdinand 
 the Catholic and the niece of Louis XII. Ten years later he 
 married, after the death of his first wife. Dona Mencia de Men- 
 doza, second Marquesa del Zenete, and died in 1551 the last of 
 his race. 
 
 The work is divided into six "Jomadas" or daj-s, and differs 
 materially in its plan from its model. It opens with an elab- 
 orate account of a hunt given by the Duke, with minute descrip- 
 tions of the dresses and devices of the courtiers. After the Duke 
 and Queen had enjoyed for a time the witty speeches of the 
 courtiers based upon the devices, the Duke said that it would 
 be well for Don Luis Milan to carry out the Courtier which the 
 ladies had commanded him to make. Don Luis replied that he 
 would do so if the Duke would advise as to the qualities which 
 the Courtier should possess. The Duke answered: "I will give 
 my opinion and these gentlemen will give theirs: 
 
 Que en las cosas de gran ser. 
 El Rey con los caballeros 
 Tiene muy buen parescer." 
 
218 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Then follow the "Reglasdel Cortesano." The Duke said the 
 Courtier should know how to speak and be silent where necessary. 
 Don Diego Ladron said that he should speak onh- of what he 
 knows. Don Juan Fernandez, that he should speak season- 
 ably. Don Francesco Fenollet, that he should alwa\-s be at- 
 tentive to what he does or says. Finally, Don Luis Milan 
 said: "The Courtier must be the father of truth, son of modera- 
 tion, brother of good breeding, relati\-e of graAit\-, a man of law, 
 friend of neatness, and enemj' of melancholy." These quahties 
 he then proceeds to illustrate with a brief story. This concludes 
 the first da>'. The following ones are devoted to descriptions 
 of the di\-ersions of the court, which consist in masks, poetry, and 
 conversations interspersed with ^■erse and stories. A consider- 
 able part of the work is in ^•erse, and the characters fall into 
 poetry almost involuntarily. The stories are usually short 
 jests, many of them being told in the \'alencian dialect. The 
 Courtier is lost sight of until the end of the work, when the 
 Duke suddenly asks Don Luis Milan what he has done ^^■ith 
 the Courtier, which the ladies commanded him to make. Don 
 Luis replies with a long allegorical vision, in the course of which 
 Don Luis asks Envy what qualities a book must ha^•e to make it 
 such as it should be, and replies himself that it must be useful, 
 amusing, original, and follow the rules of art. Furthermore he 
 declares that the intention of his Courtier was to represent all 
 that is talked about at the court of princes: different languages 
 on account of the different nations which are found there; use 
 of all kinds of style, employing the loftj' in elevated matters, 
 as counsels and opinions to govern our li^■es and states; using the 
 mediocre st^'le in jocose conversations of serious courtiers, and 
 reserving the lowest st^-le for the amusing talk of jesters and 
 buffoons, who in secret and public places lessen the weight of 
 business and seriousness." 
 
 While Milan's work cannot be compared with its original, it 
 is still interesting, and gi\es a \ivid picture of court life in the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 Castiglione's Cortegiano called forth later in the century' an- 
 other imitation, which, inferior in every respect to the original, 
 still contains an interesting and \'aluable picture of life at the 
 court of Alfonso II. This prince, the last Duke of Ferrara, was 
 the son of Hercules II, and Ren6e, daughter of Louis XII of 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 219 
 
 France, famous for her friendship for Calvin and Marot. Al- 
 fonso was much at the court of France while young, and all his 
 life retained a fondness for French manners and customs. He 
 possessed all the accomplishments of a Renaissance prince, and 
 his court was renowned for its splendor. At the time when the 
 scene of the work about to be described is laid, Tasso had been 
 a resident at the court (with many absences, it is true) for nine- 
 teen years, and was now ill and confined in the Hospital of St. 
 Anne. The Duke was married (1579) to his third wife, Mar- 
 gherita Gonzaga, daughter of the Duke of Mantua. Life at 
 Ferrara did not differ materially from that at the other Italian 
 courts.^ The Duke was passionately fond of music, for which 
 his court was renowned. There was dancing, dramatic enter- 
 tainments, and interminable jousts. The Duke was fond of all 
 violent exercises and played palla with great eagerness. He 
 was especially devoted to the chase and had in his state great 
 preserves where he could indulge in his favorite sport. Such 
 a place was La Mesola, near the sea, where he constructed 
 an immense palace. A contemporary says: "The walls around 
 the villa were nine miles in circuit, with towers a mile apart, and 
 four gates opposite each other, and a large palace with four 
 towers. Between these walls was a dense forest full of a great 
 quantity of wild animals, as stags, deer, wild goats, boars, etc., 
 reared there for the Duke's pleasure." 
 
 It was at this place that a gentleman of Ferrara, Annibale 
 Romei, laid the scene of his Discorsi which, he says in the dedica- 
 tion of his work to Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of Urbino,* really 
 took place the preceding ,autumn, while the duke was amusing 
 himself at the seashore. Little is known of the author, whose 
 family was of Spanish origin, but settled at Ferrara for three 
 centuries. Annibale was for some time in the service of Guido- 
 baldo II, Duke of Urbino, and, as Solerti, p. cxxvii, suggests, he 
 
 6 Important materials for a history of the life at Ferrara, besides the two 
 works of Solerti to be mentioned later, may be found in the same author's 
 Vita di Torquato Tasso, Turin and Rome, 1895, Vol. I, La Vita; and in V. 
 Rossi's Battista Guarino ed il Pastor Fido, Turin, 1886, pp. 22 et seq., and 49 
 et seq., the latter part based on Romei's Discorsi. 
 
 Sister of Alfonso II, and most unhappily married m 1 57 1 to Francesco 
 Maria II the last duke of Urbino. Lucrezia was much older than her husband ; 
 Litta, cited by Dennistoun, Memoirs, etc.. Ill, p. 128, note, says thirteen years 
 and two months; and the marriage, as might have been expected, turned out 
 most unfortunately. In 1573, Lucrezia upon the pretence of ill health re- 
 turned to Ferrara and never again rejoined her husband. 
 
220 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 may have conceived the idea of his Discorsi while at Urbino, 
 where the memory of Castiglione was still fresh. It is not 
 known when he returned to Ferarra, but in 1570 he was a member 
 of a Ferrarese academy. He occupied no ofificial position at 
 the court, but served the Duke on extraordinary occasions, once 
 going on an embassy to Gregory XIII. He died the 2d of Oc- 
 tober, 1590, and was buried in the church of St. Francis at 
 Ferrara.' 
 
 The work is dedicated, as has already been said, to the Duchess 
 of Urbino. In the dedication the author says he has in vain 
 awaited some occasion when at the Duchess' commands he might 
 reveal himself to the world as her devoted servant. Finally 
 he has attempted to procure by his own efforts what fortune has 
 denied him. He continues: "Having therefore perceived that 
 your Highness, thanks to your happy wit, is more desirous of 
 hearing literary conversations than any other thing, and because 
 there never comes to the city of Ferrara any famous man of 
 letters whom you do not invite to your presence to hear him dis- 
 cuss and argue with other scholars, I have taken the trouble to 
 print those discourses, questions, and replies, which were uttered 
 by the liveliest wits in which this court abounds, during the past 
 autumn, while the most serene Duke was disporting himself at 
 the seashore; judging that your Highness should take no less 
 pleasure in reading with your eyes dead words, than you would 
 to hear live ones with your ears. Moreover, considering that 
 the things treated of in these discourses are precisely those which 
 are usually discussed in the conversations of cultivated ladies 
 and gentlemen at courts, I have wished to publish them under 
 the happy auspices of your Highness, in order that every gentle 
 spirit may, by reading them, be pleased and profited." 
 
 The frame of the Discorsi is as follows. "The most serene 
 Lord Don Alfonso da Este, second of this name, by our happy 
 fate now Duke of Ferrara, lives so splendidly that the court of 
 
 ' I have used the edition by Solerti in his Ferrara e la corte Estense nella 
 seconda metd, del secolo decimosesto, Citt^ di Castello, 1891. For original (1586) 
 and subsequent editions see Solerti, pp. cxxix-cxxx, and for the author, pp. 
 cxxv-cxxxi. As might have been expected, the work was translated into 
 French in 1595, and, what was not known to Solerti, into English in 1598: 
 The Courtiers Academie: Comprehending seven severale day es discourses . . . 
 written in Italian . . . and translated into English by J[ohn] K[epers] 
 V. Sims: [London, 1598], 4to. The Library of Cornell University now has a 
 copy of the second edition, Ferrara, V. Baldini, 1586, sm. 4to. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 221 
 
 his Highness seems rather a great royal court, than the court of 
 a grand duke ; because it is not only full of noble lords and valiant 
 knights, but is the resort of learned and gentle spirits, and of 
 men distinguished in every profession. This prince, truly worthy 
 of respect in all his actions, so mingles affairs with leisure, and 
 measures and dispenses time so systematically, that he does not 
 let himself be enervated by the excessive weight of serious 
 matters, nor enfeebled by the too great laxity of pleasurable 
 affairs. His Highness, therefore, has given to each season its 
 own peculiar diversions, as during the Carnival masquerades, 
 jousts, tournaments, festivities, plays, concerts, and other 
 similar pleasures, which things are enjoyed so calmly and peace- 
 fully, that it is a wonder to behold at such times the joy and 
 delight of our city. In the spring, foxes are hunted, and fal- 
 cons flown in the great park which surrounds the city on the 
 north, in which are found in the stagnant waters and marshes 
 quantities of ducks to hunt from the shore; and there are there 
 certain huts called 'sgarzare,' where herons are bred: and it is 
 a joyful sight to see his Highness enter that broad meadow with 
 the court and nobility of the city on handsome horses, followed 
 by the most serene Duchess with all her ladies and noble matrons 
 in sumptuous carriages. There after they have hunted along 
 the shore, they approach the 'sgarzare' and set free the heron, 
 on which as soon as it rises, they set the falcon, and gaze with 
 great delight upon the battle which those two fierce birds wage 
 in the air. 
 
 " Then in the excessive heat of the summer, his Highness retires 
 with the serene Duchess and court to Belriguardo, a truly royal 
 palace, in which are as many rooms as there are days in the year, 
 with loggie, corridors, and apartments so large that one can 
 easily play pallone there. There are beautiful gardens abounding 
 in all kinds of fruits, watered by the Po, led there by his Highness 
 with marvellous craft, which near the palace turns mills, to- 
 gether with a beautiful fish-pond, which, with quantities of 
 fish, and containing the clearest water, serves conveniently for 
 swimming, being always shaded by lofty poplars which surround 
 it. While his Highness remains in this palace, open house is 
 kept, and ladies and gentlemen of the city come and go in turn; 
 and besides these there are lodged there all those who come for 
 audiences or business with the Duke, who is always accompanied 
 
222 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 by his councillors and secretaries. There the warmest time of 
 the day is spent in various amusements, in games, music, and 
 other pleasant diversions: and towards evening his Highness 
 with the Duchess and their ladies and gentlemen on horseback 
 (a beautiful sight) go fowling with hawks, catching pheasants 
 and partridges, in which the country abounds. 
 
 "At the end of the autumn his Highness and the Duchess, with 
 the court and other ladies and gentlemen of the city, go to the 
 seashore, where, among the other delightful dwellings on the 
 harbor of Goro, in a wood, called La Mesola, the Duke has built 
 a sumptuous palace, which wood, with a truly heroic expendi- 
 ture, his Highness has surrounded by a wall twelve miles in 
 circuit, with four large gates situated according to the four 
 points of the compass, which are kept closed in order that the 
 animals may not escape, and are opened at need. There they 
 undertake in turn various pleasures, sometimes fishing in the 
 sea with nets, and sometimes hunting : and at all these diversions 
 there are present the Duchess with all her ladies and matrons, 
 who enjoy very comfortably the pleasure of the chase ; because 
 the huntsmen enter the wood with dogs and drive the wild beasts 
 out into certain great places made on purpose, where dogs are 
 stationed, and cavaliers, some on foot" with spears, others on 
 horseback with lances; and with great dexterity they slay 
 wild boars, stags, and other animals; and it may in truth be 
 said that there is no prince in the world who has finer hunt- 
 ing or finer fishing than this. Returning to the palace at 
 evening the court spends the time until supper in various pleas- 
 ant diversions.* 
 
 " In 1584 as usual his Highness was at the above mentioned 
 place at the end of autumn, with the Duchess accompanied by 
 noble cavaliers and gracious ladies, among whom were the 
 illustrious Signora Countess di Sala,' the fair and illustrious 
 
 ' The second edition of Romei's worlc, 1586, is the one followed by Solerti. 
 There are numerous differences between the two, notably in the persons intro- 
 duced, and, to a slighter extent, in the incidents. As these changes do not at 
 all affect the character of the work I shall disregard them, with one or two ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 " For the Countess di Sala, besides Solerti, p. cxi, see: Barbara Sanvitale e 
 la congiura del 1614 contra i Farnesi. Cenni storici di Federico Odorici con docu- 
 menti. Volumetto di pagine 84 in 8vo, reviewed in the Archivio storico italiano, 
 Nuova serie, T. XVII, Parte I, p. 100; and A. Ronchini, Vita della contessa 
 Barbara Sanseverini, in Atti e Memorie delle R. R. Deputazioni di storia patria 
 per le provincie Modenesi e Parmensi, Modena, 1863, in 4to. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 223 
 
 sisters Signora Donna Marfisa and Donna Bradamante/" 
 Signora Leonora Tieni Countess di Scandiano,'^ Signora Isabella 
 Bentivoglia marchesa di Galtieri,'^ Signora Camilla Costabile, 
 Signora Lucrezia Calcagnina, Signora Vittoria Tassona, Signora 
 Camilla Canale, Signora Silvia Villa, Signora Camilla Bevi- 
 lacqua, Signora Lucrezia Macchiavella,i' Signora Camilla Mosti, 
 Signora Anna Strozza, Signora Tarquinia Molza," Signora 
 Leonora Sacrata, and other ladies and matrons of rank, besides 
 the ladies of the serene Duchess. His Highness, desirous of 
 departing for the seashore to fish with nets, informed the com- 
 pany that each one could amuse himself as best he pleased. 
 A part of the ca^'aliers, then, Signora Donna Marfisa and Donna 
 Bradamante, and other ladies of the court accompanied his 
 Highness and the Duchess to the seashore, but the majority of 
 the ladies, who did not like the sea breeze at the end of autumn, 
 remained in the palace, in order that they might pass the time un- 
 til his Highness' return in some other pleasant diversion. 
 
 " The Countess di Sala was resting in her apartment, to which 
 almost all the ladies and cavaliers repaired in order to do her 
 honor and enjoy her gracious society. When the Countess 
 saw so fair and honorable a company in her room, like one who 
 is the inventor of new and seemly diversions, she said smil- 
 ingly' : ' It seems to me soldiers can ill guard their quarters with- 
 out a chief, wherefore, I would suggest, if it is pleasing to you, 
 ladies and gentlemen, that we should choose by lot (to avoid 
 en^•^•) one of our number to command, whose sway should last 
 until his Highness' return.' All praised the Countess' proposi- 
 tion, and the lot fell on the Countess di Scandiano, who was 
 cro^^•ned as queen with a wreath of laurel amid great rejoicing. 
 This most virtuous lady, true queen, perchance, of more than one 
 heart, considering that in that most noble gathering were the 
 most learned and choice wits of all the court, desirous of hearing 
 discussed something pleasing and agreeable to the whole com- 
 
 1" These ladies vrert the daughters of Don Francesco d'Este, uncle of the 
 Duke; see Solerti, p. xxxvi. 
 
 " She -n-as the stepdaughter of the Countess di Sala mentioned above, and 
 like her renow-ned for her beauty and wit; see Solerti, p. cxi et seq., and the same 
 writer's Vita di Torquato Tasso, p. 221 et seq. 
 
 " See Solerti, pp. xl, Ixix. 
 
 " See Solerti, p. Lx\-iii; she belonged to the Bendidio family, one of the most 
 famous of the Ferrarese families. 
 
 " This lady was celebrated as a poet, as well as a musician; see Solerti, p. 
 lx\-i, and Vita di Torquato Tasso, p. 253. 
 
224 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 pany, spoke in this wise: 'Among all the things that afford 
 pleasure and wonder, it seems that beauty holds the first place: 
 which is the more wonderful, since although it is perfectly known 
 by but few, it is nevertheless loved by all. Having considered 
 this often in my own mind, I greatly desire to know what'thing 
 is this which we call beauty; whether it is really found in the 
 world, or whether we fabricate it by our opinion: seeing every 
 day in our experience, that what seems ugly to one, appears 
 fair to another. Since, then, a favorable star and kind fortune 
 have exalted me to such power that I can command the sublim- 
 est wits, I mean to satisfy my virtuous desire. I therefore 
 command you, Signor Francesco Patrizio, under penalty of 
 forfeiting my favor, of which I make you worthy from now on, 
 to pronounce a discourse upon Beauty, doing your utmost to 
 please me.' Signor Francesco Patrizio,'^ a Dalmatian noble- 
 man, deeply learned, especially in Platonic philosophy, assailed 
 by Fortune for a time, finally taking shelter in the harbor of the 
 learned (for such is the abode of this prince), was welcomed by 
 his Highness with honorable rank, rising to his feet, and bowing, 
 said: 'Your Majesty has displayed the highest courtesy, having 
 bestowed upon me so great a reward before any merit of mine; 
 for what greater reward can there be than to be made worthy of 
 your Majesty's favor? And what severest imaginable penalty 
 can be compared to the loss of that? But just as I am delighted 
 at so gracious a gift, so am I anxious in my thoughts, because 
 I am sure I shall not satisfy your desire by obeying your com- 
 mand, recognizing my insufficiency to treat of so lofty a subject 
 as Beauty: and if I disobey, I incur the penalty imposed upon 
 me, which I fear more than death itself. To escape, then, so se- 
 vere a punishment, I shall not hesitate to risk such an under- 
 taking, hoping that as those beautiful souls inspire light and 
 motion in their heavens, from which are derived the fair product 
 of nature in this lower world, so may their fostering intelligences, 
 which here sit about our hearts, directing upon me their brilliant 
 rays, kindle light and excite motion in my obscure and sluggish 
 intellect: whence conceptions and words may arise fitted to 
 explain not only communicated, but also essential and true 
 beauty.' " 
 
 ^5 See Solerti, p. xlviii. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 225 
 
 Patrizio then pronounces a long discourse on Beauty/" at the 
 conclusion of which Giovan Battista Guarini/^ the famous 
 author of the Pastor Fido, propounds certain doubts which have 
 arisen in his mind, and which turn on Patrizio's apparent contra- 
 diction of Plotinus's theories on the same subject. Patrizio 
 replies, and Guarini appears satisfied. Signora Laura Peverara^^ 
 was about to take her harp and play at the queen's command, 
 when Tarquinia Molza expresses a "doubt " of hers, which is. Why 
 is beauty so rare and ugliness so frequent? Patrizio attempts 
 an explanation, and is questioned again by Signora Molza. The 
 Duchess also has a doubt, which is. Does beauty consists more 
 in proportion or in color? Patrizio holds to the latter, and 
 as a proof alleges the habit of women to dye their hair and paint 
 their faces. This argument causes a great uproar, and the queen 
 to still it made a sign to Signora Peverara, who advanced before 
 the queen with her harp and sang so sweetly that it seemed as 
 if "at the sound of that sweet harmony the enraptured soul 
 flew forth from the hearts of the listeners." When the music 
 ended, the Duchess' dwarf'' came running to say that the court 
 had arrived. The queen, therefore, and the ladies and cav- 
 aliers, after arranging for the continuance of the diversion the 
 next day, arose and went to meet his Highness, and the rest of 
 the day until the hour of supper was spent in various amuse- 
 ments and pleasant games. After supper there was dancing, after 
 which his Highness rose, and each withdrew to his own room. 
 
 The following day^" his Highness, the serene Duchess, and 
 part of the court, departed for the forest of the Elisea, where 
 
 " For works relating to Beauty see Chapter HI, note 6, and Chapter XHI, 
 note 4. 
 
 1' For Guarino see Rossi's work cited in the present chapter, note 5. 
 
 '* See Solerti, p. Ixxi, and Vita de Torquato Tasso, p. 364. Solerti, a little 
 later, p. 32, thus describes her: " Questa e una dama della serenissima Duchessa, 
 nata in Mantova, per la gloria di quella citt^, maritata nel conte Annibal 
 Turco, uno de'principali cavalieri della nostra citt^, la quale si come con la 
 sua bellezza accende facilmente amore in chiunque la mira, cosi colle sue 
 oneste maniere, e colla sua modestia talmente intepidisce I'altrui fiamme, che 
 ogni amoroso affetto in somma riverenza risolve: onde da tutti quel die le 
 conoscono, non meno e riverita che amata." 
 
 " For the use of dwarfs and buffoons at this time see Luzio-Renier, " Buf- 
 foni, nani e schiavi dei Gonzaga ai tempi d'lsabella d'Este," in the Nuova 
 Antologia, Vols. 118, pp. 618-650, and 119, pp. 1 12-146. 
 
 ^i" In the first edition the second day begins with the following account of a 
 
 practical joke (Solerti, p. 35) : " Early the next morning the Queen with all the 
 
 court went to the sea, where the nets were prepared and the fishermen ready, 
 
 and entering a large and sumptuous vessel with the Duchess, his Highness, 
 
 16 
 
226 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 arrangements had been made for a fine chase, the huntsmen 
 having enclosed in nets a large quantity of wild boars, in which 
 that forest abounds beyond all others. The usual company, 
 according to their plan, withdrew to the room of the Countess 
 di Sala, where Signora Isabella Bentivoglia, a matron endowed 
 
 Signer Don Cesare, the ladies and the other noble cavaliers, were towed with 
 great pleasure over the calm spa, while the fishermen drew the nets. Suddenly 
 from one of the towers which guard the harbor were heard two cannon shots, 
 signal that two oorsairs had been discovered ; and at the same moment a bark 
 belonging to Comacchiesi fishermen was seen rowing eagerly, which, as they 
 said, was fleeing into the harbor before it should be seen by the corsairs. When 
 the ladies heard this news they grew as pale as death, and all trembling com- 
 mended themselves to the cavaliers who were in the vessel, and would willingly 
 have fled, if they had known how to do so. Then Signer Giulio Cesare Bran- 
 caccio, a noble and valiant warrior, advanced before the Queen and spoke in 
 a bold voice in this manner: ' It would be a great shame, most serene Queen, to 
 your Majesty and to all the cavaliers who serve here, if after the fashion of the 
 infamous Cleopatra, you should take to flight, as if you distrusted our will and 
 your strength, and that two hundred musketeers and a hundred light cavalry 
 which are constantly guarding your royal person, not to speak of so many other 
 lords and cavaliers of note, were not enough to fight and conquer two galleys 
 of renegade corsairs. Here are twelve barks eacfi with ten oars, well armed, 
 with which, if it shall so please your Majesty, I boast that as soon as I shall 
 have provided them with musketeers, to capture and bring here before noon, 
 those two galleys with all those robbers. But your Majesty must give orders 
 at once, in order that our delay may not expose us to the danger of being out- 
 stripped before this slow and tardy boat of ours is brought back to the harbor.' 
 His Highness praised the opinion of Signer Brancaccio, and so encouraged the 
 Queen, who although she was very brave, was rather inclined to flight than to 
 battle, that she entrusted the undertaking to Signer Giulio Cesare. He en- 
 tered a little boat with seme of the cavaliers, and had himself rowed to the har- 
 bor, and presently came forth with ten vessels well provided with musketeers 
 and made his way towards the galleys. Nor was it long before the battle 
 began, which was not so far off that it was net seen by the royal vessel, which 
 was being towed to the harbor, and the storm of artillery and muskets was 
 heard, to the great terror of the ladies, who raised to heaven vows and prayers. 
 Finally, the battle having lasted over an hour, the galleys were captured and 
 the victors to the sound of drums and trumpets towed them into the harbor, 
 where the Queen had already withdrawn, and all the corsairs were brought 
 before her in chains. Then the joke was discovered: for these were all cour- 
 tiers, and the galleys were those which his Highness keeps for a guard while 
 he is at the seashore: and among others there were four principal cavaliers who 
 acted as captains of galleys, viz. : the Count di Scandiano, the Count Alfonso 
 Turchi, Count Ercole Bevilacqua, and Count Guido Calcagnini. The joke 
 was secretly arranged the evening before by his Highness and Don Cesare; 
 but the Duchess and seme other ladies who were suspected of being in a deli- 
 cate condition were informed of it. After the Queen had regarded the pris- 
 oners with scorn and anger, she commanded them to be assigned to the ser- 
 vice of the ladies of the court, and that while her sway lasted, they should serve 
 with chains on their feet and in the mean sailors' garb in which they were. 
 The four cavaliers mentioned above were likewise assigned as slaves; to the 
 Queen Count Giulio Tiene, to the Duchess Count Ercole Bevilacqua, to Donna 
 Leonora Count Guide Calcagnini, and to Donna Bradamante Count Alfonso 
 Turco. These ladies could not treat their slaves cruelly enough in revenge for 
 the fright that they had had, and for the many vows they had offered in 
 vain. So all that day passed in great pleasure and laughter, and in very fine 
 fishing of many kinds of fish." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 227 
 
 with most noble manners, was chosen by lot and crowned queen. 
 After a moment of silence, she spoke in this fashion: "I do not 
 believe there is any one among us of such mean intellect as not 
 to have enjoyed yesterday great pleasure in listening to the 
 discourse of Signor Patrizio, who showed us what beauty is, 
 whence it arises, and for what end it has been granted by the 
 Creator to mortals: having considered this carefully, I judge it 
 will not be inappropriate to continue the style we have begun 
 and to afford occasion to these fine and learned wits to offer us 
 similar delight, to our great benefit at the same time: for what 
 greater pleasure can be enjoyed, than to satisfy our natural 
 desire for knowledge? Signor Patrizio said yesterday that 
 beauty is the mother of love: and just as I am satisfied with 
 the mother, so I am anxious to have some notion of the son, and 
 to know in fact what is that which we call Love : for I am little 
 satisfied with the descriptions which Petrarch makes of it, it 
 seeming to me a fabulous thing to say that he is a cruel youth, 
 winged, naked, with bow in hand and arrows at his side, as it 
 is also vain to declare that he is a gentle child, or fierce old man, 
 and that he is bom of idleness and human lust. I therefore 
 command you, Signor Guarino, if you prize my favor, to pro- 
 nounce a discourse upon this subject; because I am sure that 
 you will be heard by all with great pleasure, on account of the 
 desire which each one has to know this tyrant, or rather this 
 rapacious vulture of human hearts." "A heavy burden, most 
 serene queen," replied Guarino, "your Majesty has laid upon 
 my shoulders, wishing me to reason impromptu of a subject so 
 lofty as love, in the contemplation of which the sublimest minds 
 have been confused : still, to show how dear to me is the favor of 
 so great a queen, I shall boldly accept the undertaking, hoping 
 that Love himself, to whom from my earliest years I have de- 
 voted my life, will arouse my thoughts and move my tongue, so 
 that I can, in conformity with your Highness' intention, manifest 
 his noble nature and deep mysteries." 
 
 Guarino after a brief reflection then pronounced a discourse 
 upon Human Love,^i interspersed with many quotations from 
 Petrarch. When he had finished, and was about to withdraw, 
 the queen signed to him to remain, and commanded Signora 
 
 " See the other discourses on the subject of Love mentioned in Chapter 
 HI. 
 
228 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Tarquinia Molza and all the other ladies to propound to Signor 
 Guarino doubts on the subject of love, in order that with this 
 pleasant diversion they might pass the time until his Highness' 
 return. Signora Molza's " doubt " is: Whether love is the result 
 of choice or of fate.^^ Guarino argued in favor of choice, and 
 his conclusion was accepted by Signora Molza with some reserva- 
 tion. Signora Camilla Canala then wishes to know if after love 
 is planted in the heart by fate and has struck root by choice, it 
 is in the power of the lover to uproot it. Guarino says he can, 
 otherwise there would be no such thing as free will. Signora 
 Camilla was satisfied with this decision, but the youth present 
 murmured at the idea that love should be entirely destroyed. 
 Signora Valla imposed silence by her doubt, which was: Does 
 absence increase or diminish love ? Guarino decides that it di- 
 minishes love. Signora Camilla Costabile then propounded this 
 doubt: Is jealousy a token of great love?^' The conclusion of 
 Guarino is "that jealousy is a sign of intense past love, and of 
 weak present love." 
 
 The Countess di Sala then propounds a doubt often discussed, 
 whether love is extinguished by the possession of the beloved.^* 
 Guarino decides that it is not, for there remains the desire of 
 perpetual union which keeps love alive. Signora Camilla 
 Bevilacqua puts her doubt as follows: "You have declared in 
 your definition of love that it arises from a knowledge of beauty; 
 now we see that some scorning the truly beautiful fall in love 
 with what seems ugly to all others: we must then say that ugli- 
 ness may seem beauty to others, or that not always beauty, but 
 also ugliness may be the mother of love. Explain this to me, 
 in order that your definition may not seem indefinite." Guarino 
 explains that different minds judge differently, and are influenced 
 by various elements of beauty, but it is true that love arises 
 from beauty. 
 
 Leonora Sacrata asks whether love is the same as desire, 
 because Guarino's definition causes doubt on this point: and yet 
 Leon Ebreo in the third book of his Dialogo d'Amore says that 
 
 ^ A somewhat similar question occurs in Chapter III, p. 130, in Tullia d'Ar- 
 agona's Dialogue on the Infinity of Love. There the " doubt " was, Which love 
 is the more powerful, that which arises from destiny, or that which comes from 
 choice? See also Chapter III, p. 108. 
 
 ^' See Chapter III, p. 126, Betussi's II Raverta, p. 141. Can love exist with- 
 out jealousy? See also the same chapter, pp. 145 and 146. 
 
 ^* A similar question is in Chapter I, p. 12, No. 33. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 229 
 
 love is nought but desire, which conforms to our experience, 
 since we love because 'we desire and desire because we love. 
 Guarino replies that Leon Ebreo is wrong and contradicts him- 
 self in his first dialogue, in which he distinguishes love from de- 
 sire. He then explains the true theory. Signora Vittoria Tas- 
 sona then proposes her doubt: Whether love is good or evil. 
 The answer is a long discourse interspersed with many quota- 
 tions from Petrarch and ending with one from St. Augustine. 
 The conclusion is that love is good, but should not be made the 
 occasion of sin. 
 
 The Countess Tieni then said she should like to know whether 
 one who is loved is obliged to answer this love and for what 
 reason, citing the well known lines from Dante. Guarino an- 
 swers that both Ariosto and Petrarch thought differently from 
 Dante, and explains why love is not always returned. 
 
 Signora Camilla Mosti then proposed her doubt: Which is 
 better, to love or to be loved? Guarino shows that the answer 
 depends on the way in which we understand the word love. 
 The next doubt was proposed by Signora Lucrezia Macchiavella, 
 and was: Which is the more fervent, love of man towards woman, 
 or of woman towards man?^^ This doubt leads to a long dis- 
 cussion between Signora Lucrezia and Guarino, who inclines 
 to the side of men. 
 
 Signora Vittoria Bentivoglia then asks Guarino to explain 
 how, on Petrarch's authority, the lover is transformed into the 
 beloved. A long explanation then follows, which satisfied the 
 ladies and gentlemen present. Signora Lucrezia Calcagnina 
 expressed her doubt in these words: "It often happens that 
 after a long and formal acquaintance between a man and a woman , 
 one or the other, or both, are inflamed with love; if this is true, 
 it places in doubt what has been said that the lover is enamoured 
 as soon as beauty congruous to him is revealed. Therefore I 
 say, either that beauty so often seen is congruous to the lover 
 or it is not: if it is congruous, why does it not cause sudden 
 love? if it is not congruous, how can it do it after a long time? " 
 After Guarino 's explanation, the Countess di Sala asked whether 
 
 '^ See Chapter HI, p. 132, Betussi's II Raverta, p. 99. Gohin in his edition 
 of Heroet's La Parfaicte Amye, p. 27, note i, says: "La Parfaicte Amyedonne 
 ainsi une solution nouvelle k la question fort debattue alors: |Qui aime le 
 mieux de la femme ou de I'homme?' Voir le Peregrin, par Caviceo, HI, 83, 
 f. 138 ro. : 'Au convy et festin fut dispute lequel plus aymoit, la dame ou 1' 
 homme.' 
 
230 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 a lover can love two persons at the same time.^^ A negative 
 reply is given, and Signora Silvia Villa, "a young girl of fair and 
 gentle aspect," asks: "Since you conclude that a lover cannot 
 love two at the same time, tell us whether a lady who is loved by 
 two lovers, in order not to be ungrateful, ought to recompense 
 both lovers with a mutual love." Guarino said she should not; 
 on the contrary, if she did she would defraud one lover of his 
 right, and prove herself most ungrateful. 
 
 Signora Anna Strozza asks whether it is possible for a lover 
 to love the beloved more than himself. Guarino denies this, 
 not without some opposition on the part of the enamoured 
 cavaliers present. No one was now left but the queen, who 
 formulated her doubt as follows: "Although it is unsuitable to 
 the royal Majesty to doubt, being a manifest sign of ignorance, 
 which beyond all other defects is blameworthy in princes, over- 
 come nevertheless by the natural desire for knowledge, I wish to 
 be permitted to ask you, Signor Guarino, if love can endure long 
 in the lover whose love is not returned." 
 
 Guarino answers with the story of Eros and Anteros cited 
 from the sixth oration of Themistius.^' The goddess Themis, 
 being in the presence of Venus, who had given birth to Cupid, 
 after she had praised the beauty of the winged boy, added : True 
 Love has indeed been able to be born; but know, O Venus, that 
 alone he cannot thrive : therefore if you desire that this child so 
 dear to you attain to his due stature, create and bring forth 
 another similar to this: for such shall be the nature of these 
 two brothers, that gazing upon each other, both shall equally 
 grow; and when one diminishes, the other shall likewise di- 
 minish. Venus, persuaded by the learned goddess, brought 
 forth Anteros, legitimate brother of Cupid. From this fable it 
 can easily be understood that love alone cannot endure in the 
 heart of the lover, and that to maintain himself or grow to his 
 due stature, he must behold and sport with his brother Anteros. 
 The queen cites Dante and Petrarch to the contrary, but, after 
 further explanation, accepts Guarino 's conclusion, which was 
 approved by those present, who thought that love alone could 
 not long endure where it was not supported by hope. 
 
 2« See Chapter III, p. io8. 
 
 " It is the XXIV. oration in the edition of J. Harduin, Paris, 1684, fol., p. 
 304- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 231 
 
 This ended the conversation on love, and the queen commanded 
 that they should play some pleasant games of riddles, as is the 
 custom among ladies. While they were absorbed in this diver- 
 sion, the Duke and the Duchess, who had entered the palace 
 very quietly, set loose in the apartment where the company 
 were, a deer caught alive in the net, which leaping here and 
 there frightened the ladies. They, much more timid than the 
 terrified animal, without waiting for each other, all ran out 
 into the great hall, where meeting the Duchess and the other 
 fair huntresses, this fear was suddenly turned to mirth. A 
 little after, the hunters arrived with great noise of horns and 
 barking of dogs, and his Highness commanded that the game 
 should be brought into the hall, which was done, and many 
 wild boars were stretched out on the floor, some of them so 
 huge and dreadful of aspect, that the ladies did not dare to 
 behold them. The rest of the day was spent in discussing the 
 accidents of the chase, the ladies taking no less pleasure in hear- 
 ing, than the hunters in relating, the efforts made by them in 
 attacking and slaying those fierce animals. When the evening 
 came his Highness had an amusing comedy played by the Gelosi,^* 
 who are actors that come every year at his Highness' request 
 at the end of autumn, and accompany him to the seashore, 
 and throughout the Carnival, to their own profit and to the 
 pleasure of the city, recite comedies, and are very ready in imi- 
 tating all kinds of persons and actions, and especially those 
 most apt to arouse laughter, in which they are so quick and 
 excellent that they would make Heraclitus himself laugh. After 
 the comedy, supper, and after supper some games, when, as it 
 was late, his Highness arose, and each went to his room. 
 
 The next day was spent by his Highness in another fine and 
 more pleasant chase, when stags, goats, and other animals were 
 killed, to the great delight of the ladies and gentlemen who 
 were present. At the same time the usual company retired to 
 the wonted room, and Signora Camilla Costabili, a matron of 
 noble presence and gentle manners, was chosen queen. In 
 order not to violate the order of the usual diversions, she judged 
 that it would be pleasing and useful to every noble spirit to 
 discuss the topic of Honor, which is often ill guarded through 
 
 28 For the dramatic company of the Gelosi and their performances at Fer- 
 rara see Solerti, p. li. 
 
232 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ignorance of its true nature and properties. She therefore 
 commanded Signor Gualengo to pronounce a discourse on the 
 subject. The cavalier Gualengo, a gentleman not only versed 
 in all kinds of weapons, but a scholar, and profoundly acquainted 
 with things pertaining to honor and the duello, anxious to please 
 the queen, began at once without any reply. 
 
 At the conclusion of his discourse, the queen calls upon the 
 gentlemen present to propound doubts and contradict Gualengo 
 in the same way the ladies had done in regard to love. It is 
 impossible to cite all the doubts which were raised (they are much 
 less interesting than those of the first and second days) ; among 
 them, however, may be mentioned a long discussion between 
 Gualengo and Don Cesare da Este^' as to whether man is good 
 or bad; "the opinion which is called honor being based upon a 
 tacit supposition that man, if nothing appears to the contrary, 
 is good." Alderano, Marchese di Carrara, asks whether an 
 upright man can become infamous. Gualengo answers that 
 he may through false calumny, or apparent sign of fault. The 
 Count di Scandiano asks how it is possible for an adulterer to 
 be infamous, "since men are not ashamed of committing adultery 
 but rather boast of it as an honorable thing, nor was it ever heard 
 that a person lost his honor because he was an adulterer, although 
 the number of them is infinite." Gualengo supports his asser- 
 tion with many sound arguments, and Count Guido Calcagnini 
 asks whether a soldier may desert his flag after all the others have 
 fled. Gualengo thinks he may after he has 'done his duty. 
 Count Ercole Bevilacqua asks whether a man of honor who has 
 fought valiantly in the lists, and is unable to defend himself 
 any longer, should allow himself to be killed by the enemy rather 
 than surrender. Gualengo answers that opinions differ, but 
 that the majority think he should die sooner than yield. After 
 many others have propounded their doubts, Signora Tarquinia 
 Molza, with the queen's permission, asked how women could 
 preserve their honor. Gualengo replies that their honor is 
 preserved so long as they do not lose their virtue. This leads 
 to a consideration of the relation of a wife's infidelity to her 
 
 ^' Don Caesar was the son of Don Alfonso, uncle of the Duke. He was 
 afterwards adopted by the Duke in the hope that he would be the Duke's 
 successor. This was rendered impossible by the devolution of Ferrara to 
 the Papal States on the death of the Duke. Don Caesar, however, became 
 Duke of Modena. See Solerti, p. xxxix. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 233 
 
 husband's honor, and Gualengo concludes by saying: "To 
 return to our subject, if a woman wishes to preserve her honor 
 she must be careful to preserve her virtue; and not only not 
 to commit a fault, but to be free from the suspicion of it, which 
 she will be if she accompanies her words, smiles, glances, and 
 bearing with that grave and reverend majesty, which befits 
 chaste and virtuous matrons; and above all keeps herself from 
 intimate association with any man, except father, son, and 
 brother." This reply, praised by the queen and approved by 
 all the chaste and virtuous ladies present, ended the conversa- 
 tion upon honor, and Signora Laura Peverara was summoned, 
 who, to the great delight of the hearers, recited a capitolo 
 amoroso to an accompaniment of the harp; but the court and 
 the hunters having returned, the queen and the company with- 
 drew to the apartment of the serene Duchess, where in various 
 diversions they passed the time until supper, after which they 
 danced some balletti, and the hour being late, the Duke arose, 
 and, after he had announced that there would be a fishing ex- 
 cursion the next day, all went to sleep. 
 
 The following morning just as the court and his Highness 
 were about to proceed to the sea, there arose a fierce wind with 
 dense clouds, which kept the company in suspense until dinner. 
 Those acquainted with the weather declared that it was not fit 
 to draw nets, or fish in any other way, and besides it was dan- 
 gerous to put to sea. The Duke, after the tables were cleared, 
 the rain beginning to fall, gave permission to the ladies and 
 gentlemen to amuse themselves as best they pleased. Some then 
 played cards, others draughts (tavoUere), or chess, and some 
 entertained themselves with agreeable conversations. The 
 cavalier Gualengo was sitting alone buried in thought with 
 his hand supporting his cheek. Some of the other gentlemen 
 noticed this and proposed to make the cavalier discourse a little 
 more in detail in regard to honor and the duello.^" They there- 
 fore begged him to comply with their wish. Gualengo declares 
 that he cannot accede to their desire because the duel is no 
 longer in use, having been prohibited by France, the Pope, and 
 Christian princes. He consents, however, to answer any ques- 
 tions they may put to him. A long discussion follows, in which 
 
 " The subject of Duelling has a large literature in Italy; see the Catalogue 
 des livres du Due de la Valliere, Paris, 1788, Seconds Partie, Tome Premier, 
 pp. 432 et seq. 
 
234 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the authorities on the duel are examined and criticized and a 
 multitude of cases minutely examined. The discussion finally 
 turns on the mode of making peace and settling quarrels, which 
 really fonns another discourse.^^ 
 
 The gentlemen were not yet satisfied with discussing matters 
 pertaining to honor, when the Duchess' dwarf came running 
 to call the ladies and gentlemen to the comedy prepared by the 
 Gelosi. After the play came the supper, and then some balletti. 
 The Duke then gave the usual sign for retiring. 
 
 The sky was serene and the sea calm the following day and 
 his Highness and the Duchess with part of the court went to 
 the seashore to fish with nets, and the usual company with the 
 illustrious Signer Don Cesare and the Marchese di Carrara, 
 who had taken great pleasure in the discourse on honor, retired 
 to the room of the Countess, where in the wonted manner, 
 Signora Silvia Villa, then a bride and an exceedingly gracious 
 young girl, was crowned queen. She made the ladies and gentle- 
 men sit in a circle, and after a long preamble commanded Signer 
 Ercole Varano to discourse of Nobility. After he had ended, 
 various doubts or questions were propounded, as. How can men 
 become illustrious by wealth and found noble families? Whether 
 nobility can spring from a bad man, and whether vice and valor 
 can exist together. Whether an illustrious man confers splendor 
 upon his country, or receives splendor from it. Whether nobility 
 is an external good and conferred by fortune. Whether princes 
 can bestow or abolish nobility. What is the origin of the name 
 gentleman ? Etc. 
 
 After all had proposed their doubts, the queen made a sign to 
 Signer Antonio Barisano, called il Greco, who, having arrived 
 only that day, was sitting in a comer listening to the conversa- 
 tion, to come forward and propound a doubt and contradict 
 Signer Ercole. Signer Barisano was an honored citizen of Scio, 
 who, after the island was occupied by the Turks, was unable to 
 endure the harsh severity of the barbarians, and came to Italy. 
 He was known in Ferrara as a scholar, and was welcomed by his 
 Highness with a stipend, and charged with the public teaching 
 of the Greek language ; and because he was of pleasing and cheer- 
 ful intercourse, as one who liked to indulge in jests, and spoke 
 
 '' There is also a literature on this subject; see the Catalogue cited in the 
 last note, Nos. 2603, 2613, 2619, 2638, 2540, and 2646. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 235 
 
 boldly on every subject, he was a favorite with all the nobility 
 of the city, and especially with the ladies. He began by saying 
 that it would be easy to contradict all that Signer Varano had 
 said, but because it was nearly the hour for supper, he would 
 only say that he could not tolerate the statement that women, 
 most imperfect animals, could have any share in nobility, as 
 Varano had shamelessly affirmed, knowing well enough that 
 reason and usage recognize nobility only from the man. He 
 then defended his own position and the result was a long discussion 
 between him and Varano on the relative merits of men and 
 women,^!'' which Signora Tarquinia Molza ended by saying: 
 "Go no further, Signor Barisano, and be satisfied with what you 
 have thus far said in vituperation of women, lest these ladies 
 who are listening now, justly angered at you, after the fashion 
 of the Bacchantes, make of you a new Orpheus." The Greek 
 laughed and replied: "Gentle lady, they have greater cause to 
 thank me than to blame me, for if I had not contradicted Signor 
 Ercole, they would not have heard all the praise which he show- 
 ered upon them, and I am sure that the more I loaded them with 
 reproaches, the more their praises, like a palm, would rise to 
 heaven." 
 
 With these words the conversation ended, and the queen, seeing 
 that some time was left before the arrival of the court, com- 
 manded Signora Camilla Mosti and Signora Camilla Bevilacqua 
 to dance. They joined hands, and after two balletti to the sound 
 of a lute, they danced the Canarii with extreme grace and to 
 the great pleasure of the bystanders.'^ The Duke and the court 
 having arriN'ed, the queen arose and all went to the apartments 
 of the Duchess, where was prepared a \-er3- fine concert of various 
 musical instruments and sweet ^-oices, which accompanied the 
 supper for a time. After the tables had been cleared, some time 
 was spent in ^'arious games and other pleasant diversions, and the 
 Duke, seeing that the weather threatened rain, gave orders for 
 the following morning. His Highness rose early and after the 
 usual mass, embarked with the Duchess, Signora Donna Marfisa, 
 Signora Donna Bradamante, and other ladies of the court in a 
 sumptuous boat, and assigned the Bucintoro^' to the Countess 
 
 'lo See Chapter IV, Note 64. 
 
 " For dancing at the court of Ferrara, see Solerti, p. lxx\'. 
 
 " For the Bucintoro, see Solerti, pp. x\-, note 6, and xxix. 
 
236 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 di Sala and the rest of the court. The Bucintoro was a large ship 
 finer and more sumptuous than any other, with saloons, cham- 
 bers, corridors, and balconies (poggi). After they had made them- 
 selves comfortable in this ship, the ladies and gentlemen having 
 broken their fast with choice food, the Countess di Sala proposed 
 that they should elect a queen instead of choosing her b>- lot, and 
 that her swa\- should not extend beyond the vessel and should 
 last during the whole ^■oyag■e; in order that suggesting some 
 pleasant discourse she might banish the ennui of the journey. 
 They all began to whisper in one another's ears, afterwards 
 raising their \-oices. Signora Tarquinia Molza, a lady of Modena, 
 much lo^•ed by the Duchess for her rare and unusual wit and 
 revered by all the court, was elected queen, to the gratification 
 of all the company. She first modestly declined the honor and 
 power, but finally accepted both. 
 
 All were in suspense, awaiting what the new queen would 
 command that evening for their diversion. After reflecting a 
 moment she said that among all those blessings which are called 
 external or due to Fortune, riches hold the first place after honor, 
 since we see that riches are desired by almost all men, who think 
 that nothing is more suitable to human happiness. "When I 
 consider, therefore, that day before yesterday we discoursed of 
 honor, and yesterday of nobilitj', if I thought that it would be 
 agreeable to the company-, I would choose some one to reason 
 to-daj' of riches, and I would believe that the subject would not 
 be unsuitable, as Signer Ercole Varano has proved to us with 
 strong reasons that riches are the support of nobility-." All 
 approved of this and urged her to command some one to begin. 
 The queen selected Count Ercole Tassoni, a gentleman of fine 
 manners and learning, who, after the usual modest hesitation, 
 pronounced a discourse upon Riches. 
 
 He had not proceeded far in praise of riches when he paused, 
 and the Greek already mentioned, either believing him to have 
 finished or eager to contradict, broke in with a long tirade against 
 wealth. Tassoni replied and a debate between the two ensued. 
 The queen finally declared that the Greek had lost, and that she 
 was sure he would not get a single vote in favor of poverty from 
 the gentlemen present, e\-en if he took a secret ballot. The dis- 
 cussion was prolonged by several speakers, but doubts were not 
 formally propounded. The debate was finally ended when the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 237 
 
 party reached the villa of Consandoli, where the Duke and 
 Duchess had already landed. The queen arose with all the 
 company and leaving the ship followed the court to where quar- 
 ters had been prepared in a sumptuous palace built with great 
 expense by the former princes of Este not far from the banks of 
 the Po. There, after each had rested awhile in his own room, 
 night having fallen, all went to the apartment of the Duchess, 
 where they spent the time until supper with music and pleasant 
 games. After supper they danced and then, the hour being late, 
 all went to await in rest the morning light. 
 
 The next day the Duke and Duchess with all the court, after 
 they had devoutly heard the usual mass, made their way to the 
 bank of the river, where each embarked in his own vessel, ex- 
 cept that the secretaries, councillors, and other magistrates, 
 invited by the Countess di Sala, Signora Tarquinia, and the 
 illustrious Signor Don Cesare, took their places in the Bucintoro, 
 with the intention of conversing upon some noble topic. Among 
 those referred to above were Signor Antonio Montecatini, chief 
 of all the philosophers of our age, Signor Giambattista Laderchi, 
 Signor Giammaria Crispo, and Signor Renato Cati, men not only 
 most excellent in the profession of law, but skilled in every kind of 
 fine and choice literature. Likewise there were posted upon the 
 galleries of the ship various choirs of musicians, who in this 
 court were extraordinary, in order that playing on divers instru- 
 ments and singing, they should delight the sense of hearing by 
 their melody no less than the ladies did the sense of sight by 
 their beauty. After they had journeyed pleasantly for a time, 
 the dinner hour having arrived, the tables were set by the queen's 
 order in the hall and the ladies and magistrates were placed on 
 one side and the cavaliers and knights {uomini di cappa) opposite, 
 and the queen at the head under a canopy with royal majesty. 
 After dinner, which was continually accompanied by the sweetest 
 music, watchful servants, as was the custom on the vessels, 
 placed on the tables cards, draughts, and chess, to banish the 
 ennui of the voyage. The queen having imposed silence by a 
 sign, spoke thus: "As there are two ranks of men deemed worthy 
 of true honor, the profession of letters and of arms, so often it 
 has been disputed to which of these the preference should be 
 given .^'i Considering, therefore, that in this noble band are to 
 
 "For other discussions of this "question," see Chapter IV, note 60. 
 
238 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 be found on the one hand the flower of the scholars of this age 
 of ours, and on the other, cavaHers who excel in the military 
 art, seizing this fine occasion, I mean that for the diversion of 
 our journey to-day we should decide by debate which is worthy 
 of greater honor, the scholar or the soldier; and in order that no 
 confusion may arise in the discussion, I mean that the battle 
 shall be conducted by Champions; the scholars electing one to 
 speak for them, and the others another. And because a contest 
 cannot be settled without a judge, I wish that after both sides 
 have been heard, the sentence shall be pronounced by the pru- 
 dent and immaculate judgment of the Countess di Sala." The 
 judicious proposal of the queen pleased Signor Don Cesare and 
 all the ladies, who were intent upon the choice of champions. 
 After some conversation in a low tone among the scholars, 
 Signor Francesco Patrizio was declared their champion, and by 
 the cavaliers, Signor Giulio Cesare Brancaccio, not only the 
 oldest among the soldiers, and most excellent in the profession 
 of arms, but a gentleman learned, eloquent, and adorned with 
 every sort of virtue. After the choice of champions, the queen 
 breaking silence, commanded Signor Patrizio to enter the lists 
 first. Patrizio smilingly consented on condition that the only 
 weapons used should be the ones with which scholars are wont 
 to overcome their opponents. To which Giulio Cesare replied 
 also with a smile, that although he had the choice of weapons, 
 yet in order that his victory might be the greater, he accepted 
 the terms proposed by the other side. 
 
 A learned debate ensues between the two champions, at the 
 close of which it seemed to the queen and all the company that 
 victory inclined to the side of the cavaliers. Then Signor 
 Renato Cati rose and asked permission to defend his cause on 
 the ground that Signor Patrizio had been a more partial than 
 true champion of scholars, and had neglected "the fierce weapons 
 of jurists." He then proceeded to treat the question at great 
 length from a legal standpoint. Brancaccio replied, and when 
 he had ended the queen silenced with a sign Signor Cati, who 
 wished to prolong the dispute, and commanded the Countess to 
 pronounce sentence, which she did, after reflection, in this 
 manner: "Having heard and carefully considered the arguments 
 on both sides, we decide, that civil honor, the reward of excellent 
 and heroic deeds, should rather be granted to soldiers; and that 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 239 
 
 veneration, peculiar to things divine, is befitting scholars : or for- 
 mulating our sentence better, we say, that warriors should be 
 esteemed by honoring them, and the learned by venerating 
 them." 
 
 The judicious sentence of the Countess was admired by all ; 
 and thereupon, leaving the ship and entering sumptuous carri- 
 ages, the ladies and cavaliers having accompanied the Duke and 
 Duchess to the palace, all returned to their homes. 
 
 Romei's work is evidently an imitation of Castiglione's Corte- 
 giano, but it is an uninteresting and colorless one. It contains, 
 it is true, valuable materials for the history of Italian society 
 in the sixteenth century, but as a work of literary art it does not 
 stand high, and cannot be compared with its original except to 
 its great disadvantage. Not only is the author inferior to 
 Castiglione, but the society he depicts has changed and become 
 less interesting. It has grown more formal, and the influence of 
 Spanish manners is beginning to be felt. There is not a gleam of 
 wit in the entire work, which never rises above a certain mediocre 
 seriousness.^^" 
 
 A valuable source of information in regard to social observ- 
 ances is contained, as has already been seen, in the novelists, 
 and especially in the introductions to their collections of stories. 
 The device of a framework, or setting, for the stories, was first 
 employed by Boccaccio, whose immortal Introduction to the 
 Decameron became the object of endless imitation. There was 
 undoubtedly some foundation for the Introduction in the custom 
 of telling stories for the amusement of a company, as described 
 in the Filocolo. After the Decameron, the custom probably 
 spread, and, as we have seen, story- telling became, with games, 
 
 ^*'^ Solerti has also edited another brief but valuable sketch of life in Ferrara 
 during the first half of the sixteenth century: La Vita Ferrarese nella prima 
 metd. del secolo decimosesto descritta da Agostino Mosti, Bologna, 1892 {Estratto_ 
 dagli AM e Memorie della R. Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Provincie di 
 Romagna, III. serie. Vol. X, fasc. l-ll-lll). . The writer was born at Modena 
 on the 5th of July, 1505, and was not yet eight years old when he became a 
 page to the little Ercole d'Este, afterwards the fourth Duke of Ferrara. Mosti 
 was made prior of the Hospjtal of St. Anne by Alfonso II, and held the office 
 many years; he has suffered in his reputation from having been the jailor of 
 Tasso. He seems, however, to have been a pious and upright man. When 
 nearly eighty years old he was requested by Monsignor Manzuoli, Bishop of 
 Reggio, to write an account of his life and the court of Ferrara. He complied 
 with this request and finished his brief account a month before his death, 
 which took place the 21st of August, 1584. The work is little more than the 
 rambling recollections of an old man concerning the manners of the court 
 and city, with references to change in fashions and the principal events in the 
 life of the Duke Alfonso I. 
 
240 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the favorite diversion of the sixteenth century. None of the 
 various introductions written in imitation of Boccaccio compare 
 in interest with that of the Decameron, although some are 
 entertaining and even valuable for our present purpose .^^ After 
 a time the various motifs were pretty well exhausted and writers 
 were compelled either to publish their novelle as independent 
 stories without any connection whatever, or to devise some other 
 scheme for introducing them to the reader. The most natural 
 one was to dedicate each story to some person and prefix a 
 dedicatory letter, sometimes of an entirely general and per- 
 functory nature, but sometimes giving an account of the origin 
 of the novella. The latter method was followed by the greatest 
 of Italian novelists after Boccaccio, and thanks to him we have 
 an invaluable account of Italian society in the middle of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 Matteo Bandello was bom at Castelnuovo in the Milanese, of 
 a wealthy and noble family .^^ The date of his birth is not known, 
 but it was towards the end of the fifteenth century. His family 
 
 '5 Some of these, viz. : Straparola's Le Piacevoli Notti, Scipione Bargagli's 
 / Trattenimenti, Fortini's Novelle, and Ascanio de Mori's Giuoco Piacevole will 
 be mentioned in Chapter VI. There is no good monograph on the Italian 
 Novel, that of Dr. Marcus Landau, Beitrdge zur Geschichte des italienischen 
 Novelle, Vienna, 1875, being singularly superficial and defective. 
 
 '8 Materials for Bandello's life may be found in Mazzuchelli, reprinted in 
 Novelle del Bandello, London, 1791-93, Presso Riccardo Bancker, Vol. I, p. 
 iii (this edition of Bandello by Gaetano Poggiali is a reprint of the rare first 
 edition of Lucca, 1554 and Lyons, 1573, Part IV, and is the one I shall cite in 
 this chapter); and especially in the Nuova Antologia, Vols. 125, 126 (1892), 
 J' Vita italiana in un novelliere del Cinquecento" by E. Masi. A general ac- 
 count of Bandello and his novels may be found also in J. A. Symonds, Renais- 
 sance in Italy, Italian Literature, Part II, New York, 1882, pp. 63-78. For 
 Bandello's relations to Isabella d'Este see Luzio-Renier in Giornale storico. 
 Vol. XXXIV (1899), "Coltura e relazioni letterarie d'Isabella d'Este," pp. 
 77 et seq. There is a more accessible edition of Bandello's Novelle in the 
 Raccolta di novellieri italiani, publishied by Piomba at Turin, 1853. The 
 novelle of Bandello occupy four volumes. The publisher does not mention the 
 edition followed by him, but it is probably the one of London, 1791-93, which, 
 it may be said, was really published at Leghorn and edited by Gaetano Pog- 
 giali. 
 
 These editions have now been superseded by the edition in the Scritton 
 d' Italia, Baxi, 1910-12: Matteo Bandello. Le Novelle, a cura di Gioachino 
 Brognoligo, five volumes. 
 
 Two articles similar to those of Masi in the Nuova Antologia mentioned 
 above are to be found in the Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und 
 Litteraturen, vols. 108 (1902), pp. 324-367; 109 (1902), pp. 83-106, by H. 
 Meyer, "Matteo Bandello nach seinen Widmungen." These articles as well 
 as those of Masi deal largely with the personal history of Bandello and with 
 the general history of his times. Neither dwells to any extent on the topics 
 in which I am interested, viz., the social observances of the day. I have not 
 been able to see several of the works cited by Brognoligo in the Nota at the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 241 
 
 were adherents of Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, and when 
 he was dispossessed by the French in 1499, lost their property 
 by confiscation. His uncle, Vincenzio Bandello, was prior of 
 the Dominican convent delle Grazie in Milan, well known to 
 travellers as containing in the refectory Leonardo da Vinci's 
 famous painting of the Last Supper, and became in 1501 general 
 of the whole Dominican order. Matteo was placed as a child 
 with his uncle in the convent at Milan and pursued his studies 
 there and at Genoa and Pa via until 1505, when he accompanied 
 his uncle to Rome, visiting Florence on the way. In 1508 he 
 was at the court of Louis XII at Blois engaged in some diplo- 
 matic service. In 1509 he published his first work, a Latin 
 translation of Boccaccio's novel of Tito e Gisippo (x, 8). He 
 remained in the service of the Bentivoglia fam.ily until 15 12, 
 when that family lost forever their lordship of Bologna, in con- 
 sequence of the battle of Ravenna. Maximilian Sforza, son of 
 Ludovico il Moro, was proclaimed Duke of Milan. Three years 
 later Louis XII died and was succeeded by Francis I, who im- 
 mediately undertook the reconquest of Milan. The victory of 
 Marignano on the 13th of September, 1525, amply compensated 
 for the defeat of Ravenna, and again the duchy of Milan fell 
 into the hands of the French. The partisans of Maximilian 
 were banished, and among them was Bandello, who transferred 
 his allegiance to the court of Mantua, where he enjoyed the 
 patronage of the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and his wife 
 Isabella, already well known to our readers as the sister-in-law 
 of the Duchess of Urbino.^^ 
 
 He had become acquainted with the Marchesa Isabella at 
 Milan, either when she was present at the marriage of her sister 
 Beatrice to Ludovico il Moro in 1490,^* or in 1513 at the court of 
 Maximilian. It is the court of Mantua or the minor courts 
 connected with it which Bandello describes in the prefaces to 
 his novels, which afford such precious materials for the history 
 of Italian society during this period. 
 
 end of the last volume of his edition, pp. 348-349. Apparently the articles 
 by Masi mentioned above have been published in book-form: Matteo Bandello, 
 la vita italiana in un npvelliere del Cinguecento, Bologna, 1900. For Bandello 
 in English see Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 41, No. 26. 
 
 " See Luzio-Renier, Mantova e Urbino, pp. 51 et seq. 
 
 '8 Ludovico il Moro married Beatrice, daughter of Ercole d'Este, Duke of 
 Ferrara, in 1490. She died Jan. 2, 1497, leaving two sons, Maximilian and 
 Francesco. 
 17 
 
242 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Bandello subsequently returned to Milan, where he was in- 
 volved in the events of 1526, by which Francesco Sforza was 
 driven from his state. He then reentered the service of the 
 Gonzaga, which, however, he shortly left to attach himself 
 for the rest of his life to Caesar and Costanza Fregoso. Caesar 
 Fregoso was a member of the great Genoese family already men- 
 tioned in Chapter IV in connection with Castiglione's Corte- 
 gianoP After the expulsion of his father, James II, Doge of 
 Genoa, Caesar was educated at the court of Francis I, who 
 knighted him and employed him in various military and diplo- 
 matic services. He made several attempts to win Genoa for 
 the French, but failed, and entered the service of the Venetians. 
 Bandello occupied the post of secretary to him and spent 
 several years at Verona with him and his wife Costanza, whose 
 sister Ginevra Rangone was the wife of Luigi Gonzaga, whose 
 service Bandello had just left. On the death of Francesco 
 Sforza in 1535, war again broke out between Francis I and the 
 emperor Charles V, and Caesar Fregoso left the service of Venice 
 and entered that of France.^" Bandello followed his master in 
 all the events of the war, and was present when Francis I showered 
 honors upon Fregoso and bestowed a bishopric on his son. 
 
 The war between Francis I and the Emperor was brought to 
 an end by the Truce of Nice, signed on the i8th of June, 1538, 
 and Fregoso retired to Castelgiuffredo, where he and his wife 
 lived with Luigi Gonzaga and his wife, who was, as has been 
 said, a sister of Costanza Fregoso. They were bringing up with 
 them a beautiful young girl named Lucrezia," orphan daughter 
 of Pirro Gonzaga and Camilla Bentivoglio, with whom Bandello 
 fell in love, not the first example of a teacher falling in love with 
 his pupil. The happy life at Castelgiuffredo described with 
 such delight by Bandello came to an end in 1540. Ginevra Gon- 
 zaga died suddenly, Costanza and her husband were obliged to 
 leave Castelgiuffredo on account of illness, and Lucrezia and her 
 sister Isabella also departed. Worse was yet to come. The 
 truce between Francis I and Charles V was on the point of rup- 
 ture, and the former summoned to him Caesar Fregoso.'*^ He 
 
 " Some account of Caesar Fregoso may be found in J. Zeller, La Diplomatie 
 frauQaise vers le milieu du XVIe siecle, Paris, 1881, especially pp. 67 et seq. 
 
 ^0 See Zeller, p. 68. 
 
 ^' Lucrezia subsequently married Giampaolo, a Venetian condottiere, who 
 died in the prison of Ferrara; see Masi, 126, p. 73. 
 
 ^^See Zeller, p. 244. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 243 
 
 reached France in safety and was returning the next year, 1541, 
 as ambassador of France' to Venice, when he was assassinated on 
 the river Po, near Pavia, by the order of the Marquis del Vasto, 
 governor of Milan .^' This atrocious deed was followed by the 
 banishment of Costanza Fregoso by Venice, upon the discovery 
 of a plot against the state, in which the French ambassador was 
 implicated.** All connected with him were subjected to per- 
 secution, and Costanza Fregoso was expelled from the territory 
 of Venice and her property confiscated. She took refuge in 
 France, whither Bandello followed her. She was welcomed in 
 the most hospitable manner by Francis I, and thanks to his 
 munificence was enabled to live in a manner befitting her rank. 
 
 She resided at the Chateau of Bassens, near the city of Agen, 
 and there contributed to diffuse in France, as Masi says, " Italian 
 customs and manners, the taste and fashion of our language and 
 literature, and even the form and cultivation of our gardens, 
 for which purpose she had gardeners brought from Tuscany." 
 The liberality of Francis I was continued by his successor Henry 
 II, who nominated Costanza's second son Ettore Fregoso to 
 the bishopric of Agen. As he was a child, the bishopric was 
 assigned in trust to Bandello, and thus has arisen the story that 
 Bandello died bishop of Agen. At Bassens Bandello spent the 
 remainder of his life in happy ease, preparing for the press his 
 novels and poems. The date of his death is unknown, but he 
 was alive in 1554 and probably died about 1560. 
 
 It is not our purpose to study the novels of Bandello; they 
 undoubtedly contain precious materials for the knowledge of 
 Italian life in the sixteenth century, and they have often been 
 examined with that design in view.*^ They do not, however, 
 throw much light upon the diversions and observances of polite 
 society, in which we are more particularly interested. Much 
 more valuable are the prefaces, or dedicatory letters, to the 
 individual novels, in which Bandello describes the occasion when 
 the story was told, or other circumstances connected with its 
 origin and narration. These dedicatory prefaces, often of con- 
 
 « It was on July 3, at Cantalu, three miles above the confluence of the Ti- 
 cino and the Po. For details see Memoires de Du Bellay, idition du PantMon 
 Utteraire, pp. 697-703. The murder of Fregoso and his companion Rincon is 
 minutely examined by Zeller in the work already cited, pp. 239-266. 
 
 « See Zeller, pp. 353-387- , „ . . ^ . .. , . 
 « Especially in the articles of Masi cited in Note 36. 
 
244 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 siderable length, give a most attractive picture of Italian society, 
 or rather, they furnish the bits of enamel from which we can 
 construct the complete picture. It is surprising that greater 
 use has not been made of them, and I shall endeavor to supply 
 this omission by a somewhat detailed examination. 
 
 The scene of the pleasant companies into which Bandello 
 introduces us is often the garden, and it is interesting to note 
 the important role which it still plays in Italian society. In the 
 second novel of the first part (Vol. I, p. 26), the story in question 
 was told in the most pleasant garden of Signor L. Scipione 
 Attellano. In the seventeenth of the first part (Vol. I, p. 378), 
 a company of noble gentlemen went to the pleasant palace of 
 Madama Isabella da Este, Marchesana of Mantua, to reconcile 
 two brave soldiers. It was in July and the dog days were be- 
 ginning to inflame the air, and there was no wind, or only a 
 slight breeze, which rustled the leaves on the trees. The Mar- 
 chesana withdrew immediately after dinner, and one of the 
 company, Pirro Gonzaga di Gazuolo, said: "Gentlemen, since 
 Madonna is not here, I would advise the whole company to en- 
 joy the coolness of the garden loggia, and spend the time there 
 until Madonna comes down." They agreed to this proposal, 
 and sat down under the loggia, and began to talk of various 
 things according to their pleasure. While they were thus engaged, 
 Messer Alessandro Baesio arrived from San Sebastiano and told a 
 piece of. scandal which had occurred in Mantua, and one of his 
 hearers related a similar story, which took place in Vicenza. 
 The thirtieth novel of the first part (Vol. II, p. 335) is told under 
 similar circumstances in the same spot. One of the guests, 
 Signor Costanzo Pio di Carpi, said: "To escape the present heat, 
 I would advise our withdrawing to the grove of poplars which 
 the Marchesana has planted in memory of the Duke Ercole her 
 father, and there sitting by the bank of the stream on the fresh 
 thick grass, and talking of what most pleases us." The company 
 did so and Signor Costanzo told a story. The scene of the thirty- 
 first novel of the first part (Vol. II, p. 348) is also in a garden 
 in Milan belonging to the palace of the Cardinal Sanseverino. 
 So in the fiftieth novel of the first part (Vol. Ill, p. 393), a fine 
 company of gentle spirits found themselves in the beautiful 
 garden of Messer Girolamo Archinto, and after some talk on 
 literary matters, they began to discourse on love affairs, and Sig- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 245 
 
 nor Cesare Triulzo told a story as usual. In the tenth novel of 
 the second part (Vol. IV, p. 215) an account is given of an enter- 
 tainment at Montorio by Cesare Fregoso, where, after dinner, 
 they played many pleasing games under a long, wide, and dense 
 arbor made for the occasion. Those who cared little for the heat 
 danced to the music of pipers, and afterwards talked about the 
 Decameron, and one of the company narrated a novel.' The 
 scene of the thirty-sixth novel of the second part (Vol. V, p. 276) 
 is at Pineruolo, without the town, in a meadow of thick green 
 grass, through which flowed a clear and cool stream, which made 
 a sweet and pleasant sound with its gentle murmuring. The 
 forty-seventh novel of the second part (Vol. VI, p. 300) is also 
 related in a garden. In the eighth novel of the third part (Vol. 
 VII, p. 115), when Signora Ippolita Sforza e Bentivoglia was at 
 the baths of Acquario, the principal personages of the town, 
 gentlemen as well as ladies, met in her garden, where after dinner 
 there was always pleasant and seemly talk on various topics. 
 
 The subject of conversation on these occasions was, as might 
 have been supposed, love. Thus in the first novel of the first 
 part (Vol. I, p. 8), the company talked of events of the day, of 
 love affairs, as well as of other occurrences. In the forty-fifth 
 novel of the first part (Vol. Ill, p. 186), a company at Ferrara 
 talked of the varied and infinite occurrences of the day, and of 
 the mighty and divine power of the celestial Venus, and Messer 
 Filippo told a story illustrating the point that a man should love 
 a woman above him, but a woman should not. The power of 
 love was also the topic at a supper described in the second novel 
 of the second part (Vol. IV, p. 22). In the fifty-fifth novel of 
 the first part (Vol. Ill, p. 393). after talking about literature, 
 the company conversed of love affairs. So in the ninth novel of 
 the second part (Vol. IV, p. 138), at the baths of Caldera, the 
 company talked about the accidents which happen in love affairs. 
 The story which is told to illustrate this is the famous tale of 
 Romeo and Juliet. The same subject is discussed in the thirty- 
 second novel of the second part (Vol. V, p. 220). In the fortieth 
 novel of the second part (Vol. VI, p. 28), after various topics 
 had been discussed, the company began to talk of love "as the 
 sweet and gentle condiment of all the conversations of joyful 
 assemblies." The various kinds of love and their effects are the 
 subject of talk in the thirty-first novel of the second part (Vol. 
 
246 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 V, p. 199). A similar subject, "the variety of the effects of 
 love," is discussed in the forty-second novel of the second part 
 (Vol. VI, p. 180). There is in the forty-seventh novel of the 
 second part (Vol. VI, p. 300), a long discourse on the various 
 kinds of love and their effects, with astrological explanations, 
 and the conclusion, "that if the natures of the two lovers are 
 different, love will never spring up between them." 
 
 Poetry was also discussed in the twenty-first novel of the first 
 part (Vol. II, p. 56), and one of the company proposed reading 
 Boccaccio, but another suggested telling original stories, which 
 was done. In the forty-eighth of the first part (Vol. Ill, p. 264), 
 they discussed repartees ; and in the fifty-fourth novel of the same 
 part (Vol. Ill, p. 375) presumptuous and rash talkers are the 
 topic of the conversation. 
 
 Sometimes the subject reminds us of the Decameron, which 
 had such a profound influence on the forms of social diversion, 
 as in the thirty-first novel of the first part (Vol. II, p. 348), 
 where the company talk of ready replies given at the right time.^' 
 
 "Questions" or "doubts" in the technical sense were also 
 debated, as in the thirteenth novel of the first part (Vol. I., p. 
 286) : "Which of the two passions, joy or sorrow, kills a man the 
 sooner?" A story is told to prove that the latter does. In the 
 ninth novel of the first part (Vol. I, p. 222), the subject was: 
 "Why do many wise women commit great mistakes, by which 
 they suddenly lose their good name?" Examples are given and 
 the conclusion is that the fault of their mistakes should be attrib- 
 uted to their lack of brains {nel loro poco cervello). Other refer- 
 ences to questions are contained in the fifty-fifth novel of the 
 second part (Vol. VI, p 416), and in the ninth novel of the third 
 part (Vol. VII, p. 122). 
 
 In the thirtieth novel of the second part (Vol. V, p. 191), the 
 conversation turns on the great difference in men and in their 
 nature and inclinations, which are often different in all their 
 actions. In the ninth novel of the third part, just cited, the fair 
 sex is praised and some excellent women of ancient and modern 
 times are mentioned, above all Pantea, whose history one of the 
 company then proceeds to relate. In the twenty-sixth novel 
 
 *' See the Sixth Day of the Decameron, "nella quale si ragiona di chi, con 
 alcuno leggiadro motto tentato, si riscotesse, o con pronta risposta o awedi- 
 mento fuggi perdita o pericolo o scorno." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 247 
 
 of the third part (Vol. VII, p. 319), the talk turns on how rulers 
 and servants should behave towards each other. A story is 
 told to prove the proverb, Familiarity breeds contempt. 
 
 The passion for story- telling has already been alluded to, and 
 many instances are found in the prefaces which have been cited. 
 Others may be found in the forty-fourth novel of the first part 
 (Vol. Ill, p. 167), which will be mentioned at length presently; 
 in the first novel of the second part (Vol. IV, p. 6), where Messer 
 Girolamo Archinto tells a story at a banquet given by L. Scipione 
 Attellano; in the thirty-fifth novel of the second part (Vol. V, 
 p. 266), in which Maria di Navarra tells a story at Bassens; 
 in the forty-third novel of the second part (Vol. VI, p. 200), to 
 be mentioned later; in the twenty-fourth novel of the third part 
 (Vol. VII, p. 300), where Signor Giovanni Castiglione gives a 
 dinner to a number of ladies and gentlemen, after which talking 
 of various things, Signor Guamero his brother said to Messer 
 Giovanni Antonio Cusano, an excellent physician, that he should 
 interrupt the different conversations of the company, and en- 
 tertain them with some story, which he did; in the thirty- 
 ninth novel of the third part (Vol. VIII, p. 50), another story 
 is told at a banquet; in the fifty-fourth novel of the third part 
 (Vol. VIII, p. 208), where a story is narrated in a garden; in the 
 sixty-first novel of the third part (Vol. VIII, p. 293), where a 
 story is told in the garden at Bassens; and in the fifth novel of 
 the fourth part (Vol. IX, p. 80), which will be mentioned in 
 detail later. 
 
 Games are frequently referred to, but only in a general way; 
 as in the fifth novel of the second part (Vol. IV, p. 76), to be 
 mentioned later; in the ninth novel of the second part (Vol. 
 IV, p. 138), the scene is laid at the baths of Caldera (Caldiero, 
 seven and a half miles north of Verona, a mineral bath known to 
 the Romans and still visited), where Cesare Fregoso had gone 
 to drink the waters. After he had been there a few days, he was 
 visited by the gentlemen of the neighboring cities, whom he 
 entertained richly and sumptuously. They played various 
 pleasant games, and whoever took more pleasure in one game than 
 in another, played that one. The usual story was also told. 
 Other references to games may be found in the tenth novel of 
 the second part (Vol. IV, p. 215), to be mentioned later; in the 
 forty-third novel of the same part (Vol. VI, p. 200), "facendo 
 
2-48 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 mille festevoli giuochi"; in the fifty-second novel of the third 
 part (Vol. \'III, p. 175), Bandello says that in the last summer, 
 to avoid the excessive heat of JMilan, he went to a villa across 
 the Adda, called the Palace, belonging to Signor Alessandro 
 Bentivoglio, and there he remained three months, during which 
 time many gentlemen and ladies came there, and were welcomed 
 by the noble owner of the \-illa, and spent their time in seemly' and 
 amusing games. And finalh-, games are mentioned in the 
 fifth novel of the fourth part (Vol. IX, p. 80), to be examined in 
 detail later. 
 
 Many of the prefaces cited above give but a glimpse of the 
 society of the daj-; a few, however, contain detailed descriptions 
 and deser\-e to be quoted at length. In the forty-fourth novel 
 of the first part (Vol. Ill, p. 167), an account is given of an 
 entertainment offered by Scipione Attellano to Bianca da Este. 
 It occurred in July, when the heat of the dog-days is wont to 
 be somewhat annoying. A short and very pleasant farce was 
 recited which kept the company amused for some time. Then 
 they danced and played many entertaining games, and as it was 
 near noon, and the air was \-ery hot, although they were in a 
 cool room on the ground floor, with windows opening to the east, 
 the dancing ceased, and the company began to talk of various 
 matters. Signora Camilla Scarampa, who, the writer remarks, 
 may truly be called a second Sappho of our day, said that it 
 would not be unfitting to spend that hot and tiresome hour in 
 pleasant talk. The proposal was praised by all, and Signora 
 Camilla began and told an amusing story, and afterwards others 
 were told by the ladies and gentlemen. 
 
 In the fifth novel of the second part (Vol. I\', p. 76), Signora 
 Isabella da Este, Marchesa of Mantua, to a\oid the intense heat 
 felt in Mantua owing to the dry weather, withdrew to the castle 
 della Cavriana, where it is rather cold than cool. There she 
 amused herself, as was her wont, reading, discussing, listening to 
 music, and playing seemly and amusing games. One day there 
 happened to be there Messer Paris Ceresaro, a most noble man 
 and learned in all kinds of literature, who told in the presence of 
 all a cruel and pitiful incident that had recently occurred in 
 Rome. After the Marchesa heard the story she composed and 
 debated many fine questions relating to love, and set them down 
 in a little book in Italian prose. The story which gave rise to 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 249 
 
 the discussion is then related by Bandello, who had heard it 
 several times from Ceresaro. 
 
 In the tenth novel of the second part (Vol. IV, p. 215), Bandello 
 says that the Venetians were wont to visit terra firma with their 
 wives and other ladies on pleasure excursions, and they seldom 
 came to Verona that Signor Cesare Fregoso did not entertain 
 them splendidly, sometimes in Verona, sometimes without the 
 city, at the cool and clear springs of Mantua, so celebrated by 
 Boccaccio in the Filocolo, and at Garda, from which the famous 
 lake of Benacus now takes its name. At Garda the Fregosi 
 have a great palace, with most beautiful gardens, in which are 
 all the trees of delicate fruits which this climate will permit: 
 oranges, citrons, lemons, and pomegranates, not to mention other 
 kinds. There they enjoyed the beauty of the lovely lake, well 
 stocked with fish, the banks of which Pomona, Bacchus, and Flora 
 splendidly adorned. Here at Montorio Signor Cesare gave a din- 
 ner and supper to a noble company of Venetians, who had come 
 to Verona. He invited many Veronese gentlemen to meet them, 
 and his wife Costanza invited some ladies of the city. The 
 dinner, as was usual with the Fregosi, was fine and truly Lucul- 
 lian; besides the meat of domestic animals, there was served 
 up the flesh of wild birds and quadrupeds, according to the season, 
 and as seemed suitable to Messer Antonio Giovenazzo, the 
 steward, together with all kinds of fish produced in the springs 
 or in the lake. After the dinner they played many pleasant 
 games under a dense, long, and broad arbor, made on purpose, 
 where to the sound of pipes those danced who did not mind the 
 heat. At noon the heat being great and the dancing having 
 ceased, the ladies and gentlemen began to talk together, as they 
 pleased. In one company the conversation fell on the De- 
 cameron, and one of the guests told a story, which Signor Cesare 
 commanded Bandello to write down. 
 
 The social life of Madonna Costanza Fregoso at San Nazaro 
 in the south of France is described in the forty-third novel of 
 the second part (Vol. VI, p. 200). Every day the neighboring 
 lords and barons paid her visits, as was the custom of the country, 
 bringing with them their wives and suites, and leading a bright 
 and happy life. Usually they had wholly banished all melan- 
 choly and jealousy from their minds, and spent their time danc- 
 ing and playing games, and kissing each other often in the dances. 
 
250 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It happened one day that the company were talking of the de- 
 ceits practiced on Henry VIII of England by some of his wives, 
 and one of the company told a story of the way in which the 
 Queen of Aragon deceived her husband Peter, for a laudable 
 purpose, however. 
 
 In the fifty-fifth novel of the second part (Vol. VI, p. 416), 
 an account is given of a visit to a country house by Alessandro 
 Bentivoglio and his wife Ippolita Sforza, and their amusements 
 there. The house belonged to the da R6, an old and noble 
 family of Milan. On their arrival (it was St. Bartholomew's 
 Day) they were welcomed with due honor and spent the festival 
 and the following day in great pleasure in the company of many 
 gentle persons. The second day, after dinner, the heat being 
 great (the wind blowing from the south), all the company went 
 to a large room, which was quite cool and overlooked a large and 
 pleasant garden, with bowers so long that they would have suf- 
 ficed for horse races. In that room some talked, others played 
 draughts and chess, some sang, others played various instruments, 
 and others did what was most pleasing to them to pass that 
 tiresome noonday hour. Then Signora Ippolita called to her 
 the kind and clever poet and scholar Messer Niccolo Amanio, 
 Messer Tommaso Castellano, her secretary, and Messer Girolamo 
 Cittadino, and wished Bandello to be the fourth among those 
 three gentle and learned men. She had in her hand the divine 
 poet Virgil, and reading many verses of the sixth book of the 
 Aeneid, she began to propound fine and ingenious "doubts" 
 according to the matter she was reading. After many fine 
 things had been said by her and others, she begged Messer 
 Niccolo Amanio to help pass pleasantly what was left of the hot 
 part of the day by relating some story. After some hesitation 
 he complied and told the story of Antiochus and Stratonica, 
 which Bandello afterwards wrote down and sent to Signora Pia e 
 Sanseverina. 
 
 The last of the prefaces of Bandello which I shall mention is 
 that to the fifth novel of the fourth part (Vol. IX, p. 80), which 
 contains an account of the festivities at the marriage of the daugh- 
 ter of the Marchesa di Gonzaga at Casalmaggiore. When 
 Bandello arrived he found many distinguished guests from all 
 parts of Italy, all comfortably lodged according to their rank. 
 The festivities had already begun, and whoever wanted to dance 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 251 
 
 could satisfy his desire, for there were always present excellent 
 players upon various musical instruments. Many games were 
 also played, which afforded the company great pleasure. There 
 were jugglers, too, and buffoons, who made the spectators laugh 
 and pass the time very joyfully. As the heat was great the 
 company withdrew to a lower room, wonderfully cool. There 
 the Marchesa addressed the company and said she had brought 
 them there on account of the heat and crowd, and because she 
 had had the happy thought of bringing them there and leaving 
 the musicians in another room, in order that they might talk 
 on any subject that pleased them to pass that hot and wearisome 
 hour of the day. She then exhorted any of the company who had 
 a fine story ready not to hesitate to divulge it. One of the 
 guests complied with the Marchesa's wish and told a story. 
 
 It will easily be seen from the above quotations that certain 
 stereotyped forms of social diversion go back to the Filocolo and 
 the Decameron, of Boccaccio. The passion for story- telling was 
 universal aod was not peculiar to Italy, any more than music 
 and dancing. Games, as we shall see in the next chapter, are 
 more peculiarly Italian, and probably spread from Italy over 
 the rest of Europe. More characteristic of Italy was the fond- 
 ness for conversation, and the cultivation of that art long before 
 the French salons of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
 carried the art to its highest perfection. 
 
 The principal subject of discussion was the theme of love, 
 which, under the form of Platonic love, played such an immense 
 part in society in Italy in the sixteenth century, and in the guise 
 of gallantry ruled French society in the following century. 
 
 An interesting picture of Italian manners and customs is also 
 
 found in the introduction to the collection of stories by Girolamo 
 
 Parabosco, known under the title of I Diporti (The Diversions). 
 
 The author was a native of Piacenza, who passed the greater 
 
 part of his life at Venice, where he was the musical director of 
 
 the church of St. Mark. The year of his death, as well as that 
 
 of his birth, is unknown, but it was about I557-*' 
 
 " See scanty notices of Parabosco's life in Passano's I Novellieri italiani 'in 
 prosa, and the introduction by Poggiali to his edition of Parabosco, London, 
 Presso Riccardo Bancker, 1795. Parabosco was also the author of a very 
 popular work, which ran through many editions (see Passano) : Lettere amo- 
 rose, of which I have seen the edition of Venice, Domenico Farri, 1581. It is 
 in four books, each with independent pagination, and contains, besides the 
 
252 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The frame of the work is as follows. It was the custom in 
 Venice during the winter for gentlemen to go fishing, either alone 
 or in company, in the neighborhood of the city; and to dwell for 
 a time in huts built in the water of wood or stones, or reeds or 
 mud. There in places called valli the fish are confined and fed 
 for the convenience of the fishermen. The Venetian gentle- 
 men, as has been said, are wont to fish there in a thousand dif- 
 ferent ways, and hunt with falcons, and amuse themselves in 
 divers fashions, remaining there a day or two or three, as they 
 please. After they have spent the day in their pleasure, they 
 return to the huts mentioned above for eating, sleeping, convers- 
 ing, and other customary enjoyments. Not long ago, in one of 
 these agreeable spots, there gathered for pleasure a company of 
 worthy and noble spirits, among whom were the magjnificeiit 
 Messer Girolamo Molino, Domenico Veniero, Lorenzo Con- 
 tarino, Frederico Badovaro, Marcantonio Comaro, Daniel 
 Barbaro, Bartolomeo Vitturi, Benedetto Cornaro, Alvigi Zorzi, 
 all Venetian gentlemen, and with them Signor Ercole Benti- 
 voglio. Count Alessandro Lambertino, both Bolognese, Sperone 
 Sperone of Padua, Pietro Aretino, Alessandro Colombo of 
 Piacenza, Giambattista Susio from La Mirandola, Fortunio 
 Spira from Viterbo, and Anton Giacomo Corso from Ancona. 
 
 These gentlemen arrived early one morning, bringing with 
 them sufficient food to spend two or three days pleasantly. 
 Suddenly the weather changed and the rough water gave sign 
 of an approaching storm. The fishermen, who had come there 
 in great numbers for their amusement, advised the gentlemen 
 to retire to one of the huts, hoping that the storm would not go 
 further, and when they were sure of that they could resume their 
 sport. They landed then where they had sent their food and 
 servants to prepare their dinner, and Count Alessandro began 
 by thanking heaven that there were no women present, de- 
 claring that they were the poison which embittered every 
 pleasant company. Benedetto Comaro defended the other sex, 
 and a long discussion on women ensued. 
 
 letters, four novelle and various poetical compositions. As might have been 
 expected it was translated into French; Lettres amoureuses de G. Parabosque 
 avec quelques autres ajoutees de nouveau, reduitees [sic] de I'ltalien par H. 
 Philippe de Villiers, Anvers, 1556, 8vo. It is very likely that such works 
 had considerable influence on the literature of the Precieux of the seventeenth 
 century in France. I refer particularly to the Oeuvres galantes of the Abbe 
 Cotin and LePays, Amitiez, Amours, et Amourettes. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 253 
 
 After dinner the storm grew worse and it was evident that they 
 could hope for no better weather that day. Badovaro proposed 
 that they should devise some useful and pleasant conversation, 
 which could last some time. For this end he suggested that 
 each should mention the subject which seemed best to him, and 
 then all should choose the one which the majority thought would 
 produce the most profit and pleasure. Badovaro's advice was 
 approved and all began to propose topics. One said it would 
 be well to discuss the superiority of arms and letters.^' Some pro- 
 posed a question in regard to love; others a question of moral 
 philosophy, and so on. Finally they decided that story- telling 
 would be best, because it was no less useful than pleasant, being 
 both satirical and amusing, and besides a subject complete in 
 itself and agreeable to all. Lorenzo Contarino was chosen to 
 begin, and after the usual modest hesitation, he related the 
 pitiful tale of Ludovica and Carlo de' Viustini. 
 
 When the story of the luckless lovers was ended, the narrator 
 himself raised a doubt as to whether Carlo's voluntary death 
 was due to his love for Fioretta or his hatred of Ludovica. A 
 long discussion followed, which Aretino ended by declaring that 
 they might debate the matter for months if they wanted to satisfy 
 the profound and acute intellects of the company. Contarino 
 then asked Ercole Bentivoglio to continue. He likewise at the 
 end of his story propounded a doubt for the company to discuss. 
 This example was not followed in the remainder of the stories 
 of the first day, which were continued until evening. The 
 servants then prepared the supper and the gentlemen "played 
 pleasant games and spent the rest of the day in many other 
 diversions; after which they supped and went to bed." 
 
 The next day the weather was still unfavorable and the com- 
 pany was obliged to remain within doors. It was decided to 
 continue the mode of diversion of the previous day, and Vitturi, 
 who had related the last novel, requested Badovaro to begin, 
 who after the usual deprecatory introduction, told the tenth 
 story. The novels were related without giving rise to any ques- 
 tions. When the sixteenth had been ended, the day was draw- 
 ing to a close, and the company was informed that a bark from 
 Chioggia was approaching. They were still imagining who 
 could be on board, when Messer Marcantonio da Mulla, Luigi 
 
 ** See note 34 of this chapter. 
 
254 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Mocenigo, Marcantonio Moresino, and Pandolfo Gon entered. 
 They had been on a pleasure trip to Chioggia and were returning 
 to Venice when they heard that a company of their friends were 
 near by and resolved to stop and spend the night with them. 
 They were joyfully received, and the story- telling was suspended 
 for the time and they talked about other things until supper was 
 over, when Vetturi said: " It would not be out of place, sitting as 
 we are at table, if some of the questions involved in the various 
 novels should be brought forward and discussed." Then the 
 newcomers were informed of the past discussions and the ill- 
 will borne towards women by Count Alessandro; and Molino 
 was charged with propounding four questions. 
 
 He cheerfully accepted the task and said: "The first question 
 which I mean to propose will be: Which love is the greater and 
 more, ardent, that of a man for a woman, or of a woman for a 
 man?*^ I do not propose this question because I am at all in 
 doubt about it, but in order to see what reasons Count Alessandro 
 (under whose potection I place the side of the men) will allege 
 in proof that women are by nature totally devoid of all affection. 
 The side of the women I shall entrust to Messer Luigi, by whose 
 worth I hope to win the gratitude of women, who will understand 
 that I have found so worthy a champion for their defence against 
 so powerful and fierce an enemy of theirs." The discussion then 
 began and continued, with an occasional interruption on the 
 
 ^' See note 25 of this chapter. There is now an excellent work on Para- 
 bosco by Giuseppe Bianchini, Girolamo Parabosco, scrittore e organista del 
 secolo XVI, Venezia, 1899 (R. Deputazione Veneta di Storia Patria). The 
 writer has been unable to discover the exact date of Parabosco's birth, but it 
 was about 1524. The date of his death, April 21, 1557, is fixed by an endorse- 
 ment on Parabosco's will (April 7, 1557) published by Bianchini in an appendix 
 of documents, p. 233. Besides the novelle contained in the Diporti Parabosco 
 wrote poetry, plays, and the letters mentioned above. Bianchini devotes a 
 chapter (VII) to / Diporti and has some interesting remarks on the sources 
 of the novelle. Bianchini also calls attention, p. 217, note 7, to some "ques- 
 tions" discussed in the Lettere amorose. They are six in number; Is Love to 
 be deemed a madness? For what reason is man enamoured? Can a jealous man 
 be termed a lover? Can the old love? " Se colui, che innamorasi d'una donzella 
 si ritrovi giammai a conolu^one alcuna, che buona sia, senza uri mezzo di 
 casa pervenga?" and finally. Which are the three kinds of love? Bianchini 
 gives an excellent bibliography and all through the book are references 
 valuable for the present work, e.g., p. 214, note 2, an account of other 
 kltere amorose and works teaching the composition of such letters. The 
 edition seen by me and mentioned earlier in this note is not regijstered by 
 Bianchini. 
 
 There Js now a good modern edition of Parabosco's / Diporti in Novellieri 
 minori del Cinquecento, Bari, 1912, in Scrittori d'ltalia, by Giuseppe Gigli and 
 Fausto Nicolini. The novelle of S. Erizzo are in the same volume. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 255 
 
 part of the company, until it was decided by acclamation that 
 Mocenigo was right and Count Alessandro wrong. 
 
 Molino then proposed the second question: Which is the 
 happier, the one who hopes to enjoy the object of his love, or 
 the one who is already in possession of itP^" Mulla was to defend 
 the former, and Ercole the latter side. At the end of the dis- 
 cussion both gentlemen were praised for their pointed and bril- 
 liant arguments, but no decision was pronounced. 
 
 The next question was: Which causes the greater suffering, 
 to lose what one has gained, or not to be able to gain what one 
 desires ?^^ Ercole Bevilacqua and Marcantonio Moresino dis- 
 cussed the question, which also remained undecided for lack of 
 time to finish the debate in a proper manner. 
 
 The last question propounded by Molino for Giambattista 
 Susio and Pandolfo Goro to debate was : Whether love is caused 
 in us by fate or choice. ^^ The discussion was ended by Molino, who 
 jestingly said it was time to do so, for Susio was rapidly travelling 
 heavenwards to show that nothing here below happens without 
 the influence of the planets. It was now late and the company 
 broke up for the night. 
 
 The third day was pleasant and the sea calm, but the company 
 were so interested in their conversations and debates that they 
 resolved to spend the day in their abode rather than engage in 
 the sport for which they had come. As, however, Alessandro 
 Lambertini and Ercole Bevilacqua were strangers and had never 
 seen the manner of fishing practiced there, they let them depart 
 with the fishermen. The others resumed their former diversion, 
 and Giacomo Corso related the story which he had been prevented 
 from telling the day before by the arrival of the party from Chi- 
 oggia. 
 
 The story gave rise to a discussion on the nature of motti and 
 their difference from proverbs.^' Veniero gave the following 
 definition of each: "The proverb, in my opinion, is only that 
 which is said by way of maxim {per sentenza) , and which is ap- 
 plied to a single subject (proposita) ; although it may be used 
 differently on different occasions: motti are what spontaneously 
 
 '» See note 24 of this chapter. 
 
 " This is practically the question which forms the subject of the Question 
 de Amor discussed at the beginning of the present chapter. 
 
 '2 See note 22 of this chapter. 
 
 53 This discussion recalls the similar one in the Cortegtano; see Chapter IV, 
 note 61. 
 
256 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 arise in our minds, and have never been said by any other, when 
 to attack another or to defend ourselves from another's attacks, 
 we utter them in company." The various kinds of mottiwere 
 then passed in review by the company, and examples of each were 
 given. 
 
 The conversation then fell upon poetical compositions, such 
 as the madrigal, which, Sperone said, should be sharp, witty, and 
 elegant. Examples were given of such, and also of other kinds 
 of poetry: the capitolo, sestina, canzone, and sonnet. 
 
 The work ends with an extensive panegyric of Italian ladies, 
 who are mentioned by name and their various virtues enumerated. 
 The strangers return from their fishing and the company breaks 
 up and returns joyful and contented to Venice. 
 
 So far as I know the history of the imitation of the Decameron 
 in the different countries of Europe yet remains to be written. 
 There are attempts more or less extensive in regard to limited 
 fields, as for example. Miss Bourland's The Decameron in Spain, 
 but no general work that I know of. The idea of the frame of the 
 Decameron enjoyed from the first an enormous vogue. One 
 reason, of course, was that it afforded a convenient method of 
 enabling a writer to issue at one time a considerable number of 
 short compositions. It is also probable that this method was 
 the natural outgrowth of a long established social custom. It 
 is not my purpose to attempt here to pass in review the imitations 
 of the Decameron as such, but only to mention such works as 
 illustrate the use of those social observances which really con- 
 stitute the subject of this work. As we have already seen the 
 most important of these observances were the use of "Questions," 
 generally on matters pertaining to Love, and " Parlor Games." 
 
 I have already mentioned in this chapter Parabosco's I Diporti, 
 and in Chapter VI I shall examine S. Bargagli's / Trattenimenti, P. 
 Fortini's Novelle, and Ascanio de Mori's Giuoco Piacevole. These 
 were selected from the large number of other similar works be- 
 cause they illustrated more fully the use of Games or Love-Ques- 
 tions; in some cases, as in Parabosco and Mori, the works were 
 what might be called "Question -novelle," or "Game-novelle." 
 For the sake of completeness I shall now examine other works 
 of this class, acknowledging here my indebtedness to Zonta's ar- 
 ticles in the third volume of Studi Medievali, "Rileggendo Andrea 
 Cappellano," and "Arbitrati reali o questioni giocose." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 257 
 
 We shall see in our detailed analysis of Girolamo Bargagli's 
 Dialogo de' Giuochi in Chapter VI that story-telling is men- 
 tioned at some length as a social diversion belonging to the 
 class of Games, and two kinds of stories are mentioned: those 
 which give rise to Questions, that is, debates or arguments, and 
 those which do not. The debates which arise are also of two 
 kinds: for example, a single story may furnish matter for dis- 
 cussion, as the story of Madonna Dianora {Decameron, X, 5, 
 also found in the Filocolo), where the question arises which showed 
 the greatest liberality, the lover, or the husband, or the necro- 
 mancer; or two stories told one after the other may by com- 
 parison afford material for debate. Sometimes three or four 
 stories are compared, as happened once in a company at Torri 
 where II Sodo was present. 
 
 Zonta, "Rileggendo," etc., p. 61, note 2, says: "In tutta la 
 storia delle questioni d'amore, del resto, si trovano infiniti esempi 
 di discussioni amorose vertenti sopra un fatto realmente vero o 
 sopra una novella narrata." He then proceeds to cite a number 
 of examples, some of which I had already used. Some do not 
 seem very convincing, e.g., Decameron, IV, 3, 10; X, 2, 5. Zonta 
 might have cited here X, 3, which contains in substance the 
 thirteenth Question of the Filocolo. The fifth novel of the same 
 day also uses the third Question of the saine work. 
 
 Zonta also cites Sercambi, Novelle, 25J 26, 27. This citation 
 is probably the fourth story, " De iusto iuditio" (ed. D'Ancona, 
 Scelta di curiositd, litt., cxix, p. 23), in which the question of the 
 ownership of a lost purse is referred to the decision of a just judge. 
 
 In one of Sermini's Novelle (the fourth in RaccoUa di novellieri 
 italiani, Turin, 1853, p. 225; the fourteenth in Le novelle di 
 Gentile Sermini, Livomo, p. 188) Anselmo pays a fine incurred by 
 his friend Carlo, with whose sister Angelica he is in love. When 
 Carlo learns of his friend's generosity he endeavours to repay 
 him by giving him Angelica as his mistress. Anselmo declines 
 to accept such a gift and a marriage with Angelica is finally 
 made possible . The story ends with the words : " Ora considerate 
 tutte le nominate cortesie usate fra loro, resta da solvere e ter- 
 minare quale fusse la maggiore e la piu commendabile." 
 
 In the fifteenth novella (ed. Livomo; p. 202) it is a question of 
 deciding which of two wives was the more beautiful, and the 
 novella ends: "Ne mai si diffini qual di loro fusse piui bella, ne 
 18 
 
258 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 finira infino a tanto che pazzi padri o mariti delle simili a quelle 
 cura e guardia non faranno delle cose loro, che con tanta dimes- 
 tichezze co'giovani non usino." 
 
 In the sixteenth novella {ed. cii., p. 203) a priest engages a servant 
 for life with mutual pledges in case either breaks his part of the 
 bargain. Later the priest drives him from the house and the 
 question which is right is submitted to various prelates and 
 finally to the Pope. The novella ends: "Questa quistione pen- 
 dente rimase, ne mai si difhni chi si fusse il peggiore di quelli . . . 
 E pero di cortesia s'addimanda a chi legge dame sentenza." 
 
 In the seventeenth novella (ed. cit., p. 219), the story of which 
 cannot be given here, the conclusion is in the form of a question: 
 "Ora si domanda se i padri delle monache dette, avendole messe 
 in tal modo per forza, meritino premio o loda da Dio e dal mondo, 
 essendo essi principio di tali operazioni che le figliuole per dis- 
 perazione hanno fatto e quali di loro maggior fallo ha comesso, 
 o i padri o loro." 
 
 There is a similar conclusion to the eighteenth novella 
 (ed. cit., p. 228): "Ora s'addomanda a qual di loro tre nel 
 giardino della fama per maggiore cortesia e fedeltk debba il 
 primo eminente luogo e quale il secondo e quale il terzo per 
 ragione possedere." 
 
 So in the twenty-second novella (ed. cit., p. 265) : "Ora se alcuno 
 errore fra costoro si commisse, o veramente operazione commen- 
 dabili, s'addomanda a chi legge chiarirsi." 
 
 At the conclusion of the twenty-ninth novella (ed. cit.) one of 
 the characters asks for the solution of certain doubts. In the 
 the thirty-seventh novella (ed. cit., p. 410) the conclusion is: 
 "Ora s'addomanda se con discrezione e giustizia tale sentenza 
 da Madonna fu data o non." 
 
 Zonta also, p. 61, note 2, cites Masuccio's Novelle, but I do 
 not find any of his references pertinent. Each of Masuccio's 
 novelle is preceded by a brief "esordio" or dedication to some 
 nobleman. Then follows the "narrazione" or story proper, and 
 when that is ended Masuccio personally intervenes and remarks 
 on the story he has just told or introduces the next. I do not 
 find in any of these reflections references to "Questions" or any 
 discussion of the stories by the company. 
 
 On the other hand there are many references to "Questions" 
 and discussions in Sabadino degli Arienti's Le Porretane (edited 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 259 
 
 by Gidvanni Gambarin in Scrittori d'ltalia, Bari, I9I4)«^ the 
 scene of which is laid in 1475 at the baths of Porretta, a place in 
 the mountains about twenty-five miles north of Pistoja. The 
 spot and company are very briefly described in the Prologo. 
 There is no division into days and no account of any other di- 
 versions of the company except story-telling. Each novella 
 is followed by a brief account of the way in which it was received 
 by the company and a few words of introduction for the follow- 
 ing story. The stories are frequently discussed and conclusions 
 are recorded. For example, at the end of Novella XXVI, p. 
 159. we read: "The novella was heard with pleasure and the 
 closest attention and it was disputed which was the greater 
 virtue, the compassion which the duchess had for her lord's love, 
 or his self-control {temper anzia) in order not to violate his mar- 
 riage troth. Some argued that the self-control of the duke was 
 greater, and finally after a long discussion it was judged {senten- 
 ziato) by the noble company and especially by the wise ladies 
 that the compassion of the duchess was much greater than the 
 self-control of the duke." 
 
 So, after Novella XXVI, p. 164, the company began to dis- 
 pute about the morality of the story with many arguments and 
 reasons. This is the case also with Novella XXXV, p. 215, where 
 an animated discussion follows the story and the arguments of 
 the various sides are presented in turn. 
 
 Sometimes the conclusion or judgment of the company is 
 given, as in Novella XLII, p. 254: "La egregia brigata ebbe 
 piacere assai de la narrata novella. E sopra epsa disputato 
 alquanto, iudicarono non essere uomo tanto vile e scelerato, 
 etc." So, in Novella LIII, p. 319: "E, sopra epsa essendo per la 
 brigata molte degne cose adducte e disputate, fu affirmato 
 essere stato molto magiore la vertil de la temperanzia de li focosi 
 amanti, che la prudenzia de Isotta e de Cornelia in quel extremo 
 effecto usata per loro in defensione de la lor castitate. . . . 
 E cusi fu poi ancora concluso ch'el costume de le discrete e savie 
 pulcelle ^ de stare sorde, mute e aliene da li parlamenti degli 
 omini." 
 
 " For Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti and his relations to Isabella d'Este 
 see Giornale storico, Vol. 38 (1901), pp. 49 et seq., Luzio-Renier, "La Coltura 
 e le relazioni letterarie di Isabella d'Este." See also Gambarin's Nota in his 
 edition in the Scrittori d'ltatia, for biography and bibliography of Sabadino 
 degli Arienti. 
 
260 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Finally, Novella LIV, p. 332, is followed by a very detailed 
 discussion and the arguments of the ladies and gentlemen are 
 given at length. At last the gentleman who is to relate the 
 next story says: "Deh! non vogliamo piu questionare cum queste 
 generose donne," and as the story under discussion was a morsel 
 hard to masticate, he will give them one sweet and easy to chew. 
 Zonta also cites Le sei giornate di Messer Sehastiano Erizzo 
 (Classici Italiani, Milan, 1805; RaccoUa di novellieri italiani, 
 Turin, 1853; and in Scrittori d' Italia, Bari, 1912, by Giuseppe Gigli 
 and Fausto Nicolini, Novellieri minori del Cinquecento . . , G. 
 Parabosco . . . S. Erizzo), the scene of which is laid in Padua 
 in 1542, where a company of six gentlemen entertain one an- 
 other with stories for six days, when their diversion is inter- 
 rupted by the illness of one of their number. Curiously enough 
 a similar conclusion is found in a Spanish story mentioned in 
 Chapter XIII. In a few cases the stories in Erizzo give rise 
 to discussions; as for example, the nineteenth Avvenimento, 
 which is the story of the venal judge flayed alive by the 
 order of Cambyses and the skin placed on the judge's seat 
 as a warning to others (see Gesta Romanorum, 29), is discussed 
 by the company and the majority thought that Cambyses had 
 done well to punish the judge so severely. Another instance 
 of discussion is found in Avvenimento XXVII, discussed on 
 p. 292, where the view of the majority is given. Zonta later 
 ("Arbitrati" etc., p. 616, note 3) cites further instances from 
 Erizzo : Avvenimento I, a long tirade against Love as the cause of 
 all woes; Avvenimento II, a discussion by the company, all 
 agreeing that Love is the author of all blessings; Avvenimento III, 
 a discussion on magic arts; Avvenimento XII, a discussion of 
 Timoleon's severity towards his son, the majority praising it. 
 
 Zonta cites an important reference in Giovanni Fiorentino's 
 II Pecorone {RaccoUa di novellieri italiani, Turin, 1853). At the 
 conclusion of the second novella, p. 29, Saturnina asks: "Chi ebbe 
 di lor due maggior paura? Rispose il frate e disse: lo credo che 
 I'avesse' maggior Buondelmonte per doppie ragioni. Soggiunse 
 Saturnina: In buona f^, ch'io crdo che I'avesse maggiore la donna, 
 perch^ fu piu presso a esser veduta e conosciuta, che non fu 
 egli. Ma comunque si sia, altra volta la determineremo." 
 
 The use of Riddles as a social diversion is considered in Chapter 
 VI and there is mentioned in that place their employment by 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 261 
 
 Straparola in his Piacevoli Notti. Zonta cites a few instances of 
 the discussion of the matter of the stories. In all the cases 
 mentioned by Zonta the discussion or doubt is expressed by the 
 narrator and not by the company, e.g., Vol. II, p. 34 (ed. Giuseppe 
 Rua in CoUezione di opere inedite rare, Bologna, 1898-1908), 
 the narrator concludes his story with the words: "E perch^ 
 negli suoi libri egli non seppe mai trovare la decisione di questo 
 caso, il lasci6 irresolubile, e sino a questo giomo ancora la lite 
 pende. Voi adunque, sapientissime donne, darete la sentenza, 
 la quale per la grandezza della cosa io non ardisco proferire." 
 
 At the end of the fifth story of the sixth night (ed. cit., II, p. 
 72) the narrator says: "E della donna, la qual era indivisibile, 
 nacque discordia tra lor fratelli, a cui rimaner devea. E furono 
 fatte molte e lunghe dispute, chi di loro meritasse di averla; e 
 fino al presente pende la causa sotto il giudice. A cui veramente 
 aspettar si debba, lasciolo giudicare a voi." 
 
 The citations by Zonta from Le Cene of Anton-Francesco 
 Grazzini detto il Lasca (RaccoUa di novellieri italiani, Turin, 
 1853) are unimportant and some not pertinent. E.g., p. 324, 
 "Taceva gia Fileno, strigatosi della sua favola, della quale molto 
 si ragionava tra la brigata," etc. In the tenth novella of the 
 third Cena (p. 461) a dispute is referred to Lorenzo il Magnifico, 
 but it is in the course of the story and does not seem to me to be 
 pertinent. 
 
 Zonta also cites frequent cases from Giovanni Battista Giraldi 
 Cintio's GU Ecatommiti (Raccolta di novellieri italiani, Turin, 
 1853), and says, "Arbitrati," p. 116, " Dopo quasi tutte le novelle, 
 vien posta la questione e discusse sotto la presidenza di un com- 
 positore delle differenze." The passages cited by Zonta all 
 occur in the Introduction, which consists of ten novels showing 
 that in human love peace is found only in love of man and wife, 
 and that there can be no repose in unlawful (dishonest) love. 
 
 I think Zonta conveys an incorrect impression by quoting the 
 words "compositore delle differenze nostre " as if Fabio, to whom 
 the words apply, were a duly appointed judge or arbiter of the 
 "questions" raised in the novelle. In fact Fabio was one who 
 "per la matura eta, e per la cortese sua natura, e per lo saggio 
 parere, era di grande autorita appresso tutti gli altri." He was 
 the leader of the company of ladies and gentlemen who left Rome 
 in 1527 to escape the plague which followed the horrible siege 
 
262 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and sack of that city. It is during tiie journey to Marseilles by 
 sea that the stories of the work are told. The company spends 
 each night on shore and the novelle are related by day on board 
 the ship. The long Introduction is divided into two parts. The 
 first, pp. 23-53, consists of a long discussion on the nature of 
 Love (cf. Bandello, III, p. 30). It is not illustrated by any 
 novelle, which are reserved for the second part, the object of 
 which is to show the unseemly love of youth for immodest women 
 and its fatal consequences. As I have said, Zonta's citations 
 are all from the Introduction alone, and might easily be multi- 
 plied. They all refer to the usual discussion by the company 
 of the novella just finished. Sometimes the discussion is very 
 brief and sometimes very extended. 
 
 It is not until the tenth novella of the Introduction is finished 
 that Fabio at the request of the company arranges for the orderly 
 employment of their time and has the names of five ladies and 
 five gentlemen drawn by lot. Another ten were drawn after- 
 wards to alternate with the others, provision also being made for 
 the usual canzoni. 
 
 I need not pass in review here the numerous citations of Ban- 
 dello's Novelle (now accessible in an excellent edition by Gioachino 
 Brugnoligo in Scrittori d'ltalia, Bari, 1910-1912, five volumes) 
 as I have already made extensive use in this chapter of the 
 prefaces of the novelle which are such a precious source of in- 
 formation as to the usages of polite society in Italy in the six- 
 teenth century. Zonta's references are all to the prefaces of 
 the first two volumes. I have, of course, quoted the prefaces of 
 all the volumes where they were pertinent to my purpose. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Parlor Games in Italy in the Sixteenth Century — Origin of these games — 
 Siena the place where they were developed — ^Analysis of Girolamo Bargagli's 
 Dialogo dc' Giuochi — Innocentio Ringhieri's Cento Giuochi liberaK — The use 
 of Riddles as a social diversion — ^Their employment in Straparola's Le Piace- 
 voli Notti — Fortune-Telling as a social diversion — Libri di Ventura — ^Analysis 
 of Scipion Bargagli's I Trattenimenti — ^Pietro Fortini's Novelle — ^Ascanio de 
 Mori's Giuoco Piacevole. 
 
 We have already seen that "parlor games" composed part 
 of the social diversion of the sixteenth century in Italy. In 
 fact, the Courtier of Castiglione, the most important document 
 for the society of the period, was the outcome of a "parlor game," 
 or rather, was the game itself. Frequent allusions to these 
 games are found in the prefaces to Bandello, although no de- 
 tailed account of any one of them is given. We have now to 
 consider the curious subject of Italian "parlor games" and the 
 extensive r61e they played during the sixteenth century. From 
 Italy they passed into France and England, and still survive, 
 although they are now generally confined to the young, or are 
 relegated to the society of the provinces. 
 
 It is probable that some form of "parlor games" existed as a 
 means of social diversion from a very early period, and constituted 
 together with "questions" and riddles the chief mode of enter- 
 tainment. We have seen that they were in use in Italy as 
 early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. In the classic 
 treatise on the subject, Girolamo Bargagli's Dialogo de' Giuochi, 
 a work which will be carefully examined in a moment, the prin- 
 cipal interlocutor, known as II Sodo in the Academy of the 
 Intronati, declares that "parlor games" are a Sienese invention 
 and arose in the above mentioned Academy, at the meetings of 
 which ladies were present, and for their amusement these games 
 were devised.^ This statement is doubted by another speaker, 
 II Frastagliato, who declares that games were in vogue at the 
 court of Urbino, and cites Ariosto, VII, 21, where is mentioned 
 
 ' See p. 21 of the edition mentioned below. 
 
 263 
 
264 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 a game now played in Siena.^ He also quotes II Mauro (Gi- 
 ovanni Mauro d'Arcano) who mentions the same game.^ Bem- 
 bo, too, wrote the sonnet "lo ardo, dissi,"etc., on a game known 
 in Siena as the Game of Words and Signs.^ This leads the 
 speaker to the conclusion that many games, like canzoni and 
 balli, have been taken from the people. As a proof of this he 
 cites a game called "Cicirlanda," a word the meaning of which 
 is forgotten, but which is evidently a corruption of Ghirlanda, 
 a garland or wreath, which the master of the game wore on his 
 head as a symbol of authority when he ordered the company 
 to do various things. II Frastagliato concludes by saying that 
 II Sodo has granted that other Academies were acquainted with 
 these games, which are also used in the country places about 
 Siena, and were more probably borrowed by the Sienese from 
 them. 
 
 II Sodo replies that even if games were mentioned by the above 
 writers, they were not used in other cities, and were borrowed 
 from Siena wherever they were played. Many of the usages 
 of the present time go back to remote antiquity, such as making 
 presents for the New Year, and festivities on the nights of the 
 last days of December. These were in use in the time of Augus- 
 
 2 See p. 22. The game referred to in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, VII, 21, 
 is thus described by the poet (it occurs during Ruggiero's visit to the enchanted 
 garden of Alcina) : 
 
 Tolte che fur le mense e le vivande, 
 
 Facean, sedendo in cerchio, un gioco lieto: 
 Che nell'orecchio I'un I'altro domande, 
 Come piu piace lor, quaiche secrete. 
 II che agli araanti fu comodo grande 
 Di scoprir I'amor lor senza divieto. 
 
 The game is the first described by Bargagli, p. 22, under the name of "il giuoco 
 del Proposito" (the game of subjects of talk), in which one player whispers a 
 word or sentence to the person next him and that one whispers the answer to 
 the next one, and so on. Finally the questions and answers are repeated aloud 
 to see who has answered suitably. This game occurs in Cervantes' romance 
 of Galatea, Bk. IV; see Chapter XIII, p. 585. 
 
 'For Giovanni Mauro d'Arcano see Tiraboschi, VII, p. 1195, and Cres- 
 cembini, V, p. 113. He was born about 1490 and flourished at the court of 
 Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici. He was an intimate friend of Berni and wrote 
 in the same style. He died in 1536. 
 
 * Berabo's sonnet, beginning: 
 
 lo ardo, dissi, e la risposta invano 
 Come il gioco chiedea, lasso aspettai, etc. 
 
 may be found in his Opere, Venice, 1729, Vol. II, p. 10, Son. XXII. Cian in his 
 "Motti" inediti e sconosciuti di M. Pietro Bembo, Venice, 1888, pp. 89 et seq., 
 gives an extract from an inedited commentary on Bembo's Rime, in which the 
 game in question is explained at length. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 265 
 
 tus, as is proved by Suetonius in his life of that emperor.^ So 
 going about with lights on the night of the Carnival, and many 
 other customs which have survived to our day from the be- 
 ginning of our era.« Another singular custom known in Si- 
 ena before the war was for women on the last evening of the 
 Carnival to stand in their courtyards with kindled fires, and 
 for the young men to come masked and strike them in the hand 
 with a pestle. Ovid says in his Fasti that the Roman youths 
 bedaubed their faces with blood and meeting women in the way 
 struck them in the hand.' May not our usage have arisen from 
 the Lupercalia, when women who desired children were struck 
 by the youths who met them with goatskins, as Livy and Pliny 
 relate?^ But why dwell on other customs, which may be traced 
 back to antiquity, when many of our games themselves are 
 wholly or partly drawn from ancient usages? So for instance, 
 the Sienese game of Riddles goes back to the Enigmas of the 
 Sphynx. II Sodo also cites the example of Samson and Darius.' 
 The story of the latter is not dissimilar to the Sienese game of 
 Delia pill bella parte, etc.^" The story told by Plutarch in his 
 Life of Cato, where the youths chose the judges and brought 
 their cases before them, is reflected in the Sienese game of the 
 Podesti.i^ The Horatian story of the prodigality of Nomen- 
 
 ^ C. Suetoni Tranquilli Divus Augustus , edited by E. S. Shuckburgh, Cam- 
 bridge University Press, 1896, cap. 57, p. 116; cap. 75, p. 141. 
 
 ° See Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London, 1891, 
 suh verb. Saturnalia; and Marquardt's Romische Staatsverwaltung, Leipzig, 
 1885, ni, pp. 586 et seq. 
 
 ' Ovid's Fasti II, 268 et seq. 
 
 8 For the Lupercalia see Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 
 and Marquardt, op. cit.. Ill, pp. 442 e5 seq. 
 
 ' Josephus is given as authority for the latter story. See Antiquities of the 
 Jews, Bk. XI, chap, iii: Whiston's Translation revised by the Rev. A. R. 
 Shilleto, London, 1889, Vol. II, p. 254. The questions propounded by Darius 
 were: Whether wine was not the strongest of all things? Whether kings 
 were not such? Whether women were not such? Whether truth was not the 
 strongest of all? . ,_ n j 
 
 1° Bargagli, p. 26. In this game each one declares what is the finest and 
 most desirable quality in a lover, and the reward is bestowed upon the one 
 who, in the opinion of the judge, has mentioned the finest. 
 
 " See the life of Cato the younger in Plutarch's Lives revised byA.H. Clough, 
 Boston, 1882, Vol. IV, p. 370. The anecdote in question is on p. 372, and is 
 as follows: "Another time, one of his relations, on his birthday, invited Cato 
 and some other children to supper, and some of the company diverted them- 
 selves in a separate part of the house, and were at play, the elder and the 
 younger together, their sport being to act the pleadings before the judges, 
 accusing one another, and carrying away the condemned to prison. Among 
 these a very beautiful young child, being carried and bound by a bigger into 
 prison, cried out to Cato, who, seeing what was going on, presently ran to the 
 
266 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 tanus has its counterpart in the game of Begging for the Friars 
 and in several other games. ^^ The game of Desires recalls the 
 story of Alexander the Great burning the palace of Xerxes at 
 Susa to please Thais. ^^ Ancient also is the institution of the 
 master of the revels, who corresponds to the king or queen who 
 plays so important a part in modem games." 
 
 Although the games mentioned above may have had so re- 
 mote an origin, still it can not be said that they were not redis- 
 covered and resuscitated by the Academy of the Intronati. Even 
 if earlier the Academia Grande of Siena employed games, they 
 were so few, low, and imperfect, that they were unworthy of 
 
 door, and thrusting away those who stood there as a guard, took out the child' 
 and went home in anger, followed by some of his companions." The game 
 of the Podesti, Bargagli, p. 26, with which the above anecdote is compared, 
 is as follows. A Podesti is elected, before whom each player can go to com- 
 plain of wrongs done him by any of the company. The Podesta summons the 
 accused and listens to his excuses, and condemns or absolves him in whatever 
 way he thinks will redound to the amusement of the company. 
 
 '^ See Horace's Satires, II, 3, 224. In the Sienese game in question, Bar- 
 gagli, p. 27, the leader pretends to beg for the friars, who wish to keep Lent 
 or Carnival, and asks each player for something for them; in order to confuse 
 them he adds, "When, how, and how much will you give?" and the per- 
 son asked must answer only: "I will give it." 
 
 " See Plutarch's Lives, ed. cit.. Vol. IV, p. 209. 
 
 1* The Leader of the games is undoubtedly a survival of the Symposiarch 
 in Greece and the Arbiter bibendi or Rex convivii in Rome. In a general way 
 it may be said that the various customs connected with evening companies 
 in Italy and elsewhere, including games, etc., are a survival of ancient usages 
 modified by the mediaeval elements already described. The custom of wear- 
 ing a garland as a symbol of authority has already been mentioned by Bargagli, 
 and is no doubt of classical origin, although I cannot find that the symposi- 
 arch was distinguished from the other guests by any badge. For the whole 
 subject, so far as it concerns ancient times, see J. C. Bulenger, De Conviviis 
 libri quatuor, Lyons, 1627, p. 102 et seq., who, p. 106, cites Plautus, Persa, V, 
 I, 1. 669, 
 
 Do hanc tibi florentem florenti, tu hie eris 
 Dictatrix nobis, 
 
 to show that among the Romans the "Rex" was created by the imposition of 
 a crown. For Greek customs, see Becker's Charikles neu arbeitet von H. G611, 
 Berlin, 1877, Vol. Ill, pp. 352 et seq.; for Roman customs, see Becker's Callus 
 ed. Goll, Berlin, 1880, Vol. Ill, pp. 443 et seq., and Marquardt's Das Privat- 
 leben der Romer, Leipzig, p. 331. 
 
 There is a very readable little work by Antonio Marenduzzo, Veglie e 
 Trattenimenti Senesi nella secunda metd, del secolo XVI. Trani, 1901, i6mo, 
 pp. 96. In it are treated: "Accademie e convegni senesi," "Motti e giuochi 
 piacevoli," and " Giuochi di spirito e d'ingegno." The author passes in review 
 almost all the writers and topics discussed in this chapter, and has given an 
 admirable compend of the subject. The same is true of an earlier work by 
 Angelo Solerti, Trattenimenti di societd, nel secolo XVI., which appeared in the 
 Gazzetta Letteraria, Turin, Nos. 48, 49, and 50, Dec. 1888. The subjects dis- 
 cussed are: "Libri di Ventura," " Indovinelli," "Giuochi," and "Ringhiera 
 and the two Bargagli." The articles are most entertaining and give a concise 
 and yet thorough account of the subject. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 267 
 
 being played in a decent company.^^ It was one of the tasks of 
 the Intronati to polish the rudeness of games, as they did in 
 the case of comedy, public trionfi, and Tuscan prose and 
 verse. A proof that games ha^'e been newh^ rediscovered and 
 brought into use is that if they had been in \'ogue in Boc- 
 caccio's da^-, his works would have been full of them, especially 
 the Decameron. It is impossible that they should have been 
 invented between that time and the time of the speaker's grand- 
 fathers or fathers, for from Petrarch and Boccaccio down there 
 had been a steady decline in poetry and in^•ention, as is proved 
 h\ such poets as Serafino and Tebaldeo. 
 
 \Miate\er may be thought of the above claim, it is certain 
 that "parlor games" were cultivated at Siena to an unusual 
 extent and that the most elaborate treatise on the subject is 
 from the pen of a Sienese writer. It is time to turn to this 
 work and its author in order to show the extent and serious 
 nature of this mode of diversion. 
 
 Girolamo Bargagli, whose brother Scipione will later occupy 
 our attention, was a distinguished jurist of Siena and a member 
 of the Academy of the Intronati, where he was known under the 
 pseudonym of Materiale Intronato, which may be translated 
 "The stunned Dolt."'* He was an auditor of the Rota at Genoa, 
 and afterwards practiced with great success his profession at 
 Siena, where he died in 1586. Besides the Dialogo in question, 
 Bargagli was the author of a comedy in prose. La Pellegrina, and 
 of some lyrical poetry. ^^ 
 
 Bargagli's work on games has the title Dialogo de' GiuocJii 
 che neUe vcghie sanesi si usono di fare (Dialogue on the Games 
 which are played in the evening companies of Siena), and is 
 dedicated to Donna Isabella de' Medici, Orsina, Duchessa di 
 
 >5 For the Academia Grande of Siena and its relation to the Academy of the 
 Intronati, see Mazzi, La Congrega dei Rozzidi Siena nel secoloXVI., Florence, 
 
 1882, Vol. II, pp. 385. 405- „ ,. ^ ^ J • .u Ar 77 n- 
 
 " Scanty notices of Girolamo Bargagli ma\- be found in the Nouvelle Bw- 
 graphie gineraU, Paris, Didot, i860, and in JNIichaud's Biographic iniiverselle. 
 For the Intronati, besides Mazzi just cited, see Cleder, Notice sur Vacadimie 
 italievrw des Intronati, Brussels, 1864, and Tiraboschi, \TI, 158, 1301 ; VHI, 58. 
 See also Chapter III of the present work for Italian academies in general. _ 
 " The Pellegrina, a comedy in prose, -iras not acted until after the author s 
 death, at the festival of the marriage of the grand duke Ferdinand de' Medici, 
 at Florence, in 1589, and W'as published the same year at Sienna by the writer s 
 brother Scipio. There are other editions: Siena, 1605, and in the collection 
 of comedies published by the Intronati in 1611, \'ol. II; and Venice, 1601 and 
 1606. 
 
268 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Bracciano.'^ In the Proemio, a member of the Sienese Academy 
 of the Intronati, named II Sodo, who has been absent from the 
 city for some years, returns and is welcomed by his brother 
 academicians, who wish him to make them a discourse. He 
 hesitates, but finally acquiesces from hfs desire to benefit the 
 Academy. Two things are necessary to aid the Academy, 
 which had lately reopened its doors after the civil discords: 
 one the favor of princes, the other the favor of the ladies. The 
 former is already acquired; it remains to win the other. This 
 can best be done by cultivating social diversions, and this is to 
 be the theme of II Sodo's discourse. It is in the usual form of a 
 dialogue, the interlocutors, besides II Sodo, being II Frastagliato 
 (The Notched, Cut in pieces, then in regard to style, Confused, 
 Disordered), L'Attonito (The Amazed), II Raccolto (The Ab- 
 sorbed), and II Mansueto (The Gentle). It is agreed that they 
 shall interrupt and contradict as they see fit, after the manner 
 of the Academical disputes. Further, because little was left 
 of the day, they were to remain with II Sodo to supper in the 
 garden of his dwelling, for although it was the beginning of 
 autumn, still it was pleasant to enjoy the sweet air of evening 
 while the sun was setting. They could spend an hour in the 
 shade beginning the discourse, and what was left of the dis- 
 course could be kept until after the supper, which was to be a 
 simple repast, such as the older Intronati were accustomed to. 
 
 II Sodo begins his discourse with a reference to the need of 
 rest and diversion, and declares that the games of which he pur- 
 poses to speak are the invention of the Sienese. Then follows 
 the discussion which has been given above on the origin and 
 antiquity of games. After this has been settled, II Sodo pro- 
 ceeds to define and classify games, excluding from them the 
 drama, the secular games of nations, athletic games, games of 
 cards, chess, etc., and games (giuochi) in the sense of jest or joke. 
 The games of which he is going to treat are those which are pro- 
 posed and played for pleasure in noble company. He then gives 
 a scientific definition of games as "a festive action of a joyful 
 
 1' The first edition of the Dialogo was published at Siena, in 1572 by Luca 
 Bonetti, in 4to. On the title-page is the device of the Academy of the Intro- 
 nati: a salt-cellar, with two pestles for pounding it crossed above, and the 
 motto, Meliora latent. There are other editions: Venice, 1574, 4to, 1575, 8vo, 
 1581, 8vo, 1592, 8vo, 1598, 8vo. The citations in the text are from the first 
 edition. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 269 
 
 and amiable company, where upon a pleasing or ingenious 
 proposition made by one as author and guide of such action, all 
 the others do or say some thing different from each other, and 
 this for the purpose of pleasure and amusement"; remarking 
 that the games mentioned at the beginning of the Cortegiano of 
 Castiglione were not properly speaking games, any more than tell- 
 ing stories. The reason is that the games above mentioned lack 
 the necessary variety, since each one must do the same thing. 
 
 II Frastagliato interrupts him and says he thinks they were 
 real games, just as the game of Dreams, where each one relates 
 a dream he feigns to have had and an interpretation is given for 
 each dream. He thinks that each day of the Decameron might 
 be called a game. II Sodo defends his position in regard to the 
 Cortegiano, but confesses that for a company to tell stories in 
 turn might constitute a game, but not where a single story is 
 told by an individual. 
 
 L'Attonito says that some games do not come under II Sodo's 
 definition, as the game of Bisticcio, which consists in the colloca- 
 tion of words difficult to pronounce (like the English "Peter 
 Piper picked a peck of prickly pears," etc.). II Sodo says that 
 such diversions are to be called jokes rather than games.^' 
 
 Games may be divided into games of wit {spirito) and in- 
 genuity (ingegno), and of jest (scherzo) and pleasure (piace- 
 volezza). Examples of the first kind are the game of Trans- 
 formations, in which each one tells what animal he would like 
 to be and the reasons for it; and the game of Comparisons, in 
 which the lover compares his beloved to something, giving the 
 reasons, and a lady does likewise. These and similar ones are 
 games of wit, because they give opportunity for the display of 
 wit, and please more by the variety of invention than by the 
 laughter they arouse. Games of jest are those which awaken 
 pleasure rather than show witty conceits, as the game of Trades, 
 in which each feigns to practice a trade and is accused of doing 
 it badly by the spy; or the game of Oaths, in which each one 
 
 " The Italian text (Bargagli, p. 37) is as follows: "Al pozzo di messer Paz- 
 zino de'Pazzi, v'era una pazza, che lavava le pezze, venne messer Pazzino _de' 
 Pazzi, prese la pazzla, e le pezze, e gittole nel pozzo." This difficult collocktion 
 of words has a special name in Italian, scioglilingua. See Giornale storico, 
 XIII, p. 454, n. I, and Pitre, BibUografia delle Tradizioni popolari d'ltalia, 
 Turin, 1894, Nos. 1731, 3260-61, 4635, and 6050, where works are mentioned 
 containing examples from various parts of Italy. See also G. Pitr^, Indovin- 
 elli, Dubbi, Scioglilingua del Popolo Siciliano, Turin, 1897 {Biblioteca delle 
 Tradizioni popolari Siciliane, vol. XX), p. clxx. 
 
270 ITALIAN S(5CIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 utters an amusing and ridiculous oath and then forces one of the 
 company by pinching, tickling, or hitting him to utter one of the 
 oaths already spoken, and whoever hears his own must arise and 
 go and make another do the same. 
 
 Games of wit are still further divided into those with forfeits 
 and those without. Each kind may or may not have a judge, 
 A game of wit without forfeits or judge is the game of Physiog- 
 nomy or of Chiromancy; in the latter the name of the protu- 
 berances (monti), as the protuberance of Jupiter, are assigned 
 to men, the lines to the ladies, and a man goes and examines a 
 lady's hand and tells her what has happened and what will 
 happen, naming a protuberance or a line which promises or 
 threatens what he has told her. When one of the company 
 hears his protuberance or line mentioned he must rise and con- 
 tinue the game. So with the game of Physiognomy. A game 
 with forfeits and without a judge is the game of the Secret, in 
 which one whispers to a lady a witticism and she answers aloud ; 
 thereupon the leader calls on one of the company to guess the 
 whispered witticism. If he cannot, he gives a forfeit. Almost 
 all games of wit are played with forfeits and judges. 
 
 Games of jest, on the other hand, do not have these, although 
 penalties are sometimes exacted informally and extempore by 
 giving a blow with the pestle {mestola) ,'^^ or hissing the one who 
 errs. These games are divided into those which are silent, those 
 in which speaking occurs, and those with both. In the first 
 either whispers or signs are employed; in the second something 
 amusing or pleasing is said. An example of mute games is the 
 game of Mutola, in which one makes a gesture, and when he sees 
 another making his he must make his own and that of the other. 
 Speaking games are such as Crying one's Trade, where one utters 
 a street cry of his own and repeats that of another, and when the 
 leader throws down the pestle all cry out their own. Of the 
 mixed kind (mute and speaking) are those with words and ges- 
 tures, as in the game of Oaths mentioned above, and the game of 
 
 ^'' The mestola is constantly referred to as the symbol of authority in the 
 Sienese games. It will be seen later that it was apparently kept in readiness 
 on the parlor mantel. It seems to have been a wooden pestle or pounder such 
 as IS used in our own kitchens to mash vegetables with. The device of the 
 Academy of the Intronati consisted, as has just been said, in two crossed pes- 
 tles, used for pulverizing salt ; can the use of the mestola in games be connected 
 with this? 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 271 
 
 Whispering, where a witticism is whispered to a lady and she an- 
 swers with a sign, and one must guess from it what was whispered. 
 
 Speaking games are with imitation or without. Of the latter 
 kind is the game of Why One Came to the Company, in which 
 the reason must be given in words. With imitation is the game 
 of The Devil's Music, in which each one utters the cry of an 
 animal, and when the pestle is thrown down all utter theirs. 
 Finally mute games may be with acts or signs, or with jests, as 
 may be seen from the examples given above. 
 
 After this definition of games and their classification, II Sodo 
 then proceeds to describe their parts and qualities. A game has 
 three parts: the proposition, action or process, and satisfaction. 
 The first is when the one who has to make the game, proposes 
 it, declaring the way all have to act in order that the game be 
 carried out. After this comes the action or performance, when 
 each does or says what his wit suggests, not deviating from the 
 plan proposed. The satisfaction of the game is when all the 
 company having spoken or acted, the leader of the game, either 
 by clapping his hands, or by assigning the forfeits, or the judge 
 by punishing or rewarding puts an end to the game. 
 
 Three personages are necessary in many games, two at least 
 in all. These are: the leader, the players, and the judge. The 
 discourse will now naturally turn on these three, and because 
 the master, or leader, is the most important he will be considered 
 first. One of the chief duties of the leader is to propose no un- 
 seemly or indecent game, either in word or act. Games are not 
 to be recommended where blows are given, or where the face is 
 dyed or made dirty. One should also avoid games where some 
 one, generally a serious person, is made a subject of jest, as in the 
 game of the Weight, where the leader puts something heavy on 
 the back of one of the company, and selects a trade and gives to 
 each a thing or instrument suited to it, reserving silently some 
 one thing. The person who hits on the thing reserved must 
 take the weight until, the trade having been changed, some one 
 else hits on the thing reserved. The leader can of course, by 
 pretending that no one has guessed the thing reserved, keep the 
 victim of the joke holding the heavy weight until he is tired and 
 vexed, which latter thing ought to be avoided. 
 
 II Sodo also disapproves of games involving mention of the 
 faults, defects, etc., of the company, as in the game of Blindfold, 
 where one is blindfolded and struck on the hand, then the person 
 
272 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 struck must guess the one who struck him from the description 
 given of him by the leader, who often makes bad feehng by 
 describing the person's faults, etc. 
 
 Still more objectionable are games turning religion into sport, 
 as in a game once seen by the speaker, called The Lovers' Hell, 
 in which the company represent the souls of lovers passed to 
 the other world. The leader acts the part of Charon and ferries 
 them across to Minos, to whom they reveal the sin which as 
 lovers they have committed and for which they are damned. 
 Minos then condemns them to the fitting punishment. II Sodo 
 shows how this game might possibly be rnade more tolerable, 
 but even then it is not to be praised. The same may be said of 
 the Temple of Venus or of Cupid, where each one goes to demand 
 a favor of Love. This game is apt to be carried too far; one will 
 kneel to the goddess in an idolatrous manner, etc. Impious 
 or irreligious penalties should not be imposed, as where one 
 should be ordered to go into the pulpit and preach a sermon on 
 love, or a lady to dress like a nun and take the veil. 
 
 What the leader should avoid has just been stated; now should 
 be considered . what he may do that is necessary and suitable. 
 First, when he accepts the pestle {mestola), which should be 
 publicly, he should wear a smiling countenance, but with a 
 trace of fear and thought, and should take his position before the 
 fireplace, "which is wont to be the abode of the master of the 
 games." He should not be too bashful or too forward. Ladies 
 do not act the part of leader, but give companies where games 
 are played. A lady also selects the leader by giving him the 
 pestle. She should select some one from the circle who is in 
 plain sight, and not go looking about for some one who is dis- 
 guised or in a remote comer, unless it be some famous leader, 
 or person known to be present. 
 
 The leader, when he reaches his post, after having glanced 
 about and reflected a moment should begin. He must be judi- 
 cious in the choice of his games. The hour before supper and 
 large companies demand serious games of wit : after supper and 
 in small companies pleasant and amusing games are apropos. 
 A leader would be injudicious to command at midnight after 
 dancing and other festivities such a game as the game of the 
 Hat, where each one is obliged to repeat a verse of poetry with 
 its explanation. The game is so called because the player sits 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 273 
 
 in a chair with a big hat on his head, which he must wear until 
 he gives the correct explanation of the verse. Such a game is 
 out of place under the above circumstances. 
 
 The place must be considered. One kind of game is suitable 
 where there are large numbers of ladies, as at weddings and 
 great banquets ; another where five or six ladies are united in a 
 conversazione. 
 
 The whole of a game should be described at first, unless the 
 intention of the leader is to make it more difhcult, revealing 
 only a part at a time. The leader should not be partial, although 
 he may help his friends. It is very difficult to select those who 
 appear first in the game for they have the advantage. The game 
 must be adapted to the company; when the players are weak 
 or do not agree, it is better to propose a mediocre game, as the 
 game of Olden Times, in which each player pretending to be 
 old tells a custom of his time and then speaking tells his own and 
 one that another has told. Then the one who hears his mentioned 
 does likewise. 
 
 Passing from jocose to serious games in which the leader has 
 little to do, one may mention the game of Questions, where the 
 leader calls two youths and propounds to them a question or 
 doubt about love, and assigns to each which side he must defend 
 or oppose, and appoints a lady who decides, and when one ques- 
 tion is finished he gives a new one and appoints a new judge. 
 
 L'Attonito describes such a game at the house of the Countess 
 Agnolina d'Elci, where a question was drawn from the Orlando 
 Furioso. The same speaker suggests that many fine questions 
 may be found in the Spanish romances of chivalry, and cites one 
 from Don Florisello, and tells a story showing the great vogue of 
 these romances in Italy in the sixteenth century .^^ 
 
 ^ Don Florisel de Niquea was the son of Amadis de Grecia, the grandson of 
 Amadis de Gaula. His adventures are related in the X. and XI. books of the 
 Amadis series. See Gayangos, Libros de Caballerias, Madrid, 1857, p. Ixix. 
 The entire Amadis series was translated into Italian and published at Venice, 
 1546-1594, in 25 vols., 8vo. The history of Don Florisel is in Vols. XI, XII, 
 and XIII, published in 1550, 1551, and 1564. The influence of the Spanish 
 Romances of Chivalry was great in Italy; besides the translations, which were 
 frequently reprinted, a large class of Italian literature rests upon the imitation 
 of these romances. The most important of the class are the Amadigi of Ber- 
 nardo Tasso, the Rinaldo of Torquato Tasso, and the Girone of L. Alamanni. 
 The dominion of the Spaniards in the north and south of Italy contributed to 
 the vogue of these romances. Besides Don Florisel, Amadis of Gaul and Ama- 
 dis of Greece, together with the Palraerins, are mentioned by Bargagli in the 
 above connection. 
 
 19 
 
274 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Not less difficult is the selection of the right person for the 
 parts in the games. One would not choose the ugliest woman 
 for Venus in the game of the Temple, etc. So in the game of the 
 Court of a Prince, where one pretends to form a new court for 
 a prince and distributes to each of the company an office, and 
 then each has to perform some act pertaining to this office. 
 
 Much attention should be given to the invention of new games, 
 and one should not make himself common by attending all 
 companies, but only those where his lady love is, or where some 
 duty takes him. Thus the invention of four new games will 
 suffice for the whole Carnival. There are three principal sources 
 of new games. The first and most common at the present time 
 is that of the trades and different qualities of men, from which 
 most of the new games are drawn. Such is the game of the 
 Ship, in which each lady must choose two gentlemen, and pre- 
 tending to be in a storm and obliged to throw one overboard, 
 must tell which she wishes to save and which drown and the 
 reasons. So with the game of Slaves, where the leader pretends 
 to be a corsair and sells his slaves to the highest bidder, who 
 must afterwards assign to a particular service the slave he has 
 bought, and is rewarded or punished according as his judgment 
 is good or bad. Some games are taken from marriage: as in 
 the game of Favors between Husband and Wife, where two 
 pretending to be married ask favors from each other. So from 
 the profession of innkeeper is taken the game of Hosts and Guests, 
 in which names of inns are given to the men and women, and then 
 one of the players pretends to be a traveller and is met by two 
 hosts, or hostesses, and is invited to turn in, the inn offering the 
 most advantages is chosen. 
 
 Games are even drawn from other games, as the game of Dice, 
 the game of Bassetta, a game of cards like Faro, etc. 
 
 Games are suggested in various ways, as where II Sodo heard a 
 friend talk about omens and invented the game of Omens, in 
 which each one told some thing that had happened to him, from 
 which he drew an omen. An amusing game is that of Epitaphs, 
 where each chooses a person to write his epitaph. This ends the 
 first class of sources of games. 
 
 The second and easier source may be called that of transforma- 
 tion, where one does not invent, but changes, adds, or disguises 
 what has already been invented. Such is the game of the Senate 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 275 
 
 of Love, in which the company form a council of love and pro- 
 pose abuses to be removed and ordinances to be obserAcd. This 
 pme is nothing but a transformation of the game of Customs, 
 in which, supposing the company had the power to reform the 
 world, each must tell what abuse he would ha^e removed and 
 what good custom he would have introduced. So the game of 
 Questions gave rise to the game of the Progress of Love, in which 
 disputes on the beginning and progress of love are discussed and 
 settled. II Sodo in the course of this game made two youths 
 declare whether it was good to love; three, whether wife, widow, 
 or maid should be the object of love; and two others, whether 
 love should be declared orally or by letter. 
 
 The third source from which games may be derived is that of 
 simiUtude, as where the games of the Senate of Love, the Temple 
 of Venus or Cupid, etc., have given rise to the game of Supplica- 
 tions, where Love as king and Venus as queen are appointed to 
 hear the petitions of lovers, which pass through the forms of 
 law, and the answers to which are given in the form of judicial 
 decisions. 
 
 II Sodo calls the principle of resemblance where a game 
 calls forth its contrary, as the game of Folly has given rise to 
 the game of Wisdom, in which each must relate an act of wis- 
 dom which he has committed in loving. So with a large number 
 of games. 
 
 When all other sources fail, there remains the game of Ad\-ice, 
 which affords opportunity for new in^"entions. In it the leader 
 feigns that there are questions about which he wishes advice 
 from each of the company, for example. How to placate an angry 
 mistress, etc. Care must be taken to ask questions to which 
 various answers may be given. 
 
 Such games as the above do not, however, please II Sodo very 
 much imless there is some new and amusing subject on which 
 to ask advice. In inventing games one must choose such as are 
 pleasing either by their subject or from the opportunity they 
 afford for sport. Games should not be too learned; should be 
 simple, clear, and easy to be grasped by the company. They 
 should have unity like the epic and should contain only one or 
 two actions. 
 
 Advice is given as to how to introduce the subject of the game. 
 Too long a proem should be avoided. This rule, says II Frasta- 
 
276 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 gliato, was not observed by a young man in the game of The 
 Animals, in which he went into the philosophy of Pythagoras 
 and the doctrine of metempsychosis to such length that he wearied 
 the hearers and spoiled a game good in itself. II Sodo replies 
 that the leader must explain the game briefly, taking as his 
 example Boccaccio in the introduction to the Decameron. He 
 must adapt the game to the circumstances. 
 
 Introductions, which should be brief, apropos, and elegant, 
 are not used in light and amusing games, but only in serious ones. 
 Sometimes, however, they may be employed in the latter case 
 where they deceive the hearer, and leading him to expect some 
 serious game end in a sudden turn to what is ridiculous and 
 amusing. An extended narration can only be tolerated in the 
 case of the game of Stories, where a person is to tell a story, and 
 the leader assigns to the company the name of an object or person 
 to be mentioned in the story. When these are mentioned the 
 person to whom they have been assigned must arise and say: 
 "You have done well, thank you!" and if he omits to do so he is 
 punished by being struck with the pestle. 
 
 Other things might be said in regard to the leader, but they 
 are in part embraced in what has already been said. Some are 
 slight and of no account; some must be left to the leader's dis- 
 cretion. It is now time to turn our attention from the leader to 
 the players. At this point in II Sodo's discourse, the servants 
 entered to say that the supper was served, and the host led his 
 guests out into the garden, where the table was prepared. After 
 washing their hands they took their seats without any formality. 
 With this ends the first book. 
 
 The second book opens with an examination and refutation of 
 the criticisms pronounced upon academies, which are accused of 
 dilettanteism, devotion to gallantry, etc. II Sodo is urged to 
 continue his discourse, and after a slight hesitation consents, 
 but invites the company to enter the house as the night air grows 
 cool. The subject of the second book is the player, and his 
 duty may be reduced to three points : he must perform something 
 either with signs or gestures or in some other way consisting in 
 action; or expressing some idea of his he must say something 
 different from the others, or must interpret something said by 
 others in the game. Before taking up these points in order a few 
 general remarks may first be made. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 277 
 
 No one should refuse to take part in games if he is present 
 where they are played and is invited to do so. Next, one should 
 not play in a careless manner, but show interest in the game. 
 All that is done or said or interpreted should tend to joy and 
 laughter and pleasure. At the same time buffoonery should 
 be avoided. Each must study his own disposition. One should 
 be generally agreeable everywhere, even if the lady one wishes 
 to please should not be present. It is desirable that the sexes 
 should cultivate each other and make friends. Even dress 
 should be carefully attended to in companies. Affectation 
 should be avoided by a player. One should not devote himself 
 to a particular lady at a company and make love to her as some 
 do. One should be general in his attentions as has already been 
 said. Between the games there is time for conversation, and 
 certain topics are mentioned which should be avoided. A lady 
 when asked to play should not make herself asked too long or 
 hesitate to reply. Men are admonished always to speak in 
 praise of women, unless for the diversion of the company they 
 take the other side ; in this case they should preserve this charac- 
 ter consistently. 
 
 Turning now to the proper subject of this book, if a player has 
 to do a thing which consists in acts, gestures, or signs, he should 
 strive to do it gracefully and cleverly, as in the game of the 
 Deformed, where each has to imitate the act of a deformed per- 
 son, and afterwards in the game perform his own act and that 
 of another. 
 
 In respect to speaking in the game, a longer discourse is neces- 
 sary as it comprehends many things. There is, however, one 
 rule which embraces all, and that is that we should always strive 
 to utter something which displays liveliness and judgment and is 
 seasoned with wit and mystery, and, above all things, is apropos of 
 our love experience. It must not, however, appear dull to the 
 outsider or unsuited to the game, unless it be so important that 
 the speaker does not care whether it pleases others so long as 
 it pleases himself. Ordinarily, however, the clever player 
 should utter a speech which shall please the company without 
 their understanding it, and the lady who does will be pleased by 
 the allegory, and praise the lover who has shown the others a 
 fair husk under which she alone perceives the kernel. Examples 
 are given from the game of Versification, where a vefse is re- 
 
278 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 peated by each and then in the game each repeats his own verse 
 and another's, or demands the interpretation of the verse re- 
 peated. 
 
 When anything is to be repeated accompanied by imitation, 
 one should imitate exactly with the voice, gestures, and words 
 the one represented, and greater pleasure is given where a particu- 
 lar person is imitated. Unexpected and extravagant things also 
 please, and good opportunities for these are afforded by such 
 games as the game of Comparisons mentioned above, and the 
 game of the Temple of Love. Some of the extravagant speeches 
 employed in these games are given in the text. This leads to 
 the question in what way and how far a lady may talk of love in 
 such entertainments. II Sodo replies with examples. She 
 should not show herself anxious about loving, or averse to allow- 
 ing herself to be loved. 
 
 Of value for games of the nature just mentioned are the works 
 of Petrarch, Ariosto, and Dante, for the verses and sentences they 
 contain. A number of games are then mentioned which require 
 a knowledge of poetry, among them the ga,me of the Figure of 
 Love, where it must be explained why Love is represented blind, 
 young, naked, and armed with the bow: Why blind if he always 
 hits the heart ; Why young when he is so old ; Why a great lord 
 and yet naked, etc.; and it is enjoined upon the company to 
 give one reason which shall redound to the praise of Love and one 
 to his blame, as Bembo did in the Asolani. In addition they 
 must tell the nativity and origin of Love.^^ 
 
 22 The "question" why Love is depicted as blind, young, naked, and armed 
 with the bow, is discussed in Bembo 's^jo/o»i; see Chapter III, p. 114, of the 
 present work. The "question" was frequently debated; see T. A. Trollope, 
 A Decade of Italian Women, London, 1859, P- 41°; and for a French example, 
 E. Roy, La Vie et les CEuvres de Charles Sorel, Paris, 1891, p. 257. See the pres- 
 ent work, Chapters VIII, p. 403, and XI, note 7, also Shakespeare's Midsummer 
 Night's Dream. Act I, i, 1. 235 et seq. There is an extensive literature on this 
 subject which would make an agreeable topic for an essay. The starting point 
 might be Propertius, II, xii, ed. H. E. Butler, London, 1905, p. 46: 
 
 Quicumque ille fuit, puerum qui pinxit Amorem, 
 
 nonne putas miras hunc habuisse manus? 
 is primum vidit sine sensu vivere amantes, 
 
 et levibus curis magna perire bona, 
 idem non frustra ventosas addidit alas;, 
 
 fecit et humano corde volare deum: 
 scilicet alterna quoniam iactamur in unda, 
 
 nostraque non ullis permanet aura locis. 
 et merito hamatis manus est armata sagittis, 
 
 et pharetra ex humero Gnosia utroque iacet : 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 279 
 
 It is clear from the above how profitable it is to be familiar 
 with books, which contain similar conceits, especially for ladies, 
 who being able to read less than men cause more wonder. One 
 must be careful not to repeat the same thing in games, as a 
 proverb or device, although they are frequently used in two games 
 which are based upon them. 
 
 This leads II Frastagliato to beg II Sodo to digress a little and 
 explain at some length what a proverb is, whether it is the same 
 as a motto or sentence, also the nature and variety of devices, 
 and the parts and qualities required for a device to be used in a 
 game.^' Then follows a long definition of the proverb and how 
 it differs from the motto or sentence. All these may be (sued 
 indiscriminately in the game of Proverbs, in which each one has 
 to repeat a proverb and explain what was meant by it. Turning 
 now to the game of Devices, in which each one has to describe 
 
 ante ferit quoniam, tuti quam cernimus hostem, 
 
 nee quisquam ex illo vulnere sanus abit. 
 in me tela manent, manet et puerilis imago: 
 
 sed certe pennas perdidit ille suas; 
 evolat ei nostro quoniam de pectore nusquam, 
 
 assiduusque meo sanguine bella gerit. 
 
 This theme was a favorite one with the teachers of rhetoric. Quintilian says 
 (H, 4): "My teachers were accustomed to prepare us for conjectural causes 
 by a kind of exercise far from useless and very pleasant to us, in which they 
 desired us to investigate and show why Venus among the Lacedemonians was 
 represented armed ; why Cupid was thought to be a boy, and winged, and armed 
 with arrows and a torch, etc." 
 
 English readers will recall the charming little poem of Richard Crashaw 
 {Complete Works, edited by A. B. Grosart, Vol. I, p. 246); "Out of the Italian": 
 
 Would any one the true cause find 
 
 How Love came nak't, a boy, and blind? 
 
 'Tis this: listning one day too long. 
 
 To th' Syrens in my mistris' song, 
 
 The extasie of a delight 
 
 So much o'er-mastering all his might. 
 
 To that one sense, made all else thrall. 
 
 And so he lost his clothes, eyes, heart and all. 
 
 The same question is the subject of another English poem, "Love-Ques- 
 tions," by Edward (De Vere), Earl of Oxford (ed. A. B. Grosart, Miscellanies 
 of The Fuller Worthies' Library, Vol. IV). 
 
 The poem of Antoine Heroet, La Parfaicte Amye (see Chapter IX; p. m»j- M ■ 
 note 23i) begins with an allusion to Love: 
 
 J 'ay veu Amour pourtraict en divers lieux: 
 
 L'ung le painct vieil, cruel, et furieux, 
 
 L'aultre, plus doulx, enfant, aveugle, et nud; 
 
 Chascun le tient pour tel qu'il I'a congneu 
 
 Par ses bienfaicts ou par sa forfaicture. 
 
 2' The subject of Devices has already been discussed in Chapter III, p. 
 143, of the present work. 
 
280 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the device which he would wear if he were engaged in a joust or 
 tournament and then explain it, II Sodo says regard must be had 
 to the just proportion of body and mind, that is, the device should 
 not be so obscure as always to need an interpreter nor so clear 
 that every rude and ignorant person can understand it. It 
 should be apparent and striking, not containing human figures; 
 the figures and the mottoes must be connected in such a way that 
 neither alone can manifest the author's meaning. There may 
 be mottos without figures and the reverse. 
 
 A knowledge of devices in their various forms is valuable not 
 only for the game just mentioned but for others, among them 
 the game of Pilgrimage, in which it is feigned that each one has 
 made a vow to the temple of Venus for some danger escaped or 
 some misfortune avoided in love affairs, and the one who has 
 made the vow in order to repay it offers a painted tablet. This 
 usually results in a device of some kind. II Sodo then proceeds 
 to define devices, and shows the difference between them and 
 emblems and reverses (of medals). The game of Reverses is 
 played as follows : medals are supposed to be struck in honor of 
 the ladies present at a company, and each gentleman must imag- 
 ine a reverse worthy of the medal of one of the ladies. 
 
 Returning now to the qualities necessary for a player, im- 
 portant is a fine, clever, and pleasant narrative when the need of 
 the game obliges one to narrate something at length, as in the 
 game of Dreams and the game of Misfortunes in Love, where each 
 has to narrate a misfortune which has occurred to him while 
 loving, and the judge decides whether it was really a misfortune, 
 or a fault and defect of his own. Still greater pleasure is aroused 
 in hearing well narrated a deed which contains some joke or 
 act of stupidity, as in the game of Stupid Acts, where the ladies 
 are obliged to relate some stupid act performed by a lover, and 
 the men some folly committed by their ladyloves. Besides 
 possessing a pleasing narration one must be well provided with 
 witty speeches, clever replies, etc., but these witticisms should 
 not be offensive. 
 
 To pass now to the third part of the duty of the player, which 
 is to interpret the things propounded by others ; all that is to be 
 said, either in narrative, or jesting, or in the game itself or 
 apropos of it, must always be far from offending another, and 
 full of invention, cleverness, wit, and amusement. One must 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 281 
 
 also inform himself of the character, etc., of the person whose 
 words he interprets so that his explanation may suit his humor. 
 
 The office of judge is now examined and explained by II Sodo. 
 The office is a difficult one as he has to speak upon all the things 
 propounded by the players, now contradicting, now approving, 
 etc. Sometimes the judge is alone; sometimes he has in his 
 company a lady with whom he has to judge. Often he keeps 
 the name of judge, but sometimes he exercises the same function 
 of rewarding, punishing, granting, denying, etc., under another 
 name, as podesta, priest, rector, etc. The duty of a judge when 
 he is associated with a lady is explained, and then follow general 
 considerations upon the office. The judge must be severe rather 
 than lenient; condemn rather than approve; blame what seems 
 well said and the reverse. It is a fine thing also when the judge 
 gives the preeminence to one who seemed only mediocre, as 
 happened on several occasions mentioned by the speaker. The 
 judge may sometimes make an exception to the rule and reward 
 or approve instead of condemning if that will afford more pleas- 
 ure; but ordinarily he must condemn. Besides this a clever 
 judge must always seek subtle and novel opinions in matters 
 relating to love, which, however, must be seemly and fine. 
 Whenever opportunity occurs he should correct the abuses and 
 errors which exist between men and women. He should favor 
 and assist the leader of the game; at times, however, for jest or 
 to disclose some opinion of his own, he may attack the leader, 
 but always with a certain gentleness. 
 
 The judge should sometimes impose the penalty himself in- 
 stead of enjoining some one else to do so. The duties of ladies 
 in judging are then taken up, but are essentially the same as 
 those of men. 
 
 The question was raised whether the above rules, which pre- 
 suppose the equality of the players, apply to the presence of 
 princes and great lords and ladies. The answer is that they do, 
 for in such a case the prince lays aside his dignity and puts him- 
 self on the same level as the ordinary gentleman and lady. 
 
 Thus far II Sodo has treated of the proposer of the game, the 
 players and the judge, as well as of the two "quantitative" parts 
 mentioned above : the proposition and the progress of the ganie. 
 There remains now only to discuss the third part, named "satis- 
 faction"; for the game having been proposed, each one having 
 
282 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 played his part, and the judge having given his sentence, nothing 
 remains but to carry out the punishment or to receive the re- 
 wards imposed. A word then in regard to the penalties and 
 rewards, and the duties of those who receive them as well as of 
 those who impose them. 
 
 All the penances which are imposed consist in doing something 
 by way of satisfaction, or in saying something, and hence many 
 say when they impose penance : " Do you wish me to ask of you, 
 or to command you?" In regard to commanding, two things 
 are to be observed by those who command : one, to impose what 
 they think will be willingly performed, the other, that such 
 command will be amusing and pleasant to the whole company. 
 Above all, nothing should be commanded or asked which ofifends 
 any one or puts to shame the one on whom it is imposed. This 
 rule should be observed even if the offence were secret. In no 
 other point is shown the sharpness of one's wit as in imposing 
 penances and bestowing rewards.. Many things are to be ob- 
 served, a few only can be mentioned. First is novelty, which 
 consists in words as well as in deeds. Penances and rewards 
 should be imposed according to their fitness to the game just 
 played, and proportioned to the mistakes or merits which have 
 been shown in it. 
 
 In regard to ladies, they should appear to favor and value the 
 worthy, and therefore should have always prepared some pen- 
 ance by which they show that they esteem the learning of the 
 one sentenced; revealing at the same time that they study and 
 delight in witty books. A single pleasant thing which they learn 
 and propose once makes them considered ladies who read and 
 know every thing. An example is given of a lady who proposed 
 a doubt or question taken from the romance of Don Florisello. 
 
 Even if a lady should not know how to form a question of her 
 own, she will be praised if she proposes some of those already 
 described by others, provided they are not well known to the 
 company from having been debated at other times. So a lady 
 often proposed by way of penance some of the questions from the 
 Filocolo. In these cases the person propounding the question 
 should show that it is not original, without, however, naming 
 the source, and taking the opposite side to that approved by 
 the writer quoted, to show that he is not followed blindly, and 
 to display as far as possible novelty and invention. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 283 
 
 II Sodo now passes to a consideration of certain counsels con- 
 cerning those who are the subject of penance. The first is to 
 accept the penance cheerfully and readily, except when something 
 is proposed which would expose one to contempt, when he should 
 at once refuse. Although in his replies one should be careful 
 not to offend anyone, still in penances, as in other things; if a 
 man is provoked he is excusable if he rewards the provoker with 
 a just retribution. One should be jealous of the honor of woman, 
 and an admirer of her virtue and greatness. The reply should 
 show a certain loftiness and purity of love, rather in the style of 
 Petrarch than in that of Ovid and Catullus. 
 
 As the men have to show themselves fervid in their speeches, 
 the ladies may at times be shy and somewhat sharp, with a 
 certain gentleness mingled with it, especially when they have to 
 reply to their lovers. Men are allowed to disclose the intention 
 of their minds and to reveal some of their thoughts, not to give 
 the true solution of the doubts proposed in penance, but such a 
 meaning as seems most convenient and useful, even going so far 
 as to employ paradoxes. 
 
 Sometimes one is commanded to have an interview or a scene 
 with a lady as if she were the object of his affections; sometimes 
 a letter must be dictated or a novella recited. A few words on 
 this point in conclusion. 
 
 The discourse which must sometimes be made will be on a 
 given subject, or on a general one, and should be brief, modest, 
 and affectionate, in which the words, gestures, and movements 
 represent an impassioned lover. Although affectation should be 
 avoided, still in the present case a studied action is pleasing. 
 What has been said of speeches is also true of the love letters 
 which must be dictated in companies; they must be either af- 
 fected, or witty, or brief, and sometimes laconic and capricious. 
 The lady addressed must reply without urging, and say what she 
 has to say with a certain gentle severity. These same general 
 rules should be observed by ladies in reciting a comedy all'im- 
 proviso. 
 
 Story- telling is next considered at considerable length. Unity 
 of action must be observed. This action may be of three classes 
 of persons: low, mediocre, and noble. It must contain something 
 new and notable, and a certain rare verisimilitude, that is, what 
 may happen, but which rarely does. If a novella is related before 
 
284 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 yours, you should endeavour to tell one on the same subject or 
 on a contrary one. When the novella already narrated gives us 
 the subject, we should try to please without regard to the charac- 
 ters and actions of the novella we relate. If we are bound by 
 none of the above considerations, we must regard the general 
 rules already given concerning the proposing of games. In 
 other words the story must be suitable to the company. We 
 should avoid stories ridiculing religion, or stories that are sad. 
 The subject then should be pleasant and contain some notable 
 example of constancy, magnanimity, or loyalty, and contain 
 noble characters. The story should be new if possible, or if an 
 old one be presented in such a way as to seem fresh. Sometimes, 
 however, as a feat of memory an entire story of the Decameron 
 has been recited verbatim et literatim. 
 
 So much for the subject of the novella; now for its narration and 
 explanation in words. The principal thing is to relate it in a 
 clear and orderly manner so as make it vivid to the hearers. 
 The narrator should at times not only relate but act the part of 
 his characters, even employing dialect in some cases. The names 
 once given to characters should be preserved, and they should 
 be carefully chosen, real names being avoided. The story 
 should be told readily and with a good memory in order to avoid 
 repetitions. Useless details should be omitted, but necessary 
 ones not overlooked. Finally, attention should be bestowed upon 
 the introductions, which should be judiciously varied. 
 
 In conclusion, there are two kinds of stories: those which give 
 rise to questions, that is, debates or arguments, and those which 
 do not. The debates which arise are also of two kinds. A ' 
 single story may furnish matter for discussion, as the story of 
 Madonna Dianora {Decameron, X, 5, also found in the Filocolo), 
 where it is a question which showed the greatest liberality, the 
 lover, or the husband, or the necromancer.^* Or two stories 
 told one after the other may by comparison aflord material for 
 debate. Sometimes three or four stories are compared, as 
 happened once at a company at Torri where II Sodo was present. 
 The stories and questions are described at length. 
 
 At this point the bells of the adjoining convent began to ring 
 for matins, and II Sodo dismissed his visitors after making 
 them partake of some confetti and wine. 
 
 " This is the IV. question in the Filocolo, and has already been examined at 
 length in Chapter II, .p 74, of the present work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 285 
 
 This interesting work is the only complete treatise upon the 
 theory and practice of "parlor games" with which I am ac- 
 quainted. The games described, of which but a small number 
 are mentioned above (there are one hundred and thirty in all), 
 are simple and practicable, and are more or less popular in charac- 
 ter. It is easy to understand the favor which the book enjoyed, 
 and the extensive diffusion of these games throughout Italy. 
 We shall see in the remainder of this work the important part 
 they played in social gatherings. 
 
 The only other Italian collection of "parlor games" of the six- 
 teenth century with which I am acquainted is Innocentio Rin- 
 ghieri's Cento Giuochi liberali, et d'ingegno, Bologna, 1551, which 
 although published twenty-one years before Bargagli's work I 
 have preferred to examine later, as it is a mere collection of games 
 and does not discuss their theory. ^^ Although Ringhieri's book 
 passed through at least three editions, and received the honor 
 of a partial French translation, it does not seem to have exerted 
 much influence in Italy, and Bargagli does not allude to it in the 
 discussion by II Sodo on the origin of "parlor games," which, 
 as we have seen, he attributes almost exclusively to Siena. 
 The character of the games in the two books is entirely different 
 and they have scarcely a single one in common. 
 
 The author was a Bolognese gentleman, a member of the 
 Academy of the Ritruovati, and author of several works in prose 
 and verse. One of the former, a dialogue on Life and Death, 
 was translated into French. He also produced a metrical 
 version of the Psalter, a poem, II Sole, and miscellaneous verse, 
 which may be found in the collection of Domenichi.^* 
 
 The work in which we are at present interested contains, as 
 its title indicates, a hundred games, and is dedicated to Caterina 
 de' Medici, Queen of France. Each game is introduced by a 
 
 25 The first edition is the one cited in the text, published by Giaccarelliat 
 Bologna in 1551, in 4to. It was followed by two editions printed at Venice 
 by Bonelli, in 1553 and 1558, in 4to. , . ^ j . tt ^ ^ tit 
 
 sis Scanty notices of Ringhien may be found m Quadno, II, 356, 363; 111, 
 268, 399; VII, 118, and in Crescembeni, V, 78. His works, other than the one 
 on eames, were published as follows: Dialogo delta Vita e delta Morte, Bo- 
 
 Notizie degli ScrUtori Bolognesi raccolte da Giovanni Fantuzzi, Bologna, 1789, 
 Vol. VIII, p. 194, does not give date of birth or of death. It contains a list of 
 six works, and mentions editions of the Giuochi, Bologna, 1551, Venice, 1553, 
 Bologna, 1580, and French translation, Lyon, 1555. 
 
286 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 letter, often long and tiresome, to the ladies engaged in the game. 
 This letter generally is connected with the subject of the game 
 and often has a didactic tendency. At the end of each game 
 are given ten questions arising from the game which may be 
 debated by the company. The games themselves are remark- 
 able for their intricate and artificial character. They are usually 
 very lengthy and it will be impossible to give as complete an 
 idea of this work as of Bargagli's. A description of a few of the 
 most characteristic games must suffice. 
 
 In the game of the Cavalier a gentle knight soon to appear in 
 the field demands from the ladies a device, motto, and color for 
 his clothing and device. Each of the company is to suggest 
 such and if mistakes are made forfeits are to be given, and when 
 they are redeemed such questions as the following might be pro- 
 pounded for solution: Is it better to love a scholar or a soldier, 
 and why? Are modern knights inferior in strength and bravery 
 to the ancient ones? An unlearned person might be asked which 
 he thinks the finest equipment which the ladies have given to 
 the knights in the game. A lady of wit might be asked to say 
 which in her judgment she thinks better for the knight, the 
 praise of the few but wise, the praise of the people, or the praise 
 of women. Of a positive lady and of little wit may be asked how 
 many lances should be broken in a joust, etc. 
 
 The game of Love is played as follows. A person, man or 
 woman, is elected lord or lady of the festival and conducted to 
 a seat of honor. The others all pay him homage and he be- 
 stows upon each a name taken from the various qualities or 
 effects of love, such as error, dreams, certain grief, etc. After- 
 wards three players are blindfolded and the rest of the company 
 come up one by one and touch them on the hand. The person 
 blindfolded has one chance to guess the person who touched his 
 hand; if he guesses correctly he is unblindfolded, and the person 
 guessed pays a forfeit and takes his place. An unusual number 
 of questions are given with this game; among them are: Is 
 Love blind, as he is said to be, or does he see much and 
 craftily? What sort of men are most worthy of love? Which 
 is the greater difficulty, to feign love, or to conceal love? Can 
 love exist without jealousy? Can a lover die from excessive 
 love? Which is the more constant by nature, man or woman? 
 Can a man fall in love by merely hearing about a woman ? Which 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 287 
 
 woman loves the more, the timid or the bold ? Which is the stronger 
 passion, love or hatred? It is possible for a miser to love? 
 
 A favorite principle of Ringhieri's games is illustrated by the 
 game of The Council of the Gods, in which there is assigned to 
 each player the name of a god together with an animal and an 
 instrument, for example, Saturn, ostrich, sickle. When a name 
 is called, as Saturn, the person to whom this was assigned must 
 say "ostrich, sickle." If ostrich is called the person must say 
 "Saturn, sickle," etc. Forfeits are taken from those who fail 
 to answer correctly, and are redeemed by discussing some of the 
 questions, such as Whether Love is the greatest and most 
 powerful of all the gods, etc. Similar is the game of The Ele- 
 ments, in which each player chooses an animal of the earth, 
 water, and air, or at least two of these, and names them aloud 
 so that all may know them. Then a little ball is made of a 
 perfumed and precious glove or handkerchief, which the leader 
 throws at one of the company, calling out one of the elements, 
 and the person must mention the animal belonging to that ele- 
 ment which he chose. Then that person throws the ball to 
 someone else, calling out the element he pleases, and so on. 
 Among the questions are: Which is the least worthy of the ele- 
 ments? Does Love bind and loose the elements as he pleases? 
 
 The second book contains ten games involving the same 
 principle. These games are entitled the game of the Seas, of 
 the Mountains, of the Fountains, of the Rivers, of the Lakes, 
 Islands, Cities, Ships, etc. In this class of games the names of 
 the seas, etc., together with some epithet are distributed among 
 the players; then one calls another, and the second must repeat 
 the name of the one calling him or his epithet. There are a num- 
 ber of variations upon this, as in the game of Cities, where the 
 names of cities are distributed by twos with the distance be- 
 tween them. Then one begins: "From Bologna to Ferrara," 
 and the person named Ferrara replies: "From Ferrara to Bologna 
 is thirty-two miles," or if one said "From Ferrara to Bologna," 
 then Bologna must answer and call other names. The game of 
 Dumbshow, with which this book ends, is not unlike some in 
 Bargagli's work. In the game just mentioned no speaking is 
 allowed without the leader's leave, but every one adopts a 
 sign. Then the leader makes his own sign and that of another. 
 That one repeats his own and another's, and so on. 
 
288 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 In a similar manner the tliird book contains ten games of 
 Metals, Gems, Trees and Birds, Wild Beasts, Garlands and 
 Flowers, Colors, Perfumes, etc. In the game of Trees and Birds 
 the names of trees and birds frequenting them are assigned to 
 the company, to one a tree, to another a bird. The company 
 is seated so that a tree is between two birds, and a bird between 
 two trees. Then a bird is called and leaves its seat and betakes 
 itself to the tree to which it belongs, saying, for example: 
 "In thee I nest, gentle pine." The bird which was previously 
 there must depart and seek a nest which may be refused it. If 
 after three trials it does not find one, it must return to the place 
 left vacant by the first bird. The tree next in order then calls 
 a bird, and so on. Among the questions are: Why are emperors 
 and poets crowned with laurel ? Does the swan sing its death- 
 song from joy or sadness? 
 
 The games grow more complicated as we advance. The fourth 
 book contains the usual ten as follows: the game of Glo- 
 rious Deeds, Virtues, Liberal and Noble Arts, Mechanic Arts, 
 Agriculture, Gardener, Numbers, Chiromancy, Palace, and 
 Chase. In the game last mentioned the company represent 
 hunters and huntresses. When the leader asks: "Hunter, how 
 have you wounded the deer?" the hunter must answer: "With 
 dart, bow, and spear." A huntress will answer in the same way. 
 If one is asked: "How did you take the deer?" the answer is: 
 "With noose, net, and hound." Or if: "How did you chase the 
 deer?" the answer is: "With horn, noise, and cry." When the 
 leader says simply: "Hunter!" the hunter must begin and say: 
 "Deer chased, deer taken, deer wounded," and the huntress in 
 inverse order: "Deer wounded, taken, chased." 
 
 In the fifth book we have the games of Human Life, Death, 
 War, Peace, Ceremonies, or the Sacrifice of Venus and Love, 
 Bride and Bridegroom, etc. The least intricate, the game of 
 Thief, illustrates a mode of variation frequently employed. In 
 this game a name and a sentence are assigned to each player, as : 
 Person robbed. My purse has been stolen. Purse, With te:n gold 
 florins. The Person robbed begins by saying: "My purse has 
 been stolen." Then the Purse replies: "With ten gold florins." 
 And so on. The names are so arranged that taken together they 
 constitute a little drama, ending with the sentence: "Was hanged 
 for a thief." After the company has played the game through 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 289 
 
 in regular order it may .be varied by skipping one of the charac- 
 ters, for example, every second one, and then every third one, 
 etc. 
 
 It is not possible to examine in detail the remaining books. 
 There is an attempt at classification, as in the eighth book, 
 where we have the games of Madness, Envy, Jealousy, Deceit, 
 Chastity, Beauty, etc. In all of these games names and epi- 
 thets relating to the subject of the game are distributed among 
 the company, and one player calls another, with variations as 
 indicated above. A good example is the game of Merchant, 
 where names are assigned answering to the question. How is 
 the trade of merchant carried on? By cash, by exchange, etc. 
 The players are divided into three bands, and the first of the 
 first band begins: "With cash," and is followed by the second 
 player of the second band, and the third of the third. Then the 
 second of the first band follows, the third of the second, the 
 fourth of the third, etc. There are variations, as by considering 
 the third band the first and beginning there. In the last book 
 occurs the game of Chess, in which the regular game is played by 
 the company attired to represent the various pieces in the 
 game. 
 
 Many of these games, in fact the larger part, are mere exer- 
 cises of the memory, as in the game of Physician, where diseases 
 and their remedies are distributed to the company, and a phy- 
 sician chosen who asks each his malady and prescribes the proper 
 remedy. When he has been the round of the company, he sits 
 down and asks a gentleman what is the disease of a certain lady 
 and he must answer correctly; then when asked what remedy 
 he would apply he must tell that, too, correctly under pain of a 
 forfeit. Some games find their counterparts in modern games, 
 as the game of the Secret, where a secret is whispered word by 
 word by one player to the next and if it does not come out right 
 at the end the judge can exact a forfeit. Some of the games have 
 a literary tone, as in the game of Beauty, where parts of a beauti- 
 ful woman, hair, brow, eyes, etc., are distributed with lines from 
 Petrarch relating to them. A lady chosen for the purpose sitting 
 in the middle of the company calls: "Hair," then Hair answers 
 the appropriate verse and calls: "Forehead," and so on down to 
 the fifth. The fifth, instead of calling the sixth, going back will 
 repeat the verse of the fourth, and make the fourth repeat the 
 20 
 
290 
 
 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 verse of the third, the third of the second, and the second of the 
 first. The lady in the centre then calls the sixth, and so on down 
 to the tenth, then they return to the fifth as above, and so on by 
 fives. In the game of the Philosopher names of the famous 
 philosophers are distributed together with a flattering sentence 
 referring to woman, as Thales, Woman is an asylum of all bless- 
 ings; Hipparchus, Woman is a temple of modesty, etc. In the 
 game of Poets names of poets and famous women are distrib- 
 uted, and in the game of the Muses the names of the Muses and 
 famous poets are similarly distributed. The exceedingly com- 
 plicated character of Ringhieri's games can not be seen from the 
 above analyses and the reader who wishes to see one of them in 
 its entirety is referred to the notes accompanying this chapter.^' 
 
 Ringhieri's work, as has already been said, received the honor 
 of a partial French translation, published at Lyons in 1555.^^ 
 
 2' The following is one of Ringhieri's games in its entirety, except the pref- 
 atory address to the ladies. It is entitled the Game of the Wild Beasts, and 
 is the XXIV. of the III. Book, p. fol. 29. 
 
 The joyful company having gathered out of doors in the pleasant gardens 
 or within the rooms, the leader begins the Game of the Wild Beasts by distrib- 
 uting these names of wild beasts, with their qualities, giving to each player a 
 single name with its quality, as follows: 
 
 Provident Beast 
 Lively Beast 
 Nimble Beast 
 Timid Beast 
 Imitative Beast 
 Deceitful Beast 
 Drowsy Beast 
 Honored Beast 
 Spotted Beast 
 
 This done, the game proceeds as follows: if the Tiger should say to the Lion, 
 Vigilant Beast, the player with that name must answer, Lion; if the Tiger should 
 say to him, Lion, he must answer, Vigilant Beast, and if Tiger should say. 
 Lion Beast, he must reply Vigilant, but if Tiger should say. Vigilant Lion, 
 he must answer, Beast, and so on. 
 
 The following "Questions" are proposed as usual: How is the Tiger cap- 
 tured, and how fights the Unicorn with the Elephant? Why is the Lion called 
 the King of Beasts? Why does the proverb say, you should know the Lion by 
 his claws? What is the meaning of the expression, the Foxes have joined the 
 Lions? Is Love a kindly god or a most cruel wild beast? What is the mean- 
 ing of the expression, the Wolf dances around the well? ., Which is the most 
 inhuman and cruel of all the beasts? What is the meaning of the proverb, 
 the ape cannot be caught with a snare? What is the meaning of the ex- 
 pression, the Fox cannot be corrupted by gifts? Can women truly be called 
 angels, or wild beasts? 
 
 ** Cinquante leus Divers D'Honete Entretien, Industrieusement Inventes par 
 Messer Innocent Rhinghier, gentilhomme Boloignoys, etfais Frangoys par Hubert 
 Philippe^ de^ Villiers. Livre Premier. A Lj^on. Par Charles Pesnot, 1555. 
 Avec Privilege du Roy. This edition contains the first fifty games of Rhin- 
 ghieri; the others were not printed. 
 
 Lion 
 
 Vigilant Beast 
 
 Beaver 
 
 Tiger 
 
 Swift Beast 
 
 Stag 
 
 Elephant 
 
 Religious Beast 
 
 Wild-Goat 
 
 Unicorn 
 
 Humble Beast 
 
 Doe 
 
 She-Bear 
 
 Furious Beast 
 
 Ape 
 
 Hyena 
 
 Cruel Beast 
 
 Fox 
 
 Wolf 
 
 Greedy Beast 
 
 Badger 
 
 Panther 
 
 Odoriferous Beast 
 
 Sable 
 
 Rhinoceros 
 
 Fierce Beast 
 
 Lynx 
 
 Leopard 
 
 Magnanimous Beast 
 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 291 
 
 Bargagli's book, so far as I know, was never translated ; but it 
 was undoubtedly known in France, and both of the works just 
 mentioned were laid under contribution by Charles Sorel for his 
 Recreations galantes, which is a complete handbook of parlor 
 games and diversions.-' Before giving a practical illustration 
 of the manner in which games were employed in Italian society 
 of the sixteenth century, it may be well to consider briefly two 
 other related forms of diversion, riddles and fortune-telling. 
 
 We have already seen in the first chapter that the origin of 
 the Tenzon is by some connected with the riddle, the great 
 antiquity of which is well known.^" The riddle was a favorite 
 diversion of polite society during the Middle Ages,^^ and has 
 survived until the present day.^^ With the development of 
 polite society in Italy during the sixteenth century the riddle 
 assumed a more literary form, although it never entirely lost 
 its popular character, one peculiarity of which was the apparently 
 obscene nature of the riddle, which when solved was found to be 
 
 "' Sorel 's work is: La Maison des jeux, oil se irouvent Us divertissements, 
 d'une compagnie par des narrations agriables et par des jeux d'esprit et autres 
 entretiens d'une honntte conversation, Paris, Nicolas de Sercy, 1642, 2 vols., 8vo;. 
 another edition, Paris, A. de Sommaville, 1657, 2 vols., 8vo. I have not seen 
 these, which are cited by E. Roy in La Vie et les (Euvres de Charles Sorel,- 
 Paris, 1 89 1, p. 409. I have used: Les Recreations galantes. Suite et seconde 
 Partie de la Maison des Jeux. Paris, E. Loyson, 1671, l2mo. Roy cites an 
 editionof 1669 and apparently has not seen the one of 1671. He says this work 
 is only an extract from the one first named. It contains eighty-six games, of 
 which forty-one are from Ringhieri, and twenty-four from Bargagli's Dialogo. 
 Several others resemble games in the above collections and are undoubtedly 
 based upon them, and a few are taken from Guazzo's Civil Conversazione, 
 which will be considered in the next chapter. 
 
 ^» For the history of the Riddle see J. A. Friedreich, Geschichte des Rdthsels,. 
 Dresden, i860. 
 
 «' See Weinhold, Die detdschen Frauen in dem MUtelalter, Wien, 1882, il, 
 pp. 129-30. We have seen in the I. Chapter of the present work that the 
 Tenzon is supposed by some to have been developed from the Riddle; see 
 
 '2' For the Riddle in Italy see Friedreich, op. cit., p. 197, and Cian, "Motti," 
 etc., di Bembo, p. 44. An account of some collections of Riddles of the six- 
 teenth century by G. Rua may be found in the Archivio per lo studio delle 
 Tradizioni popolari, Palermo, 1888, VII ,pp. 427-449- For Riddles in Italy 
 at the present day see Pitre, Bibliografia delle Tradizioni popolan d Itaha, 
 Turin, 1894. Riddles were also fashionable in France in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury; Mascarille, in the Precieuses ridicules, scene ix, boasfe of having written 
 "plus de mille madrigaux, sans compter les enigraes et les portraits. _ The 
 Abbe Cotin published in 1661 a collection of enigmas, which was reprinted 
 several times. I have the edition of 1687, Paris, Nicolas Le Gras, Recueil^ des 
 Enigmes de ce Temps, Nomelle edition. It contains 245 enigmas m various 
 kinds of verse, in which the sonnet form predominates. See also G. Pitre, 
 Indovinelli, Dubbi, Scioglilingua del Populo Siciliano, Turin, 1897, pp. i-ccix, 
 "Degli Indovinelli." 
 
292 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 quite innocent of any lewdness.^^ The vogue of the riddle in the 
 sixteenth century is shown by the number of collections printed 
 during that period, and by the frequent references to them in 
 literature.'* They afforded materials for a parlor game, and 
 served to vary the usual diversion of story-telling.'^ 
 
 The most interesting example of the latter use is found in 
 Straparola's Le PiacevoU Notti, '^ the frame or setting of which 
 is as follows. Ottaviano Maria Sforza, uncle and heir of Fran- 
 cesco Sforza II, Duke of Milan, owing to the disturbances in 
 the state consequent upon the death of his uncle, was obliged to 
 leave Milan secretly and depart for Lodi accompanied by his 
 daughter Lucrezia, wife of Giovan Francesco Gonzaga, cousin of 
 Frederick, Marquis of Mantua. After some stay at Lodi, the 
 persecutions of his relatives continuing, and bad feeling showing 
 itself against him and his daughter, now a widow, he got to- 
 gether what jewels and money he could and went with his 
 daughter to Venice. There the exiles were hospitably received 
 by Beltramo Ferier, but were unwilling to remain long in the 
 house of a stranger and sought a lodging elsewhere. One day 
 they entered a little bark and went to the island of Murano, 
 where they happened to see a palace of wondrous beauty, which 
 at that time was vacant. They entered and examined its 
 pleasant situation, the spacious court, the splendid loggia, the 
 agreeable garden, full of flowers and various fruits, and abound- 
 ing in green grass. Then they ascended the marble staircase, 
 
 ^' Bargagli, Dialogo, p. 26, says: "Hor non si fa egli questo medesimo da 
 noi nel giuoco gia detto deglTndovinelli? nel quale, accioche maggior sia il 
 diletto, sapete che si propongono i dubbii in rima, et che nel prirao aspetto 
 loro mostrino qualche cosa poco honesta di significare, accioche maggior il 
 piacer poi si renda nel sentire, che convenevol cosa, et da quelche sonava 
 lontana in se contenevano." Corazzini, I Componimenti minori delta Let- 
 terature popolare italiana, Benevento, 1877, p. 305, says, " Carattere generale 
 di questi piccoli componimenti e un'apparente laidezza ed oscenitS, con cui si 
 desta il riso, mentre si nascondono sotto le parole cose innocenti e comuni." 
 The riddles of the Abbe Cotin cited above, although intended for the fashion- 
 able ruelles of the day, are often obscene. 
 
 ^'' See the authorities cited in note 32 above. 
 
 '^ See Bargagli, Dialogo, p. 25, and Cian, "Motti" di Bembo, p. 47, note I. 
 See also Rua's article cited in the following note, p. 140, note 2. 
 
 '' For Straparola see F. W. J. Brakelmann, Giovan Francesco Straparola da 
 Caravaggio, Inaugural-Dissertation, Gottingen, 1867; and G. Rua, "Intorno 
 alle Piacevoli Notti dello Straparola" in Giornale storico, XV, pp. 111-151; 
 XVI, pp. 218-283. The text is in Collezione di opere inedite rare, Bologna, 
 1898-1908, 2 vols. The riddles are examined in the volume first cited, pp. 
 140 et seq. There is now an English translation of the Nights of Straparola 
 by W. G. Waters, London, Lawrence and Bullen, 1894, 2 vols. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 293 
 
 saw the splendid parlor, the noble chambers, and a balcony 
 over the water, from which the whole place could be seen. The 
 daughter was delighted with the charming spot, and entreated 
 her father until to please her he rented the palace. She was 
 very happy at this, and morning and night sat on the balcony 
 gazing at the scaly fish which swam in schools in the clear water, 
 gliding here and there. And because she was forsaken by those 
 damsels who had formerly composed her court, she chose ten 
 others, no less gracious than fair, whose ^•irtue and graceful 
 bearing it would take too long to describe. Their names were: 
 Lodovica, Vicenza, Lionora, Alteria, Lauretta, Eritrea, Brunetta, 
 Ariana, Isabella, and Fiordiana. Besides these she chose two 
 other matrons of respectable appearance, noble blood, mature 
 age, and highly esteemed, in order that they might ever be at 
 her side with their prudent counsels. JNIany noble and learned 
 men soon began to frequent the place, among them Giambattista 
 Casale, ambassador of the King of England to \'enice, Pietro 
 Bembo, E\'angelista Cittadini, Bernardo Cappello, Antonio 
 Bembo, Benedetto Trivigiano, Antonio Molino, Beltramo 
 Ferier, and many others whom it would be tiresome to mention. 
 These came almost every evening to Signora Lucrezia's house, 
 and entertained her with dances, pleasant talk, and music. Often 
 questions were proposed {akuni problemi), of which the hostess 
 was the sole judge. Now because the last days of the Carnival 
 were approaching, the Signora Lucrezia commanded all of her 
 friends under pain of her displeasure to meet at her house the 
 following night in order to devise some mode of passing the time 
 pleasanth'. When they had all assembled Signora Lucrezia 
 began to ask the opinion of the company about the matter, but 
 all replied that it should be left to her judgment. She then 
 proposed that every evening as long as the Carnival lasted they 
 should dance, and afterwards five damsels should sing a can- 
 zonetta as they liked, and each of the fi\-e on whom the lot fell 
 should tell a story, concluding with an enigma to be solved by 
 the company. This proposal was favorabh- received by those 
 present, and lots were at once cast and five of the ladies chosen. 
 A wreath of laurel was placed on the head of one of them, Lau- 
 retta, in token of sovereignty, and she was commanded to begin 
 the story -telling the next e^-ening. Then they spent the rest 
 of that one in dancing, talking, and partaking of confetti and pre- 
 
294 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 cious wines. The entertainment as planned began the next 
 night and lasted for thirteen evenings, on each of which five 
 stories were told, except on the last night, when thirteen were 
 related by the whole company. Each night began with a song, 
 and each of the five stories was followed by an enigma. 
 
 These enigmas consist of a stanza of ottava rima, of which the 
 following, the first of the First Night, may serve as an example: 
 
 Nacqui tra duo seraglia incarcerata, 
 E di me nacque dopo un tristo figlio 
 
 Grande, come sarebbe (oime mal nata) 
 Un picciol grano di minuto miglio, 
 
 Da cui per fama fui poi divorata 
 
 Senza riguardo alcun, senza consiglio. 
 
 O trista sorte mia dura, e proterva, 
 
 Di madre non poter restar pur serva. 
 
 "I was born enclosed between two walls, and gave birth to 
 a sorry son, as large (unfortunate me!) as a little grain of millet, 
 by whom for hunger I was afterwards devoured without any 
 consideration or forethought. O sad and cruel fate, a mother 
 unable ±<) remain even a servant!" This enigma Lauretta 
 explained as referring to a "dry bean," which is born in a pod; 
 the germ, which may be likened to a little worm, consumes it, 
 so that from a mother it can not remain even a servant. 
 
 Another favorite mode of diversion in the sixteenth century, 
 which also goes back to mediaeval times, was fortune-telling.^' 
 The only form of it in which we are at present interested was the 
 one adapted to social entertainments, and which consisted in 
 drawing a slip of paper on which was written a verse containing 
 a character or prediction. A collection of these published by V. 
 Cian has been attributed to Pietro Bembo, and it is supposed 
 that they were written for the diversion of the court of Urbino.^' 
 They consist of an endecasyllabic distich with rima haciata. 
 Here are a few: 
 
 O cattivello che ti credi fare? 
 
 ogn'un non sa come si debba amare. 
 Chi vuol due caccie in un corso tenere, 
 
 s'ambe le perde non si puo dolere. 
 Non ti doler se gran belt^ non hai: 
 
 chi piace ad uno amante e bella assai. 
 Se brami che gia mai ti sia concesso 
 
 senza rivale amar, ama te stesso. 
 
 *' See Thomas Wright, Anecdota literaria, London, 1844, p. 76. 
 '* The often cited " Motti "inediti e sconosciuti di M. Pietro Bembo, Venice, 
 1888. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 295 
 
 "0 wretched man, what do you think to do? Not every one 
 can love as he should." "He who wishes to hunt two objects 
 at the same time, cannot complain if he loses both." "Do not 
 grieve if you do not have great beauty; she who pleases one lover 
 is fair enough." "If you wish that it should be granted you to 
 love without a rival, love yourself." 
 
 Similar verses consisting of four lines with the rhyme scheme 
 of abba, are found in the Rime of Antonfrancesco Grazzini, 
 generally known as II Lasca.^s In the piece in question, en- 
 titled "Stanze che da Mercurio sopra la lira si dissero la sera 
 della Epifania," and which was evidently written for a company 
 given at a season especially devoted to such amusements. Mer- 
 cury is introduced saying that he has been sent by Jove to do 
 honor to the beauty of the Lady Maria of Prato, and has brought 
 with him the three Graces. He adds that it is the custom on 
 that evening to draw lots and tell fortunes. The fortunes are 
 in a golden vase and the names of the company in a silver one, 
 and one of the ladies will draw forth the fortunes with one hand 
 and the names with the other. Then follow the fortunes drawn 
 by the company with the names of those who drew them. Here 
 is the one drawn by Agnolo Rustichi, which involves a point 
 often discussed by the assemblies of the day: 
 
 Fu sempre Amor nimico degli avari; 
 
 pero se troppo lo spender vi pesa, 
 
 lasciate indietro I'amorosa impresa, 
 che goder non si puo senza danari. 
 
 "Love was always hostile to the avaricious; wherefore if spend- 
 ing is too irksome to you, renounce your undertaking, for one 
 cannot enjoy love without gold." 
 
 As early as the fifteenth century these answers to various 
 questions were gathered into printed books, and so arranged that 
 they could be consulted either by placing the tip of the finger at 
 random upon a certain dot in a page covered by them, and then 
 the position of the dot in particular rows horizontal and vertical 
 gave a number, which served as a key to the answer ; or by some 
 mechanical device, as a pointer turning on a pivot.*" In these 
 cases the answers were arranged in groups corresponding to 
 
 '' Le Rime hurlesche edite e inedite di Antonfrancesco Grazzini detto il Lasca, 
 per cura di Carlo Verzone, Florence, 1882, pp. 335 et seq. 
 
 *" For these Giochi and Libri di Ventura see Cian, " Motti," pp. 49 and 105; 
 and Rossi, Le Lettere di Messer Andrea Calmo, Torino, 1888, pp. 446-463, and 
 especially Cian, Giochi di Sorte Versificati del Secolo XVI., Bergamo, 1897. 
 
296 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 certain questions, each group being referred to by a number or 
 symbol. This class of works has never lost its popularity and is 
 still reprinted in various forms in Italy at the present day; and 
 their use extended also to France .^^ 
 
 Turning now from the theory of games to their practice, we 
 are fortunate enough to possess a most interesting account of the 
 manner in which games were employed in the society of the city 
 which claimed the credit of their development, if not of their 
 invention. The account in question was written by Scipion 
 Bargagli, brother of Girolamo, who died the 27th of October, 
 1612.^2 Hq enjoyed the favor of the Emperor Rudolph II, 
 who knighted him and created him a Count Palatine, with the 
 right of adding the double-headed eagle to his coat of arms. 
 He was, like his brother, a member of the Academy of the In- 
 
 " See Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni popolari, Palermo, 1888, vol. 
 VII, pp. 163-8, "II Libro delle Finte Sorti," by S. Salomone-Marino. An 
 example of this game occurs in the book of Charles Sorel, Les Recreations gal- 
 antes, cited above. It fills the first fifty-two pages of the work, and consists 
 of a Table of Questions, fifty-two in number, and a page covered with zeros, 
 arranged in rows. The player puts his finger on a zero at random and then 
 counts in a certain direction up to twelve. The remaining zeros send him back 
 to a question in the Table and also to an answer, of which there are fifty-two 
 pages of twelve each. 
 
 A very early Italian Libro di Ventura was published by F. Thormann in 
 the Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen, Vol. 100 
 (LII. Jahrgang, 1898), pp. 77-102, "Uno livro de sorti de papa ^onifacio. 
 (Berner Codex 473.) Ein italienisches Losbiichlein." The manuscript which 
 contains the work is of the fifteenth century, and the Livro de sorti is placed 
 by the editor as not earlier than the end of the fourteenth. The work contains 
 eighteen questions with references to the "horse," "sheep," "she-bear," 
 "cock," "moon," "stag," etc. Rossi, op. cit., p. 450, mentions a manuscript 
 Libro di Ventura of the end of the sixteenth century, and describes one of the 
 middle of the fifteenth found in the Magliabechian Library (Biblioteca Naz- 
 ionale, Florence), which closely resembles the one published by Thormann. 
 The questions are the same in number and almost the same in character and 
 order. The animals used in the references are the same but not in the same 
 order. The dialect is different. Thormann mentions at the close of his intro- 
 duction a Spanish fortune-telling book: Libro del juego de las suertes, Valencia, 
 1528 (Brunet III, 1063), and refers to Goedecke, Grundriss, I, p. 369 and p. 
 1165, for similar works in German literature. Luzio-Renier in Giornale stor- 
 ico, XXXIII (1899), p. 35, "La coltura e relazioni letterarie d'Isabella d'Este 
 Gonzaga," cite: V. Cian, Giuochi di sorte versificati in Miscellanea nuziale 
 Rossi-Teiss, Bergamo, 1897, pp. 77 et seq., and Salamone-Marino in Archivio 
 storico siciliano, XXII (1897), 231 et seq. 
 
 There is an interesting allusion to an elaborate method of divination in 
 Antonfrancesco Doni's / Marmi,_ Florence, 1863, Vol. II, pp. 181 et seq. The 
 book in question has to be used in connection with astronomical observations, 
 etc. There is no hint of any social use of the book. The same author in 
 the same work (II, pp. 259 et seq.) mentions various parlor games, as will be 
 seen later on in this chapter. 
 
 ^^ For Scipion Bargagli see the authorities cited in note 16 of this chapter; 
 some additional references for both brothers may be found in Quadrio. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 297 
 
 tronati, where he bore the name of Lo Schietto (The Sincere). 
 He was also a member of the Academy of Venice founded in 1593. 
 Besides the extensive work on devices already mentioned, he 
 was the author of The Diversions of Scipion Bargagli, in which 
 fair ladies and youths play seemly and pleasant games, tell 
 stories, and sing some love songs.^' 
 
 The scene of the work is laid in Siena during the siege of the 
 city in 1554-5 by Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence. A 
 detailed account of that terrible siege is given in the introduction 
 to Bargagli's book, which is closely modelled upon the more 
 famous introduction to the Decameron. The city of Siena after 
 a long and prosperous career as a free republic, fell, like so many 
 other Italian cities, under the despotism of one of its own noble 
 families. To escape this servitude the people called the Em- 
 peror Charles V to their aid, and when the Spanish yoke became 
 intolerable, they invoked the help of the French. Cosimo 
 de' Medici, who owed his elevation to the duchy of Florence to 
 Charles V, and moreover had designs of his own upon the neigh- 
 boring state, undertook in 1554 the war with Siena, which 
 resulted in the siege and capture of the city on April 22d, 1555." 
 The siege was distinguished by the most hideous cruelties on 
 the part of the besiegers, and the most dreadful suffering on the 
 part of the unhappy citizens of Siena. In spite of the uni- 
 versal misery, however, the inhabitants did not lose their courage, 
 and even played one of their favorite games, pallone, in the square 
 
 *^ Besides the works mentioned in the text, Scipion Bargagli was the author 
 of: Orazione in lode delVAcademia degl'Intronati, printed in the Second Part 
 of the Commedie degli Intronaii, Siena, 161 1 ; Orazione nella morte di monsignor 
 Alessandro Piccolomini, Bologna, 1579; I Rovesci delle Medaglie, Siena, 1595; 
 Jephte, a translation of Buchanan's Latin tragedy; II Turamino oimero del 
 parlar e dello scrivere sanese, Siena, 1602; and Orazione delle Lodi dell'Accad- 
 emie, Florence, 1569. The last oration as well as the one on the death of Ales- 
 sandro Piccolomini are reprinted at the end of the work on Devices, Venice, 
 1594. I have used in the text the first edition of the Trattenimenti, the title 
 of which is as follows: I Trattenimenti di Scipion Bargagli; Dove da vaghe donne, 
 e da giovani huomini rappresentati sono honesti, e dilettevol giuochi: narrate 
 novelle; e cantate alcune amorose canzonette. In Venetia, Apresso Bernardo 
 Giunti, 1587, 4to. There is another edition by the same printer, 1591, some 
 copies of which bear the date of the following year. See Passano, I Novellieri 
 italiani in prosa, seconda edizione, Turin, 1878, Vol. I, p. 42. The six novels 
 have often been reprinted separately; two accessible editions are: Novelle di 
 autori senesi, London, 1796-98, and Raccolta di Novellieri italiani, Turin, 1853. 
 
 « An account of the events leading up to the siege and of the siege itself 
 may be found in Napier's Florentine History, London, 1846-7, Vol. V, Chapter 
 III, pp. 111-170. See also Galluzzi, Storia del Grandiwato di Toscana, Flor- 
 ence 1822 Vol. II, pp. 66 et seq.; and Storie Fiorentine di Messer Bernardo 
 Segni, Milan, 1805, Vol. Ill, Bk. xiv, pp. 63 et seq. 
 
298 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 of St. Augustine, on the Thursday before the Carnival (il dl del 
 berlingaccio) . 
 
 Others also remembered the festal season, and on the Sunday 
 before the Carnival, some noble and fair ladies left their homes 
 in the afternoon to call on some friends or relatives and thus 
 pass that day more pleasantly. It happened by chance that 
 four of these ladies met at the house of Clarice, where they 
 found three other ladies, friends, neighbors, or relatives of hers. 
 These three bore the names of Celia, Olinda, and Clizia. After 
 they had talked a while in a melancholy strain about the mis- 
 fortunes of the city, they all went to the windows which looked 
 into the street called La Postierla, through which the nobles 
 passed all day. Standing there they recalled the masquerading, 
 the liveries, the music, which they used to see and hear on such 
 occasions in the past, and grieved at being deprived of these and 
 other noble and sweet diversions in which they often engaged. 
 What sorrowed them the most was to be compelled to pass the 
 Sunday before Carnival in no different way from any other 
 holiday. Clarice, who was the oldest of the ladies present, 
 made them a long address, proposing to spend that day and the 
 two following ones, the last of the Carnival, in some kind of a 
 pleasant and refined company. This proposal was welcomed by 
 the others, who began to discuss the difficulty of finding, in 
 such unfavorable circumstances, any gentlemen to keep them 
 company. 
 
 While they were engaged in this discussion, there appeared 
 not far off in the street five youths of the city, learned, brave, 
 and well mannered, and likewise esteemed for their wealth and 
 rank. The names bestowed upon them by the author are: 
 Fulvio, Alessandro, Fausto, Pirro, and Lepido, of whom the last 
 named was a person of witty and cheerful manners, and there- 
 fore highly prized in social gatherings. One of these gentle- 
 men, Alessandro, was a distant relation of Clarice, and when 
 they were near the house and saw the ladies at the window, he 
 proposed to his companions to pay Clarice a visit. The other 
 youths gladly agreed and were received by the lady of the house 
 in a handsome drawing-room, remote from the street, whither 
 she had retired with her fair friends. After some polite hesita- 
 tion, the gentlemen sat down, each next to a lady, about a good 
 fire, such as the season demanded. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 299 
 
 The talk at first fell on the misfortunes of the city, and the 
 absence of the usual entertainments. Fulvio interrupted the 
 conversation to express his surprise that they were all doing 
 what they blamed, and wasting the little time granted them in 
 idle complaints, instead of employing it in pleasant festivities 
 and amusing games. Clarice replied that they had rejoiced at 
 their visit chiefly because it would enable them to do what he 
 said, and in the nanie of the other ladies she elected him as the 
 one to begin the entertainment, placing in his hands the mestola, 
 which she took from the mantel. Fulvio expressed in a modest 
 manner his regret at having to make a feeble beginning of such 
 a pleasant design, but in order not to delay the appointment of 
 a better successor, he would at once proceed to his task. He 
 then took up his position before the fireplace, "as one having 
 full authority to command the others," and thus standing he 
 addressed the company who were all intent upon his words, and, 
 after a long preamble, proposed the Game of Ensigns or Banners.^^ 
 
 In this game each gentleman must invent for one of the ladies 
 a banner or ensign, with its color, device, and motto, and then 
 explain the appropriateness of all these to the lady. Fausto 
 begins and invents for Celia a banner, in which on a red field 
 an otter emerges from a lake or spring, with the motto "Ne pur 
 bagnata" (Not even wet), alluding to the property of the otter 
 in shedding water from its skin. He then describes how these 
 various things are significant of Celia. At the beginning of the 
 game Celia modestly wishes it to commence with some other 
 and more worthy lady; so now at the end of her "banner," 
 she says that Fausto has exceeded the bounds of veracity. 
 The leader of the games declares that henceforth there must be 
 no objection to the praise bestowed. 
 
 The second speaker is Alessandro, who imagines for Clitia a 
 sun in a blue field surrounded by a zodiac, with the motto 
 "Ognun pareggia" (It, the sun, bestows itself equally on all). 
 Lepido follows in praise of Olinda with a standard of wide black 
 stripes, the device a loadstone with a needle, and the motto " Im- 
 mobil, muove" (Though motionless itself, it moves others). 
 
 45 This is practically the Giuoco delle Imprese, No. 114, p. 145, in G. Bar- 
 gagli's Dialogo. The important r61e played by Devices in Italian society of 
 the sixteenth century and the extensive literature connected with them have 
 already been examined in Chapter HI, Note 38 of the present work; see also 
 Chapter IV, note 55. 
 
300 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Clarice alone now remains, and Pirro designs for her a green 
 banner, in the centre a white crescent moon, with the motto 
 "Di maggior luce vaga" (Desirous of more light). In several 
 cases the real coats of arms of the ladies in question furnish 
 materials for the imaginary ones. At the end of the game 
 Fulvio wishes to resign the symbol of his rule to Clarice; she 
 refuses to accept it and it is given to Celia, who bestows it upon 
 Alessandro. He proposes the Game of Love Questions.^* 
 
 After an introduction on the important part played by Love, 
 he declares that it is not his purpose to discuss the origin of love 
 or its perfection, which has already been done by others, but to 
 treat in the form of questions some of the most serious and firmest 
 props of love. The order of the game is as follows: two ladies 
 chosen by the leader shall elect two youths, whose duty it shall 
 be to discuss the doubts propounded by the leader, each sus- 
 taining the side which his lady shall entrust to him. The same 
 method shall be adopted by the youths when the ladies have to 
 debate. The decision is to be rendered by judges, and punish- 
 ments or rewards are to be assigned. Fausto and Clarice are to 
 be the judges in the present case. The leader then announces 
 the first question: To which of the two noble and useful pro- 
 fessions of a gentleman should a true lover of a gentle lady devote 
 himself, to that of arms or letters? Then turning to Olinda he 
 asks her to choose whichever side of the question she wishes 
 and to select one of the youths present to defend it. She then 
 chooses Pirro to defend the side of arms. Likewise Celia selects 
 Fulvio to defend the opposite side, letters. The debate is opened 
 by Pirro, who assumes that the question is not the old one of 
 the supremacy of arms or letters, but whether a lover should 
 devote himself to arms rather than to letters, or the reverse. 
 The leader acquiesces in this view and Pirro proceeds. After 
 both sides have finished, Clarice is called upon to give her opinion, 
 but excuses herself and asks Fausto to pronounce it. He also 
 declines to utter an opinion without longer time for deliberation. 
 
 Alessandro and Lepido are then each enjoined to select one 
 of the ladies present in order that the second question, Whether 
 art or nature avails more in Love, should be decided by them. 
 
 ^* This is G. Bargagli's Giuoco delle Quistioni, No. 47, p. 65, and represents 
 the last stage of development of the Courts of Love in Italy. The controversy 
 between Arms and Letters has been examined in Chapter IV of the present 
 work, note 60. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 301 
 
 Alessandro names Clitia to support the side of Nature; and 
 Lepido chooses Olinda to maintain the side of Art. After the 
 debate, the judges decide in favor of Nature, each of them giving 
 briefly the grounds of his decision. Olinda gives as a forfeit, 
 to be redeemed later, a gold bracelet set with gems. 
 
 Then follows the third question: Which is more powerful in 
 love, beauty of the body or beauty of the mind? Pirro selects 
 Clarice to defend the beauty of the mind ; Fulvio choses Celia 
 to support the other side. As Clarice is engaged in the discus- 
 sion, her place as judge is filled temporarily by Olinda, who 
 pronounces in favor of the beauty of the mind, and Celia gives 
 as forfeit a pearl earring. 
 
 Celia and Clarice are then commanded to select debaters for 
 the fourth question : Whether one should love secretly or openly. 
 Celia selects Fausto to defend secret love, and Clarice, Lepido 
 to support the opposite side. The question is decided by Pirro, 
 who had taken Fausto's place as judge, in favor of open love, and 
 Fausto gives as forfeit a gold ring. 
 
 The game is now ended and Alessandro distributes the forfeits 
 of the ladies among the gentlemen and vice versa, and resigns 
 the sceptre, the mestola, to Celia in order that she may with 
 this token of authority go in search of her forfeit and redeem it 
 at the will of the possessor. She finds her earring in Fausto's 
 hands and is about to fall on her knees, but he prevents her and 
 declares he will exact no ransom, except that as a special favor 
 she shall relate a story at her pleasure. She says this is only a 
 nominal relinquishment of ransom, but after some opposition 
 she relates the first novella. 
 
 In like manner Olinda seeks her forfeit and finds it in Fulvio's 
 hands. He imposes as a penalty that she shall solve his doubt 
 whether Antilia or Uguccione (in the story just told by Celia) 
 loved the stronger. She pronounces in favor of Antilia and gives 
 her reasons. Fulvio is satisfied and returns her bracelet. Lepido 
 then seeks his fprfeit and discovers it on Celia's finger, who gives 
 it back on condition that he relates a story. The second novella 
 told by Lepido then follows. 
 
 The game properly ends here and Alessandro resigns to Celia 
 
 the symbol of authority, which she bestows upon Lepido, who 
 
 proposes the Game of the Gardeners.^^ Each of the company 
 
 " A somewhat similar game is in Ringhieri, No. XXXVI, Qiuoco dell'Orto- 
 lano. See note 54. 
 
302 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 pretended to be a gardener proficient in his trade, and declared 
 what seed he had especially in store. Then each one went to 
 the other and tapping on his or her hand asked permission to 
 enter his garden and sow his seed. When asked what seed, he 
 was obliged in his reply to use the names of the various seeds 
 chosen by the company. At the name of the last seed mentioned 
 the person who had previously selected it had to rise and take 
 his turn. 
 
 After this game was ended the symbol of authority was given 
 to Pirro, who proposed as a diversion that they should represent 
 a pastoral play or dialogue. The ladies took one end of the room 
 and the gentlemen the other, and after making some slight 
 changes in their dress to suit them better to the new character 
 they had assumed, the men advanced towards the ladies and 
 invited them, to remain with them. Then followed a Song of 
 Nymphs and Shepherds. At last the shepherds, emboldened, 
 advanced and took the nymphs by the hand, and forming as 
 many couples as there were ladies, the last being taken between 
 two shepherds, they promenaded about the room and sang a 
 stanza together, and after it various other pastoral songs. It 
 was now time to break up, and in spite of Clarice's invitation to 
 remain to supper they departed, promising to meet again the 
 next and following days at the same time. 
 
 The second part opens with a long discourse on the power of 
 Love, after which the author describes how the company assem- 
 bled as agreed at the house of Clarice, who put into the hands 
 of Fausto the symbol of authority. He relates a vision he had had 
 of Love, who promised that the temple of his mother Venus should 
 be freely opened to all who had to inquire or ask anything. 
 
 This vision gives Fausto an opportunity to propose the Game 
 of the Temple of Love,*' in which Clarice was to represent Venus 
 in her temple and each of the company was to go and ask counsel, 
 favor, etc., in regard to any case or accident which had happened 
 to him in the course of love. For fear, however, that some un- 
 worthy demand might be made, the temple was to be under the 
 guard of a minister (Fulvio), who was to listen and see that 
 nothing unworthy was asked; if so, he was to drive the person 
 from the temple. 
 
 " The Game of the Temple of Love is one of the games which G. Bargagli> 
 No. 35, p. 51, mentions with disapproval. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 303 
 
 The first demand is made by Pirro : He has served a noble and 
 beautiful lady and she refuses to believe his love unless he gives 
 her an infallible sign and sure pledge of his being a true and faith- 
 ful lover. The minister pronounces him worthy of being heard, 
 and the goddess utters the following sentence or decision: No 
 one can give a greater proof of love than not to listen to another 
 who asks him for his love (that is, of course, another than his 
 lady). 
 
 Clitia is the second to interrogate the oracle, which she does 
 by asking how a lady who is equally served by two lovers of 
 equal merit shall choose between them. The minister does not 
 object to this question, and the goddess answers: In the choice 
 the good should yield to the better, and as there is no difference 
 between the two there can be no choice; but they should be so 
 treated that each will believe himself to be the more favored. 
 
 Alessandro asks why with him alone the maxim "Amor a 
 nullo amato amar perdona" (Dante, Inferno, v, 103, "Love, that 
 exempts no one beloved from loving") is not true. The minister 
 rules out this question (it has already been decided by common 
 opinion) as a vain waste of time. The goddess, however, ex- 
 presses her willingness to answer the question and a long debate 
 arises on the subject. As his first question has been ruled out, 
 he asks a second, which is: In what way loving another can he in 
 turn be loved by the same? The goddess replied with a majestic 
 and cheerful countenance : "In loving, know yourself, and rightly 
 esteem the one you love." 
 
 Olinda's turn was next, and she asked how she could escape 
 the pangs of love and live as she has done up to that time. A 
 great uproar arose at this demand, some accusing Olinda of 
 being a rebel against Love, others defending her. At last the 
 minister upbraided her and the goddess pronounced the sentence : 
 "The greater the desire you show of not wishing to love, the more 
 you shall love." 
 
 Lepido asks whether a lover should love one lady secretly and 
 another openly at the same time, what pleasure they take in 
 being loved in this fashion and whether this is permitted the 
 lover so that not enjoying love in one, he may not lose it in 
 the other. The minister says this has already been decided. 
 Then Lepido asks if Love laughs at lovers' broken vows; and 
 finally (and this question is permitted by the minister), why a 
 
304 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 person who loves is sometimes scorned by the one he loves, and 
 one who scorns is loved. The goddess replies: "A thing greatly- 
 desired and obtained with difficulty is prized more highly, and 
 a thing even of value, but not desired, is lost with little or no 
 regret." 
 
 Celia desires to know whether a young woman who is wooed 
 by several youths and bestows her love on one, should still 
 suffer the attentions of the others or banish them from her pres- 
 ence. The minister indulges in a long discourse on the subject 
 of the dangers of rivalry, etc. The goddess replies that the vain 
 association with those who are not loved is nothing but keeping 
 open the wounds of others, without wishing to heal them, or 
 allowing them to go to one who perchance might afford some 
 relief for their sad lives. Nothing is now left but to redeem 
 the few forfeits incurred in the course of the game. Olinda finds 
 hers in Pirro's hands, who says that she has been sufficiently 
 punished by the judgment pronounced upon her for her error, 
 and the only penalty he requires of her is to relate a story. 
 Then follows the first novella (of the second day) related by 
 Olinda. There remains Alessandro's forfeit to be redeemed from 
 the hands of Celia, who imposes on him the task of interpreting 
 a dream of hers which she narrates at length. She saw a flock 
 of doves and one dove remaining apart and taking no share in 
 the pleasures of the others. Alessandro interprets the dream 
 as referring to those ladies who live apart from pleasant and 
 seemly companies. 
 
 The mestola is now resigned by Fausto to Celia, who entrusts 
 it to Pirro. The new leader proposes the Game of the Siege, 
 the idea of which, he says, is taken from life, which is one long 
 battle, and from the present siege of the city. The game con- 
 sists in each telling what he deems best to defend the Castle of 
 Love, and another replying what is best to oppose to this de- 
 fense. Olinda begins by saying that the cruelty of Love is the 
 inexpugnable defense. Fulvio replies that humility and fidelity 
 are the best means of attack. Each defends his statement and 
 two judges, Alessandro and Clitia, pronounce opinion by the 
 lips of Alessandro, and condemn both sides to give forfeits and to 
 redeem them at once, without waiting for the end of the game as 
 usually was done. Olinda finds her forfeit in the hands of 
 Fausto, who imposes on her as a penalty to declare which have 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 305 
 
 the greater power in love, looks or words. She answers that 
 looks have, and a discussion follows between her and Fausto on 
 the subject. Fulvio finally redeems his forfeit from Celia by 
 relating the second novella (of the second day). 
 
 The Game of the Siege is then resumed, Celia and Lepido 
 being judges, by Clitia, who would set a guard within against 
 the attack of lovers' warm and ardent words disguised in feigned 
 and covert expressions, and raise the drawbridge ag'ainst all 
 manner of lascivious delights and effeminate pleasures and vain 
 joy; and, finally, commit the guard of her honor to no other than 
 herself. Fausto would employ against these means the glances 
 of loving eyes. Celia finds both wrong and sentences them to 
 receive penalties, Clitia from Pirro, Fausto from Olinda. Fausto 
 is enjoined to pretend that the lady served by him is present 
 and that he shall, for whatever reason seems good to him, set 
 himself free from her service. He goes to a comer of the room 
 and pretending that his lady is there addresses her and takes his 
 leave of her. Pirro enjoins on Clitia the reverse of this penalty, 
 that she shall beg some man most to her heart to accept her 
 love, which she does. 
 
 Celia continues the same game by telling what she would do 
 to defend the Castle of Love. She would raise a band of modest 
 thoughts and seemly words, and desires free from, love and 
 rebellion. Lepido opposes boldness of heart, readiness of tongue, 
 and quickness of hand. Later he adds, by the judges' permis- 
 sion, letters warm and ornate. Clarice and Pirro pronounce 
 judgment against Lepido, who is sentenced by Celia to declare 
 whether he would rather be loved by the one he hated, or hated 
 by the one he loved. He decides in favor of the second. 
 
 Clarice and Alessandro are now the only ones left to continue 
 the game. The former says the only defense against Love is in 
 flight; the latter, that tears are the only means to soften Love. 
 The judges pronounce against Clarice and in favor of Alessandro, 
 whose reward is to pronounce the penalty of Clarice. This is 
 to solve the following question: If two lovers were in Clarice's 
 presence, and one of them gave her a present and she accepted 
 it and at once gave it to the other lover, which of the two would 
 she by these acts declare to be the favored one.^' She answers 
 that neither would be, one because his gift was not kept, the 
 
 " See the first question in the Filocolo, Chapter H, note 12, of present work. 
 21 
 
306 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Other by receiving a gift apparently of no value to the donor. 
 The game now ends and Pirro resigns the mestola to Clitia, by 
 whom it is given to Lepido, who proposes the Game of Challenges 
 and Reconciliations. 
 
 Lepido first indulges in a long prologue, in the course of which 
 he proposes various games of cards and dice; but the ladies dis- 
 approve of these. Finally he proposes the game mentioned above. 
 Each one utters an imperious epithet, such as "ingrate," "insid- 
 ious," etc., and then a sentence containing words of peace (these 
 are generally verses from Petrarch) . After this, one of the gentle- 
 men stands in front of one of the ladies and repeats the injurious 
 words uttered by all the company (each one has to remember 
 the one he uttered himself) , and then the lady repeats the words 
 of peace. When a pause is made the person whose epithet or 
 words of peace were last pronounced by the player must arise 
 and continue the game. When it is finished musical instruments 
 are brought in, and a stanza is sung by each of the 'company, 
 which then breaks up until the morrow. 
 
 When the company assemble the next day they decide to 
 spend the third and last day as they have done the preceding 
 one, and Pirro proposes the Game of the Blind Men.^" Each 
 gentleman is to pretend that he has become blind through love, 
 and is to relate the true and powerful reasons which have re- 
 duced him to that state ; then utter a brief prayer to be delivered 
 from his blindness, and perform some act to show that he is 
 blind. Then they shall be aided and treated in their needs by 
 the ladies as they seem to deserve. It is difficult to analyze the 
 game, as it consists wholly in conversation. After each has 
 taken his turn Lepido is called but cannot be found. He has 
 slipped out of the room and disguised himself as a blind man. 
 At last he appears led in by a little dog belonging to Clarice, imi- 
 tating evidently a certain blind man of the city. After some 
 sport Lepido resumes his natural voice and continues the game. 
 When it is ended he recites the first novella (of the third day) 
 by way of voluntary penalty. 
 
 Fausto and Fulvio are then condemned to sing a song as the 
 blind men do, and Alessandro to tell a story, which he does in 
 the second novella (of the third day) . When this is ended Fausto 
 
 " The Game of the Blind Men is G. Bargagli's Giuoco dei Ciechi, No. 65, 
 p. 83. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 307 
 
 proposes the Game of the Bath. The idea of this game arose 
 from the frequent references early in the entertainment to the 
 pains of love, etc. The game consists in each gentleman pre- 
 tending to be ill with some complaint of love which he is to de- 
 scribe with all its symptoms. Then the ladies are supposed to 
 be veins or springs of medicinal waters good for the various ills of 
 love. Fulvio first delivers a long account of his malady. Then 
 the master of the game, on this occasion called commesario de' 
 bagni, points with a wand to Clitia, saying: "This, Fulvio, is 
 the precious spring which can cure your ills, and is named the 
 Spring of Tranquillity." Clitia then addresses Fulvio and shows 
 how the remedy is to be applied. In gratitude Fulvio finally 
 addresses to Clitia a verse, after which Alessandro takes his turn 
 and declares that he suffers from timidity and is referred to 
 Olinda, who is the Spring of Security. A long dialogue follows 
 ending as above in a verse. Lepido is referred to the Spring of 
 True Uprightness (Clarice) ; Pirro to the Spring of Hope (Celia) . 
 When the game has ended (there are no forfeits) the mestola is 
 given by Olinda to Lepido, who proposes the Game of the Chase.^' 
 
 After a long and tedious eulogy of the chase, the inventor of 
 the game explains it as follows : Each gentleman imposes a name 
 of a wild beast upon each lady, and each lady upon each gentle- 
 man. Then one of the ladies is to rise and holding one of her 
 hands open behind her, a hunter is to follow her around the circle 
 striking her hand with the mestola and calling to his aid all the 
 other hunters, who straightway arising from their places with 
 hostile voice follow the prey, calling her by name, and when the 
 person pursued as a wild animal thinks she has been hunted 
 enough she will say, that not the wild beast whose name she 
 bears, mentioning it, is the spoiler of the fields or forests of Love, 
 but such and such a beast, naming it, and explaining how and why 
 it lays waste such places. Then the company will all raise the 
 cry against this one, with the condition that if several beasts 
 are mentioned, the last one named by a lady must be the name 
 of a beast represented by a man, and the last mentioned by a 
 man must be a name borne. by a lady. 
 
 When the game is ended the mestola is finally consigned to 
 Fulvio, who proposes that the day's entertainment shall conclude 
 
 " There are somewhat similar games in G. Bargagli, Giuoco delta Caccia 
 d'Amore, No. 99, p. 905, and Ringhieri, Giuoco delta Caccia, No. xl. 
 
308 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 with a ballo tondo, or ballo a canzoni. This they then proceed 
 to dance and sing in the customary way, after which the com- 
 pany breaks up to meet no more. 
 
 I cannot here trace the subsequent history of "parlor games" 
 in Italy. It may be said, however, that they still serve to amuse 
 Italian companies during the long and tiresome winter evenings, 
 and that collections of these games still appear from the presses 
 devoted to the diffusion of popular literature." 
 
 Even more interesting than Scipion Bargagli's work is another 
 "account of the employment of games for social diversion in the 
 city of Siena. I allude to the Novelle of Pietro Fortini, which 
 have never been examined from this standpoint. The author 
 was bom about the middle of the sixteenth century at Siena, 
 where he died the 24th of January, 1562.53/ He was of a noble 
 family and espoused the unpopular side of the Medici, which 
 probably led to his frequent retirement from the city to his 
 villa. 
 
 Fortini in the address to the reader (I, p. 9) says the reason 
 why he has composed his work is his compassion for "certain 
 poor foolish youths" inexperienced in speech and ingenious 
 
 ^2 I have seen two of the modern Italian collections of " parlor games " ; 
 they are : // Saputello in conversazione owero giuochi di sala e passatempi curiosi, 
 Florence, Adriano Salani, editore, 1889, 8vo, pp. 352; and Giuochi di sala per 
 divertirsi nelle conversazioni coll'aggiunta delle penitenze per guelli che non ese- 
 guiscono bene i giuochi, Florence, Adriano Salani, editor, 1891, l2mo, pp. 128. 
 A few of the games and penalites in these books are found also in the older 
 collections mentioned in the text. We have considered games entirely from 
 the cultivated and literary standpoint. From the point of view of folk-lore, 
 the subject is most interesting and extensive. Ample materials for the study 
 of this branch of the subject will be found in the admirable work of Pitre al- 
 ready cited, Bibliografia delle Tradizioni popolari d'ltalia. There is an inter- 
 esting article "De' Giuochi popolari e fanciulleschi specialmente in Bologna 
 fino al secolo XVI," by G. Ungarelli in the Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradi- 
 zioni popolari, Palermo, 1892, Vol. XI, pp. 513-33. For games in France 
 during the seventeenth century the reader should consult the valuable work 
 by E. Roy, already cited. La Vie et les CEuvres de Charles Sorel, where in 
 chapter ix is given an account of "parlor games" at that period. I have now 
 an earlier collection of Italian "parlor games": II passatempo ossia Raccolla 
 di Quaranta Giuochi e di Dodici Burle per divertire onestamente le brigate nelle 
 veglie. Firenze, 1798. Presso Anton Giuseppe Pagani e corapagni, l6mo, pp. 
 
 ^^ The sources for Fortini's biography are mentioned in Pietro Fortim, Em 
 Beitrag zur Geschichte der italienischen Novelle. Von Jacob Ulrich. In Fest- 
 schrift zur Begriissung der vom 28. September his I. Oktober in Zurich tagenden 
 XXXIX. Versammlung Deutscher Philologen und Schulmdnner, dargeboten von 
 der Universitat Ziirich, Zurich, 1887, pp. 61-90. A complete publication of the 
 novels was undertaken some years ago, but unfortunately has not yet been 
 finished. It appeared under the title: Novelle di Pietro Fortini, Senese, Flor- 
 ence, 1888-1894, 3 vols., in the collection Bibliotechina Grassocia. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 309 
 
 compositions, but still having some spark of love in their 
 hearts: "hence it happens often that they wish to be present at 
 assemblies and participate in conversations on love, and when 
 they do, and their turn comes to recite, as is the custom, some 
 novel or other thing suitable in such a gathering, they either run 
 away, or acknowledge their ignorance, remaining there like 
 statues, or images full of shame, showing equally their lack of wit 
 and insufficiency." The work is divided into two parts entitled: 
 Le Giornate delle Novelle de'Novizi, and Le piacevoli et amorose 
 Notti de'Novizi. The "Novices" are of course the beginners in 
 love. The author says the novels will be told by "a gracious 
 band of five no less virtuous than witty ladies, together with 
 two elegant youths most devoted to the service of love." He 
 further declares that a large part of the stories related under the 
 form of novelle really happened, with a change of names and 
 circumstances so as to give offence to no one. The names of 
 the ladies are Aurelia, Fulgida, Adriana, Emilia, and Corintia, 
 and of the youths, Ipolito and Costanzio. 
 
 This company meets, as usual, in a pleasing garden, and, with 
 a desire to shun the disagreeable season, Adriana, beyond the 
 others witty and amusing, proposes to spend the day in telling 
 stories. Aurelia thinks they should prolong the diversion through- 
 out the week. Corintia then makes a crown from a bush near by 
 and places it on Costanzio 's head, saying that it should be a 
 token of his lordship for that day. Costanzio then calls on 
 madonna Aurelia to begin, which she does, and here commences 
 "la prima Giornata de le novelle de' Novitii sotto la signoria di 
 Costanzio." 
 
 The First Day contains seven novels and concludes with 
 music (p. 214). After the singing, Costanzio summons a ser- 
 vant and has her bring in a rich and splendid collation, and after 
 a long conversation , the fair ladies, calling their attendants, return 
 home. 
 
 On the Second Day in the same spot, Costanzio crowns Corin- 
 tia, who commands Emilia to begin. The Second Day likewise 
 contains seven novels. When the last is ended, the queen 
 commands Adriana to sing some canzonette, and proposes that 
 they should take the subject of Fortune for their rhymes. This 
 they do and the day is ending when they finish. Corintia crowns 
 Emilia, who says that the story- telling will be continued next 
 
310 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 day, and since Adriana had restricted their songs to the subject 
 of Fortune, she intends to confine the story-telling next day to 
 "the evil life of wicked ecclesiastics." The company then breaks 
 
 up (p. 379)- 
 
 The Third Day opens as usual, with a novella by Costanzio. 
 At the end of the twenty-first novella, Corintia and Aurelia sing. 
 Emilia crowns Adriana, who assigns as the topic for the following 
 day "diverse subjects as may be pleasing to each one." 
 
 The Fourth Day does not differ in the opening. The garden 
 is described more fully, the company sitting under an arbor. 
 Ipolito sings to the accompaniment of a gravicemhalo . Then 
 Fulgida begins her novel (p. 537). At the conclusion of the 
 twenty-eighth novelle (Vol. II, p. 107), EmiHa is commanded 
 to sing, which she does to the sound of a lute. The subject of 
 her song is still Fortune. Ipolito is then crowned, and assigns 
 as a topic "whatever is most pleasing to each." The gentlemen 
 see the ladies home, the servants not having arrived, and the 
 day closes. 
 
 The Fifth Day (Vol. II, p. 117) begins as usual, the garden 
 being described in greater detail, and Corintia relating the 
 first novella. The day closes with songs by Fulgida and Cos- 
 tanzio. Fulgida is crowned queen for the next day. 
 
 The Sixth Day (Vol. II, p. 263) is peculiar. The company 
 meet in the garden as usual, and Fulgida addresses them and 
 expresses her will that story-telling should be omitted tjiat day 
 because it is Good Friday. In order, however, not to lose the 
 day, she commands Costanzio and Ipolito to relate a part of 
 their ill-rewarded love, and also entertain the company with 
 "qualche bella rima." Costanzio says he will first narrate who 
 the lady is who makes his heart languish so, then in the second 
 part he will express his just demands. He then proceeds to 
 sing (ist Part, pp. 267-8; 2nd Part, pp. 269-323). After a 
 duett between Costanzio and Ipolito, the latter begins his 
 song (pp. 331-369), most of which is in versi scioUi, describing 
 the Palace of Venus, with the pictures on the walls (Story of 
 Psyche, pp. 335-360; Story of Diana and Acteon, pp. 360-363; 
 Judgment of Paris, p. 363; Venus and Mars, p. 364; Cleopatra, 
 PP- 365-366; Laocoon, pp. 366-367; further description of the 
 palace, pp. 368-369) Constanzio replies to Ipolito, singing 
 the praises of Fortune in ottava rima, pp. 370-373. The company 
 then adjourns over Saturday until Sunday. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 311 
 
 On the Seventh Day the company meets in the afternoon in 
 the same garden as usual, but seeks a cooler spot in a meadow 
 watered by a stream. Fulgida, whose sway still continues, com- 
 mands Emilia to begin. When Ipolito's turn comes he sings 
 some canzonette, pp. 511-514, and Costanzio follows his example, 
 PP- 515-517- The day ends with the forty-second novella; 
 Aurelia is crowned and the company break up. 
 
 The Eighth Day begins as usual, and Costanzio relates the 
 first (xliii.) novella. After the forty-ninth novella, the Queen 
 wishes each of the band to recite some poetry. Ipolito begins, 
 pp. 658-661 ; Fulgida, pp. 662-663 ; and then the others. Finally, 
 the Queen addresses the company and says she will retain her 
 authority until Sunday night, and invites all the others to supper 
 that evening, after which they will have the customary assembly 
 (veglia), after that she will bestow the garland on the one she 
 wishes. The company agree to accept the invitation and then 
 break up. This is the end of the first part or Le Giornate de" 
 Novizi. 
 
 L. Qn3iin4a.y-ai±emoonJ;he ladies gathered at Aurelia's house as 
 the church bells were ringing for vespers and asked her where she 
 wishes to hear prayers. They all started for the Madonna a 
 Fonte Giusta and met not far from the house the young men. 
 All went to church and then walked along the walls to the Camil- 
 lia gate and as far as the Palazzo de' Diavoli. Several times 
 Aurelia was asked what she intended to do that evening, but she 
 would give no answer except that it was time to return home, as 
 the supper hour was approaching. On the way the ladies bantered 
 Ipolito on his fickleness. 
 
 / When the company reached the house they were shown by 
 the hostess into a large and rich apartment, where they found that 
 great preparations had been made. A rich and beautiful theatre 
 had been constructed with wonderful ingenuity and masterly 
 art, with a scene (prospettiva) more beautiful than any that had 
 ever been seen. While the company were gazing at the rich and 
 beautiful work, a small table was brought by four servants into 
 the middle of the theatre and covered with a delicate cloth 
 and all other things needed. Then chairs were placed, the 
 company sat down, and water for the hands was offered by two 
 handsome youths, who then served many varied and delicate 
 viands and precious wines. The company seemed to be in a 
 
312 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 royal palace and thought their hostess bore herself as a queen ; 
 they paid little heed to the banquet, and kept looking about, 
 thinking they saw always something new^ 
 
 Costanzio finally asked leave to propound a question. After 
 some discussion leave was granted, and he asked why a young 
 woman caresses a young lover more than a husband, although 
 both are equally rich, handsome, of the same age, nobility, etc. 
 A discussion followed without any formal conclusion. 
 
 Ipolito had on the table before him, as all the others had, a 
 roast fowl. He removed the heart and putting it in a silver 
 dish presented it to Corintia, who politely accepted it and 
 paid little attention to it. Soon after she removed the wings of 
 her fowl and sent them together with the heart of Ipolito. He, 
 seeing that the virtuous Corintia had signified that she did not 
 wish to love him on account of his fickleness, was silent and 
 grieved in his heart. 
 
 The fair Adriana was too virtuous to wish to make such a 
 present to Costanzio; she took the heart of her fowl (she was sit- 
 ting next to Costanzio) and to show how her heart constantly 
 burned for him, with deep sighs she placed the heart on the 
 salt-cellar on the salt which was in it, meaning that her heart was 
 in ardent flames, for salt, as is known, inflames and consumes. 
 Costanzio, to show that he did not wish her to bum for him, took 
 a carafe of water and poured some on the heart. 
 
 At last every one was satiated with the abundance of food, 
 and Costanzio, to clear up a doubt of his, took the empty breast 
 of his pigeon and gave it to Madonna Emilia. She accepted it 
 as a discreet and courteous person and secretly putting the heart 
 of her pigeon into the empty breast of the one sent her by Cos- 
 tanzio, returned it to him saying: "Since Madonna Corintia 
 returned the same present made her by Ipolito, so I return yours; 
 be pleased to accept it, as I accepted it from you." Costanzio 
 was overjoyed and his doubt entirely cleared up. 
 
 Many other presents were likewise made which gave rise to 
 a thousand various interpretations. [Finally the rich and splen- 
 did supper was ended, water was given for the hands, confetti 
 were served, and the table removed. 
 
 The hostess took her place in the highest and richest seat of 
 the theatre, and being seated commanded every one to do like- 
 wise. The company obeyed and began to talk of many things, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 313 
 
 but their conversation was interrupted by sweet and gentle 
 music. The guests wondered who made it, for they had seen 
 no one but the servants in the theatre. The musicians were 
 behind the proscenium and could not be seen. Finally an actor 
 in a fantastic garb with a laurel bough in his hand came forth 
 from one side of the stage and addressing the audience declared 
 that he brought then a new comedy called The Ring, in prose, 
 which was then acted and fills pp. 23-194. 
 
 After the play there was more music and a collation, with 
 much talk about the comedy and other things. The hostess and 
 queen, seeing that the time had come to relinquish her sway, 
 arose and after a brief address crowned the fair Adriana. The 
 new queen invited the company to sup at her house a week from 
 that day, all to meet at the same hour at the same church as 
 they had done that day, and to spend the time until supper in 
 her garden in pleasant iconversation. She then commanded the 
 company to break upj 
 
 The ladies and gentlemen met as usual at the church at the 
 appointed time, "the two youths, as is the wont of men, while 
 the service, lasted kept walking about the church for their amuse- 
 ment." (After the service they all repaired to their hostess 
 house, where they entered a small and artfully arranged garden, 
 in which were constructed two not very high mounds, upon 
 which four houses were built, "in prospectiva," so that they 
 seemed real. At the foot of one of the mounds, not far from the 
 house was a little valley and half way down it a little wood where 
 thrushes could be hunted, and at one side of the pleasant garden, 
 with wonderful art, was made a place like a theatre, so that all 
 the company could sit there in comfort. It was covered with 
 vines and boughs and flowers, and on one side was a grotto 
 covered with shrubs, and a spring and basin where fish could be 
 seen swimming in the clear cool water. 
 
 The hostess sat down on the green bank and making the others 
 sit, commanded Costanzio to entertain them until the supper 
 hour. While they were sitting there, birds and animals ap- 
 peared in the grove, and frogs around the spring, so that every 
 thing seemed real and not artificiaLj Costanzio excused him- 
 self; he was so taken unawares by the sudden invitation, but said 
 he remembered an amusing story which he would relate. It is 
 entitled El Nuovo Messia (pp. 206-226). 
 
314 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 r, 
 
 While they were conversing after the story a table was pre- 
 pared not far from the artificial fountain, and the hostess com- 
 manded the company to be seated at it. A rich repast was 
 served by several pages. After it was ended, the company 
 returned to the place where they had first been seated and sweet 
 music of instruments and voices was heard for half an hour ; then 
 one in the guise of Apollo came forth from one of the mounds 
 and addressing the audience said they should hear a new comedy, 
 Lavinia, which was now performed (pp. 231-404). 
 
 After the play there was a concert of an hour and the usual 
 collation. Then they talked about the play, and Corintia was 
 crowned queen./ She expressed her disapproval of using Sunday 
 for their entertainments and invited the company to her house on 
 Thursday, at noon ; meanwhile she would think of some diversion, 
 and now because it was nearly day she commanded the company 
 to break up (p. 407). 
 
 On the appointed day the company gathered at Corintia's 
 house and seated themselves in the garden in a pleasant meadow 
 under the shade of an arbor. The hostess asked the company 
 to spend the time until supper in some pleasant and seemly 
 diversion, and called upon Costanzio to celebrate his love in 
 rhyme. He took a lute and sang (pp. 414-417), and continued 
 at the request of the company (pp. 417-418). Then the queen 
 commanded Aurelia to sing, who was followed by Ipolito and 
 Adriana. f^he queen then conducted the party into a rich and 
 ornate saloon, where was constructed with great art a stage 
 representing Perugia with its houses and streets. The windows 
 of the room were closed and the stage was brilliantly lighted by 
 many lamps. A concert of violins followed for half an hour, 
 then an actor came forth dressed as a philosopher, with bushy 
 hair and beard and with a willow wand in hand. He recited the 
 Prologue to the comedy UAnguilla (The Eel), which was then 
 performed (pp. 429-481). 
 
 The play was followed as usual by music and a collation. 
 Then four youths entered and danced with the ladies until a great 
 part of the night was past. The queen said she was unwilling 
 that the party should break up although it was nearly dayjfor 
 the shortness of the time had not allowed them to do whafthey 
 should have done, adding, "Because we must now give a pleasing 
 beginning to some game, you, Ipolito, as our prince, shall this 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 315 
 
 evening make a pleasant beginning of our games." Ipolito rose , 
 and modestly accepted the command and in token of his author- 
 ity took the mestola, and announced as the game of the evening 
 The Game of the Garden.*^ The game is then described in 
 detail (pp. 485-593; it is the most elaborately related of any 
 game I know) . There are some forfeits in it, one of which con- 
 sists in Fulgida singing some verses (pp. 514-515), and Corintia 
 relating the story of Pachiarotto (pp. 540-572). 
 
 At the conclusion of the game Ipolito returned the mestola to 
 Corintia, who praised his ingenuity and crowned him king to 
 succeed her. He insisted on her remaining queen until the 
 party ended. So she ordered the music to play for dancing and 
 ' they all engaged in a chiavanzana or hallo piano. Before the 
 dance was finished all the church bells were ringing for early 
 mass, and Corintia resigned her rule into the hands of Ipolito. 
 A light collation was served and Ipolito asked Messer Dorico 
 (one of the four youths mentioned above) to sing a canzone 
 marcata. The youths then accompanied the ladies home and 
 thus ended the Third Night. 
 
 The manuscript of Fortini's Novelle has not been published 
 beyond this point. I have seen the original at Siena for a few 
 moments, but am unable to give any detailed description of it. 
 The fourth, fifth, and sixth Nights under the rule of Ipolito con- 
 tain three comedies not named and thirty novelle, the titles of 
 which may be found in Ulrich. I did not notice anything of 
 particular interest for the present work. 
 
 /a still more interesting example of the use of games in polite j 
 society is to be found in the Giuoco Piacevole of Ascanio de Mori, \ 
 who was born in 1533 and died in I59i,^he story of which is \ 
 as follows. 
 
 " A similar game is in Scipio Bargagli's I Trattenimenti, p. 1 14, and in 
 Ringhieri, No. XXXVI, Giuoco dell'Ortolano. See note 47. 
 
 ^ An account of Mori may be found in Passano, / Novellieri Italiani, Turin, 
 1878, Vol. I, p. 435. The edition I have used is: Giuoco Piacevole d'Ascanio 
 de Mori da Ceno. Ristampato piU corretto et migliorato da lui; con la giunta 
 d'alcune rime, et d'un Ragionamento del medesimo in lode delle Donne. In 
 Mantova, Presso Giacomo Ruffinello, 1580. The first edition was by the same 
 printer in 1574, and a third followed at Mantua by F. Osanna in 1589 or 90, 
 all in 4to. The work is dedicated to Vincenzo Gonzaga, Prince of Mantua. 
 The edition of 1580 contains an address to the ' Cortesi Lettori' by Gio. Battista 
 Cavallara, medico, in which he states that Ascanio wrote the Giuoco Piacevole 
 for the prince and some ladies, to be seen by them alone; but that the work 
 fell into the hands of a rival, who gave it secretly to the press under Ascanio's 
 name as an affront to him. The author intended at first to avenge himself 
 
316 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ' In 1566, a year peculiarly happy for all Europe, on account of 
 peace, plentiful harvests and a healthy season, many festivals 
 were held in the most noble city of Brescia, and splendid triumphs, 
 and games and tournaments, at an almost incredible expense, 
 especially during the CamivahJ More than any of the neigh- 
 boring cities Brescia was full of the greatest pleasures which the 
 noble mind could desire, the sweetness of which was increased by 
 an intimacy full of courtesy and free from any suspicion of wrong, 
 which prevailed among the ladies and gentlemen and all the 
 people, who associated together day and night, "and it seemed 
 as if Venus had changed Paphos and Gnidus into Brescia." 
 
 In this joyful Carnival some gentle spirits determined to give 
 the final relish by reciting on the last night with royal pomp a 
 new tragicomedy, the subject of which was the love of Jupiter 
 and Alcmene. On the appointed night all went to the theatre. 
 A company of ladies started for that purpose and while engaged 
 in conversation found themselves at the door of the palace of 
 Signora Beatrice Gambara, and determined to call upon her and 
 then continue their way to the theatre. They found the com- 
 pany just risen from the table and were shown into the parlor 
 and seated. A collation was offered them and while they were 
 enjoying it, they were informed that the performance was post- 
 poned for some reason. The company was greatly disappointed, 
 as it was the last night of the Carnival and they had expected 
 to spend it in pleasure. The hostess, Signora Beatrice, asked 
 why they should not try to procure some diversion themselves, 
 and proposed that they send for musicians and pass the evening 
 in dancing. The others agreed, and while they were waiting 
 for the music four gentlemen happened in: Count Alfonso Cav- 
 riolo, Cavalier Giulio Foresti, Signor Lucio Orsino de' Maggi, 
 and Signor Tranquillo de' Palazzi, with a virtuous youth named 
 Messer Florentio, brought by them on purpose with his clavichord. 
 
 As soon as these gentlemen had heard that the performance 
 was postponed they had agreed among themselves to go the 
 house of Signora Beatrice to dance. Messer Fiorentino began 
 
 by a resort to arms, but his friends persuaded him to print a corrected edition, 
 which he did. The popularity of the book is attested by a statement from the 
 printer, who says he has not a single copy of the edition of a thousand copies 
 published a short time before. He therefore issues a new one with some ad- 
 ditions. Mori also wrote fifteen novelle which enjoyed great favor and have 
 been frequently reprinted. See Passano cited above. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 317 
 
 to play and the ladies and gentlemen danced a gagliarda. After 
 they had danced until they were tired of that diversion, Signorl 
 Beatrice, perceiving it, said: "I think, if it pleases you, that we 
 should stop dancing and try to pass the evening agreeably by 
 some diversion of games." All praised this idea and they sat 
 down and discussed who should be the first to propose a game. 
 A long contest ensued and finally Signora Beatrice was persuaded 
 to be the one. She said: "I remember a game, which perchance 
 will not displease you, fair ladies, because it is, in my judgment, 
 very precious, and we are wont to play similar ones about the 
 fire. Do not expect in it any mysteries such as the Cavalier has 
 alluded to, for the place and my weak wit will not permit it. 
 
 "The game of which I speak is as follows. Just as we sit 
 here in order, so the letters of the alphabet are to be assigned, 
 giving to each one in the game one or more as is necessary- 
 As there are nine persons in the game each will have two letters : 
 A to me as I happen to be the first, B to the Count, C to the 
 Cavalier, etc., and then M to me, beginning over again. 
 
 "After this, each one must recite an event, true or false, and 
 in the course of the narration must name a city, and in it an inn 
 with the landlord, then a garden in the same city, or in the 
 suburbs, in which garden must be a nymph, a tree, and a terres- 
 trial animal, to which animal each one of us will apply a motto 
 in Italian or Latin, as shall please us best. Likewise there must 
 be a bird in the tree, which shall sing a verse in Italian, either a 
 sonnet or madrigal, or stanza or some other similar composition. 
 All the things mentioned above, city, inn, host, and the rest 
 (except the motto, which is at the discretion of each) must be 
 words beginning with the letter assigned to the person who tells 
 the story. "5^ 
 
 Signor^Hgeatrice then proceeded to illustrate her proposed game. 
 "As I was coming from Loreto, where I had gone to pay a vow 
 to that most glorious Lady, I passed through Ancona, an im- 
 portant city of the Marches, and lodged at the Angel, where 
 I was received by the landlord, a very worthy man named An- 
 tonello, a name and place I shall not easily forget on account of 
 the courteous treatment I there received from him. Besides 
 
 5' This game curiously enough is found in Edward Phillips's The Mysteries 
 of Love and Eloquence, London, 1658. See Chapter XI, p. ^^8 of the present 
 work. A similar game, juego de las lelras, occurs in Guillen de Castro's play, 
 Los mal casados de Valbncia, Act I, cited in Chapter XIII of the present work. 
 
318 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 his good entertainment, he showed me the finest sights of the 
 city, the churches, harbor. Loggia dei Mercatanti, the magazines 
 and gardens, one of which surpassed the others and was called 
 Altamira, from being on a hill, which forms a great theatre, 
 from which can be seen the wide sea, and a thousand ships 
 under sail, and Schiavonia with other countries, rocks, isles, and 
 harbors. What seemed to me wonderful in that garden and espe- 
 cially worthy of attention was a straight pine (Abete), at the foot 
 of which sat a beautiful nymph, combing her blond locks, which 
 seemed like spun gold, around whom disported the sweet breeze 
 (Aura) and Love (Amore). Her name, which was Arethusa, 
 she bore written in golden letters on a royal crown, which she 
 then had by her side. I do not know whether she was the be- 
 loved of Alpheus or of another. On the skirt of her dress (a 
 wonderful thing to see) was sleeping a unicorn (Alicomo) 
 symbol of lascivious love, and it was more gentle than its nature 
 permits. The device ran : With no other weapons {Non con altre 
 armi). On the top of the tree I saw a large heron {Aerone), 
 which in a wonderful manner sang some verses, of which I 
 remember the following: "Ah, would that my warm affection 
 might drive from my beloved's cold breast the frost which ex- 
 tinguishes in him the flames of love! Mourning would then be 
 changed to laughter, and grief to joy. Love would listen to 
 my sweet songs, and the stars, the sun, and the wind stand still. 
 At the end of the song I left the garden and shortly after the city 
 and returned in a few days to Brescia." 
 
 Signora Claudia said they all understood the game, so clearly 
 had Signora Beatrice explained it. "Softly, Signora Claudia," 
 said Signora Beatrice; "those who fail to mention the required 
 thing with the proper initial must pay a forfeit to be redeemed 
 at the end of the game ; and whoever happens to have one of the 
 forfeits in his hand will have the power to impose a penalty for 
 its redemption. If one refuses to perform the penalty, the for- 
 feit will be lost as is the custom in other games. Besides, when 
 one has finished his or her part of the game, he or she shall add 
 a riddle in verse, not under the rule of the initial letter." 
 
 An animated discussion then arose as to the difficulty of finding 
 riddles, and the fear of losing one's forfeits. Finally, Signora 
 Beatrice propounded her riddle: Sisters are we, friends of the 
 Muses, singing we utter so sweet a sound that the confused soul 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 319 
 
 almost leaves itself. We are enclosed and confined where the 
 faithful are baptized, and our virtue is so rewarded that we often 
 live after death. 
 
 Signora Beatrice was forced to explain her riddle, which, she 
 said, referred to the pipes in an organ, usually placed in a church, 
 which had life or death as the bellows gave it to them. 
 
 Then follow the stories of the others, with an occasional mis- 
 take and the deposit of a forfeit. 
 
 When Signora Beatrice saw that the stories had ended and 
 each had performed his part, without losing time she collected 
 the forfeits and began to distribute them indiscriminately. To 
 Signor Tranquillo she gave one of Signora Isabella's gloves, 
 the other to the Count. To Signora Isabella she gave Signor 
 Tranquillo's purse. To Signor Orsino fell the clasp which 
 Signora Li via had given for Signora Leonora. Signora Beatrice 
 herself kept the Count's maninfede, and assigned his diamond to 
 Signora Leonora. To Signora Claudia she gave the portrait 
 of the Cavalier, who not in vain demanded the watch deposited 
 by Signor Tranquillo for Signora Isabella; and finally, Signora 
 Livia had the componimenti of Signor Orsino. 
 
 After the forfeits were thus distributed, Signora Beatrice 
 ordered Signor Tranquillo to command Signora Isabella what 
 she had to do to receive back her pledge. He asked her to com- 
 mand him as her faithful servant and to lay aside any scorn she 
 might have for him. The Count said she might recover her 
 second glove by reciting a sonnet, which she did, declaring that 
 she had written it lately for him. 
 
 Signora Isabella then commanded the Count to recite some- 
 thing in praise of his favorite. This he did in a rhapsody ad- 
 dressed to Love, and ending with a poem. 
 
 Signor Orsino then orders Signora Livia to solve the question : 
 If Love cannot be without hope, and if we cannot hope for what 
 we possess, whence happens it that possessing the thing we love, 
 we love it still? Signora Livia explains briefly why this is so. 
 
 Signora Beatrice commands the Count to explain how the 
 Prince should ordinarily dress. He replies in an allegorical 
 manner: he should wear clothes not material but spiritual, i.e., 
 the love of his subjects, etc. 
 
 Signora Leonora commanded the Count to tell what kihd of 
 madness each of the ladies and gentlemen present would be 
 
320 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 subject to in case he or she should go mad.^^ This he did, and 
 when he came at last to himself, he asked Signora Beatrice to 
 let Signer Tranquillo state it. 
 
 Signora Claudia asked the Cavalier to tell what he would do to 
 make himself beloved by his enemy if he possessed all the power 
 of Love. 
 
 The Cavaliere said to Signer Tranquillo: "If you want your 
 watch you must answer me a thousand things." "Don't ask 
 me," he replied, "a sea of questions; for I would rather leave 
 you my forfeit." The Cavaliere finally asked him: "Which do 
 you think was the greatest of all the gods adored by the Gen- 
 tiles?" The reply was Saturn. A dispute ensued, which was 
 ended by an equivocal speech by Signor Tranquillo. 
 
 Signora Livia then modestly commanded Signor Orsino, whose 
 componimenti she held, to read them. He begged her to take 
 his place and read them herself, and she complied with his 
 request. 
 
 When she had finished, Signora Beatrice asked the Count to 
 tell a story. He obeyed and related a novella. When the Count 
 had finished his story, which was highly praised, both because 
 it was narrated very well and because it was known to be true, 
 Signora Beatrice, beginning already to discover the day through 
 the chinks of the windows, after having graciously thanked the 
 ladies and gentlemen for the favor they had done her, and having 
 accepted thanks from them, summoned her maids. The servants 
 then by her order threw open the windows and extinguished 
 the lights, giving Phoebus an opportunity to enter. Then the 
 company took leave of Signora Beatrice, and departed full of 
 joy and inflamed with honorable thoughts, which ever after 
 produced divine fruits. 
 
 There are some interesting allusions to parlor games in Anton- 
 francesco Doni's I Marmi}^ He tells us that at the time when 
 the King of Bohemia passed through Mantua various enter- 
 tainments were held in his honor, although formal festivities 
 were impossible on account of his brief stay. One evening, 
 
 " This forfeit is taken from the Cortegiano, where it constitutes the game 
 proposed by Messer Cesare Gonzaga. See Cian's edition of the Corlegiano, 
 p. 22. Similar games are in Girolamo Bargagli's Dialogo de' Giuochi, Nos. 
 LXXI and LXXII, pp. 86 and 87, and in Sorel's Les Recreations galantes, p. 
 145, The Game of Folly, see also p. 127, and Ringhieri, No. LXXI, f. .87. 
 
 ''I Marmi, Firenze, 1863, Vol. II, pp. 259 et seq., cited by Zonta in his 
 article "Arbitrati reali o questioni giocose," p. 631. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 321 
 
 about the first hour of the night, the principal ladies and gentle- 
 men and the great noblemen of the court met with the king and 
 queen in a beautiful and well adorned hall in which were placed 
 in the form of a crescent seats for all, very comfortable and 
 splendid. There, either by the king or some one else, the com- 
 pany were seated, a ladj' and gentleman together. Then the 
 queen told the king, who was standing, to be seated where it 
 was most pleasing to him. There was no ^'acant seat; so the 
 king approached a nobleman who was next to the queen and 
 began to prove to him by good reasons that this place belonged 
 to him and that the nobleman should go in search of some 
 other lady. The nobleman declined with equally good reasons 
 and was unwilling to yield his place. Finally, the king won 
 with his great eloquence and the seat was reverently yielded to 
 him. 
 
 The nobleman rose and went to another gentleman who had 
 a ladA- seated by him and showed by the best of reasons that the 
 place was not his. The arguments on both sides were so strong 
 that neither would yield and the dispute was referred to the 
 queen to decide. After reviewing briefly their arguments she 
 concluded that the one who was seated should retain his place 
 and the other should go in search of a lady, for that one was not 
 his. 
 
 It was a fine thing to hear the nobleman's lament at having 
 to yield so fair a lady and provide himself with another. At 
 last he succeeded in winning a seat and the former occupant 
 left the room. The lady likewise made a pitiful lamentation 
 and the nobleman, comforted her, but she would not accept him 
 as her lover and showed with good reasons that her love was for 
 one person and that li^'ing or dying she wished no other. The 
 nobleman arose and went to another gentleman and overcame 
 him. The one that was defeated asked the gift of a forfeit 
 (to perdita) and received it. 
 
 The person who is narrating the event says that he was amazed 
 at so much eloquence, which appeared impromptu. His friend 
 remarks that perhaps the game was previoush- arranged and that 
 the speakers had learned their parts. This was probable, an- 
 swers the other, since the discussions were in Spanish, Italian, 
 French, Latin, and German. The game lasted four hours, but 
 seemed an hour only, so interesting were the discussions. 
 22 
 
322 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 One of the speakers said he went the same evening to another 
 private entertainment where was played another game, also 
 involving eloquence. Each of the ladies and gentlemen assumed 
 for their names a word which was appropriate for a Love Com- 
 plaint. One took "Sventurato," another "Dolore," another 
 "Lasso," etc. There were nine in all. Then one began the 
 complaint and when he wished to stop he employed at the end 
 of his discourse one of the names assumed by the others, such 
 as "Lasso," or "Dolore," etc., and the one who bore that name 
 had to continue, employing new words and inventions. The 
 one who broke down, that is, could not find anything to say, 
 dropped out of the game and his place was taken by some one 
 else who could continue. Besides a Love Complaint, some other 
 form might be used, such as una disperata, a ringraziemento, 
 una allegrezza," etc. 
 
 There is a reference to an amusing parlor game in Luigini's 
 II Libra delta Bella Donna,^^ already cited in Chapter III from 
 another standpoint. The author tells us that at a certain 
 wedding many of the ladies present were powdered and painted, 
 and a lady who possessed only her natural beauty determined 
 to put the others to shame. So after dinner a game was pro- 
 posed in which a lady should be the leader and all the others 
 must imitate her in whatever she did. After she had done a 
 number of things in which she was followed by the other ladies, 
 she ordered a maid to bring a basin full of water and place it 
 on a stool. She then dipped her hands in the water and washed 
 her face. The plight of the ladies whose faces were powdered 
 and painted can be imagined. 
 
 " // Libro della Bella Donna, Milano, 1863, in Biblioteca Rara pubblicata da 
 G. Daelli, XXIII, p. 72. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The origin of Italian Etiquette to be found in Provence — The earliest 
 Provengal ensenhamen of Arnaut de Mareuil — Garin li Brun's ensenhamen — 
 Instruction for a noble youth by Arnaut Guilhem de Marsan — The two ensen- 
 hamens of Amanieu de Sescas, one for the instruction of a lady, the other for 
 a squire — Imitation of Amanieu de Sescas's second ensenhamen by Lunel de 
 Monteg — Sordello's Documentum Honoris — Provengal ensenhamen in the Ash- 
 burnham collection — Old-French works on Etiquette — ^Anglo-Norman L'Ap- 
 prise de Nurture — Doctrinal de Courtoisie — Doctrinal Sauvage — Raoul de Hou- 
 denc's Roman des Ailes — Ordre de Chevalerie ascribed to Hue de Tabarie. La 
 Chastiement des Dames by Robert de Blois — Philippe de Navarre's Quatre Ages 
 de I'Homme — Catalan Book of Courtesy based on the Latin Facetus — English 
 works on Etiquette — The Boke of Curtasye — The Babees Book — Caxton's Boob 
 of Curtesye — Italian treatises on Etiquette — Bonvesin da Riva's De guingua- 
 genta curialitatibus ad mensam — ^Francesco da Barberino's Reggimento e cos- 
 tume di donna — Documenti d'Amore — ;Fra Paolino's Trattato de Regimine 
 Rectoris — Cardinal Dominici's Del Governo di cura famigliare — Leon Battista. 
 Alberti and his work Delia Famiglia — Pandolfini's II Governo della Famiglia a 
 rifacimento of the third book of Alberti's Della Famiglia — ^Matteo Palmieri's 
 Delia Vita civile — Its relation to Cicero's De officiis — Giovan Battista Giraldi's 
 Tre Dialoghi della Vita civile inserted in the Hecatommithi — The Galateo of 
 Giovanni della Casa — The same author's Trattato degli Ufficj comuni tra gli 
 amici superiori e inferiori — Stefano Guazzo and his Civil Conversazione. 
 
 We have thus far considered the origin and development of 
 various forms of social entertainment, and, incidentally, we have 
 learned something of society itself and how it was moulded b>^ 
 certain influences foreign and native. It remains now to give, 
 if possible, some more detailed and connected description of 
 those external forms of society known as etiquette, and which,, 
 under the covering of many futile conventionalities, still reveal 
 the spirit of the society which adopts them as its laws. 
 
 We have already had occasion in the first chapter to allude- 
 to the Codes of Love, which, at a very early date, prescribed the 
 method of love-making, and contained many precepts for be- 
 havior in general. There were also at the same time works of 
 a broader scope, treating of the various relations of the gentle 
 lady or gentleman to the social world about them. These 
 works were the forerunners of the elaborate treatises on eti- 
 quette which we shall study later. 
 
 323 
 
324 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The earliest Provengal ensenhamen is by Arnaut de Marueil, 
 who flourished between 1170 and 1200.^ Besides the usual 
 lyrical poetry of the day, he wrote several love letters, of which 
 style of composition he is probably the inventor, and a didactic 
 poem or ensenhamen in six-syllable verse.^ This work, 365 
 lines in length, is of a general nature and contains little that is 
 specific. 
 
 The poet begins by saying that it is right that every one should 
 learn from those who know more, and that the wisdom of Solomon, 
 the learning of Plato, and the wit of Virgil, Homer, Porphyry, 
 and others, would not be prized if it had been concealed. The 
 poet therefore reflects how he can do and say what will honor 
 him and be pleasing to the best. He frankly confesses that he 
 is not a scholar, but only gives what he has learned by hearing 
 and seeing, asking and listening. According to his knowledge 
 he will show how one must behave in the world to have good 
 renown. 
 
 First of all he who wishes to lead the courteous life must fear 
 and honor God. On all occasions public and private he must 
 learn actions and behavior, manners and bearing, from people 
 both good and bad, and retain the good. 
 
 He is wise who studies the proper time to avenge his injuries 
 and reward his friends. Nobility requires one to be humble to 
 the good and haughty to the bad. True nobility is born in the 
 heart. A man may leave lands to his son, but the latter will 
 not have worth if he does not have it froin his own heart. Gold 
 and silver will never give worth if one does not have a noble 
 heart. Prowess issues from the heart ; that is the best ancestry. 
 Knowledge and learning, wisdom, liberality, and power bestow 
 worth forever. 
 
 There are various kinds of worth and honor arising from various 
 kinds of praise. Cavaliers are esteemed, some because they are 
 good warriors, others because they are good table companions; 
 some are esteemed for their service, others for their dress; some 
 are doughty knights, others pleasing courtiers. These qualities 
 are rarely found together, but he who has more of them is more 
 highly esteemed. 
 
 'See Diez, Leben der Troubadours, ed. Bartsch, Leipzig, 1882, p. 103, and 
 Fauriel, Hisioire de la poesie provengale, Paris, 1847, Vol. II, p. 45. 
 
 ' Printed in Raynouard, Choix, Vol. IV, pp. 405-18, and Mahn, Werke der 
 Troubadours, Vol. I, pp. 176-84. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 325 
 
 Women likewi3e are differently esteemed, some for their beauty, 
 others for their worth, some are pleasing, others wise, some well- 
 spoken, others well-mannered. Beauty is very becoming to 
 women, but learning and knowledge are their greatest charm. 
 
 So the bourgeois are prized for their rank, pleasant deeds, 
 courtesy, frankness, and cheerfulness. Some are good courtiers 
 and know how to pay suit to ladies, and some know how to dance 
 and joust. 
 
 The clerks are next considered. Some are esteemed for their 
 learning, others for their courtesy; some for their eloquence, 
 others for their deeds; some for their goodness, others for their 
 liberality. 
 
 No one in the classes above described, lady or knight or clerk, 
 is so perfect as to be without defect. 
 
 The poet concludes with a reference to the early days of the 
 world when mankind was at peace and observed moderation and 
 righteousness. Now, however, no one is prized who does not 
 destroy his neighbor. The poet is more grieved for the young 
 than for himself, for he is not dismayed at anything provided 
 God preserves for him his lady who keeps him from all other 
 desires but to obey her. The poem then ends, as is usual in 
 Provengal lyrics, with a direct appeal to the lady herself. 
 
 Another work of the kind was produced in the second half of 
 the twelfth century, also by a Provengal poet, Garin li Brun, who 
 is otherwise known only by a single tenzon.' The details of 
 his life are wholly lacking; the early biography of the poet simply 
 says: "Garin li Brun was a gentle castellan of Veillac, in the 
 bishopric of Puoi-Sainte-Marie, and was a good poet, and in- 
 structed women how they should behave. He composed neither 
 vers nor chansos, but tenzons."^ Unfortunately the work has 
 not been edited, and is known only by the extracts from it given 
 in Matfre Ermengaud's Breviari d'Atnor.^ 
 
 " A well-bred lady should welcome every one in her house, but 
 not the bad like the good, for there are many who are so ill-bred 
 
 ' The tenzon is printed in Raynouard, Choix, Vol. IV, p. 436; Mahn, Ge- 
 dichte der Troubadours, 1306; and Parnasse occitanien, 367. For Garin li 
 Brun see Bartsch's article in Jahrbuch fiir eng. und rom. Lit., Vol. Ill, pp. 
 399-409, where are reprinted the extracts given in the Breviari d'Amor. 
 
 ^ See Mahn, Biog. der Troub. 74; and Raynouard, Choix, Vol. V, p. 156. 
 
 'I have used Azais's edition: Le Breviari d'Amor de Matfre Ermengaud 
 public par la Societe Archeologigue, etc., de Beziers. Beziers et Paris, no date, 
 2 vols. 
 
326 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 that if they are treated in a friendly way they will make a 
 great talk about it; therefore much should not be done for 
 them, for they can be sufficiently paid with a brief greeting. 
 
 " When she goes to church let her companion be such that she 
 shall not be shamed on his account, and let her go straight and 
 gently and make little noise, for it is not good manners for a 
 lady to go quickly through the streets nor to take too long steps 
 lest she become weary by her walking. 
 
 "A lady should be cheerful, for with a little cheerfulness she 
 ■enhances her worth.* 
 
 "When one visits you, Ladies, and invites you to sit, at the 
 beginning first consider who it is with whom you are speaking. 
 Hear his words and answer him accordingly for from his speech 
 you can judge what reply is befitting him, whether good or bad. 
 For a wise and clever man knows a fool by his speech: a good 
 word said to such is as if buried, for he does not discern it well, 
 or if he does, he forgets it; wherefore a good word should be 
 said to such as enjoy it. 
 
 " You should be sparing of speech, for words well weighed will 
 please the most. You should have regard to the occasion, and 
 when it is proper, speak gently and slowly, neither too loud nor 
 too low. Be not so rash as to speak first of any important topic, 
 for you might err. Be not intimate with one who is not a suitable 
 companion for you, nor with those of low degree; a lady who is 
 too intimate with one who is not suitable to her, causes foolish 
 talk and it easily turns out harmful for her.^ 
 
 "According as you see a man let your manner be; when you 
 know his will, let yours be the same. Be gay with the gay and 
 your worth will increase, and courteous to the courteous, and it 
 will be of great profit to you. But with intelligent men you 
 should be quiet : wise behavior you must display, and be careful 
 not to laugh too much and talk folly. Laughter when there is 
 no occasion soon turns to annoyance. There is a time for laugh- 
 ter and a time for thought. 
 
 He who among wise men wishes to speak foolishly, or sen- 
 sibly among the foolish, is not very intelligent. A fool does not 
 know what to answer one who addresses him with profound 
 wisdom. 
 
 6 Breviari, ed. cit.,.ll, pp. 523-4. 
 '' Breviari, ed. cit., II, pp. 530-1. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 327 
 
 " Let it not seem to you a small gain to honor strangers. 
 Extend then to them a welcome beyond your will, and never 
 show them that you do not wish to do it. For it is a pleasant 
 gain to win friends by good companionship, and no detriment. 
 If a valiant knight parts from you happy, all his life you will be 
 thanked by him." ^ 
 
 Finally, courtesy is thus defined: " Courtesy, if you wish to 
 know, is this, that one understands how to speak and act so that 
 he may be loved and not be a source of annoyance. He also may 
 be said to be courteous who can discern folly, and mock what 
 is tiresome; and, what is pleasing to others, divert in a courtly 
 manner. But not every one is courteous : many who are named 
 courteous are arrant rustics. It is easy to speak of courtesy and 
 hard- to observe it. Courtesy consists in gentle dress, and in 
 gentle reception, in love and in gentle speech." ^ 
 
 Somewhat later is the ensenhamen of Arnaut Guilhem de 
 Marsan, a work intended to instruct a noble youth in the courtly 
 life.^" The poet feigns that he was about to indulge in the pastime 
 of falconry when he met a handsome youth, who appeared 
 buried in his thoughts and who without a word of greeting 
 seized the poet's rein and asked his aid in these words: "Seigneur, 
 by God's mercy I entreat thee to aid me, for I have come from 
 afar to thee to ask counsel, for thou art wise and brave, how I 
 shall prepare myself to love. For I love a lady very fair and 
 good, but nothing that I do seems to please her. The truth I 
 shall tell thee, I wish to love and I do not know how. Have re- 
 gard for me and consider what I am and what I should be, so 
 that thou mayest be my teacher and instruct me how I shall 
 behave so that she may deign to love me and on no pretext may 
 say me nay." 
 
 The poet dismissed his followers and dismounting took the 
 stranger by the hand and invited him to be his guest until the 
 morrow and promised to grant his request if his name warranted 
 it. The stranger straightway told who he was, and the poet 
 after learning it esteemed him a thousand times more than before. 
 
 8 Breviari, ed. cit., 11, pp. 536-7. 
 
 ^ Bremari, ed. cit., II, pp. 59\-2- ^ ,. , ^ 1 , tt,. r ,. o 
 
 " Published by Bartsch in his Provenzahsches Lesebuck, Elberteld, 1855, 
 pp. 132-139; partially in Raynouard, Choix, Vols. H, pp. 309-309. V, pp. 41- 
 44 and in Galvani, Osservazioni sulla poesia de' Trovatori, p. 269. See also Mil- 
 lot, Histoire litt. des Troub., Paris, 1802, Vol. HI, pp. 62-76. 
 
328 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 He took him to his abode, where there were the diversions of 
 chess and "tables," of singing and of story-telHng. There they 
 remained until sunset, when they ate in the great hall and then 
 went to bed. At dawn the priest summoned them to mass, 
 which was followed by dinner. After it the poet and his guest 
 left the hall and entered a garden where they sat down by a 
 laurel, and the poet thus addressed his guest: "Friend, now you 
 shall learn of me what you wished : of wealth or wisdom I shall 
 say nothing, for these are two things of which I think little; 
 but be only joyful, clever, and bold, for these are three good 
 qualities." The poet further declares that he did not begin to 
 love until he had learned all that was to be known of the lovers 
 of olden times from a master of love. This his guest should 
 learn from him, and he proceeds to enumerate some of these 
 lovers and their stories: Paris, Tristan, Aeneas, Ignaure, Iwein, 
 ApoUonius of Tyre, and Arthur. 
 
 Then follow minute directions about personal cleanliness and 
 neatness in dress. The hair should be worn not too long, the 
 beard and moustaches short. The eyes and hands should be 
 carefully watched, for they are often the messengers of the heart. 
 Foolish glances and gestures should be avoided. One should 
 have two squires, polite and well spoken. They should refrain 
 from gaming when sent on a mission . 
 
 Rules then follow for behavior at home. Guests should be 
 treated with hospitality. Refreshment should be given them 
 according to the season, but the host should on no account wait 
 upon them, but leave that to the servants, who should be well 
 trained and not whisper to the master. Food and other neces- 
 saries should be provided beforehand. 
 
 When the youth goes to court he should be liberal in his ex- 
 penditures and keep open house. No doorkeeper should be 
 stationed to keep out squires or pages, minstrel or beggar. If 
 he games it should be for high play ; games of hazard are befitting 
 only to mean men, who throw a hundred times for a penny. 
 He who takes up the dice and puts them down loses his worth. 
 He should not be angry when he loses nor change his place so 
 as to disturb the play. Nor should he show anger in his words; 
 for if he does he will lose favor that very day. Elaborate direc- 
 tions then follow for the choice of a horse and weapons. A 
 cavalier should possess property of his own and not be obliged 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 329 
 
 to seek what he needs wrongfully or in war. A lady does not 
 want a lover who is thus forced to leave her, but one who can 
 each day increase his worth . Of such a one a lady is not ashamed , 
 rather she is happy and if he asks her for her love she will be 
 quick to respond. 
 
 More, however, than wealth should the youth love chiv- 
 alry, and his heart should be more set upon this than anything 
 else. He should be bold, the last to retreat, the first to attack. 
 Directions are then given for behavior in tournaments. Even 
 if he loses his horse he should not refrain from fighting ; if he loses 
 his lance he should draw his sword and not delay to deal such 
 blows that "God, hell, and paradise" may know of them. 
 
 With such actions, continues the poet, he has won many 
 fair and worthy ladies, in proof of which he proceeds to enumerate 
 a long list of ladies who apparently have given him their love 
 openly, and concludes by saying that he might tell more, but 
 he does not wish to reveal those who give him their love in secret. 
 The poem ends with the words : 
 
 Cavayer, bels amicx, 
 Cortes e pros e ricx, 
 Er vuelh siatz manens 
 D'aquestz ensenhamens. 
 
 "Cavalier, fair friend, courteous and doughty and lusty, I now 
 wish you to be enriched by these instructions." 
 
 The most interesting of the Provengal etiquette books are 
 two ensenhamens of the last quarter of the thirteenth century by 
 Amanieu de Sescas, who is known also by two love letters." 
 One of the ensenhamens has for its object the instruction of a 
 lady; the other, the instruction of a squire or youth. 
 
 These works, like those which have just been considered, are 
 narrative in their form ; in the first the scene is laid in the month 
 of May, wh6n "the birds are gay and sing in the woods." The 
 poet, who is parted from his mistress, whose beauty he extols, 
 
 "The name of the writer was formerly given asdes Escas; it is, however, de 
 Sescas; see Romania, I, p. 384. The love letters are in Raynouard, Lexique 
 roman, I, p. 499, Mila y Fontanals, De los trovadores en Espana, p. 454 (m 
 Obras completas, Barcelona, 1889, Vol. H); Raynouard, Choix, V, p. 20; 
 and Mila y Fontanals, op. cii., p. 450. The ensenhamens are to be found: 
 the one for the lady, in Bartsch, Provenzalisches Lesebiich, pp. 140-148 (a 
 fragment in the same author's Chrestomathie Provenqale, Elberfeld, 1880, pp. 
 330-331), and Mila y Fontanals, op. cit., pp. 438-450; the other for a squire, m 
 Bartsch, Denkmdler der provenzalischen Litteratur, Stuttgart, 1856, pp. 104- 
 114; and in Mila y Fontanals, op. cit., pp. 427-438. 
 
330 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 is plunged in grief at her absence and is thinking how and in 
 what way he can see her. While in this pensive naood he en- 
 counters a pleasing maiden, who, after greeting him, takes him 
 by the hand and leads him aside to sit upon a bench. There 
 she asks him to teach her how a maiden should behave so as to 
 avoid mistakes and to win the favor of others. The poet ex- 
 presses his willingness to serve her and compliments her on her 
 desire for knowledge, which is a sign of wisdom. 
 
 The first counsel is to be an early riser, and in this respect to 
 anticipate her mistress so that if she calls she will find her suit- 
 ably dressed and shod. Before she laces herself she should 
 wash her arms and hands and then lace her sleeves tightly. 
 The finger nails are not to be so long as to show dirt, and the head 
 should be kept cleaner than anything else, for it is seen the most. 
 The teeth should be cleansed every morning. All this should 
 be done before she is seen by any one. She should always have 
 a bright mirror in which to see her color and her face, so that she 
 can correct anything which displeases her about it. 
 
 In the morning she should aid her mistress on arising with 
 what she needs, but she should not enter the room until the 
 master has risen, unless she be summoned. Afterwards she 
 may enter to know her mistress' pleasure. If it is her pleasure 
 to rise, aid her properly and prepare her attire before she com- 
 mands, and bring her before she leaves her bed needle and silk 
 and thread, so that she can adorn herself, and comb her hair, 
 and that with which she may wish- to ornament it. The maid 
 should not leave her mistress until she is dressed, and when she 
 has risen she should bring her the mirror to see whether there 
 is anything wrong about lace, band for the hair, or fillet, so that 
 she can repair it. When she is properly attired fresh clear water 
 should be brought her to wash her hands and face, and a fine 
 towel to dry them; and her garments should be carefully ex- 
 amined so that no one can be so sharp-sighted as to correct any- 
 thing wrong. 
 
 Then the maid can enter or leave the hall, and should respond 
 amiably to all who greet her, but not be in haste to speak, or 
 walk except with measured steps. 
 
 When she goes to the monastery for service and to hear mass, 
 she should keep her eyes from foolish gazing, bent on the ground 
 or on the altar, and there she should not engage in conversation 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 331 
 
 or consultation. When she has left the church, however, if 
 she wishes diversion she may take it with those who wish, but 
 not to excess; for noise and uproar are annoying. A noisy 
 maiden is not liked, nor is it becoming, and the most knowing 
 say that it is not good. She should not, if she knows it, wear a 
 skirt or gown or other dress unfastened (descozut). 
 
 If she wishes to begin the diversion of jocx-partitz,^^ she should 
 not make the subjects discourteous, but agreeable and polite. 
 
 At table she should have water placed before her and temper 
 her wine so that it do her no harm, for a maid and youth are of 
 no worth if they overload themselves with wine, and it also gives 
 rise to evil habits which need not be mentioned here. She should 
 not urge her companion nor the others round about to eat, for 
 it is not proper to urge a man who is healthy; but what he has 
 before him he will eat if he pleases. If, however, he has no dish 
 before him, and she should be urgent the invitation will be 
 foolish. 
 
 If servants are lacking the maid should help to carve the food 
 before any other lady companion, but if her companion be a 
 gentleman, he will be very ill-bred if he does not help her^as well 
 as himself. When the meal is finished and the mistress has 
 risen and washed her hands, the maid should wash hers, for it 
 is a wholesome thing to cleanse one's hands after eating. She 
 should do this in suitable company, and when she takes her 
 seat she should go down so far that of her own will she should 
 not be on the same level as her mistress; if the latter prevents 
 this, the maid should take care to have two ladies or two gentle- 
 men between her and her mistress. 
 
 If at that time a gentleman pays her court she should not 
 be shy or curt, but defend herself with pleasant words. If his 
 conversation is tiresome ask him some news: "Which ladies 
 are the fairest, the Gascon or English; which are the more 
 courteous, the truer and better." And if he reply: "The Gas- 
 cons," answer fearlessly: "Sir, saving your honor, the ladies of 
 England are handsomer than those of any other land." If 
 he says: "The English," reply: "Sir, may it not displease you, 
 the Gascons are fairer." He will thus be involved in a discus- 
 sion and the maid can invite other companions to decide the 
 dispute. 
 
 " For jocx-partitz see Chapter I, p. 9. 
 
332 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 No one who addresses the maid should find her ill-spoken, 
 even if he were the enemy of all her friends; for as a man is 
 esteemed when he is brave against his enemies, so the maid will 
 be prized and praised if she is courteous and gentle, and humble 
 and agreeable to all good people. 
 
 She should not be proud or harsh of speech, for she can find 
 other pleasant modes of defence, yea, more than five hundred, 
 without saying anything unseemly and without erring. 
 
 If, in order to live joyfully, the maid wish a lover, she should 
 not choose him for his wealth, for wealth is not worth the good 
 will of people. She should choose an agreeable person of good 
 birth. The words in which the lover should proffer his love and 
 the answer the lady should make him are given- at length. This 
 passage, however, is of greater importance for the question of 
 mediaeval love and may be omitted here. The lady is carefully 
 advised as to her relations to her lover, which are to be purely 
 Platonic. 
 
 The lady will be likely to have other suitors: one will entreat 
 her with his glances, another with sighs, another through a 
 messenger, which is a great wrong, for the secret is made known 
 to three. The way in which one of these suitors will address 
 her is also given at length as well as the reply in which she de- 
 clines the offer of his love. The answer to be given to the one 
 who employs a messenger is also reported in full. 
 
 The remainder of the ensenhamen is occupied by complimentary 
 references to various ladies of Provence, from whose example 
 the maid who is the object of the poet's instruction can learn 
 every lesson of courtesy. 
 
 The scene of the instruction for a squire is laid at Christmas- 
 tide, "when wind blows and rain falls and cold winter appears 
 with snow and ice." The poet was in his comfortable house 
 with his squires speaking of pleasure and of arms and love. The 
 fire was bright and the floors covered with straw, and for their 
 cheer they had wine both red and white. They had just risen 
 from the table when a gentle enamoured youth addressed the poet 
 in these words : ' ' Sir, they say that you know more of Love than 
 any lover ever bom, although he be a scholar. You although 
 not a scholar know of Love, how he is born, and whence he comes 
 and how he nourishes those whom he chooses. Wherefore I 
 entreat you to tell me and the others who are in your service 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 333 
 
 how we can advance among the bad and the good." The poet 
 modestly repHes that he wishes he knew as much as the youth 
 declares he does and gently reproves him for his immoderate 
 praise. Still, although he has not as much understanding as is 
 needed, he will comply with the youth's request, for he has seen 
 much of all kinds of people, good and bad, and knows how a wise 
 man can learn of another less wise than himself. 
 
 The first instruction is to remember what one hears. The 
 second, to be careful of what company one keeps. Then one 
 should not have a tongue ready to mock or Speak ill, for it is a 
 mean trade and shames the one who practices it. Be not de- 
 ceitful, lying, or treacherous, for God hates every treacherous 
 man. If one wishes to be honored and loved in this world he should 
 be generous, truthful, bold, and well-spoken, and his dress should 
 be neat and handsome, and suitable to his rank. If he cannot 
 have cloth of value he should have well fashioned the poor cloth 
 he has. If he is poor he should at least have good and handsome 
 hose and shoes, belt, purse, and knife. With these he will be 
 well dressed if his hair is properly arranged. He should not wear 
 clothes that are unfastened: it is better to wear those that are 
 torn ; the former is a token of ill-breeding, the latter of poverty 
 only. It requires no great knowledge to appear well in what is 
 fine ; but he appears neat and courteous who wears well that which 
 is not fine. 
 
 He should be a true lover of his lady evening and morning, 
 weeks, months, and years, so that she may ever find him ready to 
 do her will. If he sees any friend of hers anywhere he should be 
 so agreeable to him that the friend may report praise of him to his 
 mistress. Praise engenders love more than anything else. This 
 is so true that a man has fallen in love with a woman whom he 
 has never seen simply from hearing her praised. A woman loves 
 in the same way. Therefore one should strive to be doughty, 
 generous, true and gay, clever and learned, so that people may 
 speak of him and the lady whom he loves may hear of it. 
 
 When he sees his lady he should not be backward in telling 
 her how her love has conquered him. If she listen to him he 
 should conceal it so that no one know it, and deny it if anyone 
 assert it. Especially he should not reveal it to a friend no matter 
 how intimate he is, for all the lady's relatives and friends will 
 be angry if it is known, and so the lover will lose both the lady 
 
334 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and her relatives, and no woman will ever hencefortli deem him 
 a true lover. 
 
 If the lady secretly does her lover's pleasure, he should secretly 
 and without boasting enhance her worth and make her liked by 
 the noblest. "If she causes him jealousy and excuses herself 
 and says that there was nothing in what the lover saw with his 
 own eyes, he should reply: ' Lady, I am sure you tell the truth, 
 but I think I dreamed it.' Grant what is false as well as what is 
 true, and thus you can have her love, provided you are always a 
 courtier and a soldier." 
 
 The court is the abode where love and worth live, and one who 
 does not frequent it or neglects it is not wise in love, for one must 
 frequent courts to improve himself. The court is the school of 
 the good, and there we can distinguish the worthy from the bad. 
 There the ignorant and foolish see wisdom and improve, and one 
 grows more courteous and intelligent. 
 
 But, continues the poet, I know to my sorrow, that you are not 
 rich enough to follow the court without serving some lord who 
 wishes to visit it. He therefore advises the object of his in- 
 struction to serve such a lord as loves honor and fame and osten- 
 tation, and who enhances his own worth and that of those who 
 serve him. This lord he should serve as long as he is worthy 
 without disdain day and night. He should not be too proud to 
 kneel while he is a squire, but should serve with good will, so that 
 he may be praised by all who see him and by her whom he loves. 
 He should extol his lord and sound his praises everj^vhere, at 
 the same time concealing his bad qualities with all his might. 
 
 The squire should be careful to attend his master when he 
 retires and when he rises if his presence be needed. There are, 
 however, circumstances when a master can dispense with his 
 squire's presence. 
 
 If his master errs the squire should point out his error, but 
 secretly and with good advice. If the squire becomes so inti- 
 mate with his master that the latter willingly believes him, he 
 should not be a flatterer, or be vexed and jealous if his other 
 companions are preferred to him, for a lord should divide his 
 power among his people, obeying some and advancing others. 
 The lord must win the love of his people in various ways, 
 sometimes by gifts and sometimes by pleasant speech and good 
 cheer. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 335 
 
 If the lord has war near by or afar, the squire should have a 
 light, strong, swift horse under seven years old, well trained and 
 obedient to the bit, which he will not need to spur in case of 
 need. Then follow minute directions as to the squire's armor 
 and his behavior in battle. 
 
 When the squire's valor is certain, the poet says he will give 
 him as lord a gentle count whom he loves and with whom he is 
 satisfied, Bernard of Astarac, who possesses all the qualities 
 which a doughty knight needs. 
 
 The poem concludes with a message which the writer sends to 
 Bernard by the squire whom he has just instructed: '"Amanieu 
 de Sescas, seigneur count, greets you and tells you that your 
 valor has so increased that he has it in his heart and will to serve 
 you ever. And he has commanded me to come to you as to 
 my lord, in order that I may serve you for his sake. And I 
 shall serve you as long as life lasts, loyally and truly while you 
 are a knight.' Thus I wish you to address the valiant count, 
 for I know that in his service you will win worth and her whom a 
 well-taught squire loves so much." 
 
 This ensenhamen of Amanieu de Sescas was imitated some 
 years later (in 1326) by Lunel de Men teg, who refers to Amanieu 
 by name.i^ In Lunel's ensenhamen the poet, while walking along 
 the road plunged in a revery on account of his lady who had 
 refused to see him for a long time, encounters the squire and 
 leads him home. This is evidently a reminiscence of the be- 
 ginning of Amanieu 's ensenhamen for the maid. The squire 
 with the same exaggerated compliments as in Amanieu asks 
 Lunel to instruct him. Lunel contents himself by saying that 
 such sense and such good qualities as the squire ascribes to him 
 are not in him nor even the half, but since the squire has asked 
 him he will willingly consent if he knows anything of the matter. 
 
 The squire should first of all choose such a lord as he may have 
 
 honor from, and after he has been with him two or three months 
 
 he should not leave him; for, adds the poet, I have heard that one 
 
 " Published by Bartsch in his Denkm&ler, pp. 1 14-124, and by E. Forestie 
 in P. de Lunel, dit Cavalier Lunel de Montech, Montauban, 1891. A review of 
 the latter work may be found in the Romania, XXI, pp. 304-306. In Bartsch 's 
 Denkmaler, p. loi, the ensenhamen of Amanieu de Sescas bears the title: "So 
 es I'enssenhamen del escudier que fe aquel meteis dieu d'amors." In Lunel 
 de Monteg (ed. Forestie, p. 35), the squire who wishes to be instructed says: 
 "Those who lived anciently have written many a fine ensenhamen, as you well 
 know, and I have heard say that you knew Amanieu who was called the God 
 of Love, how he instructed the maid and the squire." 
 
336 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 cannot find any squire good longer than a week. He should 
 have good manners, than which nothing will cause him to be 
 more esteemed and advanced. His dress should be fine and 
 clean and never if possible put in pawn. He should not be lazy, 
 but an early riser, and should first care for his horse, for which 
 elaborate directions are given. This care is for the winter; 
 somewhat different is that for the summer. 
 
 The lord will give the squire an account of his own horse's 
 peculiarities; so it is needless to dwell on that. The squire 
 should not be irritable or fastidious. He should be on good 
 terms with his master's household and not interfere unless some- 
 thing is done to the lord's harm or his family's. He should let 
 his deeds show his valor and not be vain and boastful. He should 
 not be deceitful, quarrelsome, or talkative, for great quarrels 
 and tumults arise from slanderers. 
 
 The squire should not frequent taverns, or anywhere pursue 
 wine, women, and gaming. He should avoid bad company and 
 be. careful not to indulge too freely in drink, for he would lose 
 his good name at once. He should be careful of his relations to 
 the women of the household, and above all to his master's wife. 
 If at home he should look out for the house, and know how to 
 prepare dinner if necessary. At the table he should not sit down or 
 eat until he has served his master, unless otherwise commanded ; 
 and he should not take counsel with the others or be surly, 
 which is worse. If it is fitting for him to cheer the others he 
 should do it politely and without grumbling. He should be of 
 a cheerful disposition and if sent anywhere should not say: 
 "If you send me, Lord, I cannot find what you wish." Such a 
 one would seem full of sloth. 
 
 Further, the squire should be loyal and true to his lord, and 
 careful of his money, so that if a reckoning is demanded his 
 accounts may be found correct. He should not concede any of 
 his master's rights to anyone if it might be said that he had done 
 it by deceit. He should avoid as much as possible the rdle of 
 messenger. He should arm his master in case of need, and see 
 that his horse is ready. He should be a pleasant companion to 
 his lord and a ready servant. 
 
 The squire should not change masters often, and should only 
 depart when it is to his detriment to remain. He should not 
 speak ill of a master whom he has left, nor associate himself with 
 his enemies. In this matter he should follow a happy mean. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 337 
 
 He should bring news pleasantly and never return home in 
 anger. Thus he will earn the money which was left to every 
 good squire whom one can find. 
 
 The poet concludes with the words: " I shall be glad if you are 
 such a squire, and you will be, for I firmly believe you have 
 retained in your mind what I have told you ; but now it is time 
 for us to enter the castle and dine, for we have had a profitable 
 talk. After we had dined he rendered me a hundred thanks 
 and went away to the duchy which the French had besieged and 
 which the English held." Wherefore I remind you that this 
 poem was made in the month of September as men count 
 MCCCXXVI." 
 
 It will be seen that while Lunel de Monteg's ensenhamen is an 
 imitation of Amanieu's, it is not a slavish copy. 
 
 The most extensive of all the Provengal ensenhamens is by an 
 Italian poet, Sordello of Mantua, immortalized by Dante. '^ 
 It was composed about 1240 and comprises 1327 verses of eight 
 syllables and bears the title Documentum honoris. 
 
 Although Sordello's ensenhamen is the longest, it is the least 
 interesting of all, owing to its vague and general character. It 
 is a moral treatise on the life of a lady or gentlemen of rank, with 
 but few directions of a particular nature. The poet indulges in 
 
 " There is a lacuna in the version in Bartsch's Denkmdler, p. 124, 1. 6, which 
 reads: 
 
 Vas lo duguat 
 Que pog . . . W. assetjat 
 
 Avian Frances. 
 Lo cal tenio los Angles. 
 
 This lacuna is conjecturally filled by Forestie as follows: 
 
 Vas lo Duguat, 
 Que Pog W(ilhem) assetait 
 
 and he translates the passage in question as follows: "et puis s'en alia vers le 
 Duche ou Pech-Guilhem assiege par les Frangais, 6tait defendu par les Ang- 
 lais." He says in a note: "L'interlocuteur de Cavalier Lunel se rendait dans 
 le duche de Guyenne pour prendre part k la guerre dite des Bitards ou de 
 Gascogne." Of the place in question he says: "Puyguilhem en Perigord: 
 Alfonse d'Espagne, seigneur de Lunel, lieutenant du Roi de France en Langue- 
 doc, fut charge de la direction de cette campagne de 1326 contre les Anglais 
 qui, de connivance avec certains bitards de la noblesse gasconne, attaquaient 
 les chateaux du Roi. Cette campagne commenfa en juillet 1326 par le siege 
 de Tonneins. Le siege de Puyguilhem s'ouvrit vers le 20 aofit et finit vers 
 le 15 septembre." 
 
 " See Vita e Poesie di Sordello di Goito, per Cesare de Lollis, Halle, 1896 
 (Romanische Bibliothek, XI), and Palazzi, Le poesie inedite di Sordello, Venice, 
 1887. The latter work has given rise to an extensive polemic, for which 
 see the bibliography in V. Crescini, Sordello, Verona, 1897, Nota at end of work. 
 
 23 
 
338 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 many melancholy reflections upon the corrupt state of the world 
 and the decline of virtue. 
 
 Four things must be well done to win esteem : armor must be 
 kept in good order ; hauberk, likewise ; if the lord is absent guests 
 must be willingly served; and faith must be kept in word and 
 deed. Every one should show what is good in himself and con- 
 ceal what is bad. Borrowed money should be repaid, for debts 
 are a heavy burden. 
 
 One must be master of his wealth and use it for gifts and ex- 
 penses. Whoever praises wealth for other reasons should be 
 termed its slave. Secret giving should be commended, and true 
 friendship requires one to neglect his own affairs for his friend's. 
 
 No one who loves true merit should speak ill of three things: 
 women, poor knights, and minstrels. "How can one disparage 
 women whom one ought to love, honor, and prize, or a poor knight 
 whom one ought to advance and welcome, or a minstrel who is 
 dependent upon the bounty of others?" 
 
 It cannot be said that nobility arises from gentle birth alone, 
 for the gentle born are often bad and the bourgeois worthy and 
 honored; but a noble and gentle heart is the master of all good 
 deeds. 
 
 One must be moderate in his expenditures; immoderate ex- 
 penditure brings no praise but only ruin. It is not enough to do 
 what is to one's honor and profit; one must also know how to 
 avoid his dishonor and loss. 
 
 Above all, he who wishes to rule with good sense, must en- 
 deavour every day to know the world and not to allow it to know 
 him. "A man is not wise, in truth, if he does not often pretend 
 that what pleases him is displeasing, and what is displeasing is 
 pleasing." 
 
 No one should come to a decision in an important matter when 
 he is in great joy or great anger; for when one is in this state his 
 judgment is not well tempered. 
 
 It is a wonder how any cowardly and covetous knight can 
 dare pay suit to a good woman, or how she can listen to him; 
 for he is no more than half a knight. No one can be complete 
 in love unless he is bold and generous. A woman can have no 
 more esteem or honor than her lover has worth. 
 
 It is very needful, then, that a woman consider well whom she 
 will love, for she might love one for whose sake she would lose 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 339 
 
 her worth and injure her body; but she does not for a worthy 
 knight, if they love without deceit. A worthy lady does not 
 err if she loves such a knight, provided they know how to observe 
 such love as is proper. A woman should hold to one if she wishes 
 to love, and consider well which she shall choose, for after she 
 has chosen him she cannot abandon him any more than a wife 
 can her husband. Marriages have been dissolved on account of 
 relationship ; but nothing but death or fatal fault can dissolve love. 
 
 A worthy woman who wishes to rule well must at times be 
 blind, deaf, and dumb. She must be dignified with her intimate 
 friends and friendly to strangers. 
 
 The poet in conclusion excuses himself for not having prac- 
 ticed what he preaches; but he has done all with good intention. 
 His motive has been to earn the gratitude of the worthy and some- 
 what to display his own wisdom. If he wished to extend his 
 ensenhamen he could easily do so ; for he is far from having ex- 
 hausted his arguments and authorities. If he has displayed 
 anything in his ensenhamen which is pleasing to people, if he has 
 said or done anything good, it is all due to Lady Agradiva, with 
 whose praise the poem ends. 
 
 Such is a brief resum6 of this long and tiresome production, 
 which throws but little light on the manners and customs of 
 mediaeval society. 
 
 One other Provengal ensenhamen remains to be noticed. It is 
 by an unknown author and is contained in a manuscript of the 
 Libri collection sold a few years ago by Lord Ashburnham to the 
 Italian government. It has not yet been published and I know 
 it only by the brief account of it given by P. Meyer in the Ro- 
 mania, Vol. XIV, pp. 519-20. He says: "This ensenhamen, 
 which is composed of some hundred verses, resembles very little 
 those by Garin li Brun, Amaut de Marueil or Amanieu de Sescas. 
 On the contrary it is quite like, so far as substance goes, the 
 Contenance de Table, of which Monmerqu6 has published three 
 very different versions at the end of Madame de Saint-Surin's 
 work entitled L'Hdtel de Cluny au moyen age." One of these 
 versions has been printed in Montaiglon, Recueil de poesies 
 frangoises desXVe et XVIe siecle, Paris, 1855, Vol. I, pp. 186-193, 
 which I shall examine later. 
 
 The brief extract given by Meyer runs as follows: "When you 
 are at table bless the food with the sign of the cross. Before 
 
340 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 eating remember the poor and help them, for one should give to 
 God the flower of his feast, the best, for he will serve God more in 
 thanksgiving than he does with the food. When you are eating at 
 table take care not to laugh immoderately, for one who does 
 this is soon mocked. Do not eat until you see the others begin. 
 Do not talk too much at table over your food. Whoever does 
 this is deemed silly and under the influence of wine. Take care 
 with whom you eat and how you should behave." 
 
 The ensenhamen concludes with the words: "Do no't forget 
 for your good, if you love and believe in God, to give him praise 
 when you rise from the table. Every one will take pattern by you 
 and cease to do evil and learn to do good."''''' 
 
 If we turn now to French literature we shall find a number of 
 poems extending back to the thirteenth century, which give in- 
 structions as to the conduct of life. Some of these are general 
 moral treatises, and some are devoted to a particular class, or to 
 some restricted branch of etiquette, as table manners. There 
 is no one which gives general instructions in all branches of eti- 
 quette for both sexes. We shall examine these works rapidly, 
 beginning with an Anglo-Norman poem found in manuscripts at 
 Cambridge and Oxford.'^ It is 185 lines in length and in the 
 Cambridge version the compiler is named Urbane. In the 
 Oxford manuscript the work bears the title: L' Apprise de Nur- 
 ture (The Teaching of Breeding). The compiler, "a wise man of 
 great worth, who formerly lived in honor, devised this for his 
 son, and showed him of his good sense and said: Dear son, now 
 listen, if I speak anything good, give ear to it. I wish to teach 
 you breeding while you are of tender age, for I tell you truly 
 that without breeding one is of little worth." 
 
 In the first place, serve God and heed the Church. Honor 
 father and mother and you will have grace, health, and long 
 
 1°" There is a Provengal ensenhamen relating to table manners which I have 
 not been able to see: Cortesie da tavole in latino e provenzale. Per Nozze 
 Cassin-D'Ancona, Pisa, tip. Mariotti, 1893. The notice of this worlc by F. 
 N[ovatil in the Giornale storico, XXI, 446-7, refers briefly and exclusively 
 to the Latin text, which N. says is a nfacimento of the one published by him 
 iri Carntina Medii Aevi {Operette inedite rare, No. 4). "II secondo testo 
 [i.e., the Provengal) e tolto dal Cod. Asburn. 40, zibaldone del secolo xiv., 
 messo insieme da un Pietro de Serras avignonese, raccoglitore zelante, ma ig- 
 norante assai, di svariate scritture." 
 
 '° Referred to in Bulletin de la Societe des anciens textes franqais, 1 880, p. 
 73, Romania, XV, 284, and published by Frederic Spencer in Modern Language 
 Notes, 1889, pp. 101-106. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 341 
 
 life. The good youth should stand before his master at eating; 
 he should not "apiler ne apouer," nor scratch himself, nor laugh 
 nor be surly, nor make sport of any one. He will be attentive 
 to the service and will not eat before the others. When the good 
 people are seated, and he has given them bread, he should place 
 before them cups of ale to set them at their comfort, then soup, 
 and afterwards other dishes. Then he should go around the 
 table and cheer the guests with his courteous and cheerful as- 
 pect. After the meal water should be given to the barons and 
 knights kneeling. He should also kneel while his lord and 
 lady drink. 
 
 The youth should learn to speak well before people as breeding 
 requires. If he does not know "language" and will not learn 
 it, one might say in his presence things of great evil and dishonor 
 to him. 
 
 If in the course of his walks he meets great or small, he should 
 open his mouth and greet them politely. If he goes about like 
 a deaf man and makes no reply he will be accused of being dis- 
 dainful and ill-bred. 
 
 If any present, great or small, is given him, he should receive 
 it kneeling, and return thanks politely. He should not forget 
 his benefactors, and should repay them when he has the power. 
 
 He should not speak rudely to man, woman, or child, nor be 
 disdainful to any one. 
 
 For his honor's sake he should avoid loose women, gaming, 
 and bad company. He who frequents loose women and taverns 
 will soon waste his money. 
 
 If he becomes rich he should not be arrogant, nor bear him- 
 self too simply, but courteously as his honor demands. He 
 should not be too proud, for pride reigns awhile and great shame 
 follows. 
 
 At the table of another he should not speak too much lest he 
 be taken for a foolish person. He should not blame the food 
 set before him, but take it willingly and eat and drink what he 
 finds. 
 
 If he marries, he should choose a wise woman so that he may 
 not repent of his marriage. He should love his wife and not 
 covet the wife of another. If he has children he should teach 
 them good trades so that they may defend their lives from pov- 
 erty. 
 
342 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 If he becomes poor he should not be too sorrowful, for Christ 
 sends all people these reverses. Those who hope in Him He after- 
 wards cheers. Therefore he should pray God and thank his 
 grace. 
 
 If the object of the instruction has acquired a friend he should 
 never do him despite for any foolish pleasure. He should heartily 
 love his friend. 
 
 If any one commits a wrong against him he should not take 
 vengeance with sword or lance, but send good people to the 
 offender and urge him to make amends. If any one asks counsel 
 of him, he should give it according to the law, in good faith, with- 
 out flattery, that he may some day be grateful for it. 
 
 He should not promise what he has not, for fair promises and 
 no gifts are a poor comfort. 
 
 If he goes to law he must answer in court according to the 
 law without threats. 
 
 From the rich he should take gifts, and aid the poor for God's 
 sake. The wealth which he amasses he should expend wisely 
 and not in bad company. 
 
 We often see foolish people sell their lands and convert all 
 their property into ready money which they spend in clothing 
 and feasting women who afterwards mock those who did them 
 such honor. 
 
 The poem concludes with the words: "As long as the purse 
 lasts you can have woman's love; when the purse is shut you will 
 have woman's scorn. Dear son, I beg you, be well warned 
 against this. More I shall not tell vou now, but I commend you 
 to God." 
 
 Of the same century is the Doctrinal de Courtoisie, which differs 
 little from the Doctrinal Sauvage, so called from the name of the 
 author." The latter has been published by A. Jubinal in 
 Nouveau recueil de contes, dits, fabliaux, etc., Paris, 1842, Vol. II, 
 pp. 1 50-16 1. 
 
 The poem is entirely general in its nature. Bad company 
 should be avoided. The poor should not be despised. One 
 should be true to his friend, hospitable, not given to backbiting. 
 The vassal should be loyal to his lord. One should not be curious, 
 nor find fault with good men. 
 
 " The Doctrinal de Courtoisie has not yet been edited and I know it only 
 from the notice in the Histoire litteraire de la France, XXIII, p. 238. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 343 
 
 Special instructions are given in regard to three classes: the 
 great, the poor, and the rich. The first should honor God, 
 the Virgin, and the Church, render justice impartially, not allow 
 their bailiffs to rule harshly. They should be liberal in their 
 expenditures and not forget the poor; be of cheerful look, and 
 dress handsomely. The poor should acquire learning and strive 
 after such good qualities that they can win honor and wealth. 
 He who cannot acquire wealth should love God so that he may 
 enter Paradise. If he becomes rich he should remember the poor. 
 
 Finally, the rich should wear fine robes, have a brilliant retinue 
 and bestow rich gifts, and assume a fierce look to make themselves 
 feared. They may afterwards indulge in proper amusements. 
 They should not be forgetful of the Church, but should do all they 
 can for its advancement. They should avoid all base sins, and 
 give ear to no vile word. "If a man leads such a life, and can 
 thus bring it to a close, in my opinion, he will save his soul." 
 
 Of a general nature also is the Roman des Ailes by the Belgian 
 trouvere Raoul de Houdenc, who flourished at the end of the 
 twelf;th and beginning of the thirteenth century. '* The poem 
 in question was published by A. Scheler in Trouveres Beiges, 
 Nouvelle serie, Louvain, 1879, pp. 248-271. 
 
 The two "wings" from which the poem (six hundred and 
 sixty lines of eight-syllable verse) takes its name are the two 
 wings of Prowess: Liberality and Courtesy, without which it 
 cannot mount high. Liberality is the right wing, and Courtesy 
 the left, and each wing has seven feathers. The seven feathers 
 of Liberality are: Boldness in giving, Indifference to wealth, 
 Liberality to rich and poor. Observance of promises, Promptness 
 in giving, Giving largely, and Hospitality. 
 
 The seven feathers of Courtesy are: Reverence for the Church, 
 Hurnility, Avoidance of boasting. Cheerfulness, Freedom from 
 envy. Freedom from faultfinding and slander, Friendship and 
 Love. The poem concludes with a long comparison (lines 511- 
 632) of Love to the rose, to wine, and to the sea." 
 
 1' See Hist. litt. de la France, XXX, p. 46. 
 
 1' Another similar poem is mentioned by Gaston Paris in hiis Vie de Saint 
 Alexis, Paris, 1872, p. 210, in describing the MS. 12471 (Anc. Suppl. fr. 6328). 
 A part of its contents, fol. 11, vo. A, is a work entitled, C'est li roumans du 
 Vilainnengouste. After citing a few lines at the beginning and the end, 
 Paris says: "Ce poeme est une sorte de doctrinal de courtoisie, comme on en 
 possede plusieurs. Les paragraphes commencent souvent par cette formule: 
 Vilainnengouste dit. Le mime ouvrage se retrouve sans titre dans un ms. 
 de Turin: voy. Scheler, Notice et extraits, p. 86." 
 
344 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 A work on special etiquette is the Ordre de Chevalerie, ascribed 
 to Hue de Tabarie, a follower of Godfrey of Bouillon in the 
 first Crusade.^" The poem is really of the thirteenth century and 
 is a work of historical fiction. The supposed writer, Hue de 
 Tabarie, is represented as captured in a battle by Saladin, who 
 demands from him a ransom of a hundred thousand bezants. 
 Hue declares that he cannot raise this sum, and Saladin gives him 
 permission to return to France and obtain it, under promise of 
 returning as a prisoner in case he fails to do so. Before he de- 
 parts, however, Saladin insists on knowing how the order of 
 knigh thood is conferred . Hue refuses to inform him on the ground 
 that he, Saladin, has not been baptized and is not a Christian. 
 At last Hue yields to the sultan's imperative command and 
 causes Saladin to be duly bathed and clothed and invested with 
 the order of knighthood, after fully explaining to him the mean- 
 ing of the various ceremonies. 
 
 When he has finished, the grateful sultan allows him to free 
 ten of his companions who are in captivity, and to raise his 
 own ransom from the fifty emirs of Saladin by asking each of them 
 for a gift. 
 
 The most interesting and valuable of the mediaeval treatises 
 on etiquette is also of a somewhat special character. It was 
 designed for the instruction of a lady, and was composed by 
 Robert of Blois, a trouvere who flourished in the second half 
 of the thirteenth century.^i The work is entitled Le Chastie- 
 ment des Dames and is 1099 lines in length in the usual eight- 
 syllable verse. 
 
 The author states at the beginning that his object is to teach 
 women how they should behave "in their going and in their com- 
 ing, in their speech and in their silence." If a woman talks too 
 much she is blamed, and on the other hand if she does not know 
 
 '" Published by Barbazan and Meon in Fabliaux et Conies, Paris, 1808, 
 Vol. I, pp. 59-79. There is now an excellent modern edition by an American 
 scholar, Professor R. T. House, in University of Oklahoma Bulletin, Feb. I, 
 1919, "L'Ordene de Chevalerie; an old French Poem. Text, with Introduc- 
 tion and Notes." 
 
 "■ See Romania, XVI, p. I et seq. for a list of his works, and on p. 30 a 
 reference which serves to date them; Romania, XVII, p. 282, and XVIII, p. 
 207. For Robert de Blois and his works see Hist. litt. de la France, Vols. XVI, 
 pp. 29, 30, 175, 219, and XXIII, pp. 735-749- The Chastiement des Dames is 
 prmted in Barbazan et Meon, Vol. II, pp. 184-209. It was later inserted by 
 the author in his romance of Beaudois; and appears in the recent edition of 
 Robert of Blois by Ulrich : Robert von Blois sammtliche Werke zum ersten Male 
 herausgegeben von Jacob Ulrich, Bd. iii, Berlin, 1895, pp. 57-78. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 345 
 
 how to address people she is less esteemed. She should welcome 
 in a courteous way the coming and the going and should not be 
 diverted from this by the fact that some are boastful and misin- 
 terpret her actions. 
 
 When she goes to the church or elsewhere, she should be care- 
 ful not to "trot or run," but go straight with proper steps, not 
 too much in advance of her company. She should not linger on 
 the way but look straight ahead. Those whom she meets she 
 should greet politely; it does not cost much and the one who 
 willingly greets others is more esteemed. 
 
 A woman should not allow any man besides her husband to 
 take liberties with her. She should likewise be careful of her 
 glances, and not often look at a man unless she bears him love. 
 When women often look at a man he is apt to think it arises 
 from love. This is not strange, for " the eyes are the messengers 
 of Love." 
 
 If any one sues for a lady's love she should not boast of it. 
 A woman should conceal her love for she does not know what 
 may happen in the future. 
 
 A woman should be careful of her dress and not display her 
 person too freely. 
 
 Gifts should be avoided except from relatives, in that case a 
 girdle, knife, purse, clasp; or ring may be accepted if the donor's 
 intention is good. But valuable gifts secretly bestowed should 
 be refused. 
 
 A woman should refrain from scolding, swearing, and gluttony. 
 \'eils should be worn only on certain occasions, as when riding, 
 etc. A woman should unveil her face when she enters the 
 church. 
 
 Directions are then given for those who are pale or have a 
 bad breath. 
 
 At church a woman should be very circumspect, for there are 
 many there to notice her. 
 
 If the lady can sing she should do so at the right' time and 
 place, but if she sings too much she can make her accomplish- 
 ment too cheap. She should not refuse to sing when asked to 
 do so in company. 
 
 The hands should be kept very clean, and the nails often cut. 
 They should not project beyond the flesh so as to accumulate 
 dirt. Affability and neatness are better than beauty. 
 
346 • ITALIAN" SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 When a lady passes before another's house she should not stop 
 and look in. If she wishes to enter she should cough or speak 
 at the door to make known her approach. 
 
 At the table a lady should guard against laughing or speaking 
 too much. If she eats with another she should put the daintiest 
 morsels before him and not choose the finest or largest for her- 
 self. She should take care not to eat a morsel too large or too 
 hot: in one case she might strangle, in the other bum her mouth. 
 
 When she drinks she should wipe her mouth, but not her eyes 
 or her nose. She should not be too liberal if she eats at the table 
 of another, for it is not courtesy to be lavish of another's property. 
 She should not find fault with the food placed before her; if 
 she does not like it, she need not eat it; for that she will not be 
 blamed. 
 
 A woman should not be guilty of the great vice of lying. No 
 one will love or serve a woman who is accustomed to lie. A 
 worthy man would rather be wounded than convicted of false- 
 hood. Neither God nor men love a liar, and the mouth that 
 utters falsehoods slays the soul. 
 
 The writer in verses 559-749 takes up the question of a 
 lady's behavior to a suitor. Many a lady, he says, when her 
 love is sought is so confused that she does not know what to 
 say or how to conceal her love. She consequently remains silent 
 and injures herself, for if she does not know how to conceal 
 her love her suitor may think her won too easily and depreciate 
 her worth. As health is sweeter after illness, and fair weather 
 after rain, so is love that is not won too easily. The writer then 
 gives an imaginary dialogue between the lover and his lady, as 
 well as a chanson in which the suitor expresses his sorrow. The 
 lady's answer is then given at length. 
 
 The remainder of the poem (lines 750-1099) is a brief treatise 
 on Love, which need not detain us here as it properly belongs in 
 another place. ^^ 
 
 The work concludes with impressing upon lovers the two great- 
 est courtesies that one can know: one is love, the other giving. 
 A lover should conceal his love unless it be to a friend whose 
 truth and loyalty he has tested. 
 
 Among the works which we are now considering one is of 
 much importance for the history of mediseval culture, although 
 
 ^^ Chapter I, p. 7. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 347 
 
 its very general character takes it out of the class of treatises on 
 Etiquette. I allude to the Quatre Ages de V Homme by Philippe 
 de Navarre, who was bom at the close of the twelfth century 
 and died between 1261 and 1264. He early went to the Orient 
 and was present at the siege of Damietta in 12 18, and afterwards 
 entered the service of the kings of Cyprus, becoming one of the 
 most powerful and honored lords of that island.^' 
 
 The work in question was written at the close of the author's 
 life and is a moral treatise on the four ages of man. Minute 
 directions are given for the early training and education of chil- 
 dren. There is not space here to cite this at length, but the part 
 relating to woman may be briefly referred to as it will serve as a 
 pendant to the work of Robert de Blois just. examined. 
 
 Philippe says (p. 14) that all who have charge of females in 
 their infancy should teach them that they should be under com- 
 mand and subjection; that they should not be bold in speech or 
 in evil deeds; that they should not be gadabouts nor beggars, 
 nor covetous nor spendthrifts. They should learn some trade 
 in childhood, and should know how to spin and sew. A woman 
 should not learn reading or writing, unless she intends to be a 
 nun, for much harm has come to women from reading and writing 
 (p. 16). They should avoid bad company. They should be 
 taught to preserve a fair and simple countenance; their looks 
 should be quiet and gentle, not bent too fixedly, nor too high 
 nor too low, but straightforward. They should not lean out 
 of windows and should pass quietly before people. 
 
 When they are at marriages or other festivals, they should be 
 taught not to be too free of speech, or too familiar, or too awk- 
 ward. It is better to be a little scornful in manner and haughty, 
 than to be too easy, especially to those who surround them and 
 make a pretext of serving them. It is very becoming in a woman 
 to speak little; for in speaking too much one often utters folly. 
 
 A noble thing is a woman well bred and of good manners. 
 This should be willingly learned and remembered, for many a 
 poor maiden has been chosen and called to be a rich lady and 
 nobly married on account of her good fame. 
 
 Women have great advantage over men in one respect: a 
 man to be deemed good must be courteous and liberal and bold 
 
 2' See the preface to Marcel de Freville's edition of ttie Quatre Ages de 
 V Homme in the Societe des anciens textes frangais, Paris, 1888. 
 
348 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and wise; a woman if she guard well her body can hold her 
 head up everywhere and all her other faults are hidden. Hence 
 daughters do not need so much instruction as sons. What has 
 been said above will suffice if they learn and perform it. 
 
 In the fourteenth century we find an interesting Catalan Book 
 of Courtesy, translated, or rather, adapted from an earlier Latin 
 poem incorrectly attributed to John de Garlandia, who flourished 
 about 1230.^* The Latin poem is in distichs, 510 lines in length. 
 A large portion of it, lines 131 to 384, is occupied with an Art 0} 
 Love in imitation of Ovid's, and need not detain us now. Lines 
 385-438 contain advice in regard to friendship, and lines 439 to 
 the end, 510, give instruction concerning the professions of judge, 
 physician, soldier, and the state of old age. 
 
 The first 130 lines only concern us here. The subjects of the 
 instruction are: "the, clerk and layman, the old man, boy and 
 youth, the knight and common soldier. Truthfulness is in- 
 sisted upon, although the truth is not to be spoken at all times. 
 It is the height of rudeness to utter foul words. One should 
 praise others moderately, but the wise man never praises him- 
 self. One should speak little and that well considered. Pride 
 should be avoided, but mildness should be cultivated. Every 
 one should be studious in his own profession so that he may be 
 learned in it. Idleness is to be shunned. Liberality is to be 
 displayed on the proper occasion, according to one's means. 
 The body should be adorned, but not in a way unsuitable to 
 one's profession. The wealthy may dress well and live shrewdly 
 as to food and drink. The art of writing should be cultivated 
 so that one may live by his learning. The clerk should be docile, 
 associate with the old, be chaste, studious, learn without ceas- 
 ing, be attentive to the sacred service, observant of his vows. 
 His robe should cover his feet, he should not frequent spectacles, 
 and should walk with gravity. If he has means, he should not 
 be sparing of them. When he is old he should admonish the 
 people to observe what is seemly. 
 
 The layman is next instructed. When a child, his tutor, if 
 his father is dead, should provide for his studies. In his tender 
 
 ^ The Catalan version as well as the Latin original were published for the 
 first time by A. Morel-Fatio in the Romania, XV, pp. 192-235. See the article 
 on John Garland in Diet. Nat. Biography, Vol. XX, pp. 436-439. See also Hau- 
 reau in Notices et Extraits, XXVII, Pt. II, 15-20, " Notices. sur les CEUvres 
 authentiques ou supposees de Jean de Garlande." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 349 
 
 years he should learn to love books, whether he may like letters 
 so as to become a clerk, or may wish to become a physician, 
 doctor, scribe, or poet. 
 
 If he is to become a soldier, he should learn horsemanship, 
 first serving as squire, and grow inured to hardship. He who 
 wishes to become a merchant should first learn to know money, 
 and explore lands fit for trade. 
 
 If a youth desires to learn other mechanic (fabriles) arts, he 
 should be industrious, for he who is instructed in his youth will 
 be better skilled in his trade. It is hard to learn what one does 
 not like, but nature fortunately has created many trades and 
 endowed men with many gifts. 
 
 The joys of life, however, should not be sacrificed for study. 
 All should rejoice at festal seasons or other proper times. Then 
 the youth should dance and sing and indulge in love, "without 
 which there are no joys." But all this should be done in the 
 proper season. 
 
 The youth should see that his hair is not black, for that color 
 is more suitable for the old. His brow should be uncovered, 
 the hair being deftly cut and confined behind the ears. Long 
 hair is unbecoming a man, and is more often cultivated by women. 
 His dress should not be so long as to impede his movements. 
 The feet and legs should not be incased in loose boots {caligis) , 
 but in shoes (sotulariis) ; still, all things should be done according 
 to the custom of the country, and he should not be the only one 
 to do what every one else avoids. 
 
 Among the joyful the youth should rejoice, and sympathize 
 with the sorrowful if he is in their company. Association with 
 the old is instructive, and he who fears to be bad should go with 
 the good. He should honor all and scorn none, although it be 
 a poor man. He should give place to his betters, and incline 
 to the old, always honoring them with cheerfulness. Among 
 his betters he should speak little, and revolve long in his mind 
 what he does speak. His feet should often tend to the abode of 
 the wise and he should note attentively what is spoken there. 
 Then follow the instructions in the art of love already alluded 
 
 to. 
 
 The Catalan version is 1743 lines in length and is in eight- 
 syllable verse, rhyming in couplets. It will be seen at once that 
 it is much longer than the original. The first 130 lines of the 
 
350 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Latin Facetus are expanded into 350 in the Catalan poem, which 
 is not inconsistent with close imitation, when we consider the 
 difference in the verse of the two works. This part in the Catalan 
 is a close imitation, and the real expansion occurs in the remainder 
 of the poem, which devotes 1392 lines to the subject treated in 
 the Facetus in 253 lines, and omits wholly the subjects treated 
 in lines 385-510 of the original. The Catalan poem is only an 
 additional proof of the remal-kable vogue in the Middle Ages of 
 the codes of gallantry, which contained, according to the notion 
 of the time, the most important part of rules for behavior. 
 
 It is not possible to consider here in detail the later etiquette 
 books of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries The English 
 works on this subject are now accessible in the Percy Society, 
 Vol. IV, The Boke of Curtasye, An English Poem of the Fourteenth 
 Century; in the Early English Text Society, Vol. IV, Manners and 
 Meals in Olden Time, containing The Babees Book, etc.; and in 
 the Extra Series of the same society, Caxton's Book of Curtesye.^" 
 In all of these, as well as in the earlier treatises, considerable 
 space is devoted to table manners and we have already had oc- 
 casion to allude to one work, the anonymous Provengal poem 
 mentioned above, which treated exclusively of this topic. 
 
 Other works on table manners alone have been collected and • 
 published by Mr. F. J. Fumivall in the second part of the work 
 just cited, Manners and Meals in Olden Time. These consist 
 of sundry Latin and French poems of the fifteenth century, which 
 are of no importance for our purpose, as they could not have 
 influenced the early Italian treatises on Etiquette to which it 
 is now time to turn. 
 
 ^" I have been unable to see a very rare English etiquette book of a much 
 later date: The Court of Civill Courtesie, London, Richard Ihones, 1591. On 
 the title page it is said to be "Out of the Italian by S. R. Gent." For a long 
 time the copy in the Huth Library was supposed to be unique. A second 
 copy was sold at Sotheby's, Feb. 2, 1898. An account of this second 
 copy is in The AthencBum, No. 3666, Jan. 29, 1898, where it is stated that 
 ' ' The original book was ostensibly written by ' Bengalasso del Monte, Pri- 
 sacchi Retto,' for the benefit or 'behauior' of his nephew, 'Seig. Princisco 
 Ganzar Moretto,' in the following circumstances: At my last being at 
 Prisacchi, vnderstanding by your father's talke, that hee minded to haue you 
 a while in the Court, where he hath spent the better part of his life; and be- 
 cause it is frequented with all sortes of companies, as any place in Italy is, I 
 haue directed this little booke, which if you read and marke diligently, shal 
 be as it were a Guide, to lead you from a number of snares which you may be 
 trapt withal, and also for your behauior in al companies; with many other 
 things fit to be knowen of yong Gentlemen, and especiallie for such as haue 
 not bene convuersant in all companies." 
 
 The above gives no very clear idea of the contents of the work and no hint 
 as to its Italian source. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 351 
 
 The oldest Italian treatise on Etiquette is devoted to table 
 manners and was composed by Bonvesin da Riva (near Milan), 
 a monk of the third order of the Umiliati, who flourished in the 
 second half of the thirteenth century and lived as late as 1313.^5 
 In the poem about to be cited he speaks of himself as living at 
 LegTiano, and he was professor of rhetoric at Milan. He com- 
 posed a number of works, all of a didactic nature, in the Mi- 
 lanese dialect. 2* Among them are disputes or debates between 
 the Virgin and Satan, between the rose and the violet, between 
 the fly and the ant, the fifteen signs of the Judgment Day, a life 
 of St. Alexis, etc. The most interesting is the poem entitled: 
 De qiiinquagenta ciirialitatibus ad mensam, or, as it may be trans- 
 lated, The Fifty Cotirtesies for the TableP The poem is 204 
 
 ^ There is an article by J. W. Holme in the Modern Language Review, 
 YoX. V (1910), pp. 145-166, on " Italian Courtesy Books of the Sixteenth Cen- 
 tury," in which are mentioned most of the works described by me, but, of 
 course, much more briefly. He cites a number of books which I have not 
 been able to see, some of them not of interest or importance for my present 
 purpose. Such are: Giovambattista Nenna of Bari, II Nennio; Girolamo 
 Muzio, II Gentilhuomo ; Domenico Mora, II Cavaliere, Tre Quesiti, and II 
 Soldato. Mr. Holme also mentions a work, II Duello, without the author's 
 name. There are two works on this subject, one by Muzio, 1550, the other 
 by Dario Attendolo, 1568. As will be seen by the titles, most of these works 
 relate to special topics. Mr. Holme also mentions Brunetto Latini's Teso- 
 retto, of which he says: "It is largely concerned with manners in conversation, 
 a subject which in the XVI. century courtesy-books was to be dealt with min- 
 utely." Mr. Holme's statement as to the subject of the Tesoretto is exag- 
 gerated. Etiquette, strictly speaking, is treated in the sixteenth chapter only, 
 where "Cortesia" teaches the gentleman the rules of conversation and bodily 
 bearing. W. M. Rossetti in Early Italian Courtesy-Books, in Early Eng- 
 lish Text Society, Extra Series, No. 8, cites the Tesoretto and another book 
 not mentioned by me: G. B. Possevini's Dialogo dell' Onore, of which I have 
 seen the edition of Venice, 1568. This too is a special work and hardly 
 comes within the scope of my book, dealing as it does largely with duelling, 
 nobility, and degrees of honor. There is an English translation of II Nennio 
 mentioned above; see Miss Scott, op. cit. , igi6. No. 385, p. 471. 
 
 For Bonvesin da Riva, see A. Bartoli, / pritni due secoli delta letteratura 
 italiana, Milan, 1880, pp. 117-122; T. Casini, Geschichte der ital. Lit., p. 32, 
 in Grober's Grundriss der rom. Phil., II, 3, I ; A. Gaspary, Storia delta lett. 
 ital. tradotta dal Tedesco da N. Zingarelli, Turin, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 114-118; 
 and Giornale storico, VII, p. 170. 
 
 2^ These were first published by I. Bekker in Monatsberichte der Berliner 
 Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1850, pp. 322; 379; 438; 478; and 1851, p. 3; 
 85; 132; and 209. An additional poem, Trattato dei Mesi, a debate between 
 January and the other months, was discovered at Madrid by E. Lidforss and 
 published by him in the Scelta di curiositd. lett. Disp. 127, Bologna, 1882, re- 
 views of which may be found in the Propugnatore, V, 2, 368 (Wesselofsky), 
 and in the Romania, II, 113 (Mussafia). 
 
 "The text may be found in the Monatsberichte, 185 1, pp. 85 et seq. It 
 was published from the Ambrosian MS. by Biondelli in Poesie Lombarde in- 
 edite del secolo XIII, Milan, 1856, and reprinted from that version, with an Eng- 
 lish translation, by W. M. Rossetti, in the Extra Series, VIII, of the Early 
 
352 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 lines in lengtii, and is in stanzas of four lines of Alexandrine verse, 
 rhyming in couplets.^* 
 
 The poet introduces himself in the first stanza: "Fra Bon- 
 vesin de la Riva, who dwells in the town of Legnano, here tells 
 of the courtesies of the table; of fifty courtesies which should 
 serve at the table Fra Bonvesin now speaks to you anew. The 
 first is to think of the poor, for when thou feedest the poor, thou 
 feedest thy Shepherd, who will feed thee after death in eternal 
 bliss." The second courtesy relates to the manner of offering 
 water for the hands; the third cautions against haste in taking 
 a place from which one may be turned out. The fourth courtesy 
 consists in blessing the food with the sign of the cross; the fifth, 
 in sitting properly at the table in suitable attitude, dress, and 
 aspect. The sixth forbids to lean on the table or stretch one's 
 arms upon it. 
 
 One should be temperate in eating, not too hasty, nor fill the 
 mouth too full. He should speak little, and swallow his food 
 before he drinks. He should not pass the cup to one within 
 whose reach it is unless requested. When the cup is taken, it 
 should be held in both hands and the mouth wiped before drink- 
 ing. Even if one does not wish to drink, if the cup is offered him 
 he must accept it. Intoxication should be avoided. One should 
 not rise from his place to greet a newcomer. One should not 
 suck his food from his spoon, like a beast eating its fodder. 
 When one sneezes or coughs he should turn his face aside. 
 
 Blame not the dishes when you are at a banquet, but say they 
 are all good. The author adds: "I have found many guilty of 
 this bad custom, saying. This is ill cooked, or. This is ill salted." 
 
 It is impossible to follow Bonvesin in the minute rules for 
 behavior which follow. The poem thus concludes: "The fol- 
 lowing [xlix.] courtesy is, When you have eaten see that Jesus 
 Christ is glorified in it. He who receives service from any well- 
 wishing person if he does not thank him is very ungrateful. The 
 fiftieth afterwards is, Finally, wash the hands, then drink some 
 good wine. The hands may be washed a little after the banquet 
 and cleansed from grease and dirt." 
 
 English Text Society. There is also a reprint of the Berlin MS. used by Bek- 
 ker, in Monaci's Crestomazia italiana dei primi secoli, Fasc. secondo, Citti 
 di Castello, 1897, pp. 399-404. 
 
 ^' Usually in Bonvesin's Alexandrines the same rhyme is preserved in all 
 four lines of the stanza. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 353 
 
 We have already seen, at the close of Chapter I, that Fran- 
 cesco da Barberino played an important part in introducing into 
 Italy the social diversions of the South of France. His works are 
 properly speaking treatises on Etiquette, and as such demand our 
 more extended consideration in this place. I shall examine 
 first the Reggimento e costume di donna, which although not com- 
 pleted until after the Documenti d' Amove was begun at an earlier 
 date.29 
 
 The work commences with a Proemio, in which Madonna, an 
 allegorical figure .^o declares to the author that she had recently 
 spoken with Honesty and at the request of many other ladies 
 had lamented with her over the fact that many had written 
 works on good manners for men, but not for women .^^ Then 
 Madonna begged Honesty for her own honor and that of her 
 companion Courtesy, to deign to speak with Industry and devise 
 some way by which another lady named Eloquence should speak 
 of the subject and have her words written down. Honesty 
 replied that she was willing to fulfil her behest, but that no one 
 of the Virtues could write a book so that the human intellect 
 could read it. It would be better therefore that Madonna should 
 find some one to write, and the Virtues would entrust to one of 
 their number the whole matter, and inform the writer so that he 
 
 2' A. Thomas, Francesco da Barberino, Paris, 1883, p. 72, concludes that the 
 author before departing for France (in 1309) had worked On the Reggimento 
 and brought it to a very advanced stage of completion. This was at Padua 
 in 1308. His long stay in France until 1313 resulted, from a literary point 
 of view, in the composition of the Documenti, but not their completion. The 
 first months of his return to Italy were devoted to this task, and it was upon 
 its completion that he resumed work on the Reggimento and finished it. The 
 Reggimento was first published by G. Manzi in 1 815, at Rome, in a very unsat- 
 isfactory manner, from a copy made in 1667 of the sole manuscript of the work 
 in the Barberini library at Rome. Manzi's edition was reprinted by Silvestri, 
 Milan, 1842, without any improvement. Finally in 1875, Count Carlo Baudi 
 di Vesme published the first adequate edition in the CoUezione di opere inedite 
 rare dei primi tre secoli della lingua, Bologna. In the original manuscript, 
 unfortunately now lost, each division of the work began with a miniature 
 explained in the following verse. In the unique manuscript in the Barberini 
 library these miniatures are not reproduced, but space is left for them, and in 
 the edition last cited their place is also indicated. 
 
 ^"Interpreted by some to denote Divine Wisdom, or Wisdom; by others 
 referred to "the allegory of the conception expressed in the poem L'lntelli- 
 genza." See A. Borgognoni, Studi d'erudizione e d'arte, Bologna, 1877 (Scelta 
 di curiositd left. Disp. CLVI), Vol. I, p. 239. For L'Intelligenza, see the work 
 just cited, also T. Casini, Geschichte der ital. Litt., p. 54. 
 
 " This is a singular mistake on the part of Barberino, as the reader of this 
 chapter knows. Perhaps Barberino was referring to Italian, but I know of 
 no work on Etiquette prior to Bonvesin's on table manners, and of no subse- 
 quent work devoted solely to men. 
 
 24 
 
354 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 would have no trouble about thinking, but only of guiding his 
 pen over the paper. Madonna responded that she had a faith- 
 ful servant named Francesco with whom she would speak and 
 bring back his answer presently. Francesco begs Madonna to 
 unveil herself to him. She refuses because she does not wish to 
 be known. Francesco hesitates about replying, but at last con- 
 sents, and she leads him to Honesty, "who sits clothed in perse, 
 with one hand holding Industry, and with the other commanding 
 Eloquence." 
 
 They meet these ladies in a meadow and Madonna bids Fran- 
 cesco kneel to them. Honesty commands Industry and Elo- 
 quence to tell Francesco her purpose and then depart with him 
 and abide with him until his work is finished. Honesty then 
 addresses Eloquence and defines the character of the treatise. 
 It shall be of manners pertaining to women, from which men also 
 may draw profit. It shall be clearly expressed so that every 
 woman may be able to remember it. It shall not be in rhyme, but 
 may be strewn here and there with fine gobbolette^^ and fair 
 novellette by way of example. It shall be in "vulgar" Tuscan 
 alone, although some "vulgar" consonants from other countries 
 where Eloquence is most at home may be mingled with it. This 
 matter of the vulgar tongue is said to please the Lady (Ma- 
 donna), who instigated the affair, and who is worthy of honor 
 and thanks. Francesco then reluctantly leaves Madonna with 
 Honesty and proceeds to his task. 
 
 He first enumerates the divisions of his work, premising that 
 he will not divide it according to ages, but according to rank 
 (gradi), into twenty parts, and each part will have certain dis- 
 tinct degrees (gradi) of itself. The best idea perhaps that can 
 be given of this curious and voluminous work will be the author's 
 division in his own words. 
 
 " The first part will relate how a young girl should behave when 
 she begins to know good and evil and to fear shame. The second, 
 when she reaches the age of marriage. The third, when the 
 time for marriage has past. The fourth, if, after she despairs of 
 ever having a husband, she happens to have one, and abides at 
 
 '^ The word gobholette or cobbolette is a diminutive of gohhola or cobbola, 
 which is the same as the Provengal cohla and Spanish copla (Latin copula), a 
 stanza or strophe. Barberino has just said that he did not intend to use 
 rhyme, and then adds that for the sake of pleasure he will intersperse (seminare) 
 his work with fine verses or couplets, i.e., in rhyme. I see no other explana- 
 tion of the word. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 355 
 
 home awhile before going to him. The fifth, how she should 
 behave after she is married, on the first, second, and third day, 
 to the fifteenth; and the first month and the second, and the 
 third, and how until her end; if there are children how to be- 
 have before, and after; and how to behave if none; and how she 
 should behave in old age. 
 
 "The sixth, how she should behave if she lose her husband, and 
 how if she be old, and how if she be of middle age, and how if she 
 remain young, and how if she have children, and how if she have 
 not, and how if she remain mistress of her husband's property, 
 and if she, thus widowed, assume the robe or garb of religion. 
 
 " The seventh, how she should behave if she remarry, and how 
 if it be to one her superior, and how if to an inferior and less 
 powerful (possente), and how if she marry a third time; and how, 
 if after being a widow and taking a husband, she remain some 
 time at home before going to him ; and how remarriage is praised 
 and blamed. 
 
 " The eighth, how she should behave who assumes at home the 
 robe of religion ; and how it is praised or not. The ninth, how if 
 perpetually confined in a monastery; and how as abbess, and 
 treasurer {camarlinga) , and prioress, and every other porteress 
 and nun. The tenth, how she should behave who is immured 
 alone and is called hermitess, and how I blame her. 
 
 " The eleventh, how a maid should behave who is assigned to a 
 lady as a companion; and how if there be only one, and how if 
 she have company in such an office. The twelfth, how each 
 maidservant should behave, if she serve the mistress alone, and 
 if the mistress together with the master, and if the master alone, 
 and how this is praised or not. 
 
 " The thirteenth, how a nurse should behave who lives in the 
 house, and how one who lives without. The fourteenth, how 
 the maidservant or slave should behave; and how, after she be- 
 comes a slave, she can free herself. 
 
 " The fifteenth, how every kind of women of middle class should 
 behave, and those of lower and poorer rank, and all, except those 
 of dissolute life who sell their honor for money, whom I do not 
 mean to include in my writing, nor make mention of them, for 
 they are not worthy of being named. 
 
 " The sixteenth part will treat of certain general instructions for 
 every woman in regard to her ornaments and the risks {adventure) 
 
356 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 to which she is exposed. The seventeenth will treat of their 
 consolations, and the eighteenth of questions of love and of 
 courtesy and gentility, since sometimes a woman must know how 
 to speak and say and reply and act among people. The nine- 
 teenth will treat of certain jests {motetti) and speeches (parlari) 
 by a lady to gentlemen, and other kinds of men and women. 
 
 " The twentieth treats of certain prayers of theirs: and in this 
 part is the conclusion of the book, and how I bear it back to 
 that lady above mentioned, and how she receives it, and how the 
 Virtues come before her." 
 
 The allegory crops out here and there: Francesco cannot long 
 remain absent from Madonna and in the second part he with- 
 draws into a garden near by where he has lately been told that 
 his lady abides. After a brief interview she bids him resume his 
 task and dismisses him. She reappears in the fourth part and 
 Francesco seeks to enter her palace, but is repulsed by Vigilance 
 (Cautela). Courtesy finally introduces him by' stealth, but 
 Madonna discovers his presence and orders him to be bound by 
 Pleasure and Sweetness (Dokiezza) and brought before her. 
 Francesco appeases her anger by declaring that his coming is 
 the fulfilment of a vision he had had a few days before, and 
 about which he had made a sonnet. He reads it and Madonna 
 allows him to withdraw, keeping the garland and the veil which 
 served as his bonds. In the sixth part Pity and Courtesy con- 
 duct Francesco again to the presence of Madonna, who promises 
 to examine his work the next day. 
 
 Again in the ninth part Francesco attempts to behold Ma- 
 donna. After a difficult journey, in which a she-bear acts as 
 his guide, he has the usual brief interview with his lady. In 
 the sixteenth part Francesco again suspends his task and is 
 tempted by Voluptuousness to visit her abode ; Francesco with- 
 stands the temptation and reaches Madonna, who gives him to 
 drink of a fountain, and promises him other favors at the proper 
 time. Francesco continues his task, but in a short time he 
 declares that he can labor no longer unless he sees the lady who 
 affords him repose in every condition. Penitence then leads him 
 to Eternal Light, who promises to be his guide to Madonna. 
 Francesco says he will return presently after he has writterl cer- 
 tain things which he has promised and which he wishes to bear 
 with him to that lady. Purity next interrupts Francesco to 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 357 
 
 tell him he need not hasten with his task, for Eternal Light sends 
 him word that he cannot find his lady on earth, but that she has 
 gone to heaven, where she intends to make a long sojourn. 
 Purity meanwhile is willing to take up her abode in the writer's 
 breast. Francesco hesitates, and begs Purity to return the 
 next day when he will be better disposed to follow the way 
 which will enhance his worth. 
 
 The conclusion of the work follows in the twentieth part. 
 Eloquence announces the arrival of a noble company, whom she 
 enumerates; among them are: Prudence, Circumspection, Jus- 
 tice, Severity, Liberality, Temperance, Modesty, etc. Fran- 
 cesco is eager to pass on and reach his lady. He asks the way of 
 Charity, Love, Hope, and Intellect. He finally reaches her pres- 
 ence and addresses her in an impassioned speech which con- 
 cludes with the words: "Before returning to heaven deign to 
 show me some favor that I may be an example to all that it is 
 a gain to serve such a great lady." Madonna replies, expressing 
 her satisfaction at Francesco's work, and bestowing upon him a 
 jewel from the crown which she brought from heaven, the 
 property of which is to endow one who knows how to "read" 
 it at the proper moment with intelligence of all things. Nothing 
 shall be hidden from the owner "save those things alone which 
 God reserves for himself, and against whose force all power is 
 lacking." Francesco humbly replies that he is not worthy of 
 the gift, but accepts it if it is his lady's will, and asks where it is, 
 and also when she will return to heaven so that he may behold 
 her ascension. Her ascension, she declares, depends upon the will 
 of the Lord from whom she receives her form, and in whom is 
 every change of hers. As to the stone promised him, "here it 
 is, for I give it to thee: it is thine. Now consider only that thou 
 preserve it well." 
 
 The work is interspersed with prose stories of no great interest, 
 
 which show the influence of Provence on the writer, and which 
 
 prepared the way for a class of literature, the novelle, in which 
 
 Italy soon excelled .^^ The most singular episode of the work is 
 
 3' There are some twenty-seven novellette (including the brief anecdotes) 
 in the Reggimento, which vary in length from a few lines to six pages (p. 273, 
 " Inn Ispangnia si leggie che fu anticamente uno raonistero,"etc.). Thomas, 
 op. ciL, p. 42, says of these: "Ces recits ne sont pas toujours d'un interit 
 bien vif; parfois, ils ne sont pas tres appropries k I'usage que I'auteur veut en 
 faire; m'ais le style en est facile et anim6. La narration montre de]k plus 
 d'art que Ton n'en trouve dans le Novellino, et la langue de I'auteur fait 
 
35S ITALIAN" SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 contained in the fifth part, which treats, as we have already seen, 
 of how a maiden should behave "after she is married, and how 
 the first, and second, and third day, down to the fifteenth, and 
 the first month," etc. This statement gives no idea of the re- 
 markable episode which follows, and which is an elaborate ac- 
 count of the marriage of a queen, filling:, with the accompany- 
 ing instructions (fift>-four in number), no less than sixty-six 
 pages. 
 
 It is impossible to follow Francesco in the minute rules for 
 behavior which he gi^"es in his vohmiinous work. They show 
 that at that time, the beginning of the fourteenth century, there 
 was a general consensus of opinion in regard to etiquette, and 
 that it was in Provence that the subject first rece^^•ed attention.'^ 
 The most interesting of Francesco's instructions refer to the 
 early education of girls. l\Ian>- of the precepts are already 
 familiar to the reader. The same control over the e\-es, and 
 moderation in speaking and gesture, the same readiness to sing 
 and even dance when requested to do so for the entertainment 
 of company are recommended. The author is in grave doubt 
 about the advisability of teaching girls reading and writing. If 
 the girl becomes mistress of lands and ^■assals this kr^.owledge will 
 be a benefit. If she is of lower degree it is questionable. The 
 author seems to conclude that she should learn other things and 
 let reading and writing alone, although, he naively adds, "I 
 know that in saying this I offend lovers." Nuns may learn these 
 things, although if it were not for the requirements of their 
 ser\-ice, the author Mould ad\ise relinquishing this dangerous 
 knowledge. The young girl should further refrain from too 
 great familiarity with the other sex, and should not accept 
 
 pressentir celle que saura si bien employer le maitre du genre, messer Gm^anni 
 Boccaccio." Some of the iim-fllcltc are taken from Provencal sources; Thomas, 
 op. cit., p. 49, sa\ s two (pp. 169 and J47) are taken from the \\-orks of the Count- 
 ess de Die (Beatritz de Dia), and another (p. 171) from Peire \"idal, who is 
 cited b>- Barberino; " Racconta Piero X'itale, etc." Barberino w-as the author 
 of a work now lost, Fiori di Xovelle: see Thomas, op. cit., p. 7S. By some, 
 erroneously, Barberino is supposed to be the author of the Italian collection 
 known as the A'diW/ihc; see on this subject Thomas, op. cit.. p. 7S: Bartoli, 
 I primi due secoli della letterature ilal., p. :^96: and D'Ancona, StiuiJ di crilica c 
 storiu Icttcniria, Bologna, 1S80, pp. 2113 ct seq. 
 
 " .-^n interesting comparison between Barberino's Rcggiiiicnto and Proven- 
 cal and Old-French literature has been made b\- E. Gorra in Stiidi di crilica 
 letteraria, Bologna, 1S92, pp. 357-38S. This article should be supplemented 
 by a re\iew b>- the same author in the Gionuilc storico, \'o\. X\'l, pp. 26S-J7S, 
 of El costume delle dontie con un capitolo dc le XXXTII l•clh■::^^, Florence, 
 Alia Libreria Dante, 1881.). which will be examined in the following note. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 359 
 
 valuable gifts. If the girl is the daughter of a farmer {lavorator 
 di terra) or similar person, she should learn how to sew, spin, 
 cook, and take care of the house. She should not attend too 
 much to dress, but may have somewhat greater liberty than the 
 other classes in singing, playing, and laughing.^'^ 
 
 " In this connection may be mentioned a work similar in scope to the Reg- 
 giiiicnto, although of later date and of much less importance and interest. I refer 
 to El costume delle donne, cited in the preceding note. The work in question 
 was published by S. Morpurgo from a work printed at Brescia, "per Damiano 
 et Jacomo Philippo fratelli I'anno del M. U. xxxvi nel mese di Octob.," of 
 four leaves in 4to, with double columns. The author is not known and it is 
 impossible to tell whether the work belongs to the fifteenth or sixteenth 
 century. It consists of fifty stanzas in ottava rima. The purpose of the author 
 is to show "with what love a maid of great excellence should be reared from 
 her infancy until her marriage, and afterwards of her continence" {ed. cit., 
 p. 5). The child should be cTiligently accustomed to good manners, taught 
 to love and revere God and the saints; when she errs she should be punished. 
 She should be taught the Lord's Prayer and the Ave Maria and the other 
 pra>ers which lead God to pardon sin. From the age of seven she should be 
 sent to school and l)c urged to acquire knowledge, " which brings honor, wealth, 
 and respect." She should attend to spinning and cooking and be ready to do 
 whatever is necessary in the house. She should not be allowed to associate 
 \\'ith boys, nor be too free in her manners when at festivals. She should rather 
 go discreetly to seemly pleasures and prayers. When she is ten and begins 
 to give heed to herself great pains should be taken to keep her from error. 
 She should not use perfumes or paint for her face. She should not roam about 
 visiting the houses of neighbors like a mad woman. She should never be idle 
 at home; but always attend to weaving, and sewing, or cutting out garments, 
 or other seemly thing; never remain by the window, or go abroad unattended. 
 From unseemly jests and laughter she should discreetly refrain, as well as 
 from hearing or seeing what is foul. She should not be accustomed to the 
 sight of men, for she will become too bold. In stanzas xi to .xxi is told how the 
 parents are to choose for her a husband according to her station, and what 
 counsels her mother should give her for her guidance. The rules which fol- 
 low (stanzas xxi\' to 1) concern behavior after marriage. The wife should keep 
 her eyes upon the ground, not looking at another. She should speak but 
 little, not bitterl>-, and after due consideration. She should be economical 
 and a good housekeeper, spinning and weaving with her own hands. She 
 should learn from her husband with whom to associate, and not speak with 
 any one in secret. Temperance in eating and drinking is enjoined upon the 
 M-iie. At table she should speak little and only after due thought, and eat 
 in moderation. Excessive ornament in dress should be avoided. Reproofs 
 should be borne with patience. At home she should make herself liked and 
 not indulge in boastful talk. The husband should not be asked for money or 
 costly things except in case of great need. The wife should not contradict 
 her husband but say what he wishes. Stanzas xxx\ii to xliii contain rules for 
 behavior at church and towards ecclesiastics. When for his honor the hus- 
 band allows his wife to go to balls, festivals, weddings, concerts, and banquets, 
 if she knows that she ought not to do so, she should de\-ise some lawful excuse 
 and remain at home. The remaining stanzas contain general admonitions 
 and warnings in case the preceding injunctions are not heeded. The above 
 work has been carefully examined and commented upon by E. Gorra in the 
 article mentioned in the last note. The Coslumc delle donne is followed by a 
 Capitolo delle trcntatre cose che conncn alia donna a esscr bella, the consideration 
 of \\hich belongs more properly to Chapter III, where other similar works are 
 discussed. 
 
360 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The second work by Francesco da Barberino, the Documenti 
 d'Amore, or, as it may be translated, The Precepts of Love, belongs 
 so far as it is a treatise on Love to the third chapter of this 
 work. We have now to consider it as a treatise on Eti- 
 quette. The Documenti d'Amor was probably composed during 
 the author's stay in Provence, from 1309 to 13 13, although 
 it was not completed until his return to Italy in 1313.^' 
 It is also an allegorical work, although the allegory does not 
 play as important a part in it as in the Reggimento. In the 
 Documenti, Barberino at the request of Love collects his faithful 
 servitors in his stronghold and takes his own place humbly among 
 the inferiors. Love then dictated all the precepts of the follow- 
 ing work to Eloquence and she repeated them to the servitors 
 who wrote them down. Love and Courtesy commanded Bar- 
 berino to send these precepts to those who were not present in 
 this "high parliament," but who wish the supremacy of Love. 
 The work is divided into twelve parts and each was written and 
 dictated first to Love by twelve of his attendants, who are de- 
 picted at the head of each chapter. These twelve ladies are: 
 Docility, Industry, Constancy, Discretion, Patience, Hope, 
 Prudence, Glory, Justice, Innocence, Gratitude, and Eternity. 
 A figure of one of these stands at the head of each part and is 
 followed by a description varying in length and versification. 
 The parts also vary in verse and length, containing from one to 
 twenty-seven documenti or precepts. Sometimes the docu- 
 menti are lengthened by the insertion of "rules," as under 
 Industry, where in the fifth documento one hundred and fifty 
 rules of prudent and virtuous living are given. Still more singu- 
 lar is the insertion, in the same part, in the sixth documento of 
 fifty mottetti, contained in stanzas of varying length and measure. 
 These are introduced because "one sometimes has to speak 
 secretly; therefore Industry teaches what obscure mottetti are."" 
 
 The part of the work in which we are now interested is that 
 relating to Etiquette and is contained chiefly under the first 
 
 '" The Documenti d'Amore was first printed at Rome in 1640, 4to, by Feder- 
 igo Ubaldini. This edition is adorned by thirteen beautiful engravings, be- 
 sides the title-page, by Bloemaert, Greuter, and others, and is a rare work. 
 There are reprints: Venice, 1820, in Vol. VII of Parnasso Italiano, 16 vols, in 
 i6mo; and 1846. The best edition is the one in the Societd, Filologica romana, 
 Rome, 1905-1915, edited by Francesco Egidi. Two volumes are complete 
 and two fascicoH of the third have been issued. 
 
 " See Thomas, op. cit., p. 59. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 361 
 
 heading of Docility, although the seventh part, under Prudence, 
 contains many general instructions for various professions.^' 
 In the former are treated at length such topics as: Vices in 
 speaking and their remedy (5) ; What should be done to be 
 pleasing in associating with every one (6); What should be 
 observed in associating with person of every rank (7). Table 
 manners are treated in the eighth documento, although in a 
 much more general way than in Bonvesin da Riva. In connec- 
 tion with this topic may be mentioned a related subject treated 
 in the twenty-second documento: How one should behave in 
 serving great personages. Some fifty-three separate instructions 
 are given, and in the next documento similar instructions are 
 given to a lord in regard to his behavior to his servants. It 
 is impossible to follow the author in all his details, but a quite 
 complete treatise on Etiquette might be drawn from this first 
 division of his work. 
 
 While it cannot be shown that Francesco da Barberino has 
 followed a Provengal source for either of his works, still it is 
 true that by his long residence in the South of France he was 
 thoroughly imbued with the spirit of its civilization, both social 
 and literary. It is difficult to state in any precise way what 
 his influence was in his own country. His works certainly were 
 not popular, if we may judge by the small number of manuscripts, 
 but the author's social prominence and long sojourn in Florence 
 (where he died in 1348) must have made him personally influ- 
 ential, and he doubtless was no inconsiderable factor in the evo- 
 lution of Italian society. 
 
 The Italian works hitherto cited have been of a special charac- 
 ter, dealing either with a particular branch of Etiquette, as table 
 manners, or with a particular class, as woman. The only ex- 
 ception has been the last mentioned work, which is almost 
 a treatise on Etiquette in general. It is in fact the most general 
 treatise which we shall encounter until the sixteenth century. 
 There is, however, another important class of works which de- 
 mand our attention for a moment, although they are not strictly 
 speaking treatises on Etiquette. They are more properly educa- 
 tional works, dealing with a profession or class, as that of ruler, 
 or the family, or, finally, society in general. 
 
 '' Such as the guard of a city in time of peace and war (6) ; how to travel 
 by land (8); dangers of the sea, and how they may in part be avoided (9); 
 how jurists should behave (14); of good physicians and their qualities (15); 
 how to be a good notary (16); etc. 
 
362 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 An example of the first is the Trattato de Regimine Rectoris by 
 Fra Paohno, a Franciscan monk probably born at Venice at an 
 unknown date. The work in question was dedicated to Marino 
 Badoer, Duke of Crete, who occupied that rank from 1313 to 
 13 15. Fra Paolino was engaged in various embassies and was 
 appointed bishop of Pozzuoli in 1324. He is said to have lived 
 until 1344. The work just mentioned is, as its name implies, 
 a treatise on the rule of a governor, and is divided into three 
 parts, which treat of the government of himself, of his family, 
 and of the state.'' In the first part are treated the virtues need- 
 ful to a ruler, and the vices opposed to them ; the passions which 
 agitate the mind ; and the manners of the various ages and con- 
 ditions of men. The second part treats of the choice of a wife; 
 the education of the children; and the economical administra- 
 tion of the family. In the third part the author discusses the 
 various kinds of governments in cities; the election of coun- 
 cillors; laws, and how judges should execute and the people obey 
 them. There are many precepts of general etiquette scattered 
 through the work, as in Chapter LIX, How children are to be 
 taught in regard to eating and drinking; Chapter LXII, What 
 care should be taken of daughters, etc. 
 
 Of a more ascetic character is the work by Cardinal Giovanni 
 Dominici, Del Governo di cura famigliare^" The author, a Do- 
 minican friar of Florence, celebrated as a preacher and monastic 
 reformer, was created cardinal by Gregory XII in 1408, and died 
 as legate in Hungary in 1419. The work in question was ad- 
 dressed towards tTie beginning of the century to Bartolommea 
 Alberti, a relative of the famous Leon Battista, and wife of the 
 Antonio Alberti, to whom belonged the villa Paradiso, which we 
 had occasion to mention in the second chapter of the present 
 work. 
 
 Far more interesting and important is the work by Leon 
 Battista Alberti, Delia Famiglia, composed between 1437 and 
 1441. The author, son of Lorenzo Alberti, was born in Genoa 
 
 ''The work was first published by A. Mussafia, Vienna, 1868. See the 
 editor's introduction. 
 
 *" Florence, i860. See Gaspary, Storia delta lett. ital., I, p. 180, and note, 
 p. 348, where Pastor, Geschichte der Papste, I, 43, is cited. Dominici was also 
 the author of DeU'Amore di caritd, Bologna, 1889 {CoUezione di opere inedite 
 rare dei primi Ire secoli delta lingua), an ascetic work of little interest. There 
 is a good life of Dominici by A. Rosier, Cardinal Johannes Dominici, 0. Pr. 
 1357-1419- Ein Reformatorenbild aus der Zeit des grossen Schisma, Freiburg 
 im Breisgau, 1893. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 363 
 
 in 1404, while his father was in exile. The entire Alberti family 
 had been banished from Florence in 1401, and were not allowed 
 to return until 1428. Leon Battista received the most careful 
 education and studied law at the Uni^-ersity of Bologna. He 
 afterwards became a papal "abbreviator," and accompanied 
 Pope Eugenio VI when he fled from Rome in 1434, and remained 
 for some time in Florence. In 1464 he lost his office as "abbre- 
 viator " but continued to dwell in Rome, where he died in 1472. 
 Battista cultivated architecture, painting, and sculpture, and 
 wrote important works on the theory of those arts, as well as 
 displaying his practical knowledge b>' constructing the Rucellai 
 palace, the fagade of Santa Maria Novella at Florence, and the 
 splendid church of St. Andrea at Mantua. 
 
 We ha^-e already had occasion in the third chapter to examine 
 Alberti's treatises on love; there remain, of present interest to 
 us, only the works devoted to the rearing and education of a 
 family. These are: Delia Famiglia, to which I shall return in 
 a moment; Cena di Famiglia, a sort of appendix to the Delia 
 Famiglia, and which will be examined in connection with that 
 work; and those writings more or less intimately connected with 
 the Delia Famiglia: Awertimenti matrimoniali; Intorno al tor 
 Donna; and Sofrona, dialogo ove si ragiona della difesa delle Donne. 
 The character of all these is sufficiently indicated by their titles.*' 
 
 The most important of all these works is the Della Famiglia, 
 in regard to the authorship of a part of which an animated dis- 
 cussion has arisen. The anonymous author (suspected of being 
 Alberti himself) of the Life of Alberti printed by Muratori and 
 Bonucci says (Bonucci, p. xciv) : "Scripsitque praeterea et 
 afJinium suorum gratia, ut linguae latinae ignaris prodesset, 
 patrio sermone annum ante trigesimum aetatis suae etruscos 
 libros, primum, secundum, ac tertium de Familia, quos Romae 
 die nonagesimo, quam inchoarat, absolvit; sed inelimatos, et 
 asperos, neque usquequaque etruscos." This was during his 
 first stay in Rome, in 1432-34. In 1443 he submitted the work 
 to the revision of two of his friends and published it probably 
 in that same year. The fourth book had been added in 1441. 
 The completed work remained in manuscript until 1734, when 
 
 " The Delia Famiglia is found in A. Bonucci's edition of Alberti's Opere 
 volgari, Florence, 1843-1849, Vol. II, pp. 3-481; the Cena di Famiglia in Vol. 
 I, pp. 165-183; Awertimenti matrimoniali in \'ol. I, pp. 189-210; Intorno al tor 
 Donna in Vol. I, pp. 215-224; and Sofrona. in Vol. I, pp. 229-236. 
 
364 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Manni printed the third book as a work by Agnolo Pandolfini. 
 It was not until a little before 1840 that Manni's mistake was 
 discovered by Antonio Corsi, an official of the Academia della 
 Crusca, and in 1843 the third book of Alberti's work was pub- 
 lished in Naples by Francesco Palermo under the name of the 
 rightful author. Finally, in 1845, Anicio Bonucci edited all of 
 Alberti's Italian works and proved clearly that the work attrib- 
 uted to Pandolfini was the third book of Alberti's Della Fami- 
 glia.^^ 
 
 The object of the work is described in the Proemio (Vol. II, 
 p. 17, ed. Bonucci): "Voi vedrete ... in che modo si multi- 
 plichi la famiglia, con che arte diventi fortunata e beata, con che 
 ragioni si acquisti grazia, benevolenzia e amista, con che dis- 
 cipline alia famiglia s'accresca e diffonda onore, fama e gloria, 
 e in che modo si commendi '1 nome della famiglia a sempitema 
 laude ed immortality." The form of the work is the usual dia- 
 logue, in which the interlocutors are various members of the 
 Alberti family who have gathered around the deathbed of Lo- 
 renzo, Battista's father, in Padua. The dying man is awaiting 
 with the utmost anxiety the arrival of his brother Ricciardo in 
 order to arrange some family matters with him as well as to 
 commend to him his sons Battista and Carlo. Meanwhile the 
 father, who feels invigorated by the hope of soon seeing his 
 brother, gives to his children his last counsels. 
 
 The work is divided into four books, the last of which was, as 
 we have seen, added later, and does not stand in any very close 
 relation to the others. The first book deals with "the duty of 
 the old towards the young, of the young towards their elders, 
 and of the education of children." Children should be governed 
 by love rather than by fear, and yet their youthful and fickle 
 desires should not be granted. Parents should not be too liberal 
 and at the same time avarice is always dangerous and blame- 
 worthy. Children should revere grey hairs, and take counsel 
 with their parents, their elders, and other friends. Wealth is of 
 less value than virtue, and adversity is not without its use for 
 
 ■■^ It is not necessary to go into the details of the discussion since then. ^ A 
 good summary of the case may be found in G. Mancini's Vita di Leon Battista 
 Alberti, Florence, Sansoni, 1882, pp. 258 et seq. The latest and most complete 
 refutation of Pandolfini's claim to the work in question is in the Giornale 
 storico, Vol. VIII, pp. 1-52, "Agnolo Pandolfini e il Governo della Famiglia" 
 by F. C. Pellegrini. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 365 
 
 the young. The office of parent is not an easy one. Children 
 should be nursed by their mothers, as many evils arise from a 
 bad nurse. Children should not be left too much to the care of 
 women. Careful attention should be paid to physical exercise, 
 which is good not only for the body but also for the mind. The 
 education of children should occupy the parents' mind more 
 than amassing wealth, which is inconvenient and useless to one 
 who does not know how to use it. Falsehood is to be shunned. 
 Children are not to be punished with blows, but with fear and 
 severity. Too great kindness (pietd), negligence, and liberty 
 on the part of the parents is harmful. Learning makes a gentle- 
 man of a rustic, and letters are of inestimable benefit. Gambling 
 is execrable. Fortune neither gives nor takes away virtue, 
 learning, or manners, but is more injurious to the good. Pov- 
 erty is nothing to be ashamed of; rather it makes men acquainted 
 with virtue. 
 
 In the second book (I use Mancini's analysis for convenience) 
 friendship and love are discussed. Instinctive and brutal love 
 are distinguished from that which joins minds with seemly af- 
 fection; the former is almost always selfish and passionate, the 
 latter is the basis of conjugal affection. The understanding 
 between two minds seems divine ; and love between husband and 
 wife should be perfect, consecrated, supported and increased by 
 affection for the children. Nature and reason demonstrate the 
 necessity of marriage; and young men, after the twenty-fifth 
 year, should choose for their companion a woman who affords 
 the least ground for scandal and blame. The utmost diligence 
 should be employed in this choice. The woman who in her 
 acts, words, and dress does not show modesty, will hardly be 
 well mSLnnered (costumata) , and no greater misfortune than an 
 unvirtuous wife can happen to a family. After the choice is 
 made, one should "pregare Iddio, che le dia grazia d'essere 
 feconda con pace e onesta della casa, molto pregarlo; per6 che 
 sempre fu raro e sol beneficio di Dio abbatersi a moglie in tutto 
 pacifica e costumatissima " (Op. volg., II, p. i66). If they wish 
 • to have children who are healthy and intelligent {vispi) the hus- 
 band and wife should live cheerfully and soberly, without passion 
 and disturbance. The health of the family is above all, and in 
 illness one should think less of the expense than of life. Families 
 in order to preserve their influence and authority should avoid 
 
366 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 divisions; where there are no children recourse may be had to 
 adoption. Every one seeks happiness, although every one 
 thinks to find it in different things. " Non stimo," says Lionardo 
 (II, p. 196), "essere altra felicity, se non vivere lieto, e senza 
 bisogno, e con onore." To whatever profession one devotes 
 himself, he should try to become more skilful than others, and 
 should be persuaded that he can accomplish what he wishes, 
 provided he possesses a true and firm will. One should not deem 
 trade base and inglorious since the gain is the honored reward 
 of the labor and honest solicitude. We should engage in pur- 
 suits which demand industry, talent, and bodily exertion, in which 
 the mind is free from evil passions, and from which we may draw 
 a profit which will be a compensation for the intelligence dis- 
 played and for the hardships endured. Wealth is the fruit of 
 pains and skill, poverty, of idleness, carelessness, and prodigality. 
 Let us always take counsel with honesty, and "non sia ineta al 
 proposito questa similitudine. Stimate che I'ombra vostra sia 
 questa divina e santissima onesta" (II, p. 214). It will serve 
 as a shield against adverse fortune, it will not cause us to repent 
 of our actions or words, and we shall find ourselves rich and 
 honored. Poverty is less injurious than dishonor, and the 
 greatest wealth consists in a good name. 
 
 In the third book Alberti treats of the way of enjoying 
 wealth and of the duties of a good (ottimo) father. Prodigals and 
 avaricious men are fools. Between unreasonable expenses and the 
 deprivation of what is necessary stands economy, which teaches 
 how to use the gifts of fortune in proportion to necessity and to 
 preserve the surplus. Men possess three things : the soul, the body, 
 and time ; let us use them worthily. If our country demands our 
 services let us deem ourselves honored by it; but let us not usurp 
 public affairs, nor reduce an honorable office to a shop or place 
 of booty. To rule others let us not neglect our own affairs, and 
 in public matters let us take the part yielded to us by our skill 
 and the favor of our fellow citizens, not the part claimed by 
 ambition and presumption. The family should be united under 
 the same roof and at one table. The father should imitate the' 
 spider which watches from the centre of his web : all should pro- 
 ceed from him; he should always be on the lookout and provide: 
 attention and diligence make every great deed easy. The wife 
 should preserve in the house what the husband gains without* 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 367 
 
 and regulate the domestic economy. The husband should know 
 how to make himself loved by his wife and obeyed by his ser- 
 ^•ants; he should remember that good manners win affection and 
 respect, and that money "was invented to spend in order to 
 receive things in exchange for it." 
 
 Wealth should be kept partly in ready money, partly in land. 
 One must avoid the flatteries of the great, be liberal with his 
 friends, dispose of his income to the advantage and honor of 
 his familj^ Young children should be treated with such liber- 
 ality as will keep them from the vices and wicked actions com- 
 mitted from lack of money. We should ask from our friends as 
 little as possible, and only when compelled by necessity; but if 
 we keep our own property and do not desire another's, we shall 
 rarely need to ha-\e recourse to our friends. The family should 
 be reared with diligence rather than with expense, and this 
 should be "pari o minore che I'entrata, e in tutte le cose, atti, 
 parole, pensieri e fatti nostri, siamo giusti, veritieri e massai. 
 Cosi saremo fortunati, amati e riveriti" (II, p. 374). 
 
 To the three books, in which he treated of the best means of 
 directing the family, Battista after some time added a fourth, in 
 which with less spontaneity, but with greater learning and more 
 numerous maxims than in the first three he discourses of friend- 
 ship. The treatises which had survived from antiquity did not 
 please him, "giacche oggi tro\iamo in questa materia de' nostri 
 scrittori solo Cicerone ed in qualche epistola Seneca, ed i Greci 
 hanno Aristotile e Luciano" (II, p. 409). He shows in this book 
 "con che arti s'acquisti amicizia, come s'accresca, come si 
 riscinda, che cagion sia da racquistarla, qual industria s 'appro vi 
 a conserv'arla " (II, p. 480). Noteworthy is the admonition 
 there given that the best revenge for wrongs received is to ex- 
 cel one's adversary in famous deeds, and in meriting the re- 
 spect and praises of the good.^ 
 
 " Many years later the same subject tempted the great poet Tasso, ^vho 
 wrote in 1580 in his prison in the Hospital of St. Anna at Ferrara, his beautiful 
 dialogue, // Padre di Famiglia (Opere di Torguato Tasso, ed. by G. Rosini, 
 Pisa, 1822, \'ol. MI, pp. 1-47). In 1578 the poet secretly left Urbino where he 
 had taken refuge after his second flight from Ferrara, and betook himself to Pied- 
 mont intending to place himself under the protection of the Duke of Savoy. 
 \^'hile on his w^ay from Novara to Vercelli, "in abito di sconosciuto peregrino" 
 he reached at nightfall the river Sesia which was swollen by the rain and im- 
 possible to cross. There he encountered a youth returning from the chase 
 who invited him to spend the night in his house near by. Tasso accepts his 
 in\-itation, without, however, revealing his identity, and accompanies him 
 
368 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The much cited work, // Governo della Famiglia, attributed to 
 Agnolo Pandolfini (who died in 1446), is, as has been shown above, 
 nothing but a rifacimento of the third book of Alberti, and does 
 not deserve any further attention here.^* 
 
 Alberti's work, as we ha\'e seen, deals with a particular portion 
 of society, the family, although the author's treatment of the 
 topic is broad and general. It was reserved for a Florentine, a 
 contemporary of Alberti's, to produce the first general work 
 dealing with society as a whole. Matteo Palmieri was born in 
 Florence on the 13th of January, 1406.^^ He received a careful 
 education and entered the service of the Florentine common- 
 wealth, filling various offices up to that of Gonfaloniere of Jus- 
 tice, and engaging in embassies to popes and emperors. He 
 
 home. There he meets the youth's father, the owner of the villa, who after 
 supper narrates to the poet the instructions he had received from his father 
 wlien at the age of seventy he resigned to him the care of his estate. The 
 division of the dialogue is as follows: The care of a father of a family extends 
 to two things, persons and property, and with persons three offices must be 
 discharged; of liusband, father, and master: as regards property two ends are 
 proposed, its preservation and increase. First the discourse turns on the re- 
 lations of the husband to his wife. In a suitable marriage, condition and age 
 should be considered. The wife should be younger than her husband so that 
 they may grow old together. The wife's behavior to her husband, her toi- 
 lette, and the question of beauty are next considered. Then follows the care 
 of children: the mother should nurse them, they should be reared not too del- 
 icately, in the fear of God, obedient to their parents, and "equally practiced 
 in praiseworthy exercises of the mind and body." The relations between mas- 
 ter and servant are then considered, with the different ranks of servants and 
 their treatment. The care of property is next discussed. Property may be 
 artificial or natural, animate or inanimate. These are defined. The care and 
 preservation of the' various kinds of property are then described, reminding 
 the reader of Xenophon's beautiful dialogue, The Economist, which was un- 
 doubtedly in Tasso's mind. In conclusion two kinds of increase of property 
 are examined, the natural, such as arises from lands and herds, and that which 
 is not natural, exchange {cambio) and usury. The work is written in the most 
 elegant language and is one of the most interesting of Tasso's dialogues. Par- 
 ticularly pleasing is the introduction and the picture of the family and their 
 happy country life. 
 
 ^^ A readable article on Pandolfini and the work attributed to him may be 
 found in Valery [A. C. Pasquin], Curiosites el anecdotes italiennes, Paris, 1842, 
 pp. 117-142, "Ange Pandolfini et son traite du gouvernement de la famille." 
 
 *' For Matteo Palmieri see Gaspary, Storia della lelteratura Ual., pp. 172, 
 347. See also E. Moore, Dante and his early biographers, London, 1890, pp. 
 115-118. There is a brief notice of Palmieri in the Milan edition of the Vita 
 civile soon to be mentioned. See also J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy, 
 Italian Literature, New York, 1882, Vol. II, p. 548. I have also consulted: 
 Ercole Bottari, " Matteo Palmieri. Studio." {Estrattodalvol. XXIVdegUAtti 
 delle R. Accademia lucchese. Lucca, tip. Giusti, 1885, 8vo, pp. 78.) Of little 
 value except for parallels with Cicero; see Note 48. Voigt, Wiederbelebung des 
 classischen Alt., Berlin, 1880, Vol. I, p. 293; II, p. 466. There is anotein The 
 Academy, Aug. 5, 1882, Vol. XXII, pp. 107-8, by S. M. on "The alleged heresy 
 in the Palmieri Botticelli." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 369 
 
 died in 1478. Palmieri was the author of several historical 
 works, a poem, La Cittd, di Vita,'^^ in imitation of the Divina 
 Commedia, and the treatise Delia Vita Civile, the only one of 
 his works in which we are at present interested .^^ 
 
 The Vita Civile is in the usual dialogue form, divided into 
 four books, and dedicated to Alessandro degli Alessandri, "ottimo 
 cittadino," a distinguished Florentine jurist. The interlocutors 
 are the Agnolo Pandolfini above mentioned as the supposed 
 author of the third book of Alberti's Governo delta Famiglia, 
 Francesco Sachetti, the grandson of the famous novelist, and 
 Luigi Guicciardini. The scene of the work is Mugello, a suburb 
 of Florence, whither the interlocutors are supposed to have fled 
 from the plague of 1430, "because it was close by, and more 
 healthful than any place in the neighborhood, and at that time 
 full of worthy citizens, who had taken refuge from the pestilence 
 in a spot so near." In the Proemio the author gives a brief 
 analysis of his work as follows: "The whole work is divided into 
 four books. In the first the newborn child is carefully led to 
 the perfect age of man, showing with what nourishment {nutri- 
 mento) and with what training {arti) he should become more 
 excellent than others. The two following books are written 
 about Honesty, and contain how the man of perfect age should 
 act in private and public according to all moral virtues. The 
 first of these books copiously treats of Temperance and For- 
 titude and Prudence; afterwards, of other virtues embraced in 
 these. The next book is the third in order and is all given to 
 Justice, which is the best part of mortals, and above all others 
 necessary to maintain every well ordered republic; wherefore 
 here is treated at length civil justice ; how government is carried 
 on in peace and war; how within the city by those who are in 
 the magistracies, and without the walls, by public ministers, 
 the public welfare is provided for. The last book is written of 
 
 ** See Symonds, op. cit., Vol. H, pp. 548 et seq.\ Giornale storico, XXIH, 
 pp. 182-207, Vn, pp. 263-4; Riiiista critica delta litt. ital., HI, col. 148-150 
 et seq.; and The Academy, Vol. XXII, pp. 107-8. 
 
 *' I have used the modern reprint: Delta vita civile, trattato dt Mateo Pal- 
 mieri, cittadino Fiorentino, Milano, Bettoni, 1830, i6mo, and the rare early 
 impression, without place, date, or printer, sq. i6mo, ff. 99, ascribed by Ebert 
 to Giunta, Florence, "perhaps earlier than 1529." The British Museum Cata- 
 logue ascribes it to Giunta, 1528? and calls it 8vo. There is a copy in the Cor- 
 nell University Library, bound up with the Convito of Dante printed by Mar- 
 chio Sessa at Venice in 1 531. The only article on this work with which I am 
 acquainted is by Valery, in work cited above, pp. 80-117, "Mathieu Palmieri 
 et sa Vie Civile," which contains a very full analysis of the work. 
 
 25 
 
370 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Utility only, and provides for the plenty, ornament, means, and 
 abundant wealth of the whole civil body: then in the last part, 
 as final conclusion, not without worthy doctrine, is shown what 
 is the state of the souls, which in the world, intent upon the 
 public welfare, have lived according to the precepts of the Life 
 written by us, as a reward for which they have been placed by 
 God in heaven, to rejoice eternally in glory with his saints." 
 
 It will be seen that the first book only is original with Pal- 
 mieri; the three others correspond to the three books of Cicero's 
 De Oficiis. It is impossible to give here a detailed comparison 
 of the two works; Palmieri's is a dialogue, Cicero's a more formal 
 treatise; but the former uses the latter constantly and freely, 
 translating him at times quite closely.*' Still, Palmieri has used 
 his original in a very free manner, making large additions of 
 his own, as for example, in the fourth book, where he introduces 
 a long disquisition upon friendship (pp. 177 et seq.), while Cice- 
 ro (II, 9) contents himself with referring to his own work on 
 the subject. In the same book Palmieri enumerates, among the 
 means of acquiring good-will, hospitality (p. 185) ; this leads him 
 to speak of banquets and to give the rules concerning them. 
 There should be not less than three nor more than nine guests; 
 and five things should be observed, a suitable number of suitable 
 persons, a fitting place, a convenient time : and, a blameless repast. 
 The guests should not be too loquacious, nor too silent, but 
 moderate talkers. The conversation should not turn on things 
 subtle, doubtful, or difficult, but rather cheerful, pleasing, and 
 profitable. In the same book is a digression (pp. 195-198) 
 on country life based on Xenophon's Economist. Palmieri also 
 introduces into his book a large number of illustrative examples 
 not found in the De Officiis; some of these are taken from other 
 classical sources, and some from Italian history and tradition. 
 
 ^' See Bk. II, p. 65, " Dicono che infino da principio, etc.," which corresponds 
 to Cicero, I, 4, 11 (Teubner, ed. Miiller, p. 5); III, p. 115, "Due vituperandi 
 modi sono d'ingiustizia," to Cicero, I, 7, 23 (p. 9); III, p. 117, "Suole alle 
 volte, etc.," to Cicero, I, 10, 33 (p. 12). Sometimes Palmieri rearranges, as 
 where he translates the story of Sicyonius (Cicero, II, 23, p. 85) and uses it 
 in his Bk. Ill, p. 157. Compare Palmieri, Bk. IV, p. 169, with Cicero, II, 4 
 (p. 61); IV, p. 184, with Cicero, II, 9 (p. 67); Palmieri, II, 104, with Cicero, 
 I> 35 (p- 42). Sometimes Cicero is cited by name, as in the last quotation, 
 "come ammonisce Tullio." Even the first book of Palmieri's work is not 
 wholly original, but rests on Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria; see a very im- 
 portant article by Domenico Bassi in Giornale storico, Vol. XXIII, pp. 182- 
 207, " II primo libro della Vita Civile di Matteo Palmieri e V Institutio Oratoria 
 di Quintiliano." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 371 
 
 To the latter class belongs the singular story of Dante, who after 
 the battle of Campaldino (June nth, 1289) finds among the dead 
 and wounded a friend who comes to life long enough to narrate 
 his experiences in the other world after his death." 
 
 Returning now to Palmieri's most original part, the first book, 
 we find the object of the whole work set forth in the introductory- 
 words of Agnolo Pandolfini (p. 7) : "We shall take a newborn child, 
 and lead him to old age and the end of his life, relating what is 
 becoming to every virtuous person in each age, and in whatever 
 rank or dignity he may be found." In the first place the new- 
 born child should be nursed by the mother on account of various 
 dangers which may arise from entrusting it to a nurse, but as 
 the latter custom prevails among many, rules are given for choos- 
 ing a suitable one. Early childhood, after the nurse has been 
 dismissed, is then minutely described. Playfellows should be 
 carefully chosen in order that improper and unseemly words and 
 gestures may not be learned. The father should himself set a 
 good example. Good and seemly things should be talked of at 
 home, and even the words of the women should be admonitions 
 to virtuous living, by which the children shall be frightened from 
 evil and prepared to love good ; "as telling them about the horned 
 and hairy monster {orco) being in hell to catch the bad children, 
 and how the good ones go to paradise dancing with the angels, 
 and similar things useful to instruct the tender age." 
 
 The proper^ age to begin serious instruction is not settled ; some 
 think it varies with each child, others think that before seven 
 children are not fit for learning. Still- it is better to begin early, 
 even when the child is with the nurse; and by means of simple 
 devices the child may be taught his letters, for example, and 
 much valuable time be spared. When the proper age has arrived 
 the father should use every diligence in the choice of a tutor, 
 and the example of Philip is cited, who chose Aristotle to in- 
 struct Alexander. The character of a good tutor and his rela- 
 tions to his pupil are then described. The method of instruction 
 does not enter into Palmieri's scope, although the subjects of 
 instruction do. Attention should be paid to bodily exercises, 
 and the child should be allowed to play ball, run, jump, and 
 indulge every seemly motion of the body, preserving always due 
 
 ^' Palmieri, Bk. IV, pp. 219-229; see also G. Papanti, Dante secondo la 
 tradizione e i novellatori, Livorno, 1873, pp. 98 et seq. 
 
372 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 moderation. Music and geometry are highly praised as train- 
 ing voice and mind. Grammar and philosophy are next dwelt 
 upon, and their supreme importance pointed out. 
 
 Then follows, at the request of one of the listeners, Luigi 
 Guicciardini, a long disquisition on the different ages of man, and 
 the characteristics of each age. Palmieri next returns to his 
 subject proper by describing youth, to which he has now brought 
 his child, with its dangers and temptations. One of his inter- 
 locutors is surprised that Pandolfini makes no mention of cor- 
 poral punishment in his scheme of education, and asks the reason. 
 The answer is that there are other and more effective methods 
 of correction, such as praise and blame, and various rewards. 
 The question of dress is then discussed. Except on festal oc- 
 casions, when a richer garb may be worn, the usual dress of 
 citizens should be employed, and all effeminate manners or orna- 
 ments should be shunned. 
 
 The bodily exercises of youths should be the use of weapons 
 in joust and fencing {schermaglie) , horsemanship and fowling. 
 More highly to be praised is hunting wild beasts. In all these 
 moderation is to be observed ; and they should not cause mental 
 exercises to be forgotten, namely the sciences and industrial 
 arts, s.uch as painting, sculpture, intaglio work, architecture, 
 etc. This multiplicity of learning amazes the hearers, one of 
 whom asks how so much can be learned at once. Pandolfini 
 explains that such is the nature of our genius that it can carry 
 on various operations at the same time, as a music teacher 
 keeps time, plays an instrument, and corrects his pupil's faults 
 all at once. Another listener asks why it rarely happens that 
 men greatly excel others in human works. One reason is that 
 we are satisfied with what we are taught and do not seek to im- 
 prove. This leads to a reference to Giotto, "before whom 
 painting was dead," and to Leonardo Aretino, who "restored to 
 men the sweetness of the Latin tongue." 
 
 The discourse then turns on the exercises of full-grown youths, 
 which should follow the usual customs of the city. This is the 
 time to choose a manner of life for which each one feels himself 
 most apt, and in which he hopes to live in a worthier way. 
 Our care should be not to live, but to live well and decently. 
 We should first decide who and what we wish to be and what 
 sort of life we desire to follow. One of the interlocutors asks 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 373 
 
 how one man becomes a good friar, another a good emperor, 
 and another a good citizen. Pandolfini answers with a philo- 
 sophical discussion of the four cardinal virtues: Prudence, 
 Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice. Each of these is exercised 
 according to four "generations" of virtue contained in each; the 
 first are called civil, the second purgatorial, the third, of minds 
 already purged, the fourth, exemplary or truly divine. These 
 virtues are then fully considered in their effects on man, and the 
 book closes with the question whether children should always 
 obey their parents, or if not, in what things. 
 
 The remaining books, as we have already seen, are more general 
 in their character and have less originality. Although Pal- 
 mieri's work does not go into details, it is agreeably written and 
 still repays perusal. 
 
 A work of similar nature to Palmieri's was written about the 
 same time by Giovan Battista Giraldi, who assumed in addition 
 the name Cintio.^" This scholar was born at Ferrara in 1 504, 
 and was professor of philosophy and rhetoric in that city from 
 1532- From 1547 he was ducal secretary, and from 1563 to 
 1566 an instructor in the University of Mondovi in Piedmont, 
 which he followed when it was transferred to Turin in 1566. 
 He was unable to endure the climate of the latter city, and re- 
 moved to Pavia, where he taught from 1568 to 1571, dying at 
 Ferrara in December, 1573. Giraldi wrote, besides a history 
 of Ferrara in Latin, two treatises on the composition of romances 
 and tragedies, nine tragedies, and a collection of novels entitled 
 Hecatommithi ovvero Cento Novelle}^ This collection, which is 
 
 '" For Giraldi see Gaspary, Storia delta tett. itat., H, p. 198, who cites 
 Barotti, Memorie istoriche di letterati ferraresi, I, Ferrara, 1792, pp. 390, et seq., 
 and corrections in Tiraboschi, Storia delta tett. itat., Vol. VH, p. 944. For 
 Giraldi's tragedies see Pietro Bilancini, Giambattista Giraldi e ta tragedia italiana 
 net secolo XVI, Aquila, 1890. In regard to the novels; see J. A. Symonds, 
 Italian literature, II, p. 103, and Dr. M. Landau, Beitrage zur Geschichte der 
 itat. Novetle, Vienna, 1875, who cites Tiraboschi ut supra; Ginguene, Histoire 
 litt. d Italie, VIII, 474; Liebrecht, Dunlop's Geschichte der Prosadichtungen, 
 Berlin, 1851, pp. 276 et seq.; Gamba, Bibliog. 91; Passano, / Novetlieri itat. in 
 prosa, 2d ed. Turin, 1878, I, pp. 352 et seq.; Brunet, Manuel, II, 307; and 
 F. W. V. Schmidt, Petri Alfonsi Disciplina Clericalis, Berlin, 1827, p. 144. 
 To these may be added Catalogo dei novetlieri itat. in prosa raccolti e posseduti 
 da G. Papanti, Livorno, 1871, p. 173 et seq. 
 
 '1 There are in reality one hundred and eleven novetle, the introduction con- 
 taining ten, and the tenth novella of the fifth decade has a »o!)e//o_inserted in 
 it. For editions of the Hecatommithi see Passano and Papanti cited above. 
 I have used the convenient edition in the Raccolta di Novetlieri italiani pub- 
 lished by Pomba, Turin, 1854, in which the Hecatommithi fills three volumes; 
 and the edition of Venice, 1584, to be mentioned more fully later. 
 
374 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Giraldi's most famous work, has furnished an inexhaustible 
 source of materials for succeeding playwrights and novelists, 
 Shakespeare, as is well known, being indebted to it for Othello 
 and Measure for Measured The author has imitated Boccaccio 
 in many ways, in the Greek title and number of novels, and the 
 frame in which the stories are set. 
 
 Giraldi feigns that the Sack of Rome in 1572 (minutely de- 
 scribed by the author) was followed by famine and pestilence 
 equally fatal to the Romans and their conquerors. During the 
 horrors of this pestilence a band of Roman ladies and gentle- 
 men took refuge in a palace of the Colonna family. As the plague 
 did not abate, the gentleman who had given the company refuge 
 in his palace withdrew to Fondi, leaving behind him the company, 
 which was too numerous to take with him. After a long dis- 
 cussion of what was best to do under the circumstances, the 
 company followed the advice of one of their number and deter- 
 mined to leave Italy and betake themselves to Marseilles, 
 where they would remain until the wretched condition of their 
 country improved. They took ship at Civita Vecchia and sailed 
 early one Sunday morning in two vessels, the ladies and gentle- 
 men in one, and the servants in the other. The company spent 
 the time in various diversions and conversation until the hour 
 for dinner. After it some of the youths constrained by the pres- 
 ence of the older men and women withdrew to the other ship 
 and one of their number proposed that they should pass the time 
 until evening in talking of some pleasant subject. A long dis- 
 cussion followed as to who should propose the topic, and finally 
 Flaminio assumed the responsibility and stated that the subject 
 should be love and how there could be peace in it. The kind of 
 love to be discussed is then settled; it is of the most earthly 
 character. After a long conversation on the subject, they decided 
 that each should tell a story appropriate to the subject and which 
 when ended should be discussed in a friendly manner by the com- 
 pany. Fabio then began the ten novels of the Introduction, 
 
 '^ For English indebtedness to Giraldi see E. Koeppel, Studien zur Geschichte 
 der ital. Novelle in der Englischen Litteratur, Strassburg, 1892, p. 98, and 
 Miss M. A. Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 476, No. 390. The indebtedness of the 
 English drama from 1600 to the Restoration to the Italian Novelists is the 
 subject of Adele Ott, Die lialienische Novelle im Englischen Drama von 1600 his 
 zur Restauration, Zurich, 1904. The Italian novelists examined are Boccaccio, 
 Bandello, Giraldi, Fiorettino, Malespini, Masuccio Salernitano, and Mac- 
 chiavelli. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 375 
 
 the general subject of which was "intorno agli amori disonesti de' 
 giovani verso le femmine impudiche." Each story when ended 
 gives rise to a discussion as was proposed. 
 
 After the discussion in the tenth novella, Flaminio sang a 
 canzone on the pains of love, and the vessel arrived at Talamone, 
 where a landing was made and the two parties joined in a prome- 
 nade through the pleasant neighborhood. After supper the ladies 
 inquired how the youths had passed the time and when they 
 learned that they had done so in relating novelle, they determined 
 to pass the following day in the same manner. After further 
 discussion it was resolved that, as there were ten young ladies 
 and as many gentlemen, five ladies and five gentlemen should 
 tell stories on the morrow and the others should listen ; the next 
 day those who had listened should narrate, and so on until they 
 reached the end of their journey. Lots were then cast to decide 
 who should tell stories on the morrow and the day following and 
 in what order, and finally, Fabio was elected king for the re- 
 mainder of the journey and all were enjoined to obey him. The 
 voyage lasted ten days, beside the one described in the Introduc- 
 tion, and one hundred novelle were related, interspersed with dis- 
 cussions and canzoni, in imitation, of course, of the Decameron. 
 
 At the close of the fifth day or decade, a storm arose which 
 interrupted the voyage for three days. The company had reached 
 Genoa, where they were hospitably entertained, and the usual 
 diversion of story-telling was suspended for a time. In the 
 later editions of the Hecatommithi the sixth decade follows the 
 fifth immediately, and there is only a brief reference to the in- 
 terruption of the voyage in the usual short introduction to the 
 decade: "The light of the new day with its brilliant rays had dis- 
 pelled the darkness, and summoned every one to his labors, when 
 the noble band, after taking leave of their hosts and thanking 
 them, made ready for the journey; and all having embarked, 
 they began joyfully to plough the waves of the sea, which was 
 very calm, and with pleasing and happy discourses they went 
 their way, passing joyfully in various games the time and re- 
 lieving the ennui of the ship." In the earlier editions, however, 
 an extensive digression, singularly out of keeping with the char- 
 acter of the rest of the work, is here introduced. It is entitled 
 "Tre Dialoghi della Vita Civile, H quali a gli huomini mostrano 
 come deuono ammaestrare i loro figliuoli, et a giovani come ben 
 
376 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 reggersi," and occupies seventy-two folios, or one hundred and 
 forty-four pages in the edition of Venice, 1584.^' The work as 
 has been seen from the title is in the usual dialogue form and the 
 interlocutors are: Lelio, Fabio, and Torquato, all three Roman 
 gentlemen, and Signore Giannettino d'Oria, a Genoese nobleman. 
 
 The dialogue opens with a request from Signore Giannettino 
 to Fabio to tell him and the other Genoese present "qual maniera 
 di vivere si debba proporre I'huomo in questa vita, per arrivare 
 a quel fine, che e giudicato da piii savi il migliore, fra le cose 
 humane" (fol. 5 vo.). Lelio replies that it is needless to attempt 
 to instruct citizens of such a noble city in their duties. Giannet- 
 tino entreats Lelio to grant his request "comminciando dal 
 nascimento dell' huomo, et conducendolo infino a quel termine 
 che egli sia atto di arrivare a questo ottimo fine" (fol. 6 ro.). 
 Lelio finally yields and begins by stating that Plato and Aris- 
 totle have excelled all others who have written on human life 
 and manners; one writing more abundantly, the other more 
 orderly. "And because both have been excellent, I, in this 
 discourse of mine, shall not force myself to follow either, but I 
 shall take from one and the other what seems to me most fitting 
 to fulfil our wish, and if I recall anything else uttered by other 
 noble writers and lofty spirits I shall not hesitate to lay them 
 before you for your greater and fuller satisfaction." 
 
 The work which follows is a dry and tedious philosophical 
 disquisition, relieved at long intervals by a few classical anec- 
 
 " The Tre Dialoghi della Vita civile are found, so far as I know, only in the 
 following editions: Monte Regale, 1565 (the rare first edition, which I have 
 used in the Biblioteca Marucelliana at Florence); Venice, 1566, 1574, 1580, 
 1584, 1593, and 1608. The edition I have used is the fifth, Venice, 1584, 
 Appresso Fabio and Agostin Zoppini Fratelli, 2 parts in 4to. In spite of its 
 dull character this part of the Hecatommithi was translated as a separate work 
 by the indefatigable French translator, G. Chappuis, under the title: Dialogues 
 philosophiques et tres-utiles Italiens-FranQois, touchant la vie Ciuile, etc. Tra- 
 duits des trois excellens Dialogues Italiens de M. Ian Baptiste Giraldi Cynthien, 
 Gentilhomme Ferrarois. Par Gabriel Chappuis Tourangeau. A Paris, Pour 
 Abel I'Angilier, 1583, 8vo. The Italian text is on the left hand page, the 
 French translation on the right. Chappuis says in the preface {Epistre) that 
 the young lords and gentlemen reading this book: "se peuvent heureusement 
 dresser et habituer k la vertu, presque autant ou plus que s'ils avoient couru 
 toute ITtalie, que Ton dit estre I'escole de toute vertu, civilite et honnestete." 
 Giraldi is also the author of a work belonging to the class of treatises on courtly 
 life; it bears the title: Discorso intorno a quelle che si conviene a un giovane 
 nobile . . . nel servire un gran Principe, Pa via, 1569, 8vo. I have not 
 seen this work, but there are copies in the library at Perugia and in the British 
 Museum. Miss M. A. Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 476, No. 390, gives an inter- 
 esting account of an imitation in Eng. of the Vita Civile by Lodowick Bryskett. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 377 
 
 dotes, and based largely on Aristotle's Ethics and Plato's Re- 
 public and Laws. The usual precepts are given about the early 
 rearing of the child : the mother should nurse it if possible, if not, 
 a proper nurse should be chosen according to the rules given by 
 the author. As the child grows up he should not see or hear 
 any blameworthy thing, and he should be taught the knowledge 
 of God. Later he should be entrusted to a good master. There 
 is a long digression (pp. 16-20) on duelling, which is severely 
 blamed. The vices and dangers of youth are treated in the 
 second book, as well as the subjects of study, such as music, 
 poetry, geometry, arithmetic, logic, and rhetoric. In the third 
 book the author considers the office of philosophy in regard to 
 the instruction of youth, and the question of predestination and 
 freewill. The principal virtues and vices are also discussed and 
 considerable space is devoted, as in the Ethics, to the subject of 
 friendship. This brief analysis will show how little the work 
 contains for our purpose. It is valuable chiefly as showing 
 the interest which the age took in discussions upon conduct 
 and the proper ordering of civil life, and the great influence 
 exerted on such discussions by the writers of ancient Greece and 
 Rome. 
 
 There are in Italian many other similar works, of which a few 
 of the most important may be mentioned here. The first is a 
 very elaborate treatise on education by Alessandro Piccolomini. 
 This distinguished author was born in Siena on the 13th of June, 
 1508, and devoted his life to the study of letters. He was a 
 member of the Academy of the Intronati, and late in life was 
 made Archbishop of Patras and coadjutor of the Archbishop of 
 Siena, where he died in 1578. Among his early works is La 
 Raffaela or Dialogo delta bella creanza delle Donne, first printed at 
 Venice in 1539. In this dialogue the interlocutors are Madonna 
 Raffaela and Margarita, the former an old woman who plays 
 the r61e of Celestina in the famous Spanish novel, and the latter 
 a young wife whom Madonna Rafifaella tempts, to a life of gal- 
 lantry. She begins with instructions for the toilette and gives 
 receipts for various cosmetics. The care of the hair is next con- 
 sidered and directions are given in regard to linen, hosiery, etc. 
 From this subject the old woman passes to the behavior of a 
 gentle lady in every-day life. The lady is supposed to be young, 
 that is, not over thirty-two. The rules for behavior concern 
 
378 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the care of the house, relations to husband and society. In all 
 these things the wife is enjoined not to make a movement, or 
 utter a word that oversteps the bounds of modesty and propriety 
 (onestd.). The reason, as Madonna Raffaela explains, is that a 
 woman's honor does not consist in her acts but in her repu- 
 tation. This leads to the final topic of instruction, the lady's 
 behavior towards her lovers, and the wise choice of one en- 
 dowed, with those qualities necessary to a gentlemen and a 
 lover, "whom, after she has chosen him, she must love with all 
 her heart and all her mind, and favor and caress in due manner." 
 Then follows a description of the lovers to be avoided, namely, 
 those too young, too old, the vain, strangers, etc. The qualities 
 of the desirable lover are then depicted, and the way he should 
 be treated by the lady. Madonna Margarita is shocked by the 
 crude propositions of the old woman, and declares that she sup- 
 posed the love in question was "of the mind, and virtuous, for 
 so she heard one evening in a company during a game, from one 
 of the Intronati present." The old woman then craftily leads 
 up to the object of the dialogue, viz., to make Madonna Margarita 
 acquainted with the fact that there is a suitable lover awaiting 
 her consent to offer himself to her. Margarita, it is needless to 
 say, gives her consent, and the old woman departs to bear him 
 the joyful news. This work is a sort of Ars Amandi and contains 
 much that is valuable for contemporary manners. The author 
 later lamented its cynical and immoral character and expressed 
 his repentance in a work entitled DeW Instituzione morale libri 
 XII, Venice, 1560, a later version of De la insiituiione di tutla la 
 vita de VHomo nato nohile e in citta libera. Libri X in lingua 
 Toscana, Venice, apud Hieronymum Scotum, 1543, in i2mo. 
 This work was composed for the instruction of Alessandro Colom- 
 bini, the infant son of Madonna Laudomia Forteguerri, to whom 
 the author had stood godfather at his recent baptism. The 
 work in question is based on Plato and is an elaborate treatise on 
 education, in which the training suitable to the various ages is 
 discussed. Much space is devoted to ethics, and the whole of 
 the eighth book contains a treatise on Friendship. The subject 
 of Love fills the ninth book, and the tenth and last book is de- 
 voted to the precepts of married life. The work is very general 
 in its character and offers little that is valuable for our present 
 purpose. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 379 
 
 Some time later the prolific Ludovico Dolce, born at Venice 
 in 1508, published a similar work, having, however, for its subject 
 the education of woman. The work is entitled Delia Instiiu- 
 tione delle Donne, Venice, 1547. I have used the fourth edition, 
 Venice, Giolito, 1560. The work is divided into three books and 
 is in the usual dialogue form, with but two interlocutors, Dorothea 
 and Flaminio. The subject of the first book is the young un- 
 married woman, of the second, the wife, and of the third, the 
 widow. In the first book the usual directions for the rearing 
 of children are given, such as, the mother must nurse her offspring, 
 care must be taken in the choice of a nurse, etc. Dolce believes, 
 contrary to the opinion of the day, that a woman should receive 
 a literary education. Greek he omits, partly not to lay so heavy 
 a weight on the shoulders of women, and partly because a knowl- 
 edge of Italian and Latin will suffice. She is advised to read 
 almost all the Latin poets, except Virgil, of which she should not 
 read the whole, and the chaster and more moral parts of Horace. 
 She should read Prudentius, Prosper, Juvencus, Paulinus, and of 
 the modern Latin writers, the Christiad of Sannazaro and that of 
 Vida. Of Latin prose writers she can read all of Cicero, Livy, 
 Sallust, Quintus Curtius, Suetonius, and the other historians. 
 In the vulgar tongue she should avoid above all Boccaccio's 
 novelle, and above all read Dante and Petrarch. To these may 
 be added "the divine works of Bembo, the Arcadia of Sannazaro, 
 the moral and elegant dialogues of Sperone, and the Cortegiano 
 of Castiglione, from which in my judgment she can learn all the 
 virtues and fair and seemly manners which belong to gentle 
 ladies." Rules are given for food, dress, and entertainments. 
 The use of cosmetics is blamed, as well as games of chance, and 
 the book concludes with advice to fathers in choosing husbands 
 for their daughters. The second and third books are of com- 
 paratively little interest, the admonitions being general in 
 character and mostly of a religious nature. ^^ 
 
 " There are many other works of a similar nature in the literature of the six- 
 teenth century. Some of those which I know only by the title are: Dialogo 
 del gentilhuomo Veneziano, Venice, 1566; Bernardino Pino, Del Galantuomo, s. 
 1. et a.; and Fabrizio Campani, Delia vita civile, owero del senno, Venice, 1586. 
 I have examined Sabba da Castiglione, Ricordi omiero ammaestramenti ne quali 
 con prudenti e christiani discorsi si ragiona di tutte le materie honorate, che si 
 ricercano a un vera gentil huomo, Venice, 1554, and Milan, 1559. The author, 
 according to Ginguene, Histoire Ktteraire d'ltalie, Vol. VII, p. 575, was com- 
 mander of the Order o^aint John of Jerusalem and died in 1554. The work 
 
380 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The works which we have just examined are ethical treatises 
 with but Httle reference to the rules of behavior in polite society. 
 The first of the modern books on etiquette, if we exclude the 
 Coriegiano of Castiglione as designed for a special class, is the 
 Galateo of Giovanni della Casa, a work which enjoyed the greatest 
 favor for many years.'^ 
 
 Giovanni della Casa was born June 28, 1503, of an illustrious 
 Tuscan family which had given many statesmen and scholars to 
 the Commonwealth. The place of his birth is not known, but 
 his biographer Casotti says it was probably at Mugello, the 
 original home of the Casa family, which the father was obliged 
 to leave for some reason connected with the disturbed condition 
 of the country. The child was taken to Bologna to be reared, 
 while the parents took up their abode in Rome, where the mother 
 died in 1510. Giovanni received his early education in Bologna, 
 and later at Florence, whither he returned with his father about 
 1542. His first intention was to devote himself to the service of 
 the state, but for some unknown reason he changed his mind and 
 removed to Rome, where he continued his secular studies and 
 took up theology, acquiring the favor of Pope Paul III, and his 
 nephew the Cardinal Alexander Farnese. For some years he 
 occupied at Florence the position of Apostolic Commissary for 
 receiving the papal tithes. In 1540 he was made a member of the 
 Florentine Academy, earlier the Accademia degli Umidi. After 
 Casa's return to Rome he was created Archbishop of Benevento 
 (in 1544) and in the same year Apostolic Nunzio to the Re- 
 public of Venice, which position he filled until the death of 
 Paul III (in 1549). He then returned to Rome, where he sold 
 his place as Clerk of the Apostolic Chamber, made his will, and 
 returned to Venice, where he proposed to spend the remainder of 
 his life in quiet and study and in the society of his friends. He 
 died in Rome on the 14th of November, 1556. 
 
 is an extensive moral treatise covering the whole range of life, and mostly in 
 the form of brief injunctions, although some of the chapters are treatises of 
 considerable length. It is dry and dull. 
 
 55 1 have used for my notice of Della Casa the life by Gio. Battista Casotti 
 prefixed to the Florentine edition by Giuseppe Manni of 1707, and reprinted 
 in the edition of the Classici Italiani, Milan, 1806, 3 vols., the one I have used 
 for the Galateo. The life by Casotti is the basis of the subsequent notices of 
 Della Casa. I have also consulted Tiraboschi, Ginguene, etc. There is a life 
 of Della Casa which I have not seen by Filippo Gerardi, Biografia di Monsig- 
 nore Giovanni della Casa, Rome, 1836. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 381 
 
 Casa's literary works consist of a few orations, letters, poetry, 
 and two treatises, in which we are now alone interested. These 
 are the famous- Galateo and Trattato degli Ufficj comuni tra gli 
 Amid superiori e inferiori}^ 
 
 The Galateo omero de' Costumi, to give it the full title, is said 
 to take its name from Galeazzo Florimonte, Bishop of Sessa, 
 and its subject is sufficiently indicated in a sub-title, which runs: 
 "In which under the person of an unlearned old man instructing 
 a youth of his, are discussed the manners which should be ob- 
 served or avoided in society." The old man addresses his pupil 
 directly and says he proposes to point out to him the places 
 where he may easily fall or miss his way in the journey of life, 
 which he is just beginning, and which his instructor has almost 
 
 ^* I have used for these works, as has already been stated, the edition in the 
 Classici Italiani. The first edition of the works of Delia Casa was Venice, 
 1558, 4to, two years after the author's death. There are editions of the col- 
 lected works: Florence, 1707, 6 parts in 4to; Venice, 1738-29, 5 vols., 4to; 
 Naples, 1733,6 vols., 4to; Venice, 1752, 4to; and Milan, 1804, 3 vols., 8vo, the 
 edition cited above. The Galateo has been frequently reprinted, and has been 
 translated into Latin, French, Spanish, German, and English. The British 
 Museum has the following French translations: Le GalathSe, ou la maniere et 
 fasson comme le gentUhomme se doit gouverner en touts compagnie, traduit d'lta- 
 lien en Frangois par J. duPeyratiPnTis, 1562, 8vo; Trattato de Costumi . . . 
 fatto nuovamente Italiano et Francese, etc., Italian and French, Lione, 1573, 
 8vo; Le Galatee, premierement compose en Italien par J. de la Case et depuis 
 mis en Frangois, Latin, et Espagnol par divers auteurs, e/c, Latin, Italian, French, 
 and Spanish, Jean de Tournes (Lyons) 1598, i6mo; ie Galatee . . . et depuis 
 mis en Frangois, Latin, Allemand, et Espagnol, Geneve, 1609, i2mo. The 
 same library also possesses the following English translations : The Epitome of 
 good manners, extracted from M. J. de la Casa (Out of the treatise called Gala- 
 tea), London, 1616, 8vo; The Rejin'd Courtier: or, a correction of several in- 
 decencies crept into civil conversation (In part translated and abridged from G. 
 delta Casa's Galateus by N. W.), London, 1663, lamo; London, 1686, i2mo; 
 Galateo of Manners or Instructions to a young Gentleman how to behave himself 
 in Conversation, etc., written originally in Italian and done into English, Lon- 
 don, 1703, i2mo; Galateo: or, a treatise on Politeness . . . From the Italian of 
 Monsig. G. de la Casa, etc., London, 1774, l6mo; The Refined Courtier . . . To 
 which are added The Adventures of a Bashful Man, London, 1804, i6mo. The 
 ' Trattato degli Ufficj was also translated into English: The Arts of Grandeur and 
 Submission : or a Discourse concerning the Behaviour of Great Men towards their 
 inferiours; and of inferiour personages towards men of greater quality. Written 
 in Latin by J. Casa and rendered into English by H. Stubbe. Second edition, 
 London, 1670, i2mo. This is in the British Museum. The Bodleian has the 
 first edition, London, 1665, Svo. See Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, No. 377, p. 
 459. There is a scarce reprint of the first English translation of the Galateo: 
 Galateo. Of Manners and Behaviours in Familiar Conversation. By Giovanni 
 della Casa, Archbishop of Benevento. A faithful reproduction of the English 
 Translation made by Robert Peterson of Lincoln's Inn in the Year 1576. 
 Edited by Herbert J. Reid, F. S. A., F. R. S. L., Librarian and Member of 
 Council, Royal Society of Literature. Privately printed, 1892. A biblio- 
 graphical Proem, pp. iii-xi, gives editions, etc. The editor says Peterson's 
 is the first and only complete translation into English. 
 
382 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ended ; and because his tender age will not bear more important 
 and subtle instructions, reserving them for a more suitable time, 
 he will begin with what to many may appear frivolous, viz., 
 that which he deems it proper to do in order to be able, in com- 
 municating and associating with people, to be well-bred and 
 pleasing and of good manners. He further explains that although 
 liberality or constancy or magnanimity are greater and more 
 laudable than good manners, still the former are perhaps quite 
 as useful to their possessors, since the other greater qualities 
 can so seldom be displayed. It cannot be denied that for one 
 disposed to live in cities and among men it is a most useful thing 
 to know how to be gracious and pleasing in his customs and 
 manners. 
 
 In order that one may learn this more readily he must temper 
 and order his manners, not according to his own will, but accord- 
 ing to the pleasure of those with whom he associates, to whom 
 his manners must be addressed, and this in moderation, for he 
 who delights too much in aiding the pleasure of others in society 
 and company, seems rather a buffoon or jester, or perchance a 
 flatterer, than a well-bred gentleman ; and so on the other hand 
 he who gives no heed to pleasing or displeasing others is rude and 
 ill-bred and disagreeable. In order' then that our manners shall 
 be pleasing when we have regard to the pleasure of others, and 
 not our own, if we examine what those things are which generally 
 please most men, we shall easily discover what manners are to 
 be avoided in living with them and what are to be adopted. 
 
 Whatever act is annoying to any of the senses, what is con- 
 trary to the appetite, and, besides, what recalls to the imagina- 
 tion things disagreeable to it, and likewise what the mind loathes, 
 is disagreeable and should not be performed. Various instances 
 of the violation of this rule are given, and an anecdote is told of ■ 
 how a bishop of Verona brought to the attention of a guest of 
 his a grave defect in his manners which he had never known. 
 
 Various faults in table manners are then considered, some of 
 them already noticed in the mediaeval treatises (especially as to 
 the manners of servants). 
 
 Other faults are then mentioned, which, without annoying 
 any sense are displeasing to the appetite of most people. Such 
 are sleeping in company, or rising and walking about, where others 
 are sitting, or yawning and stretching oneself, or taking a letter 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 383 
 
 from the pocket and reading it. Worse still is cutting the nails, 
 humming to oneself, drumming with the fingers, nudging one 
 with the elbow when talking to him. 
 
 Dress is next considered. The usual fashion should be fol- 
 lowed, and the garments should be well fitting and becoming. 
 Good manners should accompany fine dresses. Examples are 
 given of people who bore company, who are never ready, and 
 who are selfish and whimsical. 
 
 Pride should be avoided and time and place considered. One 
 should not get angry at the table, especially if there are strangers 
 present. 
 
 Stubbornness is reproved, as well as rudeness and coldness. 
 One should not be melancholy or absent-minded, although those 
 who are absorbed in the speculations of the liberal arts may be 
 excused. Punctiliousness and sensitiveness are to be blamed. 
 Associating with such people is like having to do with delicate 
 glassware, they have to be treated with such care. These quali- 
 ties should be left to women. 
 
 In conversation many faults are committed, and first, in the 
 subject matter, which should not be low or frivolous. One should 
 not take a theme too subtle or too delicate. One should care- 
 fully avoid a subject likely to cause any of the company to blush 
 or to be put to shame. Nothing nasty should be spoken of, 
 although it may be amusing to hear, because it is not well for 
 decent persons to please others except in decent things. One 
 should never say anything against God or the saints, either seri- 
 ously or in jest, however amusing it may be — a fault committed 
 by the noble company in Boccaccio's work. To speak jestingly 
 of God is not only the fault of a wicked and impious man, but 
 is also the vice of an ill-bred person. One should not talk of 
 things unsuited to the time and persons who are Kstening; things 
 which at a proper time would be good. Therefore one should 
 not repeat the sermons of Friar Nastagio to young women when 
 they wish to joke. Neither at festivals nor at the table should 
 melancholy stories be told, nor wounds, illness, deaths, or pesti- 
 lence be mentioned. When subjects like these are brought for- 
 ward they should be changed in a skilful manner for something 
 brighter. Those err who talk constantly about their children 
 and nurse and wife. "My little boy made me laugh so heartily 
 last night; just listen: you never saw a sweeter child than my 
 
384 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Momo; my wife is such a one, Cecchina said; surely ^ou would 
 never believe how clever she is." 
 
 Dreams should not be related, unless, as in the case of one cited 
 by Delia Casa, they are of unusual interest. If dreams which 
 have a shadow of truth are vain, what shall be said of lies, which 
 have no foundation? Various kinds of lies are described. One 
 should not boast of his nobility, honors, or wealth, much less of 
 his judgment. On the other hand he should not degrade him- 
 self, or falsely humble himself. 
 
 The author then passes to the discussion of what he calls 
 ceremonies, i.e., formal modes of address. Origin and abuse of 
 these. They are employed for three reasons: utility, vanity, 
 and duty. Examples of these, and description of modes of 
 address in various parts of Italy. 
 
 One should not speak ill of others, or argue and dispute. 
 Advice should not be given unsought, and one should not under- 
 take to correct the faults' of men and reprove them, or give 
 final sentence in everything, or lay down the law to every one. 
 One should never mock any one, even an enemy. Various ways 
 in which this may be done. There is no difference between 
 mocking and ridiculing except in the intent. Some claim that 
 jokes may be played at times, but one must consider many things. 
 One must not joke about serious things, much less about shame- 
 ful things. Examples of jokes from the Decameron. Another 
 kind of joking consists in telling a story and imitating the man- 
 ners, etc., of the persons in the story. Examples of how not to 
 do it. Other rules for story-telling. Rules for the language to 
 be employed. The words should be clear and pleasant as to 
 sound and meaning. Further rules for speech, and mode of 
 pronunciation. 
 
 Faults committed in talking; some cannot cease speaking, and 
 let no one else talk. One should not interfere with another in 
 telling a story, or interrupt or be inattentive or finish his sen- 
 tences for him. As excessive talking is wearisome, so excessive 
 silence is hateful. Long digression on the necessity of early 
 training and the government of ourselves by reason. 
 
 Men are fond of beauty, symmetry, and proportion, definition; 
 of these terms. We should not be content with doing good things, 
 but should study to make them beautiful too, i.e., we should 
 adorn our manners and customs, shun vices, and especially the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 385 
 
 most foul.^as sensuality, avarice, cruelty, etc. Various classes 
 of vices are then described. 
 
 One should regard due measure in walking, standing, sitting, 
 in act, bearing, dress, words, silence, in repose and in motion. A 
 man should not adorn himself like a woman, nor use perfumes, 
 except simple ones. Dress should be according to the fashion 
 of others of your age and condition, not too rich. Some anec- 
 dotes illustrating this. Rules for bodily gestures: one should 
 not run in the street, or walk too slowly, like a woman, or move 
 the arms too much, or stare at people. We should reprove even 
 a horse for an improper gait. 
 
 In conclusion additional table manners are given. The use 
 of toothpicks is mentioned ; they should not be worn on a chain 
 around the neck. Custom of drinking healths (brindisi), men- 
 tioned and blamed. Invitations should not be accepted from 
 the seneschal. Some miscellaneous injunctions at the end : not 
 to laugh too loudly, or at one's own sayings, etc. 
 
 The Galateo was later supplemented by a brief treatise (it 
 occupies forty-nine pages in the edition of the Classici Italiani) 
 in Latin, translated by the author himself into Italian under the 
 title Trattato degli Ufficj comuni tra gli Amid superiori e inferiori. 
 This work is of a very general character and, as the title indicates, 
 deals with the relations between superiors and inferiors. The 
 author begins by saying that it was easy for the ancients to rule 
 their domestics because they were slaves; nowadays it is dif- 
 ferent, and difficulties constantly arise. To lighten these, Delia 
 Casa says he has collected some instructions, and composed, 
 as it were, an art of that friendship which exists between powerful 
 and rich men and poor and low persons, on whom has been be- 
 stowed the hateful name of servitude. The author examines 
 the various causes which lead men to dwell together: pleasure, 
 utiHty, friendship. Various kinds of friendship. The rich and 
 the poor are then characterized. Then follow rules for the 
 inferior to observe : he must be gentle and yielding, obedient and 
 reverent, but without flattery. His words should be humble, 
 "rimesse e pressoche sprezzate." If he has to resist it should be 
 done little by little, and timidly and seldom, and only when 
 necessity compels, "for resistance is not a token of an obedient 
 man." Sometimes in conversations and banquets questions 
 arise of doubtful and subtle things in which learned and ingenious 
 26 
 
386 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 men dispute, argue, upbraid, and otherwise act foolishly. This 
 is not a sign of reverence or obedience. One must not jest with 
 powerful friends, and must endure the jokes of superiors. One 
 should be agreeable and cheerful, avoid gloom and silence, be 
 moderate in speaking, which is a token of reverence. And yet 
 adulation should be avoided as well as flattery. All the inferior's 
 movements and acts should display good manners, reverence, and 
 respect. Dress should be neat and fitting. Other good qualities 
 are diligence, readiness, cleverness, etc. 
 
 Faults on the part of superiors are then blamed: pride, cruelty, 
 injustice, tyranny, anger, etc. These are contrary to charity and 
 Christian humility, as well as to common humanity. Superiors 
 should observe two things, one "che con clemenza e amore- 
 volezza usino dell'opera e de'servigi degli amici bassi, risguard- 
 ando alia condizione e al grado loro; I'altra, che non siano ritrosi, 
 non difficili, non fastidiosi." How superiors should behave. 
 Diligent servants should be duly rewarded, and their comfort 
 should be attended to. Advantages of treating servants well. 
 
 This work, as is evident from this brief analysis, is of little 
 interest for our present purpose. Its originality is not great, 
 and like the other works of the same class already mentioned, 
 it is based more or less on the classical treatises on Ethics, in 
 this particular case on Aristotle's Ethics and Politics. 
 
 Another similar, but far more elaborate, work is the Civil 
 Conversazione of Stefano Guazzo, which also enjoyed the greatest 
 popularity and which presents perhaps the most complete pic- 
 ture of Italian society in the sixteenth century .^^ 
 
 The author was born of a noble family at the city of Casale 
 in the year 1530. His father, Giovanni, was for thirty-six years 
 treasurer of the dukes of Mantua and Monferrato. He died in 
 1573, leaving four sons. Stefano devoted himself to the study 
 of law, and became secretary to the Duchess Margherita, the 
 last of the Paleologhi, who was left a widow by the death of 
 
 '' There is a brief life of Stefano Guazzo by G. Canna, Delia Vita e < 
 scritti di Stefano Guazzo, Florence, 1872, an academic lecture of little value. 
 Scanty materials for Guazzo's life are to be found in Bibliografia storica degli 
 Stati delta Monarchia di Savoia compilata da Antonio Manno {publicata per 
 cura delta R. Deputazione di storia patria), Turin, 1892, t. IV, pp. 88-129, Cas- 
 ale. On p. 115, s. V. Illustrati (Society accademica), the author cites Quadrio, 
 Tiraboschi, Arnaud, Diss, suite Accademie, and T. Vallauri, Delte societd, let- 
 terarie del Piemonte libri due, Turin, 1844. The works cited contain nothing^ 
 of importance, as is the case also with G. Morano, Catalogo degli illustri scrittori 
 di Casale, Asti, 1771. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 387 
 
 Federico Gonzaga in 1540. Stefano filled this same office to 
 the Duke Guglielrao, son of the Federico just mentioned, who 
 succeeded his brother Francesco in 1550. Guazzo afterwards 
 entered the service of Ludovico Gonzaga, later Duke of Nevers, 
 brother of Francesco and Guglielmo. In the service of this 
 prince Guazzo spent seven years in France and after his return 
 in 1559, he was again sent by the Duke Guglielmo as ambassador 
 to Charles IX in 1564. In 1566 he was sent as ambassador to 
 the new Pope, Pius IV. This same year Guazzo married Fran- 
 cesca Da Ponte and retired from public life, devoting the re- 
 mainder of his days to the study of literature. Some years 
 before (probably in 1561) he had founded the Academy degli 
 Illustrati, and he now devoted himself to its improvement. He 
 was twice married, his first wife dying in 1575, and the father of 
 four children, only two of whom, a son and a daughter, survived 
 childhood. The daughter married a jurist of Asti, and the son, 
 Giovanni Antonio, followed his father's early studies and be- 
 came a magistrate at Trino. In order to assist this son in his 
 legal studies, Stefano Guazzo removed at the end of 1589 to Pa via, 
 where he lived until his death on the 6th of December, 1593. 
 
 Guazzo was the author of a few mediocre Italian and Latin 
 poems ; a funeral oration on the Duchess Margherita f^ two collec- 
 tions of letters;^' a volume of dialogues on various subjects con- 
 nected with literature, politics and ethics;^" the famous treatise 
 on etiquette known as La Civil Conversazione f^ and La Ghirlanda 
 
 '* Canna, op. cit., p. 9, says this funeral oration was printed at Trino in 
 1567. I have not seen it mentioned in any catalogue of the numerous Italian 
 libraries which I have visited. 
 
 *" Lettere del signor Stefano Guazzo, Gentilhuomo di Casale di Monferrato , 
 Venice, Barezzi, 1590, 1596 (somewhat enlarged), 1599, 1603, 1606, 1611, and 
 1614. Lettere volgari di diversi gentilhuomo del Monferrato raccolte da Messer 
 Stefano Guazzo, Brescia, 1563, 1565, and 1566. 
 
 *" Dialoghi piacevoli del Sig. Stefano Guazzo, Gentilhuomo di Casale di Mon- 
 ferrato, Venice, 1586, Piacenza, 1587, Venice, 1590, 1604, and 1610. There 
 is also a German translation of the xiith Dialogue, " Delia Morte," Euthanasia 
 . . . Leipzig, 1625, 4to, in the British Museum. 
 
 '1 I have used the first edition: Za Civil Conversatione del Sig. Stefano Guazzo, 
 Gentilhuomo di Casale di Monferrato, Brescia, Appresso Tomaso Bozzola, 1574, 
 4to. There are other editions as follows: Venice, 1575, 1577, 1578, 1579, 1580, 
 1581, 1583, 1586, 1588, 1590, 1593, 1596, 1600, 1-604, 1609, 1611, 1621, and 
 1628. Latin translations appeared at Amberg, 1602, and 1608; Strassburg, 
 1614; Leipzig, 1635; and Leyden, 1650. There are two English translations: 
 The Civile Conversation of Stefano Guazzo, written first in Italian, divided into 
 four bookes, the first three translated out of French by G. Pettie . . . The fourth 
 translated out of Italian by B. Young, London, 1586, 4to, blackletter; The Art 
 of Conversation. In three parts. Translated . . . into English (from the Ital- 
 ian entitled La civil conversatione) , London, 1 738, 8vo. The last named edition. 
 
388 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 della contessa Angela Bianca Beccaria, which will afford material 
 for a later chapter of this work. 
 
 The work in which we are at present interested, La Civil 
 Conversazione, which title may be translated Polite Society, 
 consists of two parts, theory and practice ; the former contained 
 in the first three books, and the latter, an account of a banquet 
 at Casale, in the fourth and last book. The first part is in the 
 usual dialogue form, the interlocutors being Guglielmo Guazzo, 
 brother of the author, and Annibale Magnocavalli, a distin- 
 guished physician of Casale. 
 
 The early part of the dialogue turns on the general question 
 whether a solitary life is preferable to a life of society, Guazzo 
 sustaining the former opinion and Magnocavalli the latter. 
 This discussion extends from fol. I to fol. 21 vo., when Guazzo 
 declares that he is satisfied as to the general question, but wishes 
 to know what kind of society he should choose to obtain the 
 advantages described by Magnocavalli. The latter replies 
 that even then the conversation will not be finished, for it will 
 be necessary to consider afterwards the manners in general which 
 all men have to observe in society. Even then it will be neces- 
 sary to discuss also the particular manners belonging to each 
 class or kind of persons. Guaz?o then asks that in the three 
 days that he intends to remain yet in Casale, Magnocavalli 
 shall, in the hours left free from his practice, declare all the things 
 pertaining to society. Magnocavalli excuses himself on the 
 ground that it would take too long to go into particulars, most 
 
 in the British Museum, has been mislaid for some years, and I have been un- 
 able to see another copy. The French translations are: La civil conversazione 
 traduite de I'ltalien par G. Chappuys, Lyon, Beraud, 1580, 8vo; JLa civile con- 
 versazione traduite par Fr. Belleforest Commingeois, Paris, P. Cavellat, 1582, 
 8vo; Lyon, Rigaud, 1592, l6mo; Paris, 1598, i6mo. See Miss Scott, op. cit., 
 1916, No. 383, p. 468. There are two articles on Guazzo's Civil Conversazione 
 by Edward Sullivan in The Nineteenth Century, February, 1904, "A Forgotten 
 Volume in Shakespeare's Library," and June, 1913, "An Italian Book of Eti- 
 quette in Shakespeare's Day." The writer is interested in showing that Shake- 
 speare was acquainted with Guazzo's work and probably made use of it. 
 Curiously enough the most valuable part of Guazzo's book, the fourth, does 
 not appeal to Mr. Sullivan. He says, p. 1272, "The first edition [of the Eng- 
 lish translation] of 1581 was quickly used up, for it was followed in 1586 by 
 a second issue containing an additional fourth book, which, though begun by 
 George Pettie, was published as translated by Bartholomew Young. This 
 fourth book, which on the title-page is described as 'the report of a banquet,' 
 comes much nearer to The Courtyer than any of the three other books, dealing 
 as it does all through with court society. Probably for this reason Shakespeare 
 did not pay much attention to it. I have found but one passage in it from 
 which he may have borrowed," etc. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 389 
 
 of which are known even to the rude, and that it will suffice 
 to treat of the principal things, and of the others which may 
 arise accidentally in the course of the discussion. He declares 
 that he does not intend to discuss what may be called philo- 
 sophical precepts, because there are many volumes of these both 
 in Greek and Latin, and besides, if he wished to discuss Ethics, 
 it would be useful only to persons of intellect like his hearer, 
 whereas his intention is to discuss the particular forms of social 
 intercourse which belong to each and every class of persons. 
 Magnocavalli then says that as Guazzo has asked him what kind 
 of society one must choose to reach the perfection which they 
 •had already discussed, excluding all others, he proposes for that 
 purpose "polite society" {la civil conversazione), which he pro- 
 ceeds to define. 
 
 In the first place if we desire to understand fully what is good 
 society in order to observe its usages, we must recognize what is 
 impolite and blameworthy society in order to avoid it. In order 
 to facilitate the investigation into what is bad society and to 
 be avoided, Magnocavalli divides men (considered in their 
 social relations only) into three classes, good, bad, and middling 
 (mezzani), which are then defined more exactly, and the general 
 rule established that the good are to be followed, the bad avoided, 
 and the middling neither followed nor avoided. Guazzo re- 
 marks that few will be left to associate with as the world has be- 
 come so vicious, and cites as an instance the prevalence of oaths. 
 A list is given (fol. 26) of classes of persons to be avoided. The 
 principle, however, seems to be that only those who are openly 
 known to be bad are to be avoided in deference to public opinion. 
 Certain persons in the territory of Piedmont and Montferrat 
 have become dissolute from the constant passing of armies and 
 have assumed manners to be avoided; still they may be associ- 
 ated with for reasons given on fol. 27. Various countries have 
 their national peculiarities, and we must take people with their 
 defects. The vice of slander is among the insupportable things. 
 Various classes of slanderers are mentioned. The conclusion is 
 that although slanderers are hateful, still as they are not "marked 
 in the brow" (that is, are not publicly infamous) they must be 
 associated with and endured as well as possible. Mode of repress- 
 ing slanderers (fol. 32 vo.). 
 
 The next class of objectionable persons is that of flatterers, of 
 
390 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 whom there are two classes, one secret, and one open; the latter 
 is unendurable, the former supportable. Discussion whether 
 teachers and fathers should flatter pupils and children, and 
 children parents. A distinction is made between simulatori 
 and adulatori. Finally, the flatterers are classed with the slan- 
 derers. Method of treating them (fol. 39 vo.) ; also the way to 
 act with friends so as not to be accused of flattery. A third class 
 of persons not to be sought or avoided is that of contradictors 
 and the contentious. Cause of this vice, and method of treating 
 this class. 
 
 Liars are next considered, among whom are flatterers, de- 
 ceivers, braggarts, and the vainglorious. The inquisitive are ■ 
 also blamed, as well as the ambitious and the proud. The con- 
 clusion is that although we must associate with all kinds of per- 
 sons by chance, our association by choice should be with the few 
 and good. We should also not mind what the evil say about us, 
 and do good for the sake of virtue and not from fear of blame. 
 
 The second book begins with a statement of the difference 
 between ancient and modern times, which makes the. present 
 work an original one, and renders it impossible to follow in the 
 footsteps of the ancient philosophers. After a complimentary 
 passage, Guazzo asks if there is any rule by which a man may 
 observe the middle way in life, not be too puffed up with self- 
 conceit, or too pusillanimous. Magnocavalli answers that 
 society is the best cure for these extremes; and this brings the 
 conversation back to the subject of the work. After some dis- 
 cussion as to whether there is one form of society which all must 
 observe, or whether it differs according to the person, Magno- 
 cavalli proposes to consider the different modes of society ac- 
 cording to the diversity of persons, and as society may be con- 
 sidered as existing without one's own dwelling, or within it, 
 he proposes to consider the former on the present occasion, re- 
 serving the latter for the following day. 
 
 In regard to general principles: knowledge and contemplation 
 of nature should be joined with an active life. The benefits to 
 be obtained from social life. It is important to learn to listen 
 and to be silent. Rules for conversation, pronunciation, and 
 gestures. Faults to be avoided in speaking: too great brevity, 
 diffuseness, talking on too many subjects, repetition, too 
 many "dices," "cotales." Clearness. Affectation. More study 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 391 
 
 should be bestowed upon the sense than the words. Discourse 
 should be diversified by figures, etc. The question of the Tuscan 
 language versus dialects. Magnocavalli decides that in writing 
 Tuscan should be used, but in speaking, one's own dialect. 
 
 Having considered politeness of speech, the author now takes 
 up politeness of manners. The Socratian maxim is cited: 
 Be such as you desire to seem, and the conclusion is drawn that 
 we should think before we speak in order to avoid the fault of 
 apparenza. One should not interrupt the speaker, nor be hasty 
 in replying. It is better to know how to be silent at the right 
 time than to speak well. One should speak modestly of things 
 outside his own profession. Sincerity is one of the best ways to 
 avoid apparenza. 
 
 The firmest bond of society is the good will of others acquired 
 by affability. To this should be added discretion, which shows 
 itself in not seeing the faults of others and overlooking our own. 
 On what errors in others this discretion should be practised. 
 Manner of reproving the defects of others. Discretion in the 
 ceremonies of society. 
 
 Thus far only general rules have been given ; now Magnocavalli 
 descends to particulars. How one should converse with the young, 
 the old, the noble, the ignoble, with princes, private citizens, 
 the learned, the unlearned, with citizens or foreigners, with ec- 
 clesiastics, with laymen, with men and with women. How 
 the young should act towards the old. They should frequent 
 their society, and be modest. The old; how they should bear 
 their age, which virtue and manners make respected, not years 
 alone. The old should not despise the young. 
 
 The intercourse of the noble and ignoble. Definition of nobil- 
 ity and classification of the noble. How each should be treated 
 when they associate with the ignoble. Intercourse between 
 princes and private citizens. Princes themselves are considered 
 briefly and the difficulty for a private person to associate with 
 them. A short account is given of the mode of preserving their 
 favor. The author then passes to the intercourse between the 
 learned and the unlearned. Division of the unlearned into two 
 classes, the stoUi and the savii. Praise of letters and comparison 
 with arms. Office of the scholar to inform others. He should 
 be unaffected and incite the unlearned to study by his familiarity 
 and discretion. How the ignorant should behave towards the 
 
392 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 learned and vice versd. The true pleasure, however, is when the 
 learned associate with the learned, and hence the benefit of acade- 
 mies like the Accademia degli Illustrati of Casale. Account of 
 this academy, its motto, mode of procedure. How marriages of 
 members were celebrated, how deaths were observed. Inter- 
 course of citizens and strangers. Hospitality enjoined; how 
 strangers should act. 
 
 Intercourse between laymen and ecclesiastics. Intercourse with 
 women. In the discussion which follows Guazzo takes sides 
 against women and Magnocavalli defends them. Two kinds of 
 love, heavenly and earthly. Different kinds of beauty, and the 
 kinds of love which arise from them. Mode of behavior of men 
 and women. Example of a lady of Montferrat who is cited as a 
 model. How and to what end men should associate with women. 
 Two kinds of idleness are vicious, and one seemly (honesto). 
 The second kind is chiefly found in the society of women. 
 Advantage of banquets (conviti) from this standpoint. What 
 banquets should be and their rules. The second book ends with 
 a promise on the part of Magnocavalli to inform Guazzo of a 
 famous banquet which took place in Casale the year before. 
 This promise is fulfilled in the fourth book, which is devoted 
 wholly to an account of this banquet. 
 
 The author divides the matter of the third book as follows : 
 intercourse between husband and wife, father and son, brother 
 and brother, and master and servant. All the other grades of 
 relationship are included in these. There are three causes of 
 unhappy marriages : inequality in age or condition of husband or 
 wife; marriage made against the will of the parties; and the 
 wife's lack of dower. Whether beauty should be sought in a wife. 
 Excessive beauty is dangerous. Arts of the toilette blamed. 
 What qualities make a marriage firm and sure. A choice should 
 be made not by the eye alone, but by the ear. Qualities of the 
 parents are inherited by the children. Nobles should choose 
 a noble wife, well brought up, young rather than mature. Dif- 
 ferent usages of husbands in various provinces in treatment of 
 wives: some treat them with freedom, others with repression. 
 Ill consequences of second marriages. Proper time for husband 
 to marry is when he is still young. Behavior of husband to 
 wife. Love the foundation of marriage. What this love should 
 be; jealousy of the wife's love. Wife's faults generally arise 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 393 
 
 from husband's. Husband's distrust; on what founded. Guard 
 of wife. Domestic honor must be upheld by both husband and 
 wife, hke a burden borne by two bearers. The part assigned to 
 each; husband is head. How he should perform this duty. 
 He should extend to her confidence and companionship. How 
 he should reprove her only in case of need. How he should 
 behave towards her, with gentility. Why women love their 
 lovers more than their husbands. 
 
 Duty of wife; she should love and obey her husband. The 
 reverse is unfortunate. Why a woman should obey her husband. 
 Even if the husband fails in his duty his wife must not fail in 
 hers. The world judges the husband's fault leniently, but the 
 wife's severely. Wife should avoid the company of loose women, 
 and shun the very shadow of evil. Women although virtuous 
 are vain and like to be admired. They excuse their train of 
 suitors on the ground, first, that they cannot drive them away, 
 and, secondly because it will keep their husbands from following 
 other women. Abuse of ornaments, especially dressing the hair. 
 Returning to the duty of wife to husband, she should avoid all 
 that can vex him and graciously second his will and fall in with 
 his manners. It is not becoming in a wife to reveal to her hus- 
 band a suitor's importunities and her repulse of them. How 
 a woman is to defend herself in such cases. . How a wife should 
 treat a bad husband. Whether a husband should ever beat 
 his wife. In no way can the wife retain her husband's love so 
 well as by taking good care of the household. The husband 
 should not meddle in this matter. The wife should also bear 
 her husband's troubles, and all their goods should be in common. 
 
 Intercourse between father and son : causes of the bad under- 
 standing between sons and fathers. Children should be trained 
 to professions for which they have taste. Daughters should 
 not be forced into monasteries. Causes why sons do not meet 
 their fathers' expectations. Fault of early rearing. Many 
 mothers do not nurse their children themselves, nor select nurses 
 with sufficient care. Another cause is that fathers are selfish 
 and keep their sons with them for pastime and so interfere with 
 their education. Importance of a knowledge of letters. Wealth 
 without virtue is of little worth. Third cause of difficulty is that 
 fathers do not early enough train up their sons in the fear of 
 God. Teachers should be pious men. Teachers are of little 
 
394 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 use if the father does not himself set a good example to his son. 
 Other occasions of unhappy relations between father and son. 
 When father is blind to son's faults or excuses them or interprets 
 them too favorably. Bad results when fathers are too indulgent. 
 Equally bad when fathers are too severe. Fathers should not 
 be partial to one son : cause of this. Another cause of unhappy 
 relations is when father and son are of different stations or 
 professions. In these cases the father if a private citizen should 
 yield precedence to his son. Fathers often forget that their 
 sons are grown up and still treat them like children. Children 
 on the other hand should treat their aged fathers with gratitude 
 and respect. Avarice in fathers and sons. Children should 
 be trained up to govern the house. Rules above given are 
 briefly summed up. Duty of sons towards fathers. First law 
 of nature is that children should honor parents even if they are 
 harsh. Anecdote of the Housse Partie. 
 
 How daughters should be trained. Diversity of methods 
 followed by parents. Daughters should be trained according 
 to the life proposed for them, being strict, however, rather than 
 too free. Custom of Casale as to ladies paying calls. Training 
 fit to prepare girls for the court of princess, etc. Even daughters 
 of artisans should be taught to read and write. Summing up: 
 daughters should be brought up chaste not only in body but in 
 mind. How behavior of sons and daughters should differ. How 
 daughters should behave, with virginal modesty. Sons should 
 not be timid. Above all, children should not be frightened by 
 nurses, etc., but should be encouraged and made bold. 
 
 Behavior of widows. As they are exposed more than others 
 to criticism, they should be extremely circumspect, live retired 
 and avoid idleness. 
 
 Intercourse of brothers. Causes of discord : fathers' partiality 
 and their own selfishness. Discord of brothers diminishes the 
 good name of the family and vice versil. How concord is to be 
 maintained. It depends largely on the prudence and authority 
 of the father. The eldest brother should be honored and sub- 
 mitted to by the younger ones. He should, however, treat them 
 kindly. Above all there should be a certain respect which 
 promotes concord more than familiarity. It may be objected 
 that in this case they will not correct each others' faults. They 
 should, however, observe a temperate course in this matter and 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 395 
 
 preserve a concord composed of love, harmony, respect, and 
 correction. 
 
 Intercourse of master and servant. Three usual faults of 
 servants : drink, gambling, slander. Why they do not love their 
 masters; dissimilarity of life, mind, and manners, also servitude 
 involuntarily borne. There is a difference between noble ser- 
 vants and baseborn servants. Motive of service is different. 
 Miseries of a courtier's life. Causes of discord between master 
 and servant. Two things, one depending on master, one on 
 seWant: commanding and obeying. The master should know 
 how to command. The best way to do this is to learn how to 
 obey. Masters should not beat servants. Other faults of 
 masters. Servants on the other hand do not know how to obey. 
 They have three faults common to dogs: gluttony, barking, i.e., 
 telling all their master's secrets, and biting, i.e., backbiting their 
 masters. They are also proud and lying, and faithless. Master 
 and servant must forbear with each other. Still the master 
 is not bound to have servants belonging to the class of unen- 
 durable persons mentioned in Book II, and should show his 
 servants that he wishes his house free from every blemish, and 
 not suffer his servants to offend the honor of God, or of himself, 
 or of his neighbor. There are, however, many small defects 
 which the master can overlook. Way in which master and ser- 
 vant can live well together. Love, faithfulness, and ability are 
 demanded from the servant, and can be obtained if the master is 
 kind. Limits of this kindness. The master should teach his 
 servant to be capable. It is not easy to command. It should 
 be remembered that a new servant must learn his master's ways. 
 Hence it is better to choose an inexperienced servant than one who 
 must change all he has previously learned. The master should 
 say fully and clearly what he wants, teach the servant what he 
 does not know, and reprove his errors kindly. All the above 
 refers to words: as to deeds, the master should set the servant 
 the example of diligence, etc. When he commands it should not 
 be with imperious and threatening words. When the master 
 has by the above means won his servant's love, faith, and capa- 
 bility, he should preserve him by treating him considerately, 
 by aiding him in his labors, visiting him when sick, and giving 
 him at the right time and place those things which cost the master 
 little and are of great benefit to the servant. Duty of servant 
 
396 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 towards master: he must take great pains to serve him, must 
 not be "anew broom," must subordinate all his thoughts and 
 manners to his master's. Must not flatter or feign, but serve 
 and obey with simplicity of heart, rather from duty than from 
 fear. If servant cannot please master he had better find a new 
 place. Other virtues of a servant. 
 
 In conclusion, Guazzo asks for rules to guide courtiers. Mag- 
 nocavalli replies that Castiglione has given these in his immortal 
 work, still he will give a few of his own. As the prince is an 
 earthly god so he should be always duly honored. Two ol^r 
 rules are, silence or pleasant speech. 
 
 The fourth book of La Civil Conversazione is, as has already 
 been stated, entirely taken up with the promised account of a 
 company at Casale, in which the various forms of social diversion 
 are described at length. This book will form the subject of 
 the following chapter. 
 
 Guazzo 's work enjoyed the greatest popularity, having been 
 translated into Latin, French, and English, and being reprinted 
 as late as 1738. The Cortegiano, the Galatea, and La Civil Con- 
 versazione were the three popular handbooks of manners in Italy, 
 and their vogue in other countries served to introduce Italian 
 customs and manners and powerfully to mould society. After 
 Guazzo no other writer on social manners arose in Italy in the 
 sixteenth century, and with our consideration of his work we shall 
 take our leave of Italian Etiquette.*^ 
 
 *^ It is not my purpose to examine subsequent works on Etiquette, but I 
 may refer to one which I known only from an extract published by A. D'An- 
 cona as a wedding publication: La Gentildonna Italiana del secolo XVII a 
 Convito. {Dalla Ginipedia, omero Amertimenti civili per Donna nobile di Vin- 
 cenzo Nolfi: Capitulo XXXIV.) In Pisa, 1898. The original work appeared 
 at Venice, Guerrigli, 1631, and Bologna, Dozza, 1662. Of the author nothing 
 is known but that he died about 1666. He wrote several works in verse and 
 prose. The chapter published by D'Ancona contains minute directions for 
 table manners. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 An Italian Conversazione of the Sixteenth Century — The Fourth Book of 
 Stefano Guazzo's La Civil Conversazione — Introduction — Election of Queen — 
 Game of Solitude — Conversation on Love — Supper — Conversation on Eating 
 — Drinking — Conversation on Drinking — Music — Compliment to Signer Ves- 
 pasiano — ^Table cleared — Conversation on Happiness — Game of Society — 
 Signor Hercole's punishment — Question: Whether the Eyes or the Tongue are 
 more powerful to win love — Side of the Eyes — ^Side of the Tongue — ^As to 
 praises — As to revealing a lover's feelings — Signor Hercole's Lament to his 
 Lady — Discussion on the subject of Woman's harshness to lovers — Man's 
 Faithlessness — Discourse on Matrimony — ^The company breaks up. 
 
 The first three books of Guazzo's work were devoted, as we 
 have already seen, to the theory of society; in the fourth and 
 last book the author proposed to give the practice, as illustrated 
 by a banquet held at Casale. The company is minutely described 
 and there is every reason to suppose that it actually took place. 
 The importance of the account would warrant a translation of 
 the entire book, but the space at our disposal will require con- 
 siderable condensation. 
 
 The most illustrious Signor Vespasiano Gonzaga, while at 
 Casale, in those hours unoccupied by public affairs and private 
 studies, sometimes visited those houses where seemly and vir- 
 tuous assemblies met. And because it would be too long to 
 describe all of these, I shall select only the conversation and games 
 which took place one evening last winter at the house of Signora 
 Caterina Sacca dal Ponte, whither Signor Vespasiano betook 
 himself upon an invitation to supper, having with him Signor 
 Hercole Visconte. He found there besides Signora Caterina, 
 Signora Giovanna Bobba, Signora Lelia San Giorgio, Signora 
 Francesca Guazza, the Cavalier Bottazzo, Signor Giovanni 
 Cane, Signor Guglielmo Cavagliate, and Signor Bernardino, 
 the husband of Signora Giovanna.^ These persons by their 
 
 1 The interlocutors in the fourth part of the Civil Conversazione are ten in 
 number, six gentlemen and four ladies. The author is not present, just as 
 Castiglione does not take part in the dialogue of the Cortegiano. Guazzo's 
 wife Francesca, the niece of Signora Caterina Sacca dal Ponte, is, hoAvever, 
 present. Two only of the speakers are of any prominence in Italian history 
 and literature: Vespasiano Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta, and Giovanni Jac- 
 opo Bottazzo. The former was the son of Luigi Gonzaga, called Rodomonte, 
 
 397 
 
398 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 gentility, virtue, and manners occupy a most honored position; 
 therefore at Signor Vespasiano's appearance the whole company 
 arose, and after a chair had been offered him, he requested all 
 to sit with him. This they did and observed silence for so long 
 a time that it induced Signor Vespasiano to say that he thought 
 he had come there for society, but he perceived that he was in 
 solitude. At these words all looked at each other and continued 
 silent. He then arose and bowing to the company was about to 
 take his leave, remarking that he would withdraw in order to 
 leave them free to continue their conversation, which he knew he 
 had interrupted. Signora Caterina said quickly: "How can 
 this thought enter your mind, if I have invited this company on 
 purpose that you may find some pleasure in the supper which I 
 am now having prepared?" Then Signor Vespasiano answered: 
 "If I do not wish to depart for the reason already given, I must 
 at least depart for this other one; for the supper should not 
 
 renowned for his love of letters as well as for his military prowess. He was 
 present at the Sack of Rome in 1529, and afterwards conducted the Pope, 
 Clement VII, to Orvieto. He was killed by a shot from an arquebus at 
 Vicovaro, fighting for the Church against Napoleone Orsino. Vespasiano 
 was born in 1531, and entered the service of Spain under the Emperor Charles 
 V, and later Philip II. Like his father he distinguished himself in war as well 
 as in peace. He beautified his residence, and founded schools for the study 
 of Latin and Greek. His palace was always open to scholras and he was him- 
 self a collector of books. He died at Sabbioneta in 1591, at the age of sixty. 
 There are lives by A. Lisca, Vita Vesp. Gonzagae, Verona, 1592, and P. Iren. 
 Affo, Vita di V. G., Parma, 1780. See also notices in Tiraboschi, Storia 
 della Letteratura italiana, Vol. VII, p. 68 et seq., 11 18, and 1322; Dizionario 
 hiografico universale, Florence, 1840, Vol. II, p. 1166, and Nouvelle biographie 
 generale, Paris, 1877. The date of Bottazzo's birth and death is not known. 
 He was born at Monte Castello, near Alessandria, and was a jurist. He was 
 a member of the Accademia degli Illustrati of Casale and bore the name of 
 II Pensoso, and of the Accademia degli Argonauti at Pavia, the members of 
 which devoted themselves especially to the cultivation of marine poetry. 
 Bottazzo was the author of some letters published in various collections, 
 Rime printed in a volume issued by the Accademia degli Illustrati on the occa- 
 sion of the death of Margherita Paleologa, Duchess of Mantua, Trino, 1567, 
 and Dialoghi marittimi, Mantua, 1547. Notices of Bottazzo may be found 
 in Morano, Catalogo degli illustri scrittori di Casale, e di tulto il ducato di Mon- 
 ferrato, Asti, 1771; Mazzuchelli, Gli scrittori d'ltalia, Brescia, 1762, Vol. II, 
 Part III, p. 1888; and Tiraboschi, Vol. VII, p. 199. Of the other interlocu- 
 tors, Hercole Visconte, Giovanni Cane, and Lelia San Giorgio, are mentioned 
 in Guazzo's letters (Venice, 1606). I can find nothing in regard to Guglielmo 
 Cavagliate, Bernardino Bobba, Caterina Sacca dal Ponte, and Giovanna Bobba. 
 There is a delightful article by the French ambassador to the United States, 
 J. J. Jusserand, in the Revue de Paris, 15 July, 1899, pp. 372-399, "Un Due 
 et sa Ville. Vespasien de Gonzague, Due de Sabbioneta." The author de- 
 scribes the life of Vespasiano and the city which he founded in a wilderness. 
 A few charming pages are devoted to the Civil Conversazione of Guazzo, and a 
 brief analysis (pp. 380-387) is given of the fourth book describing the supper 
 at Casale which is the subject of the present chapter. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 399 
 
 exceed the number of nine guests,^ and finding the number al- 
 ready complete, I must withdraw as a superfluous person. To 
 whom Signer Giovanni Cane replied: "If the one who is super- 
 fluous is to be rejected, your excellency will do well to remain, 
 and let the worthless dog^ that I am depart." He pretended to 
 depart, but Signor Vespasiano stopped him and wished all to 
 resume their seats, and turning to Signor Giovanni said: "If 
 there were in this company any fierce and biting dog, I would 
 approve of its being turned out so as not to harm us ; but here I 
 see only peace, love, and concord, and you are such an agreeable 
 and trusty dog that you deserve from Signora Caterina a supper 
 and from us all many caresses, because you are a sure guard of 
 this company." "I could indeed bark," he answered, "but don't 
 let these ladies fear that I will bite or seize, since from old age 
 I have no longer any teeth in my mouth or strength in my claws." 
 After the others had given their opinions on the subject, 
 Signora Francesca said: "I do not know why we should seek to 
 exclude dogs or anything else, since the company does not 
 exceed the number of nine. And if you will excuse me, I will 
 say that you wrong the majesty of God in counting it ten, since 
 you separate what he has joined together and make two of 
 Signor Bernardino and Signora Giovanna, who by virtue of 
 marriage are but one." After the Cavalier Bottazzo had given 
 his opinion, he proposed that a lord should be created for the 
 government of the company.^ Here Signor Guglielmo said: 
 "It would be a needless trouble to wish to create a new lord, 
 since we already have one, and for my part I shall be satisfied 
 to obey the most illustrious Signor Vespasiano." "No, no," 
 replied Signor Vespasiano, "imagine that my titles have re- 
 
 ^ In regard to the number of guests at a banquet, see Palmieri, Vita Civile, 
 Bk. II, p. 185, cited in Chapter VII, p. 35. The subject is discussed in J. C. 
 Bulenger, De conmviis lihri guatuor, Lyons, 1627, p. 49, who cites Macrobius 
 Saturnaliorum libri VII, Bk, I, cap. VII. In the passage in question {Macrobi 
 Opera, ed. L. Jan, Quedlinburg, 1852, Vol. II, p. 48) Macrobius quotes Varro, 
 Saturae Menippeae, as laying down this law in regard to the number of guests 
 at a banquet: "ut neque minor quam Gratiarum sit, neque quam Musarum 
 numerosior." Jan notes: " Haec Gallius, XIII, 11, 2, sic interpretur: id est 
 proficisci a tribus et consistere in novem, ut, cum paucissimi convivae sunt, 
 non pauciores sint quam tres, cum plurimi, non plures quain novem." 
 
 ' The pun is on Signor Giovanni's name, Cane, dog. Similar puns are later 
 made on the Cavalier's name, Bottazzo, cask. 
 
 * For the custom of creating a king or queen for the government of the 
 company, see Chapter VI, note 14. To the authorities there cited may be 
 added Macrobius, op. cit., I, 5 {ed. cit., II, p. 33). 
 
400 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 mained at home, and that here is, only Vespasiano, a private 
 gentleman like the others, and let us see to whose lot it will fall 
 to be king or queen of this company." Having said this he 
 wished lots to be drawn, and taking up a volume of Petrarch, 
 which was on the table, he proposed that each should choose a 
 verse of the first sonnet, which on opening the book should ap- 
 pear on the right hand page, and he or she should be king or 
 queen who happened on the verse most appropriate to rule and 
 lordship.' One selected the first, another the second, another 
 the third, and another another verse, and then the volume was 
 opened at the sonnet beginning: 
 
 Oim^ il bel viso, oime il soave sguardo." 
 
 Signora Giovanna was declared Queen by virtue of the seventh 
 verse chosen by her, which runs: 
 
 Alma real, dignissima d'impero.' 
 
 The Queen returned thanks to the company in a modest manner, 
 and after she had chosen as judges* of the future contests Signer 
 Vespasiano and the Cavalier Bottazzo, she continued: "If I 
 rightly remember, Signor Vespasiano said on entering here that 
 he had found solitude where he thought to fund a company. 
 I should therefore be pleased if occasion should be taken from 
 these words to introduce among us a game of solitude, with which 
 should be formed a picture of the solitary life. And because I 
 know that you, Signor Giovanni, are no less clever than amusing, 
 I impose on you the duty of arranging the game, and upon the 
 others the duty of playing it." 
 
 Signor Giovanni replied: "Since I cannot or ought not to 
 oppose the commands of so great a Queen, we shall begin the 
 
 ' The lots drawn by opening a volume of Petrarch are a variation of the 
 Sortes Vir^ilianae, for which see Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities ed- 
 ited by William Smith, 3d ed., London, 1891, Vol. II, p. 687, ad verb, "sortes," 
 as well as articles Divination, Bibliomancy, and Sortes Virgilianae in Cham- 
 bers's EncyclopcBdia, new edition, 1888. There is an interesting article on the 
 subject by the Abb6 du Resnel in Memoires de littirature, tirSs des reeistres de 
 I'AcadSmie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Tome XIX, Paris, 1753, 
 pp. 287-310. The writer cites examples of the use of this kind of divination 
 in ancient and mediaeval times. Gibbon mentions this article in his Decline 
 and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter XXXVIII, note 51. 
 
 ° Petrarch, Sonetto i in Morte di Madonna Laura. "Alas the fair face, 
 alas the sweet look." 
 
 ' From the same sonnet: "Royal soul, most worthy of empire." 
 
 ' For judges in parlor games see Chapter VI, p. 281. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 401 
 
 Game of Solitude^ by each electing a place suitable for a life of 
 solitude, assigning the reason which has led us to embrace a 
 solitary life, and confirming it by some proverb or other sentence, 
 after which it will be the duty of the judges to declare which of 
 us has chosen solitude from the best motive, and he or she will 
 not be obliged to answer any question. The others then will 
 remain in their solitude, and if they wish to leave it they will 
 be compelled to answer suitably the questions put to them by 
 the judges. Expecting therefore that each of you in the order 
 of this circle will follow the game, I begin as follows: "Because 
 I do not wish in society to contaminate my soul by the vices of 
 others, I depart to the solitude of my estate named Boromeo, 
 where I shall support my action by the saying. Better alone than 
 in bad company."^" 
 
 Then followed the Queen : "In order that the greed of reigning 
 and extending my royal state may not urge me to oppress my 
 subjects and earn perpetual blame, I go to lead a private life 
 in the solitude of a desert, there being sure that whoever humbles 
 himself on earth shall be exalted in heaven." 
 
 Signor Guglielmo: "In order that I may give my lady no 
 occasion to doubt that I am a faithful and secret lover, I with- 
 draw to the solitude of an uninhabited tower where I shall show 
 that never like me 
 
 Was sparrow solitary on any roof."" 
 
 Then Signora Francesca: "That I may never have to behold 
 in the face of any lady that excellent beauty of which heaven 
 has been liberal to her and avaricious to me, I retire to the 
 solitude of darkness, where I shall recognize the truth of the 
 saying, If eye does not behold, heart does not sigh." 
 
 Signor Hercole: "That I may honor my lady with pen and 
 ink as I do with my tongue, I retreat to the solitude of my cham- 
 ber, where I shall cause her: 
 
 ' The Game of Solitude is not found in Bargagli or Ringhieri and I do not 
 remember seeing it elsewhere. It was probably invented for the occasion. 
 
 '"For this proberb see G. PitTe,Proverbi Siciliani, Palermo, 1880, Vol. I, 
 p. 239. This proverb is found from Sicily to Piedmont: the Tuscan form is, 
 "Meglio soli, che male accompagnati." 
 " Petrarch, Sonetto 171 in Vita di Laura: 
 
 Passer mai solitario in alcun tetto 
 Non fu quant' io. 
 The poet had in mind Psalm CII, 7, " I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon 
 the house top." 
 27 
 
402 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 To be praised in more than a thousand pages if I live."^^ 
 
 Then Signora Lelia: "In order that these false poets with their 
 sweet praises and pitiful rhymes may not lull my reason to rest, 
 and in order to arouse my senses, shutting my ears to their 
 vain words, I shall withdraw into the solitude of myself and do 
 as does the asp: 
 
 Which because it is wicked will not hear the song."" 
 
 Signor Bernardino: "That I may forget an ungrateful woman, 
 I depart to the solitude of Mt. Olympus, where I shall prove 
 whether that proverb is true : Out of sight, out of mind."'* 
 
 Signora Caterina: "That I may destroy the flesh and edify 
 the spirit I go to end my days in the solitude of a holy monastery, 
 where devoted to God I shall see : 
 
 That what delights the world is a short dream."'* 
 
 After each had thus proposed a solitude, Signor Vespasiano 
 turning to the Cavalier said : " It is for us now to judge which of 
 them has withdrawn into solitude from the best spirit." The 
 
 '2 Petrarch, Sonetto 28 in Vita di Laura: 
 
 che laudato 
 Sari, s'io vivo, in piu di mille carte. 
 
 " Che per star empio il canto udir non vole. 
 
 I do not know the author of this line. The belief that the asp stops its ears 
 in order not to hear is as old as the Psalms; in the Vulgate, LVII, 5, the trans- 
 lation is :"sicut aspidis surdae, et obturantis aures suas." In the English 
 Authorized Version, LVIII, 4, the rendering is: "they are like the deaf adder 
 that stoppeth her ear." This figure in the Psalms gave rise to various legends 
 which may be found in the mediaeval Bestiaries; see F. Lauchert, Geschichte 
 des Physiologus, Strassburg, 1889, pp. 22, 190, and 198. Lauchert cites the 
 canzone Aifals ris attributed to Dante, which contains the following allusion 
 to the asp: 
 
 Ben avria questa donna il cor di ghiaccio, " 
 
 Aitan col aspis, que per ma fe es sors. 
 
 Nisi pietatem habuerit servo. 
 
 and Ariosto, Capitolo XVII, O lieta piaggia: 
 
 io supplico a un sasso: 
 Anzi a una crudel Aspide, che suole 
 Atturarsi I'orecchie, accio placarse 
 Non possa per dolcezza di parole. 
 
 " The Italian is, "S'occhio non mira, cuor non sospira." See Pitre, op. ciU, 
 Vol. I, p. 22, who cites examples from all parts of Italy, as well as the Latin 
 "Qui non viderit, non cuperit." The Tuscan form is the nearest the text: "Se 
 I'occhio non mira, il cor non sospira." The proverb which I have used to 
 render the original, "S'occhio non mira, cuor non sospira," is also widely 
 spread in Italy; see Pitre, op. cit., Vol.. I, p. 114. 
 
 " Petrarch, Sonetto i in Vita di Laura: 
 
 Che quanto piace al mondo e breve sogno. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 403 
 
 cavalier replied: "Since a hasty sentence betokens a rash judge, 
 we must for our honor first ruminate it well, in order that it 
 may not be called crude and indigested." "Then," said Signer 
 Vespasiano, "if we have to ruminate, let the supper be brought 
 and while we two are ruminating it, these recluses of ours shall 
 remain in their solitudes in fasting and prayer, which is always 
 good for the salvation of their souls." The Queen then inter- 
 rupted and said: "Don't take this turn. Sir Judges, because we, 
 too, wish to sup, and hear you pronounce our sentences, and 
 remember that Signor Giovanni has not proposed in this game 
 either fasting or prayer." These words were approved by all, 
 and especially by Signora Caterina, to whom Signor Vespasiano 
 said: "A moment ago you wanted to mortify your flesh and end 
 your days in a convent, and now you want to sup with us!" 
 She replied: "I don't repent of wishing to retire to a convent; 
 but before Lent the Carnival must be observed ; so it will suffice 
 if I go to the convent to-morrow ; besides, you know that fasting 
 begins in the morning and not in the evening." Signor Giovanni 
 added: "You would like to break my fast in the middle, but 
 it must be ended before supper ; therefore delay sentence no longer, 
 after which you must put questions to each of us, in order that 
 with our answers we may escape from our solitude and likewise 
 sup." 
 
 Thereupon the judges arose and stepped aside and after com- 
 paring their opinions decided that the proposition of Signora 
 Caterina surpassed all others in merit, and she was consequently 
 released from her solitude without further question. Then 
 turning to the Queen the judges said: "If you wish to leave your 
 desert, explain to us first with what intent a certain artist painted 
 Love with a fish in one hand and a flower in the other, "i* She 
 answered : "To show that he rules land and sea." 
 
 Then Signora Lelia was told that she could not hope to leave 
 her secret solitude unless she explained the mystery of the lover 
 who said to his lady: "I am without God, without you, and with- 
 out myself." She replied : " I am without God, because I worship 
 you, not him; I am without you because I do not have you; 
 and I am without myself because you have me." 
 
 " The "question " why Love was depicted as blind, young, naked, and armed 
 with the bow, was frequently debated; see Chapter VI, note 22, and Chapter 
 XI, note 7. I am not acquainted with any picture, like that mentioned in the 
 text, where Love is depicted with a fish in one hand and a flower in the other. 
 
404 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The judges then went to Signora Francesca and said that she 
 could not think of leaving her darkness unless she explained to 
 them how it was possible to see a thing and at the same time not 
 to see it. She answered: "You shall soon know if you shut one 
 eye and look at me with the other, because you will not see me 
 with the closed eye, and will see me with the open one." 
 
 Having released Signora Francesca, Signer Giovanni was asked, 
 in order to return from his estate of Boromeo, to answer what 
 dog, what cock, and what servant were fed better than all others. 
 He replied: "The butcher's dog, the miller's cock, and the land- 
 lords' servant." 
 
 Signor Bernardino was told that if he wished to descend from 
 Olympus he must show how the body could receive pleasure and 
 pain at the same time. He answered: "Let one who has the 
 itch scratch himself and he will see." 
 
 Signor Hercole was told that he would remain a prisoner in 
 his chamber until he told who those lovers were, who the older 
 they grew, the more in love they were. He replied : "Those who 
 love the beauties of the mind, which increase in the beloved with 
 time, and are with greater judgment recognized by the lover." 
 
 The only one now left in solitude was Signor Guglielmo, who 
 was told that if he wished to descend from his tower and sup 
 with the others he must declare which are the greater in number, 
 the living or the dead. He replied: "The living, for the dead no 
 longer are." 
 
 The game ended, the Queen asked if it were the hour for supper. 
 The Cavalier replied: "The hour for the rich is when they will, 
 for the poor when they can." Then the Queen ordered the 
 steward to go for the supper. Meanwhile the Cavalier reverted 
 to Signor Guglielmo's answer and said: "This reply is according 
 to the letter, but I think that even according to the spirit of his 
 words it may be said that the dead are not in the majority, and 
 that the living are, for Plato was wont to say that we are now 
 dead and that our bodies are our sepulchres, inferring that we 
 begin to live when we are dead. Wherefore according to this 
 understanding we living must be called dead, and the dead 
 living, which being so, it is very true that the living are more in 
 number than the dead." Signor Guglielmo replied: "I under- 
 stand the matter in the same way, and I think the poet should 
 be so understood where he says: 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 405 
 
 When I thought to close my eyes I opened them." 
 
 Which he showed more clearly in that other verse: 
 
 I am alive and thou art still dead.''^^ 
 
 "And I," added Signer Hercole, "holding dead those who leave 
 this mortal life, dare to say that at least in this city, the dead are 
 more than the living, since the beauty of these ladies has killed,, 
 up to this time, more than a thousand lovers, and more than a 
 thousand they will yet kill before they die." 
 
 The conversation thus begun turns on the subject of the 
 cruelty of ladies to their lovers, and lasts until the supper is an- 
 nounced. While the Queen was speaking on this topic the tables 
 were set and furnished with viands. Then the company ha\'ing 
 washed their hands and invoked the blessing of God, the Queen 
 was offered her seat, after whom all took their places at her 
 command and began the supper, which was constantly inter- 
 spersed with varied and pleasing conversation. 
 
 The talk first naturally fell on eating, as Signora Caterina 
 began by apologizing for the viands. To whom Signora Fran- 
 cesca replied: "Perhaps it would have been better, my aunt, 
 to have prepared the supper in such a way as not to need an 
 excuse, and these guests might ask what prevented you from 
 better providing for their needs and merits." Signora Caterina 
 answered: "I would reply that their boundless goodness has,, 
 which promises me that they will accept my excuse." Here 
 Signor Giovanni said: "When we shall have supped, Signora 
 Francesca will perceive that this excuse was unnecessary, be- 
 cause you will see removed from the table so much superfluity 
 that perhaps Signora Caterina will deserve rather to be accused 
 than excused. Here I see no ravening wolves, nor is there need 
 to fear the dog, because he is old and eats little." Then Signor 
 Guglielmo said: "A good man was wont to say to his guests; 
 'If you are wise men, what I give you to eat is enough; if you 
 are not wise, it is too much.'" The Cavalier said: "A poet 
 
 " Petrarch, Sonetto H in Morte di Laura: 
 
 Quando mostrai di chiuder, gli occhi apersi. 
 It is incorrectly quoted in the text, where it runs: 
 
 Quando pensai di chiuder, gli occhi apersi. 
 " Petrarch, Trionfo della Morte, Cap. II-, 22: 
 
 Viva son io, e tu sei morte ancora. 
 
406 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 once included among the greatest blessings of life the easy ban- 
 quet." "What do you understand by an easy banquet?" asked 
 Signora Lelia. He replied: "Easy on the purse." Signor Ver- 
 pasiano said: "Or easy to dispatch, because if it is not easy 
 it is difficult to come off with honor and health." "That 
 is so," added Signor Bernardino, "because when you can't 
 find the way to get your foot out, you have to turn back." The 
 Queen, laughing, asked Signor Hercole how he understood it 
 and he replied: "I understand it in a contrary sense, and believe 
 that poet was a boon companion who meant by an easy banquet 
 that food which can be easily swallowed without tiring the teeth 
 too much by masticating it, such as good soups, pies, milk, 
 honey, bianco mangiare, jellies, and the like." Signor Giovanni 
 said: "It might also be said that he wished to commend sobriety, 
 and that he meant a banquet easy, not in respect to the food, 
 but to the stomach, which receiving little food, easily digests 
 it." This led the conversation to the subject of sobriety, which 
 was approved provided it was not caused by avarice. The 
 Cavalier said apropos of this; " I find that Plato reproved Aristip- 
 pus because he had bought a large quantity of fish. When he 
 said that he had had them for a small sum, Plato replied: 'I 
 too would buy them at so cheap a price.' Aristippus retorted: 
 'You see then, O Plato, that I am not gluttonous, but that you 
 are avaricious.'"" Signor Guglielmo said: "That Aripistus 
 must have liked dainties more than fine clothing." All laughed 
 at that word Aripistus, which he had uttered involuntarily, and 
 he said: "I do not know how I got my tongue so twisted since 
 I have not yet drunk." 
 
 Then the Queen commanded that drink should be brought him 
 to straighten his tongue, which was done, and likewise to the 
 others. After Signora Francesca had drunk, Signor Vespasiano 
 said to her: "You do not wish to follow the custom of the an- 
 cient Roman matrons, of whom Dante says: 
 
 And for their drink the ancient Roman women 
 With water were content. "'''' 
 
 " This anecdote of Plato and Aristippus is related by Athenseus in his 
 DeipnosopUstae, Bk. VIII, 343, c (ed. Dindorf, Leipzig, 1827, Vol. II, p. 712). 
 2» Dante, Purgatorio, XXII, 145, Longfellow's translation. The original 
 is: 
 
 E le romane antiche, per lor bere, 
 Contente furon d'acqua. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 407 
 
 She replied: "I leave water to the dogs." Signor Giovanni 
 answered: "I can hardly stand on my feet with wine; think of 
 what I would do drinking water. Give it, however, to the 
 Cavalier to fill his cask [botazzo]." And he who held in his 
 hand a glass in the shape of a ship full of wine, said: "Since 
 Signora Caterina has been pleased to make me a boatman, I 
 should be silly if I drank water while guiding a ship of wine." 
 After he had drunk he raised his hand and added: "He who said 
 that the ships on land are the safest, meant these." Then drink 
 was given to Signor Giovanni, who before he finished drinking, 
 stopped two or three times to taste it the better. Signora 
 Lelia said to him: "It seems to me, Signor Giovanni, that you 
 eat your wine instead of drinking it." "So he must do," he 
 replied, "who wishes to extract its quintessence. Don't you 
 know the proverb that three things are ill treated: Birds in the 
 hands of children; girls in the hands of old men; and wine in 
 the hands of Germans, who do not drink it but swallow it and 
 break its neck." "Rather," said Signor Vespasiano, "they 
 break their own necks." 
 
 After they had all drunk Signor Hercole said: "I have still 
 something left to say on behalf of sobriety." Here Signora 
 Francesca interposed: "I beg you, don't praise sobriety any 
 more, because you will not be believed, for you praise it while 
 eating." He answered: "Don't look at what I do, but at what 
 I say." The Cavalier said: "Perhaps Signora Francesca means 
 that this is not a suitable time, as thought one who when re- 
 proved at the table for eating too much, replied: 'Excuse me, 
 my gluttony has no ears.' " Signora Francesca answered : "I did 
 not mean that, but that we all praise sobriety, and almost all 
 of us avoid it." Signor Guglielmo said: "It may be said, in 
 conformity with your opinion, that sobriety, as the poet declares: 
 
 Like those acorns. 
 Which shunning, all the world honors."^' 
 
 Signor Giovanni added that he concurred in Signora Francesca 's 
 opinion that it was inopportune to talk of sobriety while at 
 supper, and cited the example of the kings of Persia, who dis- 
 puted about strength before war, of justice before the sacrifice, 
 
 2' Petrarch, Canzone 4 in Vita di Laura: 
 Simili a quelle ghiande 
 Le qua' fuggendo tutto il mondo onora. 
 
408 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and of sobriety before eating. The Queen, however, commanded 
 Signor Hercole not to refrain from speaking what he had in 
 mind, and he began: "WTiat I wanted to say was that if it is 
 true that the mind fasting is quicker and loftier, as has been said, 
 I should like to know how that ancient proverb can be true, 
 which declares that from a full belly proceeds better counsel, 
 and if he can tune for me this harp, he shall be my great Apollo." 
 All listened attentively, thinking that such a question deserved 
 a grateful hearing. The Cavalier then said: "If I do not err, 
 there is no opposition between these two propositions, because 
 it is true that the mind is quicker when fasting, and it is likewise 
 true that counsel is better after food. But you must remark 
 that by good counsel you must not understand that- given by a 
 person of astute and subtle intellect, for if it were so, undoubtedly 
 his advice would be better fasting. But by better counsel we 
 must understand that given by a just and sincere person. And 
 therefore just as fasting (if we intend to work some evil) we form 
 our plan with greater malice, so after food the sharpness of our 
 intellect is blunted and our desire to do evil is diminished. You 
 see that ordinarily we are more joyful after eating and give more 
 gracious answers, and act more frankly than we did while fasting. 
 I cannot support this fact by a more famous maxim than that 
 of Cato of Utica, who said that Caesar went sober to ruin the 
 Republic, meaning that a man with a full stomach would never 
 have been so cruel and inhuman." 
 
 The company then discussed the question why it was that the 
 Cavalier was of subtle wit although the fattest of those present. 
 After this was settled to the satisfaction of all, the Queen in- 
 vited Signor Giovanni to drink. He replied: "Rather, Signora, 
 invite me to eat, for I am continually invited to drink by my 
 old age, which is like that of the eagle. "^^ While she was mixing 
 the wine with water, he added: "I see very clearly that you are 
 watering the wine to set us an example; but on account of my 
 continual occupations I have never had time to do so myself." 
 After he had drunk, the wine was carried to the others and the 
 Cavalier remarked: "A long time ago there came to this city an 
 astrologer to whom I applied to know the events of my life, and 
 
 ^^ In the Psalm CIII, 5, the words: "so that thy youth is renewed like the 
 eagle's," gave rise during the Middle Ages to various legends concerning the 
 eagle, for which Lauchert, op. cit., pp. 9, 171, and 193, may be consulted. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 409 
 
 although he informed me of many important things, I chiefly 
 laid up in my heart the warning he gave me to guard myself 
 against a great danger from water. From that time on I de- 
 termined never to drink water in my wine, and I have succeeded 
 in keeping my resolution until now." Signora Lelia replied: 
 "You should be careful while shunning water that you do not 
 fall into the fire, which you drink in your wine; unless you tell 
 me that one danger cannot be overcome without another." 
 He answered: "I don't mean that, but that the fire of wine if it 
 burns does not consume, and then if you notice, I am drinking 
 this wine from a ship, and while the wine descends into the cask 
 (botazzo) from the prow, a breeze blows from the stern which 
 gently tempers its heat." Signora Caterina and all the others 
 having drunk, Signor Guglielmo was left the last to do so. He 
 began to smell the wine, and when he was asked why he did so, 
 he answered, after he had emptied his glass, that he had found 
 more sweetness in smelling wine than in smelling love letters. 
 ' ' How so ? " asked the Queen. He replied : " A certain countryman 
 of ours wrote his lady a love letter, and to make it more pleasant 
 to her he had it perfumed a little, and fearing that perchance 
 she would not perceive it, he added these words: Postscript. 
 Kiss the letter." All laughed, and the Queen remarked that she 
 had observed that many smelled their wine before drinking it. 
 She therefore commanded each one of the company to give a 
 different reason for smelling the wine. 
 
 After they had done this, Signor Giovanni changing the sub- 
 ject said: "There was once a boon companion who having eaten 
 at supper some dishes seasoned with much salt and pepper rose 
 from his bed at midnight and putting his head out of a window 
 overlooking the street, called at the top of his voice: 'Fire! 
 Fire!' The neighbors ran up at the noise and asked where the 
 fire was. The man answered: 'In my throat, in my throat.' 
 Now," he added, "I feel a like fire in mine, thanks to this 
 pastry, wherefore I must be given drink at once to extinguish 
 it." 
 
 The conversation continued in this strain for some time and 
 was at last interrupted by the entrance of a musician with a 
 lyre in his hand. After he had with his sweet sounds produced 
 a sudden silence and prepared all to give him a ready ear, turn- 
 ing his eyes to Signor Vespasiano and saluting him, he sang a 
 
410 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 poem in his honor .^' The Queen and all the others praised Sig- 
 nora Caterina for having in this elegant manner honored in her 
 house the most illustrious Signor Vespasiano, who said: "Signora 
 Caterina, you can treat me in your house as you will; but I 
 remind you that you have not fully succeeded in your intent, 
 for your guests praise indeed the voice of your singer, but will 
 not believe anything that he has said of me." Signora Caterina 
 replied: "I have not accomplished fully my intent, because 
 these praises are far inferior to your Excellency's great merits 
 and I am sure that my guests will say the same." 
 
 After some further protests on the part of Signor Vespasiano, 
 the table was cleared away and due thanks returned to God. 
 Silence was observed for some time, after which Signor Ves- 
 pasiano began: "Those seem to me unwise who are not diligent 
 in finding some way to avoid death, and to prolong life as long 
 as they can, for which purpose are especially fitted these pleasant 
 and seemly companies, by means of which tiresome thoughts 
 are suspended and our afflicted spirits are immeasurably com- 
 forted." "For this reason," added the Queen, "we say that 
 joy beautifies the face." Signora Caterina remarked: "I greatly 
 envy those who always remain the same, and never harbor 
 melancholy thoughts no matter what crosses them." Signora 
 Francesca said: "I believe that mode of life should be attributed 
 to a lack of intelligence, for if they were persons of spirit they 
 would take things more to heart. As a proof of this we see that 
 men of high undertakings and scholars are generally melancholy." 
 "Hence the proverb," said Signor Giovanni, "that to know noth- 
 ing is a pleasant life,^* and we see thoughtless men never change 
 
 " The poem in honor of Signor Vespasiano is in terza rima, and consists of 
 twenty-eight lines. It begins as follows: 
 
 Cantar vostr'alti honor mia voce humile 
 Non puo Signore, onde convien che torni 
 Al mondo Orfeo col suo divino stile. 
 The English translator, B. Young, renders these lines thus: 
 
 To sing of all your worthie deedes, 
 
 your honours great and hie, 
 My humble voice (thrise noble Lord) 
 
 cannot it selfe applie. 
 
 Orpheus must retourne againe, 
 
 who with his stile divine, 
 Must praise you, and your vertues rare, 
 
 which like the Sunne doe shine. 
 
 " "Che'l non saprer e una dolce vita." I have not been able to find any 
 parallels for this proverb. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 411 
 
 countenance for sun or rain, like the locksmith who leaps as 
 high with his bag as without it,^^ and in short are happier than 
 if they were wiser." Signer Bernardino: "Certainly we have no 
 greater enemy than melancholy, which destroys our marrow and 
 dries up our bones, whence for the benefit of our lives we ought 
 to wish to be a little less wise and a little healthier." Signora 
 Lelia said: "I would gladly learn some secret by which I could 
 keep myself a little more joyful than I am, since melancholy is 
 so hurtful to me." Signor Vespasiano answered: "The remedy 
 is in the hands of all, but very few use it." "What is it?" she 
 asked. He answered: "Contentment with one's lot." "I 
 know many," she replied, "very happy by their virtue, station, 
 and wealth, who are still not content with their lot." Signor 
 Vespasiano said: "You should not call those happy, for they do 
 not know how to be happy, whence the Mantuan poet said : 
 
 O fortunatos nimirum, sua si bona norint agricolas?"^^ 
 
 "Whatis it," she asked, "that keeps us from this knowledge, and 
 from contentment with our lot?" He replied: "Wicked com- 
 parison, because you keep comparing yourself with those ladies 
 who are better off than you are, and I myself with those men who 
 are more powerful than I, whence it comes that we constantly 
 consume our hearts because we cannot attain their goal, and are 
 unwilling to turn back a little and compare ourselves with those 
 who are below us. Should we do this, instead of grieving we 
 should certainly rejoice, thanking God who has not placed us 
 in that inferior position, and we should see that if the ape com- 
 plains because he has no tail, and the ass because he has no 
 horns, the mole has greater reason to complain because he has 
 no eyes." 
 
 The conversation continued in this strain for some time, and 
 arrangements were concluded for a banquet to be given by the 
 Cavalier the following day. Then the Queen arose and with- 
 drew with the others to the fire, and after a short silence, she 
 said: "Since it is the common opinion that maintenance of our 
 joy depends upon this company, I do not know why instead of 
 the Game of Solitude which we played before supper, we should 
 
 ^ "Far come il magnano, che tanto salta con le bolge, come senza le bolge." 
 I have not been able to find any parallels for this proverb. 
 
 2^ Virgil, Georgics, II, 458: O most happy husbandmen, if they knew their 
 blessings! 
 
412 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 not now play the Game of Society [conversazione].^'' Therefore 
 it will now be your duty, Signor Hercole, to carry it out in con- 
 formity with your judgment." Here Signor Giovanni inter- 
 posed: "You were judicious in giving charge of the Game of 
 Solitude to an old man, as you have now been in entrusting the 
 Game of Society to a young man who will be much more suitable 
 than I." Signor Hercole remarked: "It would be time for me 
 to play the Game of Society, since thus far, by the fault of one 
 who does not care about it, I have played no other game than 
 that of Solitude." The Queen answered: "Keep these com- 
 plaints for a better occasion, and begin the game, of which Sig-r 
 nor Giovanni and Signor Guglielmo shall be judges." 
 
 Then Signor Hercole said: "Now we can play a game in which 
 each one must imagine something which is caused by two or 
 three things together, as for example, a fish is caught by two 
 things together, which are the bait and the hook, so I could say: 
 'I present you with a fish, which the bait and hook associating 
 together have caught.' After we have all repeated such state- 
 ments the game will not yet be ended. But not to confuse you 
 we will now perform this first part, and then what is left." The 
 ladies objected, saying that the game was too difficult to play 
 in such an impromptu manner. Signor Hercole said that while 
 the gentlemen were making their statements, the ladies would 
 have time enough to think of theirs, and turning to the Queen 
 he began: "Signora, I present you with the wound which 
 your beauty and virtue associating together have made in the 
 hearts of mortals." Signor Vespasiano turning to Signora 
 Caterina said: "I present you with the confusion which hope 
 and fear associating in my breast have begotten." Signor 
 Bernardino to Signora Lelia: "I present you with a snare which 
 your hand and mine associating together have made about my 
 heart." The Cavalier to Signora Francesca : " I present you with 
 a captive taken in a golden net woven by Love and your hair 
 associating together." Then the Queen to Signor Hercole: 
 " I present you with a plant covered with flowers which the earth 
 and sun associating together have produced." Signora Caterina 
 to Signor Vepasiano: "I present you with a crown which letters 
 and arms associating together have woven." Signora Lelia 
 
 " I do not find the Game of Society in Bargagli or Ringhieri. It was prob- 
 ably invented for the occasion. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 413 
 
 to Signor Bernardino: "I present you with a piece of embroidery 
 which the needle and silk associating together have worked." 
 Signora Francesca to the Cavalier: "I present you with a letter 
 full of my secrets which pen and ink associating together have 
 composed." 
 
 When this part of the game had been finished, Signor Hercole 
 said: "It is for you, Sir Judges, to declare which gentleman and 
 which lady has expressed most elegantly his or her idea." After 
 they had compared opinions they replied: "Of the ladies the 
 Queen, of the gentlemen Signor Vespasiano." "These," said 
 Signor Hercole, "will remain out of the game." Then he asked 
 each of those who remained in the game to present some one thing 
 composed of many, and he began by saying to Signora Caterina : 
 "I present you with a garland woven of many flowers." Sig- 
 nor Bernardino to Signora Lelia: "I present you with a temple of 
 praises which many illustrious academicians have consecrated." 
 The Cavalier to Signora Francesca: "I present you with my old 
 age composed of many years." Signora Caterina to Signor 
 Hercole: "I present you with my affection inspired by your 
 many merits." Signora Leha to Signor Bernardino: "I present 
 you with prudence begotten by many labors." Signora Fran- 
 cesca to the Cavalier: "I present you with the honey made by a 
 great multitude of bees." 
 
 Then Signor Hercole asked the judges for their decisions on 
 these statements ; and they gave the honor to Signora Lelia and 
 Signor Bernardino, who remained out of the game. Then Signor 
 Hercole proposed that they should name two things which asso- 
 ciate well together, and he said: "The vine and the elm associate 
 well together." The Cavalier: "Nobility and wealth associate 
 well together." Signora Caterina: "The cripple and the blind 
 associate well together." Signora Francesca: "The braggart 
 and the flatterer associate well together." The honor was be- 
 stowed upon Signora Caterina and the Cavalier. Signora 
 Francesca and Signor Hercole were now the only ones left in the 
 game, so he said: "Signora Francesca, you must now tell two 
 things that go ill together," and he first said: "Two lords in one 
 kingdom ill agree." She said: "Two rivals in the service of one 
 ill agree." When the opinion of the judges was asked the praise 
 was bestowed upon Signora Francesca and Signor Hercole was 
 left alone. He said: "You see that I am left alone; therefore 
 the Game of Society has ended." 
 
414 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The Queen turned to the judges and remarked: "It seems to 
 me that Signor Hercole deserves severe punishment for having 
 deceived us as to the end of the game, which we expected to take 
 another turn." Signor Giovanni said: "He deserves to be pun- 
 ished not only for that, but also because he has disobeyed your 
 command, which was to arrange a game of society, whereas, it 
 seems to me he has made one of solitude, having begun with 
 eight players and ended with one." Signora Lelia added: 
 "He also deserves punishment because he has withdrawn him- 
 self from our society, as if he thought that we were all unworthy 
 of his." Signora Francesca said: "He ought not to be forgiven 
 for his error on account of the great danger to which he has ex- 
 posed me, for if I had been obliged by my ill luck to remain in 
 solitude like him, I should have died of fear." All added that 
 it was right to punish him, which Signor Hercole, hearing, said: 
 "I know very well that it is true that when the tree has fallen 
 all run at it with their axes."^^ The Queen then ordered him 
 to leave the circle and stand apart to hear the judgment in his 
 case. After he had done so, she said: "As in the other games 
 each of the company is usually compelled to solve some doubtful 
 question,^' so now it will be for us all to put questions to Signor 
 Hercole and it will be his duty to solve them alone in satisfaction 
 for the punishment which he has deserved, and if he replies 
 suitably to the questions put to him, and gives reasons for each 
 of his answers, we shall all be glad to restore him to our favor and 
 readmit him to our company. If he is not bold enough to under- 
 take this enterprise, let him accept in peace banishment from our 
 company for all this winter." 
 
 After some hesitation Signor Hercole accepted the condition 
 imposed by the Queen, who began the questions by asking: 
 ' ' What is that gain which brings loss ? ' ' He replied : ' ' That which 
 I have just now acquired with you all, because by my luckless 
 game I have incurred your disfavor, by which I am deprived of 
 all joy." Signora Caterina followed, asking: "To whom can 
 one most freely tell a secret?" He answered: "To a liar, for he 
 
 ^' " Che come I'arbore e caduta a terra tutti le corrono sopra con le scurre." 
 For this proverb see Pitre, op. cit., II, p. 19, where a number of parallels are 
 given, among them one from Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XXXVII, 106: 
 Com'e in proverbio: Orgnun corre a far legna 
 All'arbore che'l vento in terra getta. 
 ^' The use of "questions" as a means of social diversion has already been 
 fully treated in Chapters I, II, III, and VI. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 415 
 
 will not be believed when he repeats it." Then Signora Lelia 
 asked: "What is the swiftest of all things?" He replied: "The 
 mind, because it embraces everything in a moment." Signora 
 Francesca asked him: "What does envy most resemble?" He 
 replied: "The moth, for as the moth gnaws the wood where it 
 was born before it can gnaw others, so the envious man gnaws and 
 harms himself before he can hurt others." Then Signor Ves- 
 pasiano asked: "What color should a lover wear to indicate an 
 ardent and secret love?" He answered: "Gray, for that color 
 resembles ashes which keep the fire alive secretly." The Cava- 
 lier asked: "What is most like death?" Signor Hercole turning 
 to the Queen said: "Signora, command the Cavalier to ask me 
 another question, for with this one he is trying to make me say 
 something which will bring reproach upon the ladies and cause 
 me to incur their ill will." The Queen replied: "Answer in a 
 proper way, and do not hesitate, for all will be taken in good 
 part." So he replied : "With your permission then I will answer, 
 that nothing resembles death more than woman, for like death 
 she follows him who flees, and flies him who calls her." Signor 
 Guglielmo asked him: "What is most like woman?" He re- 
 pHed: "A pair of scales, which inclines to the side which receives 
 the most." Signor Bernardino asked: "Among all the things 
 in the world, which are the most harmful?" He answered: 
 "Fire, sea, and woman." Signor Giovanni asked him: "Which 
 subjects are the most unhappy?" He replied: "Those who are 
 subject to several masters, for it is harder to fill many sacks than 
 a single one." 
 
 After Signor Hercole had answered the questions put him by 
 all, the Queen looking at him said, that he could now see how 
 good sometimes arises from evil, for from having incurred the 
 disfavor of all, he had won the honor of having brilliantly dis- 
 played his deep learning by his witty replies, on which she con- 
 gratulated him, and then, at the desire of all the others, she 
 readmitted him to the company and restored him to his former 
 position. The company bantered Signor Hercole on his punish- 
 ment, but the Cavalier said: "It is not becoming to renew past 
 troubles, and we should believe that Signor Hercole has not 
 only willingly endured his punishment for the satisfaction of us 
 all, but also has not thought it strange that he should be de- 
 prived of our society, since lovers like him seek solitude." To 
 
416 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 whom Signor Hercole replied: "Lovers like to retire into soli- 
 tude not because that is their chief object; but because they 
 there converse mentally with the beloved, and exercise their 
 minds on the means of reaching her presence, which is their 
 object." Signor Bernardino said: "You have now made that 
 your object, but when you reach it you are not satisfied and seek 
 to go farther toward another object." Signor Hercole, however, 
 replied: "God knows whether I love my lady other than vir- 
 tuously, and whether I desire to reap other fruit from her society 
 than the food of her eyes, and of her ears, which are her gracious 
 glances and sweet words." The Queen here remarked: "Since 
 Signor Hercole has begun this subject, I should like to know from 
 you, Signor Cavaliere, whether the eyes or the tongue are more 
 powerful to win love in the intercourse of lovers."^" 
 
 The Cavalier demurred on the ground of his years, which un- 
 fitted him for reasoning on such a topic; but yielded at last to 
 the arguments of Signor Bernardino and Signor Giovanni, and 
 turning to the Queen said: "Since you command me to do so 
 and Signor Giovanni spurs me on by his authority, I reply that 
 in the intercourse of lovers the eyes have much greater power than 
 the tongue; because the eyes, in spite of us, reveal outwardly 
 what is concealed within, by appearing joyful, sad, kind, 
 harsh, dull, or lascivious; nor do they produce these results alone, 
 but often they ask or promise us something, and as messengers 
 of the heart give certain tokens as well of love as of hatred, 
 and without words make us understand each other, so that we 
 cannot doubt that the eyes are the picture of our minds and in 
 them all love is seated. Now, as these give an infallible token 
 of our secrets, so the tongue is fallacious and very often conceals 
 the affection of the heart so that the lover cannot be sure of what 
 his beloved says unless he has a pledge in his hands ; besides, the 
 tongue often says things which offend, and risks changing the 
 beloved's mind, whereas the eyes by their constant reverence 
 win favor and reward." Here Signor Hercole said: "Although 
 you are out of the lists, do ngt be angry if I, an inexperienced 
 champion, come now to break a. lance with you, and tell you that 
 in my opinion words have much greater power than looks, be- 
 
 '" I have not been able to find this precise "question." It might easily arise 
 from the " question " whether love springs from sight, which has already been 
 discussed; see Chap. I, p. 21. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 417 
 
 cause although the eyes give some indication of our minds, they 
 do not do so to such an extent that the tongue has not been 
 granted us instead of a key, by which the secrets of our hearts 
 are unlocked. And you may well believe that if the eyes were 
 sufficient witnesses of our minds, Socrates would have been con- 
 tented to look fixedly into the eyes of the youth, to whom, 
 wishing to know his bravery, he said: 'Speak, in order that I 
 may know thee.' Nor should you say that the tongue is often 
 false, since you know that when the tongue wishes to lie the 
 eyes hasten to aid it in order to give it color. Indeed, I ought 
 rather to say that the eyes are falser than the tongue, because the 
 tongue does not dare to lie without the advice and aid of the eyes ; 
 whereas the eyes of themselves perform this office, as is shown 
 by the example of countless lovers, who by means of a feigned 
 glance have been led into a labyrinth of errors from which they 
 have never been able to escape." 
 
 The debate continued for some time with an evident bias 
 towards the greater power of the eyes. At last the Queen asked 
 Signer Giovanni what he thought of that discussion and he 
 replied: "Signora, I do not know what to say except that if 
 two maidens were brought before Signer Hercole, one blind and 
 the other mute, unless I am mistaken he would sooner let him- 
 self be allured by the eyes of the mute than by the tongue of 
 the blind, although she were more eloquent than Demosthenes." 
 The conversation continued in this strain for a time until the 
 Queen interposed and said that they had talked enough of the 
 amorous results produced by the eyes. Since, however, it 
 was not denied that the tongue also had great power, she wished 
 a few words to be said about that, and charged Signor Guglielmo 
 with that duty. Thereupon Signor Guglielmo pronounced a 
 long discourse on the power of the tongue in love, concluding 
 with the words: "Here I pause, and because in their conversation 
 lovers employ the tongue in two ways to win grace and favor, 
 the first of which consists in praising the beloved, the second in 
 recounting one's passion, I shall allow the Queen to entrust 
 this labor to one better fitted than myself, and I shall prepare 
 to hear the opinions of others." 
 
 It pleased the Queen then to command each to give his opinions 
 in regard to the virtue of praises, and Signor Bernardino began 
 thus: "I beheve that all the praises which are bestowed upon 
 28 
 
418 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 women are welcome and deemed true provided they come from 
 their lovers, because they believe that these would not have 
 undertaken to serve them if they had not known them to be 
 fair, gracious, gentle, and virtuous, and such as they depict them." 
 The Queen answered: "Those who are praised by their lovers 
 for their virtue do well not only to accept that praise, but to 
 believe it and make others believe it and deem it indubitable. 
 But I do not praise those who allow themselves to be told that 
 they are immortal and divine." Signor Vespasiano replied: 
 "Love has no bridle like a horse and it is no wonder if he runs 
 away with lovers into this liberty of speech, which, however, 
 should be granted them since it arises not from flattery, but 
 from superabundant and excessive love." The Cavalier said : 
 "He indeed allowed himself to be carried away who wrote this 
 address upon a love letter: 'To the sacred majesty of the Queen 
 of my heart always most honored.'" Signor Giovanni replied: 
 "He was much more moderate who writing to a lady and think- 
 ing it was extravagant to give her the title of Illustrious, and 
 insufficient to give her the title of Very Magnificent, employed 
 a medium term and addressed her as The almost Illustrious." 
 The Queen remarked: "There are many who in praising others 
 blame themselves. For this reason I should like the Cavalier to 
 tell us now what method must be observed in praising people 
 suitably." He replied: "There are two ways of praising people: 
 one consists in applying the good, the other in removing the evil. 
 You apply the good when you mention the qualities worthy of 
 praise ; as if I should say (and I should tell the truth) you are an 
 example of beauty and virtue. Evil is removed if I, to praise 
 you for modesty and seriousness should say, you are neither 
 licentious nor vain, as Homer said when he wished to praise the 
 brave Agamemnon : 'Lo now, the divine Agamemnon shows him- 
 self neither slothful nor cowardly, nor does he refuse weapons 
 nor battle. '^1 These same methods are also observed in blaming, 
 for Martial wishing to blame an ugly woman ascribed to her 
 certain imperfections, saying she had three teeth, three hairs, 
 the breast of a grasshopper, the thigh of an ant, a wrinkled brow, 
 etc. Another poet blaming another ugly woman deprived her 
 of some perfections, saying: 
 
 ^1 The words cited from Homer are found in the Iliad, Bk. IV, 11. 223- 
 225. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 419 
 
 Gli occhi neri non hai, ne bianchi i denti, 
 Ne picciol naso, ne soavi accenti.'^ 
 
 Now, returning to praises, beyond the knowledge of these two 
 ways, one must be careful not to confuse his praises, but group 
 them judiciously and orderly, descending from those which 
 belong to the mind to those of the body, and afterwards to those 
 of fortune, as if I should say, for example: You, most honored 
 Signora, can call yourself glorious in the world, since Nature has 
 enriched your person with those treasures of beauty, in which 
 those who among us are called beautiful are poor. In your 
 ample brow she has established the seat of greatness. In your 
 eyes she has kindled so sweet and gentle a fire that it keeps the 
 hearts of others suspended between hope and fear." The Cava- 
 lier continued in this strain for some time, concluding with these 
 words: "And because your praises do not deserve to be recounted 
 so hastily, but require more suitable time and place, while I 
 shall never cease to praise you in my heart, my tongue here 
 makes an end of your endless praises." 
 
 After the Cavalier had ceased speaking, the Queen saidr 
 "You might now add to the number of the praises which you 
 have bestowed upon me the great patience which I have displayed 
 in allowing your tongue to vent its ardent desire to praise me,, 
 which I was unwilling to interrupt, not because I presumed that 
 those praises were due me, but to let you obtain the praise to 
 which you aspire of being able to display what does not exist. 
 As you have succeeded in this, I cannot for my part refrain from 
 praising you . ' ' Signor Vespasiano said : ' ' Signora , if the Cavalier 
 had wished to display what does not exist, he would have spoken 
 ill of you, of whom only good can be said, and I know that these 
 ladies will say the same." To whom Signora Caterina replied: 
 "As the eldest I confirm in the name of all what the Cavalier 
 has said." Signor Bernardino added: "It would seem just to 
 me that these other ladies should not be deprived of the praises 
 due them." Signor Guglielmo then remarked: "I do not wish 
 to say that I can worthily praise these excellent ladies, but at 
 least I shall draw from my heart some praises, such as they may 
 be, to devote to their names." Thus speaking he put his hand 
 in his breast and drew forth some madrigals which he had written 
 
 '2 Thou hast not black eyes, nor white teeth, nor a small nose, nor a soft 
 voice. 
 
420 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 at home in praise of Signor Vespasiano and the ladies, with the 
 intent to present them to them.^^ 
 
 Signor Hercole read all the madrigals at the Queen's command 
 and after the author's affection had been praised no less than his 
 skill, Signor Hercole added: "These praises ought with reason to 
 please those whom they concern, since they are expressed with 
 no less truth than elegance." Signor Giovanni replied: "Praises 
 although true and elegant do not always please, as I can prove to 
 you by two examples, one savage and the other domestic, for 
 the hare was not pleased with the praise bestowed upon it by 
 the fox, which said in the wolf's presence that its flesh was ex- 
 tremely delicate and grateful to the taste f * nor did our Cavalier 
 like the praise bestowed upon him a little while ago of having 
 deserved by his humility the honor of preparing supper for us 
 to-morrow." 
 
 The Queen here commanded that they should make an end 
 of the subject of praises, and pass on to the other topic pertaining 
 to the tongue already mentioned, which consisted in relating 
 one's feelings. Wherefore Signor Bernardino began: "The 
 tongue has great power in recounting the passions of love, be- 
 cause although the lady be not at all inclined to the lover, she 
 is not, however, displeased or unmoved when she knows that the 
 lover suffers; besides, from the knowledge of this passion she is 
 assured not less of the deep love which he bears her than of her 
 own beauty, which, unless it were great, would not inspire the 
 lover with such sorrow and patience . ' ' Signor Guglielmo opposed 
 him saying: "I suspect you are teaching the lover to heal him- 
 self the wrong way, for I think that uttering these laments and 
 relating these feelings in women, he makes them more proud and 
 
 '' The madrigals are five in number, and of no great worth. The following 
 is Young's translation of the one on Signora Caterina: 
 
 Though Ladie Caterine, in semblaunce you do show. 
 
 To be amongst us here, and in our present sight. 
 Glad in this companie: But yet you are not so. 
 
 Because your Angells Soule, which shines with vertues bright 
 Is severed from the world, wher it hath no aboade, 
 And raignes in Heaven with joy united unto God. 
 
 And working so on earth, 
 
 With us so just deceipt. 
 
 In Heaven (sweete Ladie) for your selfe 
 
 You frame a happie seate. 
 
 '* I have not been able to find this fable. There is a somewhat similar 
 one where the fox recommends the skin of the wolf as a cure for the sick lion. 
 See La Fontaine, VIII, 3, and Pauli, Schimpf und Ernst, ed. Oesterley, 494. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 421 
 
 cruel, or angers them and loses ground, which causes him to 
 feel a thousand pangs instead of one. Do you wish to be en- 
 lightened on this point? Go to Petrarch, the great master of 
 love, and see what he says: 
 
 Giunto m'ha Amor fra belle et crude braccia, 
 Che m'ancidono a torto, et s'io mi doglio, 
 Doppia il martire, onde pur com'io soglio 
 II meglio e ch'io mi mora amando et taccia.^* 
 
 I know very well that opening one's lips and revealing one's 
 
 grief has harmed many, who should have remained silent for 
 
 their good. You will say that he who wishes compassion ajad 
 
 aid must disclose his wound to the physician. I reply that 
 
 lamenting and dying in the presence of a lady is only vexing and 
 
 tiring her, and there is no better remedy than to love silently^ 
 
 for this is a proof of modesty, patience, discretion, and humility, 
 
 with which is broken the diamond of women, who have judgment 
 
 enough to perceive your ill and to offer you the remedy at the 
 
 proper time and when they know that you deserve it, without 
 
 your acting the part of the presumptuous and importunate. 
 
 And briefly, in love he speaks who is silent, whence the poet: 
 
 La doglia mia, la qual tacendo i'grido.'* 
 
 And you know the common proverb. Who serves well in silence 
 demands sufiRciently."^' Signor Guglielmo answered him: "It 
 seems to me that those lovers who by their silence have won favor 
 and reward, have been more fortunate than wise, or have come 
 across women of little spirit ; because I know no woman of worth 
 who would not be ashamed to proffer any remedy or favor to 
 her lover without having been earnestly entreated by him, not 
 once but a thousand times." He continued in this strain a 
 long time, concluding as follows: " In short, women always esteem 
 more highly the lovers who entreat them than those who vainly 
 wait for them to throw themselves from the window into their 
 arms. From this you can see that your proverb. Who serves in 
 silence, is refuted by that other proverb, Nothing is lost for 
 asking.'^ And if these ladies will confess the truth, I know very 
 
 '5 Petrarch, Sonetto 119 in Vita di Laura: Love has caught me in fair and 
 cruel arms, which unjustly slay me, and if I complain, my suffering redoubles; 
 so as I am wont to do, the best thing is to die loving and silent. 
 
 " Petrarch, Canzone 6, in Vita di Laura: My grief which silent I proclaim. 
 
 " "Chi bene serve, e tace assai dimanda." I have not been able to find 
 any parallels for this proverb. , , ^ , 
 
 '8 "Per dimandar non si perde nulla." I have not been able to find any 
 parallels for this proverb. It is, of course, the Scriptural, "Ask, and it shall 
 be given you." 
 
422 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 well which of us two will be judged wrong in this contest." Here 
 the ladies looked at each other laughing, and the Queen said: 
 "I believe you are both wrong, since with virtuous ladies lovers 
 reap no fruit either with words or silence." Signora Caterina 
 added : " I deem more worthy of ridicule than of compassion those 
 rude lovers who by their forced sighs and feigned laments wish 
 to make us believe that they are dying." Signora Lelia said: 
 "I would very much like to see our Signor Hercule making a 
 lamentation from love before his lady, for I cannot help believing 
 that he would act very well the part of a lover." Signora Fran- 
 cesca turning to the Queen said: "Lady, if you will command him 
 to make some love lament, it will perhaps be the greatest pleasure 
 you have had this evening." 
 
 This proposal was approved by all, whereat the Queen com- 
 manded Signor Hercole to imagine that Signora Lelia were his 
 lady and that he should utter in her presence a love complaint. 
 He therefore took from his head his cap and kissing Signora 
 Lelia's hand, thus addressed her: "To you, most beautiful angel 
 of Paradise, to you, wonder of the world, to you, my life, rather 
 to you, my death, I do not come indeed upon my legs, for this 
 wretched body of mine can no longer stand upon its feet, but I 
 am conducted upon the triumphal car of Love to announce to 
 you with this trembling and weak voice, with this little breath 
 which I have left, my approalching death, which would not have 
 overtaken me in the spring of my years if I had not given credence 
 to the proverb. It is better to be a martyr than a confessor. For 
 I now know that I have been the murderer of myself for not 
 having dared to confess to you the mortal wound which your 
 beautiful eyes made in my heart on the occasion of the tourna- 
 ment held in this city in the year 1577, the 15th of May. There 
 I learned how the judgment of men is strengthened by means of 
 comparisons, for a great number of ladies being there to whom 
 heaven has been most liberal of grace and beauty, I discovered 
 in your face such excellence of beauty and grace above the other 
 ladies that I said. Behold a sun among the stars, and I immediately 
 judged that to you properly belonged the saying: 
 
 Sparisce et fugge 
 Ogni altro lume dove '1 vostro splende.^' 
 
 '' Petrarch, Canzone 7 in Vita di Laura: Where your light shines, every 
 other vanishes and flees. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 423 
 
 And although I felt myself already wounded by a keen arrow 
 shot at me by a gracious glance of yours, nevertheless I believed 
 I could yet escape from your hands; but when afterwards these 
 ears had the favor of hearing the sweet and strange words which 
 you scattered like roses among the other ladies, alas! I re- 
 mained forcibly captured and bound in such a manner that I 
 could not conceal from myself that I had been made your prisoner. 
 Now I repeat that if I had had courage to demand a remedy for 
 the evil, perchance I should have found such pity in your heart 
 that the same hand which inflicted the wound would also have 
 healed it. Perhaps you will say here that if I did not have the 
 courage to enter your presence I should at least have begged 
 aid by means of letters ; but you must know that I have attempted 
 several times to unburden the heavy load of my tortures on 
 paper; but the tears which fell copiously upon it always washed 
 away the characters in such a way that as Love pleases I am here 
 on the point of passing to the next life. But because my sorrow- 
 ing soul has long lodged in your royal and generous heart, I 
 beg you as a reward for the long sufferings which loving you I 
 have kept silent, and dying I have endured until now, that you 
 will at least not refuse to place your lips to mine and with your 
 sweet breath force my soul back to its first abode, entering which, 
 who knows? it might perhaps by the virtue of some spark of 
 your spirit joined to it give pulse and breath to these languid 
 limbs and preserve them a little longer for your service. And if 
 by the will of heaven it should have to part without further 
 delay from the unhappy body, I shall die satisfied with having 
 known by the witness of your lips the desire you had for my 
 health and life, whence joyfully devoting to you my loving af- 
 fections, I shall depart on my way with the hope that at my 
 departure you will say with pitiful voice and some tears : 
 
 Alma, ch'albergo havesti nel mio petto, 
 Habbi hor la su nel del degno ricetto."*" 
 
 All laughed at this lament as you may think, and afterwards 
 Signora Lelia replied to him with pleasing countenance: "If 
 I knew that you were as near death as your sorrowful words 
 indicate, I would not fail to restore your soul to you with a kiss; 
 but because I perceive that this illness of yours is not mortal, 
 
 " Soul, which dwelt in my breast, now have in heaven above a worthy 
 shelter. I do not know the poem from which these lines are taken. 
 
424 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 I wish to retain your soul a little while with me for my consolation. 
 And be of good cheer, for when it is the proper time I shall not 
 delay giving you the desired aid in order not to be deemed mur- 
 derous. Meanwhile be comforted by this good hope." Then 
 the Queen turning to Signor Hercole said: "From what I see, 
 you have joined together in your lament a history and a fable, 
 for in regard to the praises and merits of Signora Lelia you told 
 the truth, but in regard to those sufferings and martyrdoms which 
 you have related little or nothing should be believed, and we 
 should make the proper deductions." "On the contrary," 
 he replied, "I am persuaded, by your leave, that I have been 
 truthful in relating my sufferings and false in relating the merits 
 of Signora Lelia, and I hope that my words will not make me lose 
 her favor." To whom Signor Giovanni replied: "You need not 
 fear to lose what you have not yet acquired." The Queen added 
 to tease him further: "A lover's sufferings, as I believe, are 
 caused by the merits of the beloved ; if therefore the merits which 
 you have ascribed to Signora Lelia are false, your sufferings, too, 
 ■ are false." He replied: "Signora, I believe you have heard how 
 when the invincible Emperor Charles the Fifth asked the Most 
 Christian King Francis what cities he had in his kingdom 
 subject to his crown, the latter began with Lyons and named in 
 succession Orleans, Rouen, Troyes, Dijon, Tours, Grenoble, 
 Bordeaux, and all the others. He did not mention Paris and when 
 the Emperor said he had forgotten that chief city he answered, 
 that he had not named Paris because it was not a city but a 
 worM. This example then has made me aware of the falsehood 
 I have uttered regarding Signora Lelia, whom I should not have 
 included in the number of women as I did, since she is really a 
 goddess. And if she is such, how can it seem to you a wonder if 
 I feel these sufferings, and how can you help saying that they 
 are greater than I have been able to express?" The Queen 
 replied: "The more you talk about these sufferings the less you 
 will be believed, and your only gain will be that we shall deem 
 you one of those lovers who know how to feign and pretend to 
 be dead and buried from love." "Since such lovers," said Sig- 
 nora Francesca, "think women so silly as to believe these follies, 
 it is right that they should be paid in the same coin and be treated 
 like fools." Signor Hercole replied: "This is a fine recompense 
 which you would give to a poor lover, for whom one death should 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 425 
 
 suffice without giving him two. And truly to feel the suffering of 
 love and not to find credence when it is confessed is a twofold 
 suffering." Then Signor Giovanni said : " I think as you do that 
 he receives a deep wound who is not believed when he tells the 
 truth, as happened to a poor man whose pig was stolen." "How 
 was that?" asked the Queen. Signor Giovanni replied: "A 
 poor man ga^•e a gossip of his to understand that he wished to 
 kill his pig, but it seemed to him a hard thing to have to send 
 almost the largest share of it to his relative and neighbors as 
 was the custom. I'll show you what to do, replied the gossip; 
 kill it secretly and then pretend that it has been stolen, and spread 
 this news throughout the neighborhood and look as if you were 
 ^■er5' angry so that ever],- one will believe you and be sorry for 
 you. This advice pleased the poor man and he determined to 
 carry it out. The next night the gossip really stole the pig. 
 When day broke and the wretched man found his pig gone, he 
 was, as you can imagine, full of wonder and sorrow. As he was 
 leax-ing his house he met his gossip and said : Do you know that 
 my pig was really stolen last night? You understand the matter, 
 replied the gossip; just tell all so, for that is the way to save 
 yourself; and when the other declared, by the body of Anti- 
 christ it had been stolen, the gossip replied: Continue thus, and 
 you will do well. No matter what the poor man said the gossip 
 persisted in praising him, and he remained as much grieved at not 
 being able to make his gossip believe him as he was at the loss 
 of the pig."''^ Then Signor Vespasiano said: "That's exactly 
 like women: instead of a pig they steal hearts, and then mock 
 the one who has incurred the loss. But Signora Francesca is 
 wrong in not wishing credence to be given to lovers, who do not 
 know how to feign, even if they wished to do so; on the contrary 
 the more deeph- thei,' love the less credible in appearance are the 
 things they say, and yet they are perfectly true, because according 
 to the proverb, the tongue hastens where the tooth aches.^^ 
 But the distrust of women is such that they do not believe, and 
 
 " The story of the stolen pig constitutes part of a novella in the Decameron, 
 Vn, 6, where Bruno and Buffalmacco steal a pig from Calandrino under sim- 
 ilar circumstances. The story is also found in Kirchhof's Wendunmuth, I, 
 i8i. Oesterley in his edition of Kirchhof, Biblioihek des Liiterarischen Ver- 
 eins, Tubingen, 1869, cites Hans Sachs, i, 3, 334b, and S. Gerlach, Eutrapel- 
 iarum libri III, Leipzig, 1656, i, 811. 
 
 « "La lingua corre dove il dente duole." See Pitre, op. ciL, I, 18, where 
 a large number of variants are given. 
 
426 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 if they believe they are so wise that they pretend not to beHeve." 
 Signor GugHelmo answered: "All that you have said might serve 
 as a comment upon those lines of the poet: 
 
 Lasso, ch' i' ardo, ed altri non mel crede; 
 Si crede ogni uom, se non sola colei 
 Che sovr' ogni altra e ch' i' sola vorrei: 
 Ella non par che '1 creda, e si sel vede."^' 
 
 "If now," added Signor Vespasiano, "we seek the reason why 
 women do not believe lovers we shall see that it arises from lack 
 of love, because it is well known, according to the comrrion saying, 
 that where love is there is faith .^* For if they had loved they 
 would feel suflfering within, by which they would be constrained 
 to consider and believe the suffering of others." 
 
 Here Signora Francesca retorted: "I tell you, Signore, that 
 too great faith has brought many of us to an evil end, and it 
 would have been good for Olimpia if she had not believed that 
 traitor Bireno."" Signor Vespasiano replied: "Olimpia in 
 loving Bireno had reason to believe that he would be true to 
 her, and did what every other woman reasonably should do, but 
 he in betraying her did what is not right and what no other 
 lover is wont to do. Therefore one should not rest his argument 
 upon an extraordinary example and one beyond common usage. 
 And then remember that Bireno was one of those beardless 
 youths whom foolish women are led to love to their shame and 
 harm." Here Signor GugHelmo remarked: "This certainly is 
 the mistake of many women, who capriciously infatuated by 
 the sight of these minors give themselves recklessly into their 
 hands, without considering that they are devoid of judgment, 
 faith, and firmness, and that all their delight is in seeking here 
 and there for persons to whom out of vanity they may relate 
 the levity and dishonor of some unhappy woman, and from fear 
 of omitting any detail they usually add something." Signor 
 Guglielmo said: "I have noticed at church and elsewhere that 
 some of these youths when they are in the sight of their ladies 
 grow more unbridled than usual, and are so bold with their 
 
 43 Petrarch, Sonetto 151 in Vita di Laura: Alas I burn and no one believes 
 it, yes, every one believes it but her alone, who is above all others, and whom 
 I alone desire, she seems not to believe it, and yet she sees it. 
 
 ■" "Dove e amore, quivi e fede." I have been unable to find any parallels 
 for this proverb. 
 
 ** The story of Olimpia and her faithless lover Bireno is one of the episodes 
 of the Orlando Furioso. It is found in the IX., X. and XI. cantos. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 427 
 
 tongues and gestures, and make such a noise that they are hateful 
 and unendurable to men of sound understanding. Neverthe- 
 less many women are pleased by their insolence and attribute it 
 to elegance, and, in fine, are more favorably inclined to them than 
 to those who are more discreet, and reserved in their actions." 
 "In that case," added Signer Bernardino, "the young men are 
 not to blame , since knowing the vanity of those women , nay, rather 
 girls, they feed them on such follies." Signor Hercole replied: 
 "All women are not so, and I have seen by more than one token 
 that some wise and judicious ones hate those smooth-faced 
 Birenos, knowing that in an unsteady mind perfect love cannot 
 take root, and that nothing can be expected from them but 
 scandal and treachery; and I am sure that the love of beardless 
 youths lasts as long as the odor of narcissuses ; and that of older 
 youths is like the odor of roses which remains in the dry leaves." 
 The Queen then said: "Since it is as you say, these ladies will 
 always be the wiser who guard themselves against both roses 
 and narcissuses, since in this way they will be safe from every 
 deception and treachery." Signor Vespasiano replied: "Let 
 us repeat that where love is there is faith, and where there is 
 this mutual love there all deceits and treacheries will cease." 
 
 This led the Cavalier to tell a story about a gentleman who 
 made love to his wife's servant and was made ridiculous for his 
 fault. The conversation continued for some time on this subject 
 until the Queen remarked: "It seems to me that we have done 
 too much honor to those who serve servants by talking so long 
 about their affairs, and I do not know how we have hit upon 
 this topic, for we were discussing principally the effects of the 
 eyes and of the tongue." The Cavalier said: "I prove, Signora, 
 how true that is which has already been said, that the tongue 
 and the eyes agree in expressing the inward feeling, for besides 
 confessing with the tongue that I can no longer keep awake, my 
 eyes also confirm it, in which you can see sleep depicted." To 
 whom Signor Giovanni replied: "I believed you would awaken 
 at the sound of these discussions on love, but I see that it has 
 produced the same effect on you that the rocking of a cradle does 
 on children." The Cavalier answered: "Verily I experience no 
 greater satisfaction than to sleep on a good bed where together 
 with the body I lay down the burden of all my thoughts." 
 Signor Bernardino replied: "All have not this privilege; as was 
 
428 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 proved by the emperor Augustus. It is said that a Roman 
 gentleman having left at his death a large amount of debts, so 
 that all his property had to be sold at auction, the Emperor 
 commanded to be bought for himself the bed on which that 
 gentleman had slept, saying that he hoped he could sleep quietly 
 upon it, since the owner had been able to rest there with so 
 many debts. "^^ Signore Hercole answered: "Debts allowed that 
 gentleman to sleep; but the thoughts of love would not have 
 permitted it, by which I feel myself so oppressed that the feathers 
 of my bed are sharp thorns, and if others discharge the burden 
 of their thoughts upon their beds, I assume there an additional 
 load and can say with the poet : 
 
 Tutto'I di piango; et poi la notte, quando 
 Prendon riposo i miseri mortali, 
 Trovom' in pianto et raddoppiarsi i mali."^' 
 
 Signer Guglielmo answered : " It is no wonder if lovers sleep little, 
 because aside from being kept ever awake by their thoughts, 
 of which it is said that night is the mother, they do not eat 
 much food and it is natural that he who suffers from loss of food 
 should also suffer from loss of sleep, whence on account of their 
 thoughts they prove how true is the saying of the poet: 
 
 E duro campo di battaglia il letto.''^ 
 
 And as regards the food, they prove the saying of Boccaccio, 
 who does not sup at evening does not rest all night." Signora 
 Lelia responded: "Be consoled, Signor Hercole, for to-night 
 thoughts of love will annoy you little, for, unless I am mistaken, 
 you have this evening nourished well your body." "It will 
 make no difference," answered Signor Hercole, "for if I wake 
 I am deprived of the rest common to all ; if I sleep I am deprived 
 of the thought of my lady, and as the poet says : 
 
 e'l cor sottragge 
 
 A quel dolce pensier, che'n vita il tene."*' 
 
 "Why, then," asked Signora Francisca, "do you complain of 
 what delights you, and why do you not always wish for the night 
 to be able the more easily to comfort yourself with your sweet 
 
 ^« This story is in Macrobius, ed. Eyssenhardt, Leipzig, 1893, p. 147. 
 
 " Petrarch, Sonetto 161 in Vita di Laura: All the day I weep, and when at 
 night wretched mortals repose, I find myself in tears and my ills are redoubled. 
 
 ^' Petrarch, Sonetto in Vita di Laura 171 : The bed is a hard field of battle. 
 
 ♦' Petrarch, Sonetto 171 in Vita di Laura: Sleep withdraws the heart from 
 the loving thought which keeps it alive. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 429 
 
 thoughts?" "Ah, Signora," he replied, "consider, I beg you, 
 that while the heart is nourished by these sweet thoughts, the 
 body is wasted and dies from the weakness caused by long wake- 
 fulness." 
 
 The Queen here interposed: "I will teach Signor Hercole how 
 to find rest in bed no less for the mind than for the body." 
 "How so?" he asked. "By choosing a good and virtuous wife." 
 Signor Hercole replied: "If sleeping with one's wife brought the 
 rest you say, some husbands would not leave their wives' sides 
 at night to go and brood in the nests of others." The Queen 
 answered: "The husbands who do that are more asleep when 
 they are awake than when they sleep." Signora Lelia said: 
 "Be careful to take such a wife that you will have no cause to 
 leave her in order to seek others." Signor Hercole answered 
 her: "She might be fair and yet give me cause to leave her." 
 She replied: "You will never be able to leave her if you choose 
 her fair in the way I mean, that is fair of mind, for if she is such 
 she will never fail to console you in your troubles, and will take 
 such care of you that free from all thoughts and sleeping as it 
 were upon her eyes you will pass the night in sweet and constant 
 repose." Signor Hercole said to her: "The difficulty is to find 
 one of such beauty; besides I am frightened by that saying that 
 marriage and old age are alike, for we wish to try them and 
 when we have we are sad." The Queen answered: "It is no 
 wonder that a man is sad when he reaches old age, for he begins 
 to die, but it is right for a man who attains to marriage to rejoice 
 because he begins to live and to give life to others." He replied : 
 "I would come to that conclusion if I were sure that the be- 
 ginning and the end of matrimony were joined and without any 
 interval, because people are wont to say that a wife brings her 
 husband only two happy days, one when she is married, the 
 other when she dies." The Queen replied: "The death of a 
 wife whom you had scarcely known would cause you little 
 pleasure and little grief; oh, what sorrow to be deprived of 
 that blessing which you had long and affectionately possessed!" 
 Signor Hercole inquired: "Which mistake causes us the more 
 annoyance, that which we can correct, or that for which there 
 is no remedy ? ' ' The Queen replied : ' ' That which is irreparable . ' ' 
 He answered : " It is better then that I should Have the advantage 
 of always being able to take a wife, than to be unable to repudiate 
 
430 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 her after having taken her." She repHed: "He who takes a wife 
 prudently and not capriciously will ne\cr wish to repudiate her 
 even if he can." Here Signor Giovanni interposed, saying: 
 "Since Signor Hercole fears to make a mistake; let us give him a 
 little wife, so that having a smaller wife than others, he may 
 commit a smaller mistake."^" She replied: "Whether she be 
 small or large, provided she does not lack that beauty of the 
 mind already mentioned, she will have the power to cause him 
 peaceful sleep, and he heartily loving her will constrain her to 
 observe towards him that holy faith on which depends the prin- 
 cipal consolation of a husband." "Rather," said Signor Giovan- 
 ni, "we must give Signor Hercole a wife of whose fidelity he will 
 not be very sure, so that having this slight suspicion he will 
 not leave her side at night to seek others." Signora Catei'ina 
 replied : " If he lived in that anxiety he would never sleep." Sig- 
 nor Guglielmo remarked: "If he did not sleep he would at least 
 feel what the poet says: 
 
 Come sempre fra due si vegghia e dorme."" 
 
 "For that reason," said Signora Francesca, "he must resolve 
 fidelity in order that both may sleep peacefully." "You speak 
 truly," added the Cavalier, "and Signor Hercole would be greatly 
 mistaken if he thought that all women were daughters of fear, 
 and that there were not some who do not lack the craft of in- 
 toxicating their husbands at night, nor the boldness to leave them 
 afterwards and satisfy some other caprice." Signor Hercole 
 answered: "I believe that the wife has the right to give her hus- 
 band bread for cake, as Boccaccio says."''^ The Queen answered : 
 "You are mistaken, because no matter how many wi^ongs her 
 
 '" Signor Giovanni's joke about little wives is as old as the fourteenth cen- 
 tury and is_ used by the Spanish poet Juan Ruiz, commonly called the Arch- 
 priest of Hita. It occurs in the Libra de Canlares, 1591, in Poelas Castellanos 
 anteriores al siglo XV, in Biblioteca de Autores EspaHoles, tomo 57, p. 277: 
 
 Siempre ques muger chica mas que grande nin mayor, 
 Non es desaguisado del grand mal ser foidor, 
 Del mal tomar lo menos diselo el sabidor, 
 Porende de las mugeres la mejor es la menor. 
 
 Always seek a little woman rather than one tall or large. It is right to shun 
 a great evil: the wise says to choose the least of evils; hence the best of women 
 is the smallest. 
 
 "Petrarch, Trionofo d'Amore, Cap. Ill, 158; As always among two, one 
 wakes and one sleeps.' 
 
 ^^ The expression "rendere pan per focaccia" is equivalent to our "tit for 
 tat"; it occurs in the Decameron, V, 10. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 431 
 
 husband does her, she should take no other revenge than making 
 up for his faults with her virtue, which will bring her all the 
 greater fame." "I think," said Signor Giovanni at this point, 
 "that the wife should give the husband what he seeks." When 
 the Queen answered that for no reason was it lawful for a wife 
 to deceive her husband, he replied: "I affirm the same thing, 
 Signora, that you do, and hear how. The most illustrious Sig- 
 nor Frederick, Duke of Mantua, was once riding for pleasure upon 
 a horse which afforded a wonderful sight to the bystanders by its 
 leaps and curvettings and other motions, and especially to an 
 artisan, who said in a loud tone to a companion of his: 'If I 
 were on that horse I would give him what he seeks.' The Duke, 
 hearing these words, called the man and said to him: 'What 
 would you do if you were on this horse? ' And he boldly replied : 
 'I say, Signore, that I would give him what he seeks, because 
 he would seek to throw me to the ground, and I would let him 
 do it.' Thus I mean now that the wife should do to her husband, 
 and approving your virtuous opinion I think that if he tries to 
 deceive her she should patiently allow herself to be deceived, and 
 not show any other resentment at it." Signor Bernardino said: 
 "From this we may know that if those wives do ill who keep their 
 husbands awake with jealousy, those do much worse who put 
 them to sleep with dishonor." To whom the Cavalier replied: 
 "Signor Hercole is such a man that he will not allow his wife 
 to open or shut his eyes more than is proper." He answered: 
 "It seems to me that even if a husband live assured of the virtue 
 of his wife, he does not have all that is needed to make him sleep 
 that peaceful sleep which he desires, because if she is not also 
 prudent and clever the unhappy husband must be constantly 
 wakeful and take the care of the house which should belong to 
 her." Here Signor Giovanni remarked: "It is certainly a great 
 sorrow to come across a silly wife, who, besides the harm which 
 the husband receives at home, divulges abroad what should be 
 hidden, and causes laughter, like that one who, coming from a 
 certain monastery of friars to whom she had given alms to com- 
 mend her to God in their prayers, went back and said to them: 
 ' I beg you do not pray God for my husband lest he should 
 sometime know that I had given alms.' " Signor Bernardino 
 remarked: "The silliness of women is so contagious that a man 
 associating with them becomes silly." Signora Lelia answered 
 
432 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 him: "You keep on relating the folHes of wives as if all husbands 
 were wise and brave. But you should remember that last even- 
 ing was told the story of that foolish fellow who did not even 
 know how to put on a pair of breeches, and made his wife hold 
 them with both hands and then standing upon the bed he jumped 
 into them.^^ Upon my word if we wish to seek we shall find; 
 as he said who was shoeing the goose, there is something to do 
 everywhere. "^< Signor Vespasiano then said: "All these argu- 
 ments lead to no other conclusion but that in order to free Sig- 
 nor Hercole from the sufferings of his love, which keep him con- 
 stantly awake, we must all endeavour to find him a virtuous and 
 worthy wife who will have the power to make him sleep." Sig- 
 nor Giovanni said: "Sleep will be especially beneficial to him 
 because he is an Italian." "How so?" asked the Queen. He 
 replied: "It is said that all drown their sorrows differently: the 
 German by drinking, the Frenchman by singing, the Spaniard 
 by weeping, and the Italian by sleeping."^^ "In truth," added 
 Signor Vespasiano, "it is my experience that sleep brings great 
 alleviation to wearisome thoughts, and rightly it is called the 
 relative of death, ^^ since it produces such similar results." 
 
 From these words the Queen thought she understood that he 
 wished to withdraw; so she said: "Let no one of you be surprised 
 
 *^ The story in the text is an episode in the class of stories where a man 
 marries, or is about to marry, a foolish wife, and departs in search of more 
 foolish people, usually three in number. A good specimen of the class is "The 
 Three Sillies" in Joseph Jacobs's English Fairy Tales, London, 1890, p. 9. 
 This class of stories is treated at length in W. A. Clouston's The Booh of Noodles, 
 London, 1888, Chapter VII, pp. igi et seq., "The Three Great Noodles." 
 
 " "Per mia fe, se vogliamo cercar bene troveremo, si come diceva colui, che 
 ferava I'oca, che vi e da fare per tutto." I have not been able to find any 
 parallels for this provincial saying. 
 
 ** Et egli si suol dire, che tutte le nationi smaltiscono diversamente il 
 dolore, il Tedesco il bee, il Francese il canta, lo Spagnuolo il piange, e I'ltaliano 
 il dorme. 
 
 '° The earliest reference to the relationship between Sleep and Death 
 occurs in Homer, Iliad, Bk. XVI, 681-2, in Chapman's translation: "Sleep 
 and Death, those feather'd twins." Pitre, op. cit., Ill, p. 207, gives the 
 Sicilian proverb: "Lu sonnu e parenti di la morti," and cites the Ovidian 
 "Quid est somnus gelidae nisi mortis imago?" Petrarch, Sonetto 171 in Vita 
 di Laura: 
 
 II sonno e veramente, qual uom dice, 
 Parente della morte, 
 
 and Tasso, Ger. lib., IX, 18: 
 
 Dal sonno alia morte e un picciol varco. 
 Further references to the relationship between Sleep and Death in ancient 
 and modern literature may be found in Frederick Parkes Weber's Aspects oj 
 Death and Correlated Aspects of Life in Art, Epigram, and Poetry, London, 1918, 
 third edition, revised and much enlarged, pp. 213 e< seq. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 433 
 
 if I say that the time which we have spent in this pleasant com- 
 pany has seemed to me too short and too long ; the cause of the 
 former has been the sweet nourishment which without satiety 
 I have drawn from your pleasant and virtuous conversation; 
 the cause of the latter is the desire I have had to lay down this 
 honorable burden, beneath which I have felt myself oppressed by 
 great bashfulness, wherefore I lay it down with infinite pleasure. 
 And since in- great and difificult undertakings good will must 
 suffice, I beg you that in place of those results which I have been 
 unable to show you, you should be satisfied with those evident 
 tokens of good will which you have read upon my brow. To- 
 morrow I shall come to you in the Cavalier's house much more 
 joyful to obey you than I have been this evening to command 
 you. And meanwhile I take my leave of you and commend you 
 to God." At these words all rose to their feet to depart, and 
 Signer Giovanni said: "Signora, you have displayed greater 
 grace in dismissing us than did a certain husband, a countryman 
 of ours, who on account of the bride's arrival gave a feast one 
 evening in his house ; but because it lasted longer than he wished 
 he determined to find some way to dismiss the company; so he 
 had a kettle of water put over the fire in the room where the 
 guests were and as soon as the water was hot he cried out in 
 a loud voice : Let him who has no business here depart, for I 
 want to wash my feet,' and with these words he broke up the 
 party." 
 
 Here, ended the banquet, and after they had rendered each 
 other due honor, and bidden each other good night, each withdrew 
 to his own abode. 
 
 29 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Relations between France and Italy in the Sixteenth Century — French 
 campaigns in Italy — Friendly relations between the two countries — Protest 
 against Italian influence by Henri Estienne — Life of this famous printer and 
 author — His Deux dialogues du nouveau langage frangois italianize — Margue- 
 rite de Navarre and the Heptameron — Platonic love in the HeptamSron — ■ 
 Heroet's La parfaicte Amye — The Printemps of Jacques Yver — Etienne Pas- 
 quier and his works — Monophile — Collogues d' Amour — Lettres amoureuses. 
 
 We have already seen that the relations between France and 
 Italy extend as far back as the days of the Troubadours. It 
 is impossible to consider here these early relations. For many 
 years a French city was the seat of the Popes (i 309-1 377), and 
 one of the greatest of the Italian poets passed most of his life 
 at Avignon and Vaucluse. 
 
 The French also established themselves in Italy and the 
 brother of Saint Louis made himself king of Naples and Sicily 
 by his defeat of Manfred at the battle of Benevento, February 
 26, 1266. As we shall presently see, the most momentous con- 
 sequences were to flow from this usurpation of Charles of Anjou. 
 
 Marriages, too, connected France and Italy long before Catha- 
 rine and Maria de' Medici exerted such a powerful influence on 
 French politics and society. One of these marriages, that of 
 Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI, to Valentine of 
 Milan, the daughter of Giovan Galeazzo Visconti and Isabella 
 of France, was scarcely less momentous than the usurpation of 
 Charles of Anjou. 
 
 Although the events just mentioned must have brought the 
 two countries into close relations, it was not until the close of 
 the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century that 
 the Italian influence in France became the preponderating in- 
 fluence and remained so until the marriage of Louis XIII to 
 Anne of Austria. 
 
 The superior cultivation of Italy, which we have studied in 
 previous chapters, would soon have exerted a powerful influence 
 on the neighboring country even if political events had not 
 suddenly brought the two countries into the closest relations. 
 The royal line founded by Charles of Anjou came to an end in 
 
 434 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 435 
 
 1435 by the death of Joanna II. She had adopted as her heirs 
 successively Louis III and his brother Rene, the sons of Louis 
 II, whose father Louis I, Duke of Anjou, son of King John II 
 of France, had already been adopted as heir by Joanna I in 1380. 
 On the death of Joanna II, Naples was taken by Alfonso V, 
 King of Aragon and Sicily. At his death in 1458, he left Naples 
 to his bastard son Ferdinand I, whose cruel reign caused the 
 Neapolitans to invite Rent's son John, Duke of Calabria, to 
 claim the crown. He was unsuccessful and the French claim 
 descended to Charles, Count of Maine, brother of Ren6. His 
 son Charles IV, the last (titular) king of Naples of the House of 
 Anjou, died in 1481, bequeathing his claim to Louis XI, who 
 made no attempt to enforce it. It was reserved for his son, 
 Charles VIII, to depart from his father's cautious policy and 
 to plunge France in a war with Italy which wrought the most 
 complete change in the social condition of the former country. 
 
 With the details of the campaign we do not need to deal; 
 suffice it to say that the French army reached Turin on the 5th 
 of September, 1494, and marched almost without opposition to 
 Naples. The king Ferdinand I abdicated as soon as the 
 French approached, and his son Ferdinand II, deserted by 
 his troops and threatened by the insurgent populace, fled in 
 turn from the capital, which the French entered February 22d, 
 
 1495- 
 
 After two months spent in revelry the French king was forced 
 to leave his newly acquired dominion by the threatening atti- 
 tude of the powers of North Italy who were late in realizing 
 the consequences of admitting a foreign invader to the heart of 
 Italy. The king succeeded in crossing the Apennines, but was 
 met on the road to Pavia by the allied forces under the command 
 of the Marquis of Mantua. The battle of Fornovo, July 6th, 
 1495, resulted in a victory for the French, who were enabled to 
 reach Lyons in safety on the 9th of November, after a campaign 
 of fourteen months. 
 
 Although the French had gained no political advantages the 
 results of the Italian campaign were momentous. A large body 
 of Frenchmen had seen Italy for the first time and become ac- 
 quainted with its civilization. From this time on the two coun- 
 tries were connected by the most intimate relations, both peace- 
 ful and hostile. 
 
436 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The warlike relations may be dismissed with a brief discussion. 
 Charles VIII died in 1498, and was succeeded by Louis XII, 
 the grandson of the Duke of Orleans who had married Valentine 
 of Milan. Louis XII now laid claim to both Milan and Naples, 
 and invaded Lombardy in 1499. Ludovico Sforza fled and the 
 French on the 14th of September entered Milan, which became 
 for a time a province of France. The desire to reconquer Naples 
 led to an alliance with Ferdinand of Spain which later plunged 
 the two countries into war and involved the whole of Italy. 
 The kingdom of Naples was won, but disputes over its partition 
 led to war between the former allies. After twelve years of 
 conflict the memorable battle of Ravenna, April 12th, 1512, 
 although a glorious victory for the French, put an end to the 
 desperate struggle for Italy, and the French withdrew having 
 lost all their possessions in that country. 
 
 The struggle for Italian dominion was renewed by Francis I, 
 who invaded Lombardy in 15 15 and won Milan in consequence 
 of the brilliant victory of Marignano. The election of Charles 
 of Austria as emperor resulted in the long rivalry between him 
 and Francis I. Italy again became the theatre of the desperate 
 conflict between Emperor and King. Milan was lost in 1522, 
 and the King was captured at the fatal battle of Pavia, February 
 24th, 1525. The King renewed the struggle upon his release 
 from captivity in 1526, but misfortune followed all his efforts, 
 and he was finally forced by the treaty of Cambrai, 1529, to 
 relinquish all his claims in Italy. ^ 
 
 Thus from 1494 to 1529 the two countries had been in constant 
 contact, and although they had met as enemies Italy exerted 
 over her invaders an enormous influence in all the peaceful arts. 
 
 The two countries were soon brought into friendly relations 
 by the marriage of Francis's son Henry, afterwards Henry II, 
 to Catharine de' Medici in 1533. Until her death in 1589 the 
 Queen's influence was enormous, and although she thoroughly 
 identified herself with her adopted country and warmly espoused 
 all the interests of France, her court could not but be a centre 
 of Italian influence.^ This influence reached its height under 
 
 1 For Francis's relations to Italy see P. Toldo, Contributo alio studio della 
 novella francese del XV. e X VI. secolo considerata specialmente nelle sue attinenze 
 con la litteratura italiana, Rome, 1895, p. 33, and works cited in note 4. 
 
 ^ For Catharine's early history and education see the introduction to the 
 edition of her letters in the Documents inedits, and also E. Fremy, L'Academie 
 des derniers Valois, Paris, n. d., p. 182. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 437 
 
 the reign of her son Henry III, when the reaction directed by 
 Henry Estienne began to manifest itself.^ 
 
 The marriage of Henry IV in 1600 to Maria de' Medici renewed 
 this influence, which lasted through the brief regency of the 
 Queen. Louis XIII soon, however, threw off his mother's yoke 
 and his marriage to a Spanish princess, Anne of Austria, marks 
 the end of Italian influence at the court and the beginning of 
 the influence of Spain, which continued during his reign and that 
 of his son Louis XIV, also married to a Spanish princess, Maria 
 Theresa., in 1660. 
 
 From the time of the expedition of Charles VIII, 1494, to 
 the marriage of Louis XIII, 1615, a period of one hundred and 
 twenty-one years, the influence of Italy was paramount in 
 France.* Italian courtiers of the two Italian queens, Italian 
 
 ' For Henry's interest in Italian matters see the work just cited, and Pierre 
 de Nolhac and Angelo Solerti's II Viaggio in Italia di Enrico III re di Francia 
 e lefeste a Venezia, Ferrara, Mantova e Torino, Turin, 1890, and review in the 
 Giornale storico, vol. 17, pp. 136 et seq. Estienne's influence will be considered 
 later. There is an interesting comparison between the society of Henry's- 
 time and the society of the H6tel de Rambouillet in Fremy, op. cit., pp. 196-7. 
 
 * There is no good general work on the influence of Italy on France. E. J. 
 B. Rathery's prize essay, Influence de V Italic sur les lettres frangaises depuis le 
 Xllle sieclejusqu'au regne de Louis XIV, Paris, 1853, is incomplete and super- 
 ficial, while the essay by E. Arnauld in Essais de theorie et d'histoire litteraire, 
 Paris, 1858, pp. 331-495, "De I'influence exercee par la litterature italienne 
 sur la litterature frangaise," also a prize essay, is still more general in its nature. 
 Valuable materials may be found in E. Bourciez, Les mceurs polies et la lit- 
 terature de cour sous Henri II, Paris, 1886. Of little value is F. Decrue de 
 Stoutz, La cour de France et la societe au XVIe siecle, Paris, 1888. A mine of 
 information is in the works of Estienne to be examined presently. The sub- 
 ject is also treated, especially as to art, in works on the Renaissance in France, 
 as E. Muntz, La Renaissance en Italic et en France d, I'epoque de Charles VIII, 
 Paris, 1885. There are many valuable monographs in this field, among which 
 may be mentioned: "Le lettere italiane alia corte di Francesco I re di Francia," 
 and "Le rime di Odetto de la Noue e I'italianismo a tempo d'Enrico HI," 
 both in Flamini's Sttidi di storia letteraria italiana e straniera, Livorno, 1895, 
 and- J. Texte's Etudes de litterature europeenne, Paris, 1898, pp. -25-50, "L'in- 
 fluence italienne en France." The Italian influence on the French novel of 
 the XV. and XVI. centuries has been treated by P. Toldo in the work cited in 
 note I, in connection with which should be read G. Paris's review in the Jour- 
 nal des Savants, May and June, 1895. The history of the Italian comedians in 
 France may be found in A. Baschet's interesting and valuable work, Les com- 
 idiens italiens d, la cour de France sous Charles IX, Henri III, Henri IV, et 
 Louis XIII, Paris, 1882. The same subject has been disciissed in a more 
 popular way by L. Moland, Moliire et la comidie italienne, Paris, 1867, and 
 additional materials for this topic will be found in A. Bartoli, Scenari inediti 
 delta commedia dell' arte, Florence, i88o. Of the other special fields which 
 have been treated I may mention here: M. Pietri, Le PStrarquisme au XVIe 
 siicle, PHrarque et Ronsard ou de I'influence de Petrarque sur le Pleiade fran- 
 gais, Paris, 1895: see also on this subject, L. de VeyriSres, Monographic du 
 sonnet; Sonnettistes anciens et modernes, Paris, 1869, 2 vols. The subject of 
 Platonic philosophy has also been treated in a valuable article by A. Lefranc, 
 
438 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 poets, artists, artisans, merchants, actors, introduced into 
 France Italian manners, art, and commodities.^ The French 
 soldiers, including the large number of officials and travellers, 
 brought back with them from Italy a fondness for Italian things 
 which showed itself in their speech and changed manner of living.^ 
 
 Another important source of influence was the translation of 
 Italian works into French. It has already been seen from the 
 notes to Chapters II-VII that most of the important works there 
 referred to were translated into French, and many others will 
 be mentioned in the course of the present chapter.'' 
 
 The Italian influence, as has been said, reached its height 
 under Henry III, and was the object of a vigorous protest on 
 the part of the famous scholar Henri Estienne, whose Deux 
 dialogues du nouveau langage frangois italianize is the most 
 important document for the history of the influence of Italy in 
 France.^ 
 
 "Le Platonisme et la litterature en France a I'epoque de la Renaissance, 1500- 
 1550," in Revue d'histoire litteraire de la France, Vol. Ill, pp. 1-44. The in- 
 fluence of Italy upon the women of the Renaissance, chiefly in France, is the 
 subject of a work by R. De Maulde La Claviere, Les Femmes de la Renaissance, 
 Paris, 1898. The book is prolix and fails to employ a large class of authorities, 
 which would have added materially to its value and interest. It gives, how- 
 ever, a good general idea of the conditions prevailing in Italian and French 
 society at the time of the Renaissance. 
 
 ' For Italians in France see Leo Benvenuti, Dizionario degli Italiani all'es- 
 tero, Florence, 1890. For Italian actors see Baschet, Moland, and Bartoli 
 cited in the last note; for scholars see Flamini cited in the last note. Mention 
 should also be made of the visits to France of Italian poets, Tasso, Alemanni, 
 Marino, etc. 
 
 ^ For French travellers in Italy see Jules Dumesnil, Voyageurs franqais en 
 Italie, Paris, 1 864. One of the most interesting of French travellers was Michel 
 de Montaigne, 1580-1581, whose journal has been published recently by A. 
 D'Ancona, U Italia alia fine del secolo XVI, Giornale di iiiaggio di Michaele de 
 Montaigne in Italia nel 1^80 a 1581, Cittel di Castello, 1895. This edition 
 contains a valuable bibliography of travels in Italy from the earliest times to 
 1815. 
 
 ' For translations of Petrarch, Boccaccio, Boiardo, Sannazaro.and Ariosto, 
 see Birch-Hirschfeld, Geschichte der franzcsischen Litteratur seit Anfang des 
 XVI. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, 1889, Anmerkungen, p. 29, where Gouget, Bib- 
 liothique franQoise, vols. VII and VIII, are cited. See also J. Blanc, Biblio- 
 grapMe italico-frangaise, Paris and Milan, 1886, 2 vols. Additional references 
 are scattered through IBirch-Hirschfeld's Anmerkungen, as on pp. 38-39. 
 
 * Materials for Estienne's life may be found in L. Feugere, Conformite du 
 langage frangois avec le grec par Henri Estienne. Nouvelle edition accompagnie 
 de notes et precedee d'un essai sur la vie et les ouvrages de cet auteur. Paris, 
 1853. This essay is reprinted in Caracteres et portraits litteraires du XVIe' 
 siide par M. Leon Feugere, Paris, 1859, 2 vols.. Vol. II, pp. 1-204. The three 
 works of Estienne relating to the French language are now accessible in mod- 
 ern reprints. The Conformite du langage frangois avec le grec has just been 
 cited ; the others are : Deux dialogues de nouveau langage frangois italianizi et 
 autrement desguize, principalement entre les courtisans de ce temps, par Henri 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 439 
 
 Henri Estienne was born at Paris in 1531, and was the grand- 
 son of Henri Estienne, the founder of the illustrious family of 
 printers and editors, who contributed so powerfully to the 
 spread of the Renaissance in France. The father of the second 
 Henri, Robert, famous for his Greek and Hebrew texts, gave his 
 son a careful education, which, thanks to the child's precocity, 
 enabled him at the age of fourteen to aid his father in the publica- 
 tion of Greek authors. Soon after Henry began his travels to 
 Italy, England, and Holland, partly for the purpose of visiting 
 libraries and obtaining materials for his father's press, and 
 partly to aid in disposing of its products. 
 
 The publication of the Scriptures in the original tongues and 
 in the Latin translation, together with the revision of the text, 
 involved Robert in difficulties with the Sorbonne. His personal 
 views inclined to the side of the Reformation, and at the close of 
 1550 or the beginning of 1551 he secretly withdrew from Paris 
 and established himself with Henri at Geneva. There the new 
 press prospered, but Robert and his son Henri, who shared his 
 religious views, did not find the toleration which they had ex- 
 pected. The son was enabled by his father to establish a press 
 of his own devoted especially to the classic authors. Robert 
 died in 1559, and Henri then combined the two presses. His 
 incessant activity and increased responsibility impaired his 
 health and threw him into a profound melancholy from which 
 he suffered the remainder of his life, and which he sought to 
 cure by constant travel and change of occupation. It was as 
 a means of diversion that he composed in 1565 his first work in 
 French, the treatise on the conformity of the French language 
 with the Greek. 
 
 Although Henri had been compelled for reasons of religion to 
 abandon his native land, he never ceased to be a patriotic French- 
 man and to enjoy the favor and protection of Henry III, in his 
 frequent visits to Paris. The object of the Conformite was to 
 
 Estienne. Avec introduction et notes par P. Ristelhuber, Paris, 1885, 2 vols., 
 and, Henri Estienne, La Precellence du langage franQois reimprimee avec des 
 notes, une grammaire et un glossaire par E. Hoguet et precedee d'une preface de 
 L. Petit de Julleville, Paris, 1896. The edition of the last named worlc by L. 
 Feugere, 1850, is out of print and I have not been able to see it. 
 
 Since the above note was written an admirable work on Estienne has been 
 published by Louis Clement, Henri Estienne et son cemre fransais, Paris, 1899. 
 Especially valuable are Chapters H, "L'Esprit de Cour et I'ltalianisme," 
 IV, "La precellence du Langage franga.is"; and Part II, Chapter IV, "L'in- 
 fluence italienne et le nouveau langage." 
 
440 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 show that French resembled Greek more closely than it did Latin, 
 and, as in Estienne's opinion Greek was the most perfect of lan- 
 guages, French, which resembled it most closely, was superior to 
 the other modern languages. 
 
 It is impossible to narrate in detail Henri's subsequent life. 
 He married three times and had fourteen children, one of whom, 
 Florence, became the wife of Isaac Casaubon. His business 
 languished, his Thesaurus linguae graecae, his chief title to im- 
 mortality, exhausted his strength and increased his financial 
 embarrassments. From this time on he resided for the most 
 part in France, where, as has been said, he enjoyed the favor of 
 the King. It was, however, at Geneva that he composed and 
 printed in 1578 under an assumed name his most important 
 work for our purpose, the Deux dialogues du nouveau langage 
 Jrangois italianize. 
 
 The object of the Conformite was, as we have seen, to prove 
 the superiority of the French over the other modern languages: 
 the object of the Deux dialogues was to protest against the Itali- 
 anization of the French tongue by the courtiers and other people 
 of fashion, who talked a curious jargon of French with Italian 
 endings and pronounced according to Italian methods. We 
 shall return to this curious work presently for a more detailed 
 examination. 
 
 A year after the publication of the Deux dialogues, 1579, 
 Henri Estienne issued his third and last work relating to the 
 French language, the Precellence du langage frangois, .the full 
 title of which is: Projet du livre intitule de la precellence du lan- 
 gage frangois. The publication of the Deux dialogues had aroused 
 a hostile feeling in Geneva and the author had withdrawn 
 to France, where the king had given him a kind reception. Es- 
 tienne had intended to prepare a work supplementary to the 
 Deux dialogues, and indeed, announced his intention in the 
 closing pages of that work. Philausone, who represents the 
 Italianized Frenchman, declares to Philalethe, to whom the dis- 
 pute has been referred for decision, that the best way to convert 
 him and cause him to relinquish his habit, would be to prove that 
 the French is as good and as fine as the Italian. Philalethe 
 replies that it is not necessary to urge him, for he never did any- 
 thing more willingly. Only he must choose the time and place: 
 "For I hope to do more than is asked, namely, to show the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 441 
 
 excellency of our language to be so great that not only it ought 
 not to be ranked after the Italian, but ought to be preferred to 
 it, 'n'en desplaise k toute I'ltalie.'" 
 
 This intention the king urged him to fulfil, and although Es- 
 tienne had left at Geneva his notes and other material he under- 
 took the task and completed it in three months, depending en- 
 tirely on his memory. Under these circumstances he regarded 
 his work as a mere plan or model of a more extensive work and 
 so entitled it Projet du livre, etc. In this work, as the title in- 
 dicates, the author endeavours to prove the superiority of the 
 French over the Italian, which he does by examining the following 
 points: "Lequel des deux est le plus grave? Lequel est le plus 
 gentil et de meilleure grace? Lequel est le plus riche?" 
 
 It is impossible to follow in detail the troubled life of Henri 
 Estienne until his death at Lyons in 1598. His fame as a scholar 
 is assured by his Thesaurus and a long series of editions of Greek 
 and Latin texts, but the French language, too, owes him undying 
 gratitude for the effort he made at a critical period in its history 
 to resist a tendency which would otherwise have ended in the 
 destruction of the genius and purity of that tongue. 
 
 The Deux dialogues du nouveau langage frangois italianize is, 
 as has already been said, the most important document for the 
 history of the influence of Italy on France in the sixteenth 
 century. The work deals chiefly with the language, although 
 there are references to Italian fashions as will presently 
 be seen. The book opens with the meeting of Celtophile and 
 Philausone, the former of whom expresses his pleasure at the 
 encounter. Philausone replies in the following remarkable 
 language: "Bon jour k vostre seigneurie, monsieur Celtophile. 
 Puis qu'elle s'allegre tant de m'avoir rencontre, je jouyray d'une 
 allegresse reciproque de m'estre imbatu en ce lieu. Mais il 
 plaira a vostre seigneurie piller patience, si je luy dy qu'elle a 
 use en mon endret d'une fagon de langage qui n'a pas bon garbe." 
 Celtophile asks why Philausone, who blames his language, has 
 'Italianized his own. Philausone answers: "Pource que main- 
 tenant I'usance des courtisans est telle, de mescoler des vocables 
 Italiens parmi les Frances." The discussion which thus arises 
 continues until the close of the work, when the matter is sub- 
 mitted to Philalethe for his judgment. He sides with Celtophile 
 and promises to prove some day the excellence of French ; mean- 
 
442 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 while he invites them to dinner the following day, when the 
 discussion can be continued and Philausone fully satisfied. 
 
 In the course of the conversation we learn that the court was 
 the centre of the process of Italianization. Celtophile says (I, 
 p. 126), that since his return to France he has noticed: "plusieurs 
 escorchemens semblables aux vostres au langage de quelques uns ; 
 mais vous [Philausone] estes le premier dont j'ay appris que la 
 forge d'un tel langage fust a la cour. En quoy la chance est 
 bien tourn^e, veu que la cour a eu cest honneur autrefois (et prin- 
 cipalement au temps de ce tant admirable roy Frangois pre- 
 mier) de donner loy k la France universelle touchant le bon 
 langage." 
 
 This process was the result of the influx of Italians to the court. 
 Philalethe (II, p. 238) declares: "que pour quarante ou cinquante 
 Italiens qu'on y voyait autrefois maintenant on y voit une 
 petite Italic." Not only was French interlarded with Italian 
 words, as we have seen above, but the pronunciation of the lan- 
 guage was affected;' exaggerated adverbs like infiniment, ex- 
 tremement, and divinement, were introduced i'" even Italian 
 gestures were employed (II, p. iii), and the Italian mode of 
 address, vostre seigneurie (II, p. 159). 
 
 The Italian influence was not confined to the language, it 
 extended to fashions of wearing the hair (I, p. 211); fashions in 
 dress, ruffs (I, p. 215), the use of masks (I, p. 219); fans (I, p. 
 228);" muffs (I, p. 226); cosmetics (I, p. 239); high-heeled shoes 
 (I, p. 242) ; busks (I, p. 252) ; bustles (L, p. 253) ; etc. 
 
 Even this brief and inadequate notice of Estienne's work 
 will show its extreme value to the student of manners as well 
 as to the philologist. It reveals the alarming advance of the 
 Italian influence, an advance which was sensibly checked by 
 Estienne's vigorous protest. Other causes, too, conspired to 
 
 ^ It was difficult for the Italian courtiers to pronounce the French oi, and 
 they rendered it as though it were an e; their example was followed by the Ital- 
 ianizing Frenchmen and gradually the oi in certain classes of words, the in- 
 finitives, imperfects, and conditionals, of verbs etc., were pronounced as ai, 
 and from the end of the XVIII. century on were so written. See Ristelhuber's 
 edition, Vol. II, pp. 258 et seq. 
 
 "See Ristelhuber's edition. Vol. I, 138; II, 129. This use of exaggerated 
 adverbs was revived in the seventeenth century and was characteristic of the 
 Precieux. See Livet, Lexique de la langue de Moliere, Vol. II, suh verb, furieux, 
 for a long and valuable note on the subject. 
 
 " See Ristelhuber's edition, Vol. I, p. 28, note. For Italian fashions in 
 dress see Quicherat, Histoire du costume en France, Paris, 1877, pp. 403, 41 7~ 
 434- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 443 
 
 diminish this influence, causes partly political and partly hterary 
 which this is not the place to study in detail. 
 
 The work of Estienne which we have just considered shows 
 the extent of the Italian influence in the early years of the reign 
 of Henry III. Some twenty years earlier this influence was 
 revealed in the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, the sister 
 of Francis I, and one of the most interesting figures in the history 
 of the sixteen th^century.i^ 
 
 Marguerite, daughter of Louise of Savoy and Charles, Count 
 of Angouleme, was born in the Castle of AngoulSme the 12th of 
 April, 1492, a little more than two years before the birth of her 
 brother, afterwards Francis I, with whom her life was inseparably 
 connected. Marguerite was carefully educated, learning Latin, 
 Italian, Spanish, and later some Hebrew.^' She was always 
 interested in theological and philosophical matters as appears 
 from her writings and the share she took in the spread of the 
 Reformation in France. She was married in 1509 to the Duke 
 Charles of Alengon, a person of inferior intelligence and ability. 
 He died in 1525 and two years later Marguerite married Henri 
 d'Albret, King of Navarre, who was eleven years younger than 
 his wife. This union proved little happier than the first and 
 Marguerite was doomed to experience sorrow from all those whom 
 she loved. 
 
 Her sympathies were on the side of the Reformation, in which 
 she played a conspicuous part as the protectress of persecuted 
 scholars, and her abodes at Pau and Nerac were asylums for the 
 oppressed. She never recovered from her brother's death, which 
 took place in 1547, and died two years later on the 21st of De- 
 cember, 1549, at the castle of Odos in Bigarre. 
 
 ^ There is no definitive life of Marguerite de Navarre, but materials may- 
 be found in the following works: Marguerite of Angouleme, Queen of Navarre 
 by A. Mary F. Robinson, Boston, 1887, a very charming sketch in the Famous 
 Women Series; the introduction to F. Frank's edition of the Marguerites de la 
 Marguerite des Princesses, Paris, 1873, Vol. I, pp. i-x, is perhaps the best 
 general account of Marguerite. A more detailed account of her last years 
 may be found in De la Ferriere-Percy, Marguerite d' Angouleme {Soeur de Fran- 
 Qois ler, son livre de depenses, 1^40-49), Etude sur ses dernieres annees, Paris, 
 1872; and in the introduction to A. Lefranc's edition of Les dernieres poesies 
 de Marguerite de Navarre, Paris, 1896. A long list of works relating to Mar- 
 guerite will be found in Toldo, Contributo alio studio delta novella francese, p. 
 30, n. I. See also Notice sur Marguerite d'Angouleme, reine de Navarre, by 
 P. L. Jacob, in Les vieux conteurs frangais, Paris, 1841, pp. xxv-xxxvii. 
 
 '* See Frank, op. cit., p. iv, and M. de Maulde La Claviere, Louise de Savoie 
 el Frangois I, Paris, 1895, cited by G. Paris in his review of Toldo's work in 
 the Journal des Savants, p. 16 of the Extrait. 
 
444 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Marguerite was, as we have said, carefully educated and took 
 a deep interest in literature, producing herself a considerable 
 amount of poetry and a prose work of great interest and worth, 
 the Heptameron. She was brought under the influence of Italian 
 at the court of her brother, where Luigi Alamanni, an exile from 
 Florence, found a refuge and later, in 1532, an office in the house- 
 hold of Catherine de' Medici. Marguerite was also in correspond- 
 ence with Vittoria Colonna," and Bernardo Tasso dedicated to 
 her a book of his sonnets.'^ This was also the period of the trans- 
 lation of Italian works into French, and to the influence of one 
 of these translations we owe Marguerite's most important work. 
 The Decameron of Boccaccio had been translated into French 
 as early as 1485 by Laurens du Premierfait and was reprinted 
 several times. '^ The translator knew no Italian and used a 
 Latin version made for him by a Franciscan monk. As might 
 be expected this translation was not very exact and the editor 
 of the BihlioiMques frangoises de La Croix du Maine et Du Verdier, 
 Vol. II, p. 33, says: "Rien n'est plus ridicule que cette miserable 
 version, ou Bocace n'est reconnoissable, jusques Ici qu'^ la place 
 de quelques nouvelles de 1 'original le pretendu traducteur en a 
 substitue d'etrangeres fort plates." 
 
 In spite of the apparent popularity of Premierfait's transla- 
 tion, the need was felt for a new version, and one was undertaken 
 at the request of Marguerite by Antoine Le Magon, a native of 
 Dauphine and "conseiller du roi, receveur general de ses finances, 
 tresorier de I'extraordinaire de ses guerres et secretaire de tres- 
 illustre Princesse Marguerite de France, soeur unique du roi." 
 He resigned his ofiices to follow Marguerite to B6arn, and to 
 please her translated anew the Decameron. He says in the 
 prologue (cited by Dillaye in L'Heptameron des Nouvelles, Paris, 
 1879, 1, p. 262) : "S'il vous souvient (ma dame) du temps que vous 
 feistes sejour'de quatre ou cinq moys k Paris, durant lequel vous 
 
 "See Birch-Hirschfeld, op. cit., p. 112; Carteggio di Vittoria Colonrm, 
 Turin, 1889, pp. 185, 190, 191 et seg^.; and von Reumont's life of Vittoria. 
 
 " For Marguerite's Italian relations see Toldo's work already cited, pp. 64 
 et seq. 
 
 " La Croix du Maine, II, 32, says he flourished in the time of Charles VIII, 
 in the year 1483, and was esteemed a great orator for his day. He also trans- 
 lated the works of Seneca and Boccaccio's De casibus virorum illustriwm. 
 The first edition of his translation of the Decameron was printed at Paris in 
 1485 by Verard in folio with Gothic type. It was reprinted according to 
 Brunet in 1500-1593?, 1521, 1534, 1537, 1540, and 1541. The British Museum 
 has editions of 1521, 1534, and 1541. All the above were printed at Paris. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 445 
 
 me commandastes (me voyant venu nouvellement de Florence, 
 oil j'avois sejourn6 un an entier) vous faire lecture d'aucunes 
 nouvelles du Decameron de Bocace, apres laquelle il vous plaist 
 me commander de traduire tout le livre en nostre langue fran- 
 goyse, m'asseurant qu'il seroit trouv6 beau et plaisant." 
 
 The first edition was printed in Paris by Estienne Roffet, 1545, 
 in fol., and it was frequently reprinted during the rest of the 
 century. 1^ It was this translation which inspired Marguerite 
 to write her Heptameron. She says in the Prologue to her work 
 (ed. Dillaye, I, p. 14): "Entre autres, ie croy qu'il n'y a nul de 
 vous qui n'ait leu les cent Nouuelles de Bocace nouuellement 
 traduictes d'ytalien en frangois, que le Roy Frangois premier 
 de son nom, monseigneur le Daulphin, madame la Daulphine, 
 madame Marguerite font tant de cas, que si Bocace, du lieu o\X 
 il estoyt les eut pu oyr, il debuoit resusciter a la louagne de telles 
 personnes. Et k I'heure i'oye les deux dames dessus nomm^es, 
 auecq plusieurs autres de la court, qui se deliberent d'en faire 
 autant, sinon en vne chose difTerente de Bocace: c'est de n'es- 
 cripre nulle nouuelle qui ne soit veritable histoire. Et pros- 
 mirent les dictes dames & monseigneur le Daulphin auecq d'en 
 faire chascun dix, & d 'assembler iusques h. dix personnes qu'ilz 
 pensoient plus dignes de racompter quelque chose, sauf ceulx 
 qui auoient estudie & estoient gens de lettres; car monseigneur 
 le Daulphin ne vouUoyt que leur art y fut mesl6 ; & aussi de paour 
 que la beaulte de la rethoricque feit tort en quelque partye k la 
 verity de I'histoire. Mais les grandz affaires suruenuz au Roy 
 depuis, aussy la paixd 'entre luy &le Roy d' Angle terre, I'acouche- 
 ment de madame la Daulphine, & plusieurs aultres choses dig- 
 nes d'empescher toute la court, a faict mectre en obly du tout 
 ceste entreprinse, que par nostre long loisir pourra en dix iours 
 estre mise k fin, actendant que nostre pont soit parfaict." 
 
 As Dillaye says, ed. cit., p. 261, this passage would enlighten 
 us in regard to the date of the composition of the Heptameron 
 if we were convinced that the work was written continuously and 
 on a fixed plan. He believes that many of the stories were con- 
 ceived prior to the date 1545, inferred from the above passage. 
 However that may be, it is evident that it was only after this 
 
 "Brunei, Manuel: 1548, 1551, 1559, Paris, 8vo, 1569, l2mo; Lyon, 1552, 
 1558, 1560, 1580, i6mo. The British Museum has 1551, 1554, 1559, 1568, 
 8vo, Paris, and Lyon, 1552, 1558, 1597, i6mo. 
 
446 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 translation that Marguerite thought of connecting, in a frame 
 analogous to that of Boccaccio, the short tales which she had 
 previously written at various times. The general prologue, and 
 the prologues and epilogues of each day date from this period, that 
 is, after 1545. The Queen wrote the separate stories from time 
 to time in various places. Brantdme says in his Dames illustres, 
 CEuvres completes, Paris, 1890, Vol. X, p. 296: "Elle composa 
 toutes ces nouvelles, la plus part dans sa litiere, en allant par 
 pays; car elle avoit de plus graves occupations estant retiree. 
 Je I'ay ouy ainsin conter k ma grand'mere, qui alloit tousjours 
 aveq elle dans sa litiere, comme sa dame d'honneur, et luy tenoit 
 I'escritoire dont elle escrivoit." The frame in which the stories 
 are fitted is as follows. 
 
 On the first of September, when the baths of the Pyrenees begin 
 to acquire their virtue, there were at Cauterets^* a number of 
 persons from France, Spain, and other places, some to drink the 
 waters, some to bathe, and others to take the mud-baths, which 
 are such wonderful things that the sick abandoned by their 
 physicians return home cured. At these baths all invalids re- 
 mained more than three weeks until they perceived by their 
 improvement that they could depart. But, about the time of 
 their departure, there fell such wonderful and great rains, that 
 it seemed as if God had forgotten the promise made to Noah not 
 to destroy the world again by water ; for all the huts and lodgings 
 of Cauterets were so flooded with water that it was impossible 
 to remain there. 
 
 Those who had come from Spain returned by the mountains the 
 best way they could, but the French ladies and gentlemen (think- 
 ing to return as easily to Tarbes as they had come) found the 
 little streams so swollen that they could scarcely ford them. 
 But when it came to passing the Bearnese Gave, which had been 
 only two feet deep when they crossed before, they found it so 
 large and swift that they turned aside to seek the bridges, which, 
 being of wood only, had been carried away by the violence of the 
 water. Some who thought they could defy the violence of the 
 stream by collecting together were swept away so quickly that 
 those who wished to follow them lost their power and will to do 
 
 1' Marguerite visited this celebrated resort the last year of her life ; see F. 
 Frank, Dernier voyage de la reine de Navarre Marguerite d' Angouleme . . . aux 
 bains de Cauterets {1549), Toulouse and Paris, 1897. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 447 
 
 SO. \\^herefore they separated, as well to seek a new way, as on 
 account of the difference of their opinions. Some crossed the 
 summit of the mountains, and passing by Aragon, came into 
 the county of Roussillon, and from there to Narbonne; others 
 went straight to Barcelona, whence some went by sea to Mar- 
 seilles, and others to Aigues-Mortes. But a widow named 
 Oisille," of long experience, determined to lay aside all fear of 
 the bad roads until she reached Notre-Dame de Serrance, sure 
 that if there was any way of escaping danger, the monks would 
 find one. She succeeded in arriving there, passing such strange 
 places, and so difficult to climb and descend, that in spite of 
 her age she was obliged to walk most of the way. The pity was 
 that most of her people and horses died on the road and she 
 reached Serrance with only one man and one woman. There she 
 was charitably received by the monks. 
 
 There were also among the French two gentlemen who had 
 gone to the baths more to accompany some ladies whose suitors 
 they were, than from any lack of health. These gentlemen, 
 seeing the company depart and the husbands of their ladies take 
 them away, thought to follow them at a distance, without re- 
 vealing themselves to any one. One evening the gentlemen, 
 being in a hut near the house where the two husbands were, 
 heard a great cry, and rushing out with their servants found that 
 the two husbands had been attacked by robbers. They drew 
 their swords and defended them, and after dispersing the robbers 
 found that one of. the husbands had been killed. They buried 
 him and comforted the widow as well as they could and continued 
 their journey. The husband who survived was named Hircan, 
 his wife, Parlamente, the widow, Longarine, and the two young 
 gentlemen, Dagoucin and SafTredant. That night they reached 
 the abbey of Saint-Savin, where they found two young ladies, 
 Nomerfide and Emarsuitte, who had had a narrow escape from 
 a bear, which had devoured all their servants. The next day 
 while they were at Mass a man rushed in clothed only in his shirt 
 and followed by two men with drawn swords. The latter seeing 
 so large a company retreated, but were followed and killed by 
 Hircan and his companions. The gentleman in his shirt turned 
 out to be a friend named Geburon who had been attacked in his 
 bed by three robbers. 
 
 I' For conjectures as to the characters in the Prologue see Dillaye's edition 
 of the Heptameron, I, pp. 263-70. 
 
448 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 It was still impossible to cross the Gave and the abbot offered 
 them a lodging until the waters had subsided. In the evening, 
 just as they were going to bed, an old monk arrived who told 
 them that a gentleman named Simontault had been nearly 
 drowned in the river, but had been rescued and had gone to 
 Notre-Dame de Serrance, where the monk assured him he would 
 find a widow named Oisille, who had been the companion of his 
 adventures. 
 
 When the company heard the names of Oisille and Simontault 
 they greatly rejoiced and started the next day for Serrance, 
 which they reached after great difficulty. The joy of the com- 
 pany at their reunion was so great that the night was too short 
 for the expression of their gratitude to God and thanksgiving 
 for His mercy. The next day they heard Mass as usual and after 
 dinner sent to learn if the waters had not subsided. Finding on 
 the contrary that they had risen, and that it would be impossible 
 to cross the river for a long time, they determined to build a 
 bridge between two rocks quite near each other. They dis- 
 covered that this would require ten or twelve days and the 
 company began to be wearied and begged dame Oisille to devise 
 some pastime. She replied that the only remedy she had yet 
 discovered for her ennui was the reading of the Holy Scriptures ; 
 wherefore if the company would devote an hour every morning 
 to this and then, during Mass, pray devoutly, they would find in 
 that desert the beauty which exists in all the cities. Hircan 
 answered that other exercises were needful, and that she, as the 
 oldest, should read the Scriptures in the morning, but that from 
 after dinner to vespers some pastime should be chosen which 
 would not be injurious to the soul and agreeable to the body. 
 Oisille responded that she was afraid of making a bad choice, 
 and would leave the matter to be decided by the majority, 
 Hircan to give his opinion first. He referred the choice to his 
 wife Parlamente, who said that if she was as learned as the 
 ancients who discovered the arts, she would invent some game or 
 pastime to fulfill the duty laid upon her, but as she was scarcely 
 able to remember things which had already been well done, she 
 would deem herself happy to follow closely those who had already 
 satisfied their demand. 
 
 She then refers to the Cent Nouvelles of Jean Boccace, 
 "newly translated from Italian into French, which the Most 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 449 
 
 Christian Francis, first of that name, the Dauphin, his wife, and 
 Madame Marguerite have thought so highly of, that if Boccace, 
 from the place where he was, could have heard them, he must 
 have come to life again at the praise of such persons." She added 
 that she had heard that the above named ladies had determined 
 to do the same thing as Boccaccio, except that their stories were 
 all to be true. They had been prevented from carrying their 
 plan into effect by various public and private affairs, and now, 
 Parlamente said, it might be done by the present company during 
 their long leisure while the bridge was building. She recommended 
 them to spend the hours between noon and four o'clock in a 
 pleasant meadow by the side of the river Gave, where the foliage 
 was. so thick that the sun could not pierce the shade nor heat the 
 coolness; there, seated at their ease, each one should relate some 
 story which he had seen or heard from some one worthy of be- 
 lief. At the end of ten days they would have completed a hun- 
 dred tales. 
 
 The company accepted the proposal joyfully and could scarcely 
 wait for the morrow. When it arrived they repaired to Madame 
 Oisille's room, where they found her already engaged in her 
 prayers, and after they had listened to her reading of the Scrip- 
 tures for an hour they heard Mass, and after dinner at ten o'clock 
 each withdrew to his room to do what he pleased. They did not 
 fail to meet at noon in the meadow, which was so beautiful and 
 pleasant that they needed a Boccaccio to describe it truthfully. 
 When the company were seated on the grass, so soft and delicate 
 that they needed no cushions or carpets, Simontault began: 
 "Who will be the one to have rule over the others?" Hircan 
 replied: "Since you are the first to speak, it is right for you to 
 command, for we are all equal in the game." The company 
 urged him to begin and he related the first story. When the 
 story was finished, the narrator made a covert allusion to his 
 own sufferings. Then Madame Oisille was asked to relate the 
 next story, which she did. The endings and beginnings of the 
 "journ^es" are monotonous, and the work is incomplete, ending 
 abruptly with the LXXII. story. 
 
 With the stories themselves and their sources we are not here 
 
 concerned. Of greater interest are the discussions at the end 
 
 of the stories. The dominant subject of course is love, and love 
 
 in its Platonic form. Each story gives rise to a discussion by 
 
 30 
 
450 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the company, and these' discussions are precious materials for 
 the history of conversation in the sixteenth century. They 
 also show the extent to which the theory of Platonic love had 
 become popularized in France, thanks to Marguerite de Navarre. 2" 
 As early in the Heptameron as the VIII. novel the Platonic theory 
 is clearly propounded. In this story a husband thinking to de- 
 ceive his wife brings dishonor upon himself. The company 
 discuss the novel, and Dagoucin declares that a man is very un- 
 reasonable when he has wherewithal to content himself and seeks 
 something else. Simontault replies: "But what would you do 
 to those who have not found their half? Do you call seeking it 
 everywhere inconstancy?" Dagoucin answered: "Because one 
 cannot know where is that half whose union is so perfect that one 
 does not differ from the other, it is necessary to stop where love 
 constrains one, and, no matter what arises, not to change one's 
 heart or will ; for if the one you love is so like you and of the same 
 will, it will be yourself that you love and not her." "Dagoucin," 
 replied Hircan, "you wish to fall into a false opinion; as if we 
 should love women without being loved." Dagoucin answered: 
 "Hircan, I mean that if our love is based on the beauty, grace, 
 and favor of a woman, and our object is pleasure, honor, or profit, 
 love cannot last long; for, if the thing on which we base it fails, 
 our love flies from us. But I am firm in my opinion, that he who 
 loves, having no other end or desire than to love well, will die 
 before this love leaves his heart." "By my faith," answered 
 Simontault, "I do not believe you have ever been in love; for if 
 you had felt its flame like others, you would not depict to us here 
 the Republic of Plato, which exists in writing and not in reality." 
 This theory is declared even more explicitly in the conversa- 
 tion following the XIX. novel. "I have an opinion," said Par- 
 lamente, "that one will never love God perfectly unless he has 
 loved perfectly some creature in this world." "What do you 
 call loving perfectly?" said Saffredent; "do you consider perfect 
 lovers those who are in a transport and worship their ladies from 
 afar, without daring to reveal their desire?" Parlamente's 
 
 ^» See Bourciez, op. cit., pp. 391 et seg., and Birch-Hirschfeld, op. ciL, pp. 
 294-298, "Die Gesprache des Heptameron." 
 
 See A. Lefranc, "Le platonisme et la litterature en France 4 I'epoque de 
 la Renaissance (1500-1550)" in Revue d'histoire litteraire de la France, III, pp. 
 1-44; Bourciex, op. cit., pp. 101-136, "La vieille poesie frangaise et la diffusion 
 des theories platoniciennes " ; and Toldo, Contribute alio studio della novella 
 francese, pp. 45 et seq. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 451 
 
 answer is worth quoting at length in the original. "I'appelle 
 parfaicts amans, luy respondit Parlamente, ceulx qui cherchent 
 en ce qu'ils amient quelque perfection, soit beault^, bonte ou 
 bonne grace; tousiours tendans a la vertu, & qui ont le cueur si 
 hault & si honneste qu'ils ne veulent pour mourir mettre leur 
 fin aux choses basses que I'honneur & la conscience reprouuent;' 
 car I'ame qui n'est creee que pour retourner a son souuerain bien,. 
 ne faict tant qu'elle est dedans ce corps que desirer d'y paruenir.. 
 Mais a cause que les sens par lesquels elle en peut auoir nouuelles,. 
 sont obscurs & charnels par le pech6 du premier pere, ne luy 
 peuuent monstrer que les choses visibles plus approchantes de la 
 perfection, apr^s quoi I'ame court, cuidans trouuer en vne beaulte- 
 exterieure, en vne grace visible & aux vertuz morales, la souuerain- 
 aine beault^, grace & vertu. Mais quand elle les a cherchez & 
 experimentez & elle n'y trouue point celuy qu'elle ayme, elle 
 passe oultre, ainsi que I'enfant, selon sa petitesse ayme les pou- 
 pines & aultres petites choses, les plus belles que son oeil beut 
 veoir; & estime richesses d'assembler des petites pierres: mais 
 quand il congnoist par plus grande experience que es choses 
 territoires n'y a perfection ne felicite, desire chercher le facteur 
 & la source d'icelle. Toutesfois si Dieu ne luy ouure I'oeil de 
 soy, seroit en danger de deuenir d'vn ignorant vng infidele 
 philosophe. Car foy seulement peut monstrer & faire receuoir 
 le bien que I'homme charnel & animal ne peut entendre. "^i 
 
 The loves of men and of women are contrasted at the end of 
 the XXI. novel: Parlamente saj's: "Woman's love, founded upon 
 God and honor, is so just and reasonable, that the one who re- 
 nounces such friendship ought to be deemed base and wicked 
 towards God and man. But the love of most men is so based 
 upon pleasure that women, not knowing their evil will, sometimes 
 go too far ; and when God reveals to them the wicked heart of the 
 one they deemed good, they can withdraw from it to their honor 
 and good repute, for the shortest follies are the best." 
 
 Some of these discussions constitute brief treatises on 
 marriage, e.g., in the XL. novel, where Parlamente says: "le 
 prie a Dieu, mes dames, que ceste example vous soyt si profit- 
 able que nulle de vous ayt enuye de soy marier, pour son plaisir, 
 sans le consentement de ceulx a qui on doibt porter obeissance ; 
 
 21 See Dillaye's edition of the Heptameron, Vol. H, p. 282, note 7, where a. 
 passage from Castighone's Cortegiano is quoted. 
 
452 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 car mariage est vng estat de si longue dur^e qu'il ne doibt estre 
 commence legierement, ne sans I'opinion de noz mielleurs amys 
 & parens." Or the various questions connected with love are 
 debated, e.g., in the XLII. novel, where Dagoucin says: "Toute- 
 fois, on dit que Tamour la plus secrete est la plus louable." 
 "Ouy secrete," says Simon tault, "aux oeilz de ceulx qui en 
 pourroient mal iuger, mais claire & congneue au moins aux deux 
 personnes a qui elles touchent." The same topic is discussed 
 again in the LIII. and LXX. novels. 
 
 The influence of the Decameron is evident in the frame of the 
 Heptameron, and it is also clear that Marguerite was well ac- 
 quainted with such works as the Cortegiano, Asolani, and the 
 other Italian treatises on love.^^ 
 
 An interesting example of the influence of Castiglione's 
 Cortegiano on the spread of Platonism in France is found in the 
 poetical works of Antoine Heroet, only recently rescued from 
 oblivion by Ferdinand Gohin, who has edited them for the 
 Societe des textes frangais modernes, 1909. The poet was born 
 about 1492 of a family distinguished by the favor of the court 
 and filling various offices under Francis I. His sister, Marguerite 
 de Navarre, also was interested in the Heroet family, and Antoine 
 enjoyed a pension from her as early as 1524. Little is known of 
 his education or of the circumstances which attracted him to the 
 study of Platonic philosophy. It is not certain that he knew 
 Greek, but he was of course acquainted with Ficino's trans- 
 lation and comment mentioned in Chapter III of the present 
 work. 
 
 His first poem on a Platonic subject, the myth of the Andro- 
 gyne, was presented to the king in 1536, but not printed until 
 1542. This was followed by the most famous of H^roet's poems, 
 La Parfaicte Amye, published in 1542. It is a refutation of La 
 Borderie's L'Amie de Court, which in its turn was a criticism of 
 Castiglione's ideal lady of the palace discussed in book third of 
 the Cortegiano. The success of H6roet's work, which ran 
 through more than twenty editions, is a tribute to the vogue of 
 the Cortegiano in France, where it was known in a translation 
 by Jacques Colin as early as 1537. 
 
 ^^ See the works of Toldo, Lefranc, and G. Paris cited above. For the popu- 
 larity of Equicola, Leone Hebreo, and Ficino see Marguerite de Valois, La 
 Rtielle mal assortie, Paris, Aubry, 1855, p. 10, and Bourciez, op. cit., p. 120. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 453 
 
 Heroet must have entered the ecclesiastical career shortly 
 after the appearance of his famous poem. In 1552 he was made 
 bishop of Digne, where he died sixteen years later. 
 
 The Parfaicte Amye, entitled in the first book (i. 22) "Par- 
 fection d 'Amour," is partly a refutation of La Borderie's L'Amie 
 de Court, and partly an exposition of the doctrine of love con- 
 tained in Plato's Banquet. La Borderie's point of departure was 
 the ideal lady of the palace depicted by Castiglione, whose fail- 
 ings he defends and excuses. A friend of H6roet, Charles Fon- 
 taine, answered La Borderie's work by a poem of some length, 
 1282 lines, entitled Contr'Amie de Court, but Heroet's Parfaicte 
 Amye was a more detailed refutation. Both La Borderie and 
 Heroet, as was natural, are based on Castiglione's work, although 
 Heroet expands his defence of true love by drawing on the dia- 
 logue of Plato. The heated discussion raised by La Borderie's 
 poem is evidence of the wide-spread influence of the Italian 
 Platonists, and especially of the CortegianoP 
 
 Four years after the death of Marguerite de Navarre and 
 five years before the appearance of the first (incomplete) edi- 
 tion of the Heptameron, Claude de Taillemont, a poet of the 
 school of Lyon, and a friend of Maurice Sceve, published a curious 
 allegorical work^* entitled : Discours des Champs Faez, a I'honneur 
 et exaltation de V Amour et des Dames, Lyon, Mich, du Bois, 1553. 
 
 The story runs as follows: On the strength of a dream, 
 in which Minerva appears in her "hautaine majesty," clothed 
 in her breastplate, uttering a theory of "I'amour guide par 
 la raison," three gentlemen, Philaste, Thdleme, and Thimoe, 
 mount their horses one morning and set out on their adventures. 
 Suddenly they reach one of those palaces which we find in the 
 
 ^' I owe my knowledge of Heroet to the excellent edition of his CEuvres 
 poetiques by Ferdinand Gohin. The Notice biographique contains, pp. xx 
 et seq., a valuable account of the influence of the Coriegiano in France. Her- 
 oet's poem was only one, the most famous it is true, of a number of works dis- 
 cussing the nature of love; see Gohin, Notice bibl., pp. xxv et seq. 
 
 ^ For the author see Bibiotheques frangoises de La Croix de Maine, Vol. I, 
 p. 153, and same work of Du Verdier, Vol. I, p. 370. A notice of Taillemont 
 as a poet may be found in Gouget, Bibliotheque frangoise. Vol. XI, p. 453. 
 Du Verdier, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 370-375, gives an extract from the Champs 
 Faez, containing a comparison of the two sexes, their creation and different 
 qualities, etc. The British Museum has only the edition of Paris, Richard 
 Roux, 1557, l6mo; Brunet mentions editions of Lyon, Michel du Bois, 1553, 
 1554, Rigaud, 1576; Paris, 1577, 1585, and 1595, G. Gorrozet. I have not 
 seen the original and take my account of it from Bourciez, Les maurs polies et 
 la litterature de cour sous Henri II, Paris, 1886, pp. 411 et seq. 
 
454 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Romances of Chivalry, improved, however, by the architects 
 of the Renaissance, adorned with festoons, arcades, and love 
 knots, and decorated, according to mythological taste, with 
 noble statues. They enter, and there, accompanied by two 
 young maidens, appears "la maitresse du logis, la belle et sage 
 Eumathe." Eumathe, it is needless to say, offers in every 
 respect a perfect resemblance to the Minerva who appeared in 
 the dream. After the customary greetings, one of the gentle- 
 men addresses to her the following compliment: "Vous pouvez 
 juger k noz visages, ma demoiselle, que rinopin6e rencontre de 
 vos beaut6z k I'entree de ceste porte, nous a tellement esmeu le 
 coeur et le sens, que la langue en a presque perdu son ofifice, 
 remetant toute la charge k I'oeil, lequel n'est point pour ce con- 
 tent, d'autant que son desir surpasse le pouvoir, et qu'il ne peult 
 esgaler en nombre les estoiles des cieux, pour jouir plus ample- 
 ment d'un objet tant agr^able." The remainder of Taillemont's 
 work, says Bourciez, presents a curious mixture of learning and 
 pedantry, of talk in which the fashionable tone is revealed, of 
 details betraying the spirit of this period which still wavers 
 between the vague recollections of the Middle Ages, and the zeal 
 for the Renaissance. First we must endure too long a descrip- 
 tion of the spot where the scene takes place, a garden, a large 
 orchard "k compartiments," with shady bowers and arbors, 
 flowering broom and laurels, "un vray paradis terrestre." 
 There is a labyrinth between two borders of gooseberry and 
 raspberry bushes; "Ici se monstroit une superbe et triomphante 
 fontaine, dont la source montoit par un gros et creux pilier de 
 jaspe, haut enleve et enrichy de plusieurs festons et fueillages d'or 
 et azur, puis sortoit par la gueule de trois dragons d'or." The 
 gentlemen are bewildreed. How shall they name this delightful 
 abode, where they are going to converse at their ease? Are they 
 the ' ' Elysian Fields " ? No , says Th61 ^me , they are ' ' les Champs 
 Faez" (the Enchanted Fields; the word faez is from the Latin 
 fatum, and is represented in the modern French by fee, fairy). 
 There poetry is recited, and its moral meaning discussed, and 
 the "chapeau de laurier, guerdon du vainqueur, " is awarded to 
 the wise Eumathe. Become queen of the company, she arranges 
 the rSles, distributes to each his duties of gallantry, and Thi- 
 moe, kneeling before her, declares his obedience, exclaiming: 
 "Madame, nous pouvons dire et confesser manifestement que 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 455 
 
 la grandeur de votre liberality surpasse de beaucoup, je ne dis 
 pas celle de nos merites, estant nulle, ains celle de nos desirs, 
 quelque excessive qu'elle soit." Bourciez says that it is the inci- 
 dents especially which are of value in this little work and render 
 it readable to-day. There is something delicate and spirituelle 
 in the sulkiness of the two maidens, vexed at seeing the queen 
 absolve herself from the ordinance which they have obeyed, 
 and which consists in being embraced by the "mieux-disant." 
 The most frivolous episodes are those in which the correct tone 
 is found. At a certain moment a young bird clothed in rich 
 plumage enters the hall and perches on a cornice, uttering its 
 melodious song. At first there is silence, then loud bursts of 
 laughter, and the maidens run here and there, armed with switches 
 and sticks, calling to the bird, "comme s'il leur eust deu re- 
 spondre. L'un I'appeloit son ami; I'autre disoit: H€ mon petit 
 mignon, ren toy a moy, et t'ayant loge en une belle cage neuve, 
 te paistray de ma propre main." All this, as Bourciez says, is 
 better than the learned and scholastic dissertations which follow. 
 Philaste pronounces too long a discourse upon the superiority 
 of women: Eumathe relates the story of a countess who "te- 
 moigna la vertu au prix de sa propre vie," but she has not in 
 relating this novel the vivacity of Marguerite of Navarre. She 
 is not much better inspired when she seeks to expound the 
 metaphysics of love, and tries to explain the mythological attri- 
 butes of Cupid and his fickle nature. "Amour, mes amis, est 
 une affection de bien, ou bon vouloir en vers la chose aymee, 
 conceu au coeur par le jugement de I'oeil ou I'imagination fait 
 sus un objet plaisant, attractif. . . . Se nourrit et alimente 
 de I'apparence agr6able par le moyen de I'oeil, I'oreille ou imagi- 
 nation : et est enfin cogneu et produit par actions. Or que soient 
 plusieurs amours, je le nie: et maintien qu'il n'en est qu'un," etc. 
 The work, however, which shows most distinctly the influence 
 of Italian society on French is the Printemps of Jacques Yver.^^ 
 
 ^ Almost nothing is known of Jaques Yver. Du Verdier, Vol. H, p. 317, 
 simply says: "Seigneur de Plaisance et de la Bigotterie." A brief notice is 
 given by P. L. Jacob in his edition of the Printemps in Les vieux conteurs fran- 
 gais, Paris, 1841. The first edition was Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1572. It 
 was reprinted frequently during the sixteenth century. Besides the edition 
 of Jacob I have used one belonging to Cornell University Library : ie Printemps 
 d' Yver, Contenant cinq histoires discourses par cinq iournees, en une noble com- 
 pagnie, au chasteau du Printemps. Far laques Yver, seigneur de Plaisance, 
 et dela Bigotterie, gentil-homme Poicteuin. A Lyon, Par les heritiers de Ben- 
 oist Rigaud. 1600. l2mo, pp. 460, and four not numbered which contain 
 
456 ITALL'^N SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The author, Seigneur de Plaisance and de la Bigotti^re, a gentle- 
 man of Poitou, was born about 1540. He was probably a Protest- 
 ant and had undoubtedly taken part in the religious wars in 
 the army of the Prince de Cond6 and the Admiral Coligny. His 
 only work was written in the two years of peace which preceded 
 the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and the writer died, probably 
 a victim of that event, before his book was published.^* 
 
 In the greeting, "Au favorable et bienveillant lecteur," Jac- 
 ques Yver thus describes the origin of his work: "Considering 
 sometimes with myself, kind reader, what great and famous 
 praises the Tragic Histories of Bandello have won in our France," 
 so far as to acquire such favor that it is a shame to-day for well- 
 bred maidens and the most learned courtiers, to be ignorant of 
 them ; so that even those who cannot adorn their tongues with 
 them, at least adorn their hands with them to keep themselves 
 in countenance. I cannot refrain (and my voluntary confession 
 
 "Conge a son livre"; "Du Trespas de I'Autheur, Par I. Th."; "Du mesme. 
 Sonnet." No privilege of any kind. The only translation of Yver's work, so 
 far as I know, is the rare English one, which as we shall see later is of some in- 
 terest for the history of the Elizabethan drama. I know of but two copies, 
 one, imperfect, in the British Museum, which I have examined, the other, 
 perfect, in the Bodleian, for a description of which I am indebted to Miss 
 Toulmin Smith. The title is: A Courtlie controuersie of Cupids Cautels: con- 
 teyning five Tragical Histories, very pithie, pleasant, pitiful, and profitable. 
 Discoursed upon wyth Argumentes of Love, by three Gentlemen and two Gentle- 
 women intermedled with diuers delicate sonets and Rithmes, exceeding delightfull 
 to refresh the yrkesomnesse of tedious tyme. Translated out of French as neare 
 as our English phrase will permit, by H. W. Gentleman. At London. Im- 
 printed by Francis Coldock, and Henry Bynneman. Anno 1578. Black 
 letter, 347 pp., 4to. See Miss Scott, op. cit., p. 34, No. 22. 
 
 ^' Jacob, op. cit., p. xxxviii, says: "Jacques Yver avait un frere nomme 
 Joseph et une soeur nommee Marie, qui faisaient aussi de jolis vers, et qui 
 furent sans doute les editeurs de son livre, car il mourut avant que I'impres- 
 slon fut achevee, peut-gtre victime de la Saint-Barthelemi, qu'il serablait 
 prevoir dans son ode ou Complainte sur les miseres de la guerre civile." 
 
 " A pleasant account of Bandello and his early French translator. Belle- 
 forest, may be found in the Introduction by R. L. Douglas to his edition of 
 Fenton's Bandello: Certain Tragical Discourses of Bandello translated into Eng- 
 lish by Geffraie Fenton, anno 1567, London, D. Nutt, 1898, being Vol. XIX of 
 The Tudor Translations, edited by W. E. Henley. The earliest French trans- 
 lation of Bandello was: Histoires tragiques, extraites des oeuvres italiennes de 
 Bandel et mises en notre langue frangoise par Pierre Bouestuau surnomme 
 Launay, Paris, Ben. Prevost ou Gilles Robineau, 1^59 (six novelle only); con- 
 tinuation . . . traduite {ou imite) par Fr. de Belief orest, Paris, Prevost, 1559, 
 in Svo (twelve novelle). Belleforest subsequently translated the remaining no- 
 velle, and his work enjoyed the greatest favor, being frequently reprinted in 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For English translations see Miss 
 Scott, op. cit., p. 41, No. 26. A readable account of Bandello, which, however, 
 does not add materially to the previous knowledge of him, may be found in 
 Matleo Bandello: Twelve Stories selected and done into English with a memoir 
 of the author by Percy Pinkerton, London, 1895, introduction, pp. v-xviii. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 457 
 
 desenes a partial pardon) from envying the Italian, who, like 
 the peach tree, recei\-es greater honor in a foreign land than in 
 its own, by fa\or of t\\o interpreters, who can be named the two 
 rich treasurers of the French language. And, on the other hand, 
 I regret the way these have cheapened their labor, cultivating 
 lands, from which others receive the fruit and income, being 
 witness of the ungrateful return they have for it. For having 
 found myself by chance in a familiar talk on this subject, in which 
 I maintained their merit against one, who, scorning the wit of 
 the French, said that they lived only on what they borrowed, 
 hatching eggs laid by others, and contenting themselves with 
 begging the wares of others, in order to piece them together and 
 make a show of them to their nation ; as if, famished, we gathered 
 up the crumbs which fall from the tables of those magnificent 
 ones, to make a dainty morsel of them for ourselves, I felt my 
 mind so ofTended by this that for a long time I have taken it 
 rather unkindly of Nature that she has not conferred that 
 pri\ilege upon the ears which she has upon the eyes, to re- 
 ceive agreeable words and close the door upon disagreeable ones ; 
 and in order to avenge the insult which they offered my heart, 
 the sincere zeal which I have for the honor of my country (which 
 I see sometimes \iolated) has inspired me with the desire and 
 courage to try to show that we are not more barren in fine in- 
 \-entions than foreigners, and that we have amply wherewithal 
 to divert and relie\-e the ennui caused by idleness, by discourse 
 born in France and dressed in the French fashion." 
 
 The work which follows is divided into five "journ6es," the 
 first of which is prefaced by an apology for the author's bold- 
 ness in undertaking his task. He was encouraged, he declares, 
 bv the fact that his object was "not to imitate an eloquent or- 
 ator, but a faithful secretary who reports the pleasing words 
 and memorable stories, related to deceive the ennui of some idle 
 afternoons, in a noble company of gentlemen and ladies, who 
 during a festi\al of Whitsunday, had visited each other, in order 
 to assuage b>' their friendly intimacy- the griefs occasioned by 
 this wretched civil war, and to allay their bitter memory."^' 
 
 On the conclusion of peace, "among all the French, the in- 
 
 -* Jacob, op. cit., p. 521, note i, says that the reference is to the third civil 
 war, which began in 1568 and continued until the peace of St. Germain, con- 
 cluded in the month of August, 1570. 
 
458 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 habitants of the province of Poitou^' returned with extreme joy 
 to their desolated homes." As soon as they had settled them- 
 selves as well as necessity permitted, "they took particular 
 pleasure in seeing each other, and relating and communicating 
 their losses and consoling themselves by the practice of the duty 
 of friendship in their common wretchedness. Now, this charity 
 was principally practiced by the nobility of the country, who have 
 this good custom of uniting by intimate acquaintance and re- 
 lationship, which happily supports them in their greatness and 
 ancient glory. Among whom, three young gentlemen, relatives 
 and neighbors, undertook, one day when they happened to meet, 
 to visit, on a festival of Whitsunday, a lady who lived in a cha- 
 teau near by, to help her pass the time, knowing the pleasure 
 which her honorable house would receive from this company; as, 
 indeed , they deserved to be welcome everywhere for their civility 
 and gentle breeding." For fear of displeasing them, the author 
 says, he will not mention their real names, but do as is done on 
 the stage, where the actors under borrowed "masques" represent 
 the real characters whom they have undertaken to introduce. 
 "Therefore, let us name our three gentlemen, whom we have 
 undertaken to make perform on this stage of love, the lords of 
 Bel-Accueil, of Fleur-d 'Amour, and of Ferme-Foi, and the chateau 
 where they are going to disport, Printemps, recently built, as is 
 deemed certain, by the famous fairy Melusine."'" Then follows 
 a long description of the chateau and its park. The lady of 
 this chateau was a widow with a daughter and a niece, the former 
 named Marie and the latter Marguerite. These welcomed the 
 three gentlemen, who arrived unexpectedly, and after an affection- 
 ate welcome, the happy band determined to banish all care, 
 except that of choosing in what sport they could pass the time 
 most joyfully, and of inventing new diversions. 
 
 They arose with the dawn and after their devotions, played 
 within doors a thousand little games, until the first rays of the 
 sun had dried the dew. Then they visited the gardens, and 
 gathering flowers they indulged in a floral battle. Meanwhile 
 a sumptuous dinner was prepared, where the body was nourished 
 
 ^ Jacob, op. cit., p. 522, note i, says that Poitou was the principal scene of 
 the religious wars of this period. 
 
 '"Jacob, op. cit., p. 522, note I, says that this was undoubtedly the famous 
 chateau of Lusignan or Luzignem, which sustained several sieges during the 
 Huguenot war and was dismantled after the last one, in which Louis de Bour- 
 bon, Duke de Montpensier, took it by storm in 1574. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 459 
 
 with delicious food and the mind with joyful words. After grace 
 the table was cleared, and the music of various instruments con- 
 tinued until the company was seized with the desire to escape 
 into the open air. They amused themselves there by gathering 
 flowers, and eating fruits, and took their supper on stone tables 
 surrounded by grassy seats. After supper they rowed on the 
 ponds and fished until the darkness forced them to retreat to 
 the ch&teau, which they did not without discussing several pleas- 
 ant questions on the way or without playing seemly games, such 
 as "aux merveilles," "aux etats," "aux ventes," "aux vertus," 
 "aux rencontres," and others until they arrived at the ch&teau.^^ 
 After dancing and singing, they had a collation of sweetmeats 
 and sugar candy, and then bidding each other good night, they 
 went to sleep until the morrow, which, when it came, brought 
 with it other new diversions. They led this delightful life for 
 the space of a week, during which, one afternoon, seeking to 
 avoid the heat, they came to a cave, where there was a fountain, 
 over the source of which was the figure of an old hermit in marble. 
 In his hand was a scroll on which was written a poem referring 
 to the charms of country life and the evils which men bring down 
 upon themselves by their wickedness. 
 
 One of the ladies then discoursed on the corruption of man, and 
 taking a lute sang a long Complainte on the miseries of civil 
 war. When she had finished, in order not to leave the company 
 in a melancholy frame of mind, she sang to a livelier measure a 
 hymn in welcome of peace . This was followed by a long conversa- 
 tion on the perversity of man in causing war, and the superiority 
 of women in loving peace. The Sieur de Ferme-Foi turned the 
 discourse on love by remarking that women are more cruel than 
 men, and more dangerous than war, in which there are guards 
 and sentinels to give warning, but women take their lovers by 
 surprise and treat them worse than their greatest enemies, and 
 are unwilling to take any other ransom from them but their lives. 
 This led to the comparison between the love of men and that 
 
 2' I am unable to describe these games or to find their Italian counterparts 
 with one or two exceptions. The game "aux vertus" is found in Sorel's 
 Maison des Jeux, Vol. I, p. 545, II, p. 237, and in the same author's Recreations 
 galantes, p. 112. It is the same as Ringhieri, xxxii. "Aux merveilles" is 
 Bargagli, 107, and 153. Roy, Charles Sorel, p. 242, note 4, says: "Dans les 
 Recueils fran^ais du XVIe siecle, tels que le Discours des Champs faez de Taille- 
 mont et le Printemps de Jacques Yver, les acteurs se contentent de raconter 
 des histoires d'amour et de jouer aux Ventes, aux Metiers, au Corbillon, aux 
 Merveilles et autres jeux frangais tres simples." 
 
460 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 of women. Mademoiselle Marie asked why poets and painters 
 wishing to represent the love of men depict a feathered child, 
 and to show the love of women, paint a tortoise under the feet 
 of Venus, unless it is to show that the love of men is fickle and 
 inconstant like a bird, but that of woman is firm and steady 
 like a tardy tortoise. She then mentions historical examples of 
 men's fickleness, Jason, Theseus, Demophon, Aeneas, and Her- 
 cules. Even in marriage men are inconstant: hence marriage 
 should not be made in haste. 
 
 The Seigneur de Fleur-d 'Amour replies and defends his sex. 
 It is a natural instinct in man to wish to perpetuate himself, 
 and as the body is perishable the only means of doing this is 
 to live in one's posterity. After the Deluge people increased 
 and multiplied rapidly; so now after the civil war people hastened 
 to repair and restore the losses occasioned by so many marriages 
 destroyed. Moreover, the fact that the number of men has 
 been greatly reduced by the war must result in good, for the bad 
 men having been killed, it will not be the men who spoil marri- 
 ages, but the women, the preponderance of whom over men is 
 undesirable.' In proof that the love of women not only is more 
 fickle and heedless than that of man, but is also the sole cause of 
 all the misfortunes of lovers, the speaker offers to tell a brief but 
 pitiable and memorable story. 
 
 The novel which follows is the story of Soliman and Perslda, 
 well known in English by the drama of The Spanish Tragedy 
 by Thomas Kyd, and the anonymous play of Soliman and Per- 
 sedaP When the story was finished a long discussion arose as 
 to what it proved, and the blame for the catastrophe was attrib- 
 uted to various persons. While they were still engaged in debate 
 the maitre d'hotel summoned them to supper. 
 
 The next day they dined in the garden, where had been pre- 
 pared a display of statues of satyrs and nymphs with stone 
 scrolls containing poetry. The usual discussion arose in regard 
 to women, and Bel-Accueil told a story about two angels who fell 
 in love with an Egyptian lady and taught her the prayer they 
 used to ascend to heaven. This the lady used at once and arose 
 from the earth followed by the angels in great confusion. The 
 
 '2 See E. Sieper, "Die Geschichte von Soliman und Perseda in der neueren 
 Litteratur" in Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende LiUeraturgeschichte, N. F., Bd. 9, 
 PP- 33-60; Bd. 10, pp. 151-174. In the first article Sieper treats the French 
 and German versions and in the second the English ones. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 461 
 
 heavenly guards refused the lady admission and a council de- 
 cided that it was not safe to send her back to earth to reveal what 
 she had seen; at the same time if she were admitted she would 
 not cease to disturb the inhabitants of heaven by her curiosity. 
 Finally she was assigned to the moon, which was so astonished 
 by its fickle guest that it has had no rest since then and under- 
 goes more changes and motions in a month than the other celestial 
 bodies in a year. This story also was followed by a lively dis- 
 cussion in regard to women. After the debate they rose from 
 the table and strolled through the garden, where the second 
 novel was related by Marie. This story, too, was discussed as 
 usual with a profusion of examples, mostly of classical origin. 
 
 The following morning the company was awakened by a 
 rustic aubade, and dressing in haste they descended to see the 
 peasants dancing many branles de Poitou, the words of which 
 are given. After the dinner came the usual promenade and 
 another diversion of figures with scrolls, representing the pitiable 
 story of Hero and Leander. Again the question was debated 
 whether the misfortunes of love are due to the lover or his mis- 
 tress, and Bel-Accueil narrated the third novel, partly historical, 
 the scene of which is laid in Italy. The narrator and Made- 
 moiselle Marie debated with great erudition the question of the 
 blame attaching to the characters in the story. 
 
 The fourth day opened with a complaint on the part of the 
 author that although many sages have investigated' nature, no 
 one has given a satisfactory explanation of what love is. Re- 
 turning to his narrative he said that the dispute over the third 
 story was so obstinate and prolonged that it was hard to end 
 the strife and bring the combatants to dinner. After the meal 
 was finished and thanks given, the company went out as usual 
 into the garden and were led into a rustic grotto decorated with 
 figures of animals and a representation of Bacchus and a band of 
 satyrs. When they had admired the figures and the song of 
 Bacchanals written on "the vine leaves with the slime of snails," 
 the company chose a shady spot near a brook and seated them- 
 selves in chairs which seemed to be made by nature out of the 
 trunks of trees and broken rocks. The conversation then turned 
 as before on the comparative faults of men and women in matters 
 of love. After a long introductory speech, in which she declared 
 that Fortune is wrongly blamed in these affairs and that the 
 
462 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 fault is really that of Envy, Mademoiselle Marguerite related 
 the fourth story, an historical one, the scene of which is laid in 
 England during the reign of Williara the Conqueror.^^ Mar- 
 guerite concluded her story with the words: "tellement que, par 
 cette piteuse histoire, vous avez pu voir clairement, gracieuse 
 compagnie, mon dire 8tre tres-veritable, que les mis^res qui 
 surviennent en amour, ne proviennent point d'une temeraire 
 fortune, mais sont machines par les secretes malice de I'envie, 
 qui le suit comme 1 'ombre fait le corps." 
 
 The company were awakened on the morning of the fifth day 
 by the rumbhng of thunder, and after the ladies had been greeted 
 all visited the halls and galleries of the chateau, where they found 
 various games, such as "palemaille," "barre," "escrime," "bille," 
 "balle," "paume," wooden horses for vaulting, and all other 
 exercises which served as a sauce to arouse the appetite. 
 As the weather was unfavorable, the dinner was served within 
 doors, in the "Chambre de Venus." The mistress of the cha- 
 teau took a cup and said laughingly that she drank to him who 
 had slept the best. All thanked her, but she said she had not 
 intended to drink to all, but to one. Each claimed to be the 
 person, until the Sieur de Fleur-d 'Amour related a curious dream 
 which he had had, and called for explanations from the company. 
 These threatened to become tiresome and the Sieur de Fleur- 
 d'Amour recalled the company from their vagaries by saying that 
 they were greater dreamers than he, for he had dreamed only while 
 asleep, but they while awake, and what was worse, at table. 
 Then the company arose and examined the paintings on the walls 
 of the room, which was divided into two equal parts, one con- 
 taining the stories and figures of all those who had loved happily, 
 
 '' This story is the source of the pseudo-Shakespearian play A Pleasant 
 Comedie of Faire Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester, which is printed in 
 Richard Simpson's The School of Shakespeare, London, 1878, Vol. 2, pp. 337 et 
 seq. The editor makes no reference to the source of the play, which may also 
 be found in: W. R. Chetwood, A select collection of old plays, 1750; J. L. Tieck, 
 Shakspeare's Vorschule; and Delius, Pseudo-Shakspere' sche Dramen, II, Elber- 
 feld, 1874. The story in Yver is the source of only a part of the play, which 
 has twoplots;the second, " Faire Em," seems to be of English origin. In the 
 course of the story three sonnets and an echo song are introduced, and mention 
 is made of the "bal continu," of which Jacob says in a note: "C'est le nom 
 d'un de ces jeux ou danses en action, qui sont decrits dans la Maison des Jmx 
 de Sorel, et qui divertissaient la societe polie avant la formation des bureaux 
 d'esprit." Reference is also made (pp. 614-15) to "divers petits jeux comme 
 ecorcher I'anguille, brider Tine, prendre la grenouille et autres." Jacob says: 
 "Ces jeux ou pantomimes comiques et galantes se sont conserves dans les 
 penitences qu'on ordonne au jeu du gage touche." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 463 
 
 and the others, of those who had been unhappy in love, each of 
 whom in a little scroll bore the recital of his adventures. The 
 corner where the two classes of love were separated was occu- 
 pied by a throne on which was Venus in her glory, bearing a 
 golden apple, and surrounded by her Graces and Cupids, the 
 whole supported by a colossus having the figure of a man half 
 white and half black, so exactly divided that his nose was of 
 both colors. He held in his white hand stretched, in the direc- 
 tion of the happy lovers, a tablet, and in the black one, turned 
 towards the unfortunate lovers, another tablet, containing two 
 sonnets, all in feminine rhymes. 
 
 The Sieur de Ferme-Foi was the first to discover this and ex- 
 claimed: "Come and see the one who will settle the question 
 and dispute which we have debated so much the last few days; 
 here is a judge who cannot be suspected, for, not only is he situ- 
 ated in a corner, inclining to neither side, but is as much black 
 as white, favoring neither side. Why should we trouble our- 
 selves any more, one maintaining that the misfortunes of love 
 arise from the malice of Fortune, another, that they come from 
 Envy, the enemy of aU good, since the firm and constant advocate 
 of Love here before us concludes that we should not seek fur- 
 ther that which is in ourselves, who are both the cause of love 
 and the cause of its results? I, who do not wish to flatter or spare 
 one side in order to oppress the other, say, subject to your 
 correction, that the miseries of love come partly from the man 
 and partly from the woman, who, instead of nourishing and 
 supporting love by a sweet union, which is its proper nourish- 
 ment, so retrench its life by discord, jealousy, scorn, and other 
 'prisons de manage,' that they force it to die, as we see by daily 
 examples, of which I could relate many." " I beg you to do so," 
 said the lady; "besides, you are the only one left to give your 
 opinion, which I think you have kept for the end of the meal." 
 Then, extending her hand, she presented the bouquet to the 
 Seigneur de Ferme-Foi, who, after thanking her and observing 
 the accustomed courtesies, seeing that everyone had taken his 
 place, after a brief silence related the fifth story. 
 
 His conclusion is that the quarrels, misfortunes, and incon- 
 veniences which arise in love proceed as well from the man as 
 from the woman, both of whom heedlessly open the door to their 
 domestic enemy, cutting with a knife of jealousy and bad govern- 
 
464 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ment the indissoluble and Gordian knot of conjugal love. "What 
 do you say about it, madame," he asked the mistress of the 
 chtteau; "do you not give me your vote?" She replied that she 
 would wait until the next day to play her part, when, following 
 the path which he had traced, they would discuss more pro- 
 foundly love and its nature. She adds that the knot of love 
 which they will discuss is not the love of the vulgar herd, but a 
 perfect intelligence, the principle of everything, in short, Platonic 
 love, of which she proceeds to give the usual definitions. 
 
 The work ends abruptly at the conclusion of her remarks. 
 As is evident the sixth day is lacking, in which the mistress of 
 the chateau was to express her views on the question in debate, 
 and to tell her story. Why the work was not finished is not 
 known. Perhaps the author tired of his subject and did not 
 intend to complete it. At all events, he appears to have con- 
 sidered it ended and appended an address in verse in which he 
 takes leave of his work. 
 
 The Printemps appeared for the first time in 1572, that is, 
 fourteen years after the first (incomplete) edition of the Hep- 
 tameron, and it would be strange if it did not show the influence 
 of that remarkable work; and yet whatever resemblances there 
 may be between the two can be explained by a common source. 
 This for the Heptameron was, as we have seen, the Decameron 
 together with later Italian works on Platonic love. As sources 
 of the Printemps I can point to no particular works. The meet- 
 ing of the company at the Chiteau of Lusignan, the story- telling, 
 the discussions on the nature of love, and the diversions of games, 
 etc., are common, as we have already seen, to a great number of 
 Italian works. It seems clear from the author's address to the 
 reader, which has been cited above, that he intended to produce 
 an original French work, and that the form it took was influenced 
 by the actual state of the society of the day, which had become so 
 thoroughly Italianized. Of course the popularity of the Hep- 
 tameron and the Novelle of Bandello may have furnished the 
 impulse to the Printemps. 
 
 The stories related in the course of the work are original with 
 the author, although three of the five have a historical, or quasi- 
 historical, background. The work was frequently reprinted in 
 the sixteenth century and was translated into English in 1578, 
 showing how soon it had become known in that country. The 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 465 
 
 English translation bears the title: A courtlie controuersie of 
 Cupids Cautels: conteyning jive Tragical Histories, very pithie, 
 pleasant, pitiful, and profitable. Discussed upon wyth Argu- 
 mentes of Loue, by three Gentlemen and two Gentlewomen in- 
 termedled with diuers delicate sonets and Rithmes, exceeding de- 
 lightful to refresh the yrkesomnesse of tedious tyme. Translated 
 out of French as neare as our English phrase will permit, by H. 
 W. Gentleman. At London. Imprinted by Francis Goldock, 
 and Henry Bynneman. Anno 1578. This work is of special 
 interest to students of the English drama, as it contains the 
 source of the little play in the V. act of Thomas Kyd's The Spanish 
 Tragedy, the anonymous Soliman and Persida, and one of the 
 two plots of Faire Em. 
 
 The works which we have thus far considered show the in- 
 fluence of Italy in a somewhat narrow field. The vogue of the 
 Decameron produced the Heptameron, which in its turn was 
 followed by the work just described. In the two imitations we 
 have, in addition to Boccaccio's influence, the great stream of 
 Platonic philosophy which so profoundly moulded the second 
 half of the sixteenth century. This influence is conspicuous in 
 the writer whose works we have now to examine. 
 
 Etienne Pasquier was born at Paris in 1529.^* Little is known 
 of his family or his early life. He was carefully educated at the 
 University of Paris, and studied law under Cujas at Toulouse 
 and Alciatus and Socinus at Pa via and Bologna. The three 
 years spent in Italy explain his early works, which are so out of 
 keeping with his profession, and the studies to which he after- 
 wards devoted his leisure moments. Pasquier began his career 
 as a lawyer at the bar of Paris in 1549. His success as an advo- 
 
 '* Materials for the life of Pasquier will best be found in L. Feugere, CEuvres 
 choisies d'Etienne Pasquier, accompagnees de notes et d'une etude sur sa vie el 
 sur ses ouvrages, Paris, 1849, 2 vols. The excellent life fills pp. i-ccv of the 
 first volume and is followed by a valuable bibliography of Pasquier's works 
 and of works concerning him, as well as judgments pronounced upon him by 
 contemporary and later writers. The above life of Pasquier is reprinted in 
 L. Feugere, Caractereset portraits litterairesdu XVIe. siecle, Paris, 1859, 2 vols, 
 Vol. I, pp. 137-372. In this work an article on Nicolas Pasquier, one of the 
 sons of Etienne, is added. The only edition of Pasquier's collected works 
 was published at Amsterdam in 1723, 2 vols., fol. Feugere, op. cit., p. xccxv, 
 note, states that it was printed, not at Amsterdam, as the title states, but at 
 Trevoux. There are a few articles lacking in this edition, notably the Ordon- 
 nances d' Amour, which may be found in the Varietes historiques et litteraires 
 in the Bibliothigue Elzevirientie, Vol. II, p. 169. Further references to Pas- 
 quier may be found in La Croix du Maine, Bib. Fr., I, p. 185; Du Verdier, 
 Bib. Fr., I, p. 518, and Gouget, Bib. Fr., xi, p. 254. 
 31 
 
466 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 cate was great, and in 1585 he was appointed to the important 
 position of avocat general in the cour des comptes, which he 
 held until 1604, when he resigned in favor of his son, and en- 
 joyed a well deserved repose until his death in 1615, at the age of 
 eighty-six. This is not the place to examine his great work, 
 the Recherches de la France, precious alike for the social, politi- 
 cal, religious, and literary history of France, or his letters, also 
 a mine of information for the history of the sixteenth century. 
 We have here to do only with the works of his youth, the Mono- 
 phile, first printed in 1554, the Collogues d'amour and the Leitres 
 amoureuses in 1567, and the Ordonnances generales d'amour in 
 
 1564- 
 
 The scene of the Monophile is laid in the year 1553, "Peu de 
 temps apres le voyage d'AUemagne, et la glorieuse entreprise 
 du Roy, tant pour I'illustration de ce si^cle que de la posterite, 
 les ennemis ayans lev6 le siege de Mets, avec leur grande honte 
 et confusion," when some gentlemen, neighbors of the writer, 
 seeing that all danger of war was over for that year, determined 
 to return home, and await a new opportunity for military service. 
 They were welcomed by their wives on their return, and after 
 they had devoted a few days to the arrangement of their domestic 
 affairs, they resolved to take all the pleasure they could by social 
 intercourse; and because they knew that the time of their rest 
 was brief (for they were sure that the war would be continued), 
 they established among themselves a rule to visit each other in 
 turn, with their wives. As there were some unmarried gentle- 
 men, the one who entertained the others was constrained to 
 invite, "les plus honnestes et mieux disantes Damoyselles qui se 
 trouvassent celle part; afin que chacun d'eux peust prendre 
 avec elles contentement en tout honneur." For some time they 
 amused themselves with every pleasure and recreation, each 
 choosing those most suited to his age and disposition. Among 
 the gentlemen present were three, not only experienced in arms, 
 but also in letters and science. These three, brave and esteemed 
 above all others, in order not to appear devoid of a thing most 
 suited to their age, seemed to think highly of love, still, as the 
 opinions of men differ, each according to his own affection. One, 
 loving so extremely that all his ideas were directed solely to his 
 mistress, the writer designates for a certain reason by the dis- 
 guised name of Monophile. The second, who was not enamoured 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 467 
 
 to such an extent, showed himself gracious and courteous to 
 the ladies, being more inclined to the side of the courtier than to 
 that of the lover; Glaphire is the name bestowed upon him. 
 The third and youngest, with the gay heart of a Frenchman, 
 was devoted to all, without regarding any particular one. His 
 name is Philopole. All three, differing in their judgment, 
 showed their inward thoughts by their outward actions. Gla- 
 phire, sedate, flattered the ladies by seemly conversations, having 
 as many good qualities in himself as any gentleman of the com- 
 pany. Philopole, on the contrary, amusing, frank, and cheer- 
 ful, sported with the ladies with so artless an address that it 
 was difficult to judge which of the two was the more pleasing to 
 them, Glaphire in his civility, or Philopole in his gaiety. But 
 above all, Monophile was pensive and thoughtful, so that his 
 eye could give ample witness of the passion which controlled 
 him. 
 
 One day at dinner the conversation fell upon the question, 
 why an aged and experienced general is often defeated by a 
 young man, as if Fortune were weary of favoring the other. This 
 subject occupied the whole time of the dinner and at its con- 
 clusion, Philopole, who cared little for philosophical discussions, 
 addressed the lady, Charil^e, by whom he was sitting, and pro- 
 posed that they should withdraw to some meadow and discuss 
 at their ease topics more suitable than those treated by the old 
 gentlemen present. Glaphire who sat on the other side of the 
 lady offered to bear them company. Taking her arm they con- 
 ducted her to a grove, where they encountered the poor Monophile 
 plunged in thought. The spot is described as follows: "Car la 
 estoit une gallerie assez longuette, si bien compassee par I'en- 
 tourement et couverture des arbrisseaux, que I'aspre chaleur du 
 soleil, ny la vehemence des vents luy eust sceu donner aucune 
 moleste ou attainte: et le petit tapis d'herbe verde entremeslee 
 d'une infinite de fleurettes donnoit tel contentement a I'oeil, 
 que les oysillons mesmes par leurs degoisemens et ramages, 
 faisoient prou cognoistre en quelle reverence et estime leur estoit 
 ce temple umbrageux."'^ 
 
 Charilee addresses Monoplile and urges him to communi- 
 cate his sorrows to them, for they would be glad to help him 
 bear them. He replies that he should be glad to do so if his 
 
 35 See Pasquier's (Euvres, Amsterdam, 1723, \'ol. H, p. 700. 
 
468 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 trouble could be diminished by imparting it to them. He 
 begs them therefore to attribute his fondness for solitude to 
 accident, or rather to a foolish disposition. Philopole is inclined 
 to think that Monophile is concealing something. The latter 
 replies that if that is so his malady will be held in check by hiding 
 it, and increased by revealing it, like "une playe esventee, ou d'un 
 malade, auquel I'air est interdit." Philopole answers that the 
 maladies of the mind, unlike those of the body, need to be aired 
 for their cure. So the great passions of love, although they 
 demand three things, solitude, secrecy, and anxiety, are not 
 forbidden to have a second self to whom one can reveal the pas- 
 sions of his heart. Monophile, seeing Philopole entering the 
 field in which he most delighted, which was speaking of love, 
 since from that arose all his misfortunes, begins to cheer up and 
 as if awakening from a deep sleep, wishes to enter the lists. 
 At this moment the writer, who had chanced that way, hears 
 the discussion and for fear of interrupting the debate hides him- 
 self in a thicket whence he hears the remainder of the dialogue 
 and afterwards reproduces it. 
 
 Monophile begins by expressing his doubt whether any were 
 competent to treat the subject who had not themselves experi- 
 enced the pangs of love. This is denied by Philopole, who says 
 that it is not necessary to be ill a long time to acquire the repu- 
 tation of a good physician, nor to have several private lawsuits 
 in order to be an excellent lawyer. The example of Zenocrate, 
 who was insensible to the charms of a beautiful woman, leads 
 to a discussion whether love should be restricted to one person 
 or should be general. Monophile cites the love of a husband for 
 his wife as the model of all kinds of love. Philopole naturally 
 takes the other side and jestingly proves that everything is 
 subject to change.^' Monophile declares that the woman 
 should love her husband alone and be loyal to him. This leads 
 to a long and tiresome consideration of the ancient views of 
 marriage, the institution of dowry, the mutual affection which 
 should exist between husband and wife, etc. 
 
 Glaphire, who had thus far been silent, now declares his dis- 
 agreement with both speakers, and proceeds to give his opinion 
 of marriage. It should be based upon mature deliberation, take 
 
 *' Philopole's plea in favor of inconstancy reminds one of a similar argu- 
 ment by Hylas in tiie Astree, II, p. 215. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 469 
 
 place at a suitable age and with the advice of parents. The 
 wife should be a simple maiden, knowing neither good nor evil 
 in order to fashion herself wholly to her husband's humor and 
 learn only what is pleasing to him. 
 
 Monophile replies that marriage should be based upon love 
 and that the evils which arise in married life spring from a lack 
 of love, and love makes good the absence of other qualifications. 
 
 Charil6e, seeing the discussion growing warm, interposes and 
 brings it back to the starting point. Glaphire declares that 
 it is no disloyalty to a lady one loves if in her absence he should 
 temporarily yield to another passion. Monophile vigorously 
 denies this: "Je dy donques et maintiens que celuy qui fait 
 profession de vraye amiti6, doit tellement lier et refrener ses 
 concupiscences charnelles envers toutes autres femmes, que 
 tant s'en fault qu'il accomplisse aucun desir, que dites estre 
 naturel, que la volont6 de ce faire ne luy tombera en I'esprit."^'' 
 He then proceeds to illustrate this by examples. Philopole 
 declares that such examples of continence belong rather to the 
 Golden Age than to their time. He then refutes Glaphire 's 
 heresy and denies that absence can excuse disloyalty, declaring 
 that, on the contrary, absence increases love. The example of 
 Penelope is cited among others. 
 
 Philopole gives another turn to the discussion by condemning 
 Glaphire's view that love is a matter of the heart and not of the 
 senses. Monophile defends Glaphire and declares that to love 
 solely for the gratification of the senses is neither true nor lasting 
 love. On the contrary, those who tuild their love on this ground 
 alone ordinarily find that, having attained the accomplish- 
 ment of their desires, what was the sole source and origin of them 
 is their complete and single diminution. He then enters on a 
 long and elaborate definition of love, introducing the Platonic 
 idea of the Androgyne .^^ 
 
 Philopole replies that Monophile has wandered from the 
 point, which was to commend the loyalty of man to woman. 
 Every one will agree that woman should be loyal to man, but 
 who thinks that man is bound by the same law? As for the 
 rest of Monophile 's discourse it consists in maintaining that love 
 lies in one thing alone, which he cannot explain, for, he adds: 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 720. 
 38 op. cit., p. 726. 
 
470 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 "toutes telles idees non expliquables, ne me semblent tomber en 
 rAmour.''^" 
 
 At this moment Seigneur Pasquier leaves his hiding place 
 and joins the company, fearing that Monophile's last words would 
 not receive the attention they deserved. By permission of the 
 company he begins a long discourse on love, discussing its effi- 
 cient and final causes: "La cause eihciente, et dent nous aymons 
 une Dame, est veritablement cest instinct que dites naistre en 
 nous, quasi par permission du del: mais la fin pourquoy nous 
 aymons, est pour attaindre a I'entiere jouissance."*" In the 
 course of his argument he discusses the question whether love 
 or friendship is the more violent, and concludes that the love of 
 a man for his wife is stronger than the friendship existing be- 
 tween men. Boccaccio's story of Titus and Gisippus is cited 
 by way of example. Marriage is touched upon, with the con- 
 clusion that both mind and body are involved, and the true end 
 of marriage is the "multiplication de ce monde," and the follow- 
 ing definition of love is proposed: "L'Amour . . . est une pas- 
 sion, provenant d'un certain instinct qui s'imprime dedans nous, 
 tendant a la conjonction corporelle de I'un a I'autre."" 
 
 Philopole replies to the statement previously made by Mono- 
 phile that if men could be faithless to one they loved, women 
 could do the same. Women, he declares, have never had the 
 liberty of men, and Nature "a impute en la femme a impropre, 
 ce qu'en I'homme a presque retourne en louange."^^ 
 
 This is too much for Charilee to stand and she undertakes the 
 defence of her sex, citing Semiramis, Tomiris, Penthesilea, the 
 Amazons, Marguerite de Valois, Cornelia, and Hortensia, and 
 accusing men of tyrannizing over women. The discussion then 
 becomes general and the part played by women in the history 
 of the world is examined, with a concluding reference to Joan of 
 Arc. 
 
 Charilee returns to the previous question whether chastity 
 is demanded of women more than of men. At the conclusion 
 of her remarks Pasquier declares that it is rather a matter of 
 opinion than of nature, and cites the customs of various coun- 
 tries to show what varying views have prevailed upon the subject. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 730. 
 *" Op. cit., p. 732. 
 « Op. cit., p. 734-5. 
 « Op. cit., p. 737. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 471 
 
 The discussion on the nature of love is then continued. It 
 has dominion over all and cannot be scorned. Philopole still 
 expresses his doubts as to woman's loyalty to one man, and de- 
 clares his intention to continue in the future his past course in 
 regard to the other sex: "parce que de ma nature je suis im- 
 patient, n'ayant ce que je demande, ou s'il me faut faire I'amour, 
 je la feray aux endroits, oil je n'auray occasion de me plaindre."^' 
 Monophile replies that these words show that he does not know 
 what love is, and that it is not in our power to make a choice. 
 Philopole interrupts Monophile and says the example of Ariosto's 
 Angelica, which he has just cited, proves that the natural in- 
 clination of woman is not to choose the best (as man does) , but to 
 direct herself always to the worst. Monophile denies the state- 
 ment, and the discussion turns later upon the part played in 
 love by beauty. Monophile undertakes to explain the relation 
 of love to beauty. In conclusion he declares that "je me trouve 
 bien perplexe pouvoir juger et discerner, si le beau est le motif 
 d'Amour, ou I'Amour cause de ce qui nous semble beau."** 
 
 Philopole declares "que la beauts n'est point de telle efficace 
 au fait de I'amour, comme est la vari6t6."*' This Monophile 
 denies, and asserts that there must be some beauty which con- 
 sists in pure truth, and not in the opinion of men. The truth 
 is known to God alone and men lost the perception of it at the 
 Fall of Adam. After some further discussion on the nature of 
 man, the company agree to meet the next day at that spot in 
 the morning, "pour apprendre si la fraischeur de la rosee nous 
 pourra donner autant de contentement, comme ceste apres- 
 dinee. Ce conseil fut trouv6 bien bon par toute ceste petite 
 bande; car desja commengoit la nuit de les menacer bien fort, 
 et s'approchoit le temps auquel (apres avoir repeu I'esprit de bons 
 et gracieux discours) falloit donner ordre k la nourriture du corps. 
 Ainsi se departirent de ce lieu."*^ 
 
 The company, including Pasquier, meet the following day as 
 they had agreed and the conversation falls on the troubles caused 
 by love. Monophile as usual defends love, and asks who in all 
 this round world is content. Charil^e compares lovers to mari- 
 ners, and Pasquier declares that one cannot love without passion 
 and believes that most lovers attain their wishes. 
 
 « Op. cit., p. 746. 
 « Op. cit., p. 750. 
 « Op. cit., p. 751. 
 « Op. cit., p. 754. 
 
472 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Philopole then attacks women for their love of finery, and con- 
 cludes his long harangue by declaring that it is better to make 
 love to widows than to young girls or married women .^' Charilde 
 defends her sex and says the fashions are only matters of opinion 
 and one who did not follow them would be deemed a hypocrite. 
 
 Pasquier reiterates his previous statement that a lover can 
 obtain what he desires from the object of his love provided she 
 really loves him. Mutual love must exist or the above is not 
 true. Venal love cannot be called love. 
 
 Philopole rejoins that women in other things are merciful, 
 but as regards love are harsher and more savage than the brutes, 
 and he deems him happy who renounces love without feeling 
 its pangs. If, however, one wishes to love, Glaphire advises 
 that it be rather a man "de robbe courte, que celuy derobbe 
 longue," i.e., a gentleman rather than a clerk.** Philopole 
 denies this and cites the example of the poet Petrarch, Sannazaro, 
 and Bembo in Italy; Ronsard, Du Bellay, and Pontus de Tyard in 
 France. Glaphire rejoins that these were never in love, but con- 
 fesses that they have accomplished a most difficult task, viz., of 
 speaking well of love without having experienced it. He then 
 proceeds to enumerate some of the remedies against love. One 
 is, while still in the possession of sound understanding, to per- 
 suade oneself that he cannot succeed. To defend ourselves 
 against our passions, among which love is preeminent, there is 
 a twofold medicine: "I'une, quand nous laissons guider par la 
 raison pure et simple, despoiiillons toutes affections, sans leur 
 donner lieu en nous; I'autre, quand les passions ayans gaign6 
 pays sur nous, bataillons contre nos propres volontez, faisans 
 une guerre intestine en nous-mesmes, soubs la conduite de raison, 
 accompagnee toutesfois de quelque opposite passion."*^ Philo- 
 pole proposes another remedy: "c'est comme un Chevalier errant 
 et maintenant perpetuellement I'honneur de toutes Dames, 
 passer sa fantaisie en tous autres endroits, que celuy dont Ton 
 est frappe.''^" 
 
 *' The "question," which one should rather love, maid, wife, or widow, was 
 a common one in Provenjal and Italian literature. It constitutes the IX. 
 Question in the Filocolo; see Chapter II of the present work, p. 82, and note 
 16, where references to other versions may be found. 
 
 ** Op. cit., p. 771. This question was also a favorite one in mediaeval liter- 
 ature; see Chapter I of the present work, p. 39, notes 102-5. 
 
 ^' Op. cit., p. 772. 
 
 '" Op. cit., p. 774. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 473 
 
 The same speaker excuses himself from loving one object only 
 on the ground that it would be showing ingratitude and dis- 
 courtesy to the others. Pasquier retorts that if he loved one 
 perfectly, he would be a hundred times more gracious and cour- 
 teous towards the rest, whereas wishing to satisfy all, he would 
 displease all. The source of courtesy is in love, and the most 
 perfect and loyal lovers are the ones who best practice courtesy 
 to all others, "fust-ce seulement pour I'honneur qu'ils portent 
 aux femmes, en faveur de leur seule Dame.'''^ 
 
 Philopole retorts by asking: "Quelle marque de courtoisie 
 recognoissez-vous en ces amoureux transis, sinon une solitude 
 perpetuelle, une alienation d'esprit, un contemnement de toutes 
 autres choses, horsmis de celle vers laquelle s'adressent leurs 
 pens^es."^^ It is true that love is a school of courtesy and he 
 advises those who wish to be courteous to feign love. Mono- 
 phile protests against this detestable doctrine, but Charil^e 
 would permit it in regard to one class of women, coquettes, 
 "qui malicieusement s'imputent a gloire et honneur, emmarteler 
 les pauvres gens, asseurement dignes non de reprehension, ains 
 de griefve et extraordinaire punition."^^ 
 
 Glaphire is requested to continue his discourse on the remedies 
 of love. He replies that it is more expedient not to love, but 
 to afford a prompt remedy to one who is already infected with 
 this evil, it is of God and of no other that it is necessary to seek 
 counsel. "Toutesfois si encor' me semmonez donner mddecine 
 a cestuy; comme n'aguere je disois, sorte bientost de ce pas ce 
 pauvre amant, premier que se rendre plus miserable ; car ayant 
 obvie aux commencements, ne luy faudra medecine deforte 
 digestion, pour le remettre en sa nature; mais s'il est tellement 
 engrav^ que pour toutes ses forces il ne puisse venir a bon port, 
 et comme tantost nous disions, veuille, et n'en puisse sortir, 
 pour vous dire ce qu'il m'en semble, une bonne et longue diete, 
 une absence bien liongtaine satisfera a ce deffault."^* He then 
 continues with a long harangue on the honor of women, whom he 
 compares to glass: "qui en sa fragility est net, pur, et munde, 
 et auquel un chacun se plaist, quand il est en son essence; mais 
 lors qu'on le voit casse, tombe au mespris et contemnement d'un 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 775- 
 
 '2 Op. cit:, p. 776. 
 
 '' Op. cit., p. 778. 
 
 '4 Op. cit., p. 780. 
 
474 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 chacun."^^ He further cites the Platonic fable of the division 
 of man into man and woman, virginity being given to maidens 
 to guard, and chastity to wives. The last remedy for love which 
 Glaphire mentions is "le desdain, desdain, dy-je, tout puissant 
 pour faire chasser cest amour. "^* 
 
 Philopole proceeds to ridicule the remedies of Glaphire, and 
 advises drinking the water of Lethe, or visiting the circle of the 
 moon, "ou peut-estre il retrouvera grande partie de son sens 
 esgare, depuis le temps qu'il mit le pied dans les marches de 
 Cupidon."" If this method seems too harsh he can use a little 
 hellebore. 
 
 Monophile sharply reproves Philopole and says it is wrong to 
 despise the sex "duquel depend nostre heur, nostre bien et feli- 
 cite; sans lequel ne pouvons estre, sans lequel ne pouvons vivre, 
 et sans lequel nous ne serlons,"** and urges Glaphire to continue 
 his discourse. Charil6e, seeing that the sun was high and the 
 time for dinner approaching, proposes that they should cease 
 their discussion. At this moment a band of young gentlemen 
 come in search of them and express their regrets at not having 
 heard the debate. Charil6e proposes to continue it that same 
 afternoon, but Glaphire suggests another topic, "I'estat d'un 
 bon Capitaine." This pleases the company and the next day 
 having changed their host they proceed to carry out Glaphire's 
 suggestion, "au moins mal qu'il leur fut possible, k laquelle, 
 apres avoir donn6 fin, aussi fermerent leurs jeux et esbats, 
 I'adresse du camp, soubs espoir de mettre leurs devis k bien 
 bonne execution."^' 
 
 Equally characteristic are the four Collogues d' Amour of the 
 same writer.^" The first colloquy between a lady and her lover 
 
 '5 Op. cit., p. 781. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 783. 
 
 " Op. cit., p. 784. 
 
 «« Op. cit., p. 785. 
 
 "0^. cit., p. 786. Miss Scott, op. cit., I, p. 21, has: Monophylo, drawne 
 into Englishe by Geffray Fenton. A Philosophical Discourse and Division of 
 Love. London. By William Seres, 1572, 4to. Dedicated to Lady Hoby. 
 There is a copy in the Bodleian Library. Is this a translation of Pasquier's 
 work? Miss Scott in her edition of 1916 does not mention this translation. 
 
 '"See Les CEuvres d'Estienne Pasguier, Amsterdam, 1723, Vol. II, pp. 789- 
 804. These colloquies are as follows: Premier Collogue, pp. 789-792, "Amour- 
 ette," La Dame et I'Amant; Second Collogue, pp. 791-798, "L'Oeil et le Devis,'' 
 La Croix, Valentine, Poignet; Collogue troisieme, pp. 797-800, "La Beaut6," 
 Le Gentilhomme, la Damoiselle; Collogue guatriesme, pp. 799-804, "Jouis- 
 sance," L'Amant et sa Dame. These Collogues have been examined by Bour- 
 ciez, Les mosurs polies, etc., pp. 415 et seg. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 475 
 
 is undoubtedly a correct reproduction of the gallant conversation 
 of the sixteenth century, in which the Italian influence is clearly 
 recognizable by the Platonic tinge. 
 
 The second colloquy turns upon a "question," whether it is 
 more pleasant to behold one's mistress without speaking to her, 
 or to speak to her without seeing her.*^ Poignet, one of the 
 interlocutors, states the case as follows: " Je viens de ce pas d'un 
 endroit, oii entre autres propos d 'amour, quelque homme de bon 
 esprit a voulu mettre sur les rangs, lequel est le plus aggreable, 
 le devis avecq' sa dame sans la veue, ou la veiie sans le devis."*^ 
 The lady denies the possibility of the case, because if one sees 
 his lady he can speak with her and cannot communicate with 
 her without seeing her. Poignet cites in support of the reason- 
 ableness of the question Boccaccio's story of Philip (iii, 6). 
 The lady then asks the two gentlemen which side each supports. 
 La Croix replies: "Quant a moy, ma Damoyselle, je suis pour 
 le party de la veiie, sans le parler"; and Poignet: "Et moy, pour 
 le parler, sans la veiie." Each then defends his side in a long 
 speech, and finally the question is submitted to the lady for judg- 
 ment. She declares: "J 'ay quelquefois appris qu'un Philosophe 
 renomm6, interroge quelle femme il falloit prendre en mariage, 
 renvoya celuy qui demandoit tel conseil, vers ces petits mignons, 
 qui estoient de I'aage du sabot pour en prendre sur ce, leur advis. 
 Suivant cette mesme fa^on, je suis tres-aise vous renvoyer vers 
 les mesmes petits enfans, ausquels quand par jeu on leur demande 
 que c'est qu'ils ayment le mieux de deux choses, desquelles on 
 leur bailie le choix, ils respondent que I'une et I'autre. Et 
 pource sur la question qui s'est inopinement presentee entre 
 nous, puis que vous en venez k moy au conseil, je vous respons, 
 tout ainsi qu'eux, que j'ayme bien, et I'un et I'autre: c'est I'oeil 
 qui a la parole pour truchement, et la parole qui est esclair^e 
 par I'oeil. Et si vous me conjurez plus outre, je vous diray que 
 I'un n'est gueres sans I'autre; toutefois plus morte est la parole 
 sans la veue, que la veiie sans la parole."^' 
 
 The third colloquy is a debate between a lady and gentleman 
 as to which is the better judge of beauty, man or woman. The 
 
 «' This question has already been treated, see Chapter I of the present 
 work, p. 17. Note 52. 
 62 Op. cit., p. 793. 
 ^^ Op. cit., p. 798. 
 
476 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 lady declares in favor of the latter, and says that men are blind 
 in their judgment, and have no general rule of beauty. The 
 gentleman retorts that women are blinded by selfishness, envy, 
 and jealousy. 
 
 The fourth and last colloquy is a long dialogue between a lover 
 and his mistress in which the former sues for the reward of three 
 years' devotion. The lady urges various reasons in opposition 
 to his demand: the immorality of his request, the opinion of 
 people, etc. The lover urges the double nature of love, and its 
 incompleteness without the union of the lover and his mistress. 
 The lady finally yields reluctantly with the words: "Quel fruict 
 j'en rapporteray je ne scay: bien scay-je qu 'encores que centre 
 mon vouloir me commandissiez quelque chose, m'avez telle- 
 ment rendue vostre, que plustost pretendrois k ma totale ruine, 
 que de vous desobeir."*^ 
 
 Among the gallant literature of Italy in the sixteenth century 
 the class of love letters plays an important part, and the most 
 favorite Italian collection, that of Parabosco, was translated by 
 Hubert Philippes de Villiers and printed at Lyons in 1570.'* 
 Pasquier's Lettres amourenses were first printed without the 
 author's knowledge together with Parabosco's. Pasquier him- 
 self says in his Letters, vi, 4: "Naguere feuilletant quelques 
 livres, en la boutique de I'Angelier, je trouvai qu'on avait fait 
 reimprimer mes 6pitres amoureuses avec celles de Parabosco, 
 Italien (Littere [sic] amorose, libri quattro), et, qui plus est, que 
 Ton avait mis mon nom, contre ma volont6." 
 
 ^ Op. ciL, p. 804. 
 
 ^ Bongi, Annali di Gabriel Giolito de'Ferrari, Rome, 1890, Vol. I, pp. 102- 
 103, says: "Although some letters seem to be written by Parabosco under his 
 own name, the majority have no indication of the author or of the person 
 to whom they are addressed; so that the book has the appearance of being, 
 and really is, a collection of examples for the use of lovers in the vicissitudes 
 which arise from love. Before Parabosco there were not lacking models of 
 love letters, and popular manuals were in circulation, among which an anony- 
 mous one entitled, Rifugio di Amanti, Venice, 1530, 1585, and another, Flos 
 Amoris, by Andrea Zenofonte da Gubbio, Venice, 1535, 1544. But neither 
 these formularies, nor the many volumes of letters on this subject which were 
 published shortly after, were able to satisfy, as much as Parabosco's collection, 
 the persons, male and female, who were in a condition to like and use such 
 models . . . Doni attempted afterwards, in his own way, to enter into com- 
 petition with Parabosco by his Pistolotti amorosi, Venice, 1552, but by his 
 contemptuous disposition and the triviality which he displayed in them, they 
 made no headway, and after a few editions were forgotten. On the contrary, 
 the Lettere amorose continued to be reprinted constantly until the beginning 
 of the seventeenth century, although, as has been said, there had appeared 
 many other books of the same kind, as the collection with the same name, 
 Lettere amorose, composed by Sansovino." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 477 
 
 These letters, twenty-four in number, are introduced by one 
 beginning: "Qui eust jamais estim6 que telle eust est6 la 
 sottie d'une homme, de non seulement estre fol, et avoir cog- 
 noissance de sa folie, mais aussi d'appeter que le nionde en eust 
 cognoissance?" His object in making his folly known is to 
 instruct others and make them wise: "Et bien que pour mon 
 regard je n'en attende aucun fruict, qu'un mespris et contemne- 
 ment de mon faict: si pourrez-vous vous rendre sages par ma 
 folie, quand recognoistrez par les lettres (discours, certes, de 
 mes amours) d'une effrenee affection, la fin s'estre convertie 
 en une desdaigneuse haine. C'est une histoire, m'en croyez, 
 une histoire de ma folie, et ne dressay oncques ces lettres qu'ainsi 
 ou qu 'amour, ou que desdain les dictoit: desquelles aucunes 
 furent (peut-estre) envoyees, les autres non; et les unes et les 
 autres, seulement faites pour plaisir, furent basties soubs la 
 charge de ces deux trahistres capitaines, qui k I'enuy ont com- 
 mand6 sur mes esprits."^* 
 
 The tone of the letters which follow is that of an exaggerated 
 preciosiie. In the III., for instance, he says: "Sortant de vostre 
 belle ville, vous fustes la derniere des Demoiselles, dont je pris 
 cong6; arriv6 que je suis a Paris, vous serez la premiere que je 
 salueray par la presente: mais d'une salutation qui ne sonne 
 qu'une querelle, afin que me fassiez la raison d'un accident qui 
 m'advint lors en vostre logis. Parceque sans y penser, je perdy 
 le plus pr6cieux joyau qui fust en moy, c'est mon coeur. De 
 dire que me I'ayez desrobe je n'oserois, sgachant de quelle fagon 
 vous traitez ceux qui vous offensent. De le ^-ous redemander, 
 encores moins; car s'il m'a abandonne de guet-a-pens, c'est un 
 mauvais garniment qui ne m^rite de r'entrer en grace avecq'- 
 moy."" In the same letter, a little later, he says: "D'une chose 
 sans plus vous veux-je prier de vous souvenir qu'il part d'un 
 bon lieu, et consequemment le vouloir traiter comme enfant de 
 bonne maison, encores qu'il se fasse mairitenant esclave." In 
 the V. Letter he says: "En bonne foy, je croy que tous ceux qui 
 cognoistront la servitude que j'aj- en vous, s'asseureront que la 
 moindre estincelle de la faveur qui est en moy par vostre moyen 
 allum^e, sera trop plus que sufhsante pour abattre le grand frimas, 
 qui se mettoit en devoir de s'ensaisiner de mon coeur, et sera 
 
 s« Op. cit., pp. 805-806. 
 "O^. cit., p. 807. 
 
478 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 cest effect mis au calandrier de vos plus petits miracles, desquels 
 exercez tous les jours une infinite en moy."** 
 
 In the same letter he says: "Et me suis tousjours persuade, 
 que puis que par vostre souverain miracle ne m'ayiez ost6 la 
 facilite de parler, et d'implorer vostre mercy, ne me voudriez 
 encor' desgarnir d'une esperance de retrouver un jour par vostre 
 moyen ma vie qui k present (comme la Salamandre) prend nour- 
 riture par les flammes. Et ou par une trop grande disgrace ne 
 pourray attaindre k telle felicit6, feray comme le Phenix qui seul 
 (en ma loyautd) auray caus6 ma mort d'un feu par moy trop 
 folement allum^: ou comme I'indiscret Icare, qui pour auda- 
 cieusement vouloir prendre mon vol trop hault, seray submerge 
 es abismes et gouffres de tout malheur," etc.*' 
 
 In the ninth letter he describes the effect produced on him by 
 a bouquet from his mistress, and declares: "Et prendra cestuy 
 bouquet, contre le cours de nature, telles racines dedans moy, 
 que i'espere par mon labeur le faire quelque jour plus croistre, 
 que ne font ces grands chaisnes des forests qui apparoissent 
 immortels." Peculiarly precieux is the comparison in Letter 
 XII: "Ma Damoyselle, vous n'estes point ignorante qu'il y a 
 tantost trois ans que fortune voulut guider en tel accez mes 
 pensees, qu'oubliant mes anciennes fagons, je me soubmis du 
 tout a vostre mercy: sous esperance vrayement d'arriver quelque 
 jour au port ou tout nautonnier dresse ses voiles et voeux pen- 
 dant une longue tourmente. Car neantmoins, je ne sgay com- 
 ment avez tousjours tellement tenu le gouvernail de ma volont6, 
 que me singlant vers un espoir, m'avez ancre en une crainte," 
 etc.™ 
 
 The tone of the letters gradually changes from love to jealousy 
 and despair, and finally, the lover throws off the yoke of the mis- 
 tress whom he believes unworthy of his affection. He says in 
 conclusion: "Et toutefois si ne peut tant la raison maistriser 
 sus ma passion, qu'encores, je ne me deuille non pas k cause de 
 toy: mais recognissant le temps que j'ay employ^ k la pour- 
 suite d'une femme, qui n'estoit d'aucun m^rite, sans neant- 
 moins que par I'espace de trois ans, je I'aye oncques sgeu des- 
 couvrir: je ressembleray doncques celuy lequel ayant 6te quelque 
 
 ^Wp. cit., p. 809. 
 ''''Op. cit., p. 810. 
 ''"Op. oil., p. 814.- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 479 
 
 temps detenu d'une grosse fievre, estant revenu en sant6, n'est 
 neantmoins fortifi4 que par une traitte de temps: ainsi sortant 
 du long travail, duquel j'ay ete longuement possed(§ par ton 
 venimeux miel, reprendray petit £i petit mes forces; jusques a 
 ce qu'estant de tout point rassis et consolide, je n'auray soucy 
 ni de toy, ni de toutes celles qui te ressemblent.'''^ 
 
 Pasquier is also the author of a facetious composition, not in- 
 cluded in his complete works, entitled, Ordonnances generalles 
 d'amour. He acknowledges himself as their author in his 
 letters, Bk. II, 5. The work, which is reprinted in Four- 
 nier's Varietes historiques et litteraires {Bibliotheque Elzevirienne) 
 II, pp. 169-196, consists of fifty decrees concerning love, couched 
 in the legal parlance of the day. These decrees are supposed to 
 be written for the benefit of a republic entitled the Convent of 
 Charity,'^ and are conceived in a spirit of great freedom, not to 
 say, of licence. They were composed at a time of the year 
 (Epiphany), when festal rejoicings were in season, and are to 
 be regarded as a momentary relaxation of a serious magistrate. 
 They are of no importance for our present inquiry as they show 
 no trace of Italian influence. '^ 
 
 '1 Op. ciL, p. 824. 
 
 '2 Is this an echo of Rabelais's Abbey of Theleme? 
 
 " I should, perhaps, have mentioned above in note 4, the two admirable 
 works by Arthur Tilley on the Renaissance in France. The earlier work, 
 The Literature of the French Renaissance, 2 vols., 1904, contains additional 
 materials concerning Margaret of Navarre and The Heptameron, as well as 
 Henri Estienne and Pasquier. The later work, The Dawn of the French 
 Renaissance, 1918, gives an excellent account of the Expedition of Charles 
 VIII, and of the French Occupation of Milan. 
 
 Three valuable articles by Professor W. A. R. Kerr dealing with Platonic 
 love in France in the sixteenth century may be found in PMications of the 
 Modern Language Association of America, vol. XIX (1904), pp. 33-63, "Le 
 Cercle d' Amour;" ibid., vol. XX (1905), pp. 567-583, "Antoine Heroet's 
 Parfaite Amye," and in Modern Philology, vol. V (1907-8), pp. 407-415, "The 
 Pleiade and Platonism." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Introduction of Italian Parlor Games into France — Charles Sorel's Maison 
 des Jeux — Its continuation, Les Recreations galantes — ^Mademoiselle de Scu- 
 dery's Mathilde d'Aguilar — Parlor Games in Clelie and the Recueils — Trans- 
 lation of the Libri di Ventura into French — ^Jean de Meung's Jeu du Dode- 
 chedron de Fortune — "Questions" as a form of social diversion in France — 
 Their use in Le Grand Cyrus and Clelie — In the Recueils — Jaulnay's Questions 
 d'Amour — Love Letters — Voiture's Letters — Letters of the Abbe Cotin — 
 Rene Le Pays and his precieux works — Letters in the Recueils — Boursault's 
 Letters to Babet — Fontenelle's Lettres galantes — The Guirlande de Julie — 
 Guazzo's La Ghirlanda delta Contessa Angela Bianca Beccaria. 
 
 With the great writers of the age of Louis XIV France re- 
 turned to the imitation of classical antiquity and threw off to a 
 certain extent the influence of Italy and Spain. In the early 
 part of the century, however, there were circumstances which 
 favored a profound Italian influence: these were the regency of 
 Maria de' Medici, 1610-1614, the war of the succession of Man- 
 tua, 1627-1631, the ministry of Mazarin, 1643-1661, and the 
 H6tel de Rambouillet, 1613-1648. 
 
 The Italian influence showed itself first in literature in D'Urfe's 
 Astree, which introduced into the century the tone of gallantry 
 afterwards continued in the romances of La Calpren^de, Gom- 
 berville, and Mademoiselle de Scudery, and which is characteristic 
 of French society in the seventeenth century. This subject 
 will be treated later under the topics of Conversation, "Ques- 
 tions, " and Lettres galantes. 
 
 The great vogue in Italy of treatises on Love (see Chapter III 
 of the present work) did not pass into France to any great ex- 
 tent. We have seen, however, in Chapter IX that the theory of 
 Platonic love was discussed and produced considerable litera- 
 ture. I do not know of anything exactly corresponding to the 
 Italian treatises in France in the seventeenth century. 'We 
 shall see that "questions" were extensively used as a social 
 diversion, but the serious discussion of Love in treatises, often 
 in the form of dialogues, does not occur frequently. Indeed, 
 there is only one of literary importance, namely the dialogue 
 "S'il faut qu'un jeune homme soit amoureux." The author 
 
 480 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 481 
 
 Jean Frangois Sarasin (the name is sometimes spelled Sarrasin 
 anckSarazine), born, probably in 1611, at Caen, studied under 
 the Jesuits and later became attached to the household of the 
 Prince de Conti, and was one of the frequenters of the HStel de 
 Rambouillet at the period of its greatest fame. He was the 
 author of a considerable amount of society verse, some historical 
 works {Histoire du si^ge de Dunkerque and La Conspiration de 
 Valstein) a translation of Cornelius Nepos' life of Titus Pom- 
 ponius Atticus, and the dialogue mentioned above. We are not 
 now concerned with his burlesque writings, once famous, which 
 include La Pompe funebre de Voiture, and Dulot vaincu, ou la 
 defaite des bouts-rimez. He died December 5, 1654. 
 
 The dialogue in which we are interested fills pp. 139-235 of 
 the edition of Sarasin 's works printed by Augustin Courb6 at 
 Paris in 1658, 24mo. The interlocutors are Chaplain, Trilport, 
 Manage, and Sarasin, all well-known, except the second, in 
 seventeenth century literature in France. The dialogue, ac- 
 cording to Dr. A. Mennung, Jean-Frangois Sarasin's Leben und 
 Werke, seine Zeit und Gesellschaft, Halle a. S., 1902, 2 vols., H, 
 p. 44, was composed in the spring and summer of 1649, and 
 begins with the usual explanation of why Love is depicted 
 naked, blindfold, winged, and armed with arrows and torch (see 
 Chapter VI, note 22 of the present work). Then follows a long 
 list of gods, heroes, philosophers, knights, and historical person- 
 ages who have succumbed to the might of love. To these are 
 added later by Manage the names of illustrious women famous 
 for their love affairs. 
 
 The defence of Love is then undertaken by Chapelain, who 
 explains the attributes of Love in a favorable sense. He then 
 divides Love into two classes, the heavenly and the earthly, 
 and defends the lovers cited earlier by Menage. He next pro- 
 ceeds to show the ethical influence of love, the source of knowl- 
 edge, poetry, music, and the fine arts. He also dwells on its re- 
 fining influence on society and concludes "that nothing is so 
 necessary to render a young man accomplished as to fall in love 
 with a virtuous woman. "^ 
 
 1 See Chapter VI, note 28. Mennung, op. cit., II, pp. 66-174, after a dis- 
 cussion of the Dialogue, examines at length the theories of Love and "Frauen- 
 kultus " among the Romance nations. This is the only general treatise on the 
 subject with which I am acquainted and it covers some of the topics treated 
 
 32 
 
482 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 We have already seen that one of the favorite modes of di- 
 version in Italian society was parlor games. These were known 
 in France as early as 1555, when a translation of the first fifty 
 games of Ringhieri was published at Lyons, dedicated to Mar- 
 guerite de Bourbon, Duchesse de Nevers. The second fifty 
 were not translated and the work seems to have had no influence 
 at the time it appeared, and it was not until over a hundred 
 years later (1669) that Charles Sorel made use of Ringhieri's 
 collection in his Recreations galantes. The literary introduction 
 of Italian games into France in the seventeenth century took 
 place through Charles Sorel's works. La Maison des Jeux, Paris, 
 1642, and its continuation, Les Recriations galantes, Paris, 
 16-71, and Mademoiselle de Scudery's Les Jeux servant de preface 
 d. Mathilde, Paris, 1704 (the first edition is 1667). 
 
 The scene of the Maison des Jeux takes place in the autumn 
 at a country house near Paris, where assemble a company con- 
 sisting of a rich widow, her daughter just married, the son-in- 
 law, and the friends of the bride and groom. The book is an 
 elaborate description of their pastimes, which consist of games of 
 all kinds, involving stories and literary discussions. The author 
 mentions by name Castiglione, Guazzo, and Ringhieri, and cer- 
 tainly refers to Bargagli. The originality of his work consists, 
 he declares, in having written a book describing a company in 
 which society games have been perfectly practiced. He adds: 
 "It is true that Guazzo has given a description of a company, 
 in which after supper they devote themselves to such games, but 
 the rest of the work is only a dialogue in several journies on 
 Etiquette, whereas we have devoted ourselves entirely to games, 
 of which I have cited a great number, in order to give you a 
 choice, and I assure you that I should have trouble to remember 
 any more." Some of the games he mentions are, he states, 
 practiced in France as well as in Italy, and he proceeds to name 
 a few. 
 
 The Maison des Jeux was twice printed, and its interesting 
 form must have made games more or less popular in French 
 society. Twelve years after the second edition of the Maison des 
 Jeux Sorel published a work entitled Les Recreations galantes. 
 
 in the present work. The author, however, is more interested in the so-called 
 "Woman-question," than in the social observances based on the discussionof 
 love. This part of Mennung's work will be found valuable for the topics 
 discussed in Chapter IV of the present work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 483 
 
 Suite et seconde partie de la Maison des Jeux, Paris, 1669 (another 
 edition is of 1671), in which he has abandoned the frame of a 
 social gathering and describes the games alone. Although the 
 new work pretends to be a continuation of the Maison des Jeux, 
 it really contains but six games not in the former work, and omits 
 but an insignificant number. 
 
 In 1667 Mademoiselle de Scud^ry published her romance of 
 Mathilde d'Aguilar, which is preceded by an introduction en- 
 titled Les Jeux, in which the circumstances leading to the ro- 
 mance are described. A company of five ladies and four gentle- 
 men set out from Paris one fine day in autumn to visit a villa on 
 the Seine. In accordance with the custom of the Italian acade- 
 mies the company assumed names indicating their disposition, 
 such as the Indifferent, the Melancholy, and the like, which 
 names, however, they later changed for some taken from the 
 Grand Cyrus and the Clelie. The conversation turns on amuse- 
 ments, among which are mentioned "les petits jeux," such as 
 "le jeu des proverbes, des soupirs, de I'oracle, du roman, du 
 propos interrompa, des fontaines, des tableaux, et plusieurs 
 autres ou il ne faut pas tant d 'esprit." Herminius declares that 
 such games are trifles which are beneath reasonable people. 
 Themiste undertakes their defence, calls attention to their 
 antiquity, and refers to the use made of them by Castiglione in 
 his Courtier. Opinions differ as to the amusement afforded by 
 these games, but finally Themiste is allowed to invent a new game 
 in which the others are to take part. His game consists in writing 
 on bits of paper various tasks. These pieces of paper are placed 
 in a vase and drawn by the company in turn and each is required 
 to perform the task designated on his paper. In order to give 
 greater variety a larger number of tasks are written than there 
 are persons in the company. Some of the tasks are : To tell why 
 a handsome fool is more foolish than any other; The difference 
 between a flatterer and a complaisant person ; To show that a 
 confidant is needed in love and the contrary; To tell a story; To 
 describe a handsome country house ; To write some verses of an 
 felegy; To compose a rebusr A songr An enigma-; A madrigal, etc. 
 The description of the country house results in an elaborate 
 account of Saint Cloud and a eulogy of the Duke and Duchess of 
 Orltens. The task of telling a story leads to the romance of 
 Mathilde. 
 
484 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The game which Mademoiselle de Scud^ry describes in the 
 work just mentioned, she had previously employed in her novel 
 of CleUe, Vol. VIII, p. 772 (Paris, 1660). In the same novel, 
 Vm, p. 754, the game of "hazard" is described. The ladies of 
 the company write their names on slips of paper and the gentle- 
 men likewise: the names are then dra^\-n and those which come 
 together are supposed to be the union of hearts destined for each 
 other. 
 
 There are two games in the Recueil de pieces en prose les plus 
 agreables de ce temps published at Paris in 1660, by Charles de 
 Sercy, Vol. Ill, pp. 66, 163. They are "Le Jeu des Bestes"^ and 
 "Le Jeu des Vertus et des Vices," and occur in a novel, Le 
 voyage d'Alcippe ou les divertis semens agreables. In the first 
 named game the company take the names of animals, which they 
 tell secretly to the master of the game, who describes the animal 
 and offers it for sale. In the second game the company assume 
 names of the virtues and vices and when the leader mentions one 
 of these the person who has assumed it must repeat it aloud, 
 twice if the leader has mentioned it but once and vice versa. 
 
 We find occasional references to games in French society of this 
 period, but they are fewer than we should suppose. We must 
 remember, however, that the very nature of these games made 
 them more suitable for informal gatherings and if they were 
 played in more serious circles they would not be mentioned.' 
 
 It has already been seen that the use of fortune-telling books 
 {Libri di ventura) in Italy goes back as far as the end of the four- 
 teenth century, although they did not attain the height of their 
 popularity until the sixteenth.^ These works were introduced 
 into France in the latter century, and Lorenzo Spirito's work was 
 translated into French in 1636.^ Much earlier is a similar French 
 
 ^ See Roy's La vie et les ceuvres de Charles Sorel, p. 255. There is an allu- 
 sion to this game in the Lettres of Boursault cited later, p. 205: "Si tu as tant 
 d'impatience de me voir, tu n'as qu'a venir tantost chez Mademoiselle de 
 Morangis, ou je suis priee d'aller jouer el la Beste. Comme tu la vois reguli- 
 erement une ou deux fois la semaine, il ne semblera pas que ce soit moy qui 
 t'ay dit de t'y trouver. Si tu veux te mettre de nostre jeu, j'en seray ravie; 
 car j'aime mieux faire la Beste avec toy, qu'avec qui que ce soit au monde. 
 Bon-jour." 
 
 ^ The fullest account of games in French society of the seventeenth century 
 is found in the work of Roy cited above, pp. 241 et jeg. 
 
 ^ See Chapter VI of the present work. 
 
 ' I have seen at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the following edition: 
 Le Passetemps de la Fortune des Dez, OH chacun poura veoir sa bonne ou mail- 
 vaise fortune. Ingenieusement compute par Maistre Laurens V Esprit, pour re- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 485 
 
 work attributed to Jean de Meung (who flourished in the latter 
 half of the thirteenth century) of which Bourciez, op. cit., p. 47, 
 says: "dont on ne trouve point de traces avant le XVe siecle, 
 et dont la redaction en tout cas fut rajeunie appropride k la 
 mode courante pendant le XVIe." The first edition is Paris, 
 1556, and I have also used the editions of Lyons, Francois Didier, 
 1574 and 1576; the former is the one cited here. The title is: 
 Le plaisant ieu du dodechedron de Fortune, non mains recreatif, 
 que subtil et ingen-ieux: renouvelle et change de sa premiere edition. 
 A Lyon, Par Francois Didier, devant Sainct Antoine. 1574. 
 The game is played with a twelve-sided die, whence the name 
 of the game, or with two ordinary dice. There are twelve classes 
 of questions-arranged under twelve "maisons." Each "maison" 
 contains twelve questions numbered a, b, c, etc. for the first 
 twelve, bb, be, bd, etc. for the second, and so on. Then follow 
 two tables containing each one hundred and forty-four divisions 
 arranged under the twelve planets and constellations. A ques- 
 tion is selected from one of the "maisons" and its place found in 
 the first table by its number: then the die is thrown and one 
 counts down in the column the number thrown. This gives a 
 reference to the second table, which leads to the answer con- 
 tained in one hundred and forty-four sets of answers of twelve 
 each. The questions and answers are in distichs. 
 
 This is, in the main, the usual form of the Italian Lihri di 
 Ventura; ior the planets and constellations are sometimes sub- 
 
 sponse de vingt questions coustomierement demandhs, avec les responses aus dites 
 questions. Les vingt questions sont specifices en la Roiie de Fortune, au feuillet 
 sequent. A Paris, Pour lacques Dallin, sur le Pontneuf, vis a vis la Samari- 
 taine. M.DC.XXXVI, 4to, ff. 44 (15 to 25 not numbered). Picot in his 
 Catalogue of the Rothschild Library says. Vol. I, p. 172 (No. 312): "Cet 
 ouvrage est la traduction du li\Te de Lorenzo Spirito Delle Sorti, dont la pre- 
 miere Wition fut imprimie 4 Vienne avant 1474. Le nom du traducteur 
 frangais Anthitus Faure ou Favre figure sur le titre de I'edition de 1528." 
 The French work is an adaptation of the Italian original. The kings to whom 
 the user of the book is referred are French kings, e.g., "Si la vie doit estre heur- 
 euse, ^'a au Roy Clovis. . . . En quel estat et terme doit mourir I'horame, 
 va au Roy Pharamond, etc." Flowers are used in connection with the kings, 
 whose portraits are given: "Le roy Clodio. \'a 4 la fieur du bouton du Rosier. 
 Le roy Clotaire. Va au bouton du Giroflier, etc." After the flowers come 
 twenty signs of the zodiac, constellations, planets, etc. Then pp. 25 et seq. 
 prophets: Adam, David, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob, etc. The verses are of eight 
 syllables. The following will serve as an example: 
 
 Ton malheur en brief finira, 
 Dont ton amour s'esjouira. 
 
 Sois certain que jeune mourras, 
 Et que point tu n'en\ielliras. 
 
486 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 stituted kings and prophets or sibyls. The question arises as 
 to the originality of the work attributed to Jean de Meung. 
 Although I cannot find any Italian work from which it is evident 
 that the Jeu du Dodechedron is translated or adapted, still I 
 am inclined to think, considering the great vogue in Italy of this 
 class of works, that the French book is an imitation of an Italian 
 original. * 
 
 In the work by Charles Sorel, Les RScrSations galantes, cited 
 above, is a game, which is in effect a Fortune-telling Book. It 
 is entitled: "Questions plaisantes pour se reiovir dans les Com- 
 pagnies," and consists of fifty-two questions with answers to 
 which one is referred by placing the finger at random on a page 
 of dots and then from the dot touched counting in a certain 
 way. 
 
 It is now time to turn our attention to another form of diver- 
 sion, which, although of French (Provengal) origin, received its 
 highest development in Italy. I refer to the use of "questions" 
 as a means of social amusement. The establishment of the 
 Academy of Poetry and Music in the sixteenth century by Baif 
 and its revival in 1576 by Pibrac under the title of Academy of the 
 Palace, introduced into France the customs of the Italian acad- 
 emies and gave a powerful impetus to the spread of Platonic 
 philosophy in France. One of the occupations of the Italian 
 academies was, as we have seen, the discussion of "questions," 
 and accordingly the opening discourse of the Academy of the 
 Palace by Ronsard was a discussion of the question: "k sgavoir 
 si les vertus morales sont plus louables, plus necessaires et plus 
 excellentes que les intellectuelles."^ Henry III, the patron of 
 this academy, was himself fond of literary discussions, and it 
 was his habit to have questions of this nature discussed in his 
 presence while at table.' We are, however, not now concerned 
 with academic discussions, but with the use of "questions" 
 as a social diversion. 
 
 We have seen in the last chapter during our examination of the 
 works of Marguerite de Navarre, Jacques d'Yver, and Pasquier 
 that the discussion of "questions" constituted a favorite mode 
 
 * See E. Fremy, L'Academie des derniers Valois, etc., Paris, n. d., p. 
 206. 
 
 ' See A. Baschet, Les Comediens italiens d, la cour de France sous Charles 
 IX, Henri III, Henri IV et Louis XIII, Paris, 882, p. 66. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 487 
 
 of amusement in the sixteenth century in France.'''' These 
 "questions" were usually connected with Platonic love. 
 
 There is a very interesting collection of questions relating to 
 love which belongs to this period. It bears the title Demandes 
 damours auecgues les responses, and contains eleven folios in- 
 cluding the title, without date, place, or name of printer. There 
 is no colophon, and the ending is: "Cy finet les demandes da- 
 mours auecques leurs responses. ' ' The character of the work may 
 be seen by the following questions. " le vous demande se amours 
 auoyent perdu leur nom comment les nomeriez vous. Re- 
 sponse: Plaisant sagesse. Qui fait souvent amours durer? 
 Response: Courtoisie. Je vous demande lequel vault mieulx 
 amant hardy ou amant honteux. Response: Amant hardy par 
 raison." Some of the longer questions are: "Three ladies are 
 of the same age and all three love you to the same degree ; one is 
 very beautiful, the second very rich, and the third very wise. 
 Which would you love the best? Answer: The wise one. I ask 
 you which would you prefer, to be jealous of your beloved or to 
 have her jealous of you? Answer: That she should be jealous of 
 me." The last two folios contain "demandes ioyeuses," which 
 a lady puts to her cavalier, and his answers to them. 
 
 After remaining in oblivion for two centuries this curious little 
 work attracted the attention of the editors of that omnium gather- 
 um the Bibliothegue universelle des Romans, and in the volume for 
 January, 1786, p. 180, there appeared: Questions d' Amour, avec 
 leurs resolutions, which are only an extract from the Demandes 
 damours. In the seventeenth century the use of "questions" 
 becomes more general and, although love plays an important 
 part in them, the subjects discussed are of a wider range. The 
 
 '» TheDuhUoi Lando were translated into French in the fifteenth century; 
 see Chapter HI, note 47e. 
 
 The use of "questions" as subjects of academic discussion is not unknown 
 in France in the seventeenth century. In Pellisson and D'Olivet's Histoire 
 de V Academiefransaise, ed. Livet, I, 76, we learn that from July 23 to Septem- 
 ber 2, 1635, four discourses on the nature of love were pronounced: one by M. 
 
 que les poetes ., aj r^i. 1 ■ 1- 
 
 prits, ou il entreprend de faire vou- que si 1 amour dont M. Cnapelain a parle, 
 doit gtre blime et meprise, celui-ci est non-seulement estimable, mais encore 
 a quelque chose de divin"; and, finally, one by M. de Boissat, "De I'Amour 
 des corps, ou par des raisons physiques, prises des sympathies et des anti- 
 pathies, et de la conduite du monde, il peut faire voir que I'amour des corps 
 n'est pas moins divin que celui des esprits." 
 
488 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 sources of our knowledge of these "questions" are the novels, 
 miscellanies (Recueils), and collections of the day. 
 
 It is not until the second half of the century that we find the 
 use of "questions" common in society and their prevalence is 
 closely connected with the precieux movement. There are few 
 "questions," for example, in Mademoiselle de Scud^ry's Le 
 Grand Cyrus. One is found in Vol. V, p. 573: "Whether one 
 should see few or many in society." In the same author's 
 CUlie "questions" become frequent. The following are the 
 most interesting. "Si une belle enjou6e est plus aimable qu'une 
 belle mdlancolique ou qu'une belle fi^re et capricieuse" (II, 1163); 
 Whether a prisoner of love is more unhappy than a prisoner of 
 war (IV, 728) ; Whether it is worse not to be loved or to be for- 
 saken by one's mistress (IV, 830) ; "A qui une femme avoit plus 
 d'obligation, ou k un inconstant qui deviendroit fidelle en I'ai- 
 mant, ou k un amant fidelle qui deviendroit inconstant pour 
 sa premiere maitresse parce qu'il y seroit iorck. par les charmes 
 qu'il trouveroit en la seconde" (IV, 1169); Is it sweeter to be 
 loved than to love? (IV, 1182); Which is preferable, love 
 or friendship? (V, 320) ; Whether reason should be subject 
 to love, and whether obedience should be blind (VI, 1400); 
 Whether it shows more respect not to make a declaration of 
 love or to make one (VIII, 1360); "Si les bienfaits faisoient 
 plustost naistre I'amiti^, que I'amiti^ mesme, ou que le grand 
 m6rite sans bienfaits" (IX, 360).^ 
 
 A number of "questions" are found in the Recueil de pikes 
 galantes, en prose et en vers, de Madame de la Suze, et de Monsieur 
 Pelisson, Trevoux, 1741, Vol. IV. On p. 137, are : "Cinq questions 
 d'amour proposes par Madame de Bregy, avec la reponse faite 
 en vers par Monsieur Quinault, par I'ordre du Roy." The five 
 questions are: 
 
 "i. Sgavoir si la presence de ce que Ton aime cause plus de 
 joye, que les marques de son indifference ne donnent de peine. 
 
 ' The subject of Conversation and " Questions " in the circle of the H6tel de 
 Rambouillet in the seventeenth century has been treated by me at considerable 
 length in La SociSle frangaise au dix-septiime siicle, Second edition, G. P. 
 Putnam's Sons, New York, 1907, and Les Heros de Roman: Dialogue de Nico- 
 las Boileau-Despreaux, Ginn and Co., Boston, 1902. There is little for my 
 purpose in the two works of E. Magne: Voiture et les origines de V HStel de 
 Rambouillet, iS97-i66s, Paris, 1911; and Voiture et les annies de gloire de 
 I' H6tel de Rambouillet, 16JS-1648, Paris, 1912. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 489 
 
 "2. De I'embarras oh se trouve une personne quand son coeur 
 tient un parti, et la raison un autre. 
 
 "3. Si Ton doit hair quelqu'un de ce qu'il nous plait trop, 
 quand nous ne pouvons lui plaire. 
 
 "4. S'il est plus doux d 'aimer une personne dent le coeur est 
 preoccupe, qu'une autre dont le coeur est insensible. 
 
 "5. Si le merite d'etre aime, doit recompenser le chagrin de ne 
 I'etre pas." 
 
 Then follow, p. 147, "Autres questions d'amour," in verse, 
 the first of which will serve as an example of the others : 
 
 Lequel est le plus glorieux 
 Aux charmes d'une belle, 
 De remettre en ses fers un esclave rebelle, 
 Ou d'en rendre un autre infidelle, 
 Lors qu'autre part il est heureux? 
 
 The fifth and last is in prose, p. 151, "Si I'amour doit ceder k 
 la raison, ou si c'est k la raison k ceder k I'amour." 
 
 In the same volume, pp. 167-205, are a large number of "Max- 
 imes d'Amour, ou Questions en prose, decid^es en vers," attrib- 
 uted to Bussy Rabutin.' A few taken at random will show 
 their general character: "Sgavoir ce qui est plus difficile, de 
 retourner de I'amour a I'amiti^, que de passer de I'amiti^ k 
 I'amour," p. 171; "Sgavoir, qui aime le mieux des hommes ou 
 des femmes," p. 174; "Sgavoir, si un grand amour est incom- 
 patible avec une grande ambition," p. 176; "Sgavoir, si on peut 
 aimer sans esperance d'etre aim6," p. 179; "Sgavoir, si c'est une 
 necessite qu'il faille aimer une fois en sa vie," p. 181; "Sgavoir, 
 qui temoigne plus d'amour de I'extr^me jalousie, ou de I'extr^me 
 confiance," p. 182; "Lequel donne plus de peine, de cacher son 
 amour, ou de feindre d'aimer?" p. 201 ; "Lequel est le plus mal- 
 heureux d'un amant absent et aim6, ou d'un present et mal- 
 traite?" p. 204. 
 
 Finally the same volume, pp. 247-251, contains three more 
 
 "questions galantes" in verse, of which the first (p. 247) may be 
 
 cited here: 
 
 Alors qu'un veritable amant 
 A laisse prendre sa franchise 
 Par un objet qui le meprise, 
 Le doit-il aimer constamment? 
 
 ' They are by Bussy; see Histoire amoureuse desGaules par Bussy Rabutin, 
 revue et annotee par M^Paul Boiteau, Paris, 1856, Vol. I, pp. 347-398. 
 
490 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Several "questions" are to be found in the Recueil de pihes 
 en prose les plus agrSables de ce temps, composSes par divers au- 
 iheurs, Paris, Chez Charles de Sercy, 1659, Seconde Partie, 
 1662, Part ii, p. 65, "Dialogue de Socratine et de Demetriade, 
 ou Ton propose cette question: Sgavoir, lequel se devoit le plus 
 souhaitter k une femme, ou la grande richesse, ou I'extrgme 
 beauts : on en deraande la solution au belles philosophes, avec 
 les raisons de leurs sentimens." Other "questions" are: p. 
 80, "Si le talent de bien ecrire est preferable k celuy de bien 
 parler"; p. 94, "Sil'on doit faire plus d'estime de I'amiti^ qui 
 naist d 'inclination, que de celle qui vient de longue connoissance " ; 
 p. 193, "^i on peut accorder la fierte avec la douceur." 
 
 The only work devoted exclusively to "questions" with which 
 I am acquainted is Questions d'amour, ou conversations galantes, 
 dediees aux belles, par M. Jaulnay, Paris, 1671.^" The author 
 lived during the second half of the seventeenth century and is 
 known only by the work above mentioned and one entitled 
 Les horreurs sans horreur, poeme comigue tire des visions de F, 
 de Quevedo, Paris, 1671. The work in which we are at present 
 interested consists of thirty-three chapters, on such topics as: 
 "De la definition de I'amour; de la division des amours; de I'a- 
 mour d 'inclination ; des temperamens propres ou contraires cl 
 I'amour; de la preoccupation et de I'aveuglement en amour; 
 des surprises naturelles en amour; des desirs et de I'esperance en 
 amour; des peines de I'amour"; etc. Each of these chapters 
 contains a number of questions varying from four to twenty- 
 three. Those in the first chapter are: "Si I'amour peut avoir 
 sa definition comma les autres passions; Quel est la veritable 
 definition de I'amour; Si I'amour n'est autre chose qu'un desir 
 d'estre aime de ce que Ton aime; Si les descriptions qu'ont fait 
 Corneille, le Tasse dans I'Aminthe, le Cavalier Marin dans V Ado- 
 nis, et Mademoiselle de Scudery suffisent pour faire comprendre 
 cette passion." 
 
 Some of the "questions" have already been discussed, as, 
 p. 55: "Lequel des deux choisiroit un amant passionne, ou de ne 
 jamais plus voir sa maitresse, mais de I'entendre ou de ne I'en- 
 tendre jamais plus, mais la voir?"" The answer is: "L'oiiye est 
 
 "• The only notice I have been able to find of Jaulnay is in the Nouvdk 
 Biographic gSnerale, Paris, 1878, Didot et Cie. The author, "G. B.," cites 
 VioUet-le-Duc, Bibliothegue poetique, Vol. I, p. 544. 
 
 " See Chapter IX, note 62. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 491 
 
 le sens de I'esprit, et le principal siege de I'amour, estant au 
 coeur dont la veue est I'organe particulier, c'est sans doute qu'un 
 amant passionnd choisira de voir et de ne point entendre." 
 
 We have seen in Chapter III what an extensive literature had 
 its rise in the prevalent gallantry of the day. Much of this 
 literature was translated into French, and what was not trans- 
 lated was imitated. This is true of the class of "Love Letters," 
 as we have already seen in the case of Etienne Pasquier. These 
 letters were for the most part mere rhetorical exercises and devel- 
 oped no story or connected narrative. 
 
 The first appearance of such letters in France in the seven- 
 teenth century is in the second quarter of the century, and their 
 author is the famous wit, Vincent Voiture, 1 598-1648. These 
 letters, sixty-one in number, may best be found in the works of 
 Voiture edited by M. A. Ubicini, Paris, 1855, Vol. H, pp. 169- 
 252. They contain no story and are filled with tiresome repeti- 
 tions of lovers' woes, couched, it is true, in a graceful and deli- 
 cate form, marred often by preciosite. A good example of this is 
 found in the XV. Letter (ed. Ubicini, n,P- 192): "Vous pouvez 
 6tre assuree que la tristesse ni I'amour ne feront jamais mourir 
 personne, puisque I'un ou I'autre ne m'ont pas encore tu6, et 
 qu'ayant 6t6 deux jours sans I'honneur de vous voir, il me reste 
 quelque apparence de vie. Si quelque chose m'avoit fait t€- 
 soiidre a votre 61oignement, c'6toit la cr^ance que j'avois que 
 j'en serois quitte pour en mourir, et qu'une si forte douleur que 
 celle-14 ne me laisseroit pas languir longtemps. Cependant je 
 trouve, contre mon esp6rance, que je dure beaucoup plus que 
 je ne I'avois imagin6, et, quelques coups mortels que j'aie, je 
 crois que mon ime ne se pent detacher de mon coeur, pour ce 
 qu'elle y voit votre image." In the XXII., p. 202, he says: 
 "Mademoiselle, je ne dors qu'avec beaucoup de peine. J'ai 
 perdu le gout de toutes choses. L'usage mSme de I'air ne m'est 
 pas libre, et je ne respire pas tant que je soupire." Very charac- 
 teristic is the XXVI. Letter, p. 208: "Madame, enfin je suis ici 
 arriv6 en vie, et j'ai honte de vous le dire, car il me semble qu'un 
 honnete homme ne devroit pas vivre, apres avoir 6te dix jours 
 sans vous voir. Je m'etonnerois davantage de I'avoir pu faire, 
 si je ne savois qu'il y a deja quelque temps qu'il ne m'arrive que 
 des choses extraordinaires, et auxquelles je ne me suis point 
 attendu ; et que depuis que je ^'ous ai ^al, il ne se fait plus rien en 
 
492 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 moi que par miracle. En verit6, e'en est un effet Strange que 
 j'aie pu resister jusqu'ici k tant de d6plaisirs, et qu'un homme 
 perce de tant de coups puisse durer si longtemps. Il.n'y a point 
 d'accablement, de tristesse, ni de langueur pareille k celle ou je 
 me trouve: I'amour et la crainte, le regret et I'impatience m'agi- 
 tent diversement ci toutes heures, et ce coeur que je vous avois 
 donn6 entier est maintenant dechire en mille pieces. Mais vous 
 etes dans chacune d'elles, et je ne voudrois pas avoir donn6 
 la plus petite k tout ce que je vols ici." 
 
 He says in the LVIII. Letter, p. 248: "Encore n'est-ce point, 
 qu'ayant r^duit mon coeur en servitude, il vous fache qu'il se 
 mette par 1^ en quelque sorte de liberte et se soulage un peu des 
 maux qui le pressent? Si vous §tes de cette humeur, j'en ti- 
 rerai occasion de vous faire une priere qui est le principal objet 
 de ce billet: c'est, mademoiselle, d'avoir agr^able, si ma captivit6 
 vous plait, que j'en porte partout les marques, et que, de tant 
 de beaux cheveux qui se perdent inutilement et que votre peigne 
 derobe tous les matins, vous trouviez bon que j'en aie ce qu'il en 
 faut pour en faire un bracelet. La vue de cette precieuse chaine 
 me consolera de la perte de ma liberte, et tant que j'aurai cet 
 objet devant les yeux, je ne croirai pas 6tre tout a fait absent 
 de vous." 
 
 The LXIX. Letter, p. 249, deserves to be given almost at 
 length. It is as follows: "Mademoiselle, je vous ai dit autrefois 
 que vous vous meconnoissiez, mais que c'etoit par trop de modes- 
 tie, comme. les autres font ordinairement par vanity. J'ajoute 
 que le soleil, qui 6chauffe tout ce qu'il 6claire, ne sent point sa 
 chaleur, et que c'est ainsi que vous ignorez la force de vos char- 
 mes, quoiqu'ils fassent de si fortes impressions sur tous les 
 coeurs. . . . Apres tout, ou il n'y a point de miroirs qui ne soient 
 faux, ou je ne vous ai rien 6crit que vous n'eprouviez veritable 
 quand il vous plaira. Mais plutot que de I'apprendre dans une 
 glace, vous le verrez k la lueur du feu que vos beaux yeux ont 
 allum6 dans mon ame. Ne dites point, que si la chaleur de ma 
 fievre n'est point plus violente que celle de mon amour, je ne 
 suis point en hasard de ma vie. Mon mal passera; mais comme 
 votre merite est infini, ma passion n'aura point de bornes: aussi 
 ne veux-je point qu'elle en ait. Je ne veux point gu6rir d'une 
 si belle blessure ; elle est de la nature de certaines plaies qui ne se 
 ferment jamais que Ton n'en meure." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 493 
 
 The gallant style of Voiture was perpetuated in the second 
 half of the seventeenth century by the Abbe Cotin, the victim 
 of Moliere in the Femmes Sava?ites.^^ The letters in question 
 are to be found in Oenvres galantes en Prose et en Vers de Mon- 
 sieur Cotin, Paris, 1673. As this work of Cotin's gives a per- 
 fect picture of the precieux literature of the time, a detailed 
 account of its ^-arious contents may not be out of place. The 
 first part consists of one hundred and nine "lettres galantes," 
 divided into two parts, pp. 1-218, "Lettres des Dames," and pp. 
 219-312, "Lettres et poesies galantes en prose et en verse." 
 The second part (the two parts are in one volume with continuous 
 pagination) contains, pp. 313-476, "Suite des oeuvres galantes 
 de Monsieur Cotin." The "Lettres des Dames" are supposed 
 to be written by ladies, but are interspersed with replies and 
 miscellaneous compositions, such as portraits, description of 
 Liancour, pp. 1 13-120; "De I'Astrologie judiciaire," pp. 138- 
 149. The second part of the Lettres contains a long disserta- 
 tion on Judicial Astrology ("Jugement d'une Dame de qualite 
 sur I'Astrologie Judiciaire," pp. 221-247); a discourse on the 
 truth of dreams, pp. 277-286; etc. The "Suite" is devoted 
 to poetry and contains the famous "Sonnet k Mademoiselle 
 de Longue\-ille k present Duchesse de Nemours sur sa fievre 
 quarte," p. 386, and the equally famous "Madrigal sur un ca- 
 rosse de couleur amarante, achet6 pour une dame," p. 443, which 
 were introduced b>- Moliere in the Femmes Savantes. The 
 character of the poetry- is sufficienth' indicated by the abo^e 
 well-known poems. The Letters are most insipid and on the 
 most frivolous subjects: thanks for a poem, excuses for not 
 writing, assurances of friendship, judgment upon a device, re- 
 proaches for a departure, opinion on a book, description of a 
 dream, protestation of friendship and service, criticism of a 
 tragedy, on an absence, reconciliation, etc. The love letters 
 tell no story and are devoid of Voiture's wit and delicate style. 
 
 More interesting are the works of Rend Le Pays, born the 28th 
 of December, 1634, at Fougeres in Brittany.'^ Le Pa\s is one 
 of the ^^ctiras of Boileau, who says of him in the third Satire : 
 
 '^ Charles Cotin •n-as bom at Paris at an unknowTi date, probably 1606, or 
 thereabouts, and died in December, 1681. There is a pleasant article on Cotin 
 by Livet in Precieux et Precieuses, Paris, 1870, pp. 113-130. 
 
 " The only essay I know on Le Pays is in the work cited in the last note, 
 PP- 293-319- 
 
494 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Le Pays, sans mentir, est un bouffon plaisant; 
 Mais je ne trouve rien de beau dans ce Voiture. 
 
 So noted was Le Pays for his imitation of this author that he was 
 known as "le singe de Voiture." The works of Le Pays which 
 I have been able to consult are: Amitiez, Amours, et Amourettes, 
 Paris, Chez Claries de Sercy, 1664 (second edition), and: Les 
 Nouvelles oeuvres de Monsieur Le Pays, Paris, Chez Charles de 
 Sercy, 1672, 2 vols. The first named work, like Cotin's, con- 
 sists of letters interspersed with poetry and miscellaneous com- 
 positions, e.g., pp. 58-79, "Dialogue de I'Amour et de la Raison; 
 portraits," pp. 363-402, etc. The subjects are almost exactly 
 the same as those in Cotin's work: declarations of love, regrets 
 for an absence or departure, excuses for not writing, etc. The 
 Nouvelles Oeuvres are of precisely the same character. In the 
 first volume, pp. 273-347, occurs the account of the writer's 
 Muse, whom he names Amourette. He describes her as follows: 
 "La Muse Amourette est fille de la Muse de Voiture. Cet 
 air enjou6 qu'elles ont toutes deux, ce caract^re galant et facile 
 qu'on voit dans Tune et dans I'autre, en sont des preuves con- 
 vaincantes. II est vray que son enjouement, sa galantrie et sa 
 facilite sont bien eloigntes de I'enjouement, de la galantrie et 
 de la facilite de sa Muse. Chez Voiture tout cela est accom- 
 pagn6 d'une certaine d^licatesse, que la Muse Amourette n'a 
 pas este capable d'imiter." 
 
 This class of literature long remained in vogue as may be seen 
 from the various Recueils of the seventeenth century, e.g., 
 Nouveau Recueil de plusieurs et diverses pieces galantes de ce 
 temps, Paris, 1665; Les oeuvres cavalieres ou pieces galantes et 
 curieuses, Cologne, 1671; Recueil des pieces en prose les plus 
 agrSables de ce temps, Paris, Charles de Sercy, 1659, 5 vols.; 
 and in the work cited above, Maximes et loix d' Amour, Lettres, 
 billets doux et galans, poesies, Paris, 1669, which contains some 
 of the same material as the Recueil de Madame de la Suze et de 
 Pellison, e.g., "Dialogue du M6rite et de la Fortune, Maximes 
 d'Amour," etc. 
 
 The letters thus far mentioned seem to have been mere rhe- 
 torical exercises and have no connection with one another. The 
 first writer who conceived the idea of a collection of letters to 
 one person with a thread of dramatic interest was Boursault 
 (1638-1701), the author of some excellent comedies and well 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 495 
 
 known from his quarrel with Moliere. Boursault was also famous 
 as a letter writer although he cannot compare with Voiture. 
 A collection of his letters was published under the title Lettres 
 de respect, d'obligation, et d'amour, Paris, 1683. This volume 
 contains the once highly esteemed "Lettres de Babet," pp. 
 129-260. In these letters is told the love story of Boursault and 
 Babet, whose father wishes her to marry a gentleman from Nor- 
 mandy. She refuses, and the concluding letter of the series con- 
 tains her farewell to her lover as she is sent away to a convent. 
 The letters are not devoid of interest even at the present day, as 
 they contain many references to society and literature. 
 
 The fashion of "Love Letters" was prolonged as late as Fon- 
 tenelle (1657-1757), whose Lettres galantes are the best which 
 this genre has produced." We no longer have insipid declara- 
 tions of love, or regrets at an absence, but the letters tell some 
 story and there is a thread connecting several letters with the 
 same incident. Even where there is not, the writer gives the 
 most witty and delicate turn to commonplace sentiments, which 
 causes us to overlook the pronounced preciosite of the style. 
 The note is struck in the first letter (p. 84, ed. cit.), A Madame 
 de G.: "II y a long-tems, Madame, que j'aurois pris la liberty 
 de vous aimer, si vous aviez le loisir d'etre aimee de moi: mais 
 vous etes trop occupee par je ne sais combien d'autres soupirans, 
 et j'ai juge plus a propos de vous garder mon amour. II pourra 
 arriver quelque tems plus favorable ou je le placerai. Peut- 
 etre votre cour sera-t-elle moins grosse pendant quelque petit 
 intervalle; peut-etre serez-vous bien-aise d'inspirer de la ja- 
 lousie et du d^pit k quelqu'un, en faisant parottre tout-a-coup 
 un nouvel amant. Comptez que vous en avez un de reserve, 
 dont vous pouvez vous servir quand il vous plaira. Je tiendrai 
 toujours raes soins et mes voeux tout prets: vous n'avez qu'a me 
 faire signe que je commence, et je commencerai," etc. 
 
 So in the second letter A la jeune Angloise, p. 108 : " II court un 
 bruit de vous, Mademoiselle: on dit que vous etes aim6e d'un 
 cavalier Anglois, et que vous n'etes pas mal dispos^e pour lui. 
 Vous moquez-vous? Falloit-il passer la mer pour venir aimer 
 un Anglois en France? Quel profit tirez-vous de votre voyage? 
 Voili ce qui fait souvent qu'on perd la peine qu'on a prise d'aller 
 dans des pays etrangers; on n'y voit que des gens de sa nation. 
 "See (Euvres de Fontenelle, Paris, 1792, Vol. VIH, pp. 84-280. 
 
496 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Eh ! du moins donnez-nous le tems que vous passerez chez nous. 
 . . . Vous avez repondu k ceux qui vous reprochoient le cavalier 
 Anglois, que vous Taimiez pour la commodite de lui parler et 
 de I'entendre; mais, en v6rit^, cette raison-1^ n'est pas valable. 
 Votre Anglois n'entend que ce que vous lui dites: mais un Fran- 
 cois entendroit cent choses que vous ne lui diriez pas, il liroit 
 dans vos yeux ce que I'autre attend que votre bouche lui dise. 
 D'ailleurs, je vous donne ma parole, qu'en moins de rien vous 
 sauriez notre langue; elle n'est fort difficile que pour les per- 
 sonnes qui n'aiment point: mais des qu'on aime un Frangois, la 
 langue Frangoise est aisee. Les Strangers Ten estimeroient 
 moins, s'ils savoient cela; c'est pourquoi on ne dit pas ce secret 
 k tout le monde : on les fait passer par les grammaires et par des 
 mdthodes qui ne finissent point. Mais pour vous, on vous eflt 
 fait la gr&ce de vous abreger ce chemin. Ecoutez, il est encore 
 tems; apprenez un peu de Frangois avec moi." 
 
 It is impossible to dwell on even the wittiest of these charming 
 letters, such as the one to Mademoiselle de C . . . , en luy 
 envoyant un extrait de son bapteme (p. 136), the two letters in 
 precieux style to Madame de L. S., pp. 141, 143, in which Fon- 
 tenelle describes the rescue of her daughter from danger while 
 crossing a river, the letter to Madame de V., en luy envoyant un 
 More et un singe, which recalls the letter of Voiture to Made- 
 moiselle Paulet, sending her some wax lions from Africa. In a 
 subsequent letter (p. 146) he says: "Le singe est mort, Madame, 
 j'y perds beaucoup; il n'y a plus que le More qui puisse vous 
 faire souvenir de moi. Ce pauvre animal apparemment a pris 
 du chagrin de ce qu'il ne pouvoit pas m'imiter assez bien aupres 
 de vous; il n'y avoit rien qu'il n'eut pu contrefaire plus ais^ment 
 que ma tendresse . . . Peut-gtre aussi parce qu'il imitoit ma pas- 
 sion, il s'est attire vos rigueurs, et en est mort de desespoir. En ce 
 cas-li, c'est k moi ^ I'imiter ^ mon tour, i mourir apres lui,"etc. 
 
 As I have already said many of the letters tell a story, as the 
 letters to Monsieur d'O . . ., pp. 154 e< 5eg., in which Fontenelle 
 tries to dissuade him from a marriage which will cost him an 
 inheritance; the letters to Monsieur d'E . . ., pp. 178 et seq., 
 regarding his relative who had been educated in a convent, where 
 Fontenelle visits her, lends her Mademoiselle de Scud^ry's 
 Cyrus, and ends by falling in love with her; the letters to Made- 
 moiselle d'Her . . ., pp. 238 et seq., on her clandestine marriage 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 497 
 
 to the Marquis de la F. ; the letters to Monsieur de la S . . . , pp. 
 256 et seq., containing the story of one who married and buried 
 himself in the country with his bride ; etc. 
 
 The letters seldom contain anecdotes or short stories. There is 
 one amusing exception in the letter to Monsieur d'A . . . , p. 
 222, which is worth quoting entire: "Je crois, Monsieur, que je 
 ferai bien d'en user avec vous sur la mort de votre beaufr^re, 
 comme j'en ai use avec madame votre soeur. Son mari etoit 
 homme de grand merite, fort estime dans sa profession; elle 
 vivoit fort bien avec lui: mais enfin elle est veuve et tres-riche, 
 et encore fort jeune. Je n'ai jamais pu determiner si je lui ferois 
 un compliment de condol6ance ou de conjouissance. Selon la 
 bienseance et la coutume, il ne pouvoit pas y avoir de doute; 
 mais selon la verite, il pouvoit fort bien y en avoir. Dans cette 
 incertitude, je lui ai envoye pour toute chose un blanc-sign6. 
 Elle m'a bien entendu, et m'a repondu en ces quatre mots, fort 
 spirituellement a ce qu'il me semble: 'Je remplirai votre blanc- 
 signe dans six mois.' Ne voulez-vous pas bien, Monsieur, que 
 je vous en envoie un pareil? " 
 
 I have already alluded to the preciosite of Fontenelle, and 
 cited some letters in which this quality appears; others are the 
 letters to Mademoiselle de V . . . , pp. 247 et seq., in which he 
 advises her as to the costume in which she is to be painted: "II 
 faut qu'on vous peigne en Iroquoise. Si vous ne savez pas quelle 
 sorte d'habillement c'est, informez-vous-en, on vous le dira. 
 II est vrai que cet habillement-la est difificile a soutenir, et qu'il 
 y avoit bien peu de femmes qui y parussent avec avantage; 
 mais ne vous mettez pas en peine, je vous r^ponds qu'il vous siera 
 bien. II est fort galant, et en meme tems fort simple, deux 
 choses qu'on a de la peine a faire rencontrer dans le meme habit. 
 Ces Iroquoises entendent bien comment il faut se mettre. II 
 m'est venu une petite imagination qui pourra servir a orner le 
 tableau: C'est que comme les Iroquoises, aussi bien que leurs 
 maris, mangent volontiers de la chair humaine, il ne sera pas 
 mal de mettre devant vous une douzaine ou deux de coeurs 
 dont vous mangerez quelqu'un par maniere d'amusement, cela 
 s'accordera avec la figure d'Iroquoise que vous aurez, et avec 
 votre caractere." 
 
 Other examples are found in the letter to the same lady on an 
 accident which she met with in hunting, p. 252 ; to Mademoiselle 
 33 
 
498 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 de J ... en lui envoyant des pites d'un sanglier qui I'avoit 
 pens6 blesser k la chasse, p. 268; and to Madame ... en lui 
 envoyant du vermilion pour una de ses amies, p. 279, which ends: 
 " Au reste, Madame, soyez sflre du secret que vous me demandez. 
 J'ai uneegale discretion pour les coeurs et pour les teintsquiont 
 de la confiance en moi; et vous verrez que, quand je rencon- 
 trerai votre amie, je serai le premier a admirer ce que j'ai achet6." 
 
 The letters of Fontenelle, as I have said above, are the best 
 and the last of the genre. 
 
 One of the most interesting social and literary events connected 
 with the H6tel de Rambouillet was the Guirlande de Julie, an 
 illustrated album of poetry in the form of madrigals on various 
 flowers, presented by the Marquis de Montausier to Julie-Lucine 
 d'Angennes de Rambouillet, whom he married in 1645, and whose 
 suitor he had been for fourteen years. '^ The exact date of the 
 presentation is not known. The manuscript is dated i64i,and 
 the fete day of Julie was the 22d of May (jour de Sainte-Julie). 
 Huet, the bishop of Avranches, says it was presented the 1st of 
 January, but is in error as to the year, which he makes 1633 or 
 34.1* Uzanne inclines to the 1st of January, 1642, as the most 
 likely since the manuscript is dated 1641.'^' 
 
 The madrigals are sixty-two in number and are by nineteen 
 authors, among the best known of whom are Chapelain, Des- 
 marets, Godeau, Gombaud, the two Haberts, Malleville, and 
 Georges de Scud^ry. Montausier himself wrote sixteen. 
 
 The Guirlande de Julie, was not an original idea, but was 
 copied from Im Ghirlanda della contessa Angela Bianca Beccaria, 
 contesta di madrigali di diversi auiori, raccoUi e dichiarati dal 
 Signor Stefano Guazzi, Genova, 1595.'* The question of the 
 
 1' The Marquis de Montausier was at this time Baron de Salles, but signed 
 his verses in tlie Guirlande Marquis de Montausier, which title apparently he 
 did not legally possess until 1644: See Uzanne, La Guirlande de Julie, Paris, 
 1875, p. xxiii, note 4. 
 
 1* See Huetiana, Paris, 1722, p. 103, cited by Uzanne, p. xvii, note 2. 
 
 1' A history and description of the manuscript may be found in Uzanne, 
 op. cit.; Livet, Precieux et Precieuses, Paris, 1870; and Bibliographica, Part 
 III, "La Guirlande de Julie," by John W. Bradley, pp. 291-307. A facsimile 
 of the title-page, madrigal of The Carnation, and flower itself, may be found 
 in Lacroix, Dix-Septieme Siecle, Lettres, Sciences et Arts, p. 185. 
 
 " Guazzo's Ghirlanda is excessively scarce and there was but one edition. I 
 was many years finding a copy, slightly defective. Some time after I was fortu- 
 nate enough to acquire for Cornell University Library a complete copy. The 
 Italian custom of forming collections, Raccolte, of prose and verse in celebra- 
 tion of festal occasions, such as birthdays, weddings, funerals, etc., goes back 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 499 
 
 originality of the Guirlande de Julie, which has been discussed at 
 considerable length by Livet, Uzanne, and Roy, will be better 
 understood after a detailed account of the Italian work cited 
 above. 1' 
 
 to the early years of the sixteenth century and is the subject of an article by 
 Francesco Colagrosso in Studi di letteratura italiana, I (Napoli, 1899), pp. 240- 
 317, "Un'usanza letteraria in gran voga nel settecento." Unfortunately the 
 author confines himself almost entirely to the eighteenth century and merely 
 mentions the Gkirlanda di Angela Bianca Beccaria. 
 
 1' Livet, op. cit., p. xxiii, merely states that the Guirlande is an imitation of 
 the Italian work just mentioned. Uzanne, op. cit., p. xv, cites the Gkirlanda 
 delta Contessa Angela, and, on the strength of Quadrio, Storia e ragione d'ogni 
 poesia, Vol. I, p. 263, Gkirlanda difrondi, fiori e frutti, ed altre rime del Signer 
 Alcide infiammati [sic] per I'illustrissima Signora Zenobia Reina Beccaria, 
 Patroria Gentil-Donna di Pavia, In Pavia, per gli Eredi di Girolamo Bartoli, 
 1596, in l2mo. The reference to Quadrio is incorrect. The work in question 
 is mentioned in Quadrio, Storia, etc.. Vol. VII (Indice universale), Milano, 1752, 
 p. 128: "Daremo luogo qui anche alia seguente opera encomiastica, chehaper 
 titolo: Gkirlanda, etc. Parti Tre, dove han pure alquante lor rime Cesare 
 Noce Concoreggio, Ippolito D. Giorgio Buzio, e Giovanni Giorgio." I have 
 been unable to find this work in any library in Italy, or in the Bibliotheque Na- 
 tionale of Paris, or the British Museum at London, and I am compelled to 
 believe it the same work as Guazzo's. Uzanne adds: " II existe 6galement des 
 livres de poesie franjaise sous le titre de Couronne de Fleurs, etc. Voy. au 
 Catalogue imprime des Belles L^ttres de la Bihliotkegue du Roy, p. 511, col. I, 
 lettre Y. no. 4898." This reference is incorrect; it should be: Catalogue des 
 livres imprimis de la Bihliotkegue du Roy, Belles Lettres, II, p. 139 (Juris- 
 prudence, I, p. 91). The work in question is La couronne de fleurs tissue dans 
 le parterre de Tkemis et des Mu^es du Pamasse de Guyenne dediee au Roy, Bor- 
 deaux, Jacques Millanges, 1624 in 4to. 
 
 A fuller discussion of the Italian origin of the Guirlande de Julie is to be 
 found in Roy, op. cit., p. 248, note 2. He says: "M. Livet a indique la Guir- 
 lande italienne de la comtesse Beccaria, 1595, comme I'origine de la Guirlande 
 de Julie. Ce titre et ce genre de poesies etaient si communs en Italic qu'on 
 en faisait de semblables pour les comediennes et mime pour les podestats. 
 Ex. : la Gkirlanda di varii fiori di diversi tessuta all'illustriss. Antonio Zeno, 
 podesti di Trevigi, 1613, in 4to. D'autre part le due de Montausier s'est 
 laisse devancer, en France mime, par un petit avocat de Nimes, Jean Barnier: 
 la Guirlande donnee aux dames de Nimes par I'amour, citee par Haag {France 
 protestante. Tome I, p. 861) ; par Passerat (le Jardin d' Amour d. la Marquise de 
 Monceaujc); par Jean Le Maire des Beiges (la Couronne Margueritigue en 
 I'honneur de Marguerite d'Autriche). Les fleurs sont remplacees par des 
 marguerites ou des pierres precieuses, symboles des vertus de la princesse." 
 
 In regard to the works mentioned above I would say that I have been 
 unable to find any where in Italy the Gkirlanda di varii fiori, etc., and no copy 
 is in the Arsenal Library or Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, or in the British 
 Museum at London. The work of Barnier is mentioned as follows in Haag, 
 op. cit.. Vol. I, col.. 861: "Un membre de cette nombreuse famille (Barnier) 
 nomme Jean, et vivant de la premiere moitie du XVIIe. siecle a compose un 
 grand nombre de poesies qui n'ont pas ete imprimees mais que Ton a conser- 
 vees enmanuscrit et dont Menard dans son Historic de Nimes (tome V, p. 
 630) fait un honorable eloge. II cite entre autres une piece de vers intitulee 
 Guirlande donnee aux dames de Nimes par V Amour ou I'auteur dedie galam- 
 ment la rose a Marie du Pin, I'oeillet k Marie de S. Chapte, I'orange a Tiphene 
 Rozel, I'eglantine k Bernardine de Mages, le souci k Jeanne Rozel; dans 
 d'autres vers le poete nomme surtout Renee de Malherbe a laquelle sous le 
 nom de Lynde s'adressaient plus particulierement ses pensees." The poetical 
 works of Jean Bornier are placed by Haag at the end of 1632. 
 
500 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 We have already, in Chapter VII, made the acquaintance of 
 Stefano Guazzo, the author of the famous treatise entitled La 
 Civil Conversazione. In order to aid his son in his legal studies 
 Guazzo took up his residence in Pa via in 1589 and remained there 
 until his death in 1593. Soon after his arrival at Pavia he 
 made the acquaintance of Count Alfonso Beccaria, who intro- 
 duced him to his cousin the Countess Angela Bianca Beccaria. 
 In the introduction to the Ghirlanda Guazzo gives an elaborate 
 portrait of her in the following words: "I shall not now speak 
 of the remarkable majesty of her appearance, her noble form, and 
 the other mortal and outward beauties, which she seems to prize 
 little or not at all. The Countess Angela is endowed with an 
 intellect conformable to her name. She speaks of everything, 
 
 Menard {op. cit., Vol. V, p. 630) says of the work in question: "L'amour y 
 presente, entre autres, la rose a Marie du Pin, etc.," and continues: "Dans 
 une autre piece qu'il intitula Le Camail donne aux dames de Ntmes par une 
 des Grdces, il fait presenter le saphir k Isabeau de Nages, la perle a Marie du 
 Pin, I'opale k Bernardine de Nages, et ainsi de quelques autres pierres pre- 
 cieuses. Ce manuscrit contient 85 pages. II ne nous est reste aucune par- 
 ticularite de ce poete. Sa famille exergait alors la raagistrature dans le pre- 
 sidial de Nimes." 
 
 As Barnier's works were never printed it is doubtful whether the Marquis 
 de Montausier ever saw them, and as the latter, according to Uzanne, op. cit., 
 pp. xxxviii, 76, began his work as early as 1632 or 1633, his Guirlande may after 
 all be prior to Barnier's. 
 
 As to the other works mentioned by Roy, they are of little interest. Jean 
 Passerat was born at Troyes the 1 8th of October, 1534, and died at Paris, 
 the 14th of September, 1602, where he had long been professor of Latin at the 
 College de France. The poem which Roy cites is Le Jardin d' Amour, d, 
 Madame la Marquise de Monceaux {Gabrielle d'Estrees) and may be found in 
 Les poesies frangaises de Jean Passeraf publiees avec notice et notes par Prosper 
 Blanchemain, Paris, 1880. In the poem in question the poet passes the var- 
 ious flowers in review and draws from them allusions to his love. The flowers 
 do not address the subject of the poem and there is no resemblance whatever 
 between the work of Passerat and the Guirlande de Julie. 
 
 There is hardly more resemblance between the Guirlande de Julie and the 
 Couronne Margaritique cited by Roy, which may be found in Oeuvres de Jean 
 Lemaire de Beiges, publiees par J. Stecher, Louvain, 1 891, Vol. IV, pp. 1-167. 
 The work is almost wholly in prose and is an arid allegorical composition. The 
 ten virtues which compose the crown of Margaret of Austria, the widow of 
 Philibert, Duke of Savoy, are: Moderation, Animosite, Rectitude de conseil, 
 Grace, Urbanite, Erudition, Regnative prudence. Innocence, Tolerance, Ex- 
 perience. The precious stones which adorn these virtues are: Pearl, Diamond, 
 Ruby, Coral, Amethyst, Emerald, Radiane (a stone supposed to be found in 
 the cock's comb), Jasper, Topaz, and Carbuncle. In the course of the alle- 
 gory the lives of ten women are related, among them Dido, Rachel, Vesta, 
 the Sibyl Eriphyle, Ingeborg of Denmark, the repudiated wife of Philip II 
 of France, Artemisia, the widow of Mausolus, etc. The relations of each vir- 
 tue, stone, and woman are explained by ten eminent scholars, philosophers, 
 and writers: Robert Gaguin, Albertus Magnus, Jean Robertet, Isidore of 
 Seville, George Chastellain, Boccaccio, Armold de Villeneuve, Marsilio Ficino, 
 Martin Franc, and Vincent de Beauvais. It will be seen very easily how en- 
 tirely dissimilar is the plan of this work from that of the Guirlande de Julie. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 501 
 
 thanks to her long and constant studies, as if she had journeyed 
 and seen and learned more than the wise Ulysses or the great 
 Queen of Sheba. She possesses, I do not know whether by na- 
 ture or art, an eloquence which compels her hearers to bestow 
 upon her the highest praise, since in a laconic style she unfolds 
 more maxims than words. She exercises more willingly her ears 
 than her tongue, and seeing that the custom of many women is 
 to be unable to remain silent, she listens and heeds with humble 
 silence and with grateful attention the conversation of others. 
 I have seen no woman, nor man, who could equal her in answering 
 seasonably, in turning her words, in launching her witticisms 
 without sharpness, in warding off those of others without anger, 
 in defending herself with a sweet smile and with pleasant weapons. 
 She recites readily and gracefully the canzoni of Petrarch, whole 
 cantos of Ariosto, and an infinite number of verses of different 
 poets. If any conversation arises she offers you a noble feast 
 of various sciences which testify to a quick and tenacious 
 memory." 
 
 Guazzo continues for some time in this strain, describing 
 minutely the moral qualities of the Countess, and giving some 
 interesting details of her habits. "She devotes at certain times 
 a few hours to music, not for pleasure but to soothe the wearied 
 minds and disposing her skilful hands to the music and her 
 angelic voice to the song, she represents not less the harmony 
 of the celestial spheres than the consonance of the strings and 
 of the inner organ of her soul. 
 
 "All these qualities were enough to give her the principal 
 ornament and splendor among the most illustrious women in 
 the world; but she does not stop here; and because all other 
 virtues vanish away without the foundation of charity, this 
 worthy woman, persuaded that she has not fulfilled the law by 
 excelling solely in letters and in the things pertaining to the 
 care of herself, has always devoted equal study to the care of 
 her household and family, and especially to the instruction of 
 those two little angels, Signora Margherita and Signora Camilla, 
 her well-born daughters, admired by all as two images of intelli- 
 gence (simulacri di senno)." 
 
 Guazzo says he resolved to give her in those his last years some 
 token of his devotion, but as he distrusted his own ability he 
 called to his aid "some elegant and worthy spirits bound to me 
 
502 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 in love, who when they heard my lofty and seemly plan of pre- 
 senting to this lady an honorable Garland in reward in part of 
 her merits, and in testimony of my veneration for her, concurred 
 with ready and courteous hands to show me so many boughs, 
 flowers, and fruits gathered in their most fertile gardens, that, 
 thanks to God, I made of them the Garland and presented it 
 to her with such affection and esteem that she in token of having 
 accepted their good-will and mine too did not disdain to give it 
 prominence and to make it the occasion of a company of ladies 
 and gentlemen to admire it, and for the space of three days to 
 make pleasant discourses over it." 
 
 The Countess was requested by Guazzo to give him an account 
 of this entertainment, but she hesitated as it seemed to her 
 vainglorious to recite the things which had been said in her 
 praise. At last she yielded to Guazzo 's entreaties and dictated 
 to him the discourses pronounced by the various ladies and gentle- 
 men on that occasion. This recital Guazzo sent to his daughter 
 with the following description of the event. 
 
 "It is an ancient custom and one introduced perhaps in the 
 first century to celebrate with games, festivals, and various tokens 
 of joy the first day of the beautiful and flowery month of May, 
 in which it seems as if the sober thought it praiseworthy and 
 honorable to indulge in intoxication, the wise in folly, the modest 
 in liberty, and the old in childishness. In this year then of 1590, 
 and on this first day of May, the Count Alfonso Beccaria, in 
 order not to violate tyrannical usage and not to display in the 
 midst of rejoicings a hateful and untimely seriousness, prepared, 
 at least outwardly, to conform to the usual custom and to invite 
 a virtuous band of ladies and gentlemen to celebrate that day 
 in the garden of his house. The leather hangings of the salon 
 were clothed with green and odoriferous boughs of oak and the 
 pavement covered with fresh herbs. The table was adorned no 
 less with precious viands than with beautiful flowers, and a 
 joyful, solemn, and pleasing banquet was given, at which, be- 
 sides the Count and Countess Louisa his wife and Count Claudio 
 his son, were the Countess Angela Bianca Beccaria, Signora 
 Hortensia Isimbalda, Signora Maria Pietra, Signor Bartolomeo 
 Brignolo, royal captain of justice then arrived from Milan, 
 Cavalier Don Girolamo Torto, and Signor Giulio Stefano Lana, 
 all chosen persons. . . . 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 503 
 
 "All then having made a solemn protest not to rest like the 
 widowed turtle upon the dry branches of melancholy, but to 
 wander like the nightingale upon the joyful green, spent the time 
 of dining with many pleasing speeches in honor of May, so that 
 they felt themselves rejuvenated by a joyful and flattering per- 
 suasion. After the table had been cleared and a reverent silence 
 observed for some time, the Countess Louisa seemed to read 
 upon the brows of the ladies a desire to rise ; and therefore she 
 turned to the gentlemen saying that with their permission she 
 was going to take the ladies to gather flowers for a garland. 
 So the gentlemen remained in the salon talking for some time, 
 as may be believed, of the most serious things. Count Alfonso, 
 however, rising and seeing the Countess surrounded by the other 
 ladies and reading certain writings, gave a sign to the gentlemen 
 and with one accord they quietly made their way to the garden, 
 hoping to take the ladies unawares. But the Countess Angela 
 seeing with her Argus eyes the shadow of their bodies, suddenly 
 hid those writings in her bosom, and all four casting down their 
 eyes pretended to be picking flowers. Then the Count said: 
 ' Do not think, ladies, to deceive us ; we have seen you and heard 
 all, and if you do not act frankly with us some one, who does not 
 think it, will be robbed of what she has in her bosom.' Here the 
 Countess, arming her countenance with a feigned anger, said: 
 'I see clearly that you are like the Polyp which embraces in 
 order to drown, since you have received us into your house in 
 order to harm us; but we trust the Countess Louisa will so tie 
 your hands that you cannot rob us.' The Countess Louisa 
 replied : ' Do not doubt that I will relieve you from all trouble and 
 will suffer him to do this violence to me.' After some further 
 bantering, the secret was revealed by Signora Maria Pietra, who 
 said that some elegant wits had presented the Countess with 
 various rhymes in her praise under the title of Garland, but she 
 feared that if she revealed this it would seem like vainglory. The 
 gentlemen were all compelled to make most humble excuses for 
 their unjust suspicions, and after a slight resistance the Countess 
 drew the papers from her bosom and handed them to Count 
 Alfonso, who found on them this inscription: 'The Garland of 
 the Countess Angela Bianca Beccaria, woven from madrigals of 
 divers authors, and divided into three parts, that is to say, 
 boughs, flowers, and fruits.' " 
 
504 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The Count then had seats placed beneath a beautiful arbor, 
 and after all had withdrawn to that spot, the Countess proposed 
 that before anything else they should consider why the author 
 of this undertaking was moved to entitle it Garland, and because 
 she knew that the Cavalier Torto had already in the Academy of 
 the Afifidati pronounced publicly and to the wonderful pleasure of 
 the whole city a learned, copious, and delightful discourse upon 
 crowns and garlands, it seemed to her opportune to lay this 
 burden upon his shoulders. The cavalier then made a very 
 prolix discourse in praise of the Countess and only incidentally 
 touched on the subject of poetic crowns. After he had finished 
 the Countess thanked him and handed the papers to Count 
 Claudio, who, turning the first leaf, found at the beginning of 
 the Garland a madrigal by the reverend Donna Laura Beatrice 
 Capilli. 
 
 The subject of the madrigal was the laurel, and after Count 
 Claudio read it he pronounced a long discourse by way of com- 
 mentary on the poem he had read. Others of the company 
 took part in a discussion which followed ; and when it was finished, 
 the Countess gave to Lana the madrigal of the second bough of 
 the Garland, also on the laurel. This was read and discussed in 
 the same way. 
 
 The work is divided into three "giornate" or days correspond- 
 ing to the three divisions of the Garland into boughs, flowers, 
 and fruits. The boughs are : laurel, palm, oak, ivy, poplar, olive, 
 juniper, box, orange, balsam, cypress, elm, cedar, beech, plane, 
 fern, and mistletoe. Among the flowers are: rose, narcissus, 
 lotus, heliotrope, lily, violet, etc. Of the fruits are: mulberry, 
 olive, peach, mustard, date, chestnut, orange, etc. At the end 
 of the work are twenty-two madrigals which are not commented 
 upon. Each day is preceded by an introduction, and there is 
 a graceful conclusion at the end. 
 
 This brief account of the Ghirlanda of Guazzo will show how 
 different it is from the Guirlande de Julie, in which the madrigals 
 are given without any comment or even any introduction de- 
 scribing the occasion. The Italian work is ponderous and 
 academic, and reveals the national fondness for subtle discussions. 
 At the same time there is no doubt that Guazzo's Ghirlanda 
 gave Montausier the idea of his Guirlande and furnishes us an 
 interesting example of the influence of Italian society upon that 
 of France in the seventeenth century. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Edmund Tilney's Flower of Friendshippe— George Whetstone's Heptani- 
 eron of Civil Discourses — Robert Greene's Love-Pamphlets — Mamillia— Pe- 
 nelope's Web — Euphues his Censure to Philautus — Morando: The Tritameron 
 of Love — Greene's Farewell to Folly — Italian sources of Greene's works — Lyly's 
 Euphues — English translations from the Italian during the Elizabethan period 
 — Allusions at this time to Italian works— Games in England— Games in Ben 
 Jonson's Cynthia's i?CTe/i— Edward Phillips's Mysteries of Love and Eloquence 
 — The Academy of Complements — Fortune-Telling Books in England— The 
 medieval game of Ragman — Translation of Jean de Meung's Dodechedron — 
 Translation of Lorenzo Spirito's Libra delta Fortuna — John Phillips's The Eng- 
 lish Fortune-Tellers — "Questions" in England — Lodge's^ Margarite of Amer- 
 ica — Translation of Landi's Dubbi — English Country Life and its Diversions 
 in the Sixteenth Century — Cyvile and Vncyvile Life — The Demaundes Joyous. 
 
 We have already seen that with few exceptions all the im- 
 portant Italian works we have considered were early translated 
 into English.^ First in order was Boccaccio's Filocolo, in con- 
 nection with which were mentioned Edmund Tilney's Flower of 
 Friendshippe, George Whetstone's Heptameron of Civill Dis- 
 courses, Henry Wotton's A Courtlie Controversie of Cupid's 
 Cautels, Robert Greene's Morando: The Tritameron of Love, and 
 Lyly's Euphues. As we have seen in Chapter IX, Wotton's 
 
 ^ Prefatory Note. — There is no work on the social relations between England 
 and Italy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and but little material 
 can be gleaned from the works devoted to showing the literary influence of 
 Italy. Among this class of work which I have consulted may be mentioned 
 the following. J. Ross Murray, The Influence of Italian upon English Liter- 
 ature during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Cambridge, 1886, Being the 
 Essay which obtained the Le Bas Prize, 1885. This work is from its very 
 nature brief and general. It does, however, contain a good resume of the sub- 
 ject and in the V. division, "Signs of the Times," there is aslight account of 
 Italian social influence. Much more general is A. H. Hallam's "Oration on 
 the influence of Italian works of Imagination on the same class of compositions 
 in England," to be found in Remains in Verse and Prose, London, 1865, pp. 
 112-145. Of a very general nature also is Vernon Lee's "The Italy of the 
 Elizabethan Dramatists" in Euphorion, London, 1885. Some material may 
 be found in J. J. Jusserand's interesting and valuable book, The English Novel 
 in the Time of Shajiespeare, London, 1890. Far more valuable, however, is 
 E. Koeppel's Studien zur Geschichte der Italienischen Novelle in der Englischen 
 Litteratur des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts, Strassburg, 1892, to which I have been 
 greatly indebted. Koeppel is also the author of two other articles which may 
 be mentioned here for the sake of completeness, although they do not contrib- 
 ute much to my present purpose: "Studien zur Geschichte des Englischen 
 
 505 
 
506 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 book is merely a translation of Jacques Yver's Le Printemps and 
 need not detain us here. The other works are worthy of a de- 
 tailed examination. 
 
 Edmund Tilney, the date of whose birth is not known, first 
 came into notice, as Sir Sidney Lee says in the Dictionary of 
 National Biography, as the author of a prose tract, A Briefe and 
 Pleasaunt Discourse of Duties in Mariage, which was published in 
 London in 8vo by Henry Denham in 1568. The work, which 
 shows considerable reading in Italian literature, was dedicated 
 by the author to Queen Elizabeth. It reached a second edition 
 within a year of its first publication, and it was reissued in 1576.^ 
 Tilney was appointed Master of the Revels in the royal household 
 in 1578 and held the office for nearly thirty years. As Sidney 
 Lee says: "All dramatic performances and entertainments at 
 court were under his control. He selected the plays and helped 
 to devise the masques which were performed in the sovereign's 
 
 Petrarchismus im sechzenhten Jahrhundert," in Romanischen Forschungen, 
 Erlangen, 1890, Vol. V, pp. 64-97, ^"d "Dante in der Englischen Litteratur 
 des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts, " in Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Litteratur- 
 Geschichte und Renaissance-Litteratur, N. F., Bd. Ill, pp. 426-45, Berlin, 1890. 
 A general article of interest on Italian Influence on English Poetry may be 
 found in the Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1896, pp. 28-54, "A Treasury of English 
 Sonnets." , I have left for the last the most important and extensive work in 
 this field. Miss M. A. Scott's Elizabethan Translations from the Italian, Balti- 
 more, 1895-99, four papers reprinted from the Publications of the Modern Lan- 
 guage Association of America. This work displays great industry and is a 
 useful and valuable collection of material; unfortunately the author has not 
 had access to the great libraries of England and the Continent and hence her 
 work is defective and at times incorrect. This work has now been printed 
 separately in the Vassar Semi- Centennial Series, Boston and New York, 1916. 
 Reviews of this work may be found in Modern Philology, General Section Part 
 I (August, 1918), pp. 2i3(45)-2i8(5o) by C. R. Baskervill, and in The Romanic 
 Review, vol. X, No. 3, July-Sept., 1918, pp. 304-308, by J. de Perott. 
 
 ' The full title is: A briefe and pleasant discourse of duties in Mariage, called 
 the Flower of Friendshippe. Imprinted at London by Henrie Denham, dwelling 
 in Paternoster Rowe, at the signe of the starre. Anno 1568, cum privilegio. 
 The British Museum has this edition only. The Bodleian has this and one 
 of 1571, published by the same printer. On the front fly-leaf of the Bodleian 
 edition of 1568 is a note by Edmond Malone: "Entered in the Stationers' 
 Register in 1567. This therefore is the first edition. There was another in 
 1571, and a third in 1577." The analysis in the text was made for me from 
 the first edition in the Bodleian by the late Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith. 
 
 The best documentary account of Edmund Tilney is in Joseph Quincy 
 Adams's The Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels, 
 1623-1673. Yale University Press, 1917. Tilney held his office until his 
 death, but during his last years he had the aid of a deputy, a relative of his 
 wife. Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 20, gives a brief analysis of the Flower of 
 Friendshippe, of which she mentions a second edition of 1568, and two others 
 of 1571 and 1577, in the Bodleian Library. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 507 
 
 presence, while outside the court he was entrusted with the 
 task of Ucensing plays for pubHc representation and publication. 
 . . . During his long term of ofhce the greatest productions of 
 the Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, including the greater 
 number of Shakespeare's plays, were submitted to his criticism 
 before they were represented on the stage." He retired from 
 his office apparently in 1608, and died August 20th, 16 10. 
 
 The following analysis of the Flower of Friendshippe is made 
 from the first edition of 1568, a copy of which I have consulted 
 in the British Museum. 
 
 In the summer time early on a sunny morning I with a friend 
 Master Pedro di Luxan walked in the fields till near noon; we 
 then went to the house of the Lady Julia to rest in the heat of 
 the day. " Even as we entered they had newly washed, and were 
 ready to sit downe to dinner"; a company of ladies and gentle- 
 men were assembled, among whom were Lady Isabella, Madame 
 Julia's daughter, the Lady Aloisa and others, M. Lodovic Vives, 
 and an old gentleman called Master Erasmus. The Lady Julia 
 "deuised with the company in what pastymes we should spende 
 the after noone." Carding, dicing, dancing, and chess were dis- 
 carded as fit only for Christmas ; field games, as bowling, shooting, 
 etc., Don Pedro did not like because they left out the ladies, but 
 he "remembered how Boccace and Countie Baltizar with others 
 recounted many proper deuises for exercise," which "were used 
 in the courts of Italie, and some much like them are practised 
 at this day in the English court, wherein is not only delectable, 
 but pleasure ioyned with profite, and exercise of the wyt." He 
 was begged to set one going, and all would obey. So after 
 dinner they went into an arbour in the garden — "it might be 
 called a terrestial Paradise"; the benches "were trimly set with 
 camamile and dasies," etc.; and making a wreath of roses Don 
 Pedro crowned the Lady Julia sovereign for the day. He pro- 
 posed that they should either rehearse stories, or debate upon a 
 set subject, and further suggested that they should treat of 
 friendship and the love of man and wife, "wherein I woulde 
 the duetie of the married man to be described, for the knowledge 
 of duetie is the maintenance of friendship." All liked this, and 
 Lady Julia commanded Master Pedro to begin , ' ' bicause we being 
 yet wholy ignorant in this kinde of pastimes," also "not being 
 
508 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 SO well languaged, as you are, we shall have good sporte to hear 
 you interlarde our countrie speeche with some Spanish trickes." 
 After some preamble he obeys ; "my charge, the Flower of Friend- 
 ship," first declaring "the virtues of the matrimoniall estate." 
 He cites a few examples from the Bible ; shows the rites of divers 
 nations in marrying (Babylonians, Venetians, French, Mauri- 
 tanians, Canary Islanders, Chaldeans, and Scots) ; next speaks of 
 equality in marriage, citing several instances, lugging in Alex- 
 ander the Great and his wife Barcina — contested by Lady Julia. 
 Master Gualter brings in a story of a man who married four times, 
 and was a bondman to each wife in turn for some special virtue. 
 He mockingly asks which of these four best pleases the speaker, 
 at which the ladies would have all driven him away. But Father 
 Erasmus said he was not to be blamed as he did but repeat the 
 words of Anaxagoras. Don Pedro continues, giving excellent 
 advice as to the grounding of love at the beginning and the con- 
 tinuance and keeping of mutual love; the man, he says, must not 
 scold nor chide. He recites several examples of those who loved 
 well their wives- — Adam, Darius, Tiberius. Gracchus — and tells 
 a story from Baptista Fulgosa.^ Master Gualter interrupts 
 again (he is the "saucy foole" who prattles against women), 
 but Pedro says "hee increaseth our sporte. and therefore we 
 cannot well want [that is, do without] him." 
 
 Don Pedro goes on to show the "pysoned weedes that will over- 
 grow the friendly Flower," which are Adultery, Gaming, Riotous- 
 ness, and Drunkenness; as to the last, he gives many examples of 
 the evil of excess in wine. Then there are certain delicate herbs 
 to be cherished by the married man for the preservation of his 
 friendly flower; on the enumeration of them Lady Aloisa says: 
 "These be excellent herbes, and rarely founde all in one garden. 
 Wherefore we pray you teach us how we may plant and conserve 
 them." Pedro answers, " That appertayneth not to my charge " ; 
 but he agrees to instruct the company in their qualities. They 
 are i. to be advised in speech [i.e., self-control]; 2. to be courteous 
 in conversation ; 3. to be secret and trusty with what he is trusted ; 
 4. to be wise in giving counsel, which is not every man's office, 
 but for "such as be of good yeares, that have seen and heard 
 much"; 5. to be careful in providing for his house (in which he 
 
 ' See Koeppel, Studien zur Geschichte der Italienischen Novelle, p. 19. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 509 
 
 details what the office of the husband and what the office of the 
 wife are in the household) ; 6. to accompany no defamed persons; 
 7. to be su/fferable in the importunities of his wife; 8. to be cir- 
 cumspect and not to be jealous of his wife ; and 9. to be careful 
 in the education of his children. Don Pedro expatiates on all 
 these, citing many instances and sayings from classic authors. 
 Concluding, he apologises to the ladies for the length of his 
 "tedious talk," and to knit up this Flower of matrimonial amity, 
 touching the office of the man, "he must above all things have 
 the fear of God before his eyes." 
 
 The Lady Julia and the whole company rose up and gave Don 
 Pedro great thanks; the lady desired that he should bestow the 
 crown next day upon another in order that they might hear 
 "the married woman prescribed in like sort as you have done the 
 married man," but he begged her to keep it till next day, when he 
 would come again. All then went out of the arbour into the 
 garden, where they took leave of one another. 
 
 The next morning, two or three strangers visiting Master 
 Pedro, they were hindered of their walk, so did not go till after 
 dinner, when they tobk horse to save time. They found the com- 
 pany assembled in the arbour, listening to music. The Lady 
 Julia rose up and bestowed her "garland of principalitie " upon 
 the Lady Aloisa, not wishing to usurp continuance therein, and 
 the company confirmed the election. The Lady Aloisa then 
 commanded the Lady Julia "briefly (for that the day is farre 
 past)" to describe the office of the married woman and to show 
 how she must apply herself to maintain this Flower of Friendship 
 between her husband and herself. 
 
 After hesitation, she obeys — "for disobedience is a fault in all 
 persons, but the greatest vice in a woman." She says she agrees 
 that divers points mentioned by Master Pedro are as necessary in 
 the woman as in the man ; such as suppression of the three weeds 
 aforesaid, and in choice, "for if the man ought to be circumspect 
 in the electing of his wyfe, what shall the siely woman doe, being 
 so often deceyued by you men?" Love blindeth the eyes and 
 bewitcheth the senses of women, and she cites Themistocles' 
 answer as to whom he would marry his daughter to — "he would 
 sooner choose a man without money than money without a man." 
 And there should be equality of match. 
 
510 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 She expatiates next on the necessity of chastity, and of en- 
 deavouring "to encrease a perfection of love, to lyke, and love 
 well"; the wife must pass over defects, for "true love is the sauce 
 of marriage." She cites many examples of loving wives among 
 the Romans and Greeks from Plutarch, Martial, and Pliny — "I 
 could occupie you till to-morrow with lyke stories of worthy 
 women," but these may suffice to let Master Gualter under- 
 stand that there hath been always women as loving as men. 
 Gualter replies no doubt, but they run to extremes; he would 
 like to bring women to a mean. But Lady Julia "will have no 
 meane in love." Having planted this Friendly Flower in a 
 faithful heart the woman must be as "curious" as the good hus- 
 band in preserving it against tempestuous storms and venomous 
 weeds. The greatest help is shamefastness, "the only defence 
 that nature hath given to women." Another is obedience. The 
 Lady Isabella contests this, and thinks that there should be no 
 superiority between husband and wife, and cites the Achaians 
 (men obeying the women) out of Plutarch. Master Gualter 
 puts in saucily too; but Lady Julia continues, citing other old 
 uncivilized customs among the Parthians, Numidians, etc., 
 and draws her moral that "all those barbarian customes are to 
 be disannulled and contemned of Christians." 
 
 Upon which, "Ye say well. Madam, quoth Master Erasmus, 
 for indeede both divine and humaine lawes in our religion giveth 
 the man absolute authoritie over the woman in all places." 
 Lady Julia shows what qualities a man has to give him sover- 
 eignty — ^when Gualter pities a man matched with a shrew — and 
 cftntinues her defence of obedience in woman, adding that the man 
 ought not to let himself be commanded by his wife. Further, 
 the good name of a woman is delicate ; she ought to keep well her 
 house and not run to excess in apparel. She should be skilled in 
 housewifery and use her needle, not sit idle, etc. ; "it is also a great 
 want in a woman if she be unskilfull 'in dressing of meate." 
 The face of the husband should be the looking-glass of the wife 
 whereby to shape her behaviour, for men must be reformed by 
 gentleness. Lady Julia has cited several tales as instances in 
 the course of her discourse, but here Don Pedro, by her leave, 
 tells "a pretie storie" of a gentlewoman who by gentle wyles 
 reclaimed her husband. Lady Aloisa breaks in with' indignation 
 at the husband's behaviour. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 511 
 
 Lady Julia lays down wise advice as to the best time and place 
 to reprove a husband, and concludes, to "knit up the married 
 woman's office in maintaining and conserving this Flower of 
 Friendship," that she must put her whole trust in the first and 
 principal author thereof, and shows how the fear and service of 
 God advantages her. In which Pedro agrees, with classic in- 
 stances. 
 
 The company rose and thanked Lady Julia, going into the 
 garden and talking over her theme; the Lady Isabella at parting 
 charged the author to pen the whole discourse of this fragrant 
 Flower for her sake. "So with the help of my friend Master 
 Pedro and others I have adventured to publish this discourse." 
 
 From the above analysis of Tilney's work it will easily be 
 seen that the author was acquainted with Boccaccio and Casti- 
 glione at least. The meeting in a garden, the selection of one 
 of the company as queen, /and the discussion of a set question 
 are all characteristic of the social diversions of Italy in the six- 
 teenth century, as we have abundantly seen in the earlier chapters 
 of the present work. 
 
 Very little is known in regard to George Whetstone, the author 
 of An Heptameron of Civil Discourses; containing the Christmas 
 Exercise of sundrie well-courted Gentlemen and Gentlewomen.''' 
 The dates of his birth and death are not known, but his literary 
 activity extends from 1576 to 1582. Chalmers in his General 
 Biographical Dictionary says of him: "It appears that he first 
 tried his fortune at court, where he consumed his patrimony in 
 fruitless expectation of preferment. . . . He became a soldier 
 and afterwards sought his fortune on the sea, and embarked with 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert in the expedition to Newfoundland, which 
 was rendered unsuccessful by an engagement with the Spanish 
 fleet. From this period Whetstone seems to have depended 
 entirely on his pen for subsistence. When or where he died has 
 not been ascertained." • 
 
 * There seems to be only one edition of this work, London, 1582, of which 
 there are copies in the British Museum and in the Bodleian, from the latter 
 of which the analysis in the text was made for me by the late Miss Lucy 
 Toulmin Smith. Koeppel, op. cit., pp. 33-40, gives an extensive analysis of 
 this work, largely, as usual, from the standpoint of the novels inserted in the 
 frame. , . , ^_ 
 
 Miss Scott, op. cit., p. 46, mentions the tales mserted m the Heptameron of 
 Ciuill Discourses, but gives no analysis of the work. More recent accounts 
 of Whetstone may be found in the Dictionary of National Biography and in 
 the Cambridge History of English Literature. 
 
512 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Whetstone was the author of several metrical versions of 
 Italian novels, and of the work mentioned above which we have 
 now to examine in detail. 
 
 The author relates that in the "dead season," winter, his 
 affairs sent him into a country far from home and unknown to 
 him; having travelled on Christmas eve through a forest, and 
 gone astray, he came to a stately palace where every one was 
 feasting indoors. A servant with his lord's welcome invited him 
 to alight and walk in, which after some excuses he did. An 
 interesting description of the screen of the great hall, and of 
 another great chamber is given. The lord (he was brought up 
 in the French court and was a Protestant) met him in the hall 
 and led him into "a faire great chamber," where he found many 
 gentlemen and ladies. Declaring himself an Englishman, the 
 lord broke out into a eulogy of the " Mayden Queene," and begged 
 him to stay. He was led to a bed-chamber and afterwards to 
 supper, where many other foreigners were present, After supper, 
 a cake being cut and distributed to select a king or queen, the 
 lot fell to Madame Aurelia, sister to the lord of the palace, to 
 be queen of the Christmas pleasures. 
 
 Next day "the trumpets sounded the honour of Christmas;" 
 the queen and her company attended the chapel, and then dined. 
 The host then committed the company to the good entertain- 
 ment of his sister Aurelia. She dubbed the author Cavaliero 
 Ismarito ("The Wandering Knight"), under which name he 
 takes part throughout, and admitted him as her servant. The 
 laws of the queen were proclaimed, as follows: i. Obedience to 
 the queen. 2. Every gentleman bound to find a mistress whom he 
 would serve, before noon next day. 3. Every gentleman bound to 
 give fealty and chief place to his own mistress. 4. Every gentle- 
 woman bound to employ her own servant. 5. Every gentleman 
 bound to defend the honour of his mistress. 6. Every gentle- 
 woman bound to encourage her servant, not scorning dutiful 
 service. 7. Every gentleman bound to court his mistress with civil 
 speeches. 8. Every gentleman bound "either by some exercise 
 of value, or by some shew of excellency of wit, to approve him- 
 self worthy of his mistresse." 
 
 The queen then appointed two judges of the controversies, 
 Fabritio and Donna Isabella ; and twelve to attend her in affairs 
 of pleasure, viz., six gentlemen chosen from the foreigners (Italian, 
 
■OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 513 
 
 Neapolitan, Frenchman, German, Scot, and himself English) 
 and six ladies, each having an epithet, one being "Katherina 
 Trista, a soure and testy dame." A division of time was made, 
 viz., the forenoon to be bestowed in the service of God, after 
 dinner two hours in civil discourse and disputation, the rest till 
 supper at pleasure, and after supper to spend a timie in dancing, 
 masking, or other like pastimes. 
 
 At 9 o'clock next morning the young couples assembled, and 
 saluted the queen Aurelia. After service and dinner were sol- 
 emnly ended all went into "a pleasaunt drawing chamber"; to 
 quicken the wits a boy sung to the acompaniment of his lute a 
 lay on the joy of love. 
 
 Madonna Isabella then commences. If love be so sweet, 
 whence the complaints of lovers? Soranso replies. Love is a 
 simple divine virtue. Opinions are given on the distinctions of 
 love, and the queen limits the argument to a contention, Whether 
 marriage or the single life is the worthier. Ismarito, and Lucia 
 Bella — ^who is to be a professed nun — are appointed to defend 
 the single life. After arguments on both sides in which these 
 two were somewhat overborne, Fabritio, summing up, gave his 
 sentence in the behalf of marriage, enlarging on its praises, but 
 using caveats, and concluding with the opinion of Plato "That 
 marriage was a Paradise on earth if her lawes be observed: and a 
 Hell in the House where her statutes are broken." This bitter- 
 sweet "commendation" gave rise to discussion, in which Doctor 
 Mossenigo, describing the extreme passions of a woman, was held 
 to have offended and was condemned by the queen that at open 
 supper he should renounce his heresy and make satisfaction. 
 
 Then ensues "The first night's Pastime," in which after con- 
 fession the Doctor makes his satisfaction "for praying women 
 against his will " by telling the tale of Borrihauder and Ophelia 
 (a simple saddler of Vienna and a crabbed wife). In the con- 
 versation following this tale, Timon of Athens is referred to, and 
 the author remarks "for the Hystorie of Thymon of Athens 
 dogged nature, was so well knowne to everie gentleman as the 
 remembrance of his name." 
 
 The Second Day's Exercise begins with an account of the 
 
 sermon in the chapel (on the virtues of Our Lady and the pity of 
 
 woman) and the remarks of Philoxenus upon the blessings of 
 
 England in having "the sacred byble" expounded in vulgar 
 
 34 
 
514 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 language, and the waters of life open to the thirsty souls both of 
 rich and poor subjects. The friar was outwitted at dinner by 
 his hearers ; and in the conversation during the pause after dinner 
 Bargetto was fined by his lady Franceschina (to speak no more 
 of love for three days) for saying that the friar had taught him 
 a cunning way to woo. Again the boy sang a love song, and 
 Queen Aurelia caused Plato's opinion of marriage to be read a 
 second time. 
 
 Dondolo asks why beasts are happy together, whereas man 
 and woman who can reason are often not. Faliero replies that it 
 is because reason finds out the imperfection of nature. Dondolo 
 asks How may a man be assured to find pity or avoid sorrow? 
 Faliero replies, By experience. Then Dondolo upholds the fore- 
 sight of parents in directing the matches of their children, in 
 order to avoid the evils. This brings out a condemnation of 
 forced marriages from Faliero, with instances. Soranso con- 
 tinues with stronger proofs of the necessity of love before mar- 
 riage, and the cry is: "Fye of forcement in mariage." Faliero 
 then tells a "historic in the reproche of forced manages," in 
 which two merchants of Cyrene marry their children, Sicheus 
 and Elisa, with a tragic ending. The ladies think that women 
 are hardly treated in this tale "stayned with cruelty," and some 
 sharp bandying of words and wit ensues, the Doctor always 
 finding that woman's love and hatred are violent, and that 
 beauty is like poison. 
 
 Then comes "The device of the second night's Mask." After 
 supper five of the gentlemen withdrew, and about 9 o'clock re- 
 entered in disguise, a concert preceding them. The dresses of 
 the musicians, the torch-bearers, and the maskers are fully de- 
 scribed: each masker bore some article, as a fan, a parrot, an 
 artificial hart, a mirror, or a turtle dove, on or in which were 
 concealed some verses which were given to their mistresses, with 
 whom they afterwards danced. 
 
 On the third day chapel and dinner as usual; after dinner, 
 conversation. Franceschina revokes her sentence against 
 Bargetto on his answering successfully three questions, viz., 
 "how three good turnes might be unrewarded, three offences 
 pardoned, three injuryes least unrevenged, and in everye of these, 
 Justice preserved." The debate, at the usual hour, began with a 
 sonnet in behalf of beauty. Free choice of marriage was the sub- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 515 
 
 ject chosen for dispute, the queen appointing Bargetto her cham- 
 pion against the attacks of Doctor Mossenigo. Bargetto begins 
 by summing up yesterday's "report," defending the proposition; 
 the Doctor's "reproofs" and Bargetto 's "defences" continue, 
 Soranso breaking in that "of two evils the least is to be chosen," 
 to which the Doctor replies, "our question was not, to chuse the 
 least of evyls, but that which is simply good," and brings strong 
 arguments to bear against "temerity in marriage." Bargetto 
 replies, and the judges pronounce on both sides with Bargetto 
 in behalf of beauty, and with the Doctor in reproof of rashness 
 of marriage. The queen then desires the Doctor to tell a story 
 to confirm his reasoning. He tells the tale of Malipiero, a young 
 Neapolitan gentleman who suddenly married the lovely Felice 
 of poor family, and how she was led astray by the rich merchant 
 Marino. 
 
 The third night's pastime, after supper, was to see "a mounte- 
 banke, his neck bechayned with live adders, snakes, cau'ts, and 
 twentie sundrie kinde of venemous vermines, whose mortal 
 stinges were taken away by arte, and with him a zanni, and other 
 actors of pleasure." They came to recreate the company, and 
 not like common "mountebanckers" to deceive people with un- 
 profitable merchandize. This gave rise to some talk on the 
 strange nature of a woman's tongue, which cannot be tamed like 
 the serpent's, and, on the defence of a chiding wife. 
 
 On the fourth day's exercise, Aurelia was sick, and Phylox- 
 enus to cheer Ismarito took him into a beautiful gallery hung 
 with maps and paintings, i.e., portraits, which are briefly 
 described. After dinner the company were shown into a cham- 
 ber hung with rich tapestry, also very well described. Queen 
 Aurelia appearing, a pretty sonnet, "Care, away," was sung, and 
 the judge Fabritio desired that they might begin with a tale. 
 Mons. Bargetto related "the adventure of Fryer Inganno" 
 (in the Apenines) , in which the friar got trapped into a punish- 
 ment for his misdeeds. "This was the gentlewoman's day, 
 wherefore the civill gentlemen would not offer to crosse them 
 much," so that after this Madam Isabella related "the rare 
 historic of Promos and Cassandra." 
 
 Morals were drawn by the company from these tales, and the 
 queen saying, "I will not be to bould of the victorie over my late 
 distemperature," they broke up. At supper "many prettie 
 
516 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 nyps passed" on the subject of the stories, and Aloisa Vechio 
 maintained that a woman is a "creature every way as excellent 
 and perfecte as man." Soranso contested this, and the Doctor 
 and Aurelia took it up. Ismarito even declared that "sover- 
 eigne vertue is feminine and (I blush to tell it) yrksome vice is 
 masculine." But Fabritio blamed this unnatural contention 
 and opposed it. Aurelia, smiling, said "she was content that a 
 man should governe as the head, and women direct as the heart." 
 
 The fifth day's exercise dealt with the excellency of man, 
 and the inconveniencies of over lofty and too base love. In 
 the morning, Soranso and Ismarito meeting fell into discourse, 
 suggested by the sight of a picture of Ixion, upon the arrogance of 
 vainglory; Ismarito enlarged upon the likeness of man to the 
 image of God, showing three defects of the body, and three 
 remedies against them which are the origin of all arts and sci- 
 ences. After dinner talk, the company being met in the drawing 
 chamber, a sonnet was sung commending lofty love ; some sharp 
 talk as to jealousy ensued, but was cut short by the queen, — 
 "by your talk of hell [the story of Orpheus had been alluded to], 
 quoth she, I see we are out of the way to Platoe's Paradice." 
 
 The debate then turned upon the point that the happiest 
 estate in marriage is that where both are equal in rank. Soranso 
 argues that man likes to raise his desire to those above him, and 
 that love spares no degree; but Dondolo (who has married the 
 daughter of a burgess) shows the danger from disdain of the 
 wife's kindred to the man who aims high, and shows how the 
 wife is either degraded to the man's base estate, or rules the roost 
 uncontrolled. Fabritio adjudges Soranso to be in error. But 
 Queen Aurelia, thinking Dondolo too free against the woman, 
 says: "If happinesse in mariage consisteth so much in the lordly 
 rule of the husband, then where a man maryeth his inferior in 
 reputation, there is a lykelyhood of good agreement," and begs 
 him to show "the blessinges of this inferior choyce." Thus "in- 
 trapt with a slander of his owne reputation" — at which all 
 smiled — Dondolo put a good face on it and defended "bace love." 
 But Faliero reproved him, giving instances of the troubles caused 
 by marriages with inferior women; to which Dondolo gave a 
 few counter-proofs, but in the end was obliged to yield to the 
 further arguments of Faliero . "But how ? ' ' quoth Aloisa Vechio ; 
 " doe you repent you of your bargaine, or disalow of Faliero's 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 517 
 
 proofes?" "Neither," quoth Dondolo, "for in general choice, 
 this course is out of the way to Plato's Paradice ; but for that my 
 especial fortune is good, I am pleased." 
 
 The pastime of the fifth night, after supper, was this : a band 
 of comedians made an extempore play or morality by personating 
 the answers given by the guests to thirteen riddle-questions 
 asked of each in turn by the host Philoxenus. The questions 
 asked were resolved by the names of the following qualities, 
 etc., Inconstancy, Dissimulation, Ignorance, Chastity, a Dicer, 
 Envy, Will, Hope, Beauty, Ingratitude, Jealousy, Covetousness, 
 and Pride. 
 
 . The sixth day's exercise contained "many needefuU regardes, 
 for a gentleman : with a discoverie of the inconveniences of mar- 
 riages, where there are great inequalities of yeares." 
 
 While the rest diverted themselves in the morning, Philoxenus 
 took Ismarito into his library, "beautified with such a number 
 of goodly bookes" that it resembled the famous library of Cos- 
 mos de Medicis in Florence; and then into his private study, 
 furnished with summaries or abridgments of all sciences. As 
 "in all his actions he was ye true patterne for a gentleman to 
 imitate," Ismarito set down the subjects of his study, with short 
 comments, viz., Divinity, Physic {i.e.. Medicine), Lawe, Art 
 Military, Morality, Cosmography, Historiography, Armory 
 {i.e., Heraldry). Dinner followed, during which an incident 
 arose of a "meane fellow, garded between two furies of the 
 kitchen, " brought in, coram nobis, for a petty theft in the scullery 
 which gave occasion for the pity of the ladies, and some sharp 
 sallies of wit between the Doctor and the thief, whose smartness 
 so pleased the company that he was set free. Bargetto, being 
 jealous of the favours shown to Ismarito, tried to make a quarrel, 
 but Philoxenus turned this off by setting forward a new device ; 
 using palmistry he told the fortune of Maria Belochi, and every 
 one fell to telling fortunes. 
 
 To begin the disputation of the day a sonnet was read contain- 
 ing the pleading of an aged lover with his fair mistress, which 
 made all the company smile because it was written by Doctor 
 Mossenigo, "who to revenge upon himselfeall the in jurie, which 
 he had done to the sexe of women, became inamoured of 
 Katherina Trista, the waspishest damosel among the whole 
 troupe of gentlewomen." All dissembled their knowledge of 
 
518 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the authorship, but Aloisa Vechio thought this couple, the old 
 man and young woman of the sonnet, might be proved " worthye 
 of a place in Platoe's Paradice." The Doctor took upon him 
 to maintain this opinion, but Soranso, although saying he well 
 deserved a fee, took up the other side, showing the strong dis- 
 advantages of such a marriage. Further defence and rebuttal 
 by the Doctor and Bergetto were made with much spirit, but in 
 the end Fabritio and Isabella with one accord gave sentence 
 against Doctor Mossenigo. 
 
 The Queen, seeing in the cloth of arras, the figure of a Rhi- 
 noceros with his horn in a maiden's lap asked the meaning of it, 
 on which Ismarito related the story of Circe. The disputation 
 was long continued by several on the folly of a young man marry- 
 ing an old woman, and the plagues to both, in which the Doctor 
 again took the chief part. Aurelia, tired of it all, desired Fabritio 
 to give judgment, which he did saying, "the evill of this in- 
 equalitie in mariage is bothe so auncient and so common in use, 
 as there needeth no other iudgement then experience of our 
 neighbours mischances." 
 
 At supper this night, Philoxenus asked an acoeunt of the benefit 
 of the six days' disputation. Soranso replies that they must 
 present him a bankrupt's reckoning "who the longer he occupieth, 
 the worse he thriveth," and, shortly, tells the result of each day. 
 Philoxenus compliments him on the ease of his relation, and 
 comforts him. Soranso says we all know "the infirmities of 
 mariage, but to fynde out the blessinges muste proceede from 
 your sound directions." Thereupon Philoxenus promises to join 
 their exercise to-morrow (New Year's Day). 
 
 The seventh day's exercise consisted of "a discourse of the 
 excellencie of marriage with many sound lawes and directions, 
 to continue love betweene the married," etc. 
 
 In honour of the New Year the company were all awakened 
 by the sound of trumpets, drums, and flutes. Apparelling them- 
 selves, they "in theyre moste brave and sumptuous araye, by 
 nine of the clock, made the great chamber resemble a fayre gar- 
 den in Maye," dresses embroidered with pearl, gold, or bugle, 
 and every gentleman wearing his mistress' favour. In the chief 
 place of the room was hung up Janus, God of Time, in the like- 
 ness of a serpent with his tail in his mouth, "garnished with 
 many sweete flowers^ garlands, and devices." Philoxenus, 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 519 
 
 "though he hated superstitious ceremonies, yet he honored aun- 
 cient laudable customes," presented every one of his guests with 
 a rich new year's gift which explained some moral virtue. "This 
 order the Italians use, the best giveth newe yeare's giftes to his 
 inferior friendes, and in England cleane contrarie. The ten- 
 naunt giveth his lord ; the meane gentlemen to knightes ; knightes 
 to barrons; barrons to earles; earles to marquises; and dukes to 
 their soveraigne prince." All went then to service in the chapel, 
 and afterwards to dinner, where they discoursed of ceremonies 
 and old rites in times past. After dinner Aurelia and Philoxenus, 
 followed by the company, "entered into a moste delycate ban- 
 quetinge house," the walls of which were painted with all 
 manner of fruits, flowers, vines, arbors, etc., done to nature. 
 A sonnet in praise of Hymen is sung, and Queen Aurelia, "as 
 soveraigne of the civill pleasures," first beseeches her brother, 
 and afterwards on his well-turned excuses commands him 
 (although lord of the palace) "to give ceremonies a disgrace" 
 and obey her will by blazoning "the blessings and excellency 
 of this sacred institution." Philoxenus then shows how marriage 
 was instituted before the fall of Adam, and confirmed by God's 
 commandment — "you shall be two bodies in one flesh and no 
 more" — and expatiates on the various happinesses of union, 
 prizing quiet life and children above jewels, citing Cornelia and 
 Olympia. The ring should be of gold to typify the highest love 
 by the most precious metal. He quotes Propertius on the ring, 
 and cites the laws of Lycurgus and of the Romans against the 
 unmarried men. Philoxenus also cites many classic examples of 
 "unseperable love betweene the married, "and so ends his dis- 
 course. But Queen Aurelia begs him to further fulfil his promise 
 and "give us good lawes to preserve love amonge the married"; 
 he says she has set him a very hard task, for "the rose is hostesse 
 as well for the butterflie as the bee : the sunne shineth both uport 
 the good and bad"; but on further urging he consents. Then 
 follows a set of "Householde Lawes, to keepe the maryed in 
 love, peace and amytie: reported by Segnior Phyloxenus." It 
 fills four pages, and is really a kind of summary of the best 
 arguments and statements used during the six days, debate, 
 laid down in the form of maxims. Thus, of points before mar- 
 riage, it treats of equality in years and manners, consent in re- 
 ligion and free choice; of points after marriage, it treats of the, 
 
520 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 office of the husband and of the wife regarding the household, 
 behavior of each, apparel, behavior under reproof by each other; 
 behavior of old husband or old wife to young partner and vice 
 versd. This finished, the Queen demands a story, whereon Phi- 
 loxenus relates the tale of Phrigius and Pieria. 
 
 The company were pleased, and Lucia Bella was converted 
 from her intention of becoming a vestal nun by the discourses 
 of Philoxenus. The Queen gave suitable thanks, and Fabritio, 
 taking up Philoxenus' disclaimer that the "bare words" only 
 belonged to him, adjudged that "Such bare wordes deserve to be 
 registered amonge the lyfe deeds of memorie." 
 
 All returned into the great chamber, where there was a stately 
 show and mask to honor the ladies; about 9 o'clock at night, 
 after the Queen and others had danced certain "solemne al- 
 maynes," in an enclosed place in the great hall appeared a moun- 
 tain covered with pleasant fruit trees with vermin creeping 
 among the rocks, and noble wild beasts lying by the streams 
 which ran aslant the side of the mountain. In an arbor on the 
 mountain sat Diana and the nine Muses ; at the foot sat the mon- 
 ster Envy to hinder any going up this hill of Parnassus. The 
 gentlemen of the company armed themselves to overcome him, 
 the ladies tryed to charm him with music, and Queen Aurelia 
 advanced towards him with a mirror, in which he, assailing her 
 with a club, seeing his own image, fell backwards, and was killed 
 by Philoxenus. Diana sent down a present (a shield with four 
 devices) to the queen, and the Muses descended and crowned her 
 with roses ; then they danced an Almayne with the knights and 
 gave them favors. "The silver pen and verses delivered by 
 Uranie to Ismarito stand in the forefront of this booke." By 
 this time it was midnight and all went to bed. 
 
 I have given much space to this most interesting and charac- 
 teristic work, in which clearly appears the influence of many 
 of the Italian books already cited, as well as an acquaintance 
 with the Heptameron of Marguerite of Navarre. It is the most 
 elaborate original production of the kind in English literature, 
 and is deserving of rescue from the oblivion into which it has 
 fallen.^ 
 
 ^ Koeppel's concluding remarks on this work are worthy of quotation. He 
 says, op. cit., p. 39, "We see in the spirit of Whetstone, whom we can regard 
 as the typical representative of a numerous class of Elizabethan writers, the 
 confluence of different streams of culture. Evident is the influence of the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 521 
 
 No writer of this period, however, shows more markedly the 
 influence of Italy than Robert Greene, whose unhappy life is 
 so well known from his own confessions to the readers of Eliza- 
 bethan literature. He was born about 1560 at Norwich, and 
 was educated at Cambridge. He visited Italy and on his return 
 settled in London, where he devoted himself to literary work, 
 dying in 1 592 .« Greene 's prose works — ^we are not now interested 
 in his dramatic productions — deal largely with love, treated in 
 the manner with which we are familiar from the Italian works 
 discussed in Chapter HI of the present book. Discussions on 
 the nature of love, debates on questions connected with that 
 passion, companies where stories are told to illustrate some phase 
 of love — all these things are characteristic, as we have so fre- 
 quently seen, of Italy in the sixteenth century. A brief survey 
 of Greene's works from this standpoint will show what a deep 
 impression Greene's Italian journey and subsequent Italian 
 studies made upon him. 
 
 The scene of his earliest work, Mamillia, published in 1583, 
 although written some years before, is laid in Padua. The book 
 is concerned with the love affairs of the beautiful Mamillia, 
 
 Italian Decameron and the French Heptameron, but Whetstone's work differs 
 in an important manner from these two novels with frames. In them the pic- 
 ture in the frame predominates, in Whetstone the frame itself. He has, like 
 Tilney, and very probably influenced by Tilney, taken as his model the Courtier 
 of Castiglione, which he mentions among the books of his Philoxenus: 'for 
 Government and Civil behaviours he read Plutarches Moralles; Guevaraes 
 Dial of Princes; the Courtier of Count Baldazar Castillio.' Whetstone brings 
 his circle before us not in the open air as Boccaccio and the Queen of Navarre, 
 but in a splendid palace, like Castiglione. From Castiglione, who offers 
 moral-didactic conversations with brief illustrative stories, Whetstone learned 
 the introduction of the extensive frame. Whetstone also took as the models 
 of his individual characters the figures of the Italian company: as in Castiglione 
 the wife of the master of the house, the Duchess of Urbino, so in Whetstone 
 Aurelia, the sister of the host, is the centre of the circle. Doctor Mossenigo has 
 inherited the woman-hating disposition of Signer Gasparo Palavicino, and the 
 English author's ladies have been to school to the ready Signora Emilia Pia. 
 As in Castiglione, at the end of the second and the beginning of the third book, 
 so in Whetstone on the fourth day, the question whether woman is as perfect 
 a being as man is fully discussed." 
 
 ' I have used for this examination of Greene The Life and complete Works 
 in Prose and Verse of Robert Greene, for the first time collected and edited by the 
 Rev. A. B. Grosart, 1881-86, in 15 volumes, printed for private circulation 
 only {The Huth Library). The best sketch of Greene's life is to be found in 
 J. Churton Collins, The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene, Oxford, 1905. 2 
 vols. There is an excellent article by S. L. Wolff, " Robert Greene and the 
 Italian Renaissance," in Englische Studien, XXXVII (1907), pp. 321-374. 
 Koeppel has in the work already cited, pp. 51-8, an analysis of Greene's 
 works, from which, for some unaccountable reason, he omits Greene's Fare- 
 well to Folly. Koeppel, as usual, deals chiefly with the stories in the novels. 
 
522 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 daughter of Gonzago, ruler of Padua, and her fickle admirer 
 Pharicles, who deserts her for a relation named Publia. In 
 spite of Pharicles's inconstancy Mamillia is true to him and 
 finally rescues him from prison, and thus earns his gratitude and 
 lasting love. 
 
 The most remarkable thing about this first work of Greene 
 is the slavish imitation of Lyly which it displays. It does not 
 contain any stories, nor is there a frame in which discussions 
 and tales are inserted. The work is, however, full of the Italian 
 treatment of love, and the hero, Pharicles, is compelled by lot 
 to pronounce a disquisition on love. 
 
 Penelope's Web, of which there seems to be but one edition, 
 that of 1587, consists of a frame in which are inserted three 
 stories. Penelope, during the absence of her husband Ulysses, 
 is beset by "the Peeres of Ithaca," who sue for her hand. She 
 promises to give her answer when her web is finished, but takes 
 care to unravel at night what she has woven during the day. 
 To beguile the time she converses with her maids on the subject 
 of love and marriage, and relates on three nights as many tales 
 to illustrate her views. The arrival of Ulysses after the third 
 night puts an end to the diversion. The maids discuss with 
 Penelope the nature of love in general, and one maid, Ismena, 
 explains the attributes of Cupid as follows: "paynting Cupid 
 blynd, as noting the selfe conceipt in choyce: like a little boye, 
 as figuring small government, not leveled by the proportion of 
 reason: winged as absolutely pourtraying inconstant and fickle 
 passions of Lovers, whose thoughts are variable, whose joyes 
 are momentarie, like to the shadowes which Juno presented to 
 the Giants, bringing forth like the Ceader trees, fayre leaves but 
 no fruites, and as the Date having soft ryndes, but within stones 
 as hard as Steele."' There is not time now to analyze this in- 
 
 ' For similar discussions as to why Love is depicted as blind, etc., see Chap- 
 ter VI, note 22, and Chapter VIII, note 16; the same question is asked again 
 in Greene's Farewell to Folly. To all the previous references to this subject 
 may be added a Latin poem found in a manuscript of the thirteenth century; 
 see Carmina Burana. BiUioihek des Literarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, Bd. 
 XVI, Stuttgart, 1847, p. 192. 
 
 Est Amor alatus puer et levis, est pharetratus. 
 Ala recessurum demonstrat, tela cruentum, 
 Etas amentem pro bat et ratione carentem, 
 Vulnificus pharetri signatur, "mobilis" alH. 
 Nudus formatur, quia nil est quo teneatur. 
 Mittit "pentagonas" nerve stridente sagittas. 
 Quod sunt quinque modi quibus associamur amori, 
 Visus, colloquium, tactus compar labiorum. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 523 
 
 teresting work more fully, but it is a typical treatise on Platonic 
 love such as we have seen in a former chapter, enlivened with 
 stories in the usual fashion. 
 
 In the same year, 1587, Greene published a curious imitation 
 of Castiglione' Courtier under the title Euphues his censure to 
 Philautus. Wherein is presented a philosophicall combat betweene 
 Hector and Achylles, discovering in foure discourses, interlaced 
 with diverse delightfull Tragedies, the virtues necessary to be in- 
 cident in every gentleman: had in question at the siege of Troy be- 
 twixt sondry Grecian and Trojan Lords: especially debated to dis- 
 cover the perfection of a souldier. As the title indicates, Greene's 
 work is a continuation of Lyly's more famous book, which ends 
 with the marriage of Philautus and the retirement of Euphues 
 to the mountain of Silixedra, where he broods over his mis- 
 fortunes. In the dedication to Lord Essex, the author gives the 
 imaginary history of his work, declaring that some part of Eu- 
 phues' "counsell," written from Silixedra to Philautus, who had 
 been made commander-in-chief of some fictitious army, had 
 accidentally fallen into his hands. "In these counsels Euphues, 
 following the footsteps of Tullies orator, Platoes common wealth, 
 and Baldessars courtier, aymeth at the exquisite portraiture of 
 a perfect martialist." 
 
 During a brief truce, the Trojan ladies, Andromache, Polixena, 
 and others, visit the Grecian camp and are courteously received 
 by Achilles and Ulysses. After supper, the venerable Nestor 
 proposes as a subject for discussion the qualities which an ideal 
 general should possess to live happily and die honored. The 
 usual discussion then follows. On the next day, the Greek ladies, 
 accompanied by Achilles, Nestor, and the other Grecian heroes, 
 visit Troy, and are received with hospitality by old Priam in 
 his palace. After dinner the company resume the discussion 
 of the question of the day before. The only departure from the 
 idea of the original consists in the introduction of illusttative 
 stories, here termed "tragedies," of which four are related by 
 Ulysses, Helenus, Hector, and Achilles. 
 
 To 1597 also, apparently, belongs Morando: The Tritameron 
 of Love : The first and second part. Wherein certains pleasant con- 
 ceites, uttered by divers worthie personages, are perfectly discoursed, 
 and three doubtfull questions of Love, most pithely and pleasantly 
 discussed: shewing to the wife how to use Love, and to the fond, how 
 to eschew Lust: and yeelding to all both pleasure and profit. 
 
524 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 This work differs from those previously examined in that it 
 does not contain any illustrative stories, but is only a discussion 
 of various questions relating to love. The frame is as follows. 
 A knight of Bononia named Bonfadio is assassinated, leaving a 
 widow Panthia who deeply deplores his death and celebrates 
 a solemn funeral, erecting a sumptuous sepulchre. After a time 
 of mourning she is invited by Signior Morando, an old friend 
 of her husband's, to visit him at "a graunge house of his, seven 
 miles distant from Bononia, whither also divers gentlemen were 
 bidden, thinking this the fittest meanes to drive her from her 
 sorrowfull dumps." Panthia accompanied by her three daugh- 
 ters came at the day appointed to Morando's house, where she 
 found a number of gentlemen, among them Signior Peratio, 
 Messier Aretyno, and Signior don Sylvestro. After dinner the 
 company happened to see a picture representing the Rape of 
 Europa, and the conversation naturally fell on love; and after 
 some discussion Morando asked the opinions of the company 
 "whether this our countrie proberbe be true or no, which is 
 commonlie spoken: Amor fa molto, ma argento fa tutto: Love 
 doth much, but money doth all. In men quoth, Panthia, and 
 that we will prove. In worhen, quoth, Peratio, and that I shall 
 defend." Panthia did not think it proper for a person in mourn- 
 ing to debate such a question as this, and asked her daughter 
 Lacena to take her place. 
 
 The usual contest of wits ensues, and finally Morando is 
 called on to decide the controversy, which he does in these words : 
 "This therefore is my censure, that as Phillip of Macedon saide 
 there was no citie so surely defenced, whereinto an asse laden with 
 gold might not enter:, so the temple of Vesta is never so well 
 shut, but a key of gold will speedelie unlose the locke." 
 
 Lacena's wit had deeply touched Silvestro and awakened his 
 love; so the next day he rose early and betook himself to the 
 garden to muse "on the painefull passions which so diversely 
 perplexed him"; and there the rest of the company found him 
 later. Peratio taunts Silvestro with his state, and the two 
 gentlemen grow so warm that their host is obliged to "part them 
 with this parle. . . . Had not Silvestro and Peratio fallen out 
 about love, we had never brought it in question whether it be 
 good to love or no." Sostrata, another daughter of Panthia's, 
 "who from her birth was vowed unto Vesta," offered with her 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 525 
 
 mother's leave to prove "that the worst course of life is to love." 
 Silvestro naturally defended the contrary opinion. At the 
 conclusion of the debate Morando calls on Panthia to render 
 judgment, which she does in these words: "Sir (quoth she) 
 if I should passe against Silvestro, then all might think I either 
 never loved my husband, or els that I spooke of affection, therfore 
 that I be not accused of the one, nor condemned of the other, 
 this is my opinion : that Silvestro speaking of those loyall lovers, 
 which fixe their fancie and place their affection first upon the 
 vertue of the mind, and then upon the beau tie of the bodie, 
 defendeth the right in saying that to love is a vertue, and that 
 my daughter Lacena (in touching the excessive love, nay rather 
 lust of those fond and fantasticall lovers, who only repect the 
 complexion of the bodie, and not the perfection of the mind, 
 having their fancie so fickle, as they are fired with every new 
 face, respecting pleasure more than profit, and yet refusing no 
 paines to satisfie their fleshly desires) saith well that such love 
 is a vice." 
 
 Aretino marvels that Lacena should be "so far out of the 
 square, sith that by natural constitution women are more sub- 
 ject unto love then men." This statement is contradicted by 
 Panthia, and is made the subject of the third day's debate. 
 Meanwhile the company dined and spent the rest of the day in 
 hunting. 
 
 The company rose early on the following day and went into 
 the garden to take the fresh and fragrant air while awaiting the 
 appearance of their host. When Morando came he bade them 
 all good day and enjoined silence to hear the discussion of the 
 question already proposed, which Aretino and Panthia's third 
 daughter Fioretta were to debate, Aretino naturally supporting 
 the aiifirmative and Fioretta the negative side. After a briefer 
 discussion than usual Panthia decided "that men or women are 
 no more or lesse subject unto love, respecting their naturall 
 constitution, but by the secrete influence of a certaine super- 
 naturall constellation." 
 
 The work ends with these words: "The discourse thus ended, 
 and the sentence set downe, Morando and his guestes went to 
 dinner, which being ended as well with pithie devises as pleasant 
 dainties, Panthia constrained by certaine urgent affaires, yeeld- 
 ing Morando great thankes for his courteous entertainment. 
 
526 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 went home to Bononia, accompanied with the three gentlemen: 
 who likewise leaving Morando in his dumps for the losse of such 
 good companions, departed, and for a time stayed with Panthia 
 at Bononia: where what successe Silvestro had in his love I 
 knowe not: but if I learne, looke for newes." 
 
 This "newes" is vouchsafed the reader in the Second Part, 
 which is much less interesting, dealing almost wholly with the 
 course of Silvestro and Lacena's love affairs. No questions are 
 debated, although there is a discussion between the two lovers 
 on the nature of love, and a long discourse on Fortune by Peratio, 
 and one on Friendship by Silvestro. The work concludes with 
 the happy marriage of the two lovers. 
 
 Four years later, in 1591, Greene published the last of his 
 Love-pamphlets with the significant title Greene's Farewell to 
 Folly: sent to Courtiers and Schollers as a president to warne them 
 from the vaine delights that drawes youth on to repentance, and with 
 the motto "Sero sed serio." In this work Greene returns to 
 his earlier plan, and presents a frame in which are set three tales. 
 The frame is as follows : 
 
 leronimo Farneze, a citizen of Florence, at a time when "the 
 state of Italie was pestered with the mutinous factions of the 
 Guelphes and Ghibellines," to avoid all suspicion "that might 
 ensue by his residence in so troublesome a citie, setting his house- 
 hold affaires in some good order, accompanied with his wife, 
 three daughters, and foure young gentlemen, allied unto him by 
 afiSnitie, hee departed from Florence, seated himself e in a farme 
 of his about sixe miles distant from Vienna." The company 
 on their arrival found "a graunge place by scituation melancholic, 
 as seated in the middest of a thicket," and were naturally some- 
 what discontented. Their host perceiving this made a long 
 address concluding with: "and we Gentlemen, that have lived 
 pleasantlie at Florence wearing out our time with vanitie, may 
 now refine our senses dulled with the tast of sundrie vaine objects, 
 and for a weeke or two betake our selves to this solitarie place, 
 wherein I thinke to finde no other pleasure but a sweete medi- 
 tation and friendly conference of the vaine suppose of such as 
 thinke none Philosophers but Epicures, and none religious but 
 Atheists. Thus Gentlemen, I appoint your penaunce, and there- 
 fore shew me your opinion by your countenance." Peratio 
 answered for the rest that they were content, and entering the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 527 
 
 house they went to dinner. After dinner, the conversation 
 turned on various follies, and Seignior Farneze proposed "to 
 spende this afternoone in discoursing of the fondnesse of such 
 of our countriemen, as overgrowne with self love drownes them- 
 selves in that follie which all the world gives unto us as due: I 
 meane pride, which Seignior Peratio for that I kncfwe you have 
 alwaies to have borne the profession of a scholler, I commit 
 unto your charge." 
 
 Peratio obeys the request of his host and pronounces a dis- 
 course on Pride, which ends, as usual, in a discussion on the part 
 of the others. Peratio finally declares: "but pride as the pre- 
 dominant qualitie in everie sexe, degree and age challengeth in 
 everie ones mind some special and particular prerogative. To 
 confirme which. Gentlemen, if you will give me leave, I will 
 rehearse you a pleasaunt historic." Then follows Peratio 's 
 tale about Vadislaus, King of Buda, and the fair Maesia. 
 
 At the conclusion of Peratio's story the host commanded "one 
 of his men to cover for supper," after which one of the gentlemen, 
 Cosimo, asks Benedetto why love is painted blind, "and covered 
 with a vale, when as we see that in nothing there is a deeper in- 
 sight than in love." The conversation which follows leads the 
 host to say: "I am gladde that we are entered into the discourse 
 of love, for I will injoyne this nights work to bee about the dis- 
 coverie of the verie substance of lust, which drowned in volup- 
 tuous pleasures, haleth on the minde to the foule deformed sinne 
 of lecherie, a fault that we Italians greatly offend in, and yet 
 the custome of sinne hath so taken awaie the feeling of the 
 offence, that wee shame not oft times to glorie in the fault." 
 The discourse is committed to Cosimo, who, in confirmation 
 thereof, later relates the tale of Ninus and Semyramis. 
 
 The following morning the gentlemen found their host with 
 his wife and four daughters walking in the garden, and the talk 
 fell on temperance in diet. "The host proposed that they should 
 spend the forenoon "in discoursing the follie of superfluitie or 
 gluttonie: which Bernardino I appoint unto your charge, as one 
 which we all knowe to have beene an enemie to such disordered 
 bankets." After the discourse Bernardino tells a brief tale of 
 Don Antonio and Rustico. When the tale was ended, the Coun- 
 tess said: "Wee. have so long discoursed of gluttonie, that our 
 simple cheere having so good a sauce as hunger, will prove verie 
 
528 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 good delicates, therefore Gentlemen, seeing wee must either 
 make our cooke cholerike, or else leave our present parle, let 
 us at this time not disturbe his patience, but hie us in to dinner: 
 and repast being taken, willingly wee will continue our discourse. 
 Then Seignior Farneze and the rest having their stomackes 
 armed to such a combat, willingly obeied, and so for this time 
 we will leave them." 
 
 It is evident from the above analyses of Greene's Love-pam- 
 phlets that he made diligent use of Italian materials. Koeppel 
 has sought with great care the sources of the tales which Greene 
 has inserted in his novels, as well as references to Italian influences 
 in general, and has recognised the great difficulty of discovering 
 these sources owing to the free use made by Greene of his ori- 
 ginals. He has imitated the Courtier of Castiglione in his 
 Euphues his Censure to Philautus, and in Penelope's Web, The 
 Tritameron of Love, and Farewell to Folly we find a more general 
 imitation of the Decameron, the Heptameron, and the multitude of 
 Italian dialogues on Love which we have already examined. 
 When one who is familiar with this branch of Italian literature 
 reads Greene he seems to be perusing a translation from the 
 Italian, but when he seeks the original he can discover no single 
 work that Greene has used. Like the other Elizabethan writer 
 he has so fully assimilated his material that his works have an 
 original worth. 
 
 I have already (Chapter II, p. 29, and note 23) stated that 
 Lyly's Euphues may also be included in the list of Elizabethan 
 works modeled on the Italian. This book has been the subject 
 of much discussion from the standpoint of its extraordinary style, 
 which had such a profound influence on contemporary writers, 
 but no one, to my knowledge, has studied it in respect to its 
 Italian sources. The work is too well-known to need an ex- 
 tensive analysis here.^ It consists of two parts, the first of 
 
 ' I have used Arber's edition of Lyly in English Reprints, London, 1869. 
 Lyly was born in 1553 or 1554, and died in 1606. He was educated at Oxford 
 and there is no evidence that he ever visited Italy. There is an excellent ac- 
 count of Lyly by Sidney Lee in the Dictionary of National Biography. The 
 best account of Lyly and his works is now to be found in The Complete Works 
 of John Lyly ... By R. Warwick Bond. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1902, 
 3 vols. The first volume contains a life of Lyly, pp. 1-82; Euphues, the text 
 and bibliography, pp. 83-118; Euphuei and Euphuism, pp. 119-175, an 
 admirable essay, but, like all previous works, treating Lyly's Italian sources 
 in a very inadequate fashion. The same is also true of the most recent edition 
 of Euphues by M. W. Croll and H. demons, London and New York, 1916, 
 which is entirely silent on the subject of Italian influences. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 529 
 
 which contains the story proper, a treatise on education, and 
 diverse letters written by Euphues to his friends. In the course 
 of the story Philautus takes his friend Euphues, a young gentle- 
 man of Athens then sojourning at Naples, to a supper at the 
 house of Don Ferardo, with whose daughter, Lucilla, Philautus 
 is in love. 
 
 At first sight of Lucilla Euphues "was so kindled with desire, 
 that almost he was like to burn to coales. Supper beeing ended, 
 the order was in Naples, that the Gentlewomen would desire 
 to heare some discourse, either concerning love, or learning: And 
 although Philautus was requested, yet he posted it over to 
 Euphues, whome he knewe most fit for that purpose: Euphues 
 beeing thus tyed to the stake by their importunate intreatie, 
 began as followeth ... It hath bene a question often disputed, 
 but never determined, whether the qualities of the minde, or 
 the composition of the man, cause women most to lyke, or whether 
 beautie or wit move men most to love." This question is dis- 
 cussed by Euphues for a time until he is overcome by a sudden 
 indisposition cailsed by his growing love for Lucilla. The in- 
 terrupted debate is, however, renewed on a later occasion. 
 Lucilla jilts her first lover Philautus for Euphues, and after- 
 wards Euphues for Curio, whereupon the first part ends so far 
 as the story is concerned. 
 
 In the second part, Euphues and his England, the two 
 friends, who have become reconciled after Lucilla's treachery, 
 sail for England, and on the way Euphues relates the tale of 
 Cassander the hermit and Callimachus. The voyage lasted 
 eight weeks, at the end of which time the ship landed at Dover 
 and the travellers proceeded to Canterbury; after leaving Canter- 
 bury they encountered an old man tending bees in a garden. 
 The old man, whose name is Fidus, invites the friends to stay 
 the night with him and after supper relates his own story. In 
 the course of it a company meets in a garden "under a sweete 
 Arbour of Eglentine," and a story is told of a "Magnifico in 
 Sienna," whom God blessed with three daughters, but by three 
 wives, and of three sundry quahties: "the eldest was verye fayre, 
 but a very foole : the second mervailous wittie, but yet mervailous 
 wanton : the third as vertuous as any living, but more deformed 
 then any that ever lived." After a detailed description of the 
 three, the story concludes with the words: "Now Gentlemen, 
 35 
 
530 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 I have propounded my reasons, for every one I must now aske 
 you the question. If it were your chaunce to travaile to Sienna, 
 and to see as much there as I have tolde you here, whether would 
 you chuse for your wife the faire foole, the witty wanton, or 
 the crooked Saint?" Later in his history Fidus says: "My 
 Father, very desirous to heare questions asked, willed me 
 after dinner, to use some demaund, which after grace I did in 
 this sorte." He tells of a lady in Spain who had three suitors: 
 the one excelled in all gifts of the body, the other had nothing 
 to commend him but a quick wit, and the third was a gentle- 
 man of great possessions, large revenues, full of money, but 
 neither the wisest that ever enjoyed so much, nor the properest 
 that ever desired so much. Lady Issida is then called on "to 
 determine this Spanish bargaine, of if you please, we wil make it 
 an English controversie : supposing you to be the Lady, and three 
 such Gentlemen to come unto you a wooing. In faith who 
 should be the speeder?" 
 
 When Fidus has finished his history, the two friends depart 
 for London, where they quarrel and Philautus- devotes himself 
 to the fascinating Lady Camilla. After a long interchange of 
 letters, Euphues and Philautus are reconciled, and discourse at 
 length on love: "As they were thus communing there came from 
 the Ladie Flavia a Gentleman who invited them both that 
 night to supper, which they with humble thankes given promised 
 to doe so, and till supper time I leave them debating their ques- 
 tion." 
 
 Lady Flavia's supper-party is a faint reflection of the more 
 elaborate one described by Guazzo. The friends found at Lady 
 Flavia's the worthy gentleman Surius, Camilla, Mistress Fraun- 
 cis, with many other gentlemen and gentlewomen. The supper 
 is dismissed in a few words: "It now grew toward Supper time, 
 when the table being covered, and the meate served in, Ladye 
 Flavia placed Surius over against Camilla, and Philautus next 
 Mistres Frauncis, she tooke Euphues and the rest, and placed 
 them in such order as she thought best. What cheere they had 
 I know not, what talke they used, I heard not: but Supper being 
 ended, they sate still, the Lady Flavia speaking as followeth. 
 Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, these Lenten Evenings be long, 
 and a shame it were to goe to bedde: colde they are, and there- 
 fore follye to walke abroad: to play at Gardes is common, at 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 531 
 
 Chestes tedious, at Dice unseemely, with Christmasse games, 
 untimely. In my opinion therefore, to passe awaye these long 
 nights, I would have some pastime that might be pleasaunt, but 
 not unprofitable, rare, but not without reasoning: so shall we 
 all accompt the Evening well spent, be it ne\-er so long, which 
 otherwise would be tedious, were it never so short. Surius the 
 best in the companye, and therefore best worthy to aunswere, 
 and the wisest, and therefore best able, replyed in this manner. 
 
 " Good Madame, \-ou haAe pre\-ented my request with your 
 owne, for as the case now standeth, there can be nothing more 
 agreeable to my humour, or these Gentlewomens desires, to 
 use some discourse, as well to renue olde traditions, which have 
 bene heertofore used, as to encrease friendship, which hath 
 bene by the meanes of certeine odde persons defaced. Every 
 one gave his consent ^^ ith Surius, yeelding the choyce of that 
 nights pastime, to the discretion of the Ladie Flavia who thus 
 proposed hir minde. 
 
 " Your talke Surius shall be to dispute wjth Camilla, and choose 
 \^our owne argumente, Philautus shall argue with mistresse Fraun- 
 cis, Martins wyth m3' selfe. And all having finished their dis- 
 courses, Euphues shall be as judge, who hath done best, and 
 whatsoever he shall allot eyther for reward to the worthiest, 
 or for penance to the worst, shall be presently accomplished. 
 This liked them all exceedingly." 
 
 Surius propounds his question to Camilla as follows: "If 
 Camilla one wounded with your beautie (for under that name 
 I comprehende all other \-ertues) should sue to open his affec- 
 tion, serve to trie it, and drive you to so narrow a point, that 
 ^•ou were never so incredulous, he should prove it, yea so farre 
 to be from suspition of deceite, that you would confesse he were 
 cleare from distrust, what aunsweare woulde you make, if you 
 gave ^'ou^ consent, or what excuse if you den]*' hys curtesie?" 
 
 After a long discussion. Lady Fla\-ia commands them to cease 
 and give others an opportunity- to speak, and thereupon proposes 
 the following question to Martius, her opponent: "I woulde 
 know thy minde whether it be convenient for women to haunt 
 such places where Gentlemen are, or for men to have accesse 
 to gentlewomen, which me thinketh in reason cannot be toller- 
 able, knowing that there is nothing more pernicious to either then 
 love, and that love breedeth b>- nothing sooner then lookes. 
 
532 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 They that feare water will come neare no wells, they that stande 
 in dreade of burning flye from the fire : and ought not they that 
 woulde not be entangled with desire to refraine company? If 
 love have ye panges which the passionate set downe, why do 
 they not abstaine from the cause? if it be pleasant why doe they 
 dispraise it?" 
 
 Philautus' question to Frauncis is "whether in love be more 
 required, secrecie, or constancy." 
 
 Finally Euphues pronounces judgment in the three questions 
 in this wise: "Touching Surius his question whether love come 
 from the man or the woman, it is manifest that it beginneth in 
 both, els can it not ende in both. To the Lady Flavias demaunde 
 concerning companie, it is requisite they shoulde meete, and 
 though they be hindered by divers meajies, yet is it impossible 
 but that they will meete. Philautus must thus thinke, that 
 constancie without secrecie availeth little, and secrecie without 
 constancie profiteth lesse." 
 
 Each of the debaters answered Euphues briefly and then the 
 company broke up. 
 
 With the rest of the work, containing a long description of 
 England, and an account of Euphues' withdrawal to the Mount 
 of Silixsedra in despair at his failure to win Camilla's love, we 
 have now nothing to do. Enough has been said to show the 
 essentially Italian character of this famous work. 
 
 We have already seen in earlier chapters that Castiglione's 
 Courtier and Romei's Discorsi were translated into English during 
 the period with which we are now dealing. While there were 
 no complete translations of Bandello and Parabosco, separate 
 stories were found in the Elizabethan collections.^ Of the eti- 
 quette books Casa's Galateo and Guazzo's Civil Conversazione 
 were put into English, as we have seen in Chapter VII. Of the 
 Italian treatises on love one at least, Alberti's Ecatomfila, was 
 translated in 1598." Many Italian authors were of course 
 read even if not translated. Gabriel Harvey (about 1545- 
 1630) in his Letter-Book mentions Bibbiena, Boccaccio, Casa, 
 Castiglione, Guazzo, Guicciardini, Jovio, Machiavelli, Petrarch, 
 Pietro Aretino, and Strozzi." The reference to Guatzoes newe 
 
 ' See Koeppel and Miss Scott passim. 
 " See Chapter III, p. 103. 
 
 1^ Gabriel Harvey was born about 1545 and died in 1630. He is now known 
 for his friendship with Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, and for his 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 533 
 
 Discourses of curteous behaviour shows that this author must 
 have been known in England as early as 1579.''' Other references 
 to Guazzo and Italian authors studied in England may be found 
 in Florio's Vocabolario Italiano ed Inglese, cited by Miss Scott, 
 op.cit., 1916, p. 351. 
 
 Turning now to the particular classes of social influence in 
 which we are especially interested, I shall pass briefly in review 
 Games, Fortune-Telling Books, and Conversation, including 
 "Questions." 
 
 Although it is probable that games were played in England 
 at an early date and that the French ones were carried to En- 
 gland at the time of the Conquest, I have been unable to find 
 any reference to the early games. So far as I can learn the 
 Italian collections were not translated, although they might 
 have been known through the French translation of Ringhieri 
 and Sorel's Recreations galaniesP" 
 
 bitter quarrels with Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe. His works are printed 
 in the Huth Library, and his curious Letter-Book by the Camden Society in 
 1884. The principal references to Italian authors are to be found on pp. 78— 
 79, although there are many other allusions scattered through the work. Har- 
 vey is a staunch defender of the Classics against the rage for Italian authors. 
 He asks in a letter to Spenser (Works edited by Grosart, Vol. I, p. 69) what 
 the news is at Cambridge, and answers the question: "Tully and Demosthenes 
 nothing so much studyed, as they were wonte. . . . Matchiavell a great man : 
 Castilio of no small reputation: Petrarch and Boccace in every mans mouth:: 
 Galateo and Guazzo never so happy: over many acquainted with Unico Are- 
 tino: The French and Italian when so highly regarded of Schollers? The Latine 
 and Greeke, when so lightly?" Harvey's satire (Vol. I, p. 84), "Speculum 
 Tuscanismi," begins thus: 
 
 Since Galateo came in', and Tuscanisme can usurpe, 
 Vanitie above all: Villanie next her, Statelynes Empresse. 
 
 12 We have already seen in Chapter VII, note 61, that Guazzo was trans- 
 lated in 1586. 
 
 "« There are, however, occasional references to games in the literature of 
 the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. In Thomas Lodge's 
 Wits Miserie, 1596 {The Complete Works 0/ Thomas Lodge, Hunterian Club, 
 1883, Vol. IV, p. 47), it is said of "Fornication," one of the "Sevin Devills 
 Incarnat," — a personification of the dissolute gallant: "At Riddles he is good; 
 at Purposes better; but at Tales he hath no equall, for Bandello is more perfit 
 with him than his Paternoster." 
 
 For "Purposes," see this present work. Chapter VI, note 2, Chapter XII, 
 p. 585. I have not considered at any length the use of Riddles as a social 
 diversion; see, however. Chapter VI, notes 30, 31, 32. There is an English 
 collection of riddles of the eighteenth century which I have not been able to 
 see. It is mentioned in the Dictionary of National Biography under Burton, 
 Robert or Richard: Winter Evening Entertainments, containing: I, Ten pleas- 
 ant and delightful Relations, II, Fifty ingenious Riddles. 6th edition, 1757. 
 Although this work was evidently very popular, I have been unable to find a 
 copy in the British Museum or the Bodleian Library, and it is not in the 
 Huth Catalogue. 
 
534 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 There are two games not only mentioned but actually played 
 in detail in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels}^ They both occur 
 in the fourth act, and the first one is the Game of Substantive 
 and Adjective. The company select adjectives which each 
 tells; then some one mentions a substantive, and each player 
 must explain the fitness of his adjective to go with that substan- 
 tive. The second game is called "Crab," for a reason to be 
 stated presently. Another name is "A thing done, and who did 
 it," etc. One of the company imagines a thing done; the others, 
 who did it, with what it was done, where it was done, when it 
 was done, for what cause it was done, what followed upon the 
 doing of it, and who would have done it better. The last begins, 
 hence the name "Crab," because it goes backward. The thing 
 done is not mentioned until all the players have declared who 
 did it, with what it was done, etc. The reader can easily see 
 what an admirable opportunity the game offered for equivocal 
 statements, for at last the thing done is rehearsed in connection 
 with the other declarations. This is the game of Consequences, 
 still played with delight in modern polite society. 
 
 Jonson's play was first acted in 1600, and from this time the 
 influence of Italian Games and other modes of social diversion 
 made itself felt in England, probably through the medium of 
 the French. 
 
 The English forms of these diversions are preserved in a 
 scarce book by Edward Phillips, the nephew of Milton." Ed- 
 
 In Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 (Vol. II, p. 93, ed. Shil- 
 leto, 1893), we read: "The ordinary recreations which we have in Winter, and 
 in most solitary times busy our minds with, are Cards, Tables and Dice, Shovel- 
 board, Chess-play, the Philosopher's game, Small trunks, shuttle-cock, bil- 
 liards, musick, masks, singing, dancing, Yulegames, frolicks, jests, riddles, 
 catches, purposes, questions and commands, merry tales of Errant Knights, 
 Queens, Lovers, Lads, Ladies, Giants, Dwarfs, Thieves, Cheaters, Witches, 
 Fairies, Goblins, Friars, etc., such as the old woman told of Psyche in Apuleius, 
 Boccaccio Novels, and the rest quarum auditione pueri delectantur, senes nar- 
 ratione, which some delight to hear, some to tell, all are well pleased with." 
 
 '' They may be found in the edition of Jonson published in the Mermaid 
 Series, London, 1894, Vol. II, pp. 234, 236. I do not know of any parallels to 
 the two games in Cynthia's Revels. A better edition of Cynthia's Revels may 
 be found in The Works 0} Ben Jonson. Edited by Lt. Col. Francis Cunning- 
 ham. London (1871), 3 vols. None of the editors explain the games in 
 question or have any idea of their source. The same is true also of the latest 
 and most elaborate edition by A. C. Judson in Yale Studies in English, XLV, 
 1912; 
 
 " For Edward and John Phillips, see William Godwin, Lives of Edward and 
 John Philips, nephews and pupils of Milton, London, 1815, and an excellent 
 article by Sidney Lee in the Dictionary of National Biography. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 535 
 
 ward was born in London in 1630 and died probably in 1696. 
 He was carefully educated by his uncle and spent a short time 
 at Oxford. He produced a number of works in the fields of 
 lexicography and history, his only frivolou's book being the 
 one now to be described. The title page is as follows: The 
 Mysteries of Love and Eloquence, or, the Arts of Wooing and Com- 
 plementing; As they are manag'd in the Spring Garden, Hide Park, 
 the New Exchange, and other eminent places. A Work, in which 
 are drawn to the Life, the Deportments of the most accomplisht 
 Persons, the mode of their Courtly Entertainments, Treatments of 
 their Ladies at Balls, their accustom'd Sports, Drolles and Fancies, 
 the Witchcrafts of their perswasive Language, in their Approaches, 
 or other more Secret Dispatches. To compleat the young Practioners 
 of Love and Courtship, these following conducing Helps are chiefly 
 insisted on. Addresses, and set Forms of Expressions for imi- 
 tation; Poems, pleasant Songs, Letters, Proverbs, Riddles, Leasts, 
 Posies, Devices, A la mode Pastimes, A Dictionary for the making 
 of Rhimes, Four hundred and fifty delightful Questions, with their 
 several Answers. As also Epithets and flourishing Similitudes, 
 Alphabetically collected and so properly applied to their several 
 Subjects, that they may be rendered admirably useful on the sudden 
 occasions of Discourse or Writing. Together, with a new invented 
 Art of Logick, so plain and easie by way of Questions and Answers, 
 that the meanest capacity may in a short time attain to a perfection 
 in the wayes of Arguing and Disputing. London. Printed for 
 N. Brooks, at the Angel in Cornhill, 1658. 
 
 The Preface to the Youthful Gentry is signed "Yours, ever 
 to be commanded, E. P." The Epistle Dedicatory runs "To 
 those Cruel Fair ones, that triumph over the distresses of their 
 loyal Lovers, the Author wisheth more Clemency, and to their 
 afflicted Servants, more magnanimity and Roman Fortitude, 
 Briglft Stars of Beauty." 
 
 The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence; or the Arts of Wooing and 
 Complementing, etc., occupy pp. 1-288. Then follows, with a 
 new pagination: Generosi Ludentes. A Description of those 
 Joviall al-a-mode sports and games, that are most celebrated by 
 Persons of Honor, pp. 1-70. 
 
 The following extracts will give some idea of the First Part. 
 Pp. 1-9. "The Mode of Hide Park." A conversation in Hide 
 Park, "In the Ring," p. 6, "The next veriety is that of the 
 
536 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Horse Races, the general Terms of which Art, are expresst in 
 the following Dialogues." Pp. 9 et seq., "The Mode of Balls." 
 P. 13, "After all this, to give a Httle more rest to the Ladies 
 weary limbs, they all take their seats, and a motion is made to 
 go to Questions and Commands, which is by all unanimously 
 consented to." 
 
 The Questions and Commands occupy pp. 13-15. Here are 
 some of them. "It was demanded. Whether of the two wrought 
 the most excusable Love-cure upon themselves, Hero that 
 drown 'd her self, or Phillis that hang'd her self? It was answered, 
 Phillis that hang'd her self, because it may be the nature of 
 some women to love hanging so well, that they had rather hang 
 by the neck than not hang at all." The Question was put, 
 "Whether a wife, beautiful!, or wealthy woman were to be chosen ? 
 The Reply was drawn from the comparison of a Wallnut: For 
 they said. Beauty was like the rinde, presently peel'd off: that 
 a womans Wit was quickly crakt: and that therefore Wealth, 
 which was like the kernel, and brought substance along with 
 it, was to be preferred as best of all." 
 
 The Commands, pp. 14-15, are mostly too obscene to be given; 
 the only decent one is: "Another was commanded to tell, who 
 she loved best in that room." The Gentlemen's Commands are 
 without exception obscene. 
 
 Then follow a large number of model dialogues on the most 
 varied subjects, such as: "An address to a company of ladies; 
 To enter into Discourse with a Lady being in Company; An 
 address to make known an Affection for his Mistress; Addresses 
 of Salutation; The Departure; The Return; The Discourse of 
 a Gentleman bringing his friend into Company; A Visit; To 
 request a Courtesie; To give thanks for a Courtesie received; 
 To invite a Friend to Dinner; Another form of Invitation; 
 Before Dinner; After Dinner; To take leave of his Friends Wife; 
 To take leave of a Lady with whom you are familiar ; A Private 
 Intercourse between the Trunk-breech 'd Page and the waiting 
 Gentle-woman in her Ladies Chamber." There is a reference 
 in this obscene dialogue to a game "Can play at hoop all hid." 
 
 A collection of lyrical poems fills pp. 55-109, and is followed 
 by forms for letters, "Posies for Rings," proverbs with brief 
 remarks and comments, and, pp. 165-184, "Natural, Amorous, 
 Moral, Experimental, Paradoxical, Enigmatical, Jesting, and 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 537 
 
 Jovial Questions, with their several Answers and Solutions." 
 Here are some familiar ones: "Why do the Poets bestow Arrows 
 on Cupid? To signify how desperately love wounds. Why is 
 Cupid painted a Childe? To signifie the youthfulness that 
 should attend a lover, as also, that for the toy and knack of his 
 light affections, he will love the accomplishment of his weightiest 
 fortunes. Why is love painted naked? To shew that all the 
 acts and deeds of love ought to be open, such as are free from 
 treachery or dissimulation. Whether is the man or woman more 
 constant in love? The man, as he is of a more firm body and 
 spirit. Why is Cupid pictured blinde? Because he uses in the 
 dark to play at BHnd-man-buff." 
 
 Several pages, 185-190, are devoted to "Wit and Language. 
 Set Forms of Expression inserted for imitation." Here are a 
 few examples: "A kiss is but a minute's joy; Your words are 
 Delphian oracles; Your wit hath too much edge; You are a 
 flame of beauty ; You are the star I reach at ; I will unrip my very 
 bosom to you ; You wrap me up in wonder." 
 
 Of a somewhat similar character are the "Select Sentences" 
 which come after: "Nothing is hard to them that dare to die; 
 When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks; The worst 
 deeds are made good with good success, etc." 
 
 Considerable space is devoted to "A Dictionary for the more 
 expeditious finding out of any Rime, being useful for that pleasing 
 Pastime called Crambo." 
 
 The First Part concludes, pp. 222-228, with "The Art of 
 Reason in the Art of Logick. Rendered so plain and easie by 
 Questions and Answers, that the meanest Capacity may in a 
 short time attain to. the perfect wayes of Arguing or Disputing." 
 This is an art of Logic in the form of questions and answers, 
 and seems to be a perfectly serious work. 
 
 The Second Part, the title of which has been given above, be- 
 gins with "A brief e Description of the sport of Crosse Purposes. 
 Every one round the Company are to whisper their Questions 
 about, which are to be conceal'd, till every Question is gone 
 round, and afterwards every man is to tell aloud what Question 
 he was askt, and what answer was given him to his Question; 
 it maybe in more, but I will onely for brevity give you a plain 
 example in three Persons." Unfortunately the example can 
 not be quoted here." 
 
 " A similar game is described in Bargagli, p. 22, "Giuoco del Proposito." 
 
538 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Next comes "The Description of the Sport called the Lovers 
 Alphabet.^* First it must be said, what good quality a Mistresse 
 is to be loved for; Secondly, what bad qualities she is to be hated 
 for; Thirdly, her name; Fourthly, what part about her you love 
 best; Fifthly, what signe you invited her to; Sixthly, what dish 
 of meat you treated her with. This may be done successively 
 by all the Company throughout the Alphabet. I will only 
 instance a plain example in the letter A. First, I love my Love 
 with an A, because she is Amiable. Secondly, I hate her with 
 an A, because she is Apish. Thirdly, her name is Alcinda. 
 Fourthly, the best part about her is her Arme. Fifthly, I 
 invited her to the signe of the Artichoak. Sixthly I gave her 
 a dish of Asparagus." 
 
 The sport of Questions and Commands has been described 
 above, and the sport of "Crambo" is contained in the Dictionary 
 of Rhymes. 
 
 The Description of the sport of the Bird in a Tree:^' "First, 
 the name of the Tree ; Secondly, the name of the Bird ; Thirdly, 
 what the Bird said, all of which must begin with the same letter; 
 as for example, though it may be done throughout the whole 
 Alphabet, I will only give an instance in P. Going through an 
 Orchard, I spyed a Peacock which sat upon a Plum-Tree, and 
 cryed Peeter, Plucket, Placket." 
 
 The Description of the sport of Gliphing: "It chiefly con- 
 sists in the quick pronouncing of a sentence hard to be uttered 
 without a wanton or some other unlucky kind of merry mistake, 
 it runs chiefly with one letter of the Alphabet; as for example, 
 the Cock sat at the barn door picking. Poppy Cock, Pick Poppy, 
 etc., the severall gamsters posting through the Letters of the 
 Alphabet by turnes, as fast as they can speak, that the mistakes 
 may the sooner provoke laughter."'^ 
 
 We have seen that Ben Jonson inserted two games in his 
 play of Cynthia's Revels; both of them are given also by Phillips 
 in full without any acknowledgment of the debt to Jonson. 
 
 " This well known game is in Sorel, p. 90, so far as the alphabetical enu- 
 meration of the loved one's qualities is concerned. Some of the other features 
 of the game, as, desirable and undesirable qualities, and, part loved best, are 
 also found in Bargagli, pp. 174, 62. 
 
 " A similar game is found in Ascanio de Mori's Giuoco Piacevole; see Chap- 
 ter VI, p. 317. 
 
 ''This familiar diversion is mentioned in Bargagli, p. 37, "Giuoco del Bis- 
 ticcio." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 539 
 
 The above are all the games in the work we are examining. 
 The remainder of the book is partly taken up with "The Triall 
 of Wits, a new invented Alphabet of Epithets, properly applyed 
 to their severall subjects, that they may be rendered no less 
 usefull on the suddain occasions of discourse, or writing, then 
 delightfully pleasant in the witty sport commonly named Sub- 
 stantives and Adjectives." An example or two will suffice. 
 "Aspect, — ^Smiling, favourable, sad, Tragicall, sterne, grim, 
 gracious, generous, winning. Allurements, — ^Sweet, false, flatter- 
 ing, lovely, deceitfull, attractive, wooing, Sirenian, inveighing, 
 Cozening, Treacherous," and so on throughout the whole al- 
 phabet. 
 
 The final article in the book, pp. 49-70, is "A Garden of Tulips, 
 or the Pleasant Prospect. An Alphabetical Collection, beautified 
 with flourishing Similitudes and Comparisons, for the better 
 imitation, admirably applied to their several Subjects." Here 
 are a few of these similitudes relating to Anger. "Anger is 
 blood poured, and perplexed into a froth. Reason to rage is 
 like bands to a sore, which often stroking, makes the anguish 
 more. Anger is like a deadly weapon : we hear his voice before 
 it doeth execution, and then we arm. So looks the chafed Lion 
 on the daring Hunts-man that hath galled him, then makes him 
 nothing. As a savage Bore (that hunted long assail'd and set 
 upon) with his onely eyes swimming in fire, keeps off his braying 
 hounds, though sunk himself, yet holds his anger up, and shows 
 it forth in foam; makes firm his stand of battailous bristles, 
 feeds his fate to die, and whets his tusks with wrathful majesty; 
 So fares a furious Anger. Anger is like a full hot horse, who being 
 allowed his way, his self mettal tires him." Then follows 
 Ambition, treated in the same fashion. 
 
 Edward Phillips's work enjoyed a certain success, a third 
 edition being printed in 1685, with a few additions in the sec- 
 tion devoted to lyrical poems. 
 
 The Huth Catalogue says "there is a reissue of this work, 
 under the title The Beau's Academy." This work I have been 
 unable to find and I am inclined to believe that the writer of this 
 note had in mind The Academy of Complements, a work which 
 enjoyed the greatest favor and of which there are many editions. 
 I am convinced that Edward Phillips not only obtained the idea 
 of his own book from this work, but that The Mysteries of Love 
 
540 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and Eloquence is nothing but a rijacimento of The Academy of 
 Complements. The full title of the latter work is: The Academy 
 of Complements. Wherein Ladyes, Gentlewomen, Schollers, and 
 Strangers may accommodate their Courtly Practice with most curious 
 Ceremonies, Complementall, Amorous, High expressions, and 
 formes of speaking, or writing, A work perused and most exactly 
 perfected by the Author with Additions of witty Amorous Poems, 
 And a Table expounding the hard English words. London , Printed 
 by T. B. for H. Mosley, and are to bee sold at his Shop at the 
 Princes Armes, in S. Pauls Church-Yard. 1640. 
 
 The prefatory matter consists of the dedication to the "Ladyes 
 and Gentlewomen of England," the author's preface to the reader, 
 signed "Yours, Philomusus." Then follows: " The Academy of 
 Complements, or, Pearles of Eloquence," occupying pp. 1-255. 
 After this is a "Table for the understanding of the hard English 
 words contained in this work." The imprimatur is signed 
 "Matth. Clay, Septem. the loth, 1639." 
 
 We have space to mention only a part of the contents. P. 41 : 
 The Academy of Complements. Choice and faire Flowers, 
 Selected out of the Garden of Eloquence, to adorne our language 
 with variety of expressions upon severall occasions. Pp. 124-128 : 
 Questions with their answers resolving the doubts of Lovers. 
 "What is Love? It is the receptacle of pensive mindes, a passion 
 that bindes the spirits. What is the greatest recompence a 
 woman can make a man? To reveale to him her secrets, and 
 make him Lord over her body. How must a man behave him- 
 selfe amongst Ladyes? He must be bold and hardy. Why 
 is Love painted blind? Because the actions of love cannot be 
 hid or dissembled. Why do lovers wax pale? From the pas- 
 sions of the mind. Why doe they picture Cupid with wings? 
 Because the desires of Lovers do tend alwayes to high things. 
 Wherefore do the Ancients paint Love with flowers in one hand 
 and fish in another? To shew that Love is Lord both of Sea and 
 Land .1^" Whether is more constant in Love , the man or the wom- 
 an? The man, being both of body and spirit more firme." Pp. 
 129-149: Complementall and Amorous Poems. Encomions 
 on the Beauty of his Mistresse ; A wooing fit in verse, etc. Pp. 
 153-155: A contention betweene a Wife, a Widow, and a 
 Maide. Pp. 159-175: Complementall and Amourous Letters 
 
 "»See Chap. VI, note 22; Chap. VIII, note 16; and Chap. XI, note 7. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 541 
 
 (in verse). Pp. 176-179: Phrases for the beginnings of Letters, 
 for our greater speede in our urgent occasions. Pp. 179-245: 
 The Garden-Knot of faire and rare Letters of Complements. 
 Pp. 245-255: Stiles and Tearmes used to the King, or Queenes 
 Majesty, either in our Speech, or in Superscriptions of Petitions 
 directed to them. Divisions of Letters. Superscriptions, with 
 Subscriptions adjoyned to them, as they are most properly 
 applyed. For the Readers greater pleasure and variety, these 
 Subscriptions onely are here placed by themselves. 
 
 A relatively late reference to Parlor Games in England is 
 found in The Spectator, No. 499, October 2, 1712. This is the 
 number contributed by Will Honeycomb, containing an account 
 of a dispute in a company of very agreeable young people of 
 both sexes, whether there were not more bad husbands in the 
 world than bad wives. One of the company, a gentleman, 
 told the famous story of the siege of Hensberg, where the women 
 of the city were allowed to depart out of it with so much as each 
 of them could carry. When the women came out each had her 
 husband on her back. 
 
 The writer then continues: "As we were amusing ourselves 
 with discourses of this nature, in order to pass away the evening, 
 wjiich now begins to grow tedious, we fell into that laudable 
 and primitive diversion of questions and commands. I was no 
 sooner vested with the regal authority, but I enjoyned all the 
 ladies, under pain of my displeasure, to tell the company in- 
 genuously, in case they had been in the siege above-mentioned, 
 and had the same offers made them as the good women of that 
 place, what every one of them would have brought off with her, 
 and have thought most worth the saving. There were several 
 merry answers made to my question, which entertained us till 
 bed-time." 
 
 It is now time to pass to the diversion of Fortune-telling in 
 England. As early as the thirteenth century a game was there 
 played called "Ragman," which Wright supposes was played as 
 follows:'^ Fortunes were "written one after another on a roll 
 of parchment, that to each stanza a string was attached at the 
 side, with a seal or piece of metal or wood at the end, and that, 
 when used, the parchment was rolled up, with all the strings and 
 their seals hanging together so that the drawer had no reason for 
 
 " See Thomas Wright's Anecdota literaria, London, 1844, pp. 76, 82. 
 
542 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 choosing one more than another, but drew one of the strings by 
 mere chance, on which the roll was opened to see on what stanza 
 he had fallen." Wright gives two examples, one in French of 
 the thirteenth century, the other in English of the fifteenth. 
 
 We have studied in earlier chapters the Italian and French 
 forms of Fortune-telling Books. These passed into England 
 by means of translations from both the French and Italian. 
 Jean de Meung's work was translated under the following title: 
 The Dodechedron of Fortune; or, The Exercise of a Quick Wit. 
 A Book so rarely and strangely composed, that giveth after a most 
 admirable manner a pleasant and ingenious answer to every de- 
 mand; the like whereof hath not heretofore beene published in our 
 English Tongue. Being first composed in French by lohn de 
 Meun, one of the most worthie and famous Poets of his time; and. 
 dedicated to the French King Charles the first, and by him, for the 
 worth and rhritie thereof, verie much countenanced, used and pri- 
 viledged; And now, for the content of our Countrey-men, Englished 
 by Sr. W. B. Knight. The use of the Booke the Preface annexed 
 declareth. London. Printed by lohn Pindley, for H. H. and S. 
 M. and are to be sold at his Shop in Paules Church -yard, at the 
 Signe of the Ball. 1613. The book is a close and exact trans- 
 lation of the French original. The English translator has only 
 added "The Translator to the Reader." Here are a few of the 
 verse translations: 
 
 Ceste nourrisse est fantastique, 
 Et a son lait trop colerique. 
 
 This nurse is humrous, and is most fantasticke, 
 And thereby her milke, will prove most collerique. 
 
 II est enclin pour entreprendre 
 A follement son bien despendre. 
 
 He is most inclined, to adventures strange, 
 And so his estate, to poverty shall change. 
 
 Ses ennemis ont grand puissance, 
 Peu luy vauldra sa resistence. 
 
 All his enemies are mightie great and strong. 
 And so his resistance shall bring but more wrong. 
 
 In addition to the above translation of Jean de Meung's Dode- 
 chedron, there was also a version of Lorenzo Spirito's Libro delh 
 Ventura, already described in Chapter VI. The English transla- 
 tion bears the following title : The Book of Fortune, Being mar- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 543 
 
 vellous for the Invention, pleasant to be read or heard, and in many 
 things very profitable to be understood. Fit for honest Recreation 
 after more serious Affairs or Studies, and necessary to drive away 
 evil Thoughts and Fantacies, wherewith many are oppressed. First 
 written in Italian, after translated into English, and now newly com- 
 pared in all the parts thereof, and much amended. London, 
 Printed on M. Flesher, and are to besold by H. Sawbridge at the 
 Bible on Ludgate-Hill, 1686. The book is a folio in black letter, 
 without pagination, but containing in all fifty leaves including 
 the title. 
 
 On the reverse of the title are the twenty questions answered 
 in the book: "If thy Life shall be fortunate or not; In what man- 
 ner thou shalt die; If the Law shall apply to thy mind; If thy 
 Wife be good or bad; If thy husband be good or bad; If thy 
 sovereign Lady love thee; If it be good to take thy Journey; 
 If it be good to wed a Wife; If it be good to take a husband; If 
 thy people love thee or not; If thy land will yield much Fruit 
 and Seed ; If thou shalt win in merchandise ; If thy thought may 
 come to effect; How many Husbands a Woman unwedded shall 
 have; If thou shalt escape from Tribulation; If a Wench be a 
 pure Maid or not; How many wishes a Man shall have; If Love 
 lost may be gotten again; If a Woman shall bring forth a Boy 
 or Wench; If a Theft may be found again." 
 
 There are a few changes in the figures or characters employed ; 
 e.g., under the "Kings" instead of the signs the ancient philoso- 
 phers are used, as Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Plato, etc. 
 After the philosophers come the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, 
 etc. Finally come "Astronomers," a remarkable crowd, whose 
 names are probably unknown to most readers. They are: 
 "Tolo, Fircu, Abos, Aram, Teon, Bora, Basi, Nael, Dorot, Talen, 
 Assot, Sari, Alchi, Maer, Boca, Acha, Haly, Sey, Orda, and 
 Ose." 
 
 Edward Phillips, whose Mysteries of Love and Eloquence has 
 been examined above, had a brother John, born in 163 1, who 
 lived until 1706. He was a hack writer and translated among 
 other things many of the French Heroic Romances. At the 
 close of 1659, he published a satirical pamphlet called Montelion, 
 1660: Or, the Prophetical Almanack, etc., the object of which 
 was to promote the recall of the Stuarts. It was perhaps this 
 pseudo-astrological work which led Phillips some fourteen years 
 
544 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 later to print a rifacimento of The Book of Fortune, under the 
 title: The English Fortune-Tellers : containing several necessary 
 Questions resolved by the ablest Ancient Philosophers and Modern 
 Astrologers. Gathered from their writings and manuscripts, By 
 J. P. Student in Astrology. Licensed and entered according 
 to order. London, Printed for E. Brocksby . . . 1703. The 
 book is a quarto of 148 pages.^" 
 
 Godwin in his life of the two brothers, says, p.- 305, "Upon 
 due examination of the work I see no reason to doubt, that the 
 initials, J. P., represent John Phillips, one of the subjects of the 
 present narrative. The Advertisement prefixed to it reminds 
 us strongly of the publications under the name of Montelion 
 forty [read, fourteen] years before; and when we combine this 
 circumstance with the signature of the author, the unforced and 
 probable construction will be that they are both the production 
 of the same pen." Godwin gives a detailed account of the 
 work without suspecting its origin until the close of his book. 
 Then in an appendix, he states that it is founded on Lorenzo 
 Spirito's work, and adds, "A translation of this work into En- 
 glish lies before me, called 'The Book of Fortune,' in folio, 
 printed for Brabazon Aylmer, 1698. . . . John Phillips may be 
 considered as having in a great degree cast the work into a new 
 mould. He has enlarged the number of questions from twenty 
 to twenty-four; his kings are of a much more humorous and 
 whimsical cast; the philosophers in the old book are the most 
 eminent Greeks and Romans (Socrates, Plato, Solon, Thales), 
 and in his are mostly taken from the Arabians and the dark ages; 
 and the Astronomers (for so they are called in his model) are 
 perhaps all of them imaginary, while his Astrologers are almost 
 without exception the Almanac-makers about the period in which 
 he wrote. The verses, in which the response is returned to the 
 trembling enquirer, are in the old book in an eight syllable metre, 
 except in such examples as have a syllable redundant, or a syllable 
 wanting; and in John Phillips's comparatively smooth verses 
 are uniformly in a ten syllable metre." 
 
 Here are two of Phillips's verses: 
 
 ^'' This excessively rare boolc^I believe only one copy is known — was in the 
 possession of Mr. Quaritch, the famous bookseller of London, who courteously 
 allowed my friend the late Mr. G. W. Harris, former Librarian of Cornell 
 University, to examine it for me. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 545 
 
 Thou shalt to middle age attain 
 Sometime thou shalt have joy and sometime pain. 
 The Smiles of Fortune thou shalt often have 
 But never carry them unto thy grave. 
 
 My friend, three years I say must come and go 
 Before thou any happiness shalt know, 
 Think them not long, for they once past, a wife 
 Fair, young, and rich shall happy make thy life. 
 
 In the early part of this chapter I have described a number of 
 works which were imitations of the Filocolo and Decameron, 
 representing the diversions of a company of ladies and gentle- 
 men, involving story-telling and the discussioh of "questions" 
 relating to love. The use in England of such discussions, not 
 as a part of such works of fiction, are referred to from time to 
 time. In Hall's Chronicle (s. a. 1527), we are told that to enter- 
 tain the king and court "two persones plaied a dialog, theffect 
 whereof was whether riches were better than love. "2°" 
 
 The most interesting of these references occurs in Thomas 
 Lodge's A Margarite of America, written in 1592 while the author 
 was in the straits of Magellan on a privateering expedition under 
 the command of Thomas Cavandish. He says in his address 
 "To the Gentlemen Readers" (ed. Hunterian Club, Vol. Ill), 
 "Some four years since being at sea with M. Candish it was my 
 chance in the library of the Jesuits in Sanctum [Santos, Brazil] 
 to find this historic in the Spanish tongue, which as I read de- 
 lighted me, and delighting me, won me, and winning me, made 
 me write it." The work, as we shall presently see, shows evi- 
 dent signs of Italian imitation, and contains various poetical 
 compositions imitated from Dolce and other Italian poets. 
 What the particular Spanish work was which suggested the 
 Margarite of America has not been discovered, but some of its 
 features are plainly copied from Italian sources. I shall now 
 give an analysis of this little-known work, which Mr. Gosse 
 (Introduction to the edition in the Hunterian Club, reprinted in 
 Seventeenth-Century Studies, London, 1883, pp. 3-4) says is 
 perhaps, with the exception of the Rosalynde and the Phillis, 
 the work of Lodge's which will best reward the ordinary reader. 
 
 ^O" Professor Joseph Quincy Adams has called my attention to two plays 
 by John Heywood (born about 1497 and dead before 1587): The Play of Love 
 (1533)1 and A Dialogue concerning Witty and Witless (date not known), in 
 which are debated the "questions": "Whether loving not loved; or loved not 
 loving, is the case most painful in suffering"; and whether "it is better to be 
 a fool, than a wise man." 
 36 
 
546 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Unfortunately Mr. Gosse's analysis is very brief and inadequate 
 and overlooks entirely the most interesting features of the 
 work. 
 
 The story opens with an approaching battle between two 
 emperors, Protomachus of Mosco and Artosogon of Cusco, 
 over the sovereignty of the city of Mantinea. Just as the battle 
 is to begin, Arsinous, an old man, bearing the image of the 
 Gods in his arms, advances into the field between the two armies 
 and utters a long harangue on the folly and wickedness of war, 
 and ends by proposing a settlement of the quarrel by the marriage 
 of Protoroachus' only daughter to Artosogon's only son. The 
 proposal is accepted and Artosogon withdraws to his court to 
 make proper provision for sending his son Arsadachus to Mos- 
 covia. Protomachus retires with his daughter Margarita to 
 a castle of Arsinous, elaborately described. There Margarita 
 finds and loves Philenia, the daughter of Arsinous, betrothed 
 to Minecius. 
 
 Meanwhile, Artosogon makes preparations to send his son to 
 Mosco and dismisses him with a prolix address full of advice 
 as to his behavior at the court of Protomachus. No sooner has 
 Arsadachus arrived there than he falls in love with Philenia and 
 plots with two dissolute noblemen, Thebion and Brasidas, 
 to surprise Philenia and Minecius on their wedding journey and 
 kill the latter. The wedding is described at length and the 
 subsequent attack upon the newly married couple in which 
 both are slain. Suspicion falls upon Arsadachus' attendant 
 Brasidas, who, as had been arranged, had filed after the murder 
 of Minecius and Philenia. To prevent possible betrayal by 
 Thebion and a page of Philenia 's who had discovered Arsadachus' 
 treachery, Arsadachus reveals to the emperor Protomachus a 
 pretended conspiracy involving Thebion and Arsinous. The 
 former is put to death, the latter banished from the court, and 
 the page's tongue cut out and his eyes blinded. 
 
 Arsinous retires to a cave in a solitary spot where he resolves 
 "to spend the residue of his days in studies, praying to the gods 
 continually for revenge." 
 
 Protomachus in his gratitude to Arsadachus for saving his 
 life, as he believes, gives in his honor a tournament, described 
 in the usual elaborate manner. On the third day, after the 
 bestowal of the honors won in the jousts, the emperor gives a 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 547 
 
 banquet, and after the tables have been removed, the guests 
 begin to dance. During a pause in the entertainment, a very- 
 characteristic dialogue takes place between Arsadachus and 
 Margarita. "Princess," says he, "by what means might love 
 be discovered if speech were not?" "By the eyes (my lord, 
 said she), which are the keys of desire, which both open the way 
 for love to enter, and lock him up when he is let in." "How 
 hap then (said he) that Cupid among the poets is fained blind?" 
 "In that (my lord, quoth she) he was masked to poets' memorie; 
 and you know that falcons against they fly, are hooded, to make 
 them more fierce and clearer sighted, and so was love, which 
 was blindfold at first (in the opinion of Poets) who never could 
 see him rightly until they felt his eye in their hearts." "Why 
 sticketh he his eye in their hearts?" "I had thought (madam) 
 it had been his arrow," says Arsadachus. "Why his eyes are 
 his arrows," quoth the princess, "(or I mistake his shooting;) 
 for the last time he leveled at me he hit me with a look." 
 
 Arsadachus continued his discourse in the next pause: "Mad- 
 am, if love wound by the eye, how healeth he?" "By the eye 
 (my lord, said she) having the property of Achilles' sword to 
 quell and recure." "Then gracious lady," quoth the prince, 
 "since love hath wounded me by your looks, let them recover 
 me, otherwise shall I blame both love's cruelty and your judg- 
 ment." Margarita replied thus: "Great prince, if mine eyes 
 have procured your offence, I will pluck them out for their 
 folly; and if love hath shot them for his shafts, I beshrew him, 
 for the last time they looked on you, they left my heart in you." 
 "In me , mistress ? ' ' quoth Arsad achus . ' ' Yea , in you , my lord , " 
 quoth Margarita. "Can you then live heartless?" (said the 
 prince). "Yea, since hopeless," replied she. "This said, the 
 music cut oS their merry talk, and the sudden disease of the 
 Emperor brake up the pastimes." 
 
 The following day the Earl Asaphus gave a feast and invited 
 Margarita and Arsadachus and the best princes and ladies of 
 the Court, by the Emperor's consent, "to make a merry festival." 
 After the banquet Asaphus took his guests to a cool arbor, 
 "covered with roses and honisuckles, paved with camamile, 
 pinks and violets, guarded with two pretty crystal fountains 
 on every side, which made the place more cool, and the soil 
 more fruitful." There Asaphus was chosen by the company 
 
548 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 to direct the sports of the occasion, and took the highest seat, 
 having placed the ladies opposite their lovers. He then said: 
 "But to our purpose, since love is the affection that leadeth us, 
 at him will we level our fancies, canvassing this question amongst 
 us, whether he so best worketh, by the eye, the touch, or the ear, 
 for of the five senses I think these three are most forcible."' 
 Asaphus then commands Arsadachus to begin. 
 
 The question is debated by the ladies and gentlemen of the 
 company and Asaphus concludes the discussion with these words: 
 "Leave your talk, and shut me all these three senses in one, and 
 then tell me the felicity, when the eye shall give earnest of the 
 heart, the heart take comfort by the ear, the words we have 
 heard, and the sights we have seen confirmed by touch, this is 
 the love I had rather have in my arms than hear it in this place 
 discoursed by argument." 
 
 The emperor, owing to his increasing illness, was anxious to 
 hasten the marriage of his daughter to Arsadachus and betrothed 
 her to him in a public assembly of the nobility, fixing the wedding 
 for the seventeenth calends of March. The fickle Arsadachus 
 was imagining how he could break off his engagement, when 
 he was recalled to his father's court by the illness of the emperor, 
 who was anxious to see his son and establish him in his succession. 
 Protomachus much against his will was obliged to dismiss 
 Arsadachus, who parted from his betrothed with feigned sorrow. 
 Margarita was so overcome by her sincere grief that she "fell 
 in a swoon and her ladies could hardly recover life in her." 
 When she came to her senses she remembered a precious box 
 set with emeralds which Arsinous had given her, with the charge 
 to keep the same until such time as he she loved best should 
 depart from her. So she sent the same as a present to Arsad- 
 achus, beseeching him as he loved her, never to open the box 
 until such time as he began in any sort to forget her, for such 
 counsel Arsinous had given her. This present was delivered to 
 the prince when he was mounting on horse, who promised care- 
 fully to keep it. After Arsadachus had departed the lovesick 
 Margarita laid aside her rich garments, shut herself up in a 
 melancholy tower, and watched for her lover's return. 
 
 The false Arsadachus, on the contrary, had no sooner reached 
 home than he fell desperately in love with Diana, the daughter 
 of Argias, Duke of Moravia, who encouraged Arsadachus' suit 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 549 
 
 and counselled him how to break off his engagement to Mar- 
 garita and how to appease the emperor Artosogon. The course 
 of this love affair, with its letters and poems, is narrated in great 
 detail. The affair is at last discovered by the emperor, who, 
 in his rage, orders Diana's father to be torn in pieces "at the tails 
 of four wild horses," and his mangled members to be sent as a 
 present to the unhappy daughter. 
 
 Arsadachus, in his fury at this act, thrusts his father from his 
 throne, orders his tongue to be cut out, and the right hand 
 with which he had signed the decree of Argias' death to be cut 
 off, apparels him in a fool's coat, and exposes him to the derision 
 of the nobles of Cusco. Fortunately the sorrow of the unhappy 
 emperor and his wife soon ended in their death. 
 
 Meanwhile, Arsadachus called Diana to his court and honored 
 her as a goddes,s, writing in her praise poems imitated from various 
 Italian and French poets. While all this was going on at the 
 court of Cusco, Margarita fled secretly with a faithful follower, 
 Fawnia, and was on her way to Cusco when a lion devoured 
 Fawnia but left Margarita unharmed. At this moment, Ar- 
 sinous, who was studying magic in his melancholy cell, finding by 
 reason of the aspect of the planets, that the hour of his revenge 
 was at hand, and the place was Cusco, set out for this city and 
 came across Margarita with the lion's head in her lap. She 
 stole softly away and joined Arsinous, whom she did not recognize. 
 She refused to disclose herself to him and he had recourse to a 
 magic vision, in which the semblance of Arsadachus led Mar- 
 garita to reveal herself. The two continued their way to Cusco, 
 Arsinous from time to time "reading in his book," and con- 
 juring up pavilions and servants and food. They soon drew 
 near to the city of Cusco and learned that the coronation of 
 Arsadachus was to take place the next day. Margarita by 
 Arsinous' counsel stayed at a castle so wrought by art that 
 "although Margarita had a desire to hear tidings of Arsadachus, 
 yet made she no question of him all the time of her abode there." 
 
 The coronation procession is then described in great detail, 
 but the coronation is dismissed in a few words. The royal 
 couple returned to the palace and after a repast, Arsadachus 
 remembered Margarita and her parting present, and sent for the 
 box, "merrily jesting with Diana, and saying that the empress of 
 Mosco deserved so small a remembrance." The box was brought 
 
550 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 to him and no sooner was it opened, "but (see the judgment of 
 just heaven) a sudden flame issued thereout, which with a hideous 
 odor so bestraught Arsadachus of his senses, that thrusting 
 the tables from him, and overthrowing whatsoever encountered 
 him, he brake out from his seat, cursing the heavens, rending 
 his embalmed hair, tearing his royal vestures." When his eyes 
 fell upon Brasidas, his accomplice in the murder of Philenia 
 and Minecius, he took a huge bowl of wine and crying out, "I 
 drink to Philenia whom thou murderedst," dashed out Brasidas' 
 brains with it. Then he snatched up a carving knife and rushing 
 upon Diana "slit up the poor innocent lady's body," and seizing 
 her heart, "he tare it in pieces with his tyrannous teeth, crying, 
 Sic itur ad astra." After a time he entered "the secrets of his 
 palace, and finding there a young son which his Diana had bred 
 and he begotten, he took it by the legs, battering out the brains 
 thereof against the walls." 
 
 By this time Arsinous and Margarita had entered the city and 
 learned what had happened. Margarita "began wofully to 
 exclaim, till she was pacified by Arsinous, who told her that the 
 nature of the medicine which he gave her was such, that if Ar- 
 sadachus were constant to her, it would increase his affection; if 
 false, it would procure madness: to which effect, since the matter 
 was brought, it could not be but the young Emperor had wronged 
 her." With these persuasions he drew her to the palace, where 
 "thrusting through the press Arsinous thought himself happy 
 to see such a revenge wrought on his enemy." 
 
 Margarita could not refrain from breaking through the guard 
 and rushing up to Arsadachus addressed him with pitiful words. 
 At sight of her his madness revived and taking her for Diana, 
 he snatched a sword from "the sheath of one of those who minis- 
 tered fast by him, and ran Margarita quite through the body, 
 and fled to his private chamber." The poor princess even when 
 death began to arrest her, pursued him, and as she "endeavoured 
 to utter her moans, fell down dead on the floor." 
 
 Arsinous "wofully bewept her" and in the presence of the 
 princes of Cusco "discovered what she was." They began to 
 be afraid that the Emperor of Mosco should revenge her death at 
 their hands and consulted how to shut up Arsadachus until 
 Protomachus were informed of what had happened. This they 
 were able to do as they found Arsadachus on his bed and soundly 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 551 
 
 sleeping, "enforced thereunto by the industry and art of Ar- 
 sinous," who caused the ministers to gather up the mangled 
 members and cover them with a rich cloth of gold, and after- 
 wards seeing all the courtiers attentive, he addressed to them a 
 long harangue, in which he exhorted, them to punish Arsadachus 
 for his crimes. 
 
 When he had finished there grew a great muttering among 
 the nobility which awoke the emperor. He called on his ser- 
 vants to open the door of his chamber and when he saw what he 
 had done, he threw himself down upon the mangled members of 
 Diana and the dead body of Margarita, washing them in his 
 tears and breaking out into bitter words. Then he tore his 
 eyes out before his subjects, who in vain endeavoured to pacify 
 him. At last he groped among the dead bodies and found the 
 weapon with which he slew Margarita, "wherewith piercing his 
 hated body he breathed his last to the general benefit of all the 
 Cuscans," who to pacify the Emperor Protomachus (who, as 
 they understood, had levied a huge army), "after they had 
 interred their slain emperor with his fair love, bestowed honorable 
 funeral on the princess Margarita, on whose sepulchre, as also 
 on that of Diana's, Arsinous wrote epitaphs." 
 
 When the emperor of Mosco arrived at Cusco and was in- 
 formed of what had occurred, he lamented his daughter with 
 bitter tears, "and upon the earnest submission of the Cuscans, 
 spoiled not their confines, but possessing himself of the empire, 
 he placed Arsinous governor of the same, whom upon the 
 earnest reconcilement and motion of the Princes, he took to 
 favor, being certified of his wrong and innocencie; which done, 
 he returned to Mosco, there spending the remnant of his days in 
 continuall complaints of his Margarita." 
 
 We have seen above that Lodge expressly states that he found 
 his story in a Spanish book in the Library of the Jesuits at Santos 
 in Brazil. No Spanish work has yet been discovered with any 
 resemblance to the Margarite of America, and the tone of Lodge's 
 novel is far more like that of certain Italian books. The dis- 
 cussion of "questions" at banquets, the endless debates on love, 
 are, as we have seen above, peculiarly Italian, and are found in 
 books which must have been known to Lodge. Finally, the 
 tragic plot of the novel is characteristic of the Italian novelle 
 of the sixteenth century, a characteristic which goes back to 
 the Decameron. 
 
552 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Turning finally to the rubric "Questions," we shall not find 
 any works in English devoted to this topic as we have found in 
 Italy and France. Still it is clear from what has already been 
 said that ' ' questions "were in common use during the Elizabethan 
 period and later. As early as 1566 the Quattro Libri de' Dubbi of 
 Ortensio Lando was translated into English from the French 
 version made a few years before. The English translation bears 
 the following title : Delectable demaundes, and pleasaunt Questions, 
 with their severall Aunswers, in matters of Love, Natural causes, 
 with Morall and politique devises. Newely translated out of Frenche 
 into Englishe, this present yere of our Lorde God. 1566. Im- 
 printed at London in Paules Churchyarde by John Cawood for 
 Nicholas Englande. This translation was received with favor, 
 for it was reprinted thirty years later by Thomas Creede, 1596. 
 
 That the EngHsh were fond of. "Questions" in the sixteenth 
 century is also shown by a very rare book entitled: Cyvile and 
 Uncyvile Life. A discourse very profitable, pleamnt and fit to 
 read of all Nobilitie and Gentlemen. Where, in forme of a Dialogue 
 is disputed, what order of lyfe best beseemeth a Gentleman in all 
 ages and times: aswel for education, as the course of his whole 
 life : to make him a parson fit for the publigue service of his prince 
 and Countrey, and for the quiet, and cumlynesse of his owne private 
 estate and callinge. Imprinted at London by Richard Jones, 
 and are to bee solde at his shop over agaynst Sainct Sepulchers 
 Church. 1579. There was a later edition: "Imprinted at 
 London, by Richard lones: dwelling at the signe of the Rose 
 and Crowne neere unto Holborne Bridge, 1586." In a manu- 
 script note in the Huth copy Mr. Halliwell says: "No book 
 of the period known to me contains so curious an account of 
 old English country life. The list of games in vogue and the 
 books then read in country houses at signature H4. is specially 
 curious." The copy in the British Museum which I have used 
 is of the first edition and contains 48 folios. "The Argument 
 and occasion of this Dialogue," p. 4, begins as follows: "It 
 happened (as ofte it doth) that diverse Gentlemen beeinge con- 
 vited to dyne togeathers: Among many other thinges, they 
 chaunced to fall in speeche of the Countrey and Courtly lyves, 
 reasoninge whyther it were better for the Gentlemen of England 
 to make most abode in their Countrey houses (as our English 
 manner is) or els ordinaryly to inhabite the Citties and cheefe 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 553 
 
 Townes, as in some foraine Nations is the custome. These 
 Gentlemen as they were diversly disposed and used, so were 
 their opinions of this matter likewise differinge," etc. 
 
 One of the interlocutors, Vincent, who defends the side of 
 country life, at the point referred to above by Mr. Halliwell, 
 gives the following interesting description of English country life 
 in the sixteenth century: "In fowle weather, we send for some 
 honest neighbours, if happeley wee bee with our wives alone at 
 home (as seldome we are) and with them we play at Dice, and 
 Gardes, sorting ourselves accordinge to the number of Players, 
 and their skill, some to Ticktacke, some to Lurche, some to Irish 
 game, or Dublets: Other sit close to the Gardes, at Post and 
 Paire, at Ruffe, or Colchester Trumpe, at Mack or Maw; yea, 
 there are some ever so fresh gamesters, as wil bare you company 
 at Novem Quinque, at Faring, Treytrip, or one and thirty, for I 
 warrant you, we have right good fellowes in the countrey. 
 Suntimes also (for shift of sports, you know is delectable) we 
 fall to slide thrifte, to Penny prick, and in winter nights, we use 
 certaine Ghristmas games very propper, and of much agilitie. 
 Wee want not also pleasant mad headed knaves, yet bee properly 
 learned, and will reade in diverse pleasant bookes, and good 
 Authors: As Sir Guy of Warwicke, Ye foure Sonnes of Amon, the 
 Ship of Fooles, the Budget, of Deraaundes, the Hundreth merry 
 Tales, the Booke of Ryddles, and many other excellent writers, 
 both witty and pleasaunt.^^ These pretty and pithy matters 
 do some times recreate our mindes, cheefely after longe sittinge, 
 and losse of money. In faire weather when we have straungers, 
 or holly dales (for els in the day time wee attend our thrift) 
 
 21 Of the works mentioned: Sir Guy of Warwicke (see Jusserand, The Novel 
 in the Time of Shakespeare, pp. 19, 39, 67, 349-35i)i Ye Foure Sons of Amon, 
 and The Ship of Fooles are too well known to detain us now. The Hundreth 
 Merry Tales and the Booke of Ryddles deserve a moment's examination. In 
 regard to the former, see Miss Scott, op. cit., 1916, p. 4, and W. C. Hazlitt, 
 Shakespeare Jest-Books, London, 1864, vol. I, pp. i, x. The work is reprinted 
 in the above, pp. 1-124: A C. Mery Talys. For the Booke of Ryddles, see J. 
 Payne Collier, A bibliographical and critical account of the rarest books in the 
 English Language, N. Y., 1866, Vol. Ill, pp. 322-326, The Booke of mery 
 Riddles, etc., London, 1600; and W. C. Hazlitt, Handbook to the popular, 
 poetical and dramatic Literature of Great Britain, London, 1867, p. 508: i, The 
 Riddles of Heraclitus and Democritus, London, 1598, 2, The Booke of Merrie 
 Riddles, London, 1617, 1629, 1631 (Bodleian), 1660 (British Museum), 1672. 
 There were also editions in 1673 and 1685, both in i2mo, with 12 fols. The 
 edition of 1629 (?) was republished by J. O. Halliwell in The literature of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries illustrated by reprints of very rare tracts, 1851, 
 4to, only 75 copies printed. 
 
554 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 wee exercise our selves in shooting at Buttes, Prickes, Reavers 
 and Rownes: We cast the Bar or sledge, Leape or Run, if our 
 ages and condicion bee fit for such exercise, els (beeing aged) 
 wee chat at home, and talke of Turryn and Torny, or some other 
 notable war, wherein wee served our Prince : Or if wee have con- 
 tinually dwelt at home, and bin Justices of Peace, we accompt 
 what grave Judges and gentlemen we have seen sit on our Bench, 
 and with what eloquence we have (when it was our turne) 
 geven the charge." 
 
 The only work mentioned in the above extract in which we 
 are directly interested is The Budget of Demaundes. The only 
 work in any way corresponding to this title is The Demaundes 
 Joyous, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 151 1, of which there 
 is a reprint.^^ The work is very brief and the "questions" 
 are in the nature of riddles. Here are a few: "Demaunde, who 
 bare the best burden that ever was borne? That bare ye asse 
 whan our lady fled with our lorde into egypte. Demaunde, where 
 became ye asse that our lady rode upon? Adams moder dede 
 ete her. Damaunde, who was Adams moder? The erthe. 
 Demaunde, what space is from ye hyest space of the se to the 
 depest? But a stones cast. Demaunde, how many calves tayles 
 behoveth to reche frome the erthe to the skye? No more but 
 one if it be longe ynough. Demaunde, why doo men make an 
 oven in the towne? For bycause they can not make the towne 
 in the oven. Demaunde, which was fyrst ye henne or ye egge? 
 The henne whan God made her. Demaunde, why doth an ox or 
 a cowe lye? Because she can not sytte." On p. 7, is the arith- 
 metical question of the man who had three daughters and gave 
 one fifty, another thirty, and the last ten, apples to sell and bring 
 each the same amount of money home. 
 
 Another book of "Demaundes," as we have seen above, was 
 merely a translation of Lando's famous work. 
 
 Although I have given but a very brief and inadequate account 
 of the influence of Italian society on that of England, it will, 
 I think, be evident that such influence was extensive and 
 profound. 
 
 ^' I have used a copy at the British Museum which says at the end: "Re- 
 printed by Thomas White, Johnson's Court, 1829." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Influence of Italian Academies in Germany — The Fruchtbringende Gesell- 
 schaft of Nuremburg — The Life of George Philip Harsdorfer — Founds the 
 Pegnesische Blumenorden in 1644 — Harsdorfer's Frauenzimmer Gesprdchspiele 
 — Object of the work — Analysis of this work in relation to its Italian sources. 
 
 We saw in the first chapter of this work that the influence of 
 Provengal poetry in Germany was extensive and profound, es- 
 pecially as to form. The subtle discussions of Love, however, 
 as contained in the Tenzons and Jeux-partis, did not meet with 
 great favor in Germany. In spite of the constant intercourse 
 between Germany and Italy from the times of the Empire, I 
 do not find that the latter country exerted upon the former any 
 great social influence. The forms of social diversion with which 
 we are at present engaged were essentially courtly and flourished 
 only under circumstances which did not exist out of Italy. There 
 were, it is true, times when other countries, as we have seen, 
 felt the influence of Italian manners and imitated as best they 
 could the social diversions of that land. 
 
 In the seventeenth century the influence of the Italian Acade- 
 mies made itself felt, and similar associations were formed in 
 Germany and introduced into that country some of the diver- 
 sions with which we are familiar. One of the most important 
 of these academies or societies was the "Fruchtbringende Gesell- 
 schaft" of Nuremburg. One of its members, George Philip 
 Harsdorfer, was the means of introducing into Germany Italian 
 games, etc., and a brief sketch of his life is now necessary. ^ He 
 
 ^ A sufficient account of Harsdorfer may be found in Festschrift zur 2^0- 
 jdhrigen Jubelfeier des Pegnesiscken Blumenordens in Nurnberg, Niirnberg, 
 1894, "Georg Philipp Harsdorfer, Ein Zeitbild aus dem 17. Johnhundert." 
 Von Theodor Bischoff. As has been said in the text the object of the author 
 is entirely different from mine. He is concerned only with the content of the 
 work and not its form, or relation to foreign sources. 
 
 There is a readable little work by R. Hodermann, Bilder aus dem deutschen 
 Leben des j/. Jahrhunderts, Eine vornehme Gesellschaft. (Nach Harsdorfers Ge- 
 sprachspielen.) Paderborn, 1890, l6mo, pp. 80. This work contains a re- 
 print of Harsdorfer's Schutzschrift fiir die Deutsche Spracharbeit. The book 
 is of no independent value, but is simply a pleasant resume of the Frauen- 
 zimmer Gesprdchspiele. 
 
 There is an inaugural dissertation by Albert Krapp, Berlin, 1903, Die 
 dsthetischen Tendenzen Harsdoerffers, which is of no value for the present 
 work. 
 
 555 
 
556 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 was born in Nuremburg on the ist of November, 1607, and re- 
 ceived his early education at home and later at the University 
 of Altdorf. After the completion of his university studies he 
 undertook with his friend Christopher Fiihrer the tour which 
 was then considered an indispensable part of a youth's education. 
 A year was spent in Strassburg (about 1627) and the four follow- 
 ing years in travel. Harsdorfer visited France, the Netherlands, 
 England, and Italy. From Turin he went to Genoa, Venice, 
 Padua, Bologna, Loretto, Perugia, Rome, Naples, Florence, 
 Siena, where with his friend, he spent an entire summer, Pisa, and 
 Leghorn. One result of this journey was a thorough knowledge 
 of French, Spanish, and Italian. 
 
 Harsdorfer on his return entered the service of his native city 
 in the magistracy, filling various offices of trust and importance. 
 He early began to distinguish himself as a writer and devoted 
 his efforts to the improvement and enrichment of his native 
 language and its literature. His biographer, Bischoff, says: 
 "The aims of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft became the 
 task of Harsdorfer's life. These were: correct German ortho- 
 graphy and versification, German grammar, exclusion of foreign 
 words, German dictionary, and enrichment of German literature 
 by means of translations." Harsdorfer was received into the 
 "Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft" in 1642, and two years later 
 became one of the founders of the "Pegnesische Blumenorden." 
 These literary societies were mere imitations, so far as form was 
 concerned, of the Italian Academies described in the third chap- 
 ter of the present work. Prince Ludwig of Anhalt, the founder 
 of the first named society, had spent a year in Italy in 1600, and 
 had been a member of the Accademia della Crusca of Florence. 
 He introduced into the society which he founded the Italian 
 custom of an academic name for the members, at first, in imi- 
 tation of the della Crusca, taken from the names of grain, meal. 
 
 After writing the account of Harsdorfer in this chapter I was able to Use the 
 very valuable work of Dr. Adam Schneider, Spaniens Anteil an der Deutschen 
 Litteratur des 16. und ly. Jahrhunderts, Strassburg, i. E., 1898. In the course 
 of the work Dr. Schneider mentions various translations from the Spanish by 
 Harsdorfer, among them: Teresa de Jesus, Juan de la Cruz, and the Diana of 
 Montemayor and Gil Polo. A s^jecial section of the work, pp. 313-336, is 
 deyoted_ to the Spanish authors used in the Frauenzimmer Gesprdchsptele, 
 thirty-six in number. Some of these, Caspar Lucas Hidalgo, Juan Perez de 
 Montalvan, Salas Barbadillo, and Lope de Vega are treated in the thirteenth 
 chapter of the present work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 557 
 
 and the processes of milling; later these were changed to terms 
 connected with gardening. 
 
 Harsdorfer, the founder, with Johann Klai, of the "Pegnesische 
 Blumenorden," was familiar, as we have seen, with Italy, and 
 had spent a summer at Siena, where he must have become well 
 acquainted with the academic life of Italy and with parlor games, 
 which, as we know, were cultivated at Siena with great zeal. 
 He was evidently captivated by the pastoral tendency of the 
 age, for he translated Montemayor and Gil Polo's Diana, and 
 introduced into his society all the pastoral affectations of Italy.^ 
 As to the serious aims of the society, they were the same as those 
 of the Italian Academies, the cultivation of poetry and the 
 purification of the language. 
 
 Until his death, which took place in Nuremburg in 1658, 
 Harsdorfer displayed the most prodigious activity — an activity 
 almost incredible when we consider that he was a hardworking 
 magistrate and had the care of a large family. With the great 
 mass of his writings we are not here concerned.^ They are 
 mostly of a didactic nature and concern the improvement of the 
 German language and literature. Such was also the object of 
 the singular work in which we are now interested, and of which, 
 owing to its rarity, I shall give a somewhat detailed account.^ 
 
 The work consists of eight parts or volumes which appeared 
 at Nuremburg in 1641 (second edition, 1644), 1641 (second 
 edition, 1657), 1643 (second edition, 1647, third edition, 1653), 
 1644, 1645, 1646, 1647, and 1649. The first two parts are en- 
 titled: Frawen-Zimmer Gesprdch-Spiel. So bey Ehrliebenden 
 Gesellschaften zu niitzlicher Ergetzlichkeit heliebt werden mogen. 
 Erster Theil. Ausz Spanischen, Frantzosischen und Italianischen 
 
 ^ Bischoflf, op. cit., p. 208, says Harsdorfer had in mind the regulations of 
 the "Intronati" of Siena. 
 
 ' See Bischoflf, VH. Anhang, "Harsdorfer's Schriften," pp. 406-421. 
 
 * The bibliography of the Frauenzimmer Gesprdchspiele may be found in 
 Bischoflf, pp. 407-8, and a lengthy analysis of the work itself on pp. 117-185. 
 Bischoflf has in view the didactic element only and the ordinary reader would 
 hardly guess that he was dealing with a collection of games taken from Italian 
 sources. The object of Harsdorfer's work, it is true, was quite different from that 
 of Bargagli and Ringhieri : Harsdorfer's aim was to use games as a medium for 
 serious instruction; the Italians employed them for social diversion. I may 
 add that the copy of the Frauenzimmer Gesprdchspiele which I have used be- 
 longs to the Library of Cornell University and bears the dates: 1644 (with a 
 title-page belonging to the first edition of 1641 inserted), 1657, 1643, 1645, 
 1646, 1647, and 1649. It is oblong in form, measuring 5 and three quarters 
 inches by 3 and a half, and contains many engravings. 
 
558 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Scrihenten angewiesen durch Georg Philipp Harsdorffern. Niirn- 
 berg, In Verlegung Wolffgang Ednters. M.DC.XXXXI. The 
 word "Frawen-Zimmer" is omitted in the title of the last six 
 parts.' 
 
 Harsdorfer's object is expressed in the "Vorbericht an den 
 Lesenden," Vol. I: "Anleitung geben wollen, und den Weg 
 weisen, wie bey Ehr-und Tugendliebenden Gesellschaften freund- 
 und fruchtbarliche Gespreche aufzubringen, und nach Be- 
 schaffenheit aus eines jeden Sinnreichen Vermogen fortzu- 
 setzen. Eingedenk, dass gute Gesprech gute Sitten erhalten 
 und handhaben, gleichwie bose selbe verderben." He answers 
 the objection that the diversion he proposes is too difficult for 
 German maidens by referring to Maria Schiirmann and Anna 
 Romer. Although the work is for "Frauenzimmer," yet no one 
 is excluded, and the author hopes "dass durch Lesung oder Ge- 
 brauch folgender Gesprechspiele die Jugend aufgemunteret, 
 der Lust zu allerhand Wissehschaften erwecket, und zuwol- 
 standiger H5flichkeit veranlast werden solle. " 
 
 In the same "Vorbericht," Harsdorfer acknowledges his 
 indebtedness to Italian sources: "Im Fall auch, giinstiger Leser, 
 unter diesem alien dir nichts belieben solten so wirst du doch 
 leichtlich etwas anderes, und vielleicht bessers nach diesem ersin- 
 nen konnen, welches meistentheils aus den Senesischen Spielen, 
 und des Scipio Bargali, Innocentia Ringhier, und eines unbe- 
 kannten Scribentens Buche, welches betitelt ist das Spielhaus, 
 genommen."^ 
 
 The eight volumes of games and other diversions are supposed 
 to be played by a company of six (in the first edition of the first 
 part, four) persons, three ladies and three gentlemen : Angelica 
 von Kuschewitz, a noble maiden, Cassandra Schonlebin, another 
 noble maiden, Julia von Freudenstein, a prudent matron, 
 Reymund Discretin, a travelled and learned student, Degwart 
 von Ruhmeck, a clever and well informed soldier, and Ves- 
 pasian von Lustgau, an old courtier. 
 
 In addition to the games each volume has an appendix con- 
 taining an independent article: "Schutzschrift fiir die Teutsche 
 Spracharbeit und derselben Beflissene ; Das Schauspiel deutscher 
 
 * Although the word "Frauenzimmer" is omitted in the last six parts, their 
 character is in no way changed; see Bischoff, p. 121. 
 
 * In the margin are the words "Gedrucket zu Paris, 1643." The work in 
 question is La Maison des Jeux by Charles Sorel; see Chapter X, p. 482. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 559 
 
 SprichwQrter ; Melissa oder der Gleichniss Freudenspiel ; Rede 
 von dem Spiele, dazu, das Christliche Waldgedicht oder Freud- 
 enspiel genannt Seelewis Gesangweis auf Italienische Art ge- 
 setzet; Die Reitkunst in Reimen verfasst; Andachts Gemahle; 
 Frauenzimmer Bucher Schrein; and, XXV Aufgaben ausser der 
 Naturkiindigung und Tugend- oder Sittenlehre." 
 
 Each volume has an index, and there are additional special 
 indexes to two volumes, Volume II containing "Register etlicher 
 Scribenten welcher sich der Verfasser zu Behuff der Gesprachspiel 
 bedienet," and Volume IV, "Register der Scribenten aus welchen 
 meistentheils die Gesprachspiele verf asset werden." 
 
 In addition to these indexes there are marginal references 
 which sometimes give the source of the game, but not always. 
 It must be borne in mind that although the material of Hars- 
 dorfer's games is not original with him, the manner in which 
 the work is carried out is. In Bargagli, for example, the games 
 are described in the most concise manner; in Harsdorfer, they 
 are performed by the company. So, when stories, etc., are 
 needed they are furnished, often in translations from the Spanish, 
 etc. The result is that Harsdorfer's book is not a dry treatise 
 on games, but an interesting collection of dialogues admirably 
 suited for the author's pupose. 
 
 The interest of Harsdorfer's book for us lies exclusively in the 
 Italian element which it contains. In the Register to the Second 
 Part, among the Italian authors cited are: Piet. Allotto (i.e., 
 Arlotto) Scelta difacetie; Francesco Alunno, Fabrica del Mundo; 
 Scip. Ammirato, Rota, overo Dialogo delle Impresse; Pietro 
 Aretino, Del Giuocho; Scipio Bargagli, Trattenimenti over 
 Giuochi dilettevoU; Trajan Boccalini, Ragguagli di Parnasso; 
 And. Calmo, Gerebizzi; Baldas. Castiglione, Cortegiano; Ludov. 
 Dolce, Dialogo dei Colori; Lud. Domenichi, Facetie, Motti e 
 Burle, Nobilitd, delle Donne; Doni, La Libreria, La Zucca; 
 Mario Equicola, Libra di Natura d'Amore; Tomaso Garzoni, 
 Piazza Universale, Seraglio de gli Stuperi {i.e., Stupori), L'Huomo 
 astratto; Paolo Giovio, Dialogo delle Imprese; Nicolo Granacci, 
 La piacevol Notte e lieto giorno; Stefano Guazzo, La Civil 
 Conversatione; Franc. Guicciardino, Historia d'ltalia, Detti 
 e fatti piacevoli; Leone Hebreo, Dialoghi d'Amore; II Materiale 
 (i.e., Scipio Bargagli), Dialogo de Giuochi Senesi; Ft. Petrarca, 
 Opere; Innocentio Ringhiero, Cento giuochi liberali e d'ingegno; 
 
560 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Annibal Romei, Discorsi; Frances. Straparolla', NoUi piacevoli; 
 Torq. Tasso, Opere. 
 
 In the Register to the Fourth Part, these additional names 
 are given: Bandello, Novelle; Giosep. Betussi, Dialogo d'Amore; 
 Bernhard Bibiena, Calandra; Luigi Groto, Cieco d'Hadria, 
 various dramatic works; Gio, Frances. Loredano, Bizzarie 
 Academiche, Scherzi geniali; Nicolai Macchiavelli, Mandragola 
 Ascanio Mori, Novelle; Alessand. Piccolomini, L'Amor costante; 
 Nicol. Secchi, L' inter esse etc. 
 
 As has already been said, Bischoff gives in his account of Hars- 
 dorfer a long analysis of the Gesprechspiele, but almost ex- 
 clusively from the standpoint of matter and not of form, and 
 without regard to the foreign element. I shall now endeavour to 
 indicate, not exhaustively, the latter. The following list con- 
 tains the most important games in Harsdorfer, with their Italian 
 sources. 
 Vol. I, i. Die Gewonheit = Bargagli No. 70, Delle Usanze (p. 86, 
 
 ed. Siena, 1572). 
 Vol. I, ii, Die Verwandlung = B. No. 75, Delle Metamorfosi 
 
 (p. 88, ed. cit.). 
 Vol. I, v. Die Gleichniss = B. No. r6, Delia Comparatione 
 
 (p. 38). 
 Vol. I, xi. Die Sinnbildkunst = B. No. 1 14, Delle Imprese (p. 
 
 145)- _ 
 Vol. I, xii, Miintzpregen = B. No. 118, De' Rovesci delle Meda- 
 
 glie (p. 159). 
 Vol. I, xiv, Der Turnier = B. No. 96, De' Colori (p. 102). 
 Vol. I, xvi, Das Gemahl = B. No. 113, Delia Figura d'Amore 
 
 (P- 139)- 
 Vol. I, xviii. Die Schonheit = B. No. 11 1, Del Ritratto della 
 
 Bellezza (p. 139). 
 Vol. I, xix, Das Angesicht = B. No. 19, Delia Fisonomia (p. 40). 
 Vol. I, XX, Die Hand = B. No. 19, Della Chiromantia (p. 40). 
 Vol. I, xxi. Die Liebsfragen = B. No. 47, Delle Quistioni (p. 65). 
 Vol. I, xxii, Der Liebswunsch = B. No. 124, Delle Quality 
 
 desiderabili (p. 174). 
 Vol. I, xxiii. Das A. B. Spiel = B. No. 10, Delle Lettere (p. 27). 
 Vol. I, xxvii. Die offene Briefe = B. No. 93, Delle lettere aperte 
 
 (p. 96). 
 Vol. I, xxviii, Traume = B. No. 13, Dei Sogni (p. 36). 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 561 
 
 Vol. I, xxix, Die Sibyllen = B. No. 109, Dell' Oracolo (p. 135). 
 \'ol. I, xxxii, Die Grabschrift = B. No. 64, Degli Epitaffi (p. 82). 
 \'ol. I, XXXV, Die heimliche Frage = B. No. i, Del Proposito 
 
 (p. 22). 
 Vol. I, xxxvi, Die Einsamkeit = Guazzo, La Civil Conversazione, 
 
 Bk. iv, fol. 183, ver. 
 Vol. I, xxxvii, Die Ratsel = B. No. 5, Degl' Indovinelli (p. 25). 
 Vol. I, xxxviii, Die Sprichworter = B. No. 114, De' Proverbi 
 
 (p. 144). 
 Vol. I, xli, Die Elementi = Ringhieri, No. viii, Giuoco degli 
 
 Elementi (ed. Venice, 1553, fol. 11, ver.). 
 Vol. I, xlii, Der Feldbau = Ringhieri, No. xxxv, Giuoco dell'Agri- 
 
 coltura (fol. 41, ver.). 
 Vol. I, xliii, Die Gartnerey = Ringhieri, No. xxxvi, Giuoco 
 
 deir Ortolano (fol. 42, ver.).' 
 \'^ol. I, xliv. Banquet. 
 
 This is the game of Follow-my-leader, in which a girl com- 
 manded water to be brought and the company to wash 
 their faces, with the result that those who had painted 
 faces were put to confusion. The game is mentioned in 
 Luigini, II libra Sella Bella Donna, p. 73.^ 
 Vol. I, xlv. Die Beschenkungen = B. No. 42, Del Pasto e de' 
 
 Present! (p. 59). 
 Vol. I, xlvii. Das Verlangen = B. No. 11, De' Desiderii (p. 28). 
 Vol. I, xlviii, Der Mxissigang = Ringhieri, No. Ixix, Giuoco 
 
 dell' Otio (fol. 84, ver.). 
 Vol. 1, 1, Der Narren Spital = B. No. 71, Dello Spedale de' Pazzi 
 
 (p. 86). 
 \'ol. II, Hi, Von Fremden Sinnbildern. 
 
 A conversation on Impress. 
 Vol. II, Iviii, Von den Zahlen = Ringhieri, No. xxxvii, Giuoco 
 
 de' Numeri (fol. 43, ver.). 
 Vol. II, Ixii, Die Zweiffelfragen. 
 
 This is simply a reference to the use of Riddles and other 
 Questions in Games. ^ 
 
 ' This game is described at great length in Novelle di Pietro Fortini Senese, 
 Florence, 1888-1890, Vol. H, pp. 485-593. It is also found in Scipio Bargagli's 
 / Trattenimenti, p. 114. A similar game is in Sorel, Recreations galantes, p. 66. 
 
 8 In Biblioteca Kara pubblicata da G. Daelli, Vol. XXIII, Milan, 1863, II 
 Libra della Bella Donna di Federigo Luigini. See present work, p. 322. 
 
 'At the end of the game, p. 75, Harsdorfer introduces several questions: 
 "Wie kan man ein Ding sehen und zugleich nicht sehen? Welcher Haan, 
 welcher Hund, und welcher Knecht haben se am besten?" Etc. These are 
 taken from Guazzo, La Civil Conversazione, Bk. IV, p. 185, ver. 
 
 37 
 
562 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 Vol. II, Ixiii, Das lebendige Schachspiel = Ringhieri, No. 
 
 xcviii, Giuoco de' Scacchi( fol. Ii8, ver.). 
 Vol. II, Ixv, Die Tapezereien. 
 
 A game describing figures on tapestry and running into the 
 game of telling stories; cp. B. No. lOO, Delle Novelle 
 (p. 107). The stories told are of French, Spanish, and 
 Italian origin. 
 Vol. II, Ixvi, Die neuen Mahre. 
 Similar to the last game. 
 
 Most of the following games, until the xcix. are of Hars- 
 dorfer's invention and turn on questions of language, poetry, etc. 
 Vol. II, xcix. Die Nasen = Ringhieri, No. Ixxv, Giuoco de' Nasi 
 
 (fol. 92). 
 
 A considerable part of the second volume, pp. 312-417, is 
 taken up with the "Zugabe," which is: "Das Schauspiel Teut- 
 scher Sprichworter. Aus dem Frantzosischen mit zulassiger 
 Freyheit iibersetzet durch den Spielenden." This play is la 
 Comddie des Proverbes attributed to Adrien de Monluc, Comte 
 de Cramail, the original of which may be found in E. Fournier, 
 Le TMdtre Franqais au XVIe et au XVIe silcle, Paris, 1871, 
 
 pp. 191 e^ seq. 
 Vol. Ill, cii, Vom Gestirn = Ringhieri, No. vi, Delle figure 
 
 celesti (fol. 9, ver.). 
 Vol. Ill, cxvi, Von den Amazonen = B. No. 58, Delle Amazzoni 
 
 (fol. 77). 
 Vol. Ill, cxvii. Von der Liebjagt = B. No. 99, Delia Caccia 
 
 d'Amore (p. 105). 
 Vol. Ill, Von der Jagerey = Ringhieri, No. xl, Giuoco della 
 
 Caccia (fol. 46, ver.). 
 Vol. Ill, cxix. Von der Jagerey. 
 
 Harsdorfer cites Scipio Bargagli as the author of this game, 
 which is found in his / Trattenimenti, p. 274. 
 Vol. Ill, cxxi. Von den Engeln = Ringhieri, No. v, Giuoco 
 
 degli Angeli (fol. 8, ver.). 
 Vol. Ill, cxxii, Vom Liebstempel = B. No, 35, Del Tempio di 
 
 Venere (p. 51). 
 Vol. Ill, cxxiv. Von der Liebwildbad. 
 
 This is also from Scipio Bargagli's / Trattenimenti, p. 256. 
 Vol. Ill, cxxv, Vom rusigen Schultheiss aus Morenland = B. 
 
 No. 30, De' Tinti, (p. 48). 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 563 
 
 Vol. Ill, cxxvii, Von der besten Thorheit. 
 
 This is one of the games proposed in the Introduction to 
 the Cortegiano, before the company finally settled upon 
 the subject for the evening's entertainment. 
 Vol. Ill, cxxix, Vom Lob eines Hofmanns. 
 This is the subject of the Cortegiano. 
 
 The Fourth volume is largely taken up with the "Waldge- 
 dicht Oder Freudenspiel genant Seelewig," with music "auf 
 Italienische Art," and with various things like Emblems, Her- 
 aldry, etc. 
 Vol. IV, clxxxvii. Die Edelgesteine = Ringhieri, No. xxii, 
 
 Giuoco delle Gemme (fol. 27). 
 
 The Fifth volume contains no games, properly speaking, but 
 extensive treatises on Grammar, Logic, Ethics, Rhetoric, Prosody, 
 etc. Under the head of Logic (Die Vernunf tkunst) is introduced 
 a translation of the English play The Sophister, performed at 
 Oxford about 1638, and attributed to Dr. Zouch.^" 
 
 The Sixth volume contains articles on Talismans, with curious 
 folk-lore intermixed. Astrology, Stage arrangements for a theatre, 
 with a great number of "Questions" for debate, e.g. ccxxxiv, 
 "Geschicht-Fragen," where a story is told and questions are 
 drawn from it. So also ccxxxv, " Rahtsel-Erzehlung, where one 
 tells a story and "jedes in der Gesellschaft, aus meinen Worten 
 eine Rahtsel, oder verborgene Frage zu ersinnen schuldig seyn 
 sol." 
 
 In the ccxxxvi., "Frag-Gedicht," each one of the company is 
 to propose a question and one is to make a story out of the five 
 questions. The ccxxxix, "Reyen-Fragen," contains questions 
 on Love. There are also many Love Questions in other games 
 in this volume. In the ccxlviii., "Wechsel-Erzehlung," a story 
 is to be told in such a way that one is to draw from it a device, 
 another a lesson, another an anagram, a proverb, and a reflection. 
 
 '" See J. O. Halliwell, A Dictionary of Old English Plays, London, i860, p. 
 232, " The Sophister, A Comedy, 4to, 1639. Although dated in 1639, this 
 play was really printed in 1638. It was acted at one of the Universities and 
 has a prologue spoken by Mercury, as the god of Eloquence, and addressed 
 to the academical auditory. It is said to have been written by Dr. Zouch." 
 See also F. G. Fleay, A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 15^9-1642, 
 London, 1891, 2 vols.. Vol. II, p. 286; and A. W. Ward, A History of English 
 Dramatic Literature to the death of Queen Anne, London, 1899, Vol. Ill, p. 183. 
 Dr. Richard Zouch, born about 1590 and dying in 1661, was a famous writer 
 on civil and international law. He was a fellow of New College, Ojcford, in 
 1609, and later connected with the same university in various capacities. 
 
564 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The stories which follow are, I suspect, all taken from Belley's 
 Evenements singuliersP- 
 
 The Seventh volume contains no games proper, but such things 
 as: cclij "Das Schauspiel zu Ross," i.e., cavalry evolutions; ccliii, 
 "Die Bildkunst"; cclv, "Die Heroldkunst," cclvi, "Die Sinn- 
 bildkunst," which are treatises on Emblems, Heraldry, and De- 
 vices. There are also in this volume many exercises involving 
 questions, etc., as cclxxiii, "Reyenfragen.''^^ 
 
 It is impossible to analyze fully the Eighth volume; we may 
 mention only a part of its varied contents. In cclxxix, "Der 
 Spielstab," is given a brief treatise on games, "Was zu denselben 
 erfordert werde." At the end Reymund says, p. 45: "Unsere 
 Gesprachspiele sind von den Italianern abgesehen, welchen 
 auch die Frantzosen nachgeahmet, und ist solche Verstandiibung 
 auch an vielen Teutschen Fiirstenhofen, mit sondrem Behagen, 
 eingefiihret worden, es ist auch Keines in fremder Sprache zu 
 lesen, welches wir nicht angefiihret." 
 
 In the cclxxx, "Buchstabspiel," Angelica says: "Ich will 
 von der Gesprachspiele Abtheilung fragen," that is, as to the 
 division of games in preceding volumes. Then follow games 
 in which a particular letter is omitted; then, cclxxxi, "Sylben- 
 spiele," cclxxxii, "Wortspiele," cclxxxiii, "Die Geberden," 
 cclxxiv, "tJberschriften," i. e., Mottoes, cclxxxviii, "Die Erzeh- 
 lung," stories as a source of games;'' ccxci, "Reyenfragen"; 
 ccxcii, "Fraggeschichte," a short story calculated to give rise 
 to a question; ccxciii, "Zweiffelfraggen"; ccxcvii, " Ungebrauch- 
 liche Spiele," a review of difficult or unseemly games; ccxcviii, 
 Schlechte Spiele, "welche wegen ihrer Einfalt schlecht und selten, 
 oder gar nicht geiibet werden." The volume also has an ap- 
 pendix of twenty-five questions "a us der Naturkundigung und 
 Sitten- oder Tugendlehre." 
 
 " This work is by the prolific Jean Pierre Camus, Bishop of Belley and 
 afterwards of Arras. The British Museum has: Les Evinemens singuUers, 
 divisez en guatre limes, 2 tom., Lyon, 1628, Rouen, 1637, and Paris, 1660. There 
 is an EngHsh translation: Admirable Events selected out of foure Bookes, Lon- 
 don, 1639. 
 
 I'' After "Die Sinnbildkunst " is given an analysis of "Der wahnwitzige 
 Schafer" by Jean de la Lande. This is Le Berger Extravagant by Charles 
 Sorel, who, under the pseudonym of Jean de Lalande, Poitevin, published an 
 edition of the Berger Extravagant with the title L' Anti-Roman ou Vhistoire du 
 Berger Lysis, Paris, 1633. 
 
 '' The stories told in this game are from Perez de Montalvan, Novella III, 
 "Die Bestraffung des Neids," and "Die entdekkte Verleumdung, " by Belley 
 (from Les Evenemens singuliers). Many stories from the Italian and Spanish 
 novelists are scattered throughout the whole of Harsdorfer's work. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Imitation of Italian social observances in Spain in the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries — ^Villalon's El CrotalSn — Discussions on the Nature of Love 
 — Spanish translations of Leone Hebreo's Dialoghi d' Amove — Reinoso's 
 Amores de Clareo y Florisea — Contreras's Selva de Aventuras — Lope de Vega's 
 El Feregrino en su Patria — Figueroa's El Pasagero and Pusilipo — Montema- 
 yor's Diana — Cervantes's Galatea and its discussions on Love — Why Love is 
 pictured as boy, blind, naked, winged, and armed — Parlor Game in the Gala- 
 tea — Parlor Games in Spain — Guillen de Castro's play Los mal casados de 
 Valencia — Calderon's Secreto a Voces — -Parlor Games in Don Luis Milan's 
 Libra de Motes — Spanish imitations of Boccaccio's Filocolo and Decameron — 
 Tirso de Molina's Cigarrales de Toledo and Deleytar Aprovechando — -"Ques- 
 tions" in latter work — -Montalvan's Para Todos—YiiAa\go's Didlogos de apa- 
 cible enireienimiento — Solorzano's Tiempo de Regocijo y Carnestolendas de Ma- 
 drid — Sala de Recreacion — Noches de Plazer — Dona Maria de Zayas y Soto- 
 mayor's Novelas Amorosas y Exemplares — Dona Mariana de Caravajal y 
 Saavedra's Novelas Entretenidas — ^Antonio de Eslava's Noches de Invierno — - 
 Bondia's Gytara de Apolo — Lugo y D4vila's Teatro Popular — Solorzano's 
 Tardes Entretenidas — Pedro de Castro y Aiiaya's Auroras de Diana — Solor- 
 zano's Alivios de Casandra — La Quinta de Laura — Jornadas Alegres — Fiestas 
 del Jardin — Huerta de Valencia — Salas Barbadillo's Casa del Plazer Honesto — 
 Jacinto Polo's Academias del Jardin — Tortoles's El Entretenido — Moraleja's 
 second part of the same — Gines Campillo de Bayle's Gustos y Disgustos del 
 Lentiscar de Cartagena — Summary of Italian Influence on Spanish social ob- 
 servances. 
 
 I have examined earlier in this work (Chapter I, p. 15) the 
 influence of Provengal poetry in Catalonia, Aragon, and Castile, 
 especially during the reign of Don Juan II, whose court pre- 
 sents, I remarked, most of the characteristics of the petty 
 courts of Provence in the thirteenth, or of Italy in the sixteenth, 
 century. We saw that in Spain the precise equivalent of the 
 Provengal joc-partit (in which a question is proposed and debated 
 in the same poem) was not found; but that there was a large 
 class of poems known as preguntas and respuestas in which 
 a question is formulated and answered in a separate poem. This 
 is also the case in Italy, where the question is propounded in one 
 sonnet and answered in another. The subjects of the Spanish 
 preguntas and respuestas and of the Italian question-and- 
 
 565 
 
566 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 answer sonnets are the same as those found in the Provengal 
 jocs-partitz. 
 
 We have also seen the enormous influence of the joc-partit on 
 social diversions in Italy in the sixteenth century. The most 
 interesting literary work reflecting this influence is Boccaccio's 
 Filocolo, which was examined at length in Chapter I. This 
 popular work was translated into French, German, and, in an 
 abbreviated form, Spanish. The influence of Boccaccio's work 
 was felt in several Spanish books produced in Italy in the six- 
 teenth century and described in Chapter V. These works con- 
 tain each but a single question, and no exact counterpart of the 
 Filocolo exists out of Italy. Finally, we have seen in Chapter 
 IV the influence of Castiglione's Cortegiano, which was translated 
 into Spanish by the poet Boscan and imitated by Don Luis 
 Milin. 
 
 When we come to make a general survey of Spanish society 
 with a view of tracing the influence of Italy upon its forms of 
 social diversion, we shall find but scanty materials for our pur- 
 pose outside of the novels which are written in imitation of 
 Boccaccio's Decameron} These I shall take up later. One 
 would naturally expect from the close contact between Spain 
 and Italy for so many years that the social observances of the 
 latter country would have been imitated in the Iberian peninsula, 
 just as the Italian forms of lyrical poetry were introduced by 
 Boscan and Garcilasso in the sixteenth century. 
 
 We catch occasional glimpses of this imitation, as for example, 
 in that curious work El Crotaldn, ascribed to Crist6bal de Villa- 
 
 ' Materials for this chapter have been found in Miss C. B. Bourland's ar- 
 ticle "Boccaccio and the Decameron in Castilian and Catalan Literature," in 
 Revile Hispanique, Vol. XII, pp. 1-232, especially pp. 192-198. Miss Bour- 
 land's point of view is, of course, quite different from mine. She is chiefly 
 concerned with the influence of the individual stories in the Decameron. I am 
 at present interested in the framework alone. More important for my pur- 
 pose is the introduction (Chapter IX) to the second volume of Menendez y 
 Pelayo's Origenes de la Novela, Madrid, 1907, Nueva Biblioteca de Auiores 
 Espanoles, to which I shall have occasion to refer frequently. After all, Mr. 
 Ticknor still remains the surest guide in this as in other fields of Spanish lit- 
 erature. He has mentioned (III, 134 et seq.) all the important works and ac- 
 curately characterized them, with very few errors. I am also greatly indebted 
 to Cotarelo y Mori, who has in his Coleccion selecta de antiguas novelas espanoles, 
 Madrid, 1906-1912, twelve volumes, still in publication, reprinted many rare 
 works and given, in some cases for the first time, biographies of the little known 
 writers. There are some references to "Questions" in Spanish literature by 
 R. Schevill in his essay "Some forms of the Riddle Question and the exercise 
 of the wits in popular fiction and formal literature," University of California 
 Publications in Modern Philology, 2, No. 3, 19'! i. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 567 
 
 16n.2 The work is an imitation of Lucian's Dialogues, but it 
 contains valuable Spanish material. In the fifth canto the 
 anonymous author gives an account of a splendid castle which 
 has been erected by the magic arts of a witch in order to win the 
 love of the narrator of the story. The architecture and orna- 
 ments, including the paintings on the walls ("Piramo y Tisbe, 
 Philis y Demophon, Cleopatra y Marco Antonio ") are elaborately 
 described. "Well might anyone who entered there declare that 
 this was the paradise and spot where Love was born. . . . Noth- 
 ing is done here but games, pleasures, banquets, dancing, balls, 
 and jesting (moiexar). ... In this abode it is always April and 
 May. . . . The mistress of this palace is always accompanied 
 by very worthy ladies, some united to her by relationship, 
 others by friendship. These attract there gentlemen who come 
 in pursuit of their worth. They form a court more delightful and 
 gracious than was ever seen in the palace of king or emperor. 
 For they are occupied only in devising dresses, and arranging 
 jousts, dances, and balls. Some under the shade of pleasant trees 
 tell stories (novelar), jest, and laugh. One asks 'questiones 
 
 ^The Crotalon has been reprinted twice: by the Sociedad de Bibliofilos 
 Espaiioles, Madrid, 1871, Vol. IX, and by Menendez y Pelayo in the second 
 volume of Origenes de la Novela, Madrid, 1907. The editor, of the first of the 
 above editions, F. del V., says in his brief Advertencia that all his investiga- 
 tions to discover the author of the work have been in vain, and the same is 
 true of the efforts of Don Pascual de Gayangos and Don Jose Sancho Rayon. 
 Menendez y Pelayo gives no account of the author in his edition. In 191 1 he 
 edited for the Sociedad de Bibliofilos Madrilefios, Vol. V, El Scholdstico de 
 Cristobal de VillaUn, Tomo Primero. In the preface he says that the com- 
 plete text is not found in this volume, but what is lacking will be given in a 
 second volume with some other works of Villalon and an essay on his life and 
 works. Menendez y Pelayo died before this promise was fulfilled. In 1898, 
 Serrano y Sanz edited for the Sociedad de Bibliofilos Espaiioles, Vol. XXXIII, 
 Ingeniosa Comparacion entre lo antiguo y lo presente del Bachiller Cristobal Vi- 
 llalon, with the first biography of the author, pp. 1-125. In 1905 the same edi- 
 tor prepared for the Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Espaiioles, Vol. II, a volume 
 of Autobiografias y Memorias, which contains, among other things, the Viaje 
 de Turquia of Villalon, and gives in the introduction, pp. cx-cxxiii, a brief 
 account of the writer's life. Villalon, according to the investigations of Ser- 
 rano y Sanz, was born at the beginning of the sixteenth century, probably at 
 the town of his name, not far from Valladolid. He pursued his studies at Al- 
 cala and spent some time at Salamanca. He was not a soldier nor a priest, 
 although he had the degree of licentiate of theology. He travelled extensively 
 in Italy and in 1552 was captured by the Turks in a battle between them and 
 Andrea Doria near the islands of Ponza. Villalon was three years in captivity, 
 but managed to escape and reached Valladolid in 1555 after many adventures, 
 which are described in the Viaje de Turquia, a work composed in the dialogue 
 form. The Crotalon is the only one of Villalon's works which concerns us 
 here. It is, as the author declares at the beginning, an imitation of the 
 fourth book of Lucian's Dialogues, in which a cock conversing with the cob- 
 bler Micyllus censures the vices of his day. 
 
568 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 y preguntas de amores.' Others compose sonnets, coplas, 
 villancicos, and others witticisms (agudeQas) which constantly- 
 rejoiced them." 
 
 The discussions on the nature of Love which were so popular in 
 Italy (see Chapter III) are also found in Spain, and one of the 
 most famous of the treatises on Love, the Dialoghi d'Amore by 
 Leone Hebreo, was translated into Spanish by no less a person 
 than the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega.' There are also some orig- 
 inal Spanish treatises on Love and Beauty which, however, had 
 no such influence as the Italian works which called them into 
 existence.* Traces of the influence of the Italian works are 
 
 ' The influence of Leone Hebreo's work on Italian Society is treated in 
 Chapter III. His influence on Spain is discussed by Menendez y Pelayo in 
 his Historia de las ideas esteticas en Espana. Segunda edicion, tomo III, 
 Madrid, 1896, Chap. VI, "De la est^tica platonica en el siglo XVI. 
 
 * In the work just cited, Menendez y Pelayo mentions several Spanish dia- 
 logues on Love, some of which are lost, but some have survived. Those 
 mentioned are : Del Tractado de la Hermosura y del A mor. Compuesto por Maxi- 
 miliano Calvi, Milan, 1576, in three parts, generally united; Apologia en la 
 alahanza del Amor compuesta por Micer Carlos Montesa; Discurso de la hermo- 
 sura y el Amor por Bernardino de Rebolledo ; Tratado en Loor de las Mugeras por 
 Christobal Acosta, Venice, 1592; Dialogo de Amor intitulado Dorido, en que se 
 trata de las causas por donde puede justamente un amante sin ser notado de in- 
 constante, retirarse de su amor, Nuevamente sacado d luz, corregido y enmendado 
 por Juan de Enzinas, Burgos, 1593. Ticknor, III, 206, mentions a work sim- 
 ilar to that by Acosta: Dialogo en laude de las mugeres by Juan de Spinosa, 
 Milan, 1580. These works, most of which are sufficiently described by Me- 
 nendez y Pelayo, have little original worth and are based on Leone Hebreo's 
 work or on the treatise of Augustinus Niphus, De pulchro ei de amore, Rome, 
 1631. See Chapter III, note 6, Chapter V, note 16. 
 
 Of the works mentioned by Menendez y Pelayo I have examined : Christoval 
 Acosta Affricano, Tratado en Loor de las Mugeres y de la Castidad, Onestidad, 
 Constancia, Silencio y Justicia, Venice, 1592. The work is a serious didactic 
 treatise and contains long lists of women renowned for wisdom, prudence, elo- 
 quence, etc., as well as of those who were cruel and wicked. There are chap- 
 ters on women inventors of the things most necessary in human life, of women 
 famous in warlike deeds, etc. I have also examined Maximiliano Calvi, Del 
 Tractado de la Hermosura y del Amor, Milan, 1576, in three parts, bound together. 
 The work of Calvi is a ponderous treatise like those of Leone Hebreo and 
 Equicola, in the form of a dialogue in which the interlocutors are " Filalethio, 
 which means the friend of truth, and Peregifilo, which means obstinate." 
 The same interlocutors appear in all three parts. 
 
 I have also seen a few other works on the subject of Love and Women: 
 Cristobal de Castillejo, Didlogo que habla de las condiciones de las mugeres. 
 Son interlocutores Aletio, que dice mal de las mujeres, y Fileno, que las de- 
 fiende. I have seen the editions in the BiUioteca Universal, Madrid, 1878 
 (Vol. XXXIX of the Collection), and in Fernandez's Coleccion de poetas 
 espanoles, Madrid, 1789-1820, twenty volumes. Vols. XII-XIII. His works 
 are also to be found in BiUioteca de Autores Espanoles, XXXII. The entire 
 work is in verse {romance) and deals with various classes of women: "casadas, 
 doncellas, monjas, viudas, solteras, alcahuetas." This work is followed by 
 Sermon de Amores, del Maestro Buen-Talante, Fray Fidel, de la Orden del 
 Tristel. The text of the sermon is: I "Adonde irePi Que har6? Que mal 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 669 
 
 found, for the first time, so far as I am aware, in the Historia de 
 los amores de Clareo y Florisea y de los trabajos de I sea, by Alonso 
 Nunez de Reinoso, printed at Venice in 1552 by Gabriel Giolito 
 de Ferraris.6 Little is known of the author, who was born at 
 Guadalajara and spent part of his life in Italy. The only part 
 of the work which concerns our purpose is Chapter XI, which 
 contains a picture of Italian society in the sixteenth century by 
 one who for some reason or another was an exile in that land. 
 It is true (as is also the case with some other Spanish works to be 
 mentioned later) that the scene is laid in Italy, but the work must 
 have contributed to popularize in Spain the forms of social diver- 
 sion which it describes. The episode with which we are con- 
 cerned is as follows. 
 
 The lovers were overtaken at sea by a terrible tempest and 
 threatened with death. The storm, however, ceased and they 
 discovered an island full of beautiful dwellings and groves. The 
 sailors said it was called the Island of Life, because it was the 
 most fertile and abundant in those parts, and the inhabitants 
 were the wisest and most polite in the world and of the best and 
 most refined intercourse. They further stated that the Duke of 
 Athens resided there, and as he was young and newly wed there 
 was' in his palace every kind of society, because there were in it 
 many ladies and gentlemen of good breeding. 
 
 vecino es el amor." There is nothing of importance for my purpose in this 
 work. It is the usual satirical attack and defence of women. Another work 
 I have examined is Juan Enriquez de Ziiniga, Amor con vista. Lleva una sum- 
 maria descripcion del Mundo, ansi de la parte elemental, coma de la cetherea. 
 Compuesto par Don Juan Enriquez de Ziiniga, natural de la ciudad de Guada- 
 laxara. Impreso en Madrid, 1625. This curious work, not mentioned by 
 Ticknor or Fitzmaurice-Kelley, is a pastoral romance interspersed with some 
 poetry. The second part contains a dream, with the admonition: "Quien 
 quisiere proseguir la historia, passe a la tercera parte." In the dream is 
 given the description of the world. The story is resumed in the third part. 
 
 ' There is a modern reprint in Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. III. Nov- 
 elistas anteriores d Cervantes, pp. 431-468. Menfedez y Pelayo in the first volume 
 of Origenes de la Novela, pp. cccxliii-cccxlix, gives a full analysis of the work and 
 shows that the book referred to by the author in his prologue as his original, 
 Razonamientos de amor, was Ludovico Dolce's Amorosi ragionamenti, an in- 
 complete translation of Achilles Tatius's romance of Leucippe and Clitophon. 
 Reinoso was aware of the incomplete nature of Dolce's work and was stimu- 
 lated by it to compose his own: "imitando y no romanceando, escribir esta mi 
 obra, en la cual no uso mSs que de la invencion, y algunas palabras de aquellos 
 Razonamientos." The "questions" in Clareo y Florisea are not found in the 
 Greek original or in Dolce's translation. Similar "questions" have been 
 discussed in the first and third chapters of this work and in many other places. 
 See Chapter I, p. 19, Chapter III, p. 132. I have seen at the Hispanic Society 
 the first edition mentioned in the text. 
 
570 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The lovers landed and made their way to the Duke's abode, the 
 marvels of which are described at length. They were received 
 with courteous and kindly words by many ladies and gentlemen 
 who came out to welcome them. They entered the palace to 
 pay their respects to the Duke, whom they found seated in a 
 chair of gold. The Duke and Duchess welcomed the strangers, 
 and the former said that he should be pleased to have them re- 
 main there a few days in order to see more fully the country and 
 its customs. 
 
 The lovers, disguised as brother and sister, were given apart- 
 ments, and when evening came there was a banquet with music 
 and after it conversation with the Duke and Duchess as well as 
 with their court. The Duke finally commanded the strangers, 
 to be taken to their apartments, saying that the next morning 
 there would be a hunt and in the evening a ball. 
 
 The next day, after the chase, which is described in a few words, 
 they changed their hunting dress and returned to the hall of the 
 palace where they supped, for the Duke had commanded that 
 there should be that night a certain kind of conversation to 
 which they were accustomed, which was that after supper the 
 gentlemen and ladies discussed "questions" and told pleasant 
 and witty jokes, omitting all genealogical and local topics. 
 
 After the supper was over and the tables cleared, the Duke 
 waited for the ladies and gentlemen to return from supper. 
 Meanwhile the whole story of Daphne and Apollo, how he grieved 
 and how she was changed into a laurel, was sung sweetly. When 
 music had finished, the ladies and gentlemen entered so richly 
 attired that it delighted the gaze. After they were all arranged 
 in order, the Duke commanded that the contest that evening 
 should be between Melisena, a lady of the Duchess, and Rose- 
 lindos, a knight of the Duke. When all were quiet, Melisena 
 asked which was the more difficult, to feign love without feeling 
 it, or to conceal it when felt. 
 
 Roselindos replied that it was more difficult to hide it, for 
 whoever feigned was master of himself and could easily do it; 
 but he who really loved did not have it in his power to conceal 
 the love he felt. 
 
 Melisena' continued by asking which should be the more es- 
 teemed, a lady beautiful but not clever, or, clever and not beauti- 
 ful. Roselindos replied that the one who was clever should be 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 571 
 
 more highly prized; discretion was the beauty of the mind, and 
 beauty was the gift of the body, which perished with time, but 
 the things of the mind endure. Besides these reasons, nothing, 
 no matter how precious it may be, can equal knowledge, because 
 the learned can speak, converse, be silent, and finally, follow 
 reason. 
 
 She asked further whether love can exist without jealousy. 
 He replied, no, because love is a thing full of anxious care, and 
 whoever loves fears, and jealousy is nothing but fear that the per- 
 son you love does not love you, but desires and loves another, 
 and this ill goes so far that as it is the greatest of all ills, so there 
 are in it greater extremes than in any other. 
 
 She asked what was the clearest sign of love. He answered, 
 to be jealous of another. 
 
 She asked what qualities a person ought to possess to be loved. 
 He replied, secrecy. 
 
 She asked, who was the more constant in love, the man or the 
 woman. He answered, the man, as the stronger and endowed 
 with firmer qualities that the woman. 
 
 She asked, whether love turned to hatred was as strong as the 
 former love. He replied, no, because for great love many have 
 died, but none from hatred. 
 
 She asked, which was the more powerful, love or avarice. He 
 answered, love, because it makes the avaricious liberal. 
 
 In this way the conversation ended and the Duchess asked 
 Florisea to put some question ; but she excused herself. Finally, 
 she consented and said: "I should like to know from these ladies 
 and gentlemen what answer a gentleman who wished to conceal 
 his love should have given to a question which three ladies put 
 to him. To understand this question you must know that in 
 the city of Alexandria, whence I have just come with my brother 
 Clareo, there was once a gentleman who served three ladies, and 
 no one of them knew of the other, because each thought she was 
 the only one, for the gentleman was so prudent in his love affairs 
 that from him it could be understood that he was serving one 
 only, although, in truth, he served and loved all three. 
 
 "It happened th'en that one of the ladies gave him a medal, 
 the other a chain, and the third, a precious sword. One day he 
 was walking with these gifts near the bank of a stream, when 
 the ladies who were there beheld him and began to praise the 
 
572 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 beautiful ornaments and the manner in which they became him, 
 each of the ladies praising her own gift. As they did not agree, 
 in order to end their controversy, they had him called and asked 
 which of those objects he prized the most, each thinking that 
 he would say the one which she had given him. He was in 
 doubt how to answer so that they should be satisfied and not 
 suspect one another." 
 
 There were many and different replies to this question of 
 Florisea, but the correct one was given by a stranger who was 
 diverting himself there at the Duke's court. He said that in 
 order to satisfy all those ladies, the gentleman should have 
 answered that he prized most highly the object which had been 
 given to him by the lady whom he served. Thus each of the 
 ladies would understand it to be said of herself and all would be 
 satisfied. This answer was approved and praised by all the 
 ladies and gentlemen present. Thereupon, the night having been 
 largely passed, the company retired to their apartments. 
 
 The remainder of the work describes the further adventures 
 of the lovers and is of no interest for the present work. 
 
 Of greater interest is the novel of Jer6nimo de Contreras, 
 Selva de Aventuras, published at Barcelona in 1565, and probably 
 earlier.' Men6ndez y Pelayo mentions eight subsequent edi- 
 tions and a French translation, of which there were several 
 editions. Little is known of the author, who, Men^ndez y 
 Pelayo says, calls himself captain in the title-page of seveiral of 
 his works. He states that he obtained in 1560 from Philip H 
 the favor of a position {entretenimiento) in the kingdom of Naples, 
 and that he remained there ten years after the completion of 
 his Vergel de varies triunfos, printed in 1572 with the title of 
 Dechado de varies subjectos, a sort of moral allegory in the form 
 of a dream, mingled with eulogies in prose and verse of farpous 
 Spanish kings and men in ancient and modern times. 
 
 The plot of the Selva de Aventuras is as follows. A gentleman of 
 Seville is in love with Arbolea, whom he has known from child- 
 hood and desires to marry. She has determined to follow a 
 monastic life and refuses his hand in a courteous but firm manner. 
 
 "A modern edition of the Selva de Aventuras is in BiUioteca de Autores 
 Espanoles, Vol. Ill, Novelistas anteriores a Cervantes. For the little that is 
 known of the author see Origenes de la Novela, I, cccli. I have seen at the 
 Hispanic Society two editions of the Selva de Aventuras not mentioned by 
 Menendez y Pelayo: Salamanca, 1573, and Saragossa, 1615. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 573 
 
 The disconsolate lover departs for Italy in the garb of a pilgrim. 
 The narrative of his journey and the strange things he beheld 
 form the principal subject of the seven books of the Selva. 
 Men^ndez y Pelayo says, op. cit., p. cccl: "Following the diffuse 
 mode of narration which we have indicated in the Libro Felix 
 of Raymund Lull, and which the authors of the picaresque novels 
 adopted, each of the characters whom the hero meets tells his 
 story, or asks or proffers advice. Among these stories are some 
 very interesting and romantic ones; as that of the Aragonese 
 gentleman Erediano (Heredia?) and Porcia, niece of the Duke of 
 Ferrara, two lovers who led a solitary life and died in the desert; 
 the story of the sad (penado) Salucio, who appears to be the 
 prototype of Cardenio; and the story of the Marquis Octavio 
 of Mantua. There are types ingeniously drawn, as the poor 
 Oristes, the rich and avaricious Argestes, the splendid and hospit- 
 able Virtelio; episodes of the pastoral novel, casuistic discussions 
 of love, three eclogues which can be performed, one of which, 
 that of Ardeneo and Floreo, the shepherd who loves and the one 
 who does not, recalls the dispute of Lenio and Tirsi in Cervantes's 
 Galatea; a dramatic performance of Human and Divine Love, 
 and another which is supposed to have taken place in the Piazza 
 of St. Mark's in Venice, and a great quantity of lyrical poems 
 in all kinds of metres, written elegantly in a rich vein." 
 
 In the course of his pilgrimage, the hero visits the cave and 
 oracle of the Cumean Sybil and finds the magnanimous Alfonso 
 V of Aragon reigning in Naples. On his return to Spain he falls 
 into the power of corsairs, who take him captive to Algiers (a 
 commonplace of so many later novels and plays) ; he succeeds 
 in obtaining his freedom and finds on his arrival at Seville that 
 his beloved Arbolea has taken the veil. Luzman determines 
 to follow her example, builds a hermitage near Arbolea 's convent, 
 and there leads a life of penance until his death. 
 
 In the course of his wanderings in Italy Luzman comes to 
 the city of Pisa, where he admires the cathedral and the leaning 
 tower. There he finds a famous school {estudio), and in it he 
 speaks with some philosophers and great men. When they hear 
 his eloquence they put to him in the form of a sonnet a question, 
 or rather three questions in one : A damsel, excellent, immortal, 
 and very beautiful is buried in a dark sepulchre, surrounded 
 by three powerful adversaries (contrarios) . There is also seen 
 
574 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 winning merit by seeing itself tormented the most precious 
 jewel, without which little or nothing is merited in this sad and 
 sorrowful life. And there is seen what could give life lose its 
 own name and not lose it, conquering the conqueror by being 
 conquered. 
 
 Luzman is asked to explain this pregunta, which he does by 
 saying that the body is the prison and sepulchre of the fair, holy, 
 and beautiful soul. The world, the flesh, and the devil pursue 
 the soul to destroy its beauty. The jewel is penitence; the 
 conquered one is death, who was overcome by the hand of Him 
 who remained alive, for the sovereign cannot die. And so every 
 Christian should understand that the divine and highest award 
 is given to the just and not to the tyrant. 
 
 Luzman then proceeds to Lucca, where he learns of a singular 
 case which is soon to be decided by a celebrated philosopher. 
 The case was as follows. A father had three sons : the eldest was 
 married, the second was never married, but was addicted to 
 women, keeping faith with none; the third was never married, 
 knew no woman, and yet was the most enamoured of all men of 
 his time, saying that in this love consists. They often quarreled 
 bitterly as to which was right in his mode of life. It was the 
 custom of that country for fathers to leave their property to 
 the one son whom they loved best, and let him give what he 
 would to the others. In this case, the father could not make 
 up his mind which of his sons he loved best, and therefore recom- 
 mended them to submit their differences to some prudent men, 
 and whoever was judged to have chosen the best mode of life 
 should receive the inheritance and the other brothers be subject 
 to him. 
 
 The trial took place in public in the square of the cathedral. 
 Each brother defended his own state, and sung in conclusion a 
 sonnet which summed up his case. 
 
 The judge after hearing the arguments decided in favor of the 
 eldest, Ardonio, the married brother: "por razon que su estado 
 es mejor que el de sus dos hermanos, porque sigue y guarda 
 mandamiento divino." 
 
 Luzman makes the acquaintance of the Marquis of Mantua 
 and accompanies him to Florence, where dwells the object of 
 his love. One day the friends go to a park which is the resort 
 of the ladies and gentlemen of the city. There they find the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 575 
 
 musician Sotocles, who always speaks ill of love. After he has 
 sung a sonnet he engages in a dispute with a maiden, Claudia, 
 who asks him why he is such an enemy of women and love. 
 He replies: "Because they are our enemies and love the cause of 
 our perdition." Another damsel asks him what is love. He 
 answers: "A boy, blind and mad {loco) and insane (desvariado) 
 in all his ways." He is then asked why he is called Cupid, 
 why everyone loves, whence love arises, etc. 
 
 At the request of the Marquis, Luzman answers Sotocles and 
 defines love: "A fountain of amorous desire, a tree that never 
 loses its leaves, and a vision of the mind depicted on the senses, 
 without which man is a lifeless sketch." Sotocles replies: "You 
 are greatly mistaken, for love is a sea of blood, a leafless tree, 
 a house built upon the sand, a mad impulse, a stone fixed in 
 the judgment, a lancet which divides the best veins, a lance with 
 two points, by which a hundred thousand are created." Luzman 
 answers: "You have never been in love; therefore you speak by 
 hearsay. Know then that love is the compass pf all prudence, 
 garden which delights the eyes, attire which adorns the rustic 
 and elevates the wise, treasure of richest worth," etc. 
 
 On his way to Rome by way of Siena, Luzman comes across 
 some shepherds and enjoys their hospitality for a night, with 
 the usual story of love. One of the shepherds sings a song 
 about love, which he overwhelms with epithets of every kind. 
 At last Luzman reaches Rome, where he finds a merchant from 
 Seville, a great friend of his father, who welcomes him to his 
 house, and in his company Luzman sees the principal sights of 
 the city. After he has been with his friend Belcaro a month 
 he is told that a dramatic performance is to take place that 
 night in the residence of Cardinal Julian, who is an invalid, 
 and whose servants divert him with plays. They find a 
 large company assembled in a great hall where there is a theatre 
 a manera de coliseo. The Cardinal welcomes them, and after 
 a bountiful collation the play begins with the entrance of Death 
 with bow and arrow, boasting of his prowess. He is followed 
 by two women, one beautiful, the other homely, who sing the 
 praises of beauty and ugliness. Then appear seven damsels 
 singing and playing various instruments, and in their midst 
 Love, naked, blindfold, and with bow and arrows. These seven 
 damsels are the seven deadly sins. 
 
576 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 At the same time enter by another door seven other dam- 
 sels representing the seven virtues, and in their midst divine 
 Love dressed in purple (morada) silk, covered with golden stars, 
 his countenance uncovered, wearing a wreath of laurel and carry- 
 ing a golden bow and arrow. The two choirs of sins and virtues 
 then dispute among themselves, and when they have finished the 
 two Loves, Divine Love and Human Love, come forward and 
 debate their respective powers. When they have concluded 
 Divine Love makes a show of discharging his bow at Human 
 Love, who surrenders and kneels on the ground. Then Divine 
 Love approaches him and taking off a golden chain which he 
 wore throws it over the neck of Human Love in token of his 
 captivity. In like manner the virtues advance against the sins 
 and take them captive with their chains. 
 
 With the further adventures of Luxman we have nothing to do. 
 As we have said, he is captured and taken to Algiers. After his 
 ransom he returns to Seville, finds Arbolea in the convent, and, 
 in spite of her advice to him to marry and please his parents, 
 resolves himself to lead a solitary life in a hermitage, which he 
 builds near Arbolea's convent. 
 
 Closely connected in form with the Selva de Aventuras of Con- 
 treras is Lope de Vega's novel El Peregrino en su Patria,'' which 
 deserves a brief mention here although it does not belong to 
 the class of works in which we are more immediately interested, 
 viz., those containing stories told by a company of ladies and 
 gentlemen, in imitation of Boccaccio's Decameron. In some of 
 the Spanish imitations the diversions of the different days con- 
 sist not only of story-telling and music, as in the Decameron, 
 but of elaborate masques, autos sacramentales, and regular dramas. 
 We shall see that in at least two works to be examined later the 
 stories are told during a journey, and it seems likely that they 
 were influenced by the Selva de Aventuras and El Peregrino en su 
 Patria. The plot of the latter work, written by Lope de Vega 
 at the end of 1603, is as follows. 
 
 A ship is wrecked on the coast near Barcelona during a storm 
 and the Pilgrim is cast half lifeless on the shore. He is restored 
 to life by some fishermen and tells them merely that he was 
 
 ' I have used the edition of El Peregrino en su Patria in the fifth volume of 
 the Obras sueltas, 1776. The work has been judged very differently by Ticlc- 
 nor, II, 203, and by Rennert, The Life of Lope de Vega, p. 150. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 577 
 
 coming from Italy where he has been during the holy year of 
 the^ pontificate of Clement VIII. While in the fishermen's 
 cabin at night the Pilgrim hears someone singing a poem to the 
 sound of a lyre. He goes in the direction of the music and finds 
 a solitary fisherman. While they are conversing they are sur- 
 prised by a band of soldiers who take them prisoners and are 
 on the point of hanging the Pilgrim. His evident innocence 
 saves him and he goes with the band to Barcelona. There he is 
 thrown into prison for three months. On his release he attends 
 the performance of a representacion moral, El Viage del Alma. 
 The first book closes with the Pilgrim's attempt to discover some 
 remedy for the love by which he was consumed. The nature of 
 •love and the claims of magic to heal it are discussed and an enigma 
 on love is given. 
 
 At the beginning of the second book the Pilgrim on his way to 
 Valencia encounters two youths, Flemish or German, from their 
 appearance, who had left their country on account of the religious 
 troubles and had taken refuge in Catholic Spain. After some 
 talk about the heresy which is being firmly repressed in Spain, 
 the Pilgrim relates two miracles of the Virgin. ^ In one a pious 
 painter depicts the Virgin as beautiful and the Devil as ugly; 
 the latter endeavours to kill the painter by throwing down the 
 scaffold on which he is at work. In the second story the Devil 
 involves the painter in an intrigue with a soldier's wife. The 
 adulterous pair are imprisoned and sentenced to death, but the 
 Virgin releases them; the wife is returned to her husband, the 
 painter to his studio, and the people are made to believe that 
 they have dreamed the whole occurrence. 
 
 While visiting the sanctuary of Montserrat a monk tells another 
 exemplum, on the authority of "Jacob institutor," of three com- 
 rades during a thunder storm ; two of whom are struck by light- 
 
 * Very interesting is the literary use of the two miracles of the Virgin and 
 the exemplum which follows. The first miracle of the Virgin is one of the 
 most popular and is found endless times in the literature of the Middle Ages. 
 See Ward's Catalogue of Romances in the Department of MSS. of the British Mu- 
 seum, n, pp. 628, 687, 705, and J. Klapper's Erzahlungen des Mittelalters, p. 273. 
 The second story is a variant of the first and I do not find it in any of the col- 
 lections I have examined. Very popular is a similar story in which the Devil 
 causes a pious matron and monk to fall in love, elope, and carry away the 
 treasures of the church and property of the husband. The guilty pair are 
 pursued, captured, and thrown into prison. The Virgin intercedes for them 
 and the demons are compelled to restore them to their homes and substitute 
 demons for them in the jail. See Crane's Exempla of Jacques de Vitry, Lon- 
 don, 1890, No. 282, and Klapper, op. cit., p. 303. 
 38 
 
578 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ning and killed, while the third is spared because he has heard 
 that day in church the words "Et verbum caro factum est."' 
 
 The pilgrims make their way to Valencia and there hear an 
 auto, Las Bodas del Alma y el Amor divino, performed in cele- 
 bration of the marriage of Margaret of Austria to Philip III. 
 
 In the third book the Pilgrim rejoins his beloved Nise, who had 
 been separated from him since she supposed him hanged by the 
 soldiers in the first book. She had gone mad in consequence of 
 her grief and is found by her lover in a madhouse. 
 
 A third auto, La Maya, is performed at Saragossa, and a 
 fourth and last, El Hijo prddigo, at Perpignan. It is impossible 
 to follow in detail the wanderings and adventures of the lovers; 
 suffice it to say that the Pilgrim (whose name is Panfilo) is taken 
 a captive to Fez, whither Nise follows him disguised as a Moor, 
 and succeeds in ransoming him. The lovers are again separated 
 and it is not until after another long and painful series of ad- 
 ventures that they are finally united in marriage. 
 
 For eight nights the marriage is celebrated by the performance 
 of as many plays. These are not printed with the novel, but 
 the author says they will appear elsewhere in order not to swell the 
 size of the present volume. One of the eight, El Galdn agradecido, 
 is apparently not extant. 
 
 Before dismissing El Peregrino en su Patria I may say that 
 Book V contains a ghost-story which George Borrow considered 
 the best ever written, and which he took the trouble to translate." 
 
 About the same time that Lope de Vega wrote El Peregrino 
 en su Patria, Augustfn de Rojas Villandrando composed El Viage 
 entretenido, a work precious for the early history of the Spanish 
 stage, as it depicts the fortunes of a company of strolling actors, 
 and is thus the progenitor of the most famous work in this 
 genre, Scarron's Roman Comique. The two works of Lope de 
 Vega and Rojas seem to have influenced another book of this 
 kind, which, in its turn, may have served as an example to 
 those Spanish novels in which stories are related to enliven a 
 journey. I refer to El Pasagero of Christ6bal Sudrez de Figueroa, 
 first published at Madrid in 1617, and reprinted in 1618 at 
 Barcelona. No other editions appeared until 1913, when it 
 
 " This exemplum is found in Klapper, op. cit., p. 324.' 
 " See W. J. Knapp's Life, Writings and Correspondence of George Borrow, 
 London, 1899, Vol. II, pp. 118 e/ seg. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 579 
 
 was printed in the BibUoteca Renacimiento. An interesting 
 account of Figueroa's stormy life is given by Professor J. P. W. 
 Crawford in his University of Pennsylvania Dissertation: The 
 Life and Works of Chris tdbal Sudrez de Figueroa, 1907. I have 
 seen the two early editions at the Hispanic Society, and have 
 used for my studies the reprint in the BibUoteca Renacimiento. 
 
 The plot, or rather frame, of El Pasagero is as follows. Four 
 travellers, not previously acquainted, set out from Madrid for 
 Barcelona in order to embark for Italy. One of the company 
 was a master of arts and professor of theology, drawn to Rome by 
 his love of literature and desire for appreciation. The second 
 traveller was a soldier, who from his youth had not yet risen 
 high, and was going to Naples with modest pay, the result more 
 of favor than service. The third was a jeweller, on his way to 
 Milan, where a certain relative (pariente de pluma) had died and 
 left him a fortune. The fourth was exiled from his country for 
 no reason, unless a sufificient one was that he had been born in it 
 with some rank (calidad) and little means. He had attained in 
 his studies the title of doctor of both jurisprudences, although 
 he was more learned in experience and travel {communicacion de 
 naciones). The company resolved to journey by night on ac- 
 count of the heat, and rest during the day. The inns were not 
 propitious for quiet, and the travellers whiled away their idle 
 moments by various conversations. Three of the four left 
 Madrid with sorrow and regret, parting from relatives or friends. 
 Only the Doctor regarded, the city they were leaving with dis- 
 pleasure and dry eyes, as if angry at one who is prodigal of her 
 favors to strangers and miserly to her natives. His companions 
 wondered at his indifference, and early in the journey he explained 
 his attitude. 
 
 The work is divided into ten books termed "alivios," i.e. 
 conversations which alleviate the fatigues of the journey. In 
 these ten chapters are related the experiences of the four com- 
 panions, or of those whom they encounter on the way. The 
 most interesting of the latter is the story of an innkeeper whom 
 the Doctor once met in his travels. 
 
 A large part of the work, and the one which has attracted 
 most attention thus far, consists of literary criticism. Through 
 the Doctor's mouth Figueroa indulges in bitter attacks on his 
 contemporaries and the dramatic forms popular in his day, while 
 
580 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 defending the followers of the classical school. Just as Cervantes 
 in Don Quixote (Part I, chapters 21 and 50) describes a typical 
 Romance of Chivalry, so the soldier in El Pasagero {AUvio ii) 
 declares that he could not learn in ten years the art extolled by 
 the Doctor. He prefers to follow in the footsteps of those who 
 have won popular applause, and proceeds to sketch a typical 
 comedia. 
 
 An interesting and elaborate criticism of the sermons of the day 
 is given in AUvio iv; nor is so important a topic as Love neglected. 
 Various questions connected with it are discussed as in Italian 
 society, e.g., Can Love exist without jealousy? Which should 
 reveal Love first, the woman or the man? etc. Many other 
 subjects are also treated, such as courtesy and good manners, 
 conversation, and, at considerable length, friendship. Besides 
 all this, there are endless digressions and reflections of all sorts, 
 moral, historical, geographical,— the work begins with a minute 
 description of Italy. In short, as Professor Crawford says, 
 op. cit., p. 57, "There are few books in Spanish literature so 
 subjective as El Pasagero, and perhaps no Spanish writer has 
 left so faithful a record of his disposition and tastes. It not 
 only affords us an opportunity to study the life and character 
 of the author, but enables us to see, with the eye of a contempo- 
 rary, the life and manners of Spain in the early seventeenth 
 century." 
 
 I shall mention briefly in this connection another work of 
 Figueroa which I have seen in the Hispanic Society: Pusilipo. 
 Ratos de conversacion, en los que dura el passeo. Naples, Lazaro 
 Scoriggio, 1629. The work is dedicated to the Duke of Alcald, 
 viceroy of the kingdom of Naples. The book is well charac- 
 terized by Professor Crawford, op. cit., p. 92: "The scene of the 
 book is a garden on the hill of Posilipo, overlooking the Bay of 
 Naples, where four friends sought the cool breezes during the 
 long summer days. Pusilipo, which is a record of their conver- 
 sation, is composed of six juntas or meetings, and includes a 
 large number of verses which were introduced from time to time 
 into the dialogue. 
 
 "The book shows evident signs of haste in composition, and 
 the author rambles from politics and the principles of govern- 
 ment to religion and natural philosophy without any apparent 
 order or system. . . . His discussion of the government of 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 581 
 
 Naples is valuable as an historical document, but aside from that 
 the book offers little of interest." 
 
 The four friends who meet at Posilipo are: Rosardo, an old 
 man who devoted all his wits to "las letras politicas"; Florindo, 
 "que por singulares demonstraciones, avia en al milicia conse- 
 guido honrosos puestos," and enjoyed an ample stipend from the 
 king; Silverio, most expert in the "cautelosa filosofia de palacio " ; 
 and Laureano, an academician of some repute in the Neapolitan 
 Liceo. 
 
 We have seen in Chapter III the important part which a 
 work of a Spanish Jew played in the interminable discussions on 
 Love in Italy in the sixteenth century. The Dialoghi di Amore 
 of Leone Hebreo was translated into Spanish three times : by the 
 Inca Garcilasso de la Vega (Madrid, 1590, reprinted in Menendez 
 y Pelayo's Origenes de la Novela, Vol. IV, pp. 278-459) ; by an 
 anonymous Jew (Venice, 1658) ; and by Micer Carlos Montesa 
 (Saragossa, 1582). The Italian original was well known in 
 Spain, and the reader will recall Cervantes 's allusion to the author 
 in the Prologue to the First Part of Don Quixote: "Si trataredes 
 de amores, con dos onzas que sepais de la lengua toscana topareis 
 con Leon Hebreo, que os hincha las medidas." Long before Don 
 Quixote Cervantes had used Leone Hebreo, as we shall presently 
 see." 
 
 The enormous popularity of the Diana of Jorge de Montemor 
 (better known under the Spanish form of his name, Monte- 
 mayor) contributed to the vogue in Spain of discussions on the 
 nature of Love." In the fourth book of that romance the 
 njmiphs and shepherdesses gather at the hour of supper in a 
 little meadow enclosed by green willows. There seated on the 
 grass they begin to converse with one another on the topics which 
 most please them. The company is broken up into little groups 
 so that they can talk without disturbance to others. Sireno, 
 desirous that the conversation shall conform to the time and 
 place as well as to the speaker, begins as follows: "It does not 
 seem to me improper, Seiiora Felicia, to ask a question which I 
 
 u See note *?• 
 
 IS A sufficient account of Montemayor and his famous work will be found in 
 Origenes de la Novela, I, pp. ccxlviii etseq., and in Rennert's The Spanish Pas- 
 toral Romances, Baltimore, 1892 (^Publications of the Modern Language Asso- 
 ciation of America,. Vol. VH, No. 3), pp. 6 et seq. The Drnna is reprmted in 
 the second volume of the Origenes de la Novela. 
 
582 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 have never been able to solve. It is this: All persons of under- 
 standing declare that true love springs from reason ; but if this 
 is so, why is there nothing more unbridled in the world or less 
 governed by reason?" 
 
 Felicia replies that as the question was one beyond the capacity 
 of a shepherd, she should have to be more than woman to answer 
 it ; but with her little comprehension it did not seem to her that 
 because reason was the mother of love one must think that it 
 limits or governs it. "Rather it must be presumed," she con- 
 tinues, "that after reason has engendered it, generally it is un- 
 willing to rule it, and it is so ungovernable that most often it 
 results in harm and prejudice to the lover, since for the most 
 part those who love deeply come to abhor each other, which is 
 contrary to reason and the right of nature. This is why Love 
 is painted blind and devoid of reason, and as his mother Venus 
 has beautiful eyes, so he always desires what is most beautiful. 
 He is painted naked, because good love cannot be dissembled 
 with reason, nor concealed with prudence. He is painted winged, 
 because he enters swiftly the mind of the lover, and the more 
 perfect he is, with the greater swiftness and madness {enagenami- 
 ento de si mismo) does he go in search of the beloved person. 
 For which reason Euripides says that the lover lives in the body 
 of the beloved. He is also painted bending his bow, because he 
 shoots straight at the heart, as at his proper target, and thus the 
 wound produced by love is like that made by the arrow or dart 
 on its penetration deep within the lover. This wound is difficult 
 to see, hard to cure, and long in healing." 
 
 The reader will recognize in the above passage one of the most 
 frequent topics of discussion in Italian society in the sixteenth 
 century. 1^ 
 
 It is not necessary to follow further the arguments of the 
 shepherds and shepherdesses in the Diana, and we will turn to 
 Cervantes, whose first work, the Galatea, also a pastoral romance, 
 was printed at Alcald de Henares in 1585. The passage in ques- 
 tion, much more extensive than the one in the Diana, occurs in 
 the fourth book. The scene is at a spring in a cool and pleasing 
 spot, where the shepherds come to pass the noontide heat in the 
 shade of dense green trees. There they meet the shepherdesses 
 
 " See Chapter III, p. 114; Chapter VI, p. 278; Chapter VIII, p. 403; and 
 Chapter XI, note 7. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 583 
 
 and certain gentlemen and fair ladies who are on a journey and 
 wearied and invited by the cool and pleasing spot have left their 
 road and are spending there the sultry hours of the noontide 
 heat. After a long poem by the shepherd Lauso, the loveless 
 Lenio starts a discussion on the subject of love. The company 
 is augmented by the arrival of other shepherds and shepherdesses 
 who are anxious to hear the arguments of Lenio, who, seating 
 himself on the trunk of a felled tree, begins his discourse in a 
 voice at first low, and then full-sounding. 
 
 Lenio 's discourse is based on Leone Hebreo, whose words he 
 often follows. He begins with the definition of Love: "Love, 
 then, as I have heard my elders say, is a desire for beauty. Then 
 if it be granted me that love is desire for beauty, it must necessar- 
 ily be granted me that such as is the beauty which is loved will 
 be the love with which it is loved." He then defines the two 
 kinds of beauty, which lead to two kinds of love. The charac- 
 teristics and results of these are elaborately described, and the 
 pangs of love are enumerated at great length. The ancients 
 believed that the passions and follies of lovers were due to a 
 fancied god, to whom they gave the name of Cupid. "They 
 were moved to say this, and to give the name of god to this 
 desire by seeing the supernatural effects it produces in lovers. 
 Without doubt it seems a supernatural thing for a lover at the 
 same moment to be timorous and confident, to burn away from 
 his beloved and grow cold when nearer her, to be dumb when 
 speaking much, and speaking much when dumb. It is likewise 
 a strange thing to follow one who shuns me, to praise one who 
 reproaches me, to utter words to one who does not listen to me, 
 to serve an ungrateful one, and to hope in one who never promises 
 nor can give aught that is good. Oh, bitter sweetness, oh, poison- 
 ous medicine of sick lovers, oh, sad joy, oh, flower of love, that 
 dost indicate no fruit, save that of tardy repentance! These 
 are the effects of this fancied god ; these are his deeds and won- 
 drous works; and indeed it can also be seen in the picture by 
 which they represented this vain god of theirs, how vainly they 
 acted; they painted him as a boy, naked, winged, his eyes band- 
 aged, with bow and 'arrows in his hands, to give us to understand, 
 amongst other things, that, when a man is. in love, he assumes 
 again the character of a simple and capricious boy, who is blind 
 in his aims, light in his thoughts, cruel in his deeds, naked and 
 
584 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 poor in the riches of the understanding. They said likewise 
 that amongst his arrows he had two, the one of lead and the other 
 of gold, with which he produced different effects; for the leaden 
 one begot hatred in the breasts it touched, and the golden one 
 increase of love in those it wounded, merely to tell us that it is 
 rich gold that causes love, and poor lead abhorrence." 
 
 Many mythological and historical illustrations of the evil 
 effects of love are also adduced. Lenio concludes his lengthy 
 discourse by a song which he composed some days before in 
 reproach of his foe. 
 
 He is answered by Thyrsis, who distinguishes between love and 
 desire, which are different passions of the will. He divides love 
 into three kinds: chaste love, useful love, and delectable love. 
 He then proceeds to refute Lenio 's arguments, saying that there 
 is nothing praiseworthy in the world, however good it be, the use 
 of which cannot be changed into evil. He then gives another 
 interpretation of Cupid's form: "And as for the interpretation 
 you gave of Cupid's form, I am going to say that you are almost 
 as wrong in it as in the other things you have said against love. 
 For to picture him a boy, blind, naked, with wings and arrows, 
 means nothing but that the lover must be a boy in not having 
 a double character, but one pure and simple; he must be blind 
 to every other object that might offer itself to him, save that 
 which he has already been able and yield to, naked because he 
 must have nought save what belongs to her he loves, having 
 wings of swiftness to be ready for all that may be commanded him 
 on her part, while he is depicted with arrows, for the wound of the 
 loving breast must needs be deep and hidden, and that scarce 
 may be disclosed save to the very cause that is to cure it. That 
 love should strike with two arrows which operate in different 
 ways, is to show us that in perfect love there must be no mean 
 between loving and not loving at the same moment, but that the 
 lover must love whole-heartedly without any admixture of luke- 
 warmness. Finally, Lenio, this love it is which, if it destroyed 
 the Trojans, made the Greeks great; if it caused the works of 
 Carthage to cease, it caused the buildings of Rome to grow; if 
 it took away the kingdom from Tarquin, it brought back the 
 republic to freedom." Like Lenio he closes with a song, but it is 
 in praise of love. 
 
 This long episode of the fourth book of the Galatea affords an 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 585 
 
 almost complete treatise on Platonic love as it was understood 
 in the sixteenth century, and will excuse the reader from the 
 perusal of many more extensive disquisitions. It should be 
 taken in connection with an episode of the third book, where 
 four shepherds recite an eclogue which they themselves have com- 
 posed on the occasion of their own griefs. One complains of the 
 death of his beloved, another, the hardheartedness of his, another, 
 the absence of his, and the fourth, that his beloved gives him 
 cause for jealousy. The eclogue is really a debat, in which each 
 party endeavours to prove that his sufferings are the greatest. 
 A contest arises between many of the bystanders as to which 
 of the four has pleaded his cause the best, and the opinion of all 
 comes to agree with that which discreet Damon gives, saying to 
 them that he for his part holds that, among all the distasteful and 
 unpleasant things that love brings with it, nothing so much dis- 
 tresses the loving breast as the incurable plague of jealousy, and 
 neither Orompo's loss, nor Crisio's absence, nor Marsilio's despair 
 can be equalled by it. He then proceeds to prove his judgment 
 by a long discourse on the passion of jealousy. 
 
 One of the few^ references to Parlor Games in Spanish literature 
 occurs in the work of Cervantes just mentioned. It follows the 
 long discussion on Love which has been quoted above. The 
 company was joined by three shepherds, one of whom states 
 that they have come to beg Damon and Thyrsis to be judges of a 
 graceful contest that has arisen between the new comers, who 
 found themselves in a company of fair shepherdesses, and in 
 order to pass without tedium the leisure hours of the day amongst 
 them, set on foot, amongst many other games, the one which 
 is called "themes" (propositos) . "It happens then, that, the 
 turn to propose and begin coming to one of these shepherds, 
 fate would have it that the shepherdess at his side and on his 
 right hand is, as he says, the treasurer of his soul's secrets, and 
 the one who is, in the opinion of all, accounted the most discreet 
 and most in love. Approaching, then, her ear, he says to her: 
 
 Hope doth fly and will not stay. 
 
 The shepherdess, without being at a loss, goes on, and, each one 
 
 afterwards repeating in public what he has said to the other in 
 
 secret, it is found that the shepherdess has capped the theme 
 
 by saying: 
 
 With desire to check its flight. 
 
586 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 "The acuteness of this reply was praised by those who were 
 present; but the one to extol it the most was the shepherd 
 Lauso, and it seemed no less good to Francenio, and so each one, 
 seeing that the theme and reply were verses of the same measure, 
 offered to gloss them. After having done so, each one claimed 
 that his gloss excelled the other's, and to have certainty in this, 
 they wished to make me judge of it; but, as I knew that your 
 presence was gladdening our banks, I counselled them to come 
 to you, to whose consummate learning and wisdom questions of 
 greater import might well be trusted." 
 
 It is not necessary to dwell on the decision. Our readers 
 will easily recognize the game as an Italian one. It is, in fact, 
 found in Girolamo Bargagli's Dialogo de' Giuochi, p. 22, "Giuoco 
 del Proposito," in which a word or saying is whispered to one 
 next you at table, and this one whispers the answer to the one 
 next him, and so on around the circle, and then the questions and 
 answers are told aloud so that it may be seen who has answered 
 apropos and who not. This game with some modifications is 
 found in Sorel's Recreations galantes, p. 71. It is also referred to 
 in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Vol. II, p. 93, ed. of Shilleto. 
 See Chapter VI, note 2 of this present work, also Chapter XI, 
 note 12a. 
 
 There is no doubt that in Spain discussions on the subject of 
 love like those mentioned above were frequent and formed a 
 part of social diversions. We shall see frequent allusion to this 
 in the novels describing entertainments after the fashion of those 
 immortalized in Boccaccio's Decameron. 
 
 I have, however, been unable to find even in the class of liter- 
 ary works just mentioned many definite allusions to parlor 
 games, although such must have enjoyed some vogue in Spain. 
 This is shown by the fact that references to them are found in 
 the drama, and in one instance the game is minutely described. 
 I allude to Guillen de Castro's play of Los mat casados de Valen- 
 cia}* It occurs in the first act, where the company of lardies and 
 gentlemen are uncertain as to how they shall spend the afternoon. 
 Don Alvaro asks: "At what shall we play?" Valerian replies: 
 "Invent the game as you like." Don Alvaro: "The game of 
 
 " I have seen the editions of this play in Ochoa, Tesoro del Teatro Espanol, 
 Paris, 1838, Vol. I, and in Bihlioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. XLIII, Dra- 
 mdticos contempordneos a Lope de Vega, I. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 587 
 
 letters will go well where there is so much learning." Doiia 
 Eugenia chooses A, Don Alvaro E, Valerian I, Hipolita C, 
 Galindez T, the criado Pierris R, and Elvira D. Eugenia is the 
 first to begin: "I departed from Aragon." Valerian: "Give me 
 a forfeit." Doiia Eugenia: "Why?" Valerian: "Because you 
 have made a mistake. Aragon is a kingdom, not a place." 
 Don Alvaro: "There is no doubt about that." Hipolita: "Give 
 him a forfeit." Dona Eugenia: "I have; now I'll continue. 
 I arrived at Almeria, where I entered an inn and found some 
 guests (or host and hostess), one named Antonio, the other Ana, 
 and a gallant, Alvaro, who was following me. They brought us 
 for supper, first (Heavens! who will help me?) alcachofas (arti- 
 chokes) , then for medios a duck (anadino) , for dessert almonds. 
 Now I am coming to the most difficult part." Don Alvaro: 
 "You mean to the gallant. What did you say to him?" Dona 
 Eugenia : " I do not know what to say. Alas ! he was as handsome 
 as water (agua)." Valerian: "Is water handsome?" Dona 
 Eugenia: "It is clear, which is the greatest beauty." Elvira: 
 "That's better said of the dress than of the face." Hipolita: 
 "She's right, by my life!" Don Alvaro: "She is rapacious — 
 speak." Doiia Eugenia: "I am calm." Don Alvaro: "You 
 said to him?" Dona Eugenia: "I told him I loved him like my 
 soul {alma)." 
 
 It is not necessary to continue, as each character who takes 
 part in the game uses his or her opportunity to make veiled 
 references to their love affairs, which are excessively compli- 
 cated, as is usually the case in the Spanish drama. 
 
 The game consists, as we have seen, in the narration of a 
 journey, on which the inns, food, persons, etc., must begin with 
 the letter which the player has chosen at the beginning. This 
 game is the well-known Italian parlor game of "Letters," and 
 was also popular in France. ^^ 
 
 I owe to Professor E. C. Hills of the University of Indiana 
 another reference to a Parlor Game in the Spanish drama. 
 It occurs in Agustin Moreto (1618-1669), La Fuerza del Natural 
 (Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. XXXIX, Comedias 
 
 "See Bargagli, Dialoghi de' Giuochi, p. 27, X, "Game of Letters," where 
 one feigns to have returned from a journey and all the things that he has seen 
 and done must begin with a certain letter. This game was included by 
 Charles Sorel in Les Recreations galantes, Paris, 1671, p. 92. For the above 
 authors and games in general see Chapters VI and X of the present work. 
 
588 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 escogidas de Don Agustin Moreto y Cabana, Madrid, 1856, pp. 
 209-228), Act II, Scene IX, p. 221. The scene of the play is at 
 Ferrara "y sus inmediaciones," and the game, as in Los Mai 
 Casados de Valencia, aiifords an opportunity for the characters 
 to reveal their love. 
 
 The game is introduced in a garden and the characters in- 
 volved are the Dukes of Ferrara and Urbino, Aurora, Carlos, 
 
 Camila, Julio, and Gila. 
 
 Dugue. 
 En aqueste sitio ameno 
 Divirtirrae solicito, 
 Depuesta la autoridad 
 En las manos del carino. 
 Aqui entre discretes temas, 
 Variamente discursivos, 
 Divertida la fatiga 
 Hallara el ingenio avisos, 
 Y Julio acompafiara. 
 Para mayor regocijo, 
 Las ingeniosas profias 
 A que agora os apercibo. 
 
 Pues un juego sea ingeniosa 
 Profia en "quien mas sintio.' 
 
 Cdrlos. 
 
 Y yo el juego compondre. 
 
 Julio. 
 Por mi, vaya: mas no se 
 Sino a la pizpirigana."" 
 
 Cdrlos. 
 Los cuatro elementos son 
 En los que el juego se fragua; 
 . Y asi, tome Julio el agua. 
 
 Julio. 
 Eso es darme un torozon. 
 
 Cdrlos. 
 Tome Alejandro la tierra, 
 A Camila el aire entrego, 
 Yo para mi tomo el fuego 
 {Ap. Pues tanto mi pecho encierra) : 
 
 Y asf, cuando se nombrare 
 Propriedad 6 fruto, atento 
 Responda con su elemento 
 Aquel 4 quien le tocare. 
 Pague una prenda el culpado; 
 
 Y el que acierte 6 yerre el pie. 
 Dentro de su afecto de 
 
 ^° A children's game which consists in pinching each other's hands. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 589 
 
 El razon que le ha obligado 
 A errar 6 acertar. Y sea 
 De Icaro el caso funesto 
 Materia al juego. (A p. Con esto 
 Dire lo que amor desea) 
 
 Y sea Aurora discreta 
 Quien le juzgue, pues atentos 
 La adoran los elementos, 
 
 Y no esti 4 afectos sujeta. 
 
 Aurora then begins the story of Icarus, and as soon as she speaks 
 of Icarus preparing wings and thus enjoying the privilege of 
 birds, Carlos says "Aire," and explains why. 
 
 Aurora continues and when she describes Icarus' flight and 
 Daedalus keeping nearer to the foam, Julio cries "Vino," and 
 when told he should have said "Agua," claims that wine pro- 
 duces foam as well as water. He is, however, compelled to pay 
 a forfeit, in his case to read some verses he has written. 
 
 The game goes on, and when Aurora describes Icarus mount- 
 ing on high with "tan altos pensamientos," Carlos interrupts 
 with "Fuego." He is reproved for speaking too soon. He 
 excuses himself but has to pay a forfeit. This is to discuss a 
 "problema," really a "question." The "question" is reserved 
 until Alejandro also makes a mistake. The "question " is : 
 
 ijCuil obliga mas amando 
 
 Y hace su fe mas felice? 
 iAquel que su pena dice, 
 
 O aquel que pena callando? 
 
 Cirlos and Alejandro debate the "question" and Aurora gives 
 a rather dubious decision: 
 
 Aprobare mi opinion 
 De Alejandro la razon 
 Y de Carlos las razones. 
 
 The company then breaks up, but Carlos, detaining Aurora, 
 makes her a fervent declaration of his love. 
 
 The game resembles somewhat Ringhieri's VIII., The Game of 
 the Elements. It is also in Sorel's Les Recreations galantes, II. 
 See Chapters VI and X of the present work. The "question" 
 discussed in the game is one mentioned in the present work in 
 Chapter I, pp. lo, 2i. 
 
 I know of only one other reference to Italian forms of social 
 diversion in the Spanish drama, which I owe to Ticknor's allu- 
 sion to Calderon's Secreto a Voces as a witty exhibition of pre- 
 
590 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 gnntas}^ The scene of the play is in the north of Italy, Man- 
 tua or Parma, and the episode in question is undoubtedly nothing 
 but a representation of the common Italian social diversion of 
 Questions. The passage is as follows : Flerida, Duchess of Parma, 
 is holding her court when she receives a letter from the Duke of 
 Mantua asking her to shelter a near relative of his while he ar- 
 ranges a difficulty growing out of a love affair which has led to 
 a challenge. Flerida grants the request and says she will reply 
 at once to the Duke. Then addressing her guest (who is the 
 Duke of Mantua himself in disguise) she says: "That you may 
 be able to write the Duke about my diversions, for I do not doubt 
 you have instructions to do so, let all be seated, now that the 
 sun is covered with grey clouds, and let Arnesto propound a 
 question." Arnesto replies that although his age might excuse 
 him, nevertheless he will accept the task of diverting her, and 
 so proposes the question : Which is the greatest torment of love ? 
 Flerida directs the newcomer Enrique to reply first. He an- 
 swers that he enjoys two advantages, and to comply with them 
 he chooses the torment which he himself is suffering — that of a 
 lover who is disliked (aborrecido) by the object of his affections. 
 Flora, the criada, thinks that greater pain consists in disliking 
 one. Lisardo maintains that jealousy is the greatest torment; 
 Libia, absence; Federico, hopeless love; Flerida, to love in 
 silence without being able to reveal one's feelings; Laura, to 
 love and be loved. Arnesto then calls on each to prove his 
 contention. This is done, and the discussion is closed by Laura, 
 who maintains that to love being loved is the greatest torment. 
 Flerida declares that Laura's arguments are mere sophistry, and 
 the company breaks up. 
 
 That parlor games were played in Spain is also shown by a 
 rare work by Don Luis Mildn, whose El Cortesano has been 
 examined at length in Chapter IV of this work. The little 
 book in question, of which but a single copy is known, that in 
 the National Library at Madrid, is entitled Libra de motes de 
 damas y caballeros : Intitulado el juego de mandar. Compuesto 
 por Don Luys Mildn. Dirigido d las damas. Valencia, por 
 Francisco Diaz, romano, 1635. '^^ 
 
 ^^ Ticknor's History of Spanish Literature, II, p. 6, n. 5. I have used the 
 edition of the play in Comedias de Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca, ed. Keil, 
 Leipzig, 1829, Vol. Ill, p. 345, Jornada 1. 
 
 ''This rare little work is printed at the end of Milan's El Cortesano in Co- 
 leccion de libros espanoles raros curiosos, Madrid, 1874, Vol. VII. The copy 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 591 
 
 After a prologue in fervent praise of women, follows "The 
 way in which this game of commands is to be played." "A 
 gentleman, holding the book closed in his hands, will beg a lady 
 to open it, and when she has done so a lady and gentleman will 
 be found depicted, each with a motto before him or her. The 
 motto before the lady will be the command for the gentleman, 
 who must be very obedient, since for the obedience which he 
 must display in doing what the lady commands he has a motto 
 suitable for him in the book; and the gentleman who is not 
 obedient will be condemned by the ladies as they deem proper, 
 and banished from the room. Afterwards another gentleman 
 and lady will do as the first have done, and all the rest afterwards 
 in order, until the ladies command the game to cease." 
 
 Each command is followed by an answer which the player 
 apparently must recite with the performance of his task or com- 
 mand. Here are some of the commands, generally vapid enough : 
 
 Rise and dance, 
 
 For with such a disposition 
 
 You can easily dance without music. 
 
 I would not seem foolish 
 
 In dancing for you without music 
 
 If we should dance together. 
 
 Seeking among these ladies, 
 
 If there is any one named Mencla, 
 
 Greet her with beauty and joy. 
 
 Mencia, 
 
 He who made you well knew 
 
 That he had created two things in you, 
 
 Beauty among the beautiful 
 
 And among the melancholy joy. 
 
 Go and touch the wall 
 With your eyes shut 
 And ask me a favor. 
 
 The favor I ask you, 
 
 Since you have blinded me, 
 
 Is that you, lady, should guide me. 
 
 of the original edition in the Hispanic Society begins: Libro In- /titulado El 
 Cortesa- / No Dirigido ala / Catholica, Real Magestad ... don Phelipe . . . 
 Compue- / sto por don Luys Milan . . . Then follows an epistola proemtal 
 [4 pp.]. Then Tornada primera / Del Presente / Cortesano. No pagination, 
 but really ff. 1-237. At end f. 237 vo. : Fue impressa la presente obra en la 
 insigne ciusad de Valencia, en casa de loan de Arcos, corregida a voluntad 
 y contentamiento del Autor. Aiio M.D.LXI. Vt. Blasius Nauarro. 
 
592 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The very inane commands of this game compare unfavorably 
 with the elaborate and difficult ones in Italian games, in which 
 very often wit and a knowledge of good literature are required 
 on the part of the players.^* 
 
 The literary representation of the diversions of society in 
 Spain is fortunately very extensive and includes a few works of 
 unusual interest. Besides the usual forms of conversation and 
 story-telling, a great mass of lyrical poetry is introduced (there 
 is, of course, a considerable amount of poetry in the interludes of 
 the Decameron), as well as the performance of complete dramas. 
 This class of literature is evidently an imitation, more or less 
 direct of Boccaccio's Filocolo and Decameron, both of which 
 were early translated into Spanish. ^^ The imitation of Boccaccio, 
 I may say at once, is largely confined to the frame in which the 
 stories, poetry, and plays are set. The idea of a company of 
 ladies and gentlemen retiring to a villa in the country and there 
 amusing themselves with various diversions is so attractive and 
 lends itself to such a variety of purposes that it is not strange 
 that it became popular in all the literatures of Europe. The 
 origin of this idea is to be sought, of course, in the Orient; but 
 the complicated frame of the great number of Oriental story- 
 books was employed largely for didactic purposes, and, besides, 
 the great difference between the society of the East and West 
 modified the frame in its European form. It was, of course, 
 impossible to bring together in the Orient a company of ladies 
 and gentlemen on a footing of social equality and describe their 
 diversions, which had no aim beyond that of entertainment. 
 One soon tires of the colorless individuals who divert each other, 
 and who serve merely as the vehicles of the author's stories and 
 plays. 
 
 The frame, as we shall soon see, is usually very simple, but in 
 one of the most interesting works of this class, Tirso de Molina's 
 Los Cigarrales de Toledo, it is extraordinarily complicated and 
 involved with the diversions of the different days of the enter- 
 tainment. The sombre background of the Decameron is not 
 
 " In Ambrosio Bondia's Cytara de Apolo, Saragossa, 1650, p. 184, there is 
 what is practically a parlor game. Each of the company takes a sentence of 
 a philosopher and turns it into Spanish. The philosophers used are Seneca, 
 Plato, Ovid, Ficino, etc. 
 
 " See note i to this chapter. For the Filocolo see Chapter II of the present 
 work. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 593 
 
 imitated. In one case, La Quinta de Laura by Sol6rzano, the 
 ladies retire to a villa on the Po during a state of war. Usually 
 the company comes together for purposes of entertainment 
 only and not to avoid a danger like the plague. In some cases 
 the company meets to celebrate certain festal occasions, like 
 Christmas or the Carnival. In Tirso de Molina's Deleytar 
 aprovechando the company leaves the city and retires to a villa 
 near Madrid to escape the license of the Carnival. Sometimes 
 the object of the company is to beguile the long hours of the 
 winter nights, as in Antonio de Eslava's Noches de Invierno. In 
 most cases, however, the company, as in the Decameron, meets 
 in a villa and under the guidance of some one of the members 
 who distributes the tasks of the various days. In two cases the 
 company meets in order to assuage the melancholy of one of 
 their number (as in Sol6rzano's Los Alivios de Casandra), or to 
 divert the period of convalescence (as in Ailaya's Las Auroras de 
 Diana). Sometimes a company of gentlemen form a sort of 
 Academy and furnish entertainment for themselves and their 
 friends (as in Salas Barbadillo's Casa del Placer honesto and 
 Sol6rzano's La Huerta de Valencia). In two cases the stories 
 are told during a journey (as in Sol6rzano's Jornadas alegres and 
 Matias de los Reyes's Para Algunos). 
 
 The Spanish imitations of the Decameron differ from the orig- 
 inal in one important respect. The entertainments of Boc- 
 caccio's company of ladies and gentlemen are simple and uni- 
 form. After the duties of the iten days are distributed among the 
 company, each day is alike in its entertainments, which consist 
 of singing and dancing and the telling of a story. In the Spanish 
 works the entertainments are most elaborate, and, in addition 
 to the telling of stories and music and dancing, plays, sacred and 
 profane, are performed, together with masques. We are told 
 of the careful arrangements made for these entertainments, the 
 erection of a stage for the dramatic performances, and the decora- 
 tions and disposition of the rooms and grounds. 
 
 The number of works of the class we are now considering is very 
 large. I have seen over twenty and doubtless there are more not 
 to be found in libraries in this country. It will be impossible to 
 consider in detail all those which I have examined, and I shall 
 mention only the most important and interesting, with brief ref- 
 erences to the others for the sake of bibliographical completeness. 
 39 
 
594 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 I shall begin with the most famous, if not the earliest, work of 
 this class, which undoubtedly contributed largely to fixing the 
 form, although, as we shall see, it was not original in one of its 
 most curious features, the introduction of dramatic performances 
 as part of the social diversions of a company of ladies and gentle- 
 men. This work, which I shall proceed to examine at some length, 
 is Los Cigarrales de Toledo by Gabriel Tellez, better known by 
 his pseudonym of Tirso de Molina, and famous for his play 
 El Burlador de Sevilla y Combidado de piedra, in which first ap- 
 pears on the European stage the figure of Don Juan.^" 
 
 Gabriel T611ez was born at Madrid, apparently in 1571, and 
 became a member of the religious order of La Merced in 1601. 
 He made a journey in 1615 to Santo Domingo on business for 
 his order, in which he filled various offices, and died in 1648 as 
 comendador or superior of the convent of Soria, a cheerless town 
 in the north of Spain. He began his literary career as a play- 
 wright, but before he had accomplished fame in the field of the 
 drama, he published at Madrid in 162 1 his Cigarrales de Toledo, 
 which appeared in six editions during the life of the author, and 
 exerted great influence on this class of compositions.^^ It is 
 extremely difficult to give a satisfactory analysis of this work as 
 the frame is so involved with the adventures and diversions of 
 the different days of the entertainment. If my analysis seems 
 disproportionately long I must offer the excuse that the work 
 is the most interesting and influential of its class, and the only 
 one which has received the compliment of a modern reprint. 
 
 ™ A sufficient account of Tellez will be found in Don Emilio Cotarelo y 
 Mori's Comedias de Tirso de Molina in Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Bspanoles, 
 Madrid, 1906, Vol. I, pp. vii-lxxx. For the Cigarrales de Toledo see pp. xxv- 
 xxxiii. I have seen in the Hispanic Society Library the editions of Madrid, 
 1630, and of Barcelona, 1631. For my analysis I have used the convenient 
 reprint in the Biblioteca Renacimiento, Madrid, 1913. The original followed 
 by the editor is not stated, but is is probably that of Madrid, 1624. The three 
 plays of the original are omitted, but may be found in the Biblioteca de Autores 
 Espanoles, Vol. II, Comedias escogidas de Tirso de Molina, and Nueva Biblioteca 
 de Autores Espanoles, Comedias de Tirso de Molina, Vol. I. I have also consulted 
 for Tellez Don Pedro Muiioz Peria's El Teatro del Maestro Tirso de Molina, 
 Estudio critico-literario, Valladolid, 1889, of little value for the two works with 
 which we are at present concerned. See also Ticknor, II, pp. 323-329, and 
 III, pp. 139-140. Other bibliographical details may be found in the Spanish 
 edition of Fitzmaurice-Kelley's History of Spanish Literature, Madrid, 1913, 
 
 P- 544- 
 
 ^1 It was undoubtedly influenced in its form by Lope de Vega's Peregrtno 
 en su Patria, mentioned above, which is the first work, so far as I know, to in- 
 sert dramas in a novel. The insertion of stories in the form of biographical 
 episodes is as old as the romantic novel itself. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 595 
 
 One night in summer a gentleman on horse, with a servant on 
 foot and another on horse, approaches the neighborhood of Toledo. 
 The gentleman, Don Juan de Salzedo, who has been an exile from 
 his native city for three years, finds the environs of the city 
 illuminated and signs of festivity everjnvhere. While wondering 
 at this he hears in an almond grove near by the voices of a man 
 and woman which he seems to recognize. The lady complains 
 that her companion rejects her love although he cannot obtain 
 the object of his affections ; the gentleman addressed (whose name 
 is Don Garcia) replies to the lady (whose name is Serafina) that 
 his will is not free, and he can do nothing but leave Toledo, 
 especially since his friend Don Juan is absent, from whom he was 
 wont to receive advice. 
 
 At these words Don Juan makes himself known and proposes 
 to send his servants and horses to the nearest inn and to remain 
 himself with his friends and celebrate in imitation of his city that 
 happy night, sure that whatever may be the cause of the fes- 
 tivities it cannot be greater than his joy at seeing his friends 
 again. 
 
 They take their seats under an almond tree and Don Juan 
 asks his friends to explain to him how it is that he left them free 
 from love and now finds them professing it. Don Garcia tells 
 his story beginning with an adventure during Corpus Christi in 
 the city of Yepes. A dispute with some strangers over a game 
 of cards led to a fight and Don Garcia was wounded, but not 
 seriously, and escaped to Toledo, seven leagues distant, with a 
 companion who was also involved in the quarrel. He invited 
 Don Garcia to pass the night with him, but he declined, leaving, 
 however, his servant and horse with his friend, in order not to 
 disturb his parents. His intention was to go quietly to their 
 house, obtain what jewels and money he might need in view of 
 the affair at Yepes, and meet his friend the next day at the 
 Hospital de Afuera, whose superintendent was a relative of his. 
 
 He made his way quietly to his apartment on the ground 
 floor and was taking from his desk some jewels and money when 
 he thought he heard a sound as of one breathing heavily in his 
 bedroom. He entered the room carefully and to his great sur- 
 prise found sleeping in his bed a beautiful woman, a neighbor 
 of his, whom he had scarcely noticed in the past. He instantly 
 fell madly in love with her, and, to excuse himself, gives his 
 
596 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 friend a long and detailed description of her charms. Under 
 her pillow was a necklace of diamonds and emeralds which Don 
 Garcia took and left in its place one which he had won at cards 
 in Yepes the night before. He left his house quietly and as he 
 was passing the home of the sleeping beauty near by, he found 
 the servants moving furniture, etc., to a house opposite and 
 learned that the carelessness of a servant had set fire to the house 
 the very day Don Garcia had set out for Yepes. 
 
 Don Garcia then went to his companion's house and learned 
 that there would be no disagreeable consequences of the quarrel 
 at Yepes, as the two gamblers with whom they had fought had 
 been arrested and taken to Madrid as notorious robbers. Don 
 Garcia often thought of what the confusion of the lady would be 
 when she awoke and perceived the exchange of the necklaces. 
 How great this would be appears from what Don Garcia later 
 learned from a servant, trusty depositary of her mistress's secrets 
 and afterwards in the pay of Don Garcia. 
 
 It seems that the lady, Irene by name, and a certain Don 
 Alexo had loved each other for some time, and it was their mar- 
 riage which gave rise to the festivities of that night which had 
 caused Don Juan so much surprise. The couple would have 
 been already married had not Don Alexo awaited the arrival of a 
 rich inheritance left him by an uncle in Peru. Don Alexo and 
 his father were summoned to Seville, and on parting from his 
 betrothed Don Alexo gave to her the cross which Don Garcia 
 had found under Irene's pillow. Her lover had been gone a 
 month, from the twentieth of May to the twenty-fourth of June, 
 when her house was burned. Here ends Don Garcia 's pre- 
 liminary explanation. He now proceeds with his story. 
 
 He returned later to his parents' house and learned from them 
 of the fire, and was requested to visit Irene and her mother and 
 express his sympathy and regret. He did so and wished to 
 accompany them to their new quarters. He saw with regret 
 that Irene was not wearing his jewel. The ladies did not allow 
 Don Garcia to accompny them beyond his house. On his re- 
 turn to his room he was unable to sleep during the siesta, and 
 in the afternoon a cool breeze and cloudy sky invited him to 
 visit La Vega (the fashionable promenade just outside of the 
 city) and implore the advocacy of the saint there venerated. 
 He thought his ladylove might come too ; and in company with 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 597 
 
 his friend and dressed for the street {de rua) he descended into 
 the plain, which was filled with ladies. 
 
 "Here," Don Garcia says, "it is necessary to make a digres- 
 sion, without which it will be difficult to understand the compli- 
 cated event, the principal part of which concerns the fair Serafina 
 here present." She insists on telling her own story and proceeds 
 as follows. She had lived opposite to Don Garcia and was also 
 from childhood an intimate friend of Irene. One night she heard 
 Don Garcia singing and conceived a violent love for him. The 
 family of Serafina had a villa near Toledo whither they often 
 went. One day (the tenth after Serafina had heard Don Garcia 
 singing) while her mother and brother were gone to the neigh- 
 boring monastery of the Capuchins, two men suddenly entered 
 bearing in their arms a man wounded and unconscious and laid 
 him at her feet. They left him to seek aid for his soul and body 
 and Serafina finally recognized Don Garcia. While she was in 
 this extreme of fear and sorrow, who should enter but Don 
 Andres, with whom her mother and brother had arranged a 
 marriage for her. 
 
 Don Andres, seeing the wounded man, imagined that some one 
 interested in Serafina's honor had wounded him, and, carried 
 away by sudden rage, wished to complete his task. While Sera- 
 fina was defending him her mother and brother returned. Sera- 
 fina supposed Don Andres was the one who had attacked Don 
 Garcia and cried out for his arrest. Serafina's brother supposed 
 she had made an appointment with Don Garcia and wanted to 
 kill his sister. Don Andres was taken to prison, Serafina to the 
 house of a widow to be kept in seclusion, and later Don Garcia 
 was also arrested and thrown into jail. When questioned by 
 his father Don Garcia declared that he had only come across 
 two men who were quarrelling and intervened with the usual 
 result. 
 
 Don Andres was finally set free and departed for Cordova with 
 Serafina's brother. The mother died and Serafina was placed 
 under the care of an uncle. She later managed to begin a corre- 
 spondence with Don Garcia, but soon found out that another pos- 
 sessed his love, and that one was Irene. The friends had an expla- 
 nation and agreed to go the next day, St. John's Day, to La Vega 
 and divert themselves. This they did and went to the Campo de 
 Margal, the famous square of the Hospital de Afuera, where 
 
598 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 took place what Serafina says Don Garcia can better describe. 
 
 Don Garcia here takes up the narrative and relates his meeting 
 with the ladies and their sudden withdrawal, occasioned, as he 
 later learned, by the unexpected return from Seville of Don 
 Alexo, and Irene's fear that he would be jealous if he saw her 
 talking with Don Garcia. The two ladies withdrew to a country- 
 house near by and exchanged dresses in order to avert the sus- 
 picions of Don Alexo. The ladies returned later to La Vega and 
 mystified Don Alexo and Don Garcia, who were finally on the point 
 of coming to blows. Their friends separated them and they after- 
 wards met and an explanation followed, which, however, Don 
 Alexo misunderstood and tried to make way with himself. His 
 relatives took him by force to Irene's house, where his jealousy 
 was removed by Serafina's narrative of what really took place. 
 Irene afterwards wrote to Don Garcia and asked him to return 
 the jewel he had taken and reminded him of his obligations to 
 Serafina. The bearer of the letter told Don Garcia that the 
 marriage was fixed for a fortnight hence, and that he was invited 
 to the wedding. 
 
 The next day, Don Garcia continues, was to be the wedding- 
 day and in anticipation of it was made the illumination which 
 has caused Don Juan's wonder. Don Garcia, who had not 
 recovered from his wound, insisted on leaving his bed and his 
 parents' house. The servant whom he ordered to saddle his 
 horse and follow him was in Serafina's pay and let her know of his 
 master's departure. She left the villa of Buenavista where she 
 had been with the bride, took a carriage, intercepted Don Garcia, 
 and persuaded him to leave his horse with her carriage at the 
 inn and accompany her to the spot where Don Juan found them 
 at the opening of the story, in order that she might pour her 
 lamentations into the ear of her beloved. 
 
 Don Juan agrees to become the guest of Don Garcia, and 
 Serafina determines to return to the villa of the bride. Don 
 Garcia and his guest are received with rejoicing by the former's 
 parents and lodged in the same room. Meanwhile Serafina re- 
 ceives a letter from her brother telling her that he has renewed 
 the promise of her hand to Don Andres, declaring that the 
 wedding will take place as soon as they arrive and that after 
 it they will all return to live at Cordova. Serafina at once 
 determines to return to the city and devise some means of avoid- 
 ing the hateful marriage. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 599 
 
 The two friends spend part of the night in mutual confessions, 
 and Don Juan narrates how he was forced to leave Toledo by the 
 fickleness of the fair Lisida. He is interrupted by Don Garcia, 
 who explains that it was all a mistake and that Lisida is still 
 true to him and that he will be able to see her at the wedding of 
 Irene. At this point a servant enters with a letter from Sera- 
 fina enclosing her brother's and imploring Don Juan's aid. Don 
 Garcia, as soon as it appears that he will lose Serafina to 
 another, feels a sudden affection for her and determines to marry 
 her. The friends go to her uncle's who consents to the marriage, 
 which is fixed for the following day. 
 
 The scene now shifts to the villa of Buenavista and the festivi- 
 ties attending the marriage of Don Alexo and Irene. A detailed 
 description is given (pp. 90-104) of a naval tournament, with 
 devices, etc., the whole ending with a display of fireworks. The 
 next night a masquerade ball is given, at which are announced the 
 wedding of Don Garcia and Serafina and the return of Don Juan. 
 Later his marriage with Lisida is arranged and it is determined 
 by those present to celebrate at the villa of Buenavista for a 
 week the three weddings by various entertainments. Don 
 Melchor is the spokesman and proposes that for the forty days 
 of the midsummer heat, the company shall seek their diversions 
 in the various villas or Cigarrales of the neighborhood, choos- 
 ing ten ladies and ten gentlemen, who will equal the half of the 
 days of the heat. He proposes that the names of the ladies and 
 gentlemen as well as of the Cigarrales be drawn from a vase. 
 When the twenty days have passed the company can resort to 
 the lots again. The result of the lots is given on p. 141, and 
 afterwards the prizes for the tournament are awarded and the 
 evening concludes with a masquerade "que los entretuvo hasta 
 parte de la noche, y yo no refiero por dar principio a la primera 
 fiesta, que cupo por suerte a don Alexo ; pues della y las demis que 
 se celebraron en los nombrados Cigarrales de Toledo toma el 
 titulo este libro." 
 
 The next day at four o'clock the company assembled in the 
 largest room of the villa, which was lighted by twelve candelabra, 
 and listened to the comedy performed with general applause 
 some years before, El Vergonzoso en Palacio. Before it appeared 
 four men and two women who sang to the sound of various in- 
 struments. The author remarks here that he does not give here 
 
600 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 or elsewhere "las letras, bayles y entremeses" in order not to 
 increase the volume of the work and interrupt the pleasure of 
 those who would like to read the plays consecutively. The 
 Loa is printed in the Renacimiento edition, pp. 1 19-123, but the 
 comedy is omitted, as is the case with the other plays. 
 
 The comedy is discussed at considerable length, and there is 
 an interesting dispute about the three unities. The company 
 then breaks up, Lisida being reminded that it had fallen to her 
 lot to give the entertainment a week from that time in the 
 cigarral which she had drawn by lot. 
 
 The intervening time is passed by the guests at Buenavista 
 with Don Alexo and Irene. There is no exact account of the 
 diversions of the company, which are said to consist in fishing, 
 canas, conversations, peaceful games, estafermos y carreras, 
 balls in the evenings, "motes mis agudos que satiricos y dis- 
 putas tan curiosas como claras, que pudieran dar embidia a las 
 Noches de Aulo Gelio, y Dias saturnales de Macrobio." Don 
 Luis arrives and finally consents to his sister's marriage to Don 
 Juan, which takes place after the lapse of the week above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The scene of the second Cigarral or entertainment is in the 
 Cigarral del Rey, under the supervision of Narcisa,who had con- 
 structed a labyrinth at the entrance of the villa and a grove 
 planted for the recreations, and a castle of "La Pretensi6n de 
 Amor." This has various doors, some for those who are satisfied 
 with their ladies, others for those who are jealous. The descrip- 
 tion of the Castle, its streets, devices, etc., and the adventures 
 of the various guests in it fill pp. 133-157. The day closes with 
 the recitation by Don Luis of the "Fdbula de Siringa y Pan" by 
 Don PlAcido de Aguilar. After that Dona Dionisia enters as a 
 pilgrim and Don Juan is made king of the third day by Narcisa 
 placing on his head a crown of laurel. The company are all 
 anxious to hear the story of the foreign lady (Dionisia), as well 
 as the adventures encountered by Don Juan during the years of 
 his absence ; so they entreat him to make the entertainment of 
 the next day consist of these, as they gather from what they 
 have heard that the adventures of the two are connected. 
 Don Juan consents, for he knows how difficult it will be to 
 rival the costly and subtle festival of the lady who has been his 
 predecessor. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 601 
 
 The third entertainment takes place at the Cigarral de los 
 Niinez, to which the company migrated in coaches and on horse, 
 and where in the garden Don Juan relates his own story of what 
 happened during his absence from Toledo (pp. 174-239). Then 
 comes the comida, during which are sung, among other music, 
 two Romances. It was three o'clock when they finished dinner, 
 and after it they had an intermission, some of the company sleep- 
 ing, some playing chess, billiards, and checkers (tablas), while 
 some of the ladies gathered flowers and made them into wreaths, 
 and others sang letras. About five o'clock Don Juan woke the 
 gentlemen and Lisida the ladies. They met in the usual place 
 and Dionisia took her seat in the principal chair and without wait- 
 ing to be invited began her story, which occupies pp. 247-315. 
 
 When she ceased her story the ladies shed compassionate 
 tears and the gentlemen lavished just praise upon the narrator's 
 gifts of memory, order, and discretion. Then Don Juan took 
 his guests to a pond in which was an island with tables for the 
 repast. It was approached by a drawbridge and the food was 
 served from floating sideboards. The banquet lasted three 
 hours, and afterwards the company conversed on various and 
 subtle matters until it was time to sleep. 
 
 The company was conveyed as usual in carriages to the new 
 villa for the fourth entertainment. As it was a feast day they 
 all heard mass in a hermitage at the entrance to the villa. After 
 these religious observances it seemed too late to perform a play 
 before dinner ; so it was postponed until afternoon and what was 
 left of the morning was spent in music and dancing. When the 
 heat invited them to more quiet pastimes, they entered a beauti- 
 ful garden, and Isabella commanded the company to repeat 
 verses or poems which they remembered, beginning with Don 
 Lorengo, who recited a cancidn which had just been sent to him 
 from Madrid. Then Don Fernando repeated a glosa with a 
 commentary of his own, and the rest of the company followed with 
 all sorts of poetical compositions and songs. The dinner was 
 accompanied by music and a masque ; then came the siesta and 
 after it the play, in the garden where they had dined. Don 
 Melchor acted the Loa, which was followed by the ballet (bayle), 
 and the Comedia famosa of Como han de ser los amigos. Some 
 interesting criticisms follow on the drama and the various causes 
 of a play's failure. The day ends with the usual elaborate supper. 
 
602 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The fifth and last entertainment takes place under the rule of 
 Don Fernando in La Huerta de la Encomienda. Two hours 
 before dawn the ladies of the company arose and went to bathe 
 in the Tagus. Don Fernando received them on their return and 
 offered them sweets. Then he took them to a pleasant grove, 
 where they found seats disposed around a fountain, and com- 
 manded Don Melchor to narrate the novel he had proposed the 
 day before. This is the famous story of "The Three Deceived 
 Husbands" (Los tres maridos burlados) so often reprinted. After 
 the novel the discussion was prolonged until dinner, with the 
 usual music, dancing, and games, followed by the siesta. In the 
 cool of the day many ladies and gentlemen of the city joined them, 
 invited by the king of the day to a comedy, which was performed 
 in the open air. This play was the Comedia famosa del Zeloso 
 prudente, preceded as usual by a loa acted by Don Miguel, 
 and a ballet. The comedy was well received and the discus- 
 sion prolonged until supper. After it Don Fernando took 
 from his head his crown and placed it upon the discreet An- 
 arda, and relinquished to her the government of the following 
 day. 
 
 Her vassals were about to congratulate her when entered 
 Carrillo, the old servant of Don Juan de Salcedo, saying: "Marco 
 Antonio, your friend, and Don Garceran have arrived near Olias, 
 and coming to Madrid in the company of the viceroy of Bar- 
 celona, my master, have wished to take you by surprise in Toledo. 
 But as I do not consent to quarrels without challenges, I have 
 hastened forward to warn you. Go forth to receive them, and 
 if you have anything cold, give it to me to drink." The company 
 took horses and coaches and met the strangers a little more than 
 a mile from the city. Their reception, the festivals, novels, 
 games, inventions, and comedies will be related to you, the author 
 declares, in the Second Part of our Cigarrales, if this first part 
 is received by you with the goodwill deserved by the one who has 
 served you with it. 
 
 This second part, like so many other promised ones, never 
 appeared, and, as we shall presently see, the similar work by 
 the same author which was published some years later, cannot 
 be considered as a continuation of the earlier one. 
 
 I have dwelt at length on the Cigarrales de Toledo as it is with- 
 out doubt the best of its class. In 1635 T^llez published a similar 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 603 
 
 but much inferior work, Deleytar Aprovechando, or as it may be 
 translated Pleasure with Profit?^ Like the first it contains 
 novels and plays, but both are of a religious character, the plays 
 being autos sacramentales, and the subjects of the novels being 
 taken from early Christian history or from the lives of the saints. 
 There is also a large amount of sacred poetry. Of far greater 
 interest to us is the fact that the work contains three "questions," 
 two of which are found in Boccaccio's Filocolo. I shall endeavour 
 to make my analysis of the Deleytar Aprovechando briefer than 
 that of the Cigarrales de Toledo. 
 
 Three gentlemen and their wives, Don Melchor, Don Luis, 
 Don Francisco, Dona Manuela, Dona Beatriz, and Doiia Este- 
 fania, all natives of Madrid, young, wealthy, and esteemed, 
 determined from religious scruples to withdraw from the licence 
 of the Carnival. These three couples were great friends and in 
 the habit of meeting frequently in church and at each other's 
 houses. One Thursday Dona Beatriz, at the instance of her 
 husband, Don Melchor, invited their four friends to their house to 
 a banquet. While they were talking at table of various things, 
 Don Luis said that the first banquet had proved an unfortunate 
 inheritance to mankind and that our disordered appetite had 
 warred on us from the cradle to the grave. Don Francisco agreed 
 with him and Doiia Beatriz said they should oppose their lawful 
 recreations to the blameworthy festivals of the worldly. 
 
 Among the different kinds of praiseworthy exercises for the 
 repose of the mind and the health of the body the one which 
 excels all others is ingenious and varied conversation, which 
 delights while it profits, "que delej^ando aprovecha." One of 
 the entertainments of this kind, said Dona Estefania, has been 
 introduced into our kingdom and is used in Italy; I mean story- 
 telling (novelar), an exercise blamed by some and defended by 
 others. In my opinion it should not be condemned absolutely, 
 nor generally approved, for those novels deserve praise which, 
 exemplary in their actions and decent in their words, satisfy 
 good taste and do not deprave customs, the contrary being true 
 of the opposite kind. 
 
 Doiia Beatriz replied that there was little necessity for novels 
 
 " I have used the edition of Madrid, 1677. For bibliography and important 
 remarks on this work see Cotarelo y Mori, op. cit., I, pp. xiviii-liii. Some very 
 important prefatory matter of the first edition, 1635, is omitted in that of 
 1677, but is reprinted by Cotarelo y Mori, op. cit., I, p. xlix, note. 
 
604 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 as they had the lives of the saints, more remarkable in their 
 miraculous character than fiction, which cannot equal them, no 
 matter how much it tries. "Let us do one thing, then," said 
 Don Luis; "since you have all displayed a desire to oppose our 
 pastimes to those totally licentious ones of the people, from Sun- 
 day to Tuesday (called in Castile la vieja de Antruejo, i.e., Carni- 
 \'al) the end and limit of our profane Easter, if the people amuse 
 themselves with ridiculous novels, let us amuse ourselves with 
 devout histories, and if among the people they perform comedies 
 which are in conformity with their banquets, let us represent 
 our colloquies which celebrate the banquet that in most of the 
 temples love offers freely to its disciples. They adorn theirs with 
 entremeses, music, and dancing; let us clothe ours in poems, hymns, 
 and sacred songs." Don Francisco approved the proposition 
 and suggested that they cast lots to see which couple should have 
 assigned to them one of the thr§e days, on each of which, in 
 the morning, the life of a saint, which should please on account of 
 its mystery and wonder, should be related, and in the afternoon 
 an auto sacramental should be performed. "It would not be 
 difficult," he said, "to find persons to carry out this plan, and 
 since it was ten days before the first day, Sunday, of the proposed 
 entertainment, there would be time to commit the autos to 
 memory." 
 
 Dofia Manuela chose Sunday for her husband and herself. 
 Don Luis proposed that the entertainments of the three days 
 be printed so as to be accessible to those who could not be present. 
 Don Francisco and Dona Estefania took Monday and Don 
 Melchor and Dona Beatriz the third day, Tuesday. 
 
 The careful diligence of Doila Manuela and Don Luis pre- 
 pared everything necessary for the purpose in a villa near the 
 city of Madrid, on the banks of the dwarfish Manzanares, and 
 invited there friends of different ages and sexes. The villa is 
 described by the author in the usual manner and we are told 
 that there was a theatre in a court of the dwelling. In this 
 semianfiteatro, after music, Don Luis seated in an autorizada 
 cdtedra, began "La Patrona de las Musas" with a sonnet, and then 
 continued his narrative .^^ 
 
 Don Luis occupied an hour and a half with his novela, after 
 which the guests partook of a banquet. Then the stage was 
 
 '' This novela is based on the Life'of Saint Tecla. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 605 
 
 arranged to represent a village, and the afternoon's entertain- 
 ment began with a poem in honor of the Holy Sacrament sung 
 by three girls representing mountaineers and five shepherds. 
 Then followed the loa and the auto El Colmenero divino?^ 
 
 The entertainment of the morning of the second day takes 
 place in the garden of Juan Fernandez. The day was threaten- 
 ing; so the theatre was erected in a salon, the stage for the play 
 of the afternoon having been arranged in an interior courtyard 
 of the villa. After music Don Francisco related the novela of 
 " Los triunfos de la vtrdad." ^^ This novela is interspersed with 
 poetry, a considerable part of the story being in the form of 
 versified dialogue. After the novela some of the guests remained 
 for a banquet, the others departed to the city near by for their 
 midday meal. At two o'clock the second session of the pleasant 
 solemnity began with music and seven musicians, three women 
 and four youths appeared and sang. Afterwards came the loa 
 and the auto, Los Hermanos parecidos,^^ "performed some years 
 before by Tonics Fernindez between the two choirs of the 
 cathedral of Toledo." After the auto is inserted a cancidn in 
 honor of the Virgin, written by T611ez in 1615 when he was in 
 the island of Santo Domingo. 
 
 The scene of Tuesday's entertainment is in the ample (generosa) 
 garden of the Duke in the Prado, permission to use which was 
 granted by its alcayde. The author refers to the time when this 
 spot had been the scene of royal festivities, given by its late 
 master for the diversion of the most pious king that Spain had 
 ever had. The grass was covered with carpets and cushions 
 and a large and splendid stage was there erected. Don Melchor 
 there read the novela of "El Vandolero,"" which is also inter- 
 spersed with poems, among which is the long fdbula of Thisbe 
 and Pyramus. 
 
 The most interesting thing, however, in the whole work is 
 an episode of the novela (fol. 148 vo.) which takes place in Bar- 
 
 -* This aula is reprinted in Bihlioteca. de Autores Espanoles, Vol. LVIH. 
 Autos Sacramentales, pp. 283-292. 
 
 ^ This novela is based on the Christian romance known as The Clementine 
 Recognitions. , ~. j ,r 7- 
 
 '5 This auto is reprinted in Cotarelo y Mori's Comedms de Ttrso de Molina, 
 
 ' " This novela is the traditional life of San Pedro Armengol, one of the found- 
 ers of the order of the Mercedarians, to which Tirso de Molina belonged. See 
 Acta Sanctorum, September i, and The Catholic Encyclopedia, article "Merce- 
 darians." 
 
606 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 celona, where certain characters of the story amuse themselves 
 with entertaining games and conversation, now in one house and 
 now in another.^^ One night, it was in the inclement month of 
 February, they availed themselves of the house of Don Beren- 
 guel, which offered the convenience of a fireplace which invited 
 "questiones, y platicas ingeniosas, que divertiessen la proligidad 
 de las tinieblas." 
 
 "The king, Don Jayme, anxious to make trial in our Mon- 
 tailes of what fame proclaimed (since in the quality of courtier 
 and sage it seemed as if his reputation were exaggerated), com- 
 manded the company to be seated, and ordered Saurina, Lauri- 
 sana, Don Berenguel, and the Count to propose, each of them, 
 a question concerning love, entertaining from its novelty and 
 doubtful from its difificulty. The solution of these questions 
 should be referred to Pedro Guill6n, whom to animate the more 
 the king appointed to preside. They all began to make excuses, 
 but the king would not accept them; so in front of the king the 
 defender {el sustenente) took his stand with the proponents 
 {arguyentes) at his side and commanded Laurisana, in spite of 
 her difiSdence (enagenaciSn de si misma) to begin , and demanding 
 a truce of her bold imagination, propounded in prose this diffi- 
 culty, which I translate into verse." 
 
 The "question" stripped of its poetic verbiage is as follows: 
 A lover in the presence of his mistress adores her in silence with 
 his eyes; when absent from her he weeps, and absence is death. 
 Another lover deems it the highest blessing to contemplate her 
 in imagination and worship her only in his mind. Which of these 
 two loves is the more perfect ?^^ 
 
 Montanes replies: That in his judgment there is greater per- 
 fection in contemplating than in beholding. The sight does not 
 go beyond material beauty, but the mind penetrates and con- 
 sumes (abrasa). There are two kinds of love: base (torpe) and 
 pure (honesto) ; the former is the province of the bodily senses, 
 the latter of the mind. Hence the latter is more perfect. 
 
 The king declares that the contrary seems to him more cer- 
 tain. Love consists alone in the sight, for he who does not see 
 
 ^' There is a curious resemblance between the frameworic of this episode 
 and that of Sol6rzano's Sala de recreaciSn mentioned later in this chapter. 
 
 '" This question resembles the eleventh in the Filocolo : ' ' Which is the greater 
 pleasure for the lover, to behold his lady visibly, or not se.-ing her to think 
 vin gly of her?" See Chapter II, p. 75, note 17. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 607 
 
 does not desire. Those born blind do not love, although they 
 enjoy other senses. Love never introduced its flames by hearsay. 
 The perfect lover while he does not behold his mistress suffers, 
 weeps, sighs, and loves only in her presence. Absence is the 
 mother of oblivion, it never increases love, so that no love can 
 be perfect without the sense of sight. 
 
 Montafies answers in a long poem ending: Painters are wont to 
 depict the youthful god as blind, and he is necessarily so, for 
 love should never behold as long as it can contemplate.^" Hence 
 it is patent that whoever always contemplates his fair lady with- 
 out ever beholding her loves more perfectly. Then follows a 
 discussion in the usual lines between the king and Montafies on 
 the nature of love. 
 
 The second "question" is then propounded by the Count: 
 Two lovers, equal in looks, in youth, in courtesy, manners, 
 gentleness, discretion, and bravery love equally a fair lady. Each 
 claims her preference, and finally they call on the lady to decide 
 between them. They are in a garden and the lady's mother is 
 also present. The lady wears a wreath on her head, and one of 
 the lovers crowns himself. The mother allows her daughter to 
 express her preference, and she places her wreath upon the head 
 of one of her suitors and crowns herself with the garland of the 
 other. This action on her part leaves them more in doubt than 
 ever. The one whom she has crowned declares that he is pre- 
 ferred because he enjoys the first favor and the flowers turn to 
 spring the January of his love. The second suitor declares that 
 he is the chosen one, for who accepts his garland prefers the 
 owner.'i 
 
 Then follow three solutions in verse, the last by Montafies. 
 The king cuts the discussion short and commands Saurina to 
 proceed. She propounds a long "question" the substance of 
 which is as follows.'^ A lady grows up with a youth from her 
 cradle and their acquaintance ripens into love, but he is bashful 
 about declaring it. Meanwhile another youth falls violently 
 in love with her at first sight and she returns his passion. The 
 king orders the two youths to marry others from state reasons. 
 They are obliged to follow the royal command. Thus are ship- 
 
 '" See note 13 above. ^ ^, tt ^o j ^ 
 
 " This is the first question in the Filofolo. See Chapter II, p. 68, and note 
 
 12. 
 
 32 See Chapter I, p. 21. 
 
608 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 wrecked the hopes of the lady, who, adored by both lovers, loses 
 them both, more than ever enamoured. The loss of which suitor 
 will cause the lady the greater suffering? There are the usual 
 three answers, the last by Montanes, who decides in favor of 
 the second lover, who revealed his love at once and did not delay 
 in doubt like the first. 
 
 The entertainment for the afternoon of Tuesday consists of 
 the usual music, a letra sung by six persons, then the loa and the 
 auto, No le arriendo la ganancia, of which the author says that 
 it was performed with great applause by Pinedo some years 
 before at Madrid in the presence of Philip 1 11.^^ 
 
 From fol. 321 to the end, fol. 337, are given the lyrical poems 
 which Tellez offered in 1629 as competitor in the certdmenes in 
 honor of St. Peter Nola^co, founder of the order of La Merced 
 at the time of his canonization. 
 
 The author concludes as follows: "May this book obtain your 
 approval, for if unseemly deeds in the romances of chivalry, 
 futile love affairs in pastoral romances, useless events in novels, 
 and allegorical transformations in fables, corrupt customs and 
 dominate the times ; enjoying the pleasure of the other works in 
 the similar features of this, the wise, the religious, the lady, the 
 recluse, the child, and the old man will be edified by tidings of 
 the most victorious captains, and the most famous and fortunate 
 beauties the channels of grace have conveyed, and stimulating 
 their imitation will compel the thanks of readers. What has 
 been begun in the first part will be continued in the second, as 
 the author promises, if this work accomplishes what it insinuates 
 in its title, viz., Pleasure with Profit." 
 
 A few years before the publication of the work we have just 
 mentioned (which we did not wish to treat separately from the 
 first book by the same author), another celebrated Spanish 
 dramatist tried his hand at a similar one, in many respects the 
 most curious of the class. Juan P6rez de Montalvin was born 
 in Madrid in 1602. His father was a bookseller, first at Alcald de 
 Henares, where he was born, and afterwards at Madrid, where he 
 became the friend, publisher, and confessor of Lope de Vega. 
 The son, who early displayed literary gifts, was encouraged by 
 his father's famous patron to attempt a drama at the age of seven- 
 
 ^' Reprinted in Bihlioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. LVIII, Autos Sacra- 
 mentales, pp. 269-282. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 609 
 
 teen, and afterwards to enter poetical contests on the occasion 
 of the celebration of canonizations of saints. In these contests 
 the poet won several prizes. He completed his theological studies 
 at Alcal4 and was ordained priest in 1625, later becoming one of 
 the officers of the Inquisition. He published various prose and 
 poetical works, one of the latter being ascribed to Lope de Vega, 
 who is said to have allowed his young friend to reap the benefit 
 of the work of a maturer mind. We are not at present interested 
 in the fifty-eight dramas produced by Montalvan in his short life 
 (he died in 1638, at the age of thirty-six), but must confine our 
 attention to his Fara Todos, the first edition of which appeared 
 at Madrid in 1632.^ 
 
 In the address to the reader the author explains the title as 
 follows: "I call this book For Everybody because it is a collection 
 of various matters in which the Philosopher, the Courtier, the 
 Scholar, the Jurist, the Mathematician, the Physician, the Ec- 
 clesiastic, the Statesman, the Plebeian, the Gentleman, the 
 Official, and the Entretenido will find combined utility, pleasure, 
 learning and diversion, doctrine and amusement, recreation and 
 instruction, morahty and entertainment, profit and pastime, 
 praise and reproof, and, finally, examples and jests, which, 
 without offending morals, delight the mind and give zest to the 
 imderstanding." He adds: "I also call it For Everybody be- 
 cause in it I speak of all the envious, proud, presumptuous, evil- 
 speaking, lying, deceitful," etc. 
 
 At eleven o'clock one night while entering Madrid by the 
 calk de Alcald, with two servants who were accompanying him, 
 Don Francisco de Bonilla, a gentleman born in Saragossa, saw 
 at the principal door of a house some persons muffied in their 
 cloaks, walking about, and further on others tuning three or 
 four musical instruments, a sure sign that some lover was wish- 
 ing by his verses to awaken the memory or the sleep of the lady 
 he was courting. Although the fatigue of a long journey, and 
 the desire of seeing Don Pedro de Vargas, his intimate friend, 
 whose guest he was going to be, because they had been comrades 
 
 ^ A good account of Montalvan may be found in G. W. Bacon's "Life and 
 Dramatic Works of Doctor J. P. de Montalvan." Revue His panique, Vol. XXVI 
 (1912), pp. 1-474. See also Perez Pastor, Bibliografia madrilena. III, 451- 
 453. The first edition of Para Todos is Madrid, 1632. I have used for my 
 analysis the edition of Seville, 1645. I have also seen the editions of Alcala, 
 1666, and Madrid, 1681. 
 40 
 
610 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 in Italy for more than a dozen years, would seem sufficient reasons 
 for hastening by, still, two things obliged him to stop. The 
 first was vexation, because he had agreed to marry a lady, whose 
 house was the very one where the serenade was taking place; 
 the second was his natural inclination for music. So in order to 
 obey his suspicion and inclination he dismounted and remained 
 with a single servant. He was making his way toward the spot 
 where the muffled gallants were, with the intent to recognize if he 
 could some one of them, or at least discover whether the lady 
 within responded to the attention which was being shown her in 
 the street; but because the street was very narrow he concealed 
 himself behind the open door of a neighboring house in order not 
 to disturb the musicians. 
 
 When the musicians had finished their piece, it struck twelve 
 and the lady approached the window and dismissed her friends. 
 One of them, apparently the author of the festival, mounted his 
 horse and with a servant behind him, began to ride up the street 
 at a rapid pace. Don Francisco followed, determined to recog- 
 nize him, since he was at a distance from those who could aid him. 
 He was diverted from his plan by the sudden appearance of six 
 men, who, attracted by the gold chain and brooch he wore, com- 
 manded him to give them up or die. Don Francisco and his 
 servant drew their swords, and would have been victorious had 
 it not been for the odds against them. Fortunately the gentle- 
 man of the serenade was not too far away to hear the sound of 
 weapons. He hastened to place himself at the side of Don 
 Francisco, and the robbers, recognizing in him Don Pedro de 
 Vargas, whose bravery had no rival in Madrid, fled for their 
 lives. 
 When the two gentlemen were alone, Don Francisco expressed 
 his gratitude, and the other, noticing the sound of his voice and 
 his figure, recognized him and rriade himself known to Don Fran- 
 cisco, embracing him many times and thanking heaven that he 
 had arrived in time to aid him. 
 
 Don Francisco remained sad and joyful at the same time, joyful 
 at having found his friend in such an occasion of need, sad, if 
 perchance the lady whom Don Pedro was courting was the lady 
 he had come to marry. Postponing an explanation to a later 
 time he went with Don Pedro to his inn and tried to sleep. 
 The next morning his friend called upon him and after talking 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 611 
 
 of various matters and giving an account of what they had done 
 since they last met, the conversation, as is usual among young 
 men, fell on love. Don Francisco to clear up his doubts said that 
 love adventures had ceased for him, for he was married and with 
 the duties of a married man the gallantries of youth had forever 
 ceased. Don Pedro congratulated him, since his choice was 
 doubtless advantageous. Don Francisco replied that it was if 
 truth corresponds to fame, for they say, he added, that in family, 
 beauty, and understanding, Doiia Ana de Mendoga is one of the 
 most noted ladies of the capital. 
 
 Scarcely had he uttered her name when Don Pedro embraced 
 him with tokens of the greatest delight and told him that what 
 report said was true. Moreover, she had a cousin who was the 
 lady Don Pedro was serenading the night before and with whom 
 he was violently in love. He said that the course of his love had 
 been strange and he would relate it to his friend as he should not 
 expect to see his betrothed until evening. Briefly, Don Pedro was 
 in love with Doiia Maria and had as a rival crafty Don Rodrigo.. 
 A fire broke out in Dofia Maria's house and both lovers came to 
 her aid, Don Pedro being really the one who saved her life, but 
 Don Rodrigo made it appear that he was her rescuer. The 
 deception caused Don Pedro great trouble, but he finally vindi- 
 cated himself and was rewarded with Dona Maria's love. 
 
 That evening the two friends went to Doiia Maria's house and 
 met her cousin. Within a week the contracts for the two mar- 
 riages were drawn up, and for their greater rejoicing they re- 
 tired for an entire day to a villa on the banks of the Manzanares, 
 where were gathered the most clever and witty men and the most 
 beautiful and gracious women of the capital, together with the 
 best musicians. Before and after the dinner and supper the 
 company discussed matters involving great taste, skill, and 
 understanding. Each one played the best piece he knew, and 
 the entertainment concluded with a comedy which Tomds Fer- 
 nandez performed with the great applause of all present. The 
 comedy was El segundo Seneca de Espana?^ 
 
 The afternoon of that day and the festival of the night were 
 so famous that at the request of those who missed them and at 
 the importunity of those who had enjoyed them Don Pedro offered 
 
 'S Analyzed by Bacon, op. cit., p. 182. The source of the play is treated 
 by Bacon in the Romanic Review, I, p. 64, "The Comedias of Montalvan." 
 
'612 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 to furnish the guests with entertainment for a week. Dona 
 Maria was chosen to distribute the subjects and days "as the 
 muse of that courtly academy." After a vain effort to avoid 
 this responsibihty, she named for the seven days of the week 
 seven gentlemen of the Court, studious and devoted to the reading 
 of good literature, who could discourse of any science as if they 
 had professed it, and gave to each one subjects which they were 
 to treat in writing, as well as the entertainments which they had 
 to give on the appointed day, with the rules and laws which are 
 observed in academies, even to disguising their own names by 
 other assumed ones. They all agreed to obey her and accepted 
 the following assignment of duties, which were to begin within 
 a week. 
 
 Fabio, to whom Sunday fell, was to report what God did on 
 this day according to the Holy Scripture, to compile the fable of 
 Apollo, write a discourse on Philosophy, and perform a comedy. 
 
 Silvio, to whose lot Monday fell, was to relate what God left 
 for this day, to repeat the fable of the moon, to explain the mys- 
 teries and words of the Mass at the request of a devout lady, and 
 prepare an exemplary and pleasing story. 
 
 Lisardo (Tuesday) to speak of the works of this day, to write 
 the fable of Mars, compose an epilogue on war, and engage the 
 best company of actors to perform a comedy. 
 
 Anfriso (Wednesday) to describe what God determined to do 
 on this day, to recall the fable of Mercury, to sum up the matter 
 of the angels, and invent a useful and entertaining novel. 
 
 Montano (Thursday) to declare what Moses said of this day, 
 to offer the fable of Jupiter, to construct a perfect preacher, and 
 to be responsible for the performance of two autos. 
 
 Celio (Friday) to ponder the ultimate perfection with which 
 God adorned the earth, to undertake the fable of the planet which 
 corresponds to this day, to treat of the liberal and mechanic arts, 
 and to amuse the audience with an imaginary history. 
 
 Valerio (Saturday) to verify all that God did on this day, to 
 introduce the fable of Saturn, to decide the best of all things, and 
 to end the week with a comedy, which, to be perfect, should con- 
 tain probability in its events, pleasure in its plot, suspension in 
 its intrigue, greatness in its invention, and vigor in the verse. 
 
 The company was then dismissed to study the various tasks 
 committed to them. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 613 
 
 It is impossible to describe in detail the manner in which the 
 above tasks were accomplished. The three plays and two autos 
 were performed with applause, and the three novels also met 
 with approval.'" There was music and the usual supper. The 
 seventh day beheld the marriages of Don Pedro with Dona Maria, 
 and of Don Francisco with Dona Ana; the weddings were fol- 
 lowed by a splendid banquet, the banquet by an excellent con- 
 cert by a brilliant masquerade, after which the discreet guests 
 gave the married couples an opportunity to consummate their 
 chaste love, and the promised festival of the week ended with 
 the sound of various instruments, the light of many torches, and 
 the noise of numberless rockets and other fireworks. 
 
 The three works which I have analyzed above at length are 
 the most conspicuous of their class by their own literary worth 
 and the reputation of their authors. As has been said above 
 there are many other similar works in Spanish, imitations to 
 some extent of those already mentioned, which for the sake of 
 completeness I shall now pass rapidly in review. It will be more 
 convenient to classify these works according to their frames, and 
 I shall consider first those in which the entertainment is in cele- 
 bration of some particular religious festivity, as Christmas and 
 the Carnival, or merely to while away the long nights of the 
 winter. The second class will embrace the larger number, 
 which, in imitation of Boccaccio's Decameron, describe the enter- 
 tainments of a company of ladies and gentlemen at some country 
 villa, at no particular season. Chronologically speaking most 
 of these works were written in the second quarter of the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 An exception to the statement just made is a very curious 
 book, Didlogos de apacible entretenimiento, printed at Barcelona 
 in 1605, by Caspar Lucas Hidalgo, said by Nicolas Antonio to 
 
 " The plays are: No ay vida como la honra (printed in Bihlioteca de Autores 
 Espanoles, Vol. XLV, Dramdticos contempordneos a Lope de Vega, and analyzed 
 by Bacon, p. 144); De un castigo das venganzas (analyzed by Bacon, p. 228); 
 El Polifemo, auto sacramental (analyzed by Bacon, p. 324); Escanderbec, auto 
 sacramental (analyzed by Bacon, p. 312); La md^ constante muger (printed 
 in Bihlioteca de Autores Espanoles, ed. cit., and analyzed by Bacon, p. 132). 
 The novelas are: "Al cabo de los anos mil "; " Palacio encantado "; and " El 
 piadoso vandolero." Among the works called forth by Montalvan's Para 
 Todos, I have seen Matias de los Reyes's Para Algunos, described later in this 
 chapter. Juan Fernandez y Peralta's Para St, Saragossa, 1661, I know only 
 from Ticknor's reference, HI, 141, note 28, to a copy he had seen in the Im- 
 perial Library of Vienna. 
 
614 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 have been a native of Madrid." Nothing is known of his life, 
 and the only work by him that has been preserved is the one 
 mentioned above. In the address to the reader the author 
 says learned and holy men advise us to mingle pleasure and pas- 
 time with the labors of the world, which are so heavy that the 
 shoulders of man could not support them if the weary way were 
 not lightened by recreation and amusement. "For my part, I 
 have noticed," says the author, "that time and occasion are 
 careful to impart to us a large part of their griefs and troubles, 
 and forget to offer us any alleviation. I have determined to 
 make good a portion of this oblivion, presenting to the wearied 
 mind this bit of pleasant entertainment, which because it is a 
 matter of pleasure, and treated by five persons of good taste, 
 I have called Didlogos de apacible entretenimiento. I confess 
 that the subject is one of amusement, but it should not on that 
 account be judged useless. Who is there in the theatre of this 
 life who does not become weary of beholding its melancholy 
 tragedies, unless between the acts he is diverted by the inter- 
 lude (entremes) of a pleasing and seemly pastime? Let then the 
 prudent reader accept this plaything (juguete) , ior he knows that 
 at the right time and to the proper extent jests are as important 
 as truths." 
 
 There are five interlocutors in the three dialogues: Doctor 
 Fabricio and Dona Petronila his wife, Don Diego and Dona 
 Margarita his wife, and a jester (truhdn) named Castafieda. The 
 scene is in the city of Burgos in the house of Don Fabricio, on 
 the Sunday evening of the Carnival. Don Fabricio remarks to 
 his wife that it is the first Carnival that he has spent in Burgos 
 and asks what is the manner of spending it there. She replies 
 that there are three ways, according to the three classes of society: 
 common people, respectable and retired people, and prominent 
 people of youth and frivolity. The first class amuse themselves 
 in the streets by playing jokes on the passers-by; the second 
 
 " Hidalgo's work is reprinted in Biblioteca deAutores Espanoles, Vol. XXXVI, 
 Curiosidades bibliogrdficas. Ticknor, III, 134, note, mentions an edition of Barce- 
 lona, 1605, and says there are others of 1606 and 1618. He gives no details of 
 the author's life. Fuller bibliographical details may be found in Origenes de la 
 Novela, II, pp. cxvii-xcxi. As to the author, Menendez y Pelayo says only, 
 "Su autor, Caspar Lucas Hidalgo, vecino de la villa de Madrid, de quien no 
 tenemos mas noticias que su nombre." I have consulted in the Hispanic 
 Society the edition of Barcelona, Sebastian de Cormellas, 1605. The same 
 library possesses editions of Logroiio, 1606; Barcelona, 1609; Brussels, 1610; 
 and Madrid, 1618. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 615 
 
 invite one another to their houses and spend the time before and 
 after supper in sensible and cheerful conversation; the young 
 gentlemen have the custom of arranging masquerades, juegos de 
 sortija, in public and private, and other disguises with which 
 they amuse themselves and enliven the streets of the city. 
 
 Don Fabricio proposes to send and invite their friend Don 
 Diego to come and spend the evening in conversation with them. 
 They have scarcely sent the messenger when Don Diego and his 
 wife call, and shortly after Castaneda drops in. Then follow 
 for the three nights a succession of short stories, jokes, some 
 poetry, and each evening a supper. 
 
 The only resemblance between this work and the Decameron 
 consists in the frame; the character of the entertainments is 
 wholly different. The stories are in no sense novelas, but jests 
 and local anecdotes. The tone of the work is most irreverent 
 and it was placed on the Index by the Inquisition, but not until 
 it had passed through a number of editions. Its influence was 
 considerable, as we shall soon see from the many works of a 
 similar nature turning on the Carnival and other ecclesiastical 
 feasts. 
 
 The Carnival is also the season celebrated in the Tiempo de 
 Regocijo y Carnestolendas de Madrid, Madrid, 1627, by Alonso de 
 Castillo Sol6rzano, a work showing more plainly than Hidalgo's 
 the influence of the Decameron?^ Little is known of the author's 
 
 " All previous notices of Solorzano, as in Ticknor, HI, iii, note 25, and in 
 F. W. Chandler's Romances of Roguery, New York, 1899, and The Literature 
 of Roguery, 2 vols. Boston, 1907, are incomplete and incorrect. The only 
 satisfactory account of Solorzano is that by Cotarelo y Mori in his introduc- 
 tion to his reprint of La nina de los embustes, Madrid, 1906 (Coleccion selecta 
 de antiguas novelas espanolas. III). In the introduction to Las Harpias en 
 Madrid, Madrid, 1907 {Coleccion selecta, VII) the editor reprints the notices 
 of Solorzano's life given by Perez Pastor in Bibliografia madrilena. III, and 
 adds some details communicated by Don Eleuterio Fernandez Torres. The 
 original editions of Solorzano's novels are very scarce and Cotarelo y Mori 
 has earned the gratitude of Spanish students by his' reprint in the collection 
 mentioned above of La nina de los embustes (Vol. Ill); Noches de placer (Vol. 
 V); Las harpias en Madrid and Tiempo de regocijo (Vol. VII); Tardes entre- 
 tenidas (Vol. IX); and Jornadas alegres (Vol. XI). For the other works of 
 Solorzano mentioned in the text I have used the following editions: Sala de 
 recreacidn, Saragossa, 1649 (Harvard University Library); Eos alivios de Ca- 
 sandra, Barcelona, 1640 (Hispanic Society); La quinta de Laura, Saragossa, 
 1649 (Hispanic Society); Htierta de Valencia, Valencia, 1629 (Hispanic So- 
 ciety). I have also seen in the Ticknor Collection at Boston the rare original 
 edition of the Noches de placer, Barcelona, 1631. Two of Solorzano's comedias 
 have been reprinted in Biblioteca de A utores Espanoles, Vol .XXXIII, Dramdticos 
 contempordneos a Lope de Vega, II, and five entremeses, edited by Cotarelo y Mori 
 in the Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. XVII, Coleccion de Entremeses, 
 
616 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 life, although he was a prolific writer of novelas which enjoyed great 
 popularity. He was born in 1584 at Tordesillas, a small town 
 in the province of Valladolid. His father was in the service of 
 the Duke of Alva. Nothing is known of the son's youth, and his 
 education apparently was not completed at any university. He 
 appears at Madrid in 1619 as a poet and entered the contests of 
 1622 in honor of the canonization of Saint Isidro and other saints, 
 receiving the third prize, of which, for some unknown reason, 
 he was immediately deprived. He was in the service of the 
 Marquis of Villar as gentilhombre, and. later fill a more import- 
 ant position, that of maestresala, in the household of a relative 
 of his, the Marquis delos Velez, viceroy of Valencia, and after- 
 wards viceroy of Aragon. Sol6rzano resided in Valencia and 
 Saragossa with his patron. It is not known whether he accom- 
 panied to Italy the Marquis, who was appointed ambassador 
 to Rome in 1641, or later rejoined him there as secretary. Cota- 
 
 Vol. I. At the end of the Tiempo de regocijo Solorzano hopes that he may be 
 encouraged to publish La reina Cleopatra and to finish Los escarmientos de 
 amor. The first of the works just mentioned is probably the Historia de 
 Marco Antonio y Cleopatra, ultima reina de Egipto, Saragossa, 1639, of which 
 a second edition appeared at Madrid in 1736. The second work, Los escar- 
 mientos de amor, is mentioned by Cotarelo y Mori, op. cit., p. xxxvii. A copy, 
 Seville, 1628, was sold at the Heredia sale, and Menendez y Pelayo possessed 
 a copy without title and preliminary matter. It is doubtful, however, whether 
 these were Solorzano's work. 
 
 I have seen at the Hispanic Society several other works of Solorzano, which, 
 as they are of the greatest rarity, I shall mention here. Varios y honestos Entre- 
 tenimientos. En varios entremeses y pasos apasibles, que did a luz Don Alonso 
 de Castillo Solorzano. En Mexico, 1625. The Aprobacion is dated Mexico, 
 April 19, 1624, but the Tassa is Madrid, 1624. The work contains various 
 compositions in prose and verse, several entremeses, sonntes, etc., of no 
 great importance for the present work. There is inserted in the volume 
 a letter from Pascual de Gayangos dated London, April 21, 1887, to a former 
 owner of the book: "Dear Mr. Turner: I return your book, which after a 
 careful examination seems to me to be the work of some Israelite of Amster- 
 dam, who after the expulsion of their race from Spain, took refuge in Holland, 
 and cultivated the Spanish language and literature. A rapid glance over the 
 orthography and style of the writer will at once convince you that the 'Entre- 
 tenimientos' are the work of some Jew of Amsterdam at the end of the XVII 
 or beginning of the XVIII cent. Solorzano could write much better than that. 
 Yours truly, Pascual de Gayangos." 
 
 I have seen at the Hispanic Society the original edition of Tiempo de Regozijo 
 y Carnestolendas de Madrid, En Madrid, 1627; also, Los Amantes Andaluzes. 
 Historia entretenida. Prosas y versos. Barcelona, 1633. At the end the au- 
 thor says: "Conque da el autor fin a este libro, pidiendo perdon de sus yerros, 
 y prometiendo sacar presto a luz el de Las Fiestas del iardin, hecho de variedad 
 de divertimientos, con el favor de Dios." 
 
 Historia de Marco Antonio y Cleopatra, Ultima reyna de Egipto. En Sara- 
 gossa, 1639. At the end the author says that his short volume (pp. 150) is 
 based on "Titolibio, Cornelio Tacito en su primero libro, Plutarco en su vida 
 de lulio Cesar, losefo en el libro dezimo de las antiguedades Lucano en el 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 617 
 
 relo y Mori says that all traces of Sol6rzano are lost after 1642, 
 and that he was certainly dead in 1648. We know nothing of his 
 domestic life except that in 16 16 he was married to a Dofia 
 Agostina de Paz, whose residence is not known. 
 
 Like most other Spanish prose writers Sol6rzano dabbled in 
 verse and his first works were two volumes of poetry published 
 in 1624 and 1625, the first and second parts of Donayres del 
 Parnaso. It was, however, in the novela that Sol6rzano excelled, 
 and in order to dispose of his short stories it was necessary to 
 combine them in collections, in which they formed part of the 
 entertainment of a company of ladies and gentlemen, as in the 
 famous prototype of this class, the Decameron of Boccaccio. 
 I shall examine presently the half dozen or more works of Sol6r- 
 zano in this category which I have been able to see. Solorzano 
 was also the author of four Romances of Roguery which were 
 famous in their day and afforded material for subsequent imi- 
 tators. I refer to Las Harpias en Madrid (1631), La Nina de los 
 embustes (1632), Aventuras del Bachiller Trapaza (1637), and 
 La Garduna de Sevilla (1642). Sol6rzano also tried his hand — as 
 what Spanish writer of the time did not? — at play-writing, and 
 published seven comedies, an auto, and five entremeses. Some of 
 these dramatic works are interspersed with the novelas in Sol6r- 
 zano's various collections of stories. 
 
 The scene of Tiempo de Regocijo, y Carnestolendas de Madrid 
 is laid in Madrid during the Carnival. On Thursday of the 
 
 primero y segundo libro, Pineda y Pedro Mexia en sus Cesares." Consider- 
 able poetry by authors other than Solorzano is scattered through the volume, 
 sonnets, octavas, etc. Were these written at Solorzano's request to be inserted 
 in the work? A note in pencil on the flyleaf says: " Solorzano was also author 
 of Epitome de la Vidadel inclito Rey Pedro de Aragon. Zaragoza, 1636." A 
 copy of the above, but with the date of 1639, is in the Ticknor Collection, which 
 has the Marco Antonio of 1639, and also the edition of Madrid, 1736. 
 
 Escarmientos de Amor moralizados. Con Primlegio. En Sevilla, 1628. 
 This very curious book begins with the meeting at an inn of Lisardo and Felix, 
 old friends. Lisardo has left the court from jealousy of Gerarda. He relates 
 his story to his friend. At the end (f. 25) of the first book is a chapter, ff. 
 25VO.-26VO., " Moralidad y aprovechamiento de lo que contiene este libro." 
 Each incident in the preceding story is moralized. A brief extract will show 
 the method. "En la curiosidad de querer ver Gerarda lo que avia en el apo- 
 sento de Lisardo, da escarmiento para que no la tengan las donzellas. Pues 
 querer averigar faltas agenas, y flaquezas de otros, fuera de ser de su pecado, 
 suele servir el mal exemplo de dar animo para imitarlas." There are seven 
 books of the adventures of the two friends and each book has its "moralidad 
 y aprovechamiento." The story ends with the happy marriages of Don Felix 
 and Lisardo. I do not know of any other example of this moralizing of a 
 story, although there is something of the same idea in the Gustos y Disgustos 
 del Lentiscar de Cartagena by Gines Campillo de Bayle. 
 
618 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 preceding week (commonly called de las comadres) Don Enrique, 
 the eldest of three noble gentlemen who lived in the calle de 
 Atocha, gave to the others a splendid banquet, at which were 
 present six beautiful maidens, daughters of the three gentlemen 
 mentioned above, and four youths, their brothers. Some of 
 the maidens and youths had the gift of singing and composing 
 poetry. 
 
 After the supper and before the games, dances, and entertain- 
 ments began, Don Enrique addressed the company and proposed 
 the following scheme of entertainment: " Since I see myself hon- 
 ored to-day by such noble guests, such beautiful ladies, and such 
 clever wits, at a time when the Carnival permits less formality and 
 greater freedom of diversion, it seems proper to me that we should 
 spend the last three days of it in pleasant and seemly enter- 
 tainments, the ladies forgoing for this year the silly occupation 
 which custom allows of sprinkling with water from the windows 
 those who pass on foot and horse in the street below, and who 
 rarely enjoy such favors. And so (although I submit to the 
 judgment of the others) I propose that next Sunday night we 
 come together in this room, where I wish the first entertainment 
 to take place in the following manner. At supper time I wish 
 my son Claudio to relate a novela invented by his wit, which 
 shall preserve the decorum due to such a discreet and dis- 
 tinguished an audience; afterwards each of the company shall 
 repeat the best poetry which he remembers, grave or jocose, 
 the latter, if it does not violate propriety, being more suitable to 
 the season. After the supper the entertainment shall conclude 
 with dances or masquerades or some dramatic performance." 
 
 All agreed with Don Enrique, and it was settled that the first 
 entertainment should be in his house, as he wished, the second in 
 Don Sancho's, his cousin's, and the third and last, which was 
 Mardigras, in Don Rodrigo's, a friend of the others. It was 
 also arranged that the diversions should be planned each night 
 for the next. 
 
 The programme proposed by Don Enrique was carried out 
 exactly. The company met in a spacious room of his house, 
 hung with costly tapestries and Turkish carpets, and brilliantly 
 lighted. On one side was a large dais (estrado) with twenty- 
 four cushions of crimson velvet, and on it two large silver bra- 
 ziers, as a protection against the cold, which was great. The 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 619 
 
 ladies took their seats, and near them their parents and brothers. 
 After they had inquired about one another's health, Don Enrique, 
 anxious for the festival to begin, asked them to listen to eight 
 musicians who occupied a part of the room. With various in- 
 struments, to whose sweet sounds they sang in two choirs, the 
 musicians sang a romance in praise of the remarkable beauty of 
 Dona Ana, daughter of Don Enrique. Then Don Claudio, son of 
 Don Enrique, took a seat in the midst of the company and after 
 some excuses reads the first novela, " The Duke of Milan." 
 
 The novela was received with much applause, and while they 
 were setting the tables for the supper, Don Fernando, son of Don 
 Sancho, was asked to repeat some verses from memory. He 
 consented, saying that the night before he had written for their 
 entertainment " The Judgment of Paris" in the jocose style suit- 
 able to the season. When the poem was finished, they all sat 
 down to supper, which was costly and tasteful, served with care 
 and punctuality, and accompanied with music. 
 
 After supper the company took their seats again and conversed 
 a while on various topics in order to give the servants time to 
 sup themselves before they performed an entremes. Their 
 haste to give the performance led them to shorten their repast. 
 After a letra sung by three musicians, the servants performed the 
 eniremSs of El Casamentero. All were entertained by the 
 entremes and ballet, and while they were thanking Don Enrique, 
 the actors changed their dress to perform a masquerade-ballet. 
 This ended the entertainment, and the ladies and gentlemen 
 went home by torchlight, having agreed that Don Lorenzo, the 
 oldest son of Don Sancho (who had charge of the entertainment 
 for the following night) , should divert them with a novela. 
 
 The introduction to the second festival is like that of the 
 first. The ladies sat on a broad dais, the gentlemen in chairs 
 near it, trying to share the heat of two large silver braziers, 
 "and the fragrance of two well prepared apples which were in 
 them." Twelve skilful musicians, in two choirs, sang a letra, 
 and after it Don Lorenzo, with the usual apology, recited the 
 novela of " La Quinta de Diana." 
 
 The audience found Don Lorenzo's novela all too short; the 
 tables were set for a sumptuous repast; more music followed; 
 and while the servants were dressing for a masque, Don Claudio 
 recited a romance, which, he said, he had made for a physician, 
 
620 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 who at the same time was a manager of love affairs. Then 
 followed a number of sonnets and romances, more or less satirical, 
 and the entertainment ended with the masquerade. Before 
 the company broke up it was agreed that Don F61ix, son of 
 Don Rodrigo, should entertain them on the last night with a 
 novela. 
 
 The third and last festival begins with music as' usual, fol- 
 lowed by Don Felix's novela, " El Ayo de su Hijo." Don Claudio 
 recited a long romance which he said he wrote for a friend whose 
 story it contained. While the servants were dressing for the play, 
 Don Lorenzo proposed that each one should repeat an epigram 
 of a jocose character, and began himself. The comedy which 
 was performed to the great delight of the company is not named. 
 The play had hardly ended when the convent bells begap to 
 ring for matins, for it was already midnight, and the company 
 hastened home in order to prepare for the ceremonies of Ash 
 Wednesday. The author concludes by hoping that his book 
 will satisfy the readers so that he may be encouraged to publish 
 La Reina Cleopatra and finish the Escarmientos de Amor. 
 
 Another of Solorzano's works devoted to diversions of the 
 Carnival is Sala de recreacion, Saragossa, 1649, the scene of which 
 is laid in Pamplona, the capital of Navarre. There lived Don 
 Teobaldo and his wife Dona Brianda and their four beautiful 
 daughters, the joy of the whole city. Pamplona is a mountain 
 city and the winters are long and cold and tiresome, and the 
 inhabitants have to wear furs and keep great fires burning on 
 their hearths. One winter was more severe than usual on 
 account of the snow; and Don Teobaldo, happening to be in 
 church with other gentlemen and married friends of his one day, 
 and pondering on how the cold and snow kept families from 
 meeting, offered his house, which had a great sala (often used be- 
 fore for balls and other entertainments), to his friends for the 
 celebration of the approaching Carnival. He further offered to 
 arrange the sala so that it could serve for balls, masques, acade- 
 mies, poetic jousts, plays, and above all story-telling, in which 
 the ladies should alternate with the gentlemen. 
 
 Don Teobaldo's friends were pleased with his proposition, 
 and it was agreed that the first festival should take place on the 
 Thursday before Lent, commonly called in Castile De comadres, 
 and in Aragon El lardero. Don Teobaldo made all the necessary 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 621 
 
 preparations and he and his wife and daughters invited their 
 relatives, friends, and acquaintances. The sola was more than 
 three hundred paces long and half as wide, and was filled with 
 stoves, which warmed without showing the fire, as in Flanders. 
 There was the usual raised platform (estrado) and place for the 
 musicians ; the walls were hung with tapestry and there was no 
 carpet to hinder dancing. 
 
 The company met on the appointed Thursday and after the 
 music Don Frances, nephew of Don Teobaldo, a young and witty 
 student, occupied an elevated position so that he could be heard 
 by all, and related the first novela, "La Dicha merecida," which 
 was followed by dancing. The subsequent recreaciones are of 
 the same nature; during the second Dona Constancia tells the 
 novela, "El Disfrazado " ; on the third meeting Don Fermin recites 
 the novela, " Mks puede Amor que la Sangre " ; on the fourth Doiia 
 Eufemia narrates the novela, " Escarmiento de Atrevidos," which 
 is followed by a torneo, a dance with songs and other music. 
 
 On the fifth evening Don Jorge tells the novela, "Las Pruevas en 
 la Muger," followed by a masque of the nations, in which bands 
 of four persons sing and dance, brandishing hatchets. 
 
 The sixth and last entertainment consisted of the comedia 
 famosa. La Torre de Florisbella, which ended with great applause. 
 The bells of the churches were ringing for matins, a manifest 
 sign that Ash Wednesday had begun. The company then rose 
 from their seats and went home to the light of torches, planning 
 with Don Teobaldo to continue after Lent those seemly and 
 festive exercises. The author concludes with the usual words: 
 "Si lo escrito en este pareciere bien, su autor promete la segunda 
 parte, que saldra presto a luz con el favor de Dios." 
 
 I have seen two other similar works devoted to the Carnival, 
 mentioned by Menendez y Pelayo in his Origenes de la Novela: 
 Carnestolendas de Saragoza en sus tres dias by Maestro Antolinez 
 de Piedrabuena (1661), and Carnestolendas de Cddiz by Don 
 Alonso Chirino Bermddez (1639). 
 
 The first of these two works (both are in the Hispanic Society) 
 is of no importance for my present purpose. There is no com- 
 pany, no telling of tales. The author merely relates in a pleasant 
 way his own personal- adventures during the Carnival, and his 
 narrative seems often to be satirical. He, too, promises a 
 second part, a promise never fulfilled. 
 
622 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The second work is of greater interest. Men^ndez y Pelayo 
 is mistaken as to the author. The full title is : Carnestolendas de 
 la Ciudad de Cadiz. Pruebas de ingenio de Don Alonso Cherino 
 Bermudez. Por el Capitan Don Juan Ignacio de Soto y Aviles, 
 Cavalier del Orden de Calatrava, y Alferez Mayor de la Ciudad de 
 Cadiz en cuya casa se hizieron. Impresso en Cadiz, por Fernando 
 Rey. Ano 1639. The book is dedicated to Don Nuno de 
 Vilavicencio, Cavallero del Orden de Santiago, Regidor Perpetuo 
 de la Ciudad de C&diz. The author explains the origin of his 
 work as follows: His friend Don Alonso Chirino y Bermudez 
 came from Vegel, where he lived and was visited by all the friends 
 of good taste. This was Saturday afternoon, March 5. The 
 following evening there was a formal Academy. Don Vicente 
 Frances, a gentleman of Aragon, to see if what was said of Don 
 Alonso was true, proposed for a topic (asumpto) a sonnet to an 
 absent lady whose lover feared that she would change with her 
 removal. Don Alonso replied at once, and many other sonnets 
 followed. 
 
 There was another session of the Academy on the 7th of March. 
 The author asked a gentleman, who did not enjoy his lady's 
 favors for fear of loving her less, for a romance. Then came other 
 romances and sonnets. The next day a public scrivener was called 
 in to take down what occurred that night. A long oracion 
 razonada was pronounced by Don Alonso, who presided over the 
 Academy. He also dictated a Latin oration and Don Jacinto 
 de Aguilar y Prado replied with an Epistola suasoria ad nuben- 
 dum. To this Don Alonso replied at once. In the remainder of 
 the session Don Alonso gave many other proofs of his poetical 
 ability, and his example spurred on the other members to imitate 
 him. 
 
 The book is of little value for this work, as the frame is un- 
 interesting and the contents are in poetry with the exception of 
 the orations mentioned above. 
 
 In order to follow up the imitators of Hidalgo I have disre- 
 garded the proper ecclesiastical order of the festivals of Christ- 
 mas and the Carnival. I shall now return to the proper order 
 and mention the works in which the entertainments take place 
 at Christmas or the festivals immediately succeeding. I shall 
 examine first a work by an author with whom we have become 
 acquainted above, Alonso de Castillo Sol6rzano. His Noches de 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 623 
 
 Placer appeared at Barcelona in 163 1 and was not reprinted until 
 1906, in volume five of Cotarelo y Mori's Coleccion selecta de 
 antiguas novelas espanolas. It has become one of the rarest of 
 Spafiish books, the editor of the collection just mentioned know- 
 ing of but one copy, in the National Library in Madrid. The 
 scene is laid at Barcelona, the native place of Don Gdiston Cen- 
 tellas, a widower and father of two of the most beautiful ladies 
 of Europe, Laura and Andrea. On Christmas Eve Don GAston 
 invites his friends and kindred to a sumptuous repast. After the 
 supper the question arose as to the mode of entertainment, and 
 Laura spoke as follows: "It is my opinion that the four nights 
 of the festival of Christmas with those of the New Year and 
 Epiphany should be spent in the following manner: The present 
 company should appoint each night a lady and gentleman to 
 tell a novela original with them, and before and after the novelas 
 there should be music and dancing." 
 
 Don GSston invites them all to supper as before, and after the 
 usual music Laura relates the first novela, "Las dos Dichas sin 
 pensar." The second novela, " La Cautela sin Efeto," is told by 
 Don Felix, and the evening closes with dancing. It is to be 
 noticed that the author has prefixed to each novela a rather long 
 dedication to a friend. The other five nights of the entertain- 
 ment pass ofif in the same way. Twelve novelas are related, and 
 the work ends with a masquerade in which twelve gentlemen 
 dressed as Indians dance with tomahawks in their hands. The 
 author promises a similar work for the approaching Carnival. 
 
 Two other collections of novelas supposed to be related for the 
 amusement of a company at Christmas were written by ladies. 
 Nothing is known of the life of one and little about that of the 
 other. Doiia Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor, author of Novelas 
 amorosas y exemplares, Saragossa, 1637, is styled on the title- 
 page "natural de Madrid." Navarrete in a brief notice in the 
 Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, Vol. XXXIII, in which he printed 
 {Novelistas posieriores a Cervantes, tomo segundo) four of her 
 novelas, gays that from the time in which she flourished it is 
 probable that she was the daughter of Don Fernando de Zayas y 
 Sotomayor, knight of the order of Santiago, who was born in 
 Madrid in 1566. She must have been a person of unusual edu- 
 cation for her time. She is praised for her poetry by Lope de 
 Vega in El Laurel de A polo. She is said to have written comedies 
 
624 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 and other works, but she is remembered now only by the col- 
 lection of novelas mentioned above, which enjoyed great popu- 
 larity, being reprinted in Madrid as late as 1814. The frame of 
 the work is more interesting than usual and involves the fate of 
 some of the company. As will be seen, it has many traits in 
 common with other works of this class. 
 
 A company of ladies and gentlemen had come together in 
 Madrid in December to entertain Lisis, who was suffering from 
 an attack of quartan fever. As Christmas was so near, the 
 company agreed to give a sarao (ball) as an entertainment for 
 the period between Christmas and Epiphany. Lisis was elected 
 to preside over the diversions and asked to issue orders to each 
 for the part he was to take. Lisis excused herself on the ground 
 of her illness, and begged to have her mother Laura substituted 
 in her place. This was done and Laura proceeded to distribute 
 the parts for the five nights which were to end with a sumptuous 
 banquet given by Lisis, to which she invited the fathers of the 
 gentlemen (their mothers being dead), and the mothers of the 
 ladies (their fathers being dead). They were told to meet at the 
 apartment of Ljsis on Christmas night, where they found a room 
 adorned with flowers, with a rich estrado, many seats covered 
 with velvet and little stools (taburetes), so that the gentlemen 
 seated on them could enjoy the warmth of the silver braziers. 
 
 The company began arriving at three in the afternoon and 
 were cordially received by Laura and her daughter Lisis, who 
 reclined on a cot as it was the day for her fever. After some 
 dancing there was a torchlight procession of the ladies and 
 gentlemen. Then Lisis sang a romance and Lisarda narrated the 
 first novela, "Aventurarse perdiendo." 
 
 It is not necessary to continue in detail; between the novelas, 
 there was music by Lisis or the musicians, and in some of the 
 novelas, as in the fourth, much music was introduced in the 
 course of the narrative. The last novela gave rise to much dis- 
 cussion, in which was spent a part of the night, "and because it 
 was not the time to perform the comedy, it was left for the festi- 
 val of the Circumcision, when was to take place the marriage of 
 Don Diego and the fair Lisis ; and so they went to supper with 
 great pleasure, ending the fifth night, and I my entertainment, 
 promising a second part, and in it the punishment of Don Juan's 
 ingratitude, the change of mind of Lisarda, and the wedding of 
 Lisis." 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 625 
 
 The second part is divided into ten nights and the introduction 
 continues the story of Lisis, whose illness was increased by her 
 grief at the love of Don Juan for her cousin Lisarda. Don Juan 
 knowing this determined to comfort her, but as Lisarda was 
 always present his resolutions came to naught. Lisis's illness 
 had lasted more than a year when an aunt gave her a female 
 sla%-e, a Moorish girl, for whom Lisis formed such an attachment 
 that she gradually forgot her sickness and convalesced. Don 
 Diego renewed his suit and Lisis accepted him; it was deter- 
 mined that they should celebrate the Carnival, beginning on 
 Sunday, and that the marriage should take place on the last 
 day of the festival. 
 
 Lisis arranged the entertainment as follows: first, it was to be 
 the ladies who related the novelas; second, these should embody 
 true events, and be termed desenganos (disillusions) . The slave 
 Zelima asked to be allowed to sing the poetry and tell the first 
 novela, and Lisis retained the last for herself. 
 
 Place was kept for the wedding and a marriage license obtained. 
 The rooms were properly adorned and when the guests were 
 present and ready Zelima arose and sang a romance. Then she 
 disappeared for a moment and returned so beautifully dressed 
 that she seemed a queen of Fez or Morocco or a sultana of Con- 
 stantinople. She said that she had been commanded to narrate 
 a desengano in order that the ladies should be made acquainted 
 with the wiles and deceits of men, who are always accusing women 
 of such. She said she was going to reveal her own misfortunes 
 as a warning to others. Then she relates the first desengano. 
 It may be remarked that although there are only three days 
 involved in the entertainment, the ten stories are related as if 
 they occupied ten nights. 
 
 It is not necessary to pursue in detail the rest of the novelas; 
 they are more or less interspersed with poetry, and between the 
 various noches or stories there is music, either by the musicians 
 or by one of the company. In the interval between the eighth 
 and ninth desenganos there is a hint of how the frame-story 
 is going to end. The fair sla^•e has turned out to be a Spanish 
 lady of highest rank and birth. At the beginning of the ninth 
 desengano Lisis, Isabel (Zelima), and Estafania appear in the 
 garb of the religious order of the Conception. 
 
 After Isabel has sung a long poem, Doiia Estefania tells the 
 41 
 
626 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 ninth story, and Dona Isabel again sings, this time a sonnet to 
 a lady whom the writer had never seen, but with whom he had 
 fallen in love by report of her beauty. The last story is related 
 by Lisis, and when she has finished Isabel sings to the accompani- 
 ment of a guitar. Lisis then sums up the defence of women, 
 which had been the object of the second part of her entertain- 
 ment. She concludes by saying: "Since the day which gave 
 rise to this entertainment, which was the Tuesday of Carnival 
 of the present year of 1637, I have seen that in the city of Madrid 
 have occurred many scandalous events, and I am so timid that, 
 like one who has committed a crime, I am going to take refuge in 
 a sanctuary and find protection in the retirement of a convent, 
 whence, as if from a bulwark, I intend to see what happens to the 
 others; and so with my beloved Dona Isabel, whom I shall have 
 as my companion as long as I live, I shall save myself from the 
 deceits of men." 
 
 Saying this she arose, and taking Dona Isabel by one hand and 
 Dona Estefania by the other, with a polite bow and without 
 waiting for any answer, all three withdrew to another room, 
 leaving her mother, who knew nothing of her intention, in con- 
 fusion, Don Diego in despair, and all in wonder at her determina- 
 tion. Don Diego, ill pleased and feeling like death, left without 
 taking leave of anyone. It was said that he went to serve the 
 king in the war in Catalonia, where he exposed himself to the 
 greatest"* dangers and was killed. The others congratulated 
 Laura on her daughter's discretion and went home. 
 y/Yh& next day Lisis and Isabel with Doiia Estefania went to 
 the convent, where Isabel took the veil and Lisis remained a 
 secular. Laura arranged her affairs so as to be with her beloved 
 daughter Lisis; likewise Isabel's mother taking the veil entered 
 the convent. A few months later Lisarda married a rich gentle- 
 man, leaving Don Juan unhappy and confessing that Lisarda had 
 paid ^im as he deserved for his disloyalty to Lisis. He after- 
 wards fell ill of a dangerous sickness and ended his life in a frenzy. 
 
 Of the second lady mentioned above as a writer of stories for 
 a Christmas entertainment. Dona Mariana de Caravajal y 
 Saavedra, I can find no account, except that she was the author 
 of Navidades de Madrid y Noches Entretenidas en ocho Novelas, 
 Madrid, 1663. Ticknor (III, 166) says she was a native of 
 Granada and descended from the ancient ducal families of 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 627 
 
 San Carlos and Rivas. The edition Madrid, 1728, which I have 
 used, in the Ticknor Collection, Boston, is entitled simply 
 Novelas Entretenidas, and its plot is as follows. 
 
 There lived in Madrid a lady named Doiia Lucrecia de Haro, 
 married to Don Antonio de Silva. They had a son of the same 
 name, polite and understanding and attractive to all who knew 
 him, and very obedient to his parents. His mother possessed 
 many houses but owing to her husband's. indisposition she lived 
 in one near her father in order to avoid scandal. It had five 
 principal rooms and a large garden with fruit trees, two foun- 
 tains, etc. Dona Lucrecia occupied an inner room in order to 
 give those looking on the street to her noble tenants. In two of 
 these rooms lived two beautiful and prominent ladies, Doha 
 Lupercia and Doiia Gertrudis. In the other rooms lived two 
 Biscayan gentlemen, Don Vicente and Don Enrique. In the 
 front room a lady, Dona Juana de Ayala, widow of an officer, 
 was spending the time of her mourning with a beautiful daughter. 
 Dona Leonor. 
 
 A fortnight after she had left off her mourning, it seemed proper 
 to Dona Lucrecia and her neighbors to call on her and welcome 
 her. Don Antonio escorted his mother, and while they were 
 there the Biscayan gentlemen also called. Don Vicente was in 
 love with Dona Gertrudis and Don Enrique with Dona Leonor, 
 whose hand he had asked of Dona Juana, who answered that she 
 did not wish to marry her until she had ended a suit and received, 
 as she hoped, the favor of an ecclesiastical office (un dbito). 
 Besides this she did not wish to marry her daughter to a stranger 
 and thus lose sight of her while she was in the flower of her age. 
 
 Don Enrique pays an artist to go to a church frequented 
 by Dona Leonor and paint her portrait. Leonor in turn falls 
 in love with Enrique. All the above parties were accustomed to 
 visit Dona Lucrecia to divert the illness of her husband, the 
 ladies with music and the gentlemen, sometimes by playing 
 cards, sometimes by relating the news which they heard at the 
 Palace. They had lived in this manner for two years, when during 
 the winter Don Antonio died, leaving great wealth to his daughter 
 and large estates to his wife. 
 
 At the end of October her friends and neighbors were present 
 with the disconsolate widow in order to bear her company during 
 the many visits paid to her, and likewise the Biscayans and other 
 
628 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 gentlemen to accompany her son. After the first outbreak of 
 sorrow, all being one night in the room of Dona Lucrecia, Dona 
 Juana, anxious to gain her good will, said to the others: "It is 
 a week before Christmas, the eve of which falls on a Sunday, 
 and as the cold is great and we have in the house a tribuna 
 [apparently a gallery opening into a chapel], it seems to me that 
 during the five days of the Christmas festivities and the re- 
 mainder of the holidays, our widow should not be left alone, but 
 we should all celebrate the season together, distributing among 
 us the five days and their diversions. I will take Christmas Eve 
 and give a supper to all, and since we are free from the criticism 
 of our neighbors and this room is remote from the street, we 
 will have a little music and afterwards some dancing." She 
 assigned charge of the first day to Dona Gertrudis, of the second to 
 Don Vicente, the third to Dona Lucrecia, and the last to Don 
 Enrique. It was understood that each would be obliged to re- 
 late some occurrence (suceso) the night that fell to him. They 
 all agreed, and Don Enrique prepared a present to be sent 
 to Dona Juana for Christmas. Doila Lucrecia did not wish 
 to receive her guests in mourning and had a room opening 
 on the garden adorned with carpets, candelabra, and silver 
 braziers. 
 
 When Sunday came they ascended the tribuna to hear Mass and 
 then had chocolate. They thanked her for her gift and begged 
 her not to anticipate them as it was their duty to serve her those 
 days. In the afternoon they entered the room which had been 
 prepared, and were amazed at its richness. After they had re- 
 garded it attentively, Dona Juana said: "As this night falls 
 to me these ladies must enhven the festival with music." They 
 consented, but first Don Enrique's present prepared by his 
 aunt, a nun in the convent of La Concepci6n Ger6nima, was 
 brought in, consisting of four platters of food elaborately pre- 
 pared. After they had admired the gift they seated themselves 
 around the odoriferous braziers and Dona Lucrecia asked Leonor 
 to begin the festival. Her mother gave her consent and Leonor 
 borrowing Getrudis's harp touched it skilfully and sang a letra, 
 after which Marcela, a servant of Getrudis, danced with great 
 applause. As it was late the supper was in order. Dona Juana 
 mentioned the two presents which had been sent to her and 
 distributed the dishes among her guests. After the tables had 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 629 
 
 been removed the company played checkers (damas) until the 
 hour of matins and then retired to rest. 
 
 The next day because Dona Getrudis was in charge, Don 
 Vicente sent her presents on a curious tray consisting of Httle 
 jars of sweet smelHng earth, perfumed gloves, purses, and other 
 trifles. Then Don Enrique and Don Vicente played a practical 
 joke on the company, pretending to have been wounded in a 
 quarrel outside of the house. The wounds are later explained 
 as caused by love. After supper Dona Getrudis tells the first 
 novela, "La Venus de Ferrara." 
 
 The following day it was Don Vicente's turn to send presents, 
 and Doiia Lucrecia asked that there should be singing until 
 supper. She herself, skilful on the guitar, sang a leira. Dona 
 Leonor followed with a verso, and after supper Don Vicente 
 related the second novela, " La Dicha de Doristea." 
 
 It is unnecessary to continue the analysis of the book in de- 
 tail. There is much poetry, among it the fdbula of Euridice and 
 Orfeo recited by Leonor. The marriages of Don Enrique with 
 Dona Lucrecia, and Don Vicente with Dona Getrudis were 
 arranged and the betrothals celebrated with great display and 
 profusion of poetry, Don Enrique singing The Judgment of Paris. 
 The company then breaks up and withdraws to their homes. 
 The author makes the usual promise of a second part: "Dejando 
 sus esperanzas prevenidas, para el dia de sus velaciones, en que 
 se prometfan nuevos festejos, y tan plausibles, que espero en 
 Dios, nos han de dar motive para hacer la segunda parte de 
 este libro." 
 
 Before passing to the considerable number of works of this 
 class which are frank imitations of the Decameron, I shall men- 
 tion briefly one in which the stories are told to while away the 
 long nights of winter. It is one of the earliest of the class, having 
 appeared in 1609, three years after Hidalgo's Carnival stories. 
 It is, however, of little interest for the present work, as the scene 
 is laid in Italy and nothing can be gleaned from it for Spanish 
 social observances. Although it passed through several editions 
 and .was translated into German, I do not find any traces of its 
 influence in Spain. The author of the work in question was 
 Antonio de Eslava, termed native of the town of Sangiiesa (in 
 the province of Navarra) in the title of his collection of stories : 
 Parte primera del libro intitulado Noches de Invierno, Pamplona, 
 
630 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 i6og.^^ Mendndez y Pelayo in his Origenes de la Novela, II, p. 
 cxxi, gives no personal details of the author, and remarks of the 
 work: "Everything about Eslava's book shows its Italian origin. 
 No one would say that it was composed in the province of 
 Navarra. The scene opens on the quay at Venice, where the 
 loss of a vessel coming from the island of Candia and the destruc- 
 tion by fire of a galley of Pompeyo Colonna at Messina are the 
 topics of conversation. The four old men who amuse themselves 
 during the winter nights while roasting chestnuts, drinking 
 malmsey wine, and relating marvellous stories, are named Silvio, 
 Albanio, Torcato, and Fabricio. None of the novelas is on a 
 Spanish subject, and the two which belong to the Carolingian 
 cycle (the birth of Charlemagne, and the birth and youthful 
 exploits of Roldan) are not taken from French texts, but from 
 a well known and popular Italian compilation, I Reali di Francia." 
 Besides the novelas, some seven in number, the book contains 
 various historical and moral digressions, an apology for the 
 female sex, and an allegorical story of the birth of Queen Telus 
 of Tartary, said by the author to be translated from the Flemish 
 of Juan de Vespure. 
 
 Eslava's book, which is scarce, would have been entirely for- 
 gotten by this time were it not that some have seen in the fourth 
 chapter, "Do se cuenta la sobervia del Rey Nicifero y incendio 
 de sus naves, y la arte magica del Rey Dardano," a possible 
 source of Shakespeare's Tempest.'^° 
 
 '^ Eslava's work is very scarce. Mr. Ticknor owned only the German trans- 
 lation of Nuremberg, 1683. I have seen three editions in the Hispanic Society: 
 Pamplona, 1609, Barcelona, 1609, and Brussels, l5lo. No biographical details 
 are given by Menendezy Pelayo in his notice of Eslava's book in Origenes de la 
 Novela, II, pp. cxxi et seq. The Diccionario enciclopedico Hispano-Americano 
 says he was born about 1570, and attributes to him a rare novel published in 
 1604, Los amores de Milan de Aglante y el nacimiento de Roldn. This is the 
 same subject as the eighth chapter of the Noches, Do se cuenta el nacimiento 
 de Roldan y sus niiierias : and it is probable that there has arisen some con- 
 fusion between this novela and the work attributed to Eslava. 
 
 '"' Menendez y Pelayo, op. cit. (1907), p. cxxxiii, says : " Dr. Garnett and other 
 modern English scholars have believed that the germ of Shakespeare's fan- 
 tastic drama The Tempest was to be found in Eslava's fourth chapter." In a 
 note on the same page, the editor says: " I know only by references these works 
 of Garnett and I cannot even remember exactly where I have seen them cited." 
 Menendez y Pelayo was mistaken. Dr. Garnett and other modern English 
 scholars have not been acquainted with Eslava. The first reference to the 
 Noches as a source of The Tempest is by a German scholar, Edmund Dorer, in 
 an article, "Die Quelle zu Shakespeares Sturm," mDas Magazin fiir die Lit- 
 teratur des In- und Auslandes, Vol. 107 (Jan. 31, 1885), p. 77. The article 
 fills only one column, and begins: "Eine alte spanische Novellen- und March- 
 ensamrnlung: 'Las Noches de Invierno por Antonio de Eslava, 1 609,' enthalt 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 631 
 
 But I must hasten to the works which, although imitations 
 of the Italian prototype, are Spanish in character; with three 
 exceptions the scene is in Spain, and they undoubtedly give us a 
 true picture of the social observances of Spanish society in the • 
 first half of the seventeenth century. The frame is rather monot- 
 
 neben anderen Sagen eine Erzahlung welche einigermassen an Shakespeares 
 Schauspiel 'Der Sturm,' dessen Quelle noch nicht ermittelt ist, erinnern mag. 
 Wir teilen in kiirze den Inhalt derselbenmit." He then gives a brief analysis 
 and concludes: "Die Novelle von dem Zauberer Dardanus ist wohl wieandere 
 der genannten Sammlung, z. B. die bekannte Sage von Klein Roland und der 
 Konigin Bertha, von Eslava neu bearbeitet worden und beruht auf einer 
 alteren Erzahlung, welche auch Shakespeare bekannt geworden sein kann. 
 Moglich ist es ebenfalls, dass der englische Dichter das Buch von Eslava ge- 
 kannt hat, da dieses seinerzeit sehr beliebt war und in verschiedenen Sprachen 
 iibersetzt wurde. Ins Deutsch iibertrug das Werklein M. Drummern unter 
 dem Titel Die Winternachte." In 1902 H. R. S. Anders in his thesis Shake- 
 speare's Boohs, gave a brief account of Eslava's story. Anders's thesis was 
 printed in enlarged form in Schriften der Deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, 
 Band I, Berlin, 1904, Shakespeare's Books, 8vo, pp. xx, 316, p. 74, Appen- 
 dix to Chapter 2, Three Chimerical Sources. These are Mendoza's Lazarillo, 
 Diego Qrtunez's Espeio de Principes and Antonio de Eslava. The last named 
 is very isriefly treated on p. 75, III. "Edmund Dorer in Das Magazin filr 
 die Litteratur des In- und Auslandes, 31 Jan. 1885, draws attention to a nar- 
 rative which has greater affinity with the plot of The Tempest^ than any tale 
 yet discovered. It is contained in a Spanish collection of stories entitled Las 
 Noches de Invierno por Antonio de Eslava, 1609. The narrative, which may, 
 like others of the collection, be based on an older tale, is briefly this." Then 
 follows in eleven lines only a resume of the story. Anders concludes with 
 these words: "The resemblances are obvious, but it is by no means certain 
 that the tale is Shakespeare's source, as Dorer thinks." In 1907 Miss Porter, 
 Shakespeare, First Folio Edition, in The Tempest, Sources, pp. 86-92, re- 
 ferred to Dorer and Anders, and then gave a condensed translation of Eslava's 
 story from the German translation, a copy of which (1683) is in the Ticknor 
 Collection. 
 
 An extensive discussion has arisen in regard to the relation of Eslava's 
 story to The Tempest. This is not the place to go into this matter in detail, 
 but it is proper to mention anything that has made Eslava better known. 
 The first complete translation of Eslava's story in recent times was into Ger- 
 man by Dr. Gustav Becker, who published in the Jahrbuch der Deutschen 
 Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, 1907, pp. 158-168, an article "Zur Quellenfrage von 
 Shakespeares Sturm," in which he gave, pp. 156-163, a German translation 
 of Eslava's Fourth Night. This translation was used by Professor H. E. 
 Greene in his edition of The Tempest (Tudor Shakespeare), New York, The 
 Macmillan Company, 1913. . . ... 
 
 In 1905, Professor Joseph de Perott of the Clark University printed in 
 Publications of the Clark University Library, Worcester, Mass., Vol. I, Oct., 
 1905, No. 8, pp. 209-216, "The Probable Source of Shakespeare's Tempest." 
 The author thought he had found the source of The Tempest m the Spanish 
 romance, Espejo de Principes y Caballeros, Saragossa, 1562, which was trans- 
 lated into English under the title Mirrour of Knighthood and printed in nine 
 volumes at different dates from 1578 to 1601. At the time Dr. de Perott 
 published this paper he had not seen Eslava. Since then he has printed various 
 papers containing references to, and quotations from, Eslava's tale. See 
 especially: Cultura Espanola, Nov., 1908, and Aug., 1909, with extracts from 
 the Spanish Espejo and parallel passages from Eslava; Jahrbuch der Deutschen 
 Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, 191 1, "Die Magelonen- und die Sturmfabel, with 
 
632 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 onous, the scene being laid usually in the garden of a villa at no 
 particular season, except of course when out of door life was 
 possible. In a few cases the stories are told to enliven a journey, 
 and in two the stories are related in a sort of literary academy. 
 The object of the entertainment is usually the amusement of 
 the company in general, but sometimes it is to assuage the melan- 
 choly, or divert the convalescence of one of the ladies. If I 
 attempt to make any classification of my material it will be along 
 the above lines. 
 
 I shall begin with a rare work by an author otherwise entirely 
 unknown to me, the Cytara de Apolo, Saragossa, 1650, of Maestro 
 Ambrosio Bondia." Four ladies: Solina, Mavorcia, Gardira, 
 and Fenix, pay a visit to a casa de recreo near Saragossa. Next 
 to this villa is another where happen to be Gustileo, Gardira 's 
 brother, and three other noble gentlemen. These are invited to 
 the ladies' villa, where they enjoy music and poetry. The ladies 
 decide to spend the day in the villa, and the gentlemen leave 
 them, determining to return in the evening. The ladies dis- 
 cuss the plan of appointing a meeting at a casa de recreo with 
 the gentlemen for four days in order that each may have an 
 opportunity to display his accomplishments. Lots are drawn to 
 determine who shall have charge of the entertainments for each 
 day, and the time is fixed for four festivals of the Church : Ascen- 
 sion, Whitsunday, Sunday after Corpus Christi, and St. John 
 
 extracts from the English version of the Mirrour of Knighthood; Magyar Shake-^ 
 speare-Tdr, 1911, containing further extracts from the EngUsh Mirrour; Studi 
 di Pilologia Moderna, VII, 1914, with extracts from the Italian version of the 
 Espejo; and Romanic Review, July-Sept., 1914, "Professor Fitzmaurice-Kelly 
 and the Source of Shakespeare's Tempest." In a letter of March 17, 1918, 
 Dr. de Perott says: "My present ideas on the subject are as follows: Both 
 Shakespeare and Eslava borrowed the same story in the Mirrour of Knight- 
 hood, broken off at one place in the novel and continued at another, a very 
 common proceeding in the novels of Chivalry." 
 
 *' I have used the copy in the Hispanic Society. Mr. Ticknor saw a copy 
 in the Imperial Library at Vienna. He refers for biographical details to La- 
 tassa, Biblioteca nueva. III, 132. In the new edition of Latassa, BiUioteca 
 antigua y nueva de escritores aragoneses de Latassa aumentadas y refundidas en 
 forma de diccionario bibliogrdflco-biogrdfico por Don Miguel Gomez Uriel, Sara- 
 gossa, 1884-1886, 3 vols., Bondia is mentioned Vol. I, p. 230. He is also 
 mentioned in the Diccionario enciclopedico His pano- Americano, III, 771. The 
 dates of his birth and death are not known. He flourished in the middle of the 
 seventeenth century. He studied philosophy and theology, obtaining the de- 
 gree of doctor. He was ordained and became chaplain to the Count of Mon- 
 terey, whom he accompanied to Italy in 1653. Besides the Cytara de Apolo, 
 which contains two plays, Bondia was the author of Triunfo de la verdad sobre 
 la censura de la elocuencia, Madrid, 1649, which appeared under the name of 
 Don Gonzalo Perez de Ledesma, canon and dignitary of Leon. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 633 
 
 the Baptist's Day. The entertainment for each day is divided 
 into three parts and consists of music, poetry, dramatic per- 
 formances, etc. The company pass from one villa to another 
 as in Los Cigarrales de Toledo and other similar works. On the 
 first day a tragic comedy, De Amor en la Nohleza y en la Muerle 
 la Fineza, is acted with discussions of the play and a masque 
 between the acts. There is also what is practically a parlor 
 game: each takes a sentence of a philosopher, Seneca, Plato, 
 Ovid, Ficino, etc., and turns it into Spanish. The fourth day 
 contains, among other things, praises of certain cities: Huesca, 
 Jacca, Taragona, etc., a comedy, La discreta Aragonesa, and 
 some curious laws of Parnassus about external appearance. The 
 work possesses no originality and is not marked by any literary 
 merit. 
 
 Better known is the author of Teatro popular, Don Francisco 
 de Lugo y Divila, who was born in Madrid near the close of the 
 sixteenth century.*^ He was in the service of the Duke of 
 Maqueda, through whose favor he probably received the appoint- 
 ment of governor of Chiapa in Mexico. He was abroad some 
 ten years, and it was during his absence that a brother saw 
 through the press the work in which we are now interested. The 
 date of his death is not known, but he was alive in 1659 according 
 to Nicolis Antonio. The singular title of the work was given 
 by the author "because it embraced diverse facts and episodes 
 common to all classes of the people, even the lowest." In the 
 address to the reader the author, as is so usual, promises a second 
 part "dealing with the weighty actions of princes worthy of 
 the buskin of Sophocles, as Virgil said." The object of the work 
 is a moral one, and each novela is preceded by a careful statement 
 of what it intends to demonstrate. In other words the novelas 
 are exemplary ones in the sense of the term as used by Cervantes, 
 whom Francisco de Lugo imitates in several of the stories of his 
 collection. He differs, however, from Cervantes in connecting 
 his novelas by a frame, the least interesting of all we shall exam- 
 ine. It is as follows. One afternoon of a spring day three 
 friends, Celio, Fabio, and Montano, meet in Celio's garden. 
 
 ^ The Teatro popular was published in the first volume of the Coleccion 
 selecta de antiguas novelas espanolas, Madrid, 1906, with a prologue by the ed- 
 itor of the series, Don Emilio Cotarelo y Mori, from which I have taken the 
 biographical details in the text. I have seen the original edition, Madrid, 
 1622, at the Hispanic Society. 
 
63t ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 After some discussion on the flight of time, Montano proposes 
 that they shall spend the afternoons relating novelas, "expli- 
 cando el lugar curioso que ocasionare la conversacion, pues asi 
 conseguiremos el precepto de Horacio, acertando en mezclar lo 
 util con lo deleitoso." Before beginning Fabio desires Clelio to 
 explain the origin and rules of the novela. He does so with a great 
 show of erudition, citing Aristotle, Horace, Celio Rodiginio 
 ("en sus Lecciones antiguas"), etc. Boccaccio is mentioned: 
 "y para la practica, harto os dari el Boccaccio en su Fiameta 
 y en el Decameron de sus novelas." 
 
 The title of the first novela, related by Fabio, is "Escarmentar 
 en cabeza ajena " (To take warning from another), and it gives 
 rise to a preliminary discussion on proverbs. After each story 
 there is a brief discussion among the friends, with frequent 
 quotation from the classic poets, etc. There is no other enter- 
 tainment than the novelas, and the work ends abruptly with 
 the last (eighth) novela. 
 
 Far more interesting are a number of works by the popular 
 writer, Sol6rzano, some of whose books have been examined 
 above. I shall now consider very briefly the others, keeping 
 them together and not distributing them according to subject. 
 The first is Tardes entretenidas, Madrid, 1625, the plot of which 
 is as follows.^^ Two noble families determine to pass the month 
 of May in the neighborhood of Madrid, on the banks of the 
 Manzanares. These families consist of two widows, each with 
 two beautiful daughters. These with two maids, two squires, 
 and two pages determine to take the "steel cure," a fashionable 
 remedy of the day, on which is based the plot of Lope de Vega's 
 famous play, ElAzero de Madrid. It also occurs in another work 
 of the class we are now examining, Auroras de Diana, by Don 
 Pedro de Castro y Aiiaya."" In the company of the ladies above 
 
 *^ The Tardes entretenidas is published in the ninth volume of the Colecdon 
 selecta, Madrid, 1908. 
 
 ^'^ Little is known of this author (his name is frequently given without the 
 tilde) who terms himself on his title-pages "natural de Murcia." The Enciclo- 
 pedia Universal ilustrada Europeo-Americana gives the following notice: 
 "Poeta espaiiol del siglo XVI cuya vida es apenas conocida. Lope de Vega 
 hace grandes elogios de el y cinco de sus novelas que se publicaron con el titulo 
 de Las Auroras de Diana (1640) obra de la que se hicieron numerosas ediciones 
 y por la que Castro y Aiiaya figura en el Catdlogo de Autoridades de la Aca- 
 demia. En el tomo xlii de la BiUioteca de Rivadeneyra han publicado al- 
 gunas de sus composiciones." Ticknor mentions four editions: 1632, 1637, 
 1640, and 1654, the last printed at Coimbra in i2mo. I have seen all these 
 in the Hispanic Society, and in addition: Madrid, 1634, M41aga, 1640, and Mad- 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 635 
 
 mentioned is also a certain Octavio, who seems to be a professional 
 entertainer, supported by the gifts of noble families. After their 
 arrival at the villa, while they are proposing to take the cure, 
 Octavio addresses them in regard to the division of their time and 
 occupations. The cure will fill the mornings and he offers to 
 come in the afternoons and amuse them. Each is by lot or 
 command to tell a story, then two enigmas are to follow, and 
 finally Octavio is to sing or improvise. Each Tarde has a brief 
 descriptive introduction, and in the first afternoon Octavio 
 sings a romance on the subject of Aeneas abandoning his wife 
 Creusa. Dofia Angela then tells the first story, " El Amor en la 
 Venganza. " After the novela, Dofia Laura repeats the first enigma 
 and Dona Lucrecia the second and Octavio ends the afternoon 
 with a song. For the next day it is ordered that Dofia Laura 
 tell the story and Costanza and Angela the enigmas. There are 
 six afternoons and as many novelas and twelve enigmas. At 
 the end of the sixth afternoon the doctor, who, thanks to the 
 healthy condition of Madrid has leisure, offers to tell the story 
 for the next afternoon. The author states that he will end the 
 book here in order not to increase its bulk, and promises the 
 usual second part, which never appeared. 
 
 The scene of two of Sol6rzano's collections is laid in Italy, and 
 consequently have less interest for us than the others. In the 
 first, Los Alivios de Casandra, Barcelona, 1640,^ the daughter 
 of the Marquis Ludovico of Milan, Casandra, falls into a melan- 
 choly as result of the efforts and importunities of family and 
 friends to marry her. The physicians advise withdrawal to a 
 villa near the Po, where six ladies, two of them Spanish, accom- 
 pany her and endeavor to entertain her. One afternoon while 
 these six ladies were in a pleasant garden near a cool and beauti- 
 ful fountain, after they had treated various subjects and raised 
 some questions in which wits display themselves, the Spanish 
 lady, Gerarda, proposed that each lady in turn should entertain 
 her mistress, and this entertainment is to consist of story-telling: 
 "tan usado in Italia, y aun en Espaiia, pues me certifican los 
 
 rid 1806, in two volumes. In the Prologue to the last edition the editor says: 
 "Esta obra fue impresa la priraera vez en Malaga en 1640, y despues se hicieron 
 varias ediciones, teniendo todas singular aceptacion del publico por lo singular 
 de su merito, etc." The first edition was, as we have seen, Murcia, 1632, not 
 
 Malaga, 1640. . , „■ ■ c ■ <- 
 
 « I have used the copy in the Hispanic Society. 
 
636 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 de alia que me corresponden que los ingenios espanoles usan aora 
 desto mucho, descubridndose en el novelar su buena inventiva, 
 su galante prosa, y el artificio que para esto se requiere." 
 
 The day closes with poetry as in the Decameron. Then follow 
 the six days or Alivios, consisting of novels and a play, El Mayor- 
 azgofigura. Each day begins with verses and ends with dancing. 
 At the conclusion of the work it is said that Casandra found 
 alleviation in the diversions provided by her friends, and the 
 author promises, as usual, a second part with an account of the 
 marriage of Casandra and the festivities accompanying the wed- 
 ding. 
 
 The scene of La Quinta de Laura, Saragossa, 1649,^* is also 
 laid in Italy near Valencia del Po, famous for its villas. Laura, 
 daughter of Count Anselmo, has retired to a villa during one of 
 the local wars so frequent at that time, with six ladies, all Spanish, 
 brought up with her from childhood. She proposes to pass the 
 time with music, dancing, and story-telling: "exercicio mui 
 usado en Italia, diganlo los Vandelos, Sansovinos y Bocacios, 
 que tantos tomos han impreso dellas, y aora en Espafia los han 
 excedido con grandes ventajas, pues esto se haze con mas primor 
 y propriedad para entretenimiento de los lectores." 
 
 The story-telling begins on Monday. Each day opens with 
 music and ends with singing. Six novelas are told, and at the con- 
 clusion of the work the author again asks pardon for his faults, 
 and promises a second part with an account of the inevitable 
 wedding festivities. 
 
 Another work of the same prolific writer is Jornadas alegres,'^^ 
 Madrid, 1626, in which, quite unusually, the stories are told 
 during a journey. Don Alvaro de Toledo, who is unable to 
 leave Madrid, sends his wife. Dona Lorenza, to visit his estate 
 at Talavera. She is accompanied by her two sisters, Dona Clara 
 and Doiia Luisa, and her two brothers-in-law, Don Gomez and 
 Don Carlos, one a layman (seglar), the other and younger, a 
 student at Salamanca. They arrived at Talavera towards the 
 end of September and remained there until the middle of Decem- 
 ber, when Don Alvaro commanded them to return to Madrid. 
 The order was brought by Feliciano, a lively frequenter of Don 
 
 *^ I have used the copy in the Hispanic Society. 
 
 *' The Jornadas alegres is printed in the eleventh volume of the ColecaSn 
 selecta, Madrid, 1909. The original edition is not to be found in the Ticknor 
 Collection or in the Harvard University Library or in the Hispanic Society. 
 
DF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 637 
 
 Alvaro's house. They prepared for their return, and as Dona 
 Lorenza was in an interesting condition, it was necessary to make 
 the journey slowly, distributing it over five days. The winter 
 days were short, but pleasant for travelling, as the weather was 
 settled and bright. They therefore determined not to start 
 early and not to make any stop at noon, but push on and arrive 
 in good season where they were to spend the night. 
 
 Feliciano proposes that they shall travel six in a coach, and 
 each day one of the six should entertain the others for an hour 
 by relating an occurrence "con su moralidad, porque se mezcle 
 lo provechoso con lo deleitable," and he will sing some of his 
 verses before and after the stories, the ladies aiding him with 
 the music. 
 
 There are six Jornadas, with brief accounts of the journey pre- 
 fixed, music, and five sucesos, or occurrences. The sixth Jornada 
 is wholly occupied by Feliciano, who sings a romance, and relates 
 the "Fibula de las Bodas de Manzanares," a prose pastoral 
 interspersed with poems. The author concludes with these 
 words: "The well-sung romance and the pleasant journey ended 
 at the same time. They entered the .ancient Mantua [Madrid], 
 and on their arrival at the home of Don Alvaro were joyfully 
 welcomed by him. They found the supper prepared and when 
 it was finished they went to rest. Here the author ends this 
 book, and if it pleases the taste of the readers, he promises 
 another entitled Tiempo de regocijo, which will shortly appear." 
 This promise, as we have seen above, was fulfilled.^' 
 
 ■" Another book of this class, the framework of which involves a journey 
 is Matlas de los Reyes's Para Algunos, Madrid, 1640, a copy of which I have 
 seen in the Hispanic Society. A sufficient account of the writer may be found 
 in Cotarelo y Mori's prologue to his edition of Matias de los Reyes's El Me- 
 nandro in the tenth volume of the Coleccion selecta, in which (Vol. XH) is also 
 reprinted the same author's El Curial del Parnaso. Matlas de los Reyes was 
 born in Madrid about 1575 and studied at Alcala. He obtained while still 
 young an administrative position in the Order of Alcantara which obliged 
 him to reside at Villanueva de la Serena in Extremadura. In spite of his 
 business and remoteness from the capital he cultivated letters and wrote six 
 plays, which were not published until some time after their composition and 
 public performance. In 1624 he printed at Madrid El Curial del Parnaso, 
 an imitation to a slight extent of Boccalini's Ragguagli di Parnaso, part of 
 which was translated into Spanish in 1640. After the publication of his 
 Para Algunos at Madrid in 1640, nothing further is known of the author's 
 life. The framework supposes two friends travelling from Madrid on a vow 
 to Our Lady of Guadalupe. They stop for the night at the house of a friend 
 of one of the travellers. There is read the play of El Agraino agradecido 
 which is connected with a discussion of questions of magic, involving two long 
 stories. The next day the journey is resumed. The work is divided into 
 Treze Discursos and is quite elaborate. 
 
638 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 In several of the works mentioned above the social diversions 
 centre around a wedding which is the culmination of a series of 
 adventures. This is the case with another of Sol6rzano's works, 
 Fiestas del Jardin, Valencia, 1634, the plot of which is as follows: 
 The ladies and gentlemen of Valencia have gone to the seashore, 
 "la playa del Grao," near the city to take the air. A vessel from 
 Genoa lands a passenger, a handsome young man, who attracts 
 the attention of two ladies in a carriage, one of whom falls in love 
 with him at first sight. The stranger has scarcely landed when 
 two men disguised as women attack him and wound him in the 
 arm. He stretches his assailants on the ground, mounts the 
 
 In view of the rarity and curious character of de los Reyes's Para Algunos 
 a more extended analysis will be welcome. The writer finds himself at Casa- 
 rrubios, which was crowded on account of a journey a great prince was making 
 to the principal cities of his state. He succeeded in finding an abode, which he 
 had to share with an ecclesiastic, whose ability and good qualities are de- 
 scribed at length. They found that they were bound in the same direction, 
 to Madrid and Guadalupe. They agreed to journey together, and the ecclesi- 
 astic turned out to be an Italian and native of Naples, by name Acrisio. 
 
 The next day they started together and visited a curate, one of the author's 
 friends, and spent the night with him talking about their college days at 
 Alcala. The author goes into his friend's library and finds there his own co- 
 medias, as well as the Curial del Parnaso and El Menandro. After some dis- 
 cussion they all hear mass said by the curate and after breakfast in the garden 
 the author reads .his Comedia famosa, El Agravio agradecido. After the co- 
 mida the friends discuss the subject of magic which arises out of the fact that 
 the comedy just read is an imitation of Plautus's Amphitrion, in which occurs 
 the magical transformation of Jupiter and Mercury. The first discourse on 
 witches (magias) and reprobation of their superstitions occupies ff. 31-43, 
 and leads up to a story by the ecclesiastic which forms the second discourse 
 and is continued in the third and ends the discourses of that day. 
 
 The next day Acrisio narrates in the fourth discourse the Historia de la, 
 Pena de los dos Enamorados de Antequera which is continued in the fifth. After 
 the comida comes the sixth discourse on the superstitious words used by ma- 
 gicians (magos) and the strength and power which they possess. After this 
 discourse comes supper. 
 
 The next day the interrupted story is continued in the seventh and eighth 
 discourses, which fill up the day until supper. The story goes on the following 
 day in the ninth and tenth discourses. After dinner they are interrupted by 
 a call for the curate to "sacramentar un enfermo," but Acrisio continues his 
 story in the eleventh discourse. The continuation of the story is then post- 
 poned for some days, when it goes on in the twelfth discourse, and is ended in 
 the thirteenth discourse on the following day. 
 
 When Acrisio finishes they prepare to resume their journey, and thanking 
 the curate for his hospitality the two friends together with the curate reach 
 Guadalupe and visit the Sanctuary. The author asks Acrisio for permission 
 to publish his story and he grants it. Near the end the author gives an ex- 
 planation of the title of his book: "Que aunque por escrivirlos (los discursos 
 de nuestra conversacion) yo no podre prometerme seran Para Todos, me con- 
 tentare de que sean Para Algunos." 
 
 With the exception of the comedia and the first discourse, all the rest of the 
 book consists of Acrisio's story. The fourth discourse seems a digression. 
 The story turns on the transformation of a woman into a serpent. The whole 
 work is very curious and deserves to be reprinted. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 639 
 
 horse which they had in readiness for their escape and rides in 
 haste to Valencia. Near the city he approaches a country house, 
 at the entrance to which sitting on a stone bench he sees an old 
 man. The latter perceives the condition of the wounded youth 
 and takes him into his house and sends for a physician. 
 
 Presently the daughters of Don Ja5rme (the old man) return 
 and prove to be the two ladies who had seen the stranger, Don 
 Carlos, land and the attack on him. One of the sisters, Angela, 
 had conceived a passion for the stranger at once. The name of 
 the other sister is Dorotea. In the course of Don Carlos's con- 
 valescence he falls in love with Angela and as she seems to think 
 there was some woman concerned in the attack upon him, he 
 deems it best to relate his story to the father and daughters. 
 The story is the hackneyed one of his friend's mistress, Teodora, 
 falling in love with him. His regard for his friend, Don Lope, 
 prevents him from reciprocating Teodora's passion. She hates 
 him for this, and stirs up Don Lope's jealousy, who attacks Don 
 Carlos and is killed by him. Don Carlos is thrown into prison 
 and when released returns to Spain, where Teodora has prepared 
 an attack on him. 
 
 The story of Don Carlos overcomes the suspicions of Angela 
 and she returns the love of Don Carlos. The latter sends for his 
 father, a widower, his two brothers, and a sister. After their 
 arrival one of the brothers falls in love with Dorotea, and Don 
 Jayme has a nephew whom he marries to Don Carlos's sister 
 Blanca. The three weddings take place with balls and other 
 festivities. The relatives and friends resolve to celebrate the 
 marriages in the garden of the Patriarch Don Juan de Ribera, 
 Archbishop of Valencia. They draw lots to determine the turn 
 of each, and the first lot falls on Don Ram6n Centellas, who dis- 
 plays his magnificence on a Sunday in the following manner. 
 After a splendid supper the guests all enter the garden, where 
 a theatre has been erected lighted by a dozen candelabra. The 
 guests take their seats on scaffolds covered with rich draperies. 
 After music and singing comes the comedy, Los Encantos de 
 Bretana. The play is followed by a dance of seventeen gentle- 
 men bearing torches in their hands. 
 
 The second fiesta was given by Don Bernardo. After a splen- 
 did banquet offered by Don Jayme, a joust took place in the 
 street. This lasted until dark, when the guests returned to 
 
640 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 the garden, where Don Bernardo had prepared a collation. The 
 stage was arranged to represent a castle, and after music, Don 
 Galceran, Don Bernardo's brother, entered the gate and occupy- 
 ing a seat in the middle of the stage recited the story of Anteon, 
 written by Don Sancho de Molina Cabega de Baca. Then 
 followed a ball, and Don Bernardo took his seat on the stage and 
 narrated the novela, " La Buelta del Ruysenor." The novela was 
 followed by a masque. 
 
 The third fiesta was under the charge of Don Leonardo Boyl. 
 There was a joust in the street followed by a banquet and later 
 a collation. A romance was then sung by eight musicians and 
 the comedy. La Fantasma de Valencia, was performed. 
 
 The fourth fiesta was given by Don Grao. After the banquet 
 there was a masque by mounted performers in the street. Then 
 Don Grao took his seat on the stage and narrated the second 
 novela, " La injusta Ley derogada." The fiesta wound up with a 
 ball. 
 
 The fifth fiesta was given by Don Melchor, with banquet and 
 masque as usual, then the comedy. El Marques del Zigarral. 
 
 The sixth and last fiesta was under the charge of Don Cotaldo 
 and Don Carlos, with banquet, and dances and joust in the street 
 as usual. Then the company adjourned to the theatre where 
 Don Cotaldo narrated novela third, "Los Hermanos parecidos." 
 He was followed at once by Don Carlos who recited the fourth 
 novela, " La Crianga bien lograda." The novela was much ap- 
 plauded and the bridal parties were accompanied to their houses 
 in the city, and it was planned to celebrate many other fiestas in 
 honor of the marriages. The book end with the words: "Con 
 que el Autor dk fin a las que en el jardin se hizieron, desseando 
 ayan sido al gusto de los letores, para ofrecar presto sacar a luz el 
 libro del Bachiller Trapaza, con el favor de Dios." 
 
 There is a curious group of novels of the class we are now con- 
 sidering which, like Montalvan's Para Todos, examined above, 
 are made the excuse for a pedantic display of erudition. The 
 form of these novels is that of an "Academy," or reunion of 
 several friends, who, to entertain themselves and their friends, 
 relate stories, perform plays, recite poetry, and discuss all sorts 
 of subjects connected with natural history, geography, theology, 
 etc. The scene of this group is laid sometimes in a city dwelling, 
 sometimes in a villa in the country. In Solorzano's Huerta de 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 641 
 
 Valencia, Valencia, 1629, five gentlemen retire to villas on the 
 seashore belonging to them, and form an "Academia," enter- 
 taining each other with four novelas, and a comedy. El Agravio 
 satisfecho. The five days or divertimientos are spent alter- 
 nately in the different villas and are interspersed with the 
 usual elaborate music and 'plentiful poetry. 
 
 The introduction of the Huerta de Valencia opens at Valencia, 
 where five gentlemen of different professions set out in a coach 
 to drive for pleasure to the seashore: Don Leonardo, who had 
 studied Latin, rhetoric, and history, could also write verses; 
 Doctor Eusebio, the best physician and philosopher; Micer 
 Ortensio, jurist; Don Guillen, a student of arts and philosophy, 
 twenty-two years of age; and Maestro Laurencio, a recent gradu- 
 ate in theology and a poet. It was a quiet day and the sea was 
 still. The coach stopped at the brink of the sea and the friends 
 gazed at its peaceful surface. Don Leonardo addressed the 
 others and called their attention to the season and the calmness 
 of the sea, remarking that every exercise wearies, every daily 
 occupation tires unless relieved by some proper recreation. Since 
 the sea is quiet and the sun in the midst of the stormy winter 
 imparts its serene light, they may also in that season, which is that 
 of Epiphany, suspend their studies and throwing off the burden 
 of business, amuse themselves. He proposes therefore that they 
 should celebrate this vacation with a pleasant entertainment, 
 and since the five owned villas in the Huerta de Valencia, their 
 diversions should take place in these villas in the following form. 
 Each day it should fall to the lot of one to hold the fiesta on his 
 own estate, and it is to be in the form of an Academy, not like 
 the famous ones of Italy, but an imitation in so much that each 
 one of the five, since they could write verses, should do so on 
 subjects distributed among them. The one in whose villa the 
 fiesta is celebrated is to give the subjects and himself write a 
 novela or recite it from memory. The festival is to end with 
 music in order to divert the guests, for each of the company is 
 to invite his friends and relatives, who are to bring their Avives 
 and daughters. 
 
 Don Leonardo's plan meets with approval and each promises 
 to do his share. Leonardo as the author of the scheme assigns 
 the subjects of the first day and receives his own from one of the 
 others. They then return to the city anxious to carry out 
 their undertaking. 
 42 
 
642 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 The fiesta of Don Leonardo takes place in his garden at two 
 o'clock and he welcomes the guests very pleasantly, and ad- 
 dresses the company, saying that it has fallen to his lot to en- 
 tertain the company that afternoon and he shall do so by re- 
 lating a novela which he has composed for the occasion, entitled 
 " El Amor por la Piedad." After the novela the five friends re- 
 peat poetry of various kinds, the subjects for the next fiesta 
 in Doctor Eusebio's villa are assigned, and the company breaks 
 up. 
 
 On the occasion of the second entertainment. Doctor Eusebio 
 relates a novela, "El Sobervio Castigado," followed by poetry as 
 on the first day. The endings of each day are very brief : ' ' Acaba- 
 ronse los versos con mucho gusto del auditorio, sazon6 esto des- 
 pues lamusica,y para el futuro dia se le encarg6 la fiesta al Maestro 
 Laurencio en su alqueria, combidando el desde alii a todos los 
 que en la del Doctor Eusebio se avian hallado. Dieronse los 
 asumptos, y todos bolvieron a la ciudad, esperando no ser menos 
 esta fiesta que las pasadas." 
 
 In the course of the third entertainment Maestro Laurencio 
 related the novela "El Defensor contra sf," which was followed by 
 poetry, in this case of a satirical nature. The fourth enter- 
 tainment consisted of a novela, "La Duquesa de Mantua," related 
 by Micer Ortensio, with poetry interspersed in the novela, and 
 following it. 
 
 Don Guillen announces that the diversion of the fifth day is 
 to differ from the others by having instead of the novela a comedia 
 which he has written, and which will be performed by a com- 
 pany greatly applauded in the city. First, however, comes the 
 poetry by the five, and then the play. El Agravio saiisfecho. 
 The play is adorned with excellent dances and entremeses 
 and performed with great care; and the author, Don Guillte, 
 is much praised for this his first play. He returns thanks 
 and promises to do better in another play. Here the diver- 
 sions of the "Academias de la Huerta de Valencia" ended and 
 the guests returned to their homes. The work concludes with 
 the usual promise, in this case fulfilled, of other productions: 
 Las Noches de Plazer and El Coche de las Estafas. 
 
 This form, it will be easily seen, is an imitation of the academies 
 so fashionable in Italy in the seventeenth century. The Spanish 
 imitation is less formal, and I have found no use of disguised 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 643 
 
 names and no employment of parlor games.*'" There are three 
 works of this class which deserve extended treatment, and I 
 shall begin with the most interesting, the Casa del plazer honesto, 
 by Alonso Ger6nimo de Salas Barbadillo, Madrid, 1620.^8 
 
 This prolific writer of poetry, plays, novels, and satirical com- 
 positions, was born in Madrid, July 29, 1581. His father was 
 an agent for the business of New Spain, which he seems to have 
 visited, and which office the son later inherited. Alonso re- 
 ceived his education in his native city and afterwards at the 
 University of Alcali. The family accompanied the court to 
 Valladolid when in 1601 that city again became for a short time 
 the capital of Spain. His father died there about 1603 and 
 Alonso relinquished his studies and assumed his father's business. 
 
 "» Some account of the imitation of Italian Academies in Spain will be found 
 in Boletin de la Real Academia Espanola, Tomo I, Cuaderno I, Febrero 
 de 1914, pp. 4 et seq., "La Fundacion de la Academia Espaiiola y su primer 
 director D. Juan Manuel F. Pacheco, Marques de Villena," by Emilio Cotarelo 
 y Mori. The author gives an account, pp. 5-17, of a number of Spanish acad- 
 emies in the sixteenth century at Valencia (Los Nocturnos), Saragossa (Los 
 Ociosos), Huesca (Los Anhelantes), Toledo, Seville, and Madrid (Los Humil- 
 des, La Imitatoria, El Parnaso, La Selvaje, Le Peregrina, and LaMantuana). 
 In all these academies the Italian imitation was complete, both as to assumed 
 names and general subjects of discussion. 
 
 Some further notices of the academies just mentioned by Cotarelo y Mori 
 will be found in Los Espanoles en Italia (Estudios sobre la grandeza y decadencia 
 de Espana), by D. Felipe Picatoste, Madrid, 1887, two vols.. Vol. I, pp. 98- 
 106. The author says, p. 100: "Tanta aflcion se desperto en Esparia a las 
 academias, que esta palabra tomo en nuestra lengua una significacion popular, 
 designandose con ella durante el siglo XVII toda reunion literaria, aunque 
 fuese de breves horas. 
 
 "De aquella cultura provino la costumbre de celebrar con academias o 
 veladas literarias todos los actos o sucesos notables de la vida. Las victorias 
 de nuestros ejercitos, las muertes y nacimientos de reyes y grandes hombres, 
 las fiestas religiosas, los sucesos de famllia, se celebraban en todas las casas 
 un poco distinguidas con reuniones literarias a que solian asistir, siendo 
 rogadas para ello, las eminencias en ciencias, letras y armas, e inmenso el 
 niimero de recuerdos impresos que todavia se conservan de esta culta cos- 
 tumbre." 
 
 See also the very interesting book by Julio Monreal, Cuadros inejos. Co- 
 leccion de pinceladas, toques y esbozos, representando costumbres espanolas del 
 siglo XVII. Madrid, 1878. In Chapter X, pp. 349-387, is described an 
 academy de los Tenebrosos. Two other chapters are especially valuable: IV, 
 p. 133, "La ocupacion de un caballero"; and VIII, p. 285, "Un dia de visatas." 
 
 ^8 There is an extremely interesting life of Barbadillo by Cotarelo y Mori 
 in the prologue to the Obras de Alonso Jeronimo de Salas Barbadillo, Madrid, 
 1907 {Coleccion de Escritores Castellanos); a few additional biographical details 
 from Perez Pastor's Biografia madrilena. III, 466-469, are given in the second 
 volume of the Obras, Madrid, 1909. The documents in the famous quarrel 
 with the member of the Persian Embassy are printed in Dos novelasde Don 
 Alonso Jeronimo de Salas Barbadillo, reimpresas por la Sociedad de BibliSfilos 
 Espanoles, Madrid, 1894, pp. x-xxxiii. In the same volume, pp. xxxiv-xlvii, 
 may be found an extensive bibliography of Barbadillo 's works, twenty-one in 
 number. 
 
644 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 His poetical career began at the same time with a sonnet in- 
 troductory to the Viage entretenido (1604) of his friend Agustin de 
 Rojas. Alonso returned with the court to Madrid in 1606 and 
 there completed a long poem in honor of the Virgin of Atocha. 
 
 In 1609 Alonso became involved in a quarrel with a former 
 member of the Persian embassy sent to Spain in 1599. This 
 and a satire on some respectable ladies of Madrid led to his 
 banishment for two years, which, however, by the efforts of 
 his relatives and friends was shortened to six months. For 
 reasons now unknown Alonso was again in 161 1 banished from 
 the court and took up his residence in Saragossa until his return 
 to Madrid in 1613. 
 
 He had previously published in Saragossa in 1612 a picaresque 
 romance, La Hija de Celestina, which appeared later in a longer 
 version under the title of La ingeniosa Elena, and furnished 
 Scarron with the plot of his nouvelle, Les Hypocrites. From 16 14 
 on Barbadillo published at Madrid volume after volume of 
 novels, poetry, and satires. In a single year, 1620, he published 
 five novels, a play, and wrote a sixth novel, printed in the first 
 half of the following year. The work which we shall soon con- 
 sider was written during this marvellously prolific period. It is 
 impossible to mention here even the titles of the works of most 
 varied character which Barbadillo composed and published until 
 his death at Madrid, July 10, 1635, a month and a half before 
 that of his friend Lope de Vega. 
 
 Barbadillo has received scant notice outside of his native 
 country, and only one of his works. El necio bien aforiunado, has 
 been directly translated into English.'*^ Another came into 
 English indirectly through Scarron's nouvelle just mentioned. 
 But it is time to return to the only one of Barbadillo's works 
 which concerns my present purpose. 
 
 The Casa del Plazer honesto was first published at Madrid in 
 1620, although the two copies which I have consulted in the 
 Ticknor Collection and the Hispanic Society bear the erroneous 
 date of 1602. The second and last edition appeared at Bar- 
 celona in 1624. I have made use of the first edition in the fol- 
 lowing analysis. 
 
 *^ The Fortunate Fool, written in Spanish by A. G. de Salas Barbadillo. 
 Translated into English by P. Ayres, London, 1670. A copy is in the Ticknor 
 Collection and also another edition, "Now rendered into modern English by a 
 person of quality," London, 1760, sm. i2mo. The original is not in the Tick- 
 nor Collection nor the Hispanic Society. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 645 
 
 One afternoon in April the Tormes (the river which flows about 
 Salamanca), famous for the arms and blazons of the ancient 
 knights, citizens of Salamanca, and no less renowned for the 
 writings of so many happy wits who have been the wonder and 
 glory of Europe, gave shelter in its pleasant meadows to four 
 gentlemen of Andalusia, first-born of their families, whose names 
 were Don Fernando, Don Pr6spero, Don Garcia, and Don Diego, 
 students of law, more from their parents' ambition than from 
 necessity. 
 
 Of these Don Diego spoke first, imbued with humane 
 and divine letters, subtle theologian and profound canonist, 
 universal in languages and master of Greek. He was deeply 
 grieved at having lost to an unworthy competitor a pro- 
 fessorship in the university. He addressed his companions 
 as follows: "No kind of folly is more worthy of blame than ours, 
 who in a time when the rewards of letters are seen so buried in 
 slumber, weary ourselves with such protracted studies." He 
 further says that they are under no necessity of doing so. He 
 praises study for the sake of knowledge, but blames making 
 servile and mechanical these intellectual branches. They should 
 leave this field clear for those who were born without wealth. 
 "Let us proceed to the Court and there live with the means which 
 our parents must send us, in peaceful joy free from scandal. 
 Let us establish a house which we shall name Casa del Plazer 
 honesto, the laws of which we shall determine among ourselves, 
 observing them inviolably, and compelling those who desire to 
 remain in our company to do the same." 
 
 This discourse of Don Diego was so acceptable to the others 
 that the next day they hired a coach and set out with four ser- 
 vants on mules for Madrid, leaving letters for their parents 
 informing them of their determination and asking their aid, threat- 
 ening, in case they refused, to borrow money on usury and consume 
 their wealth in a short time. For fear of this and lest the repu- 
 tation of their sons should be tarnished at the court, the parents 
 resolved to give them generous support. They hired in common 
 a house near the Prado, in whicli there was an apartment with 
 rooms on the upper and lower floors, an inner garden with foun- 
 tains, about which ran a wide gallery, which they filled with 
 all their books, forming a varied and curious library of all the 
 sciences and faculties. In a lower room they deposited all the 
 
646 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 musical instruments which are played by the hands alone, as 
 well as those played by the mouth and hands. One of these 
 rooms they called "Armory of the Mind," and the other "Recre- 
 ation of the Senses." 
 
 They hired a coach and driver for their service and a cook for 
 the kitchen. Each of the company occupied two rooms, one to 
 receive visitors in, the other for sleeping. The first two days 
 they spent in arranging matters, and the following day met in 
 the room called "Armory of the Mind," where they made these 
 laws and ordinances: 
 
 The four and those who desire to serve (militar) under the 
 doctrine of this modern philosophy are not to be married nor have 
 mistresses, nor be occupied with love affairs. 
 
 Lawyers are excluded and poets "who write plays for the 
 public stage, because they are a people who write for the taste 
 of the crowd and are subject to having their plays hissed, which 
 grieves them so deeply that for many days they are inconsolable 
 and so might greatly disturb the Republic." 
 
 The company are not to attend bull fights in Madrid, except 
 private and domestic ones, for the public ones take place in the 
 season of the great heat. They may attend "juegos de canas, 
 porque la mucha frialdad deltas modera el calor del tiempo, y 
 con esto viene a estar la plaga templada y conversable, y tan 
 conversable que sin salir de la materia del mismo juego, del 
 propio se puede hazer juego y risa." 
 
 Admission as lay-brothers (por donados) may be granted to 
 physicians, apothecaries, surgeons,, barbers, sacristans, and 
 gravediggers, because they are so far from living in sorrow that 
 their pleasure is based upon the griefs of others. Also musicians, 
 for they please themselves while pleasing others. 
 
 The very rich and the very poor are excluded. 
 
 The members must not attend weddings or betrothals, for 
 these are very vulgar pleasures which are followed by great 
 sorrows. 
 
 The occupation of the company is to visit widowers and widows, 
 who were unfortunately married, the day of their widowhood, 
 and celebrate with them the joy and pleasure of such a festive 
 and long-desired occasion. 
 
 The money received is to be deposited in the treasury of the 
 community and expended by a confidential steward. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 647 
 
 The members are to lay aside all the passions and affections 
 which disturb the mind, because with them there can be no firm 
 and certain pleasure. 
 
 These regulations and others to be added according to necessity, 
 are to be kept inviolate, under penalty of dismissal from the 
 company. 
 
 To publish these rules they invited all the men of the court of 
 good accomplishments and particular taste to meet in the hall 
 called "Recreaci6n de los Sentidos," and proclaimed the rules 
 with applause and music, adding two new ones: 
 
 The Casa del Plazer honesto could not admit boarders of any 
 condition or quality, even if related to the founders of the 
 community. 
 
 As the four founders were eminent in the three poetic, oratori- 
 cal, and musical arts, so those admitted to the company should 
 possess the same qualities, for the Casa del Plazer honesto had to 
 deal more with the pleasures of the understanding and admiration 
 of the mind than with the gross recreations of the body. 
 
 The establishment of this new order of life {instituto de vida) 
 was admired, and to arouse greater desire in the minds of those 
 who heard of it, the care for the entertainments of the first 
 Sunday was distributed as follows : Don Diego to relate a novela 
 in prose; Don Garcia to sing all that was to be sung by voice 
 alone or rendered with instruments; Don Fernando to repeat a 
 sika; and Don Pr6spero to perform an elegant and lively dance. 
 When this was settled, the meeting broke up and the founders 
 made arrangements to carry out their plans. 
 
 They first turned three moderate-sized rooms into one large 
 one and constructed a stage in the middle of it raised a yard 
 and a half above the floor ; this was surrounded with wooden steps, 
 and on the right of the entrance was placed a chair and on the 
 left a throne of equal height. They made search in the city for 
 rich hangings, and because it was still spring they covered the 
 floors with roses and fresh herbs. The windows looked upon a 
 garden and in front of them were two fountains of wonderful 
 artifice and no slight discharge of water. The rays of the sun 
 were ever5rwhere excluded and the fountains made the air cool. 
 
 At four o'clock some hundred persons, who, according to a 
 new rule, came without linen collars and cuffs, in shirt only, with 
 jacket and breeches of taffety. It was also ordered that all 
 
648 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 who entered should show one of the accomplishments which 
 he possessed, as well he could, because they did not wish to ad- 
 mit idle spectators, who enjoyed the entertainments and after- 
 wards criticized them. Don Garcia, in whose charge the music 
 was, then took his seat on the left, and after the clarions had 
 sounded, sang a solo in an agreeable voice. 
 
 The company excited by his example took their places in 
 turn in the chair and sang alone or in chorus. This lasted for an 
 hour, and then Don Fernando took his seat and sang the verses 
 of a silva. The company followed suit and there was hardly 
 anyone who did not repeat at least a sonnet. After this Don 
 Pr6spero took his place on the stage and performed a dance, 
 and others imitated his example. 
 
 More than three hours having been spent in this fashion, Don 
 Diego took his seat to the sound of instruments and thus began : 
 "Of the novela assigned for the entertainment of this day, I 
 am the author, composing it at the same time that I relate it. 
 Hardiness did not put me in this place, but obedience, for which 
 I hope that I shall obtain liberal excuse and pardon for my errors 
 from your minds. The title is 'Los C6micos Amantes,' and it 
 begins as follows." 
 
 The first day ended with the novela, and the founders of the 
 company took a ride in their coach, avoiding the crowd in the 
 Pradb, and driving out into the country. 
 
 Two gentlemen, Don Juan and Don Alonso, desired to join 
 the company of the founders and were duly examined, Don Juan 
 singing a romance in a bass voice and another in falsetto. The 
 founders retired and voted to admit Don Juan at once. As to 
 Don Alonso, they assigned him a subject (after the fashion of 
 the universities "quando se toman puntos"), on which he was 
 to write a novela; the subject and basis were in these words, which 
 were also given to him as a title for the aforesaid novela: "El coche 
 mendig6n, envergonzante y endemoniado." He accepted at once, 
 and at the appointed time the next day he returned with much 
 briskness and no little confidence, as if he were more superior than 
 dependent upon the criticism of the judges. He then recited his 
 novela, part of which was in -the form of a dialogue, and also 
 a silva. He was thereupon admitted a member of the company 
 and assigned the charge of the entertainments in the approach- 
 ing month of June. The day chosen was the festival of St. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 649 
 
 John the Baptist, and the arrangements were as follows: Don 
 Juan to have charge of the adornment of the room ; Don Pr6spero 
 to prepare a masque of a dozen performers; Don Diego, a domestic 
 comedy in prose, so short that its performance should not last 
 over an hour, and its subject be amusing; Don Fernando to 
 narrate a novela, which should be partly jocose and partly true, 
 reproving some vice lately introduced into the Republic, and 
 conveying instruction. 
 
 These directions were carried out. The walls of the room 
 were covered with tapestries representing the Metamorphoses of 
 Ovid, Loves of Jupiter, Deeds of Mars, and Wonders of Her- 
 cules. When the day of St. John arrived an altar was set up and 
 many courtiers of rank were present. At five the masque began, 
 followed by the comedy, " domesiica y breve," El Busca Oficios. 
 The actors had scarcely left the stage when Don Fernando re- 
 cited the novela, "El Curioso maldiciente, castigado y no enmend- 
 ado," and received a crown of laurel as a reward of his pains. 
 
 A president was elected for the month of July, and Don Fer- 
 nando was chosen, who, as a good Spaniard and true knight, 
 selected the day of Santiago for his festival and distributed the 
 duties of the company as follows: Don Pr6spero to adorn the 
 hall; Don Ricardo, already admitted as academician, and Don 
 Diego, to prepare the festival of a tournament, not to exceed an 
 hour and a half in length. Both these gentlemen had come into 
 possession of large funds and they determined to employ them 
 for something more splendid than risking their loss again. Don 
 Alonso was to give a domestic comedy in verse, brief and enter- 
 taining and not over half an hour in length ; Don Juan to recite 
 a serious novela, whose doctrine should teach the Republic useful 
 customs. It was further proposed that women should be ad- 
 mitted as hearers, but the president opposed it and the others 
 supported his opinion. His argument in brief was that bad 
 women disturb men and men disturb good women, and where 
 there is disturbance (inquietud) there can be no pleasure. If 
 the women are good they lose credit with us, if bad we with them. 
 
 On the day of Santiago the hall was adorned with an image of 
 the saint on horseback, with a great variety of Latin and Spanish 
 verses. There were no tapestries, but the walls were covered 
 with boughs and leaves of trees. The festival began with the 
 tournament, which pleased by its splendor and entertained by 
 
650 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 its mottoes. It was scarcely over when the actors occupied the 
 stage with the comedy El Caprichoso en su Gusto y La dama 
 setentona. After the play Don Juan took the chair and recited 
 "El gallardo Montanes, y Fil6sofo Christiano." 
 
 At the conclusion of the entertainment Don Pr6spero was 
 chosen president for August and assigned the festival of St. 
 Bartholomew. Don Juan was charged with the music and verses 
 to be sung to it. Don Ricardo was to display varied and elegant 
 examples of agility in which he was most skilful. Don Diego 
 was to recite a novela, more entertaining than serious; Don 
 Fernando a dialogue pleasing by its witty jokes, and in verse or 
 prose at his option; and Don Alonso was to take charge of the 
 theatrical representation. 
 
 The sala was made to represent a beautiful room, with the 
 image of the Apostle appearing in a cloud hanging from the 
 ceiling and descending to occupy the place intended for it with 
 the accompaniment of music. Don Juan had placed in the 
 hall a fountain which represented a rock down which the water 
 flowed as soon as the image of the saint reached its place ; then the 
 rock opened and displayed in a seat a youth of tender years 
 clothed in a tunic and representing a nymph of the fountain who 
 sang various poetical compositions. 
 
 Don Feliciano was received as academician and given a seat 
 among the others. Then Don Ricardo occupied the stage and 
 danced with great skill to the delight of all. After this four 
 youths, none over twelve, appeared and recited the dialogue which 
 had been assigned to Don Fernando, the title of which was Los 
 Morones de la Corte, Didlogo en prosa. Don Ricardo then sang 
 some verses and Don Diego narrated the novela, "El Pescador 
 venturoso." Don Diego, carried away by the applause which he 
 received, recited a silva in token of his gratitude. A large col- 
 lection was taken up to defray the expenses of the entertain- 
 ments and after some hesitation and two meetings of the com- 
 pany it was accepted. 
 
 For the month of September Don Pr6spero was elected presi- 
 dent and the day of St. Matthew chosen for the celebration. 
 To Don Feliciano was assigned the music; to Don Diego a dia- 
 logue in verse; to Don Alonso a novela; the adornment of the 
 stage to Don Ricardo; and to Don Fernando a tragic cancion 
 on the death of a beautiful lady who had died in the royal palace 
 in the service of the King and Queen. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 651 
 
 When the appointed day arrived the room was seen adorned 
 with aparadores (tables used in the service of the Mass) of silver 
 and gold, the image of the saint likewise of silver-gilt, and the 
 ornaments of the altar of the same. The ceiling was filled with 
 stars made of the glass used for false diamonds, and in the midst 
 a moon of the same. The room was sprinkled with perfumes 
 and jars of it stood roundabout. The music played and then 
 thunder was heard and it lightened and a hail of sugar and fine 
 rain of perfumes fell. When this peaceful tempest was over 
 Don Feliciano touched his instrument and sang. 
 
 Then the stage was occupied by two youths who recited the 
 dialogue El Tribunal de los Majaderos, one of the lads taking 
 his seat in a chair on an eminence, and the other with his hands 
 full of petitions. The dialogue was in verse and the interlocutors 
 were Monsenor Cesar and his servant Ganasa. After the dia- 
 logue Don Alonso narrated his novela, which was the sixth in 
 order, " El Majadero obstinado." The cancion on the death of 
 the lady in the royal service was then repeated by Don Fernando 
 with many tokens of grief. 
 
 Here ended a most famous day and the company were planning 
 to meet the next day and elect a head and master for the month 
 of October, when their plans were frustrated by the sudden ill- 
 ness of Don Garcia, who was carried off in five days by a severe 
 fever (tabardillo). His friends and companions, disturbed by 
 their fear of contagion, gave up their entertainments and de- 
 termined to retire to their homtes.*^" 
 
 The author ends with the usual promise of a second part, not 
 fulfilled, and in order to console the reader for the death of Don 
 Garcia, winds up his book with a romance celebrating an act 
 of bravery on the part of Don Rodrigo de Tapia, performed in 
 the sight of the King in the Plaza de Madrid during a bull fight. 
 
 Another work in the form of an "Academy" which I shall 
 mention is the Academias del Jardin by Salvador Jacinto Polo 
 de Medina, published at Madrid in 1630.^" The author, famous 
 in his day as a poet, satirist, and moralist, was born in Murcia 
 
 ^'° It is interesting to note that the Sei giornate of Erizzo (see Chapter V, 
 p. 260) end in a similar way with the illness of one of the company. 
 
 ™ I have seen the edition of Madrid, 1630, in the Hispanic Society. For 
 my analysis I have used the edition of the Academias in Obras en prosa y verso 
 de Salvador Jacinto Polo de Medina, Saragossa, 1670, a copy of which is in 
 the Ticknor Collection. 
 
652 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 in 1607. He received his early education in his native city where 
 he soon displayed his literary ability in writing poetry, and his 
 fondness for the stage by acting in private theatrical companies. 
 He was influenced in poetry by G6ngora, and in satirical prose 
 by Cervantes and Quevedo. He went to Madrid in 1630 to 
 continue his studies and eight years later had, like so many other 
 Spanish writers, become an ecclesiastic. He wrote a large 
 amount of lyrical poetry of a humorous and satirical character, 
 two burlesque fdbulas, Apolo y Dafne and Pan y Siringa, a 
 prose satire, El hospital de los incurables, in imitation of Quevedo 's 
 Suenos, a didactic work, Gobierno moral, and the Academias del 
 Jardin. He died shortly after the publication of his Gobierno 
 moral in 1657. The only one of his works which concerns us 
 here is the Academias del Jardin, the plot of which is as follows. 
 
 Anfiso is in love with Fills who does not return his affection. 
 His friends share his sorrow and to divert him choose for their 
 meeting place the Garden of Espinardo, a villa half a league from 
 the city of Murcia to the north. The villa is elaborately de- 
 scribed as usual. One of its features is the marble tablets in- 
 scribed with verses, sonnets, etc., on various flowers and plants, 
 which are hung about the garden. 
 
 The palace has twelve gates crowned by galleries and bal- 
 conies, with mirrors opposite' the doors to reflect the garden. 
 The tapestries contain the stories of Icarus, Venus and Adonis, 
 Birth of Venus, Aurora, etc. In the halls of this palace, " estrado 
 de las Musas y Consejo real de Apolo," the discreet companions 
 of Anfiso sought rest from the torture of memories and mis- 
 fortunes. They spent the first afternoon in arranging the dis- 
 play with which such festive Academias have to be celebrated, 
 Anfiso assigning the topics which they had to write about, 
 different for each, so that their diversity should be more enter- 
 taining. The first day ends with a splendid supper. 
 
 The friends rose early next morning to enjoy the garden, and 
 after the repast they spent some time in praising what they had 
 seen. Then, to the accompaniment of six instruments, Don 
 Antonio, Don Silvio, Don Lauro, Don Pedro, Don Alvaro, and 
 Don Luis began the First Academy wilii a romance. 
 
 Then Jacinto drew some slips of paper containing eight sub- 
 jects: What does the Dawn do when it is born? Some say it 
 weeps, others that it laughs. A Poet and Physician offer to 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 663 
 
 cure the judgment of any poet who will enter the Academy. 
 A Master graduated at the Tower of Babel teaches all languages 
 at a moderate price — Poets gratis. Poets are commanded to 
 learn "casos de conciencia" in order to know what to do when 
 poets ask them for ardept love-letters to conquer ladies with. 
 Two religious Poets have arrived here to convert to the Catholic 
 language heretical and "cultivated" Poets. Let the company 
 aid them, with alms, and thus fulfill what the pictures of souls 
 in purgatory beg: "Sicame de aqui, que manana sera por ti." 
 A certain poet has been converted to his God, abandoning "la 
 mala secta culta," in which he had lived, and asks the company 
 to pray God to preserve him in his enlightenment, and not to 
 fall into temptation themselves. There has come to Parnassus 
 a "Pesquisidor [judicial examiner] contra los Poetas de Sol" 
 to command them to leave to good nights their coplas, which, 
 since they make so much use of the Sun, are most of them "coplas 
 solecismos." Finally, Poets are commanded not to dare to 
 "traer sarna, salpullido, ni sabaiiones, porque es gente que come 
 y son ayuAa. de hambre como de costa, que le basta a cada uno 
 la suya." 
 
 Then to the end of the first Academy follow poetical com- 
 positions by the members of the company: sonnets, romances, 
 silvas, etc., which are made the subject of discussion. 
 
 On the second day there was a torneo burlesco, and at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon trumpets summoned the company to a 
 grandioso cenador and four choirs of musicians sang a romance. 
 Then followed a sort of masque and the usual poetry of all 
 varieties to the end of the second Academy. 
 
 On the third day there was a fiesta de toros y canas in the city 
 to which Anfiso and friends are invited and return to the villa 
 at night. In the morning there is a splendid breakfast, and for 
 dessert Jacinto sings a long (pp. 34-47) romance alluding to the 
 fiesta de canas. In this Academy there is a sort of historical 
 sketch of the city of Murcia (the same sort of thing occurs in 
 other books of this class) and a long discourse on Free Will. 
 
 In the afternoon of the fourth Academy the company met 
 on the banks of a broad canal, "because parlors give no oppor- 
 tunity for certain inventions." The usual music of four choirs 
 then followed, and clouds descended and opened and Jacinto 
 read a paper which, he said, had been brought to him from Par- 
 
654 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 nassus. It contained commands of Apollo and the nine of his 
 Council against "la heretica culticidad y apostasia castellana," 
 and is one of many attacks by Polo on the affected style of the 
 day known as "Cultismo," which had its origin in Spain in the 
 poetry of G6ngora, who was, however, an object of Polo's ad- 
 miration. 
 
 After the paper was read there was a masque on the water 
 with swans. Sirens, and Orpheus. During this Academy a letter 
 was received calling attention to a ceremony in the church of 
 Cartagena attending the obsequies of Don Pedro Requesenes y 
 Pimental. The ceremonies are elaborately described. It seems 
 that the death of this personage leaves Fills free, and Anfiso's 
 hopes revive. He departs at once to the city, visits Filis's 
 father, who consults his daughter. She leaves the answer in 
 his hands and he informs Anfiso of this and the wedding is 
 fixed for as soon as the festivities can be prepared. Fills dis- 
 played such affection "ya que le consentia la seguridad de es- 
 poso," that Anfiso was recompensed for the ages of her disdain. 
 
 At last the happy day arrived, with its festivities, which were 
 so many and great that the author is obliged to postpone them to 
 the second part, mentioning in this only the epithalamium which 
 Jacinto composed and read in public after the wedding supper. 
 The company of friends discussed the poem and Anfiso rewarded 
 the author by the gift of a diamond ring. The company then 
 broke up and the work ends with the usual promise of a second 
 part. 
 
 The last work of this kind which I shall mention is a curious 
 combination of Christmas entertainments with the form of an 
 Academy. The author, Antonio Sinchez T6rtoles, flourished 
 in the second half of the seventeenth century and was the writer 
 of El segundo ramillete de divinas flores, Madrid, 1671. He is 
 better known by the work I am about to mention, which went 
 through several editions. I have used the one of Madrid, 1729, 
 the title of which is: El entretenido. Repartido en catorce noches, 
 desde la vispera de Navidad hasta el Dia de los Reyes, celebradas en 
 metdfora de Academias de prosa y verso, en que se obstentan varios 
 assumptos muy provechosos y entretenidos}^ The work begins 
 with a declaration of the benefit of occupation "which is the 
 
 " I have used the copy in the Ticknor Collection. The Hispanic Society 
 has the edition of Madrid, 1715. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 655 
 
 mother of virtue as idleness is the mother of vice." Recognizing 
 this truth, four young gentlemen esteemed for their family, 
 praised for their learning, and respected for their heroic deeds, 
 met on the 24th of December, 1672, and determined, as the vaca- 
 tions were beginning and the courts closed, to hold some enter- 
 tainments and seemly conversaciones in each of the fourteen 
 nights between the 24th of December and Epiphany, holding 
 during this time "Academias de versos y prosa." 
 
 A proper place to hold these meeting seemed to them to be 
 the house of Dona Feliciana Sarraiento, a lady of accomplish- 
 ments, envied for her beauty, famous for her virtue, and praised 
 for her admirable conversation. At her house met also a num- 
 ber of ladies of like gifts. They arranged that on the next day, 
 which was Christmas Eve, the first academy should be held, 
 and elected Dona Feliciana president. She thanked them, ac- 
 cepted the ofifice, and assigned the topics for the first night as 
 follows: Don Diego to recite a loa on the Birth of the Son of 
 God; Don Pedro a comedy on the same subject; Don Juan an 
 entremes for it; Don Antonio to explain the Government and 
 Republic of Bees; Dona Catalina to declare the many injuries 
 arising from excessive drinking of wine; Dona Maria to pro- 
 claim the virtues and qualities of the Pilgrim; Doiia Fabiana 
 to explain some secret of Nature; Dona Feliciana assuming for 
 herself a glosa on the redondilla, 
 
 Para hacer al hombre bien, 
 A un tiempo venido se vi6 
 La Rosa de Jerico 
 Con el Trigo de Belen. 
 
 The company met as agreed at the house of Dona Feliciana, 
 ■ in a sala adorned with tapestries, paintings, and other ornaments. 
 The entertainment began with the singing of a letra and then 
 followed the programme outlined above. 
 
 Only ten Academies are held, the last on January 2, containing 
 a huge hodgepodge of all sorts of useless learning about every- 
 thing in heaven and earth: volcanoes, fire, Hermaphrodites and 
 whether there are any, the life and death of Judas Iscariot, the 
 fable of Apollo and Daphne, eclipses, hail, earthquakes, love 
 stories in verse, etc., to the end of the work, which contains 404 
 
 pages. 
 This tiresome work was continued by Jose Patricio Moraleja 
 
65(5 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 y Navarro, who was born in Madrid in 171 1, and died there in 
 1763.^^ He displayed decided fondness for the study of mathe- 
 matics, astronomy, and geography. He filled the office of notary 
 to the King and to the hospitals of Madrid. He composed and 
 published from 1744 to 1752 the illustrated almanacs entitled Pis- 
 catores and was the author of other curious works and continued 
 the book of Tortoles described above. The continuation bears 
 the following title: El entretenido. Segunda parte. Misceldnea 
 de varias flores de diversidn y recreo, en prosa y verso, adornada de 
 diversas relaciones serias, burlescas, y seri-jocosas, entremeses, 
 novelas, seguidillas, y otras muchas noticias curiosas, para el gusto 
 de los aficionados, Madrid, 1741. 
 
 This second part is quite like the first ; it begins with the praise 
 of "honesta conversaci6n," which is the "vida feliz de la amistad, 
 el mejor empleo de el hombre," etc. As in the first part, a 
 company of four gentlemen and two ladies were meeting near 
 Christmas, 1740, in the house of Don Ricardo del Rey, who calls 
 their attention to the "academias del Entretenido" of Antonio 
 Sanchez T6rtoles and proposes that the present company hold 
 similar entertainments for seven days from January 3. Each 
 evening a president is to be chosen to assign tasks for the next 
 night. Don Ricardo is made president and the topics assigned 
 are not different from those in the first part: Don Crisanto is to 
 relate a novela based on his own life; Don Calixto to advise a 
 person how to behave with a lady; Dona Eusebia to give a solil- 
 oquy on Love (it is really a "question," Si se debe, no, amar). 
 
 There is a table of the rising and setting of the sun, and Don 
 Antolin describes the greatness and antiquities of Madrid. At 
 the end of the work the author promises other curious entertain- 
 ments which followed those described in the present work. 
 
 I shall conclude this already too lengthy chapter with a brief 
 mention of a work, the plot of which is extremely ingenious. 
 I allude to the Gustos y Disgustos del Lentiscar de Cartagena, 
 Valencia, 1689, by the Licenciate Ginfe Campillo de Bayle, a 
 native of the city of Elche.^^ He is termed a priest in the title- 
 
 ^^ I have used the copy in the Ticknor Collection. 
 
 "' I have used the copy in the Ticknor Collection. The Encidopedia Uni- 
 versal ilustrada Europeo-Americana says: "Escritor espaiiol nato en Elche 
 (Alicante) en el siglo XVII, conocido por sus obras Gustos y disgustos (Valen- 
 cia, 1689 y 1691) ... y la comedia El mejor pastor descalzo San Pascual 
 BailSn (1691)." Neither the play nor the novel is in the Hispanic Society. 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 657 
 
 page and I have not been able to discover any other biographica 
 details. The plot of the book is as follows. 
 
 Pudenciana, a nun in the Convent of the Conception in Car- 
 tagena, induces her brother to place his daughter Filomunda in 
 the convent at the age of ten. She is carefully educated and at 
 the age of sixteen is most accomplished and begins to doubt her 
 vocation. Her aunt argues with her in vain. She determines to 
 leave the convent, but is in doubt a year and falls ill from anx- 
 iety and grief. This state continues two years and is attri- 
 buted by her parents to natural causes. At last a friend, Doiia 
 Leandra, calls the attention of Filomunda 's parents to her serious 
 condition and they have a con^'ersation with the Abbess, whom 
 they unjustly suspect of hiding their daughter's state of mind and 
 body. The Abbess consents to her lea\ang the convent and 
 Filomunda's father plans how he can divert her. He speaks 
 with Don Garcfe, who every spring goes to his villa in the Cam- 
 po del Lentiscar, and celebrates there the Day of St. John, and 
 asks him to accept his family as his guests. Don Garc6s con- 
 sents and the two families agree to go on the eve of St. John, 
 a fortnight thence, Monday, June 23, 1670. 
 
 They start in two coaches at six o'clock, after two boats 
 with the servants and provisions had been dispatched to the 
 Lentiscar. The nuns of the convent take leave of Filomunda, 
 but her aunt will not witness her departure, fearing the re- 
 sult of her exposure to the temptations of the world. The 
 Lentiscar, so called from the profusion of mastic trees which it 
 possesses, is elaborately described in the fourth chapter, together 
 with the ^■illa, grounds, fountains, etc. On her arrival Filomunda 
 makes herself acquainted with the place, accompanied on her 
 tour by the servants, workmen, shepherdesses, and others. 
 
 After supper theA- sit on the portico of the villa enjoying the 
 cool evening and witnessing the diversions of the laborers. A page 
 of Don Ortensio's sings a letra, after which the company retire. 
 
 The next day is most elaborately described (pp. 1-27), with 
 the games of the rustics, a sort of joust, with its devices and 
 colors. In the course of one of the diversions, the very cruel 
 baiting of a cat, Brito, one of the laborers is drowned in a stream 
 by his horse falling on him. 
 
 The second Gusto y Disgusto relates the diversions on the 
 following Sunday, consisting of a tournament in due form, with 
 43 
 
658 ITALIAN SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 judges, arms, devices, etc., elaborately described. There are 
 also "Adventurers," or challengers, familiar to the readers of 
 Don Quixote, who take part in the tournament in disguise. In 
 the course of the battle Lorino, one of the "adventurers" is 
 badly wounded, and this Gusto, too, ends in Disgusto. 
 
 The third festival takes place on Sunday, the sixth of July, 
 with elaborate balls, singing, and dancing; but there is a riot on 
 the part of the laborers and the pleasure of the day ends in 
 sorrow. 
 
 There is no need to continue in detail ; each of the day's diver- 
 sions or adventures ends in grief, and finally Filomunda recog- 
 nizes how bitterly her pleasures have turned out and returns to 
 her convent undeceived. Some idea of the contents may be 
 formed from the headings of the chapters, of which I shall men- 
 tion one only. I should say that running all through the book 
 is a love adventure, the hero of which is Don Joseph Faxardo. 
 Gusto y Disgusto duodecimo y ultimo, p. 290. "How the women- 
 laborers tried to amuse Filomunda, and she gratefully rewards 
 them, of which rewards an ingenious description is given, each 
 gift bearing some relation to the perfect features of Filomunda's 
 beautiful countenance, and how, as a bitter end of their pleasure 
 came the unhappy news of the unfortunate death of Don Joseph 
 Faxardo." P. 317: "Death of Don Joseph Faxardo in the battle 
 which took place when the galleys of Spain captured a polacra 
 of the arrogant Turks." 
 
 There is a most elaborate description of the funeral of Don 
 Joseph, which was celebrated in Cartagena, with all sorts of 
 poetical compositions. In the chapter, not numbered, in which 
 Filomunda resolves to return to her convent, she recapitulates, 
 PP- 378~384, the various gustos and digustos she has experienced, 
 and expresses her determination to return to the convent. Her 
 father at once proceeds to Cartagena to arrange for her reception 
 in her former abode. The Abbess and nuns are in doubt about 
 the sincerity of her repentance, but conclude that it was 
 true, as the proverb says: "Gusto fiel tiene de llegar al puerto, el 
 que sale niufrago de la tormenta peligrosa del sobervio mar." 
 Aunt Pudenciana is the most pleased, for she was found true 
 in all the advice she had given to Filomunda. "In the same 
 coach in which she set out in pursuit of vanities, thoroughly 
 repentant and warned, Filomunda returned to the safety of the 
 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 659 
 
 convent, to the joy of all the nuns, where she lived with much 
 spiritual delight, and led a very exemplary Hfe, leaving the 
 false pleasures of this world for the sure contentment of glory." 
 
 From the present chapter, which, although lengthy, is doubt- 
 less quite incomplete, it can be seen that the influence of Italy 
 upon the social forms of Spain was extensive and deep. The 
 Spanish forms, however,- are not mere imitations of those of 
 Italy; they are, on the contrary, more diversified, and in some 
 respects, more interesting. In Italy the framework of this 
 class is usually very slight and unimportant, with the exception, 
 of course, of the immortal introduction to the Decameron. Even 
 there the plot is very simple and does not involve to any great 
 extent the narrators of the stories. There is nothing, so far as 
 I know, in Italy or elsewhere, like the Cigarrales de Toledo and 
 the Deleytar Aprovechando of Tirso de Molina, and the Para 
 Todos of Montalvcin. 
 
 Parlor games, as we have seen, are almost wholly wanting, 
 and the discussion of love-questions is greatly restricted. On 
 the other hand, more emphasis is laid upon the employment of 
 the most diversified poetical compositions. Many works of the 
 class we have examined seem to be mere anthologies of verse. 
 In addition to this, the national passion for the drama is re- 
 flected in the frequent use of comedies, autos, and entremeses as a 
 means of diverting the company. More elaborate, too, are the 
 descriptions of localities, such as palaces, gardens, etc., and of 
 the interminable banquets and masques. 
 
 In spite of much that is extravagant and tiresome, one cannot 
 help drawing a contrast between these ideals of diversion 
 in polite society and those which have prevailed in modern 
 society. Broadly speaking, music and literature have played an 
 inconspicuous part, and the sole diversions of modern polite 
 society have been dancing and dining. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abravanel, Leon (Judas), Dialoghi di 
 Amore, 120, 228; Spanish trans- 
 lations of, 568, 581; reference to, 
 in Cervantes' Don Quixote, 581. 
 
 Academia Grande of Siena, its rela- 
 tion to the Academy of the Intro- 
 nati, 266, n. 
 
 Academies, in France, introduced 
 from Italy in the sixteenth century, 
 486. 
 
 Academies, Italian, enormous number 
 in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 142; named from their founders or 
 patrons, 142; became social organ- 
 izations in sixteenth century, 142; 
 ridiculous and extravagant names 
 of, 142; affected devices of, 143; 
 exercises of, 143; imitation of, in 
 Spain, 643, n.; "Questions" de- 
 bated in, 141, 143, 145, 487, n.; 
 influence of, in Germany, 555, 
 556. 
 
 Academy, or reunion of friends as 
 frame for story-telling, plays, etc., 
 640; imitation of Italian fashion, 
 642, 643, 651, 654, 655. 
 
 Academy, Florentine, 144. 
 
 Academy, Platonic, at Florence, 141. 
 
 Academy of Complements, 540. 
 
 Academy of Ferrara, debate on 
 questions concerning Love, 147; 
 see also Academy of the Insipid 
 Ones, Academy of the Palace. 
 
 Academy of Poetry and Music, 
 established in France by Baif, 486; 
 revived by Pibrac, 486. 
 
 Academy of the Insipid Ones, dis- 
 cussion of a "question," 158; see 
 also Academy of Ferrara, Academy 
 of the Palace. 
 
 Academy of the Palace, fostered by 
 Henry III, 486; Ronsard discusses 
 a "question" in his opening dis- 
 course, 486; see also Academy of 
 Ferrara, Academy of the Insipid 
 Ones. 
 
 Academy of the Rustics at Siena, see 
 Congrega dei Rozzi of Siena. 
 
 Accolti, B., interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Acosta, Christoval, Affricano, Tratado 
 en Loor de las Mujeres y de la 
 Castidad, etc., 568, n. 
 
 660 
 
 Adams, C., Catarina Cornaro, no, n. 
 
 Adams, Joseph Quincy, The Dramatic 
 Records of Sir Henry Berber:, 
 Master of the Revels, i62^-i6'/3, 
 506, n. 
 
 Agrippa, C., Declamation on the 
 Nobility of Women, 202, n. 
 
 Alamanni, L., exiled from Florence 
 finds refuge at court of Francis I, 
 444; officer in household of Cath- 
 arine de' Medici, 444. 
 
 Albani, Annibale, Cardinal, Memorie 
 concernenti la citti di Urbino, 165, n. 
 
 Alberti, Leon Battista, birth and 
 education, 362; in service of 
 Eugenio VI, 363; cultivates archi- 
 tecture, painting, and sculpture, 
 363; constructs the Rucellai pal- 
 ace, the fagade of Santa Maria 
 Novella at Florence, and the 
 church of St. Andrea at Mantua, 
 363 ; author ot works on the rearing 
 and education of a family, 363; 
 member of Platonic Academy oi 
 Florence, 103; author of amatory 
 treatises, 103; Amiria, 103, ».; 
 Deifira ossia del fuggire il mal 
 principiato Amore, 103, 104; trans- 
 lations of this work, 103, «.; DeW 
 Ecatomjila ossia del vero Amore, 
 103; translations of this work, 
 
 103, n.; Efebie ovvero Disputazioni 
 amatorie, 103, n.; "questions" in, 
 
 104, n.; Delia Famiglia, 363; the 
 third book erroneously attributed 
 to A. Pandolfini, 363; analysis of, 
 364-367; Lettere amatorie, 104, ».; 
 Sopra I' Amore, 103, n. 
 
 Aletiphilo, L., Historia di Aurelio et 
 Isabella, 214, n. 
 
 Alfonso II, last Duke of Ferrara, 
 fondness for French manners and 
 customs, 219; fond of music and 
 athletic exercises, 219; devoted to 
 the chase, 219; constructs palace 
 at La Mesola, scene of Romei's 
 Discorsi, 219. 
 
 A madis of Gaul, Spanish Romance of 
 Chivalry, used in Parlor games, 
 273, ». 
 
 Amadis of Greece, Spanish Romance 
 of Chivalry, used in Parlor games, 
 156, 273, n. 
 
INDEX 
 
 661 
 
 Amiens, Jacques d', L'Art d' Amors, 
 29, n.; Li Remedes d' Amors, 29, n. 
 
 Ancona, A. d', Giornale di viaggio di 
 Michaele de Montaigne in Italia, 
 438, n. ; Poemetti popolart italiani, 
 156, n. 
 
 Andrews, Mrs. Marian, Courts and 
 Camps of the Italian Renaissance, 
 168, n. 
 
 Angennes, Julie-Lucine, Mademoi- 
 selle de Rambouillet, eldest child 
 ol the Marquise de Rambouillet, 
 see Guirlande de Julie. 
 
 Antognono, O., Vittorino da Feltre 
 in Appunti e Memorie, 164, n. 
 
 Antona-Traversi, A., Delia realtd. delV 
 amore di Boccaccio, 55, n. 
 
 Apuleius, Golden Ass translated by 
 Firenzuola, 105. 
 
 Arber, Edward, editor, see John Lyly. 
 
 Arbiter bibendi, of the ancients, 
 survives in the Leader of games, 
 266, n.; see also Rex convivii, King, 
 Queen. 
 
 Arezzo, Fra Guittone d'. Rime, 21, n. 
 
 Arienti, Sabadino degli, Le Porretane, 
 258-259. 
 
 Ariosto, Alfonso, second cousin of 
 Ludovico, Castiglione addresses 
 the Cortegiano to him, 175. 
 
 Ariosto, L., knowledge of, ^'aluable 
 for use in Parlor games, 278; 
 Orlando Furioso used in Parlor 
 games, 273; Orlando Furioso (VII, 
 21), reference to a Parlor game, 
 264, «.; Orlando Furioso (XXXVII, 
 106), 414, w.; Story of Olimpia and 
 her faithless lover Bireno (cantos 
 IX-XI), 426. 
 
 Aristotle, doctrine of love, 94; Ethics, 
 used by Cintio (Giraldi) in his 
 Tre Dialoghi della Vita Civile, 
 
 377- . , ^. 
 
 Arms or letters, preemmence of, dis- 
 cussed in the Cortegiano, 195; in 
 Romei's Discorsi, 237; in Cer- 
 vantes' Don Quixote, 195, ».; in 
 Parabosco's / Diporti, 253; in 
 Bargagli, S., I Trattenimenti, 300, n. 
 See also F. Bocchi, G. Camerata. 
 
 Arnauld, E., De I'influence exercee 
 par la litterature italienne sur la 
 litterature fransaise, 437, n. 
 
 Arnold, F., Der herzogliche Palast 
 von Urbino, 165, n. 
 
 Arthenice (Marquise de Rambouil- 
 let), "chambre bleue," i. 
 
 Arullani, V. M., La Donna nella 
 foesia del Cinquecento, 202, n. 
 
 Asolani, Gli, see Pietro Bembo. 
 
 Asolo, scene of Bembo's Gli Asolani, 
 
 109; residence of Catharine Cor- 
 
 naro, no. 
 Asp, stops its ears in order not to 
 
 hear, reference in Parlor game, 
 
 402, n. 
 AstrSe, 468, n.; Italian influence in, 
 
 480. 
 Athenseus, Deipnosophistae, 406, n. 
 Augustus, games and festivities in 
 
 time of, 264; anecdote of, quoted 
 
 in Fourth Book of Guazzo's Civil 
 
 Conversazione, 428. 
 Autos or sacred plays as feature of 
 
 social diversion, in Deleytar aprove- 
 
 chando, 605, 608; see also Plays as 
 
 feature of social diversion. 
 Axon, W. E. A., Ortensio Lando, 
 
 151, n. 
 Ayres, A. P., translator, see Alonso 
 
 Geronimo de Salas Barbadillo. 
 Azais, G., Le Breviari d' Amor de 
 
 Matfre Ermengaud, 325. 
 
 Babees Book, 350. 
 
 Bacon, G. W., Life and Dramatic 
 Works of Doctor J. P. de Mon- 
 talvdn, 609, 613, n.\ The Comedias 
 of Montalvdn, 611, n. 
 
 Baisieux, Jacques de, The Fiefs of 
 Love, 48 ; The Three Knights and 
 the Shift, 49. 
 
 Baldi, Bernardino, Vita e fatti di 
 Federigo di Montefeltro, Duca di 
 Urbino, 163, n., 165, «. ; Della 
 vita e de' fatti di Guldobaldo I da 
 Montefeltro, Duca d' Urbino, 166, n. 
 
 Bandello, Matteo, birth and educa- 
 tion, 240, 241 ; diplomatic service 
 at court of Louis XII of France, 
 241 ; first work, Latin translation 
 of Decameron (X, 8), 241; in the 
 service of the Bentivoglia family, 
 241 ; banished after battle of 
 Marignano, 241 ; transfers his 
 allegiance to the court of Mantua, 
 241 ; enters the service of Caesar 
 and Costanza Fregoso, 242; murder 
 of Caesar Fregoso, 242; banish- 
 ment of Costanza Fregoso, 243; 
 Bandello follows her to France, 
 243, residence at Bassens, 243; 
 death, 243; prefaces or dedicatory 
 letters to his novels, 243-251; 
 subjects discussed in prefaces: 
 love, 245, 246, poetry, 246, "ques- 
 tions" or doubts, 246, story- 
 telling, 247, Parlor games, 247- 
 248; social diversions, 248-251; 
 Virgil's Aeneid, 250; French and 
 
H62 
 
 INDEX 
 
 English translations of, 456, n. ; 
 reference to buffoons and jugglers, 
 
 97. »• 
 
 Barbazan, E., and Meon, D. M., 
 Fabliaux et Contes, 40, n., 344, n. 
 See also D. M. Meon. 
 
 Barberino, Francesco da, Documenti 
 d' Amore, 360-361 ; Del Reggi- 
 mento e Costumi di Donna, 51; 
 "questions" in, 51; Del Reggi- 
 mento e costume di donna, 353-359; 
 novellette in, 357. 
 
 Bargagli, Girolamo, member of the 
 Academy of the Intronati of Siena, 
 267; academic pseudonym Materi- 
 ale Intronato, 267; jurist of Siena, 
 267; auditor of the Rota at Genoa, 
 267; practices his profession at 
 Siena, 267; dies there in 1586, 267; 
 author of comedy in prose, La 
 Pellegrina, 267, author of elaborate 
 treatise on Parlor games, II Dialogo 
 de' Giuochi, 186, »., 188, »., 257, 
 263, 264, n., 265, 267, 537, »., 
 538, n.; analysis of, 268-284; 
 definition of games, 269; classi- 
 fication of games, 269; parts and 
 qualities, 271 ; personages neces- 
 sary, 271; leaders, players, and 
 judges, 271; invention of games, 
 274; how to introduce the subject 
 of the game, 275; duty of the 
 player, 276; qualities necessary 
 for a player, 280; office of judge, 
 281 ; penalties and rewards, 282 ; 
 story-telling in games, 283; Dialogo 
 de' Giuochi, Parlor games in, 269, 
 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 
 277, 278, 279, 280, 299, 300, »., 
 306, n., 307, n., 320, re. 
 
 Bargagli, Scipion, brother of Giro- 
 lamo, member of the Academy of 
 the Intronati of Siena, where he 
 bore the name of Lo Scietto, 297; 
 member of the Academy of Venice, 
 297; author of work on Devices, 
 297; author of I Trattenimenti, 
 297; scene of this work laid in 
 Siena during siege by Cosmo de' 
 Medici in 1 554-1 555, 297; analysis 
 of / Trattenimenti, 298-308 ; Parlor 
 games in, 299, 300, 301, 302, 304, 
 306, 307, 315, re.;, Dell' Imprese, 
 143, n., 184, n., 297; Jephte, trans- 
 lation of Buchanan's Latin tragedy, 
 297, re. I Orazione in lode dell' 
 Academia degV Intronati, 297, re. ; 
 Orazione nella morte di Alessandro 
 Piccolomini, 297, re.; / Rovesci 
 delle Medaglie, 297, re.; II Tura- 
 
 mino omero del parlar e dello scrivere 
 
 sanese, 297, re. 
 Bari, Roberto da, interlocutor in the 
 
 Cortegiano, 174, re. 
 Bartoli, A., I Precursori del Boccaccio 
 
 e alcune delle sue fonti, 58, re.; 
 
 I primi due secoli delta letteratura 
 
 italiana, 351, re.; Scenari inediti 
 
 delta Comntedia dell' Arte, 195, n., 
 
 437, «• 
 
 Bartsch, K., Chrestomathie Provengale, 
 47, re., 50, re., 329, re.; Denkmaler 
 der provenzalischen Litteratur, 51, re., 
 329, re., 335, re.; Gesammelte Vor- 
 trage, 6, re., 19, re.; Grundriss der 
 provenzalischen Literatur, 10, 11, 12, 
 22, »., 31, re., 32, »., 34, re.; Proven- 
 zalisches Lesehuch, 327, re., 329, re. 
 
 Baschet, A., Les comediens itajiens 
 d la cour de France sous Charles 
 IX, etc., 437, re., 486, re. 
 
 Baschet A., and Feuillet de Conches, 
 Les femmes blondes selon les peintres 
 de r ecole de Venise, 138. 
 
 Bassi, D., // prima libra delta Vita 
 Civile di Matteo Palmieri e I'lnsti- 
 tutio Oratoria di Quintiliano, 370, 
 re. 
 
 Beatrice, Dante's love for, 100; her 
 marriage no obstacle to Dante's 
 love, 100. 
 
 Beau's Academy, 539. 
 
 Beauty, sixteenth century discussions 
 on, loi, re.; 138, 139, 224; Spanish 
 treatises on, 568, re. 
 
 Beauty, Women and, loi, re. 
 
 Becker, R., Der mittelalterliche Minne- 
 dienst in Deutschland, 9, re. 
 
 Becker, W. A., Charikles, 266, re.; 
 Gallus, 266, re. 
 
 Bekker, I., editor, see Bonvesin da 
 Riva. 
 
 Belleforest, Fr. de, translator of 
 Bandello, 456, re. 
 
 Bellerman, C. F., Die alten Lieder- 
 biicher der Portugiesen, 18, re. 
 
 Bembo, Pietro, birth, 108; studies, 
 108; friendship with Lucrezia 
 Borgia, 109; writes for her GU 
 Asolani, 109; GU Asolani, analysis 
 of, 112-118; "question" in, 278; 
 interlocutor in the Cortegiano, 173; 
 correspondence with Castiglione 
 in regard to the Cortegiano, 176, 
 177; "Motti". inediti e sconosciuti di, 
 edited by V. Cian, 294. 
 
 Benrath, K., Zur Geschichte der 
 Marienverehrung, 6, re. 
 
 Benvenuti, L., Dizionario degli Itali- 
 ani all' estero, 438, re. 
 
INDEX 
 
 663 
 
 Bercher (Barker), ^^■., The Nobility 
 of Women, 202, n. 
 
 Bermudez, Alonso Chirino, Carnesto- 
 lendas de Cadiz, 622. 
 
 Bertoni, G., Nota su M. Equicolo 
 hibliofilo e cortegiano, 119, n. 
 
 Betussi, Giuseppe, translator of Boc- 
 caccio's Latin works, 131; author 
 of the dialogue, // Raverta, 131 ; 
 analysis of, 1 31-133; "questions" 
 in, 132-133, 145, n., 158, »., 228, n., 
 229, n.; La Leonora, ragionamento 
 supra la vera bellezza, 133; Dialogo 
 amoroso, 134. 
 
 Biadene, L., Morfologia del sonetto 
 nei secoli XIII e XIV, 21, n. 
 
 Biagi, G., Un' Etera Romana, 126, n. 
 
 Bianchini, G., Girolamo Parabosco, 
 scrittore e organista del secolo XVI, 
 254. n. 
 
 Bibbiena, B. da (Dovizi), interlocutor 
 in the Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Bibliotechina Grassocia, see P. Fortini. 
 
 Bibliotheque de I'Mcole des Charles, 14. 
 
 BMiotheques frangoises de la Croix- 
 Dumaine et de Du Verdier, 444, 
 .453. «;. 455, n., 465, n. 
 
 Biondelli, B., Poesie Lombarde inedite 
 del secolo XIII, 351, n. 
 
 Birch-Hirschfeld, G. A., Geschichte 
 der franzosischen Litteratur seit 
 Anfang des XVI. Jahrhunderts, 
 438, n., 450, n. 
 
 Bischoflf, Theodor, Georg PhUipp 
 Harsdorfer, ein Zeitbild aus dem 
 17. Jahrhundert, 555, n., 557 n. 
 
 Bisticci, Vespasiano da, Vite di Uom- 
 ini illustri del secolo XV, 165, n. 
 
 Blanc, J., Bibliographie iialico-fran- 
 qaise, 438, n. 
 
 Blois, Robert of, Le Chastiement des 
 Dames, 344-346. 
 
 Bobba, Giovanna, chosen queen at 
 supper described in Fourth Book 
 of Guazzo's Civil Conversazione, 
 
 4°°- ... 
 Boccaccio, Giovcinni, parentage and 
 birth, 54; education, 54; study of 
 law at Naples, 54; falls in love with 
 Maria d' Aquino, 55; first meeting 
 with Maria, 56, n.; Fiammetta 
 object of Boccaccio's love, 55; 
 Ameto, 55, n., 56, n.; De casibtis 
 virorum illustrium, 58, ». ; De- 
 cameron, 74, 76, »., 87, 92, 133, 
 246, 249, 251, 257, 284, 425, n., 
 430, n.; Decameron, imitation of 
 frame of, 105, 239, 256, 276, 297, 
 374. 511. 521, »•. 522, 526, 592, 
 593, 611, 615, 617, 629; Ftam- 
 
 mella, 92; Filocolo, 11, n., 21, n., 
 55,57; analysis of , 58-89 ; episode 
 of the "Questions," 62-88; trans- 
 lations of, 90, «.; influence of, 
 92, 132, 239, 251, 257; questions 
 used in Parlor games, 282, 284, 
 305, ». ; in Pasquier's Monophile, 
 472; Spanish imitations of, 592, 
 606, n., 607; Filocopo, 57, n., see 
 Filocolo; Filostrato, 85, »., 89; 
 Regole bellissime d' Amore, dialogue 
 attributed to, 137, re.; version of 
 De Amore by Andreas Capellanus, 
 
 Boccalini, Traiano, Ragguagli di 
 Parnaso, 637, n.; imitated by 
 Matias de los Reyes in Para 
 Algunos, 637, re. 
 
 Bocchi, p., Discorso sopra la lite delle 
 Arme et delle Lettere, 195, n. 
 
 Boiardo, Matteo Alaria, Orlando 
 Innamorate (XII), 76, re. 
 
 Boileau-Despreaux, N., Satires, 493. 
 
 Boke of Curtasye, Tlie, 350. 
 
 Bolte, Johannes, Die slreitenden Lieb- 
 haber, 69, re.; Kranzwerbung, ein 
 Gesellschaftsspiel des XVII. Jahr- 
 hunderts, 69, n.; Die schone Mage- 
 lona aus dem Franzosischen iiber- 
 setzt von Veil Warbech, 156, re. 
 
 Bond, R. \^'arwick, The Complete 
 Works of John Lyly, 528, n. 
 
 Bondia, Ambrosio, Cytara de Apolo, 
 592, n.; Parlor game in, 592, »., 
 scene laid in ^^lla near Saragossa, 
 632; time the four festivals of the 
 Church, Ascension, ^^'hitsunday, 
 Sunday after Corpus Christi and 
 St. John the Baptist's Day, 632; 
 contains comedies and a Parlor 
 game, 633. 
 
 Bongi, S., Annali di Gabriele Gioliio; 
 de' Ferrari, 106, n., 131, n., 139, n., 
 152, n., 195, «., 209, «., 214, «., 
 476, n.; II Velo giallo di Ttillia 
 d' Aragona, 128, ».; Documenti 
 senesi su Tullia d' Aragona, 128, n. 
 
 Bonicci, A., editor, see Leon Battista 
 Alberti. 
 
 Bonucci, A., Delizie delli Eruditi 
 Bibliofili Italiani, 214, n. 
 
 Book of Courtesy, 348-350. 
 
 Bonvesin da Riva, De gvinguaginta 
 curialitalibus ad ntensam, 351 ; Trat- 
 tato dei Mesi, 351, n. 
 
 Borgia, Lucrezia, friendship with 
 Bembo, 109; Gli Asolani vTitten 
 for her, 10 
 
 Borgognoni, A., a bellezza femminile 
 e I' amore ne I* nlica lirica italiana. 
 
664 
 
 INDEX 
 
 99, n. ; Studi d' erudizione e d' arte, 
 
 353. re- 
 Borrow, George, translates ghost 
 story in Lope de Vega's El Pere- 
 grino en su Patria, 578. 
 
 Bottari, E., B. Castiglione e il suo 
 libra del Corlegiano, 174, n.; Matteo 
 Palmieri, 368, n. 
 
 Bottazzo, G. J., interlocutor in the 
 Fourth Book of Guazzo's Civil 
 Conversazione, 397, passim; author 
 of letters, dialogues, and poetry, 
 398, ». _ 
 
 Bouhours, Pere, Les Devises in Les 
 Entretiens d' Ariste et d' Eugene, 
 143, n., 184, »., 194, ». ; Nouvelles 
 remarques sur la langue frangoise, 
 194, re. ; Suite de nouvelles re- 
 marques, 194, re. 
 
 Bourciez, E., Les mceurs polies el 
 la litterature de cour sous Henri II, 
 437. re-. 450. »-. 452. »-. 453. re., 
 474, »-. 485- 
 
 Bourland, C. B., Miss, Boccaccio and 
 the Decameron in Caslilian and 
 Catalan Literature, 566, re. 
 
 Boursault, E., Lettres de respect, d' 
 obligation et d' Amor, 494; "Lettres 
 de Babet," 495; quarrel with Mo- 
 liere, 495. 
 
 Bradamarite, Donna, daughter of 
 Don Francesco d' Este, appears in 
 Romei's Discorsi, 223, passim. 
 
 Bradley, J. W., La Guirlande de 
 Julie, 498, n. 
 
 Braga, T., see C. M. de Vasconcellos. 
 
 Brakelmann, F. W. J., Giovan Fran- 
 cesco Straparola da Caravaggio, 
 292, re. 
 
 Brant6me, P. de B., Dames illustres, 
 446. 
 
 Brognoligo, G., Matteo Bandello, 
 Le Novelle, edited by, 240, re. 
 
 Brun, Garin li, Ensenhamen, didactic 
 poem on behavior of a lady, 325; 
 analysis of, 32^-327. 
 
 Brunetto Latini, II Tesoretto, 351, re. 
 
 Bucintoro, pleasure boat of the Duke 
 of Ferrara, 235. 
 
 Budinszky, A., Die Ausbreitung der 
 lateinischen Sprache iiber Italien 
 und die Provinzen des romischen 
 Reichs, 3, re. 
 
 Buffoons, in the sixteenth century, 
 97. 225, re. 
 
 Bulenger, J. C., De Conviviis libri 
 quatuor, 266, re. ; number of guests 
 at a banquet, 399, re. 
 
 Burckhardt, Jacob, Die Cultur der 
 Renaissance, 164, «., 201, re. 
 
 Burton, Robert (or Richard), Winter 
 Evening Entertainment, containing 
 ten pleasant, and delightful Rela- 
 tions, and fifty ingenious Riddles, 
 
 533. re- 
 Burton, Robert, Anatomy of Melan- 
 choly, 534, re. 
 
 Calabria, Ferdinand, Duke of, oldest 
 
 son of Frederick III, King of 
 
 Naples, 217; captive in Spain, 217; 
 
 refuses crown of Aragon, 217; 
 
 death, 217. 
 Calandra, G. G., Aura, 119, re. 
 Calandria, first performance of, at 
 
 Urbino described in letter of 
 
 Castiglione, 187, re. 
 Calanson, Guiraut de, enseignamen 
 
 for a minstrel, 50. 
 Calderon de la Barca, Pedro, Secreto 
 
 a Voces, 589; Parlor game in, 
 
 590. 
 Callieres, F. de, Des bons mots et des 
 
 bons contes, 197, re. 
 Calmeta, C. V., interlocutor in the 
 
 Cortegiano, 174. 
 Calmo, Andrea, Ecloga I, 68, re.; Le 
 
 Lettere, 295, re. 
 Calvi, Maximiliano, Del Tractado de 
 
 la Hermosura y del Amor, 568, re. 
 Calzini, E., Urbino e i suoi monu- 
 
 menti, 165, re. 
 Camerata, G., Questione dove si Iratta 
 
 chi meriti pi^ honore il soldato, 
 
 il letterato, 195, re. 
 Campillo de Bayle, Gines, Gustos y 
 
 Disgustos del Lentiscar de Cartagena, 
 
 657 ; analysis of, 657-659. 
 Camus, Jean Pierre, Les Evenemens 
 
 singuliers, 564, re.; English trans- 
 lation of, 564, re. 
 Cancioneiro de Resende, "question" 
 
 in, 18. 
 Cancionero general, 17. 
 Canello, U. A., Storia delta letteratura 
 
 italiana nel secolo XVI, 127, re. _ 
 Canna, G., Delia Vita e degli scritti 
 
 di Stefano Guazzo, 386, re. 
 Canossa, Ludovico da, bishop of 
 
 Bayeux, loses letter from Bembo 
 
 to Castiglione about the Cortegiano, 
 
 ITT, interlocutor in the Cortegiano, 
 
 173- 
 Canzonette antiche, 11, re., 21, 68, re., 
 
 72, re. 
 Capella, G. F., Delia Eccelenza el 
 
 Dignita delle Donne, 202, re. 
 Capellanus, Andreas, 27-38; De 
 
 Amore libri tres, 7, »., 27, 28, re.; 
 
 analysis of, 28-37; conversation 
 
INDEX 
 
 in, 28-30; judgments of love, 30- 
 34; Rules of Love, 34-36. 
 
 Capua, John of, Directorium Hu- 
 manae Vitae, 105. 
 
 Caravajal y Saavedra, Mariana de, 
 Navidades de Madrid y Noches 
 entretenidas en ocho Novelas, 626; 
 scene laid in Madrid at Christmas, 
 627; stories in, 629. 
 
 Carmina Burana, 39, n. 
 
 Carnival, customs in Siena, 265. 
 
 Carrer, L., Anello di sette gemme 
 ]''cnezia e la sua storia, no, n. 
 
 Cartwright, Julia (Mrs. Ady), Baldas- 
 sare Castiglione, 168, n. 
 
 Casa, Giovanni della, birth and edu- 
 cation, 380; acquires favor of Paul 
 III, 380; member of the Florentine 
 Academy, 380; Apostolic Nuncio 
 to Venice, 380; dies at Rome in 
 1556, 380; Ga/oteo cmvero de' Costumi, 
 first modern work on Etiquette, 
 381-385; editions and translations, 
 381, ».; Traltato degli Vfficj comuni 
 tra gli Amici superiori e inferiori, 
 originally written in Latin and 
 translated by the author, 385; 
 based on Aristotle's Ethics and 
 Politics, 386. 
 
 Casini, T., Geschichte der italienischen 
 Litteratur, 20, n., 54, »., 351, n., 
 353i i^-\ Opere volgari di Messer 
 Angela Ambrogini Poliziano, 58, n.; 
 Le rime dei Poeti Bolognesi del 
 secolo XIII, 22, n., 99, n. 
 
 Casotti, G. B., Life of Giovanni della 
 Casa, 380, n. 
 
 Castiglione, Baldassare, birth and 
 education, 168; enters the service 
 of the Duke Ludovico il Moro, 169; 
 taught Greek by Merla and Latin 
 by Calcondile, 169; enters service 
 of Duke of Mantua after deposition 
 of Ludovico il Moro, 169; present 
 at battle of the Garigliano, 169; 
 accompanies Duke of Mantua to 
 Rome, 169; there meets for first 
 time Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, 
 169; enters his service, 170; ar- 
 rives at Urbino, 170; sent to 
 England to receive Order of the 
 Garter for Guidobaldo, 171; re- 
 turns to Urbino in March, 1507, 
 171; represented as absent from 
 the conversation of the Cortegiano, 
 173; dedicatory letter to Don 
 Michel de Silva, Bishop of Viseo, 
 174; addresses the Cortegiano to 
 Alfonso Ariosto, second cousin of 
 Ludovico, 175; writes to Sadoleto 
 
 concerning the Cortegiano, 176; to 
 Vittoria Colonna on same subject, 
 177; sends work to Venice to be 
 printed at the Aldine press, 178; 
 editions and translations of, 178, n. ; 
 follows classical model for his work, 
 178; based on Cicero's De Oratore, 
 179; imitates his treatment of 
 facezie, 179; analysis of the Corte- 
 giano, 180-204; marries, 204, w. ; 
 death of wife, 204, n.; after fall 
 of Duke of Urbino enters service 
 of Marquis of Mantua, 205, «.; 
 Ambassador to Pope, 205, n.; 
 Nuncio at court of Charles V of 
 Spain, 205, n. ; dies at Toledo 7th of 
 February, 1529, 205, n. ; influence of 
 the Cortegiano, 205; Dr. Johnson's 
 opinion of, 205; imitation of, 206; 
 aids spread of Platonism in France, 
 452; popularity in France, 452- 
 453; imitation of the Cortegiano 
 in Robert Greene's Euphues his 
 censure to Philautus, 523 ; portrays 
 an ideal general, 523; Parlor 
 games in the Cortegiano, 183, 186, 
 188, 191; "Questions" in the 
 Cortegiano, 183. 
 
 Castiglione, Sabba da, Ricordi omero 
 ammaestramenti, 379, n. 
 
 Castillejo, Cristobal de, Didlogo que 
 habla de las condiciones de las 
 mugeres, 568, n. 
 
 Castillo Solorzano, Alonso de, born 
 at Tordesillas, 1584, 616; appears 
 as a poet at Madrid in 1619, 616; 
 receives prize in poetical contest, 
 616; in the service of the Marquis 
 de Villar, 616; maestrasala to the 
 Marquis de los Velez, 616; resides 
 with him in Valencia and Sara- 
 gossa, 616; marriage, 617; death, 
 617; author of two volumes of 
 poetry, 617; excels in the novela, 
 617; author of four Romances of 
 Roguery, 617; author of seven 
 comedies, an auto, and five entre- 
 nieses, 615, n., 617; bibliography 
 of his works, 615, n.; Los Alivios 
 de Casandra, 635; scene in Italy 
 and object to cure Casandra's 
 melancholy, 635; contains stories 
 and a play, 636; Aventuras del 
 Bachiller Trapaza, 617; El Cache 
 de las Estafas, 642; Fiestas del 
 Jardin, 638; scene at seashore 
 near Valencia, 638; contains com- 
 edies and stories, 640; ends with 
 weddings, 640; Harpias en Madrid, 
 617; Huertade Valencia, 6^1; scene 
 
666 
 
 INDEX 
 
 near Valencia, where five gentle- 
 men form an Academy, 641 ; five 
 days are spent in story-telling and 
 plays, 641; analysis of, 641-642; 
 La Garduna de Sevilla, 617; Jor- 
 nadas alegres, 636; contains stories 
 told during a journey, 636; La 
 Nina de los embustes, 617; Noches 
 de Placer, 622; scene laid in 
 Barcelona in Christmas time, 623; 
 contains twelve stories, 623; ends 
 with masquerade, 623; La Quinta 
 de Laura, 636; scene in Italy, in a 
 villa during a war, 636; contains 
 six stories, 636; Sala de recreacion, 
 620; scene in Pamplona during 
 Carnival, 620; stories in, 621; 
 comedy in, 621; Tardes entre- 
 tenidas, 634; scene near Madrid 
 where the company take the "steel 
 cure," 634; contains stories and 
 enigmas, 635; Tiempo de Regocijo 
 y Carnestolendas de Madrid, 615; 
 scene laid at Madrid during the 
 Carnival, 617; stories in, 619, 620; 
 entr ernes in, 619. 
 
 Castle, in mediaeval life, 5; as fortress, 
 5, n. ; as residence, 5, n. ; deserted 
 by Italian noblemen for cities, 
 160; gives way to stately palace, 
 160. 
 
 Castro, Guillen de, Los mal casados 
 de Valencia, 586; Parlor game in, 
 317, n., 586. 
 
 Castro y Anaya, Pedro de, Auroras 
 de Diana, 634. 
 
 Catharine de' Medici, marries Henry 
 II, her influence enormous, 436; 
 her court a centre of Italian in- 
 fluence, 436. 
 
 Caxton's Book of Curtesye, 350. 
 
 Celani, E., Le Rime di Tullia d' 
 
 120, n. 
 Centelii, A., Caterina Cornaro, e il suo 
 
 regno, no, n. 
 Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 
 
 Don Quixote, Discourse on Arms and 
 
 Letters (Part I, chaps. XXXVII- 
 
 XXXVIII), 195, «.; Galatea, 582; 
 
 discussion on the subject of love, 
 
 583; Parlor game in, 585. 
 Cesareo, G. A., La poesia sotto gli 
 
 Svevi, 20, n. 
 Ceva brothers, F. and G. M. di, 
 
 interlocutors in the Cortegiano, 
 
 174, n. 
 Chabaneau, C, Origine et etablisse- 
 
 menl de I'academie des jeux floraux, 
 
 16, n. 
 
 Chandler, F. W., Romances of 
 Roguery, 615, re.; The Literature 
 of Roguery, 615, re. 
 
 Charles of Anjou, 53. 
 
 Charles VIII invades Italy, 435; 
 enters Naples, 435; forced to 
 withdraw, 435; wins battle of 
 Fornovo, 435; reaches France in 
 safety, 435. 
 
 Chasles, P., Etudes sur le moyen dge, 
 loi, re. 
 
 Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 76, re. For 
 a specific "question," see The 
 Knight's Tote, 11. 489-495. 
 
 Chauvin, V., Bibliographie des ou- 
 vrages arabes, 95, n. 
 
 Chetwood, W. R., A select collection 
 of old plays, 462, re. 
 
 Chivalry, origin of, 6; never took 
 root in Italy, 99. 
 
 Chretien de Troyes, romances, 7. 
 
 Clan, v., II Cortegiano del Conte B. . 
 Castiglione, edited by, 119, n., 
 169, »., 172, re., 173, n., 176, re., 
 177, re., 179, re., 187, re., 189, n., 
 195, ».; Giochi di Sorte versificati 
 del secolo XVI, 295, re.; "Motti" 
 inediti e sconosciuti di M. Pietro 
 Bembo, 264, re. 
 
 Cicero, Castiglione imitates his De 
 Oratore in the Cortegiano, 179; De 
 ofjiciis, imitated by Palmieri in his 
 Vita Civile, 370; Tusculan Dis- 
 putations, 109. 
 
 Cicirlanda, wreath worn by the 
 master of a game as a symbol of 
 authority, 264; see also Wreath. 
 
 Cintio, Giovan Battista Giraldi, 
 Hecatommithi oiniero Cento Novelle, 
 69, re., 261, 373; source of Shake- 
 speare's Othello and Measure for 
 Measure, 374; imitation of Boc- 
 caccio, 374; Tre Dialoghi delta 
 Vita Civile, an episode in the 
 Hecatommithi, 375; based largely 
 on Aristotle's Ethics, and Plato's 
 Republic and Laws, ^Tj. 
 
 City, center of social life in Greek 
 and Roman civilizations, 4; in 
 Italy, 99. 
 
 Cledat, L., Les Troubadozcrs et V amour 
 courtois en France aux Xlle et 
 XI lie siecles, 9, re. 
 
 Cleder, E., Notice sur I'Academie 
 italienne des Inlronati, 143, »., 
 267, re. 
 
 Clement, L., Henri Estienne et son 
 ceuvre frangais, 439, re. 
 
 Clouston, W. A., The Book of Noodles, 
 "The Three Great Noodles," 432, 
 
IXDEX 
 
 667 
 
 n.; Originals and Analogues of 
 Some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, 
 76, n. 
 
 Cohholette, 354, n. 
 
 Colagrosso, F., t/«' usanza letteraria 
 in gran voga nel seltecenlo, 499, n. 
 
 Coleccidn de Libros Espanoles raros 6 
 curiosos, 216. 
 
 Collier, J. Payne, A bibliographical 
 arid critical account of the rarest 
 books in the English language, 
 553. n. 
 
 Collins, J. Churton, The Plays and 
 Poems of Robert Greene, 521, n. 
 
 Colonna, Vittoria della, Marchesa di 
 Pescara, has copy made of the 
 Cortegiano, 175; Castiglione wxites 
 to her concerning it, 177. 
 
 Congrega dei Rozzi of Siena, history 
 of, 157; diversions of, 157; dis- 
 cussions of "questions," "cases," 
 and "doubts," 157, novelle, 158. 
 
 Contreras, Jeronimo de, Seha de 
 Aventuras,5-j2; analysis of, 572-576. 
 
 Comaro, Catharine, Queen of Cj'prus, 
 birth, III; marries James II of 
 Cyprus, III; death of husband, 
 III; returns to Venice, lii; 
 establishes her court at Asolo, iii. 
 
 Comicelius, M., Raimon X'idal's 
 Novella, 12, n. 
 
 Corazzini, Fr., I Componimenti minori 
 della Letteratura popolare italiana, 
 292, n. 
 
 Cortesie da tavole in latino e provenzale, 
 
 ^ 340, n. 
 
 Costume delle donne con un capitolo de 
 le XXXIII bellezze, 51, n., 359, n. 
 
 Cotarelo y Mori, E., Coleccion selecta 
 de antiguas novelas espanolas, 566, 
 «., 615, n., 633, »., 634, n., 637, n., 
 643, n.; Comedias de Tirso de 
 Molina, 594, n., 603, ». ; La 
 Fundacion de la Academia Es- 
 panola, 643, n. 
 
 Cotin, Charles, Abbe, CEuvres galan- 
 tes, 252, n., 493; RecueU des 
 Enigmes de ce Temps, 291, n. 
 
 Coulanges, Fustel de, N. D., Histoire 
 des institutions politiques de I'anci- 
 enne France, 3, n. ; La Monarchic 
 franque, 3, n. 
 
 Council of Ferrara, loi ; trans- 
 ferred to Florence, 1 01. 
 
 Council of Love, 39. 
 Court, Benoit le, commentary on 
 Martial d'Auvergne's Arrestz d'- 
 Amours, 27, 27, n. 
 Courtesy, Book of, Catalan poem on 
 manners, 348-350. 
 
 Courtiers Academie, English trans- 
 lation by J[ohn] K[epers] of Romei's 
 Discorsi, 220, n. 
 
 Court of Civill Courtesie, bv S. R. 
 Gent., 350, n. 
 
 Courts of Love, 24-37, 45. »•. 300, n. 
 
 Coussemaker, E. de, Oiuvres com- 
 pletes du Trouvere Adam de la 
 Halle, 21, M. 
 
 Crane, T. F., The Exempla of Jacqties 
 de Vitry, 577, n.; La Societe 
 frauQaise au dix-septieme siecle, 
 488, n.; Les Heros de Roman, 
 Dialogue de Boileati, 488, ». 
 
 Crashaw, R., "Out of the Italian," 
 Why Love is depicted blind, 
 young, naked, etc., 279, n. 
 
 Crawford, J. P. W., Tlie Life and 
 Works of Christobal Sudrez de 
 Figueroa, 579. 
 
 Crescimbeni, G. M., L'Istoria della 
 volgar Poesia, 20, n., 25, n., 137, n. 
 
 Crescini, V., II Cantare di Florio e 
 Biancifiore, 58, n.; Contribute agli 
 Studi sul Boccaccio, 55, n.; Per la 
 guestione delle Corti d'Amore, 24, 
 n.; Sordello, 337, n. 
 
 CroU, M. ^Y., and Clemons, H., 
 editors, see John Lyly. 
 
 Cunningham, Francis, editor, see 
 Ben Jonson. 
 
 Curtasye, The Boke of, 350. 
 
 Cyvile and UncyvUe Life, contains 
 references to the use of "Ques- 
 tions" in England in the sixteenth 
 century, 552. 
 
 D'Ancona, A., Studj di critica e sloria 
 letteraria, 358, n.; Studj sulla 
 letteratura italiana de' primi secoli, 
 215, «.; editor, see Vincenzo Nolfi. 
 
 Daniel, Samuel, translator of Giovio's 
 book on De^dces, 184, n. After the 
 present work was in print my 
 attention was called by Professor 
 J. Q. Adams to a "question" in 
 one of Daniel's Occasional Poems, 
 Vol. I, p. 273 of the Complete . 
 Works edited by A. B. Grosart. 
 The "question" was propounded 
 to the poet by the Earl of Hertford 
 and is as follows: "The passion 
 of a distressed man, who being in 
 a tempest on the Sea, and having 
 in his Boate two Women, of whom, 
 he loved the one that disdained 
 him, and scorned the other who 
 affected him, was by commande- 
 ment from Neptune, to cast out 
 one of them, to appease the rage 
 
668 
 
 INDEX 
 
 of the tempest, but which, was 
 referred to his owne choice." 
 This "question" is discussed in the 
 poem and is solved in the last line : 
 " She must be cast away that would 
 not save." 
 
 Vsinte, Inferno (V. 103), 303; (XXVII, 
 67), 162, n.;Purgatorio (XVIII, 19), 
 93; (XXII, 145), 406; (XXVI, 97), 
 100; imitates Guido Guinicelli, 100; 
 love for Beatrice, 100; valuable 
 for use in Parlor games, 278; story 
 of the soldier of Campaldino who 
 relates his other-world experiences 
 to, 371. 
 
 Darius, riddle, 265. 
 
 Daru, P., Histoire de Venise, no, n. 
 
 Debate form in modern poetry, 39, n. 
 
 Defensione delle Donne, La, 202, n. 
 
 Delecluze, E. J., Dante Alighieri ou la 
 poesie amoureuse, loi, n. 
 
 Delius, N., Pseudo-Shakespere'sche 
 Dramen, 462, n. 
 
 Demandes damours auecgues les re- 
 sponses, a French book of "ques- 
 tions," 487; edited later in Biblio- 
 thegue universelle des Romans, 487. 
 
 Demaundes Joyous, 554. 
 
 Denk, V. M. O., Einfiihrung in die 
 Geschichte der altcatalanischen Lit- 
 teratur, 15, n. 
 
 Dennistoun, J., Memoirs of the Dukes 
 of Urbino, 162, n., 165, »., 170, »., 
 171, 172, re., 187, n., 208, »., 219, re. 
 
 Desjardins, E., Geographie historique 
 et administrative de la Gaule ro- 
 maine, 2, re., 3, re. 
 
 Devices, of academies, 143, re.; use 
 in conversations and diversions, 
 143, re. ; in Castiglione's Cortegiano, 
 183; in Gines Perez de Hita's 
 Guerras civiles de Grenada^, 183, re.; 
 in Question de Amor, 183, re.; in 
 Parlor games, 279, 299. 
 
 Diaceto, Francesco Cattani da, mem- 
 ber of Platonic Academy, 106; 
 lecturer in the Studio Fiorentino, 
 106; Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, 
 107; death, 106; Tre Libri d'Amo- 
 re, 106; Panegirico all'Amore, 106; 
 cited by Castiglione in the Cor- 
 tegiano, 179, re. 
 
 Diez, F., Beitrdge zur Kentniss der 
 romaniischen Poesie: Ueber die 
 Minnehofe, 24, re., 27, re., 137, re.; 
 Etymologisch.es Worterbuch der ro- 
 manischen Sprachen, 9, re. ; Leben 
 der Troubadours, 324, re.; Die 
 Poesie der Troubadours, 7, re., 10, »., 
 19, «., 20, re., 23, re., 24, n.\ Ueber 
 
 die erste portugiesische Kunst- und 
 Hof poesie, 18, re. 
 
 Dinaux, A., Les Trouvires bra- 
 banqons, 13, re. 
 
 Doctrinal de Courtoisie, 342. 
 
 Doctrinal Sauvage, 342. 
 
 Dolce, Ludovico, Amorosi ragiona- 
 menti, 569, w. ; an incomplete 
 translation of Achilles Tatius's 
 Leucippe and Clitophon, 569, ».; 
 Delia Institutione delle Donne, 202, 
 "•I 379! what women should study, 
 379; what Latin and Italian 
 authors they should read, 379. 
 
 Domenichi, L., Dialogue on Love, 134; 
 analysis of, 134-135; "questions" 
 in, 135; Dialogue on the Remedies 
 for Love, 135, re.; Dialogue on 
 Fraternal Love, 135, n.; Devices 
 for War and Love, 135, re., 184, n.; 
 La Donna di Carte, 198, re.; La 
 Nobiltd, delle Donne, 202, re. ; Rime 
 diverse, 285, re. 
 
 Dominici, Giovanni, Cardinal, Del 
 Governo di cura famigliare, 362; 
 Dell'Amore di caritd, 362, re. 
 
 Doni, A., elaborate method of divina- 
 tion in I Marmi, 296, re. ; Parlor 
 games in, 320, 322; Pistoletti 
 Amorosi, 476, re. 
 
 Doubts, in Varchi's academic lec- 
 tures, 144; debated in Academies, 
 150; collections by Lando, 152; 
 by Vida, 153; by Loredano, 154; 
 in Romei's Discorsi, 228. 
 
 Douglas, R. L., editor, see Matteo 
 Bandello. 
 
 Du Meril, E., Floire et Blancefior, 
 
 58, re. 
 Dumesnil, J., Voyageurs frangats en 
 
 Italic, 438, re. 
 Duello, il, 232, 233, 35I; re. 
 Dunlop, J., and Liebrecht, F., 
 
 Geschichte der Prosadichtungen, 76, 
 
 re., 95, re. 
 
 Education, mediaeval, 6. . 
 
 Egidi, F., editor, see Francesco da 
 
 Barberino. 
 Equicola, M., birth and education, 
 
 118; History of Mantua, 119; 
 
 Delia natura d'amore, 119. 
 Erizzo, Sebastiano, Le sei giornate, 
 
 260, 651, re. 
 Ermengaud, Matfre, Breviari d'Amor, 
 
 325, 326, re., 327, re. 
 Eros and Anteros, 230. 
 Eslava, Antonio de, Noches de In- 
 
 vierno, 630; possible source of 
 
 Shakespeare's Tempest, 630, re. 
 
INDEX 
 
 669 
 
 Este, Cesare da, cousin of the Duke 
 of Ferrara, adopted by him, 232, 
 n., becomes Duke of Modena, 
 232, n.; appears in Romei's Dis- 
 corsi, 232, passim. 
 
 Estienne, Henri, birth and education, 
 439; aids his father in publication 
 of Greek authors, 439; travels in 
 Italy, England, and Holland, 439; 
 withdraws from Paris to Geneva, 
 439; establishes press devoted to 
 classic authors, 439; death of 
 father, 439; suffers from melan- 
 choly, 439; as a means of diver- 
 sion composes the treatise on the 
 conformity of the French language 
 with the Greek, 439; enjoys favor 
 of Henry III, in his frequent visits 
 to Paris, 439; married three times 
 and had fourteen children, one of 
 whom, Florence, became wife of 
 Isaac Casaubon, 440; composes 
 and prints at Geneva the Deux 
 dialogues du nouveau langage fran- 
 Qois itaUanize, 440; a year later 
 issues third and last work relating 
 to the French language, Precellence 
 du langage frangois, 440; death at 
 Lyons in 1598, 441. 
 Etiquette, Italian, 323 et seq. 
 Exemplum, mediaeval, in Lope de 
 Vega's El Peregrino en su Patria, 
 577, n. 
 
 Facetiae, see Facezie. 
 
 Facetus, Latin poem on manners, 
 
 original of Book of Courtesy, 350. 
 Facezie, in Castiglione's Cortegiano 
 
 imitated from Cicero's De Oratore, 
 
 179. 197. «• 
 Faire Em, the Miller's Daughter of 
 
 Manchester, pseudo-Shakespearian 
 
 play of, 462, n. 
 Falke, J., Die ritterliche Gesellschaft 
 
 im Zeitalter des Frauencultus, 6, re., 
 
 20, n. 
 Fantuzzi, G., Notizie degli Scrittori 
 
 Bolognesi, 285, n. 
 Faral, E., Recherches sur les sources 
 
 latines des contes et remans courtois 
 
 du moyen dge, 39, n. 
 Fauriel, C., Historie de la Poesie 
 
 Proj)engale, 2i, n., 7, re., 8, re. 324, re.; 
 
 Histoire de la Gaule meridionale 
 
 sous la domination des conguerants 
 
 Germains, 3, re., 
 Fenton, Geffray, Monophylo drawne 
 
 into Englishe by, 474, re.; trans- 
 lator of Bandello, 456, re. 
 
 Fernandez y Peralta, J., Para Si, 
 
 613, re. 
 Ferrai, L. A., Lorenzino de' Medici e 
 
 la societd- cortigiana del cinguecento, 
 
 128, re. 
 Ferri, L., L'accademia platonica di 
 
 Firenze e le sue vicende, loi, re. 
 Festa, G. B., Un Galateo Femminile 
 
 Italiano del Trecento, 51, re. 
 Feudal System, did not take root in 
 
 Italy, 99; in Italy did not divide 
 
 society as in France, 159. 
 Feugere, L., Caracteres et portraits 
 
 litteraires du XVIe siecle, 438, re., 
 
 465, re.; CEuvres choisies d'Etienne 
 
 Pasguier, accompagnees de notes et 
 
 d'une etude sur sa vie el sur ses 
 
 ouvrages, 465, ».; editor, see Henri 
 
 Estienne. 
 Feuillet de Conches, see A. Baschet. 
 Ficino, M., director of Platonic 
 
 Academy, 102; translates Plato's 
 
 Dialogues, 102; comment on the 
 
 Symposium, 102. 
 Fiorentino, G., II Pecorone, 260. 
 Fioretti, G., L'amore nella vita e nella 
 
 lirica italiana dei primi secoli dopo 
 
 il mille, 9, re. 
 Firenzuola, Agnolo, Translation of 
 
 the Golden Ass of Apuleius, 105; 
 
 I Discorsi degli Animali, 105; 
 
 Dialogo intorno alia Bellezza delle 
 
 Donne, 105; Ragionamenti, 105; 
 
 Delle Bellezze delle Donne, 138. 
 Fitzmaurice-Kelly, J., Historia de la 
 
 Literatura Espanola, 594, re. 
 Flamini, F., II Cinguecento, 119, re., 
 131, re.; Le lettere italiane alia 
 
 corte di Francesco I re di Francia, 
 
 437i ^-i L^ rime di Odetto de la 
 Noue et I'italianismo a tempo di 
 Enrico III, 437, re. 
 Fleay, T.G.,A Biographical Chronicle 
 of the English Drama, 1559-1642, 
 
 Floral Games of Toulouse and 
 Barcelona, 16, 16, re. 
 
 Florence et Blancheflor, 40. 
 
 Flores, Juan de, Aurelio et Isabella, 
 Historia di, Italian translation of 
 his Historia de Grisel y Mirabella, 
 155; devoted to discussion of 
 single "question," 214, re.; thought 
 to have furnished hints for Shakes- 
 peare's Tempest, 214, «.; Italian 
 translation, 214, re.; English trans- 
 lations, 214, re.; Historia de Grisel 
 y Mirabella, analysis of, 214, re. 
 
 Florido, Orazio, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
670 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Florio and Blanceflor, 58. 
 
 Florisello, Don, Spanish Romance of 
 Chivalry, used in Parlor games, 
 273, 282. 
 
 Fontaine, Charles, Contr' Amie de 
 Court, an answer to La Borderie's 
 V Amie de Court, 453. 
 
 Fonte, M., Meriti delle Donne, 201, n. 
 
 Fontenelle, B. Le B. de, Lettres 
 galantes, 495. 
 
 Forestie, E., P. de Lunel, dit Cavalier 
 Lunel de Montech, 335, n. 
 
 Fortini, P., Novelle, 308-315; "ques- 
 tions" in, 312; Parlor game in, 315. 
 
 Fortune-telling, in England, 541-545. 
 
 Fortune-telling books, introduced in- 
 to France from Italy in sixteenth 
 century, 484; French translation 
 of Lorenzo Spirito's Delle Sorti, 
 484, n. ; use in Italian social enter- 
 tainments, 294; in Bembo's "Motti," 
 294; in Grazzini's Rime, 295; in 
 Sorel's Les Recreations galantes, 
 486. 
 
 Fournier, E., editor, see Varietes 
 historigues et litteraires. 
 
 Francis I, King of France, invades 
 Lombardy, 436; victory of Marig- 
 nano, 436; loses Milan, 436; 
 defeated at Pavia, 436; taken 
 captive, 436; relinquishes claims 
 to Italy by the treaty of Cambrai, 
 436; Castiglione undertakes the 
 Cortegiano to please, 176, n. 
 
 Franco, Nicolo, friendship with Pietro 
 Aretino, 139; imprisonment for 
 lampoons on Pope Paul IV, 139; 
 enjoys favor of Pius IV, 139; 
 pasquinade on Cardinal Carafa, 
 139; hanged at Rome for writing 
 this, 140; Dialogo delle Bellezze, 
 140. 
 
 Frank, F., Dernier voyage de la reine de 
 Navarre Marguerite d'Angouleme 
 aux bains de Cauterets, 446, n.; 
 editor, see Marguerite de Navarre. 
 
 Franks, the. Kingdom of, 4. 
 
 Frati, L., La vita privata di Bologna 
 dal secolo XIII al XVII, 184, n. 
 
 Frederick II, Troubadours at. the 
 court of, 53. 
 
 Frederick, Duke of Urbino, natural 
 son of Guidantonio, 162; legiti- 
 mated by Martin V, 162; be- 
 trothed to Gentile Brancaleone, 
 163; educated by bride's mother, 
 163; sent by father as hostage to 
 Venice, 163; transferred to Man- 
 tua, 163; there educated by the 
 Marquis, 163; taught by Vittorino 
 
 da Feltre, 164; recalled to Urbino, 
 164; marriage, 164; murder of 
 his brother, 164; elected by people 
 of Urbino as their lord, 164; 
 created duke by Sixtus IV, 164; 
 second marriage, 164; birth of 
 only child, Guidobaldo, 164; em- 
 bellishes capital, 164; attracts 
 many guests to Urbino, 164; con- 
 structs famous palace at Urbino, 
 165; collects splendid library, 165; 
 death, 165. 
 
 Fregoso, Caesar and Costanza, see 
 Matteo Bandello. 
 
 Fregoso (Fregosa), Costanza, sister 
 of Federico and Ottaviano Fregoso, 
 173; appears in the Cortegiano 
 merely as one of the Duchess's 
 companions and takes no part in 
 the discussions, 173. 
 
 Fregoso, Federico, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Fregoso, Ottaviano, afterwards Doge 
 of -Venice, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Fremy, E., h Acadimie des derniers 
 Valois, 436, «., 486. 
 
 Freville, Marcel de, editor, see 
 Philippe de Navarre. 
 
 Friedreich, J. A., Geschichte des 
 Rdthsels, 291, n. 
 
 Friset, F., Das altfranzosische Jeu- 
 Parti, 13, «. 
 
 Frisio, Niccolo, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft of Nu- 
 remburg, 555, 556. 
 
 Furnivall, F. J., Manners and Meals 
 in Olden Time, 350. 
 
 Fuster, J. P., Biblioteca Valenciana, 
 216. 
 
 Galeotti, L., Saggio intorno alia vita 
 
 ed agli. scritti di Marsilio Ficino, 
 
 102, n. 
 Gallantry, in the French romances 
 
 of La Calprenede, Gomberville, 
 
 and Mile, de Scudery, 480. 
 Galluzzi, J. R., Storia del Granducato 
 
 di Toscana, 297, n. 
 Galtieri, Isabella Bentivoglia, Mar- 
 
 chesa di, appears in Roraei's 
 
 Discorsi, 223, passim. 
 Galvani, G., Osservazioni sulla poesia 
 
 de' Trovatori, 327, n. 
 Gambarin, G., Le Porretane di 
 
 Sabadino degli Arienti, 259, n. 
 Games, see Parlor games. 
 Garland, John, 348. 
 Gascoigne, George. After the present 
 
INDEX 
 
 671 
 
 work was in type, Professor J. Q. 
 Adams called my attention to 
 several interesting references in 
 Gascoigne. As they occur in the 
 volume entitled The Posies, con- 
 taining mainly lyrical poetry and 
 drama, they had escaped me. The 
 first reference, p. 47 of J. W. Cun- 
 liffe's edition in the Cambridge 
 English Classics, is to Riddles and 
 Purposes, q.v. in this Index. The 
 other references to "Questions," 
 Commands, and choice of King 
 or Queen to preside over social 
 diversions, q.v. in this Index, occur 
 in the curious story of The Pleasant 
 Fable of Ferdinando Jeronimi and 
 Leonora de Velasco, translated out 
 of the Italian riding Tales of 
 Bartello, ed. cit., pp. 393, 427, 428. 
 Richard Henning, George Gascoigne 
 als Uebersetzer italienischer Dicht- 
 ungen, Inaug. Diss. Konigsberg i. 
 P., 1913, has shown that the story 
 in question is not translated from 
 any one novella of Bandello, but 
 contains reminiscences of several. 
 
 Gaspary, A., Die Sicilianische Dichter- 
 schule des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts, 
 7, n.; Geschichte der italienischen 
 Literatur, 21, n., 68, »., 98, n., 
 351, n., 362, n., 368, n. 
 
 Gaul, romanization of, 3. 
 
 Gautier, L., La Chevalerie, 5, »., 6, «., 
 
 Geiger, L., Die Renaissance in Siid- 
 italien, 53, n. 
 
 Gelosi, dramatic company of, per- 
 formances at Ferrara, 231. 
 
 Gentilhuomo Veneziano, Dialogo del, 
 206. 
 
 Gerardi, F., Biografia di Monsignore 
 Giovanni della Casa, 380, n. 
 
 Gering, H., Islandzk Aeventyri, 95, n. 
 
 Gervinus, G., Geschichte der deutschen 
 Litteratur, 8, n., 19, n. 
 
 Gesta Romanorum, 260. 
 
 Gherardo di Prato, Giovanni di, 
 
 . life of, 93; Paradise degli Alberti, 
 93; analysis of, 93-97; "ques- 
 tions" in, 96-^7. 
 
 Giambelli, Cipriano, II Rinaldi vero 
 Dialogo del Paragone tra il Verno 
 e la State, 155. 
 
 Gilbert, W., Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess 
 of Ferrara, 109, n. 
 
 Ginguene, P. L., Histoire litteraire de 
 I'ltalie, 122, n., 379, n., 380, n. 
 
 Giovio, Paolo, Ragionamento sopra « 
 motti e disegni d'arme e d'amore che 
 
 comunemente chiamano imprese, 
 
 143, n., 184, ».; translations of, 
 
 184, n. 
 Giraldi, G. B., Discorso intorno a 
 
 guello che si conviene a un giovine 
 
 nobile, 206. 
 Giuochi di sala per divertirsi nelle 
 
 conversazioni, 308, n. 
 Gobbolette or Cobbolette, some form of 
 
 verse, used by F. da Barberino, 
 
 354. »• 
 
 Godwin, William, Lives of Edward 
 and John Philips, nephews and 
 pupils of Milton, 534, n. 
 
 Goedeke, K., Grundriss zur Geschichte 
 der deutschen Dichtung, 19, n. 
 
 Gohin, F., editor, see Antoine Heroet. 
 
 Goldschmidt, L., Die Doktrin der 
 Liebe bei den italidnischen Lyrikern 
 des XIII. Jahrhunderts, 98, n. 
 
 Gonzaga, Caesar, Castiglione's cousin, 
 interlocutor in the Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Gonzaga, Elisabetta, daughter of 
 Frederick, Marquis of Mantua and 
 of Margaret of Bavaria, marries 
 Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, 166. 
 
 Gonzaga, Margherita, natural daugh- 
 ter of Francesco, brother of Duch- 
 ess of Urbino, 173; merely appears 
 in the Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Gonzaga, Vespasiano, Duke of Sab- 
 bioneta, interlocutor in the Fourth 
 Book of Guazzo's Civil Con- 
 versazione, 397, passim. 
 
 Gorra, E., Le Court d'Amours di 
 Mahius li Poriiers, 41, w. ; Fra 
 Drammi e Poemi, 41, «., 51, re.; 
 Studi di critica letteraria, 45, 51, 
 358, n. 
 
 Gosse, Edward, Seventeenth- Century 
 Studies, 545. 
 
 Gothein, E., Die Culturentwicklung 
 Sild-Italiens, 53, re. 
 
 Gottifredi, Bartolomeo, Specchio d' 
 Amore, 137. 
 
 Goujet, C. P. abbe, Bibliothiqiie 
 frauQoise, 453, re., 465, re. 
 
 Governo della corte di un Signore in 
 Roma, del, 206. 
 
 Gozze, Nicolo Vito di, Dialogo 
 d' Amore detto Anthos, 157; Dialogo 
 della Bellezza detto Anthos, 139. 
 
 Graf, A., Provenza e Italia, 20, re.; 
 Attraverso il Cinquecento, 97, re., 
 127, re. 
 
 Grazzini, detto il Lasca, Anton- 
 Francesco, Le Gene, 261 ; Le Rime 
 burlesche, 295. 
 
 Greene, Robert, born about 1560 
 and educated at Cambridge, 521; 
 
672 
 
 INDEX 
 
 visits Italy, 521; dies at London, 
 1592, 521; Euphues his censure 
 to Philautus, an imitation of 
 Castiglione's Courtier, 523; also a 
 continuation of Lyly's Euphues, 
 523; Euphues his censure to Phil- 
 autus, contains four illustrative 
 stories termed "tragedies," 523; 
 Greene's Farewell to Folly, 526; 
 frame with three tales, 526; diffi- 
 culty of discovering Greene's Ital- 
 ian sources, 528; Mamillia, 521; 
 slavish imitation of Lyly, 522; 
 full of the Italian treatment of 
 love, 522; Morando: The Tri- 
 tameron of Love: The first and 
 second part, 524; discusses various 
 "questions" concerning love, 524, 
 525; Penelope's Web, 522; frame 
 with three stories, 522; a typical 
 treatise on Platonic love, 523. 
 
 Gregorovius, F., Lucrezia Borgia, 
 109, n. 
 
 Grober, G., Grundriss der romanischen 
 Philologie, 9, n., 12, »., 351, n. 
 
 Grosart, A. B., Miscellanies of the 
 Fuller Worthies' Library, 279, «.; 
 editor, see Robert Greene, Samuel 
 Daniel. 
 
 Groto, L., II Pentimento Amoroso, 
 68, n. 
 
 Guarini, G. B., author of the Pastor 
 Fido, appears in Romei's Discorsi, 
 225, passim; pronounces discourse 
 on Human Love, 227. 
 
 Guarino, see G. B. Guarini. 
 
 Guazzo, Stefano, birth and education, 
 386; becomes secretary to the 
 Duchess Margherita, 386; enters 
 the service of the Duke de Nevers, 
 387; spends seven years in France 
 with him, 387; ambassador to 
 Pope Pius IV, 387; marriage, 387; 
 founds Academy degli lUustrati, 
 387; removes to Pa via, where he 
 lives until death in 1593, 387; 
 author of Italian and Latin poems, 
 387; funeral oration on the Duch- 
 ess Margherita, 387; two collec- 
 tions of letters, 387; dialogues on 
 literature, politics, and ethics, 387; 
 La Civil Conversazione, 291, »., 
 387; editions and translations of, 
 387, n.; analysis of, 388-396; La 
 Ghirlanda della contessa Angela 
 Bianca Beccaria, 388; collects and 
 edits La Ghirlanda della contessa 
 Angela Bianca Beccaria, 498; anal- 
 ysis of, 500-504; similar works in 
 Italian and French, 499, n., 500, n.; 
 
 Fourth Book of the Civil Con- 
 versazione containing account of an 
 Italian Conversazione in the six- 
 teenth century, 397-433; number 
 of guests not to exceed nine, 399; 
 queen chosen by lot, 399; two 
 judges appointed for contests at 
 the Conversazione, 400; Game of 
 Solitude, 400-403; judges decide 
 in favor of Signora Caterina, 403; 
 why Love is painted with a fish in 
 one hand and a flower in the 
 other, 403; supper begins, 405; 
 anecdote of Plato and Aristippus, 
 406; conversation on sobriety, 
 406-409; poem in honor of Signer 
 Vespasiano, 410; Game of Society, 
 412-413; Signor Hercole brings 
 game to sudden conclusion and is 
 punished by being compelled to 
 solve "questions" propounded by 
 the company, 414-416; discussion 
 of "question" whether the eyes or 
 the tongue are more powerful to 
 win love, 416-417; discussion of 
 the virtue of praises, 417-420; 
 power of the tongue in relating 
 one's feelings, 420; Signor Hercole 
 is commanded to make a love 
 lament to Signora Lelia, 422; story 
 of the stolen pig {Decameron, 
 VII, 6), 425; anecdote of Augustus 
 and bed of Roman gentleman who 
 was heavily in debt, 428; dis- 
 cussion of matrimony, 429; Signor 
 Hercole advised to take a little 
 wife, 430; anecdote of foolish 
 man who did not know how to get 
 into his breeches, 432; Signor 
 Vespasiano concludes that Signor 
 Hercole needs a virtuous wife who 
 will have the power to free him 
 from his sufferings and make him 
 sleep, 432; he adds that sleep is 
 rightly called the relative of death 
 since it produces similar results, 
 432; the queen infers that Signor 
 Vespasiano wishes to withdraw 
 and dismisses the company, 433; 
 Guazzo's Supper-party imitated by 
 John Lyly in Lady Flavia's Supper- 
 party, 530; dialogue on devices in 
 Dialoghi piacevoli, 143, »., 184, «.; 
 Del Paragone dell' arme et delle 
 Lettere, in Dialoghi piacevoli, 195, «• 
 
 Guerrini, Olindo, Recetlario galante 
 del principio del secolo XVI, 201, n. 
 
 Guido, Count (II Vecchio), of Urbino, 
 162; doomed to Hell by Dante for 
 
INDEX 
 
 673 
 
 evil counsel given to Boniface 
 VIII, 162. 
 
 Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, birth 
 and education, 166; succeeds his 
 father Frederick, 166; marriage 
 to Elisabetta Gonzaga, 166; serves 
 the Pope in war between French 
 and Spaniards, 167; taken prisoner 
 at battle of Soriano, 166; dis- 
 possessed of duchy by Caesar 
 Borgia, 167; recovers state but is 
 dispossessed a second time, 167, 
 flight to Rovigo, 167; second exile 
 in Mantua and Venice, 167; death 
 of Alexander VI, 167; Guidobaldo 
 received with joy at Urbino, 167; 
 made Gonfaloniere of the Church 
 by Julius III, 167; meets Casti- 
 glione, 168; represented as absent 
 from the conversation in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Guinicelli, Guido, his views of love, 
 
 9.9- 
 
 Guirlande de Julie, presented to 
 Julie-Lucine d'Angennes de Ram- 
 bouillet by her suitor the Marquis 
 de Montausier, 498; imitation of 
 Guazzo's Ghirlanda delta contessa 
 Angela Bianca Beccaria, 499; simi- 
 lar works in French and Italian, 
 499, »■. 500, n. 
 
 Hall, Edward, Chronicle, 545. 
 
 Hallam, A. H., Oration on the influence 
 of Italian works of Imagination on 
 the same class of compositions in 
 England, 505, n. 
 
 Halliwell, J. O., A Dictionary of Old 
 English Plays, 563, ». ; The litera- 
 ture of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries, 553, n. 
 
 Hanford, J. H., Classical Eclogue 
 and Mediceval Debate, 39, n. 
 
 Hare, Christopher, see Mrs. Marian 
 Andrews. 
 
 Harvey, Gabriel, mentions in his 
 Letter-Book many Italian authors 
 as known in England, 532; de- 
 fender of the Classics against the 
 rage for Italian authors, 533. 
 
 Harsdorfer, G. P., born at Nurern- 
 burg, 1607, 556; educated at Uni- 
 versity of Altdorf, 556; traveled 
 extensively in France, the Nether- 
 lands, England, and Italy, 556; 
 enters magistracy of Nuremburg, 
 556; becomes member of the 
 Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft of 
 Nuremburg, 556; one of the 
 founders of the Pegnesische Blumen- 
 
 orden, 556; translates Spanish 
 works, 556, n., 557; introduces 
 pastoral affectations of Italy, 557; 
 prodigious literary activity, 557; 
 dies at Nuremburg in 1658, 557; 
 his Frawen-Zimmer Gesprdch-Spiel, 
 557; bibliography of, 557, ».; 
 sources of, Bargagli, Ringhieri, and 
 Sorel, 558; cites many Italian 
 authors, 559; analysis of, 560-564 
 Schutzschriftfiir die Deutsche Sprach- 
 arbeit, 555, n. 
 
 Hausknecht, E., Floris und Blaunche- 
 flur, 58, n. 
 
 Hauvette, H., Boccace, 54, »., 87, n., 
 90, n. 
 
 Hazlitt, W. C, Handbook to the 
 popular, poetical and dramatic litera- 
 ture of Great Britain, 553, n.\ 
 Shakespeare Jest-Books, 553, n. 
 
 Heidsick, W., Die ritterliche Gesell- 
 schaft in den Dichtungen des Chre- 
 tien de Troyes, 7, n. 
 
 Henry II, marries Catharine de' 
 Medici, 436. 
 
 Henry IV, marries Maria de' Medici, 
 437; renewal of Italian influence, 
 
 437- 
 
 Heroet, Antoine, birth and education, 
 452; receives pension from Mar- 
 guerite de Navarre, 452; inter- 
 ested in Platonic philosophy, 452; 
 first poem on a Platonic subject, 
 the myth of the Androgyne, 452; 
 publishes in 1542 La Parfaicte 
 Amye, 452; enters ecclesiastical 
 career, 453; dies bishop of Digne 
 in 1568, 453; La Parfaicte Amye a 
 refutation of La Borderie's L'Amie 
 de Court and an exposition of 
 Platonic love, 453; CEuvres poeti- 
 ques, 178, n., 198, n., 229, ».; La 
 Parfaicte Amye, Why Love is 
 depicted blind, young, naked, etc., 
 279, n. 
 
 Herzog, H., Die beiden Sagen-Kreise 
 von Flore und Blanscheflur, 58, n. 
 
 Heyl, K., Die Theorie der Minne in 
 den dltesten Minneromanen Frank- 
 reichs, 7, n. 
 
 Heywood, John, The Play of Love, 
 545, n.; A Dialogue concerning 
 Witty and Witless, 545, n.; "ques- 
 tions" in, 545, m. 
 
 Hidalgo, Caspar Lucas, Didlogos de 
 apacible entretenimiento, 613. 
 
 Hirzel, R., Der Dialog, 122, n. 
 
 Histoire litteraire de la France, 13, 
 13. »•, I4> 342, n., 343, n., 344, n. 
 
 Hoby, Sir Thomas, first English 
 
674 
 
 INDEX 
 
 translation of the Cortegiano, 
 178, n. 
 
 Hodermann,' R., Bilder aus dem 
 deutschen Leben des I'j. Jahr- 
 hunderts, Bine vornehme Gesell- 
 schaft, 555, n. 
 
 Hoepffner, E., Frage- und Antwort- 
 spiel in der franzosischen Literatur 
 des 14. Jahrhunderts, 41, n. 
 
 Holme, J. W., Italian Courtesy Books 
 of the Sixteenth Century, 351, n. 
 
 Holtzinger, H., see Giovanni Santi 
 (Sanzio) . 
 
 Homer, Iliad, IV, 223-225, cited at 
 supper described in Fourth Book 
 of Guazzo's Civil Conversazione, 
 418; XVI, 681, relationship be- 
 tween Sleep and Death, 432, n. 
 
 Honor, discussed in Romei's Discorsi, 
 231. 
 
 Horace, Satires, II, 3, 224, story of 
 the prodigality of Nomentanus has 
 counterpart in game of Begging 
 for the Friars, 265. 
 
 Hortis, A., Studj sulle opere Laiine 
 del Boccaccio, 137, n. 
 
 Houdenc, Raoul de, Roman des Ailes, 
 
 343- 
 
 Houdoy, ]., La beaute desfemmes dans 
 la litterature et dans I'art du Xlle 
 au XVIe siecle, 138, 201, n. 
 
 House, R. T. editor, L'Ordene de 
 Chevalerie, see Hue de Tabarie. 
 
 Hueline et Eglantine, 40. 
 
 Hutton, E., edition of Dennistoun's 
 Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, 
 162, n.; Giovanni Boccaccio, 54, n. 
 
 Intelligenza, L' , early Italian didactic 
 poem, 353, n. 
 
 Italian influence in France, 434, 436, 
 437, 480. 
 
 Italian language, discussion of, in the 
 Cortegiano, 194. 
 
 Italian social influence in England, 
 505, re- 
 
 Italianization of court of Henry III, 
 442; introduction of exaggerated 
 adverbs, 442; Italian mode of 
 address, 442; Italian fashions in 
 dress, etc., 442; Italian influence 
 on French pronunciation, 442, n. 
 
 Jackson, Thomas Graham, Sir, A 
 Holiday in Umbria with an account 
 of Urbino and the Cortegiano of 
 CastigUone, 165, n. 
 
 Jacob, P. L., Les vieux conteurs 
 frangais,_ 443, n.; Notice sur 
 Marguerite d'Angouleme, reine de 
 
 Navarre, 443, «.; editor, see 
 
 Jacques Yver. 
 Jacobius, Helene, Die Erziehung des 
 
 Edelfrduleins im alien Prankreich, 
 
 6, n. 
 Jacobs, Joseph, English Fairy Tales, 
 
 "The Three Sillies," 432, n. 
 Jantzen, H., Geschichte des deutschen 
 
 Streitgedichte im Mittelalter, ■ 19, n. 
 Jaulnay, Charles, Questions d'amour, 
 
 ou conversations galantes, 490. 
 Jeanroy, A., De nostratibus medii aevi 
 
 poetis, 9, ».; La Tenson Proven- 
 
 Qale, 9, n., 19, n., 24, n. 
 Jeux-partis, subjects of, 13, 14. 
 Jocs-partits, 9; subjects of, 10, 10, n.; 
 
 II, 12; as social diversion, 331. 
 Johnson, Samuel, opinion of the 
 
 Cortegiano, 205. 
 Jonson, Ben, Cynthia's Revels, 534; 
 
 Parlor games in, 534. 
 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 
 
 265, n. 
 Juan II, social influence of Provence 
 
 conspicuous in his reign, 16. 
 Juan Manuel, Don, Conde Lucanor, 
 
 95> n. 
 Jubinal, A., Nouveau recueil de contes, 
 
 dits, fabliaux, etc., 342. 
 Judson, A. C, editor, see Ben Jonson. 
 Juggler, mediaeval, 97. 
 Jung, J., Die romanischen Land- 
 
 schaften, 2, n. 
 Jusserand, J. J., Un Due et sa Ville 
 
 Vespasien de Gonzague, Due d- 
 
 Sabbioneta, 398, ».; The English 
 
 Novel in the Time of Shakespeare, 
 
 505. n., 553, re. 
 
 Kalilah wa Dimnah, 105. 
 Keller, A., Romvart, 13, re. 
 K[epers], J[ohn], translator of Romei's 
 
 Discorsi, 220, re. 
 Kerr, W. A. R., Le Cercle d' Amour, 
 
 479, re.; Antoine Heroet's Parfaite 
 
 Amye, 479, re.; The Pleiade and 
 
 Platonism, 479, n. 
 King, or Queen, elected to preside 
 
 over social diversions, 66, 105, 
 
 133, 223, 293, 309, 400, 454, 507, 
 
 512, 541, 600, 624, 632, 655, 656; 
 
 see also Arbiter bibendi, Rex 
 
 convivii. Queen. 
 Kirchhof, H., Wendunmuth, 425, «. 
 Klai, Johann, founder, with Hars- 
 
 dorfer, of the Pegnesische Blumen- 
 
 orden, 557. 
 Klapper, J., Erzdhlungen des Mittel- 
 
 alters, 577, re., 578. 
 
INDEX 
 
 675 
 
 Klein, A., Die altfranzosischen Min- 
 nefragen, 24, «., 62, n. 
 
 Knapp, W. J., Life, Writings and 
 Correspondence of George Borrow, 
 578. 
 
 Knobloch, H., Die Streitgedichte im 
 Provenzalischen und Altfranzosis- 
 chen, 9, «., 10, n., 12, »., 13, n., 
 14, n., 21, n., 22, n., 82, n. 
 
 Knorich, W., editor, Moliere's Les 
 Precieuses Ridicules, 201, n. 
 
 Kohler, R., Ein Weib und drei Lieb- 
 haber, 69, n. 
 
 Koeppel, E., Dante in der Englischen 
 Litteratur des sechzehnten Jahr- 
 hunderts, 506, n.; Studien zur 
 Geschichte des Englischen Petrarchis- 
 mus- im sechzehnten Jahrhunderts, 
 506, n.; Studien zur Geschichte der 
 Italienischen Novelle in der Eng- 
 lischen Litteratur des sechzehnten 
 Jahrhunderts, 374, n., 505, n., 
 508, n., 511, n., 520, n., 521, re., 
 532, re. 
 
 Korting, G., Boccaccio-Analekten, 55, 
 re.; Boccaccio's Leben und Werke, 
 53, re.; Encyklopaedie und Methodo- 
 logie der romanischen Philologie, 
 3, re.; Petrarca's Leben und Werke, 
 
 53. »■ . , . , 
 
 Krapp, A., Dte dsthetischen Tendenzen 
 
 Harsdoerffers, 555, re. 
 Krick, C, Les donnees sur la vie 
 
 sociale et privee des Frangais au 
 
 Xlle siecle dans les romans de 
 
 Chrestien de Troyes, 7, re. 
 Kiihne, H., and Stengel, E., Mattre 
 
 Elie's Ueberarbeitung von Ovid's 
 
 Ars amatoria, 7, re. 
 Kyd, Thomas, The Spanish Tragedy, 
 
 460. 
 
 La Borderie, Bertrand de, L'Amie 
 
 de Court, a criticism of the ideal 
 
 Lady of the Palace in the Corte- 
 
 giano, 452. 
 La Claviere, R. de Maulde, Les 
 
 Femmes de la Renaissance, 201^ re. 
 Lacroix, P., Dix-Septieme Siecle, 
 
 Lettres, Sciences et Arts, 498, re. 
 Lady of the Palace, qualities of, 
 
 described in the Cortegiano, 198- 
 
 201; criticized by La Borderie in 
 
 his L'Amie de Court, 452. 
 La Ferriere-Pei-cy,, H. de. Marguerite 
 
 d'Angoulime, Etudes sur ses derni- 
 
 eres annees, 443, re. 
 La Fontaine, jean de, Fables (VIII, 
 
 3), 420, re. 
 
 Landau, M., Life of Boccaccio trans- 
 lated by C. Antona-Traversi, 54, 
 re.; Die Quellen des Dekameron, 
 76, re., 87, re.; Beitrdge zur Ge- 
 schichte der italienischen Novelle, 
 240, n. 
 
 Lande, Jean de la, see Charles Sorel. 
 
 Lando, Ortensio, mentioned by mis- 
 take in the Index librorum pro- 
 hibitorum, 151; author of satirical 
 works, 151; funeral sermons on 
 animals, 151; Paradoxes, 151; 
 confutation of, 152; Quattro Libri 
 di Dubbi, 152; translations and 
 imitations of, 152, re.; English 
 translation of his Quattro Libri di 
 Dubbi, 152, re., 552. 
 
 Langlois, E., Origines et sources du 
 Roman de la Rose, 40, re. ; Le jeu 
 du Roy qui ne ment et le jeu du 
 Roi et de la Reine, 62, re. 
 
 Latassa y Ortin, Felix de, Biblioteca 
 antigua y nueva de escritores ara- 
 goneses, 632, re. 
 
 Lauchert, F., Geschichte des Physi- 
 ologus, 402, re., 408, re. 
 
 Laura, character of Petrarch's love 
 for, 100. 
 
 Lee, Vernon, Euphorion, 7, re., 98, re.; 
 The Academy of the Arcadi, 143, re.; 
 The Italy of the Elizabethan Dra- 
 matists, 505, re. 
 
 Lefranc, A., Le Platonisme et la 
 litterature en France a I'epoque de 
 la Renaissance, 437, re., 450, re.; 
 editor, see Marguerite de Navarre. 
 
 Lega, A. Bacchi della, Le edizioni 
 delle opere di Giovanni Boccaccio, 
 90, re. 
 
 Legrand d'Aussy, P. J. B., Fabliaux 
 ou Contes, 40, re. 
 
 Le Magon, Antoine, secretary of 
 Marguerite de Navarre, 444; fol- 
 lows her to Beam, 444; at her 
 request translates the Decameron, 
 
 444- 
 Lentheric, C, La Grece et V Orient 
 
 en Provence, 3, re. 
 Leone Hebreo, see Leon (Judas) 
 
 Abravanel. 
 Le Pays, Rene, Amitiez, Amours, et 
 
 Amourettes, 494; Les nouvelles 
 
 ceuvres, 494. 
 Lettere di cortigiane del secolo XVI, 
 
 127, re. 
 Liebrecht, F., Zur Volkskunde, 87, re. 
 
 See also J. Dunlop and F. Lieb- 
 recht. 
 Lisca, A., Vita Vesp. Gonzagae , 
 
 398, re. 
 
676 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Livet, C. L., Lexigue de la langue de 
 
 Moliere, 442, n.; Precieux et 
 
 Precieuses, 493, n., 498, n., 499, n. 
 Lodge, Thomas, A Margarite of 
 
 America, 545; analysis of, 545- 
 
 551; "questions" in, 551. 
 Lollis, Cesare de, Vita e Poesie di 
 
 Sordello di Coito, 337, n. 
 Longfellow, H. W., Translation of 
 
 the Divine Comedy, 93, n., 100, n. 
 Loredano, Gio. Francesco, Sei Dubbi 
 
 Amorosi ' trattati academicamente, 
 
 154- 
 
 Louis Xn, claims Milan and Naples 
 and invades Italy, 436; battle of 
 Ravenna, 436; withdraws from 
 Italy, 436. 
 
 Louis XIII, marries Spanish princess, 
 Anne of Austria, 437; end of 
 Italian influence at Court, 437. 
 
 Louis XIV, marries Spanish princess, 
 Maria Theresa, 437; Spanish in- 
 fluence at Court, 437. 
 
 Love, discourse on human love by 
 Guarino in Romei's Discorsi, 227; 
 see also Flaminio Nobili; dis- 
 cussions in Spain on the nature of 
 Love, 568; mediseval, origin of, 7; 
 relation to the adoration of the 
 Virgin, 7; to the Feudal System, 
 8, n.\ principal topic of Provenjal 
 poetry, 8; why depicted young, 
 winged, etc., 114, 278, 403, »., 
 481, 522, »., 527, 537, 540, 582, 
 583, 584, 607; Judgments of, in 
 Andreas Capellanus' De Amore, 
 30-34; Platonic doctrine of, in 
 Giovanni di Prato's Paradiso degli 
 Ahberti, 93; in Petrarch's poetry, 
 I go; rendered popular by Alberti, 
 Francesco da Diaceto, Firenzuola 
 and Bembo, 103, 104, 107, 112 ei 
 seq.; Platonic, in Franco's Dialogo 
 delle Bellezze, 140; discussed by 
 Tasso in Condusioni amorose, 148; 
 in Bandello's prefaces, 245-246; 
 Platonic, the usual subject of 
 "questions" in France in the six- 
 teenth century, 487; Platonic, in 
 Cervantes' Galatea, 585; Platonic, 
 in the Heptameron, 449-451 ; in 
 Heroet's works, 452; Provenjal 
 conception of, 8, «., 98; carried to 
 Italy by the Troubadours, 98; 
 modified by Guido Guinicelli and 
 Dante, 99, 100; Rules of, in An- 
 dreas Capellanus' De Amore, 34- 
 36; treatises on, in France in the 
 seventeenth century, 480; in Italy 
 in the sixteenth century, 102 et 
 
 seq.; and Beauty, loi, «., 140; 
 Spanish treatises on, 568, n. 
 
 Love letters, in France in the seven- 
 teenth century, 491 ; in the gallant 
 literature of Italy in the sixteenth 
 century, 476. 
 
 Lucrezia d'Este, Duchess of Urbino, 
 sister of Alfonso II, Duke of 
 Ferrara and wife of Francesco 
 Maria II, last Duke of Urbino, 219; 
 leaves her husband and returns to 
 Ferrara, 219, n. 
 
 Ludwig of Anhalt, Prince, founder 
 of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft 
 of Nuremburg, 556; a member of 
 the Florentine Academy della 
 Crusca, 556; introduces Italian 
 academic customs into Germany, 
 556.. 
 
 Liideritz, Anna, Die Liebestheorie der 
 Provenzalen bei den Minnesdngern 
 der Stauferzeit, ig, n. 
 
 Lugo y Avila, Francisco de, Teatro 
 popular, 633. 
 
 Lugo y Davila, Francesco de, see 
 Francisco de Lugo y Avila. 
 
 Luigini, F., // libra della bella donna, 
 138,201, »., 322, 561; Parlor game 
 in, 322. 
 
 Lupercalia, 265. 
 
 Luzio, A., Federico Gonzaga ostaggio 
 alia corte di Giulio II, 173, n. 
 
 Luzio, A. and Renier, R., Buffoni, 
 Nani e Schiavi dei Gonzaga ai 
 tempi d'Isabella d'Este, 97, n., 225, 
 «.; Coltura e relazioni letterarie 
 d'Isabella d'Este, 118, n., 119, »., 
 168, «., 240, n., 259, w. ; II lusso di 
 Isabella d'Este, Marchesa de Man- 
 tova, 201, ». ; Mantua e Urbino, 
 165, n., 172, n., 241, n. 
 
 Lyly, John, Euphues, modeled on 
 Italian works, 528; discusses a 
 "question," 529; Euphues and 
 his England, the second part of 
 Euphues, contains tales and "ques- 
 tions," 529, 530, 531, 532; Lady 
 Flavia's Supper-party, a reflection 
 of the one described by Guazzo, 
 530-532- 
 
 Macchiavella, Lucrezia, appears in 
 
 Romei's Discorsi, 223, passim. 
 Machault, Guillaume de, Le Juge- 
 
 ment du roi de Behaigne, 46. 
 Macrobius, Saturnalia, for number of 
 
 guests at a banquet, 399, n.; 
 
 anecdote of Augustus, 428. 
 Mahn, K. A. F., Biographieen der 
 
 Troubadours, 325, n. Gedichte der 
 
INDEX 
 
 677 
 
 Troubadours, 12, «., 325, «.; Werke 
 
 der Troubadours, 23, n., 149, n 
 
 324. M- 
 Mancim, G., Fifa dj Leon Battista 
 
 Alberti, 364, ». 
 Manni, G., editor, see Giovanni della 
 
 Casa. 
 Manno, A., Bibliografia siorica degli 
 
 Stati delta Monarchia di Savoia, 
 
 386, n. 
 Manso, Giovan Battista, I Paradossi 
 
 vera dell' Amore, 150; Erocallia, 
 
 vero deir Amore e della Bellezza, 
 
 122, »., 150. 
 Manzi, G., editor, see F. da Bar- 
 
 berino. 
 Marchesi, G. R., Le polemiche sul 
 
 sesso femminile ne' secoli XVI. e 
 
 XVII., loi, n. 
 Marenduzzo, A., Veglie e Tratteni- 
 
 tnenti Senesi nella secunda meta del 
 
 secolo XVI, 266, n. 
 Marfisa, Donna, daughter of Don 
 
 Francesco d'Este, appears in Ro- 
 
 mei's Discorsi, 223, passim. 
 Marie, Countess of Champagne, 
 
 mentioned in Capellanus' Liber de 
 
 Amore, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34. 
 Marinella, L., La Nobilta e I'Bxcel- 
 
 lenza delle Donne, con Difetti e 
 
 Mancamenti degli Huomini, 201, n. 
 MarHani, B., Opere volgari e lathie 
 
 del Conte B. Castiglione, 168, n. 
 Marquardt, K. J., Romische Staats- 
 
 verwaltung, 265, n.; Das Prival- 
 
 leben der Romer, 266, n. 
 Marsan, Arnaut Guilhem de, Ensen- 
 
 hamen, didactic poem on behavior 
 
 of noble youth in courtly life, 327- 
 
 329-. 
 Marseilles, centre of Greek culture, 
 
 2, 3. n. 
 Martial d'Auvergne, Les cinquante et 
 
 ung arrestz d' Amours, 25. 
 Martinati, C, Notizie storico-bio- 
 
 grafiche intorno al Conte Baldassare 
 
 Castiglione, 168, n., 176, n., 178, n. 
 Marueil, Arnaut de, Ensenhamen, 
 
 didactic poem on behavior, 324. 
 Mary, Virgin, worship of, 6, ». ; 
 
 miracles of the, in Lope de Vega's 
 
 El Peregrino en su Patria, 577, ?i. 
 Masi, E., Vita italiana in un novelliere 
 
 del Cinquecento, 240, n.; reprinted 
 
 in Matteo Bandello la vita italiana, 
 
 etc., 241, n. 
 Massera, A. F., Stuii hoccacceschi, 
 
 55. »■ 
 Masuccio Salernitano, Novelle, 258. 
 Maulde La Claviere, R. de, Les 
 
 a 
 
 Femmes de la Renaissance, 438, n.; 
 Louise de Savoie et Franqois I, 
 443, n. 
 
 Maximes et loix d'Amour, Lettres, 
 billets doux et galans, 494. 
 
 Mazzi, C, La congrega dei Rozzi di 
 Siena del secolo XVI, 143, n., 157, 
 n., 266, n. 
 
 Mazzuchelli, G. M., Scritlori d'ltalia, 
 131, ra., 240, n., 398, n. 
 
 Medici, Cosmo de', founds academy 
 for cultivation of Platonic phil- 
 osophy, 1 01. 
 
 Medici, Giuliano, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Menendez y Pelayo, M., Historia de 
 las ideas esteticas en Espana, 568; 
 Origines de la Novela, 91, n., 209, 
 »., 214, n., 566, n., 567, n., 569, n., 
 572, n., 581, 614, n., 621, 630. 
 
 Mennung, A., Jean- Franqois Sara- 
 sin's Leben und Werke, 481. 
 
 Meon, D. M., Nouveau Recueil de 
 Fabliaux et Contes inedits, 40, n. 
 See also E. Barbazan and D. M. 
 Meon. 
 
 Mestola, symbol of authority in the 
 Sienese Parlor games, 270, 272, 
 299. 301, 304. 306, 307, 315. 
 
 Meung, Jean de, supposed author of 
 a fortune-telling book, Le plaisant 
 ieu du dodechedron de Fortune, 
 485; English translation of, 542. 
 
 Meyer, H., Matteo Bandello nach 
 seinen Widmungen, 240, n. 
 
 Meyer, P., De V influence des Trouba- 
 dours sur la poesie des peuples 
 romains, 15, n.; Derniers Trouba- 
 dours de la Provence, 23, n., 85, n. 
 
 Michiele, Giuseppe De, Nicolb Fran- 
 co, 139, n.; Il Dialogo delle Bellezze 
 di Nicolb Franco, 140, n. 
 
 Milan, Don Luis, El Cortesano, imi- 
 tation of Castiglione's Cortegiano, 
 216; analysis of, 217-218; scene 
 laid at court of Ferdinand, Duke 
 of Calabria, 217; Libro de musica 
 de vitruela de mano, 216; Libro de 
 Motes de Damas y Caballeros, 216; 
 Libro de motes intitulado el juego 
 de mandar, 590; Parlor game in, 
 
 590- 
 Mil& y Fontanals, M., De los Trova- 
 
 dores en Espana, 15, n., 329, n. 
 Millot, C. F. X., abbe, Histoire 
 
 litteraire des Troubadours, 327, re. 
 Moland, L., Moliere et la comedie 
 
 italienne, 437, n. 
 Moliere, Femmes Savanles, 493; Les 
 
 Precieuses Ridicules, 201, »., 21, re.9 
 
«78 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Molteni, E., II Canzoniere Portugese 
 
 Colocci-Brancuti, i8, n. 
 Molza, Tarquinia, appears in Romei's 
 
 Discorsi, 223, passim. 
 Mommsen, T., History of Rome, The 
 
 Provinces from Caesar to Diocletian, 
 
 3. «• 
 Monaci, E., II Canzoniere Portugese 
 
 delta Biblioteca Vaticana, 18, «. ; 
 
 Crestomazia italiana dei primi secoli, 
 
 22, 352, n. 
 Monreal, Julio, Cuadros viejos repre- 
 
 sentando costumbres espaiioles del 
 
 sigloXVII,642,- 
 Montaiglon, A., de, L'Amant rendu 
 
 Cordelier, 25, n. 
 Montausier, Marquis de, presents the 
 
 Guirlande de Julie to Julie-Lucine 
 
 d'Angennes de Rambouillet, 498; 
 
 composes sixteen madrigals for it, 
 
 498: 
 Monteg, Lunel de, Ensenhamen, 
 
 didactic poem on behavior of a 
 
 squire, 335-337- 
 Montemayor, see Jorge de Mon- 
 
 tem6r. 
 Montemor, J. de, Diana, translated 
 
 by Harsdorfer, 557; Diana, 581; 
 
 discussion of the nature of love, 
 
 582. 
 Moore, E., Dante and his early 
 
 Biographers, 368, n. 
 Moraleja y Navarro, Jose Patricio, 
 
 El Entretenido, Segunda Parte, con- 
 tinuation of Tortoles' El E.ntre- 
 
 tenido, 656. 
 Morano, G., Catalogo degli illustri 
 
 scrittori di Casale, 386, »., 398, n. 
 Morel-Fatio, A., editor, see Book of 
 
 Courtesy; Katalanische Litteratur, 
 
 15, ». 
 Morello, S., da Ortona, interlocutor 
 
 in the Cortegiano, 174. 
 Moresche, sort of dance mentioned in 
 
 the Cortegiano, 187, n. 
 Moreto y Cabana, Augustin, La 
 
 Fuerza del Natural, 587; Parlor 
 
 game in, 588. 
 Mori, A., Giuoco Piacevole, 315-320, 
 
 538, n.; Parlor games in, 317, 319. 
 Morsolin, B., Pietro Bembo e Lucrezia 
 
 Borgia, 108, n., 109, n. 
 Mosti, A., La Vita Ferrarese nella 
 
 prima metd del decimosesto , edited 
 
 by A. Solerti, 239, n. 
 Mott, L. F., The System of Courtly 
 
 Love, 9, »., 98, n: 
 Munk, S., Notice sur Leon Ilebreu, 
 
 120, n. 
 Muntz, E., La Renaissance en Italie 
 
 et en France d, I'epogue de Charles 
 VIII, 437, n. 
 
 Murray, J. Ross, The Influence of 
 Italian upon English Literature 
 during the Sixteenth and Seven- 
 teenth Centuries, 505, re. 
 
 Murray's Handbook for Northern 
 Italy, III, re. 
 
 Mussafia, A., editor, see Fra Paolino. 
 
 Nannucci, V., Manuale della Lettera- 
 tura del Prima Secolo della Lingua 
 Italiana, 100, n. 
 
 Napier, H. E., Florentine History, 
 297, re. 
 
 Naples, social culture at Boccaccio's 
 time, 54; French claim to, 435. 
 
 Navarre, Marguerite de, birth and 
 education, 443; marries Duke of 
 Alengon, 443; his death, 443; 
 marries the King of Navarre, 443; 
 sympathizes with the Reformation, 
 443; protects persecuted scholars, 
 443; dies at castle of Odos in 1549, 
 443; corresponds with Vittoria 
 Colonna, 444; B. Tasso dedicates 
 a book of sonnets to her, 444; 
 requests Antoine Le Magon to 
 translate the Decameron, 444; it 
 inspires her to write the Hep- 
 tameron, 445; date of composition, 
 445; analysis of, 446-449; Platonic 
 love in, 449-451; influenced by 
 Decameron, 452. 
 
 Navarre, Philippe de, Quatre Ages de 
 I'Homme, 347. 
 
 Neilson, W. A., The Origin and 
 Sources of the Court of Love, 24, »., 
 
 39. «■. 40, re. 
 Nifo, A., see Augustinus Niphus 
 
 Suesanus. 
 Niphus, A., see Augustinus Suesanus. 
 Nobili, Flaminio, Trattato dell'Amore 
 
 Humano, 121, 147. 
 Nobility, discourse on, in Romei's 
 
 Discorsi, 234. 
 Nolfi, Viiicenzo, Dalla Ginipedia, 
 
 owero Awertimenti civili per Donna 
 
 nobile, 396, re. 
 Nolhac, P. de, and Solerti, A., // 
 
 Viaggio in Italia di Enrico III re 
 
 di Francia e lefeste a Venezia, etc., 
 
 437. n. 
 Nostredame, Jehan de, on the Courts 
 
 of Love, 25. 
 Nouvelles, see Stories. 
 Novati, F., Attraverso il Medio Evo, 
 
 51, re. ; Sulla composizione del Filo- 
 
 colo, 57, re. 
 Novelas, see Stories. 
 
INDEX 
 
 679 
 
 Novelle, see Stories. 
 
 Novelle di autori senesi, 297, n. 
 
 Novellieri minori del Cinguecento, 254, 
 n. 
 
 Nunez de Reinoso, Alonso, Historia 
 de los amores de Clareo y Flonsea y 
 los trabajos de Isea, 569; analysis 
 of 569-572; "questions" in, 571. 
 
 Nuvolone, P., Polisofo, 102, n. 
 
 Odoasio, Ludovico, teacher of Duke 
 
 Guidobaldo, 166; pronounces his 
 
 funeral oration, 166, n. 
 Odorici, Federico, Barbara Sanvitale 
 
 e la congiura del 1614 contro i 
 
 Farnesi, 222, n. 
 (Eumes cavalieres ou pieces galantes 
 
 et curieuses, 494. 
 Opdycke, L. E., The Book of the 
 
 Courtier, By Count Baldesar Cas- 
 
 tiglione, 168, n. 
 Ott, Adele, Die italienische Novelle im 
 
 Englischen Drama von 1600 bis 
 
 zur Restauration, 374, n. 
 Oulmont, C, Les DSbais du Clerc el 
 
 du Chevalier, 39, n. 
 Ovid, Ars amandi, 104, 202; Fasti, 
 
 265; Metamorphoses, 76, n.; Rem- 
 
 edia amoris, 104. 
 
 Palavicino, G., interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 174, n. 
 
 Palazzi, P. G., Le poesie inedite di 
 Sordello, 337, n. 
 
 Palmieri, Matteo, Delia Vita Civile, 
 368-373; imitation of Cicero's 
 De Officiis, 370, «.; of Quintilian's 
 Institutio Oratoria, 370, n. ; number 
 of guests at a banquet, 399, n. 
 
 Paltroni, P. A., Latin biography of 
 Frederick, Duke of Urbino, now- 
 lost, 163, n. 
 
 Pandolfini, A., II Governo delta 
 Famiglia, 363; a rifacimento of 
 Leon Battista Alberti's third book 
 of Delia Famiglia, 363, 368. 
 
 Paolino, Fra, Trattato de Regimine 
 Rectoris, 362. 
 
 Papa, P., Un capitolo delle Definizioni 
 di Jacomo Serminocci, 62, n. 
 
 Papanti, G., Catalogo dei Novellieri 
 in prosa, 90, n.; Dante secondo la 
 tradizione e i novellatori, 371, n. 
 
 Parabosco, G., / Diporti, 251; frame 
 of the work, 252-256; subjects 
 discussed in, story-tellmg, 253; 
 "questions," 254-255; Lettere am- 
 orose, 251, n., 476; "questions 
 discussed in, 254, n. ; French trans- 
 lation of, 252, »., 476- 
 
 Paradoxes, debated in Academies, 
 150; Died Paradossi degli Acad- 
 emici Intronati da Siena, 150. 
 
 Paris, G., ChrStien Legouvais et autres 
 traducteurs ou imitateurs d'Ovide, 
 7, w. ; Le conte de la charrette, 7, n., 
 98, ».; La litterature frangaise au 
 moyen dge, 13, n.; Vie de Saint 
 Alexis, 343, n. 
 
 Parlor games, The Courtier of Casti- 
 glione a parlor game, 263; men- 
 tioned in the prefaces of Bandello, 
 263 ; in use in Italy as early as the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 263; invention claimed for Siena, 
 263; for the court of Urbino, 263; 
 mentioned by Ariosto, 263, 264, ».; 
 Bembo's sonnet on game known in 
 Siena, 264; cultivated to an un- 
 usual extent at Siena, 267; most 
 elaborate treatise on, by Sienese 
 writer, 267; occasional references 
 to, in the literature of England in 
 the sixteenth, seventeenth, and 
 eighteenth centuries, 533, n., 541; 
 in France, 482 et seq.; modern 
 Italian collections of, 308, n.\ in 
 Spanish literature, 585-592. List 
 of games described in this work; 
 Advice, 275; Alphabet, 317; Ani- 
 mals,' 276; Bassetta, 274; Bath, 
 307; Beauty, 289; Bird in a Tree, 
 538; Bisticcio, 26<); Blindfold, 271, 
 306, M.; Blind Men, 306; Cavalier, 
 286; Challenges and Reconcilia- 
 tions, 306; Chase, 288, 307; Chase 
 of Love, 307, ».; Chess, 289; 
 Chiromancy, 270; Cities, 287; 
 Commands, 536, 541, 590; Com- 
 parisons, 269; Council of the 
 Gods, 287; Court of a Prince, 274; 
 Crab, 534; Crambo, 537; Cross 
 Purposes, 537; Crying one's Trade, 
 270; Customs, 275; Death, 288; 
 Desires, 266; Devices, 279, 299; 
 Devil's Music, 271; Dice, 274; 
 Dreams, 269; Dumbshow, 287; 
 Elements, 287; Ensigns or Ban- 
 ners, 299; Envy, 289; Epitaphs, 
 274; Favors between Husband 
 and Wife, 274; Figure of Love, 
 278; Folly, 275, 320, ».; Garden, 
 315; Gardener, 301, 315. »■; 
 Gems, 288; Gliphing, 538; Glori- 
 ous Deeds, 288; Hat, 272; Hosts 
 and Guests, 274; Jealousy, 289, 
 320, re.; Letras, las, 2,17; Life, 288; 
 Love, 286; Love Questions, 300; 
 Lovers' Alphabet, 538, see also 
 Alphabet; Lovers' Hell, 272 ; Mad- 
 
680 
 
 INDEX 
 
 ness, 289; Merchant, 289; Metals, 
 288; Misfortunes in Love, 280; 
 Mountains, 287; Muses, 290; 
 Mutola, 2 jo; Oaths, 269; Olden 
 Times, 273; Omens, 274; Parte, delta 
 piu bella, 265; Philosopher, 290; 
 Physician, 289; Physiognomy, 270; 
 Pilgrimage, 280; PodestA, il, 265; 
 Poets, 290; Progress of Love, 275; 
 Proposito, 264, «., see also Pur- 
 poses; Proverbs, 279; Purposes, 
 533i i^-t see also Cross Purposes, 
 Proposito. In addition to the 
 references already given on p. 
 533, n. may be added one in 
 George Gascoigne's The Posies, 
 ed. J. W. Cunliffe, p. 47. "This 
 royal banquet thus passed over, 
 the Author Knowing that after 
 supper they should pass the time 
 in propounding of Riddles and 
 making of purposes." "Ques- 
 tions," 273, 300, n.; Questions 
 and Commands, 536; Reverses 
 (of a medal), 280; Riddles, Sienese 
 game of, 265; Seas, 287; Secret, 
 270, 289; Senate of Love, 274; 
 Ship, 274; Siege, 304; Slaves, 274; 
 Society, 412; Solitude, 400; Stupid 
 Acts, 280; Substantive and Ad- 
 jective, 534; Supplications, 275; 
 Temple of Love, 302 ; Temple of 
 Venus or of Cupid, 272; Thief, 
 288; Trades, 269; Transforma- 
 tions, 269; Trees, 288; Trees and 
 Birds, 288; Versification, 277; 
 Virtues, 288; War, 288; Weight, 
 271; Whispering, 271; Why one 
 came to the Company, 271 ; Wild 
 Beasts, 290, ». ; Wisdom, 275. 
 
 Parnasso Italiano, 360, n. 
 
 Partimen, 9. 
 
 Pasolini, P. D., Catarina Sforza, 
 201, n. 
 
 Pasquier, Etienne, birth and educa- 
 tion, 465; studies law three years 
 in Italy, 465; successful advocate 
 at the bar of Paris, 465; appointed 
 avocat general, 466; resigns in 
 favor of son, 466; dies at age of 
 eighty-six in 1615, 466; author of 
 important historical work, the 
 Recherches de la France, 466; 
 Monophile, analysis of, 466-474; 
 "question" in, 472; Collogues 
 d' Amour, 474-476; "question" in, 
 475; Lettres amoureuses, 476; ex- 
 aggerated preciosite in, 477, 478; 
 Ordonnances generalles d Amour, 
 479- 
 
 Pasquin, A. C, Ange Pandolfini et 
 son traits du gouvernement de la 
 famille, 368, n.; Mathieu Palmieri 
 et sa vie civile, 369, n.; Voyages 
 historigues et Utteraires en Italie, 
 III, n. 
 
 Passano, G. B., / NovelUeri italiani 
 in prosa, 90, 251, n., 297, «., 315, n. 
 
 Passatempo, il, ossia Raccolta di 
 Quaranta Ciuochi e di Dodici Burle 
 per divertire onestamente le brigate 
 nelle veglie, 308, n. 
 
 Pastor, L., Geschichte der Pdpste, 
 362, n. 
 
 Patrizio, Francesco, a Dalmatian 
 nobleman, appears in Romei's 
 Discorsi, 224, passim; pronounces 
 discourse on Beauty, 225. 
 
 Pauli, J., Schimpf und Ernst, 420, n. 
 
 Peace, mode of making, and settling 
 quarrels, 234. 
 
 Pellegrini, F. C., Agnolo Pandolfini e 
 il Governo delta Famiglia, 364, n. 
 
 Pellisson, P., and D'Olivet, P. J., 
 Histoire de I'AcadSmie jrangaise, 
 487, ».; see also Madame de la 
 Suze. 
 
 Pena, Pedro Muiioz, El Teatro del 
 Maestro Tirso de Molina, 594, n. 
 
 Percopo, E., Marc' Antonio Epicuro, 
 143, n., 184, n. 
 
 Perez de Montalvan, J., Para Todos, 
 analysis of, 609-613; comedies in, 
 611, 613; autos in, 613; stories in, 
 613; Sucesos y prodigios de amor, 
 564, ». 
 
 Perez Pastor, Cristobal, Bibliografia 
 madrilena, 609, n., 615, n., 643, ». 
 
 Perott, J. de. The Probable Source of 
 Shakespeare's Tempest, 631, n. 
 
 Pescia, Pompeo della Barba da. 
 Due Primi Dialoghi, neW una 
 de'quali si ragiona de'segreti della 
 natura: net attro se sieno di maggior 
 pregio I'Arme le Lettere, 195, n. 
 
 Petrarch, character of his love for 
 Laura, 100; Platonic element in, 
 100; cited in discussions on love, 
 227, 230; lots drawn by opening a 
 volume of, 400; frequently used 
 in Parlor games, 278, 401, passim. 
 
 PhiUips, Edward, The Mysteries of 
 Love and Eloquence, or, the Arts of 
 Wooing and Complementing, 535; 
 "Questions" and Commands in, 
 536; Parlor games in, 537, 538. 
 
 Phillips, John, The English Fortune- 
 Tellers, a rifacimento of Lorenzo 
 Spirito's Detle Sorti, 544. 
 
 Phyltide et Flora, De, 39. 
 
INDEX 
 
 681 
 
 Picatoste, Felipe, Los Espanoles en 
 Italia, 643, n. 
 
 Piccolomini, Alessandro, De la Insti- 
 tutione di tutta la vita de I'homo nato 
 nobUe e in cittd, libera, 108; "ques- 
 tions" in, 108; La Raffaela, 
 Dialogo della bella creanza delle 
 Donne, 202, n., 377; author regrets 
 its immorality in Dell' Instituzione 
 morale, 378. 
 
 Pidal, P. J., Cancionero de Baena, 16, 
 »., 146, n. 
 
 Piedrabuena, Antolinez de, Carnesto- 
 lendas de Saragoza en sus tres dias, 
 621. 
 
 Pierre de Provence et la belle Mague- 
 lonne, 156. 
 
 Pietri, M., Le PStrarquisme au XVIe 
 siecle, 437, n. 
 
 Pietro da Napoli, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 174. 
 
 Pinkerton, Percy, Matteo Bandello: 
 Twelve Stories done into English 
 with a memoir of the author, 456, n. 
 
 Pino, B., Del Galantuomo, 206. 
 
 Pio (Pia), Emilia, friend of Duchess 
 Elisabetta of Urbino, 172; mar- 
 riage to natural brother of Guido- 
 baldo, 172; one of the interlocutors 
 in the Cortegiano, 172; manages 
 the social diversions of the court, 
 173; occupies prominent position 
 in the Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Pio, Ludovico, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Pisan, Christine de, Le debat des deux 
 amants, 47 ; Le livre des trois juge- 
 ments, 47 ; Le livre du dit de Poissy, 
 
 47- 
 
 Pitre, G., Bibliografia delle Tradizioni 
 popolari d'ltalia, 269, n., 291, n., 
 308, ». ; Indovinelli, Dubbi, Scio- 
 glilingua del Popolo Siciliano, 269, 
 n., 291, n.; Proverbi Siciliani, 
 401, n., 402, n., 414, n., 425, n., 
 432, n. 
 
 Plato, doctrine of love, 94; transla- 
 tions of his works, 102; Sym- 
 posium, 102, 107; Republic and 
 Laws, used by Cintio (Giraldi) 
 in his Tre Dialoghi della Vita Civile, 
 377; Republic quoted in Hep- 
 tamiron, 450. 
 
 Platonic philosophy, spread in France 
 by academies imitated from those 
 of Italy, 486. See also Love, 
 Platonic. 
 
 Plautus, Amphitruon, imitated by 
 Matias de los Reyes in Para 
 OS, 638, n. ; Persa, 266, n. 
 
 Plays as feature of social diversion,, 
 in Fortini's Novelle, 313, 314; in 
 Cigarrales de Toledo, 599, 601 ; in 
 Para Todos, 611; Cytara de Apolo,. 
 633; in Los Alivios de Casandra,. 
 636; in Fiestas del Jardln, 639, 
 640; in Casa del Plazer honesto,. 
 649. See also Autos or sacred 
 plays as feature of social diversion. 
 
 Pletho, Gemisthus, loi. 
 
 Pliny, Historia naturalis, 2, n. 
 
 Plutarch, mentions children's game 
 in Life of Cato, 265; story of" 
 Alexander the Great burning the 
 palace of Xerxes, 266. 
 
 Poeti del prima secolo della lingua 
 italiana, 21, 82, ». 
 
 Poggiali, G., editor of Bandello's 
 Novelle, 240, n. 
 
 Polo, Gil, Diana, translated by Hars- 
 dorfer, 557. _ 
 
 Polo de Medina, Salvador Jacinto^ 
 Academias del Jardln, 651 ; scene 
 a villa near Murcia, object to divert 
 
 . the love-sick Anfiso, 652; analysis- 
 of, 652-654; attack on "cultismo,"" 
 654; Anfiso's love rewarded, 654. 
 
 Ponte, Caterina Sacca dal, her house 
 the scene of the supper described 
 in the Fourth Book of Guazzo's- 
 Civil Conversazione, 397, passim. 
 
 Poriiers, Mahius li, Le Court d'A- 
 mours, 41 ; analysis of, 41-45. 
 
 Possevini, G. B., Dialogo dell' Onore,. 
 
 351- n- 
 
 Pricieux, language of the, 189, n.\. 
 influence of Italian works on,. 
 252,?!.; exaggerated adverbs char- 
 acteristic of, and due to Italian 
 influence, 442, «.; "questions" 
 connected with, 488. 
 
 PrSciosite, in Pasquier's Lettres amour- 
 euses, 477, 478 ; in Voiture's letters, 
 491 ; in Fontenelle's letters, 496,, 
 
 497- 
 
 Preguntas, 17, 18, 19. 
 
 Premierfait, Laurens du, translator 
 of the Decameron into French, 444;: 
 translates works of Seneca and 
 Boccaccio's De casibus virorum il- 
 lustrium, 444, n. 
 
 Primaleone, 156. 
 
 Propertius, II, xii, Why Love is 
 depicted blind, young, naked, etc., 
 278, ». ; see also Love. 
 
 Provenjal influence, in general, 15, 
 n.; in Catalonia, 15, ».; in Ger- 
 many, 19, 19, ».; in Italy, 20, 
 20, n.; in Portugal, 17, 17, ».; 
 in Spain, 16. 
 
682 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Provengal poetry, not confined to 
 
 France, 15; spreads to Spain, 15; 
 
 in Catalonia, 15, 15, n.\ in Aragon, 
 
 15; in Castile, 15. 
 Provence, Greek influence in, 2; 
 
 origin of name, 2, n. 
 Proverbs, employed in Parlor games, 
 
 401. 
 Puymaigre, T. J., La cour litteraire 
 
 de Don Juan II, roi de Castille, 
 
 16, »., 17, n. 
 
 Quadrio, F. S., Delia storia e della 
 ragione d'ogni poesia, 20, »., 285, n., 
 
 499. »• 
 Queen, or King, elected to preside 
 
 over social diversions, see also 
 
 Arbiter bibendi. Rex convivii, 
 
 King. 
 Question-and-answer sonnet, Italian, 
 
 20, 20, »., 21. 
 
 Question de Amor, 91, 155, 179, n., 
 183, ». ; 209; attributed incor- 
 rectly to Diego de San Pedro, 209; 
 disguised names in, 209, ».; analy- 
 sis of, 210-214; devoted to the 
 discussion of a single "question," 
 214; Italian influence in, 214; 
 influence of Amadis and The Civil 
 Wars of Granada, 215; 255, n. 
 
 Questions d' Amour, avec leurs resolu- 
 tions, see Demandes damours. 
 
 Questions, as a genre of poetry, 
 47; as a social diversion, 19, n., 
 
 21, n., 45, »., 47, 62-88, 90, n., 141, 
 143, 145, 183, 293, 312, 414, et seq., 
 472, 475, 486-490, 507, 513, 524, 
 529. 531, 532, 536, 545, 551, 566, «., 
 567, 571. 606, 607. 
 
 Quicherat, Jules, Histoire du costume 
 en France, 442, n. 
 
 Quinones, Suero de, Passo Honroso, 
 16. 
 
 Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, imi- 
 tated by Palmieri in his Vita 
 Civile, y;o, n.; II, 4, Why Love is 
 depicted blind, young, naked, etc., 
 279, n. See also Love, Propertius. 
 
 Rabelais, Abbey of Theleme, 479, n. 
 Rabutin, Bussy, Maximes d Amour 
 
 ou Questions en prose, 489 ; Histoire 
 
 amoureuse des Gaules, 489, n. 
 Raccolta di novellieri italiani, 240, n., 
 
 260, 261, 297, n., 373, n. 
 Ragman, an English game of the 
 
 thirteenth century, 541. 
 Rajna, P., Tre studj per la storia del 
 
 libro di Andrea Cappellano, 27, ». ; 
 
 Le Corti d'Amore, 24, »., 27, n., 
 
 38, n.; Episodio delle Qtiestioni 
 d'Amore nel Filocolo, 62, n.; Per 
 chi studia I'Equicola, 1 19. 
 
 Rambouillet, H6tel de. Conversation 
 and "Questions" in the circle of, 
 488, n.; scholarly element in the 
 society of, 108, n.; society of the, 
 437, n. 
 
 Rambouillet, Marquise de, salon of, 
 I; of Italian descent, I. 
 
 Rathery, E. J. B., Influence de I'ltaUe 
 sur les lettres frangaises depuis le 
 Xllle Steele jusqu'au regne de 
 Louis XIV, 437, w. 
 
 Raynaud, G., Bibliographie des chan- 
 sonniers frangais des Xllle et 
 XlVe siecles, 13, «. 
 
 Raynouard, F. J. M., Choix des 
 poesies originates des Troubadours, 
 149, n., 324, »., 325, n., 327, n., 
 329, «. ; Lexique roman, 329, n. 
 
 Recueil, nouveau, de plusieurs et 
 diverses pieces galantes de ce temps, 
 
 494- , ., 
 
 Recueil de pieces en prose les plus 
 agreables de ce temps, 490, 494; 
 Parlor games in, 484; "Questions" 
 in, 490. 
 
 Recueils of the seventeenth century, 
 494. 
 
 Renier, R., Per la cronologta e la 
 composizione del libro de Natura di 
 Amore di Mario Equicola, 119, n.; 
 II tipo esietico della donna nel medio 
 evo, 138; La Vita Nuova e la 
 Fiammetta, 55, n., 98, n.; see A. 
 Luzio and R. Renier. 
 
 Rennert, H. A., The Spanish Pastoral 
 Romances, 581, ».; The Life of 
 Lope de Vega, 576, n. 
 
 Requestas, 17. 
 
 Respuesta, 17. 
 
 Reumorit, A. von, Beitrdge zur 
 italienischen Geschichte, 105, »., 
 106, n.; Die Herzoge von Urbino 
 in Beitrdge zur Italienischen Ge- 
 schichte, 162, n. 
 
 Rex at Roman banquets crea.ted by 
 imposition of a crown, 266, ».; 
 king or queen chosen for govern- 
 ment of a company, 399; see also 
 Arbiter bibendi. Rex convivii. 
 King, Queen. 
 
 Rex convivii, see Arbiter bibendi. 
 King, Queen. 
 
 Reyes, Matias de los, El Curial del 
 Parnaso, 637, n.; an imitation of 
 Boccalini's Ragguagli di Parnaso, 
 637, n.; Para Algunos, 637, n.; 
 stories told on a journey to Our 
 
INDEX 
 
 683 
 
 Lady of Guadalupe, 637, n.; 
 discussion of questions of magic, 
 637, n. ; analysis of, 638, n. 
 
 Riches, discourse on, in Roraei's 
 Discorsi, 236. 
 
 Riddles, form of social diversion, 
 231,260,291,318; favorite form 
 of diversion during Middle Ages, 
 291; has survived until present 
 day, 291 ; assumes literary form in 
 sixteenth century, 291; apparently 
 obscene nature of, 291; used as 
 materials for Parlor games and 
 story-telling, 292; in England, 
 534, n. In George Gascoigne's 
 The Posies, edited by J. W. Cun- 
 lifle, p. 47, reference is made to 
 Riddles: "This royal banquet 
 thus passed over, the Author know- 
 ing that after supper they should 
 pass the time in propounding of 
 Riddles, and making of purposes." 
 In Whetstone's An Heptameron of 
 Civil Discourses, 517; English col- 
 lection of riddles of the eighteenth 
 century, 533, n.; in Straparola's 
 Le Piacevoli Notti, 294; see V. 
 Cian, " Moiti," etc. di Bemho; see 
 Rua, G., in Archivio per lo Stiidio 
 delle Tradizioni Popolari, vol. VII, 
 427-449. 
 
 Ridolfi, L. A., Aretefila, 135, n., 
 
 '■55- 
 
 Rigutini, G., II Cortegiano del Conte 
 B. Castiglione, edited by, 169, n. 
 
 Ringhieri, Innocentio, Cento Giuochi 
 Uberali, et d'ingegno, 285; dedi- 
 cated to Catarina de' Medici, 
 Queen of France, 285; analysis of, 
 286-290; partial French translation 
 of, 290, n.; Parlor games in, 286, 
 287, 288, 289, 290, 307, n., 315, 
 320, ». ; Dialogo della Vita e delta 
 Morte, 285 ; French translation 285 ; 
 II Psalterio di David, 285 ; // Sole, 
 285. 
 
 Rios, Amador de los, Historia critica 
 de la literatura espanola, 16, n. 
 
 Ristelhuber, P., editor, see Henri 
 Estienne. 
 
 Robert, King of Naples, French in- 
 fluences at his court, 53. 
 
 Robinson, A. Mary F., Marguerite of 
 Angouleme, Queen of Navarre, 
 
 443. «■ 
 Rochegude, H. P. de, Parnasse 
 
 occitanien, 325, n. 
 Roguery, romances of, 617. 
 Rojas Villandrando, Augustin de. 
 
 El Viage entretenido, 578. 
 
 Romano, Ettore, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 173. 
 
 Romano, Giovanni Cristoforo, inter- 
 locutor in the Cortegiano, 174. 
 
 Romei, Annibale, family of Spanish 
 origin, but long settled at Ferrara, 
 219; in the service of Guidobaldo 
 II, Duke of Urbino, 219; returns 
 to Ferrara and serves Duke as 
 ambassador, 220; dies at Ferrara 
 in 1590, 220; Discorsi, 219, 220, ».; 
 analysis of, 220-239; translated 
 into French and English, 220, ».; 
 practical joke related in, 225, n. 
 
 Ronchini, A., Vita della contessa 
 Barbara Sanseverini, 222, ». 
 
 Rosi, M., Saggio sui trattati d'amore 
 del cinquecento, loi, ».; Scienza 
 d'amore nei trattati amorosi del 
 cinquecento, loi, »., 121, «.; 137, 
 »., 139. 
 
 Rosini, G., editor, see T. Tasso. 
 
 Rosier, A., Cardinal Johannes Do- 
 minici: Ein Reformatorenhild aus 
 der Zeit des grossen Schisma, 362, n. 
 
 Rossetti, D. G., Dante and his Circle, 
 
 99. »•. 
 
 Rossetti, G., II mister dell' amor 
 platonico del medio evo, loi, re. 
 
 Rossetti, W. M., Early Italian Cour- 
 tesy-Books, 351, n. 
 
 Rossi, A., Gli Asolani del Bemho, 109, 
 re., 118, re. 
 
 Rossi, G., La Collezione Giordani della 
 Biblioteca Communale di Bologna, 
 141, n., 201, re. 
 
 Rossi, G. B. de, Dizionario storico 
 degli autori ebrei e delle loro opere, 
 120, n. 
 
 Rossi, v., Battista Guarini ed il 
 Pastor Fido, 219, re. ; editor, see 
 A. Calmo. 
 
 Rovere, Francesco Maria della, Gui- 
 dobaldo's heir and successor, inter- 
 locutor in the Cortegiano, 173; 
 succeeds Guidobaldo, 204, re.; an- 
 naxes Pesaro, 204, re.; bestows 
 title of count on Castiglione, 204, 
 re. ; expelled from his state, 204, re. ; 
 restored in 1521, 205, re.; dies 
 in 1538, 205, re. 
 
 Rowbotham, J. F., The Troubadours 
 and Courts of Love, 25, re. 
 
 Roy, E., La Vie et les CEuvres de 
 Charles Sorel, 278, re., 291, »., 
 308, re., 459, re., 484, re., 499, re. 
 
 Rua, G., Intorno alle Piacevoli Notti 
 dello Straparola, 292, re. 
 
 Rudel, Jaufre, and the Countess of 
 TripoH, 133, re., 156. 
 
684 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ruiz, Juan, Archpriest of Hita, 
 praise of little women, 430, n. 
 
 Ruscelli, G., Che la Donna sia di 
 gran lungo piU. nobile e piil degna 
 deU'Huomo, 201, n. 
 
 Sadoleto, Jacopo, Castiglione writes 
 to him in regard to the Cortegiano, 
 176. 
 
 Sala, Countess di, appears m Romei's 
 Discorsi, 222. 
 
 Salas Barbadillo, Alonso Geronimo 
 de, born at Madrid in 1 58 1, 643; 
 educated at Alcala, 643; agent for 
 business of New Spain, 643; 
 banished on account of quarrel 
 with member of Persian embassy, 
 644; second banishment and resi- 
 dence at Saragossa, 644; returns to 
 Madrid in 1613, 644; prolific 
 writer of novels, poetry, and satires 
 until his death in 1635, 644; only 
 one of his works. El necio Men 
 afortunado, directly translated into 
 English, 644; another came into 
 English through Scarron's nouvelle, 
 Les Hypocrites, 644; Dos novelas 
 de, reimpresas por la Sociedad de 
 Bibliofilos Espanoles, 6^5, n.; Casa 
 del plazer honesto, 643; analysis 
 of, 645-651 ; scene laid at Madrid, 
 where four friends establish a sort 
 of Academy, 645; rules of, 646- 
 647; admission by examination, 
 648; entertainments consist of 
 comedies, stories, music, etc., 648- 
 651 ; company broken up by 
 sudden death of one of their 
 number, 651 ; The Fortunate Fool, 
 written in Spanish by A. G. de 
 Salas Barbadillo, translated into 
 English by P. Ayres, 644; La 
 Hija de Celestina, 644; longer 
 version under the title of La 
 ingeniosa Elena, 644; imitated by 
 Scarron in Les Hypocrites, 644. 
 
 Salomone-Marino, S., II Libra delle 
 Finte Sorti, 296, n. 
 
 Salvadori, G., La poesia giovanile e la 
 canzone d'amore di Guide Caval- 
 canti, 99, re. 
 
 Salyini, Anton Maria, studies law at 
 Pisa, 145; obtains Greek professor- 
 ship at Florence, 146; contributes 
 to dictionary of the Delia Crusca 
 Academy, 146; prominent in Acad- 
 emy of the Apatisti, 146; discusses 
 "questions" and "doubts" in 
 same, 146. 
 
 Salza, Abd-el-Kader, Imprese e divise 
 d'arme e d'amore nel Orlando 
 Furioso, 184, n. 
 Samson, his riddle, 265. 
 
 San Pedro, Diego Fernandez de, 
 Car eel de Amor, 91, n. 
 
 Sanesi, Ireneo, // Cinquecentista Or- 
 tensio Lando, 151, re. 
 
 Sansovino, F., Ragionamenlo nel 
 quale s'insegna la bella arte d'Amore, 
 136. 
 
 Santangelo, S., Le Tenzoni poetiche 
 nella leiteratura italiana delle origini, 
 21, re. 
 
 Santi (Sanzio), Giovanni, Federigo 
 di Montefeltro, duca di Urbino, 
 cronaca, zum ersten male heraus- 
 gegeben von H. Holtzinger, 163, n. 
 
 Santoro, D., Appunti su Mario 
 Equicola, 119, re. 
 
 Saputello, il, in conversazione owero 
 giuochi di sala e passatempi curiosi, 
 308, re. 
 
 Sarasin, J. F., one of the frequenters 
 of the H6tel de Rambouillet, 481; 
 author of society verse, historical 
 works, and translation of Nepos' 
 life of Atticus, 481; Dialogue, 
 S'il faut qu'un jeune homme soil 
 amoureux, 481. 
 
 Saturnalia, 265, re. 
 
 Savino, L., Di alcuni iraltati e 
 trattatisti d'amore italiano della 
 prima metd del secolo XVI, loi, n., 
 118, n., 119, n., 120, re., 126, »., 
 128, re., 131, re., 174, re. 
 
 Scandiano, Leonora Tieni, Countess 
 of, stepdaughter of the Countess 
 di Sala, appears in Romei's Dis- 
 corsi, 223, passim. 
 
 Scarron, P., imitates Salas Barba- 
 dillo 's La ingeniosa Elena in his 
 nouvelle, Les Hypocrites, 644; Rom- 
 an Comique, 578. 
 
 Sceve, Maurice, 453. 
 
 Scheler, J. A., Notices et extraits, 343, 
 ».; Trouveres beiges du Xlle au 
 XlVe siecle, 13, re., 48, re., 49, re.; 
 Nouvelle serie, 343. 
 
 Schevill, R., Some forms of the Riddle 
 Question and the exercise of the 
 wits in popular fiction and formal 
 literature, 566, re. 
 
 Schneider, Adam, Spaniens AnteU 
 an der deutschen Litteratur des 16. 
 und J/. Jahrhunderts, 556, re. 
 
 Schreiber, J., Die Vaganten-Strophe 
 der mittellateinischen Dichtung, 39, 
 re. 
 
 Schultz, A., Das hofische Leben zur 
 
INDEX 
 
 685 
 
 Zeit der Minnesinger, 5, n 6 re 
 7, n. ' ■' 
 
 Schultz, O., Die Lebensverhdltnisse 
 der italienischen Troubadours, 20, n. 
 
 Schwalbach, F. C, Die Verbreit'ung 
 der Sage von Flore und Blanscheflur 
 in der europdischen Literatur, 58, n. 
 
 Schwan, E., Die Entstehung der 
 Blumenspiele von Toulouse, 16, n. 
 
 ScioglUingua, collocation of words 
 difficult to pronounce, 269. 
 
 Scott, Mary Augusta, Miss, £^120- 
 bethan Translations, 90, n., 103, re., 
 143. n., 152, re., 154, re., 178, re., 
 184, re., 202, re., 214, »., 241, re., 
 351, M-, 374. n., 381, re., 388, re., 
 456, re., 474, re., 506, re., 511, »., 
 
 532. "■, 533> 553, «■; reviews of, 
 506, re. 
 
 Scott, Michael, and the Emperor 
 Frederick II, 95. 
 
 Scriptores, erotici, 69, re. 
 
 Scriva, Ludovico, Veneris Tribunal, 
 85, re.; analysis of, 215. 
 
 Scudery, Madeleine de. Parlor game 
 in the introduction, Les Jeux, to 
 her romance of Mathilde d'Aguilar, 
 483; in Clelie, 484; "questions" 
 in Le Grand Cyrus, 488; in Clelie, 
 488. 
 
 Segni, B., Storie Fiorentine, 297, re. 
 
 Selbach, L., Das Streitgedicht in der 
 altprovenzalischen Lyrik, 8, re., 
 9, re., 10, re., 13, re., 22, re., 23, re., 
 24, re. 
 
 Serafino, Fra, interlocutor in the 
 Cortegiano, 174. 
 
 Serassi, P., Life of Castiglione, 168, re. ; 
 Letters of Castiglione, 168, re., 170, 
 re., 171, re., 175, re., 177, re., 187, re. 
 
 Sercambi, Giovanni, Novelle, 257. 
 
 Sermini, Gentile, Novelle, 257-258. 
 
 Sescas, Amanieu de, Ensenkamen, 
 didactic poem on behavior of a 
 lady, 49, 329-332; ensenkamen, 
 didactic poem on behavior of a 
 squire or youth, 49, 332-335- 
 
 Sessa, see Augustinus Niphus Sues- 
 anus. 
 
 Shakespeare, indebted to Giraldi 
 (Cintio) for plots of Othello and 
 Measure for Measure, 374; possible 
 use of Guazzo's Civil Conversazione, 
 388, re. ; Midsummer Night's Dream, 
 Act I, I, Why Love is depicted 
 blind, young, naked, etc., 278, re.; 
 The Tempest, 214, re.; Eslava's No- 
 ches de Invierno a possible source of 
 The Tempest, 630, re. 
 Sieper, E., Die Geschichfe von Soliman 
 
 und Perseda in der neueren Littera- 
 tur, 460, re. 
 Simiani, C., Nicolb Franco, La vita e 
 
 le opere, 139, re. 
 Simpson, R., The School of Shake- 
 
 _ speare, 462, re. 
 Sizeranne, R. de la, Une Violation de 
 neutralite au XVIe siicle, Cesar 
 Borgia & Urbino, 166, re. 
 
 Society, French, based upon Italian 
 society, 2; Italian, influenced by 
 French society, 2; Polite, origin in 
 France, i ; cultivated in the salon 
 of the Marquise de Rambouillet, i ; 
 essentially courtly, 159; first mani- 
 fested in castles of Southern 
 France, 159; in Italy cities were 
 centres of, 159. 
 
 Sodo, il, principal interlocutor in 
 Bargagli's Dialogo de' Giuochi, 
 263, passim. 
 
 Soderhjelm, W., Anteckningar om 
 Martial d'Auvergne och hans Kdr- 
 leksdomnar, 25, re. 
 
 Solerti, A., Ferrara e la Corte Estense, 
 147, re., 195, re., 220, re., 222, re., 
 223, re., 224, re., 225, re., 231, re., 
 232, re., 235, re.; Tratlenimenti di 
 societd. nel secolo XVI, 267, re. See 
 also Nolhac, P. de. Vita di 
 Torguato Tasso, 123, «., 125, «., 
 147, n., 219, re., 223, re., 225, re.; 
 editor, see A. Mosti. 
 
 Soliman and Perseda, anonymous 
 Elizabethan play, 460; story of, 
 460. 
 
 Solorzano, see Alonso de Castillo 
 Solorzano. 
 
 Sommer, E., Flore und Blanscheflur, 
 58, re. 
 
 Sordello di Goito, Documentum ho- 
 noris, Provencal ensenhamen on the 
 life of a lady or gentleman of rank, 
 
 337-339- 
 
 Sorel, Charles, introduces Italian 
 Parlor games into France by his 
 La Maison des Jeux, and Les 
 Recreations galantes, 320, re., 482; 
 Les Recreations galantes, 291 ; imi- 
 tation of Bargagli and Ringhieri, 
 291, 459, re.; Le Berger Extravagant, 
 564, re. ; see Jean de la Lande. 
 
 Sorio, B., Letture sopra il Filocopo di 
 G. Boccaccio, 58, re. 
 
 Sortes Virgilianae, 400, re. 
 
 Spaniards in Italy, 208. 
 
 Spanish influence at the Italian 
 courts, 208. 
 
 Spanish Romances of Chivalry in- 
 fluential in Italy, 273, ».; Amadis 
 
686 
 
 INDEX 
 
 series translated into Italian, 273, 
 n.\ imitated by B. Tasso, T. Tasso, 
 and L. Alamanni, 273, n. 
 
 Spanish rule in the North of Italy, 
 208. 
 
 Spectator, The, reference to Parlor 
 games in England, 541. 
 
 Spencer, F., editor, see Urbane. 
 
 Speroni, Sperone, Dialogues, 125; 
 Dialogo d'Amore, 126; analysis of, 
 126-127; Delia dignith delle donne, 
 in Dialoghi, 202, ».; In lode delle 
 donne, in Dialoghi, 202, n. 
 
 Sphynx, enigmas of, 265. 
 
 Spirito, Lorenzo, fortune-telling book, 
 Delle Sorti, translated into French, 
 484, n.; into English, 542, 544. 
 
 Steinschneider, M., Rangstreit-Lilera- 
 tur, 39, n. 
 
 Stimming, A., Provenzaliscke Littera- 
 tur, 12, n. 
 
 Stories related as a feature of social 
 diversion, Arienti, Sabadino degli, 
 Le Porretane, 259; Bandello, M., 
 Novelle, 244, et seq.; Bargagli, S., 
 / Trattenimenti, 301, 304, 305, 306; 
 Bembo, P., Gli Asolani, 112; 
 Boccaccio, G., Decameron, 92, 
 passim; Caravajal y Saavedra, 
 Mariana de, Navidades de Madrid, 
 629; Castillo Solorzano, A. de, 
 Alivios de Casandra, 635; Fiestas 
 del Jardin, 6^0; Huertade Valencia, 
 641 ; Jornadas alegres, 637 ; Noches 
 de Plazer, 623; Quinta de Laura, 
 636 ; Sala de Recreacion, 62 1 ; 
 Tardes Entretenidas, 635; Tiempo 
 de Regocijo, 618, 619, 620; Erizzo, 
 S., Le sei giornate, 260; Eslava, 
 Antonio de, Noches de Invierno, 
 630; Firenzuola, A., Ragionamenti, 
 105, 106; Fortini, P., Novelle, 309, 
 et seq.; Greene, Robert, Euphues 
 his Censure, 523; Farewell to Folly, 
 527; Penelope's Web, 522; Lugo y 
 Avila, Francesco de, Teatro popular, 
 633; Lyly, John, Euphues, 529; 
 Mil4n, Don Luis, El Corlesano, 
 218; Mori, A., de, Giuoco Piacevole, 
 320; Navarre, Marguerite de, 
 Heptameron, 449; Parabosco, G., 
 / Diporti, 253; Perez de Montal- 
 van, ]., Para Todos, 612; Prate, 
 Giovanni di. Paradise degli Alberti, 
 94, 96; Ridolfi, L. A., Aretefila, 
 156; Salas Barbadillo, Alonso 
 Geronimo de, Casa del Plazer 
 honesto, 647-651; Scudery, Made- 
 leine de, Mathilde, 483; Tirso de 
 Molina, Cigarrales de Toledo, 602; 
 
 Deleytar Aprovechando, 604, 605; 
 Whetstone, George, Heptameron, 
 513, 514, 515. 520; Yver, Jacques, 
 Printemps, 460; Zayas y Soto- 
 mayor, Maria de, Novelas amorosas, 
 624, 625. 
 
 Story-telling as a social diversion, 
 257-260; discussion of the matter 
 of the stories, 261 ; see also Stories. 
 
 Stoutz, F. Decrue de. La cour de 
 France et la sociSte au XVIe siecle, 
 
 437. «• 
 
 Straparola, G. F. da Caravaggio, 
 Le Piacevoli Notti, 261, 292; 
 analysis of frame or setting, 292- 
 294; "questions" in, 293; riddles 
 in, 294. 
 
 Suarez de Figueroa, Cristobal, El 
 Pasagero, 578; frame of,' 579; 
 "questions" in, 580; Pusilipo, 580. 
 
 Suchier, H., Denkmaler provenzal- 
 ischer Literatur und Sprache, 12. 
 
 Suchier, W., Zu den altfranzosischen 
 Minnefragen, 41, n., 153, n. 
 
 Suesanus, Augustinus Niphus, De re 
 aulica, translated by F. Baldelli 
 under title of II Cortegiano, 206; 
 De Pulchro, 138, 568, n. 
 
 Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 265. 
 
 Sullivan, E., A Forgotten Volume in 
 Shakespeare' s Library (Guazzo's 
 La Civil Conversazione), 388, n.; 
 An Italian Book of Etiquette in 
 Shakespeare's Day (same), 388, «. 
 
 Suze, Madame de la, et Monsieur 
 Pelisson, Recueil de pieces galantes, 
 "questions" in, 488. 
 
 Symonds, J. A., Italian Byways, 
 165, «.; In the Key of Blue and 
 other Prose Essays, loi, ».; Re- 
 naissance in Italy, Italian Litera- 
 ture, 240, n., 368, »., 369, n. 
 
 Tabarie, Hue de, Ordre de Chevalerie, 
 
 344- 
 
 Table manners, Provengal ensen- 
 hamen concerning behavior at 
 table, 339, 340, n.; English treat- 
 ises on table manners, 350; Italian 
 table etiquette, 351. 
 
 Taillemont, Claude de, Discours des 
 Champs Faez, 453; analysis of, 
 
 453-455- 
 Tasso, T., II Beltramo vera de la 
 Cortesia, 207; II Cataneo vera de 
 le conclusioni, 123, 148; analysis 
 of, 148-149; II cavaliere amante 
 e la gentildonna amata, 123; Con- 
 clusioni amorose, 147; Platonic 
 love in same, 148; Considerations 
 
INDEX 
 
 687 
 
 on the three Canzoni of M. Giov. 
 Battista Pigna, 125, ».; // Conte 
 omiero delV Imprese, 143, re., 184, re.; 
 debates in Academy of Ferrara 
 fifty questions concerning Love, 
 I47;_ Dialogo dei Casi d'Amore, 
 spurious dialogue attributed to, 
 123, n.; Discorso dell' Arte del 
 Dialogo, 122; Dialogues on Love, 
 122-125; Discourse on Two Ques- 
 tions of Love, 149; Gerusalemme 
 liberata, IX, 18, brief space between 
 Sleep and Death, 432, re.; II 
 Malpiglio o vera de la Corte, 206; 
 II Manso, vera de I'amicizia, 123; 
 II Minturno o vero de la Bellezza, 
 close imitation of Plato's Hippias 
 Major, 139; La Molza, vero de 
 I'Amore, 123; II Padre di Famiglia, 
 367, re. 
 Tatius, Achilles, Leucippe and Clito- 
 phon, partly translated by Ludovico 
 Dolce, 569, re. 
 Tellez, Gabriel, see Tirso de Molina. 
 Tenzon, origin of, 8, 8, re.; origin 
 ascribed to riddles, 39, 291, re.; 
 to imitation of Virgil's Eclogues, 
 39; to Latin debates, 39; form of, 
 22; in Italy, 20; judges in, 23; 
 judgments in, 23; in Portugal, 17; 
 Provencal, 9, re. 
 Texte, J., L Influence italienne en 
 
 France, 437, re. 
 Themistius, story of Eros and Anteros 
 
 in sixth oration, 230. 
 Thomas III, Marquis of Saluzzo, 
 Le Chevalier errant, 45; analysis 
 of, 45-46. 
 Thomas, A., Chastel d Amors, 41, re.; 
 Etude sur I'expression de I'amour 
 platonigue dans la poesie italienne 
 du moyen dge et de la Renaissance, 
 1 01, re.; Francesco Barberino et la 
 litterature provengale en Italie au 
 moyen dge, 20, re., 51, »., 353, »•, 
 360, re. 
 Thormann, P., Uno livro de sorti de 
 papa Bonifacio: Bin italienisches 
 Losbiichlein, 296, re. 
 Ticknor, George, History of Spanish 
 Literature, 17, re., 91, re., 209, re., 
 214, n., 566, »., 576, re., 590, re., 
 594, re., 614, re., 615, re., 626, 630, re., 
 632, »., 634, re. , „ , , 
 
 Tieck, L. J., Shakespeare's Vorschule, 
 
 462, ». 
 Tilley, Arthur, The Dawn of the 
 French Renaissance, 479, re.; The 
 Literature of the French Renaissance, 
 
 479. »• 
 
 Tilney, Edmund, Master of the 
 Revels in the royal household of 
 Queen Elizabeth from 1578 to 
 1608, 506; died in 1610, 507; A 
 briefe and pleasant discourse of 
 duties in Mariage, called the Flower 
 of Friendshippe, 506; analysis of, 
 507-511; A briefe and pleasant 
 discourse, etc., "questions" in, 
 507; shows acquaintance with 
 Boccaccio and Castiglione, 511. 
 Timotei, M., // Cortegiano, 206. 
 Tiraboschi, G., Storia delta lelteratura 
 italiana, 142, re. ; 143, re., 267, »., 
 .380, re., 398, re. 
 Tirabosco, Cristoforo, friend of Casti- 
 glione, has charge of the printing 
 of the Cortegiano, 178. 
 Tirso de Molina, El Burlador de 
 Sevilla y Combidado de piedra, 594; 
 Los Cigarrales de Toledo, 594; 
 analysis of, 595-602; comedies in, 
 599, 601, 602; story in, 602; 
 Deleytar Aprovechando, 21, »., 
 69, re., 85, re.; analysis of, 603-608; 
 stories in, 604, 605; autos in, 605, 
 608; "questions" in, 606. 
 Toilette, Woman's, 201, re. 
 Toldo, P., Contributo alio studio delta 
 novella francese del XV e XVI 
 secolo nelle sue attinenze con la 
 letteratura italiana, 436, re., 437, n. ; 
 443, »., 450, re.; Le courtisan dans 
 la litterature franqaise et ses rapports 
 avec I'ceuvre du Castiglione, 178, re. 
 Tornada, 22, 22, re., 23, 23, re. 
 Torneyamen, tenzons in which more 
 
 than two poets took part, 9, re. 
 Torraca, P., La scuola poetica sicili- 
 ana, 20, re. ; Federico II e la poesia 
 provenzale, 20, re. 
 Tortoles, Antonio Sanchez, El Entre- 
 tenido, 654; four friends form sort 
 of "academy" for entertainments 
 between Christmas Eve and Epiph- 
 any, 655; only ten academies are 
 held, 655; entertainment consists 
 of plays, music, and learned dis- 
 quisitions, 655; continued by 
 Moraleja y Navarro, 656. 
 Treasury of English Sonnets, 506, re. 
 Trojel, E., Middelalderens Elskovs- 
 hoffer, 24, re., 25, re., 28, re., 30, re., 
 31, re., 32, re , 34, n. 
 TroUope, T. A., A Decade of Itahan 
 
 Women, 278, re. 
 Troubadours, Italian, 20. 
 Trucchi, P., Poesie italiane, 21. 
 TuUia d'Aragona, Dialogue on The 
 Infinity of Love, 127; analysis of, 
 
688 
 
 INDEX 
 
 128-130; "question" in, 145, 11., 
 228, n. 
 
 Ugolini, F., Storia dei Conti e Duchi 
 d'Urbino, 162, n. 
 
 Ulrich, J., Pietro Foriini, Ein Beitrag 
 zur Geschichte der italienischen 
 Novelle, 308, n.; Robert von Blois 
 sammtUche Werke, 344, n. 
 
 Ungarelli, G., De' giuochi popolari e 
 fanciuUeschi specialmente in Bologna 
 fino al secolo XVI, 308, n. 
 
 Urbane, L'Apprise de Nurture, 340- 
 342- 
 
 Urbino, court of, relatively free from 
 cruelty and immorality, 161 ; cen- 
 tre of the most refined and elegant 
 society of Italy, 161 ; not renowned 
 in reign of Frederick for elegance 
 or gaiety, 171 ; duchy of, originally 
 a fief of lords of Montefeltro, 162; 
 adhered to Empire, 162; for 
 services rendered to Frederick II 
 Buonconte and brother Taddeo 
 raised to rank of count, 162; 
 Count Oddantonio created duke by 
 Eugenio IV, 162. 
 
 Uzanne, L. O., editor, see Guirlande 
 de Julie. 
 
 Vaganay, H., Sei secoli di corri- 
 spondenza poetica: Sonetti di 
 proposta e risposta, 21, n. 
 
 Valery, M., see A. C. Pasquin. 
 
 Valraaggi, L., Per le fonti del Cor- 
 tegiano, 179, n. 
 
 Varchi, Benedetto, birth and educa- 
 tion, 144; exile at downfall of 
 commonwealth of Florence, 144; 
 returns at solicitation of Cosimo I, 
 144; writes History of Florence 
 for him, 144; academic lectures, 
 144; relations to TuUia d'Aragona, 
 144, ».; "question" in lectures, 
 
 Varietes historiques et litt6raires, 465, 
 
 , »•- 479- 
 
 VaSconcello^j C. M. de and Braga, 
 T., Geschichte der portugiesischen 
 Litteratur, 17, n. 
 
 Vega Carpio, Lope Felix de. El 
 Peregrine en su Patria, 576; analy- 
 sisof, 576-578; El Azero de Ma- 
 drid, 634. 
 
 Vere, Edward de, Earl of Oxford, 
 "Love Questions," why Love is 
 depicted blind, young, naked, etc., 
 279, n. 
 
 Verzone, C, editor, see A. Grazzini. 
 
 Vesme, Carlo Baudi di, . Del reggi- 
 
 nieiito e costumi di donna di messer 
 Francesco Barberino, 51, n.; editor, 
 see F. da Barberino. 
 
 Veterano, ducal librarian, inventory 
 of library collected by Frederick, 
 Duke of Urbino, 165, n. 
 
 Veyrieres, L. de, Monographie du 
 sonnet, 437, n. 
 
 Vida, Hieronimo, Justinopolitano, 
 De' Cento Dubbi Amorosi, 153; 
 maintained publicly in the Acad- 
 emy of Capo d'Istria, 154. 
 
 Vidal, Raimon, Novella, So fo e'l 
 temps c'om era iays, 12; 12, n.; 
 on the decline of poetry, 51. 
 
 Vieri, M. F. de', detto il Verino 
 secundo, Discorsi, 121, n.\ Lezzione, 
 121, n., 139. 
 
 Vilainnengouste, roumans du, Old- 
 French poem on manners, 343, n. 
 
 Villa, in Greek and Roman civiliza- 
 tions, 4; how regarded by Italians 
 of the Renaissance, 160; Alberti's 
 praise of, 1 60-1 61. 
 
 Villalon, Cristobal de, studies at 
 Alcala and Salamanca, 567, n.; 
 takes degree of licentiate of the- 
 ology, 567, w. ; travels in Italy, 
 567, «.; captured by the Turks 
 and spends three years in cap- 
 tivity, 567, ».; escapes and reaches 
 Valladolid in 1555, after many 
 adventures, 567, n.\ Crotalon, 566, 
 567, n.; an imitation of Lucian's 
 Dialogues 567 ; " questions " in , 567. 
 
 Villari, P., Life and Times of Girolamo 
 Savonarola, 102, n. 
 
 Villegiatura, Roman fondness for, 
 never lost in Italy, 160. 
 
 VioUet-le-Duc, E. E., An Essay on 
 the Military Architecture of Ihe 
 Middle Ages, 5, n.; Annals of a 
 Fortress, 5, n. 
 
 Virgil, Aeneid, 250; Georgics II, 
 458, cited at supper described in 
 Fourth Book of Guazzo's Civil 
 Conversazione, 411. 
 
 Vittorino da Feltre, famous teacher 
 and instructor of Frederick, Duke 
 of Urbino, 164. 
 
 Voigt, L. G., Wiederbelebung des 
 classischen Alterthums, 368, n. 
 
 Voiture, V., Love letters, 491-492. 
 
 Wackernagel, W., Geschichte der 
 
 deutschen Litteratur, 8, n., 20, n.; 
 
 Ein Weib und drei Liebhaber, 69, n. 
 Ward, A. W., A History of English 
 
 Dramatic Literature to the Death of 
 
 Queen Anne, 563, n. 
 
INDEX 
 
 689 
 
 Ward, H. L. D., Catalogue of Ro- 
 mances in the Department oj MSS. 
 of the British Museum, 577, n. 
 
 Wartburgkrieg, 19. 
 
 Waters, W. G., translator, Nights of 
 Straparola, 292, n. 
 
 Weber, F. P., Aspects of Death and 
 Correlated Aspects of Life in Art, 
 Epigram and Poetry, 432, n. 
 
 Wechssler, Eduard, Frauendienst und 
 Vctssaiitat, 8, n.; Das KuUur- 
 prohlem des Minnesangs, 8, re.; 
 Ein allfranzosicher Katechismus der 
 Minne, 13, n. 
 
 Weinhold, K., Die deutschen Frauen 
 in dem Mittelalter, 6, «., 7, »., 
 291, n. 
 
 Wesselofsky, A., Life of Boccaccio, 
 54, re.; Paradise degli Alberti, g2t ^■ 
 
 Whetstone, George, dates of birth and 
 death unknown, literary activity 
 from 1576 to 1582, 511; becomes 
 a soldier and leads an adventurous 
 life, 511; An Heptameron of CivU 
 Discourses; containing the Christ- 
 mas Exercise of sundrie well-courted 
 Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, 511; 
 analysis of, 512-520; "questions" 
 '"> 513! shows acquaintance with 
 the Heptameron and similar Italian 
 works, 520. 
 
 Wilkins, E. H., The Enamorment of 
 Boccaccio, 56, n. 
 
 William IX, Count of Poitiers, 
 reference to "questions," 4.7. 
 
 Wolf, F., Studien zur Geschichte der 
 spanischen und portugiesischen Na- 
 tionalliteratur , 15, re. 
 
 Wolff, S. L., Robert Greene and the 
 Italian Renaissance, 521, n. 
 
 Woman and Beauty, loi, re. 
 
 Woman and Man, relative merits of, 
 201, n., 235. 
 
 Woodward, \^'. H., Vittortno da 
 Feltre and other Humanist Educators, 
 164, re. 
 
 Wreath, of laurel or flowers used to 
 designate the one presiding over 
 social diversions, 66 (Filocolo), 
 133 (Betussi's La Leonora); 223 
 (Romei); 293 (Straparola); 309 
 
 (Fortini's Novelle); 454 {Champs 
 Faez); 507 (Tilnay); 600 {Cigar- 
 rales de Toledo). See also Cicer- 
 landa. 
 Wright, Thomas, Anecdota liter aria, 
 294. n., 541, re. 
 
 Xenophon, The Economist, imitated 
 by Tasso, 368, re. ; by Palmieri, 
 370. 
 
 Yver, Jacques, born about 1540 and 
 died in the massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew, 456; author of Le 
 Printemps, 456; analysis of 456- 
 464; Parlor game in, 459; English 
 translation of, 456, re.; sources of, 
 464. 
 
 Zayas y Sotomayor, Maria de, 
 Novelas amorosas y exemplares, 623: 
 scene at Madrid between Christ- 
 mas and Epiphany, 624; stories in, 
 624, 625; are to embody true 
 events and be termed desenganos, 
 
 Zeller, J., La Diplomatie fran^aise 
 vers le milieu du XVIe siecle, 
 242, re. 
 
 Zenker, R., Die provensalische Ten- 
 zone, 8, re., 9, re., 22, re., 23, re., 
 24, re., 47, re. 
 
 Zimmels, B., Leo Hebraeus, ein jii- 
 discher Philosoph der Renaissance, 
 120, re.; Leone Hebreo, Neue 
 Studien, 120, re. 
 
 Zonta, G., Arbitrati reali questioni 
 giocose? 37, re., 256, 320, re.; Note 
 Betussiane, 131, re.; Rileggendo 
 Andrea Cappellano, 37, re., 256; 
 Filippo Nuvolone e un suo dialogo 
 d'amore, 102, re.; Trattali d'Amore 
 del Cinquecento, 127, «., 131, re., 
 I33> 136, n., 137; Trattati del 
 Cinguecento sulla Donna, loi, ?j. 
 
 Zouch, Richard, Dr., The Sophister, 
 attributed to, 563, re. 
 
 Zumbini, B., // Filocolo del Boccaccio, 
 
 57. n. . J , 
 
 Zuiiiga, Juan Enriquez de, Amor con 
 vista, 569, re.