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''/ \^^,^,°^ -^ ,^ '^ %^^ ^/^£^^ ^.s^ ^^^^ %> ,^^^ .^r,^#A:^' % .0^ .^, ' % MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE J\/[en and banners of Old Florence 'By gUIDO ■SIAGI I : Librarian of the Laurentian and "Kiccardi Libraries^ Florence With Forty-nine Illustrations CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND CO. 1909 o ^%i HH3r {All rights reserved.] y/7 PREFACE ' I 'HESE five essays, which now appear for the first -*• time collected in book form, do not pretend to be a complete study of the private life of the Florentines in different centuries, but only sketches for a larger picture which I hope some time to be able to execute. But, although detached, these sketches give realistic glimpses of the social life in Florence from the thirteenth to the beginning of last century ; of the times, in short, when she had an individual life and character of her own, and her native manners and customs had not yet been submerged and lost in the great stream of modern influence and fashion. I should like to state, however, that these essays are founded upon entirely new material and documents which have never hitherto been used, and are in no way merely compiled from the usual hackneyed sources used and abused by most modern writers on Florentine subjects. I may say with Alfred De Musset : " Mon verre n est 'pas grand^ mais je bois dans mon verrey GUIDO BIAGI. Florence, the Laurentian Library, October, 1908. ^7 CONTENTS PAGE Florence within her Ancient Boundary . . 13 The Mind and Manners of a Florentine Merchant of the Fourteenth Century . 53 The Private Life of the Renaissance Florentines 83 TULLIA OF ArRAGON I4I The Twilight of the Past . . . .251 Index . . 315 ILLUSTRATIONS V LORENZO DEI MEDICI. BY VASARI (Alinari.) A VIEW OF FLORENCE IN THE FRESCO OF THE BIGALLO ..... {Alinari, ) THE WALLS OF FLORENCE .... (From the Chronicles by Villani of the Ch'igi Library.) SAN GIOVANNI ...... {From the Chronicles by Villani.') WOOL MERCHANTS ..... (From a miniature of the RiccarJi Library.) THE LAMB OF THE WOOL GUILD THE CORNCHANDLER IN HIS SHOP (From an early XIV. Century MS. in the Laurentian Library^ A CRAFTSMAN OF THE SILK GUILD (From a miniature of the Riccardi Lib. vy.) A CRAFTSMAN OF THE SILK GUILD (From the same MS.) SCENE IN CORN MARKET, FLORENCE . (From an early XIV. Century MS. in the Laurentian Library.) THE FRESCO IN THE RESIDENCE OF THE WOOL GUILD, REPRESENTING THE GOOD AND BAD OFFICERS .... . Frontispiece Facing page I 7 19 24 45 47 65 67 69 71 73 lo ILLUSTRATIONS / THE CORN MARKET OF OR SAN MICHELE . Facing page 75 {From an early XIV. Century MS, in the Laurentian Library.) THE CHURCH OF SANTA REPARATA AND THE CAMPANILE . . . , . }) 77 {From the same MS., called the " Biadajolo.") THE ANCIENT BOUNDARY OF FLORENCE . „ 79 {From the same MS?) THE FRESCO BY CENNINI IN THE PRISON OF THE STINCHB „ 81 ^ {Alinari?) THE PULPIT OF SAN PIERO SCHERAGGIO, FROM WHICH DANTE ADDRESSED THE PEOPLE „ 83 {Alinari.) SAN GIOVANNI, THE CAMPANILE, AND SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE IN A FRESCO OF SANTA CROCE THE PICTURE BY DOMENICO DI MICHELINO {From an old engraving.) OR SAN MICHELE, THE SHRINE BY ORCAGNA {Alinari.) THE OLD MARKET ..... {From a drawing by Burci. Alinari.) THE OLD MARKET BEFORE ITS DEMOLITION THE OLD MARKET WITH THE LOGGIA DEL PESCE BY VASARI .... {Alinari.) THE DEVIL, BY GIAMBOLOGNA, AT THE CORNER OF THE VECCHIETTI PALACE, IN THE OLD MARKET ... ,,97 (Alinari.) J> ":> » 87 n 89 » 91' j> 93 >5 95 ILLUSTRATIONS II THE FRESCO OF THE MONASTERY OF LECCETO, SHOWING GAMBLERS AND KEEPERS OF GAMING TABLES ..... THE LOGGIA OF THE BIGALLO . {Alinari.) , PORTRAIT OF FRANCESCO DATINI (Alinari.) THE TOMB OF FRANCESCO DATINI IN THE CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO, PRATO (Alinari.) FLORENTINE COSTUMES AT THE TIME OF THE DUKE OF CALABRIA, FROM THE FRESCO BY SIMONE MARTINI, CHAPEL OF THE SPAGNOLI, SANTA MARIA NOVELLA ...... (Alinari.) THE WEDDING OF BACCIO ADIMARI AND LISA RICASOLI . . (Alinari) THE HOLY SEPULCHRE IN THE RUCELLAI CHAPEL, SAN PANCRAZIO (Alinari. ) THE STROZZI PALACE. BY BENEDETTO DA MAJANO (Alinari.) SAVONAROLA IN HIS CELL .... THE SACRISTY OF SAN LORENZO (Alinari.) TULLIA OF ARRAGON .... (Alinari.) PIETRO ARETINO. BY TITIAN . . . (Alinari.) Facing page 98 100 102 104 ; 107 126 129 139 140 142 144 150 12 ILLUSTRATIONS FILIPPO STROZZI (^linari.) VITTORIA COLONNA. BY MUZIANO (Alinari.) A COURTESAN. BY PARIS BORDONE {^linari.) ELEONORA DI TOLEDO. BY BRONZING [Alinart.) THE GRAND DUKE FERDINAND III. . THE TOWER OF THE ADIMARI AT THE ENTRANCE OF VIA CALZAJOLI VIA CALZAJOLI, BEFORE THE ENLARGEMENT (From a contemporary dra-wing.) THE PONTE ALLE GRAZIE BEFORE ITS RE- STORATION {Alinari.) THE CORSA DEI BARBERI (a RACE BY BARE- BACKED horses). PICTURE BY GIOVANNI SIGNORINI [Brogi. ) A MASQUERADE IN PIAZZA SANTA CROCE . (Alinari.) A SCENE OF THE EPIPHANY {Alinari.) THE CHARIOT RACE IN THE PIAZZA SANTA MARIA NOVELLA. PICTURE BY GIOVANNI SIGNORINI {Alinari.) THE FIREWORKS ON THE PONTE ALLA CAR- RAJA. BY SIGNORINI .... (Alinari.) THE GRAND DUKE LEOPOLD II. . Facing page 162 » 169 J> 203 » 234 » 262 5) 265 JJ 267 >J 268 „ 270 „ 272 274 „ 276 „ 278 « 308 FLORENCE WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY Men and Manners of Old Florence FLORENCE WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY I IT is not easy for us of the present day to form a clear idea of old Fiorenza as she was when still surrounded by her ancient boundary, to reconstruct the beloved and longed-for image graven upon the heart of him who, during long and weary wanderings and all the sorrowful years of exile, still dwelt in memory in his own lost and distant city. To go back through the course of centuries is almost like mounting the stream of some mighty river. The tumultuous scenes of modern life are gradually left behind, and in their place we see before us the peaceful vision of a calm and smiling landscape as yet unspoiled by the terrors of civilisation. Higher still, where the stream flows clear and pure, its waters mirror the IS i6 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE solitary shores overgrown with shrubs and reeds, and at last the mighty river becomes a mere brook rippling amongst rocks and stones, between steep banks covered on either side with thick and tangled woods. Who would recognise in that tiny thread of silver water issuing from its far-off source the same muddy, troubled stream which, farther down its course, flows through crowded cities, turning machinery and bearing ships, until, made foul by their contact with human beings, its polluted waters mingle with the sea ! The Florentine landscape of the thirteenth century had none of those lines and colours which now lend such grace to its hills, such brilliant freshness to its plains. If we climb the hill of Fiesole to-day, we look down upon a city which seems built of ivory and stone ; the silver streak of the Arno winds westward through the shadowy valley like a dream, and spring- time gives a fresh setting of flowers and leaves to the sun-kissed monuments of her ancient glory. Then, however, the "fair and gay Florentine city, the fount of valour and of joy, the flower of cities, Fiorenza," as she was called by a thirteenth-century poet, Chiaro Davanzati, rose proud and dark and threatening, her hundred and fifty great towers and her battlemented walls surrounded by a moat, against a sombre back- ground of hills not yet brightened by houses and olive gardens, but covered with cypresses, tall and straight as lances, with oak and ash and fir-trees swaying and rustling in the keen tramontana wind. To the north were Monte Morello, I'Uccellatoio and the other spurs WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 17 of the Apennine range, turning to the fury of the wind their sides clothed with those thick woods of pine and fir which, later on, were cut down to provide beams and roofs for the new churches about to be built in the city. The Fiorenza of that time, enclosed within her stone walls, protected by bastions and forts with their countless little towers and spires, seemed like a beautiful woman warrior buckled in ;her iron armour bristling with sharp points. And only in later times, when the New Age had calmed her war- like spirit and softened the savage beauty of both soul and body, did she show her smiling face to the sun and set free her young limbs from their iron bonds. The few pictorial representations of that period which are still in existence, such as the frescoes of the Bigallo and the miniatures in the Biadajolo, or, the various reconstructions attempted by scholars like Vincenzo Borghini, that sixteenth-century forerunner of modern historical critics, show us the " ancient boundary," or first circle of walls, enclosing a perfect forest of towers, interspersed with the bright red roofs of lofty houses, nearly all of which were fur- nished with projecting parapets. It is difficult to recognise the Florence we know now in these old picture's, because we find there none of the monu- ments which make it familiar to our eyes. We miss Santa Maria del Ficre, with its great cupola and its majestic nave, the Campanile rising into the air like some tall palm-tree, and the Palace of the Priori, 2 i8 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE surmounted by its proud and slender tower. The Baptistery alone existed then, though it was not yet clothed with marble, and it was the only building amongst all those intended both for defence and defiance, all those houses which were more like strongholds than private dwellings, to be saved and destined for a nobler fate. The descriptions left by old chroniclers and con- firmed by recent excavations enable us to determine the site of the ancient walls with absolute certainty. The moat and wall, which together formed the city boundary, ran on the eastern side from the Castello d'Altafronte, where is now the Piazza dei Giudici, to San Firenze and the Badia and up the Via del Proconsolo, forming an angle on the northern side of the Piazza del Duomo, opposite to the modern Cathedral Museum. Thence it went in a straight line past the Baptistery and the Archbishop's house, along the present Via dei Cerretani. Near the corner of the Via Rondinelli the moat joined the Mugnone river, which then took its place, and flow- ing past San Michele Berteldi, now San Gaetano, and the houses of the Tornaquinci, afterwards called Tornabuoni, it emptied itself into the Arno at the point where the Santa Trinita bridge was subsequently erected. On the south side the walls followed the site of the Via delle Terme as far as Por Santa Maria, and from the corner of the present Via Lam- bertesca they continued behind the church of San en WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 19 Piero Scheraggio, which stood where is now the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery. That part of the moat was named Scheraggio and it collected all the rain-water of the city and carried it to the Arno. Giovanni Villani ' wrote that Florence possessed good walls with towers at frequent intervals, and four principal gates. These were the Porta San Piero, at the point where the Corso joins the Via del Proconsolo ; the Porta del Duomo (or San Giovanni), in earlier times called the Bishop's Gate, opposite the end of the Borgo San Lorenzo ; the Porta San Brancazio, at the junction of streets near the Strozzi Palace ; and finally the Porta Santa Maria, which stood opposite the earliest bridge, built " upon stone piles sunk in the Arno," and eventually called the Old Bridge, or Ponte Vecchio, after the construc- tion of the new bridge, or Ponte alia Carraia. Each gate had a secondary or outer gate, enclosed within battlemented walls, the space in between being a courtyard, which spanned the moat supported on two arches. The lateral towers were of two storeys, surmounted by machicolated platforms and having loopholes through which stones could be hurled at the enemy, or boiling liquid and burning rubbish dropped upon his head. The surrounding country was then of singular aspect. Beyond the Arno, San Miniato turned its glistening marble fagade towards the sunset, but there were no smiling villas and gardens to keep it company as there are to-day. Here and there were 20 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE poor huts and cabins, inhabited by peasants and labourers, with occasionally walled enclosures or fortified farmhouses, wherein men, cattle and pro- visions were protected against hostile raids. In those days everything was devised for the safety of persons and property, for robbery and murder were looked upon as ever-present and inevitable dangers. Towards the middle of the thirteenth century, however, when populous suburbs had sprung up outside each gate, beyond the first circle of walls, and churches and public buildings stood where were formerly only bare fields, the second circle of walls was erected to enclose and protect these new quarters, as happens in every case of town extension. The principal enlargement of the city took place on the south side of the Arno, with the enclosure of the three populous suburbs whose chief streets meet at the end of the present Ponte Vecchio. These were the Borgo Pidiglioso, which extended as far as Santa Lucia de Magnoli and was inhabited by poor and dirty people ; the Borgo Santa Felicita, otherwise called the Borgo di Piazza, and the Borgo di San Jacopo, which had a gate near the houses where after- wards dwelt the Frescobaldi family. Thus the new city of Florence on the right side of the Arno possessed five gates, one for each of the five districts, beside several small postern gates, of which I will only mention the names. On the east was the Porta di San Pier Maggiore. On the north side was the Porta degli Albertinelli, at the present entrance to WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 21 the Borgo Pinti ; the Porta di Balk, where is now San Michelino, and the Porta di San Lorenzo, at the corner of the present Via dei Ginori. On the western side were the small gates called Campo Corbolino, del Baschiera and del Trebbio, and the Porta di San Paolo at the entrance to Via Palazzuolo. The walls, not very high on the river side, now enclosed within the boundary the suburbs of San Brancazio, Parione, Santo Apostolo, and Santa Maria as far as the bridge, and continued along the river-bank as far as the Castello d'Altafronte. At this point they left the side of the Arno and turned northward at the Ruba- conte Bridge, now called Ponte alia Grazie, towards the corner of the Colonnine, where stood the Porta dei Buoi, or Cattle Gate, so called because the cattle market was held just outside it. This name was subsequently changed to that of the Porta da Messer Ruggero da Quona, however, when the da Quona faniily took up their residence in the dwelling which was situated over the gateway. The walls then continued behind San Jacopo tra' Fossi to the open square in front of the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, where a small gate gave access to the Arno island, and thence ran in a straight line, without either gate or postern, to San Pier Maggiore. II SUCH, then, was the Fiorenza of the times of Cacciaguida and Dante, the city whose manners and customs I shall endeavour to describe in as few words as possible, giving you brief glimpses into that life so remote from our present thoughts, although sung and glorified in many an immortal verse. I will spare you further topographical details, which are only interesting to the Florentines themselves, and more especially to those who witnessed the de- molition of the third circle of walls, when the Italian capital was moved from Turin to Florence on its way to its legendary and historical site in Rome, and the voices of the National Parliament echoed in that Hall of the Cinquecento which for more than three centuries had not heard united the words King, People and Liberty. Let us imagine ourselves entering Florence on some fair spring morning during the second half of the thirteenth century. We arrive on foot or on horseback, and having passed through the outlying suburbs, composed of modest houses and cabins which line the roads outside each gate, we come to the WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 23 Porta del Vescovo, where the watchful guards, jingling their rusty keys, cry loudly to the wayfarer, *' Who art thou ? Hast thou nought in thy purse ? " Having given that reply which in all ages succeeds in opening gates and taming Cerberus, we cross the moat, pass through the second'gateway, and are greeted by the sound of bells as we enter the city just waking to its daily work. From each church and chapel the bells are pealing gaily, and not only from the towers and belfries, but from every arch and niche and window where they can be hung. There are more than eighty of them, and at their persistent call the narrow, tortuous streets below begin to show signs of animation. At the massive doorways of the high houses appear the pale and wary faces of the merchants, who dare not issue forth until they hear that the neighbours and tradesmen are also throwing open their houses and shops ; then upon the threshold they say a short prayer, make the sign of the cross, and betake themselves to church. The streets gradually fill with people. Here are clergy in great numbers, monks and nuns, pilgrims and lay sisters ; here are peasants coming in from the country with their donkey-carts laden with vege- tables ; knights in armour striding along proudly and impatiently, as though they were lords of all ; rough artisans and workmen singing as they urge on their asses by force of kicks and cries ; jesters and wandering players go about seeking some good- natured temporary host ; fruit-sellers and market- 24 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE women, carrying their swaddled babies slung at their backs, exercise their tongues over other people's affairs as they trundle along to their stalls, whilst armed men belonging to some of the great houses make their way through the increasing crowd with grim and threatening faces, their hands ready to draw sword or dagger from its sheath. Opposite to the Bishop's Palace — an elaborate building conspicuous for its loggia, or covered terrace, then perhaps the only one in the city — was the atrium 2in6i entrance to the Baptistery of San Giovanni ; the church itself was surrounded by arches, partly of marble and partly of stone, beneath which idlers and ragged philosophers of all sorts were accustomed to congregate. The porphyry columns and the pillar commemorating the dead tree which blossomed anew at the funeral of San Zanobius were in the same places where they are seen to-day, but between the Baptistery and the church of Santa Reparata, to the left of which was a tower, stood the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist, a refuge for the poor and for pilgrims. The people crowded into the narrow spaces between these various buildings and overflowed into the churchyard of Santa Reparata, ground afterwards covered by the great transepts of Santa Maria del Fiore. Their business and their gossip was mostly carried on in the Mercato Vecchio, the old market- place which possessed *' four churches at its four corners," amongst the labyrinth of lanes and alleys round Or San Michele, in the Piazza del Comune, > s 2 5 WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 25 which had then not yet been enlarged by extension over the ruins of the Uberti dwellings, or in the open place in front of the Ponte Vecchio, which was used as a market for fruit and vegetables. Here the good people who sat comfortably upon the benches and stone seats listened eagerly to the tales and jokes of the professional jesters and buffoons, to the hair- raising accounts of crime committed in the city, or to the dreadful threats and prophecies of some friar or hermit just returned from the Holy Land ; but even if these conversations could be repeated, the meaning and the witticisms would in most cases be incomprehensible to our modern minds. The old men recalled events of their youth ; they described floods so terrible that the swollen Arno overflowed its banks and turned the city into a lake, causing widespread ruin and the deaths of many persons by drowning. Besides this feared and constantly recur- ring disaster, there were the fires which had several times destroyed Florence, and which were due partly to the carelessness of the inhabitants and the great amount of inflammable material collected within a confined space, and partly to the malice and revenge of the various parties and factions. These conflagra- tions claimed many victims ; whole families perished together and a great deal of property, valuable furni- ture and precious things were lost. Wherefore the sage advisers of the day were constantly reminding the people to take all precautions against fire and to have a way of escape ready from doors, windows. 26 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE or roof in case of a blaze in the house. There were also the robberies committed by the armed adherents or servants of certain families, who sallied forth at night with a banner bearing their master's arms and an escort of foot-soldiers, and broke into houses, carrying ofF everything, even to the garments and bedclothes of the household and " leaving the children, both male and female, naked upon their bedsteads ; worse things were not done even in Acre by the Saracens." These attacks, moreover, were arranged beforehand, for it is related how certain persons previously went about to all the threatened houses, warning the women and " offering to take charge of and keep safely anything which they might desire to place in security during the time of danger then about to begin. But when once these ruffians had got hold of the property they gave very little of it back to the owners, and only replied with threats to those who demanded the restoration of their ill-gotten gains. These melancholy tales, however, were often varied by more cheerful memories. The gossips would tell of the merry discussions held in lordly assemblies where the guests passed their time in listening to jests and entertaining stories, and where the jesters and story-tellers who were engaged to provide the amusement sometimes failed to please and were mal- treated in consequence. Repartee and witty remarks were permitted to inferiors, even to the servants who waited at table. '' A company of knights was once supping in one WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 27 of the great Florentine houses, and there was present a jester who was a most excellent story-teller. When the supper was finished he began a tale which seemed as though it would never end. A youth belonging to the house, who was serving the company and was probably hungry for his own supper, called him by name and said — " ' He who taught thee that tale did not teach thee all.' " ' How so ? ' asked the jester. "And the youth replied, 'Because he did not teach thee the end.' " Those who made it their business to spread city gossip took less delight in witty sayings, however, than in the practical jokes played upon countrymen and persons of feeble mind. They described a trick played by the shop-boys of a jacket maker upon a peasant (peasants were popularly called martori^ or martyrs) who had come into Florence to buy himself a jacket, or smock. " He entered a shop and asked for the master. He was not there. Said an apprentice, ' I am the master ; what desirest thou .? ' " ' I want a smock,' said the peasant. " The apprentice found one suitable, and the peasant tried it on and inquired the price. The poor man did not, however, possess a quarter of the sum, so was bidden to draw off the smock. Now in pre- tending to try on the smock and arrange it about the man's legs, the apprentice had secretly fastened 28 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE it to his shirt, so that when the peasant drew off the smock he drew off his shirt with it and stood there naked. The other apprentices were ready with their straps, and the peasant was whipped and mocked at throughout all the country side." Even the priests never dreamt of treating the country people as Christians. "A peasant went to confession, one day, and having taken some holy water, he saw the priest busy in the orchard. He called to him and said : " 'Oh, sir, I desire to make confession.' " ' Didst thou confess last year ? ' asked the priest. " The man answered that he had done so. " ' Then,' said the worthy cleric, ' put a penny in the box and consider that I have granted thee the same forgiveness this year as I did last.' " Those who were stupid or dull-witted had to take the consequences, beside being the victims of practical jokes, as was the case with Ser Frulli, an old man who owned a fine farm on the hill of San Giorgio, and lived there with his family almost all the year round. Every morning he used to send his servant to sell fruit and vegetables in the square near the bridge, and he was so miserly and distrustful that he tied up the bundles of vegetables himself, counted them, and told the girl how much money he expected her to bring back. The chief injunction he laid upon her, however, was that she must never dawdle in the street of San Giorgio, because the women there were thieves. Now there was a Florentine named Bito, WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 29 who lived in the quarter of San Giorgio and was noted for his amusing tricks, one of which he deter- mined to play on Ser Frulli. He put on a rich, fur-trimmed dress, the best he had, and sat down on the seat outside his own door. When the servant came by with a basket of cabbages he called her, and she went up to him immediately, although she had paid no attention to several women who had previously offered to buy from her. " Good woman, how much do these cabbages cost ? " asked Bito. " Messere, two bundles for a penny." " Certainly this is a good portion. But seeing that all my family is away in the country and that I am alone here with my servant, a whole portion would be too much for me. Moreover, I prefer to eat my vegetables whilst they are fresh." At that time small medals were in current use in Florence, two medals being worth a penny ; where- fore Bito said : "Give me a medal's worth. Now then, give thou me a penny and I give thee a medal, and another day will I take the second bundle." The girl thought it was all right and did as she was told ; then she went on and sold the remainder of her vegetables at the price fixed by her master. When she returned home she handed the money to Ser Frulli, who immediately counted it over and found it a penny short. He questioned the girl, but she replied that it was impossible ; the money was 30 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE correct. Thereupon he grew angry with her and asked her if she had stopped anywhere in San Giorgio. At first she tried to deny it, but her master frightened her so much that she admitted it and said : " Yes, I stopped and sold to a fair knight and he paid me well. Moreover, he bade me bring him another bundle of cabbages." " Then we have lost half a penny," answered Ser FruUi. He thought over the matter and presently per- ceived the trick, whereupon he began to abuse the servant roundly and asked where the man lived to whom she had sold the cabbages. She described the house, and then he knew that it was Bito, who had already played him a number of tricks. He was furious, and the next morning he got up early, hid a rusty sword under his cloak and went to the square by the bridge, where he found Bito sitting with a number of other people. Ser Frulli drew his sword and would have wounded Bito if another man had not immediately seized him by the arms ; and the people all drew back in alarm, thinking there was going to be an uproar. Bito was frightened at first, but then, remembering what had happened, he began to laugh. Thereupon the people surrounded Ser Frulli and asked what was the matter, and he described the whole affair, though he was so breathless he could scarcely speak. Bito called for silence, however, and said : " Ser Frulli, I will make terms with you ; let us WITHIN HER ANCIENT BOUNDARY 31 have no more words. Give me back my penny and take your medal, and ye may also have your cabbages, and a curse go with them ! " Ser FruUi answered, " It is well, and if ye had spoken thus at the first, all this trouble would never have been." And not perceiving the fresh trick, he gave back the penny and received a medal in exchange and departed quite content, amidst great laughter from the crowd. Ill ' I 'HERE was probably no material difference' -■■ between these rough and simple people, who were so easily deceived even when they imagined themselves very sharp, and those earlier Florentines, the contemporaries of Cacciaguida, so greatly extolled by Dante. In every age it happens that the country- man who moves into the city and becomes a town dweller is anxious to conceal his origin, and therefore speaks scornfully of his companions of yesterday. Fiorenza had conquered and subjugated the sur- rounding country, compelling the nobles who owned or ruled the land to come within the city, where their overbearing pride sowed the seed of those discords which presently divided it into opposing factions. Meanwhile, however, in the midst of political discord there was ripening that social revolution which was destined to place the government of public affairs in the hands of the people and the guilds, to change the feudal and agricultural city into a city of mer- chants, of craftsmen, and of bankers, and to give the hegemony of the republic, with all its natural and legitimate consequences, to the Guild of Wool and the merchants of the Calimala. 32 FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 33 For this phenomenon of attraction towards the city, which in a few years so marvellously altered the appearance of Fiorenza (the spread of buildings being no more than the outward sign and effect of the social change), Dante possessed neither sympathy nor under- standing. To quote the words of Carducci : " In the rapid extension of the Commune he beheld only anarchy ; in the exuberance of economic and com- mercial life he saw nothing but corruption ; in the striving of the plebs for the conquest of political rights he only saw repulsive peasants of Aguglione or of Signa, the sons of beggars who once implored alms in Semifonte, but who now shut the gates of his native town in the face of him who, born of pure Roman blood, had been obliged, out of love for his country, to inscribe himself in the Guild of the Apothecaries." For this reason the words he puts into the mouth of Cacciaguida in praise of the simple and dignified life of the good old times, and his furious invectives against the shameless Florentine women because they followed the new customs (fashions had not yet been invented) and wore dresses exposing their neck and shoulders, appear rather as opportune subjects for two magnificent outbursts of poetry than serious and impartial documents of historical truth. Paraphrasing the poet, Giovanni Villani wrote : " The citizens of Florence lived soberly and upon coarse food, spending but little money, and in their manners and customs were rough and rude. They dressed both themselves and their wives in coarse cloth, many 3 34 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE of the men going bare-legged without hose, and they all wore caps on their heads and boots on their feet. The Florentine women wore shoes without any ornaments, and most of them dressed in a narrow petticoat of the rough scarlet cloth of Ypres or Cam, with a belt and buckle in the ancient fashion, and a mantle lined with vaire, having a hood which they drew over their heads. The women of the lower orders wore the coarse green cloth of Cambrai made after the same manner. One hundred lire was the usual dowry given with a wife, and two or three hundred was considered magnificent at that time, and the maidens were usually twenty years old or more when they were married. Such were the gar- ments and customs of the Florentines of those days ; but they were of good faith and loyal unto each other and to the Commune, and, in spite of their rude life and their poverty, they achieved greater and more important things than are done in our times with more civilisation and more wealth." Even the chronicler is under the fascination of that immortal poem, of which his own feeble prose is but a faint and distant echo. It is, however, the historian's duty to investigate whether, in Caccia- guida's indictment, justice was not subordinated to sentiment, and whether all the censures of the social life of his fellow-citizens which Alighieri uttered through his lips were well-founded and deserved, or whether they were not rather inspired by that love of old things which resents all innovations it FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 35 does not understand and the usefulness of which it cannot foresee. Profiting by the results of recent learned researches — especially of those made by the latest historian of Florence, Dr. Robert Davidsohn — and also by the records of ancient and trustworthy, if perhaps obscure, witnesses, let us look more closely into the details of social life during the time when the first and second circle of walls were as frames for that picture of ancient Florence drawn for us in the sixteenth canto of the Paradise^ by the masterly hand of that proud conservative of the White faction. IV T3ASSING through the streets heaped up with filth, -■■ crowded with domestic animals of every descrip- tion, and often flooded with water from dye-works and tanneries or with the blood of slaughtered beasts, let us penetrate into the family circle and note the manners and customs prevailing at that time. First of all it must be mentioned that all baptisms, even those from the suburbs, took place at the Baptistery of San Giovanni, and for every male child baptized there the priest put a black bean in a box kept for the purpose, and a white bean for every female, and in this way they kept count of all the births which occurred in the entire district. Brides always brought a dowry with them, which sometimes amounted to a substantial sum, and on the morning after the wedding the bridegroom presented the bride with the morgincapy or morning gift, which was fixed at fifty lire, or half the amount of the dowry when the latter was less than one hundred lire. In Floren- tine marriages they still followed the old Roman custom of giving the ring at the betrothal ceremony, 36 FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 37 and not at the celebration before the priest. The father, or guardian, took the bride by the right hand and formally presented her to the bridegroom as his legitimate consort, the bridegroom at the same time placing the ring - upon her finger. It was the custom for the bridegroom to give the father, or guardian, a fur coat, usually of wolf-skin. The dowries increased steadily in value with the increase of public prosperity and the greater refinement of manners. Of sixty-six dowries noted between the years 1276 and 13 16, ten were of sums from fifty to two hundred lire, fourteen were of sums from two hundred to five hundred, fifteen were from five hundred to seven hundred, thirteen were from seven hundred to twelve hundred, whilst six dowries were of sums of from one hundred to three hundred florins, and eight were from three hundred to five hundred florins. And amongst those " splendid " dowries of two hundred lire was the one (oh, the irony of it !) brought by Gemma, daughter of Manetto Donati, to Dante Alighieri himself ! In course of time, marriages, with their character- istic customs which it would take too long to describe here, became occasions for the display of wealth and luxury — to such an extent, in fact, that in the four- teenth century it became necessary to draw up strict rules for regulating the expenditure. It was the same thing with funerals, which, after the lapse of so many centuries, preserve even to the present day in Florence much of their ancient theatrical display. Preparations 38 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE for a funeral necessitated sweeping the street in front of the house whence it was to start, in order that benches might be placed round the door for the convenience of those attending the ceremony, and also to mark the house of mourning. The corpse was washed with hot water, usually perfumed with aromatic herbs and essences, and if the deceased belonged to one of the great families his death was announced by the public crier, who also named the street and house where he had died. The funeral took place the day following the death, and the body was generally carried on the shoulders of persons of its own rank, friends, neighbours, or relatives, who carried out all the last offices for the dead. Around the bier were gathered the women of the family, weeping aloud, with dishevelled hair, torn garments, and all the outward signs of real or feigned despair. Then followed the men, relatives, friends, or neigh- bours, who bore the dead to his parish church or to that wherein he had desired to be interred. The sad procession, which set out at the hour after sunset, was preceded and accompanied by the lugubrious tolling of the bells in the neighbourhood and lighted by lanterns, torches and candles, while psalms and dirges were chanted as it passed through the streets and squares to which, then as now, such a spectacle drew curious crowds. Houses where a death had taken place remained empty and widows went to live with their own families. For the good of the soul of the defunct, bread and other eatables were dis- FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 39 tributed to the poor, and amongst the rich and liberal this act of charity was repeated on each anniversary of the death. The strictness and sobriety of the domestic life was still a relic of earlier simplicity. Although the high-priestess of the household, the woman was in subjection to the man and had but a small share in the government of the family. The man, the husband, the father, was supreme ruler, even keeping the keys of the street-door and of the money-box under his pillow at night. Inventories found amongst the archives show how poor in hangings, furniture and domestic implements were the dwellings of even the wealthiest families, and how hard and comfortless life must have been in those days. Nevertheless, side by side with this lack of the most necessary things, we find in the more noble and important houses great displays of gold and silver, of chiselled cups and salvers, precious stones, and valuable stuffs for making curtains to the wide beds wherein several persons often slept together, naked and without nightclothes, accord- ing to the custom of the time, although on the other hand the finest linen was spread on the tables laid out for the sumptuous banquets. There were two meals in the day : the comestio in the morning, not later than half-past eleven, and the ■prandium^ or supper, about four o'clock in the afternoon. As in country places to-day, bread was the chief article of food, and they used to flavour it with olive oil or make it into soup mixed with vegetables. Broths 40 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE and maccaroni were also generally eaten, and as a relish with the bread, a slice of fat was considered a delicacy. Pork and game were luxuries for the wealthy, or only to be eaten on occasions of great solemnity, and the common fare consisted chiefly of beans, chestnuts, and messes made of millet flour. Those strong stomachs enjoyed highly spiced dishes, but very little wine was drunk at meals. There were no plates, so wooden trenchers were used, one trencher serving for two persons ; and as forks were reserved for the use of the cooks and carvers, the guests used their fingers, washing them both before and after meals. That austere morality, however, which the upholders of the superiority of ancient times are always quoting as an example to later generations, in no wise cor- responded with the simple, even uncivilised, ways of outward life. In fact, there was a considerable amount of liberty in moral matters, if we are to believe Rustico di Filippo, commonly called Barbato, who was born in Florence about the year 1230, and who drew with coarse but biting humour such portraits as those of Madonna Leonessa, Madonna Tana, the youthful Chierma, Ser Pepo, the follower of women, Muscia, who addressed a curious list of his own virtues to women in general, and the sharp-witted wife of Aldobrandino who wanted to give back his shirt to the elegant youth Pilletto, because " Thou must never believe all that thou hearesti" A sad proof of the immorality of those times is FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 41 afforded by the large number of illegitimate children, whose names are recorded and who shared in the patrimony of the family, and who, moreover, saw no shame in the fact that they were bastards. Thus the son of a certain Marriguardus was not afraid to call himself Bastardinus, and in the domestic chronicles of a later date we find the offspring of unlawful connections received into the household and treated as legitimate children. This was not all : early in the thirteenth century the Florentine Boncompagno compiled a large book of model letters, entitled Rota Veneris^ which might be interpreted as The Gallant Letter-Writer and which contained various specimens for the use of amorous nuns ! The licentiousness so vividly portrayed in the sonnets of Rustico di Filippo and other poetical writers was well matched by the love of luxury and ornament for which Dante afterwards so bitterly reproached the Florentine women, and which was only restrained by the sumptuary laws which the merchant husbands forced the Commune to promulgate. The respective wives of Bellincion Berti, of the Nerli, and the Vecchietti, who are quoted as bright examples by the poet, must have honestly deserved this supreme honour, for he does not mention any other women as possessing equal modesty. The desire to modify or supplement nature by means of art is so ancient and so true to human weakness that for any one to abstain from so doing must be looked upon as a genuine proof of saintliness, 42 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE or else as mere hypocrisy. Even so earlv as the first half of the eleventh century, Pier Damiani wrote to a matron saying that, notwithstanding his advanced age, he looked with no favour on women who painted their faces and wore too many ornaments, and more- over he suspected a certain hermit of simulating with ointment or paint the interesting pallor of the ascetic. Boncompagno relates that even the young men spent much time with their combs and mirrors, and imitated the women in painting their faces white. The use of cosmetics and wigs even in the Fiorenza of the ancient boundary has been amply proved, and if the men wore horsehair to conceal their baldness, the women made use of it for various other purposes, and also wore wigs made of hair cut from the heads of corpses. The style of dress and the ideal of feminine beauty which we see represented by the slender figures and haggard faces in the frescoes and illuminations of that time are ridiculed in two curious sonnets by this same Rustico, wherein he scoffs at the fashion of procuring a thin, indeed almost emaciated body by all kinds of methods, from the tight-lacing which Cavalcanti admired in Mandetta of Toulouse to the starvation practised by Nita of Florence, who was assisted in her folly by her mother Donna Filippa and a relative named Donna Gemma. " Haste, Donna Gemma, bring the flour, Bring rare good wine and eggs new laid ! For Nita's teeth are set on edge, And her to cat yc must persuade ! FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 43 Mark ye not how thin she is grown ? All persons marvel when they see ; On Donna Filippa blame is thrown By friends and kindred constantly. So light the fire and quickly fry Some dish, of which she now must eat ; Else sure of hunger she will die. Her petticoat that was so tight Would now make two, as ye perceive, So thin she is become and slight." The second sonnet continues in the same strain ; the writer insists that the women should make her some " good tarts," and inquires the reason why she has lost her appetite, when but a short time before she " did not keep her hands beneath the table " when there was a question of anything to eat. Fashion now began to dominate dress, and it is not surprising to read in Simone della Tosa that in the Lent of 1275, "by order of the Pope the women were deprived of their pearls and of certain ornaments made of birds, and were forbidden to wear gold and silver fringes, and their garments were not to drag behind for more than half a hraccio " ; that is to say, they were not to wear trains more than half a hraccio long. It is difficult to say which of the two vices was the worst — the luxury of the women or the unbridled love of gambling which degraded the men. Zara^ a game so well known and widespread that Dante drew an admirable parable from it, and biscaca were the causes of great losses, angry words, and lawsuits. 44 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE Boncompagno tells how he dissuaded a girl from listening to the flatteries of a youth who had gambled away all he possessed and had been reduced to a state of destitution in a few days through the game of zara alone. The gambling mania was so universal that in 1203 the servants of the Countess Guerriera, the daughter of Valdrada, who was making a long stay at the Convent of the nuns of Rosano, spent their whole time in throwing the dice. There was gambling during the war between Siena and Florence, and fifty years afterwards a witness remembered having seen the soldiers more intent upon their dice than upon their arms. It is not to be supposed that the good folk of olden days were not fond of a little amusement to distract their minds from the hardships of daily life, the dangers to which they were constantly exposed, the frequent brawls, and the fears of the world to come. Even at the time when only the first walls existed, professional players and jesters were well received and were always sure of a hearty welcome and a place at the well-spread table. Musicians and singers performed on the harp, viola, lyre, guitar, or on an instrument similar to the latter, called the rota^ and these airs, songs, and refrains, crude at first, gradually acquired more grace of form and elegance of execution with the increasing refinement of art. This was seen later on when, in the fragrant Maytime of 1283, for the celebration of the Feast of St. John there was formed in the district of Santa H « FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 45 Felicita a company numbering over a thousand men, all dressed in white and led by one who was called the Lord of Love. The sole aim of this company was the pursuit of pleasure ; they organised games, amusements, and dances in which ladies and knights, and even the lower people, took part ; they paraded the town " blowing trumpets and other instruments in the joy of their hearts, and feasted together at banquets, dinners and suppers." The description might almost fit one of those scenes which were afterwards painted on the great chests wherein brides carried their clothes to their new homes, scenes where, in the words of the poet Folgore of San Geminiano, . . . spears shall split, and fruit go flying up In merry counterchange for wreaths that drop From balconies and casements far above ; And tender damsels with young men and youths Shall kiss together on the cheeks and mouths ; And every day be glad with joyful love." ^ It was during this May in Florence that the youth- ful Dante is said to have composed the beautiful ballad in which he says that the remembrance of a garland he had once seen presented to a lady causes him to sigh at the sight of any flower. To return to the subject of the ancient companies, however. These were associations formed solely for * Translation by D. G. Rossetti. 46 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE pleasure, possessing rules in the Italian tongue and properly drawn up by notaries, and they were called the companies of the Falcons, the Lions, the Round Table, and so forth. Being situated upon the high-road which led from the north to Rome and passed over the Arno bridge, Florence was of necessity visited by great numbers of strangers. Li order to accommodate the pilgrims and wayfarers from overseas and beyond the Alps, almost every church and convent had a hospice attached to it ; there were, however, numerous genuine inns and taverns, of which the earliest mention is found in a document of the year 1065. It was assuredly to their frequent contact with strangers that the Florentines owed that spirit of adventure which impelled them to leave their own country in search of wealth and fortune and taught them how to become daring speculators and usurers. They had no fear of long journeys ; for the sake of going to France they left their wives alone at home, and from the foreign land, where the Italian colony formed a corporation governed by a captain- general elected by itself, they exported to their native land wool and rough cloths, which they then sub- sequently re-imported, dyed and dressed with that perfection of which Calimala ^ jealously held the secret. France was the America, the California of those times, and whoever returned thence with a ^ The street chiefly inhabited by wool merchants. FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 47 full purse put on airs of great pride, like that Neri Picciolino described by Cecco Angiolieri : — "When Neri Picciolin came back from France He was so full pf florins and pride That he looked upon men as poor little mice And each he did mock and deride. He frequently cried, ' Now may evil befall All my neighbours, for seen face to face With me, they appear but so mean and so small That their friendship will bring me disgrace.' Soon this conduct was cause, I have heard, That no neighbour, howe'er mean and low. But scorned to speak him a word. And I'll wager my heart for a crown That before eight months had gone by, He'd have thanked for a crust flung him down." The industry in textile fabrics, which was said to have been introduced by the Umiliati friars, existed since the year 1062 ; and a very profitable industry it must always have been, if even in the thirteenth century Florence bore the reputation of being one of the principal centres. Beside the wool trade, whose Guild statutes prove the importance of that corporation and whose sign, a lamb, was as well known as the lily of the city, the prosperity of the citizens was largely due to the Arte del Cambio, or the Exchange ; for Florentine money- lenders and bankers were dispersed throughout the whole world, practising their lucrative trade of lending and changing money, and, moreover, with such conditions and interest as to cause themselves to be anathematised 48 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE by preachers and condemned by the Church. Usury was not only a vice practised by the laity, but by the clergy as well. It is on record that between the years 1016 and 12 10, in thirty Florentine loan banks (of which two were kept by priests and three by convents), the usual interest varied from 14^ to 25 per cent. Interest at 25 per cent, eventually became the customary rate, although sometimes 30, 45, 50, and even 66^ per cent, was charged at that period. Florence was the great market where every kind of money was current, which fact alone gives some idea of the extent of her traffic. Beside the solidus worth twelve denariy or pence, and the libra worth twenty soldiy a variety of foreign money was current in the market ; there was the German imperialiy there was Turkish money, there was the local coinage of the counts of that land of Champagne whither Florentines flocked several times a year to attend the famous fairs, there were English sovereigns, and the special currency of the towns of Tours and Bologna, and the gold coins of the Greek Empire called byzantSy or byzantines. Far from excluding culture, commerce did much to promote it, and we find reassuring proofs of the studies pursued in Florence at that period. As early as the first half of the twelfth century there was a law school, and early in the thirteenth century there were schools of the liberal arts situated near the Canonry. Even what is now called elementary instruction was not entirely neglected, for in many FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 49 contracts where the autograph signature is missing, the reason for the omission is stated to be weakness of sight or some other defect, but never ignorance. For women the case was different, however, especially for those of the noble orders. In 1067 Gisla dei Firidolfi declared that she was unable to sign her name because she was a " wealthy and noble matron," and she did not learn to write even when she became abbess of San Pier Maggiore. Meanwhile the Tuscan idiom, the beautiful language of the people, had been growing gradually purer and more definite, freeing itself from its Germanic elements and its Latin form. The childish folk-songs and snatches learnt from the wandering singers were only the forerunners of the popular subjects alluded to by Dioneo in the fifth day of the Decameron, and the Florentine mothers were already elaborating those legends of the " Trojans of Fiesole and of Rome " and of the Knights of the Round Table which were afterwards taken down in writing. Documents and legal parchments of that day contain names and surnames which are distinctly Italian. In 1105 a certain Fiorentino is mentioned as husband of a lady named Italia, with whom he lived according to the Longobardic law, and amongst other papers are found such names as Piccolino, Malabranca, Malipiedi, Sordo, Cieco, Boccaccio, Occhio di Ferro, Bracciaforte, Grullo, Trincavino, Malandrino, Scandalizzo, Cantapoco, Buongiorno, and other similar appellations descriptive of the persons who bore them. 4 50 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE The most curious thing, however, is to find certain peculiarities and certain defects of the modern Florentine tongue reproduced in these ancient docu- ments as though in a phonograph, defects such as the common ones of aspirating the c and changing the / into an r. The Florentines of the year looo also pronounced Sihelmus^ Mihael^ vohatus and Marregolatus for Malregolatus^ vocatus^ Micael and Sichelmus^ whence we must conclude that the vice is so ancient that it is useless to hope it will ever be corrected ! Of those strong figures who, by reason of their fiery passions or ardent spirits, stand forth promi- nently in the pages of the domestic chronicles, I have elsewhere in this volume given some idea in types like Buonaccorso di Piero or Paolo di Ser Pace di Certaldo. Therefore it is not my purpose here to give any fuller account of the " ancient people " of Florence, that strong race, sober, enduring, strict and rude, which struggled successfully through those times of storm and stress. Nor shall I describe their politics, the eternal conflicts between Guelph and Ghibelline, or the disaster which overtook the latter when they attempted to carry out Farinata's fierce proposal to " wipe out Florence," or even try to tell how the new Government was formed with that Guelph party which was a State within the State and which led eventually to the popular form of government under the Priori of the various Guilds. FLORENCE WITHIN HER BOUNDARY 51 All this belongs to the external history of Florence, which is wholly made up of wars and peace-makings, of strife between princes, families, and people, with the periodical descents upon the city of Imperial envoys and the intervention of Papal pacificators. Concerning all these things many learned volumes have been written, wherein, however, to speak frankly, we have none of us found that which forms the true, the irresistible attraction of the past, that romance of life lived, those facts and details which, in a single sentence or anecdote, explain the secret of a whole age or people better than do all the pages historians and philosophers ever wrote. The librarian of Napoleon III., Prosper Merimee, confessed " Je n'aime de I'histoire que les anecdotes." I may be forgiven, therefore, if I follow at a very respectful distance in the footsteps of the famous author of Carmen and give you only familiar details and homely anecdotes of Florence as she was before the great era of Dante, of Giotto, and of Arnolfo. Let us turn our bark and go back down the stream of time to the point whence we set out, for in that wild forest where it has its source we can neither move nor live. We cannot breathe amidst those clinging brambles, those dark and impenetrable woods infested by wild beasts, because we are not upheld by that relentless combativeness which strengthened our ancestors in the defence of their bodies, their families, and their friends. 52 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE We are as navigators upon a vast ocean of which we know not the farther shore, for, like the Fata Morgana, it recedes ever from before our gaze. But we do not, like Dante, turn to the past to seek for examples, omens, and consolations in the conquest of truth and conscience ; with clear and steady eyes we look forward to the future, to the light of our ideals which brightens on the far horizon with the glory and the beauty of a dream. And to this bright future of our hopes we turn our faces, seeking there the courage which shall strengthen our hearts alike to fight and to endure. THE MIND AND MANNERS OF A FLORENTINE MERCHANT OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY THE MIND AND MANNERS OF A FLOREN- TINE MERCHANT OF THE FOUR- TEENTH CENTURY TN the Riccardiana Library of Florence — that city ^ not only of art and literature, but also of mediseval crafts and commerce — there is preserved a quaint document called by its author a Book of Good Examples and Good Manners. It is written by a Florentine of the fourteenth century, and affords more than a passing glimpse into the lives of those early Italian merchants, when they had not yet made their fortunes, but were still labouring in their shops and warehouses, striving for the achievement of riches and nobility for their families. In the old Florentines of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries we find prototypes of the modern merchants, and may even study them at a very early period, when they laboured in tiny shops and the first hardly-earned savings represented a hope rather than a reality. But even in those primitive days we find abundant evidence of that natural courtesy and love of refinement and beauty which led the early 55 56 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE merchants to spend the first money they could spare upon the beautifying of their houses and gardens, the collecting and ordering, for pure love of art, of pictures and illuminations and manuscripts, thus forming the nucleus of many a famous library. And not only upon business matters has this old Florentine left his opinions and advice ; spiritual welfare, the care of the body, personal security, family, social relations, civil obligations, all have their share of his serious consideration. This old manuscript of the Riccardiana Library was originally bound in boards and bears upon its second cover the arms of its author. Paolo, son of Messer Pace of Certaldo, who wrote it with his own hand in a somewhat clumsy caligraphy, has left us a medley of valuable advice upon matters of morals and practical life, proverbs and notable sayings, put together without any attempt at classi- fication and drawn partly from traditional sources and partly from his own observation of contemporary manners and customs. His father. Pace, son of Messer Jacopo of Certaldo, doctor of laws, was one of the Priori in 1315-16 and again in 1318-19 ; in 13 19 he went as ambassador to Siena, was again one of the Priori in 1322-23, and after holding other posts of honour, was eventually Gonfaloniere in 1337. Our Paolo, whether he was actually a merchant or not, certainly possessed the foresight, the prudence, and sometimes even the craftiness of one ! Moreover at that period all Florentine citizens FLORENTINE MIND AND MANNERS 57 were obliged to belong to one of the Guilds, and were, both nominally and by inclination, merchants, whatever other trade or profession they may have followed as well. We know that one of his descendants was an apothecary, by name Cristofano di Fuccio, and that he greatly cherished the Examples of his great-great-grandfather, as is proved by a de- claration which he appended to the manuscript in a handwriting of the fifteenth century. I have had neither time nor desire to make further researches into the history of Paolo and his family ; my only object is to call forth from the pages, yellow with age, of the Riccardiana manuscript a sufficiently vivid presentment of the old Florentine to make us realise once more the truth of the saying that all the world is kin. Thus it begins : " In the name of God. In this book will we write down many good examples and good customs, and good proverbs and good instructions; wherefore, my son or my brother, or my dear friend, neighbour, or companion, or whoever thou art who readest this book, hearken well and understand that which thou shalt find written in this book and put it into action ; and much good and honour shalt thou derive there- from, both for body and soul." As is seen from the introduction, the book has a moral intention, not differing in this respect from many others which have been written since. But for us the chief and most interesting thing is to 58 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE discover, amongst all the precepts drawn from or suggested by ecclesiastical tradition, those which were directly inspired by personal experience and which reveal some hidden inclination in those ancient souls, some rebellious instinct, some curious aspect of a life differing so widely from our own, which is nevertheless descended from it. Paolo di Ser Pace has written with spirit, but without any prearranged order or that economy which is found in works of greater literary elaboration ; but it is all the better for that, as the spontaneity and sincerity of thought and expression are not marred by any preoccupations of style, and the uncertain and often incorrect writing is proof of the abundance of the ideas that came too quickly for the pen to follow. Thus within these rough pages we find the picture of the good Florentine of the fourteenth century, who, either in his shop or in a chamber of his own house, adds from time to time another page of counsel or example to those he is preparing to leave to his dear ones, rendering immortal his own memory in the minds of those who were destined to read his pages and meditate upon the wisdom they contained. This longing to go down to posterity which armed the pens of the most obscure 'and unknown amongst the ancient writers is a sufficiently strange phenome- non. Monuments, statues and marbles fall into decay, neither stone nor bronze can resist the ravages of time, yet a fragile scrap of paper has survived to unveil to us the existence of a long- dead forefather. FLORENTINE MIND AND MANNERS 59 whose identity has been lost in the darkness of centuries, but whose mind was inflamed not with the hope only, but almost with the certainty, of being remembered by future generations. In perusing the old manuscript we ' seem to feel the pulsations of a living hand moving over it in obedience to the dictates of the mind ; we seem to hear the faint voice of a distant soul revealing to us its being, its intimate life, and holding out to us imploring hands of friend- ship after long centuries of silence and neglect. But these are idle fancies, and we had better keep strictly to our facts, for Paolo di Ser Pace threatens to be a prolix and long-winded gossip ! Let us begin with the Proverbs, amongst which there are some strange sayings which deserve to be recorded. Many are in rhyme which cannot be exactly translated, and their quaint crispness is therefore lost in the English rendering. For in- stance : " Hearken and behold and keep silent if thou wouldst live in peace. "It is better to stand upright by the side of a good man until thy legs ache than to sit upon a bench by the side of a wicked man. •' Like unto the body without a soul is the man without a friend. " Thou wilt more often repent having spoken than having kept silence. *' Speak not of those who are present. " Be not so bitter that every man spitteth thee 6o MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE out of his mouth, nor yet so sweet that every man sucketh thee dry. " It is good to live in strange cities, but bad to die there." And many others could we mention of these sayings scattered here and there amongst moral and religious warnings, which, as is natural, occur the most fre- quently. For the safety of their souls and their duty towards God were the most important things in the eyes of these simple and valiant men, who, notwithstanding the preoccupations of their business and the necessity of protecting themselves against enemies and rivals, kept ever in mind the urgency of their own spiritual advancement. But they thought of it and fulfilled their religious duties without being in any way bigots : " Go to church upon Feast Days, and upon the other days when thou canst safely and properly leave thy shop or thy warehouse." More- over, there is a certain use in church-going. " Fre- quent the preachers, for of them wilt thou learn many good examples and manners." It was also a duty to " go and visit the sick, to encourage and comfort them, and likewise to watch them die, that thou may est take an example therefrom ; and likewise must thou go and see men executed, not for the pleasure of beholding them killed, but in order that they may be examples unto thee." Such brutal lessons were necessary for the instilling of good into the minds of these still rude and un- civilised men ; nowadays morality is inculcated by FLORENTINE MIND AND MANNERS 6i the flowery descriptions in the police records and daily papers. For the mortification of the flesh the good Paolo recommends fasting. *' Make it thy custom to fast upon Saturday in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, and take heed that upon that day thou sinnest not, for it is not sufficient to fast only from food, that is, from the sin of gluttony, but thou must fast also from all the seven mortal sins." Then he advocates almsgiving : " And almsgiving consisteth not only in giving money, or bread, or shelter for God's sake, but there is also great charity in supporting widows and children and orphans, in making peace, in taking men out of prison. And these are things which wipe out sin, together with confession and repentance. " Take heed that thou givest offence to none ; never- theless, if thou dost give offence, see that thou dost not show thyself glad because of that which thou hast done, nor of that which thy son or thy kinsman hath done, because those persons may forget the hurt done unto them, but they will never forget the gladness thou didst show over it, and it will prevent any chance of reconciliation." He bids his readers overcome " the sin of envy, by thinking of those who are worse off in this world, some because of greater poverty, some because of more sickness, some because they have fewer kindred, 62 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE some by reason of less understanding, and some because they are in a lower position." The sins of luxury and gluttony are to be similarly avoided ; but of all vices the worst is pride, because from that " descend all the others." Whilst on this subject it occurs to him *' to give a good example." " Compare this life of ours unto a great cask of wine ; there cometh one every day for a cup of wine, and he poureth in a cup of water in place of the wine he hath taken out ; and this he doth until the cask, which at first was full of good wine, becometh full of water. And thus do we little by little lose our natural heat, and in time become feeble and die of ourselves without any other cause ; and there can help thee neither money, nor kindred, nor friends, nor powers, nor good eating, nor any other worldly thing ; wherefore mayest thou see how this our pride doth wax feeble of its own self ! " Not less severe is Paolo against those who will not forgive injury and meditate revenge — " because thou canst hardly ever carry out thy vengeance entirely ; thou dost either too much or too little. If thou dost too much thou offendest thine enemy and he hateth thee, and people speak of it and say that thou hast acted badly ; and if thou dost too little the people say, ' He had done better not to have put himself to the proof than to have done it to his shame.' So that thou must always be the one who pardoneth if thou wouldst be the victor." But it would take too long if we were to repeat here FLORENTINE MIND AND MANNERS 63 all the good and wise things which the merchant- moralist offers as counsel for the good of the soul and peaceful living. In his mouth the precepts acquire a greater practical value, inasmuch as they leave the field of abstract ethics to descend to earth and adapt themselves to the needs of daily life. And life in those times was fraught with constant dangers ; men had to protect themselves against many more things than at present, and treachery and threats were serious and frequent. The Commune troubled itself but little about the individual safety of its citizens, who had usually to take justice and vengeance into their own hands, much as though lynch-law had already been invented then. The city at that period was of small area and the houses were huddled together one against the other, consequently there were frequent and terrible fires, on account of which they adopted many precautions useful still to-day : " Keep always ready in thine house twelve large sacks, they are useful for removing thy goods when there is a fire in the neighbourhood, or near thee, or in thine own house. Keep always ready also a hempen rope, long enough to reach from the roof unto the earth, so that thou mayest let thyself down from any window of thine house to the ground if there should be a fire ; but forget not to keep it locked within a chest, in order that neither a servant nor any of thy famjly may use it without thee or without thy leave. Make it always thy custom to see the lights and the fire in the house extinguished, and 64 MEN AND MANNERS OF OLD FLORENCE be thou always the last to go to bed in thine house, and search the house for lights or fire, and see that the door is securely fastened, and likewise the windows. Search also the cellar and see that the casks are well stopped, and the door and windows fastened, the fire covered, and the lights extinguished ; then go thou to bed and sleep as long as thou hast need." But now let us penetrate a little further into the privacy of that simple life of the fourteenth century : " Beware of going out of thine house at night ; but if thou art obliged to go forth, then take with thee a trusty companion, and a large and good light. " If thou goest into any dangerous place, go without telling any person where thou art going. In like manner, if thou goest to Siena, say that thou art going to Lucca, and thou wilt be safe from evil persons. " Never lend thy weapon unto any person who may ask it of thee, and for two reasons — firstly, because thou knowest not what he will do with it ; and secondly, because thou knowest not how soon thou mayest have need of it thyself. " Always cause the .door ' of thine house to be locked at night, in order that during the night none may go forth and none may enter into thine house without thy knowledge, which thing is too great a danger ; and, most especially, if thou hast any dispute, keep the key of the street-door in thine THE CORNCHANDLER IN HIS SHOP. (From an early XIV. century MS. in the Latircntian Library.) [To face pa!